Brothers ~ A Regulus Black Story

Astronomy Tower Therapy

Regulus
I lay awake in my bed knowing that in 45 minutes I have to be up and headed to the astronomy tower to see Evie because I promised her I'd be there. After the letter last night and then that conversation with Bellatrix, everything felt so real and I couldn't sleep. It scared me how easy it was for me to act like I'm one of them and how easily they bought it. Can they not see that I'm only doing this for Evie? Can't they tell I don't want any part of this? 

If they can't tell, does that mean she won't be able to tell that I'm faking it to protect her too? I don't want her to think I'm really like that...

It's all for her.

My thoughts have been like that all night. I've been thinking about all these scenarios about what might happen if people found out. All night long. 

I have a full day of classes ahead of me and a good chunk of them are with Everleigh. How am I going to tell her that I got no sleep because I was up worried about a meeting I agreed to go to with the dark lord? 

I sigh before forcing myself to get out of bed and throw on my school robes. Green and silver tie with a white shirt and black pants and over top of all of that, a black robe.

I quietly open the door and head down to the common room so no one hears me and I don't have to make small talk with anyone. The astronomy tower is a good place to hide from everyone else because most people only go up during the day and Evie and I only go up before breakfast and before curfew. It's usually empty but sometimes we have to kick some people out. 

Walking up the stairs is the worst part though. There's so many stairs to walk up because the room is at the very top of the tower and by the time we make it to the room, we're tired. Another reason why not many people use the astronomy tower. 

I open the door hoping the room would be empty but I was surprised when I see Everleigh sitting there with Lily. That's never happened before.

"What are you doing up so early?" I ask, forcing my voice to steady so she can't tell that something's bothering me.

"She owled me late last night asking to meet here." Lily explained. "She hasn't told me what's going on. We sat here basically all night." 

I kneel down in front of Evie and place my hands on her knees. "Hey, what's wrong?" I whisper. She lifts her head up to look me in the eyes and I notice her eyes are puffy and red. 

Without saying anything, she lunges forward and collapse into my chest. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. I feel her breathe start picking up and she's shaking a little which tells me she's crying again. 

"If you want to get some sleep Lily, I'll stay up here with her." I softly say to her friend who looks exhausted. 

 "Thanks Reg. I'll come find you two at breakfast." Lily says. 

"Okay, if we aren't down there we will be here. Don't tell the guys about this just yet." I say. She nods and leaves the room, heading down the stairs.

I place a gentle kiss on the top of Everleigh's head and then whisper, "It's just me and you now, can you tell me what's going on?"

She lifts her head up and pulls away from my chest, leaning back against the wall. It hurts me to see her like this but I can't help until I know what's wrong.

Without another word, she reaches into the pocket of the sweater I gave her a few weeks ago when we were hanging out and pulls out a piece of parchment. She hands it to me and puts her head back down.

I open the piece of parchment and read it. It's a letter from her father. 

- 

Everleigh,
I know it's hard hun but your mother would want you to start moving on with your life. I know you miss her a lot and I know it's not easy but you should start focusing on your education again and your friends. Don't get caught up in the drama and just try and enjoy your time with them. If it does get too much, we can always talk about moving schools but your mother wanted you to go to Hogwarts.