chapter 4
Pandora was sat in the local library, notebook open before her, desperately writing ideas for her college application. She knew she was mostly likely to get into her dream school anyways, her grades throughout secondary school were quite exceptional, well, except for science and business subjects, though, she hardly needed them to become a primary school teacher.
Pandora took a sip from her water bottle and began to write. She hadn’t even realised how much she had been writing before the voice interrupted her thoughts. “Pandora?”
Her head shot up at the sound of her voice and her face warmed at the sight of Lily Evans, long auburn hair tied effortlessly back, carrying a stack of old books.
“Lily- hi! Sorry, I- I didn’t see you, I got so caught up in-“ she gestured to her notebook.
Lily smiled warmly, her lipgloss sparkling. “Don’t worry about it. Do you come here often?”
“Oh, usually Monday afternoons, I’ve got Mondays off work, so… but Gideon- this guy at the cafe- we’ve swapped shifts for a while, his brothers getting married or something- sorry I’m rambling,” Pandora shook her head, cringing.
Lily shook her head. “Not at all, don’t apologise!”
Pandora noticed the lanyard around her neck. “Do you work here?”
“Yup, only until next autumn, then college.”
“Me too- I’m literally writing out my application right now,”
Lily tilted her head. “Organised. Me too, I’ve got the first draft written up, Rem, one of my best mates said he’d proofread it for me when he gets the chance.”
Pandora smiled at the similarity. “Oh my god, Reggie’s going to proofread mine too.”
Lily laughed lightly, and gosh her laugh was beautiful, twinkly and light. “Hey, I get off for a break in like fifteen minutes, if you’re not too busy, do you want to grab a coffee?”
Pandora’s stomach flipped. “Yeah, great, I’d love to.”
Lily grinned. “Perfect. I’ll come back when I’m ready,” she winked before turning town the aisle of books, her hair bouncing in it’s ponytail as she did so.
Pandora immediately took out her phone.
Pans: AHHHHH GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF DESTINY AND FATE AND MAGIC
Bartemuis the Great: UHHHH UHHHH IDK DONT PUT ME ON THE SPOT LIKE THAT WHAT HAPPENED?!?!
Pans: I. Met. Lily. Evans. At. The. Library.
Bartemuis the Great: WHATTT
Pans: WERE GETTING COFFEE
Bartemuis the Great: THATS DESTINY OMG YOU NEED TO ASK HER IF SHES DATING JAMES. and if he’d be interested in reg 😏
Pans: YES ILL BE THE PERFECT WINGWOMAN
Bartemuis the Great: OKAY OKAY LMK HOW IT GOES BRO GET YO GIRL
Pans: EEEEEEEE
Pandora began to slip her notebook and supplies back into her messenger bag once she realised Lily was walking over to her.
“I don’t get coffee around this side of town often, so I’ll follow your lead,” Pandora smiled, her face heating up, the back of her neck prickly. She wondered if her face was too red, or- were her eyes too wide? Did she need to change her expression? What about her hands? Shit, where did she put her hands? IN a panic, she shoved them into her pockets.
“Great, follow me then!” Lily led them both out of the library and down the little cobblestone street, past the bustles of people.
“I’m sorry I never texted you- I did find your number on the napkin- thanks by the way-“ Pandora laughed, her heart racing. “I was planning on texting you once Sirius and Reggie had finished meeting up today.”
Lily stopped before the small brick cafe, gesturing to it before opening the door for Pandora.
“Oh, no need to apologise! Pretty cool that I met you today though, right?”
Pandora nodded, “for sure.”
They ordered their coffee, and Pandora couldn’t help but notice that Lily had ordered a caramel latte. Lily must have noticed her staring at her cup as the barista handed it over, for she grinned. “You’ve gotten me addicted.”
A surprise laugh bubbled out of Pandora. “I knew you seemed the kind to like it.”
Once the barista handed over her tea, they made their way over to a little table.
“What were Sirius and Regulus up to today?” Lily asked, taking a sip from her drink, Pandora’s stomach dipped as Lily licked the caramel sauce of her lips with a grin.
“Uh, I think Sirius invited Reggie over just to hang out. They seem to be getting on great, though,” Pandora smiled at the thought.
Lily nodded. “I’m so glad, you know, I was with Sirius when he got Regulus’ message.”
“Really?” Pandora always wondered what it was like for Sirius to recieve the long thought out message Regulus had shakily typed.
Lily nodded. “I’m glad I was, I’ve been trying to… encourage him to talk to Regulus for years.”
“Oh? Sorry, I hadn’t realised you two were close.”
Lily shrugged. “We’re not really, his boyfriend, Remus, is not only my roommate, but one of my best friends, but…” Lily hesitated, then shrugged again, “yeah, when I found out Sirius had a somewhat broken relationship with Regulus, I knew we could bond over something. My sister and I haven’t spoken in years, which is most likely for the best- we’ve got very different views and beliefs, I won’t get into it, but when I realised that Sirius had a chance of getting that sibling relationship back, I knew I had to help him. It’s what friends are for,” Lily said it as if it was nothing, tossing her hair back behind her shoulder.
“Wow, that’s- that’s so nice,” Pandora sighed, smiling. “Well, thank you- Reggie’s a lot happier now that he’s got Sirius back.”
Lily smiled, her green eyes crinkling, Pandora couldn’t help but return her smile. Lily’s beauty was so… well, it amazed Pandora. She smiled so gently, but her eyes had a fierce spark in them as she spoke. She was breathtaking.
“So- this Halloween party, is it a dress up thing?”
Lily grinned. “Yeah. Well, it’s at this pub where the guys’ friend Frank works, big bar, massive karaoke stage, we hang out there a lot, so we thought why not Halloween?”
“Cool. What are you dressing up as?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Ugh, I don’t know. Mary- my best mate- actually you’ve met her, she’s very fond of you, by the way- but she’s literally a fashion goddess. She can make ice cream stained sweats look like perfection, but she’s going to be a fashion designer, she’s made her own costume- some sort of Cupid?? She’s got the red corset and white skirt and the bow and arrow and everything. So, word of advice, put on some sort of costume. Rem and Sirius are going as the corpse bride and the husband… only took Sirius about three months of convincing him.” Lily shook her head, smiling.
Pandora laughed. “What about everyone else… James, is it?” Pandora could basically hear Barty in her brain laughing at her. ‘Girl, you know damn well.’ She shook away his voice.
“Spider-Man. He’s been obsessed since he was about five. It’s insane. He’s only been Spider-Man for Halloween his whole life. Nobody can convince him otherwise,” Lily was smiling fondly.
“That sounds fun… Reggie isn’t usually one for dressing up, but who knows?”
Lily smiled, they chatted some more about friends and school, work and whatnot. Pandora found herself surprised at hoe easy Lily was to talk to. She always knew how to fill little gaps of silences with comments or questions. She was lovely.
Pandora tried to swallow her disappointment when Lily had to return to work.
*~*~*~
“Evan, pick up the fucking phone,” Regulus muttered, leaning against the bathroom wall of Sirius’ apartment.
A moment later, “Hey Reg, what’s up?”
“I need help.”
Regulus could practically hear Evan straighten his back. “Uh- like my help or Barty hide a body while I’m your alibi?”
Regulus winced. “Your help,”
There was a beat of silence.
“Reg, mate, this is usually the part where you elaborate on why you need my help-“ Evan said, sounding amused.
“Right- uh- shit.”
“Hey, calm down, did you get in a fight with Sirius?”
“No…”
“Do you need me to come collect you?”
“No…”
“Is it Sirius related?”
“Sort of..” Regulus winced at his awkwardness. “It’s- i- he asked me to go to this Halloween party with his friends and he told me I should bring you guys along.”
“Okay, well do you want to go?”
Regulus groaned. “He’s such a knob.”
Evan cackled over the phone. “I’m sorry, who?”
Regulus huffed.
“Oh, of course! James Potter! Ha! You sound so grumpy! Is he why you don’t want to go?”
“Well I don’t usually like to surround myself with absolute knobs, no.”
Evan laughed again. “I’m honoured you don’t think I’m an absolute knob.”
“Piss off,” Regulus said, forcing down his smile.
“Well what if I came to the Halloween party with you, as well as Barty, Pans, and Dorcas? Then we’d easily balance out the number of knobs, how does that sound?”
Regulus couldn’t help but grin. “Do you want to?”
“Course.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Neither of them said anything for a minute.
“I think he’s got a Spider-Man toothbrush,” Regulus said quietly, staring the little red toothbrush in the cup at the sink.
“Huh?”
“Potter. I think he owns a Spider-Man toothbrush. There’s one in the sink.”
Evan sighed, bemused. “Reg, did you hide in the bathroom to call me?”
Regulus scoffed. “Okay- sure Mr-I-Left-Barty-In-The-Middle-Of-A-KFC-To-Ring-Me-To-Say-He-Wiped-Milkshake-Of-Your-Lip-“
“Piss off!! That was one time!”
“Actually-“
“Goodbye, Reginald!”
Regulus laughed. “I’ll see you later. “
Regulus sighed, staring into the mirror before him, that hung just above the sink. The mirror James Potter probably winks at as he brushes his teeth with his dumb childish toothbrush.
Regulus rolled his eyes at the thought.
“You all good in there?” Sirius asked from outside the door.
Regulus huffed a laugh before opening the door. “Fine- um- yeah, we’ll come to Halloween.”
Sirius’ face lit up. “Really?”
“No,” Regulus grinned.
Sirius shook his head as they made their way into the kitchen.
“So I was thinking-“
“That’s not a good sign,” Regulus muttered.
“Oh ha ha,” Sirius drawled, hopping up onto the stool next to him. “Anyways- don’t interrupt me. I was thinking, before the party which is in like two weeks, d’you want to like… I don’t know- meet James and Pete? You’ll have no problem getting on with Rem, I know that much, but you don’t know James- hey- hey, what was that face?”
“Huh? What face?”
“You made a face!” Sirius exclaimed, pointing at Regulus.
Regulus raised his eyebrows. “I did not make a fa-“
“You did! When I said James-“
Regulus scrunched his nose.
“Look! There it is again!”
“No-“
“James!”
Regulus’ nose scrunched again before he could help himself.
“Regulus!” Sirius was laughing. “What- do you still not like James- oh for the love of god stop with the face!”
“I’m not making a face!” Regulus cried exasperated.
Sirius rolled his eyes, grinning. “Seriously, you don’t like James?”
Regulus rolled his eyes. “I don’t know him.”
“Exactly! So why don’t you like him?”
Regulus groaned. “You’ll hate me for this-“ he warned.
Sirius urged him on.
Regulus bit the inside of his cheek. “He’s childish and arrogant, with an ego bigger than his head, and he definitely- most definitely has to be one of those annoying people that always thinks they’re right in every single situation. He probably thinks he’s “quirky” because he’s got a fucking SpiderMan toothbrush.” Regulus rambled, not looking at Sirius.
Sirius huffed a laugh, and when Regulus finally looked at him, he realised Sirius was looking behind him. Regulus turned, and his stomach twisted.
“Um, nice to meet you too-“ James Potter. He stood with a bag slung over his shoulder, his hair unruly on top of his big head, Regulus watched him spitefully.
“Regulus, stop with the face!” Sirius cried, clearly enjoying himself.
“There is no face.” He snapped, turning to Sirius. Then back at Potter, “afternoon, Potter. As much as if love to stay, I promised Evan I’d meet him so-“
“Hey, Reg, wait stay a little while-“ Sirius began.
“Sorry- I didn’t realise you guys were gonna be here-“ James started.
“No it’s fine!” Regulus said, standing up. “Sirius, I’ll call you later. I really do have to meet Evan- he um… yeah he needs me to help with the um.. the duck thing.”
“The duck thing?” James asked, as if he couldn’t help himself.
“Yes, Potter. Some people have a life that revolves around ducks, and that’s none of your business, nor your place to judge.” Regulus could feel his cheeks heating up. God, this was humiliating. He got like this around people he hated, he reminded himself.
James looked to be holding in a laugh. “Right, well I’d hate to keep you from your precious ducks,” he smirked, stepping out of the way of the door.
Regulus froze. “Don’t tease me.”
Oh god, could he not just shut the fuck up for literally once in his life?
James raised his eyebrows, his lips turning up. “Tease you?”
“Yes! You’re teasing me now, I don’t appreciate it.”
“I’m not teasing you-“ his eyes looked bemused through his gold rimmed glasses, they were driving Regulus crazy. He was so stupid.
“Yes you-“
“Oka, Reg, you get home to Evan, and text me when you’re home okay? I’ll ring you later,” Sirius said, clearly confused as to what this encounter was, but he steered Regulus out of the kitchen, holding onto his shoulders. They left James in the kitchen, and Regulus turned to the mirror beside the door.
“This is ridiculous!” He said, when he noticed how red his face was.
Sirius laughed. “Yes. Yes it is- what is this, by the way?”
“I don’t know! This- this happens around people I hate,” he grumbled.
Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Alright Reg, you know, I remember when you first met James when you were ten and it was strangely similar to this-“
“I need to get home!”
He pulled on the door, before turning to Sirius. “I’ll call you later.”
Sirius saluted him. “Tell the ducks I say hi!”
Regulus flipped him off before turning down the hallway down the stairs, and leaving the apartment block. The bus stop was right outside the building, so that was handy. Regulus walked to the empty stop and smacked his forehead. “Dumbass! What the fuck were you thinking!” He shook his head. Great, because now he was talking to himself.
Stupid Potter, so fucking arrogant taking the piss out of him.
To be fair, Regulus would’ve taken the piss out of anybody that acted like he did. But- that was beside the point. He groaned. It was so humiliating.
Regulus reached Evan and Barty’s apartment, passing Barty on the stairs.
“Hey Reg! I was just on my way to see Pandora!” Barty grinned.
Before Regulus could say something, Barty grabbed his face dramatically, staring at his eyes. “Something happened, you’re all twitchy and blushing and you were muttering to yourself.”
Regulus gaped at him “let me go! Nothing happened, I- Sirius is having this Halloween party and you all better come with me.”
Barty grinned as Regulus wrestled free from his grasp. “No problem. See you later!”
Regulus practically collapsed onto Evan’s sofa. “Insufferable! How dare he! The audacity! Mocking me!”
Evan rolled his eyes. “Look, Reg, we don’t have to go to the party- Sirius will understand-“
“Oh no, I am going.” Hi jaw was set determinedly, he’d be damned if he fed into Potter’s ego and not show up.
Evan sighed. “Okay, then. What are you dressing up as?”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a Halloween party, Reg, and you know they’re all going to be dressed up.”
Regulus groaned, burying his face in the pillow.
Evan laughed. “We’ll think of something.”
Evan sat in silence as Regulus ordered pizza. Regulus placed the phone back onto the table.
“D’you want to hear what Barty said to me earlier?”
Regulus braced himself. Barty was so unaware sometimes, it actually stunned him. “Go on…”
“We were talking about school, right? Hogwarts, how much of annoying prats your brother and his friends used to be- and we got talking about people he dated in school.” Evan sighed. “I made a joke about him getting back together with Kelly Samuel, he said “nah she’s not my type”-“
“He has a type?” Regulus asked.
“That’s what I asked!”
“Oh no, what did he say?”
Evan scrubbed a hand down his face. “I said “what’s your type?” This motherfucker- he said “you”. As in me, Reg! What the fuck!”
Regulus gaped at him. “What?!”
Evan nodded. “I know!”
“Well what happened then?!” Regulus asked incredulously.
“Well, I dunno, we just kinda looked at each other for a minute and then I ordered doughnuts-“
“Hold on, hold on, hold on-“ Regulus said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He told you you’re his type and you looked at each other?!”
“Yes, that’s what I said-“
“Ev- that’s when you kiss him!”
“I- what?!” Evan cried, his eyes wide.
Regulus couldn’t believe how oblivious his two best mates were. Really, this was ridiculous! “Evan. You dumb motherfucker, that’s the sign; “The Sign”” he gestured his hands. “That’s when you kiss him!”
“But- but he didn’t kiss me!” Evan said, chewing his bottom lip.
“Of course he didn’t! He just admitted that you’re his type, he was waiting for you to reciprocate!”
Evan’s face paled. “Oh my god-“ he ran a hand through his hair. “Oh my god, you- you’re right, oh my god,” Evan stuttered. He pulled his hoodie off over his head. “Fuck it’s warm in here, innit?” He laughed nervously.
Regulus tilted his head, watching Evan.
“Wait- do- shit- do you think he might feel the same?”
“Obviously!”
Evan groaned. “And now he thinks I’m uninterested!”
“Probably, yes, considering you stared at him, then fucking ordered doughnuts.”
“Argh, fuck off! Jesus fuck! He likes me!”
“Probably in love with you but-“
“Ah! Oh fuck, Reg don’t say that!”
“But you’re in love with him!”
“Ah! I know!”
Evan dropped his head onto Regulus’ lap. “I’m fucking hopeless.”
Regulus nodded down at him. “Yup.”
Evan slapped his arm.
“It’ll work out, though, I promise,” Regulus said, and Regulus doesn’t throw around promises.
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re Evan and Barty, it’s got to work, plus, Pandora has it written in stone-“
“What?”
Regulus snorted. “She wrote a fanfic series about you two in school, whatever she writes must come true.”
“Oh god- did she really?!”
“Course she did!”
“I thought she only did that for you,” he frowned
“What?!”
“You so you don’t know about “jegulus4ever”?” Evan smirked, rolling his eyes.
“What the fuck! When was this?!”
“Fourth year, I didn’t know you actually liked him!”
Regulus felt his face heat up. “It’s utter nonsense!
Evan snorted. “Alright, Reg. Shit, Barty said he’s on the way back. What do I do?”
“Just- I would say flirt but that’s all you guys ever do-“
“Not helpful-“
“Just act normal for now… and we’ll work on it, right? I’ll try suss Barty out or something.”
“Not yet though-“
“No, not yet,” Regulus mumbled, his mind speeding. “Hey, I’ve got to get home too, but I’ll see you, yeah?”
Evan stood up. “Yeah. Thank Reg.”
Regulus left the apartment building. He glanced up at the Evan’s window. The poor fool, he’s only been waiting for this since he was fifteen. How- how on earth can he just get them together? Surely it’s simple enough going from best friends to boyfriends, it’s the same but kissing, is it not? Regulus was glad he didn’t have any time for all that romantic bullshit. It’s draining, by the looks of it. He just wished he could nudge his friends in the right direction. What would he know about that though? Regulus paused.
He might not know.
But Sirius would know from first hand experience.
Without another thought, Regulus hopped on the next bus, to see Sirius.