CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: FULL MOON

Regulus didn't want to be alone. He laid with his head in Flora's lap for what felt like hours, and she didn't move. She spoke only when he said something first and continued to run her fingers through his curls soothingly, cradling his head. Regulus had never been treated so gently in his life. He'd not known this sort of kindness even from his mother— a cold, stern woman, and his father was her match. Sirius had always been the one he ran to for comfort, and when Sirius wasn't there, it was Kreacher. Now, as Flora held him, he felt secure; this muggle girl, the very thing he had been taught to hate, was his solace.

When he sat up again, Flora wrapped her arms around him and held him some more. She didn't say anything. There was nothing she could say that would make this better. He had lost someone and he was grieved beyond belief. He remembered with bitterness the smiles and laughter that had punctuated the meetings within the Dark Lord's circle; his mother sipping drinks from fancy glasses like it was a cocktail party, the self-important voices of the men and the murmur of the women around them; the girls, the boys—him and Evan and others—listening with rapt attention to promises of glory and power. But this was hell. Nobody had said his friends would die.

"Regulus," Flora cleared her throat softly, breaking him out of his thoughts. Her fingers still caressed his hair. "Shall we go up to bed? Perhaps some sleep, if you can sleep, would help. Or we can stay awake and talk if you want to instead."

Regulus nodded slowly. "Yes."

He didn't move for a moment, and neither did Flora. She waited for him to sit up, and when he did she smiled gently.

"How about you go up to my room and I'll make us some hot chocolate?" She suggested.

He nodded again, wordlessly. He didn't deserve this kindness, he thought. But he let her do it; he slowly made his way upstairs, and after splashing his face with some cold water in the bathroom, curled up on her bed feeling pathetic and tired. Flora came up a short while later carrying two mugs. She set them down on her bedside table to cool and then walked back to the landing to turn the light off in the hallway. The only light now was from the small lamp on her bedside table. The bed creaked as she climbed in next to him, curling up to face him.

"What was his name?" She asked softly.

Regulus sighed gently and pulled Flora closer, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Evan."

"Tell me about Evan."

Regulus again paused a moment as he gathered his thoughts. He felt sleepy, his eyes heavy and swollen.

"He was an idiot," he replied with an affectionate, barely distinguishable smile that just raised the corners of his lips. Flora smiled back.

"No wonder he was your friend," she returned lightly.

"Mm," he hummed, "I've known him since we were two."

Flora fell silent as she allowed Regulus to simply breathe and calm himself. She could see the pain behind his grey eyes, welling up again with tears; he clenched his jaw, closed his eyes and chewed on his bottom lip. He let out a deep, shaky breath.

Flora rubbed his back in gentle circles. "It's okay."

"It's not okay," he breathed. The tears rolled down his face and off the tip of his nose. "I never wanted…I didn't know…"

"It isn't your fault," she murmured.

"Then whose fault is it?" He replied suddenly. His voice wasn't loud, but it was sharp and it made Flora flinch a little. "The Order? They shot him down. They killed him."

"Regulus…"

"They'll probably hand Barty over to the Aurors any day," he went on bitterly, furiously wiping at her eyes and cheeks. He pushed his hand through his hair and sat up. "Then to Azkaban probably."

Flora did not want to step into this arena and potentially start a heated disagreement. She sat up beside him and pulled her knees up to her chest, looking away and saying nothing. She wanted to remind Regulus that this was a war; his friends, unfortunate and devastating as it was, had chosen their side. Many working for the Order had died already, and many of them were not much older than her and Regulus. The only person to blame was the man who had started this war in the first place.

Besides the pain of his loss, Regulus felt wretched, guilty. He'd left his friends without a word, and here he was curled up with the very thing he had professed to hate. He wondered if Evan would think him a hypocrite, if he would despise him if he could see him now. Barty certainly would.

Flora sensed his sudden distance from her and turned away to pick up the mugs of hot chocolate. "Do you want your drink?" She asked quietly, passing it into his hands.

Regulus nodded and took it without a word. They both looked down, silent, unmoving for a long moment. Then Regulus said, as he had said earlier when they were downstairs, "I should've told them…they wanted out as much as I did."

"That would've risked all three of you," Flora replied, still staring at her drink.

Regulus looked at her. "Do you know what it is I tried to do?"

She nodded. "Vaguely. Something about a locket and a cave."

"A Horcrux," he corrected. "The locket was a Horcrux. It held a piece of the Dark Lord's soul inside. I tried to destroy it."

Flora privately wished he wouldn't call Voldemort the Dark Lord. It implied respect. She grimaced a little as he spoke, staring firmly at the mug in her hands. At any other time, she might have called him out on it, but right now was not one of those times. She took a small sip of her drink, but it burned her tongue and so she quickly lowered it again.

"Does that have something to do with the scars on your back?" She ventured.

"Yes," Regulus nodded. "The locket was surrounded by a lake, and I was nearly drowned in it by Inferi—zombies, essentially."

Flora's eyes shot back up to his face, wide. "Zombies? Dead people?"

Regulus lifted her hand to her alarmed face, smiling gently. He pushed a piece of her hair back behind her ear. "Did you think the worst was house elves? I was lucky to get out alive."

She relaxed as his hand brushed her face and pushed her hair back. He sipped his drink, seemingly unbothered by it being too hot, and kept his gaze level with hers.

"I'm lucky to be here," he added.

"You didn't seem to think so when you first came here," she said with a small, teasing smile.

Regulus smirked benignly. His eyes were still a little wet, but the tears had stopped at least. "No, but I was an idiot."

"Was?"

He kissed her, murmuring into her mouth affectionately, "Shut up."

It was growing close to one o'clock in the morning by the time they fell asleep. Regulus slept dreamlessly, while Flora slept fitfully. She dreamt she was in the forest by her home, but it was dark, lit only by the light of the full moon. She was being hunted by something she couldn't see, and ran blindly in a panic over crunching leaves and twigs, feeling it getting nearer and nearer. She awoke with a sudden start just as the thing in her dream pounced upon her; in that split second she felt its hot breath against her face, a snarl in her ear, and for a horrible moment thought she wasn't dreaming at all due to the moonlight streaming into her bedroom. She drew back from Regulus in a panic, who had his arms around her, and accidentally woke him.

He made a small, startled noise and lifted his head from the pillow with his eyes half open. Flora quickly reorientated herself and breathed out heavily, curling back up to Regulus. He tightened his arms around her, at once making her feel safe.

"Are you alright?" He whispered softly, dozily.

"Bad dream," she muttered.

"I've got you," he mumbled sleepily, hardly knowing what he was saying. He kissed her forehead and Flora closed her eyes.

They slept through the rest of the night, waking around ten o'clock to a wet, grey morning. Regulus woke just before Flora. They had moved around in their sleep and Flora was now laying beside him on her stomach with her arm wrapped over her pillow. Regulus shifted over to her and draped his arm around her middle, pressing himself as close as he could get, breathing in the scent of her hair and skin. Flora stirred from his movement and rolled over to face him, burying her face against his warm chest.

The next twenty-four hours, they knew, were not going to be easy to pass. Flora felt the dread of the impending full moon, and Regulus could only think of Evan and Barty. But they continued as normal when they got up; Flora showered, dressed, and made a large breakfast for them—sausages, eggs, bacon, beans—while Regulus showered and dressed in turn. When he came downstairs, he immediately sought her out and wrapped his arms around her from behind just as she'd closed the lid on the teapot, standing over the table. She smiled, leaning into him; she still wasn't quite used to the attention Regulus gave her, to being almost constantly embraced and kissed, but she liked it extremely—particularly now, as he smelled of the woody cologne she liked.

"You've made a full English?" Regulus said with surprise when he noticed the plates laden up with hot food.

"Mhm, yes," she said. "I thought we could both do with cheering up a little. If it stops raining later, maybe we could go for a walk. Or if not, we could do a jigsaw puzzle or something. I've got a thousand-piece one Remus got me for Christmas last year that I haven't done yet."

Regulus made a small hum of agreement and gave her a little squeeze before releasing her to sit down at the table to eat his breakfast. Flora sat opposite, smiling softly as their eyes met. She felt that now-familiar pleasant flutter in her stomach as she looked at him, struck not only by how beautiful he was, but with the thought that she knew what it was to feel his mouth on hers.

Her last boyfriend, who she'd had when she was fourteen, called Aled, and had been serious enough to warrant a tea party with her parents. He was an awkward, nervous boy who spilled cake crumbs all over his lap, and who clearly liked Flora a lot more than she liked him. She'd never kissed him, not the way she would consider it a 'proper' kiss. In the end, Remus had intimidated the poor boy too much and Flora often ditched him anyway for her girlfriends. She'd never had any particular interest in anyone until Regulus came along—and Mark, who she had not forgotten.

When she remembered how Remus had scared her boyfriend off with his searching questions and disapproving snorts, she suddenly thought about how he would react to her relationship with Regulus. It didn't take much speculation to know he would very likely want to murder Regulus. In fact, that was a certainty.

Flora took a sip of tea and then cleared her throat a little. "We should be more careful with you sleeping in my bed," she said. "We've been lucky so far."

Regulus simply looked at her for a moment. He'd been quiet the whole time they were eating, and understandably so, but replied with surprisingly good humour.

"Then come sleep in my bed."

She rolled her eyes gently. "If Remus finds out…or Sirius…"

"They won't find out," he resumed eating. "Not yet anyway."

"What do you mean not yet?"

"How long do you expect to keep this a secret?" Regulus replied with grave sincerity.

"I thought that's what you wanted it to be," Flora said a little uncertainly.

His brow furrowed. "Is that what you want?"

"Well, no," she replied, trailing off in confusion. Clearly they were not on the same page. "What do you want?"

"I don't know."

Flora threw her hands up, exasperated. "Oh my God. What are we talking about then?"

"You brought it up."

"If Remus finds out about us, he'll be hanging bits of you up in the trees anyway, and I don't think I need to tell you which bits he'll start with."

As she said this, she stabbed at the sausage on her plate and cut it up. It hadn't been with the intention to correlate her warning, but it made Regulus eye her a little warily.

"Him finding me in your bed isn't going to instantly transform him back into a werewolf," Regulus replied with a sniff.

"He'll go ballistic, werewolf or not."

"So, you want us to go back to sleeping in our own beds again?" Regulus asked.

"Well," she faltered, "No… but aren't you worried?"

He shrugged. "I trust you'll know how to put him in his place again. You've stood up to him before, and you should do it again. He doesn't own you."

"No, but he's so over-protective," she sighed.

"He's going to have to let you go some day."

"That will be never."

The rain only got heavier as the day went on, so Flora lit the fire and brought out the puzzle. It was a Christmas scene of rabbits in a snowy village with parcels under their arms, evidently doing their Christmas shopping.

"I suppose now all we have to look forward to is Christmas," Flora said as she made space on the coffee table.

Regulus, sitting cross-legged on the floor, was looking at the cupboard he had just taken the box from. Almost all her puzzles were pictures of rabbits.

"Rabbits?"

"They're my favourite animal," she said, taking the box from his hands and unwrapping the cellophane around it. "What's your favourite animal?"

"Cats."

"Oh, yes," she nodded. "And kneazles—help me find all the edge pieces."

He watched as she began to sift through the tiny puzzle pieces. "Why don't I just use magic to find—"

"No," Flora frowned, "That takes the fun out of it."

Regulus sighed a little and began to help her look. It was a receptive task, one which he found little "fun" in, but it took his mind off Evan for the moment. His hand kept knocking with Flora's as they searched through the box, and they made a quiet game out of snatching up the edge pieces before the other did. Flora currently had about twenty pieces, while Regulus had five.

"Dare I asked what else Sirius told you about me?" He said after a few minutes, alluding back to her mentioning his fondness for kneazles—something which, he remembered, Sirius had told her.

"He said you used to be a very sweet little boy," she replied without thinking too long about it.

Regulus made a face. "Sweet?"

She smiled, lifting her eyes to his. "He said you used to follow him around and climb into his bed."

"When I was three, maybe," he conceded begrudgingly.

"It's alright. I used to follow Remus around too. I was the bossy one though, and made him play Barbies with me."

"What's Barbies?"

"Fashion dolls. There're about three boxes of them in the loft. D'you want to play?"

Regulus shook his head with a small smile and turned his eyes back down to the puzzle box. "No, thank you."

"Remus and I played really good games with them," she reflected. "He always got quite into character."

"Sirius and I used to play at being muggles," he said.

Flora looked at him in surprise, letting a little laugh escape her lips. "Muggles? Really?"

"It was Sirius' idea," he added quickly. "And we were very secretive about it, because our mother would've been furious."

"How do you play muggles?"

He shrugged, looking a little sheepish. "Well, we didn't know better. We thought muggles lived in hovels and wore drab clothes, so we played in one of the spare, empty rooms and dressed up like we were poor."

"That's what you thought only three months ago, Regulus."

"Yes, well," he straightened up, his cheeks going a little pink, but he said nothing more on the matter.

When they had most of the edge pieces of the puzzle, they began to put it together. They'd no sooner started this when they both heard the garden gate squeak open, and a short moment later, a little tap at the front door, which opened anyway before Flora could get up to answer.

"Hello, Flo," Sirius called out.

"I'm in here," Flora called back. She initially thought it was just Sirius, but then she heard a second pair of feet shuffling in and the sound of her brother's voice speaking in a low murmur to Sirius. She turned around on the sofa as they both came in.

"Remus?" She said in surprise, putting her puzzle piece aside.

He looked very tired. His hair was messy, tousled, and there were dark purple rings under his eyes. He looked at Flora and Regulus for a moment, wondering yet again at their apparent sudden friendship, but had no energy to dwell on it. He immediately flopped down beside his sister on the sofa, letting his head fall back, rubbing his face.

"Sirius said you were upset the other night. I've just come to see you," he said.

"But it's the full moon tonight," she frowned. "You should be resting."

Regulus kept his eyes fixed on the puzzle, continuing to slot the edge pieces together like nobody had walked in and interrupted.

"I'll rest here for a bit," Remus replied with his eyes closed. "Sirius is going to strengthen the wards around the house."

"Reg, you're helping," Sirius said to his brother, "I need to make sure you know exactly what you're doing."

"I'm busy," Regulus grumbled without looking up.

"Reg," Sirius said more sternly, fixing him with a hard look.

Regulus huffed and stood up. Flora gave him a small smile as he passed by her, not realising Remus had opened his eyes and was watching her face. He saw her smile, and in turn he saw Regulus not quite smile back, but gaze at her with softened eyes. Flora turned her attention back to the puzzle as the two brothers disappeared outside.

"What was that?" Remus frowned.

"Regulus. You've met him before."

"No, I mean," he said, rolling his eyes, "The smile. You smiled at him."

Flora kept her eyes on the puzzle, resting her chin in her hand. "Why not smile at him?"

"You both seem to be getting on better as of late," he said. His tone wasn't pleased, but rather suspicious.

Flora shrugged as though unaffected. "He's alright lately."

"Alright?"

"Mhm."

There was a short pause, and then Remus asked, "How is he alright?"

Flora fitted another two puzzle pieces together and connected a corner, looking momentarily pleased with herself before she answered her brother. "He's not so rude anymore, and he helps me tidy up."

"And does puzzles with you?" He frowned. "And decorates cakes?"

"We have to do something to pass the time here."

"Well, it better just be cake decorating and doing jigsaw puzzles," he said tersely.

"Remus," she chided, giving him a withering look. She couldn't look at him for long though, as her cheeks had gone faintly pink.

"I'm just saying."

"What are you saying? What else would we be doing?" She said with irritation.

"You know what I mean, Flo," Remus replied. "I just don't want you getting too friendly with him."

"Seems more like you don't want me getting friendly with anyone," she muttered.

Remus again fell silent for a moment. He was exhausted and on edge, but he didn't want upset her right now, and he was growing worried. If he pushed her away, he feared she would only grow friendlier and closer with Regulus.

"Maybe," he conceded with a small sigh, "Maybe I did overreact a little bit last time. And I'm sorry."

"A little?" Flora raised an eyebrow. "You were positively nuclear."

"If you want to see the shop boy again," he continued, "I'll bring you back to London for a while."

"His name is Mark," she frowned. "And no, I don't want to."

"Why not?" Remus blinked, "I thought you liked him."

"It's been over a week and I haven't contacted him. I doubt he's still interested."

He shook his head. "No, Sirius started talking to him since this whole thing happened. He asks about you."

"He asked about me once."

"It's been more than once," Remus replied, his brow furrowing, "And, although Sirius and I agreed not to bring it up with you, I know Regulus went out with you that night."

Flora looked up, startled. "What? No, he didn't."

"Look, Flora, I don't care anymore," Remus sighed. "Regulus got a talking to already about it."

"But…how do you know?" She spluttered.

"Shop boy—Mark, I mean—mentioned it."

Flora sat back on the sofa, abandoning the puzzle. "Nobody saw him," she felt suddenly that she had to fight her corner, "We were wearing makeup, and—"

"I don't care anymore," he cut her off. "It's done. All I was trying to say was that if you wanted to come back for a bit, go out with Mark, I…I will let you."

"Oh, thanks, dad," she said sarcastically.

"Do you want to or not?" Remus pushed on, ignoring the remark.

"No, I'm happy here."

"With him? Really?" He frowned deeply.

"He's not that bad, Remus," she quipped back. "You want to know something? He was really upset about his friend last night. Really, really upset. Just leave him be."

"Who? Barty?" He snorted. "He's doing just fine."

"No, the one who died," she replied sharply. "Evan."

Their conversation came to a halt as the front door opened; Sirius was still explaining something to Regulus as he wiped his feet on the doormat and came in, at once flicking the kettle on with a swish of his wand, and filling the small cottage at once with a quiet sort of clamour. Regulus, meanwhile, came back into the front room and sat back down on the floor in front of the puzzle.

Flora leaned forward to join him. "I did this corner here," she said to him in low tones. "So I think these pieces are part of this edge…"

She made up with Remus before he left that evening. By then, he was growing restless and agitated, but he relaxed as Flora reminisced about the childhood games she'd been telling Regulus earlier. When he hugged Flora goodbye at the door, he murmured, "Please think about it. About coming back for a while. I do miss you, Flo."

"Maybe," she sighed, noncommittally.

He left with Sirius, and Flora soon began to prepare dinner while Regulus watched old cartoons in the living room. It was fully dark outside and Regulus hadn't bothered to turn a lamp on, leaving the room lit only by the light of the television and fireplace. When Flora came back in to tell him dinner was ready, he was curled up and apparently fast asleep on the sofa.

"Regulus," she dipped down beside him, moving the hair from his eyes. He grunted but didn't open his eyes, so Flora tried again.

"Reggie."

His eyes shot open, then narrowed. Flora smirked.

"Oi," he said in a gravelly voice, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand.

"Dinner's ready."

"What is it?"

"Spaghetti. I know you like it best."

He slowly sat up, catching hold of Flora just before she moved to stand up too. She laughed, grabbing hold of his shoulders to balance herself. He locked her down in his arms and nuzzled his nose against her neck.

"Regulus," she protested lightly. "Our dinner will go cold."

He grumbled something she couldn't quite hear, then released her and finally got up—he was hungry, and he did like spaghetti. They sat down to eat and began to exchange details of the conversations they'd had with their respective siblings—Sirius, also, had been questioning Regulus about his peculiarly warm relationship with Flora.

"He saw us holding hands," Regulus said in a resigned way. "Well, thought he saw us. He wasn't sure."

"What did you say?" Flora asked a little nervously.

"That he needed glasses."

She smiled. Regulus seemed in slightly better spirits as they ate dinner, now freely mentioning Evan when he talked about his Quidditch games at Hogwarts and the classes they shared. Until now, he'd been very closed off about his life, and Flora found out more about him in just that brief half hour at the table. He stayed to help her wash up afterwards, waiting at the sink with a tea towel to dry the plates and put them away. It didn't occur to Flora until they were sat down in the living room that he never used magic to help her with the dishes, which left her wondering if he was really just bad at cleaning spells or he genuinely liked hanging around her.

They went back to their puzzle in the front room, but soon found themselves tangled up in each other again, kissing fervently on the rug in front of the fire. Regulus' kisses always felt so hungry, dizzying, and Flora had little idea it was her who drove him to such passions. To Regulus, she felt like a little cat—gentle, soft. And when she went down on him for the second time ever, she lapped at the head of his cock like a cat drinking milk, teasing him, making him moan.

Those exiled feelings rose up in him again as she pleasured and kissed him, and as he pleasured and kissed her. He'd not realised that lust and tenderness mixed together created such a powerful blend, and he feared now it was in his blood that it would not leave. He wondered if Flora felt it also. He didn't ask her, but he looked into her shining, gentle eyes and thought he saw his answer there. He murmured her name under his breath as she wrapped her hand around him and kissed his neck, murmured it over and over again so softly she didn't even notice. On his lips, unspoken, he breathed out the words I love you, I love you and hoped she would feel them the way one unconsciously feels the sun around them.

In this bliss, it was easy to forget the impending night looming before them as the full moon rose in the sky. Regulus himself felt as though he also was transforming, growing wild, moved only by instinct. He cried out loudly when Flora brought him to climax, twitching, and spilling over her small hand. He took her in his arms when he had recovered, kissed her hair and face; he didn't waste another moment in returning the pleasure, eagerly dipping down between her parted thighs.

The moon rose with Flora's pleasure. Higher and higher. And when she cried out, neither of them heard the distant, low howl in the hills.