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Chapter Seven: Ch-Ch-Changes

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F E B R U A R Y 1976

"Did you get everything you wanted for your birthday?"

Romina tilted her head up, pulling her eyes from the letter she was reading. She didn't bother turning and only looked through the mirror of her vanity at Regulus. His legs were stretched out wide on her bed, his arms rested behind his head as he was propped up on her pillows.

"I don't really expect much from Rabastan and Rodolphus. But Rab sent me some treacle fudge." Romina found herself smiling as she reached forward for the small box of treats sent from her brother. She tugged the deep green ribbon free from the bow it had been so neatly tied in, lifting the top of the box, and plucking out a small piece to toss back at Regulus.

Catching it with expert hands, Regulus grinned. "A perfect Valentine's Day treat." He teased. A laugh escaped his lips as the girl turned fully in her chair to stare at her best friend.

"Birthday! I meant a perfect birthday treat!" Regulus laughed more.

Romina sighed, though a small smirk started to make its way onto her lips.

Everyone was still partying down in the common room, but as always Romina and Regulus were able to sneak away to spend quality time alone in her room.

Romina slowly chewed her own piece of treacle fudge, licking the corner of her lip to make sure she wasn't making a mess of herself before she closed the box again and went back to the letter.

She had gotten a letter from Rodolphus and Bellatrix. She wouldn't so much as call it a birthday letter, but a letter reminding her of her place.

She was to make Avery happy, because it was not a secret that he had no problem running to her brothers to tell them when she spoke with people not of their standing. She knew it was Avery who told her brothers about her completely innocent rendezvous with Sirius in the beginning of the year.

She had to be careful, she knew that. She also knew that if she was caught speaking with Lily again that it would not only cause problems with her brothers, but with Regulus as well.

"Avery is such a pig." Romina groaned, folding the letter back into its rightful place in the envelope before she found herself collapsing onto the bed besides Regulus. "I don't want to marry him. He's too pushy. And he's handsy, too."

Regulus sighed. "I don't want to watch you marry him either, especially because you are unhappy with the match." Regulus slipped his arm around her shoulders and held her close to his side. "But there is nothing that you can do about it. This is the price we pay for being born into the sacred twenty-eight."

Romina rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Reggie. I already hear that enough from Rabastan. I don't need to hear it from you, too." The brunette pinched her best friend in a playful, and gentle manner, before resting her head back down against his chest.

She knew that she had to do her duty as the only female in her family. Although once in wedded bliss with Avery she would no longer be a Lestrange – the honor would still be bestowed upon her and her family. She would procreate, as all pureblood witches and wizards are meant to, and continue to strengthen the long blood line of both Lestrange and Avery families.

The thought simply made her sick. She could not put a finger on when her mind started thinking the opposite of what she had believed while she was growing up. She didn't understand why she thought these things. Was it because she was feeling jealous of Sirius?

He got out. Albeit it brought a lot of pain to her best friend – his brother – but she truly never wished for freedom in the sense that she could pick and chose who to spend the rest of her life with until she saw Sirius with his friends.

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J U N E 1976

The rest of the school year passed by without issue. Romina busied herself with her studies and with Regulus. She maintained her social standing with Avery when she needed to but kept herself separated from him with any chance to be alone she could get.

She wanted to come clean with Regulus about the uncertainty she was feeling about going home for the summer. She was nervous to be around Bellatrix and Rodolphus, especially after what occurred during their wedding reception. Romina wasn't strong enough to go through that ordeal again. She felt the queasiness spread throughout, the bile rising in her throat just at the thought of having to witness innocence being slaughtered for fun.

But – Romina had to remind herself – this is what her family believed in. They were pureblood. They were pure everything. She was not allowed to dirty herself with halfbloods, mudbloods, or any other magical being who was deemed lower than her. So why did she find herself peeking over the edge of her book at Lily Evans – curious about the gentle nature of the older girl.

She wasn't alone, though. Lily was seated beside Marlene McKinnon and Remus Lupin. Marlene, from what Romina could tell from afar, was not as gentle as Lily – but Remus... he was a kind soul. Romina could see why Sirius felt so captured by this group of individuals. Maybe not James Potter. James... was arrogant. And he never stopped smirking, which irked Romina profoundly.

Speak of the devil...

"Oi! Evans!"

James strolled through the aisle of the library that led to the table Lily, Marlene, and Remus were sitting at. He was grinning widely, and not far behind him was the rest of their friend group.

Romina looked away quickly at spotting Sirius stroll out from the end of the aisle, his body no longer hidden by the shelves. She began chewing away at her bottom lip, shifting back in the seat, and pulling the book up just a pinch more so she would be hidden from those at the other table.

"Lilyflower, my love," James began once he made it to the table, his hands pressed into the old oak as he leaned down towards her. "What are your plans for summer holiday?"

Romina cringed at the obsessive tone in James' voice, though she let a giggle escape as she heard Lily groan – rather loudly, too.

"James," Lily began, her green eyes narrowing up at him before she continued, "What on earth would possess you to think that I would ever tell you what my summer holiday plans were?"

Sirius cackled from his position behind James, a large grin spread wide across his lips as he nudged his best friend. "Sorry, James, maybe next year."

James sighed, and Romina – though seated further away from the commotion – could sense that his feelings were genuinely hurt.

"Maybe if you weren't so pompous, she'd give you a chance." Romina found herself muttering beneath her breath, flicking past another page or two of the book that she kept propped up on the table before her.

"James, don't-"

She didn't realize she might have spoken just a bit too loud because within the next minute, she could sense someone standing across from her.

She glanced up and looked into the eyes of James Potter. Oh...he looked angry.

"Do you want to say that a bit louder, snake?"

Oh, yes. He was angry.

She looked at him in silence, though her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed Sirius quickly coming to a halt behind him.

"James, come on, it's not worth it. Let's go." Sirius pleaded, his hand grabbed onto James' shoulder to pull him away from Romina and the table she was occupying.

"No, Sirius, she thought she could say something offensive and that I would just let it slide. Typical Slytherin behavior and I'm sick of it." James hissed.

Romina remained silent, her gaze switching between James and Sirius before she looked behind them at Remus, who now decided to join the table.

"James, mate, Sirius is right. Do you really think this is going to help Lily think of you in any other way than she already does?"

"He's right, Potter. You behave like a pampered child who throws a fit each time he doesn't get his way. It's not attractive." Romina finally spoke up as another laugh escaped her lips as she watched him glare at her in anger. It was a little comical, she couldn't help herself.

"James, stop it." Lily finally walked up to join them, and Romina noticed the way she reached for James but quickly pulled back before stepping around them. "Leave her be. I think it was rather funny... and a bit true."

The redhead was smirking now and moved to slid into the chair beside Romina. The younger girl found herself smiling at Lily before looking off to the opposite side as Marlene joined them. "Yeah, Potter, relax. Lestrange was just saying what all of us were thinking." The blonde tucked strands of hair behind her ears before she pointed at Sirius and Remus. "And you two know that I'm telling the truth." She smirked. Marlene couldn't help but stir up drama, the girl lived to watch the best friends fight about things that were typically of no importance to her.

James stared in disbelief before he looked at Sirius and Remus as if to say what the bloody hell is she talking about?

Remus cleared his throat and shook his head at Marlene, hiding a smile behind his closed fist before he looked back at James and Sirius. James was back to staring at Lily, a feigned look of betrayal on his face, while Sirius was watching Romina.

Curiosity killed the cat, Remus thought to himself. There was a hint of something else, what it was exactly he didn't know, in Sirius' eyes as he watched Romina sitting with Lily and Marlene.

The usual look of disgust, or hate, was nowhere to be found on Romina's face. Instead, it was a look of confusion. Confusion mixed with...happiness.

And for Sirius, the change in his brother's best friend was all he could think about over summer holiday.

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A U G U S T 1976

"Reggie?"

Romina was currently lounging across the grass in the rose garden that was nestled a way behind Lestrange manor, her hands folded neatly over her stomach as her eyes remained shut in order to hide from bright rays of the sun.

"Hm?" Regulus was sprawled out beside her, though he was on his stomach, his head held up by his hands.

The two were truly a sight. They were getting ready to head back to Hogwarts and were taking this time to unload all the things they had to endure this summer. Romina, like she did most summers, spent her time with Regulus at the Black household. Atleast on the days she did not have to save face at home, or with the Avery family.

"I'm worried about everything, aren't you?" Romina turned on her side, reaching down to fix the dress so it was covering her thighs. She finally opened her eyes and looked over at Regulus. She could already guess what Regulus was going to respond with. Unfortunately, she had noticed a change in him over the past two months and it was becoming increasingly obvious that her thoughts were going in the complete opposite direction that his thoughts were.

"Worried?" Regulus looked over at her and scrunched his nose. "Not really, no." He felt bad when he noticed how her face fell when she listened to his response before she rolled back over to face away from him. "I mean," He cleared his throat before continuing, "You have more to be worried about than I do, Mina. With Avery and all..."

Romina rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Well, yeah, I guess you have a point." She closed her eyes again, blocking out the sun, as her hands moved to rest by her sides so she could brush her fingers through the blades of grass beneath them.

The truth of the matter was that Romina was beginning to understand why Sirius had left. Why he got out. This life... the life her family wanted for her was not what she wanted. Before this past year, Romina knew what her role was, what her place was in the pureblood society, but now... she wasn't so sure.

She had no interest in hosting grand balls in her manor's ballroom. She had no interest in eradicating groups of people because they didn't come from the same blood lines as her. After the incident in the library, Romina got to know Lily and Marlene and she enjoyed the time they had spent with one another. So much so that Romina secretly held correspondence with the two older girls throughout the summer. Not even Regulus knew, and she would do whatever it took to keep it that way.

"Romina!"

Shooting up instantly at the sound of her name being called, Romina shielded her eyes from the harmful rays and bit the inside of her cheek as she watched Rodolphus standing by the back door. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he had an extremely serious look about it. This version of her brother terrified her.

"Regulus, you should probably head home. I'll see you tomorrow at Kings Cross." Romina told her friend, holding her hand out to help him up before they walked together back to the house, their hands laced together tightly.

Rodolphus eyed them, his eyebrows furrowed slightly before he reached forward and grabbed onto Regulus' shirt, tugging him away from Romina.

"Enough of this," He hissed, gesturing between the two of them. "Romina is betrothed to Avery, Regulus. I'm sorry, I know you love my sister, but you will not sully our – her name for the sake of some childhood romance that nothing will come from."

"Rodolphus! That's enough!" Romina cried, reaching for Regulus but her brother had sidestepped out of her reach. "Regulus is my best friend. Everybody who is anybody in our society knows this, there is nothing wrong with the way we express our friendship."

Regulus remained silent. This wasn't his place to speak up, he knew that much. He looked at Romina, silently pleading with her to not fight her brother on this. "You're right, Rodolphus. I apologize. Surely you know I would never do anything to bring Romina, or the Lestrange name, harm." Regulus was terrified of Rodolphus in a sense that he respected him as an elder in their society. He knew he had to soften the blow for his best friend, the way Sirius should have softened the blows from their parents for him – but he never did.

Rodolphus seemed to like that response because his hand soon released his grasp on Regulus' shirt and sent him on his way to the fireplace. Romina lingered in the hallway biting at her bottom lip. She instantly straightened her back when her brother came stomping back into the room.

"You know I don't like having to act like that, Romina." Rodolphus stared down at her, his dark eyes narrowing in anger as he watched his little sister begin to cower in fear. This was what he lived for. Fear. Even from his own family – it somehow made him feel stronger.

"I'm sorry, Rodolphus. I-I don't want to upset you. I'm sorry." She lowered her head, keeping her hands busy as she played with the ends of her hair.

"Good. I'm glad you understand the error of your ways, little sister." Rodolphus leaned down and gently placed his lips on her forehead in an emotionless kiss. "Now go make sure your bags are packed for the school year. I've got a meeting to get to and if I don't leave now, I'll run late."

"And nobody keeps our dark lord waiting, you know." Bellatrix stepped into the hallway with a sickening grin twisted on her face. "Not even Rodolphus Lestrange."

Rodolphis grinned back, leaning over to pull Bellatrix into a kiss before he pulled back and looked to Romina.

She bowed her head and quickly stepped around the two of them as she rushed back to her room to do exactly what her brother had asked of her.