CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: SHOPPING
Remus, as promised, took Flora to see The Shining a week later in London. Only her and Remus went, as Sirius privately felt that the two of them should spend some time together without him or Regulus around. In turn, Sirius came to spend some time with Regulus. Partly because he wanted to keep his younger brother company, but also because he wanted answers about him and Flora.
Regulus, however, was not altogether forthcoming. He kept his eyes fixed on the television and gave one-worded, evasive answers to every question Sirius asked.
"You like her?" He asked.
"Hm."
"How long have you liked her?"
"Dunno."
"Regulus!" Sirius threw a cushion at his brother's head, causing Regulus to spill tea over himself.
"Oi! What the fuck are you—"
Sirius quickly waved his wand and in a blink, switched off the television and cleaned up the mess. Now he had his brother's full attention, infuriated as that may be, he sat up and fixed his steely grey eyes on him.
"I won't let this continue between you and Flora if you're not serious about her," he said.
Regulus' brow contorted into an indignant scowl. For a moment, he continued to wipe at his shirt where the tea had spilled on him, as though it were still there.
"I like her, I told you," he snapped back.
"Yes, but in what way exactly do you like her?" Sirius replied sharply. "Is it just because she's pretty?"
"No," he frowned.
"Then what is it?"
"I like her. Why does everything have to be an interrogation with you?"
"Because, Regulus," Sirius said with a short pause for effect, "Only a few months ago you believed muggles were no better than animals. You were incredibly rude to Flora and drove her out of her own house. So forgive me for asking, but it's because I care about her. I want to know exactly what your intentions are."
Regulus snorted. "What are you, her dad? You and Lupin drive her insane, you know."
"Answer the question, Reg."
"You didn't ask me a question."
"Your intentions," Sirius huffed impatiently. "What are your intentions?"
"If I answer this, does that entitle me to ask Lupin what his intentions are with you?"
"I know you can't help it sometimes, Reg," Sirius glared, "But would you stop being stupid for five minutes?"
Regulus' gaze drifted away to the blank television screen, his scowl fixed. He took a long sip of tea, deliberately slurping to irritate Sirius, then lowered the cup to his knee and finally replied, "I like her… My intentions are honest."
"So, by that, do you mean that when this war is over you would—"
"Yes."
"You didn't hear what I was going to ask," Sirius continued.
"I'll marry her and have lots of babies with her. Is that what you want to hear?" Regulus looked at him again. Though irritated, he had a peculiar glimmer in his eye. He was clearly taking some pleasure in twisting the discussion around and leading it away into something else.
"Well, I wasn't going to say marry," Sirius replied, rolling his eyes. "Not yet anyway. I meant—"
"What in the name of Salazar Slytherin do you mean not yet?" Regulus' eyes widened in disbelief.
"Well, if you're serious about her," Sirius frowned, "It's not too outlandish to consider that one day you might marry her."
"It absolutely is," he replied tersely. "I'm not ready to think about marrying anyone."
"You might when you're older."
"When are you going to marry Lupin then?"
Sirius was looking increasingly annoyed. He cast Regulus a withering look and clenched his jaw, not justifying his question with an answer.
"Would you stay with her if she wanted to be with you?" He asked after a moment.
"I suppose…if she wanted to be," he said with some reluctance.
Regulus was becoming deeply uncomfortable by the conversation. He had never been one to discuss his inner-most feelings with anyone, let alone Sirius. Feelings were not something anyone in his family talked about and he couldn't understand why Sirius was trying to have this heart-to-heart discussion with him.
To his relief, Sirius appeared to drop the matter as he picked up Regulus' latest Quidditch magazine, flipping through it idly even though he'd already read it. Regulus continued to sip his tea, quietly this time, keeping his gaze locked on a painting hanging on the wall.
"You'd better look after her, Regulus," Sirius said finally. "I love her like a little sister and if you hurt her, I'll hurt you."
"I have no intention of hurting her," Regulus mumbled into his cup without looking at him.
"Good. Consider this your warning."
And what if she hurts me? Regulus thought bitterly to himself, half feeling the indignity of being assumed to be nothing more than a player, and half out of genuine fear. Mark's note with his telephone number was sitting by the phone like a warning to Regulus; he'd often been tempted to throw it into the fire, but he knew it wasn't his place to take control of the matter.
When Flora came home, he suffered from the restraint of not immediately embracing and kissing her. She looked so happy; her cheeks and nose were pink, nipped by the cold November wind. She came in with shopping bags—more books, a fashion magazine, and cosmetics.
"So, these go over your real eyelashes?" Sirius was examining a small box Flora had taken out of a bag from Boots. Regulus looked over, equally quizzical as to why she had bought a separate pair of eyelashes.
"Yes," Flora said with the patience of a teacher. She was holding her magazine and flipped through it to show them a picture of a doe-eyed woman with very long eyelashes. "That's Shelley Duvall. Isn't she so pretty? She was in the film I saw with Remus, and then I saw this magazine in the shop. I'm going to try do my makeup like hers."
"How will you be able to open your eyes with those things on?" Sirius asked, looking worried.
"That's what I said," Remus put in from across the kitchen. He was making tea and coffee for everyone.
Flora rolled her eyes. "You're both so dim. I saw Lily wearing them once."
"Yeah, and one of her eyes got stuck together," Remus snickered, sharing a smirk with Sirius.
Having made amends with her brother, who was also in an uncommonly good mood, Flora wanted him to stay longer and insisted on cooking for all four of them. Regulus was a little dismayed by this, for he craved to be alone with her, but he didn't say anything. He watched her as she began to prepare the food, peeling potatoes and carrots, and suddenly thought back to what Sirius had said about marrying her. It gave him an unexpected jolt of pleasure to imagine her as his wife, and suddenly his whole future opened up before his eyes—Flora, her belly round with his baby, standing there just like she was now but with a ring on her finger. His wife. Her husband. If Sirius and Remus weren't there, he would've gathered her up and kissed her.
Regulus and Flora shared secretive glances as she moved around the kitchen, and found ways to touch one another without bringing attention to themselves—brushing up against each other, locking fingers, knocking elbows together, grazing the side of one another's hands. This was achieved by Flora keeping him busy between the kitchen and all the other rooms in the cottage, asking him to bring her things—cups from upstairs, washing, plates she couldn't reach in the cupboards above but didn't really need. Regulus happily obliged to all her whims.
When Flora had put a chicken casserole in the oven to bake, Sirius and Remus went into the living room and she went upstairs to get her book. She heard Regulus coming up the stairs behind her and laughed quietly when he rushed at her like a vampire in the dark, encircled her by the waist, and pressed several kisses to her throat and neck.
"Regulus!" She hissed, stifling her laughter.
"Shh," he pulled her into his bedroom, which was the nearest on hand, and shut the door. His room, being lately disused, felt cold. He pushed Flora up against the wall and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her mouth to his at once with a soft moan.
His tongue slid against hers, and Flora threaded her fingers through his curls as they kissed. Meanwhile, Regulus' hand wandered down her torso to her thigh; without any warning, his hand slipped under her dress and between her legs. His fingers toyed with her over her knickers, which were rapidly growing damp from his touch.
"Regulus," she finally managed to say, turning her head aside to speak. "Remus might come upstairs…"
"No, he won't," Regulus murmured, trying to catch her mouth with his again.
"He'll notice you're not downstairs," she dodged him, but then kissed him anyway. His fingers were circling her teasingly, then slid down the length of her centre and back up again. Her breath grew heavier and her eyes fluttered almost completely shut.
Regulus only shrugged, then picked up her leg and hooked it around his hip while his other hand grabbed her backside.
"Stop it," she breathed, half laughing as his lips ravaged her jawline and ear. His hot breath tickled her and she tried again to half-heartedly escape his grasp.
"Can't…" he mumbled. "I want you."
For the moment they were allowed, Flora allowed her apprehension to slip away and she gave in to his soft touches, moulding her mouth with his again, letting their tongues meet. Her leg slipped down from his hip, but her leg remained wrapped around his.
Regulus continued to kiss her even when Remus' voice, calling curiously for his sister, drifted up the stairs. Flora froze, breaking their kiss apart, and gave Regulus a sharp I-told-you-so sort of look, which he could just about see in the dimness of the room.
"You go out first," Flora whispered. "Tell him I'm in my bedroom."
Regulus sighed heavily, his irritation evident. "Does he ever leave you alone?" He muttered, drawing back from the warmth of her body.
Flora watched anxiously as he threw the door open and she stepped back further into the room, hiding in the shadows in case Remus decided to come up the stairs. Mercifully, he remained at the bottom of them, but he mounted the first two and called her name again. Realising he couldn't see her, Flora saw her chance to slip out.
"What?" she called back from the landing.
"What're you doing?"
"Powdering my nose. What're you doing?"
Regulus switched his bedroom light on and shuffled around his room just as Remus ascended the stairs two at a time and arrived on the landing. He frowned when he saw her standing outside of Regulus' room.
"I was going to ask if you wanted to do some more of that jigsaw puzzle with me," Remus replied.
After just being deliciously ravaged by Regulus Black in his bedroom, jigsaw puzzles were the last thing she wanted to do, but she nodded and smiled. She didn't dare look back over her shoulder at Regulus, knowing full well he'd have a smug little smirk on his face. She quickly followed her brother back downstairs, checked briefly on the casserole, and pretended to be wholly interested in the puzzle at hand.
Remus seemed oddly determined to get Flora away from Regulus, even just for a short time. He had never been so ready to take her Christmas shopping in London. He disliked shopping generally, but Christmas in London was an entirely different matter; he hated the crowds, the queues, the chaos of it all. He had hoped that with it not even being the middle of November yet that it wouldn't be that busy, but it was quickly apparent everybody else had had the same idea.
While Flora went to London, Regulus went to see Barty again in an effort to dwindle information out of him—a wasted effort in that regard, but Regulus did take pleasure in being able to visit his friend instead of twiddling his thumbs in Flora's living room.
Barty didn't bring up his blackmailing scheme when Regulus turned up at the draughty old house. He had so far done a spectacularly good job of getting on Regulus' nerves and realised this wasn't going to win him any favours; so he instead stuck to lighthearted conversation and his usual jokes, trying to regain Regulus' unguarded friendship.
Flora, meanwhile, occupied in a book shop, was browsing the horror section with Remus at her elbow. Every time she managed to walk a few feet away from him, he returned to her side like an elastic band. In times like this, she realised she really was a lot like Remus; much in the same way his agitation increased with the approach of the full moon, her agitation with him was increasing with the approach of her period, except she knew she would probably cry in the middle of the shop.
"Remus, will you go look at something else while I shop?" She said in a controlled, calm voice. "How can I buy you anything if you're here?"
"I'm not paying attention, Flo," he said and was, in fact, not looking at her as he replied. He was flipping through a book.
"That's not the point. Go somewhere else."
Flora moved away to the next shelf and Remus stayed put, though his eyes briefly followed her before looking back down at the book, pretending to be interested in it.
Flora had thought already that everybody in London was in this shop, and as if her thoughts had power, both her and Remus suddenly found themselves faced with two unlikely encounters—the first was Lily and James Potter, who called to Remus and weaved through the crowd towards him with a baby pram in tow; the second, at the moment Flora turned her head to see who had called to her brother, was Mark, who she walked into the back of.
"Sorry, oh—" she started, then abruptly stopped and went bright pink.
"Flora?" Mark blinked, as though he were taking in a mirage.
"Hi…sorry," she mumbled, "Wasn't looking where I was…"
He smiled widely as she trailed off in her confusion, like he had never been so happy to see anyone. It surprised Flora, as she'd assumed he hated her.
"What're you doin' here?" He asked, still smiling from the thrill of luck, "Your brother or his friend said you'd gone back to Wales."
"Yeah, well, I was in Wales," Flora replied, flustered. "I'm not now, obviously. I'm just here to do my Christmas shopping."
"You with your brother?" He nodded over her shoulder, looking towards Remus, who was talking with his friends and smiling warmly at the baby in the pram, which Flora couldn't see from her vantage point.
"Mhm," she nodded, and then with a light eye-roll added, "He won't go away. I don't know how I'm supposed to do any shopping."
As though eager to prove her exact point, Remus called her over. Lily was positively radiant, beaming at Flora, and James was looking at her with a polite, friendly smile. They had a lot of shopping bags in their hands; at least three of them were from Hamleys, filled with toys.
"Flo, come over here," Remus motioned to her. He noticed Mark at the same time he said this, and his eyes remained fixed on him even as he said to her, "Come meet Harry."
Flora looked at Mark with a helpless shrug. Her open manner wordlessly told him to follow, and so he did, hanging back behind her slightly until Lily, assuming he was Flora's boyfriend, smiled at him permissibly. Mark stepped a little closer.
Flora had never been much interested in babies and small children, but she looked on politely at the dark-haired baby boy in the pram; he was fast asleep, his small arms up and hands in little fists. He could've been a day or a year old for all Flora could tell. She smiled at Lily and James.
"He's so cute," she said, feeling this was the best thing to say to new parents.
Lily leaned down to adjust Harry's blanket and touch his cheek softly. Her green eyes were glimmering with pride.
"He's just over three months now," she said.
"He's cute," she said again.
"It's been ages since we've seen you," Lily went on eagerly.
"Yeah, well," she shrugged, looking meaningfully at Remus. "I'm only on day release."
Lily gave her a small understanding smile, nodding. "You always look so pretty," she said sincerely. "I love your eye makeup. I barely have time to put a lick of mascara on these days."
Flora felt a little bashful at being complimented so openly. It always felt nicer being complimented by girls. Lily had always been kind to her, especially after she'd lost her parents. Flora, when she'd stayed in the sanctuary of the Potter's home, would hardly eat or talk. When Remus hadn't been around, Lily had often kept her company; she had been there when the gravity of her loss hit Flora, crying after weeks of being unable to cry. Flora realised now that she hadn't seen Lily and James since she was fifteen. Nothing had been the same since she was fifteen.
"Oh, stop it," she said modestly. "You're ridiculously pretty."
"Oi, what about us?" James put in, motioning between him and Remus.
Lily rolled her eyes, turning back to Flora and looking over her shoulder at Mark.
"This is Mark," Flora said quickly. "My friend."
Mark gave a polite nod and smile, glad to be introduced as he was starting to feel a little awkward standing in the background. "Hello."
Mark was greeted in quiet unison, and observed particularly closely by Remus, which didn't escape Mark's notice.
"James and I were about to go have a coffee and cake," Lily said. "Shall we all go together?"
Flora saw her chance. "Oh, Remus, you should go," she said, looking at her brother, "I need to do my shopping, and I can't with you here. You go and I'll meet you back at the flat."
Remus obviously didn't like this idea. His brow furrowed, but Lily understood at once and eagerly agreed with Flora.
"Yes, that's a good idea. Let your sister do her shopping, Remus."
"I'll be back before five," she promised, already edging away towards the non-fiction section. She felt Mark's hand on the small of her back, as though helping her along.
"Do you know your way back?" Remus asked.
"Yes, I'm not stupid," she retorted. "Anyway, I'll be with Mark. If I lose my memory between now and five o'clock, he can bring me back."
Remus stood no chance of arguing with her. Lily and James were ushering him away, and Flora fled very quickly before he could say another word. She'd never thought to consider if Mark had other plans before she'd roped him in, but it gave her the chance to slip away as quickly as she did. She only considered Mark's position once they were on the other side of the large shop and Remus was out of sight.
"Sorry, you can go if you want to," she said, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious.
"Do you want me to go?" He asked.
Flora looked at him. It was a good and valid question, and he clearly did not want to go. After their last disastrous encounter, she couldn't understand why, particularly as she also hadn't called him to explain herself or apologise.
"I didn't think you'd want to see me…" Flora said uncertainly, idly fiddling with the strap of her bag.
He smiled and shook his head. "Nah, it's fine. I've been hoping to run into you again. Did you—did you get my note?"
Flora made a split-second decision as he asked her this question, and that decision, much like it had been before, was to lie. It was easier than explaining she'd got his note and was just too busy rolling around in bed with Regulus. If Regulus hadn't inserted himself between them, she knew full well she would have pursued something with Mark. She liked Mark. Even now pity and guilt was settling in her stomach. He seemed so uncomplicated compared to Regulus.
"What note?"
"Ah, no bother," he said, shrugging. "I gave your brother's friend a message to pass on to you. Just wanted you to call. I dunno. I know Halloween was a disaster an' all, but I thought maybe, if you're not tied up with anyone, we could have another go."
"I live in Wales. I'm not here often," she deflected. As they spoke, they meandered slowly down the rows of books; Flora trailed her fingers along their spines without reading the titles. She felt unwavering loyalty for Regulus, but at the same time, the situation was too bizarre to talk about candidly. It struck her then that perhaps she was embarrassed, and this uncomfortable realisation made her feel ashamed for the sheer hypocrisy of it.
"You're here now," he replied simply.
"Not for very long though."
"You didn't come all the way down here just to do a spot of Christmas shopping, did you?" He asked, perplexed. "Does Wales not have shops or something?"
Flora often forgot that it was an eight to nine hour journey on the train from Anglesey to London.
"No, I—I've been here all week," she lied again through her teeth.
"And you haven't once visited my shop?" He teased.
Flora looked away quickly and picked up a book at random. "I need to get a present for my brother," she mumbled.
"Is he into trains?"
Mark looked at the shelf of books before them, and Flora realised they were all about trains and transportation.
"No," she put the book back. She hated how awkward she was with him; this was no better than shopping with Remus at her side. She wasn't awkward like this with Regulus, but then perhaps it was because she didn't have to pretend she was normal around him. Compared to him, she thought, she was the normal one. But standing and talking with Mark, carefully considering every word she said, made her feel like the weirdo.
Flora finally sighed and looked at him. "I think I should do my shopping alone, I'm sorry. I can't focus."
To her surprise, Mark nodded in agreement. "Alright. But how about we go have a drink together when you're done?"
Flora faltered. "I—I can't. My brother…and my train…"
"What time's your train?"
"Uh, six."
"Then how about we meet at four?" He glanced at his watch. "It's just gone one o'clock now. Will that give you enough time to shop?"
Flora considered. Having a drink with him for a little while didn't sound entirely unappealing, and she wasn't likely to see him again afterwards. But then she wondered if it would be unfaithful to Regulus; he wasn't even really her boyfriend though, and so surely she had a right to have drinks with whoever she pleased. Nevertheless, she hesitated.
"I don't know," she said. "It's lovely to see you, but I'm really not sure it's—"
"Regulus?" He cut in.
Flora was visibly taken aback. She blinked, opened her mouth and then closed it again as she floundered for words.
"What?" She said finally.
"That was his name, wasn't it? The posh boy?"
"Yes, but—but what about him?"
"Are you going out with him?" He asked.
"Well, no, not exactly," she admitted, which technically wasn't a lie because she wasn't going out anywhere with him.
Her evasive answer only confused Mark. "Not exactly?"
Flora sighed, pushed her hair back and rubbed her hand over her cheek. She couldn't meet his eye suddenly.
"It's complicated, I'm sorry," she said with admittance, shyly looking at him again. She could see he was disappointed.
"Just come for a drink with me, Flora," he said. "As a friend. It doesn't have to be anything else. You're leaving tonight anyway."
A moment later, she agreed. She wasn't sure why she agreed, but she did, and a part of her wished she hadn't the moment she did. For as much as she told herself it was nothing, she knew she was going to potentially complicate things for herself later. Regulus would not like it one bit if he ever found out. Boyfriend or not, Flora sensed he was possessive over her, and when she considered it herself, she knew she wouldn't like to think of Regulus meeting pretty witches behind her back. She desperately wished she hadn't agreed to it.
As though to prove her loyalty to Regulus, she put aside Christmas shopping for Remus and instead made it her mission to find a special gift for Regulus. She wasn't sure he would get her anything, but it didn't matter. He was what mattered.
Sitting in Barty's draughty room, Regulus sat across from his friend as he considered his next move on the chess board.
"I don't know what to get Flora for Christmas," he said.
Barty raised an eyebrow, slightly taken aback by the sudden proclamation. They had been playing chess all afternoon and Regulus had entirely given up on trying to get anything useful out of Barty. He either talked nonsense or said nothing at all.
"Well, what does she like?" He asked, then added briskly, "Move your piece already."
Regulus breathed heavily through his nose and sat forward a little more. They were sitting on the great four poster bed; the curtains had been restored to their place since he'd last visited. With little thought or consideration, Regulus commanded one of his Knights to move to an empty space on the board.
Barty immediately had an advantage in the game, but Regulus didn't care. This was their fifth round and he was getting sick of it. Barty had won every game.
"She likes…books," Regulus said. "But she has hundreds of books."
"Jewellery or perfume is usually a winner."
"I was thinking jewellery," Regulus agreed rather solemnly, bitterly recalling the flower necklace Sirius had given her. "But I like the perfume she wears, I don't want to buy her a new one."
"Well, does she need anymore of it?" Barty replied.
Regulus was privately surprised he was being so helpful and wondered how Barty was apparently so wise on the matter.
"I don't know," Regulus shrugged. "I'd have to check."
Barty didn't reply for a moment as he studied the board, then sent one of his pieces sailing across it to push Regulus' Knight off. In less than five minutes, Regulus was sure, Barty would win.
"My mum was always happy when she got more perfume," he said by some vague way of explanation. "Or a dress."
"I don't know what sort of dress Flora would like," Regulus shook his head.
"A nice one. Maybe a very low-cut one."
He rolled his eyes, moved his chess piece, and said, "Can we hurry up and finish this game?"
"I'm going to win."
"Then hurry up with it," Regulus said impatiently, leaning back to stretch his back a little. Sitting in a hunched attitude for so long was beginning to take its toll.
Two or three minutes later, Barty won the game as predicted. Before he could even think of resetting the board, Regulus snatched all the chess pieces up and stuffed them into their drawer. He felt that he suddenly wanted to talk about Flora. He hadn't been able to with Sirius, but with Barty the whole matter felt approachable.
"So, you actually like her?" Barty asked, as though reading his mind. His tone wasn't cutting or judgemental, it was simply a question.
"I like her a lot," Regulus said in a low, conspirative sort of voice with his eyes cast down, "I think I more than like her."
He lifted his eyes to Barty's bewildered face. "Which is why," he went on sharply, "It's imperative that you don't fuck things up between us."
"Reg, she's a muggle," Barty replied, as though he were helpfully reminding him of an important fact.
"I know that," he snapped back defensively. "But what's it matter? You once said you would date a muggle, given the chance."
"Yes, and you looked at me like I was insane and got angry about it."
Regulus frowned. "I didn't get angry."
"Well, high and mighty then," he corrected. "Started banging on about blood purity and how stupid muggles are."
Regulus stiffened, looking away. "I don't believe in that anymore."
"Well, I don't believe that you don't believe that," Barty replied with a short scoff. "Not really. How long have you known her?"
Regulus was starting to wish he hadn't brought Flora up. He frowned to himself, replying reluctantly, "About two months, just over."
Barty's smirk told him all he needed to know. It was not a long time at all and it surprised Regulus to realise it. He wondered how it had happened so fast, how it had escalated to such heights. He'd never been in love before.
"I think you've just been cooped up too long, Reg," Barty reasoned. "Cabin fever, or Stockholm syndrome or something."
"What?" Regulus scowled. "What's that?"
"See, you know nothing about the muggle world," Barty replied, "And it doesn't seem you're inclined to learn. I think you just want to get your dick wet."
"That's not what it's about!" Regulus objected indignantly. "I genuinely like her."
"If you say so," Barty shrugged, unconvinced. "Where is your lovely Flora anyway?"
"London."
"Ah."
Regulus frowned. "What?"
"Nothing."
"No, what?"
"Does she often go to London?" Barty asked.
"No, actually, she doesn't. Her brother hardly lets her go anywhere."
"But he'd let her see Sirius, wouldn't he?"
"Yeah, but so what?" Regulus was growing increasingly confused, unable to understand what he was getting at.
"They seemed quite close, that's all," Barty shrugged. "She was sharing his bed. Is that why you and her were having that domestic in the kitchen?"
Regulus nearly laughed outright. "You think—her and my brother? No, they're not."
"Your brother was always very popular with girls, as I recall. That's all I'm saying. You should be careful."
"He's a queer," Regulus replied. "Him and Lupin."
Barty didn't appear to register what Regulus was telling him for a brief moment, but then his eyes widened.
"Queer?" He repeated, scrunching his nose up. "Is he really? Merlin, you're dropping all the bombs on me today, Reg. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."
"I've told you things, so why don't you tell me something for a change?" Regulus tried, deciding give it one last go.
"Like what? I don't know anything about the Dark Lord's love life."
"Oh, forget it," Regulus huffed, unfolding his long legs and rolling off the bed.
"You're not going already, are you?" Barty looked terribly dismayed.
"I've been here for hours."
"Stay another. They'll be bringing dinner up soon, and your precious Flora is away, so what's the rush? Stay and have dinner with me, please," he implored.
Going back to an empty house didn't stir any warm feelings in Regulus, and Flora had said she was likely to stay until late into the evening. He sat back down with Barty.