BETROTHED — CHAPTER 2
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Elara stared absentmindedly at the dark, feathered quill between her fingers. She tapped it slowly on the parchment in front of her, not realizing the ink had been dripping off of the tip of the feather.
It had been four days since her argument with Regulus. Four days since her agreement was made with Sirius Black.
Since then Regulus had been skillfully avoiding her, at all times except during meal times where they were told by their parents to always sit side by side. Even then, he would avoid her eyes, pointedly making a gesture of cutting slowly into his food.
Their peers thought nothing of it. After all, the couple often kept their poise at meal times, choosing to speak amicably with others while only making small conversation between themselves when necessary. And necessary wasn't often.
But she had to do something about it. There wasn't time to waste. Every moment he spent alone and moping would be a second closer for his choice to join the death eaters to become irrevocable.
Elara blinked hazily. Slowly she began to realize just how out of reality she'd been for these past few moments, quickly taking the quill's tip from the parchment and disposing of the now-ruined piece of parchment.
She made a quick decision, straightening up and making her way towards the door. She managed to walk through the common room with no distractions or interferences, being thankful that the Slytherins in the room had decided to mind their business today.
Slowly she climbed up the stairs to the sixth year's boys dormitory, stopping right at the door. Elara straightened her posture, and took a large inhale before knocking.
A faint "Come in," was all she heard on the other side of the door.
The room was empty save for a figure slumped dejectedly over a desk in a corner of the room. She'd never quite noticed just how much they the room smelled of Regulus. Elara treaded carefully into the room, carefully observing her surroundings.
All the beds were made save for Regulus', whose blanket was strewn haphazardly over his comforter. His trunk was opened and appeared to have been rummaged through, objects and books sticking out at odd angles.
As she reached the desk, she found Regulus to be in a position not so different from her very own just moments before.
Absent, busy eyes that seemed to be empty but filled with calculations at the same time. Regulus' hands came up to each side of his cheeks, keeping his head propped up. Elara attempted to follow his line of sight only to find nothing but a horizon of trees. His breathing was steady, as if he was a statue.
"How may I help you, Elara?" His eyes didn't move from their focus just outside the window, his voice even more rigid than usual.
Her heels clacked once on the floor as she decided against taking a step closer. The rigidness in his voice caused a knot to form in her stomach. "Are you really going to play this game, Regulus?"
His response was tired. "This isn't a game, Elara. This is my decision. And I stand by it."
"Why?" She whispered it gently, for the first time with no hint of aggression.
Her tone caused Regulus to perk up the slightest bit. His back straightened, and he turned ever so slightly. She thought she almost saw regret in his eyes.
"You know why."
Elara nodded, not looking at him. "Okay," she whispered, mostly to herself. She made a move to walk out, but something stopped her. Instead she carefully took a seat on Regulus' bed.
"You stayed," he said, remarking at her with slight disbelief. Their conversations had always been short and to the point. Once the point was given, one of them would walk away. That's how they were, how they always were.
But this time she stayed.
His eyes watched her, and she couldn't help but remember the same eyes that watched her with the same intensity just mere days ago, from a brother much different than the one she was with.
"Is it so odd for me to be on your bed? We've done far worse on here," she joked. She didn't quite know why she made the joke, but it made her stomach unknot just a little bit.
At the mention of their escapades in his bed, one corner of his lips very carefully quirked upwards. Those were the only times in their relationship that they'd even felt a shred of passion, though Elara knew that it would always mean more to her than it did to him. That much was obvious to her - Regulus didn't love her the way she loved him.
"Yes, and you wore far less." The statement had no malice, no lust, no desire behind it. But there was a lightheartedness that made an uncharacteristic smile grow steadily on Elara's face.
Regulus' eyes twinkled ever so slightly. "You look nice when you smile."
"It's nice to see you lighten up a little too. I haven't seen that since Sirius ran away."
She saw him stiffen, his eyes no longer holding the twinkle of youthfulness that they held before. Now they were watching her apprehensively, trying to pick something apart.
"You called him by his first name," he said to her, more accusing than she'd ever heard him speak to her.
Her face drained when she realized her mistake, but she was quick to keep her features clear. "My apologies, must've been a slip of the tongue. I was just reading up on your family tree before I came here. I must've seen his name somewhere," she trailed off, her lie sounding more lackluster than she had meant.
Regulus stood up, fiddling with a trinket on his desk. His eyes didn't quite meet hers. "I'm well aware that that's a lie, but I'm no position to be demanding truth from you." His jaw ticked ever so slightly.
Elara wasn't sure of what to say, so she kept quiet. That was another characteristic of their short-lived conversations — they were often plagued with large hunks of silence.
"You didn't sleep with him did you?" His voice broke the silence, small and uncharacteristic.
Elara's eyes widened at his question. They were both well aware of the rumors that circulated that painted his brother to be something of a man-whore, but she never thought Regulus would think of her like that. "Of course not. I do still uphold standards. Your blood-traitor brother is nothing but a mere annoyance in my life."
Regulus nodded slowly, still not meeting her eyes. "That was imprudent of me to ask." He looked up at her. "Have you... ever slept with anyone else? I understand that it's not uncommon between pureblood marriages and I wouldn't see you any different."
Elara was taken aback at how talkative he was, but she wasn't going to complain anytime soon. "Of course not. I've made it clear that I'll uphold as healthy of a marriage as I can from my end. I intend to keep it that way." She'd wanted to add 'and my heart only belongs to you' but it wasn't the time.
Confessing that would only create a rift that would further push him from her, further push him towards his mother, towards the Dark Lord.
She wanted to ask whether he'd done the same, but she didn't have the heart for it. Elara Northcott could withstand many things. But as she'd annoyingly found over the years, Regulus Black was her soft spot. She didn't want to hear him confirm her fears.
"I apologize for not doing very well at holding up my end. I know that I have been a lackluster partner." Elara chose to ignore the voice in her head that suggested that his statement was a confirmation of his infidelity.
She stood, carefully straightening her skirt, as to not meet his eyes. "You do not have to apologize for anything Regulus. I understand that my decision to uphold my end won't have to be reciprocated. I would never force you to pretend to love me."
He strided toward her, reaching for her arm. "You don't believe that I love you?" He looked to her with such piercing greyish-blue eyes that she nearly believed him.
She stared back at him, her eyes struggling to meet his intensity. "It'd be foolish of me to believe that you harbor any more than attraction towards me. This is after all, a marriage based on political pretenses." His face inched closer to her, his breath hot as it reached her lips.
"I know it may be hard to believe. A pureblood arranged marriage. I'm on the path to join the Dark Lord. But that doesn't mean I don't love you." His hands came to rest at her hips, pulling her closer to him.
Then he kissed her, his lips soft against hers. This time that their lips connected felt different, as if he was trying to prove to her that he loved her. Or maybe to himself. Cautiously, he pushed her down onto his bed, trailing kisses up her neck.
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A little while later, they laid on his bed, breaths heavy. A blanket was placed over them, his bare chest coming into contact with her back, his arms wrapped around her. His face nudged into her hair. "Mother sent me a letter today. She says that the Dark Lord wants me to swear loyalty to him officially when winter holidays comes along."
The weight of what he just admitted to her wasn't lost on Elara. She knew that what he just told her would be important information that Sirius Balck would want to hear. She also knew that she couldn't start an argument now, not when he trusted her with vital information.
She turned to face him, her hand coming up to stroke his cheek. "And you're sure you're going to do it?"
He took the hand she was using to stoke his cheek and stroked her thumb. "You know the answer to that, darling."
Her stomach fell at his use of 'darling'. He'd only ever used that once before, to convince her to drop her questions about the abuse both him and his brother had suffered.
But Elara knew now one more thing. They had more work cut out for them than she'd thought, and they'd only had 2 months to change his mind.
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