The snow fell in thick, lazy flakes, transforming Hogwarts into a postcard landscape. Normally, Lily Evans would revel in the beauty, the way the white blanket muffled the usual boisterous sounds of the castle. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ. A knot of anxiety had settled deep in her stomach, a cold, hard thing that refused to melt, not even under the steamiest shower or warmest charms.
Her sister, Petunia, was engaged. To Vernon Dursley, of all people. The man who looked like a walrus and treated her like a walking case of magical flu. Lily hadn't even gotten a proper letter, just a terse note from Petunia, practically dripping with smugness.
The news had hit her like a rogue bludger, leaving her reeling. Sheโd spent the past week burying herself in her Arithmancy textbooks, hoping the complicated formulas would somehow rearrange her fractured emotions.
She was, to put it mildly, a mess. She barely registered that her friends, Marlene, Mary and Alice, had been trying to chat her up between classes.
She was short with them, distant, her usual bright spirit dimmed to a flickering ember.
But fortunately, atleast the relationship with Pandora was great, they did talk about things and they were always there for each other if needed, and lately Pandora had been giving her more personal space and it was a good thing, ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ.
It wasn't until she was in the library, her head buried in a volume on dragon hide properties, that she felt a presence beside her.
A lean shadow fell across the page, and a quiet voice said, "You know, if you stare at that book any harder, you might actually cause it to combust."
Lily startled, glancing up to find Regulus Black looking at her with an unusual softness in his normally impassive eyes. He wasn't supposed to beโฆ nice, she thought. He was Regulus Black, Sirius's younger brother, Pandora's bestfriend, quiet, often withdrawn, and not typically one to seek out friendly conversation, especially not with Lily.
They had, however, developed an odd sort of friendship over the years, a comfortable, unspoken understanding built on shared late-night study sessions and the occasional whispered debate about obscure potion ingredients, infact their friendship had started before Lily and Pandora even started dating.
Lily often found herself oddly drawn to his quiet intensity, a stark contrast to the boisterous energy of her own house.
"Sorry," she mumbled, quickly lowering her gaze to her book again.
Regulus didn't move. "You haven't been yourself lately, Evans. You seemโฆ overwhelmed." It wasnโt accusatory, just an observation.
Lily bit her lip. She knew she wasnโt fooling anyone, least of all Regulus, who could probably read her emotions like he did ancient runes.
She shrugged, trying to play it off. โJust a lot of coursework.โ
Regulus arched a dark eyebrow, a silent challenge. He knew her well enough to see through the thin facade. "Right," he said, "And I'm suddenly fluent in Parseltongue. How about this? Iโm taking you to Hogsmeade, right now. Weโll get some hot chocolate."
Lily blinked in surprise. "Hogsmeade?"
"It's a Saturday, it's snowing, and you're clearly about to implode in here. Besides," he added with a hint of a smirk, "I could stand to get out of this dusty tomb for a while, too."
And just like that, Lily found herself agreeing.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ถ๐ด.
Maybe it was because he always had an air of understanding, like he knew what it felt like to carry the weight of the world, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต.
The crisp, cold air outside was a welcome change from the stuffy library. They walked in comfortable silence, the crunch of snow under their boots the only sound besides the soft whisper of the wind.
At the Three Broomsticks, they found a cozy corner by the fire, the aroma of cinnamon and chocolate filling the air.
Lily took a long, grateful sip, the warm sweetness easing the tension in her shoulders, just a little.
Regulus watched her, the usual sharpness in his eyes replaced by something more akin to concern.
"Alright, Lily," he said, his voice low. โSpill.โ
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ.
It was like a dam had broken. The words tumbled out, raw and unfiltered โ the shock of her sisterโs engagement, the way Petunia hadnโt even bothered to ask about her, the fear that she was completely alone, and the strange sense of betrayal. She felt ridiculous for feeling so deeply about something that seemed so small but it felt like she was being pushed out of her only family.
Regulus listened intently, his dark eyes never leaving hers. He didn't offer platitudes or dismiss her feelings. He simply listened. When she finally trailed off, her voice thick with unshed tears, he was quiet for a moment, stirring his hot chocolate.
"My brother," he said finally, his voice softer than she had ever heard it, "He once told me I was a disappointment, that I would never be good enough. And I think, I understand the feeling of being disconnected from the people you thought would always be by your side.โ
Lily looked at him, surprised. She had never imagined Regulus talking about something so personal.
It wasn't the same as her sister's betrayal, but there was a similar pain in his eyes, a shared understanding of family dynamics gone wrong, and the sting of hurtful words.
"It's not easy," Regulus continued, his gaze fixed on the fire, "when those you care about don't understand you, or when their choices hurt. It feels like youโre in the wrong, like youโre the odd one out.โ
๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต ๐ข ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ถ๐ด.
It wasn't a friendship, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ. It was something much deeper, a quiet understanding forged in shared experiences.
"Hey, if becomes a time when you just can't go back to that house, remember that our doors are always open for you Reg." Lily reminded him, the tone in her voice was soft and calm.
By a suprise Regulus pulled Lily into big and warm hug, it shocked her at first since he was never the type of person to like psychical touch, but Lily then wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her head against his shoulder.
The hug was soft and filled with comfort and unspoken words, it lasted about an minute before Regulus pulled away, he looked at her and forced a weak smile.
Lily didn't smile back, not because she didn't want to but because she was too tired, and that was completely fine with Regulus, to be honest it was better this way.
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, drinking their hot chocolates and the crackling fire a balm to their troubled souls. Lily felt the knot in her stomach loosen, the sharp edges of her anxiety softening.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ.
๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ.
As they walked back to Hogwarts, the snow falling even more heavily now, Lily felt a lightness she hadn't experienced in days.
She had shared her burden, and in that sharing, she had found a strange, unexpected comfort in Regulus Black.
He might be different from her friends, but he understood her in a way no one else seemed to, and she knew she had found a true and loyal friend in him, an unlikely confidant in a world full of loud noises and broken families.