Romeo || James Potter

13 - You Break My Bleeding Heart

February 14th - Love is in the air lads. its a long and mostly fun chapter. also, there's descriptive anxiety near the end. youll know when to skip it if needed. then theres a fun little convo after.

Aspen didn't feel guilty anymore.

That is, she didn't feel guilty about becoming close to Regulus Black. Now that she had a reason to, and now that she wasn't worrying about her father anymore, she took advantage of the opportunity. Well, she tried to. It was quite hard to get him to talk. And, so far, she hadn't had much luck. A few words here and there, but not much more. She'd been trying for a week. Though, that would change soon enough.

Another thing that changed: her sickness. As of February 12th, she was free of any ailment. That changed a lot about her life. She was now able to smoke and didn't have to worry about what she ate or how much she could exercise. Poppy did explain that there would still be leftover side effects like cramps or trouble breathing, but it shouldn't turn into anything serious. No matter what, she was free of a chronic sickness. That definitely helped her mood.

She really had been in better spirits. It was Valentine's day; she could indulge in a cig with Remus and Sirius, and she could befriend someone whom her friends hate. Though, most of her friends weren't sharing the same happiness. Except Marlene. She had been in a great mood and Aspen even saw her making conversation with Dorcas Meadowes. Even though it probably had to do with their mission, Aspen was very excited about it.

Sirius and Mary broke up on the 8th, just a week before a day of love. Both of them seemed to be fine, but Aspen knew of another factor that most likely caused the heartbreak. Also, James and Brianna seemed to be having problems. Though he didn't outright say it, they all knew.

Nonetheless, Aspen finally felt like herself for the first time in a month. What happened with her father, what that meant, she wanted to ignore. There was nothing more she could do now that she figured out who her father was. It was definitely sad that Timothy wasn't who she thought her was. She thought he would've been some scientist that worked for the ministry to better their community, except he wasn't. He had a malevolent view on life and he wanted to hurt people with his creation. She didn't think about that, though. At least he was smart, she told herself.

"Oi, which one of you stole my pink trousers?" Marlene asked, searching through her wardrobe.

Mary, at the vanity between her and Marlene's bed, pointed at Lily's bed. "I saw her wearing them yesterday. Check her laundry."

Aspen sighed and flopped onto the couch against the fireplace having just walked in. "I feel wonderful." She smiled.

Marlene walked to Lily's wardrobe and laughed. "Is that because you're not sick?"

"Among other things," she shrugged and sat up, "but yeah, sure. It's just-"

Sage walked through the door with Brianna. "I've never experienced a Valentine's day like this." She said to Aspen as Brianna sat next to Aspen.

"It's pink." Brianna added, "Like, everywhere."

"It's just... that." Aspen laughed.

Mary leaned back on the chair to look at the twins. "Beauxbatons didn't celebrate?" Aspen, Sage, and Brianna nodded in sync. She raised her brows in shock. "It's an all girls school, though. I would've thought you lot went all out."

"Nope." Sage popped her lips and sat on the couch. "It was discouraged because of the patriarchy and stereotypes within the holiday."

Aspen laughed. "Merlin, you sound just like Madam Monet." She sat up and cleared her throat. "Chut!  You sound like une salope!" She said in a perfect French accent. (Bitch, whore, slut-- words along that line is the translation).