***
"WHAT!?" Diana bellowed, causing all heads to turn on her direction. She awkwardly smiled at the guests, waiting for them to get back to their own conversations. She then faced Regulus again and went on more quietly, "What happened? And when?"
"He got into a fight with Mother," Regulus explained, a sharp edge to his voice which Diana could not ignore.
"About what?" she questioned worriedly, though she already knew the answer to that.
"I don't know. Nothing that I would put past Sirius." Regulus rolled his eyes at that grudgingly. "I was in my room when I heard their yelling. He was going on and on about how he wanted to live his life the way he wanted to or something. He kept saying that he felt like he was imprisoned there and that he was done with — and I quote — this crazy family."
Diana watched him in silence for a few seconds as he drank up the whole cup of wine. She was too in shock to speak. Sirius had told her about wanting to run away, but she didn't know that he had actually meant it.
"And you know what?" Regulus continued, slamming the silver cup back down on the table nearby. "I don't give a damn that he's gone! We're better off without him! I'm better off without him!"
Diana gave him a sympathetic look as he looked away angrily and walked off. A year ago, she would have been extremely uncomfortable in a similar situation, hating to be faced with someone's emotions and terrible at giving comfort.
But now, even she surprised herself when she moved forward and suddenly brought him into a hug.
Regulus froze at first, being caught off guard. But at last he gave in and hugged her back, slowly feeling a great weight being carried off his shoulders.
"It will be okay," she whispered the only words that she could think of to say, in hopes of comforting him.
"I'm not so sure," Regulus finally whispered as he held onto her tighter, freeing his emotions that he had kept in chains for weeks now.
When they finally pulled away, Regulus drew in a deep breath, blinking quickly.
"He was also talking about marriage," Regulus went on. "I guess Mother was planning on setting him up with some Pureblood girl."
Diana pursed her lips together, looking away awkwardly. Silence filled the space between them.
"No..." Regulus's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "You were that girl?"
"Yeah." Diana groaned, hiding her face in her palms in misery. She then dropped her arms, giving him a guilty look. "I'm sorry this happened, Reg, but you need to understand that it could never work. Me and Sirius... it would've been a nightmare for the both of us."
Regulus sighed. "I know."
"Now I need a drink," Diana mumbled.
"Then why don't you pour yourself some Fire Whiskey?" Regulus suggested with a mischievous grin. "Only one year left to being of age. Can't be that bad."
Diana gave him a look. "My mother thinks ladies should never drink alcohol. Let alone a sixteen-year-old girl."
Regulus looked around with his smile still dangling from his lips. "From where I'm standing, your mother seems too busy greeting the guests to notice."
Diana finally grinned. "You know what? You're right. I've always wanted to try some Fire Whiskey."
"That's the spirit!" said Regulus enthusiastically, raising his arm for her to take in a gentlemanly manner. "Shall we, Miss Greengrass?"
"Of course, Mr. Black." Chuckling, Diana wrapped her hand around his arm before walking back to the drink table nearby.
"I'll keep a look out," said Regulus, standing in front of her as he scanned the crowd, in case Mrs. Greengrass would come to sight.
Diana grabbed a silver cup and raised it toward the Fire Whiskey bottle which floated in mid air right above the table, and so the bottle magically poured the whiskey into her cup.
Diana then raised the cup to take a sip, but as soon as she swallowed it, her face crumbled. "Ugh, this is disgusting. Never mind."
Regulus laughed as she placed the cup back on the table.
Soon, the wedding ceremony began. Many chairs were set before the altar, where a beautiful floral arch stood, and so Regulus and Diana took their separate seats, waiting for the wedding to begin.
The couple's vows took so long that Diana felt like she could fall asleep right there and then, but her parents looked as proud as ever of their son.
To Diana's great relief, the ceremony finally came to an end. Once the guests had all gotten to their feet, the chairs magically disappeared, making more room for dancing in the lantern-lit yard.
As soon as the music started, the guests joined the dance floor, and Diana found it as the perfect time to get rid of the flower crown on her head.
"Wanna dance?" A voice said behind her, making Diana jump right after she had tossed the crown into one of the bushes.
Turning around briskly, Diana was relieved to see Regulus standing behind her with a smile.
"Nah. I'm not much of a dancer, to be honest. I mean, look at those pretentious idiots," she said with a grin, pointing at the guests who were slow dancing to a song that clearly wasn't meant for waltzing elegantly. "It's boring."
Regulus glanced at the crowd before turning back to face Diana again. "Who says we have to dance like them? There are no rules for how to dance."
"My dear mother would disagree." Diana scoffed, but she too was now grinning. "But you know what they say... it's not a party until you spit in the face of my mother's rules."
Laughing, Regulus took her hand as they ran to the back of the yard, jumping around and silly-dancing to the loud music, having the time of their lives.
***
When the wedding ceremony came to an end by the time midnight swept through the sky, the guests started to leave one by one, Disapparating down the lane. Diana truly hadn't expected to have this much fun today, which she owed to Regulus being there with her.
Mrs. Greengrass had left the cleaning to their house elf, and had also hired another elf for help. They had also been the ones to make the dinner and drinks that night.
Tired after all the dancing, Diana entered their house after the last guest had left, making her way up to her bedroom as she hummed a song under her breath giddily.
Although Diana came to a halt at the doorway, seeing her mother inside her room, with a crumbled parchment in her hands.
Mrs. Greengrass finally looked up from the parchment, and Diana's heart sank in her chest at the expression on her mother's face.
"What — what are you doing in here, Mother?" Diana asked in a small voice. Though she already knew the answer to that question, she still dreaded to hear it.
Mrs. Greengrass's lip curled up as she gave Diana a look. "Care to explain who this Lupin is that you've been so worried about?"