Summer of 1977

Unbeknownst to him, he had one friend, and — of course — he had gone and fucked it up.

It was something he was rather good at, he supposed— fucking up. Most people wouldn't admit it — he would never admit it out loud — but he could admit it to himself. It was better than most. It was better than nothing, at least.

Yes, he could admit that he had fucked up, indeed.

"Regulus!" A young girl shrieked as scoops of cool, salted water cut her skin. Her hands clasped together, closing in over her chest as she shirked away from the onslaught. The young boy she had waddled to the seaside with chuckled as his feet waded in water. They had removed themselves of their shoes and socks as soon as they had stepped onto the sandy shore, but the cuffs of his pants were drenched as he played with the sea. His grey eyes were squinted but they shined bright, the corners scrunched both from the blinding sun and the laughter that escaped him as he watched the girl twist away from his frolic.

"It's not that bad," he told her, tilting his head towards the sea but keeping his eyes on her. "It's not cold." She blinked, her hands slowly coming down to her sides. "It's not." He beckoned her closer with a slight flick of his chin. They stared at one another, and Regulus couldn't help the grin growing on his lips. But as Sophia took a step closer, Regulus bent back down and hurled another handful of water her way.

"REGULUS!" The grin had proudly taken a permanent position on his face. Sophia huffed, staring him down, and in one swift movement, she walked to the water's edge and flung, with what might she had, a wave at him.

"That's the best you could do?" He teased as it hit him on his already drenched legs. He chuckled, both of them continuing to incessantly fling and flock salty water at one another. Each time they did, they closed the distance between them— the air filled with the calls of seagulls and their childish laughter.

It was an extraordinary scene as both had grown up to be the exact opposite of what they were at that moment. But their playful squeals and howls on that shore could not reach their families in the mansion sitting miles away. No one was there to tell them to stop or else, no one was there to tell them anything at all.

They had known one another for what seemed like more than a lifetime. She had always been there— their fathers were as close to best friends as people like them could be. But she was everything his family had never been. When no one else would smile— he would look at her because she always smiled. He hated it, he thought, but he always seemed to be looking for it, for her, for that smile.

Regulus and Sophia stood only mere inches from one another, and though the smile on her face stood strong, his own had fallen. He could see her in plain daylight—as if it was the first time he was actually seeing her. It wasn't true. He had seen her in all sorts of settings, seasons: from the dungeons at their school, to the extravagant Christmas balls, to the dim light of his own home. But they were both drenched now, the light linen of her summer dress soaked through. There was a wind that always surrounded an island chilling her skin— goosebumps running up and down her arms, her nipples pushing through the fabric.

Flashback - 31 December 1976

"You and Blanchet," Evan had asked once, nudging an elbow into Regulus' side at someone or other's New Year's Eve party.

"What about her?"

"You know…" Evan snorted, the corners of his eyes and lips lifted upwards. The younger wizard turned to his cousin, shaking his head slightly, telling him to go on. Evan peered out at him from the corner of his eye. "You know— what's going on there?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," Regulus repeated, looking back out to the dancing, twirling bodies. "Nothing. I don't know, we don't talk anymore."

"No?"

"No."

"Too bad, she was your best chance," Evan jibed.

"Hardly," Regulus responded with a snort. "She's like a child."

The conversation had only happened months ago, but now, then, in the heat of the summer— the words stained his mind. As if his cousin had planted a seed and let it fester without his permission.

A child, that's what he had called her— but they had grown up, hadn't they? For a long time, now, Regulus had convinced himself that he was a man before he was anything else. Of course, anyone else would be in their right mind to scoff at that— but he was convinced. He no longer looked like a child, not to himself, not when he looked in the mirror. He had grown up in a matter of seconds. Sometimes, he even questioned whether he had ever even been a child. But Sophia— Sophia still had a round face, youth-filled eyes, and when she spoke it was just a bit too loud. Despite being the same age, and actually a month older than him, he had always seen her as younger. Like a child.

But how could he justify those words to himself when the person standing in front of him was most definitely not a child? Could a child capture his breath the same way she had? She was bare to him, now, and he could feel what that was doing to him: his heart pounded, his eyes fixated, his thoughts frozen.

"Regulus?" Sophia's voice interrupted his daze, but he stood just as still. Her head tilted to the side, her golden blonde waves falling to the side, her deep brown eyes looking up into his. There was that smile, that fucking smile— always fucking there. "You—"

His arm wrapped around her waist, yanking her body against his and pressing his lips to hers. It wasn't soft. It wasn't careful as most first kisses were. It was demanding, controlling. It had happened so quickly that the witch didn't have time to react before he pushed her back again, putting as much distance between them as he could without sending her tumbling into the sea.

Sophia pursed her lips— and for what Regulus felt was the first time in his life: she wasn't smiling. Her chest rose and fell as it tried to regain the oxygen he had just taken from her. Her eyes were wide, fixated on the buttons lining his shirt.

Regulus, too, stood there with his arms at his side and his mouth agape as he watched her. But he was better than her in that way— it didn't take him long before his back was straight as a stick, his chin lifted, and his mind as clear as he could make it.

"They'll be wondering where we are," he said plainly as if the last five seconds hadn't happened, as if he hadn't done what he had just done. She remained silent, her eyes unblinking as she recounted the path that had gotten them there: afternoon tea, walk on the beach, play with water.... Regulus looked past her but didn't wait for a response. He often didn't when he had already made up his mind, so he trudged out of the water, beginning the walk back to his cousin's mansion.

Sophia's eyes trailed his body until it was out of her view, remaining unmoved— unsure whether she was invited or not, unsure whether she should run after him and… And what? What was she meant to do at that moment? No one had ever prepared her for that— no one had ever told her that there could ever be a chance that someone she considered her childhood friend would also be her first kiss. Sophia had dreamed about it— if someone asked her what her wedding dress would look like, she'd be able to paint them a whole picture down to the smallest detail. She had spent countless nights dreaming up imaginary scenarios of how all of it would happen. And Regulus had never been a part of it— not in that way, at least. He had always been someone on the guest list, a face in the crowd. In her imaginary scenarios, he was exactly who he had always been to her: someone who was there when it suited him, when he didn't have anywhere else better to be.

Once Regulus knew he was out of her view, he took a quick turn to walk around the backend of the mansion's grounds— into a grove of trees. As soon as he was hidden by the foliage, he pressed his back against a trunk and slid down to the ground. He brought his knees to his chest, placed his forehead on his knee tops, and closed his eyes.

He was good at fucking up.

Yeah, so, this story is supposed to be a Regulus-centric/Reg-OC centric story but it's going to collide in the upcoming chapters with howl & scream, which means the chapters will not just be about Regulus & Sophia, but Regulus' whole journey/perspective.

Note: You don't have to read howl & scream to be able to read this story, but the storyline will match up and the characters (non-canon) will also be the same. I did this because I find Regulus a very interesting character from the series, but there really isn't much about him, so I wanted to explore him a bit outside of Howl & Scream. The chapters in this will most likely be shorter than the howl & scream chapters b/c it is really meant to be about Regulus.