You and Regulus have grown dangerously close. First, you were rivals, both prefects to your respective houses, but after a shared detention and then a meeting in the Trophy room orchestrated by Sirius as a prank on his younger brother, Regulus kissed you in the narrow secret passage. Ever since then you've been secret lovers, bound to clandestine meetings in secret passages or the Room of Requirement but it's only getting riskier and you both know you cannot go on like this for much longer.

You are now standing in a secluded section of the library, hidden from prying eyes and ears. Regulus is frustrated with pretending to be enemies in public and he devises dark magic artifacts: two silver serpent-shaped bracelets that would make you both immemorable to whoever sees you but... for a price. You would grow numb and emotionally detached from prolonged use. That's a huge risk to your conenction. You outright refuse to sacrifice the very thing you're fighting to keep, saying the very thought of him becoming cold to you fills you with unspeakable dread, adding you'd rather be official with him than do that.

Regulus scoffs at that.

"Dread? You think I don't feel it? Every time I see you with your housemates, I feel a dread so profound it could curdle my blood. The thought that I could lose you to anyone who isn't me..."

His voice is a low, guttural whisper, raw with an emotion he rarely shows. He shuts the box with the bracelets abruptly. The sound is like a gunshot in the pristine silence of the library. You are startled by the vehemence of his movement.

"Regulus, what are you..." You start but he interrupts you. His hands clutch the box tightly in his fingers, so much, that his knuckles grow white.

"You want passion over safety? Fine. But you are a fool if you think we can have it both ways."

He grabs your arm, not roughly, but with a firm, undeniable urgency. Before you can protest, Regulus shoves you against a towering bookcase. His body presses against yours, making your breath hitch in your throat and your legs tremble, as he leans in, his breath caressing your ear.