Something Worth Losing | S.B

12: Unhappy Valentines Day

The world around them shattered. Quite literally shattered. There was still a few stragglers in the corridor rushing to their next class but Beatrice couldn't hear them. She had fallen for Edgar so utterly hard, though the idea of love had never occurred to her. It had only been 3 months, give or take, and while she truly felt that she cared for Edgar a great deal, well, she wasn't quite sure she loved him.

In fact, she wasn't entirely sure she was the type to love anyone at all.

Her thoughts must have shown on her face as Edgar nodded dejectly and turned away. Beatrice grabbed his arm, forcing him to stay. "No Edgar, listen..."

"You've been distant since Christmas." He interrupted her, taking her slightly by surprise. He was usually incredibly polite in conversation. "Did you think I hadn't noticed?"

"Please let me explain." She begged, closing her eyes and sighing. She should've known this moment would come sooner or later.

"It's Regulus, isn't it?" His voice was low and sinister, with no sense of nervousness or fear. This scared Beatrice the most. He almost sounded angry.

His question took Beatrice by surprise and her voice got caught in her throat. It came out quite and raspy. "How did you know about that?"

He scoffed, as if she had just confirmed his suspicions. "Well you haven't been very subtle about it."

"Please, Edgar," she begged again, refusing to let go of his arm, "let me explain, there's so much you don't know..."

"Apparently there is." He snapped. Beatrice flinched. 

"It's Valentine's Day, can we do this later?" The pleading look in her eyes softened him a little bit. 

He took a deep breath. "I can't wait any longer. I need to know now." 

Beatrice sighed again, fearing she was running out of excuses. "If I could change it I would, believe me, but you've met my parents. There's no way I could change their minds, trust me, I tried."

His brow furrowed. "Your parents? What do your parents have to do with this?"

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, forgetting completely about the Defense class that she was becoming increasingly late for. "Well ... I'm not marrying him off my own accord, am I?"

"Marrying?!" Edgar exclaimed. If the situation had been different, Beatrice may have laughed on account of his reaction being so similar to hers when she first heard the news.

"Yeah, our parents raised us like pigs for slaughter so that we could marry and continue our bloodlines." Despite Edgar's frantic nature, Beatrice managed to remain relatively calm. "What did you think was happening?"

Edgar breathed through his nose and Beatrice thought she could detect a faint blush on his cheeks. "Merlin!" Now it was Beatrice's turn to be angry. She let go of his arm and took a step back as the realisation washed over her. "You think I love him, don't you?" He didn't say anything. "Don't you."

"Look at the way you act around each other. What was I supposed to think? How was I supposed to trust you when..."

"Maybe the same way I trusted you!" Beatrice was outraged. Of all the outcomes of the situation at hand, this was not one she was expecting. She couldn't think of anything to say. She felt that everything that needed saying could be interpreted by the dead air between them.

'It's over'.

***

Beatrice was late to Defense. She took a Saturday detention and dejectedly sat in her seat next to Freddie. Evie and Ruth sat behind them and Grace sat next to a Gryffindor boy on the desk to the right of Evie and Ruth's.