Going Under
Lily found Pandora’s note just as they were leaving. She’d had a feeling Pandora would stay with Regulus for as long as was needed and this had confirmed it. She didn’t mind. Any relationship with Pandora was always going to be out of the ordinary. Lily smiled. Sam would approve.
An hour later Lily, Tara and Willow arrived at the address in Kensington. When they had all come to London Sirius had insisted on taking Tara and Willow shopping for some proper winter clothes. Tara had been horrified at the thought of someone she barely knew spending money on her. Willow had been highly amused at the whole situation. Especially as Lily had tagged along to supervise the spending spree. Siris was generous to a fault with no clue how muggle money worked even after living in London on and off for years.
“Feel less guilty now?” Lily asked with a smile
Tara looked up and down. They were back from the main road, on a wide street which curved in a graceful arc with tall Georgian townhouses along both sides. Each house was three stories tall with a small black iron fence, steps that led up to the front door and down to a basement flat. It was like a street out of a movie. “No green?” She asked.
“This block backs on to a private garden which can be accessed through the buildings by the residents but not the general public.” Lily explained
“Wow. I know it’s a rude question, but just how rich is Sirius?” Tara asked
“Top twenty or so in the wizarding world, which I think puts him in the top one percent of the muggle world. For context the Black family is in the 0.1 percent.” Lily answered. It was a question she had asked Remus when she’d first seen the flat. “He actually owns the whole house, but lives on the top floor and rents the other five flats to muggles. It was his uncle's arrangement and Sirius feels no need to change it. Come on. Let’s go up.”
The mood in the flat was not as somber as Lily had expected. Sirius and Remus were on the leather sofa, while James had taken over a bright orange armchair. Papers and books were scattered over the round glass coffee table that sat between the furniture and the TV.
Willow gasped when she took in the rest of the living room. A bright green armchair to match the orange one, and an overstuffed cream and brown stripped sofa completed the ensemble. “Oh my.” She whispered.
“Truly horrendous isn’t it?” Sirius grinned. “Can’t bring myself to change it though. It’s Alphard to a tee. Luckily the library is much more traditional with dark bookcases and 1920s leather armchairs.”
“We did change the bedrooms. Alphard was obsessed with mirrors and round beds. I’m far too tall for a round bed.” Remus added standing up. “Tea?”
“Yes please.” Came the chorus as the girls settled themselves on the empty furniture.
“I saw the paper. You guys okay?” Lily asked once Remus had returned with the tea.
Sirius nodded. “We weren’t, but doing better now. I don’t know why it came as such a shock. I mean, it was inevitable that Reggie would be married as quickly as possible but I think I was hoping he’d wait a while longer and we’d have a chance to get to know each other as adults this time.”
“Won’t you be going to the wedding? You’re his brother.” Willow asked curiously.
“Got disowned when I ran away and then sought to have Regulus move in with us.” Sirius shuddered. “But that’s all water under the bridge as the saying goes. Let’s focus on learning new magic. It is far more fun.”
They settled down to go through the tomes Lily had found through her network, Sirius had found in his uncles library, and Remus had unearthed from the bottom of his fathers wardrobe.
“Dad was an Aurora so I figured he’d have some forbidden texts somewhere.” He said when asked.
James tried to throw himself into the research, he kept up with the banter and teased Lily about Pandora but it was only a mask. Even more so than the day they’d gone to visit the fort.
“What did you learn from the Watchers? Have you got to see them yet?” James asked having read the same page for the second or third time - he wasn’t sure.
“We finally got in yesterday. Giles, he’d been our mentor…”
“And librarian” cut in Willow
“And the high school librarian, he runs the organisation in our time but when we asked to see him, they had no idea who he is.”
“Which makes total sense when you remember it’s 1980 not 2009. I’d forgotten.” Willow sheepishly admitted.
“So once we got through that hurdle we managed to gain access to their public library.”
“It’s really cool. They’ve heaps of information on demons and vampires and a huge section on different demonic languages and maps of the world from different centuries and some are overlayed with the different places where slayers have lived and hell mouths have opened and when to expect the next army to rise and…” Willow stopped having finally run out of breath
“Anything on our no longer friend Yig?” Sirius asked
“I did find a couple of books on elder gods, and a really slim parchment called The Lamia.” Tara replied, producing the items.
“Willow, you mentioned demonic languages, if we went back, do you think you could track down the one that enticed you here in the first place?” Lily asked.
“Maybe. There are thousands of languages so it might take a while.”
The group lapsed into thoughtful silence, until James asked “Does anyone speak parseltongue by any chance? Or maybe know anyone who does?”
Sirius and Remus shared a long look. “It’s possible.” Sirius said “It is the sort of thing he would teach himself.” He paused as Remus raised an eyebrow. “I’d rather not.”
“Ok. We’ll find another way.” Remus said and squeezed Sirius’s hand.
James felt his heart lurch then sink again. While the others looked baffled he had hoped this would be the excuse he needed to make contact. But it was not his place. Instead he turned to Lily and asked “Would Pandora know anyone? She has family connections who claim to be descendants of Salazar Slytherin.”
Lily thought for a moment. “Maybe. Not sure when I’ll see her again though.”
“I thought she was staying with you?” Sirius said then a flash of pain crossed his face before he went “oh. of course.” and lapsed into silence.
“Right. So where to from here?” James asked, determined to not think about going under the slim pale chest and wiry limbs, and the glorious sounds he had elicited from a sensuous mouth and perfect cock. Especially as all he would have now are memories.
“Let’s consolidate what we do know and who else we can call in for help.” Lily suggested
They spent the next couple of hours writing out what they could learn from their books and what they still needed to know.
“I think we have more gaps than we did a week ago.” Commented Remus flicking through the lists.
“At what point do we go to McGonagall and Dumbledore?” James asked
“Let’s give it another week to see if we can track down more information, especially if we can isolate the relevant language, and then maybe we’ll go to the order.” Remus suggested. The others nodded.
“Good, We’ll start tomorrow.. Tonight let’s tidy up this mess, raid Effies goodies and watch a movie,” Said Sirius
——
Pandora woke early. She’d given Regulus a sleeping draft in the hope that the nightmares would stay away. Once inside and warmed up, they had spent most of the evening reading quietly. Or at least pretending to read. Pandora had watched Regulus. Regulus had stared listlessly out the window between bouts of furious writing. Eventually Pandora called it a night and put them both to bed. Now she was awake and worried. The confession had shaken her, and she was glad Regulus still had enough goodness left to have been sickened by his mothers actions, but she was afraid that he would now shut down completely. If he did that he would be no better than his parents. And he deserved so much more for this life.
Regulus was up and dressed when Pandora knocked on his bedroom door.
“Come in.” He said
“I wasn't sure if you’d be up. Did you sleep okay?”
“Better than I have for a while.” Regulus smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”
“What now?” Pandora asked, eyes filled with concern
“I need to go back to my flat. I have some things to set in motion before …” he stopped, stepped forward and pulled his best, and only, friend into a hug.
Surprised, Pandora happily hugged him back. “How long?” she asked from his shoulder.
“I honestly don’t know. However long it takes.” Regulus replied letting go with great reluctance.
“And then?” Pandora said meeting the steely silver gaze
“And then.” Regulus responded.
Pandora gave a small, slightly sad, smile. Enigmatic Regulus was back. That was better than the despair and loathing she’d encountered yesterday. Enigmatic meant he had a plan. That would keep him safe enough. For now.
“Travel well.” Pandora said, tilted her head and added “The kringleshanks have offered to help if you need them.”
“Thank you.” Regulus said simply. “Ciao.” And he was gone.
Pandora sighed and recast her wards - just in case. Then wandered down to give Kreacher some instructions before taking herself back to Lily to finish her breakfast.