After three weeks of extreme awkwardness between them, both trying to forget everything that had happened, Luc and Reg sat in silence on their beds. Luc was re-reading the letter he had written to his parents, a pillow hugged to his chest as comfort. Regulus was absorbed in the book he had been reading lately. He glanced up at Lucius and saw tears in his friend's eyes. Despite his attempts to shut Luc out of his life forever, he couldn't stop caring. Looking at him now, his eyes filled with tears, filled Reg with pain.
"Luc?" he said softly, regretting it instantly.
Lucius looked up from the letter and met his eyes. The tears he had been trying to control spilled over, pouring down his face as he stared into the eyes of the person he loved. Regulus had never seen him this vulnerable before and he just wanted to reach over and pull Luc into his arms and tell him everything would be alright. But he didn't. He couldn't. He broke Luc's gaze and stared at the floor.
"It was Narcissa," he said quietly.
"What?"
"Narcissa told them. Apparently, she saw us being….well a little more than friendly…in the common room and she wrote to my parents, who then wrote to your parents. Then they sort of teamed up to make sure it ended."
"But what does she get out of telling them?"
"Their favour. Your parents might even arrange for her to marry you."
"I wouldn't want to marry her."
"You know you have no choice. If they choose her, that's who you're marrying."
"No. She caused this! I couldn't marry her!"
Regulus sighed. Lucius returned his attention to the letter. He grabbed a quill to change something and then threw the letter down in frustration.
"Luc, you don't need to write to them."
"Yes, I do. I can tell them that they have no right to interfere with my life."
Regulus sighed again. "You know that whatever you say will have no impact on them at all. They don't change their minds. You know what they're like. They think they're doing what's best for your future. And maybe they are right."
"I don't care what's best for my future! I care about you!"
"And you know that that isn't an argument that is going to change their minds. Luc, don't get your hopes up. Maybe it's better this way."
"Maybe it's better that I marry your cousin? Maybe it's better that I don't get to be with the person I love? Maybe it's better that I forget about you? That any of this ever happened? Is that what you're saying?" Lucius said angrily.
"Luc, calm down!"
Lucius stood up, grabbing the letter. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it is better this way. Especially if you don't even care," he said softly. He slowly ripped the letter into small pieces and let them fall to the floor. Regulus watched him silently, still shocked by the sudden outburst.
"Luc, I do care. That's why I have to do this."
Lucius stared at him for a moment and then shook his head. "If you cared, you'd fight. You'd fight like I want to."
"That's not fair Luc."
"Isn't it?" Lucius said, before walking out of the room.
Regulus collapsed onto his bed and put his head in his hands. Lucius descended from the dorms into the common room, walking straight to the door and out into the deserted corridor. He contemplated going out onto the grounds, but decided against it. He leaned against the cold stone wall a few metres away from the entrance to the common room, breathing heavily. He let his knees give out from underneath him and fell to the floor. He sat there, his back against the cool stone, tears streaming silently down his face, for an hour.
