Regulus groans as the phone rings in the other room, getting up from grading to pick it up, “Hello?”
“Reg, come here right now, you need to see this,” Sirius excitedly tells him.
“Sirius, it’s 8 o’clock at night on a Tuesday and I’m a professor,” Regulus stresses, “What the hell do you want me coming over at this hour for?”
“No, you need to see it because if I say it you won’t believe me,” Sirius replies, “It’s going to make your week, I promise.”
Regulus sighs, “I swear to God, if this is stupid I’m never believing you again.”
“It’s not, no, just come here,” Sirius tells him, “I’ll see you at my flat.”
“Unfortunately I’ll be there,” He sighs, hanging up the phone before slipping on shoes and going down to the closest floo, happy that he isn’t seeing anyone in the hallways and that he ended up working late so he’s still dressed. He grabs some floo powder, calls Sirius’ address, and throws down the powder.
He appears in Sirius’ flat, seeing Sirius sitting at his dinner table looking at the fireplace.
“Reg, come here, you need to sit,” Sirius urges him over, Regulus walking over and taking a seat in front of him.
“What on Earth could be this important?” Regulus questions.
Sirius doesn’t say anything, just sliding the piece of paper he’s holding across the table. Regulus takes it and starts reading the oddly short note.
To Sirius Orion Black III and Regulus Arcturus Black,
It is with great regret that we inform you of the death of Walburga Irma Black. If her uncounted fortune is not collected in the next 14 days by her chosen heirs, you will be contacted with a method of inheritance as her next of kin.
We send our deepest condolences for your loss.
Regulus has to read it a few times for it actually to sink in, looking up at Sirius with his mouth agape, “She- she- she’s-”
“Mhm,” Sirius nods, the biggest grin on his face, “She’s dead, she’s finally fucking dead.”
Regulus just shakes his head, unable to fight the smile that spreads across his face, “We shouldn’t be happy.”
“Hell yes, we should! That woman tormented us for years, I’m thrilled she’s six feet under,” Sirius kicks him under the table, “You’re smiling, you can’t even deny you’re happy.”
“I-I mean,” Regulus starts, but he’s so caught off guard that he can’t even say anything. It’s so completely overwhelming, but not in a bad way. He and Sirius had been waiting years for her to finally get out of their lives and the fact that it’s finally here is just terrifying to him.
“It’s a lot, but it’s- it’s perfect, Reg,” Sirius presses, “We'll never have to worry about her again, she’s gone.”
“Mhm,” Regulus hums in affirmation, looking down to read the letter again.
“Do you see why I had to have you come here?”
“Yeah,” Regulus nods, sliding the letter back to Sirius, “It feels wrong.”
“It’s not, you should absolutely not feel bad being happy,” Sirius maintains, “I get it, it’s a lot, but it’s what we wanted as kids.”
He shakes his head, trying to figure out how this is so scary to him. He should be so happy right now, he should be thrilled, but he’s not sure he’s fully processed it yet.
“Take some time, cope with it, but don’t feel bad about being happy,” Sirius gets up, “I’ll see you this weekend, Reg.”
Regulus nods, getting up from the table and giving Sirius the hug he’s inviting him into before flooing back to Hogwarts. He walks back to his room in almost a trance, trying to figure out what the hell just happened to him. It really doesn’t feel real, and he’s not sure if he’s going to be completely upset tomorrow or absolutely thrilled.
Well, guess he’ll find out tomorrow.
***
Good news, he hasn’t felt this good in a while.
Regulus smiles as his first-period class starts to filter into the room, walking around to lean against his desk.
“Good morning, good morning,” He greets, “Take out what we worked on last time, we’re going to keep working on that.”
“You’re awfully happy this morning, Professor,” One of his students, Daniel, comments as he takes his seat in the front of the classroom. “What, did you get-”
“Don’t finish that sentence, Daniel,” Regulus sighs, trying to not laugh, “You know that’s not appropriate.”
“Ok, but you laughed so it’s funny,” He reasons, looking back as the rest of the talkative kids in this class walk in, taking their seats right in the front.
“Hey Professor!” Samantha greets, grabbing a seat next to Daniel, “You’re happy, who died?”
He fails at fighting a laugh, having to look off for a second before countering, “Why am I happy this morning? I do the same thing every morning, what’s so different?”
“You’re never smiling when we walk in,” She replies, pulling out her book, “You always have your resting bitch face on.”
“Watch your mouth,” He scolds, “And sure, whatever you say.”
“Hey! My favorite professor,” Alex walks up and gives him a high five, “You will not believe what happened yesterday.”
“What happened?” Regulus asks, walking over to his chalkboard to set up the chart for today.
“Ok, so you know your cousin right, Tonks?”
“Yes he knows his cousin,” Samantha laughs.
“Ok, ok, whatever,” Alex dismisses, “Anyway at dinner yesterday she-”
“They,” A handful of people in that corner of the room correct, Regulus smiling at how great his kids are.
“Oh sh- They, at dinner they transformed into Snape and sat next to some other kid at the Gryffindor table and scared the hell out of them, it was fucking-”
“Language,” Regulus scolds.
“It was very hilarious,” He corrects himself, “They’re literally so funny.”
“And they literally shouldn’t be doing things like that,” He jokingly rolls his eyes, “No one did anything about it, I’m assuming?”
“Nope, Dumbledore thought it was hysterical,” Alex tells him.
“Well then I guess I can’t do anything but laugh,” He chuckles, checking his watch, “Ok, I have to start class, hush hush.”
They quiet down and everyone grabs their seat, people who hadn’t taken their stuff out taking everything out.
“Alright, good morning class, everyone flip to…”
***
Regulus looks up from his desk when someone opens the door to his classroom, seeing Minerva poking her head in.
“Hello,” He greets, “Do you need something?”
“I just came to visit, especially after what the kids told me about you being happy today,” She walks up and grabs a seat across from him at his desk, “I wanted to see what they were talking about.”
He shrugs, “They all said that this morning, I don’t know.”
“Well, did something happen?” She prompts, “I’m listening.”
“You sound like you know,” He comments.
“Well, I didn’t know if anything happened, but now I do,” She softly laughs, “I want to know why they all said you were smiling this morning.”
Regulus sighs, tapping his quill on the desk before saying, “Well, I got a phone call from Sirius at 8 o’clock at night insisting I had to go over to his flat. The last thing I expected was for him to hand me a letter that my mother had died.”
Minerva’s face lights up in surprise, “Oh, well I’m sorry but knowing how you talked about her I don’t think either of you are very sad.”
“No, we’re not,” He confirms, “We’re not at all.”
“Of course,” She nods.
“He was definitely more excited than I was, but we share the same sentiment that we’re just happy we don’t have to worry about her anymore,” Regulus replies, “It’s odd, I know.”
“No, I understand, I’ve heard a fair share of home stories during his time here,” She answers, standing up, “I have a faculty meeting in a minute, but give your brother- Well, give him my congratulations, you as well. I’ll probably see you at dinner.”
“Thank you, Minerva, and I will,” He smiles, “I’ll see you this evening.”
Just as Minerva walks out, someone else walks in, Tonks practically skipping into the room.
“Hi Reg!” They chirp, “How are you?”
“What happened? Why are you here?” He questions, knowing they wouldn’t be so happy if they didn’t want something.
“I just wanted to say hi! Why do I have to only come in here when I want something?” They sit down in front of him.
Regulus laughs, “Because you only come in here right after school if you want something.”
“Ok, ok, yes, I want something,” They conceded, “Can I call home today? Please please please, I want to talk to my parents, please?”
Regulus sighs, “Fine, I had to call them anyway, so you got lucky.”
“Yay! Thank you,” They happily reply, “Can I do it now? I planned to go out with Charlie to the lake after dinner and I want to do that but I also want to call home so I have to do that now so it fits, ok?”
“Alright, alright, yeah, come on,” He grabs the ‘Not here’ paper off of his desk so kids don’t come into his room and has Tonks following him outside, hanging the paper on the door before walking them back to his quarters. They happily walk beside him as he goes inside his quarters, picking up the phone and handing it to them.
They dial their parent’s number, Regulus leaning up against the counter as they talk to their parents about everything that’s happened in the last week and a half. They’re supposed to write letters like everyone else, but they’ve always hated writing to people. They said that they like hearing people’s voices, how they say things, rather than reading them. Good thing he works here.
They start to say their goodbyes but Regular stops them, “Hold on, Dora, let me talk to them.”
“Oh, ok,” They nod, “Reg wants to talk to you.”
Someone says something back before he’s handed the phone, Tonks going over to jump up and sit on the counter, which they’ve deemed as their chair when they’re over here. Regulus puts the phone to his ear, “Hello?”
“Hi Reg,” Ted greets, “I’m assuming you want to talk to Andromeda considering the phone call we got last night.”
Regulus laughs, “Yeah, I do.”
“Ok, hold on,” He takes the phone away from his ear and yells for Andromeda, who, a second later, takes the phone from him.
“Hello?”
“Hey Andy,” Regulus greets, “Sirius called last night?”
“Oh, yeah he did.” He can practically hear her smile. “Congrats.”
“Thanks,” He stifles a laugh, “I was hoping I would have beat him to calling you about it but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.”
“No, he said I was the second person he told,” Andromeda replies, “He called right after you left.”
“Of course he did,” Regulus nods, “Anyway, I had several of my kids tell me today that I looked happy. So much so, apparently, Minerva came in and asked me about it.”
“Shit, Reg, I’m happy for you. The fact that we’re going to never have to think about Aunt Walburga again is awesome,” She answers, “I do think it’s funny that you kids said you looked, happy, though.”
“Yeah, in the morning I have my 6th Year NEWT kids and they’re all something else, but they’re my most talkative class,” He tells her, “Two kids in a row asked what happened, I didn’t know I had such an unhappy face on all the time.”
“You kind of do, they do have a point,” She laughs, “I know that I should be telling you not to be happy about it but I couldn’t do that, not after all the shit she did to you two. You deserve to be happy.”
“I’m sure that Sirius was way happier than I am, though.”
“Well he expresses it more, I think you’re probably equally happy about it,” Andromeda counters, “He was pretty goddamn excited about it, though. And already drinking.”
“Of course,” Regulus rolls his eyes, “I’m jealous, though.”
“You and he will come over this weekend, we’ll get plastered in honor of Aunt Walburga,” She promises him.
“I can’t wait,” He laughs, “I hate to leave so fast but this is technically during my office hours, so I’ll see you this weekend.”
“Ok, perfect, have fun educating or something,” She says, “Bye Reg.”
“Bye Andy,” He replies before hanging up the phone and turning to Tonks, “I’m going back to my room but you don’t have to come with me.”
“No, I’ll come,” They hop off the counter and follow him down the hallway, “What were you talking to my mum about?”
“Nothing, just family stuff,” He tells them, although he knows they won’t take that for an answer.
“Why was everyone happy, though?” They ask, “Family stuff is normally bad.”
“Well, it was good family stuff,” He reasons, “Nothing you need to be worried about.”
“I can’t know?”
“No, you can’t know,” He shakes his head, “Maybe ask your mum about it, she might tell you.”
“But when am I going to ask her?” They whine.
“Write her,” He replies, “And don’t give me that face.”
“I hate writing people, it’s so stupid,” They groan, “I’ll just wait until I call her again.”
“That works too,” He nods, the two of them walking back in quiet to his classroom. He takes the sign off the door and goes inside, taking his seat back at his desk. Tonks, however, doesn’t sit.
“I think I’m going to go stay with Charlie, bye Reg!” They wave.
“Bye Dora, are you coming in here for dinner?” He yells as they walk towards the door.
“Probably, ok bye!” They walk out of the room, Regulus just laughing as he goes back to his work. Everything just feels lighter, even at the thought of his mother being dead and gone. He never hated her as much as Sirius did, but no way in hell is he going to mourn her death. She almost killed them on so many occasions. She’s getting a taste of her own medicine.
The witch is finally dead.