high adventure! → regulus black

[12] realizations

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IT TOOK STELLA A MOMENT to remember where she was when she woke up that next morning. Half expecting to wake up on the cold, hard cellar floor, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself in a warm, comfy bed. For just a moment, she wondered if it had all been a dream, if Daniel would be knocking on the door to wake her up at any moment—but it all felt too real, and sure enough, when she opened her eyes, she was reminded that she was in Sirius's guest bedroom and that everything she remembered had in fact happened in real life.

Whilst she was mostly relieved by this, the recollection of the time she spent in that manor filled her with unease. Not only was she still getting used to this new world she had been thrown into, but now she had to deal with the effects of what had happened, and, well, dealing with effects of traumatic events wasn't exactly her strong suit.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and it was pushed open by Regulus, who stood in the doorway. The sight of him alone was enough to make her feel better.

"Hey," she said with a smile, but as she began to sit up, he rushed to her side.

"Don't sit up, you need to rest," he said gently, but she merely gave him a look and sat up anyway.

"I feel fine, I don't need to be on bed rest, thank you," she retorted, though she couldn't help but smile.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking one of her hands in his.

"Physically? All right. Mentally, well, that's another story."

"Wouldn't expect you to be perfect after that," Regulus mumbled.
"I'm so sorry, Stella, I didn't mean to drag you into all this—"

"Enough of that rubbish, Regulus Arcturus Black," she said, suddenly stern.
"You didn't drag me into anything. Besides, before we met, I was off to Liverpool to go on some self-discovery mission, but I reckon this is a lot more exciting, isn't it?" And Stella smiled at him, though it didn't quite meet her eyes, because no matter how she felt about the sudden change in her life, the torture had effected her rather deeply, there was no denying it.

"Speaking of before we met, Sirius contacted Daniel on the telly—the telephone, and he's on his way over now."

"Brilliant, he can fuss over me," Stella murmured grimly, though part of her was grateful.

"That's what brothers are for, aren't they?" teased Regulus in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Sirius has asked me if I'm all right about five times this morning. Pretty sure that's more than he did in the entire time we were growing up."

"Danny would ask me at least twice a day since my dad died. Not in so many words, mind you, because he knew I didn't want to be fussed over, but even so. Then there's the fact that, as you saw, he'll threaten to go medieval on anyone who even looks at me wrong."

"Oh trust me, I remember," chuckled the boy.
"As far as first meetings go, it definitely wasn't one of my finest ones."

"Ours was something, wasn't it?" Regulus noticed the hint of a smile gracing her features.
"I called you a wanker."

"And you also tried to get past an armed Death Eater." He flashed her an amused smirk, and she let out a laugh.

"How was I supposed to know he was holding a wand? To me it looked like a regular stick."