THE KNIVES EDGE | M R ✔︎

TWENTY ⁂ WRATH

My heart shatters.

It's silent and for a moment, I'm convinced I'd made it all up. But he's still breathing heavily and his head is pressed against my neck.

Pansy.

That's what he'd said.

And before I know it, the tears fall from my eyes. A choked sob escapes me and I'm struggling to push him off. He rolls off of me and gets to his feet, his eyes wide and panicked.

"Pansy?" I ask through my tears, hugging my arms around myself and pulling my knees to my chest.

"Novaline. I said Novaline." He shakes his head, reaching out for me.

I slap his hands away. "Don't fucking touch me, Mattheo. Get the fuck out."

"Nova, I didn't--" He starts.

"Don't." I snap, wiping the tears from my face. "You can't just do that! You can't just make me fall for you and then crush me! Get your shit and get the fuck out! Get out! Get out! Get out!"

The glass vase of flowers shatters, the tulips and daisies falling to the ground.

I hurl a pillow towards him as he slips into his clothes, pausing at the door.

"I love you." He says.

And then he leaves.

I loved you. I want to shout back. I didn't believe in love until you. I loved you. I loved you. I loved you.

But all that leaves me is a scream. One of agony. One that has the windows creaking and blowing inwards, glass spraying over the dormitory floor. One that throws painting off of the walls in the common room.

One that has my brothers sprinting through the castle in search for me.

One that has Regulus at my side in a matter of seconds.

He's pushing through the door, stopping at my dresser to grab me clothes. He hands them to me and turns around, allowing me privacy to get dressed. It's a tight black sweater and blue ripped jeans.

Mattheo's touch still lingers on me in a way that makes me feel sick to my stomach. All this time, he's been screwing around with me and obsessed with Pansy Parkinson.

Was everything he's ever said a lie? Of course it was.

"He's a deadman, Novaline." Regulus whispers, holding my face in his hands.

I shake my head. "Reg, it hurts. It hurts so much."

He pulls me into his arms, his muscles tight around my waist as I break in his embrace.

Regulus has never been one to be touchy-feely. He's always been cold and reserved at our family gatherings. Hugs were never a thing with him. Not until now.

His arms are strong, keeping me close.

He doesn't let me go. Not when my brothers get here. Not when Gracie does. Not when the professors do. And certainly not when I stop crying and numbness takes over. It's just Regulus and me, stuck like this as I finally understand why we never got along.

We're so different. I'm loud and argumentative, and he's quiet and reserved. We're hot and cold, black and white, up and down. We're too different from one another.

But we're the exact same.

The two of us have never been closer than we are right now. We're both alone. We've got all these people who are willing to die for us, but we don't talk to them. Not in any meaningful way, for that matter.

Regulus and I lay on my floor, now clean of glass and staring at my ceiling. It's charmed to look like the inside of an Ancient Greece temple, with pillars and sculptures staring down at us.

He doesn't say a word, allowing me to bask in the silence. We just remain in one another's company for Merlin knows how long, this moment being marked down as the turning point in my lack of respect for Regulus Black.

He's here when no one else is, and that's more than enough for me.

"Did you know that my dark mark hasn't awakened?" He asks suddenly.

I look over at him, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, think of the other Slytherins. Theirs are all dark and new looking." He explains, rolling up his sleeve to show me his own. "But mine is still dull and dead."

I frown at his words, reaching out to graze my fingers over the ink. "I didn't know that."

He scoffs with a smirk. "It means that the Dark Lord has deemed me unfit to rejoin his ranks. Mine is older and lifeless, the way I was meant to be when they pulled me out of that water in the cave. Theirs are shiny and new, meaning that he has more value for them."

I turn my head back to the ceiling. "Maybe he has a plan for you. Maybe he just hasn't decided yet. Who knows?"

"Tom. He knows. And his brother." He answers me, though he dances around the use of Mattheo's name.

I appreciate him for it. "So why haven't you asked them?"

"They're under strict orders not to discuss their fathers plans with anyone." He explains, folding his arms under his head. "It could kill them."

I shrug, dragging my eyes along the design of the faux pillars. "Maybe it would be better that way."

Regulus shakes his head. "It wouldn't. They have plans of their own, Nova. Ones that would destroy Voldemort."

I furrow my eyebrows and sit up as I look down at him. "What? Mattheo never mentioned that."

"Because he couldn't." He explains with a quirk of his brow. "He's under the unbreakable vow. He can't discuss any sort of plan that could harm their father."

"So, how do you know about it?" I ask, more confused than before.

"There's other ways of talking, Novaline." He answers, sitting up and leaning back on his palms. "In order to defeat Voldemort, you have to think like him. You have to be smarter than him. Faster. Stronger. You need to think like a Slytherin."

I tilt my head and sit myself with my back against the bed. "Explain."

"Loopholes." He shrugs, crossing his ankles, his black combat boots crusted in dirt. "You need to learn to watch wording and read body language."

I nod in understanding, letting my head drop against the mattress. He scoots over next to me, copying my actions as we stare at the ceiling in silence again.

The sun has just started to set, leaving hues of purple and pink along the horizon when he stands up, reaching his hand out for me.

"Come on. It does no good by sitting in this room all day." He sighs, hauling me to my feet.

He wraps an arm over my shoulder as we move throughout the castle, eyes following us nervously and suspiciously. Given that Regulus and I have barely spoken a few words in front of any of the students in Hogwarts, I don't blame them.

We head for the front door when I catch a flash of green. Mattheo and Pansy are leaning against the wall, laughing at one another had to say. And then he spots me with Regulus, his jaw locking and eyes narrowing.

I ignore him despite my heart begging me to run to him. I ignore Pansy even though the magic crackling in my fingertips aches to be unleashed upon her.

Regulus and I walk right past them, stepping into the cool January air. We take a deep breath, feeling the bitter oxygen nip at our lungs. And then we release it, watching the white puffs leave our mouths.

And for the first time since Mattheo left my room, I feel okay.

~~~

A/N: im releasing the final chapter and the epilogue on October 20, 2023. there will be an authors note and a sneak peek of "Cutting Corners" (Theodore Nott). Enjoy my lovlies <3