chapter 2
~
“You need a sweet tea?” Pandora asked Regulus as she wiped down the counter of the cafe. Regulus was standing near the cups, wringing his fingers.
“Huh?”
Pandora tossed the cloth into the sink and turned to him. She tilted her head, her icy blonde braid falling off her shoulder as she did so. “Come on,” she said, taking his hand to stop him from picking at his fingernails and led him into the kitchen.
“Hey, Em?” Pandora called to Emmeline Vance, another worker in the kitchen. “Could you cover the counter for a few minutes?”
Emmeline smiled. “ ‘Course.” Pandora pulled a stool out from under the counter and gestured to it.
“Sit.” Regulus if as he was told and watched as Pandora rummaged through her handbag, pulling out little pieces of Lego, a candle, a cat toy, and a converse before finding what she was looking for; she handed Regulus the chocolate bar and hopped up onto the counter opposite him.
“You’re meeting him at two, right?” She asked.
Regulus nodded.
“Here?” Of course, Pandora knew what time they were meeting and where, she just wanted to let Regulus know of the things he was certain about, so that he wouldn’t feel that the situation was completely out of control. Regulus nodded again, nibbling on the chocolate bar.
“Okay, well what are you most nervous about? Seeing him? Talking to him?”
Regulus sighed, closing his eyes. “Everything, I guess. Like, not seeing him for years; when he left and I couldn’t keep in touch, he’s probably upset about that. Not to mention that he probably doesn’t even want to talk to me- I’m the one who reached out- he probably just feels obligated to talk to me again before we both did it something.” Regulus dropped his face into his hands, messaging his temples.
Pandora sighed. “No, Reggie, he wouldn’t have agreed to meet with you if he didn’t want. What is the absolute worst scenario here?”
“He could scream, tell, shout at me, he could stay silent! Oh- imagine if he just doesn’t say anything… he could tell me I’m awful, that he hates me, he never wants to see me again. He could- oh my god- what if he doesn’t show up? And I’m sitting here waiting like a fool!” Regulus scrubbed his hands down his face. “Should I just cancel? I should just cancel, right?”
Pandora shook her head. “No, Reggie, if you don’t meet him, you’ll spend the rest of your life regretting it. What if you guys actually talk properly? You could have that relationship back. You’ve got to try, Regulus, or else you’ll never know,”
Regulus peaked out through his hands. “I could get my brother back,” he whispered quietly. Pandora pulled him into a tight hug.
“You really could.”
Regulus sighed into her shoulder. “I hate that you’re right, you know.”
“Aw,” Pandora laughed.
“I’m still nervous though.”
“Of course you are,” a beat of silence,” “you want me to change the music to Lana Del Rey?”
Regulus sighed, pulling away with a smile. “Thought you’d never ask,” he admitted grinning.
Pandora laughed, smacking the back of his head playfully. She turned to the phone that was connected to the speakers.
“Hey, Regulus?” Emmeline stood in the door of the kitchen. “There’s a guy here to see you?”
Regulus nodded. “K, I’ll be out in just a sec. Thanks.”
Emmeline nodded and turned around back into the cafe.
“Shit.”
“It’ll be okay.”
“Fuck.”
“You can do it.”
“Shit shit fuck.”
Pandora placed her hands on his shoulder and turned him to face the door. “You can do this. If things go wrong and he gets mean- which, he probably won’t- just leave. You’re not doing this for anybody but yourself and little Reggie, okay? I love you, you can do this.” She leaned on her toes and kissed Regulus’s forehead before gently pushing him outside the kitchen.
Pandora felt her stomach tighten for Regulus. She prayed to the fairies and whatever other creatures were listening that things would be okay. Pandora walked back into the cafe, closing the kitchen door behind her, watching as Regulus sat into the chair by the window, his expression cold. Pandora had to take a double glance at Sirius Black, his hair was shoulder length, in silky black. As he sat, he slipped off his leather jacket to reveal a cosy wool sweater.
She watched as Regulus picked his fingernails underneath the table. Regulus looked over, securing eye contact; Pandora knew what this meant. She grabbed her little notepad, slipping it into her apron pocket. She walked over to the table.
“Hi, can I get you anything?” She asked, smiling warmly. Regulus’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
“Usual. Please,” he replied. If Pandora didn’t know Regulus better than she knew the back of her hand; she would think he was calm and collected. Not a bother in the world as his cold expression built an icy barricade over his normally soft eyes.
She nodded, turning to Sirius, trying to hide the fact she was studying hun. Now he did look visibly nervous, tapping his finger against the table or his leg, fixing his hair.
“I- uhh- I’ll take a coffee, please.” Pandora nodded at hun, scribbling it down in the notepad.
“I- um- Pandora, is it?” He asked, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Pandora smiled, knowing that it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She hoped as she glared, Sirius Black would see the message in her eyes. ‘Yes. Yes I am, and I know everything, so don’t you dare try to hurt Reggie.’
But instead; “Yup- that’s me. I’ll be back in a tick with your drinks.” When she returned with their drinks, she left a little smily gingerbread man next to Regulus’ drink, then she had to return back to the counter, she was extra busy today, as she was covering for both Regulus, and Emmeline, as she left early. It was about an hour and a half later, when she dared a glance over at Regulus. Her heart warmed and a smile crept across her face as she saw Regulus was rubbing his hand over his face, bring his lip- failing to hide his smile, and Sirius was wiping a tear from his eye, grinning.
Pandora seized this opportunity to switch the song on the phone to Regulus’ favourite song. She knew this song drove him crazy, he couldn’t not sing and bop along. He really was a sucker for the Lana Del Rey music. ‘Brooklyn Baby’ began to play and soon enough, Regulus snapped his head up, locking eyes with Pandora, who grinned. He dropped his head into his hands, muttering something to Sirius, who turned to look at Pandora, then back at Regulus, gesturing to the speaker above their head.
“Really? This one” Pandora heard the older Black brother say.
She heard a laugh then, and when she glanced over, she had to bite her lip to contain her laugh as Regulus rolled his shoulders along to the song. She smiled as she cleaned the coffee machine. God, was she so relieved.
A little while later, Pandora stepped outside to wipe down the two little circular outside tables, then she noticed Sirius cross the road to meet a tall brown skinned boy, oh she recognised him immediately and a girl with the most gorgeous Afro. Pandora recognised them both from Hogwarts.
She wasn’t sure.
Before they had a chance to walk further away from the cafe, Pandora called “Sirius!“ and jogged to cross the road. The three turned around. “Sorry- hi,” she said after she quickly caught up to them. “Uh- yeah, hi- I’m from the cafe,” she gestured awkwardly back at the cafe and her green apron. “I- uhm- Reggie is like my best friend- I mean, the guy’s like my favourite person ever, so, em, I just wanted to say thank you for coming today- it means a lot to him which also means a lot to me, so, yeah I’ll shut up now, but thanks. It seemed to have gone well.” She inwardly face palmed. Oh god, she was so awful in social situations, wasn’t she?
Sirius grinned. “Thanks. Yeah- yeah, it went well. Really well. Thank you.”
Pandora smiled, nodding. “Oh! Sugar, sorry, I’m Pandora,” she said to Sirius’s friends.
The boy with the gold rimmed glances grinned. “James Potter.”
Didn’t she know.
The girl smiled. “I remember you from school. I’m Mary McDonald.” The name rang a familiar bell in Pandora’s mind.
“Oh- oh, yes of course, you guys were all the year above us.”
Mary nodded and leaned into Pandora’s ear so the boys couldn’t hear what she was about to say. “You’re good friends with Miss Dorcas Meadowes, aren’t you?”
Pandora blinked in surprise. “Yes- uhm how-“
“Does she ever talk about a Marlene McKinnon?”
Pandora furrowed her eyebrows in thought. “No… not that I can remember.”
Mary leaned back, nodding. “Oh darling, we must have a gossip session, look here’s my phone, pop in your number.”
Pandora took the phone, slightly confused, but as she tapped in her number she thought she quite liked this girl’s energy.
She handed back the phone to Mary, who winked. “Okay, I’ve got to get back to the cafe. I hope I’ll see you guys around again. Bye!” She turned and crossed the road, a chorus of “see ya!”s called behind her.
Their shift ended shortly after that. Regulus and Pandora were sipping tea in their living room, cosy for the night.
“It’s such a relief,” Regulus sighed into his mug. Pandora smiled, waiting to hear the full story. “I didn’t know what the fuck to say- everything I’ve planned over the last six years just-“ he gestured to his head- “poof! Gone. But after you gave us the drinks, after the awkward hello, you know, he said “I’m so fucking relieved you don’t hate my guts.””
Pandora grinned. “Oh my god.”
Regulus nodded, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “And it just kind of went from there, we kind of just said things we already know. He told me how awful he felt for letting me stay in that house by myself, but he knew he needed out. I told him… yeah, I told him I always regretted not leaving with him, and I hated that I couldn’t contact him afterwards- because I told him my mother and father didn’t let me- but… but he said he knew that it wasn’t me who chose to not reach out. He said he always knew it was them,” Regulus paused, his eyes glazing over slightly as they usually did whenever his lousy excuse of parents were brought into conversation. “But, you know, it was so… refreshing? I guess? To see him again? To know he didn’t blame me for anything, for him to know I don’t blame him for anything either. He’s- hes a good guy, Pans.”
Pandora watched her friend, a small smile tugging at his lips. She thought her heart could explode from the happiness she felt for him. “You gonna see him again?” She asked softly.
He nodded. “Friday. We’ll probably end up getting coffee again, but I mean, we still have so much to talk about, you know? I haven’t seen him in six years, I haven’t spoken properly to him in about seven- we’ve missed so much of each other’s lives just because of the life we were born into. And- like, ever since Mother died, only like what, a month ago? We’ve got that baggage to unpack, and you know, when the time comes to inheritance-“
Pandora placed a hand on his arm. “Okay, Reggie, you know I’d never interrupt you but I think you’ve got another couple of years to worry about the inheritance and what you could do with all their gold, okay?”
Regulus smiled shakily, “yeah. Got a bit carried away. It’s weird though…”
Pandora tilted her head, silently encouraging him to continue.
“I mean- it’s Sirius! He’s-“ just as he began to speak, the front door swung open, and Barty, Evan, and Dorcas came in through the door, Barty leaping onto the couch and crushing Regulus into a hug, while Evan squeezed on the same couch with the four of them, draping his legs over Barty, who was crushing poor Regulus.
There was Barty’s yells of “hello!!”s and Regulus’ usual “get the fuck off me!” And Evan’s cackle, as Pandora stood up to grab some beer from the kitchen, Dorcas following her.
“I take it that everything went okay then?” Dorcas asked, smiling kindly as she took the bottles from Pandora. She nodded at her friend. Dorcas knocked their arms together, before linking them, “brilliant.” As they made their way into the living room.
Pandora was always thankful for Dorcas as her friend, in school, she was the year above, so in Sirius’ year, and Pandora spent pretty much all of her time in first year admiring how cool Dorcas was. She was tall, gorgeous, with deep brown skin, and the neatest braid, which were usually decorated with little gold accessories, and the way she carried herself with confidence was enough to make anybody appreciate her. And Pandora did, an awful lot. After all, Dorcas was the one who stood up for Pandora against the bitchy girls in her dorm, who, admittedly she was too shy to tell Evan, Regulus or Barty about. She was embarrassed, the three of them shared a dorm, happy as can be, and Pandora set her alarm hours before the girls in hers so she wouldn’t have to deal with them.
Needless to say, the bond she had with each of these chaotic four was a very special one.
Dorcas and Regulus were on the sofa in their apartment, while Evan sat on the floor beneath Dorcas. Pandora was comfortably sitting on the smaller shoulder tucked into Barty’s shoulder. This was usually how they tended to curl up. Evan was her twin, but Barty was her big brother, really. One of her best and favourite friends.
“So, go on, tell us about it,” Barty said, everybody looking at Regulus. He went over what he had said to Pandora. And Pandora listened intently still, eyes on Regulus as Barty subconsciously plaited her hair.
“But like, it was so… strange, you know? Like that’s the guy I looked up to like he was a god when I was little-“
“When you were little,” Barty scoffed, causing Pandora to snicker, and Regulus to glare in his direction.
“Listen, or piss the fuck out of my apartment,” he warned.
Barty raised both hands. “Hey- you can’t kick me out, Pans here would never let that happen.”
“Hm, he’s right, he’s here to see me, Reggie, not you.” Pandora grinned, high diving Barty.
Regulus rolled his eyes, and Dorcas scoffed. “Oh my god, shut up,” she told Barty and Pandora. “Continue, please, Regulus,” she emphasised.
Regulus rolled his eyes and sighed. “As i was saying. When I was YOUNGER, he’s like- he was the guy I looked up to so much, and seeing him there, I realised he really doesn’t know anything about me. Like sure, he knows I hate tomatoes and maybe what my first words were, but he doesn’t know anything! The last time I spoke to him, I was fifteen!” Regulus shook his head, almost in disbelief. “It’s just weird. I never really thought this would happen when I was younger. I guess I never really thought about it.”
“Are you glad you talked to him?” Evan asked.
Regulus hesitated. “Yeah.. I almost cancelled though,” he huffed a laugh.
“What?” Barty and Dorcas cried.
Regulus grinned. “I know, this one over here convinced me to grow a pair,” he gestured to Pandora. Dorcas rolled his eyes.
“Pandora, thank you for talking sense into him.”
“Seriously, you’re the only person he listens to,” Barty nodded.
“He’s like a disobedient child,” Evan muttered.
“Uhm? Hello? I am here!” Regulus said, biting his cheek to hold in a laugh.
“So are you seeing him again soon?” Dorcas asked.
Regulus nodded. “Friday. We’re going to a different cafe. He said he knows like every cafe in town because Remus- remember Remus Lupin-“
“Oh I remember Remus,” Evan sighed, Barty hummed in agreement as the two smiled, reminiscing.
“What? What’s so special about Remus?” Pandora asked. Dorcas shrugged, waiting for an answer too.
Barty scoffed. “Please- what’s so special about Remus Lupin?”
Pandora and Dorcas side eyed each other. They could communicating without talking, right now, they were saying “what the fuck are these dumbasses on about?” just with a mere eyebrow and lil raise.
“Only every guy in Hogwart’s gay awakening,” Evan sighed.
Dorcas and Pandora burst out laughing. “What?”
Barty nodded. “It’s true- he’s so tall and like- hot, yeah, that’s the only word for him.”
Dorcas cackled. “Wait- so you’re telling me, all of your gay awakening was Remus Lupin?”
Barty and Evan nodded shamelessly. Dorcas raised her eyebrows in disguise. “And you, Reg, do you agree?”
Pandora snickered. “Oh no- I know who was Regulus’ awakening- his first boy crush,” she smirked.
Regulus sat up straight, his eyes glaring at Pandora. He shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It was Remus, just like you,” he nodded towards Barty and Evan.
Dorcas sat up. “No- no- you’re lying!”
“Regulus! Oh my god- what? Who?!” Barty cried.
Red crept up Regulus’ neck. “No one! It was Remus Lupin! Why can’t you believe that?” His voice was unnaturally high.
“Because you’re lying! Look at you- you’re blushing!” Evan cried.
“No! No! No!” Regulus said covering his ears.
“Aw, Reg, was it me?” Barty said, faux sympathy coating his voice. “I know I’m handsome, okay? I’ll understand-“
“Shut up, cocky arsehole- it definitely wasn’t you.”
Barty gasped, clutching his chest in fake distress.
“Come on! Who is it?!” Dorcas pleaded.
“Pans, who was it?” Evan asked, eagerly.
Regulus glared at Pandora. “How dare you. You’ve kept this since we were fourteen. Nearly a decade ago! And you bring it up now?!”
“Please, Reggie, this crush lasted a lot longer than when we were just fourteen-“
“Shut up!” Regulus yelled, growing a deeper shade of red as the other three laughed.
“Can we guess?” Evan asked.
Regulus hurried his head in his hands, pulling his knees to his chest. “I’m never recovering,” he muttered.
“Was it… hm…” Evan trailed off in thought.
“This is difficult- you never like anybody so we don’t even know what your type is,” Barty said.
Dorcas sat in silence, clearing thinking. “Slytherin?” She asked. Regulus shook his head ever so slightly. “No a Slytherin?” The tree gasped. Pandora was grinning, clearly enjoying Regulus’ distress.
“Hmm, were they well known? Like one of the ‘popular super hot Gryffindors’?” Barty teased.
Regulus groaned.
“Wait- no fucking way- seriously? It actually was?” Barty cried, as Evan and Dorcas cackled and Pandora giggled.
“Okay, guys, I think we ought to remind ourselves on poor Reggie’s behalf, that he does not like this person anymore. It’s been years. He was a troubled, troubled child, and this guy paid him a spark of attention and he fell in love-“ Pandora started.
“Oh piss off!” Regulus couldn’t help his laugh, “traitor.”
Barty buried gis head in Pandora’s hair, where she was curled up next to him, laughing into her shoulder. “Nah- Reg, I know who it is-“
“No! No! No!”
“Reg, mate, your gay awakening was James Potter wasn’t it?”