CHECK YES JULIET ▷ JAMES POTTER [1]

𝟎𝟒. 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐀 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍

(04 : SUCH A VILLAIN IS A GUEST . . .
I'LL NOT ENDURE HIM)

✧࿐ ཾ✧

     GRUMBLING, JULIET RETURNED TO THE Slytherin common room after talking to the house elves in the kitchens about bringing some food to the party. Whilst the Seventh Years stocked up on alcohol, they neglected to organise anything else, which led to the redhead falling responsible because she was one of the few that knew where the kitchens were located and was deemed the least threatening. She would have taken great offence to that if she hadn't known being underestimated was never a bad thing — not in a house as cutthroat as Slytherin.

    Juliet's sour mood stemmed from playing messenger and the fact some boneheaded Gryffindor bumped into her on the way. It only worsened when she heard an obnoxious voice call out, "Not talking to yourself, are you, Fawley?"

Blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes, she barely glanced up as she brushed past him. "Not in the mood, Black."

    Regulus Black had a reputation, despite only being fifteen. Juliet knew of him and they exchanged pleasantries in passing, but that was where their relationship ended. Or at least where it used to end. Nowadays, she was expected to pop out ten kids with the boy — and he was a boy — then send said kids on their merry way to be branded like cattle for someone else's Lord. Not her Lord. Not yet.

"Tough, I want to talk to you." He caught the older girl's arm before she could disappear in her dorm.

Confused, she blinked back at him. "Talk?"

"Yes," he said slowly, "I want to talk. You know, exchange words, hell, maybe even sentences. It's something people tend to do."

Realising his hand was still on her arm, she shook him off. "Don't patronise me. You'll have enough time for that when I'm your wife," she snarked. "And I don't mean to be rude — well, actually I do — but I've had a shit day and I don't feel like bonding with someone whose balls have barely dropped. Can we reschedule our pity party for another day?"

Everyone at Hogwarts knew what type of person Juliet was — cold, unforgiving, deceptively innocent at times — and she had spent too long behaving that way to drop her armour, even for her future husband. It was the only security she knew and Regulus would understand that as a pureblood and a Slytherin. Not having emotional attachments was an unwritten rule in their world.

The dark-haired boy snorted, unbothered by her comments. "And I don't feel like bonding with a spoiled brat that can get through this war by looking pretty," he mocked. "But, the Dark Lord really isn't the type to care about our feelings, so I thought I'd be the bigger person and try to get to know the woman I'm engaged to."