CHAPTER TWO: REGULUS
Flora awoke early the next day. This in itself was highly unusual because Flora never woke any earlier than ten in the morning, and usually didn't get up until half past. More recently, her lie-ins had become as late as noon simply because she had so little to do with her days. But today she woke early at seven and did not remain in bed for very long.
She stared at the beamed ceiling for several minutes, listening to the birds outside, thinking and wondering about Regulus Black. Guiltily, she wondered whether he would be as handsome as Sirius. He'd be here soon. Remus said first thing tomorrow morning, which was of course dependent on when those two woke up first. Like her, neither of them were early-risers, but she imagined they were anxious to dump Regulus here as quickly as possible. It would surely be soon.
Flora sat up and stretched a little, releasing the tension in her lower back and hips. She was wearing a rather frilly nylon babydoll set and wondered if she should change now before going downstairs. She did not want Sirius, and most especially Regulus, to see her in such a thing. She still flushed at the memory of Sirius ruffling her hair last year and giving her a little once-over with an "aw," when she happened to walk downstairs in her babydoll pyjamas to fetch a glass of water. She'd hoped he would find them sexy, but was quickly defeated and had thus pushed the memory to the back of her mind.
So Flora, though hungry and desperate for a cup of tea, left her room and headed for the bathroom to shower and dress before she dared venture downstairs.
Sirius had told her before he left that Regulus was only a little older than her, barely a year older. That wasn't much, but she worried this would add to his immediate dislike of her if he perceived her as silly and young in addition to being a muggle. She sat down at the kitchen table with a bowl of cornflakes and a cup of tea as she thought about this, frowning to herself. She shouldn't have agreed to this, it was foolish. Even a week may prove too much if he really was as hateful as she'd been told. It would be like locking a wolf in with the sheep — an ironic comparison, she thought, considering her brother's condition. But he'd never hurt her. This boy might.
"Flo! Flo! Flora!" A muffled voice in the adjoining room caught her attention. Remus' voice was calling her from the two-way mirror, which she'd left on the sofa and had fallen down the back of a cushion somewhere.
Flora hurried into the room, at once daring to hope plans had changed and he wasn't bringing him after all. She threw several cushions to the floor, searching hurriedly for the mirror.
"I'm here," Flora found the mirror, nearly dropping it. "Here."
Her brother's face came into view. His hair just about filled the entire frame and he was rubbing sleep out of his eyes. The scar across his nose and cheek was standing out quite prominently in the morning light.
"Sorry, overslept," he said in a fatigued voice. "You still okay with everything?"
Flora felt a little irritated by this, wondering why he was so calm he'd managed to sleep in when she'd been up since seven, and had slept little besides that.
"Is it too late for me to change my mind?"
Remus paused a moment. A flicker of worry clouded his deep brown eyes. "No, I suppose not."
Flora breathed out heavily. "It's fine. Just bring him and get it over with. I can't stand this waiting."
Remus suddenly turned upside down. A hand came over the mirror and Sirius' handsome face was looking back at her imploringly. Even though she could momentarily see up his nose, Flora couldn't help but admire his pretty face in that split second.
"Flora, is it okay still? We're going to bring him now."
"Fine," she grumbled. "Hurry up."
His face disappeared as the mirror was probably dropped into his pocket. Flora put her side of the mirror down and sat fidgeting for a moment. Her heart was thudding horribly. They would be here in moments but she didn't know whether to stay put, wait outside, or pretend to be busy with something. She distractedly picked up her knitting, which was laid to one side, studied the stitches, and then put it down again; she stood up, walked to the window, looked outside, and then walked back into the kitchen. Her cereal dish was still on the table so she picked it up and began to rinse it in the sink.
The cottage was clean, tidy, albeit a little cluttered. She found herself hoping that Regulus would like the cottage, for surely it was better than the one-bedroom flat her brother and Sirius lived in. The boy had probably been sleeping on the lumpy, secondhand sofa. Here he would have his own room — Remus' old bedroom, which had been agreed upon and arranged last night. Remus had that room ready in moments, dusted and refreshed with just a flick of his wand. Flora hadn't had to do anything yet.
And then she heard them. They'd no doubt apparated, but they would have arrived a little way down the lane out of the bounds of the magical wards. She heard the old wooden gate creak open. She looked back up out of the wide kitchen window and saw first her brother, who towered above them all, with Sirius beside him, flanked by a scowling boy with hair a little darker than Sirius' hair. Flora moved from the kitchen window to the door, opening it just as they approached. She noticed now that it had been raining again; the mossy flagstones were wet and the drainpipe was dripping overhead. Remus gave his little sister a nervous smile.
"Morning... you look very pretty."
"Trying to butter her up?" Sirius said. Despite his anxiety, his eyes lit up and he began to laugh at his own joke. "Get it? Butter her up. The Flora butter."
"Yes, hilarious, Sirius," Remus sighed, as though he'd been hearing bad jokes all morning. Sirius often tried to be humorous when he was nervous.
Flora gave Sirius a weak smile and stepped aside to let them in. There was only a very small entrance space before it opened into the kitchen, so Flora moved back into the room and stood by the table. For the first time, she had a good view of Regulus. If he hadn't been scowling, he might have looked handsome, although there was no denying he was. He had the same high cheekbones and sharp jawline as Sirius, but he looked somewhat sickly. His face was pale, drawn, and his hair framed his face in wavy dark tangles.
There was something both immediately chilling and alluring in the boy; his steely gaze took in the room with an undisguised look of disdain. His eyes wouldn't even grace the sight of Flora, who stood in wait of his acknowledgment. Sirius grabbed his younger brother's thin arm and dragged him forward, forcing him to stand just a foot in front of Flora.
"Flora, this is my little brother, Regulus," Sirius said. "Reg, this is Flora we told you about. Say hello."
Flora managed a small hello and tried to smile, but Regulus didn't say a word. He raised his eyes to meet hers, causing Flora to shrink under his gaze, at once intimidated by the unbridled hate and disgust in his unpleasant glare. He looked down at her, eyeing her from head to toe critically, then abruptly looked away with arrogance and scorn.
Sirius smacked Regulus across the back of the head. "Say hello, dickhead."
Regulus remained stubbornly silent for a moment and scowled at Sirius in outrage. He then reluctantly moved his eyes back to Flora and said, with a stiff nod and in a tight-lipped voice, "Hello."
Flora looked over at her brother leaning against the kitchen sink, who looked back at her apologetically, obviously unimpressed with the way Regulus was treating his sister. Regulus, now he had spoken, was staring at Flora, studying her closely like she was a specimen on a lab table. Sirius cleared his throat to speak.
"Remember what I said, Reg," he spoke with a slightly darker tone. "She can contact me or Remus in seconds. Don't think we won't know if you're being a dick. You should be grateful she's letting you stay."
Regulus scoffed at this and looked at his brother. "Grateful? I'd rather stay with you two queers than live with a muggle." He spoke with a very stiff, haughty upper-class accent. Sirius was posh too, only he didn't sound quite so arrogant when he spoke.
"Don't fucking start," Sirius hissed under his breath.
Flora blinked, observing the exchange quietly. Her eyes flickered back to Remus questioningly.
"Why don't we show him around?" Remus suggested quickly.
"Show me around what, exactly?" Regulus replied scornfully. "There's probably only two rooms and a hole outside."
"You'll sleep outside if you don't watch your mouth," Sirius warned him, gripping his brother's arm roughly. He then turned his attention back to Flora, smiling benignly again, like he hadn't just aggressively threatened his little brother, and released Regulus from his vice grip.
"Would you like to take the lead, Flora?"
Flora had drawn back to her brother though, her arms folded across herself with uncertainty. "I'd rather not..." she mumbled nervously, looking down.
"I'll show him his room then," Sirius replied in understanding. "Come on, this way, idiot," he muttered to Regulus, who followed his elder brother sullenly. He held himself very stiffly, like he was trying not to touch anything he passed.
As they disappeared upstairs, Flora turned to Remus with wide, panic-stricken eyes. She spoke in Welsh, not wanting to risk Sirius overhearing. "I don't want him here, Remus. I don't. He'll kill me," she said in a rush, her voice trembling.
"Gwrandewch," he said this word in Welsh, but continued in English, "He's a massive prick, but he won't hurt you. He just needs some time to adjust to the muggle world. Sirius and I will keep a very close eye on him."
"How do you know he won't hurt me?" Flora kept to Welsh. She could hear Sirius above them, the floor creaking, his voice going on in an explanatory way.
Remus, ever calm and reasonable, tried to ease her worries. As Flora insisted on speaking Welsh, which Remus rarely spoke these days, he replied to her in an uncertain mix of Welsh and English. "He knows he's not in a position to cause trouble here. If he draws any attention or tries to harm you, that's him gone and handed over to the authorities. He's been warned very clearly and will be watched very closely."
"He looked at me like I was dirt on his shoe," Flora said sullenly, looking down at the floor.
"And that's the worst he will do. He's the same with me. Just ignore him."
Flora still looked unconvinced, so Remus continued, "I've known Regulus since he was eleven, and Sirius has told me a lot about him. Regulus used to cry when he found dead mice in traps. He was also very afraid of the dark until he was thirteen. Believe me, he may act like he's high and mighty, but he's really just a scared little boy. If anyone is scared here, it's him. You have an advantage over him. He doesn't understand the muggle world and he's in danger if he stays in the wizarding world."
This somewhat eased Flora's fears at that moment. She came closer and buried her head against Remus' shoulder, sighing deeply. Sirius and Regulus were now coming back downstairs, as there was not much to show Regulus. He needed only a room and to know where things were. The latter looked at Flora oddly; it wasn't exactly a glare this time, but still a look of aversion. Flora looked back at him and noticed that Remus was right: the boy looked terribly out of place, like he didn't know what to do with himself. He was wearing Sirius' clothes by the look of it too — a long-sleeved, olive jumper and black jeans. Muggle clothes. Regulus tried to hold himself with dignity but instead looked increasingly uncertain of himself. He stood awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen, far away from Flora and far away from any offensive, untrustworthy muggle contraption.
"Okay, Flora," Sirius began a little nervously. "Remus and I are going to go for a few hours. We've got a few things we need to do."
Flora opened her mouth to argue, but Sirius quickly continued, "Just a few hours. We'll come back to see how you're getting on."
"Getting on?" Flora exclaimed indignantly, swapping back to English and moving away from Remus. "It's not a play-date."
Regulus' lips twitched slightly at this, privately and silently agreeing with the outrage of being left together. It came as a surprise to everyone when Regulus suddenly spoke. He straightened up, holding his arms behind his back with the air of an aristocratic gentleman — which, Flora supposed, he was.
"I will not harm the muggle," he said calmly, his tone cold and detached like he was talking about some sort of disgusting insect. He didn't look at Flora as he said this. "I will go upstairs and I plan to stay there until you return. I have no desire to interact with a muggle."
He hadn't looked at her until the last part, in which he shot her a scathing look. Flora felt her blood boiling, outraged by his sheer arrogance.
"Good, cer i grafu," Flora snapped back scornfully, "It'll save me from having to look at your sour face."
Remus smirked a little, pleased to see her fear dissipating. She had told him literally to "go and scratch." Neither Sirius nor Regulus understood the meaning of what she had said in Welsh, but the snarl with which she said it indicated she was not telling Regulus to make himself at home. Regulus' expression changed slightly, shifting from a haughty glare to a perplexed frown.
Remus turned to her, speaking in low tones as he made sure she had everything she needed and reassuring her he would be here in a moment if Regulus misbehaved. With this exchange done, both sets of siblings finally parted. Sirius gave his brother one last look of warning and he left the cottage with Remus.
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