loveless; regulus black

ೃ⁀➷ ix. home

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hogwarts was home. it was home to the gryffindors, who felt that hogwarts was a place for them to feel safe to be themselves. it was home to the ravenclaws, who felt that hogwarts was a quiet place they could think in. it was home to the hufflepuffs, who felt that hogwarts was the safest place in the world.

but it was home specially to the slytherins. the slytherins who never knew the difference between house and home until they started to live in the magical school. hogwarts was their home away from home.

so, despite people assuming the slytherin house was to blame for this war, it was them that felt the most uncomfortable during the welcoming feast. because hogwarts was no longer the home they used to remember, just an empty shell of it. the slytherins hated how their home away from home started resembling the home they wanted to run away from.

the number of muggle-borns clearly depleted, and the only ones that remained were clinging unto their pureblooded friends. ophelia was internally grateful that her friend, lily evans, didn't drop out. the redhead gryffindor was one of the strongest people she knew.

"you alright, pan?" regulus asked. he was beside the blonde girl and noticed her having that face, the face that meant she was light years away from their seat in the great hall. "looks like i lost you there."

ophelia chuckled as she nudged the boy. "i was just thinking about how i'm gonna be the top of our year again and how sad you'll be when i do."

regulus scoffed as he cracked the knuckles on his hand, trying to act tough but failed when he did something wrong causing him to hold his hand in pain. ophelia let out a laugh at regulus attempt at being 'macho'.

ophelia had a habit of tuning out the welcoming speech. it was boring, bland and repetitive. she was twirling her spaghetti when the random urge to look at the gryffindor table overcame her. it guilted her, the thought of her friends, because she hadn't thought about them all summer.

there were small parts where she worried about lily's safety, but she never brought her mind towards the four marauders. they just slipped her mind; she didn't mean for it to happen.

and when she looked at their permanent spot in the great hall, her eyes connected with sirius black. he had a sad look on his face, ophelia could guess why, looking at him now, it felt off. she didn't feel like the butterflies she used to. she didn't feel the intense urge to be with him. she just didn't feel anything when she looked at sirius.

"merlin's bear, there is food right in front of them, must they eat each other?!" regulus said and ophelia turned her gaze to evan and venus, who were very much eating each other's faces. the two of them scrunched their nose in disgust, before rolling their eyes and then eating their food.

sirius let out a scoff as he watched his brother and former beloved. remus, who was beside him, furrowed his eyebrows — not knowing why his friend was suddenly in a sour mood. James, who noticed as well, leaned a bit forward in his seat to be heard, "padfood, you alright, mate?"

"yeah, it's just—have you ever noticed how similar regulus and lia are?" he asked and remus could feel his heart sink. the entire summer, he thought that now that ophelia was out of the picture, he finally had a chance with his friend. a chance to be more than friends.

but how could he compete with the likes of ophelia greengrass?

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"i've never been more glad to have you as my partner," ophelia said as she and regulus walked to halls of hogwarts. last year, they were partners during their rounds since they were both 5th year prefects and ophelia was happy when she found out she and regulus were partners still.

regulus smiled, a goofy smile that made ophelia's heart swell. "oh yeah, i forgot to tell you. i'm planning on trying out as seeker this year."

"finally!" ophelia said as she hit her shoulder against regulus'. "i always did say you would be great if you tried out. now that holly graduated, you would be the perfect replacement! have you told evan?"

the slytherin boy shook his head. "i mean, i want to try out, but i'm still having second thoughts, you know? it'd be really cool to play but what if playing affects my grades, or something?"

"hey," opehlia started before placing her arm around regulus' shoulder, she had to tip-toe a bit because he was slightly taller. "i've been on the team since 2nd year and i've always been top of our year, i'm sure you'll do fine."

"do you remember that slytherin versus hufflepuff game in 4th year? you and evan kept scorring back to back and venus and i were in the stands cheering?" regulus tried not to seem affected by the fact that ophelia's arm was around his shoulder like that.

ophelia laughed, removing her hand from regulus' shoulder to hold her stomach because it began to hurt from how much she was laughing. "oh, merlin's balls, that day was so fun! we snuck in the kitchen that night because we couldn't attend the celebratory party."

regulus smiled. for most prefects, rounds were completely boring. it was just walking around doing nothing as they tried to find someone out of bed. but not for the two 6th year slytherins. rounds was their time alone, to talk — to bond.

after their rounds were finished, they walked to the slytherin common where they bid goodnight to each other as they went into their dorms. evan had a smirk on his face as he asked regulus what he and ophelia did during their rounds, unbeknownst to them that venus was doing the same to ophelia.

it took a while but venus was finally convinced that the couple did nothing but talk the entire night, much to her dismay to be honest. and the two girls eventually fell asleep, their roommates happy because they could as well.

the clock eventually struck 3am and ophelia sat up, sweating and tears running down her face. she was screaming as she folded her legs towards her, burying her face in between her knees as she let out a mixture of screams and cries.

mary yaxley stood up and turned on the lights, wakening the girls. stephanie — stevie — zabini grabbed the cold water bottle by ophelia's night stand and handed it to venus parkinson, who was ready and gently approached the frantic greengrass girl. their other roommate, caroline crouch went outside to fetch some chocolate, knowing the girl would need it once she calmed down.

it was 6 years ago when the five girls met and it was 6 years ago that the four girls found out about the nightmares that plagued their friend's mind at night. she never explicitly told them what she saw, but it must have been horrible due to the fact that it's been happening since the moment she turned 7.

every night, she would dream the same horrendous nightmare and wake up like this. screaming, crying and covered in sweat. every night for the past decade. except recently.

the entire summer, the nightmare that had repetitively haunted ophelia greengrass was whisked away. as she was safe in the arms of a certain slytherin boy. perhaps hogwarts was no longer a place she could call home, but rather just being in the arms of regulus black was enough.

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷D SPEAKS!

guess who just came back from the er lol