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Regulus' POV - Friday January 13th, 1978
With James in full protective mode, Theo and I haven't gotten a moment alone together since that first night during Winter Break. Damn him!
Looking over at the group with Theo sitting between her parents, I casually wave my wand under the desk so an enchanted note appears on the book she's reading. A smile instantly covers her face. Her green eyes dance up to meet mine and she gives a quick nod in agreement.
With me being the only one that knows it's her birthday, I have set up the perfect surprise activity to not only help her relax, but will also give us some alone time. Let's see James try and ruin this!
With classes concluded and dinner eaten, Theo excuses herself earlier than normal from our group meeting.
Waiting a good 20 minutes, I finally excuse myself as well, hoping the gap in time is enough to satisfy James from following, but just in case I cast a quick disillusionment charm so he can't spot where I'm headed. Reaching the boat house, I pause to look around and see if she got here early. Nope. Right as the hour hand chimes on the clock tower, she strolls down the steps and over to me.
"Happy Birthday." I whisper, pulling her into a tight hug before releasing her and taking out a gift box with a green ribbon.
"I don't need a gift, Reg."
"Ohh come on, just open it. Its nothing big." I smirk down at her as she takes the present and slowly unwraps it.
"Romeo and Juliet?" She looks at me with a smile.
Suddenly nervous, I find it difficult to find the right words. "Umm, well I thought of getting you a necklace but I never see you wear any jewelry... and I remember hearing you talk about liking muggle literature... so I looked into it and found Shakespeare was a really popular one... uhhh shit. I'm sorry. You don't like it? I'll get something else!" Reaching for the book, she snatches it back.
"I love it." She smiles, holding the book to her chest tightly. "It's one of his most famous plays."
"So you've read it before?"
"Mhm." She nods, moving to sit down on the ledge looking over the Black Lake. "It's a famous love story, even in my time."
"Oh." I blush, not realizing what the book I gave her was about. "Uh, can you tell me about it?"
"Well, umm yeah." Her cheeks get a bit more rosy." Clearing her throat she looks across the dark water. "Romeo and Juliet come from rival families and they fall madly in love." She glances over to me for a brief second before looking back over the water. "Even though their families oppose their union they sneak off and are married in secret... a lot of other stuff happens where Romeo ends up killing a member of her family and other stuff, but at the end Juliet ends up having to fake her own death in order to sneak off and be reunited with him. Romeo doesn't know this plan so he thinks she truly dies when news of her death reaches him. He travels to go visit her body and he... well he takes his own life, unable to bear the thought of being without her."
"Oh shit. I thought you said it was a love story?"
"It is." She defends giving me a soft smile.
"He dies! How is that a love story?!"
A tiny frown passes her face as she looks over at me. "Not all stories have a happy ending... sometimes love only flourishes for a brief moment."
Pausing, she gently moves to rest her hand on top of mine and I wonder if she might be thinking of our story at this moment. "So what happens after he dies?"
"Well, Juliet wakes up to find her lover dead beside her. Her heart shatters and she also realizes she cannot live without him, so she takes a knife and joins him in death."
"Merlin... muggles are dark."
Earning a smile at the comment she rests her head on my shoulder. "I think it's romantic... to love someone so much that a life without them doesn't seem worth living... to give up everything for that person... it is a tragic story, but real life is tragic. In the real world you don't get to have the 'run off into the sunset' type of endings."
Kissing the top of her head, I wrap my arm around her back to just enjoy the moment with her. A life without her... how would I get through that?... dammit... what are these intense thoughts again?! We've only known one another for a few months. "How long did they know each other?"
"About 5 days." She states and I let out a laugh.
"Only 5 days?!"
"And they get married after only knowing each other for 1." She grins, tilting her head up to me.
"Muggles are insane! 5 days and you take your own life because of someone?!"
Keeping her green eyes on me, she raises her hand to play with some of my hair waves. "I agree the story moves quickly, but I don't think you need to know someone for years to know you're made for one another."
Feeling my cheeks go red again, it takes every ounce of my strength not to lean in and kiss her. "I agree with you on that." I whisper out, before finally standing up and pulling her with me. "Alright! You ready?" With a giant smile she tucks the book into her enchanted pocket and nods her head. Grabbing her hand, we apparate away and arrive in a dark alley, next to a busy street.
"Oooo!" She squeaks in excitement. "Lets go!" Pulling me by the hand, we run down the street filled with food vendors, restaurants, dessert stalls, and every kind of cuisine you can imagine. "Oooo Reg! How did you find this place?!"
"Dumbledore actually told me about it." I smile seeing the excitement light up in her eyes. "I mentioned you liked cooking and he talked about this place."
"It's incredible!!!" She pulls my hand again as she struggles to decide what to look at. "So where are we going to eat?"
"Wellll, that's my 2nd gift. Anything you want, as much as you want." She looks over at me like I just gave her a diamond ring. "We can get stuff to go too, if you get too full."
Throwing her arms around my neck, she jumps off the ground and my arms come up to hold her. "Oooo thank you! This is amazing!"
Hours upon hours pass as my wallet gets cleaned out from getting something from nearly every vendor we pass, but it is money well spent. The light and joy returning to those green eyes as she tastes new flavors or learns now cooking techniques... how can one person have such a strong hold over me?!
Finally leaving around 3am as a majority of the vendors have long since shut down, we walk hand in hand towards another ally and I apparate us back to the castle.
-----
Resting my head in her lap, I watch as the firelight dances across her face and feel her finger gently brush through my hair. I'm home. I'm hers. I think, as I replay the last few perfect hours. I'll never know anyone who can make me feel so utterly consumed or cared for... "I get it." I whisper.
Looking down at me with a sweet smile she asks, "You get what?"
"Why he did it."
"Who?"
"Romeo." Her hand stops moving in my hair. "I understand why he couldn't go on without her. Why he had to die too."
"Don't say that." She shakes her head. "Please don't say that."
Sitting up, I turn my body to face her before grabbing her chin to look at me. "But it's true. I understand-"
"Stop." She whispers, gripping my arms. "Reg... I'm not surviving this mission." My breath gets caught in my throat. "At least not this version of me...shit." She lets out a breath. "This is all my fault, I shouldn't have gotten so close. We can't possi-"
"I love you." She goes silent at my words, staring at me as her breathing gets heavy.
"Don't say what you don't mean."
"I mean in." I rest my hand on the back of her neck, pulling her a bit closer. "And I mean it when I said I understand Romeo... just the thought of losing you..." I hesitate, feeling a empty pit sit in my chest at the thought. "It's like a dagger in my chest... I need you Theo. You're as necessary as the air I breathe at this point."
"Reggie..." she whispers again and I see her green eyes starting to get watery. "we can't."
"Why? Why can't we? Even if it's just for now, why can't I love you with everything I have?"
"Because it's going to hurt that much worse when you lose me." She says her tears finally start falling.
"I'm already doomed if I lose you... so please, please let me be with you while we still can."
Staying quiet for far longer than I like, she finally nods her head. "While we still can..." She repeats back to me as she moves to start leaning in.
Just as her soft lips bush against mine, the room of requirements door slams open and a blast of magic launches us apart. I swear to Merlin I would kill this man if he wasn't Theos father! Looking over at a fuming James, I watch as he folds a blank piece of parchment and tucks it in his pocket. "Where were you?" He asks, as much as a stereotypical protective father could get. "Cause you sure as hell weren't on school grounds! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"
Groaning across from me, Theodora rolls her eyes and grabs my hand. "Come on." She whispers as she pulls me up from the sofa and we walk past her father who is red in anger.
Reaching the Slytherin common room, I walk her to her dorm where she gives me a simple kiss on the cheek before slipping inside. A perfect moment ruined. Dammit James.
Turning to leave I get a few steps away before I hear the door creak open behind me. Looking over my shoulder I see Theo as she silently runs up and throws her arms around my neck, pulling me down. Without hesitating she presses her lips against mine and for the first time in my life I've felt true happiness.
Kissing her back, I match her passion and desperation as we are consumed by the moment. Her taste fills me and I never want to taste anything else. Deepening our kiss, I take hold of her waist and press her against the nearby wall. A small noise leaves the back of her throat from the action and I lose all sense of reality. The only thing I know is I have the woman I love in front of me, allowing me to kiss her how I've been dreaming since we first met. Where we are, the time, the year... none of it registers with me any longer. None of it matters... I have her.
Finally unlocking her lips to get some air, she giggles and presses her forehead against mine before she says, "I love you, Regulus Black."
Launching forward again I capture her lips even more aggressively as I repeat her voice in my mind 'I love you, Regulus Black.'
A throat clearing behind us is the only thing that finally pulls us apart. Loosening my grip on her, I turn my head to spot Snape glaring at us, arms crossed. "It's past curfew."
"Fuck off, Snape." I snap, getting more and more frustrated with all these interruptions.
Ignoring my comment, the lanky man just looks at Theo. "If you want to experience a real man then you know where to find me."
With my anger finally snapping, I launch off the wall and my fist finds his face. Seeing red, I continue pounding on the older student until I finally feel Theo pulling my arm back. "That's enough, Reg." She whispers in my ear as she pulls my hand closer to her. "He's had enough."
Using her wand to heal my hand as it swells, I kiss her again softly while we sit in the common room. "I'm sorry if I overreacted there." She raises an eyebrow before shaking her head.
"I wouldn't be the one you'd need to apologize to."
"Ehhh." I wave my free hand in the air. "I don't feel bad for teaching him a lesson. Not when he spoke to you that way."
"Gods... maybe you and my dad are more similar than I realized." Putting her wand away she looks into my eyes. "All healed up now!"
"We could stay out here a little longer..." I suggest, pulling her into my lap. "Just spend some more time together. I don't mind sleeping out here if you don't."
"Hmmm. I have a better idea." Grabbing my hand, she starts pulling me to the male dorms. Stopping at my door I flash her a question glance. "May I sleep in your bed tonight?" She asks, her green eyes sparkling as she smirks. Yes. Yes. A million times yes!!!
"Of course." I blurt out, almost too quickly.
"Good." Leaning forward she gives me a quick kiss on the tip of my nose before transforming into a cat. Oh.
Laughing, I bend down and scoop her into my arms. "Well at least this way we won't get caught... but it wasn't exactly what I had in mind." I silence myself as I enter my dorm filled with sleeping students.
Changing into my PJs quickly, I crawl into bed with Theo curling up against me. A steady purr humming into my ear as she settles down and I wrap my arms around her. "Goodnight. I love you." I whisper, feeling her soft fur move closer to me and her purr grow even louder.
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Regulus' POV - Saturday January 14th, 1978
Waking the next morning, my roommates are all quick to question where I got a cat from. But none of them really care too much.
"You coming, Black?" One of them asks as they finish getting dressed.
Looking over to them from my warm bed, I shake my head. "Not today, feeling sick." Without another word the rest of my roommates leave and I smile over to Theo who quickly transforms into her normal form.
"Good morning." She coos, smiling while leaning forward to give me a gentle kiss. "So we're avoiding people today?"
"We're taking the locket soon... I need every moment I can have." Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her into a deep kiss and just like last night I'm consumed by it. Reality leaves and the only thing that remains is her. "I love you."
Smiling as if she's never known pain, she whispers back, "I love you too."
"Wanna hide in here all day? James won't be able to get into Slytherin."
Laughing she just shakes her head. "You're underestimating him if you think he can't get in here."
Groaning in frustration, I let my hands dance along her skin. "So there's nowhere we can go that he won't find us?"
"Mr Black." She fakes a shocked conservative voice. "Trying to get me all alone are you?"
"Absolutely." I grin wickedly, pulling her flush against me under the covers of my bed as she blushes.
"Umm. I know a place." She whispers, her lips gently touching mine. "It's not very romantic or comfy, but... it'll be private."
"Are you trying to get me alone and have your way with me?" I now return the fake conservative voice with a dramatic gasp.
"Absolutely." She retorts back, an ear to ear smile at her lips.
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Laying on the floor of what Theo referred to as "The Map Chamber" I look over to see the partly dressed woman curled against me under a thick blanket. "This was wonderful." She mumbles against my bare chest as she draws tiny swirls across my skin.
"Perfect." I confirm, not letting up on my grip. "It was perfect, Theo." Beyond perfect... but I don't know how to express that to her in words... "I love you so much."
Moving her head up, so her chin rests on my chest she looks at me. "I love you more."
Running my hand through her red locks, I can't resist myself as I flip her over and once again fall into sweet oblivion as our bodies connect for the 2nd and what I hope won't be the last time.
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James' POV - Saturday January 14th, 1978
Staring at the Marauders map, I can feel my face glowing red in frustration. I swear to Merlin if that Slytherin thinks he can get away with sneaking off with MY daughter he has another thing coming.
"Will you calm down." The angelic like voice behind me moves to rest a hand on my shoulder. "She's in love with him. Let them be together these last few days."
"Lil, they've been in this same spot for hours... HOURS!!! I know what that means! I'm not an idiot!" He's a dead man!
"James!" She snaps getting aggressive. "You've been pacing in a circle the last 10 minutes trying to get to them! There is a reason they are hiding from you!"
"They have to be under us." I mumble starting at the floor of the circular room. "There's no way they're above us, we already checked every other floor..."
"Oh for heaven's sake!" I hear her groan in irritation behind me.
"I could try to break through the floor, but I don't want to crush them... I could -" Mid sentence, I am quickly cut off as I feel two hands grab my face and pull me to her lips. Oh Merlin!
Quickly reciprocating the kiss with the woman I have been enamored with for years, she is the first to pull back and look at me with a slick grin. "Can we go and have some us time together, please?"
"Yes!" All thoughts of my future daughter poof out of my brain as Lily takes my hand and leads me away.
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A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a comment and remember to vote if you enjoyed!
GAME!!!! - Comment your answer
WOULD YOU RATHER!
Travel back in time
OR
Travel forwards in time