Hey everyone. This story was brought to you by Culinary Arts: Pasta assignment, Ultimate Battle Competition, From the Heart, Hogwarts Bingo Party, and Our Tangled Webs on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Culinary Arts: Pasta assignment: Task 12 Orecchiette - Write about overhearing something.
Ultimate Battle Competition: Accessory Set Price 600 words (emotion) guilt
From the Heart: 1-800-CUPID - Write a Cupid!AU
Hogwarts Bingo Party: N3 Free Space
Our Tangled Webs: Regulus/Marlene
Warning for Cupid!AU and slight bit out of character. Word count is 1,523 words. I hope you all enjoy Love of a Cupid.
He hadn't meant for this to happen. Not at all. The upper management of cupids told him on the daily he needed to be more careful with the placement of his arrows when he was off duty. They warned that something like this could happen. Something this darned...stupid. Something could have been avoided if he listened.
But he didn't listen which made things ten times worse for him now. He had been sent out on assignment to make sure that a certain curly blonde haired girl fell in love with his older brother and fellow cupid, Sirius.
He remembers how this happened as though it had just happened which it basically just did. As his recollections swallow him the guilt in him rose higher and higher.
He watched the blonde haired Marlene walking down the beach with her best friend Lily. He'd been told that this is where she would be and that he had to get his brother there somehow. He just didn't know how.
Mentally cursing himself, he racked his mind for ways to get Sirius to come to the beach. He could tell Sirius that he needed help with an assignment. But then Sirius would see him as an inferior cupid and no one could take him seriously after that.
His brother, after all, had the ears of almost everyone in power. Everyone loved Sirius which was beginning to make Regulus just a tiny bit jealous.
He could lie and tell Sirius that his best mate James was down her making a fool of himself in front of Lily again. Sirius was always quick to help James save face in front of everyone and never seemed to blackmail the dark haired cupid for it.
He scanned the area for any sign of the older cupid at all. Seeing none, he sighed as he sat down. A searing pain going through his rump.
Cursing, both out loud and mentally, he jumped from the rock he'd just sat down on. Eyes widening in fear he realized that he'd just sat on his quiver of love arrows.
"I have to get out of here without looking at anyone," he muttered to himself, "and quick." He could see out of the corner of his eyes that two girls were heading his way. Plucking the arrow from his behind he quickly picked up his quiver and bow and started to make his way up the beach towards the street.
"Wait," called Marlene, as she desperately put a burst of speed to catch up to him. "Are you alright?"
Regulus didn't want to break the first rule of the cupid's. That rule being that if someone was destined to be with someone else you didn't mess with that. This would be messing with that system. Putting on an extra burst of speed himself he was almost to the street when he fell. He fell hard.
"Let me help you up," Marlene said, taking his hand and pulling Regulus to his feet. "Are you al…"
Regulus knew it was a mistake. He knew he shouldn't have looked up when he did. But he did and it was too late to do anything about it. The arrow's magic took effect and all he could see or think about was Marlene McKinnon.
"I'm fine," he gasped in shock. He'd never seen someone so beautiful in all his life and he was cupid. He had dealt with a lot of beautiful people in his life.
She was staring at him in shock. Her expression bringing out the flecks of blue in her blue grey eyes. The golden ringlets seemed to bounce around her face of their own accord as though blown by an unforeseen wind.
"Are you sure?" she asked concern coloring her voice. The voice of an angel. "You're bleeding an awful lot."
"I am?" He placed his hand on the spot the arrow had entered and pulled it away. "I am. I didn't notice."
She giggled and it sounded like the tinkling of bells. "Let's go get you cleaned up," she suggested. "I took a first aid class recently…."
As he was led off by Marlene, Regulus caught a glimpse of dark hair and storm cloud grey eyes watching them as they left the beach. He wondered what his brother could be so angry about.
It wasn't until he was away from Marlene's influence that he realized what had happened on the beach yesterday. That he had failed in his mission. Which wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that Sirius had just happened to overhear the whole thing.
"What's going on, baby brother?" Sirius asked, folding his arms over his chest with that look that made Regulus want to confess. "Anything interesting happen yesterday?"
Regulus shook his head hurriedly, not wanting to open his mouth. If he opened his mouth then the whole story would come out and then he'd be in big trouble. He had, after all, broken the most important of cupid laws.
"Are you sure nothing happened to you yesterday? Nothing happened, say, at the beach for instance?"
Regulus felt his heart pound in his chest. Maybe he should just tell Sirius the whole story and get it over with. He knew what would happen if he didn't. Not only would he have to live with the guilt of stealing Sirius's soulmate, he'd also be drummed out of the ranks of cupids. He'd have all his friends turn their backs on him which was a fate worse than death in Regulus's mind.
"I...I...I don't know what you're talking about, Siri," Regulus stuttered out with a blush coloring his cheeks.
"Then the plan didn't work," he mumbled to himself as though Regulus wasn't there at all. "I guess James and I will have to get back to the drawing board."
"What plan didn't work?" Regulus asked.
"The plan to get you and Marlene McKinnon together. Do you really think that the higher ups would entrust the love life of an older cupid to one of the younger ones?"
"Then that was…"
"That was James's part of the plan. He suggested we get the boss to send you on a mission for me." Sirius chuckled making his grey eyes shine with mirth. "I was the one who moved your quiver of arrows in the right position."
"That hurt, by the way." Regulus glared at Sirius, who just barked out a laugh and continued on with his explanation.
"Sorry about that," Sirius mumbled. "I didn't think you would flop yourself down on the rock like that though."
"Well, what did you think I was going to do?"
"Run to James and tell him to go flirt with Lily to get me down to the beach. But that doesn't matter. I was there the whole time, remember? I was the one who moved your quiver full of arrows."
"So you're telling I felt guilty all day yesterday and part of today for nothing?" Regulus felt his guilt give way. "That this was all a plot to get me with Marlene?"
Sirius nodded with a smug look that said it was his best plot yet.
"You could have just told me," Regulus said, wanting to scream and tear his hair out. He'd basically been trying to do the right thing and found out it wasn't necessary.
"You know the rules as well as anyone else, Reg," Sirius pointed out unhelpfully.
The second and almost as important rule of being a cupid was that you never told anyone that they were being set up. It made the love less authentic.
Regulus sighed. "What do I do?"
"Go to her, you idiot."
Regulus searched high and low for any sign of Marlene. He'd run into Lily on his way out of headquarters and she had told him that Marlene was at the beach. But he couldn't see hide or hare of her anywhere.
He was just about to give up the search when she found him. She had been walking down the beachfront watching the waves wash upon the shore. Not watching where she was going in the least. That is until she crashed into him.
"I'm so sorry," she said, reaching out a hand to help him up.
"Deja vu," Regulus said with a smile.
"It's you? I thought I'd never see you again."
Regulus didn't know how to answer her. How did you tell someone you loved them? But as he looked out over the scene with the soft sand underfoot, the crashing waves in the background, the setting sun. Regulus knew he had his answer. Pulling Marlene into a kiss with such passion he didn't understand how he could contain it, he sighed in contentment.
"I love you, Marlene," he whispered, as he leaned his forehead against her own. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
"Yes," Marlene smiled. "Of course I will, Regulus."
With his heart skipping a beat he took Marlene's hand they continued to walk the beach together in companionable silence. Neither one of them needed words. They knew what each other felt in this moment and words would only ruin it.
I hope you all enjoyed Love of a Cupid as much as I enjoyed writing it.