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They reappeared on the doorstep of 12 Grimmauld Place. Oddly, it had been the first thing Emma thought of, instead of her apartment in Diagon Alley. It was for the best, she supposed. With the altercations between Death Eaters, the Order of the Phoenix and the Aurors who had no idea who was on whose side, it might not have been a good idea to Apparate to Diagon Alley in the middle of the night. Even if it is Christmas.

Regulus held a finger to his lips as he quietly opened the door, so as to not wake any of the sleeping portraits. If they saw them, Walburga would surely feel duty bound to return. And that was the last thing either of them wanted. They snuck up the winding staircase to Regulus's room and as Regulus summoned Kreacher back to keep him informed, Emma studied the collage of Lord Voldemort's rise to power.

What a joke, she thought, sickened. I can't escape him, not anywhere. In a way, she was glad that Regulus had dragged them back. It was the coward's way out, but at least she had left James thinking she was on the same side as him. The moving pictures in front of her seemed to be mocking her, reminding her of all she had aspired to be and all that she had become. "You wanted this," they were saying. "You only have yourself to blame."

With a large crack! Kreacher disappeared, probably to spend some more time with Dobby. Regulus let out a long, drawn out sigh and came to stand next to his girlfriend, taking a moment to look at his younger self's work. Emma wondered what he thought of it now, what he thought of the Dark Lord now. She knew he had had doubts, but he barely mentioned them now. And with this new top-secret project… it seemed as though Regulus had only buried himself deeper into their work.

'Sirius knows,' he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Emma turned her head sharply, the Dark Lord fleeing her thoughts. 'Are you sure?'

'Definitely. He tried to see my Mark, but I ran before he could,' Regulus replied unhappily, his face twisting into a mask of guilt and fear. 'I can't believe it. I'm such a fool; I let him get too close. Emma…What do we do?'

Emma frowned, the cogs in her mind turning faster than ever.

'Nothing,' she said eventually, looking Regulus in the eyes. 'We do nothing. He's been claiming it for years and no one has been listening. Even James doesn't believe him, and he's his best friend.'

Regulus looked at her incredulously, waiting for the rest of her plan. When no words were forthcoming, he spun around, walking towards his open balcony.

'So what? That's it? We're just supposed to trust the fact that nobody listens to him? Mulciber died for this, Emma! I'm not going to just –' He cut off abruptly, instead opting to grasp the balcony railing until his knuckles turned white. 'That's your big plan?'

'Do you have a better one?' Emma retorted, coming over to join him. 'If we do nothing, then we won't attract attention. Just act normal, and everything will be fine.'

'Act normal?' Regulus's voice was barely above a whisper, but it regained strength for the rest of his sentence. 'Is that what you've been doing these past few weeks, acting normal? Barty told me that you made him Quidditch Captain at Rabastan's party last week. That's not normal, everyone knows you love Quidditch! And I can't believe that I found out second hand? Were you going to tell me at all, or were you just going to spring it on me at the next practice? And James, would you have told him, too? Is that what I walked in on?'

Emma's eyes got narrower and narrower with each accusation, and to her horror tears started leaking out, whether from frustration or because she was upset, she didn't know. How did the conversation turn to this?

'I'm keeping secrets?' she asked incredulously. 'You have no right to say that to me, not when you refuse point blank to include me on whatever you've been holing yourself up, working on these holidays. I thought we were a team! I thought that…After all we'd been through, with the Gurgs, with the Aurors...'

Emma's voice trailed off as she realised just how betrayed she felt by the person who was supposed to not only be her boyfriend, but her best friend, the ally that she could count on no matter what in this war. A link in her heart seemed to snap.

'Never mind,' she said in a calmer tone, swallowing her disappointment. 'I'll just... I'll just Apparate to my apartment, it was wrong of me to suppose that you would trust me. After all, you didn't trust me after Sirius spent the summer at my parents', did you? You're always so quick to think I'm on his side.'

'Wait!' Regulus cried, grabbing a hold of her arm. 'Wait, Emma, I'm sorry.'

Against her better judgement, Emma stayed put, waiting for the explanation that was too late in coming. Regulus's eyes were darting around frantically, as if he had only just realised what was on Emma's mind.

'I…I had no idea you felt that way,' he admitted, not knowing how to start. 'Well, not that much, anyway. Shit, I've gone about this the wrong way. It's just that…with the way you reacted at school...'

'I can't understand a word you're saying, Regulus,' Emma said flatly, shrugging his hand off her arm.

'I know, I'm sorry. Just, wait here for a minute. I'll cast a Heating and Cushioning charm, wait,' he mumbled, flicking his wand at the balcony floor. Immediately, Emma felt the warmth of a summer breeze, although London was covered in frost. She hadn't even realised how cold it was up until now. 'Shit, shit, shit, this is not the way I wanted this to go.'

Still muttering to himself, Regulus rushed back into his room, tearing the place apart in his haste to find…Well, Emma wasn't sure what. But if it was important enough to get Regulus in such a fuss, then she owed it to him to at least give him the chance to explain himself.

A few minutes later, he skidded back onto the balcony with a thick woolly blanket and a wad of papers. His hair was more dishevelled than James's, and he almost looked like Sirius with the number of expressions that crossed his face.

'This is definitely not how I had this planned, but since we're basically living together, I guess this is how it was going to turn out. Um... Do you remember when we were talking about the whole pureblood problem thing at school?'

Emma gave him a blank stare, raising an eyebrow.

'No, of course you don't,' he sighed, calming down a little. 'Look, I'm obviously pretty bad at explaining, so just… read these first.'

He draped the blanket around her shoulders, and then around his own. It was large enough that only their knees were touching, but still warm. Curious, Emma took the sheaf of papers from her boyfriend, her icy demeanour lessening. Turning the top one around to face her, she read:

Dear Regulus Arcturus Black,

It is rare that I receive such correspondence from you. As you should well remember from your family history, that type of information is confidential, unless you wish to dispute it with a claim of your own.

However, as your grandfather, I shall simply assume that this is the case, though if it goes to the Wizengamot with Edward Wilkes, then I shall deny all part in this exchange. Burn the letters if this does not result in a dispute.

On the Fifteenth of September, in the Nineteenth Hundred and Seventy Seventh year, Morgan Elliot Wilkes submitted a petition for the hand of Emma Jane Potter. As Emma Jane Potter's father Charles Florian Potter is recently deceased and Emma Jane Potter herself is currently schooled at Hogwarts, the petition claim goes to Emma Jane Potter's closest living relative: Dorea Violetta Black.

Dorea Violetta Black has transferred the petition to her nephew Cygnus Pollux Black, as Emma Jane Potter's guarantor is Narcissa Druella Black. As head of the Black family, although I cannot interfere within the marriage process, I am allowed full access to these records. A decision has not yet been made, as Cygnus Pollux Black wishes to discuss the matter with Emma Jane Potter herself upon her eighteenth birthday, respecting the six month grace period.

Should you require further information, I remain at your service,

Your grandfather, Pollux Regulus Black.

'You brought me Wilkes petition for marriage?' Emma asked, gesturing to the parchment with a slight frown. 'That's the big thing you've been hiding? Apart from the fact that it is completely archaic, I can't believe...'

'Wait, there's more,' Regulus cut in, turning the parchment until he found one with what Emma recognised as his flowing script. He looked at her apprehensively as he handed her the parchment. 'I just…Well, I never found a moment I could talk to you about it.'

Dear Pollux Regulus Black,

I thank you for all of the information you have gathered on my behalf. I would now like to submit a formal petition, to both you, Pollux Regulus Black, and to my uncle, Cygnus Pollux Black, to request the hand of Emma Jane Potter in marriage...

The parchment went on, but the rest of the words refused to sink in. The sentence appeared as if in bold, masking the rest of the letter, the remaining paragraphs intelligible. She looked up, speechless. Regulus ran a hand nervously through his hair before taking the stack of parchment and placing it underneath his telescope, so it wouldn't blow away. Ever the conscientious one, said an affectionate flyaway thought in Emma's brain.

'Look,' he started, and Emma could see his chest rising and falling rapidly under the blanket. 'I know that you find these petitions horrendous, and outdated, and you said that with Wilkes there was no chance in hell that you would ever accept to be sold to his family for some kind of weird reverse dowry, but…I just figured that if it was inevitable, you would prefer to be promised to…well, me…and all we need is to be fiancéd, not even married, you can break it off as soon as we leave Hogwarts, if you want. I just thought...'

'Regulus,' Emma smiled, feeling all of her pent up anger dissolve with his act of kindness. 'Breathe. I think it's very sweet of you to think of this. It's possibly the nicest thing anyone's done for me, considering that Wizarding marriages are for life.'

She shuffled around under the blanket until she found herself on his lap, hugging him with as much tenderness as she could to convey her point. He opened his arms to make room for her, and soon she found herself in a warm cocoon, her face buried in the nook of his neck.

'Your nose is cold,' Regulus said before he could stop himself, and they both laughed.

Emma took her face out of its burrow long enough to kiss him, before snuggling back down. Regulus's arms closed around her back, and she felt him rest his cheek against her hair a moment later. They stayed like that for a while before Regulus pulled away again.

'What is it?' Emma asked, before remembering what they had been fighting about. Her brow creased into a frown. 'I'm sorry I told Barty about the Captaincy before you. I'm sorry I didn't even pick you, but I figured that you already had a lot going on.'

'It's not that,' Regulus replied, his eyes growing hooded as he thought about his next sentence. 'I…That wasn't all, about the subject.'

Emma felt his heart beat start to pound again through the fabric of their clothes, and he licked his lips nervously before starting to talk, pulling away even more so they could properly look at each other.

'Do you remember the way we met?' Regulus asked eventually.

'Fluffy,' Emma smiled, remembering that Regulus had found her large black cat all those years ago.

'Well, I... I've fancied you ever since then. Before then, actually. Ever since I saw you and your family laughing on the platform. It was so different from anything I had seen before, from my own family, and you looked so happy and carefree, and I just thought to myself, "that's what I want". I guess I was like Sirius that way, wanting a family different from my own.'

He paused.

'But my family's not like that anymore, Regulus,' Emma said gently. 'I don't have what you're looking for.' She gave a humourless laugh. 'Our lives are less than carefree, right now.'

'Wait for me to finish,' he admonished, but his smile was back in place. 'I realise that now, of course. But that feeling never faded. You were the first person to see me as Regulus, and not as a Black, not as Sirius's brother. Of course, there was Rabastan, and Lucinda and even Alecto, later on, but none of them needed each other like you and me. We seemed to…bring the best out in each other. I think we still do.

'Anyway, by this time we were best friends, and all I could think was that I was falling more and more in love with you, but I made sure no one noticed. After all, you never showed any kind of interest, and I was scared that if I did tell you, then I would mess it all up and I would lose you forever. At this point, I think Rabastan noticed, but by fifth year I had mastered Occlumency with Bella and decided that it was best for me to try to get over my feelings. As you well know, that didn't turn out as planned. You can imagine my horror when you told me you wanted to forget that night in sixth year on the Quidditch pitch. The best night of my life, and you just wanted to ignore it?

'I suppose what I'm trying to say is, that even though we've only been dating a few months, I've loved you for almost half of my life. I have a confession to make: I took Fluffy so that we could meet. Back then, I thought I just wanted to get to know you, but now I think that even as an eleven-year-old I knew, somewhere deep in my bones, that the only person I have even loved…will ever love…in my entire life, is you.

'And if we had our whole lives, maybe I would have waited a little longer, but we're in the middle of a war that's getting more and more confusing by the day. It's getting harder to know what is the right and wrong thing to do, and there's hardly anything you can hold onto without it slipping through your fingers. My father, your parents, showed me that.

'So with that in mind,' Regulus concluded, looking through the pockets of his robes. 'I want to ask you properly - forget about the stupid marriage contract, forget about Wilkes and my family and the war - Emma Potter, will you marry me?'

Emma thought she might have forgotten to breathe during Regulus's whole speech, her eyes trained on his stormy grey eyes the whole time. When he turned away, it was as though her brain restarted after a long period of inactivity. After a couple of seconds he found what he was looking for, but didn't make a move, waiting for her reply. His eyes were trained on hers, for once betraying the entire turmoil within.

"I've just laid my soul bare to you," they seemed to say. "Please don't crush it now."

'We don't have to get married now,' he hastened to add, hand moving up to ruffle his hair once more. 'Just, one day, I would like to...'

Emma caught his hand before it reached the top of his head, intertwining their fingers together. Her mouth twitched, knowing that she was happy, but not sure as to how to smile in this kind of surreal situation. No expression, no word seemed good enough.

'Yes, I do want to marry you Regulus,' she said simply, before realising that that might not be enough for him to believe her. 'I would have wanted to marry you even without the Wilkes contract, you know. I love you. Though I might have figured it out a little late, I don't think I could love anyone else after everything we've been through together.'

'Wonderful,' Regulus breathed, pressing his mouth to hers as though trying to convey his happiness through the contact. Emma deepened the kiss, but her boyfriend broke it quickly.

'What?' she asked, worried that something was wrong.

'Nothing, I just almost forgot to do this,' he said, taking her left hand in his and sliding a silver band on her fourth finger.

Emma felt the ring automatically tighten to accommodate her finger. It was simple enough: A silver band with an intricate oval woven on the top. Inside, two small diamonds framed an oval green emerald facing Emma. Suddenly, she felt the inexplicable urge to giggle.

'It's my family's ring, I hope you don't mind,' Regulus said quickly, misinterpreting her. 'Bella and Cissy are girls, and Sirius was disowned, so I ended up with the antique Black ring.'

'It's beautiful,' Emma assured him, and it was the truth. 'I just laughed because, well…Slytherin to the end, aren't we?' She cocked her head to the side, giving him a grin.

In return, Regulus reached around her neck, gently pulling out the oval locket that she kept on her person at all times.

'It goes with this, doesn't it?' he framed the question more as a statement, tracing the contours of silver serpent. 'I didn't realise it at first, but it's a replica of Slytherin's locket, isn't it?'

'Yes,' Emma admitted. A short pause went by, before she decided to show Regulus the insides. 'I thought you might find it a bit cheesy, but after that speech, a little more cheesiness couldn't hurt. Open it.'

'Are you sure?' Regulus asked, knowing how protective she was of the locket.

'I wouldn't say so if I wasn't,' Emma smiled.

'Alright, then,' he replied, fiddling the little catch.

Inside were two small moving pictures, one of James and one of Regulus and Emma together. He recognised the photo of James as one having been taken at the Interhouse ball in their fifth year. The Gryffindor was the most cheerful Regulus had seen him in years, and the picture seemed to have captured the boyish charm James Potter had before it evolved into the quiet confidence that he had adopted over the past year. As for the photo of himself, he had no idea when the picture had been taken, or how. They were obviously trying to pose, he was holding her by the waist as they both stared at the camera, but soon enough, Emma must have made some kind of joke, because the picture dissolved into both of them laughing and making fun of each other before reuniting.

'Lucy took that one,' Emma said, smiling when she saw Regulus's reaction. 'I don't think we even knew she was there until she told us to say "Cheese". I was teasing you about your love for Fluffy when you told me he had climbed into your bed at Hogwarts.'

She smiled fondly at the memory and Regulus couldn't help but steal another kiss as he closed the locket with a snap.

'I like them,' he said decidedly. 'It's a memory of better times.'

'And hopefully your ring is a sign of better times to come,' Emma said, and they both contemplated the unfamiliar, but somehow natural addition to her left hand long into the night.