ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛʜ ᴡᴀʟʟ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀꜱ ᴇʀᴀ

xviii. curse you

It was a normal day. Really. There was nothing special. But if you asked Callie, none of the past weeks was normal.

One moment, she was breathing in her room and the next second, she was hunting Horcruxes with her favourite fictional characters.

It had been weeks already, she was getting used to the fact minute by minute. Even to the fact that the Regulus Black was cracking small smiles at her.

They were faint. They weren't toothy. His cheekbones merely rose even. But there was something about those smiles that was just... so... warming to see.

Callie wouldn't deny the butterflies in her body system whenever he was near her. Especially when he came the next night after the Christmas Break.

She didn't expect him. He thought he'd be with the Marauders to ask about their next plans. But Regulus came alone. Nervous.

She thought he'd be awkward and would distance himself from her after he found out about her (not-so-secret) feelings for him. But he came himself, in the shack, to see her.

"Callie?" Regulus called, sitting beside her on the wooden floor. Their backs were against the bed as their hands hovered above the page of each of the books they were reading.

"Hmm?"

He swallowed. Calculating if it was the right time to say whatever he had in mind since the last day. But he figured it would be better if he said it earlier than later.

"I'd like to make things clear."

Callie put the book she was reading down, putting her attention on him. "What things?"

"I don't... like you back."

"Oh."

It was expected.

And yet...

Somehow...

There was something in her that broke.

Like her heart was glass and shattered into pieces.

She knew he wouldn't. Who was she, anyway? She was just Caledonia Sinclair. A normal girl. She wasn't a girl you'd consider pretty nor was she a smart one. She was just... Callie.

But it still hurt.

And yet, she nodded, blinking her eyes repeatedly, hoping she'd drive the tears away.

"I know," her voice broke. "I know," she repeated, clearer.

"But I am thankful. That you see me the way you do."

Again, she nodded. "Of course."

Callie had no idea how to act to him after that. It would then rest on him. She'd just react to him. So, she returned to her book, though unable to read past the sentence she's been reading over and over again.

It was no use. Her mind and heart were taken over by heartbreak.

Her feelings didn't change. Her perception of him remained the same. It was just, her heart ached every time it beat.

"Callie!"

Every thought she had in her mind disappeared the moment Callie heard James calling her. His voice was a little faint, assuming he just entered the shack. But there was something off about his voice that didn't just alarm her but Regulus too. He sounded as if in a panic.

"Callie!" That time, Sirius shouted. It was louder, probably because they were nearer. But it made the two even more frantic, especially after there was a groan.