Selenophile

Chapter 8

1976

"Run away with me?"

"Run away?" Pandora mused, "to where?"

"Anywhere," Regulus breathed.

The couple were sitting on top of the astronomy tower, charting the lunar phases.

"I love the moon," Regulus said, studying it intently.

"There's a word for that," Pandora smiled, reaching down to stroke his cheek.

He looked up at her and his eyes softened as she pulled his face gently towards her, brushing their lips together, "selenophile."

"Selenophile?" He whispered quietly, letting the word roll over his tongue.

"Mhm," she smiled, leaning away to look up at the sky, "someone who loves the moon."

"Run away with me?" He repeated once again, "we'll travel the world, see America, France, everywhere!"

"Ok," Pandora said.

Regulus shot up with wide eyes, "ok? You mean you'll do it? Runaway with me?"

Pandora nodded with a nervous giggle.

"Dora! You're not joking?" He grabbed her hands and brought them to his chest, "you'll come?"

"Anything we do, we do together," Pandora recalled with a smile, "Regulus Black, I'd follow you anywhere."

"Ok," Regulus shot to his feet and began to pace, "it has to be tonight, we have to pack, I'll go to the kitchens, you go pack your dorm, we'll leave from the passage that leads to Honeydukes, from there we can take the Knightbus and get on one of those muggle metal bird machines..."

"Airplanes," Pandora supplied.

"Ah! Yes! Airplanes," Regulus grinned, "we can go to America, we can even enroll in the magic school there."

"Ilvermony," Pandora said, "we'll have to change our names...."

"...And our appearances," Regulus added, "we'll have to do it all here because we're not of age..."

Pandora checked her watch, "we need to be gone by dawn."

"We have a couple of hours," regulus said, "we need to start now, I'll go to the kitchens, go to the dorms, I'll meet you in the common room at three o'clock, that gives us an hour."

"Ok," Pandora nodded, "let's go."

Hand in hand, they flew down the stairs.

Before they separated, Pandora grabbed his collar and crashed her lips into his, "Happy Birthday, I love you."

"I love you," Regulus grinned.

He turned on his heel and began to jog away, "three o'clock!"

"Three o'clock!" Pandora repeated with a huge smile.

She took off in the other direction, climbing down staircases to the dungeon.

"Pandora?" A voice called from behind her, "Pandora Lestrange?"

Pandora stopped and swore under her breath, spinning around to face who had called her.

"It is well after curfew, what're you doing out here?" A tall Ravenclaw adjusted his prefect pin on his chest, looking down at her curiously.

"Xenophilius," Pandora groaned in annoyance, "why must I always run into you?"

"I'd like to call it fate," he smiled charmingly.