UNFINISHED VERSION

1.10

Violet loved the holidays. She loved the closeness of the family, the chaos, and memories that would occur. The warmth that would flow through the house, the smell of hot cocoa in the air, and the disorganized Christmas tree in the corner.

However, she had never been more relieved to set foot on that platform and return to school. The Potter girl glanced around quickly, scanning the crowds for a certain face.

Unfortunately, Marlene found her first and carted Violet onto the train and into their usual compartment. She wasn't listening and her blonde friends voice faded into the background as she rambled on about her holidays. It's not like Marlene wouldn't tell the same stories again later anyway.

The brunette was focused, continuing to look out the window at those still on the platform below. Then, she finally saw him.

The tall boy was stood straight backed on the platform. His robes perfect as always, pressed sharp and without a crease or wrinkle, shining lightly as he looked up to the equally stiff adults in front of him.

Violet knew the adults were his parents, but no love could be shown in the interaction. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but through the glass pane, she could've sworn the three were talking of business, or they were strangers speaking over the weather, not parents saying goodbye to their son.

The brunette studied him through the window. She took in every curl in his hair, every one of the light freckles on his cheeks, and compared his robe lengths to those she'd seen the boy wear in the past.

Regulus Black looked as pristine and perfect as he always did. There were no bruises on his wrists, no cuts on his face, no signs of horrific curses, all seemed well. Violet let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders slumped in relaxation for the first time over the holiday.

She was almost certain that she would return to see the curly haired boy looking as his older brother did that summer night when she found him on the porch.

Ever since Sirius came to Godrick's Hollow, he'd been opening up more and more about what happened in his old home. It made her worry that the younger brother would succumb to the same horrible fate as Sirius had.

Luckily, that didn't seem to happen. At least not yet.

———

Regulus finally escaped his Mother's searing gaze when his Father patted his right shoulder, the usual sign of his dismissal. The boy turned quickly and made his way to the train steps, trying desperately not to make it look noticeably fast.

His heart was beating out of his chest. He was almost there, almost free.

Well, not free exactly. He still had to wear his mask in front of the Slytherins, but at least then it didn't need to be as secure.

As he passed the windows something caught his eye, a flash of golden and crimson. He stalled, looking up for a second. There, in her brothers huge quidditch sweater, was Violet Potter.

Regulus looked up at the girl in her never-ending glory. He wasn't great at divination, and he was certain the class was bogus, but if nothing else he knew that if anyone had an aura, it was her. An overwhelmingly light energy always eminated from her, an air of carefree playfulness and never ending joy always surrounded her. She always wore a smile, and her presence seemed to cause others to beam as well.

Regulus was always relieved by her determination, the way she attempted to be near him even when he was horrible to her. He didn't want to act that way, he just had to.

After all, he was a Slytherin in a world in which they were expected to be the opposite of what she was.

His parents expected him to be the opposite of her.

She was the bright, warm summer weekends everyone always looked forward to, and he was the harsh, frigid winter nights all wished would swiftly end.

Regulus knew what his future would hold, he'd been training for it all his life. He knew that one day all will be frozen and his life would become even more of a barren wasteland than it already was. Why not before any of that sets, he could thaw at least a little. See what it was like to spend a day in spring before his life became eternal winter.

As he climbed the steps he made a decision. This time, he was going to talk to her.

He was going to try and befriend her.

Or maybe he'd just become study partners with her- It depended how far his confidence went in a day.

Unlike Violet, Regulus was always terrified of others. He had intense anxiety for as long as he could remember. He stayed quiet and followed the class, never approaching anyone and only taking on "friends" that were shoved onto him by pureblood status. The fear of rejection and retaliation always seemed to over take the need to speak. When he even managed, the words were rarely his own, but rather the version of Regulus everyone wanted him to be. The Regulus formed by the opinions of others and the mold his parents raised him in.

The small smile on his slowly dropped the more he thought. He couldn't speak to her unless extremely careful about it. It all needed to be carefully orchestrated so it wasn't obvious be befriended the Gryffindor. He didn't want to be friends anyway, he just wanted to be able to bask in her warmth.

He needed to be nicer but not too nice. friendlier but not friendly, if it got back to his parents he was friendly with a blood traitor- well he didn't want to think about it.

Merlin, he hoped for the rest of the year she would just go back to annoying him all the time. It would be easier to complete all of this if she just did that, but no, for once Violet listened to his demands for her to stop.

A soft smile returned to the boy's face, that was Violet Potter after all, always making things infinitely harder for him.

I may have gotten a little heavy handed with the metaphors this chapter- whoops

Sorry its been a bit, I finally got my laptop fixed! Buts school also started... so hopefully between it all I'll update a bit more. Fingers crossed!