He woke up with a start. Did she even know what she was saying? She'd never seen him before tonight, why should he trust her? He shuffled, uncomfortable with the uneasy feeling that was building in his stomach. The next ghost would be arriving soon, to take him away and make him see things he didn't want to think about. He'd be joining these ghosts in a couple days anyway, he wouldn't hope to survive what he was going to do.
The windows threw themselves open, and the wind and snow blew in and swirled. The little flakes spun around and formed the shape of a woman. They then burst out revealing the Second Spirit.
The Second Spirit was Andromeda, but never as he had known her. She looked to be in her mid-twenties. Her hair was cut short, just above her shoulders. Regulus thought that her long curly hair had been a point of pride for her, but then again he didn't know much about her after her betrayal.
"Nice hair. It suits you," he said.
She smiled. He hadn't seen her in so long.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. I'm borrowing your cousin's appearance."
"This is what she looks like now?"
"Yes," the Ghost Andromeda smiled. "Now we have places to go, and not much time-the present is fleeting, after all."
She moved toward him and put her hands on his eyes. When she removed them, they were no longer in Regulus' bedroom, but a small house Regulus had never seen before. It was quaint .
A young girl, no older than 10, ran around the tree, her father chased after her. Her hair changed from pink to red to green to blue to gold and white and back to pink, again and again.
"Dora, you'll tire yourself out," her father said, out of breath himself. "You'll be too tired to open presents."
The little girl stopped running and looked at her father with a devious grin.
"I could never be too tired for presents, Da!"
He smiled and shook his head. His clothes were tattered and worn, stains all over the garments, some were even fresh. He had fair hair and a kind face. Regulus was sure that he'd never seen this man or this child before.
"Why are you showing me these people?" Regulus asked, the spirit only smiled. "I know what I can't have, I don't need a reminder."
"Dinner's ready!" a woman said entering the room with a small cooked bird. Now this woman he recognised.
The man went up and kissed the woman's cheek, she smiled in delight. Their child gagged at the display.
"Dora, thank your mother for the wonderful dinner she's made," her father said.
"I'm thankful that you didn't make it!" the child said, insolently.
"She's got you there, Ted," the woman giggled.
They sat at the small table and got ready to eat.
"When did Andromeda get a family?" Regulus asked, in disbelief. "I'm an Uncle."
"And a great one too, you didn't even know of your niece's existence."
Regulus winced.
"Is it even responsible to have a child in the middle of a war?" he asked the spirit.
"They're living their lives. Isn't that what you're fighting for?"
Regulus didn't know how to respond to the Ghost's remark, so he looked at his cousin's family.
"I would like to make a toast," Ted said, "to the wonderful-"
" Merlin, can we just eat already?" Dora asked, sarcastically.
This child really had no manners. It was so different to how Regulus and his family acted.
" Nymphadora ," Andromeda said with a stern tone.
"No, no, she's right," he said, and gave a wink to his daughter, who giggled. "Let's eat!"
Andromeda and her family ate the food she had prepared. Regulus didn't know she could cook, but she had probably learned many things once she was out of their family's control. He was sure that Bellatrix and Narcissa had never made a meal for themselves or anyone else. He couldn't remember if he had, and he thought that spoke for itself.
"Well, that's enough of that," the ghost said, "we have one more stop."
She moved towards him to cover his eyes, but he backed away from her.
"No, I want to stay."
"We have other things to see," she said, and took a step forward raising her hands.
"This better be the last stop," he said, and the spirit nodded.
She covered his eyes with her hands and when she took them off they were in a location he did know. It was the Hog's Head. It was packed with people for Christmas. The Ghost of Christmas Present pointed to a booth in the corner, and there sat his brother and his friends.
He looked older. The war was tough on so many people and he could see the weight of it in his eyes. He walked over to the booth, not in control of his own limbs.
They were all so loud, but when Regulus looked around he saw that no one else cared that they were making noise. It was Christmas and they were happy, what was wrong with that?
"It's good to see you all. It's nice to celebrate something, with the war and all-"
"No war talk," Sirius interrupted Lupin. "Moony, it's Christmas! Let's be happy!"
"I'll get drinks," Pettigrew said, scurrying away to get them.
"None for me, thanks," Evans said.
"Why?" Sirius asked.
Potter and Evans shared a sweet conspiratorial smile, and then looked back at their friends in pure joy.
"I'm pregnant!" Evans squealed.
"Congratulations," Lupin said, sincerely.
"It's very recent," she said, rushed, "we thought about not telling anyone until a month or so… but it's just so wonderful to have good news."
"Why do people keep having kids in the middle of a war?" Regulus asked, discruntled.
They jovially filled in the mousy boy when he came back with drinks. They became louder and joy filled the room. Sirius picked up his pint and lifted it.
"I'm going to be an Uncle!" he said, cheerfully.
"You're already an uncle," Regulus muttered.
"To the growth of our little family," Remus said, and then they clinked glasses and laughed.
"Is that all?" Regulus asked. "He doesn't remember me at all. I'm no longer his family-he's made himself a new one."
The Ghost walked towards him and covered his eyes. When the hands left his eyes, instead of his bedroom, he was greeted by a dingy flat.
"You said that was the last stop," Regulus commented dryly.
The spirit shrugged, "I never did."
Regulus didn't remember, but he supposed she was right. The flat was dusty, and messy. It didn't look like its residents stayed there often. The kitchen was absolutely covered in dirty dishes. Regulus thought that if Kreacher saw that kitchen, he would die on the spot.
"Pads, are you alright?" he heard a voice and a light knocking on a door.
Lupin was whispering and knocking on a door Regulus assumed was his bedroom.
"What's happening?" Regulus asked.
The Ghost did not answer, and Regulus thought that it was quite very out of character if she was pretending to be his estranged cousin. The Ghost giggled, and he was reminded that somehow these spirits could read his mind.
"We have to go see everyone for drinks soon…" he said. "We need to go, Sirius."
Lupin sighed, "I know the holidays are difficult for you, with your family and everything… I'm always here to talk about it. I'm not leaving. I love you."
The door opened and Sirius came out of the bedroom. He collapsed into Lupin's embrace. It was so genuine and soft, Regulus felt like he was intruding on a private moment, which he was in a way. He looked away.
"It's easy to hate my parents. They didn't care about me or love me, and they did awful- awful things to…" Sirius whispered, and took a shaky breath. "But, no matter how hard I try I can't hate Regulus, not completely. And the fact that he hates me and all that I stand for and that he'll never leave them- -hurts most. "
Lupin whispered softly to Sirius. Regulus shouldn't've heard that. He didn't hate Sirius. He didn't. He didn't know his brother could be this way, and certainly not in front of someone else, maybe that was what true friendship was.
The Ghost laughed.
"They're in love, you dolt ," the spirit said through uncontrollable giggles.
"'They're in love'… as in romantically ?" Regulus asked, confusedly.
"Yes! Obviously!" the spirit said.
Oh . That was unexpected. All these people who were living through the same war as he was, and they all were actually creating lives for after the war. Regulus had never thought about after the war, he'd assumed that he'd die before then or be on the losing side, and therefore any life that he did build who'd be taken away. Sirius held Lupin's face in his hands with a bright smile. All these people had something worth fighting for: love, children, family. They were fighting for their lives after the war, not because they had to fight.