CHAPTER 70- DAMN, I NEED TO HURRY UP OR THIS BOOK IS GOING TO BE WAY TOO LONG AHAHAHAH! LOVE YOU ALL, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES! BRUSH YOUR TEETH, HAVE A SHOWER/BATH, HAVE SOMETHING TO EAT AND DRINK, YOU DESERVE IT I PROMISE xxx
(ALL NEW CHARACTERS INTRODUCED ARE CANON, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT MINE, YET DUE TO HOW LITTLE WE KNOW ABOUT THEM, THEIR PERSONALITIES AND LOOKS ARE COMPLETELY MY OWN)
***BEEN EDITED SINCE ORIGINAL UPADTE***
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✹ Bet you he's fucking some other
chick, now. Y'know?
Since Evans took too long ✹
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"So...you stir it three times?" Milo questioned, stretching out his back from where they sat on his bed. Regulus rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Four times."
"Right, right, yeah. Four times."
As they continued to speak back and forth, the door clicked open and a group of boys bundled through. It was most certainly not a group you would expect to see together. They were all so different, you see.
"No, it was definitely you who stole my comb, Lovegood. I know it was." Said a short, blonde boy, his hair was rather curled and he wore a light blue day robe. Gilderoy Lockhart, was his name.
"Will you shut up, Lockhart? Nobody gives a shit about your bloody comb." Next to speak was a dark-haired boy. D. L. Boot, more commonly known as Darian Boot. Regulus only knew this due to the fact that the Boot family were well known for their involvement in founding Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He reminded Regulus of Sirius so badly that he cringed. With the long, black hair and a band t-shirt, the ripped jeans and Dock-Martin boots.
"Have you checked under your pillow, Roy? That's where it was last time, right?" Xenophillius Lovegood, Pandora's boyfriend.
"Oi, what's happening?" Milo called out, catching the attention of the three boys.
"Ah, Bennet. Have you seen Roy's comb? He's lost it again." Asked Lovegood.
"No, no I haven't." The three pairs of eyes turned to Regulus with questioning glances, all of them noticing the green robes that hung over his shoulders. "Oh, of course. Guys this is Regulus, y'know, Black. Reg this is Phil Lovegood," He pointed toward the lengthy-haired boy who sent him a wave and a half-smile, "That's Roy Lockhart." Gilderoy nodded, "And that's Boot."
"Hey." Regulus raised his hand in what was supposed to be a wave, but he didn't put much effort into it, letting it drop back down after a couple of seconds. They all made their way to their separate beds, Regulus took good notice of where each of them resided.
Boot was in the red and black bed, Lovegood was in the orange bed and Lockhart was beside Milo's on the left. He hadn't taken a good look at that part of the dorm yet. It was all rather purple, not a deep purple, more pastel. Lilac? Perhaps, so. But, instead of posters or photos or meaningful belongings, he had a framed photo of himself with his own signature written below it. This made Regulus feel the need to laugh but he scrunched up his face in an act to control himself.
The pink bed was still left without a student to sleep in it, and Milo must have noticed that too.
"Where's Patil?" Milo queried. Ah, Akash Patil. He was in a couple of Regulus' classes and knew him rather well. Quill was what most referred to him as, including Reg, for he always seemed to have a spare quill with him, no matter where he was.
Lockhart shoved a Sherbet Lemon into his mouth and answered while he ate it, "Got detention." Regulus remembered the note on the door, 'In detention - QP'. Milo chuckled and stood up, stretching his arms above his head.
"What'd he do this time?"
"Set a load of toads free in Care Of Magical Creatures." Lovegood was the one to reply, his comment causing everyone to laugh. Even Regulus found himself laughing along. Boot kicked off his shoes and threw his school robe down onto the end of his bed, collapsing onto the covers.
"Tripped up that Potter kid earlier," Boot boasted, his arms folding behind his head, "Fucking idiot, that one. And a brat. Spoilt as fuck, I bet you." Reg cringed and bit his lip. People can't know about them. And so, he kept his mouth shut.
"Merlin, I know, right? He thinks he's all it." Were Lockhart' words. Each of the boys rolled their eyes, knowing that Roy wasn't any better.
"And that Evans girl? Thought he was in love with her or something, then suddenly he don't like 'er anymore. Bet you he's fucking some other chick, now. Y'know? Since Evans took too long." Regulus could feel Milo's hand comfortably rubbing his back, hidden from the others, but it wasn't much help. Was that how people really saw James? But then he frowned. He had seen James like that.
All those years before they'd properly met. All those years of hating him. Despising him. Was it envy? Maybe. That, he didn't know. But, what he did know, was that he had thought those things about James too.
That question from Crouch crept up on him again. 'But, then, Reggie, what are you? Are you a hero? Because, in your words, if not, then you must be a villain'. Was he actually the bad guy? What type of boyfriend thinks such cruel things about their partner, though, he supposed, they had not been together at the time, yet it still hurt. No hero would be so callous. The nice guy wouldn't have grown up heartless and cold. But, the villain would, wouldn't they? A brutal and inhuman childhood, leading to their adulthood of which they have no choice but to turn off. To turn off every emotion in their heart and bones. That way, they couldn't get hurt, right?
The more Regulus thought it through, the more it began to sound like himself. That way, they couldn't get hurt, right?
"Hey? Hey, Reg? You alright, mate?" Milo nudged him in the side and he looked up from the ground to see everyone staring at him. "Did you hear? I asked if you wanted to go." Milo's eyes were sympathetic and kind. Regulus nodded.
"Oh, alright. Bye, then, Black." Boot saluted in his direction. He thought of Crouch. But, then, Reggie, what are you? Are you a hero? Because, in your words, if not, then you must be a villain. He found himself with a mind-bursting headache and began to pack his things, pulling the bag over his shoulder.
"Toodles," Lockhart said with what Regulus assumed was a smile, yet he felt tired and his eyes refused to work correctly.
"Goodbye, Regulus." Lovegood patted him on the shoulder before Milo and Reg walked out of the door. Quickly, he checked to see if anyone was looking, before he threw the cloak around himself, then followed Milo out of the common room.
"You okay, mate?" The cloak slowly slipped off once the door had closed behind them and Milo's heart ached at the sight of Regulus' face. Pale and empty. That's exactly how Humphrey had described Bailey's state. Milo hadn't seen her in a while...did she look like that? Perhaps she looked worse. Either way, Reg didn't look good, and so Milo wrapped an arm around Regulus' hips and led him down the many stairs of Ravenclaw tower. The two of them could not be seen together, of course not, and so once people began to gather in the halls, Milo took the cloak from Regulus frail hands and pulled it over himself, whispering for Regulus to continue on their way to the dungeons, but he took a different turn. Instead of going down to the Slytherin chambers, he made his way up a different staircase, the staircase leading toward Gryfinddor tower.
Realisation flooded over Milo and he comprehended the meaning behind Regulus' odd movements. He wished to visit James. It was understandable, after the things he had heard, surely he would want the comfort of his loved one. If Milo was in that situation, which he had been in so many times before, he would pray for the company of Humphrey. He was rather surprised that his roommates had taken Regulus' presence so well.
He resumed following Regulus up the many, many stairs, wishing that the Slytherin would not trip and fall, for his stance looked extremely fragile. Would he faint? Milo hoped not. Not long after, the many-coloured robes of people around them slowly started to stay red, informing the boys that they were close to their destination. This is when Milo brought Regulus under the cloak with him, for neither of them could be seen in this area without erupting confusion and unwanted comments. They winded their way through the crowd, dodging different students and holding their breathes as they passed Professor McGonagall.
To their relief, Remus Lupin leaned against the wall beside the portrait of The Fat Lady, and Regulus pointed towards him, telling Milo that he needed to speak with him. It must have been extremely frightening to hear a sudden whisper out of thin air, but Remus did not flinch, he simply peered over the top of his book, a scar over the side of his face shining in the light of the candle to his left.
"Remus?" Regulus whispered. Lupin looked back down at his book and spoke softly, as to not cause disruption to the students around him.
"That you, Reg?" He mumbled. Wow, he was good at this sneaky business. Milo assumed that he must have been used to it after all these years of him and his friends' pranking.
"Yeah. I need to speak with Sirius." Milo's eyebrows furrowed and he looked down at Regulus, who happened to be a few inches shorter than him. Sirius?
"Sure. Follow me." He closed his book and slid it into his leather satchel, which hung from his shoulder, then made his way over to the portrait. "Liquorice Wands." And then the portrait swung open, allowing the three boys entrance. Milo had not been within these walls before and he silently gasped. It was extremely red, yet it worked so well. It was cosy and warm, but not too warm, and students of all ages participated in a range of activities together. There was no bullying and fights like there were in the Slytherin common room, and there were no intelligence battles and competitive riddle championships like there were in the Ravenclaw common room. In there, it was a second school. You only entered the Ravenclaw common room if you were brave enough to test your knowledge, and so you either hid away in your dorm or sat in a corner and finished your homework or read a book. The Gryfinddor common room was a place where anyone would want to be. It was friendly. Comfortable.
Milo followed as they made their way to the left and up a curved staircase to the dorm rooms. He knew which door led to the Marauders' room before he had even been told. Every door had some sort of decoration stuck upon it, as did his own, but one certain door at the very end of the hall was way overdone. There was not a single piece of wood left to be seen. Quidditch stickers that seemed to have been collected over the years were dotted around, some of them getting covered up slightly by the huge band posters like ABBA and Queen and a single tie was wound around the doorknob. Just like on Milo's door, they each left notes for their friends. From these, Milo learnt that James was flying around at the Quidditch pitch, Peter was at Herbology club and also that there were cookies on his desk if anyone wanted them.
"Hey, Pads? You have guests." Remus said when he had opened and closed the door. The two boys removed the cloak and Sirius, from his seat at his desk, beamed at the sight of Regulus. His happy expression did not last long though, not once he had taken note of his little brother's condition. Remus' eyes widened as well and he took Regulus over to James' bed, getting him to lay down. Milo passed Remus the cloak, which he then hid under a broken floorboard beneath James' trunk.
"I'm fine. I'm fine." Regulus waved it off, sitting up from the position Remus had led him down in. "Just came to say hi."
"Yeah, right." Sirius rolled his eyes and sat down on his own bed, crossing his legs like a child. "What happened, Reg?" Regulus looked toward Milo for help, clearly, he hadn't thought this conversation through.
"We were in my dorm studying when my roommates came in." Milo started, sitting down next to Remus on his bed when he ushered him over, "They said some pretty shit things about Potter and I suppose it got to Reg."
"Well, what'd they say?" Sirius exclaimed.
Between the two of them, they explained what happened in that tiresome conversation. The look on the two Gryfinddor's faces was angry, almost scary.
"I'm gonna rip their fucking faces off." Sirius threatened, his voice deep.
"They didn't mean any harm by it," Was Milo's defence, "Don't tell me you've never talked shit about someone you've never met. We all have. It's not a good thing, but we all do it."
Remus opened his mouth to calm Sirius down but didn't have the chance when the door was forced open. The culprit's Gryfinddor hood covered their face, their identity was unknown until their hand flew up to pull it down, revealing the terrified face of Humphrey Chambers.
"Guys. It's Bailey."
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✹ Bet you he's fucking some other
chick, now. Y'know?
Since Evans took too long ✹
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