Rise Up
As soon as Evan and Barty found him again, Regulus did not have a moment’s peace.
“That’s who you’ve been seeing?!” exclaimed Barty as they all walked back to the Slytherin dorms.
“Keep your voice down,” warned Regulus, “A teacher will hear you.” Barty didn’t look like he had any intention of keeping his voice down.
“James fucking Potter,” he whistled, and Regulus wished the floor could swallow him up whole. “Since how long?” he demanded.
“It’s been a little while,” muttered Regulus.
“I never imagined that it would be…” Barty trailed off, and for a blessed moment, he was silent. “Is he a better kisser than me?”
“Merlin, Barty,” groaned Evan.
“Is he?” pressed Barty. Regulus shot him a scathing look that he knew wouldn’t do any good.
“Would you just shut up?” he replied.
“You know I won’t,” Barty retorted, “I can’t believe we were kept in the dark this long.”
“I can,” said Evan darkly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” demanded Regulus.
“You’re embarrassed, aren’t you?” replied Evan evenly, “You’d like to think you’ve got Potter wrapped around your finger, but he has you wrapped around his too.”
Regulus paused, his jaw tensing.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re embarrassed that you’ve fallen prey to your lifelong crush on Gryffindor’s golden boy,” continued Evan, this time with a bit more mirth, “That’s it, isn’t it Reg?”
“It’s not a lifelong crush,” he mumbled bitterly.
“Does he know?”
“Does he know what?”
“Does he know about your lifelong crush?” goaded Evan. Regulus went red. He’d reached the end of his tether.
“No, he doesn’t, alright?”
“Alright,” said Evan, and Regulus could tell he was grinning at his detective work.
They all carried on walking through the dark passageway, a shortcut to sneak back to the dungeons so they weren’t caught out of bed (or caught being slightly drunk).
“So is he a better kisser than me?” persisted Barty.
“Shut up,” said Evan and Regulus in unison.
“You knew about this the whole time?” Barty now turned on Pandora, who was trailing silently behind all three of them.
“Yes,” she said lightly. She hadn’t spoken a word to Regulus since he’d disappeared into the bathroom with James. Everyone seemed to have the complete wrong idea about what had been going on in there.
James had kissed him goodbye before he left. A sweet kiss, without hunger or hurry, and it had left Regulus dazed and stupid. Evan was right about how he was wrapped around James’ finger just as much as James was wrapped around his (if not more).
He knew, somehow, that Pandora could tell he’d been crying. It was usually pretty hard to tell, Regulus was good at hiding it, and it was even harder to tell in the dark and when you were half-drunk (which they all were), but somehow, Pandora knew. And maybe she also knew what he’d told James in the bathroom, the Black family’s best kept secret, leaked once again to one more person.
“I understand you not telling me,” Barty was saying to Pandora, “But you didn’t even tell cousin dearest? What about the bonds of family?”
“Regulus is my family too,” she said in a small voice, and Regulus looked back at her, his face pained. Her large, mismatched eyes almost seemed to glow in the dark of the tunnel. He could see little yellow-white whisps coming off her braids and framing her head, like a halo. He looked away, back to the darkness ahead, and tried not to feel so awful.
“Did she tell you Rosie?” Barty was talking to Evan now. He never called Pandora Rosie, that was a name just for Evan. There were a lot of names just for Evan.
“Don’t be stupid Barty,” replied Evan, “She keeps all his secrets.”
Regulus bit down hard on the inside of his cheek. She keeps all his secrets. Didn’t he know it. He wished they would talk about something else.
***
“I’m sorry I haven’t asked you very many questions lately,” said James, and Regulus grinned with all his teeth. He’d been waiting for James to bring them up, and to ask again.
“I’ve got one for you, actually.”
“You have?” asked James, his curiosity palpable. They were back at the window seat, their own little spot, and they hadn’t kissed at all, just talked. Things were back to normal, and Regulus found he liked it.
“Were your questions just a ploy to seduce me?” he teased, and James burst into warm laughter.
“Did it work?” countered James, “Are you seduced?”
“Maybe,” smiled Regulus, feeling all at once shy and daring.
“Well,” announced James, “I have a very seductive piece of information for you.” Regulus raised an eyebrow incredulously, wondering what on earth James could be alluding too.
“You do?”
“Do you remember when I asked you what you find attractive?”
“Of course.”
“Well,” and he paused dramatically, puffing out his chest, “I’ve read War and Peace now,” said James with glowing pride, “I’m officially well-read, by your standards of course.”
“You read War and Peace,” echoed Regulus, scarcely believing it.
“That’s right,” smirked James.
“The whole thing?”
“All 1,500 pages,” he confirmed.
Now it was Regulus’ turn to burst into laughter. James’ smug look faltered before falling away completely.
“What?” he asked helplessly, “You’re not impressed? Did you not think it was good?”
“I’ve never read it,” wheezed Regulus, and James gaped.
“But- you said- you made it seem like…”
Regulus couldn’t stop laughing.
“I never dreamed you’d actually read it,” he snorted, “I was just teasing you, but this is too good.”
“I don’t understand,” said James.
“You’ve been pranked,” grinned Regulus, and he dissolved into raucous laughter once more.
“What?”
“You thought you and your friends were the only ones who knew how?” returned Regulus. James couldn’t stop gaping.
“I don’t believe it,” he breathed, “You’re telling me I read 1,500 pages for… As a prank? 1,500 pages?”
“That’s right,” confirmed Regulus. His sides were starting to hurt from all the laughing.
“I don’t believe it,” muttered James.
“Me neither,” agreed Regulus. For the whole rest of the day he couldn’t help but smile whenever he thought of James pouring over War and Peace, one agonising page at a time.
Later, while he was smiling about it again in his bed, pretending to read and feeling very smug, Barty burst suddenly into the dorm through the door. This was not especially unusual behavior for him, and Regulus and Avery (the only current occupants of the dorm) didn’t pay it much mind.
“Evening Barty,” Regulus greeted. Barty stared dopily at him, his mouth hanging slightly open.
“Right,” he said after a moment or two. Regulus returned to his book, turning the page. He didn’t think he wanted to know what Barty had been up to. He and Evan had skipped class today (also not too uncommon) and this was the first he’d seen of Barty so far.
“Um,” began Barty awkwardly, “Did me and Evs lose fifty house points today?”
Regulus looked up from his book with his sternest frown. If he picked his words carefully, he wouldn’t have to hear about whatever foolhardy antics the two of them had gotten up too all day.
“If you did, I’d hope that you would know.”
He saw Barty visibly gulp.
“Right!” he laughed, shooting Regulus an unconvincing smile and heading promptly over to his trunk.
“What are you doing now?” demanded Regulus, sure that Barty was up to more trouble. He’d summoned one of Pandora’s old hairpins from his trunk, and now he was heading over to the bathroom (which Evan was in the middle of hogging).
“I’m going to the bathroom,” explained Barty, rattling the lock with his pin. He finally managed to get the telltale ‘click’ when Evan threw the door open from the inside. Barty fell over backwards with a guilty look on his face.
Regulus watched over the scene, severely unimpressed.
“Ever heard of knocking?” Evan deadpanned.
“No!” exclaimed Barty indignantly.
Evan walked over to his bed and began putting stuff away. Barty pushed himself to his feet and scurried over. They sunk into a hushed conversation of whispers, and Regulus tried, with difficulty, to return to his reading.
Pretty soon he’d had enough, he wasn’t getting anywhere and there was something awful playing on his mind; Pandora. Pandora and the way she’d looked in the tunnel, all alone and so earnest, with her large, protruding mismatched eyes. He missed her. If he was her family then she was his too. If he could make up with Sirius, surely he could make up with her.
He got up from his bed, abandoning his book, and headed over to her favourite corner of the common room. It was empty, but he spotted her by the window making signed conversation with one of her favourite mermaids. It spotted Regulus and bared its rotten teeth before swimming swiftly away. Pandora turned around to see him.
“Hello,” she said timidly. He walked up to her, trying to think how he should start.
“I’m sorry for what I said,” he chose, and her face softened.
“I know.”
“I’m sorry I got so angry, I know you were only trying to help.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
“I want to be friends again,” he added.
“So do I,” she told him. He smiled a small smile. She smiled back, offering her hand. “Can I show you something?” He took her hand and nodded. She led him up the stairs and to her dorm, which was, thankfully, empty of her dorm mates, and stopped in front of her bedside table to fish through one of the drawers. Her hand reappeared with what first seemed to be a postcard. She handed it wordlessly to him.
It was a picture of him and James from the first Gryffindor party Regulus had attended. They were in the corner of the room, talking and smiling at one another. Regulus decided he quite liked this picture.
They looked, inexplicably, as if they belonged together.