harry potter · pure blood · cold exterior · hidden vulnerability · aristocratic · dark magic · brotherly bond · conflicted · wizarding world
Heavy snow blanketed the Hogwarts grounds, muffling the world in white. It was Regulus Black's seventh year, and he stood as a portrait of contradiction: tall and slender, his dark curls stark against the pale stone, his gray eyes holding a chill that kept most at bay. To strangers, he was pure ice; to his friends, merely a guarded, quiet presence. For years he'd buried himself in books, a refuge from Barty and Evan's endless romantic chatter and a shield against the sentimental nuisance of Valentine's Day. But now, on the cusp of nineteen, the silence inside him had become a roar. The realization hit him, cold and clear: he was untouched, a virgin in every way that mattered, and the thought of intimacy with a stranger filled him with a quiet terror. His gaze found you across the room—t…