Chapter 3
Regulus couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t that he had insomnia, although that did happen sometimes and when it did he tried to make it productive. It was that he wasn’t allowed to sleep. He had to work hard if he wanted to be on track for accolades. He would climb as high as it took, head boy, prefect, it didn’t matter. He would take what he could get. Would fight tooth and nail for it. To what end, he couldn’t quite say. Power? Sure who doesn’t want some of that. Recognition? A little positive attention never hurt anyone. But that’s not why he does it. Before he can fully ponder why , aside from the obvious expectations from his mother, a rustle sends his attention shooting to the stairs.
Regulus isn’t much for the supernatural, despite being literally magic. He’s sensible; not whimsical or especially spiritual. He had an affinity for the sciences, particularly astronomy. His normally level headed nature went out the window when he saw the Angel on the stairs. Surely that’s what this was, if not a beautiful ghost haunting the slytherin common room.
As he considers just how likely that option actually is given the numerous accounted for spirits in the castle, the figure steps closer, fully down the stairs now closer to the fire. The ethereal glow is gone, and he sees a well loved face in the firelight.
Their eyes meet like magnets.
“Oh!” Aurora spooks softly, before breaking into a smile “Reggie! You scared me!”
He loves that smile. It had taken weeks to coax that smile out.
When they first arrived, Rory let Pandora do the talking almost exclusively. She was polite, reserved. As the three spent more time together, the more Aurora opened up. Regulus felt like watching her was like watching the sunrise. It was slow at first, and then so bright.
The first time Regulus saw her smile; a real smile, was the day the post came.
They were eating breakfast, Regulus making his tea when Aurora dropped her cinnamon bun with a squeal. She always had something sweet for breakfast.
Dark head thrown back, Aurora continues to squeal, flapping her hands and pointing at the ceiling. The owls descend gracefully, parcels in tow. Wings flap, sending gusts of air whooshing around them and Regulus wishes he had a pensive to save this memory forever. The way Rory absolutely beams from ear to ear, hair blown back by wing-beats, as she watches the owls.
The visual of powerful wings brings him back to the present. Back to the girl in front of him in the patchwork robe.
“Your robe is so stupid” he says flatly.
“Says the nerd staying up late doing homework!” Rory huffs, plopping herself into the couch next to him, a thick red leather bound book in her lap. “Your face is what’s stupid” Rory grumbles, and he knows he’s winning.
“I mean corduroy and velvet? Pick a texture! Pick a struggle” he says grinning despite himself.
“Shut up you prat! Who made you fashion police anyway? It’s just my house robe it doesn’t need to be fancy”
No, after all who would she be trying to impress at 1am in the common room? Certainly not him. She hardly needs to try to impress him, she does it without even knowing.
He tries to do the coursework, he really does, but he’s a little distracted.
He chooses to blame the scratching noise of a pen in the quiet as he turns around to look at Rory, who is furiously scribbling in the red book.
“Sorry, but are you writing inside your book?” Regulus asks
“Well yes Reggie, as you see this a NOTEBOOK” she says the last word exaggeratedly slow, earning a long-suffering groan from Regulus in response.
“Forgive me I thought you were reading a book”
“Oh I’m doing that too” she says, turning to her side where she reaches into a comically large pocket in her robe and pulls out a tome.
“Oh my gods it has a pocket” he exclaims gleefully.
“Of course it does I had it made especially to fit a book”
“No you didn’t. Real people don’t do that”
Aurora gives him a quizzical look.
Regulus can only laugh because really who does that and who admits to it so freely. Surely no one can be so earnest, so unabashedly strange and wonderful. “Oh my god you did. You’re ridiculous.”
“I don’t understand what the problem is here, my robe didn’t have a pocket that fit a book, I solved that problem. Aren’t slytherins supposed to be ambitious?”
“Yes your house robe is very ambitious” he says dryly.
“Thank you that’s all I’ve ever wanted to hear” she says haughtily, eyes closed.
When she opens her eyes and meets his gaze, it’s suddenly serious. She leans in slightly, brows drawn together “you know I didn’t mean what I said earlier… about your face” Regulus must look as confused as he feels because she hurriedly rambles on “I said your face is stupid but I don’t actually think that, I quite like your face, very much in fact and um… I just didn’t mean that” she is gripping her hands in her lap now, wringing them as a blush creeps into her cheeks.
As her words and their meaning sink in, its Regulus turn to blush. He quickly turns his face the other way.
Desperate to change the subject, Regulus asks “What are you doing down here anyway? Can’t sleep? Do you need to go to the infirmary?”
He immediately regrets the last bit, he can practically see the wounds the words leave.
“No I’m fine. Panda- Pandora is snoring and yes I couldn’t sleep so…” she lets the sentence drop like a dead bird from the sky between them.
He curses himself for ruining this. Why does he have to ruin absolutely everything with his cold words.
The conversation flickers out after that. They murmur soft, half-hearted good nights and part ways at 3am.
Aurora wakes again at sunrise, jolting from dreams of wings.