Saturday 13th February, 1977

Two weeks had passed, and I'd been spending more and more time with Regulus's friends. Pandora and Avery both loved me, thank Merlin, and I'd won Evan over long ago. Barty was the only one I'd yet to charm, the stubborn bastard, but I was working on it.

Currently, I was in the Gryffindor Common Room with the marauders and Lily, having an idle conversation with Lily while the boys hunched over the table, hushed whispers being passed back and fourth.

"So, you got any plans for Valentines Day?" I asked Lily.

The girl blushed, her cheeks going the same shade as her hair as her eyes darted away from mine. "What are your plans for Valentine's Day?"

I raised an eyebrow at her avoidance and Lily just shrugged, staring at me expectantly.

"I'm not sure," I confessed. "It's a surprise."

Lily grinned at me, and we moved on to guessing what the others would be doing. Sirius would either go big for Remus, or shy and hesitant. James would go big; he was a hopeless romantic after all, and Peter would be awkward in an endearing sort of way.

I found myself full of excitement for the next day, wondering what Regulus had planned. It would be our first ever Valentines and I desperately wanted it to go well. I had a suspicion Regulus had something planned, but I wasn't sure what it was.

After a while, I bid Lily and the boys goodbye, walking up the staircase to my dorm. I wanted to be well slept for tomorrow and whatever surprises it held. Even so, it took me a lot longer to fall sleep, my thoughts stuck on Regulus and Valentine's Day tomorrow.

. . .

Sunday 14th February, 1977

I woke up bright and early the next day, heart hammering in my chest as soon as I gained consciousness. Today was Valentines Day. I got ready, grabbing Regulus's present and exiting my dorm.

"There you are Y/n," Sirius said when he spotted me. "We were waiting for you."

"Good morning to you too Sirius," I replied, following the marauders as they exited the Common Room.

Remus noticed the look of giddy excitement on my face and sent me a private smile, one I returned eagerly. We made it to the Great Hall and my eyes immediately started scanning the room for Regulus... only to come up empty.

I sat in my seat, deflated. Nearly the whole school was at the Great Hall right now, and yet Regulus was no where to be seen. I found my eyes straying to the doors to the Great Hall, even when all the grand gestures were occurring.

James got 47 roses and gave each one to Lily, claiming she now had as many roses as she did freckles dusting her face. It was quite romantic, and even Lily didn't seem immune to this particular gesture, thanking James softly with a small smile. She never accepted his Valentine officially, but James seemed so happy, like he was about to burst, so I didn't think he really minded.

Sirius stood up and made Remus stand up with him. All eyes were on them, as was usual. Sirius grabbed Remus by the waist and seemed to murmur something to Remus. When Remus nodded, Sirius smiled brightly and kissed him right on the lips, in front of everybody.

Jealousy writhed around inside me. Jealousy that they were allowed to be public, but Regulus and I weren't. Jealousy that all my friends were having a wonderful Valentines Day, and I was left alone, sulking. Maybe I was overreacting, but the memory of Regulus leaving me at the Yule Ball was still rather fresh and I was afraid maybe he'd left me again. Maybe he got too scared, or his parents found out and forced him to break up with me.

Either way, as breakfast continued on my eyes seemed practically glued to the entrance of the Great Hall. I noticed Remus and Lily glancing at me, sometimes with worry, sometimes with pity. No doubt they'd noticed Regulus's lack of appearance and were wondering how I was doing. Well, it only took one look to see I was doing shit.

James and Sirius seemed to realise that, as they looked at me and both instantly knew something was up. Peter was oblivious, talking to the Gryffindor next to him with a sly smile, obviously smitten, but the other two were a bit more observant unfortunately.

"You okay Y/n/n?" Sirius asked.

"What do you think?" I snapped, burying my head into my arms.

"You- you weren't waiting for anyone, were you?" James asked hesitantly.

"Oh piss off," I spat, getting up and leaving the Great Hall, ignoring my brother's pleas for me to stay.

I walked through the corridors of Hogwarts, my mind spinning and my legs taking me somewhere of their own accord, a random part of Hogwarts. Or so I thought.

When I noticed I was on the seventh floor, heading to Regulus and my spot, I didn't stop. I continued walking until the door appeared like it usually did. I entered, expecting to find an empty room, but was so very, very wrong.

The room was decorated for the holiday, with red hearts plastered against the wall, an enchanted sky similar to the one in the Great Hall hanging over our heads, showing a clear blue sky. There was food of all kinds stacked along the side of the wall and a picnic blanket in the middle with two cushions on it.

That wasn't what I focused on though. None of it was. Instead, my eyes found Regulus, staring outside the window, hands clasped behind his back as his shoulders seemed to droop. At my entrance, he turned around, a sombre expression on his face. As soon as he saw me though, the expression was quickly chased away and replaced with delight, the boy even taking a step towards me.

I was full out grinning myself, relieved that Regulus hadn't abandoned me and instead had planned this surprise.

"I thought you'd shown me up again," I confessed, feeling a little breathless.

Regulus seemed surprised, before he shook his head vehemently. "Never. I thought me being up here was obvious. I guess it wasn't. I thought you were the one who'd shown me up."

I smiled and moved forward, wrapping my arms around his neck as I brought him in for a kiss. It was sweet and short, but it helped to express all of my adoration for him without having to use words. He smiled after it, knowing what the kiss meant, and rested his forehead against mine for a brief moment.

After, he pulled away completely and presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. They were a multitude of colours, all of them among my favourites. Accompanied with the flowers was a heart-shaped box filled with my favourite flavour of chocolates. I grinned, thanking him as I went to give him my gift.

I watched the grin spread across his face in awe as he unwrapped his chocolate snitch, and his eyes were alight with glee as he looked over it, impressed by how much detail was on it. After that, we both took our time in thanking one another until Regulus reluctantly pulled away, saying we had plans, and no matter how much he was enjoying this, he didn't want us to be late.

Curious, I let him lead me out of our spot and sneak us across the castle until we arrived at the secret passageway to Hogsmeade. I was surprised that he knew about it and wondered how he'd found it but stayed quiet as we walked, hand in hand.

When we arrived at Hogsmeade, Regulus took me to a café I hadn't been to before called Madam Pudifoot's Teashop. As we entered, we were assaulted with the colour pink, spotting it in every place possible. It was a very tacky café, cramped and frilly. There were bows everywhere, including the backs of the chairs you were supposed to sit on, accompanied with lacy napkins and red roses in vases on every table. In celebration of Valentines Day, there were golden cherubs hovering over each table, occasionally throwing pink confetti on the people sitting below them.

All in all it was not great, and I had certainly not expected Regulus to bring us here. I glanced at him, nervous, but was relieved to see he seemed just has horrified as me at the café, maybe even more. We shared one look before we were doing a 180, exiting the shop with a sigh of relief.

We decided to go to The Three Broomsticks instead, making fun of the horrid teashop as we bought our drinks. Madam Rosmerta smiled at us, handing our butterbeers over with a cheerful, "for the happy couple".

I beamed at her.

After we finished our drinks we walked around the village, buying sweets and talking to one another, feeling a strange freedom at being together without having to hide. It wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend, meaning that the only people here were people we didn't care about, and we relished in the feeling of not having to hide.

Eventually we went back to Hogwarts, sneaking Regulus's friends into one of the Prefect Common Rooms scattered across the castle. We all sat there, talking and laughing with one another. It was quite nice.

I also noticed Barty's hand covering Evan's and realised they must be together. I hid my smile but couldn't help how happy the fact made me. I'd noticed Evan gazing at Barty a lot, noticed the longing in his eyes and the quick way he looked away whenever Barty caught him staring. I'd thought it was unrequited, but I was obviously mistaken.

Barty noticed my gaze on their hands and smirked. "Something bothering you, Y/n?"

"Bothering me? No. Interesting me, yes," I answered.

A brief flash of surprise showed on his face before it was replaced with suspicion, and finally... grudging respect?

"We got together," Evan supplied, muttering under his breath, "finally."

"Oi," Barty said, nudging Evan's shoulder with his own. "If you had told me your feelings for me sooner-"

"If I had-"

"Yes, if you had-"

I smiled at their bickering and Barty noticed. Instead of glaring at me like usual, or ignoring me, I was presented with a half-smile in return before Barty turned back to Evan, teasing him quietly and eventually kissing him deeply.

I was shocked. Had I finally won Barty over? I was thinking maybe I had. I was surprised, but certainly not complaining. All of Regulus's friends liked me now. Regulus and I had the most wonderful Valentines Day. My friends were all happy with others, falling in love. Everything was perfect. It all seemed too good to be true.

Because it was.

A tapping on the window interrupted our conversation, and we all turned to find an owl waiting for entry with an ivory white envelope. Regulus opened it, his whole body seeming to stiffen as he stared at the letter. Craning my neck, I managed to catch a glimpse of the Black crest before Regulus opened the letter, and my heart sunk.

I waited for Regulus to read the letter, along with his friends, glaring daggers at the discarded envelope where the Black crest was showing. That was, until I looked up and found Regulus tense, pale, and wide eyed, staring at the letter but no longer reading it. His hands had turned into fists, clutching the piece of paper so hard his knuckles were white.

Evan jumped up from his seat and grabbed the paper, Barty following him, while Pandora and Avery tried to comfort Regulus. I watched Evan's expression as he read the letter, seeing the way his brows creased and he let out a quiet, "oh".

Barty started reading the letter then, as did Pandora and Avery, until everyone had read it except me. They all stared at me, too many emotions passing along their faces for me to decipher what they meant. I could only feel this rising panic as I stared at Regulus, and then the cursed letter in Evan's hand.

"What is it?" I asked.

That's when Regulus spoke, seemingly to snap back into himself. "Nothing. It's nothing," he repeated, more firmly.

"Don't lie," I said, and then I was ripping the paper out of Evan's hand, all the while my anxiety grew bigger and bigger.

Things really had been perfect. I'd been happy, content, fulfilled.

I read the letter, feeling my heart break as each sentence seemed to hit me harder and harder. When I finished, I looked up at Regulus, the letter falling to the floor. I hadn't realised I let it go.

"You're engaged?" I asked, voice quivering. "To Selena Rowle?"

The silence that came after I spoke made me want to rip my heart out. Better to not have a heart at all then feel this gut-wrenching pain. He was engaged. Walburga had written to him, informing him that she had just talked to Selena's parents, and he now had a fiancé. Selena Rowle. They were to be married in the summer holidays.

He was engaged.

I tore out of the room, running as fast as I could. Maybe if I ran fast away the problems would leave. If they couldn't catch up, everything would be fine. Right?

Wrong.

I felt the tears pricking my face, the hand currently carving my heart out as I heaved each breath. To make things worse, Regulus followed, running after me like I was the only thing that mattered. He shouldn't look at me like that anymore. Not when he was going to be married.

"Y/n please!" Regulus pleaded. I ignored him, running faster, until his hand was suddenly around my wrist and I was jerked to a stop. "Please, Y/n, can we talk about this?"

"I don't want to talk about this with you right now," I cried, feeling tears stain my cheeks. I felt even worse when I found his eyes wet, close to tears. "Just leave me alone."

When I ran away again, Regulus didn't follow.

I made it all the way to the Gryffindor Common Room, where I ran through the room, catching many curious glances and worried shouts from my friends. I ignored them all, shutting myself into my dorm and collapsing on my bed where I cried into my pillow.

He was engaged.

A/N:

...hey ya'll, hows it going?

the angst is finally here. right after barty accepts y/n and literally everything is perfect. isn't that just great???

on the bright side, barty and evan got together. rosekiller 4ever

so... thoughts? do ya'll hate me yet? bc i hate myself. don't worry though, there's much more to come :)