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THE ART OF UNSUCCESSFULLY AVOIDING A BLACK ✰ ✰ ✰
ROSALIND MALFOY HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT SHE WAS GOING TO DO about this. The this, in this case, being Regulus Black. Ever since she's had the dream she hadn't been able to look him anywhere near in the eyes and worse yet she had damn near all her classes with him this year. Sixth year was about to be a bitch.
And to make matters worse, Regulus was sitting a few seats down from Rosalind in the great hall and was giving her the biggest puppy dog eyes anyone at Hogwarts had ever seen. Ros had already been chirped to hell and back about it by her classmates but she still refused to meet his gaze.
"You have to talk to him at some point," Elaine said as she eyed the diamond ring on the younger girl's finger.
Elaine was a pure blood wizard from Ridgemont family—Ros was sure they had some sort of familial relations somewhere in their family trees but she was honestly too lazy to look. Elaine had kind of taken Rosalind Malfoy under her wing during their respective second and third years when she happened to be the unlucky soul tasked with consoling Rosalind in the common room late one night. The whole reason for the consolation in the first place was the fact that her mother had decided to mail her engagement ring in that morning. Of course, Sirius had also decided to make it turn her entire hand green when she put it on for the first time. The jinx had since worn off by the time she made it to her common room that night but the whole thing brought tears to her eyes.
"I know that," Rosalind snapped, jerking her left hand out of sight. Right now, she wished she didn't have anything to do with the Black family. The brothers had somehow taken over every facet of her life.
"Just look at him. It's pitiful, really," she said, wiggling her fingers in a small wave towards the boy. "I can't tell if he wants to kill you or kiss you."
"Elaine-"
"And why are you even ignoring him, anyway? It's been a week and not a soul knows why," she said. Rosalind stalled. She honestly didn't have a good reason as to why she was ignoring Regulus.
"Look, I had a dream-"
"A dream!"
"Yes," she hissed. "A dream. And Regulus was my boyfriend in it and it's just uncomfortable to think about."
"As if the two of you haven't been mooning over each other for the past five years," Elaine said with a slight scoff.
"We haven't!" Rosalind said for the four hundredth time in her life. Honestly, it's as if people of the opposite gender can't be friends.
A beat of silence passed between the two girls.
"Ros, none of this makes sense," Elaine finally said.
"What part of my predicament doesn't make sense to you," she said. Rosalind was already growing tired of this conversation. At this rate, she'd never speak to Regulus again.
"So what you had a silly dream about him. That doesn't mean you get to pretend he doesn't exist," Elaine pushed. "And, plus, I've probably had a dream like that about every single guy in my year and if you saw me doing what you're doing I'd never have a boyfriend again."
"I don't want to date Regulus, though. It'll make everything too complicated," Rosalind said, though, it wasn't entirely the truth. Yes, it would make everything way too complicated, but she wasn't entirely opposed to dating the younger Black.
"Complicated Shomplicated," Elaine said.
"I've got to get to class," Rosalind sighed, gathering up her books from the bench beside her as she stood up from the table. She offered Regulus the tiniest of glances before making her way out of the great hall and Regulus practically jumped out of his seat in chase of her.
"Ros, wait!" he practically shouted as he swung his legs over the bench and followed her out of the hall. And seemingly as if she'd seen this coming, Rosalind grabbed the boy by his forearm and led him down an empty corridor just west of the hall.
The rush of relief that had initially washed over him had all but been replaced by the anger he'd been feeling the past two days.
"Am I finally good enough for you again?" he asked as she spun around to face him, letting her hand fall back into its place at her side.
"You know that's not what this is about."
"Actually, I don't know anything." The anger was starting to seep into every crevice of his body and he wasn't stopping it. He never got mad at Rosalind, ever. It was a small promise he'd made to himself—not that he'd ever tell her that. After all the shit he went through at home, especially after Sirius left, he never wanted Rosalind to feel that way. At least, if he could help it. He could just picture what it'd be like if he hurt her. He'd held her enough times after his daft older brother pulled some stupid prank to know. He'd held his tongue enough times at Malfoy Manor when her mother made certain comments that made his blood boil. He'd been her best friend for six years. All for that to go out the window out of nowhere for a reason he wasn't even privy to.
"Please, just tell me," he said, calmer this time. His right hand found her left one, ignoring the cold metal of her engagement ring. "Nothing breaks us. You promised me that third year."
She chuckled at the memory. The two of them at the black lake. It was June, the last day of term. Both of them were free of finals—not that 3rd year finals were all that difficult—and were just basking in each other's presence before they were forced back to their respective homes. Rosalind's promise to Regulus came about when he brought up the fact that they'd be away from each other for two whole months. And she'd meant that promise; she still meant it.
"Reggie," Rosalind sighed as she finally leaned into him. This is why she's avoided him so heavily. She knew the second she spoke to him she'd fall right back into his arms and any minor, almost non-existent feelings she'd been harboring would be out of control. And her heart was beating out of her chest.
"C'mon, love, we're ditching class today," he said as he led her by their entertained hands down to the dungeon.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Well, first we're going to my dorm to drop off all our stuff and, then, we're going to our special spot," he grinned. The water fountain. The spot had slipped her mind over the break, they'd only found it a few months before the end of term last year.
The two of them were quick to drop their school stuff on Regulus' bed—who, by the way, had somehow managed to score himself a single dorm without being a prefect. They were sure to take the long way around to the courtyard to avoid anyone that could set them off their mission.
Their water fountain was in a seemingly abandoned courtyard. Despite this fact, the water running through it was always gleaming and crystal clear. In the spring, there were rose petals floating in the rungs. Regulus had taken a few and pinned them to the cork board beside his bed and they had yet to wilt.
"It never gets old out here," Rosalind sighed as the two stopped to admire the garden. Not much had changed since they'd last been out here but Rosalind thought it was the most beautiful place in the castle.
"Nothing breaks us, right," he said, squeezing her hand as they sat at the side of the fountain.
