It had been years since you last saw Regulus. The memories of your time together at Hogwarts were bittersweet—a friendship that had once held promise but had fractured under the weight of expectations and diverging paths.

You had heard whispers around the wizarding world of his exploits, his enigmatic demeanor still a topic of conversation among those who remembered him. But fate had a curious way of reuniting old acquaintances when least expected.

It was during a chance encounter at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade that you first saw him again. His silhouette, unmistakable even after all these years, framed by the warm glow of the tavern's interior. The silver and green of his attire caught the dim light, accentuating the familiar lines of his face, now more mature yet still bearing traces of the boy you once knew.

"Regulus?" Your voice carried a mix of surprise and curiosity, hesitant to disrupt his solitude.

He turned slowly, eyes that were once distant and calculating now softened by recognition. "I didn't expect to see you here," he murmured, his tone guarded yet tinged with a hint of something you couldn't quite place—vulnerability, perhaps.

"I... I heard you might be around," you replied, struggling to find the right words. The years apart suddenly felt like a vast ocean you both had to navigate.

He studied you for a moment, the silence between you pregnant with unspoken histories and unanswered questions. "Would you... join me?" His invitation was tentative, as though testing the waters.