Chapter 1
Regulus had never felt more exhausted in his life, he had almost half of a year haunting horrocruxes and they barely have been able to find one more. He entered to the black Manor with a sigh, he knew his mom was long time sleep for the hour but just as a precautions he move as silenced as possible as he went in, that didn't last for long though because a familiar voice startled
"Don't worry, I cast a silenced spell so she wouldn't hear even a thunderstorm from her room" the blonde girl said nonchalantly from her place in the fancy dinner table and he had to take some seconds to calm his heartbeat
"Merlin's sake Pandora, a little warning next time" he reproached as he went to sit in front Of her
"That's exactly what I want to talk about" she said and he frowned at her, confused at what she meant by that "you are not on your best right now" she ended up saying after some seconds of silence, that didn't really help to clear up what was she trying to say so he tried to prompt her into continuing
"And what you meant with that is...?" He made a sign for her to continue with the idea, a sign they both had for when the other wasn't been clear enough
"You were not alert enough to know I was here in the first place. you barely sleep and you use most of your magic strength to protect your mind so you know who can't read it" she started to point with her fingers "you are going to get yourself killed if you keep going with this" he scoffed at that, he knew what he was doing and was about to say so when she talked again "finding you half-dead in my doorstep was the worse moment of my life, I can't live it again"
He shut up at that, it's not that he didn't know that he had scared the life out of Pandora when kreacher disobeyed his orders and took him out of that cave to the blond's house but she had never describe it like that. he had been selfish and an idiot to not notice his friend fear to lose him
They just have each other right now, he knew that if the situation was the other way around he would feel the same, he wanted to promise her that he would be alright, but that wasn't something sure. There was a war going on, and regulus was playing a dangerous game so he knew he couldn't promise that
"Pandy" he started with a sigh "I have to do this" he said in a whisper and she shook her head
"But not alone my star" she expressed in the same tone as him "we can ask for help"
"To who Pandora?" He asked passing a hand through his hair "I tried with Barty but he is too lost in his grief for Evan. He believes the dark lord when he said he can bring him back so he would never betrayed him" he started to pointed, trying not to think about how much it hurted thinking about his friends "and I will never put narcissa into this" he continued "not when she is not safe in that Malfoy manor" the thought of putting his cousin in danger made him sick. being married to Lucius meant if she made a mistake she was as good as dead and he would never do that to her. He loved her far too much for that. he was brought out of his thoughts when Pandora spoke again
"They are not the only people we can ask for help" she said softly and by her look he knew of who she was talking about
"Absolutely not" he said immediately
"Regulus listen to me" she said, he stood up and tried to leave the kitchen but she got in his way "you have to listen to me" she tried again
"I am not doing this again, I told you I'm not asking Sirius' help" he emphasized but she didn't let him move away
"He would help you" she said but he shook his head at that "he is your brother, he cares, he would help"
"He wouldn't even believe me" he snapped
"That's what you have convinced yourself it would Happened, it doesn't mean it's the true" she answered, unfazed by his behavior
"I have more proof that he wouldn't believe than you have that he would help me" he pointed "he hates me now, he believed I'm nothing but a you know who follower, he wouldn't believe anything else coming from my mouth" he ended up saying, it hurted more than anything, more than the poison he had drunk in that cave, more than his parents punishments but it was the true, he had accepted it. He didn't understand why Pandora couldn't
The girl seemed to notice that he wasn't going to change his mind and decided to change her tactics
"What about James then" the name felt like cold water thrown at him when she said it, they never talked about it and his shocked was such that Pandora had time to continue her argument "he would believe you if you go and tell him the true"
James
Regulus and him have had something going on between them when they were still in Hogwarts, it had started as James trying to fix the black brothers relationship, it hadn't gone well in the begginig, regulus knew James had a thing for fixing people and he didn't want to be another of his charity projects
But James Potter was nothing but persistent, and what had started as a simple mission to help Sirius and regulus had ended with shared kisses in the astronomy tower, with secret gazes and affection words where no one else could see them
Of course all that had ended when he had taken the Mark, not that James had been the one to broke things off, damn him and his loyal ass he had still tried to find a way out for Regulus, to save him. But it was an impossible mission and he knew it so he had done it himself. Broke them off for everyone's sake, they had been a mistake anyway, a beautiful mistake that encapsulated his most dear memories of Hogwarts but a mistake nevertheless
And as far as regulus knew James had moved on a time ago, he was dating Evans now and as rumors said they were both very happy together. Regulus didn't fit in his life anymore and he wasn't going to try either
"No Pandora" he said, this time moving around so he could leave the kitchen
"You can't truly think he wouldn't believe or help you" she started to follow him making him stop
"I didn't say he would not, I'm saying I'm not asking for his help" he explained coldly
"Come on regulus, just because you two broke up doesn't mean you can never ask him for help" but he interrupted her
"Yeah? Go and ask Lily for help then" he said viciously, if Pandora wanted to play this card she had to be ready for him to do it too
"It's not the same" she said sheepishly taken aback for his words
"Isn't it? Because allow me to remind you that our exes are dating each other now" he spit "You have your reasons to not ask for Lily's help even when it would be easier considering you don't port a fucking killer mark" he emphasized pointing at his arm "and I have mine, so stop. I don't want to talk about this anymore" he finished turning around and moving to his room, he knew the conversation was over anyways, Pandora and him shared many things in common. One of them was how bitter they were about their last relationship, he could never ask James for help and she would never ask for the redhead aid either. That it's who they were, and that was all
He heard the blonde leaving the manor, not before she sent him an enchanted paper plane with her initials, he chuckled at that. Since they were children they sent each other this when they were too mad to talk to the other but still wanted to remember one another that they loved each other even so. He sent one back and flopped himself in his bed
That night he cried himself to sleep, thinking about a pair of brown eyes and warm hugs