𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞 || 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter 31

Friday 24th December, 1976

Everyone was pairing up, finding their dates, and starting to dance with one another. Everyone but me, because my date had left. I felt the tears threatening to fall but willed them not to, determined not to cry.

James looked and me, and then to Lily, the girl of his dreams waiting patiently for him to dance with her, and walked over to Lily. I tried to be happy, knowing that James was finally going to be able to slow dance with Lily, but my own rejection was hanging heavy over my head, making it hard to find much happiness in this situation.

"Sorry Lily," I heard James saying to Lily, surprising me. "I really want to dance with you, but right now I have to be a brother and comfort my younger sister."

I stared at them incredulously as Lily smiled, perhaps more head over heels with him now than she had been before, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Next time," she said.

"Next time," James repeated, almost in a daze.

James walked over to me, immediately grabbing my hand and leading me to the dance floor before getting into dancing positions, though as we swayed from side to side it was more of an embrace than a dance.

"You okay?" James asked me softly.

I smiled; eyes watery as I felt a strong surge of love for my older brother.

"Yeah," I whispered. "I'm okay."

"Good, because Lily just kissed me on the cheek and I need you to help me figure out what happened to the real Lily Evans and who this imposter is."

I laughed, feeling my spirits rise. "Maybe she just likes you."

"You really think so? That would be amazing if she did. Oh Merlin I really hope she does," James rambled.

For the rest of the dance I was forced to listen to James analyse every single thing Lily did tonight up until this moment, including how she looked, talked, and even walked around him. I was still grateful that he was dancing with me, so I endured it without complaint. I also noticed that Sirius and Remus were dancing together rather closely, both gazing into each other's eyes lovingly.

When the first slow song ended and another one came on, I stepped away from my brother, gesturing to Lily.

"Go dance with Lily," I said.

James looked at me worriedly. "Are you sure?"

I nodded my head, smiling at his concern. "Yes, I'm sure. I've got to go find Regulus anyway."

"Give him hell," James said.

"Oh, I will," I assured him, and he gave me once last smile before heading over to Lily looking like an over-excited puppy.

I left the Great Hall, walking through the halls aimlessly as I thought of where Regulus might be, when I was hit with a thought. Would he be there? No, that would be silly. Why would he run from me only to be there? And yet the possibility that he was there was enough for me to direct my path towards it.

When I arrived on the seventh floor, just like always, the door magically appeared and when I opened it I found Regulus there, staring out the window. He spun around swiftly at the sound of the door opening but stared at me in surprise when he saw me.

"Y/n..." he said softly.

I scowled, angry at his kind tone after what he did. "You left me."

Regulus looked down, sliding on his blank mask once more. "I didn't feel like dancing."