𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 || 𝘳.𝘢.𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

044. guilty pleasure

"We got waffles!"

A cheerful voice says after the sound of the front door being carelessly swung open but James Potter drops the bags on the ground in shock when he sees the four girls surrounding his pale, shivering sister. Maria can see Lily — in her perpetual vision — moving her hand frantically near her neck, mouthing 'no' to the boys who bound in after James.

"Yeah, muggle shops are aweso—" Peter cuts himself off when they see Maria.

"Woah—are you all right?" Remus is the first to react, rushing over, sitting next to her and almost sitting on Marlene who gives him an offended look but brushed it off. Maria doesn't speak, she just leans into him when he puts an arm around her, burying her face in his shoulder and snaking her arms under his, clinging onto him and Remus sighs, hugging the girl back and pointing to the door.

James shakes his head, whispering quick 'no's at him but Remus gives him a 'get out before I get up and strangle you' kind of look and James pulls the boys out, the girls sighing and leaving as well, closing the doors gently behind them.
Maria jumps slightly at the sound of lightening outside and Remus shushes her gently, stroking her hair and hearing her muffled sobs into his shoulder.

"What happened out there, Mar?" Remus whispers, the two of them pulling away slightly and she sniffles, wiping the tears from her face. "You were gone when we woke up, we saw your note saying you'd gone to the village."

"He's getting married, Remus." Maria whispers, her lips quivering as Remus frowns, gesturing for her to continue. "Regulus—he's getting married."

Remus' face turns to one of realisation as he sighs and pulls her back into his chest, letting her collapse into his embrace. Eventually, Maria fell asleep in his arms, Remus taking the blanket that was draped over the sofa and placing it over her, her head resting in his lap and his hands gently tracing her hair.

The door slowly opens and James, Sirius and Peter walk in, the girls seemingly gone to Lily's house like they'd planned earlier and the three boys eyes soften at the sight of her, breathing softly and her legs curled up slightly. Sirius and James sit on the opposite sofa whilst Peter sits on the armchair, the four sitting in a tense silence before James sighs deeply.

"Did she tell you—what happened?" James asks, anxiously bobbing his knee as he leans his elbows on them, staring at his sister for a moment.

"He—Regulus, he's getting married." Remus says quietly and the boys eyes widen, Sirius furrowing his eyebrows.

"To who?"

"Rebecca. . .something?"

"Rebecca? Rebecca. . .oh." Sirius' face contorts into one of recognition as he legs out a breath of shock, leaning back onto the cushions.

"Yeah. Oh."

[][][]

Two weeks later, Maria walks slowly down the steps of on quite Potter grounds, still wearing her pyjamas as she inhales in a deep breath of the fresh air. It's not early, Maria has barely left her bedroom since the day at the meadow and the one person who would always talk to her about other things was Sirius. Sure, Remus and the others made sure she ate three meals a day and entertained her with prank ideas and the daily gossip but Sirius would go and knock on her bedroom door every couple of hours to check on her, normally staying for a while and talking about random things like how bad Remus is at cooking or when James ran through a muggle park as a stag and scared all the muggles half to death.

Truth is, Sirius knows what it's like to lose Regulus. He's done it before, twice. The first time was slowly, happened over years, first started when they were sorted into different houses at Hogwarts. The second time, Sirius blames only himself for leaving Regulus with their parents when he ran away in his fifth year. Fourteen year old Regulus had never been more alone than when he heard Sirius shout at his mother and walked into Sirius' bedroom, seeing him packing bags and begging him to please stay with him. But he hadn't listened, he at least wishes he'd brought his brother with him. But he didn't.