Chapter vii
Regulus liked classes. He knew it made him a nerd, but he liked learning things, expanding his worldview. He liked getting together with a group of peers and watching everyone absolutely obliterate one another in the name of friendly debate. He liked explaining things to the classmates he got along with, liked occasionally telling them flat-out lies for shits and giggles. He quite liked academia in general.
Thus, Regulus completely immersed himself in his studies for a month, completely ignoring Sirius and Remus's attempts to reach out, letting his friends trash talk his bastard of a brother. Regulus let his normal life go on.
Part of normal life, Pandora told him, included going out in public on occasion. Despite Regulus's protests that socializing out in the world had never been a part of his normal life, she dragged him to the library to help her tutor some struggling students.
Regulus deigned to go only because he was craving academic validation.
Once there, Pandora pushed Regulus towards a tall, muscular girl, claiming the student needed Regulus's "silly little special-interest creepy obsessive amount of knowledge of forensic science."
"...hey. So... criminology class, I take it?"
The girls stared at him blankly for a second. "Uh... Marlene. Yours?"
It was then Regulus's turn to stare blankly. "...uh...?"
"Oh! Yeah. Yep. Criminology." She cleared her throat. "I bet Binns is the only one who could make that subject boring."
"...right. I'm Regulus. I can help, I guess. If you want. Know a fuck-ton about forensic sciences."
Marlene looked vaguely uncomfortable, but in an embarrassed rather then creeped out way. "...how much do you know about blood spatter patterns?"
As it turned out, Regulus knew a lot about blood spatter patterns. He spent just under two hours explaining what the droplet size, color, shape, direction, and distance meant, drawing diagrams as needed, letting his discomfort become drowned out in blood and science.
Regulus found a good listener in Marlene; she took avid notes, seeming to hang on his every word. He found this to be a nice change, as usually infodumping got him responses that were far less positive.
Before Regullus knew it, it was 11 pm, the library was closing, and Marlene was still lying on the floor, doing a very good job at modelling a dead body while Regulus showed her how far her blood would reach if she fell from the roof of a 16-story building, assuming there was no wind. For research's sake.
Marlene seemed thrilled by this model, and Regulus was almost sad to tell her they had to leave. Almost. He was, after all, tired.
Once he had ushered his new student out of the building, she stopped dead in her tracks on the sidewalk, the one that meandered all throughout campus.
"I know you've got lots to do, being a genius and all that, but if you come to my crim study group I'll pay you back with dinner. My friends will lose their ever-fucking minds that you and Binns are talking about the same shit."
Regulus paused. "They'll think we're both psychopaths. You do understand that, right? They'll legitimately think I'm a danger to society and you're a safety hazard for thinking it's cool."
Marlene snorted. "Nah, they're cool. And there are only five of us, so you and I could definitely take out two each if the need arose. Just saying."
Regulus let himself smirk at this. "See, now I think you're a safety hazard. When does the study group meet?"
Marlene grinned, even pumping her fist in the air. "Two tomorrow. I can pick you up and take you to my apartment, I'll drop you off after the payment dinner."
"...you realize how sketchy that sounds, right?"
Marlene seemed to consider for a moment before realizing that she did, in truth, sound like she was setting up a way to kidnap and kill Regulus, maybe dump his dismembered corpse in the woods- fitting real-life criminology lesson, if somewhat illegal.
"...right. I'll give you my address, then, we'll meet there at two. All of us. Four witnesses, just in case."
Regulus nodded after a second. "Fair enough. Text me your address and any other relevant information, I'll see you then." He took out a small slip of blood-diagram paper he had crumpled up in his pocket, then flattened it out and wrote his number on it, not missing Marlene's surprise at the paper he held out to her. Once she took it, he left. That was that.
---
Unknown Number
Hi Regulus!
493 Godric rd E apt. 11
2:00
This is Marlene
Not some random creep
In case you were worried.
Regulus looked at the messages for a minute, trying not to let himself be amused. Eventually, he realized it would be rude to leave her on 'read' without responding.
Sounds good.
But "Marlene" and "some random creep" are not mutually exclusive, your being one does not mean you aren't the other. Don't box yourself in, be both.
Joking.
Marlene McKinnon (Criminology Tutoring)
Wise words
Maybe I will be both
Suck it, mom and dad
Regulus was finding that he actually quite liked Marlene. Thus, he walked to her apartment at the given time the next day and was rushed up to her space before he could even press the button to be buzzed in. Once inside, he came face-to-face with two curious-looking girls and one who just seemed bored - Regulus thought the latter might get along well with Evan.
The three girls introduced themselves as Alice, Lily, and Dorcas respectively, and they all stared at Regulus expectantly for a moment before he realized what they were waiting for. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Regulus."
Dorcas, as it turned out, was easily bored by a great many things; forensic science was not one of those things. She was almost as enthralled as Marlene was, and seemed to grasp the subject much more quickly. Roughly three more hours were spent in that apartment, filled by Regulus's excruciatingly detailed explanations and questions from the from the girls. Though Regulus loved the subject and got along well with the girls, he was quite ready to end the study session. He was looking for a polite way to excuse himself when Dorcas interrupted Marlene's billionth question.
"You've held Regulus captive for half the fucking day, Mar. Let the poor kid go."
Marlene seemed put out by this. "But I promised dinner."
Dorcas seemed unimpressed. "Regulus? Do you want to get dinner?"
Marlene almost choked, but Regulus didn't give her time to respond.
"My roommate will be expecting me, I don't want to keep her waiting. She will fill that entire dorm with muffins or something, she's like if a toddler was an aged suburban grandmother." Regulus knew he was rambling, but he didn't know why. He supposed he just really wanted to go.
"Then I'll walk you back, make sure you're safe," Marlene decided. Regulus very much wanted to tell her 'no' without being rude, but his sleep-deprived brain was blanking.
Once again, Dorcas solved the situation. "I'm going that way, too. I can walk Regulus to the library, it's right by the dorms. I need to pick up a book."
She was an angel.
After making Dorcas promise to keep close to Reg - as if he was a puppy or a misbehaving toddler - Marlene agreed to the proposal.
The walk was quiet in a way Regulus knew it wouldn't have been with Marlene, calm and comfortable.
Until the silence was broken.
"She's like that with everyone, don't worry."
Dorcas's voice was cool in the evening air, but Regulus could still read it easily. What she really meant was 'don't read into it.' Regulus was happy to comply.
"Yeah. I figured."
There was another silence, but this one wasn't comfortable.
Regulus didn't like it. "She said there were five of you in the group. Who-?"
"Oh, James couldn't come. Apparently his best friend has been slightly sad for a while and that constitutes a full emergency. Their codependency is almost inspiring."
Regulus forced a small laugh, almost cringing at the tight, high-pitched sound. He was formulating the correct response - witty but polite, likable - when he heard a sound. A choking noise from the old lady walking towards him, whom he recognized vaguely as one of the librarians on her way from the morning shift.
Regulus gave a polite wave.
She dropped to the ground.
Regulus watched numbly as she fell to the ground, only snapped out of his trance when he heard Dorcas's panicked voice, speaking into her phone.
"Yes? Hello? I have a collapsed woman here, University Avenue. I need paramedics."
Dorcas nodded before drawing her phone away from her face and looking at Regulus. "Check her pulse and breathing."
He did.
They were both gone.
He remembered the lessons from when he was young, remembered to open the victim's airway and press his full weight on her chest every second to stimulate her heartbeat. He'd never had to use it.
Regulus, however, always did what he had to:
press.
press.
press.
press.
check.
tilt.
breathe.
check.
press.
press.
press.
press.
check.
tilt.
breathe.
check.
Regulus kept going. He kept pressing and breathing, feeling for a pulse or breath, though he knew for a fact there would be none.
This wasn't his first time seeing death.
This wasn't his first time abetting death by being unable to fix things.
But.
press.
press.
press.
press.
check.
tilt.
breathe.
check.
He didn't notice the ambulance arriving until a paramedic pulled him away from the body.
They did what he did. CPR.
Regulus knew, before the EMT shook their head. Knew what had happened.
He knew death.
He knew when there was blood on his hands.
There always was.
There was a hand on his arm.
He knew, in some part of his mind, that it was Dorcas's. But in a much real sense, he saw the hand. The one forever stained with blood, the one that forced Regulus to wash his own hands in the blood of murder. Of fratricide by complicitness.
He was tired of that hand.
Tired, tired, tired.
He did what he had to to get it off. He dropped.
He was aware of the sounds around him, but they were worthless and jumbled. Meaningless. He heard a voice that he recognized. One that rooted him slightly. In his anger.
"Dorcas, hey! Sorry for missing the study grou- what the hell happened?"
Dorcas's reply was faint, but the quietness did nothing to soothe Regulus. "He tr-he tried to save a woman with an M.I. Heart attack. CPR. It didn't- well. She's gone."
That voice, the one that made Regulus angry, paused.
"Oh shit."