Regulus was right. As always, he was, thought the brunette. Having a fresh shower during the hot summer helped her relax and clear her mind. And she felt way better when she got out. When the brunette arrived in the kitchen, the food was already served, and Candace and Regulus were eating in silence. The brunette sat down next to her boyfriend, in front of her plate.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"But you know, you still look tired."

The girl just shrugged and started eating. Candace finished her food pretty quickly and left the two together.

"Her presence is irritating," murmured the boy which made Adena chuckle.

"I'm sorry. She still isn't too fond of you."

As they continued eating and chatting, some noise was heard from outside the room. Voices were heard. The brunette suddenly felt dumb for leaving her wand in her room. She couldn't be too safe, especially in those times. And unknown voices heard at home were worriying. She just took Regulus' wand and started walking out of the kitchen discreetly, the raven-haired male following behind.

"What are y'all doing here?" asked Adena surprised, slowly letting her hand fall back to her side. In front of her were standing Maylyn, Candace's best friend as well as her other friends, Sirius, Lily, James, Rosie and Remus. Peter was surprisingly out of sight.

"Oh, it's you Adena! I'm so happy to see you!" exclaimed Maylyn as she approached the brunette to offer her a hug. "It's been so long."

"We've come to visit Juliet," said the voice of Sirius.

"How are you dealing with that?" asked the kind Remus Lupin.

"It's difficult but I'm fine," said and shrugged the brunette. She suddenly felt the presence of her boyfriend behind her and James and Sirius turned their glares towards him.

"Isn't that your dear little brother?" spoke out James, his words teasing but his tone was serious and harsh.

"Reg, what are you doing here?" now asked Sirius.

"The same thing as you," replied coldly the boy. She didn't have to look up to guess he was glaring back at them with as much severity.

"So, you two are still a thing. That's good I guess," said Maylyn, trying to sound positive. At this moment she was probably the only person not despising her. Or maybe Remus too since he was too kind and calm to show hate.

"Yeah. It is," only answered Adena, her voice cold as well as she glared at the two older boys, while unconsciously stepping closer to Regulus.

"Oh, you guys are here," interrupted Candace's voice from upstairs. She quickly walked down upon noticing what was happening. "Adena you should leave."

"What? It's still my house!"

"Yeah, but not his," she spat harshly, referring to Regulus.

The brunette rolled her eyes, an ironical smile plastered on her face. "Yeah fine. Whatever."

She grabbed her boyfriend's hand and started heading outside, not sparing a glance to the others. She walked out until she was in the garden. The sun was shining so brightly there, even too brightly but she didn't care. Anger was boiling inside her.

"I'm sorry. She has no right to treat you like this."

"It's not your fault. Don't apologize for her. I've accepted a long time ago that she would never like me," answered Regulus nonchalantly, tucking his hands into his pants pockets.

"She could at least respect you. It angers me."

"Don't waste your energy on stupid things. You're not like her."

"Maybe you don't care! But her attitude and her words towards you hurt me!" exclaimed Adena, looking straight into his grey eyes, showing how serious she was. The brunette was usually good at keeping her calm, except when it came to Regulus. She hated how others treated him even though he was ignoring everyone.

"Please. Just forget. You have other things to focus on," he said more softly while bringing up his hand to caress her cheek.

"Hm. Right..."

During the afternoon, Candace's friends visited their mother in small groups. Even though she needed rest, she was clearly happy to see people, especially Candace's friends whom she appreciated very much. Adena mostly stayed in the sofa downstairs with Regulus. The girls were also with them sometimes. She knew James and Sirius couldn't bear staying in Regulus' presence.

"Sorry for keeping your mum's attention, you may want to see her," said kindly Lily, coming downstairs with Maylyn.

"It's okay. Thanks for coming to see her."

"It's normal. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something," she added, sitting on one of the armchairs, Maylyn on the other.

"Yeah, I'm all ears."

"James proposed to me. We're marrying in a few months."

The girl felt obviously happy upon hearing this since they had been dating for some time already, but she still despised James Potter very much. Even Lily couldn't stand Regulus, but she forgave her, it was understandable for a Muggle-born.

"Well, congratulations. I wish you happiness in your future life."

"Thank you. Actually, I've prepared an invitation for you," she was holding out an invitation for her as she spoke. Adena took it in her hands and read it.

"You have the right to refuse of course. Take your time to decide, it's in five months," added Lily, glancing up at Regulus, quietly sitting by her side.

"No, it's fine. I can't decline, that's nice of you."

Once everyone had left, Adena decided to visit her mother as well. Candace had headed back to her bedroom.

"Mum are you tired?" asked the brunette, staying in the doorway.

"I'm fine, you can come." She still looked extremely tired in Adena's eyes.

"Good evening, Mrs Winsten," said Regulus as he followed Adena. The girl took a sit on the floor again, close to her mother while her boyfriend went to the chair, taking some distance from the bed.

"It's nice to see you again Regulus," answered Juliet, smiling kindly at him.

Adena decided not to talk too much, just staying by her mother's side because she wanted to be there for her. Since it stayed calm in the room, she hoped she could have some rest, and so, she remained in silence until her father came home from work. Once he was here, she just finally left her mother.

That night, Regulus stayed home, Marshall had invited him. Adena told her father she didn't want to bother him by making him stay the night, but the boy insisted he really wanted to stay by her side in such difficult times. The girl realized how much his presence was necessary when they went to bed. She felt awfully tired having not slept properly the night before. She felt so much reassured in her boyfriend's arms. He was holding her so tight, not caring if the nights were hot. And Adena was holding him just as tight. Her face laid against his torso and his calm heartbeat quickly lulled her to sleep. No pestering thoughts, not a single question in her head that night, she fell asleep so easily.

The next day, Adena felt Regulus moving around which woke her up. He was waking up surprisingly early for a day of vacation.

"What are you doing?" she quietly asked, slowly opening her eyelids.

"I have to go but you should sleep some more, it's still early," he answered just as quietly while looking down at her.

"But why do you have to go..." she mumbled, her hand reaching out to take his with difficulty since she was still half asleep.

"I've got a meeting." Upon hearing his words, her half open eyes glanced down to his forearm where his dark mark was moving.

"Hm, it's early."

"I know... I'll see you soon don't worry," he whispered, bending down to kiss her before preparing himself to leave. And in a few seconds, he had disappeared. Adena felt a little sad and lonely without his presence but before realizing it, she was already back asleep.

author's note: hi, i've been busy and i kinda forgot i had stories on going?? 

anyway, a few things. firstly i've actually changed my "name" because having just one letter could hardly represent me so now i go by annette, it's a nickname my family has called me since i was little and i recently grew fond of it so why not! 

secondly, this story has almost reached 70k reads oh my god, that's just crazy. i'll never stop thanking you for this 

and thirdly, in case you didn't know but i've mentioned this many times, one of my hobbies is attending concerts. and this weekend, i saw mitski! to be honest, i think i started listening to her when i started writing. i'm obsessed with making playlists and i have a playlist for each one of my stories. obviously everything started with this story and i've used songs like "me and my husband", "i will" and "first love/late spring" and so that's how i became a fan. she was a fantastic performer, i'm so glad i started writing and discovered many great artists!!