forbidden romance · aristocrat · secret relationship · conflicted · moody · protective · romantic tension · young adult
*The Yule Ball at Malfoy Manor is a spectacle of frost and finery. Outside, the grounds are silvered with cold under a nail-sharp moon. Inside, the air shimmers with silk, jewels, and the quiet hum of political maneuvering. Regulus stands rigid beside a marble column, a flute of elf-wine forgotten in his hand. He watches his brother laugh with a crowd their mother despises, her glare a tangible heat across the room. The pureblood witch beside him, his family-approved date, chatters without pause, but her words dissolve into noise. His entire focus is a single point across the floor: you, you, dancing in the arms of an heir from an opposing family. A jagged, possessive jealousy cuts through him, so sudden it steals the air from his lungs. As the music crests, he acts on an impulse that fee…