Seventeen Going Under
“Ahhhhh they’ve done it again!”
“Fuck this song is amazinggg!!!!”
“Ughhhh I relate too much.”
“ I wonder if it’s to do with a new album.”
“ I’m on my knees for them”
It’s been three weeks since ‘Homesick’ was released and the support and love for the song was given out in spades. It has also been a month since the band flew back to Italy. For now, everything was peaceful. The topic of Sirius and James was blessedly ignored until they got back to England. No one wanted to ruin the tentative serenity surrounding their home by the sea in Italy.
The band took to roaming their private beach in Sicily, Regulus would write in one of his many tattered journals and eventually become victim to whatever new recipe Pandora concocted. Barty and Evan would go on dates some days and come home to drag the other two to restaurants and bars all over the island. Some days they’d take the boat to the mainland and find themselves all the way over to Naples or Rome.
It was on one of these excursions that Pandora met him. Regulus remembered her mentioning the name Xylophone, Xeniphlil Xenophilius? Yes, that was it. He was a tall man, taller than Regulus with startlingly white hair. He could see why Dora would like the man but Regulus was already far too pale for the man to appeal to him.
They spoke a few times after, the man coming to visit Pandora on weekends. It was the first weekend of August when Dora ran out onto the beach where Regulus laid reading and jumped on him. “HE ASKED ME ON A DATE!”
Regulus groaned as she landed on his back. As light as Dora was, Regulus, though tall, weighed just a little more than her. “Yes, kill me before your date, why don’t you? Would you like me to dig a hole here to throw my body in or will dumping me in the sea suffice?”
“He asked me on a date lionheart, a date!” Dora ignored him as she gushed about the way he asked her, “ He brought me seashells and shark teeth because he knew I liked collecting them and then he gave me this wooden box with spices from his garden! Isn’t that lovely?”
“Absolutely amazing Dora, now do you mind, I don’t know, sitting anywhere else but on top of me?!” Regulus sighed in relief as she moved so he could flip over. His shades fell down his nose as he sat up to watch her vibrate in excitement. Her dress swished around her ankles as she swayed in front of him. “When’s the date?”
“Tonight at eight, and since Evan and Barty are out doing God knows what, you’re gonna help me pick an outfit.” She grinned. Regulus couldn’t help but smile at her fondly. He loved seeing his friends happy though he’d never admit to such a thing.
“If I must.”
After three hours of helping Pandora get ready, he left her to go change from his beach shorts and polo into black joggers and hoodie. Just as he was finished, a loud knock sounded throughout the house. He passed by Dora’s room to let her know he got it before making his way downstairs. Xenophilius, he must admit, looked good in cream slacks and shirt, his hair pulled into a bun.
“Hello again.” The man smiled.
Instead of answering him or letting him in, Regulus leaned against the door staring at the man. Usually, people were unnerved by Regulus’ stare. His eyes held the hue of storm clouds, some would say he had dead eyes and would flinch from his unwavering stare. Others would simply look away. Xenophilius he noticed held his eyes naturally, his smile turning sheepish.
“I have a lab in the basement with cyanide. There is a bottle filled with Belladonna in the kitchen and the drawing room has bottles of inland taipan venom I acquired on a trip to Australia a few years ago.” Regulus welcomed, grinning a bit unhinged as he opened the door wider for the man, daring him to come in.
Xenophilius simply smiled back, stepping into the foyer. “You’d have to tell me about that trip sometime.”
Regulus hummed, circling the man and examining him. “ I should warn you that Pandora comes with Barty, Evan and I. If you date her you tie yourself will all of us. I assume you already know that though.” Regulus stopped in front of the man to gauge his reaction. The man nodded in confirmation.
“I am a wealthy man, Xenophilius and so are my counterparts. We are not afraid of a little gore. Do you understand Xeno? May I call you that? Yes, you see we all come with suitcases filled with skeletons. Are you prepared for what being seen with us means as musicians? If not, I suggest you pack your feelings up and go.”
Regulus had seen one too many instances where someone wanted to date them but weren’t prepared for their loyalty and attachment to one another. Jealousy was a prominent reason why both himself and Pandora rarely dated. The four band mates barely had any boundaries with eachother. They all craved physical touch.
This was the reason some of their fans think they were all in a poly relationship. They almost always held hands or kissed each others’ cheek or even sat on one another. It was something partners of the two found trouble with even though they were always reassured that they were not only platonic but siblings in all but blood. Nevermind that Regulus himself and Evan were gay or that Pandora was pansexual and Evan's twin or even that Barty was bisexual and happily in love and dating Evan.
“I’m sure.” Xeno said with the uttermost certainty as he stared at Regulus unflinchingly. Perhaps this one’s here to stay after all.
Soon enough Pandora skipped down the stairs coming to stand beside them. “Hi.”
“You look lovely.” Xeno looked at her with an absolutely besotted smile.
“So do you.”
It took everything in Regulus not to gag at the sweet moment. If they didn’t hurry up and leave with all their sunshine and giggles Regulus might seriously lose the contents of his stomach on the marble floor. Pandora seemed to know this as she turned to smile at him. “ I’ll be back by midnight.”
Regulus hummed and moved to open the door to get them to leave faster. Pandora giggled and took Xeno’s hand, dragging him out the door but not before kissing Regulus’ cheek. “Don’t set the house on fire!”
With that she was gone.
Closing the door, he headed to the kitchen for a much needed cup of coffee.
Just as he began to pour himself a cup there was a knock on the door. Groaning, he wondered if Barty and Evan forgot their keys again. Regulus wretched the door open ready to throw a teaspoon at them but was met with startling ice blue eyes.
“Little star.” Narcissa Black in all her finery stood smiling softly up at him, her blonde hair longer than he’s ever seen it. She wore a knee length floral dress he noticed was of her own design and was most likely apart of her new collection. It’s been a few months since he’s seen her because of both of their hectic schedules, him and his tour around Europe and the Americas, and her with her fashion shows across the globe
“Cissa.”
In a blink, they were hugging or rather hanging on to eachother for dear life. They were both each other's favourite cousins and both left the Black family and their shit together. They understood their places in that family and what it took to survive, even if it meant losing themselves in the process. They understood eachother and when the time came that Regulus was done with their family’s bullshit, they gathered what they needed to survive and ran.
Cissa at the time moved in with her girlfriend and her family whilst Regulus stayed in a hotel with his friends until the last of his school year began.
Pulling back from the hug, Regulus ushered her inside, relieving her from her suitcase before leading her into the drawing room. “Tea or coffee?”
“Coffee please, I’ve been up for thirty hours. I need it.”
Making his way to the kitchen he fixed them both a cup and sat opposite her. She took a dainty sip before setting it down on the tea table. Regulus could tell that she was excited about something that ultimately led her here. Of course it wasn’t strange for Narcissa to visit him or him, her but not on a Friday night with a suitcase in tow and an almost satisfied look in her eyes. He noticed the way her lips quirked and her head tilted as she got lost in her thoughts for a moment.
He was intrigued. Did she kill someone with her lack of patience? Did she blackmail one of her competitors into collaborating with her? All fairly good questions seeing as she too was a Black where madness was very much a prominent personality trait.
“Your mother is dead.”
Regulus choked as the burning liquid went down the wrong side of his throat. He began to cough out a laugh as he tried to breathe. Cissa, seeming to take pity on him came to pat his back. A minute later, his coughing fit calmed and Narcissa took her seat opposite him. “Fuck, you can’t just say things that Cissa!”
“What? It’s true. Your dearest mother is dead.” Regulus’ eyes were wide as he stared at her searching for a lie or joke anywhere in her expression. There was none.
She was dead.
He smiled. As morbid as it is, he felt peaceful at the news. There was no love lost in that relationship. No. His mother was a cruel woman, abusive and cold. He grew out of craving her love, he no longer carved himself into something to please her or lay awake at night wondering if he made the right decision in leaving.
“The lawyer called me trying to get ahold of you. Apparently the wicked witch decided to leave all of her assets to you.”
Narcissa took seemingly uninterested sips of her coffee, staring at Regulus as his eyebrows raised higher and higher. “From what the lawyer told me, Wallburga wrote Sirius completely off of her assets and tried to do the same to you but there was some clause Grandfather had in place that denounced it. Though apparently before Orion died, he forbade her from writing off both of ‘his sons’ from any of his assets. She made sure to keep that quiet though.”
If Regulus wasn’t stunned before, he was completely incredulous now. His father was a successful businessman and when he died it was said that his business was passed onto family friends and his assets split as he no longer had heirs. Clearly that was a lie. Then it hit him, Walburga left her shit to him.
“Fuck. Please tell me I don’t have to organize her funeral.” Cissa simply stared at him with a shit eating grin as he pleaded to the Gods.
“I’ll help you plan.”
—
James watched as Sirius paced their flat. Moony and Wormtail were seated next to him watching as their friend spiraled. Sirius’ older cousin Andromeda called to break the news of his mother’s death that morning. Tomorrow, she explained, was the funeral if he wanted to make an appearance. They were doing the burial in Scotland, a place his mother hated.
Sirius’ parents' lawyer called soon after, wanting to discuss assets of both his Father and Mother after the funeral with him and his brother.
James knew that Sirius wasn’t spiraling because of Walburga. He knew that his brother didn’t care for that woman. It was Regulus that made Sirius pace across the flat. It was Regulus that made James’ palms sweaty and his leg shake as he watched Sirius lose his mind. It’s been almost two months since they saw him. Two months after they unknowingly went to his concert and two months after Pandora clocked Sirius in the face in a rage.
Everything they knew seemed to fall apart that night.
Marlene, who they’ve known since they were eighteen and was Remus’ manager had gone off on them asking questions after questions that they barely knew the answers to. Her girlfriend, Dorcas, was the one to calm her down in the end and had them all herded into James’ flat.
It wasn’t like they didn’t know Regulus and his band were some of the biggest musicians in the world. They did. They just didn’t know that he left that family a year after Sirius. They didn’t know that he had no contact with them or that he wasn’t following in his father’s footsteps.
When Marlene told them she had a surprise and to get ready for a badass concert, they did so without question, simply trusting Marls as she got them free tickets. For years it was an unspoken rule to never listen to Regulus’ music, fearing that it would hurt too much to hear. Fearing the final nail in the coffin as they already knew that their Regulus was gone.
He wasn’t.
They sat through his concert and listened, watching as he moved on stage and interacted with the crowd. James watched as Regulus’ friends made up the band, joking and charming the masses. It was then, at the final song that made James grab hold of Sirius. It was who they dedicated the song to that made him not only cry but oh so confused.
After all Regulus was the one who left first wasn’t he? He was the one who betrayed them, took James’ heart and stomped on it. Didn’t he?
Dorcas didn’t explain much about the group. All she said was what was apparently common knowledge, that they had abusive families which they left at seventeen and was discovered that year by her father’s record label. She said that Regulus was a mastermind who poured his feelings into his music and created the biggest hits of the decade. That he’d been badly hurt and the three other band members were unhealthily protective of him because of it.
Remus pinched James to bring his attention back to the present, signaling that they were talking. “What?”
“I said that we’re going to the funeral.” Sirius announced as he stopped pacing.
“Pardon?! You’re telling me that you want to willingly go to your bitch of a mother’s funeral?” To say James was confused was an understatement.
“Think about it, Prongs, she’d probably be rolling in her grave if I showed up with you lot and since we’re there I’d get the meeting with the lawyer over with.” Padfoot grinned a little shakily as he collapsed on Remus’ lap.
“Sirius…” James trailed off but was interrupted by Peter who said what they all were thinking. “You’re going to ambush Regulus at her funeral aren’t you?”
“That’s not– ”
“It is Pads. Look, I’m not saying that your feelings aren’t valid, especially with the topics in the music Regulus puts out. All I’m saying is that we may not know the full story. I’m saying that instead of using that righteous anger that you have, maybe calmly talk to him. That goes for you too James. It’s been what? Seven years? People change.”
At some point during his rant Peter got up to sit on the coffee table to look between his boys as they warred with their emotions. The last two months were tortuous on him and Remus as they had to deal with Sirius’ bitter anger and James’ lost looks.
Both he and Remus have come to a sort of conclusion that something was abysmally wrong in the story Sirius and James told them verses what they inferred from Regulus’ music and interviews. Hell the two boys practically stalked the boy’s posts after that night in the club.
“If I promise to be calm and on my best behavior will we go?” Sirius broke the silence as he thought over the blond boy's words.
The three marauders eyed each other before hesitantly agreeing.
—
This was the most fun Regulus had since touring. As Narcissa promised, she was vital in organizing Walburga’s funeral. They made it a sort of game, planning it in a way they knew the stuck up bint would be appalled at.
It was a closed casket funeral in a random town in the highlands of Scotland close to the town of Hogsmeade and their boarding school, Hogwarts. Paying for a plot to bury her was easier to organize than what Regulus was expecting. Narcissa handled the seating and the funeral programs, making everything white, golds and sage green. Elegant and Classy but something Walburga would detest and most likely claim was tasteless for a funeral.
Regulus adored the light colours.
He sat furthest from the priest with Narcissa, her wife Alice, Barty, Evan and Pandora. They were all dressed in white, a new beginning or something along those lines Pandora had said. They took up that whole row and left it open for straying family members and by straying, Regulus meant disowned.
“Greasy bald man in blue at the back, he’s literally only here for the food! Did you see him grab a few sponge cakes and stick them in his suit jacket?” Evan whispered just loud enough for the little group to hear.
“Woman with very long chin hairs in the third row is trying to touch up her friend’s husband but seems very unsuccessful and uncomfortable with the way her hand is bent behind her.” Pandora hummed as she rested her head on Regulus’ shoulder. Most would think that she’s seeking comfort due to the circumstances but in reality she was trying to eat the toffee cake Narcissa bought her that morning.
“Four young men just showed up, one in extremely tight leather pants and sunglasses, the others are more tamer in varying shades of red, also wearing sunglasses.” Alice whisper-shouted to them as she snuck glances behind her to the quickly approaching men.
Regulus could feel Narcissa and Pandora tense form both sides of him. He was sure Barty was gripping Evan’s hands for dear life as Regulus himself was trying to control his breathing. None of them actually thought that Sirius would show up. He didn’t for Orion and he despised Walburga enough to not care, so what the fuck.
Regulus finally tensed as he heard them settle behind him, murmuring pleasantries that none of them acknowledged. It was just as the priest began to commence the service that he heard the girlish giggles and his name being called.
Andromeda’s three year old daughter came bounding up to Regulus, trying to crawl into his lap. “Hello, darling.”
“Hiya!”
“We have to whisper before the old bats get mad at us little Nymph. You don’t want me to get in trouble do you?” Regulus widened his eyes and put his finger to his lips. The smart little girl that she was mimicked him.
“Nymphadora!” Regulus heard his cousin whisper shout to her daughter, making Narcissa giggle as she pretended to hide the little girl who Pandora was trying to feed piece of her cake.
Turning in his seat, he almost flinched as he saw who took the seat directly behind him. Almost. Dragging his eyes from the tan man that decided to show up to a fucking funeral looking like sin, he looked at Andromeda who was in the row behind them with her husband and reassured her. “She’ll be fine Andy, don’t worry.”
If Sirius made a noise of disbelief Regulus pretended not to notice, turning back around and holding the little girl who Pandora continued to feed her cake.
Ten tense minutes into the service, Alice, the absolute angel she was, broke it by continuing their game. “ Short, skinny woman in the second row, furthest left. She’s desperately trying to get one of the business men’s attention by pulling down her blouse. For fucks sake she’s not even wearing a bra! It’s a goddamn funeral.”
Regulus placed his hands over the little Nymph’s ears as Alice gagged at the woman who was trying to show off something she clearly didn’t have. Evan and Barty sniggered trying and failing to hold in their laughter while Narcissa turned up her nose and snorted. Pandora focused on another piece of cake, this one seemed to be a chocolate one which Evan bought her that morning as well.
Not moving his hands from the little girl’s ears, Regulus slightly turned and nodded his head at the back row of seats. “Pompous arsehole in the back, also at the far left, is trying to gossip about us." "Hmmm…something about being us being fags. Nope, the guy in front of him just told him how rich we were and that somehow we weren’t disowned?" Cissa murmured as she read their lips. "Oh my, he’s now denying that we’re not gay. Alice, they’re going to look over in a few, do kiss Cissa in a comforting way.” Regulus snorted as one of the men made eye contact with him.
Something few people knew about Regulus was that he had a petty streak miles wide. So when the rest of men in question looked their way and saw Alice pull an exasperated Narcissa into a kiss , Regulus had no choice but to wink, making them turn oh so quickly to face the priest.
Bloody fucking homophobic cunts.
“Bloody fuck lionheart, did you see how red they turned? Should I cancel our little show at Hogshead and plan a rendezvous for you three?” Barty teased as he reached over to ruffle Reg’s hair, who in turn slapped him making Nymphadora giggle.
“Gods no Crouch, little star has much, much, much better taste in men than whatever they are.” Narcissa sneered as she glanced at the men from the corner of her eye, pointedly raising her voice to get her point heard to the eavesdropping quartet behind them.
It was a silent moment after, the only sounds were of the priest’s voice and some ones shifting in their seats.
“Did he just fucking stick a whole cannoli down his throat!” Evan gasped out, breaking the growing silence. Not even trying to hide who they were judging, the six of them spun around to see a man indeed shove cannolis down his throat.
“Those poor cannolis.” Pandora mourned, picking off piece of a third cake and handing it to Nymphadora who nodded solemnly and whispered, “Fucking c’nolis!”
“Oh shit!”
“Evan!”
—
Sirius was sure he had entered a fever dream as soon as he arrived at the funeral. Everything was light and sweet. There were tables stacked with tea plates and various pastries for guests. Sirius expected dark decor and a stifling air to surround the funeral, after all it was his mother’s favoured son who planned it.
Sirius faltered the moment he came to the burial site where the service was to be held. On one side, there was a sea of almost never ending persons with stiff spines and perfectly practiced faces. That was not what caught his attention, no, it was a cluster of seats, three rows off to one side where a row of people in white sat.
The attendant giving out programs asked Remus a question before she was ushering them over to the group in white who seemed to stop their muttering and giggling. It was only when his favoured cousin came to sit behind him that he snapped out of his daze.
It was only watched as his newly little cousin skipped over to his brother and settled herself onto his lap that he made a noise and squeezed Remus’ hand. He watched as Regulus turned, eyes barely glancing at James who was behind him before telling Andy something.
Sirius watched and listened as those in front him whisper-gossiped and laughed as if they weren’t at a funeral. He watched as they eased into eachother with practiced comfort and joked all the way through the funeral, not even getting up to view the body or rest flowers on the coffin.
Sirius watched and watched and watched until James’ hand found his. Crouch had said something or the other about a performance at Hogshead and Narcissa Black, ice princess the last he saw her raised her voice loud enough for their little section to hear.
“Gods no Crouch, little star has much, much, much better taste in men than whatever they are.”
Sirius got lost in his mind after that. He felt as if in the matter of a second everything he knew was no longer right. He’s no longer that hot headed teenager who acted before they think. He felt as if the world flipped on its axis. These were not the people he thought them to be. No, not at all.
He had to talk to Regulus. He had to ask about what Dorcas was talking about. He had to ask about Narcissa and her girlfriend? He had to ask about what happened after he left.
“We’re going to see them at Hogshead tonight right?” Peter was the one to snap Sirius out of his daze this time.
“Pardon?”
“Regulus is performing at Hogshead. Are we going?” Peter reiterated, pointedly looking around them as people left.
“Yeah, yeah we are.”
—
“Aberforth!” Barty yelled as they entered the refurbished pub.
Aberforth was the grumpy owner of Hogshead that took a liking to their friend group when they attended Hogwarts. The older man practically adopted them as firsties and as they grew, allowed them to play their songs for the inhabitants of the night. As soon as the four came into abundant money from their songs after they were discovered, the fixed up the Pub and gave it light again.
“I hear ye’ boy.” Aberforth grumbled as Barty threw himself at the man. Evan and Pandora followed, dropping the equipment to hug the man. Regulus was more subdued in his excitement, carefully laying his guitar on a table before throwing his arms around the man.
“Nice to see you too, Abe.” Regulus murmured before pulling back.
“Alright, alright that's enough now.” Aberforth sighed, peeling them off of him. If one of them saw the quirk of his lips as they resisted, no one said a thing.
It was nearing eight when they had to be on stage but Regulus didn’t know what song to perform. Usually he could psychoanalyse himself and what he was feeling then come up with a set list from that. Now though, he internally freaked out. He’d done both grand and small shows like this numerous times all over the world without hiccups.
Tonight seemed to be different and his band seemed to sense this. They were all gathered in the kitchen of the pub when Aberforth came in and saw them on the floor. “What’s wrong with ye this time?”
“Reg doesn’t know what to sing.” Pandora quipped as she rubbed Regulus’ head as if that would magically give him an answer.
Aberforth seemed to take the dilemma seriously and pondered on it for a moment before responding, “The one you wrote here in that little nock in the back of the bar. You were seventeen I think, just came back from that hospital, the posh one.”
Regulus remembered that night. He had snuck into the hospital down south because someone let it spill that Orion was on his deathbed. He had gone to see the man who stood by and let his wife abuse his children, not even knowing what he’d do when he saw him. He had yelled that night. Screamed at the man until his throat hurt then ran out of the hospital and cried when he had the audacity to apologise. The fucking cunt. He died an hour later.
“Seventeen Going Under.” Regulus whispered then groaned, “You’re going to make them cry tonight Abe.”
“Eh, I have rum to soothe.”
“You’re finally going to sing that one for us are you?” Barty grinned, smacking a kiss on Reg’s cheek before jumping to his feet and pulling Evan up with him. “Hurry up, I’ve been begging for years to hear this one!”
Pandora giggled and pushed Regulus off of her to stand with Barty. “I’ve been dying to hear this one too, lionheart, come on!”
Regulus groaned then sighed, letting Pandora yank him up. Abe ruffled his curls affectionately before shooing them out of the kitchen.
“Remember how to play it?” Regulus questioned, knowing fully that they never forget something that they’ve played, bloody musical geniuses that they are.
Soon enough they were all gathered on stage. Wolf whistles echoed throughout the pub as Regulus rolled up his sleeves, showcasing his many tattoos. Grabbing his guitar, he adjusted the mic stand and grabbed a stool for him to sit on.
They played out the first few notes, just in case before actually beginning.
“Welcome everyone. Tonight we’ll be performing something new for you.” Evan began playing a low drum roll as he spoke.
“This is a song we’ve been highly anticipating as none but our darling lionheart here knows the lyrics to.” Barty smirked, teasingly bowing towards Regulus.
“This one’s called Seventeen Going Under and if anyone sees me crying, no you don’t.” Pandora chimed in, following Barty in his banter and wiggling her eyebrows at Regulus. Gods, they were such children. But they were his and he loved them for it.
“This song I wrote here actually, believe it or not, when I was seventeen. It…it means a lot to me and if it wasn’t for the owner of the Pub, none of you would hear it.”
Evan snorted into his mic while Pandora got mock offended and Barty muttered “Lies”
Rolling his eyes Regulus looked over the crowd, finding Narcissa and Alice easily as they whistled and cheered, clearly having had their own fair of drinks. As he looked on again, his eyes landed on the bar where four men stared at him with varying expressions, mainly that of curiousity.
His eyes locked in on his brother’s before he firmly looked away and said, “ Here’s to Seventeen Going Under.”
“I remember the sickness was forever”
His fingers moved in muscle memory as he sang, looking up at the ceiling and remembering those times
“The fist fights on the beach, the bizzies round us up
Do it all again next week”
He remembered the days when Barty would go looking for trouble, hoping it’d get back to his father. He remembered always stepping in, Evan by his side as whatever boys they were fighting inevitably said something wrong.
“Crying like a child
And the boy who kicked Tom's head in
Still bugs me now”
His eyes snapped to Sirius’ as he sang, unconsciously seeking out his brother as he remembered the time one of his football mates sent Sirius to the hospital wing. He had cried that day and never left his brother’s side.
“I was far too scared to hit him
But I would hit him in a heartbeat now
That's the thing with anger
It begs to stick around”
Regulus’ voice grew angry as he sang, still staring at Sirius. He remembered the way Orion apologised. He remembered the look in his eyes as Regulus finished shouting, remorse. He asked for forgiveness that night and Regulus refused him. He never regretted it.
“It makes you hurt the ones who love you
You hurt them like they're nothing
See I spent my teens enraged
Spiralling in silence”
His gaze drifted to James then. He knew he hurt him when he asked for a break, some space to figure out his mess of a life. James deserved better than a boy who couldn’t love him in the light and Regulus was going to give him the world if it meant changing. But James didn’t wait for him, oh no. He went back to the girl he always loved. And maybe Regulus deserved it for flying too close to the sun.
“I see my mother
The DWP see a number
She cries on the floor encumbered”
Closing his eyes he sang the last few lines. He held his mother when Sirius left. He comforted her and lied to her saying that of course he’d never leave her. No, he’d stay with her. He held her while Orion sat back and watched his wife have a meltdown of her own making. Regulus didn’t stay long after that.
“I'm seventeen going under”
“I'm seventeen going under”
“I'm seventeen going under”
“I'm seventeen going under”