"Wow, this tastes the same as in my world," Callie noted as she brought down her butterbeer. She wiped the stains above her lips with the back of her hand and Regulus just watched across from her.
After everything that happened, he chose to forget the past hour: Regulus' rejection and Remus' attack. She'd rather not think about all those than sulk. In fact, the feelings hadn't caught up.
After the pain of rejection, she panicked and was scared. Then she was flustered. The feelings were mixing together that Callie had no time to process a thing.
"But wait! Are we allowed here this late?" she whispered the last sentence and leant to him, afraid that anyone would hear her and kick them out of the Three Broomsticks. It was just such a shame she didn't have her phone. If Callie had it, she had taken multiple photos of the Inn and of herself.
A smirk curved upon Regulus' lips. He reclined on his seat with his legs crossed; he propped down his butterbeer on the table and set his hands atop his thigh. "I'd prefer to reason that it's the Black privilege."
Callie scoffed. "Good for you."
"My brother dislikes using the privileges. Even anything that'll help his... questionable causes..."
"Yeah. He might be kind of a jerk-"
"Oh, I beg to differ. He is a jerk."
"-but he'd surely hate injustice and unfairness," she added with spite.
Regulus shifted in his seat. His eyes suddenly couldn't find hers as she sipped her butterbeer, glaring at the poor wooden wall. His gaze remained on the table; his comfortable facade was washed away. Because he was what she spite: a blood purist, someone who looked down upon non-magical and half-magical people.
He had no issue being one before. He was even proud of it. Because he had no dirt in his blood. Unlike that half-blood Lupin and that... and that girl across from him that he couldn't help but grow fond of.
Callie.
She was a muggle. A mud...
She was mud...
God, why was he having trouble saying that word?! Normally, he had no problem spitting mudblood whether vocally or in his mind! But then he was across from the girl he met who knew who he truly was... he just couldn't bring himself to say that word. Even more so, describe her with it.
Because she wasn't dirty. If she was then she wouldn't be that kind. Especially to him who was undeserving of such kindness--or at least he thought.
"Reg?"
Regulus flinched when he heard his name called. His eyes focused on Callie, looking at his. She looked... worried. With ceased brows and lightly parted lips, she uttered his nickname differently. It was different whenever Sirius was calling him.
His just screamed trouble and mischief. While hers sounded so serene and just... calming.
"Are you all right?"
Regulus recomposed himself. "I am. You were saying?"
Callie pushed a small rectangular box on the table towards him. "This is a video of Sirius. I told you I'd show him being proud of you, didn't I? Here you go."
With a wrinkled forehead, Regulus hesitantly reached for the rectangular thing to keep it close to him.
"Vi..deo?"
"Oh, it's a muggle thing. It's like moving images here in your world but ours are longer."
"And this rectangular thing is...?"
"It's a cellular phone. People my age in our world have it. We can do a lot of things with it and one of them is to take videos."
Regulus nodded in understanding. Callie tapped the play button on the surface of the screen and a video of Sirius sitting on a bean bag in the Gryffindor common room played. Remus and Peter were seen in the frame.
He had a small curve on his lips. It wasn't big yet it looked adoring. He was cosy on the bag as if shy and yet proud.
"He was an incredible seeker even as a kid," Sirius said in the video, pertaining to his younger brother. "I remember, we were playing hide and seek in... that house. We weren't just playing in one room, we were running around the house. Just the two of us."
A smile unknowingly crawled upon Regulus's lips remembering the memory he was pertaining. But it soon crumbled down when he realised what would happen next.
"We were happy. Too happy even that I reckon it reached the happiness we didn't deserve."
Regulus swallowed, remembering the memory.
"He found me where I was hidden. In an old dumbwaiter that the family never used. It was extremely hidden so I didn't know how he found me. At that moment I already knew he'd make a great seeker. And I wasn't wrong. Look at him now, greatest seeker in Hogwarts, paring with no one."
"Hey give our seeker some credit!" James said off the frame.
"Okay, fine. Susanne is good but Reg is better!"
Regulus chuckled which made a curve appear on Callie's lips. There was a swelling pride in her to know that Sirius who had no idea he was being filmed made his younger brother laugh lightly at the very least.
"What happened next?" Peter urged.
The smile Sirius had slowly fell. Bitterness glistened in his eyes.
Regulus felt his pain. Even if he was just watching his brother tell a story, he couldn't help but go back to the time it happened.
"It was my turn to catch him. But he was incredibly fast. So fast I couldn't reach him before he hit mother's vase. It fell and shattered into pieces. She found out what happened to her vase; she called us to confess."
All their faces fell upon having assumptions about what happened next. Knowing what kind of "mother" Sirius and Regulus had, they were worried for the two despite his story being a history.
The video ended and Callie took back her cellphone, putting it on top of her thighs. Guilt was eating her after making Regulus remember such a cruel night.
She didn't mean to! Callie was just hoping to make Regulus realise his brother's love. And that was the only video she managed to take to fulfil her promise to him.
"She scolded us," he spoke, making her tilt her head up to him. "Forced us to confess. I was too scared to admit it. I knew what mother would do once she found out the culprit. She threatened that if we wouldn't speak, she'd cut off our tongues. So, I opened my mouth to spill what I did. But Sirius just had to save the day."
"It was me, mother. I broke your vase." It was still fresh in Regulus's mind how his brother took the blame that was for him as if it happened just last night.
"After that, I was told to lock myself in my room. And so, as the golden child, I did. But no matter how many locks I had, I couldn't stop hearing Sirius' shouts, begging mother to stop using the Cruciatus Curse upon him. And as the weak person that I am, I didn't do anything but lulled myself to sleep with tears."
"Until now, I still blame myself for that night. If I had just taken the curse... he wouldn't be hurt. That's why sometimes, I understand why he left me. I understand that I'm worth giving up on."
"Reg," Callie called, "don't say that. Sirius left not because he gave up on you but because he couldn't take your mother anymore. If he had given up on you, do you think he would bother saving you from your fate?"
His brows were still knitted but he was starting to absorb her words.
"Your mother is toxic, I won't sugarcoat that. She's bad. She doesn't deserve sons like you. That's why you're not to blame for being the kids that you were. I hope you understand that. Do you?"
"But she... she's our mother."
Callie sighed, exasperated. "No mother would use a curse on her son, Regulus. She may have given birth to you but she's not a mother. A mother protects her children; loves them. Did she ever protect you?"
No.
"Did she ever love you?"
... No...
"She didn't. All she cared about was your family name. Not you. Not Sirius. Just your names. Nothing else matters to her than your name." Callie uttered her words like water flowing in a calm river. She hoped it would help embed what she said in Regulus's head.
"How can you be sure?"
That took her aback.
"I understand that mother did everything she did for the sake of the family. She did that for us. She had to. Just so we won't be a disgrace."
"First of all, the 'for the sake of the family' narrative doesn't justify the use of Cruciatus Curse. Second of all, I'm pretty sure punishing Sirius because of a broken vase does not do anything 'for the sake of the family'. And third of all, no one sees you as a disgrace but racist wizards. Now, I won't push further my beliefs to yours. But just so you know, Regulus, you have a family where your mother and father aren't present. You have us, okay?"
He couldn't answer right away. She had a point. But, Regulus just couldn't discard his family. That was his family. He loves his family! Even more than his admiration for the Dark Lord. He would do everything for his family.
But he nodded still.
After that, they were enveloped with silence. Callie enjoyed her butterbeer, taking her mind off the Marauders and just silently praying they were fine whilst Regulus pondered over her words. He would steal glances at her, especially when she wasn't looking.
That girl was just mystical. More so than a wizard or unicorn. She seemed to know a lot. About him, his brother, his brother's friends, heck even about the Dark Lord and his mother.
She'd surprise him with that incredible knowledge of hers. He'd sometimes think he couldn't hide anything from her as she just knew everything.
"Now, where do I stay?" she asked the wind, pouting. Yet the young Black heard so.
"You can't be in Slytherin Common Room. It's too dangerous for you."
"What a pity. I have been wanting to see the Giant Squid."
"You will. But not now."
"Fine. But I'll do so once everything is over!" That was assuming she was still alive and kicking. Callie cringed at the thought. "What about in the Room of Requirement?"
"You'd challenge yourself in a chase with Filch?" Regulus asked with a smile as if stopping a laugh from coming out.
"Ugh, please don't remind me. I'd go in very quietly," she whispered the last sentence to show him how cunning she'd be. "I have nowhere else to stay. I'd just ask the room to give me a cosy place, and then voila, a cosy place will appear."
A small smile formed on his lips, watching her wave her hands around.
"But a favour. Walk with me to the room, will you? Just to make sure I won't trip again," she requested, awkwardly.
"Of course."
So they began finishing their butterbeer. Regulus was done with his in a matter of minutes while Callie took longer. She savoured not just the drink but also the room.
She may not be able to go back there after everything. It was either she'd die or she had to go back to her world and be unable to come back to the Wizarding World. The thought dropped her cosy facade. Callie would surely choose the latter and yet... she didn't want to think about the pain it'd cause after she was back in her world.
Sure, she'd love to go back to her family! But she also didn't want to say goodbye to the Marauders and Regulus. Especially now that she knew that they weren't just a figment of someone's imagination. They were real. They were warm. They were alive.
And she was with them. She held them. She laughed with them. She did a lot with them. All of those would remain as nothing but memories once she came back.
"We'll find a way so that I can go back and forth in this world and mine, right?" Callie asked, looking nowhere but her eyes were on the table.
Regulus look up at her. He wasn't sure what answer to give the girl. He had no clue what spell or potion or any magic could possibly do that. He didn't even know how she got there hence he couldn't tell how he can help her. And yet, he wanted to tell her yes despite the uncertainties. Though he shouldn't, right? He mustn't give her empty promises. But still...
"We will," he answered as firm as a brick.
Fine, he'd admit. He didn't want to lose Callie. She had been a great friend; someone who understood him as much--maybe even more--as his brother. She had been that person who saw him from a different perspective that he himself couldn't see. She believed in him when he couldn't. So, come up to Regulus and tell to his face, "that girl is not worth his time" and try to see what he'd say.
He'd say that that person was wrong. Because Callie was worth everything.
"Shall we take a rest?" Regulus asked as soon as he saw Callie put her empty mug down.
"Please."
They both stand up and walk in the same direction where they came from. It was quiet the whole time but neither complained. Each other's company was comfortable enough for them even if they were side by side, walking as though the night would never end.
But the silence wasn't for long. Callie began humming as the cold wind of the night brushes through her. Regulus turned his head to her. She didn't seem to notice what she had been doing. She was just carelessly humming an unfamiliar song as if there wasn't any Dark Lord who might have known of her existence. As if Remus hadn't gone through his monthly transformations and almost clawed her to death. As if they were all safe.
Her voice didn't even sound captivating at all. Callie wasn't tone-deaf either. It was just... singing wasn't really her forte or anything musical really.
But there was something about her that was just so grounding for Regulus. Something that brought him back to the world without having to think about the Dark Lord, Horcruxes, or his family worries. Maybe it was the song she was humming, maybe it was the full moon of the dark sky, or maybe... it was her. Callie.
Regulus immediately shakes his head, realizing what he has been thinking. And albeit he did it as subtly as he could, the girl beside him didn't fail to notice.
"Anything wrong?" she asked, halting her hums. "Are you cold?"
"Nothing. Everything is fine," he quickly answered, flustered. "I was just wondering about the song you're humming," he added in panic.
"Oh... oh." Callie just realised she was humming out loud. For all she knew she was doing so in her head and not right beside her favourite fictional character! God, what if he thought her voice was so bad?! She knew she wasn't the best singer but Callie was also aware she could sound decent! Was she even decent?!
"It was a beautiful tune," he added, noticing her flustered antics.
"Yes, yeah, it is. It's one of my, my, um, uh, my favourite songs."
"It is?"
She hummed a yes. "You should give it a listen." Callie slid her hand into her pocket to take her cellphone, forgetting about her embarrassment.
She located her music application and searched through her hundreds of songs from random singers and bands. Gosh, why did she have this many songs? But at least, she had every perfect song for every perfect mood.
Regulus watched her curiously though they never stopped walking.
Once Callie found it, she pressed play. The song plays, and she hums along with it.
At first, his attention was on the song; the melody imprinting in his head as much as the lyrics. But slowly, his focus drifted to the humming girl.
There was a loving curve on her lips as she hummed along as if she had listened to the song too many times to count.
"It's beautiful," he murmured with a small smile.
"Isn't it?" Her smile grew wider knowing that her fictional crush likes her favourite song.
He nodded. "What's it called?"
"Line Without A Hook."
Regulus nodded as they enter the castle grounds. Their demeanour changed quite fast. They learned the hard way not to mess with Filch. Because the last time he caught them, Callie ended up bedridden for two weeks. She didn't want that to happen again.
Fortunately for them, they successfully climbed to the seventh floor without anyone noticing. Even the portraits were too busy dozing off that the two quietly reached the Room of Requirement.
"Okay. Let me imagine what I need..." Cosy, soft, comfortable, warm... home.
Callie opened her eyes as a door started outlining the wall, Regulus stood behind her, watching it with fascination once more.
When the door formed, her feet were pinned to the ground. Her body remained as if she in a freezer for weeks. Air stopped circulating in her system as she stared at the door painted red and yellow.
It's my door, Callie thought.
As if she unfreeze, her hand reached for the knob, shaking. Would that door be her ticket back home? If she entered could she see her sister again? Her mum? Her dad?
She twisted the knob and lightly push it to see inside, still staying where she was. She kept the breath she was holding until she saw inside.
There was no one.
Not her sister. Not her parents.
No one.
But that was her room. That was Callie's room. The bed against the corner of the room, the wrinkled bedsheet, the window in the middle of the left wall just beside the bed, her study table across from it and her Harry Potter shrine adjacent to it.
Callie finally caught her breath, tears forming in her eyes. She asked for a comfortable home, and the Room gave that to her.
Regulus heard her sniff. He lightly pushed her shoulder to see her face.
"What's wrong?"
She shook her head, wiping away the tears racing down her cheeks. "Nothing."
His gaze narrowed yet soft. "You can tell me anything, you know? You know a lot about me yet I know so little about you. So tell me, Callie, why are you crying?"
And as if the trigger to the gun was pulled, Callie, without a prompt, jumped to Regulus and hugged him. Her arms around his neck and her face buried deep in his chest; the smell of his soap, new parchment, and pages of the books crippled her nose, bringing somewhat calmness within her.
She didn't care. She didn't mind if she looked like a fool crying. She didn't mind if her tears stained his shirt. She didn't mind if anyone would woke up from her wails. She didn't mind if Regulus's hand was caressing her back and the other on her head, his voice whispering in her ears, hushing her that encouraging her to let it all out.
"I miss them," she weakly wails. "I miss my sister, my mum, and my dad. I miss them." She cried even more after her last sentence. "I want to go home but I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave them, you. I want to stay but I want to see my family. I miss them."
"I'm sorry." He was sorry he couldn't do anything to help her. He was sorry he couldn't ease her tears. He was sorry she was hurting. Regulus didn't know why. But he was sure of one thing. "But don't worry. I'll help you find your way home."
Even if he didn't want to lose the only person who knew him. Even if he didn't want to lose the only person who believed him. Even if he wasn't and would never be ready to lose her.
°°°
A/N: Did I ghost everyone? No. I just waited for the 25th to arrive so I let post this exactly on Christmas! As a Christmas gift to those who celebrate it and a Holiday gift to those who don't.
It was painful waiting until I post this because this chapter was already done two weeks ago. But I want to post this on the 25th so, I waited.
If you're into Marvel's Avengers, especially Pietro Maximoff, I posted a new fanfiction about them! Check out "Why? Because..." in my profile!
I wish those who celebrate it a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and Year End to those who don't!
Until the next update!