Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Sixty Two

Esme sat in the corner of the train compartment, her knees hugged up to her chest as she watched Piper. The older girl was panicking. But not just panicking, the girl was on the verge of having a complete breakdown.

"I think I might be sick." Piper stated suddenly, halting her pacing as her face paled and she looked out of the window at the rolling hills.

Dirk sighed, "Just, take deep breaths. There's really no need to panic."
"You'll be fine." Esme mumbled feebly.

"N-no need to panic? I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with my life and I should have decided months ago! I'm just going to drift! Merlin!" Piper pulled at her hair and then suddenly let out a shriek as she tore a few blonde strands out.

"Get a job in Hogsmeade, then we can see you on the weekends during term." Esme suggested, rather unhelpfully.
Dirk nodded, not paying attention, "Sounds fascinating."

"A job in Hogsmeade? I don't want to sit around and wait for you guys!" Piper grumbled, collapsing down onto the bench.
"Oh!" Esme exclaimed, "If you get a job at the Three Broomsticks, you could get us free drinks!"

Piper blinked several times before replying, "Are you two even listening to me? This is serious!"

"What's serious?" Levi asked, stepping into the compartment and harshly shutting the door behind him. He glanced over at Piper, seeing her stressed expression, and decided to sit in the corner of the room closest to the door.

"You heard that from outside?" Esme laughed.
He nodded, "You can hear Pipes from the other end of the train."

"Are none of you taking my problems seriously?" Piper complained irritably.

Levi chuckled lightly before suggesting, "I know this might actually make you more annoyed at us, but perhaps you should have given your career some thought before you actually finished school?"
"Rogers, I absolutely am going to hex you. Perhaps I could have planned my future if we hadn't spent so long being petrified of Death Eaters." She grumbled.

"Guess that one's on me." Esme admitted.

Before Piper could retort again, a soft knock on the compartment door caused the group to turn to see who stood on the other side of the window.
The door slid open quietly to reveal Regulus, who moved to step into the room.

"You do realise your don't have to knock, right?" Levi pointed out with a snicker.
Regulus scoffed, "Well excuse me for being polite."

"Yes, yes, great. We really have to go, though." Esme hurried up to her feet, trying to usher Regulus back out of the door and into the corridor.

"What? Why?" He stammered, stumbling back out of the room.
"Things to do." She nodded, "Very important. Can't be late." She gently pushed him backwards.

He frowned, "Late for what?"
"See you guys later!" Esme called over her shoulders to the others before abruptly slamming the door behind them.

She continued to push Regulus down the corridor, her hands firmly on his shoulders as she guided him along.
"Esme? Where are we going? What-what are you doing?" He complained.
"Just, trust me." She insisted.

"Hold on." Regulus came to a standstill, stretching his arms out to hold firmly against the walls either side of him so Esme couldn't push him forward anymore, "Would you just explain what exactly is going on? You're being crazier than usual."

"Do you not trust me?" Normally, Esme could get Regulus to give in to whatever she wanted if she just kept twisting his words. Regulus was well aware of this tactic, and always chose to let the girl have her way because if he disagreed, she'd simply do what she wanted anyway but wouldn't tell him about it. Though, he wasn't going to allow that to happen this time.