𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 || 𝐫.𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤

XXVII. BACK HOME

"Nah, going to see Lily," he said. "Sorry."

Jasmine pretended to pout at him, receiving a middle finger in return. She relaxed her face and walked out, looking for Regulus.

To her surprise, he wasn't in his common rooms, but he was outside of the castle, looking for someone.

"Regulus?" Jasmine called out when she saw a head of raven-black hair.

Regulus turned around and his dark blue eyes locked with hers.

"Oh, Jas! Hello," he said, walking over to her. "I was just looking for Professor Slughorn."

"Why?" Jasmine asked. She knew he was in the Slug Club, but he never showed any care for it.

"I needed to ask him a question about something to do with Dark Arts ... I tried to talk to the Dark Arts teacher, but he refused to tell me."

"What is it?"

"Any clue what a Horcrux is..?"

"No clue," Jasmine said. "It's fine, I'm sure you'll find him before tomorrow.. Anyways, do you think you'll be able to come over for Christmas?"

"I already planned on going round Crouch's.. my parents said I could," Regulus said. Guilt flashed in his eyes. "But I'll rearrange things. I wasn't really looking forward to it, I just wanted to get away from home."

A smile formed on Jasmine's smile and she hugged him.

"That's great!" she gasped with excitement. "Oh! Guess what? Me and James are on good terms again."

"I'm happy for you," Regulus managed. Jasmine could tell he wasn't — he longed for a relationship with Sirius that was like Jasmine and James'.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Jasmine asked, raising an eyebrow. He nodded and kissed her hand.

"I'm off," he said. "See you."

AFTER THE TRAIN RIDE home, Jasmine met her parents on the station. She walked off the train with Regulus, James trailing behind with Peter.

Peter's parents saw them and started to talk to Euphemia and Fleamont. Jasmine yawned and rested her head in Regulus' chest. She already mentioned in a letter that Regulus was coming over, so Euphemia wasn't surprised to see him again.

Regulus brought his arm over and around Jasmine, holding her closer, and she forced herself not to fall asleep in his arms.

Peter's parents eventually finished up and left King's Cross with Peter, leaving just the Potters and Regulus.

"Regulus, it's good to see you again," Euphemia said, cupping his face with her hands. "We're so happy to have you! And beyond delighted to see you and Jasmine happy again."

Jasmine's cheeks flared red. Regulus smiled politely at his girlfriend's mother.

"Thank you, Miss Potter," he said.

"Oh, Reg! Call me Effie, we've been over this before!"

Regulus laughed and corrected himself, "Okay, Effie."

Jasmine turned around and spotted Sirius with his parents, turning the other way. Sirius was looking at Jasmine and his parents were looking at him, clearly lecturing him.

"Mum, can we go?" she asked suddenly. "Regulus' parents are there and he's just trying to avoid them right now."

Euphemia looked over and nodded. As they walked out, she took James in her arms and held Jasmine's hand.

"So, how is Sirius? With his family and everything?" she asked James, but Regulus answered.

"It's getting really bad ... they're being really harsh on him," Regulus said. "And me. It's always 'Don't turn out like Sirius.' and 'At least you're not like you're brother.' I hate hearing them being so horrible to him when I can't defend him."

Euphemia sighed and reached over, putting her hand in Regulus' hair. "I'm sorry, dear. You don't deserve that."

***

They got home just before dinner, so as their parents were setting dinner, James and Jasmine went upstairs to unpack. Regulus slept in Jasmine's room this time, leaving the guest room completely empty.

"This room ... brings back memories," he chuckled. "You remember last year?"

Jasmine blushed, "Of course."

Regulus sat on the bed and started to play with the patterns on her pillow, clearly mesmerised. Jasmine watched him for a few seconds, smiling at how cute he looked. She turned back to her bag and started to unpack her stuff into one half of the wardrobe, Regulus' stuff into the other half.

Fuck, that same shirt fell out of the wardrobe. Just her luck, isn't it? Regulus stopped messing with her pillows and looked up at her. Her face was pale and staring at the shirt. She noticed him staring and threw it back into the wardrobe.

"You okay, love?" he asked her, as she sat next to him on the bed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

She looked back at him and chewed the inside of her cheek. It was so intense, she began to taste blood on the interior of her mouth.

She sighed, "It's the shirt I was wearing on the night that shit went down."

"Shit went down?"

"I was at a Ministry party. Mum and Dad were invited, awards ceremony or something. Merlin knows. I had drinks. So many fucking drinks. One of them was — er — laced with something. Which is why I didn't take any hard stuff at last year's Christmas Eve Party. Then, the same guy who laced my drink ... took me somewhere —"

Her voice cracked and tears stinger her face. Regulus took her head into his chest and hugged her tightly.

"You don't need to finish, I understand," he said. She began to cry harder, soaking his shirt. "I'm so so sorry, Jas. I can't even begin to put into words how fuming that is to hear. I just — I wish I could apologise. Apologise to every single woman on behalf of those disgusting men."

At this point, she was calming down, her breath becoming more balanced and her tears slowing down.

"I love you so fucking much, you know? And you're so strong. Even being able to talk about it is so scary," Regulus breathed. She looked up and smiled at him, as he wiped her tears and kissed her face gently. "I love you."

"I love you.." Jasmine said through heavy breaths. "Thank you for everything, Reggie."

He hugged her again, kissing the top of her head. "Always."