Adena had been completely lonely for the last days of July, only meeting with her parents at dinner time. Sometimes she would read the books she had read a thousand times and then read the books from her parents' personal collection that she knew very well already too. She had nothing to entertain her, nobody to talk to, she just wished holidays could be over. She was all alone again, alone with her thoughts.

And her thoughts were always full of questions about her friends, parents, sister, and Regulus. What were they doing. How were they feeling. Could they ever feel as lonely as her sometimes. Did they realize what she was going through every time she found herself alone in this big place. She concluded they wouldn't. They have been keeping themselves busy enough so no such thought would be bothering them. Unlike her who felt overwhelmed by sadness and loneliness.

On one boring afternoon of July, the brunette was unsurprisingly lying on her bed. She had just finished her third reading of The picture of Dorian Gray that Millie had recommended her a long time ago since her mother loved this book. But now that she had done so, she had no idea what to do anymore. She was staring blankly at the wall, waiting for an idea to come to her mind even though she felt like a complete void.

Suddenly, the young girl heard the door of her room open then a high-pitched voice squeaking, "Miss Adena, Pimchin is sorry to bother, but Miss has a visitor."

Pimchin brought her someone. Before she could even start moving to discover her visitor, the person spoke.

"Hello, Adena." It was a soft velvet-like voice she could recognize between thousands. It was Regulus, it was her lover.

She turned around, straightening herself to sit on her knees, observing Regulus who came to sit beside her. Once the distance reduced, she threw her arms around his neck, completely closing the distance between them. She hugged him so tight, and he returned the embrace with as much force. It could have been unbearable, but not for Adena who just wanted to melt into him. His comfort, his scent, the gentleness of his gestures; she felt happy again. There's no place that felt better than Regulus' arms. Her whole happiness depended mainly on him more than anything, she felt like reliving after feeling empty for the last days.

"I missed you..." she murmured in a shaking voice.

"It's only been two weeks..." he murmured back even though he couldn't help giving her some comforting caresses.

"But it felt long without you..."

"I know..."

For Regulus too, being back to his girlfriend felt like a big relief. He had realized a long time ago how much she mattered to him, before she could even realize it herself perhaps. He had felt drawn to her. And he couldn't stop himself. Until now, it felt impossible to stay away from this girl he got to love so easily, more easily than anyone in his life. She was really special.

"How have been the past days?" he asked with concern, detaching himself just a little to look at her.

"... bored and lonely..." she muttered avoiding his gaze unconsciously.

"I see. I should have come before then."

"No no! I don't force you to come, I'm already happy and grateful to have you here today."

He looked at her in the eyes now that she was looking at him. They had even missed this long staring into each other's eyes.

"We'll plan the next days to meet again," he said, his voice sounding serious.

"Okay, thank you then."

He cracked a little smile at her, the kind of small almost timid smiles he would give her that made her completely weak. He had this look in his eyes, Adena noticed it and she couldn't help bringing his face closer with her hands. Even touching his cheeks felt like a rediscovery but she quickly got familiar with the soft heat of his skin. Before Regulus could make a move, she was planting a sweet kiss on his cheek. It felt so soft under her lips that she did it again.

"I wanna kiss you too..." murmured the boy and it made her chuckle. Every negative feeling had completely waved off; she felt herself again with Regulus.

She slowly placed a delicate kiss on his lips, to which he responded by moving his own slowly.

How much he had missed that, he only realized it now by the craving feeling inside him. He just wanted to kiss her without ever stopping himself. It felt so perfect, like they were connected. He loved this feeling.

Their kiss was growing more passionate, Adena quickly losing the lead but adoring how good it felt as Regulus was slowly driving her insane with his tempting lips and daring moves. But she enjoyed every second of it. Nothing felt wrong with this boy, she appreciated every one of his gestures whether they were bold or in his usual softness. She just loved every side of him, even the mysterious one she longed to discover.

They pulled away after a while, feeling a little out of breath after such a passionate and languorous kiss, proving how much they had missed each other. Their hearts were full of happiness and love now, feeling completed again. Meeting back with Regulus, for Adena, it felt like the best feeling ever.

"Would you like to talk now?" he whispered.

"Sure, let me just prepare myself." As she said that, she got out of his embrace which was very frustrating. She grabbed some clean and more presentable clothes and before leaving the room she turned towards her boyfriend. "Make yourself comfortable, you can visit the place and ask anything to Pimchin."

When she was done, dressed in her most comfortable summer dress - a pastel blue piece of cloth, that felt very light - the girl got out of the bathroom. She was still brushing her tangled locks as she walked. She went down, looking for Regulus where she found him looking at some family photos.

"You looked very cute as I said before," he said with a grin when she reached his side. The boy was looking at a picture of her from when she was seven, the actual age when she met him. His reaction made her grin as well.

When he looked up, he turned to her. "Can we visit the garden?"

"Yeah, come," she said, grabbing his hand with her free one.

They walked out of the open glass door, walking into the dry grass. Tons of flowers were surrounding the place thanks to Pimchin taking care of the garden with magic, and it felt very peaceful. She noticed now Regulus was wearing more casual and summer-like clothes than the time they met at Diagon Alley. He looked good with whatever he wore in her eyes anyway. They sat at first under the sunlight. It felt hot, but still bearable.

"Let me brush your hair," he told her softly as she was about to do so. She watched as he took the brush out of her hand and sat behind her. At first, Adena thought he would use magic, but she soon realized his hand was holding the brush and combing her hair with so much patience and softness even though her curls were a little tangled. It was so relaxing, and she let out a little sigh.

"How do you like the house?"

"It's surely different from mine, but I like the welcoming atmosphere it has."

"I like it too."

"I hope you don't plan on staying too much out there. Look at how pale you are," said the boy in a scolding manner that made the girl frown.

"For once I'm actually enjoying my time out..."

"We'll go under a tree after."

She hummed, and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling, relaxing under Regulus' tender gestures. At least he seemed to enjoy the activity.

She then felt him stop the brushing movement to play with her hair and she smiled.

"I didn't know you could braid..."

"I used to braid my cousins' hair when I was young, they taught me."

"I wanna braid your hair too," she added next, a smile on her lips he could guess.

"No need..."

She stopped him and turned around to face him. Her hand went to her pocket and retrieved her hair clip. Her smile widened and he sighed. Adena gently tied her boyfriend curls on the side, before letting her hand caress his cheek.

"You're so pretty."

"But this is yours, so take it back..."

"It feels too hot now, I'm moving," said suddenly the brunette while shrugging. She walked to the closest tree and lied under it, enjoying the freshness. Regulus lied down beside her and gave her back the hair clip.

"When should we meet next?" he asked her.

"I'm going to Diagon Alley in a few days, but I don't think it'd please the others if you were there..."

"After then? Stay later in London. I'll stay with you for the evening."

"You'd like that?" she asked, turning her head to face him.

"Yeah. I just want to walk with you in the streets of London."

"Okay, I'll tell you which day the others and I will be coming then." And he smiled at her before she continued. "Also, my birthday."

"You want to celebrate it with me?"

She shrugged before saying in a timid voice. "I'll be with my family for the evening, but is that okay if I stay with you the day before until the evening..."

Regulus' smile got wider, and he nodded. "It's perfect don't worry."

"Your parents will be okay with that?"

"Yeah. They appreciated you and I don't think they really mind you being there or not."

"That's great then! Thank you, thank you!" she said with excitement and she offered him a small kiss. "And also, I think my parents want to meet you, that'll be good to plan that."

"Yeah, just ask them when they're available..."

"The thing is that they aren't very available..." she said in an upset voice.

"Right. I'll meet them once they can then."

"Even at home they're into their paperwork," sighed the brunette.

"When I'll meet them, it'll be an enjoyable moment you'll see," he said, trying to reassure her, caressing her cheek as well. The corners of her lips twitched in a small grin.

"You make me smile so easily..." she muttered.

"I'm proud then." And she smiled even wider. He was gazing at her with a loving look in his grey eyes, that made Adena flustered.

"Stop looking at me like that," she whined while hiding herself behind her hands.

"Like what?" scoffed the boy, containing his laughter.

"With that look..." she said, now pointing at this face.

"I don't understand... I'm just looking at you like someone looking at the person they're in love with. That's normal."

"It... destabilizes me."

"Should I be sorry? That won't stop me," he said innocently.

"Just hush silly." And she laughed a little as she placed her hand on his mouth, to prevent him from saying more.

"Oh, what are you two doing?" asked a bored voice, not far from them.

They both looked up, noticing Candace and Maylyn standing a few feet away.

"Nothing... what is that? Your N.E.W.Ts results?" asked Adena, pointing to the envelop her sister was holding.

"Yeah. I got Exceed Expectations for the most important subjects," she answered with a proud smirk.

"That's great! Congrats, I told you you would! What about you Maylyn?"

"I got my six N.E.W.Ts, and even an Optimal in DADA." She looked proud as well.

"That's very good too, congrats."

"We're leaving now. Bye losers," said the blonde girl before leaving with her friend which made Adena roll her eyes at her.

"She's not that dumb after all," said Regulus with fake surprise in his voice.

"Of course, she's not."

"And she even seemed less bothered by me than before."

"I guess she finally got used to seeing us together," said Adena with a content smile.

author's note: one night, two years ago, in lockdown for a year with too much free time, i finally put down into words all the thoughts i had had in mind for years. it turned to be this story. on tuesday it will mark two years since i started writing and one year since i started publishing. and it reached 17k reads in the whole time like wow?? thank you for just paying a little attention to this story, and thank you for your feedback or any kind of comments, i'm always excited to read them. i think maybe the best parts are coming up which corresponds to about the last third