𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄

chapter five ━━━ chocolate eyes

               IT IS A COLD, hard, rainy day. Ophelia feels the wet chill seep into her bones and is glad when she can finally enter platform 9¾. The train is already there. She is late ( partly due to her father meeting an old friend on the way and their chat taking much too long )

    Thick smog from the scarlet train's engine obscures Ophelia's vision, but somehow, she manages to find the now-familiar eyes like melted chocolate nearby.

    "We were waiting for you!" A thin, bony figure blocks her view.

    It's Walburga Black.

    "Good morning, Mrs Black," Ophelia greets as her parents shake hands and exchange pleasantries.

    "Ophelia, dear, shall your father and I get going? I'm sure you can manage by yourself now?"

    "Certainly, mother."

    Her mother presses a kiss to her head, and her father pats her back as they leave.

    "My Regulus and I were here ages ago, of course," Mrs Black holds up her head disdainfully at Ophelia after her parents leave, "But we had to wait for you. Not very punctual, are you, Ophelia?"

    Ophelia hears a subdued snort coming from Regulus, which makes her give him a not-so-subtle death glare.

    "I'm sorry, Mrs Black," she gives her a sweet smile, "I shall do better in the future."

    "Yes, mother," Regulus speaks up with a tiny smirk on his face, "I'm sure that once Ophelia and I are married, my punctuality and good habits will rub onto her."

    Ophelia has already decided on the number of whacks she wants to give Regulus on the head by now.

    ( eight, if you were wondering. )

    "You're a prick, Regulus Black!" Ophelia declares once they are on the train. "And such a suck-up!"

    "Well, hello to you too, Fawley," Regulus rolls his eyes. "And stop calling me a suck-up!"

    "Only when you stop being one."

    "Oi! I'm— Woah!"

    The train abruptly starts moving, making Regulus stumble and fall straight on top of Ophelia.

    "Ow."

    "What? Now on top of being a suck-up, you also can't keep your balance?"

    "Shut up."

    Ophelia giggles, "This would've been a bit romantic if our roles were reversed, but you're kind of crushing me under your weight there, Black. Mind moving?"

    It was only then that Regulus seemed to realise the position that they were in, and Ophelia felt him stiffen slightly before pushing himself off of her and standing up, dusting his clothes.

    "Hey. . ." Regulus shuffles on his feet, "Do you want to sit—"

    "I should probably go find my friends," Ophelia seems to have not heard what he was saying. "Oh, wait, were you saying something?"

    "No, it's alright." Regulus turns back quickly, "Goodbye, Ophelia."

    "Bye!"

    Arabella Greengrass finds her before she can.

    "Ophelia Bernadette Fawley!"

    Not the full name. Ophelia cringes.

    "I saw what happened!" Arabella wags her finger in front of her face, dragging her into an empty compartment. "Since when were you and Regulus Black this close? You told me in that letter you hated him!"

    Ophelia blinked confusingly, "I do. He's a major arse! I don't want to be married to him!"

    "People who hate each other don't lay on top of each other, you pinhead!"

    "Don't call me a pinhead, Bella. It reminds me way too much of someone else."

    Arabella rolls her eyes. "And why did you pretend that you didn't hear what he was saying and ignore his words?"

    "What? Was he saying something? He said that. . ."

    Arabella gives her the 'Are you acting dumb, or are you just actually dumb?' look.

    Ophelia had received way too much of that look than she should.

    "Arabella, I really didn't hear what he was saying!" she says earnestly, "But you did, didn't you? Tell me."

    Arabella sighs, flopping down on a seat. "It sounded like he wanted you to sit with him, you twat."

    "W— What?" Ophelia stammers, "Really? Are you sure?"

    "Well, now we will never know because you are adamant on believing that Regulus Black is a bad guy!"

    "He is! I told you, he's so closed off—"

    "But that's what is so cool about him, Ophelia!" Arabella pouts, "Those cold, mysterious eyes—"

    "His eyes are a warm brown," Ophelia finds herself saying before she even realises it. "Not at all unfeeling. Like pools of melted chocolate. . ." She trails off, not noticing the sly smirk Arabella was giving her.

    "You really hate him, huh? Especially his eyes."

    "W— Oh, shove off!"

author's note ━━━ happy valentines day, lovelies!! (especially to the single people like me) Hope you enjoyed this update! Also if you're interested, go checkout my new Anthony bridgerton fic on my profile <3