AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you've no idea how happy you make me, mwah I love y'all

peace — taylor swift

"would it be enough

if i could never give you peace?"

Regulus had been right. By the next morning, Sofia was back at the castle. Sirius had told her that he and Regulus had somehow convinced Dumbledore not to contact her family about what happened—for which Sofia was grateful— so, instead of going home for a little while to recover, she went back to school on the promise to take it easy for the next few days.

Sofia felt like she was going stir crazy after two days. She had been pretty much confined to the Gryffindor Tower the entire time and the only people she saw were her roommates who she never talked to since Sirius couldn't go into the girls' dormitories. Plus Chloe.

"I'm going to lunch today," Sofia declared on the third day.

Chloe, who sat at the end of Sofia's bed, looked at her. "I know that you want to see him, but the Healer said you should be under strict bedrest. It's already a miracle Madame Pomfrey isn't making you stay in the Hospital Wing."

"See who?" Sofia feigned confusion.

Chloe gave her a look. "You do realise everyone in the castle knows about you and Regulus now?"

Sofia frowned. "What?"

"Well, after that little display after you fell off your broom... He rushed after you so fast that some people thought he had spotted the Snitch. He was freaking out, he kept shouting after Coach that you needed help. I flew down when I realised what was happening and I saw him holding your hand."

Sofia stared off into space. Trying not to think of what this meant.

"They brought you to the Hospital Wing and he refused to leave your side. It was all incredibly romantic. I think the entire crowd held their breath," Chloe said.

Sofia's mind went to Mr and Mrs Black. They had been in the audience as well. Fuck. "His parents were in the audience. That's probably why he was acting so weird in St Mungo's."

Chloe frowned. "He was?"

"Yeah... he barely even talked to me, said he had business to take care of and left."

"Huh."

Regulus had been so worried his parents might realise Sofia and him were together but at that moment Sofia thought it might have actually been better if his parents had caught them actually kissing than what they had seen. Because this showed that Regulus cared about her, a lot deeper than just on a physical level.

"I have to go, Chloe."

And there must have been something in Sofia's tone that made Chloe get up without any further argument and say, "I'll check if the coast is clear."

Sofia waited until Chloe came back into the room and declared no one who gave a shit about whether Sofia was up and about or not was in the common room.

Sofia walked out of the Gryffindor Tower. There was still the ghost of a dull pain in the back of her head but it was easy to ignore.

She didn't make it all the way to the Great Hall when she was pulled into an empty classroom.

She started to freak out until she saw Regulus. She smiled. "Hey."

He threw his arms around her without a word and held her for a long while. It was the kind of embrace Sofia could tell he really needed. Sofia stood on her tiptoes so she could pull him into her further. His breaths were even but deep as if he was trying to stay calm. The pressure of his arms around her waist made Sofia feel a lot of things she wasn't willing to deal with at the moment. She wanted to stay inside those arms forever. He started releasing her very slowly.

Sofia searched his face once he finally pulled away. "Is everything okay?"

He sighed deeply. His hands framed Sofia's face before he let them drop slowly. He shook his head.

Sofia took his hands in hers. "Tell me. Please."

He looked down at their joined hands, a dark look on his face. "I don't think I've seen my mother this angry since Sirius ran away. She... she chewed me out rather thoroughly after I got back from the hospital. She refused to leave the school grounds until I came back."

"I'm sorry."

Regulus shook his head. There was a profound sadness in his gaze. "It's all gone to shit, love. There is no way she will allow me not to be a Death Eater now."

Tears formed in Sofia's eyes. She felt like her heart had stopped. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. It was Travers's. In more ways than one."

Sofia frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm pretty sure he talked to my parents. I don't know when, but they know about our potions lab and... and about us sneaking around."

Sofia's heart was on her throat. "You have to get away from them."

He squeezed her hands. "I... wish that I could. Sincerely. But my mother won't just let the very last Black heir leave so easily."

"What are we going to do then?"

Regulus looked up at her, a hint of shock in his eyes. "I... I don't know. I don't think it's wise to run right now. Not when she's this mad. I don't know what she might be capable of."

Sofia's chest felt tight. "Do you think she might... go after you, hurt you?"

He shrugged. "Come after me, for sure. Hurt me... I wouldn't put it past her... it's not like she's never done it before."

Sofia took a breath. "Okay. Okay, if you think that staying is what's best for now, I'll support you."

He still looked worried. "There's something else."

Sofia nodded at him to go on.

"The... the thing that matters the most to my mother in this world is keeping the Black bloodline pure. You know that's why she's so torn up about you and me," he spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. "She thinks that you're turning me into... well, Sirius. And she will do anything to further the Black bloodline and its purity. Anything."

He paused and Sofia felt cold. She didn't know what to say to that. "Okay..."

He took a breath. Finally looked into Sofia's eyes. "She wants to marry me off."

Sofia's breath caught. "What? To whom?"

"Honestly, at this point, she'll take anyone with pure blood but she sent me a letter this morning... apparently she's been talking to the Travers family about a possible... arrangement."

Sofia felt like she was going to pass out. An arranged marriage? What the fuck century were they in? "She can't force you to marry fucking Eliana."

"It's not all that uncommon for pureblood families to arrange marriages."

"She still can't fucking force you! You have to run, Regulus, please. You have to run as far as you can," her tone was pleading and normally, Sofia would rather die than beg someone like this, but for Regulus, she would stomach it.

He took a deep breath. "I wish it were that easy."

Sofia was starting to get frustrated. "Come on, Regulus. You can run. Or are you going to marry that bitch?"

Regulus looked away. "I won't marry her, Sofia. Of course not. I'll find a way to get out of it. I promise."

Sofia didn't think she could wait that long. "And when you do... won't Walburga just find another pureblood princess to marry you to?"

He looked at her. "I'll deal with this, Sofia. I swear."

"Yeah, you keep saying that but I have no idea what you're going to do! Am I supposed to just sit and wait, watch you get engaged to someone else?"

Regulus's jaw set. "Sofia, you knew going into this, that it wouldn't be easy... I thought we both agreed it was best to keep our relationship a secret until graduation."

Sofia scowled. "Yeah, well I didn't think keeping it a secret included getting fucking engaged to other people!"

"It won't mean anything, Sofia." His eyes were glassy and if Sofia didn't know better she'd have thought those were tears. He pulled her hands over his chest. His voice was low. "You know my heart is yours."

Sofia felt a chill go through her body at those words. But they weren't enough. "Will that still be true when there is a ring in Eliana's finger? When she walks down the aisle to you? Even if it were true, I won't be your dirty little secret forever. I refuse to be your... your mistress." She spat the word out.

Regulus pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going to marry her, Sofia."

"So run!"

"I can't. Not right now."

Sofia pulled her hands from his and wrapped her arms around herself. Her voice was tinny and defeated when she spoke. "Is this it, then?"

"Is what it?"

"Us. Because I can't do this. I can't... be your girlfriend if you're going to be engaged to someone else. I just can't. Please don't ask me to do that." Her voice was shaky.

There was such sadness in those beautiful grey eyes as he looked at her that Sofia wanted to take it all back and just hold him. For a brief moment. "If that's what you want, then I won't ask you to do that. But I need you to know that I will fix this. You won't lose me, Sofia."

Sofia sniffled. She didn't want to sob in front of him right now. "How can you be so sure?"

He took a moment to respond. "Because I love you. I think I have for a while now. And if I can promise you anything it's that I will fight for you. With everything I have. I know that I am asking a lot of you right now and if you want to leave right now, I understand. Merlin, I wouldn't fault you for it... you don't deserve all the shit I'm putting you through... you deserve stability and loyalty and peace. And it breaks my heart that I can't give you that."

Sofia felt frozen. Did he just say what she thought he said? It almost made her forget everything else. She reached out and settled her hand on his cheek. "I'm still mad that you won't listen to me... but I won't leave you, Regulus Black, I promise."

Finally, a small smile reached Regulus's lips as he pulled her into his arms.

Sofia went back to the Gryffindor Tower not long after that.

She saw Sirius as she walked in, it looked like he was about to go out but he took one look at Sofia's face and he pulled her up the stairs to his dormitory and into his arms.

Against Sirius's chest, Sofia finally broke down crying. Out of frustration, out of helplessness, out of fear. She told Sirius through sobs the gist of what had happened with Regulus.

Sirius tensed up as she reached the end of her story and pulled away so he could look at her. "So... after he told you all that... you still want to be with him?

Sofia held back a sigh. Just as she'd thought things might be fine with Sirius after all. "I know this is a hard concept for you to grasp but I actually really like Regulus and I want our relationship to work out."

Her tone was probably a little colder than it should be but Sofia felt too tired to tiptoe around Sirius now.

Sirius gave her a look of frustration. "Sofia, he's choosing a blood purist who thinks you're worthless over you! You deserve so much better than that, I don't understand how you can't see that."

Well, when he put it like that, it sure sounded a lot worse than the way Sofia had been thinking about it. "It's not that simple."

But that wasn't the right thing to say. Because Sirius looked even more upset. "Isn't it? Because I've been exactly where he is right now, I was his age when I ran away and it might have been hard but it was worth it, and I survived."

"It's not the same! You and Regulus are two vastly different people, Sirius! You are incredibly brave, and smart and independent but you are an anomaly... most people don't have your strength of character, and they are easily influenced by things like parents. Regulus is also smart and brave but he was easily influenced by your parents as a kid... and that led to him socialising in the wrong circles and having a hard time changing his worldview... he didn't get to be put in a House with likeminded peers or make friends who would have his back no matter what like you. So, it's not easy for him... you know very well how those people are, and how hard it is to get out when you're sucked in...

"And I know this is bad, and don't think for a second that I'm not hurt by these decisions he's making, but I'm choosing to trust him right now, to trust that he cares about me and that he knows what he's doing."

Sirius's face had softened now. "And if he doesn't come through... if he doesn't fix things... will you break up with him?"

Sofia weighed his words, he wasn't asking her that in a hopeful way, he just genuinely wanted to know if she'd have the guts to break up with Regulus. Sofiw took a deep breath and tried to keep her tears at bay. "He is going to fix this."

Because anything else was unfathomable.

Sofia and Sirius did not breach the topic of Regulus for the couple of weeks left in the school year. And despite the initial tension, things were miraculously almost back to normal with them.

If Sofia had thought she'd seen little of Regulus at school before... now it was like she didn't even have a boyfriend anymore. He thought it was too risky to meet anywhere, so they acted like the other didn't exist during classes. The only acknowledgement of their relationship had been little notes they left each other written in invisible ink where no names were used and they only wrote vague, meaningless stuff like 'miss you' and 'you looked beautiful today' and okay well, some notes about the potions they were working on (separately now, after a strongly worded letter to Slughorn from Mrs Black).

Sofia just wanted it to be summer, so she could see Regulus and talk to him (okay, and kiss him and hold him), she could barely focus on her exams thinking about it.

Time seemed to move at a snail's pace but finally, the final day of school came and Sofia was actually happy as she walked outside for Sirius's graduation.

James's parents were there for Sirius as well as James but Sofia was the only person who was there only for Sirius. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to imagine some alternate universe where Regulus could also be there for Sirius right alongside her, but she banished the thought before it made her too emotional.

Sofia clapped and cheered for Sirius as he received his diploma from Dumbledore with a big grin on his face.

Sofia hugged him once the ceremony was finally over and he went over to her. "Congrats. Can't believe you managed it."

Sirius smirked playfully. "Who would fail this face?"

Sofia laughed.

He took her hand and pulled her aside, "There's something I have to tell you."

Sofia arched a brow. "What is it?"

"Dumbledore pulled me and James and a few others aside earlier... he told us he wants us to join the Order of the Phoenix," Sirius looked excited as he spoke, but the words he said made Sofia feel like someone had pulled a knife through her stomach.

She tried not to let her concern and her fear show. "Oh? Really?"

Sirius nodded intently. "He said to give him our answer in a few days, to think about it, but I told him right then and there to count me in."

A knot in Sofia's throat. Her voice was tight. "Right."

"Hey, I know that... you're not much for rebellions and you have your family to think about... but you know I want to fight. I need to fight for what's right."

Sofia nodded. She did understand. She knew Sirius would want to join the Order, he had told her we wanted to... it just hadn't seemed real until now. But it wasn't like she could say anything to change his mind. "Just... just promise me you'll be careful... because I know you don't have any blood relations to watch over or anything but I need you, and I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

Sirius looked at her softly. He nodded. "Of course, Sonya." He stepped towards her and pulled her into a hug.

AN: Oh boy, the next chapter is inteeeense.