Black Rose [Regulus Black]

23 - upsetting nights & unfortunate circumstances

"Hello there, future sister-in-law!" Sirius' voice rang out through her apartment and she flinched in surprise, shutting the door behind her as she eyed the dark-haired man sprawled on her couch. One of her books was propped up against his knee, and a tin of biscuits lay beside his left hand. "I brought you biscuits."

"Sirius, don't you have something better to do than to stalk people and break into their apartments?"

"No," he said cheerfully, beaming at her. "Besides, you're not just a person. You're my si-"

"Finish that sentence," she threatened. "And I will hang you upside down by the ceiling and beat you senseless."

He opened his mouth, probably to say something witty, but then shut it when he saw her deadpan expression. "Er... my... best friend?"

"Again, we've met about four times in our entire lives."

"Friendship has no duration, nor an expiry date."

"Unless you die," she muttered gloomily, her mood about as light as a thundercloud.

"But people can be friends in the afterlife too, unless one is in Heaven and the other is in Hell."

"Sirius, if there is an afterlife, I'm pretty sure we're both going to end up in Hell."

"Then we shall sin together!" he cheered, and then winced. "That came out wrong."

"You think?"

"I don't, actually, it makes things easier."

"That makes much more sense, considering that you broke into my house after judging me over a five-minute interaction."

He scowled. "That was one time. One time!"

"And you've broken into my house twice now," she commented snidely. "And stolen from me too."

"First of all, it's an interaction between two best friends, a surprise visit if you want to call it. Second, it was Peter that stole your food, not me. Blame it on him."

"Did you just throw your friend under the bus?" she snickered.

"No," he snapped. "Anyways, did you ask Regulus about the dinner?"

Her face fell at the mention of Regulus, who she hadn't spoken to since the fiasco that had happened last night. "No, something came up."

"Let me guess. My mother overheard, tossed a hissy fit, and then attempted to come at you with a pitchfork?"

She collapsed onto the couch, taking the biscuit he offered her. She would have found it funny if she wasn't so drained. Who would've thought that she'd be sitting in her house and sharing biscuits with Sirius Black, of all people? In fact, six months ago, she hadn't known a Sirius Black or a Regulus Black. She hadn't known that her family was alive or that there was a whole new world out there which she was a part of. It was insane, it was straight out of a crazy movie.

"That was very specific. Does your mother have a pitchfork?" she asked, concerned.

"No, but she does have a wooden stick."

There was an unspoken rule hanging in the air between them, that interrogating excessively into the other's past wasn't acceptable unless the other person was fine delving into it. It wasn't a rule either of them minded, because they still had their boundaries and weren't fully comfortable with each other just yet.

However, Alessandra still wanted to ask him about it, to prod at him, because now that he had mentioned it, she was getting increasingly worried about Regulus. She'd seen the extent of his injuries just once, and it was bad, so how often did he have to deal with it? Even if she was just a little upset that he hadn't told her this essential piece of information, she was even more uneasy that he could be facing physical harm while she was peacefully having a chocolate biscuit and she'd have no clue.