The Forbidden Spare

Not. Again.

Not.This. Sh*t. Again.

There it was. Floating right above his pillow, in all it's sentimental glory, the telescope his mum had given him for his 14th birthday only two years prior. It wasn't big, unlikely to catch anyones attention when entering a room. It had it's own charms though. An antique, made of good materials, so it wouldn't rust, if taken care of well (the shop owner had given them his word.... Regulus still wasn't completely sure he believed him)

No. That's not what was bothering him. It was the fact that the pillow it was floating above was his pillow. The one he was currently resting his head on, were he had been so rudely woken up.... and it wasn't even the first time something like this had happened. For the past few weeks, everytime he let his guard down, relaxed his shoulders or felt a sliver of peace, something happened that would make him imedietely very aware of... well, everything. 

He glanced at the clock on the wall above his desk.

Shite.

Regulus jumped out of bed, almost tripping over his own feet in the process of getting to his closet. He decided to wear the same green sweater he always wore when he didn't feel like dressing up, but still wanted to look put together. It's been used so much over the years that there are small pieces of yarn sticking out in odd places, but he didn't care. 

It was emerald green. He had been told how good he looked in that particular color since he was younger. They said it suited his very "aristocratic" features and he knows what they mean. Regulus wasn't blind, he knew his appearance always garnered some attention. His thick, inky black hair, sharp jawline, straight/long nose, porcelain skin and grey eyes. In his own opinion, he looked ill. Like someone who was preparing himself for a fate he didn't choose, but couldn't deny. To others, however, he looked regal. A bit depressed, maybe, but in a "mysterious way" as his mum had always said, with a teasing smirk.

After gathering the rest of his things in his school bag, while speedwalking down the stairs, he saw something distinctly blond in the corner of his eye and two voices mumbling over each other by the stove. It was a sound he had become rather familiar with over the past year.

"Reggie!!!" Pandora whisper yelled "Your mother is showing me how to make her secret 'love elixir'" she said, wiggling her eyebrows with an innocent grin plastered on her face. 

The 'love elixir', in question, was his mum's speciality. Her equivalent of a party trick. She would sell them from their home. Usually to teens that felt they needed all the help they could get, before confessing their feelings To their (usually unrequited) crushes.

She sighed dreamily. "Your mother said I'm finally ready for the more complex shi- stuff. And it's such a great learning experience of course." She rambled on, the grin never leaving her face.

To others, it might have seemed very charming, but to Regulus, who had become fluent in the wonderlandian language of Pandora, knew better. What she really meant was, in simple terms:

'I am up to absolutely no good, I have about a million different ways to use this to my advantage that will, most likely end in complete disaster... and I'll probably set something on fire<3'

Pandora was outgoing and talkative, so it surprised him when he realized how close they had gotten over such a short period of time. When they first met, she had taken the position of being his mum's apprentice. Why a young and seemingly normal girl like her, would want to spend her time brewing essential oils and herbal medicine that hadn't been used in centuries, with his mum, was beyond him.

Now, however, after getting to know her better, it made complete sense. On most days she dressed like a woodlen fairy, she spoke in riddles and seemed to go into these trances. Her eyes would glare over and she seemed unaware of the world around her.

The first time it had happened, Regulus had gone into full panic-mode until she eventually regained her senses. She had described them as 'a feeling that's very similar to deja vu... it's just more intense in my case, Reg'.

Her eyes dimmed. She had sounded a bit solemn and she looked tired. Pandora had given him a sad smile, with her head tilted to the side, before turning back to whatever she was doing before the whole ordeal happened. 

Regulus guessed the episodes had become a lot more frequent recently...

"Oh darlig, good morning! I made some breakfast, it's on the table." His mum pointed, rather unelegantly, at the kitchen table without sparing it a glance, too focused on the stove. It kind of looked like she was trying to slap someone much shorter than her with the way her hand was flailing around without any cohesion or grace.

Regulus sat down with a fond smile as he grabbed some orange juice and began pouring some into his glass. He could already tell that any attempt at small talk would be futile, if his past experience had taught him anything. 

He didn't mind it really, quite on the contrary. Regulus might have always been a quiet child, but what he didn't have in natural friendliness and social skill, he made up for with his keen eye and attention to detail.

After that one incident when he was eight, on the anniversary of the day his mum found him (his birthday).

His mother has been perscribed some pills after an Operation she had a few days prior and the doctor had warned her that they could make her more sensitive and emotional.

Understatement of the century.

'Sometimes I just wonder what would have happened if I hadn't found you my darling and that horrible scenario plays in my head an- I love you more than the air that I breathe- I need you to know that.'

And there she was. His usually headstrong and confident mother, kneeling in front of him, giving him a bone-crushing hug while barely holding back a sob.

That was the day he learned that his birthday was a bit of a sore topic for her. The possibilities of what could have happened to her poor son if she hadn't found him when she did haunted her nightmares.

After gathering herself up and wiping away her tears she stood up, looking almost embarrassed, like she had shown him a side of herself she never wanted him to see. Regulus, just looked up at her innocently, smiled shyly and asked if they could decorate the cupcakes. His mother had let out a huge sigh of relief. Even at the young age of eight, he knew that if he had tried to comfort her at that moment, it would only have made her feel worse, so he just changed the topic.

If it made his mum sad, he avoided those topics like the plague.

So, every year on that particular day, he put on his brightest smile, gathered up all his energy and made sure everything was perfect. Regulus himself never really cared much for his own birthday, but he'd be damned if he wasn't gonna make it something that would drive all his mum's nightmares and anxieties away.

And he did. His birthday was her favourite day of the year.

Sometimes when he'd catch her smile turn a bit sad, he would grin just a bit wider, talk a bit louder and maybe hover around her more than strictly necessary.

Forget about the 'what if's' and focus on the 'now'

"What's got you so deep in thought?" Regulus nearly jumped out of his chair. Turning around, he saw Pandora, who had walked over to him without making a sound.

He had, apparently, been picking at his breakfast with a fork while staring into space.

"Just my english lit exam. I heard some students left in tears". He glanced down at his backpack making a check list in his mind, making sure he didn't forget anything.

Pandora chuckled "For some unfathomable reason, I'm not that worried" She said, with a knowing glint in her eyes.

It was true that Regulus was very studious, intelligent and, above all, cunning. It was rare for him to get anything below a 100 in any subject.

He gave her a wink before standing up and grabbing his bag. He really wasn't worried about the exam. Even without trying all that hard, Regulus always excelled at school without all that much effort. He did, however, not make that fact too well known.

He got excellent marks and always made sure everyone knew it was due to his dedication to studying and hard work. The last thing he wanted was for the teachers to start playing extra attention to him or start calling him a 'prodigy'. All that crap was just an excuse to give him more work and see how far they could push him. Treating him like their own personal little lab rat.

He shiverred in utter distaste at the thought.

"Darling, are you alright? You look as if you just swallowed a lemon" His mother commented, with a concerned furrow in her brow, having taken a break from staring at the pot.

"Just want to get this exam over with" He answered with a warm smile.

Regulus had decided on not telling his mum about his... sleeping predicament ever since it first happened.

He loved his mother. He would kill for her and he would give his life to keep her safe. The same way Pandora would do anything to protect her twin brother, Evan, that she lives with in a cottage not too far from theirs.

It was the kind of unconditional love one can only ever truly feel towards ones family. There were exceptions of course. Like how Pandora had slowly weasled her way into his heart, before he even realized or had time to stop her.

And he would put himself on the line for her too.

That feeling is also part of the reason he despises lying to his mum... but this whole sleeping dilema.... Well, it honestly just left him feeling a bit stumped.

He was not at all worried about her not believing him. On the contrary, it was the opposite that frightened him.

The thing was, Regulus's mum was very spiritual. She had studied herbs and ancient medicine, spellbooks and crystals since before he could remember. She even worked at the towns inn that held a celebration dedicated to the legend of Merlin and his many adventures with Prince Arthur every year (Pandora always thought they gave a fruity vibe and honestly he couldn't blame her).

So, by telling her about something like this, Regulus would be risking the posibility of... well, disapointing her. And he never wanted to disapoint her. He might be a cold ass bastard, but even he wouldn't do that.

So, between "telling her, getting her hopes up, then finding a logical explanation which would undoubtedly lead to her hopes being crushed" or "not telling her and waiting for it to blow over" he chose the latter. It's not like it was a big deal or anything.

Really, He's fine.

'It's probably just stress', Regulus thought to himself, trying to rationalize something unrationalizable. 'It will all blow over after I'm done with exam season'. He didn't believe a damn word of that, but he also didn't care.

"Don't forget to wear your ring, my dear!!" His mum yelled over her shoulder, having gone back to giving the pot her full undevided attention.

"Garðabrúða" Pandara whispered, with a little smirk, from the place she was standing. She had moved a few steps back after startling him, clearly having gotten the reaction she wanted.

She had been calling him that ever since his mum told her about the story of how she found him. In a basket. In the middle of the woods. With nothing, but a blanket and a antique sapphire ring, with the leo constilation engraved in the center. It was also the inspiration for his name. His mum had, since that day, refered to it as their lucky charm.

'It kept you safe until I found you, my darling boy'

Pandora had thought it sounded like one of the fairytales she had been told about from her great grandmother when she used to visit Iceland with her brother.

For some reason, unknown to him, they stopped being allowed to visit her around the age of 7. Regulus never asked why. It felt too personal and was, quite honestly, none of his business.

Regulus, however, did not find the whole tale magical in any shape or form. Something like that, is what he would call child neglect. He was left alone in the middle of the damn woods. (No, he did not hold a grudge, he was just being honest)

The first time she had called him by that charming new nickname, he had proceeded to ignore her existence for an entire week afterwards. They hadn't gotten close yet, so losing her favour and the possibility of a future friendship didn't really matter at all to him at the time.

He still sent her a glare, without a trace of malice or hostility. Pandora might be the only person that can actually tell the difference.

'How wrong I was'. Regulus thought, smiling to himself. It was small, barely there, but Pandora seemed to have caught it. She had always possesed the ability to read him better than anybody else. She smiled back at him, a little teasingly.

"Það er ekki nafnið mitt. Það veistu. Ég er ekki ein av karakterunum frá ævintýraskáldsögum þínum." Regulus said, with a raised eyebrow, words laced with sarcasm.

"Þú munt alltaf vera prinsessan mín" She answered with a wink.

While rolling his eyes, he turned towards his backpack, put it over his shoulder and made his way to the door.

The first thing he sees after closing the door behind him was, of course, his only way of transportation. It was an old, beat-up motorbike that he's had to pick apart and put back together more times than he could count. It used to belong to his mum back in the day. She wasn't legally allowed to ride it anymore and he decided a long time ago that he didn't wanna know why.

It's probably for the best.

Regulus has been learning to ride the damn thing since he was twelve. It's not something he would've chosen himself, but it's become ingrained in his routine and riding it has become second nature at this point.

It was also the only way he could get to school. They lived in a cottage damn near the middle of the woods. The busses didn't exactly have a route anywere nearby. Regulus is pretty sure that's the reason no one from school ever complained about him driving so young... or they simply didn't care. It was fine for him either way.

After parking outside the school gate, he headed straight for his lock-

Strange

There was a woman standing right in front of his locker, leaning on it while staring at him with a determined look in her eyes and.... an honestly menacing smile.

She had wild curly hair that was sticking out in all directions. It was pitch black and reached all the way down to her hips. She was pale, with a sharp jawline and high cheekbones. Her posture was impeccable, so much so that it almost looked like it hurt.

Why does she look so much like-

Regulus grimaced at the obvious resemblence. He huffed out an annoyed breath an walked straight ahead.

"Excuse me ma'am, that's my locker" He said, tilting his head for emphasis, with a polite smile. It was fake and, by the looks of it, she knew it too.

"Oh dear! I guess I just got lost in thought..." she said, but made no move to leave. It seemed as though something had caught her full attention. Regulus turned to were she was looking and the realization dawned on him. 

It was a bloke from his english lit class. His name was Tom Brown and he was honestly pretty shite at almost everything. Regulus once got paired with him on a project. It was so horrific, he sincerely considered setting himself on fire.

She was wearing a small grin, barely there, looking as if she was reminiscing on some inside joke. He didn't wanna know.

Polite smile, long since dropped. He dragged his left hand trough his curls and gave her a judgemental once-over.

"It would be best if you wiped that grin off your face, walk out that door and take a cold shower." Regulus said, without emotion, the picture of nonchalance.

That seemed to get her attention. "Excuse me?" She smiled sweetly, but her eyes were sharp and looked like she was fantasising about stabbing him in a very vital artery. He didn't really blame her. His sleep schedule had been absolute crap for the past couple of weeks and with him being so damn busy, he'd basically been walking around like a damn zombie and he was in a particularly shitty mood.

He was being a cunt. He knew he was being a cunt... but he, to be frank, ran out of fucks ages ago

And he needed an outlet for his shitty mood, since there was no way in hell he was going to let it fester and end up taking it out on the people he cared about.

"This isn't cougar town, so run along and piss off." Regulus said with a dismissive shake of his hand.

She looked shocked for a moment, taking a few steps back, finally moving away from his locker. He was getting bored at this point.

Why was she still here?

Her eyes seemed to turn red with pure rage, before she masked it with what seemed like practiced precision. 

"Who do you think you are!" She hissed under her breath, while staring daggers at him.

"That's personal, but I can tell you what I'm not. A grown arse woman lurking around teenagers. I don't know what kind of posh hole you crawled out of, but around here, we call that a pedophile." His tone was condescending, very much like a teacher explaining something, that he himself found simple, for the fifteenth time... to a student that was known for being a bit daft.

Why in the ever-loving-fuck was she still here?

Regulus could have sworn he saw a vein pop in her forhead. "For your information, I'm here visiting family." She gave him a meaningful look, as if he was supposed to have an 'oh shit' realization. How the hell was he supposed to understand some internal meaning from a vague ass sentence, from some strange woman, who clearly had a few screws loose?

They stood there staring at each other in silence. It wasn't awkward per se. Calculating and maybe a bit invasive.

Why does she look so familia-

The bell rang. Regulus turned towards his locker, breaking eye contract and gathering all the supplies for his next class.

After shutting his locker, he was imedietely greeted by dark eyes that felt so foreign in contrast to the familiarity of all her other features. 

She tilted her head to the side, a slow grin spreading across her face. "I just realized I've not introduced myself."

"Oh, how terribly rude of you." Regulus muttered. He didn't really care if she heard him or not. 

She had.

The grin didn't falter, but she did seem to become more determined, straighteningher back even more (if that was even possible). He just wanted to get this whole interaction over with.

"My name is Bella." She stared at him expectantly.

... He just stared at her with a blank face.

"This is the part were you introduce yourself back, dimwit." The woman, Bella, looked impatient.

"Sorry, but I was raised with a "stranger danger" mindset." Regulus said, with the look of complete innocense, as he side-stepped and walked past her.

If Regulus had glanced back, he would have seen her back straighten and a look of intrigue pass over her features.

"Good soldier~"

The first thing Regulus saw when he entered the classroom was his english lit professor. She was known for being strict and the prime reason why so many students dreamt of dropping out. This class was mandatory and you needed to get, at least, a passing grade to graduate.

She was a real 'big shot' in her field, so she became increasingly prideful over the years. And it was safe to say, she fucking hated Regulus.

Ok, maybe she didn't hate him, but after witnessing him excel in her subject, she became a bit hyper aware of him. She constantly tried to stump him, asking the most complex questions.

She treated Regulus like he was her arch nemisis or something. Honestly, he felt sort of bad for her. 

Imagine having so little going on in your life, that you start competing with some teenager half your age, that you're responsible for during work hours. A teacher picking on a student. It was pathetic.

Regulus found his usual place and started preparing his supplies.

A few minutes passed while the rest of the class filtered into the classroom. The teacher gave them a disaproving look as they rushed past her.

Regulus gaze was glued to his textbook, when he heard his name being called.

"Mr. Regulus...." she glanced down at her notepad with a furrow between her brows and a confused frown. She remembered his name. She had been his teacher for 2 years. She just did it to agitate him by criminally mispronouncing it.

"Ahhh, of course. Mr. Regulus Seymour Beaumont." She straightened her back, as if she was about to read aloud some important royal decree. 

"The principal wants to see you in his office." Her always-sour mood seemed to have completely flipped at the thought of him getting in trouble. Regulus gave a half-hearted shrug before rising up from his seat and exiting the classroom from the back door.

He wasn't worried, not really. Excellent grades, good manners and a spotless reputation. He was favoured by most of the staff and teachers.

Then why was he being called in right before an important exam?....

The thought passed trough his mind before he could really process it.

What if something had happened to his mum. She's usually very careful, but what if something went wrong? What if she forgot to turn the stove off? What if she got into an accident?!?

Regulust chuckled self-depricatingly. He was overthinking this whole thing and was just causing himself more stress and heartache. 

That's what he told himself, but still quickened his pace nonetheless

He knocked on the door once, straightening his back, the way that made him appear older and more serious, in case the old bastard tried to convince him to join their football team again.

Convince? More like threaten.

"Please, come in Mr. Beaumont!" The principal, Mr. Lock, exclaimed looking like the cat that got the cream. 

Principal Locke was a short man, with some curly white hair on the top of his head and a nearly trimmed mustache. He had a reputation for being kind and caring towards his students. Always finding ways to help them in their academic persuits. He did, however, always seem to find an angle in which those achievements would benefit him in some way.

That was one of the reasons, despite Mr. Locke's constant meddling in his life, Regulus greatly respected the old man.

Mr. Locke motioned for Regulus to come in and close the door behind him. He did. "I would like to introduce you to my lovely guest, Mrs. Lestrange!" He gestured, in a way Regulus guessed was supposed to come off as authoritative, at a chair directly opposite him across from his desk.

Regulus glanced in the direction the had hand pointed towards, noticing a large mop of black curls.

"Oh, please. Call me Miss Black. After my dear husband's sudden and unfortunate death, hearing that name is just too much for my heart to handle." A somber(?) and... familiar voice came from one of the seats.

Mr. Lock's face fell, a look of regret and sympathy overtaking his features. "Oh, of course Miss Black. How incredibly inconsiderate of me. I'm terribly sorry for your loss." He looked like he wanted to reach for her hand, as a comforting gesture, but seemed to think better of it.

Regulus stood there in complete silence until the principal finally realized that he was still there. Mr. Locke shook his head, like a man getting out of a trance.

"Mr. Beaumont! I know you must be wondering why I called you here today of all days..." He gave Regulus a look that seemed to convey 'please ask and be excited about it' 

He let out a quiet sigh, already tired of this conversation. "That I am, Principal Locke."

He grinned. " Well, Miss Black." He seemed to be putting extra weight on her freferred title, probably in a show of respect and common decency. "Has travelled all this way..." Locke paused, looking back and forth between them for suspense.

Regulus wanted to throw himself out of the nearest window.

"For you, my boy!!!!" He made a gesture with his hands like he was popping party poppers, then looked at him like he was expecting a bigger reaction. Maybe he thought Regulus was in shock or just processing the information really slowly. The silence lingered.

An unsettlingly familiar voice piped up. "Oh, Patrick you haven't even explained a single detail to the poor boy! How du you expect him to react?" She let out a high pitched chuckle and Regulus decided it was the most horrid sound he had ever heard.

The anonymous figure stood up and turned slightly to the side.

Fuck

That window in the far corner of the room was looking better by the second.

"Pleasure to make your acuaitance Mr.-" She scrunched up her nose, like she had just smelled something absolutely vile. "Beaumont. I am Miss Black, but you can call me Bella. Since we will be spending so much time together moving forward, it would be preferable if we became more familiar with each other." She smiled sweetly, but it was clearly just for show. Her eyes were mocking.

The principal was looking at him expectantly, with something like pride in his eyes.

Damn it, this was going to be a long day.