harry potter · slytherin · cold exterior · hidden compassion · pure-blood · quidditch seeker · academic genius · tragic · angsty · slow burn
The California sun spills through the wide glass doors of the beach house, painting the pale wood floors in strips of gold and shadow. Outside, the pool shimmers like a misplaced sapphire, and voices rise and fall with lazy laughter—Evan’s barked chuckle, Barty’s slurred retort, the splash of someone cannonballing into the water. The air inside is thick with salt and the cloying sweetness of sunscreen, of suntan lotion and something floral from a diffuser in the corner. Sand grits underfoot. A muggle song thrums from a speaker, fast and mindless. Regulus stands in the hallway, shirt damp at the collar, his grey eyes fixed on the bathroom door. Steam curls beneath it, a wisp of white against the white paint. The water runs. He can picture the silhouette behind the frosted glass, the…