Chapter 1
Mary elbows Regulus in the side. “Are they looking?”
She is sure Regulus has his reasons, as for hers, they are none of his business, or anyone else’s, for that matter.
Still, when they stroll into the dining hall hand-in-hand, she does wonder. None of the first-years even look up, pajama-clad and yawning into their cheerios, but she doesn’t care about them. Apart from her financial and moral responsibility to, of course.
He doesn’t look at her, eyes fixed on the long table by the window, where James, Lily, Marlene, and Remus sit. “Everyone’s looking.”
She feels her chest soar and sink, both abjectly humiliated and a little pleased. “Good.”
Mary hooks her hand around the inside of his elbow, just to sell it a little. Regulus stiffens. They opt for a small round table against a pillar, plastered with bright posters advertising student clubs. He sits across from her, looking every inch like the heir to a massive fortune he is. Sharp severe profile, buttoned-up, he throws a curly fry into his mouth, and asks, “Do you have any classes today?”
Mary nods, “Yeah.”
He taps the table. “What is it?”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Yeah, right.” he trails off, “I just think we should maybe know stuff about each other.”
Mary sighs, “Creative nonfiction.”
“What?”
“My class.”
Regulus clicks his tongue. It is, coincidentally, the only class she shares with Sirius. If she were to guess, she would say he’s doing this to upset his brother, though she’d only dated Sirius for about two weeks in second year, and also he’s gay. Still, she knows they don’t speak all that often, so it’s possible Regulus doesn’t know.
“Mary.” He says, “What would your boyfriend know about you?”
She feels for the guy, really, she hadn’t exactly given him a ton of information before proposing a fake relationship, and he was being a good sport about it, he’d even offered to walk her to some classes to really drive it home, not that she thought that’d be necessary.
Over Regulus’s shoulder, Lily Evans laughs so hard she almost shoots vanilla coke out of her nose, lit by the blue-grey New England sun. She smiles and wipes a bit of lipstick from the corner of her mouth. Then she looks over, just for a second, Mary’s sure she would’ve missed it if she weren’t paying attention. But she is, paying attention that is.
Being under Lily’s full attention is a lot like standing on a sunlight-warmed patch of carpet, or taking a shot of whiskey. It’s a full-body sensation.
“I’m a chemistry major,” she replies. Regulus mercifully does not comment on her five-minute lapse into total silence. He eats another fry.
“Creative writing minor?” He guesses. She nods.
“You?” She asks.
“History, kind of classics, haven’t declared anything.”
He and Sirius share some similarities, the high start of their noses, pitch-black hair and eyes. But Regulus, nervous, straight-backed, and pleated against a dark oak chair, is far from his brother’s carbon copy.
It’s a bit weird, they’ve never really spoken, except one unfortunate night Mary had spent with Dorcas Meadowes last spring, which had resulted in an insanely awkward breakfast the next morning with Regulus and her two other roommates. Lily hadn’t let her hear the end of it.
He clears his throat. “I’ll post something later, like a picture of us on my Instagram.”
“We don’t have any pictures together.”
“Right.” Regulus reaches across the table, links their fingers together, and takes a picture on his phone. Then he says, “I don’t actually follow you.”
“Oh, yeah.” She takes his phone.
Regulus almost smiles, “That’s…a lot of pictures of Lily.”
“What? No, it’s not.”
He shrugs, “Whatever, I’ve gotta go.”
“See ya.”
*
The RA dorms are more like apartments, with three bedrooms connecting to one small dingy bathroom and a fire-hazard kitchen. The smallest bedroom is Marlene’s, Mary’s is the furthest from the door (“What if someone breaks in?”) and Lily hadn’t cared about much except the massive window in her room, with a cill deep enough to sit in.
When Mary gets home, Marlene is at the kitchen table, frowning at some leafy plant with brown creeping up the stem and typing furiously.
Mary sits across from her, and Marlene immediately snaps her head up, eyebrow raised, “Regulus Black?”
Mary ignores her, and surveys the damage on the table, “Overwatering, again.”
Marlene rolls her eyes and goes back to typing. The kitchen is bright and airy. Lily had insisted upon replacing overhead lighting with several strategically placed lamps and candles, not that they need them during the day, no one had ever bothered to replace the sheer white curtains that’d been up when they moved in.
“Regulus Black,” Marlene says again, overpronouncing every syllable.
“Yes?” Mary replies.
Marlene shrugs, “I didn’t think you knew him that well.”
“I do.” and then, “Isn’t that what dating is anyway? Getting to know someone better.”
Marlene levels her with a look, “I didn’t even think you liked guys.”
Mary swallows. Lily unlocks the door, she’s a blur of green and copper, half an iced americano in hand. She nods at them, eyes skipping over Mary, and goes to her room.
Marlene whistles lowly, “So that’s still super weird then.”
“It’s fine.”
It’s not like Mary and Lily, they’d never had a proper fight in the three years they’d been friends. Mary has been waiting, honestly, for Lily to step over her pride and show up at her door with a mug of cinnamon latte and an apology.
Marlene just stares at her. Mary Macdonald, of fake boyfriend and absolutely no coffee, wonders exactly whose pride needs stepping over again.
“Where’s she been lately, anyway?” Mary asks, even though she knows, even though she doesn’t want to hear it.
Marlene shrugs, “With James, I think. They’ve been seeing each other a lot lately.”
“Right.”
Marlene starts typing again. Mary sighs, “Who are you texting?”
“No one. Drop dead.”
Mary blinks. “Jesus Christ.”
Marlene mutters something about class and packs up her things. Mary is alone, she listens to the muffled music from Lily’s room, likely some bouncy recommendation from James, it’s not something she’s ever heard before. Mary turns on the kettle, tries to drowning it out with headphones and Earl Grey.