Love & Scars

34. Books and avoiding

The following morning, Izzie woke up around five. She was curled into Regulus's side, who looked to be sleeping peacefully. She carefully rolled out of bed, not wanting to wake him and wrote down a quick message for him, leaving it on his nightstand. She changed into some baggy clothes and headed to the library. 

The castle was quiet and empty, but that made it easier for her to break into the library. It was Saturday and the start of the school year, so nobody was going to wake up that early. She quietly unlocked the library doors before she slipped in. 

An hour later, she had gathered over thirty books on marriage, runes, blood rituals and Purebloods rituals. She even grabbed a few from the restricted section to be sure. She let the books hover behind her as she quickly made her way back to their private quarters. Happy to note, she didn't bump into Madam Pince or anyone else.

She sat down in front of the couch, four piles of books in front of her as she scribbled vigorously on a parchment with one of the books open in her lap. 

Two hours later and three books in, Regulus came shuffling out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes.

"Isabelle?" His eyes widened as he saw her hidden behind the piles of books. "How long have you been awake?"

"Since five." She said, not looking up. "I decided to head to the library early and get the books I thought we needed."

"Five? The library isn't open at five." He said, walking closer.

"I think the library is the easiest place to get into in the castle." She shrugged, sipping her tea as she wrote. "Did you sleep all right?" She finally looked up as he sat down next to her, and their magic settled down immediately.

"Why didn't you wake me? I could've helped." He scowled.

"You need your sleep too, Reg." She regarded him for a moment. "I can feel that your magic is still drained."

"I can feel yours too." He eyed the books. "Probably something to do with the ceremony." They sat in silence for a while, their shoulders touching as they looked over at the books. "Alright, where do I start?" He asked, gesturing to the books.

She leaned forward and tossed him the first rune book. 

As they worked, the hours ticked by, and breakfast appeared between their books. Izzie had felt the warmth of messages go through her as the day passed on, but she didn't look. Lunch and dinner appeared before them, too. Regulus tried to get her out of the room, to the great hall, but her nose rarely left the books.

***

Sunday was much of the same; she even got more books from the restricted section that night. They figured out a lot of the runes they spotted in the basement, and Izzie was sure how they got Reggie to marry her. 

Regulus grew really worried when Izzie barely moved from her spot in front of the couch. Her hair was in a messy bun, and she had bags under her eyes, while her eyes were red from the lack of sleep. 

And how smart both of them were, he knew they needed help. And classes would start tomorrow, and their absence would be rather obvious by now.

"Isabelle?" She hummed, but he wasn't sure she was actually hearing him. "I'm going to stretch my legs, be right back." She hummed again, not looking up. 

She had ink stains on her chin from tapping her quill against it absentmindedly. With one last worried look at her, he slipped out of their room. 

Now he just needed to find his brother and Remus. But how?