By October, Sirius had yet to give up his ridiculous quest of "making" Jade "love" him, and Regulus was getting to the point of actually thinking out ways to slit his brother's throat. Jade found it all rather tiresome, although as soon as she discovered that Regulus would be distracted from his vicious plotting as soon as she kissed him, she utilized this method frequently.

It had the added bonus of making Sirius irate, if he was in the vicinity.

"You know," Regulus muttered one day after a kiss, "sometimes I think you only kiss me to distract me."

"Distract you from what?" she said softly, as innocently as she could muster.

"I don't remember," he chuckled, leaning down to kiss her once more.

They hadn't progressed any further, though, physically or emotionally, and when the sign went up for the first Hogsmeade weekend, Regulus approached her the following morning at breakfast and asked her incredibly politely if she would go with him, or if she had other plans.

Of course, Jade had no other plans. She never had plans for Hogsmeade, so she said she'd be happy to go with him. It wasn't, however, her only offer that day, and she would have honestly been surprised if it had been. It wasn't even lunch when Sirius cornered her in the hall.

"Go to Hogsmeade with me, Alexander," he said, backing her toward the wall.

"No," she said simply. "I've got plans."

"Don't lie," he said with a laugh. "You never have plans. I've seen you, wandering the High Street alone…"

"Yes, I know," Jade said coldly. "You would trip me on a regular basis. Just leave me alone, Sirius, please. I really do have plans."

"With my brother, right?" he hissed, the area just above his upper lip twitching to one side.

"Why would you expect otherwise?" Jade sighed. "Look, Sirius, why can't you just stop this? Just because you're happy to be rid of your family and the old ways doesn't mean the rest of us are so eager to forget where we came from."

"Is that what this is about?" he hissed. "Are you afraid of angering your parents?"

"No," she said honestly. "I just don't wish to. I didn't have a rebellious streak, Sirius, and I doubt I'm going to sprout one out of nowhere."

"Damn it, Alexander, why can't you just see that I can give you more than him?"

Jade rolled her eyes.

"Leave me alone, Sirius," she sighed. "I don't want or need anything you can offer me and I'm certainly not going to throw away what I already have for things I don't particularly want."

"You're going to get yourself killed," he called as she went to walk away. "If you marry him I can't promise you anything."

She couldn't help but laugh at that.

"And you, Sirius?" she said, turning back to look at him. "You're awfully bold for someone joining the side that's horribly outnumbered. It's a war, Sirius, nobody's guaranteed to live no matter which side they're on, no matter which side wins or loses. You might think it should matter to me, but I don't care! Nothing changes for me no matter what the outcome of this war, Sirius."

He stared at her for a moment as if seeing her for the first time, then shook his head.

"Wow," he finally spat out. "Wow, I can't believe I wasted all these years hung up on you. Have no you sense of right and wrong?"

"What's the point?" she laughed. "When have I ever needed one? My whole life is decided for me anyway. What does it matter?"

Sirius just shook his head, entirely unsympathetic.

"You don't think for yourself," he said, disgusted. "I thought you had a mind of your own, that you didn't take the abuse of our society, that you were willing to stand up for yourself, but I guess not. You were never the girl I thought you were, Alexander. You're just like all the others, pretty, but no substance."

As he walked away Jade stood there, staring after him.

Was that true? Did she not have substance? If it was true, why did Regulus love her? Perhaps it was why Lucius had chosen Narcissa, why Bellatrix had chosen Rodolphus: they could be in control. Their partner was so shallow, so easily manipulated, that they never had to worry about being king of their castle (or queen, in Bellatrix's case). Had Regulus's sweet words really just been him manipulating simply little Jade Alexander, the pretty girl with no substance?

She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she made her way down toward lunch, but she didn't think she could handle being in the Great Hall with both of them, knowing they were both thinking about what a silly little girl she was.

"Jade?"

Ah, of course, there was Regulus. Right on cue. Just when she thought she wanted to be alone, he always figured out where she was and how to find her and make her feel secure. But Jade didn't want to feel secure, or to have him make her feel secure, until she'd figured out how she felt and what she thought about what Sirius had accused her of.

"Jade, what's wrong, love?"

"Don't," she said, turning away toward the kitchens, anxious to get away from him.

Regulus, however, grabbed her arm, firmly but not harshly, and stopped her.

"Don't what?"

"Regulus, please," she said softly, "let go of me and don't cause a scene."

"What did Sirius do?" he hissed. She could almost feel the heat of his anger radiating off his very skin.

"Why do you always assume it's Sirius?" she said angrily, turning to face him. "Can you do nothing wrong? Can I not just have a bad day? Sirius isn't the devil, you know, despite how your mother would like to think of him. He's not responsible for all of the bad things that happen, and me just not walking to talk to you every now and then isn't necessarily something bad!"

Jade suddenly realized she was not only shrieking at him, but that she was also crying, and rather violently. Regulus was watching her with wide, pained eyes. Gray eyes, just like his brother's, the same eyes that had just looked at her and told her she was a pretty little thing without substance, the same eyes that had just made her feel so… so… she couldn't even find the word but it felt horrible, whatever it was.

"Jade," Regulus said softly, "would you rather eat in the kitchens?"

She might have nodded. She couldn't tell, but it seemed logical, considering the state she was in and the fact that Regulus practically carried her off to the kitchens, settling her in his lap and asking the house-elves quite politely for food. In fact, if Jade had been very much in her right mind she would have appreciated the kindness with which Regulus always treated house-elves, one of his many great qualities, even the house-elves that were the least easy to get on with, like his own.

When she'd sobbed and hiccoughed herself into something resembling calm, Regulus brushed his thumb across her chin and whispered, "What happened, darling?"

Jade leaned forward, burying her face in his chest and muttering, "Sirius and I got into a fight."

Regulus wrapped his strong arms around her, one hand petting her hair gently.

"Tell me what he said."

The 'and I'll rip out his throat' wasn't tacked onto the end of his words, but it hung on the air all the same, but Jade wasn't really in any condition to notice such a subtlety.

"He – we…. We had a fight about our parents and futures and… and he told me that I'm pretty but I have no substance and he looked quite disappointed with me."

Regulus blinked.

Had Jade not been quite so out of sorts because of the comments of Sirius had made in anger and frustration Regulus might have been quite pleased with the fact that it seemed very much that Sirius had given up on Jade ever becoming his. However, Jade was quite disturbed by the words, as though she actually believed them, and Regulus kissed her forehead gently.

"Jade, he was just frustrated when he said those things. Even if he thought he meant them, they're not true. But Sirius is guided by impulses rather than reason and I doubt he really meant them, anyway."

"But… but what if it's true?" she sobbed.

"Jade, don't listen to him," Regulus whispered. "You're beautiful, intelligent, and you've got a very, very good heart. Just because you don't see the need to follow him and give up everything you've ever cared about because he claims to love you doesn't mean you don't have substance. If you didn't have substance, you would just a receptacle for other people's ideas, and you would have ended up in Slytherin like everyone you grew up around, but you didn't. You're a Hufflepuff."

He kissed her forehead and said, "And if he loved you, he wouldn't have hurt you like this, and I know he said it to hurt you on purpose. He may have thought he loved you, but I don't think Sirius understands love yet."

Jade sniffed, looking up at her.

"And you do?"

Regulus nodded solemnly.

"It's how I feel about you," he whispered. "It's the feeling I get when I see you, it's the wanting to be around you and to protect you and to make you happy, no matter what that means for me. If you ever decided you wanted him, as scared and lonely as I would feel, I wouldn't stop you, if he made you happy."

"He doesn't," Jade said, still too distraught to really process Regulus's words. "He makes me uncomfortable and frustrated and right now he's made me very… very… Oh, I don't know."

"Distraught," Regulus offered.

She nodded.

"Well," he whispered, "I can't say I'm not glad you don't want him. Now I just wish I knew a way to make you want me."

The sadness in his voice as he said those words made Jade look into his eyes and wonder what it felt like, this love he talked of.

"I do want you," she said softly, just realizing it herself, "just… just not necessarily quite how you want me to, yet, but I do want you."

He smiled a little, biting his lip as though considering something. It took Jade a moment to realize that he was trying to decide whether this would be a bad time to kiss her or not, so she leaned forward and made up his mind for him, pressing her lips against his. She'd not only grown used to this, but she rather liked the feel of his lips on hers.

In fact, Jade realized as she discovered that her fingers had found their way to his hair and were exploring, it felt incredibly good, their mouths working together, exploring each other, and when his mouth separated to explore her neck, she actually rather enjoyed it. In fact, she let out a sigh that she hadn't noticed building up inside her until she heard it escape her lips. The sigh merely encouraged Regulus, not that Jade was complaining, and his hands held her at the waist, holding her torso tight against his.

"Jade," he moaned against her neck, "I love you so much."

What was she supposed to say to that? That she knew he did? It was true, but somehow didn't seem like the best thing to say, and quite honestly her brain was a bit fuzzy in that moment, and she was struggling for air, much less words. She turned her head a bit when his actions began to tickle her neck and she saw that the house-elves had left the food on the table, politely not interrupting the interaction between them. She smiled a little, absently mussing up Regulus's hair a bit with her fingertips.

"Regulus," she said, blushing a bit when she realized the word came out as a sigh, "they've brought our food."

At first, he didn't react, seemingly not hearing her or not registering her words. She moved a bit and kissed the shell of his ear before whispering, "Food's here, Regulus."

He shivered a bit, but seemed to hear her this time, and that was the main goal. Regulus looked down at the food, nodded, swallowed and said, "Sorry, I was… I mean, I… Let's eat."

Jade laughed, sliding off his lap into the chair beside him.

They continued to be more or less happy, although Jade was on edge, sure Sirius hadn't fully quit his advances, and she dressed for Hogsmeade a few days later with shaking hands. It was not only her first date, but it was her first date with her fiancé, someone who said they loved her. But she also knew that Sirius would be there, not on her date but at Hogsmeade, and she couldn't get over the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

She slid on the sky blue sweater dress she had gotten the year before on a whim, examining herself in the mirror. She drew her blonde hair up into a bun, turned to the side to examine it, and decided she would rather have it down, taking it down again and pinning it up on one side. Regulus liked her hair, to play with it, and she didn't want to deny him the opportunity.

The other girls in Jade's dorm were getting ready for dates with other boys, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors, and one girl was even going steady with a Ravenclaw, but they stayed away from Jade. Even more now that she was engaged to Regulus, she was a bit of a pariah. Sirius was right about one thing, it was widely known that Regulus would be siding with the Death Eaters, if not becoming one of them.

Jade met Regulus in the entrance hall, taking his arm as she had done with his brother at dozens of parties growing up: without really thinking about it. They strolled down the grounds, out of the gates, off to the village of Hogsmeade.

"How are you this morning?" he asked gently, trying to start off the day with a conversation that didn't feel forced, but Jade couldn't help but think there was no hope for an unforced conversation to start with.

"I'm feeling quite fine, thank you," she said honestly. "You should have seen the way my dorm mates looked at me this morning. I think they thought I was going to curse them all when their backs were turned."

He frowned, confused.

"What?"

"Oh, well, they're all afraid of me anyway, being of Slytherin breed. But the fact that I'm dating you worries them even more."

Regulus laughed, shaking his head.

"What's so scary about me?" he asked.

"You're going to be a Death Eater," she said as casually as such a thing could be said. "Everyone knows it."

He didn't make any effort to deny it or acknowledge it at all. For a moment, Jade was worried about having brought it up, worried that she would put him on the defensive. Finally, when they were approaching the village and he asked, "And how do you feel about it? Are you scared of me too?"

"No," she said honestly, before she really had a chance to think about it. "No, I'm not scared of you but…"

"But what?" he asked, turning her to face him, his expression as unreadable as it had been before he ever confessed his love.

"I'm scared," she whispered, "of what you could become."

Regulus looked at her, completely unreadable for a moment, before reaching out with his hand and touching her cheek, leaning in and resting his forehead on hers.

"I promise you," he said, "that I will do everything I can to never become something that ever makes you afraid or unloved. And if you ever start to find yourself afraid of me, I beg you to tell me, to help me change."

Her chest did something strange, but whatever it was felt incredibly good, and she nodded into his hand, allowing him to press his lips to hers. For a moment, it was like the world was spinning and she couldn't understand why this kiss felt so superior to all the prior ones, but she didn't want it to stop. Then, he pulled away, lacing his fingers in hers, the gesture feeling far more intimate that the formal joining they'd been enacting previously. She liked it. Jade liked the feel of Regulus's rough hand engulfing hers and the feel of his thumb gently caressing the back of her hand.

"Come on," he said, leading her off to the familiar village of Hogsmeade, where she knew they would go about their familiar things, living their familiar lives, and so on. She realized that Regulus hadn't said anything really about what he thought his future held for him, but in fairness to him, she hadn't really asked.

She ought to ask, she ought to know what would be expected of her, as his wife, so that she had time to get used to the idea, but Jade couldn't do it. She told herself there was no point asking that day, to spoiling a perfectly lovely first date.

They strolled together onto the High Street and Jade was starting to get comfortable with the idea of being on a date with her fiancé. She shouldn't have felt too comfortable, however, for it was the beginning of a long, arduous day, and not at all what either of them could have imagined for their first date together.

It all started going downhill when Jade's name, or rather surname, was called out by the voice of none other than Sirius Black from up the street, and he looked ready for a fight.