1 YEAR LATER

It had all happened so quickly. Within the space of months dad's condition had deteriorated until he was no more. I was still reeling from the loss of the most important person in my life when we lost mum shortly after. It was a small mercy that I had been home for the holiday when it finally happened and had been able to spend their final moments with them. A joint funeral was promptly arranged and the number of wizards and witches that turned up was astounding. They were loved by many and they could have been around for so much longer.

Godric, Lily was pregnant! The grandchild that they wanted so desperately to hold was almost here and they'd been snatched away too quickly.

I hadn't shed a single tear, far too broken to even give myself the time to grieve. Aged 17 and I was an orphan. James had taken responsibility for me instantly, moving back home with Lily to look after me and our reactions had been two opposites. I had gone cold, going into myself and showing next to no emotion. He had flown off the other end of the scale; destroying everything in sight and screaming out in anger, in the pain of loss. Unsurprisingly it was the Black brothers that held us together.

It was Sirius who floo'd over the next morning and righted the entire house, fixing everything James had broken and it was Regulus who sat by my side ensuring that I did something other than lying in bed all day.

Even now, as we sat at the funeral parlour, we were constantly welcoming guests who had come to offer their condolences. There were those that expressed genuine concern and others who wondered, rather unhelpfully, how we'd cope on our own and how James had been burdened, as a young father and now as a young guardian by the state.

Every time someone spoke like that, the words began to sound truer. He was a young father, a young husband, and now he had to shoulder my burden too. But when those thoughts got too dark, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pressed a kiss to my temple, assuring me that I wasn't a burden and never would be. My throat clogged each time as I turned into him, burrowing my face into his chest as I expected tears to fall but they didn't. They just wouldn't fall.

When I pulled away from James I found him staring at someone from over my shoulder, gesturing them over. I followed his eyes and watching as Regulus pushed through the crowd, his parents following far behind him. Merlin, what did they want?

I knew they didn't approve of me. They never had. They'd made that clear enough times and had tried countless plots to get rid of me. It had all begun the moment I found out about his father trying to engrain him with the Dark Lord's doctrine and I'd promptly taken Regulus to Dumbledore. His parents had no idea that he was acting as a spy and simply knew me as the reason Regulus put off getting his mark.

The moment he reached my side, James pushed me gently into his waiting arms. "I'll deal with Mr and Mrs Black."

Regulus took my hand, helping me through the crowd and out of the room, passing Lily as she sat with red rimmed eyes besides Alice and Sirius who stood hovering beside them, a lit cigarette in his mouth. I frowned; he was grief smoking again. We stood in the empty hallway and I breathed easier, taking large breaths. When I looked back to him, I was unsurprised to find his eyes heavy on mine. He reached out to take me in his arms, holding me against his chest.

"Cry it out," he said gently, "You haven't cried a single tear since your father passed, so cry it out. You can't keep bottling it in princess."

Princess. That single word did it.

Just like that the floodgates were open and I burrowed my head in Regulus' shoulder as I attempted to stifle my deep, yearning sobs. He told me not to bother, to let it all out and listened carefully as I wailed and wailed about how unfair it was to lose them both, how there'd been no warning. If I had known it would have been the last time, I would have, I would have –

"I'm sorry," I apologised, pulling back from him and staring up into his face when he reached out to brush my tears away with his thumbs.

"Whatever for?"

"For ruining your shirt," I sniffled, accepting the handkerchief he held out to me.

"Don't be ridiculous." Hesitating for a moment, he asked gently, "Do you not want me to call you princess anymore? I know your father used to –"

"It's ok," I assured, taking a deep breath. "I like hearing you say it."

And I did. My father had been the only man to treat me like a princess. The only man until Regulus appeared in my life and before his passing father had drowsily called Regulus a knight. A knight that had arrived to break the princess out of her tower.

Now that one pillar of strength was gone from my life, I needed another.

Wrapping my arms around Regulus again, I held him close to me and took a deep breath. He held me close, patting my back gently.

"I'll look after you now," he promised. "I'll take responsibility for you."

I sniffled, pulling back enough to gaze into his eyes. "That sounds an awful lot like a proposal and you wouldn't do that at my parent's funeral."

"It's not a proposal," he agreed, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "It's a promise that I'm going to look after you until the time comes when you'll accept my proposal."

"Regulus?" I asked quietly and he hummed. "Thank you; for being there."

"Don't be so Gryffindor," he chastised gently. "Don't thank me for something so simple."

"Well it means the world to me."

"And you've become my world."