The Story of Regulus Black - Years 5-7

LIX. Rain

Regulus put his hands into the pockets of his coat awkwardly, unsure what to say. "I'm sorry, Persephone. I really am."

She waved a dismissive hand and sniffed. "It's alright, Regulus. Really, it's fine." She paused for a moment. "Did you ever want to go on a date with me at all? Or was I just, like, some sort of attempt to get over the person that you like?"

Regulus frowned. "I'm sorry, Persephone," he repeated.

She sighed and began to nod slowly once again. "It's fine. I get it. Though, you could have told me earlier. I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my hair." There was a note of humor in her voice as she spoke.

Regulus didn't return the emotion. "I'm sorry." It felt like that was the only thing that he was able to say to her at the moment.

"Regulus, it's alright, ok?" She was already backing away slowly, a smile that held just a little less sadness to it on her face. "I wish you all the best, Regulus Black. And I hope that you figure out whatever's going on with this other person."

He gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Thanks."

She gave him a short nod before turning around, climbing the stairs and disappearing out of the entrance hall. Regulus let out a heavy sigh and leaned against the wall, simultaneously relieved and guilty about the fact that this part of it was over. But, now he was on to the next part - to the hardest part.

He needed to figure out what to do.

He absently meandered his way into the Ravenclaw courtyard, already pulling the pack of fags from his pocket. He picked one out of the carton and shoved it back into his pocket, dangling it between his lips as he tried to find his wand to light it. He could feel the smoke enter his lungs as soon as it was lit and he had inhaled, burning his throat and leaving behind that feeling of a film in his mouth. He took the cigarette between his fingers and held the smoke before finally blowing it out, watching the grey cloud fill the air and disappear as it rose higher into the navy blue sky. He looked at the small white sprinkles of stars that covered the sky, as though someone had taken a paintbrush and run their thumb along the end to smatter the dark blue canvas.

He needed to figure out what to do. He didn't know what to say to Barty, whether he should say anything at all. He didn't know whether or not he should tell Barty that the feelings were mutual and let it finally blossom into the thing that he had been craving for months or if he should simply drop it and pretend that this night had never happened at all. The latter hurt him - it tore through his heart and left him with nothing but an empty chest - and he didn't necessarily think that it was the better of the two, either. He wanted to tell Barty, and to hold him, and to kiss him, and to have a relationship with the boy that he had been in love with for years. However, there was still that fear in the back of his mind, the fear that being with Regulus would do nothing but hurt Barty.

He didn't know what to do.

He heard footsteps. He put the fag between his lips and looked over his shoulder, eyes landing on an approaching silhouette. It took him a second to make out who it was, but as soon as they stepped out into the courtyard and their features were illuminated by the stars above, Regulus knew.

He was a bit surprised at first, not having seen Deacon Ackland from this close of a distance since February. His features were sunken in, his eyes were bloodshot, there were dark circles around them, and his lips were pale and chapped. In all honesty, Deacon looked quite terrible.

He leaned against the pillar across from Regulus, arms crossed over his chest as he stared forward with a blank expression on his face. Regulus was quiet for a while, unsure what to say. What did he say to someone who he hadn't talk to since February - since their boyfriend was killed by the very people that he was working with?