Forget-Me-Not → Regulus Black

Trust

Aurelia stared at the ground, bewildered, as she went through whatever had just happened. She shuddered to think about the cold, twisted smile, and the dark, gleaming eyes that Ophelia had when she recounted her story. Aurelia gulped, wrapping her arms around herself tightly as if it would keep her safe from the penetrating gloom that seemed to take over the castle. She had class, but she stayed rooted in place — too terrified to move, and — although she wouldn't admit it — too lazy to do whatever her class had planned for that day.

Aurelia wasn't stupid. She knew who Ophelia must have been talking about when she said the name 'Tom', and she knew that there was something terribly, terribly wrong.

And in that moment all she wanted was Regulus.

But Regulus wouldn't understand, Aurelia thought dismally, he hates me; he hates everything about me.

Little did she know Regulus was thinking the same thing but about him.

There's always Remus — he always knows what to do. And Sirius and James, Peter even.

Aurelia was just about to turn around to search for them when she heard a pair of footsteps. Marlene placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, looking at her with such warmth that Aurelia no longer felt cold. "I got some Butterbeer for you."

Deciding not to question it Aurelia gratefully accepted, letting the heat radiate from the mug.

So they sat together in silence, watching in admiration as the trees swayed and the bees buzzed.

And for the first time in a while Aurelia felt at peace.

Marlene quietly went to the library, making sure not to make a sound. She nervously tapped her foot, craning her neck to make sure no one was in there hiding behind one of the bookshelves, and softly sighed.

Not even a full minute of waiting after, there was a noise.

A pair of icy blue eyes was searching the area. After their eyes locked, Regulus swiftly made his way to Marlene. He offered her a half smile before pulling out a letter. "How is she?" Regulus asked hurriedly.

"She's doing alright." Marlene shoved her hands in her pajama pockets, a frown settling on her face. "You wanted me to give this to her?"

Regulus nodded regrettably. "Yes — maybe this will clear everything up... Even if our friendships on the line."

Marlene stared at the letter, puzzled, before meeting Regulus' eyes once more. "I'm rather good at riddles if I do say so myself. You said you couldn't get in because of the ghost?"

"The ghost hates me," Regulus said. "Understandable, of course."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Marlene laughed. "Relax, she'll find the letter in the morning and hopefully whatever confict that's going on between the two of you goes away." She gestured wildly between him and the empty space residing beside him as she said that.

Regulus let out a bitter chuckle. "That's not very likely."

Marlene shook her head. "Aurelia holds grudges but... I feel like she couldn't stay mad at you forever. You're a good boyfriend, you know."

Regulus' cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson, "Well, actually—"

"I'm sure she feels lucky to have someone like you."

"I'm sure she feels lucky to have a friend like you," Regulus said. He seemed about ready turn around but something stopped him mid-way. "Trust is important to Aurelia, you know." Marlene was flipping through an old leather-bound book, as if something inside of it had captured her interest.

Regulus nodded. "What is it that Muggles say? 'Honesty is the best policy'?"

Marlene seemed to contemplate it for a second before shaking her head in amusement. "I'm surprised you can talk about Muggles in such a carefree way. Unexpected for a Slytherin."

Regulus visibly stiffened. Marlene was quick to notice this. She let out another soft sigh, "I didn't mean it in that way — I was merely curious." She let out a nervous cough. "Yeah, that's the phrase. Personally I think it depends."

Regulus raised a brow at her words. "Honesty?"

"Sometimes it's best to not tell the truth... because sometimes when you do you only end up hurt, or you end up hurting her."

"So is doing this the right thing then?" Regulus questioned.

"Oh no!" Marlene responded. "I'm sure telling her whatever's going on is the best thing to do at the moment. I'm just saying — well, sometimes — in some scenarios — telling the truth isn't always the best option. If it's a matter of you getting hurt or her, which one would you choose?"

"Me," Regulus said immediately.

Marlene paused, but then gave a final nod.

As Marlene walked the halls a sudden sense of discomfort hit her. "Friend."

A/N: As you can probably tell I haven't updated this story in a while — and for that I apologize. I just moved so there's that, as well as because I have a bunch of school work that I have to get done. (Not to mention the fact that there was no power for five days, so I spent all of that time freezing cold because there was no heat. I had a lot of catching up to do for school after that happened.) Hopefully I'll go back to a normal updating schedule sometime soon so I can get this one done faster and write another fanfiction that may or may not be important to this story.