QUIDDITCH LEAGUE FANFICTION COMPETITION
Round Ten, (Oh)TP No!
Montrose Magpies, Keeper (Reserve)
KEEPER: Your OTP always seems to be going through a rough patch.
Also written for some other challenges.
Learning to Accept It
"Mudblood!"
My eyes widened and filled with tears. I could feel them sliding down my face. My hand shook, and I nearly dropped my wand.
Regulus seemed to realize what he had said at that very moment, but it was too late.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I really didn't mean it, I swear -"
"No, Regulus." I cut him off. I meant to sound steady, but my voice trembled. "You said it. You meant it."
"No, I promise!" he almost begged. "It just slipped out!"
"Which means you're used to saying it," I countered.
"My childhood -" Regulus began. I knew what he was going to say - that a person's childhood had big effects on their life later on, and he'd been told that Muggleborns like me were inferior from a young age. It was true, and I knew that he'd been sincerely trying to rid himself of his old habits - like acting as if he was the king of the world and calling Muggleborns 'Mudbloods'. It was his excuse every time he acted superior or hateful to me. I always accepted his apology. But this time? This time, I was so done with Regulus Arcturus Black.
"Don't try it," I said icily. "I know you meant it. Don't lie to me."
"But Mia -" he tried, using the nickname that he'd come up with for me.
"You have no right to call me that anymore!" I screamed, suddenly losing my temper. I had always been testy, and I had reached my breaking point.
Regulus stepped back, because he knew that I could do serious damage with a wand. "Now, Hermione, let's not be hasty -"
"HASTY!" I was in a rage. "You dare call me hasty! Well, the joke's on you! You were the hasty one when you called me a Mudblood!"
"Hermione, I already apologized -"
I took a deep breath to calm myself. Inhale, exhale. "Look, Regulus." I said in the calmest voice I could muster, which wasn't really calm at all. "You don't need to apologize. I understand that calling people like me 'Mudbloods' is normal to you. It might have been an accident, but still. You know what, Regulus? We're over."
Who's laughing now? I thought.
Lily offered me a cup of tea. I took it, and drank it all in one gulp.
"What's wrong, 'Mione?" the redhead asked, worry in her green eyes. I'd always envied her because of her eyes. They were a beautiful emerald colour, and compared to my muddy brown ones, Lily's eyes were like little suns lighting up the sky.
I hesitated for a moment, but eventually, I gave in.
"Well, you know all the fights Regulus and I have all the time?"
"You two just had one?" Lily guessed.
I nodded. "Yep. And this one was a big one."
"What did he say?"
"He - he called me a...a Mudblood."
Silence.
Then Lily gasped. "That ghastly man!"
"Exactly. And I said...we're over. I think we're just too different, you know? Regulus grew up in a pureblood household, thinking that he was the best of the best because he's a Black and has magic, while I grew up in a Muggle household, not knowing what magic was until I was eleven."
There was a pause, and I wondered if I'd said something wrong.
Finally, Lily spoke.
"You were right to leave him, 'Mione. Can I ask a question?" Without waiting for my answer, she continued, "Did you ever love him?"
I flashed back to all our happy moments together: our first date, our first kiss, the time Regulus announced that I would be moving in with him. But then I thought of the bad times: our first fight, the time Regulus had not-very-accidentally told me that I was ugly...and our last time together, fifteen minutes ago. And I wondered, Have I really ever loved him?
"You haven't thought about it," Lily noted. "Well, I'll give you time and space to do that." She stood up. "The guest room's yours."
He at least deserves a goodbye, I thought. He'd been my boyfriend for years, and we'd been through thick and thin together. Not even saying goodbye to him would be rude.
The exterior of 12 Grimmauld Place was black (obviously) and gloomy. It did not seem like the place where Sirius Black, with his playfulness and Gryffindor-ness, grew up. The house felt cold and impersonal. I shivered as I walked towards it, even though it was a hot summer's day.
I knocked on the door. "Regulus?" I called, hopeful. "Regulus, are you there?"
There were muffled sounds from the other side of the door, and it swung open.
I swallowed, suddenly at a loss for words. What was I meant to say, faced with my first and last love?
"Look," I finally managed to get out, "I'm sorry."
He stared at me, his grey eyes assessing. Even now, so many years after I had met him, I felt like a fly trapped in amber, unable to move under his gaze. "Sorry for what?"
"For...for everything." I burst out. "I think I knew from the start that we weren't for each other, but I kind of forced both of us into it. I'm...I'm really, really sorry." I felt like bursting into tears.
"It's okay," he said after a long pause, even though I knew that it wasn't. "It's not completely your fault. It's mine too. I was the one who started most of our fights."
I swallowed. "So...you're okay with…" I trailed off, trying to describe our broken relationship.
"No way," he said immediately. "But I can learn to accept it. Isn't that what you always tell me to do? Regulus, you have to learn to do whatever!" He mimicked me.
Sensing that the conversation was out of dangerous waters already, I began to relax a little. "I don't say whatever. Only you do."
"Whatever." Regulus said automatically.
I laughed. "You literally just said it."
"What can I say? It's a cool word."
I suppressed a smile, because I had been the one to introduce him to Muggle culture and Muggle slang words.
My world had tilted on its axis, but I could learn to accept it.
WC: 1034
