Ship of Dreams
As Regulus sits inside the Renault touring car he's filled with insurmountable dread at the thought of his future. Sure, his future is considered to be better than the average person but no amount of money or galas could make it worth it for Regulus. At times, he dreams of what it would be like to be an ordinary seventeen year old boy, someone who did not have to think thrice about everything he said or did. The well manicured leather of the cars interior and the feeling of his fiancée- Thea Greengrass- pressed to his side prevents him from pretending he's just an ordinary boy. Regulus likes to describe himself as a boy because that's all he really is at the end of the day, just a boy. His mother expects him to uphold the families ridiculous beliefs and have an unnatural knowledge of politics that no normal seventeen year old would have. His older brother Sirius sits across from him staring disdainfully at the passing crowd outside the car. To most it looks as though Sirius is judging them, possibly disgusted by their lower social status but Regulus knows that really Sirius is just jealous. Regulus can't blame him, he feels the same pang of jealousy as he gazes at the surrounding crowd, they have freedom that both the Black brothers can only dream of, these people are not burdened by the weight of their families expectations. The car weaves through the crowd of excited passengers and weeping family members saying their goodbyes and Regulus knows that the car will stop soon and he will be expected to get out and board the ship.
Briefly he thinks he could not imagine weeping at the thought of leaving his family to go to another continent, he excuses Sirius from this thought knowing he would be upset at the thought of leaving his older brother, his saving grace at home. He does not want to leave the car, can't bring himself to want to leave the car, unable to pretend any longer to be happy with the thought of moving to America. After the passing of his father Orion, things started to move uncomfortably fast for Regulus. Suddenly he was being married off to a richer family, whispers of debt circulating around the house and an extra layer of pressure added from his mother to not let the family down 'like his brother'. He knew his mother relied on him to have an advantageous marriage for the family, Sirius threatening to leave should Walburga attempt to marry him off, claiming he was 'too busy' trying to repair the family business to a profitable state again.
The truth is when Sirius was fifteen he had came to Regulus, tears in his eyes telling him he didn't think he could ever marry a woman, whispering to him that he thought he was gay. They never really spoke about it after but Regulus swore to never tell anyone and Regulus came to him in a similar fashion when his mother told him of his arranged marriage to the older Greengrass girl. He had told Sirius of his problems and concerns but that he planned to go through with the marriage for their family, despite Sirius' protests that he shouldn't force himself into a marriage with a woman he could never properly love. Regulus had just shrugged him off, claiming he was doing what the family needed but staying quiet about how desolate he felt at the thought of never getting to be with someone he truly loved.
Regulus is snapped from his thoughts when the car comes to a stop, he holds in a sigh as he steps from the car, every part of him screaming to just run. Stepping out onto the dock he is admittedly in awe of the ship, impressed by the sheer size of the vessel before him. Instead of letting his surprise show, he keeps a cool mask of indifference on his face as he fixes his suit as though its more important than marveling at the ship in front of him
He turns to his fiancée as she joins his side " I don't see what all the fuss is about, surely it's not that grand of a ship it looks the same as all of the others", he says it in a flat, unbothered tone. He hates himself the minute the sentence leaves his mouth but he does it for the sake of appearance.
Thea turns to his mother as she descends from the car "Your son is a hard one to please Mrs. Black" she says in a lighthearted manner. Regulus holds back the desire to roll his eyes or scoff. If someone were to take the time to actually know him they would no that its not hard to please him, that expensive things hold no importance to him. Regulus leaves to go stand beside his brother leaving his fiancée to walk with his mother which he knows is 'improper' but he can't bring himself to care right now.
"Think the ship really is unsinkable?" his brother turns to him to ask as they start to walk toward the ship.
"I don't think any ship could ever truly be unsinkable, same as no car could ever be labelled as un-crashable" he answers drily. This makes Sirius huff out a laugh as he shakes his head and they turn to walk up the bridges leading them up to the doors of the ship. Their Uncle Alphard was actually a designer of the structure of the ship so of course the family are expected to believe the ship is unsinkable. Regulus does not doubt his uncles brilliance but believes it to be stupid to label a ship as 'unsinkable'.
As they walk up to the doors of the ship, Regulus can't help but notice the bias that exists between the different classes boarding the ships. While Regulus and his family are free to board the ship freely, only requiring their boarding passes at the door, the third class passengers are forced to go through health inspections and tougher security checks. His mother of course complained at having to walk passed 'such filth' upset that she had to walk along the dock like 'common people' instead of through a private terminal away from lower class passengers.
His mother turns to him as they enter the doors of the ship, "Stand up straight Regulus, set a good example raise your head and stop looking as though your heading to an execution" she whispers harshly at him. He clamps his mouth shut using all his effort not to retort that actually he thinks he would rather be attending an execution than right here, that anything is better than being dragged to America, expected to marry a woman that he barely knows and could never love. Excited chatter fills the air and Regulus feels helpless, like he is facing his doom. On the grandest ship in the world and he feels as though he's being dragged in chains, a prisoner in his own life.
Standing up straighter and taking his fiancée gently by the arm, Regulus moves forward into the ship.
James is restless. Completely unable to sit still, overcome with nerves and excitement at the possibility of winning this poker game. Remus is sat beside him, a wild look in his eye that he's sure is reflected in James' own eyes. They can see the Titanic outside which really is just incentive to win this game, they're sat inside a pub playing a game of poker against two Swedish men, the prize being two third class tickets to America on board the RMS Titanic. This is by far the highest stakes James has ever played for and the excitement of it has him almost vibrating in his seat but he schools his expression as to not give the Swedes any clues. The final whistle blows just after one of the Swedish men takes a card.
He looks up at the men around him " Alright, moment of truth. Somebody's life is amount to change".
The other three men put their cards down and James' heart is beating wildly, distantly he thinks his heart might burst before he even gets to put his cards down.
He turns to Remus, his best attempt at a sullen expression on his face "I'm sorry Remus..." Remus of course throws his hands up angry "Sorry?! What do you mean sorry ?! You lost all of our money!?" he starts shouting at James.
James raises his hand to silence him "I'm sorry Remus but it looks like you wont be seeing your mum for a long time" he says as he slams his full house of cards down onto the table in front of the other men so hard one of the drinks topples over.
"We're goin' to America!! Full house boys!" James is absolutely ecstatic. a wide grin splitting his face as he jumps screaming into Remus's arms waving the tickets and money around like a mad man "WE DID IT REMMY MY DEAR WE'RE GOIN' TO GET RICH IN AMERICA !!". The moment is ruined by the bar man interrupting them that the Titanic leaves in 5 minutes. "Shit Rem hurry get your stuff and c'mon!"
James has never felt such excitement as he runs shouting and cheering with Remus through the crowd toward the doors of the Titanic. He shouts half hearted apologies to the people he bumps into along the way, to happy to care about anything other than getting to the ship in time. When they reach the right place the officers are starting to detach the bridges and close the door, panicking James starts shouting "Wait! Wait! We're passengers" frantically waving the tickets as they run up the bridge. The officer at the door asks if they've been through the inspections which James easily lies and says they have which the officer seems wary of but he tells them to come aboard anyway. They jump over a slight gap between the bridge and the door and then they're in, he turns to thank the officer who nods at him in return and closes the door.
James and Remus are wearing matching grins looking like a pair of Cheshire cats unable to stop laughter bubbling up at the insanity of their situation. James grabs Remus and starts pulling him along running to go up to the deck of the ship to wave at the crowds. The deck is full of people, some of them teary-eyed waving goodbye to their loved ones. He pulled Remus along to a gap at the railings and starts waving madly shouting goodbyes and "I'll miss you!" to the crowd that look so far below because of the height of the ship, He keeps waving which leads Remus to asks him if he knows someone in the crowd. He laughs more, it feels like he'll never stop laughing really but he tells Remus no he just feels like rubbing it in their faces that he's on the ship and they're not, petty, but James doesn't care, too happy to care. Remus starts waving then too, his own 'I'll miss you's" and "I'll never forget you!". The ship starts moving then and that's when James gets even more excited. He has been on ships before, done his fair share of travelling but none of the ships as incredible as this one, none have been nicknamed "The ship of dreams" or been given the title of 'unsinkable'.
The boys eventually stop waving but the grins are yet to leave their faces, James doesn't think he's ever been this happy and even though his cheeks hurt from smiling he can't bring himself to stop, too happy with his current situation. He grabs Remus' arm again, tugging him to go and find their rooms. They walk through different parts of the ship each part just as beautiful as the last. Even as they reach the third class quarters, the quality is better than most places James has stayed. The corridors are narrow, luggage lined against the walls and there is many people around as they try to find their rooms or exploring, kids chatter excitedly as they walk passed James , some people giving him a nod as they pass. They reach their room, G60 with Remus entering before him and stealing the top bunch which he ruffles his hair for, pushing him slightly on the bed. He turns to the other men in the room and introduces himself, instead of offering their own introduction one of them, the burlier one, James notices turns to him "Where's Sven?". James assumes their friends with the Swedes they won the tickets off of and not knowing how to answer, he turns to Remus asking if he would like to go explore the rest of the ship with him. Of course, Remus agrees and the two boys set out to explore their new home for a few days, the excitement of the journey ahead not wearing off at all.
Regulus can admit, the suite his family has booked is rather nice, with multiple rooms spanning from B52 to B56, arguably more rooms than needed though. Regulus doesn’t complain though because it’s easier for him to put more space between himself and Walburga while still being within the suite so that Regulus won’t need a ‘babysitter’ in the form of Mr. Slughorn who his mother has follow him almost everywhere. Slughorn has been in the family for years, overseeing business with Orion or employing staff for the house, tasks that Walburga and Orion believed they were above doing. Regulus takes in the room around him, the wood of the walls dark with gold detailing around the edges of the doors and the wall panels. a fireplace sits nestled into the wall, a large mirror with golden edges sits above it. There’s a table in one corner, already set with expensive china and more cutlery than a person really needs. There’s a teapot placed in the center a few dainty china cups around it with a blue flower pattern decorating the cups. There’s some chairs and couches around the room too, none of them looking particularly comfortable in Regulus’ opinion. The workers carry in their things, his mother and Mr. Slughorn directing them specifically where to put things. Regulus never liked Mr. Slughorn, he always insisted on calling Regulus “m’boy” as though they were friends but then reporting Regulus’ every move to Walburga.
When some of the workers start to carry though Regulus’ paintings, he decides to help them not because he doesn’t necessarily trust them but just because he always feels more comfortable handling them himself and also out of pity for the workers. He picks up a personal favourite of his ‘Les Demoiselles D’Avignon’ by Pablo Picasso, holding it up to the light and marveling in he beauty of the piece. Thea comes through from the balcony adjacent to the room, complaining to Regulus about why he keeps so many paintings, claiming that they have no real value, a waste of money.
This slightly angers Regulus but he responds calmly “Well Thea you find your value in your dresses and jewellery and I find mine in my paintings”
“Yeah but it’s not like half of these artists will ever amount to anything” she responds to him as though she’s bored already.
“Maybe he won’t but I like the colour they add to the room” he decides not to push on the fact that all of the artists in his collection deserve to be famous painters, their works are incredible in Regulus’ opinion
“Yeah well at least they were cheap anyway” she responds dismissively.
Regulus sighs as he puts the painting down, he would love to put his money toward supporting artists, buying their work and displaying it to the world in a great museum. He knows his mother would never let him, claiming art to be a waste of money a similar view to that of his fiancée. He pities them, for not being able to see the beauty that lies within a painting, to see the story the artist is telling us, the feelings they have and how they’ve chosen to express them with colour and different images, every artist different and unique. He’s pulled from his thoughts when Thea grabs his arm, not affectionately but possessively as she asks him to accompany her to the first class lounge.