𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨-𝙧.𝙖.𝙗

𝟭𝟯-𝗯𝗼𝘆𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀

JO PRESENTS HER NEWEST, BEST KEPT RECORDS TO REGULUS WITH A BRIGHT GRIN, as they sit cross-legged on the floor of the Room of Requirement. Radio Ethiopia. Blondie. Teenage Depression. Talking Heads: 77. Rattus Norvegicus. "Which one?" Jo questions, biting down on her bottom lip, trying to curb the grin that she just can't seem to fight off. Her voice echoes against the walls of the room; it's nearly empty, save for the record player that stands in the center. There is a dim blue light illuminating Regulus's face as he sits across from her, legs crossed and chin resting on his fist.

He stares down at the options presented to him; the five records Jo spent forty minutes picking up in her dorm before she carried them down to him. She is nervous and she doesn't know why, but her stomach is eating away at itself when he leans back on his hands and says to her, "You pick. I want to hear your favorite."

"Hmm," Jo muses, examining her options. She doesn't think of her favorite, The Strangler's new album that Sirius got her for Christmas, but instead she thinks of what Regulus would like, what might impress him the most. She grabs the bright one in front of her and holds it up for him. "Talking Heads."

Regulus smiles, genuine and wide. "Talking Heads then."

Jo stands, trying not to think too hard about what she's doing and what she's saying, and she starts the album up, the bouncy bass of Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town, instantly filling up the room, every inch of it. Jo can't help the grin on her face, or the way she taps her foot, and when she turns to Regulus to gauge his reaction, she sees that he's doing the same to her. "Have you ever listened to muggle music before?"

"No, I don't think so," Regulus says with a slight shake of his head, eyes cast down as his thumbs brush against each other. "Sirius used to play it at home. Our rooms were next to each other, so I could hear it through the walls sometimes."

Jo crosses her legs as she sits across from him once more. He doesn't look up. The dim, blue light casts shadows across the right side of his face. "Sirius got me a few of these," she tells him, hesitant and gentle. "He actually got me the first record I ever owned."

Gaze still cast down he asks her, "Are you two close?"

"Sometimes he feels more like my brother than James does," Jo answers with notes of fondness, admiration in her voice. But guilt floods her as she sees Regulus flinch. "Sorry."

He looks up at her now, gives her a half-heated, lopsided grin. "It's alright," he assures her. "Suppose that makes sense. He does live with you, after all."

Conversation lulls, and the music fills the space between him. Jo closes her eyes, lets her head drop behind her shoulders as New Feeling starts up. She always gets this euphoric feeling when she can listen to music like this. It makes her feel like she's floating, like she can feel every note echo against her bones. Jo lets herself sway a bit before she remembers that Regulus is in the room with her. The reminder makes her head snap up, blushing at the realization that he was watching her with careful eyes.

She clears her throat. "I've always wanted to hear them live," she says, pinkness still in her cheeks. "Or anyone live, actually. I've asked all my friends dozens of times, but no one will take me."

"I'll take you," Regulus says, so swiftly and so surely that it makes Jo laugh.

"You'll take me?" she questions. "To a concert? In a muggle city?"

He shrugs. "Why not?"

She snickers. "I don't think either of us would last very long on our own out there."

"I'm sure we could figure it out."

There's not a drop of hesitation or uncertainty in his words, no sarcasm or teasing in the way he speaks to her. He stares down at her as Jo shakes her head. "You're barking."