𝓟𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓸𝓹𝓱𝓸𝓫𝓲𝓪 | Alternative Chapters

Deleted Scene - During 7.2

a/n: some of this was reused for the published 7.2 - Slug Club chapter, but some of this was scrapped as I used foreshadowing here that I thought was too obvious, even though it's less obvious than other things in the book. So this is like an alternate first half of the chapter.

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Ophelia hummed a quiet melody as she picked out a matching set of emerald jewelry for her dinner with the Slug Club. She glanced at the clock across the room, trying to gauge how much more time she had to get ready. She saw the time and knew Regulus was likely already done and waiting for her downstairs. 

She was quite quick at putting on her earrings and rings, but closing the tiny clasp of the necklace the was harder than she expected. She had little to no interest in asking her dorm mate for help, but it was either that or go with an incomplete jewelry set. 

"Dolores, would you mind helping me with my necklace?" She asked politely. 

The girl was displeased, but she was good at hiding it. She put down her quill while Ophelia walked over to her bed. 

Dolores took the necklace from her and chained it around Ophelia's neck. 

"You know, pink is a much better colour for attracting romance." Dolores told her, unprompted. 

"I don't want to attract romance." Ophelia said. 

"Well, everything looks better in pink. It would be a great improvement to your wardrobe if you changed all the colours."

Once the necklace was on, Ophelia stood up and thanked Dolores — for help with the necklace, not the comments, of course — and looked herself over in the mirror one last time. She gave herself a few spritzes of her new perfume, then left to go to the common room. 

She saw Regulus waiting for her and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt since she didn't know how long he had waited and he could have gone to the dinner by himself. She felt better when she looked at Regulus, and saw that his face didn't show a trace of boredom or impatience. 

"Hi." She greeted him. "You look handsome."

Regulus looked awestruck as she kept walking towards him in her beautiful green dress and all her matching accessories. 

He shook himself out of his daydream when he remembered she was actually there and waiting for a response of some sort. "Thank you. But I promise, you look much nicer than I do."

She smiled at the compliment, then looked down and saw the flower in Regulus' hand. An indigo windflower; matching the one he wore on his lapel. He noticed her gaze, and he held it out. 

"This is for you. I didn't know what you were going to wear, but I got it in case you wanted to match." He seemed embarrassed at his own gesture, but Ophelia gladly took the gift from his slightly shaky hands. 

She settled the stem in her hair, and the petals were a stark but welcome contrast to both her hair and her outfit. 

"Thank you." She smiled, then reached her hand out to hold his. "We should be on our way, I think."

He took her soft hand in his, agreed with her, and the two started walking down to meet with the Slug Club.