don't abandon me

“It could be worse… There could’ve been a Valentine’s Day ball where you’re required to bring a date.”

“At least that’d be a good excuse to get drunk. That’s the only way I can tolerate this ridiculous holiday.”

“The Lake is lovely during sunset.”

“The view out here is certainly much nicer than the common room.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Anthea said quietly. If anyone could sympathize, she thought it would be Regulus - there were a great many other Slytherins whose parents were Death Eaters but she thought family ties seemed a bit stronger in the Black family. And he might understand better her hesitation over her father joining the cause. “This year hasn’t really turned out like I thought it would.”

Regulus offered her a rare smile and nodded. “I can relate to that. The holidays have been...hectic for my family.” He let out a dry laugh, and scratched the back of his head. “Something bothering you?”

A twinkling laugh fell from her lips as she set her eyes on him, more predator than prey. She was more than brilliant enough to understand the difference between teasing and not, but she didn’t appreciate it in any context. People thought her naive, and she was, but that didn’t mean she was an idiot. “Head boy? How ambitious.” She wasn’t sure if she’d be surprised or not if he got the title.

He blinked at her response, not quite an insult, but far from kindness. He simply shrugged, “I’m a Slytherin for a reason. I’ve been working towards this since first year. As a prefect and one of Slughorn’s favorites I’d say I’m well on my way.”

“Oh of course! The greatest and the coolest you know? And besides, I’m going to adore him and spoil him to no end. He’ll be my darling little child and nothing is going to stop him from being a spoiled little brat.” She grinned widely and nodded. “Oh obviously! I wouldn’t dream of anything else, as long as you’ll be frequenting Malfoy Manor, that is.”

“His cousins might give him a hard time for it,” he teased. He had expensive taste, but that didn’t stop him from calling Narcissa high maintenance. She knew it was the truth; it was part of what made her special. “Just as often. I’ll always make time for my favorite cousin.”

“I agree wholeheartedly. Hopefully they come true sooner rather than later,” she smiled genuinely at Regulus. 

“Hopefully,” he agreed with a shy smile. 

“And what is it that makes you say that? The fact that we both care about hygiene? Because I do value that in a person.”

“That’s hardly a rare trait. Your hair looks nice today, by the way. How long does it take you to get it like that?”

“I’m feeling much better, thank you for asking.” Rodolphus grumbled dryly. “I caught something from one of the younger years.” Four and a half days of sleep could heal anything, right? He still felt paranoia infiltrating his thought process what if I run into her what if I don’t. “I’m sorry– was there something you needed, or?”

He shook his head. Rod was one of the only people who could understand what was going on with him now, but he wouldn’t bother him. Not when something was so clearly wrong with him. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You had a lot of people worried.” 

“If I have to hear one more person giggling in the bathrooms about Ravenclaw boys, I’m going to break something.”

“Can we please? The most disgusting thing about public bathrooms might actually be the shit I have to hear about my own cousins.”

Dead. Dead. Death.

That was all Regulus could see, but the words didn’t feel real.

Matthew Mckinnon found dead.

Matthew McKinnon killed by death eaters.

Matty killed by people like me.

“Hm. And here I was, thinking you were smart,” said Ailyn, looking at the cat for a moment. “I mean, humans are obviously the most dramatic beings on earth. Just look at the people in our house, for example.”

“Oh, he knows this gets him attention,” he shrugged, shifting his attention away from the cat. “I’m hoping if I leave him up there for a while he’ll stop pulling stunts like that. He might actually be less dramatic than humans in that regard,” he admitted with a chuckle. “I try my best to ignore the dramatics the seventh years seem to thrive off of, but there make it quite difficult to escape.”

Ulvar actually jumped slightly, dropping his things, looking at Regulus with wide eyes, playfully offended. “I really hope you ain’t trying to give me a bloody heartattack!” he shook his head, grinning. “Fuckin’ disgraceful, sneakin’ up on a fellow housemate like that.” the norwegian joked. 

“Nah, if I wanted to kill someone I’d be more creative than that,” he joked, leaning against the tree. “You working on anything interesting?” 

The way Regulus Black said some kid reminded him of himself. He didn’t feel like anything special, really. Not when he was younger, so he made something of himself. He hoped Regulus could make something of himself. “You’re not just a kid,” Kingsley said with a shrug. “You’re a young man who was sitting out here by himself and I don’t like smoking alone so I thought I’d chat. It gets stuffy talking to people who think they’re better than me all the time.”

“According to the law I’m not a man until the end of July,” he quipped. With genuine curiosity he added, “That’s an odd way to talk about the people you’re trying to be like.” It was a familiar sentiment; many of the purebloods openly criticized the parents they were supposed to become. It sometimes made him wonder why more of them didn’t run like Sirius. If maybe his brother was right about their parents.

“Oh, no real reason,” she said lightly. “I have a lot on my mind right now and I didn’t want to face everyone in the common room yet.” Her father had been hinting that he wanted to officially join the Dark Lord’s cause and it made Anthea nervous; she supported it as well, of course, but after the events of the holidays, she was afraid that her father might not escape easily. They didn’t have the same clout that the Black family did, after all. 

“I can understand that,” he nodded sympathetically. He’d been avoiding the common room as much as possible since he got back from the holidays. He attributed it to the prying eyes of his classmates, but he knew that was far from the truth. His parents were asking him to join the death eaters, at sixteen. It was all his life had been leading too, but he felt sick to his stomach every time he thought about it. “I’m not really in a rush to head back, either. If you don’t mind the company?”

She nodded, taking a deep breath and shaking away all of the sad things in her mind because of course they would never have to be apart. So she smiled and nodded. “Good! Because Draco, that’s what we’ll be naming our first son of course, will love you so obviously you have to meet him. Because you’ll love him, and so will I.” She didn’t like the way his voice was sometimes, it was too dark for a kid. They were just kids. “Would you escort me to get some tea? The castle isn’t very friendly right now.”

A soft laugh brightened up his features, “I’m sure he’ll be wonderful. Any kid with such a great mother and cool uncle is bound for greatness.” With that he linked one arm with hers and started towards the kitchens. “I assume I’ll be seeing him around Grimmauld Place often enough. He and his cousins will need to have play dates, and it will give us time to catch up.”