unexpected letters
That I had to phone her friend to state my case
And say she's lost control again
And she showed up all the errors and mistakes
And said, "I've lost control again"
And she expressed herself in many different ways
Until she lost control again
And walked upon the edge of no escape
And laughed, "I've lost control"
January 4th, 1980
Regulus was still thinking about the dream, about what it had meant. he send the letters out first thing in the morning, like he had planned, he didn’t mention anything about the dream to Sirius, though; he didn’t want to seem like a baby who got afraid by some stupid nightmare.
classes would start again today, but it was obvious that students, and some professors, too, were still in a ‘vacation mood’, so they wouldn’t get much work done, anyway. not that Regulus cared very much, he had more than enough to think about, anyway.
like the dream.
and the sudden distance from the death eaters.
Regulus tried not to think about it too much, not like he could talk to anyone about it, except for Andromeda, maybe. the only thing he could do now was patiently wait for her response, and not die in the meantime.
“Reg, you need to eat something.” Barty ushered him, handing him some toast, which he declined. he was still nauseous from the nightmare.
“not hungry.” Barty sighed and eventually set away the toast basket.
“your choice, mate.” Regulus was the one to sigh now, leaning his head on the table, in between both his hands. he turned as the morning post came, Regulus sat up instantly.
an owl dropped a letter on his plate, which he grabbed instantly; the handwriting looks like Andromeda’s. he silently thanked whoever was in the clouds as he stuffed the letter into his bag.
“i uh,” he got up, almost falling over his own robes. “i need to grab something from the dorm, i’ll see you in class!” he yelled at Barty, who was now left alone at the table, since Evan had to pick up some book in the library.
Regulus ran down to the dungeons, once again almost falling over himself.
“palmarium ignis!” he whisper yelled at the wall, which quickly turned into a door. Regulus opened it, ran another set of stairs down to his dorm, finally sitting down on his bed. he opened the letter.
dearest Reg,
it is so great to finally hear from you, i was already starting to get worried the family got into your mind so much you stopped writing me.
Ted, Dora and I are doing absolutely well, hopefully that’s the same for you. obviously we need to be careful, i think we’re all in great danger. people who say the war is over are nothing but naive; it hasn’t even started yet.
i would love to see you soon, regarding your problems you wanted to talk about, i agree it’s saver not to talk about them over letters, since we never know who could read them.
i am hoping it’s something fixable, hopefully you are not in grave danger.
i also heard you’re talking to your brother again? he told me a bit ago, he is so very happy you guys get along again; he missed you.
stay safe, i am quite literally praying for you, even though i don’t really know what your circumstances are. but i do know you don’t ask for help fast, so it must be serious.
i am serious, stay safe, and for the love of god, don’t do stupid things you’ll regret. let me know when you’re able to meet me and where.
love,
Dromeda
Regulus smiled to himself; at least she was doing alright.
he cast another secrecy charm on the letter and stuffed it into his bedside table, along with the other letters that mattered, (Regulus had fallen into the habit of destroying every letter of his other friends, and left over family, that didn’t necessarily matter)
Regulus looked at his pocket watch; fuck. it was almost nine already, his class was divination, which was on the sixth floor… and he was currently in the dungeons.
yes, Regulus had been late for class that day; but since he never really caused any problems in class, professor Alodia let him get away with it for this one time, sparing him a lengthy night of detention.
he was currently in the library, studying for a Alchemy test that he had coming up. not many people were in the library at this hour, considering it was almost curfew, and no one wanted to risk a detention. obviously, Regulus wasn’t looking for one either, but he had already gotten away with something today, maybe his luck would appear again.
tick. tick. tick.
Regulus jumped up in his seat, dropping a couple of books while doing so.
just an owl.
“Godrick’s left fucking ballsack—” he murmured, opening the little window, grabbing the letters as the owl did an attempt in biting his finger.
“fuck off,” Regulus spoke to the owl, who just looked at him in confusion. “stupid owl.” the owl seemed to understand him, as it turned and flew away instantly.
the letter had an unfamiliar handwriting on it, which Regulus thought was a bit weird; why would a random person send him mail? he still opened the letter, with a bit more caution as usual, logically.
Regulus,
no ‘dearest’, or ‘hi’, or any type of greeting? that didn’t seem like something any of his friends would do.
it’s me, Peter.
oh no.
oh no.
it’s me, Peter. i know this is sudden, but i need your help and i didn’t know who else to ask.
the boys have been distant, they don’t tell me about anything, anymore. the last meeting of the order was months ago! normally we had them like, every week. i’m scared, Regulus. what if they somehow found out?!!
“fucking hell, Peter.” Regulus murmured under his breath.
do you know what i should do? i didn’t want to send this letter in the first place, but it seems necessary, now.
hopefully talk to you soon,
P.P
what. the. fuck.
Regulus groaned, this was everything he couldn’t use right now.
‘of course they’re distant!’ he thought. ‘because you fucking betrayed them.” Regulus knew he ought to write back, even though he wanted everything but to write him back.
he fished in his bag, finding a small piece of parchment. that would do.
Peter,
‘Ha.’ Regulus thought. ‘you not properly greeting me? i’m not properly greeting you.’ he snickered out loud, looking around instantly, he must look like a maniac. it didn’t matter, no one was around, anyway.
sorry to hear that, i’d assume everyone is just busy with the war; you know better than i as in what they’re up to. i also don’t know something you could do about it, but if you think they know what you’re up to, it’s best to stay away from them best as you can.
for your own safety.
keep me updated,
R.A.B
the more often Regulus reread the letter Peter had sent, the more he grew disgusted with him. he would never in his life, understand why Peter did what he did. Regulus had, in his short time as a member of the order, seen that life around them was much more fun. at least he didn’t feel like he was going to be brutally killed during one of the meetings.
January 7th, 1980
Regulus didn't get a letter back from Peter, not that he cared, but it still made him a bit uncomfortable. Sirius and Pandora had sent him a letter back; both telling him they were okay. Pandora said she’d love to meet him in Hogsmeade sometime, Sirius asked him some more questions about the muggleborns who didn’t come back to school.
“i hate this,” Evan groaned. “what’s the need in being able to read runes? people don’t even use them anymore.”
“friendly reminder that you chose this subject, Ev.” Barty said, he didn’t chose ancient runes back in their second year, so unlike Regulus and Evan, he didn’t spend a lot of his days translating books.
“i only chose it,” Evan skimmed through the letter he had to translate. “because Reg did. otherwise i would have never chosen it!”
“well, well, i’m flattered.” Barty laughed as he leaned back against the bookcases, Regulus started laughing too, and after a while, so did Evan. Regulus didn't even know what was so funny, something just was.
he kind of liked this; laughing for absolutely no reason for once. no war on his mind, no Peter on his mind.