Chapter 3
“What on earth were you thinking? What were you doing with him!" Walburga screamed at him.
"Mother I'm sorry! I didn't do anything, I swear! You've got to believe me! He came up and started talking to me, nothing more. I was about to go back inside just before you came to fetch me," Regulus lied.
His mother continued to glare at him while his father stood next to her with his eyebrows raised.
Eventually, she sighed. "Very well then. But if I catch you talking to him again, you are in great trouble."
She abruptly stood up and left the room.
"He looked friendly enough," his father shrugged, before following after his wife.
Regulus groaned and threw himself onto his bed. Why the hell did that boy have to ruin everything? Why did he pull him back over? Why did Regulus let him?
Sighing, he sat up on his bed. He should talk to Sirius about Pandora, and see what he thought, maybe he could find a way out.
He got up and padded out of his room and into the next. Without knocking he walked in and closed the door softly.
"Sirius I- What the fuck!" Regulus shouted, covering his eyes. Sirius let out a loud whine. Okay, yep he had definitely not been seeing things.
"Reg you prick what the fuck?! Ever heard of knocking?" Sirius groaned.
"As you keep reminding me, you raised me. You don't knock either," Regulus snorted.
There was some shuffling and some whispering and then the sound of clothes being picked up from the floor.
"Fair enough. What's up? And you can turn around again, by the way."
Regulus hesitated and peeped at Sirius through his fingers first before he let them fall to his sides.
There was another boy in bed with him. He was bigger than Sirius, with scars littering his face and slightly exposed body. He was not the ugliest person Regulus had ever seen, but he wouldn't sleep with him, that's for sure.
"Er... Well.." Regulus started, moving towards the bed slowly and eyeing the boy wearily, "You know Pandora right? The girl? Well, mother has decided I have to marry her.
As soon as we get to New York."
"What?!" Sirius yelled, instantly standing up and walking over to him, leaving the other boy watching them. His eyes were glued to Sirius, it was rather uncomfortable.
“Should we talk about this later..?” Regulus whispered, looking over Sirius’ shoulder at the boy, hoping that Sirius would understand that he didn’t want to talk about it in front of a stranger.
“No, we can’t. This is important. And messed up. We need to get you out of this. Okay, first tell me what she was like. Do you want to marry her?” Sirius went on, oblivious to Regulus’ uncertainty about the other boy. He watched as Sirius took Regulus’ hand and led him to the bed. He watched as they both sat down, watched as Sirus scooted back up the bed and into his arms again. He watched without saying a word.
“Reggie?” Sirius said, looking at him expectantly.
“Well… she was nice. But I- er… Can we talk about this later?” Regulus repeated.
“Do you want me to leave?” the boy finally asked Sirius.
“Oh no, you’re okay Remus. He’s just shy,” Sirius told him, waving his hand in dismissal. Remus bit his lip and his gaze moved to Regulus instead.
“No, I think I’ll go. Gotta check up on James and see what he got up to. It’s late anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” Remus declared, turning back to Sirius. He climbed out of the bed, kissed Sirius on the forehead and stumbled out of the room.
Sirius watched him go, sighing as he closed the door.
“Where were we then?”
“Pandora. She was nice, but I didn’t feel anything when I was with her. I could be her friend, maybe, but I don’t want to marry her, Sirius. I can’t do that to her, or myself for that matter,” Regulus told him.
“Well then, don’t. Here’s what we will do; as soon as we dock in New York, we run. We grab Remus and James, and we run.”
“Why Remus and James?” Regulus asked him, furrowing his brows.
“Well… I dunno… I like them. They’re nice. I think you would like them, too,” Sirius said with a smile. He was blushing. He liked Remus.
Regulus would not tell him about James, he would not let it go and Regulus would be hearing about it for the rest of his life. But either way, there were no feelings there. James just had a hero moment, saved his life and then shouted at his mother. That was all, anyone could have done that. Nevertheless, Regulus should thank him. He would thank him and then he would never have to see him again, he would spend all of his time in the third class section where James could not reach him, and he would be fine. But he would still thank him.
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“Where have you been?” James beamed at him, leaning over the side of his bunk, his face mere inches away from Remus’ face. He rolled his eyes and pushed his face away.
“First Class,” he sighed and sat down on the bottom bunk, kicking off his shoes.
“Ooh! Fancy!” James exclaimed. He jumped from his bed and sat down next to Remus, “Sirius?”
“We shagged, yeah. Then his younger brother came in, nearly in tears, bless him, talking about how his parents are marrying him off as soon as we get to New York,” Remus told him.
“Yeah, I know that part,” James sighed.
“How come?”
“Oh! You won’t believe what happened! So, when Sirius snogged you, I went outside for some air, right? Well, believe it or not, there was this boy up there and he was leaning over the fence. I assumed he was looking at the water or something, but then! Then he started climbing over and I was like, holy shit, he’s trying to kill himself! So I jumped up and told him to stop, to which he was like no! Then I told him I thought he was pretty and he didn’t believe me ‘cause of Sirius. For some reason, he thought that I kissed Sirius, and he turned around to look at me and he slipped, but ‘cause I’m like insanely good with people, I caught him and pulled him back over the fence. Then his mum and dad came and told him he was getting married and dragged him off, so I came back here,” James explained.
“Oh. Poor boy, good thing you were there then, ey?”
“Remus, he was so pretty. Like, unbelievably pretty. I think I’m in love,” James swooned, falling back onto the bed with his hand on his forehead.
Remus snorted at him and rolled his eyes, “No you’re not.”
“Oh, but I am!”
“Mh.. No. No, you’re not. You can’t be in love with someone you just met. Love at first sight isn’t a thing.”
“But it is! I’m currently experiencing it! And what would you call the thing between you and Sirius then?” James scoffed.
“Oh, we’re soulmates,” Remus chuckled.
“So love at first sight isn’t a thing but soulmates is?! You’re biased, fucker.”
“I have been told I’m a good fucker, thank you very much,” Remus grinned, watching as his friend's face contorted into disgust.
“I need to talk to him again, or I’ll die Remus!” James groaned.
“Go talk to him tomorrow then! Use your feet and go find him and I don’t know, snog him or something. But please, for the love of god, get out of my bed, I’m tired and want to sleep.”
“Why don’t you sleep with me, huh?” James grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at him.
“Cause I just got back from shagging an insanely hot man, and I have no desire to fuck you. Never have, never will. Sorry Jamesy,” Remus shrugged. James shoved him, pouting.
“You’re no fun,” he whined.
“I’ll show you no fun if you don’t get out,” Remus grumbled.
James sighed but got up and climbed into his own bed.
“Good night sweety,” he grinned, expecting Remus to groan.
“Night, Lover-boy,” is all he said.
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Sirius didn’t sleep much. He was kept awake with thoughts about Regulus, trying to come up with an idea to get him out of the marriage. He came up with nothing. It was inevitable. Sure, Sirius could have just got married, but he didn’t like women. And his parents would never have allowed him to marry a man.
And now it all fell onto Regulus. It wasn’t fair. The boy was seventeen, he hadn’t even started his life properly. He wasn’t even a grown-up and he was being forced to make life decisions that would usually take years to make.
Sirius could tell he had given up. The look on his face when he had told Sirius said it all. He had no hope left, and that hurt Sirius. He hated his parents for it. But other than marrying Pandora himself, there was no other solution.
It was getting light outside. The sound of commotion all around the boat started becoming apparent. It was their first full day aboard the ship, and Sirius was going to get Regulus to enjoy every second of it, or he would try at least.
“Reggie?” Sirius called, walking through their shared bathroom and straight into his brother's room. He looked just as awful as Sirius felt.
“No sleep?” Sirius assumed. He walked further into the room and perched on the end of Regulus’ bed. He looked at him with tired eyes, his face wiped clean of all emotion.
“No,” Regulus admitted with a sigh.
“Yeah, me too. Any ideas?”
“No,” Regulus repeated.
“Me neither. Breakfast?” Sirius suggested.
“Suppose.”
Sirius waited on his bed for Regulus to get dressed and ready, and then they wordlessly made their way up to the dining hall. Their parents were nowhere in sight, probably for the best.
“Regulus!” a woman called, waving frantically. Regulus sighed deeply, before plastering on a smile and strolling over to her.
“Pandora, this is my brother, Sirius. Sirius, this is Pandora, my fiancée,” Regulus introduced them. Sirius nodded curtly to her while she smiled politely.
“Pleased to meet you,” Sirius smiled tightly, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.
“The pleasure is mine. I didn’t see you here last night. Surely if you are Regulus’ brother you would be at dinner with them?” she said, cocking her head slightly but smiling nonetheless. She seemed pleasant enough, but Sirius could tell Regulus didn’t want to spend the rest of his life with her.
“Ah, no. I was busy, I’m afraid. But trust me, I would have loved to be here to meet you and your family,” Sirius lied.
“Wife keeping you busy?” Pandora chuckled. Sirius’ breath hitched, “Wife?”
“Oh, I just assumed. You seem to be older than Regulus, no? Surely if you weren’t married they would have me marry you?”
“Oh! Yes! My wife. She wanted help with the unpacking, you know? Then we went for a walk around, figuring out our way around here. Big ship, isn’t it?” He said nervously. Regulus scoffed next to him but didn’t say anything.
“It is! Pretty marvellous too. Well, I better get going, don’t want to keep my father waiting for too long. You two enjoy your breakfasts. I’ll see you later, Regulus,” Pandora got up, kissed Regulus’ cheek and swiftly left the dining room.
“She seemed nice,” Sirius said in an attempt to lighten the mood. Regulus grunted and took a seat at the now abandoned table.
“Don’t want to spend the rest of my life with her though,” he scoffed, angrily ripping a small piece off of his croissant.
“We’ll get you out of this, don’t worry. I promise we will find a way out. You won’t have to marry her. How about we look for someone you’d like to marry so that mother and father have to say yes to that?” Sirius suggested.
“I don’t want to find someone else. Sirius this isn’t something I want to rush. I want the right person, and I’m not going to find them on this ship.”
“I know, I’m sorry. You can always divorce?”
Regulus snorted, shaking his head, “Do you really believe they would let me do that?”
He was right, it was nice to fantasize and have hope, but there was no way of getting Regulus out of this. Their parents had made up their minds, and there was no way of convincing them otherwise. Regulus would be swept away as soon as they reached New York and forced to start his new life with a wife and children, while Sirius lived his freely, or as freely as possible with such parents, and alone.
It wasn’t fair. Regulus deserved to live a long, happy life, just like he did.
Sometimes Sirius wondered if their parents were unhappy with their marriage, seeing as they too had been forced into it. But then again, their parents, Sirius’ grandparents, were all dead and thus nothing was stopping them from divorcing. So they must be content with each other, at least to a certain extent.
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James found himself strolling around the top deck, trying to get close to the restricted first class. He had hardly slept, too worried about Regulus. What if he had gone to throw himself over the fence again and this time no one was there to save him? He knew deep down that he had no chance with him; he was getting married after all, but a small part of him still had hope. Hope for what? James doesn’t know. There was no way that Regulus would ever date a guy. It was surprising enough that Sirius could. Actually, it was surprising that Sirius hadn’t been forced into marriage but Regulus had.
Miraculously, James slipped through the gates and onto the first-class deck. He tried to act casual, but some people were staring and pointing at him, making him slightly uncomfortable. He continued being nice to everyone though, smiling and greeting them cheerily, all while keeping a lookout for one specific black-haired boy.
Finally, just before he was about to give up, he spots the two boys leaning over a railing muttering to each other quietly. It made James nervous seeing Regulus leaning against a railing once again, but his brother was with him, so he was pretty sure he was safe.
James rushed over to them, clapped Sirius on the back and pushed himself between the two brothers.
“‘Ello mate,” he greeted Sirius with a smile.
“James! Hello. Where’s Remus?” Sirius asked, making Regulus scoff.
“Oh, behave Reg. You two haven’t met, have you? Well, James, this is Reg, my little brother. Say hello Reggie,” Sirius introduced them with a grin.
“Er… Hi,” Regulus mumbled, seemingly avoiding making eye contact with him, but James didn't miss the hint of recognition and shame flash over his face. James didn’t mind, he snatched the boy's hand and shook it.
“So… James. Do you happen to know where Remus is or…?”
“He was still asleep when I left. He’s a long sleeper, that man. Has been forever. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you woke him though. If he’s not in the room he’ll be in the smoke room,” James informed him.
“Great. You’ll be alright, Reg?” Sirius asked, turning to his brother.
“Suppose so,” Regulus sighed, glancing at James out of the corner of his eye. Sirius gave them a thumbs-up before nearly running in the direction of the third-class rooms.
“So, how are you?” James asked Regulus.
“I’m… Good. And you?” the boy answered somewhat hesitantly.
“You’re not good though, are you? I know you're being dragged into marriage, and that’s not easy. I’m sorry that’s happening to you.”
“Your sympathy means nothing to me, James. It won’t change the facts, will it? Besides, how do you know I’m not happy about it? What if she is the love of my life and you’re just assuming that I dislike the fact we are getting married? It’s rude to make assumptions, you know,” Regulus scoffed, folding his arms over his chest.
“Well, is she the love of your life?” James asked him, nudging him with his shoulder. Regulus sighed, hesitating.
“Well… No. But that doesn’t mean anything!”
“It kinda does though, doesn’t it? You don’t love her. Come on Reg, -”
“Don’t call me Reg. We’re not friends, and we never will be. I don’t know what you think you’re doing here, but I suggest you get out of here before I get someone to remove you,” he snapped, glaring daggers at James.
“Woah there, okay. Whatever you say, Regulus,” James resigned, holding his hands up in surrender. He slowly started to step away from him, their eyes not leaving the others the entire time. That was until Regulus rolled his eyes and went back to looking over the expansive blue.
James didn’t want to leave him there alone, the fear of him jumping over the side was like an icy hand, gripping him and pulling at his heartstrings. But there was nothing he could do. Sighing, he turned away and made his way to the smoke room to catch up with Remus and Sirius.