( chapter )
sixty
"HEY REGGIE." CASSIOPEIA BLACK said as she took a step closer to her brother, knew again tightening the Gryffindor scarf that rested around her neck as the breeze got stronger the closer she stepped to the edge.
Regulus frowned slightly as he looked at Cassie, taking in the scars on her cheeks as he hadn't seen them before. Shaking his head gently at the scarf around her neck.
His frown deepened as he looked at the small bags under her eyes, instantly telling him of the little sleep she had been getting.
The messiness of her hair showed she hadn't been taking care of herself properly, the way she was still wearing a pair of James clothes also showed that.
Regulus loved his sister, more than anything. He hated the way that she went thorough all of that, and was still a hundred times stronger than he was. He admired Cassie, and would love to be like her one day - brave and risking her life for others - but he doubted it would ever happen.
"You're late." He said, his eyes leaving her face to meet her eyes, which rolled as she took another step closer to him.
"Don't be so serious-" she let out a small laugh but stopped when she saw Regulus' straight face "-I am like ten minutes late."
Regulus crossed his arms, the tip of his wand still illuminating as much as the dark as it could.
"Cassie, you're never late." Regulus spoke, looking at her, his eyes narrowing slightly.
She let out a soft sigh, gently shaking her head as she shifted her gaze from her brother to the darkness surrounding them.
"I'm sorry Cass, I didn't mean to be rude." Regulus walks over from the rail so that he was now standing in front of Cassie, he looked down at her with a worried look in his eyes.
"I-I'm just worried." He said in almost a whisper.
Cassie's eyes widened slightly as she looked up at him, frowning at the look on his face. She rasied a hand and rested it on his upperarm, her free hand grabbed her wand and she muttered lumos under her breath.
The tip of her wand lit up, illuminating more of the tower as now there were two wands doing so.
"Reg, you don't need to worry-"
"But I do!"
Regulus took a step back from his sister, shaking his head quickly as he did so. His eyes widened as he held up in hands as if in surrender. Cassie tilted her head to the side.
"Reggie, trust me, I'm a big girl. I know what I'm doing."
Regulus began to shake her head quicker, putting his hands back down by his side. He let out a shaky breath.
"That's why I'm worried." He said, his frown deepening as he stopped shaking his head. He looked at her and shook his head once more before he stood still.
"You think you know what you're doing, but you don't. You can't control them, you don't know what they are going to or when they are going to do it."
Regulus let out a shaky breath, running a hand through his hair, messing up the perfect side swept look that he always had.
"Cassie, I know you like acting brave all the time, that you don't want to see that they hurt you. But you can't act like it doesn't hurt you when I know it does. Everyone knows it does-"
"You think I don't know that?" Cassie exclaimed as she mirrored Regulus frown, shaking her head softly.
"You think I'm not worried about that too? But I am." Her voice was reduced to a whisper, she looked back down at the floor, she ensured that she wouldn't let the tears fall this time.
She never cried infront of Regulus, and she never wanted to. She was fine telling him about how she felt.
Talking to James and Sirius made her realise that telling someone how she was feeling was a good thing to do. It wasn't pushing her problems onto someone else's shoulders so they could share the weight that she carried, it was helping them understand and in a way, helping herself understand.
"Regulus, I shake everytjme I think of going back to Grimmauld Place for even a week, my hands shake so much that I can't even hold my wand for what seems like an hour. The thought of the spell makes me feel as if I'm going to throw up." She took a deep breath, not looking up.
"Regulus, promise me something - scratch that, promise me two things."
Cassie finally looked up, meeting her brother eyes. Regulus was looking at her with an eyebrow raised, his eyes darted to the scratches on her face before they went back to her eyes.
"What?"
"Promise me that if I die, if they kill me, that you'll go to James and Sirius."
Regulus let out a shaky breath as he blinked a few times before responding.
"I promise." Cassie smiled ever so slightly, but the smile quickly slipped from her face.
She raised the her hand, the one that wasn't holding onto her wand, and fiddled with the small strands of wool that were coming off James' scarf.
She looked down for a moment, before she nodded and looked back up at Regulus. He was watching her intently.
"This one, I know it will be harder for you to promise, but I need you to. Okay?" Regulus furrowed his eyebrows, but he nodded nonetheless.
Cassie met out a short breath, before her eyes met his once again. Regulus could already see the pleading in her eyes, which only made his eyebrows furrow deeply.
He nodded, hesitantly.
"Promise me, and I mean a pinky promise, so you cannot break it. Promise me that if I say we're going, that you come with me without a word. I may not know what's best for me when it comes to mother and father, but I do know - sort of - what's best for you."
Regulus didn't look away from his sisters eyes, it hurt him both physically and mentally to see the pain in her eyes. Even though her eyes were full of plead, the pain in them still stuck out by a mile.
He knew when he promised the first thing that it would have been something bigger for the second one. Regulus knew that Cassie knew what was best for him, he'd known it for years.
It was Cassie who would help him by giving him a plaster when he had fallen down and cut the palms of her hands, she would always tuck him in a and kiss him goodnight. She was always the one who would check up on him in school, making sure he was eating, drinking and doing all his work, making sure that he was okay. Cassie was the one who was there for him growing up. Sirius was there too, he wouldn't lie, but he was never as caring or gentle as Cassie, and the two of them hardly spoke after the had left for Hogwarts.
Regulus didn't even remember if he had ever loved his parents, he didn't think he did and he didn't think he ever would. Cassie had been the parental figure in his life when he was growing up, and when he entered Hogwarts he had all these other figures who helped him grow even more. But if he was given the choice of having new parents who would love and care for him, or having Cassie and the parents he had now.
Regulus knew he would pick Cass every time without a second thought.
Cassie let go of the strands of wool and raised her hand so that it was now resting on Regulus' upper arm.
Regulus took a small breath, before he nodded.
He raised his pinky, and Cassie did the same. The two entwined their pinkies.
"I promise."
Cassie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she smiled softly.
"Thank you." She said, quickly wrapping Regulus in a hug, he wrapped his arms around her in return and closed his eyes for a minute while they hugged.
He pulled away a few minutes later and smiled gently, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card which was attached to a box.
"It's not much, but happy seventeenth birthday Cass, I love you so much." Cassis smiled as she took the box from Regulus, she placed her wand between her teeth as she opened the box.
Her eyes widened as she looked down at the contents of the box, she didn't even try to stop the smile from appearing on her face.
Inside the box was a Teddy, it was around the size of her hand when all her fingers were outstretched. It's fur was a light brown, and very soft against Cassie's skin. It had a green emerald bow around It's neck that shimmered in the light coming from both of their wands. The bears foot was embroidered with the Black Crest, Cassie ran her thumb over the stitching.
It was the first, and only, teddy that she had ever received. She didn't know who had given it to her, all she knew was that she had had it as long as she could remember. The bear had been the first thing to listen to her when she ranted about all her problems, and even though she knew that it couldn't hear or even respond, she still found comfort in talking to it.
She had lost it two years after she had joined Hogwarts, she had spent days looking for it and she thought she would never see it again.
"Holy shit." She said, taking her wand out of her mouth and placing it in her hand.
"Where did you find it Reg?" She asked, her eyes even wider as she looked up at him.
"Mother and father tried to bin it." Regulus said bluntly, and Cassie rolled her eyes.
"Of course they did." She didn't waste another second before wrapping Regulus in another hug.
"I love it, thank you so much."
Regulus grinned as he rested his head on top of Cassies, closing his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her.
Everything was okay.
･・･☽✥☾･・･
HEY!
ME AGAIN :D
I READ CURSED CHILD
FOR THE FIRST TIME LAST NIGHT
(START TO END)
WHY TF IS IT LIKE ONE
GIANT FANFIC??
THE TROLLEY LADY ON THE
ROOF OF THE TRAIN 😭😭💀
SCORP IS BBY THO
ANYWAYS, I HOPE YOU
ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER, IT WAS
KIND OF THE END OF A LOT OF
ANGST FOR THE TIME BEING
REGULUS AND CASSIE, THEY
ALL OWN MY HEART I SWEAR
AS USUAL, PLEASE TELL
ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT
OF THIS CHAPTER AND WHAT
YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE NEXT,
AND UNTIL NEXT TIME
UNTIL NEXT TIME
- EMILY XX