mary macdonald was, to put it simply, stunning; inside and out. the gryffindor was smart when she wanted to be, rightfully confident and quite kindhearted too. of course, she had traits which could be seen as flaws (didn't everyone?), sometimes she could come off as overconfident or dramatic, but even that was endearing. mary macdonald was honestly perfect, and most people could see that.

the only problem was that she was muggleborn.

see, for any fair, logical person surrounded by fair, logical people and influence, this should not have been a problem. it wasn't as if blood status mattered in any way, and it didn't affect anything really. unfortunately, mary just had to fall in love with regulus arcturus black — though in her defence, it had been regulus who'd fallen head over heels for her first — and the blacks? they had practically built a legacy on hating anyone and everyone possessing 'dirty blood'. in fact, even their family motto was toujours pur. always pure.

there had been complications, obviously; the two teenagers had gone through their ups and downs but in the end they had decided they weren't muggleborn and pureblood, gryffindor and slytherin, no. when they were with each other they were simply mary macdonald and regulus black and that's exactly how they currently were.

they were in the astronomy tower, a mutually favoured place between the two, both looking up at the night sky. regulus sat cross-legged on the floor, pointing out the different planets and constellations whilst mary listened, laying down with her head resting on his lap. they were peaceful, it felt lovely.

"which one's regulus?" mary asked, her eyes moving to instead look at him.

the boy pointed up at the stars, squinting slightly. "see that one?"

she smiled, before glancing up again with a small yawn. "the blue one?"

"yeah. that's me," he responded, turning his attention towards her now.

mary hummed, "that's part of the leo constellation, right?" regulus nodded and she grinned, "i'm great at this."

the boy rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself, "maybe if you paid more attention in astronomy class, you wouldn't have to guess."

"shut up." she said, turning over and slapping his chest lightly, mirroring his smile, "you can't blame me for getting tired."

regulus chuckled, taking her hand in his, "alright, sure."

"what star do you think i would be?" she asked him.

regulus raised an eyebrow, "there's no mary star."

"i know that. i meant if i was a star."

"you'd be the sun."

"the sun?"

"yes, because you're my sun. i couldn't live without you." he responded, grinning.

"that's so cheesy."

his grin fell into a pout, "i'm trying to be romantic," he huffed.

she laughed, intertwining their fingers. "you're so cute."

"what other ones do you know?"

"sirius." she said.

regulus tensed, his head whipping around to look at the stairs in panic, "where?"

mary let out a sigh, sitting up and then gently taking his face in her hands, "up there, silly." she said, making him face upwards, "it's the brightest star in the sky, right?"

"oh. yeah." he responded quietly, his face turning a shade of pink, eyes wavering between the steps to the astronomy tower and his girlfriend. the brunette stared at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes in concern.

"are you sure you don't want to tell him? you're so bothered every time he's brought up." she asked, "he's your brother, you know."

"i know, but he hates slytherins, mary." he sighed, "nothing good would come out of telling him we're together."

mary shook her head slowly, "he doesn't hate you."

"well he doesn't like me either, we've not spoken in ages."

"reg. he loves you — he's just a git who can't show it." mary grinned, "besides, if he does find out and tries anything, i'll beat his arse." she added.

he sighed again. "i don't doubt you will." he said, smiling softly, "i'll think about it. telling him. do you really want me to, love?"

"i trust sirius, but you do whatever you're comfortable doing. yeah?"

"yeah."

"great."

"i love you, mary."

"love you too."

"can we go downstairs now?" he asked, "i'm cold."

mary raised an eyebrow, her smile still present, "i thought i was your sun. am i not warm enough for you?" she teased.

regulus rolled his eyes once more, "i'm tired too. please."

she laughed, "yeah, same. lets go." she said, planting a small kiss on his lips before pulling him up and leading him downstairs.

♡ ♡ ♡

this feels so rushed idk i tried help
dedicated to regan and amelia bc this was written for them so
word count: 748