IN RUINS- James Potter

chapter seventy four

Something about the snooping was making her emotional,  not knowing how she feels, Nora put the pictures down as she looked around the room, half of her childhood just being thrown in here, all the flower crowns she once gave her mother was just tossed in the corner, her stomach hurting a little.

It felt like her childhood— her girlhood was taken away from her when Sirius was put in Gryffindor, all the focus and attention now and him, heavily focusing on the fact Nora was a girl and will never satisfy them all of a sudden. She always liked to think her childhood was better than the others, but she forgets about all the things she's blocked off mentally, especially the first time she defended Sirius in a fight.

Sighing and moving some boxes, Nora saw some more portraits that never made the living room, her favourite one was the way Nora stood in the middle wearing white as her brothers wore darker clothes beside her, all staring towards the painter. It was only her favourite one because the way she was in the middle all that time.

However she looked more pale than her brothers, forever mad at the painter. He said she would look better with paler skin, and yet he mad a mockery of it. It was no wonder she never got to see that painting be hung up, her mother actually considering her feelings for once.

"What are you doing in here— what is this?" Jumping to the sound of her brother standing at the door, Nora turned to face him, watching regulus slowly walk in and notice all of the books and paintings, even the leaves he liked to collect when he was younger; looking back up at his sister.

"Seems like she was keeping this a secret." Nora shrugged, moving her hair and noticing more things in boxes, regulus coming closer to her, seeing all the portraits. "They've left for the weekend." He said, putting his hands in his pockets.

Nora saw the way he was also still in his pyjamas, humming to his comment, putting the pieces together of how she saw her mother use a suitcase for something, thinking that was a little weird.

"You know she's never touched Sirius' room? It's still the same way." Regulus commented, catching Nora's attention to look at him a little confused. "I always see her in it, she doesn't touch anything, just stands there." To the right of him was all the things Walburga once took away from Sirius, smirking at some of the half naked girls.

"It's the one thing she still has in memory of him." He continued, putting his hands in his pockets, Nora felt tense with this conversation, wondering where he's going to go with it, letting him talk. "It's just a shame, as a big brother you think he would care for us."

That's when she felt targeted, his voice suddenly going no tone and dull, losing eye contact with his sister and subtly throwing a little shade towards her; or hinting towards something. "Luckily for you Nora, I can always say you've had my back." She didn't know what this was, but Nora held her ground and continued to let regulus speak, finally hearing what's been making him so mad for these last couple weeks as he walks around with a mark on his arm, fuming until this day.

"Andromeda was never a good role model, neither is Bella and Cissy, I always knew Bella was messed up when she laughed at a bunny dying. Andy has always been off whenever we were over. And cissy just followed her parents like a chicken with their head cut off."

Nora watched regulus walk past her to the portraits, shaking his head at the one of him and her, a smile trying to be covered up and Nora looking at him past her shoulder in a red dress that she wasn't even wearing, the painter fixing it.

"Cant you see Nora, they don't even care about us, and I've spent half of the summer arguing with you over something I did," he huffed, his eyes slightly red, looking at his sister.