loveless; regulus black

ೃ⁀➷ xi. family

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like a well oiled machine, mary turned on the lights, stevie grabbed the cold water and handed it to venus while caroline went outside to fetch some chocolate. so organized, so rehearsed, as they danced around the room, doing their given tasks.

there was a time in 2rd year, when stevie plucked up the courage to ask her what the nightmares were about. mary scolded the redhead, saying it was impolite to ask their friend something so personal.

"well, you guys have been helping me for almost two years now," 12-year old ophelia said after calming down, placing the water back on her night stand. she looked at the four girls and began to tell them. what she saw, how she felt, when it started, and even answered their questions.

they deserve it, the truth, because if it weren't for them — mary, stevie, venus and caroline — ophelia would never have survived her 1st year. the lot of them worked so well together and the greengrass girl was eternally grateful for her dormmates, her friends.

"do you think you'll tell regulus?" venus asked as the five roommates began fixing their beds before heading down to the common room. hours had passed since ophelia's nightmare and they were able to sneak in a few more hours of sleep.

"i don't know," ophelia said as she folded her blanket and placed it on top of her pillow. "is it something i have to tell him?"

"not necessarily," mary said. she was the only one between the five of them who had her life together, to be honest. it wasn't because she listened to her parents or the opposite, but because she knew how to make smart choices. "but it is interesting how you didn't have nightmares because of him, isn't it? and, may i ask, why don't you want to tell him?"

ophelia stopped fluffing her pillow, her shoulders stiffened, but only for a second. she continued to fix her bed. "it's not that i don't want to, i just don't know how to tell him," she said, staring at the pillow, hoping and praying that the inanimate object had the answers to her prayers.

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"i'm gonna throw up," regulus whispered, his voice only audible to the greengrass girl beside him. he was shaking and ophelia had to admit, he looked a little green. "is it obvious i want to throw up the large breakfast we had?"

she pursed her lips, trying to find a nice way to tell him that she can, in fact, tell he wanted to throw up. "this isn't your most attractive look?" she said, with a questioning tone.

"and what is reggie's most attractive look?" evan said, placing himself in the middle of the two with a smirk. ophelia rolled her eyes before placing her hand on the rosier boy's face and pushing him away, bringing the two of them shoulder to shoulder again.

"we'll be starting the tryouts for seeker, and we're doing it alphabetically so, black you're first. but before we start, i have a few reminders..." the captain— cherry osborn—said and ophelia felt him stiffen, heard his breath hitched.

she wrapped her hand around his, away from the prying eyes of their teammates, as a way of reassuring him. regulus looked at their interwined hands then at ophelia, but she was busy 'listening' to cherry.

staring at their hands together like this made the slytherin boy forget about all his nervousness about the tryouts. because it was her touch. her touch. her touch.

his mind went to different places, unsure of what to do or how to act, but his mind went blank went ophelia started rubbing the space between his point finger and thumb. her touch. her touch.

her touch. her touch.

tryouts weren't as bad as regulus thought it would be, he would even go as far as to say it was fun. venus, their group's cheerleader, was so loud that regulus silently cursed her. but nonetheless, the loud support of his brunette friend encouraged him. even evan's yammering had helped him throughout the tryout.

but it was the small kiss ophelia placed on his cheek that made regulus feel like he could do anything.

even as the four of them walked to the owlery together to get their mail, ophelia's thumb was rubbing his hand as they walked behind evan and venus.

his happy demanour shifted, however, when he read the letter his parents had sent him. when he looked up, he saw a mirror of expression on venus and evan. the three of them felt envy as, instead of the horrifc faces they were wearing, ophelia had a wide smile as she read her letter.

"father said we're going to norway for christmas," ophelia said, grinning as her eyes kept skimming over the letters. but when she looked up at her friends, the emotions on their faces made her smile drop. "hey, whats wrong?"

the three of them looked at each other, a last confirmation that they all got the same letter. it was venus that spoke, "we're all... we're all getting the mark this break."

silence fills the small space between them as regulus looks at ophelia, the clockwork in her mind doing it's job. evan whispered to him, "is that?"

"scheming face?" regulus said.

venus nodded. "it is."

if ophelia had heard them, she said nothing as she continued to stare at the wall. it took a few more seconds before she looked back at them, her feet on the ground and her head no longer in her own little world, "why don't you guys just come to norway with me?"

regulus was about to object, their parents would never allow that when venus cut him to it, "would you really use your annual wish? on us?" annual wish? regulus thought.

the blonde greengrass shrugged. "it's for you guys! it'll give me, us, time to think about how to avoid the whole marking process."

"yeah, but," venus said, carefully. "it's your annual wish, lia. it's not something you take lightly or just give away."

"you guys are my friends," ophelia said, her voice desperate for her friend to just accept that she wants to do this. "it'll be worth it. and like you said, annual. i have more years to ask for wishes."

evan raised his hand, as though he were in mcgonagall's class. "hello? what wish? what is happening??"

ophelia waved her hand at his face dismissively. "long story short, every year, i can ask for one wish and they're forced to comply. i can ask them to bring you to norway with us?"

"won't our parents say, you know, no? i mean this is the mark we're talking about." evan replied, not even questioning the annual wish thing.

the blonde girl hesitated. "my parents... they don't really support the cause, if you know what i mean. they only really joined for my safety. i'm sure when i tell them the reason, they'll do everything in their power to prolong it."

the triad looked at each other once more before they simultaneously hugging the blonde girl, muttering words of gratitude. she simply laughed, a heartfelt laugh, as she hugged her friends.

ophelia greengrass would not let her, or the people she cared about to be sucked into this world of darkness. into this war for that matter. she would fight for the three people holding her close because they were her family.

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷D SPEAKS!

to those that understood the kaz brekker reference, i love you and hope you have a great day<3

i just love regulus, ophelia, evan and venus as a group :( they mean so much to me since the friendship dynamic is sort of based on my own friend group. though none of us are dating nor romantically interested in each other, the personality of each person resonates with one of us. hope they dont see this tho xoxo