Chapter 3
Regulus wakes Saturday morning at the same time he always does. 6:17 A.M. It’s always the same odd time. He’s got no clue why his body betrays him like this, as once he is awake, he cannot fall back asleep. There is no hope for him to sleep in. What a shame.
He sighs and gets himself up out of bed, grabbing “Slapstick Or Lonesome No More”, his current favorite book. It’s a new read, very muggle, but he enjoys it a lot. It touches on themes of isolation and loneliness. A subject Regulus loves to read about. He enjoys other perspectives and seeing how people different from him interact with the world.
Breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays at Hogwarts starts at 9:00 A.M instead of the usual 6:30. It’s bogus to him that he couldn't eat before 9:00, as he was starving. He frowns when he thinks this, just to show his displeasure to no one but the air.
He finishes most of the book by the time it hits 9:00 and decides he’ll go down to breakfast on his own, not wanting to wait for Barty and Evan. He actually would like to get something done with his day. He needs to go visit Evangeline again. Maybe do some studying in the library. Possibly squeeze in some time for socializing with his friends.
Regulus is satisfied enough with his made-up schedule and arrives at the Great Hall just as he’s finished revising it. He sits down at his spot and piles two pieces of jam toast, some eggs scrambled, and a few pieces of bacon onto his first plate. His second plate has pancakes with syrup on it.
He doesn't like his syrup touching his other food when it doesn't pair right with it. Regulus just has a refined plate. At least that’s how he words it.
He remembers his bout of sickness and wonders if it’s finally gone. He feels fine besides the leftover scratchiness of his throat, he knows it’ll be gone in no time. Regulus smiles to himself at his triumph.
He scarfs all of his food down, a response beaten into him at home. He would go for days at a time without food as punishment, so his response when food is available is to scarf it down. He’s picky simply because he was only fed the same few dishes that were rotated every week.
Regulus refuses to consciously think of where this response stems from.
He stands only ten minutes later and heads to the forbidden corridor hoping Evangeline is in the same hidden alcove he had found last night. As he is walking out of the Great Hall, James Potter pops out of seemingly nowhere and comes to a stop directly in front of Regulus, staring him down with a warm smile.
“Where are you headed to Reggie?”
Regulus stares at him bewildered. “Don’t ever call me that again. And do you really want to know?”
“Of course I want to know, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked.”
“Where did you come from?”
“So, you get to ask all the questions now? Why haven't you answered mine?”
“Because at this point you’ve asked three questions, that’s one more than I’ve asked.”
“Nuh-Uh.”
“Yes.”
“Nuh-Uh.”
“Yes, Potter you did.”
“Nuh-Uh.”
“Oh Merlin.” Regulus throws his arms up in the air, exasperated.
“If I tell you, will you shut up and go away?”
“Maybe” James says, dragging out the “Y” with a joking smile and a shrug of his shoulders.
Regulus just stares at him for a solid two minutes before releasing a deep sigh. James fucking Potter has already thrown off his entire schedule. But who is he to say no to him? Nobody. That’s who.
A rough cough from Regulus, and then,
“Fine.”
“So where are you going?”
“I have a meeting with one of the ghosts in the castle. It’s for an essay.”
“Ooh! For Ghoul Studies?”
“I took that last year, it was such an interesting class, don’t you think?” James smiles at him.
Damn James Potter and his fucking dumbass smile.
“Yes, it is.”
“Now may I pass? Or are you going to stand there all day trying to talk to me?”
James flushes deep red. And oh my god Regulus internally freaks. He’s never seen such a beautiful blush. God, he needs to stop. He practically bolts from James, not looking back he speed walks away. Continuing his descent down to the corridor.
Coughing the whole way there, he doesn’t notice the trail of petals left behind him.
Once he arrives at the alcove from last night, he goes through the tapestry and looks around, but he does not hear any sniffling or see a sign of Evangeline.
He sighs, annoyed.
Turning around, he jumps and lets out a squeal.
“Your squeal is very similar to a Crup after its tail has been stepped on.” Evangeline says with a laugh.
“Do you have any manners? Why would you sneak up on me like that?”
She shrugs absentmindedly. “It’s fun. Plus, I wanted to see if I could successfully scare you.”
“You didn’t.”
Evangeline just stares smugly at him and crosses her arms.
“Mhmm.”
“So, have you come back to visit me so you can find out how I died? Or to talk more about your issues?”
“I was hoping you would feel up to telling me how you died.”
Evangeline sighed heavily, tears rising up but never falling. The thought of even telling the story made her upset. She wasn't even sure why as it had been a few years, she should be over it. Regulus knows he would be.
He’d enjoy being a ghost, no responsibilities, nothing tying you down. All he would be required to do was float around and enjoy his peace.
“I’ll tell you, it’s probably time I get it out and tell someone the ‘mystery’ behind my death.”
“You haven't told anyone?”
“No, not even my closest friends. I told them that I had no clue what killed me, when they visited. I did not want them to know, it's pathetic.”
“Do you regret not telling them?”
“Yes.”
“I feel I never gave them the closure they deserved. But they've all gone and grown up and I feel so proud of them for moving on. It hit them hard, I’ve always felt guilty about that.”
“Every time they would visit me down here; I was always crying. I still do to this day, but some days are better than others and on the bad days it just hits me. Hence the wailing that is often heard.”
“Did you die down here? Can you not leave or go to other parts of the castle?” A rough scratchiness hits Regulus’s throat. Another cough and Evangeline looks at him suspiciously.
Her expression soon changes to sadness as she speaks. She gestures for him to sit and when he does, she joins him on the ground.
“I did die down here but I can visit other areas of the castle I just choose not to; I am not ready to interact with the other ghosts yet. They respect it, and don't come down here.”
“Will you tell me why you don’t leave the place where you died? It seems like you are self-isolating and very self-destructive. I can’t imagine this place has any good memories.”
“No, for now I won't tell you that, but just know I do have good memories of this place, tons in fact.” She smiles, looking off into the distance as if remembering all the memories at once.
She shakes herself out of it.
“I fell in love here. Before this became the ‘Forbidden Corridor’ it used to be used for classes. The one behind the tapestry was my favorite class, as my love Gabriel was there with me.”
“Is this relevant to your death?”
Evangeline looks at him and gives him a lighthearted glare.
“Don't be insensitive or you won't ever know if it is.”
He holds back his sigh.
“Gabriel was a wonderful boy, so full of life and he was so kind it made me want to die every time I saw him interact with someone. Not even because of jealousy but because he was so nice to everyone he met it made me feel as though I could never achieve that sort of flowing kindness, no matter how hard I tried it never came to me as naturally.”
“He once told me my laugh was contagious and I had felt like I was glowing for the next week.”
Regulus just stares at her wondering how anyone could genuinely be like this.
As if knowing what he was thinking she looked into his eyes, his soul almost, and said, “He was the most ingenuous person I have ever met.”
Regulus nodded.
“We talked in class often, we became partners eventually, although we never hung out outside of class, which should have been my first clue, if I’m honest.”
“He would wave to me in the hallways and that was enough for me, just to see him acknowledge me. It wasn't long into the school year that I came down with a weird illness.”
“But you know what the illness was?”
She looks at him exasperated. “Yes, if you would let me have my dramatic build up.”
She lets out a deep breath.
“I hadn’t known what it was right away, I’m not that smart but the restricted section had many books on illnesses and diseases. None of them had anything close to the flowers I was coughing up.”
“Wait. Flowers?”
“Yes Regulus, flower petals were coming up out of my throat.”
Regulus squints his eyes thinking. He had seen one flower petal on his arm, but he couldn't possibly be coming down with the same thing she had because it’s only happened once and he’s almost positive it came from the open window in the bathroom. It's a higher probability of that than him coughing it up.
“Anyway, as a last resort I left the restricted section alone and looked through children's stories in the public part of our library. I found one single book that described exactly my situation. It’s called ‘Hanahaki’. It’s basically a disease that develops when an unrequited love becomes so strong you start growing fully matured flowers in either your heart, stomach, or lungs.”
“Eventually it suffocates you and kills you. The only cure is for the love to become requited before the fifth full flower comes up. After the fifth one is expelled from your body, you slowly start to shut down until one day you just don't wake up.”
“How badly did it hurt?”
“It was the worst pain I have ever felt. Coughing up the flowers was the worst part, but once I hit the shutting down stage all I had felt was tranquility. The day I woke up a ghost had been the most tragic but also so freeing.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“It was” Evangeline looked down to her lap, letting out a breath, tears coming back up to her eyes but this time falling.
“Do you know what flowers you had coughed up?”
She let out a choked laugh, trying to stop the sobs from coming up.
“Asphodel flowers. They symbolize death and mourning. The Greeks named one of their underworlds after it. The Asphodel Meadows, which is where ‘the mass of ordinary or average people go to rest.’”
She dissolved into full on sobbing.
“My whole life has been nothing but ordinary, I’ve done nothing significant. No one even remembers me besides maybe my parents and a few of my friends. It’s so pathetic.”
Evangeline looks up to Regulus.
“Could you leave me alone for a few days? I think I need to be alone right now. I can't ever fully get my emotions out when other people are around.”
Regulus nods and stands up
“Thank you for trusting me with your story Evangeline, it means a lot.”
She sniffles and he takes that as his cue to leave.
So, he dusts himself off and leaves through the tapestry.