Wednesday 30th June, 1977

I'd spent the last few weeks of school taking advantage of my freedom, spending as much time with my friends as possible. We spent days on end together, revelling in no longer having to hide our friendships.

I was concerned though. As it got closer and closer to the end of the school year, Regulus seemed to get more and more agitated. He was more fidgety, and nervous, and would often just blank out, as if thinking about something else. I'd asked him about it, but he always just assures me its nothing and says nothing more about it. I wasn't convinced though, not when I'd find him up in the middle of the night whenever I woke up. It was like he wasn't even sleeping, like whatever was plaguing him was that bad. He wouldn't open up to me though, so I didn't know what else to do but give him time to tell me on his own terms, if he ever would.

There was a flurry of activity in the dorm as I threw whatever I could find into my trunk, hastily packing as fast as I could. I'd left packing to the last possible minute, the day we were leaving, and I hadn't even had breakfast yet because of how much I still had left to pack.

The door opened and Regulus entered, sighing as he found me running around the room and carelessly tossing my belongings into my trunk.

"You're hopeless," he muttered, taking out his wand and muttering a quick spell under his breath.

All my things that I hadn't packed yet flew neatly into my trunk that Regulus had also rearranged so it was more neat and could actually fit the rest of my stuff in it.

"My saviour," I said, moving over to him and wrapping my arms around his neck for a quick kiss.

Regulus grinned at me. "I should help you out more often, huh?"

"I certainly wouldn't complain."

Regulus kissed me again before pulling back and resting his head in the crook of my neck. I stared at him, a bit nervous, before finally speaking.

"Do you want to come over to mine over break?" I asked hesitantly. "Not for the whole time, obviously, but for a bit of it?"

Regulus moved away, going cold like he always did when he was hiding something. "I probably won't be able to do stuff like that. Especially since your family are considered blood-traitors."

Worry clenched my gut as I moved forward. "Reg... is there something wrong? Do you not want to go home? Because you can come stay with me-"

"Nothing's wrong," Regulus said, cutting me off. "I'm just saying I probably won't be able to come over. I've got to go do some things, so I'll see you later. Remember to go have breakfast before it finishes."

With that he left, and I felt even more worried than before. He was definitely hiding something, something that was eating at him, but I didn't know what.

I followed his advice, going to the Great Hall and sitting at the Gryffindor table with the marauders as I started eating.

"Something wrong Y/n?" Sirius asked me. "You seem a bit down."

I wanted to tell him about my worries, about how I was scared his family was angry with Regulus, but I didn't want to worry him for nothing. He would get riled up and feel guilty and horrible for leaving Regulus there, and I didn't want him to go through any of that, especially if it was nothing and I was just being paranoid.

"Just sad to leave," I said instead.

Sirius nodded his head in understanding, glancing around the Great Hall. "Yeah, I get it. This place was the first ever home I had; its hard to leave it."

James slung an arm around Sirius's shoulder. "You've got the Potter house as your home now though."

Sirius grinned, nodding his head before turning to me. "Hey, is Regulus coming over at all?"

"Oh yeah, I was supposed to ask that. We need a good seeker for our summer games," James added.

I felt a sour feeling in my stomach as I managed a smile, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm actually not sure. He said he'd check with his parents."

Sirius's mood dimmed slightly at the mention of his parents, but he quickly changed the subject to something lighter, and we spent the rest of our time at Hogwarts hanging out together, until eventually we had to make our way to Hogsmeade station.

When we got onto the train we made a beeline to our compartment, sitting down as the train started moving. I stayed there for a while, but my mind wouldn't leave Regulus until eventually I told the boys I'd be back and left, looking through the trains compartments until I found Regulus.

Everyone was there, included Dorcas who smiled when she saw me. "Finally. We weren't sure if you were gonna come."

"And then Barty wouldn't be able to say goodbye to his best friend," Pandora cooed.

Barty rolled his eyes, but I noticed with satisfaction that he had a spare seat ready for me next to him. I took it gratefully, playfully nudging his shoulder with my own as I did so. Barty nudged back, but there was a small smile on his face.

Regulus didn't seem too happy to see me though, I noticed, as he avoided my gaze and barely talked to me. Eventually I got sick of his actions and spoke to him.

"Reg, can I talk to you in private for a second?" I asked.

Regulus glanced at me. "I'm good here, thanks."

The tension in the air stiffened as everyone glanced at one another. It was obvious now Regulus was avoiding me, but I didn't understand why. Had I done something to upset him? I couldn't think of anything that would make him act like this.

"Fine, we'll talk here," I said. "What's up with you? You've been acting off and avoiding me, and I have no idea why."

"You've been avoiding us too," Pandora added, giving me a comforting smile before turning to Regulus. "We just want to help Regulus. What's wrong?"

Regulus sighed. "It's nothing."

I scoffed. "That's a lie. Come on Reg. Just tell us. We care about you, that's the only reason we're asking right now, because we're worried."

"It doesn't matter," he said.

"Regulus please," I said quietly. Regulus looked up at my tone, finding me vulnerable and in front of him. "Please tell me. We need to trust each other, and you doing this isn't trusting me. Please."

Regulus stared at me for a second longer before sighing again, this time in defeat. He looked at me as he took a deep breath to talk. "It really isn't much, but my mother isn't very happy that I'm dating you."

I frowned. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Regulus shrugged. "Because it doesn't matter."

He continued to keep trying to brush it off, but I wasn't taking any of it, insisting he just come stay with me instead of going back. I remembered what Sirius said his mother did when she was angry, and I hated the thought of just letting that happen to Regulus.

"I know how to deal with her," Regulus insisted. "You don't need to worry."

I wasn't happy about letting him go home, but he was very adamant about it that I had no option but to agree. I needed a way to know he was safe though, so I told him that he needed to send me letters often.

"Otherwise I'll drag you out of that house myself."

Regulus laughed, but agreed, calming me down ever so slightly. As soon as he agreed, however, Pandora was upon him, scolding him for not telling her and the others what had been happening, and I took that as my que to leave, giving Regulus a wave before exiting the compartment.

I made my way back to the marauders and spent the rest of the train ride with them, trying to convince myself that Regulus would be okay. When we arrived at Platform 9 and ¾ I got off the train and wrapped Dorcas in a hug, bidding her goodbye.

I looked around the platform for Regulus, and was about to go up to him when he slightly shook his head at me, gesturing to his house elf that was waiting for him. I stopped walking to him, deflated, and gave him a smile just before he reached his house elf.

I watched with a heavy heart as he and the elf disappeared, wondering if I'd made a mistake letting him go back to Grimmauld Place.

A/N:

the fluff never lasts, does it 😔

y'all i'm being bullied 😭😭 i warned you at the start that the dates don't match up. they're in order, but they're not the dates of 1977. i think it's actually the dates for 2021, but the point is all of y'all r telling me i'm wrong and i'm SORRY. I WARNED Y'ALL. IT'S NOT MY FAULT 😭😭😭

ALSO (bc i've started and now i can't stop) ya'll also keep telling me that pandora lestrange was a malfoy. and my answer to that is simply, no. no thanks, she's a lestrange actually. there's no PROOF that she's a malfoy, only rumors and head cannons, and you're welcome to headcannon pandora as a malfoy, but i don't. i don't, so please don't go commenting on my story telling me i'm wrong and wrote it wrong. i didn't. 

also i'm going away for two weeks and won't have internet so enjoy being starved <3 🥰🥰