Aurora liked to think of her life as one that, unlike seemingly everybody else nowadays, she did not want to re-live.
Sometimes, when she's lying awake at night, she likes to think that the fates, or God or whoever it was that planned out peoples li...
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"You know, Uncle Reg," Aurora said, biting into a chocolate chip muffin, "I never imagined you to be the type to smoke, always presumed that Sirius was the smoker of the family,"
Regulus shrugged. "He was," He said nonchalantly, taking a drag from his cigarette before distinguishing it on the silver ash-tray he had before him. Aurora had never used an ash tray before, always choosing to either let the cigarette burn right through to her fingertips – it hurt, but the pain was almost as addicting as the nicotine itself; Aurora loved the way her skin burnt. She loved the way her fingers reddened at the tips, the glow of leftover heat crisp and hot, so hot that it felt cold.
Her Uncle was like no other. He was serious, yet relaxed and improper; he had this emotional façade that Aurora could see right through, making him appear grim and uptight. He wasn't, though Aurora had a feeling not many people knew that.
"He was." Regulus repeated, his eyes glassy. "But then he left, and he didn't pack any of this shit – just took his trunk and cloak, shouted at mother on his way out. I think she fired a curse at him, because he screamed, but I'm not sure...I-I was in my room at the time. That night, I remember mother and father arguing with my Uncle Alphard, something about Sirius and whether or not she should...whether she should," He took a deep, shuddering breath to compose himself, "Whether she should disown him like Druella had done to Andy. I slept in Sirius' room that night, found these beauties. Ruined my life, but they numbed the pain...."
Aurora laughed humourlessly. "So he just...left?"
"Yeah." Regulus sighed, "He did."
"That sucks," Aurora said, lighting her own cigarette. "At least when he left me he had the decency to leave me in a 'safe' environment. Weren't your parents prejudiced pricks?"
"Mhm,"
They sat in silence for a while, Aurora watching as her cigarette burnt out, not even wincing as she flicked the ashes to the floor. She could feel her Uncle's eyes on her, but made no move to face him, afraid he would see her watery eyes.
"You really shouldn't do that." He said after a while, "You should use the ash tray, it's much less mess, and a lot less pain." He pushed the silver tray towards her, and Aurora flinched violently, shuffling away from the burning metal.
She cleared her throat. "No thanks, I prefer it this way-"
"Hmmm," Regulus hummed, "perhaps we should lay off the cigs tonight, so, how's school? Surely you can't of told me everything through a letter,"
"It's fine," She said a little too quickly, and Regulus raised an eyebrow. "Alright, that was a lie. It's pretty shit."
Aurora shuffled awkwardly in her seat. Pretty shit was an understatement, but she didn't want to worry Regulus, not when she'd only just met him a couple weeks ago. It had been around two weeks since the first task, and since then her and Regulus had been meeting regularly in the kitchens; he was working anonymously, on what Aurora didn't know, and Regulus had the poised look of somebody who kept their secrets. She didn't bother trying to prise it out of him, their relationship, though shallow, was too good to destroy.
