Guys, I'm sorry to say that my grandmother passed away this Sunday, which made things a lot worse. So many bad things happening one after the other! What a horrid month I had! Regardless, this is a short chapter that was already written - I didn't have time to edit it at all, so... this is raw and bad.

Leave comments about the chapter. 

TW: Seizure.

Regulus was trying his best to act as normally as he could. He loved Pandora and Evan enough to pretend there was nothing wrong in their birthday party, but he felt like he was slowly crumbling.

It didn't matter that Pandora's new house was decorated with beautiful flowers that were made to not smell at all by Xenophilius' own spell to make everything more comfortable for her, and it didn't matter that Evan had gotten good Firewhiskey imported from Ireland to drink with Barty and some of his father's business partners. All that mattered was the fact that Regulus' arm was still aching dully and that Severus Snape watched him from across the room beside Dorian Burke, all that mattered was that their eyes rested on Luna whenever she smiled or laughed at something Euphemia Potter would say to cover up the silence that Regulus allowed to weight on the table.

He knew that Euphemia had realised he was barely present there since his mind wandered around, and he was grateful she was trying her best to cover up the situation and make Luna – who was uncomfortable amongst Pandora's extended family – more distracted from the real situation happening around her. But, unfortunately to him, Luna wasn't stupid, she was all too aware that she was being watched, she could feel the eyes cutting her back and pounding on her sides.

Regulus leaned back on his chair, rolling his shoulders back and squaring his body slightly.

He knew that Severus Snape and Dorian Burke would never try anything against Luna for as long as he was obedient and a good servant to 'Lord Voldemort', as he was made to promise to be. However, the same couldn't be said about Bellatrix Lestrange, who seemed to be closer and closer to the table whenever Regulus found the time to glance around the room to search for trouble. Being his cousin and one of the closest soldiers in Lord Voldemort's control meant that she had a few privileges that none would be afforded; Regulus' couldn't curse the daylights out of her, but she could curse the daylights out of him.

"...perhaps buy you some jewellery since I'm thinking about doing something nice for Sirius' and James' graduation at the end of the year," Euphemia was saying, ignoring the way Regulus looked around the room once more. "My brothers will come to England again, and one of them asked about you."

"About me?"

"His wife has a cousin that is in the marriage march in India and has taken interest in you just by my brother's description," Euphemia explained, rolling her eyes. "Not to worry, gudiya. I explained you're still in an active courtship and shall remain so for a while."

Luna tried her best to appear nonchalant as she chuckled, but there was some insecurity that Regulus could see. It was as if she was uncertain that she would remain in a courtship for much longer.

Regulus cleared his throat.

"Why don't we dance?" he asked, suddenly.

Both sets of eyes turned to him.

"I'm sorry?" Luna asked, confused.

"I think there's a quadrille coming and you have yet to dance a single set. Why don't we dance?" Regulus insisted.

Euphemia looked down, away from the young couple, all too aware that it was Regulus' way of trying to talk to Luna without her chaperone around. If he had something to say that couldn't be overheard by others, it would be in the dance floor, amongst other couples that would be whispering to one another.

Luna reached for Regulus' hand, and he quickly led her further into the room that had been magically enhanced for the night but that was nothing but a library in common days of Pandora's cottage.

While the song changed and the couples started to get in position, Regulus did not let go of Luna's hand. Confused and concerned, she did not look away from him, trying hard to find an answer in his facial expression. Once the song started and they got closer together, Regulus leaned forward.

His lips brushed the side of her ear.

"No matter how hard it is, you must stay away from Snape and Burke," he warned. "Not only today, but forever."

"What's happened?" she asked.

Regulus did not answer.

"But even more than them, you must stay away from my cousin Bellatrix. She will do anything to get you in trouble," he continued to warn her. "She's been starving for a chance to make us be apart, and now she has the green light to do something since my mother cannot do anything about it."

Luna raised her eyebrows.

"I realised your mother stepped back for a while now, but what do you mean?" she asked.

Regulus, holding her hand, turned her before they walked side by side on the dance floor. They were separated before he could answer, but he quickly got the control back when they were facing one another in different lines of dancers.

"Mother promised Lady Potter to stop meddling with our relationship while we are still together as a way to get an introduction for Miss Zabini to Mister Gupta," Regulus answered. "I believe Lady Potter was more than willing to change everything in her life as a way to get you some peace."

Luna's hands went to his shoulders for a second as they turned a few times before they were pulled apart once more.

Regulus led her through the end of the dance before they walked to the side of the room, leaving some space between them and the dancefloor.

"I have not heard from Miss Zabini for a while," Luna mused.

Regulus hummed, pushing some hair away from his eyes.

"With motive. She's been away from the public eye for a while now per my request," Regulus said. "Mister Gupta has offered a marriage, but she refused. To spare him and myself from embarrassment, I requested her to stay away from the public eye for a while and allowed her to stay in the house my uncle Cygnus has gotten her. I took it from his name, gave it to her as her own property."

"I can't imagine Auntie was happy about her brother being turned down. Still, she hasn't mentioned anything about it," Luna said.

"On the contrary, Luna. I believe Lady Potter is beyond happy about it," Regulus said with a chuckle. "Miss Zabini is not what one would call a 'good wife'. If I'm to believe everything that I heard, I'd imagine monogamy is not a concept she's familiar with, no matter what she would tell my uncle."

Luna shivered at the idea of cheating, even though Lydia was cheating on her lover.

"So, she'll stay in England?" she asked.

"No. She has received another marriage request from Mister Gupta's acquaintance, a Mister... Balakrishnan or something like that," Regulus said, hesitating at the foreigner surname. He cleared his throat. "He has a better condition financially, is an only son and has no previous marriage. She'll be comfortable and will travel a lot."

"Sounds like something she would like," she mused.

Regulus smiled.

Luna's eyes travelled around the room, not stopping anywhere specific. She pressed her lips together.

"I heard from Cygnus last week," Regulus said. Luna looked at him quickly before looking away. "He's living in Massachusetts, a small town over there in United States. I didn't answer the letter, and his letter didn't go into detail. I'd hazard he expected me to write for details, but I don't care enough."

"...Massachusetts," Luna answered.

Regulus frowned at her tone.

"Have you been?" he asked.

"I think it's an... important... state for them, right?" she said, but she didn't sound sure.

Before Regulus could say something, someone stood beside him.

It was Pandora, fingers going around his wrist and holding him firmly.

"Regulus, she'll have a seizure soon," Pandora announced, tone clipped and urgent.

Luna blinked at her, confused.

"I feel fine," Luna dismissed quickly.

But Regulus knew better than to believe Luna about how 'well' she was doing. She was slowing down her thoughts and grinding her teeth against the feeling – she probably had not noticed yet that she was coming into a seizure. Also, the way Pandora stared at him in obvious nervousness only showed that she had Seen it, and Regulus trusted her gift.

Pandora wouldn't say something like that until she was absolutely sure, and she wouldn't tug on Regulus' arm the way she was doing for nothing. They didn't have much time.

"Come with me," Pandora insisted, voice low.

Regulus didn't argue. He turned to Luna, expression in a false calm and unreadable blankness, but his hand found hers instantly, fingers pressing against her palm in request and silent reassurance.

"Let's go to the sitting room. Fewer people," Pandora mumbled, steering the couple away.

Luna stumbled a bit forward and her eyes widened.

"Maybe..." Luna mumbled.

Regulus hummed, understanding with her single word that she was starting to feel the symptoms coming. He looked around, trying to find Euphemia and give her some sort of signal of their swift escape, but found comfort in the fact that Pandora didn't seem to be eager to leave them alone.

Pandora led them quickly through the room, cutting through clusters of well-dressed guests and past the long dining table where Xenophilius talked to a few of Ministry people. The murmurs of conversation, the clinking of glasses – it all was distant and unimportant noise as they slipped out and into the dimly lit corridor leading to the sitting room.

The moment they slipped inside the sitting room, the heavy wooden doors shutting behind them, Regulus saw the presence of three people in the room. His own parents and Alphard. Walburga saw stiffly at the armchair, sharp features contorted in contempt as Orion swirled a glass of brandy that he had been nursing for half the night already. Alphard had his arms crossed, leaning against the grand fireplace, listening in wry amusement.

"...humiliating. Cygnus, of all people, such a public person reduced to – what? A commoner? Some random wizard in some backwater town in America?" Walburga complained, voice poisonous.

"Now much of a town. He won't be living amongst the elite, he'll be a nobody," Orion added.

Alphard sighed, looking down at his feet. "He made his bed."

"He made his choice," agreed Walburga.

But before Walburga could continue and spit her next insult, her eyes snapped to Regulus, seeing him leading Luna inside. Her eyes went to above his shoulder, searching for the chaperone, but finding only Pandora, which – in theory – was capable of chaperoning, but was far too close to Regulus and Luna to be a good chaperone.

"Regulus," Walburga acknowledged, tone edged with suspicion. "What are you doing?"

"Luna will have a seizure," Pandora answered bluntly.

After a moment of silence, Walburga blinked. Slowly, her gaze went between the three newcomers while Regulus led Luna to one of the sofas near the fireplace, helping her sit down before helping her lie down with the dress.

Orion's swirling of his brandy stilled; Alphard raised an eyebrow at the sight.

Regulus ignored the eyes following him, mumbling comforting things to Luna as she looked up at him, feeling the world starting to swoon around her. She hesitated, letting go of his hand in obvious discomfort.

"Bad taste in my mouth," she whispered.

He nodded in understanding and acknowledgment.

Walburga's gaze narrowed. "Is this some sort of joke?" she asked.

"No," Regulus answered over his shoulder as he kneeled in front of the sofa, facing Luna. "It's going to happen soon."

And then, as if on cue, Luna inhaled sharply as her eyes squeezed shut for a second before her eyes opened and went faraway.

Regulus recognised the signs – her fingers twitching, eyes unfocused, face tense, but blank. Still, he barely had time to shift before her body jerked violently.

He had seen her seizures before, but none so sudden and none half as brutal as that one. Her arms seized up, her back arched sharply, and then the convulsions took over, shaking her entire frame as her muscles tensed and shook. Her head snapped back against the cushions with a dull thud.

Walburga shot up from her seat. Orion put his cup on the small table beside the armchair he was in and leaned forward, watching his son. Alphard straightened, all his amusement vanishing.

And Regulus didn't flinch, even if he was taken aback by a grand-mal seizure.

He moved quickly, shifting Luna to her side with ease since she wasn't that heavy, even when she was so tense. One hand braced her head to make sure she wouldn't hit it on the arm rests of the sofa. He remained as calm as possible, focused and controlled to make sure that Luna would be alright once the seizure was done.

Regulus moved his body just enough to cover Luna's reddening face from the people watching in shock. Blindly, he reached behind his body to get his handkerchief, using it to clean Luna's mouth from the saliva escaping between her grinding teeth.

"You alright, darling," Regulus whispered. "It'll pass soon. It's almost over."

Alphard was clearly taken aback by the sight. His face was pinched in uncomfortableness and fear.

"How long does it last?" he asked, voice forced.

"Around a minute or so, never more than that," Pandora answered, walking towards Regulus and stopping beside him to push some of the hairs that escaped Luna's braid away from her face. "It's almost over."

Regulus cleaned Luna's face again, unsatisfied with the way that Luna still shook. The struggling sounds of her breathing were making his racing heart to double its beats in fear; it was rattling sound, something so primal that sounded like a growl.

Luna's movements began to slow down before it stopped completely.

"There you go," Regulus whispered, cleaning the last few strands of saliva from her mouth. "Good girl. You did so well."

Orion slowly rose from his seat and walked towards his wife, putting a hand on her shoulder in silent comfort.

Pandora leaned forward. "Luna?" she called out.

Regulus shook his head.

"She's not back yet, she's just... floating," he answered the girl.

Regulus smiled a bit when Luna started to blink slowly, breathing slowing and lips pressing together. She was coming back to their world, away from the floating that she usually did after a seizure.

Walburga tried her best to calm herself, but she wasn't ready to see what was obvious about the whole interaction. Regulus wasn't just in love with Luna, he loved Luna with all his heart, soul and power. The person kneeling beside the barely-awake girl wasn't a boy, it was a man – a man that would do anything for the people he loved, even if he had to betray his very essence to make sure everybody was safe. And that scared the life out of her as a mother, because she knew that her little boy would not care for himself before caring for others.

That was when Walburga knew that she had lost her little boy already, and she wasn't sure it was for the best.

This was supposed to be only half of the chapter, but I cut it so I could post it since the rest wasn't ready yet. Sorry. Thank you for reading.

I hope you liked it. LEAVE COMMENTS.