Hello everyone! This story was brought to you by Agricultural Sciences: Soil and Its Variables assignment, Insane Prompt List, Our Tangled Webs, From the Heart, Hogwarts Bingo Party, The House That Dobby Built, and Herbology Club on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Agricultural Sciences: Soil and It's Variables assignment: Task 3 Water Content - Write about something that helps someone grow as a person.
Insane Prompt List: 940. (Title) Written in the Stars
Our Tangled Webs: Regulus/Lily
From the Heart: ROMEO - Write a Romeo and Juliet!AU
Hogwarts Bingo Party: O5 Fake Dating
The House That Dobby Built: Settings Great Hall
Herbology Club: (Tropes) Fake Dating
Warning for Romeo and Juliet!AU with a twist, and also a slight bit out of character because of jealousy on a certain person's part. I'm looking at you James Potter. Word count is 3,305 words. I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of Written in the Stars.
If Regulus would have known that he'd meet his downfall at the hands of not only a Muggleborn but also love, he'd have avoided going to the Yule Ball altogether. For little did he know that tonight would be the night that would change everything for not just him but everyone at Hogwarts.
Regulus had been sitting with his cousin Narcissa and her boyfriend Lucius when the Yule Ball had been announced that bright sunny day. But he felt anything but sunny. The girl he'd been pining over had rejected him. More like hadn't given him the time of day but who was going to argue semantics with the wronged boy.
"You just have to try and get over Angelique," Narcissa was telling Regulus soothingly. She was usually the one to look after Regulus when he was upset.
"What he needs to do is find someone to take Angelique's place," Lucius said, eye scanning the Great Hall. "Anyone of these ladies would be lucky to date the heir to the Black family fortune. Don't you agree, Cissa?"
Narcissa nodded. "Maybe you could ask out Lorena Parkinson?" Narcissa pointed out a dark haired, pug faced girl sitting farther down the bench from them whispering excitedly with her friends.
The girl must have felt eyes on her because she looked up the moment Regulus looked at her. A pink blush colored her cheeks that even made her face look pretty but Regulus didn't care. She wasn't the girl for him. He'd only had eye for Angelique and would only ever have eyes for her.
His eye tracked to Gryffindor table to find tan skinned, brown haired, brown eyed beauty of his dreams whispering to her friends. But he only had eyes for her. He didn't notice anyone else at the table. Let alone the redhead with bewitching green eyes that was looking his way.
If he had noticed her, he would have found her whispering to her friend that he was watching her. He would have seen the look of annoyance that flashed across her face which she concealed by looking away. But he didn't see any of it. All he saw was filtered through rose tinted glasses and filled with beauty and love.
"Why don't you come to the Yule Ball solo, then?" Narcissa suggested.
"And be thought of as some sort of loser who can't find a girl to go to the ball with him," Regulus scoffed. "I'm Regulus Black. I'm not a loser and I can't be seen as one."
"But if you came alone and you found someone at the Yule Ball," Lucius pointed out, "you could very easily find the person you were meant to be with."
"Wouldn't you rather find the person you were meant to be with?" Narcissa asked, giving Lucius the googly eyes that usually made Regulus want to barf all over the place.
"I don't believe in that sort of thing." Regulus sighed. "But I suppose you won't stop asking until I agree to go to the Yule Ball?"
Narcissa nodded, elbowing Lucius in the side which prompted him to start nodding too.
"Then it looks like I'm going to the Yule Ball solo," Regulus said, not feeling as happy as Narcissa looked about it.
"We have to get you some nice new dress robes, Reg," Narcissa said, pulling him up by the hand and dragging him towards the door of the Great Hall. "This is going to be so much fun, mark my words."
Fun was the last thing that Regulus had thought shopping with cousin Narcissa was. He would consider more like being punched in the gut over and over again until he couldn't stand it. Everything he had chosen was wrong. So he gave up control and allowed her to pick his dress robes.
A nice pair of dark black dress robes that were the latest fashion. He thought he looked silly in them. Like a little boy trying to pretend he was an adult which in his mind he was. But she'd insisted and he knew better than to go against what Narcissa said in regards to fashion.
But as he entered the Great Hall which was all made up in the theme of the Yule Ball for that year he felt less in control of his fate than he did his fashion choices. He pulled at the starched collar of his dress robes as he looked around for anyone that he could talk to. Anyone at all.
That when the first heartbreak hit him. Angelique was here with that Johnson boy from Ravenclaw. She was leaning against him as they danced. Far too close to be allowed at a school function. Worst of all, she was kissing him.
"Can you help me?" a voice said from behind him.
Regulus jumped, startled at being addressed by someone he didn't know. Turning around he found a pretty redhead girl standing there with expressive green eyes. She garbed from head to toe in pure white dress robes.
"I'm sorry, what?" Regulus asked confused.
This girl, who's name he didn't even know, was the most beautiful creature he'd ever laid eyes on. She was even more beautiful than Angelique, not that he was bitter about Angelique or anything. But this girl could put her to shame.
"I need you to help me with some," she said, looking around like she was in some sort of trouble.
"How can I help?"
"You see that guy over there?" She pointed towards the door that Regulus's brother had just entered with his best friend.
"Which one?"
"The one with the glasses."
Regulus nodded.
"He's been trying to get me to go out with him since about third year," the girl continued. "He just won't take no for an answer. I was hoping you'd be alright with pretending to be my boyfriend. At least until he leaves. Alright?"
Regulus nodded. "I'd do anything to help a pretty lady in trouble," he said. "What is the name of said pretty lady, may I ask?"
"Lily," she said with a smile, "Lily Evans."
"Regulus Black."
He took her hand and led her on the dance floor, taking a certain relish in the angry look on Sirius's best friend James's face. This was going to be fun.
As they danced and danced and danced, Regulus and Lily chatted animatedly about everything and anything under the sun. Regulus found Lily easy to talk to. She wasn't like Angelique, cold and distant. She definitely wasn't like Lorena Parkinson, clingy and desperate. She had a way that was all her own and Regulus wanted to get to know her more.
So when they parted ways that night he made his move. He knew he had to or face losing her too. So he did the only thing that he could think of. He took her rouse to get James Potter to leave her alone and expanded on it.
"Do you want to come to the next Quidditch match on Sunday with me?" he asked. "It would drive the fact that you are taken further home with Potter."
"I would love to," Lily said with a smile. "You're a lifesaver, Regulus. You truly are."
They parted ways with a hug. As he walked towards the Slytherin dungeons he was on cloud nine. One of the most beautiful women, not girls, women had danced the whole night away with him.
"Are you crazy?" Lucius said, as soon as Regulus walked through the door. "Do you know who you spent the whole night with?"
"An angel," Regulus murmured, not paying Lucius any mind.
"A Mudblood scum."
"You're being ridiculous. She isn't scum. She's a living breathing angel and we have a date on Sunday."
Regulus walked up to his dormitory feeling like he was walking on air. He hadn't felt like that when he was attracted to Angelique. Hadn't felt anything besides base attraction for Angelique which could be considered wrong.
Changing into night clothes and settling into bed, he finally couldn't wait for Sunday to come. He finally had someone who was willing to do something with him. Even if it was just going to a Quidditch game to get his brother's best friend off her back.
Toss and turn as he might, he couldn't get to sleep. Every time he thought he was close images of Lily popped into his head. He couldn't stop thinking about her at all.
Getting dressed he figured a nice walk around the castle would easily clear his head and get him in the right frame of mind to sleep. He would soon find out that he was very wrong of that count. Very, very wrong, indeed.
He was walking in his bathrobe of Slytherin green when he heard her talking to someone. Lily. She seemed to be confused about something or other. He ventured closer to get a better listen to her situation. Little did he think that he was part of the situation.
"What should I do, Mar?" Lily was asking.
"Do you like him?" Marlene McKinnon, Regulus's brother's curly blonde haired girlfriend asked her best friend.
"I think I might. But you heard what Sirius said about his brother buying into everything their family said."
"Is he worth it, though? In the long run. Do you like him better than James Potter? If the answer is yes, you owe it to yourself to find out how far things can go, don't you?"
Lily nodded. "I guess you're right. You always know the right thing to say, Mar."
"I'm just looking out for the best interest of my best friend." She walked towards Regulus's hiding place, making him duck further into the shadows. "I better go before someone less forgiving than our Head Girl finds me out and about."
As Marlene walked past she gave the shadows a conspiratorial wink, making Regulus think that she had seen him here after all. Putting that out of his mind he listened as Lily whispered to herself about how surprising it was that he'd allowed her to choose him.
Regulus was just about to walk off when a button dropped off his robe. The sound radiated through every fiber of his being and he mentally cursed himself for wearing the darned thing. He had gotten redressed after all.
"Who's there?" Lily asked, a fear rising in her voice that made Regulus sad. "Whoever you are you should be in bed."
"I'm sorry," Regulus said, walking into the patch of light illuminated by the moon. "I couldn't sleep and I figured that I would take a nice long walk and clear my head." He watched her. "Shouldn't you be asleep too, Miss Head Girl?"
"I would have been if James Potter wasn't such a prat and ducked out of patrol for tonight last minute."
"The nerve of some people."
Lily laughed.
"What? I was being honest. Like the job of being Head Boy or Girl isn't hard enough with two people doing it. James Potter basically wants it done by one."
"I should have known when James was made Head Boy that was the way it would work out. It's just the way things are."
"Maybe the way things are is wrong?" Regulus said meaning the statement in more ways than one. He meant it in the context of what was happening to Lily as Head Girl, but he also meant it in the context of the world in general. The wizarding world in general.
"I know the way things are is wrong," Lily stated. "I just didn't think that you would be willing to admit that. Your brother, Sirius, told me tha…"
"Sirius doesn't know everything about me," Regulus interrupted her. "Maybe I only go along with what my parents say because it's the only way to keep them off my back. Maybe I don't really buy into all that pureblood superiority bull they spout."
"So it's to keep yourself safe from them?"
"In a way I guess it is."
"In a way?"
"No one ever actually asked me what I believe before in my life. They always figured that I was the good son and Sirius the rotten egg."
"What are you saying?"
"Did Sirius ever tell you that I used to hero worship him for a long time? Even after he left home he was my hero. He was brave enough to stand up for what he believed in."
"He didn't tell me that." Lily paused and then looked up into Regulus's grey eyes. "What you believe in, Regulus?"
"If you're asking if I'm a pureblood supremacist like the rest of my family the answer is no." He leaned towards her licking his lips gently to moisten them. "I want to get to know more about what life is like with Muggles. If you're willing to tell me about them, that is?"
"I'm more than willing," Lily said, leaning up and closing the distance between their lips.
Regulus felt the fireworks go off in his mind. Sirius had always said that if something was meant to be there will be fireworks that go off in your brain but Regulus had never expected to find that with a Muggleborn.
"Then perhaps we speak more about it on Sunday?"
Lily nodded.
With one finally kiss goodnight he walked back to the Slytherin common room. Sleep taking him over he didn't bother heading back up to the dormitory. He flopped down on the couch and his eyes closed. Thinking and preparing for Sunday and his big date with Lily. He couldn't wait to find out more about her and her life.
The next few days passed in a blur. Regulus found every excuse in the book to be around Lily, even though his friends told him it wasn't right for him to be in the presence of a Mudblood. He would always correct them, even if Lily wasn't there. The more he found out about Lily and her family and their life, the more he couldn't believe that these were the people that his family wanted him to hate.
"Tomorrows the big day," a voice Regulus hadn't thought he'd ever hear again said from behind him. "If you have any doubts about this date you should turn back now."
"I don't have doubts, Sirius," Regulus sighed. "Not about Lily. Our family, however, is definitely giving me doubts."
"I never thought I'd hear you say that, little brother," Sirius said, clapping a hand on Regulus's shoulder and leading him off.
Little did Sirius and Regulus know but someone was in the seemingly empty room watching the interaction between the siblings. A scowl crossing his face as he lifted the invisibility cloak once Sirius and Regulus were, James Potter knew in his heart of heart that he had to stop this relationship. He had to stop it at any means possible and if Lily got hurt he'd have to apologize once all was said and done.
"Let's see how little brother likes it when mommy and daddy find out about his little date on Sunday, huh, Sirius," he whispered to himself.
A laugh left his lips as he walked back to the Gryffindor boys dormitory knowing that no one would be there at the moment. He would write the Blacks a letter detailing everything that was going on.
As he wrote, a tiny voice in the back of his mind was telling him this was wrong. Telling him this could get not only Regulus in trouble but also his best friend Sirius as well. He told the voice to stop being silly. He was only doing what was right and that both Lily and Sirius would forgive him in the long run.
Slipping away the owlery, he couldn't help the feeling of underlying dread that suddenly came upon him. Like what he was doing was going to have a long lasting effect on everything. Like what he was doing could cost him everything.
He waved it off as he tied the letter to the owls leg and sent it on its way. He was just being silly nothing bad would happen and everything would go back to the way it was before. The right way.
The rest of Saturday passed with Regulus in the company of Sirius, Lily, and Sirius's friend Remus Lupin. Regulus was surprised when Remus warmed up to him after all the things he and the other Slytherins had done and said, he figured that Remus would be the hardest convince to be friends with him. But Regulus found himself having a lot in common with the older boy. They both liked books, and studied harder than they should.
Remus and Sirius were laughing at a joke that Regulus had just told when it happened. His family's owl flew in the window of the school. Everyone turned to look at Sirius. After all, they were used to seeing that owl drop off Howlers for Sirius.
"It's not me this time," Sirius said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Our parents disowned me, remember?"
Regulus was about to ask who the owl was for when the bird dropped down in front of him. It held out its leg and attached was the last thing Regulus expected to get from home.
The bright red paper sat there like a scarlet attached to the owls leg. Reaching out with trembling hands Regulus undid the ties that bound the letter to bird's leg. Giving it a quick nip of bacon and watching it fly, Regulus wondered what he'd done to get in trouble.
"Might want to just open it and get it over with," Sirius said. "You know how Howlers are if you don't open them."
Regulus nodded. Gulping he opened the red envelope. Afterwards he'd wish he hadn't opened the letter. He'd wish that he'd have run from the Great Hall and opened it somewhere in private. But none of these things were possible and even if he could go back the events that are to play out would never change. They would always stay the same.
The letter rose out of Regulus's hand steaming. Then in a voice louder than she'd ever used with Sirius, Regulus's mother started to scream.
How dare you sully the name of Black by dating a Mudblood? Your father has had a heart attack because of this. Do you want to kill your father, young man? Do you want to kill me? You're just as bad as that bad influence of brother you no longer have. In fact I think he put you up to this. Even with him being out of our house he's still causing trouble. You will cut off all ties with your brother and this Mudblood or so help me Merlin, Regulus Arcturus Black, I will disown you just like I did your no good brother.
The silence that followed the Howler was deafening. You could almost hear a pin drop in the silence that followed. Regulus felt his cheeks heat up with embarrassment. Not only had he been told off about his girlfriend, but had been told off about talking to his brother too.
The sounds of sobs brought his attention to Lily. She was crying and Regulus hated himself for being the one to make her cry. He hated his parents even more. He put a comforting hand on Lily's shoulder.
"You don't have to be kind to me if you don't want to," Lily said. "After all, you might get dis…"
"I don't care about that," Regulus reassured her. "I care about you."
"Really?"
Regulus nodded.
The conversation resumed as though Regulus hadn't just been threatened with being disowned. As though nothing was wrong at all but not everyone was happy. And they had yet to see the full force of James Potter's plan.
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Written in the Stars.