It was in the middle of the night. An owl cawed and it resonated around. Callie watched the stars sprinkled on the sky. She had been awake for a few minutes now. She couldn't count how many but probably for half an hour.
She assumed everyone was asleep. James was snoring as she had expected. Sirius as well.
As quietly as she could, she sat up and looked around. They were spread out on the ground just beside their burnt tent. Callie sighed. What happened just came back to her.
The fire, Bellatrix, the Death Eaters.
She shook her head as she tried to wipe the event off. She didn't want any memory of that stuck with her 'till the end of her life. Especially Voldemort's message to her.
She had no idea what time it was. And her deadline was sunrise. She had to be at the Manor by sunrise. She had to decide what to do now.
Callie pushed herself up only to feel a striking pain in her abdomen. She hissed with as little volume as possible and sat back again. She put her hand on the painful part of her stomach and looked down at it. It was dark but the moonlight helped her look at it.
She raised her shirt and saw a purple swell right where it hurt. Right, when Bellatrix attacked them, they fell and she hit a rock.
Great.
Biting her lip to try to ease the pain, Callie tried to get up again. She had to think. She couldn't with all the noise James and Sirius were making. God, so young yet they snore like old men.
Callie managed to get up dismissing any pain only to fail. She looked for her bag and immediately found it on her makeshift pillow— was that the blouse Regulus gifted her? Never mind.
They must've taken it off her while she was asleep. Falling asleep from crying so hard was so different from fainting. Callie liked neither.
She wandered off but made sure she knew where she was going. She took her wand and lit it up to find her way.
Without her knowledge, someone followed her.
She found a nearby area, just a few walks away. It has three to five trees cut right before their roots. The place should be enough for her to do any thinking.
Callie sat on the trunk of the tree. And sighed. Her shoulders dropped and she looked up at the skies.
"What should I do?" She tried making patterns, connecting the stars as though they were dots, trying to find any answer hidden in the galaxy. "Mom, Dad? Bria?" Her lips quivered, knowing who she'd call next. "Bubbles?"
Bubbles was always her to go before and after his death. Callie always talked to him whether he heard it, understood it, or not.
And so, she put her hand in her bag and searched for a small stone. The Resurrection Stone.
Callie felt it and took it out. The stone was small in her hands, unbalanced as if it didn't belong there. Or rather, she didn't belong to it.
She stared at it and asked herself, "Should I do it? Should I hold onto someone who no matter what can't come back?"
But she knew she needed Bubbles more than ever. She needed someone to help her decide the best course of action. Should she or should she not surrender to Voldemort?
So Callie closed her eyes and pressed the stone on her palm it almost hurt. And she thought of Bubbles, his bark, his soft, golden hair, his weird smiles. Callie laughed at the memory.
Then a bark again. She thought it was just part of the memory but Callie knew she heard it. So she opened her eyes. And in front of her Bubbles sat, wagging his tail with that weird smile of his.
Her eyes welled up with tears stinging them. Her throat was rid of any fluid that it was drier and thicker than the desert. But she never cared. She wanted to hug him but Callie knew she would only pass through him. So instead, Callie knelt in front of Bubbles.
A tear fell and she wiped it off.
"Hey," she greeted and choked with a smile.
Bubbles barked back as though he said hi back.
"How are you, buddy?"
Bubbles barked again as though answering.
"I missed you." Another tear of hers fell but she wiped it before it could reach her cheek. "We all do."
Bubbles tilted his head and gave her a puppy eye if that was possible.
Callie sighed and hugged her knees. She wanted to pretend those knees were him. "I have a problem, Bubbles."
Bubbles adjusted himself and lay in front of her, chin on top of his paws. He, as though, said he was ready to listen.
"It's a really long story. But some bad person wanted me to come to his place or else he'll hurt my friends. I don't want him to hurt my friends. And if I do that, I'm like giving up everything I did to help these friends, to keep them safe.
"I can't do that. I couldn't save them before, but now I can. And I failed before. With you. So, I won't let it happen again. I won't lose any friends again. Which leads me to my second option. I can leave the bad guy behind and continue with my mission of defeating him and saving my friends. But with that, I can't ensure they'll be safe. I can't even ensure that if I show up they'll be safe.
"I want to do what will save them. Not just keep them safe, I want to do what will save them. For good.
"Bubbles, what should I do?"
Bubbles barked again, but it was more like a cry. No. It was more like he was speaking to her.
Of course, Callie couldn't understand. But somehow, she knew, he was telling her to do what her heart says. And then let her brain guide her way.
She chuckled. "I think I look like an idiot here."
Bubbles seemed to smile again, but this time with his eyes in a thin line.
"Thank you so much, Bubbles. For everything. Even if you're not... physically here."
Bubbles nodded. He stood, closed his eyes, and leaned to Callie. Callie knew what to do. They would always do that before. Callie closed her eyes too and leaned in. Until their foreheads touch. And Bubbles vanished.
Another tear left her closed eyes, knowing very well her beloved dog was gone from her eyesight once more. Callie sat back on the trunk of the tree and stared at the empty spot in front of her.
"Bubbles looks beautiful."
Callie gasped, stood, and looked back to see Regulus standing beside her, hand in his pockets.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."
"No, no, it's just, I didn't expect company. You were asleep."
Regulus shrugged. "I hadn't slept. Tried closing my eyes but," he shook his head, "can't." The realization Sirius gave him and the attack earlier blocked him like a wall from entering dreamland.
"It's a pleasure to see Bubbles. Even if... it's this way." At least he got to see a family member of hers. He'd want to meet her parents and sister.
"Yeah."
A short silence sat between them.
"I always tell Bubbles my problems. And now that I have the Resurrection Stone, I thought why not see him again for the last time? I thought the idea would make me feel better, you know? Because I saw him again. But it only hurts even more. Because I could see him but I- I can't hold him. It doesn't feel great. It hurts a bit."
Regulus nodded in understanding. He might not have felt the loss of someone he loved, he had Kreacher and his owl but he never lost them one way or another. He lost Sirius but that was a different kind of pain.
He had no idea what pain Callie had in her heart. But he may have an idea to make her feel better.
"Hey."
"Hmm?"
"Remember when I told you I'll show you something when we're alone and it's dark?"
"Yeah."
"Well, we are alone. And it is dark."
"Well, what is it?"
Regulus smiled with excitement. That made Callie wonder what it was about but his smile was contagious so she smiled too with knitted brows for curiosity.
"Just give me a moment." Regulus drew his wand out and pointed it in front of him. He pressed his eyes shut and conjured happy memories he once used.
And Callie just watched, anticipating what would happen next or what his next move would be. A minute passed by but she didn't utter a word. She just watched in silence.
Until he spoke.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A blue light came out of the tip of his wand and it immediately formed into something, the form of a lion.
Callie's eyes widened and Regulus could swear he saw it lit up, not because of the light from the Patronus, but of awe at the running light of a lion.
"Reg, I- i-it's, it's—it's, it's a— it's a lion! Regulus it's a lion!" she said with delight and pointed at it.
The lion patronus stopped running and it looked at Regulus. The lion bowed like it did the first time he conjured it.
"It's a lion!"
He laughed at her reaction. "It is."
"No, no! It's a lion, Regulus! Your Patronus is a lion! And you're a lion! You're the heart of a lion! The corporeal shape of a wizard's patronus reflects who they are! And you're a lion, Regulus!"
He laughed again. "I am."
"Oh my god, oh my Merlin, I can't believe it! How- when- when did you learn that?"
"Just last night." The Patronus vanished.
"Last night?"
"You were attacked by dementors. And I wasn't able to do anything to save you from them. Remus knows the counter curse. I asked him to teach me just so I can protect you."
Callie wasn't able to speak right after. The excitement wore off and changed into a bitter twist in her stomach. "You... you did that... for me?"
He nodded, realizing it should be the time she knew too what he felt.
"Reg," she sighed, "here you go again. You're acting like you're..."
"Like I'm in love with you?"
She nodded, growing tired of it.
"Maybe, I am. No. Not maybe. Callie, I am not acting as if I love you. Because I truly love you."
No. Callie shook her head. "No. That's-that's-"
"Impossible? Callie, it's not hard to love you. It is possible."
"But you said-"
"I said I don't?"
She nodded. Because she remembered it well, how he rejected her. And she had long accepted the fact that she was just a fan who fell in love with him.
"I didn't. I don't know if I just couldn't accept it before but Callie now, now is what matters. And now, I know that I love you. And I can't risk you even if it costs me the world."
"Regulus." She was at a loss for words. Nothing in her ever workings mind managed to conjure anything else than his name. Because no matter how surreal the fact that she was in a place she once thought was fictional and was able to do magic, it still felt impossible that Regulus would love her back.
"Do you still love me?"
"Reg, I never stopped loving you."
Before they knew it, they were in each other's arms with wide smiles as though they had won the war. Regulus laughed not because something was funny but because of relief. He laughed that he got it out, and she felt the same, and they could spend their remaining time, no matter how short it is, knowing that they both loved each other.
And Callie, oh Callie. Right when she thought surprises were over, she was slapped with something else, might it be better or worse. Never, ever, in her life she thought she'd be loved back by her fictional crush. Of course because back then she thought it was impossible since he didn't exist. But when he did, she, again, thought he wouldn't reciprocate the feelings because she's just Callie. But now? Oh, no words in the world were enough.
They stood there in each other's embrace in silence. Unconsciously, they were swaying. Callie's head eventually slipped to his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
She felt a vibration not too long. Regulus was humming. She looked up to his face where his hair fell on the side of his face and his closed eye. The melody was familiar.
Line Without A Hook.
Regulus was humming the lyrics of the song.
And only when he was done did she speak. She didn't want to interrupt his performance.
"I didn't know you sing."
"There's a lot of things we don't know about each other."
She nodded in agreement. "That's my favourite song."
"That one, I do know."
"You remembered?"
He hummed a yes as they continued to sway. "I couldn't remember the exact words that accompany the song though. I only remember the melody."
"It's beautiful. Thank you."
"I do try my best to repay you."
Callie leaned back but they didn't stop swaying. "There's no reason for you to repay me. Whatever I'm doing, you deserve all of those. I've already told you that didn't I?"
Regulus nodded. "Mhm. Still, I've seen how everything that has happened today impacted you. Not only this day but the past ones. All because you want a better life for us."
"I'm doing all of these because I want to. No matter what. You know that right?"
"That one I do, pretty well."
She chuckled.
Regulus stared straight into her eyes and searched for her soul in them. It wasn't hard to do that for she had the purest soul he had seen. "You are always there for me despite not knowing me well enough. So I will do the same until the end of times."
Callie smiled, her pink cheeks finally illuminated by the moonlight. The moon almost looked like an egg but it was still crescent.
"So... are we officially together now?" she sheepishly asked.
"Stating the obvious?"
"Wha- no-no. I-I mean- We don't, we don't really have an official date when we, you know, got together." God, she sounded more stupid now that she knew the man she loved for years loved her too. "How are we supposed to, you know, to celebrate our anniversary?
Regulus chuckled. "Then let's make it official," he said the term as if quoting her use of it, "today. Under the thousands of stars and the crescent moon, I love you."
It was Callie's turn to chuckle and shake her head in addition. "You're such a poet." She sighed and looked into his eyes. She had no idea it was possible. But there she was receiving an I love you from the boy she had always loved, fictional or not. If that was a dream, she never wanted to wake up. "Under the thousands of stars and the crescent moon, I love you too."