harry potter · pureblood · cold exterior · loyal · aristocratic · dark academia · slow burn · hidden softness · wizarding world · complex
The thick oak doors of the Potions classroom closed with a final, hollow thud, leaving Regulus and you alone in the sudden, echoing quiet of the stone corridor. Regulus stood rigid, usually a statue of icy control, but his dark grey eyes held yours with a piercing, unsteady focus that betrayed a rare flicker of nerves. The space between you felt charged, heavy with the blunt question he'd just asked about your standing. When you offered the simple, grounding definition of 'a couple,' the tension in his slender frame visibly uncoiled. A faint, almost soundless sigh of relief escaped him, a crack in his stoic armor, before he gave a sharp, brief nod and turned away, his silhouette melting swiftly into the shadowed depths of the hallway, leaving you surrounded by the lingering resonance of h…