Reunion
Evans pov:
You’d think to find Regulus Black would be easy, but no, its actually a bit of a struggle.
He doesn’t appear to be at his house nor is he easy to track down, so the only reasonable thing to do here would be to wait around, hiding near the Black Manor in hopes someone would enter or leave, in hopes Regulus would show up.
Evqns been at this for a week now, no one has.
He gives up once the week came to a close, beginning to believe Regulus has just completely disappeared from existence as we know it. He found Pandora in hopes she’d find something on the Black, if not, then he’s stuck. Again.
“he’s a hard man to find, however I did find a few unusual facts about the Black family as a whole”
“Such as?” Evan questions instructing Pandora to continue.
“Well, Orion Black was seen with a woman who people instantly assumed him to be having an affair with, Bellatrix Lestrange was seen speaking to herself and Andromeda’s daughter has already broken twenty-seven bones by the time she turned ten”
“How much of this is useful?” Sirius questioned, probably not caring enough about the family to hear another useless fact about them.
“Oh none, but Evan did ask” She looked back at her laptop, scrolled down a bit and spoke once again “Oh, but there’s this! Lucius Malfoy and Regulus Black last seen leaving Azkaban after presumably spending the night there when they were found drenched in blood which is believed to belong to the most recent victims of The Carty Junior, however there’s no evidence backing this claim as of yet. They avoided the press as they got into a black van with the driver being none other than Kreacher, The Black Family Butler. Witnesses claim the car headed towards Knockturn Alley before stopping outside The Hogs Head Bar and Inn before they were escorted inside.”
“Why didn’t you start with that? Evan said in a rush, as he quickly put his coat back on and grabs his car keys before heading out to go investigate the area for the man he seeks.
Not even a minute into Knockturn Alley and he’s been offered more drugs than he ever knew even existed, he turned them all down of course, unsure of what the affects were of them and he was on a job, no time for taking detours right now.
He was standing outside the Hogs head as he was brought to a halt, a man sleeping in the doorway blocking him from entering. Evan cautiously woke the man up, not wanting to scare him, he offers the man a drink and something to eat from within the bar, feeling terribly sorry for the man in front of him. The man moves without a second thought.
Evan hates Knockturn Alley for reasons just likes this, it just so happens to be the most run down part of London, most of the addicts and homeless people of England are found here, its horrible. He cant help but feel extremely grateful and lucky for the life he got, despite his father not making it easy, it was still better than where these people found themselves, his father gave him a home for eighteen years, that’s more than a quarter of what the residence of Knockturn Alley can say, it makes him sick.
Evan buys two sandwiches and two bottles of water for the man, earning a cheerful thank you in return, probably the most joy the man has had in a while, Evans happy knowing that he did that.
He heads back inside, hoping the man enjoys his food, and heads towards the counter, asking the barrister for Regulus’ destination to which he gets a harsh “None of your business” as an answer.
“Its okay, Aberforth.I know him” said a familiar voice from behind him, Evan turns around to be face to face with the man he’s looking for. Half dead but he’s there: Regulus Black in all his glory.
Before Regulus could run or Evan could regret anything, Evan pulled him into a tight hug meant for two friend who mean the world to each other, maybe they still do, both too stubborn to even think about it too much, but maybe. To Evans surprise, Regulus is fast to return the hug, something he would have tried to avoid entirely just a few years prior.
“I was looking for you” Evan states, arms still wrapped around Regulus who responds with “And so I heard” before he pulled away, avoiding Evans gaze, one thing that noticeably never changed about Regulus was his lack of eye contact, that was unless he had to, in this case, he didn’t have to.
“Think we should talk upstairs” Regulus led Evan to the room he was sharing with Lucius, which was made evident by the two beds in the room, which both were filled to the brim with notes and news articles and things in French and cursive that Evan couldn’t make out. They remained in silence as Evan examined the room before he got bored and decided to speak up.
“So, how’ve you been?” He looked down at a note that read at the top of the sheet in big, bold lettering ‘Azkaban Supplies’, before Regulus responded he picked up the note out of Evans eyesight, hiding it away then he said “I’ve been alright, what about you?”
“Yeah same, Azkaban supplies?”
“Fathers request. He’s fallen ill so has left his job to me and Lucius, as I’m sure you already know”
“Makes sense” In Azkaban, they use these pills on their ‘patients’ with the intention of them getting addicted and then they later on would begin to forget everything that made them human, these pills were created and supplied by Orion Black, Regulus’ father, so yeah, made complete sense, well other than the fact they’re practically drugging individuals for their own benefit, Evan disagreed with the whole procedure but felt the sudden urge not to argue, as he felt he had no right.
Instead, he said “How is he?” attempting to get somewhere with Regulus, get him to open up a bit, might work if he wasn’t a smartass.
“My Father? Doctors suspect its liver cancer” He picks up an article and eyes it as if its harmed him in someway as he speaks “Mother thinks its age. I think its deserved” he says the final bit looking up towards Evan, dropping the article on the bed again. Evan laughed but attempted to hide it behind a cough to which it made Regulus crack up a smile at the sound. At least he’s still capable of smiling, especially after everything he’s been through, Evan was terrified he had forgotten how after all this time, just as he almost had so many times before.
“Talking about your father, do you remember his knives?” The question caused Regulus to tense before his face grown into a sullen expression, at this, Evan misdirects the conversation to get more out of Regulus, hoping it’ll work. “He used to take us down to the lake to practice throwing knives at the fish”
“He said it was fishing”
“I believed him. We never did eat the fish afterwards though”
“Too much blood probably”
“More flavour?” Regulus pulls a disgusted face at Evans words before saying “We’ll never know”
“We wont. Did he continue doing that after I left?”
“No, he-“
“Or does he throw the knives at people instead?”
“Evan” Regulus says in a tone that instantly tells Evan to watch his mouth. He ignores the warning
“I mean- I’m not judging you mate. Just something tells me you’re doing more for your father than just delivering a bunch of drugs to the insane yknow?”
“You know nothing”
“I’m not that dumb Reg”
“Shut it”
“Why’re you so defensive all of a sudden? I was just asking”
“Well, stop asking”
“In school, I was the best at asking, teachers said so. I had an imaginative mind” He looks of at space as he says it, intending the clear message to get through.
“You asked them things in the weirdest ways, so I assure you now, it was not a compliment.”
“Yes, well it gave us less time to do any of the work so I take that as a win”
“Why’re you here?” Reg asks, suddenly remembering that Evan isn’t typically here with him, talking about their school time.
“To catch up?” Obviously.
“Evan”
“I’m working Reg, the least you can do is appreciate my presence here”
“You’re insufferable”
“Indeed, I am” Regulus rolls his eyes “Anyways-“ But before Evan could continue what he was saying, Regulus interrupts him.
“Lucius will be back soon; I think you should leave before he does”
“Reg”
“Leave”
“Why’re you here?”
“Whys that your business?”
“I’m your friend!”
“You were my friend. Now leave”
“Regulus”
“Now” He left no room for arguing so Evan did as he asked, he left, annoyed at the entire world for getting him to where he is today.
Peter’s pov: 2017
Leaving Azkaban really isn’t as easy as others make it out to be.
First of all, you have to go unnoticed
Secondly, you need an escape plan
Third, you need a distraction.
And forth, you fall into a trash shooter that takes you to the bins outside that then causes you to almost get crushed by the machine that are within the bin lorry, and then you scream as they go to dump you in.
Basically, Peter is not having a good time, technically now being on the run as well as escaping an insane asylum AND THEN he almost died. So yeah, great evening.
His first motive that comes to his mind as he walks the lonely alleyways of London was that he needs a place to stay, before he got himself in the position he’s in, he was roommates with Mary, and well, now would she really accept him back so easily? Possibly but its not worth the risk just yet. If only she was oblivious to everything that had taken place two-years ago then everything can go almost back to normal, if it wasn’t for the stab wound above Marlene’s stomach, and the comas Lily and James resulted in, and the anger bursting through Sirius as he ran after him.
Honestly, what did he think he was going to do? Peter had a knife, Sirius was defenceless, well he was until he led Peter straight to the police in his attempt to escape, the blood of his friends drenching over him from head to toe, ok so, maybe Sirius knew what he was doing but still, Mary would believe Peter right? After all, he needs a home.
Well, a home would be nice, but you know what would be cooler? living in a house without the owner knowing. As he walked and dodged streetlights, Peter ended up staring at the manor belonging to none other than Bartemius Crouch Senior and his son, the only person known to history to ever be let out of Azkaban, the only one. Peter would now take the title of being the only one to escape, unless they covered it up, but how would they catch them if not for the publics awareness of who they deem to be mad?
Peter waits outside the manor, waiting for anyone to leave or enter the building and when no one does, he goes to knock on the door only to find it already open. Well, he shouldn’t just leave a door open like this, so he enters and closes it behind him, making sure not to make much noise as he does so. He walks up the stairs, making no sound on his way, on the fourth step upwards however, the stairs creak, he freezes in place, and only moves when he’s sure no one had heard him.
He stares at the doors in front of him, unsure which one belongs to the junior, He walks further into the corridor until he halts at a slightly open door, unable to see further in, he pushes the door open, steps inside and closes it slowly, still not daring to be loud.
The rooms quite boring, no banners or posters in sight, nothing to resemble a teenage boys room, he goes to walk out but before he could he spots a photo frame led upon the bedside table, the photo consists of a group of friends standing outside a school he knew too well, Hogwarts, Peter recognised the whole friend group: In the centre was none other than Dorcas Meadowes, to her left was Pandora Greengrass and Regulus Black, to the right was Evan Rosier and, perfect, Barty Crouch Jr
So this must be his room, quite plain but that’s sort of expected now that he thinks about it, Barty never did have free rein over what he owned, his room appearing to be no different, especially after his time in Azkaban.
As he admires the photo, he comes to a halt as footsteps are heard making their way to exactly where Peter is, without thinking, he launches himself out of the window, he falls on his feet but stands up as fast as he could, ignoring any ounce of pain he may be in and runs, or limps, either way he leaves in a hurry, not even attempting to hide himself anymore, besides what’s the point in doing that when you can just live instead? So much easier than being suspicious when hiding, now that just brings the attention to you, you’re basically asking to be caught, so act normal, how hard can that be? Well, he’s running so maybe not as easy as he thought, but who cares?
He looks behind him once to make sure he is completely alone and that no one followed him before he stops running.
Well, he was going to stop running if he hadn’t bumped into another man, knocking both of them to their feet.
They both get up and apologise to each other before the other man walks away but not before Peter recognises him.
A tall, lanky boy, brownish hair that turns blonde in the summer, scars all over his face from the numerous fights he used to get in, the tiredness in his face that makes him look barely alive.
Remus John Lupin.
Holy shit...
“Remus?” Peter questions before he could get out of hear shot, He freezes before turning around cautiously and saying “Yes?”
“Remus! Holy shit, its me! Remember? Peter?” Remus’ face went through a million expressions at once. Confusion, worry, scared, Confusion again, alert, anger. Now why is he angry and why does that have to be the one he sticks to?
“Peter?” He says through gritted teeth “You’re not dead?”
“Why would I be dead?’ Now its Peters turn to be confused
“Because, well I don’t know Pete, maybe because a year ago James and Lily were attacked exactly one month after Marlene was and they repeatedly told everyone Marlene was right? That the reason she no longer has a family, their son may have to live with people who certainly wouldn’t raise him good, is because you, Peter, tried to kill them?”
“Oh, is that what they told you? Did Sirius say anything?”
“He hasn’t left the hospital since”
“Oh...” Now he has an idea, it could backfire but then again, it could work “Maybe not a good idea”
“Whys that?”
“Its just- everything he’s done to them, its not safe, he’s not safe Remus”
“I’m confused”
“Of course, you would be, being left in the dark. Didn’t Sirius think it was you who attacked the McKinnon’s?”
“It was a misunderstanding”
“Was it? Or was he just trying to pass of the blame?”
“You’re suggesting... Sirius wouldn’t”
“Neither would you but that didn’t stop him from blaming you"
“You’re lying”
“Am I? Sirius was always good at getting away with things, especially after what happened when he tricked Snivelus into-“
“Shut it”
“Right, sorry. But my point is, Remus, he’s done this before. Who’s to say he wont do this again?”
“But to James? Really? They’re like brothers”
“And you’re his boyfriend, that didn’t stop him”
“Ex... boyfriend now”
“Oh, the guilt must be terrible if it made him break up with you”
“I guess... Marys not far from here, how about you explain everything to us both then? Make sense of it all”
“I think its about time you guys know the truth. Yeah, lead the way”
“Right”
So that’s what they did, he convinced them of a lie and he was to go free, two wins in one night, that’s more than he’s ever gotten in his whole life.