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Her leg twinges with pain as she takes a step forward, but she quickly masks her discomfort.
Josephine and her friends are en route to Hogsmeade, primarily for Halloween costumes. She walks between Pandora and Evan, heading towards the village.
"She is ignoring him," Pandora interjects. "I'm not ignoring him," Josie rolls her eyes. Though, truthfully, she is indeed ignoring him. He hasn't really done anything wrong. Well, actually he did many right things to her...
She snaps out of those thoughts.
The reason she is somewhat ignoring him is a mix of insecurities and vulnerability. All she has to do is wait until those feelings fade, and then she will talk with him.
"Sure," Evan scoffs. "He thinks he did something wrong; he gets this sad look on his face right before we're about to sleep."
Josephine picks at her nails, aware that Regulus and the rest of their friends are a good distance behind them.
"Just—" Josie sighs. "I'll talk with him later."
Pandora gives her a sidelong glance. "If he did something wrong, you should tell him."
"He didn't do anything wrong. I just..." She trails off, debating whether to reveal the truth. "This is all new to me, and even if I don't want to admit it, I'm nervous about all of it. So, I needed to ignore him for a few days to get over it."
"Oh," Evan mumbles. "I thought you were ignoring him because it was bad or something—"
Josephine slaps his arm. Evan gives her a small smile. "He will understand if you tell him that, you know?"
"I know..." She mutters. She does know he would understand to some extent.
"On a lighter note," Pandora breaks the small silence. "What are you going to be for Halloween?"
"Sexy priest."
"I don't know."
Josie turns to look at Evan. "Sexy... priest?"
"Yeah," Evan nods. "I saw that cover of a book you were reading with the sexy priest and got the idea."
"Oh," she remembers that book.
Evan and Pandora both start laughing, and Josephine joins in after a second.
"What about you, Pandora?"
"I'm gonna be a ghost," she smiles. "I'm pale enough for it."
They laugh again. She will speak to Regulus later, sincerely hoping that he will understand.
~~~
"Josephine."
Her movements pause, her hand frozen halfway through the motion of shifting a costume aside.
She is in the costume shop that appears annually around Halloween, mindlessly browsing through each option to find the one she wants.
"Regulus," she replies without turning to look at him. Her hand falls away from the table full of costumes, and she begins picking at her nails.
Yes, she wants to talk to him, but it has to be on her terms.
"Josephine," Regulus says again, taking a step closer. They are near the back of the store, so at least no one sees them. "What happened?"
She slowly turns to look at him, her back now facing the wall. "Nothing happened, I just..." Her breathing catches in her throat. "I just got..." She tries to figure out how to phrase the words in her head. "I don't know how to say it."
Regulus, in his all-black attire, tilts his head, his hands twisting some of his rings—nervously, perhaps? She isn't sure.
His hair looks nice. She always likes his hair.
"Say whatever you're thinking," his voice is low. "I'll piece it together."
She sighs. "I don't like doing new things, especially if I'm not good at them, and I guess I just got scared that maybe you were lying to me about liking it because you felt like you had to. And I ignored you because a lot of times these feelings will go away. So I wait until they do before I talk with the person again." Merlin, this is the first time she has truly let herself reveal her thoughts in their entirety.
Regulus takes another step closer. They are close enough for him to reach a hand out to cup her face. "Josephine," he starts, his voice serious. "I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it because it was different from every other time. I care for you; that's what makes it better."
She swallows harshly. "You promise?"
"Yes," he responds immediately.
Her shoulders drop slightly. "Thank you," her voice is lower as she backs away slightly, his hand falling from her face.
"Now," she says, desperate to pretend that her insecurities never happened. "What are you going to dress up as for Halloween?"
Regulus' lips twitch. "Not sure yet; Barty said it would be funny if I was a pirate."
Josephine laughs. "I agree with Barty."
He rolls his eyes. "What are you gonna be?"
"Don't know yet. Did you know Evans is dressing up as a sexy priest?" They slowly start to walk away from the section she was in to explore other costumes.
"Really? I thought he was joking about that."
"Apparently not," she mumbles as she turns to one of the tables displaying accessories.
Then she gets an idea; her eyes widen slightly as she stares at the pearl headpiece she has just picked up. "I could be a mermaid." She turns to Regulus with a smile, her hands holding onto the pearl headpiece.
Without waiting for Regulus to reply, she declares, "I'll be back," before turning to navigate the aisles, searching for the elements her mind has just conceived.
Eventually, she finds everything she wants—a short light blue dress with white lace sewn in, off-the-shoulder sleeves in white sheer fabric, and the bottom part with small white fabric embellishments. She loves it.
Then she collects multiple accessories, probably more than necessary, but she does have more money now.
Once she returns, she meets back up with Regulus. Her arms are laden with bags. Josie gives him a bright smile before they leave the store.
~~~~~ Guys I literally have bleached my hair twice now, lowkey scared i've damaged it. LETS HOPE NOT🙏🏻🙏🏻
