Love, Life, And Lies- Regulus Black

.to ruin a party.

.it's getting dark in this little heart of mine.

The music could be heard before we even entered Slughorn's office. It was the ringing sound of mandolins, accompanied by the loud belting of "God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs." I looked up at Regulus, who started laughing when he saw the look on my face. It sounded as if the musicians were already drunk, quite a way to start a party. Together we laughed, and the sound of his unrestrained laughter was spellbinding. The way his face scrunched around his eyes and his nose made my heart thud a little harder.

As we stepped into Slughorn's office, my jaw dropped in utter awe. The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson and gold hangings, so that it appeared as if we were inside a ridiculously large tent. The room was crowded and stuffy from all of the people who were in attendance. It appeared Slughorn had loosened his grip on who was invited. Anyone was welcome as long as they were attending with a member of the Slug Club.

The atmosphere of the room was warm and bright, and everything was bathed in golden light cast by an ornate lamp dangling from the center of the ceiling in which real fairies were fluttering, each an iridescent speck of light. A haze of pipe smoke hung over one corner of the room, where several elderly Wizards were deep in conversation, no doubt invited by Slughorn so he could show off the best and brightest he had to offer. There were also a large number of house-elves navigating their way squeakily through an overwhelming amount of people, obscured by the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so that they looked like tables of food roaming around of their own accord.

A brilliant streak of red caught my gaze, as Lily Evans made her way over to me. I could see that she wanted to engulf me in a hug, but restrained herself to a cordial handshake to keep up appearances.

"Good to see you out and about Rosier." She said flashing me a bright smile. "And you look quite charming, Black. You could give Sirius a run for his money." She added with a wink.

"Who are you here with Evans?" I inquired, eyebrows raised, curious to see if she had finally given in to the advances of James Potter.

"I came with Remus." She stated, in a matter of fact manner, but her eyes betrayed her. I knew she had started to develop feelings for James, and the look on her face made me wonder who he brought tonight. "He just went to get us drinks."

"How many times did Potter ask you to come with him?" I asked bluntly, knowing there was really no tactful way to beat around the bush.

She fidgeted a little and glanced across the room to a corner where I locked eyes with James Potter. He was arm in arm with none other than Marlene McKinnon. But his attention was on Lily. His attention was always on Lily.

"He actually didn't ask me once. Just went straight for Marlene." Her eyebrows were knit, and I could sense frustration coming from her. "But it's alright. Remus and I get along better anyway."

I glanced back at James who was still staring in our direction. We locked eyes again, and I raised my eyebrows at him in surprise. Remus came back to join Lily, and I saw the longing that flashed across Potter's face. From across the room I could see the color rise in his cheeks at my inquisitorial gaze. He shrugged his shoulders in defeat and looked away.

"I wouldn't be too worried about it Lily." I declared, a small smile on my face, knowing that James was completely as in love with her as he had always been. But he'd spent years pursuing her, the effects just making her angrier. It was now up to her to show that she reciprocated his feelings.