It had been two weeks since they broke up, well, since he broke up with her. Regulus had always been hard to read, but in the last week before the breakup, he became unreadable. The warmth he reserved for her disappeared, replaced by a cold distance unlike anything she’d experienced before. The only time he had been this unreachable was after Sirius ran away, leaving him alone to deal with Walburga and Orion. She tried to talk to him, to understand, but he pushed her away. So, she gave him space.

They barely spoke, barely saw each other. She assumed it was just a rough patch, something they would move past. When he asked her to Hogsmeade on Valentine’s Day, hope flickered inside her. Maybe this was his way of making things right. But instead of reconciliation, he ended things. On Valentine’s Day. The irony stung almost as much as his words. She tried to fight it, to convince him to reconsider, but he wouldn’t budge. He was set on their separation, and she didn’t understand why.

What she didn’t know was that things at home had worsened. He had been forced into becoming a Death Eater, into serving the Dark Lord. The weight of it all suffocated him, and he refused to drag her down with him. He knew she would never forgive him, she despised everything the Dark Lord stood for. Ending things was the only way to protect her. Then the rumors started. Whispers of Regulus’ loyalty to Dark lord the spread through the halls. She ignored him until Sirius had confirmed his family's close relationship with the Dark Lord. That night, she stormed to his dorm, knocking relentlessly until he opened the door. “Is it true?” she demanded. Regulus blinked at her, caught off guard. “Is what true?”