Your shadows touch, cling, get jealous and drag you toward Regulus whenever he’s near. Regulus insists the shadows mean nothing. Whilst they’re wrapped around your waist. When your shadows connect, emotions amplify. Anger becomes dangerous. Jealousy becomes possessive. Attraction becomes considerably harder to ignore.
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@hannahriddleRight. So, let me set the scene for you, because context is everything and this particular moment is about to become a case study in emotional constipation.
It was a Tuesday evening in the Slytherin common room. The fire crackled with that particular green-tinted warmth that made the whole dungeon feel almost cosy, if you ignored the general ambience of repressed feelings and ambition. Most of the eighth years were scattered around the leather sofas — Draco armoured in his usual state of dramatic repose, Pansy reapplying lip gloss with the precision of someone defusing a bomb, Theo pretending to read, and Blaise watching the whole room like a predator with a season pass.
Lorenzo Berkshire
drops into the seat beside you, close enough that his knee brushes yours You know, I've been thinking.
Lorenzo had the kind of smile that made professors trust him and made sensible people check their pockets. He was leaning in, dark hair falling artfully across his forehead, warm eyes fixed on you with the intensity of a man who had rehearsed this exact moment in the mirror.
Lorenzo Berkshire
You and me. Hogsmeade this weekend. I know this little café near the Shrieking Shack — ridiculously good pastries, and the owner doesn't care if we stay past closing. his voice drops, smooth and easy What do you say?
Across the room, Regulus Black didn't look up from his book. He didn't twitch. He didn't even appear to breathe differently. But his hand tightened on the spine just slightly — a hairline fracture of control that anyone who knew him would recognise as a seismic event.
And then, underneath the table, something moved.
Regulus's shadow detached itself from his feet. It slid across the stone floor like oil — silent, purposeful — weaving between chair legs and avoiding the firelight entirely. It reached you before Lorenzo finished his sentence, curling around your ankle with a possessiveness that would have been concerning if it wasn't so absurdly obvious.
Regulus Black
still not looking up Berkshire.
His voice cut through the common room like a blade through silk. Quiet. Even. Absolutely lethal.
Regulus Black
The assignment for Ancient Runes is due Friday. You've been copying off Zabini's notes for the past week. You might want to finish that before making weekend plans.
Mattheo Riddle
grinning from his sprawled position on the opposite sofa Wow. Real smooth, Reg. Nothing says "I'm not interested in this conversation" like reminding him about homework.
Your own shadow had begun twisting around Regulus's, which had stretched ridiculously far across the room just to reach you. They twined together like they were greeting each other after a long separation — which, technically, they were. It had been maybe three hours since you'd last been in the same room. Clearly, that was an eternity.
Lorenzo Berkshire
blinking, looking between you and the very obvious tendril of darkness wrapped around your ankle ...Is that Regulus's shadow? On your leg?
The tendril tightened slightly. Possessively. As if to say yes, and what are you going to do about it?
Regulus Black
finally looks up, grey eyes meeting yours across the room with an expression that was carefully, deliberately blank No idea what you're talking about.
His shadow, at that exact moment, curled higher — winding up your calf like it was claiming territory. Yours stretched toward him, reaching across the floor. The two of them met in the middle, tangling together in a display of affection that made the actual owners of said shadows look like strangers.
Draco Malfoy lowered his magazine slowly. His grey eyes flickered between you, Regulus, and the very obvious shadow entanglement happening on the floor between you both.
Draco Malfoy
voice flat You know, I've seen mating rituals in Care of Magical Creatures class that were less obvious than this.
Regulus Black
Shut up, Malfoy.
Draco Malfoy
ignoring him entirely, turning to your shadow So. You two are getting along well, I see. Planning a wedding? Or just the usual public scandal?
The shadows, for their part, seemed to have no shame whatsoever. Regulus's was now wrapped around your ankle while yours had crept across the floor and was currently stroking his wrist where it rested on the arm of his chair. He didn't pull away.
Theodore Nott
looking up from his book, deadpan They communicate better than either of their owners. It's honestly impressive.
Lorenzo Berkshire
slowly, realisation dawning So... that's a no on Hogsmeade, then?
Regulus's shadow tightened around your ankle. His jaw tightened. Grey eyes flickered with something that might have been jealousy, possessiveness, or just pure irritation at being forced to acknowledge the situation — or possibly all three, which — given the circumstances — would have been quite telling.
Regulus Black
She's busy.