CHECK YES JULIET ▷ JAMES POTTER [1]

𝟒𝟎. 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄'𝐒 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐓

(40 : STEAL LOVE'S SWEET BAIT  . . .
FROM FEARFUL HOOKS )

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REGULUS BLACK WAS KISSING HER and she didn't know if she was meant to kiss back or not. Juliet couldn't help but compare how he kissed to a certain Gryffindor — Regulus kissed her carefully and his lips were soft whilst James kissed her with reckless abandon and his hands were calloused. And to kiss someone that wasn't James Potter felt wrong somehow.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Abraxas Malfoy bellowed from the doorway, his left eye twitching at the sight of two teenagers heatedly pressed up against the wall of his study. "This is my private chamber, not a brothel!"

The couple broke apart. In shock, Juliet brushed her fingertips over her lips.

In an unusual twist, it was Regulus who first regained his composure. He retrieved his overcoat from the floor, tossing it over his shoulder as he offered the older man a rather proud, boyish grin that was reminiscent of his older brother. "My apologies, Mr Malfoy," the redhead was wrenched back to reality when he intertwined their hands, "but I do think we were leaving."

As Regulus was leading Juliet back out, Abraxas roughly grabbed her forearm, taking her for the weakest link. "Do not mistake me for a fool, Mr Black, Miss Fawley. The door was locked this morning. How did you get in here?"

"I'm afraid your old age must be getting to you, Mr Malfoy," she replied, her tone saccharine. "The door was unlocked."

"I suggest you remove your hand from my fiancée now," Regulus added pointedly.

Juliet smirked. "And I suggest you get yourself a new desk. You don't even want to know what we did th—"

"GET OUT!"

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     Holding a finger to her lips, Juliet signalled for Regulus to be quiet as she swiped two bottles of champagne from the open bar and then dragged him away from the wedding reception. After not having retrieved the diary for Dumbledore, a dark, bitter feeling infected her heart. Without it, there was no point to her being there. All of her life she had been told the importance of her family name, but her mother had been more distant than usual for over a year now and her father was dead. The Fawleys were already in tatters — why should she have to salvage their reputation by witnessing the happiest day of her assailant's life?

     She didn't want to think about how she had failed, or how she might have to enlist as an Order of the Phoenix member to be protected now. She didn't want to think about how her life was falling apart, or how she might have to play the pureblood game of pretend until the day she dies.