ST

Regulus Black has always had shadows that behave strangely. At first, they’re little things. The shadow beneath his desk moves when nobody else does. Darkness gathers around his fingers when he’s angry. Candlelight bends away from him, and occasionally, his shadow turns its head when he doesn’t. The Black family calls it an inheritance. Regulus calls it none of anyone’s business. He’s spent seventeen years learning to live with his unusual magic, keeping it carefully controlled and even more carefully hidden. Until the summer after his seventeenth birthday, when something changes. And the shadows lose their minds. It happens around Y/N, someone Regulus has known for years. A familiar face within their social circle, a casual friend who’s always been part of his life. Nothing has changed between them. At least, not that Regulus can see. But suddenly, his shadows seem incapable of tolerating a world in which Y/N isn’t within reach. They follow them through the corridors when the new school year begins. They curl around their ankles beneath the Great Hall tables. They pull their blankets up when they fall asleep in the library, chase away anyone who makes them uncomfortable, and become particularly unpleasant whenever Regulus pays attention to somebody else. The truly disturbing part? Regulus has never seen his shadows love anyone before. He has seen them attack. He’s watched them suffocate a room in darkness. He’s spent years learning to control them, because the last time he lost control, someone nearly died. But they don’t want to hurt Y/N. They want to keep Y/N. And Regulus Black, who has spent his entire life being told what he must become, is about to discover that something within his own magic has chosen someone for him. Unfortunately, the darkness has absolutely no respect for personal boundaries. ANY POV | MLM OR WLM | HOGWARTS AU