Life Time Warranty
The library is crowded today, there are students everywhere. A general tone of anxiety has settled over the castle as exams approach. Pandora feels exempt from this. She doesn’t understand why others care so much. Really the whole system is fucked. Why should her worth be denoted to a single letter? She watches as her friends dedicate hours of their lives to school, so much time lost for so little reward. Majority of the content they’re learning won’t be necessary for everyday life. So why should she care?
Regulus sighs as he sits down with a book in hand.
“Had to threaten a fourth year for this.”
“Why do you care so much about school?”
“Because it’s important.”
This answer does not satisfy her. Regulus is book smart, but beyond that he is world smart. He understands things others cannot, so why would give such a bland answer.
“But it’s not that important.”
“If you want a good job it’s important, if you want to know how the world works it’s important.”
“It’s not important for me. I could study my whole life and never know how the world works.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well it just feels like a distraction. People study to feel smart, but really we don’t know anything.”
“I know things.”
“Nothing important.”
Pandora watches the people move throughout the library, the sound of life fading into a hum. It sounds like a beehive.
Regulus seems to be done conversing with Pandora as he’s gone back to his book. Clearly he doesn’t understand what she’s trying to say. The younger Black brother is blinded by fact, she can see her point is a lost cause with him. Pandora doesn’t mind. It’s not worth her time to try and explain something he will never understand. She pours her thoughts into her notebook instead. Sometimes she thinks the pages of parchment are the only thing that truly understands her. Papers knows how to listen so she writes.
Humans as a species know nothing. We place so much value in education that we forget to acknowledge ignorance. People have become too proud to admit that we know nothing. There is a universe out there so vast the mortal mind cannot comprehend. Our consciousness is the greatest mystery of our lives despite its familiarity.
Pandora wishes to write more but her ink has run out. She should have bought more at hogsmeade last weekend but it slipped her mind. She’ll have to borrow some from Emmaline.
Regulus notices.
“Do you not have a magic quill?”
“No”
“They work well and you don’t need ink. Here you can borrow my extra one.”
Pandora accepts the fancy black quill but gives it back after writing one sentence. It feels all wrong, the ink isn’t wet, it doesn’t smudge when she touches it. The quill is light and it writes too evenly, it even corrects her handwriting making all her letters look unison.
Regulus looks extremely confused when she hands it back to him.
“Is there something wrong with it? I’ve charmed it myself.”
“No, it works just fine but I can’t write with it.”
“Why?”
Pandora looks at her sentence, and hates it.
“I feel like a zombie when I use it. My writing doesn’t look like my own. Every letter is perfect. I would rather scrap the paper with a stone than use that quill.”
Regulus removes the feather from her sight protectively.
“I didn’t realize you were such a critic when it came to writing utensils.”
“I’m not, your quill is an exception.”
“What are you working on anyways? I thought you weren't going to do your homework.”
Regulus puts his book down to watch her. He can be intimidating when and wants to, and apparently right now he does.
Pandora shuts her notebook. Regulus isn’t seeing any of her research right now.
“I’m studying.”
He squints at her skeptically.
“Studying what?”
“Whatever I want. And I’m done now, I don’t have any ink.”
Regulus tilts his head letting it go. He’s been in a bad mood today. Pandora doesn’t ask about it, she can tell he isn’t going to talk. Regulus is a very private person. If he doesn’t want you to know something, you won’t find out. It’s scary, there is so much of him she can’t see. She really shouldn’t trust him but she does.
A while later Pandora walks with Regulus to the slytherin common room. They’re having a nice conversation about a muggle book called Wuthering Heights. She’s never read it, but apparently Regulus likes it, something about characterization. Personally she doesn’t see the apparel but Regulus is excited about it so she’ll listen.
Once he’s finished she remembers something she’s wanted to talk to him about.
“Did you know Van Gogh wasn't famous until he was dead?”
“No, I didn’t. You seem really interested in him.”
“Yes of course I am.”
“Why is it him? There are so many other artists like Da Vinci or Mateiss. What makes Van Gogh special?”
“You’ve seen his art.”
“I guess I don’t see what you do.”
“Yeah because we’re different people, Regulus. I don’t question your interests.”
She didn’t mean for it to sound bitter but somehow it did.
They walk in silence for a bit, a few students pass them. Regulus is looking at the floor, he’s irritated.
Pandora thinks about the exchange. She was rude, she regrets that, but Regulus is also acting strange. Something is upsetting him today. She wants to ask but doesn’t know how, so she proposes an idea.
“Let's go on an adventure.”
“An adventure?”
“Yeah, you need to clear your mind and I love adventures.”
“Maybe another day, the others are waiting.”
“No. We’re going now. Notice how I didn’t say ‘Hey would you be interested in going on an adventure?’ That’s because it wasn’t a question.”
He stares at her in disbelief for a while, green eyes looking cloudy.
She doesn’t wait, grabbing his hand and dragging him through the corridor. She’s never done this before and admittedly was a bit afraid Regulus would be angry, but he’s been surprisingly compliant. Their footsteps echo through the halls, and they only receive a few strange looks from other students.
Once they make it to the first floor Pandora slowly walks peeking around corners to make sure they stay out of trouble.
“Pandora, where are you taking me?”
Regulus complains as he follows closely behind her.
“Shh, you’ll see soon enough.”
After a few more minutes they finally reach a portrait of fruit. Pandora tickles the pear until it opens to a bustling kitchen full of house elves. Regulus looks in suspiciously from the hall, Pandora pulls him in.
“I’m not hungry, can we leave?”
“We’re not eating, just give me a second.”
The moment the door shuts behind them, they are swarmed by house elves. Their little voices filling the room.
“Pandora!”
“Welcome back!”
“Hi my lady!”
“Dora!”
Pandora crouches down extending her arms as a bunch of elves surge forward and hug her.
Regulus is frozen watching with horror.
“Pandora what are we doing here?”
He can barely make out her response as the elves notice him.
“Pandora has a friend!”
“Hello Pandora’s friend!”
“Welcome young master!”
Regulus is used to Kreature but he’s never seen this many elves in one place before. They could make a whole army.
“We’re here to help cook.” Pandora says before going back to the elf she’s hugging, “Oh my, Phoebe have you dyed your pillowcase?”
The elf beams at the Ravenclaw, “Yes I used beets!”
“It looks lovely.”
After another five minutes of Regulus awkwardly standing there while Pandora greets all the elves she finally comes back to him.
“Come on, we're going to help cook dinner.” An elf hands her two aprons, one of which she chucks at Regulus. He doesn’t move.
“What are you afraid you’ll dirty your robes?”
“I–no”
Regulus blinks trying to figure out what’s going on. Pandora raises an eyebrow at him as she ties her hair up.
“Well put it on then.”
Inexplicably Regulus Black does. She watches as he discards his robe and ties the apron over his sweater and trousers.
“Good, now come help me peel potatoes.”
“Pandora I don’t know how to do this.”
“It’s easy, I'll show you come here.”
Regulus Black looks young as he watches her peel and chop the first potato. He watches every move so closely as if it’s the most important thing he’s ever done. After she finishes the first two he joins in. Pandora has never seen someone peel a potato more thoroughly. It’s quite endearing.
She started coming into the kitchens during second year, she’d been talking with the house elf who cleans her laundry. Her name was Ella, she was rather uncomfortable the first time Pandora talked with her. But over that year they formed a close bond. Pandora would always hear stories about the kitchen until one day stories weren't enough, so she asked Ella to show her. She used to come every week, and help cook, at first they all seemed to hate her, but Pandora didn’t give up and eventually they warmed up to her.
She loves them all so much, they taught her to cook and bake, hobbies she now finds enjoyable. The kitchen was one of her safe spaces. It got her through a lot of hard times. Whenever she was stressed out or overwhelmed she would come to the kitchen and cook. It’s peaceful down here. She loves it when the house elves share stories or teach her new skills. It’s been a while since she visited them, this year has felt different. She hasn’t visited a lot since Ella died last February. She was an older elf. Pandora adored her. If she had a hard day she could always wait up for Ella to collect her linen and talk it out. She could always get a hug from her.
She died peacefully last year in her sleep. Pandora helped plan her celebration of life. Since then she hasn’t come to the kitchens a lot. They aren’t the same without her. It’s for the better, Pandora couldn’t stand it if they felt the same, because they aren't, they will never be as warm as when Ella worked here. Today she’s glad to find they still have the same calming values.
Her and Regulus don’t talk a lot. They peel in silence until Pandora decides to start chopping potatoes. She gets out a cutting board and knife, as she cuts the first one, her sleeve gets in the way. She rolls it up, only to panic and roll it back down. She forgot about the cuts, they don’t hurt anymore, but they aren’t quite healed yet. The muggle way takes a long time, she admires their patience as she cuts more potatoes with her sleeve in her way.
Every now and then she’ll make fun of Regulus for forgetting a spot and sometimes he’ll laugh. He seems healthier in the warm light of the kitchen.
Once the elves start to frost a cake they’ve made Pandora can sense Regulus watching them. His potatoes become less perfect, and he is scaring her with the peeler.
“Go on, they’d love to show you.”
It’s refreshing to see the glow in his face as he puts the peeler down.
“Really?”
“Yes, they’d love to have you.”
With that Regulus shyly aporaches the elves until they notice him and immediately pull him into the process. Pandora smiles and falls into an easy conversation with Phoebe, a young elf who came to the kitchen last year.
Every now and then Pandora will look up to see Regulus piping frosting onto the cake.
After an hour or so all the cooking is finished and Pandora removes her apron. Regulus has been very intently decorating the cake, she’s never seen him so invested in something, not even his homework.
She makes her way over to him once he takes a step back to examine it. He’s smiling proudly at his work. Once she gets closer she understands why. It’s not perfect but Regulus has managed to cover the cake in swirly stars and a big moon; they have been decorated with little strokes closely resembling those of Van Gogh.
When she looks at the cake Pandora starts to cry for some reason. She really can’t explain it, but she looks between Regulus, her friend and the cake he’s made, and she cries. Phoebe notices and tries to comfort Pandora.
“What’s the matter miss? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, sorry, everything is alright.”
Shit Regulus looks up to find her, she watches the smile disappear from his face.
“What is it?”
He asks, looking nervously at Pandora.
“It’s just your decorations, they look beautiful.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“I don’t know why I’m crying, it’s silly.”
“No it’s not.”
Pandora looks away wiping her tears embarrassedly on her sleeve. It’s strange that she's crying because she hasn’t felt this okay for months.
Wiping her tears does nothing because she lets out a sob more tears streaming down her face. She is helpless, the tears keep coming. Regulus awkwardly watches her until he moves forwards and gives her a hug.
She hasn’t seen Regulus hug someone for a long time, and it’s a shame because he gives very good hugs. Pandora lets out a final sob on Regulus’s shoulder and then her tears stop. It only lasts a few seconds before Regulus lets go.
“Thank you for taking me here.”
“Thanks for coming.”
“I thought you said I didn’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, thanks for not making me drag you here.”
“I understand why you like him so much, Van Gogh. Well that’s a lie, I understand why I like him so much. It’s in the colors, no one else uses color like him.”
Pandora isn’t going to cry again, she lets her eyes water but keeps tears at bay.
“We can’t eat that cake, it should be in a museum someday.”
“We are 100% going to eat that cake, they said it’s raspberry flavored.”
Pandora sighs as she looks at Regulus’s masterpeace.
“I’ll make you another one someday.”
She caves, raspberry cakes are delicious, and some good things aren’t meant to last.
“Okay, we can eat it, but I do expect a cake in the future.”
***
Regulus
Regulus is able to fight off Evan and Barty’s questions at dinner, he tells them he had to speak with a teacher, which isn’t out of the ordinary for him. It’s a nice meal, he swears the potatoes taste better than usual. Once it’s time for dessert, which he usually skips, he cuts a slice of his cake. It’s delicious. The table is a bit confused when they see the new desert.
“House elves had a lot of time on their hands today.” Barty remarks taking a bite.
Regulus finds Pandora’s blonde hair at the Ravenclaw table, she smiles at him, eyes sparkling. He doesn’t tell anyone but Pandora is his best friend. It’s starting to scare him how much he cares about her. Today started off bad as he learned about a dinner party he and Sirius are required to go to this break, apparently they are having a special guest. Regulus is scared, he can feel darkness consuming his home. It’ll reach him, it’s trying to get to Sirius too.
He had a nightmare about Voldemort last night, and the letter from home came this morning. He didn’t tell Pandora anything was wrong but she knew. She didn’t pry yet she knew exactly what would help.
Pandora is the most intelligent person he knows. She is too insightful to be an average teenager. She has a gift, she never talks about it but he wishes she would. It weighs on her.