Truce

2

Regulus-

Regulus didn't know what was worse. The fact that he was now technically living with Sirius, or the fact that Regulus was living with a family that abused Jacob. Both made Regulus hate his situation more than before. For the first week of summer Regulus locked himself in Jacob's old room. He silently sobbed into Jacob's many sweatshirts as his body racked with guilt. But by the sixth day Pandora finally visited. Maybe Sirius had owled her or maybe Pandora was a psychic but the two spent all day in Jacob's old room. Pandora played with Regulus' hair as he gazed into oblivion. After five hours, Pandora and Regulus came out of Jacob's bedroom with a newfound chirpiness. Sirius and James were in the living room playing wizarding chess when the two came out of the room. Sirius glanced at his younger brother's bloodshot eyes and immediately stood up. James quickly followed suit, offering an awkward smile. The four stood awkwardly before Pandora gripped Regulus' hand. 

"Morning, Reg." Sirius sniffed, waving awkwardly. Pandora tilted her head innocently, annoyance bubbling in her stomach.

"It's three in the afternoon," Sirius forced a chuckle, sparing a glance at his cousin.

"Is it? Well, the more you know." Sirius tried to step closer to his brother but Regulus quickly glued himself to Pandora's side. Sirius froze in his spot but James quickly came to the rescue.

"So, are you two going out?" Pandora offered James a smile, wrapping her arm around Regulus.

"Just for a little bit, maybe we'll get ice-cream. Who knows?" Regulus could feel Sirius' hurt gaze but he didn't dare look up. Sirius knew that Regulus wasn't a fan of ice-cream and Regulus knew that Sirius thought the two were friendly at best. God, Regulus felt like such a bad younger brother. James nodded and pulled out a couple of pounds. Pandora quickly declined the money, not wanting to take from Jacob's older brother. "I have twenty pounds, don't worry."

"Take it, I insist." The money was forced into Pandora's hand as Mrs. Potter walked into the living room. Pandora and Regulus froze, staring at the women who looked refreshingly happy. The smile falter when Mrs. Potter glanced at Pandora. 

"Morning mum," Sirius smiled, running to Mrs. Potter's side and planting a soft kiss on her cheek. Regulus watched in disgust, his eyes welling up with guilty tears. He tugged on Pandora's arm, he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Pandora quickly guided the two to the door but Mrs. Potter stopped them, placing a hand on the duo's shoulders.  

"Good morning, Regulus. Who's your friend?" The room felt tense as Regulus thought about what the hand on his shoulder had done to Jacob. He felt the sudden urge to break every bone in the woman's body. Pandora could feel the sudden change in energy and quickly interfered. She strategically brushed Mrs. Potter's hand from Regulus' shoulder and replaced his shoulder with her hand. Mrs. Potter narrowed her eyes as Pandora shook her hand. 

"I'm Pandora Lovegood, nice to meet you!" Mrs. Potter bit back a scoff, her grip tightening on Pandora's hand before she let go. Realizing that her two favorite were watching, Mrs. Potter quickly changed her disposition, offering the two younger ones a soft smile before delicately patting Pandora's head.

"There has always been rumors about your beauty," Mrs. Potter lightly tugged on Pandora's long locks, carefully putting them behind Pandora's shoulders. "I guess there are some truths to those rumors." James chuckled awkwardly, quickly walking towards his mother before any more passive aggressiveness could be demonstrated. 

"Have fun you two," Pandora smiled while rolling her eyes and dragged Regulus out of the house. 

~

The ice cream parlor was nice and cool. Regulus and Pandora sat at the booth closest to the main jukebox which was blasting songs that were popular ten years prior. A plump women with bright pink lipstick came to take their order, a strong wave of perfume following her wherever she went. She chewed loudly on a stick of gum before tapping her pen to her dry chin. Regulus went first, his red eyes caused the woman to pause for a moment. He ordered a chocolate shake with strawberry chunks. The woman stared at him for a moment before glancing at Pandora. Pandora ordered two pieces of chocolate cake and a brownie sundae. Regulus bit back a smirk as the woman slowly jotted down the order. She blew a bubble slowly, her gum sticking to her pink lips before eyeing the two. 

"You two a couple?" Pandora and Regulus shook their heads. "Really?" They nodded. The woman put their order in her pocket before jutting out her hip. "You're sure," Regulus rolled his eyes.

"We're sure," Pandora confirmed. The woman quickly jotted down a number before giving it to Pandora, her red nails gently caressing the girl's cheek. 

"That's my grandchild's number. Good lass, you'll love him." Pandora, who didn't have the heart to throw the number away, awkwardly pocketed the number with a tentative nod. The woman glanced at the two for another minute before trudging back to the kitchen. Regulus rubbed his red eyes while glancing at the flustered Pandora.

"You look happy," Pandora gave Regulus a playful smile before rolling her eyes.

"I have Xeno." Regulus sighed, a tired smile gracing his face.

"Ah yes, Xenophilius Lovegood, the epitome of a gentleman. Always holding open the doors for you and letting you sleep at his house. The beauty of young love." Pandora rolled her eyes, lightly kicking her cousin as the food came out. She offered the waitress a pleasant smile and endured the mischievous smile the waitress responded with. Sighing, Pandora took a forkful of cake.

"Look, he's nice to me and he was more than willing to offer you a place to stay. You turned it down, Reg." 

"That's because I didn't like watching you snog him every day." Pandora's face turned bright red at the comment.

"We don't snog," She blushed, stuffing her face in cake. Regulus stared at her before smiling and drinking his milkshake. The two sat in silence as the song changed to Elvis. Pandora bobbed her head as she got another forkful of cake. "Why aren't you happy at the Potter's?" Regulus scoffed.

"Do I need a reason?" A family of six entered the diner laughing merrily. The youngest of the bunch put in a couple of pence into the jukebox, giggling as the music blared through the diner. 

"They're giving you a place to live and your parents wouldn't dare go against them." Pandora leaned towards Regulus, taking his hand in hers. "You're safe there, Regulus. You know it's the best option." 

"Jacob was tortured there! He spent days in the room I'm staying in and was starved. Now I'm there and am eating every day even though I'm not family. What's so special about me? I'm a Slytherin, I'm the closest thing to a Death Eater there is, what do I have that Jacob doesn't? W-Why did he get punished?" Regulus began to tear up as he rubbed his eyes. He couldn't believe he was crying again but he couldn't help it. Pandora sighed, slowly patting Regulus' long locks. "Look," He sniffed, "I can't just allow myself to live there without feeling guilt."

"But Jacob literally allowed you to stay there. He wanted you to stay there. Reggie, look at me," There was a pause before Pandora continued. "You're safe there. We both know it. There is no where safer than at the Potter's. I hate it as much as you do but for now it is your only option." Pandora hesitated before pulling out a newspaper snippet from her pocket. She placed it on the table before turning it towards Regulus. Regulus read the title before deflating. 

"Fuck," Pandora stared at her cousin as he read the entire article. A picture of his mother and father were adorned on the upper left side while they fake cried. The picture moved to show the wreck of what used to be the noble Black estate. 'Missing Child~' was written messily as the title with the subtitle offering a million galleon reward. Just under the article was a smaller two paragraph soliloquy commenting on the new murdered of a muggle family with the prime suspect being Voldemort. Regulus' hands shook as he read the article, a newfound rage bubbling in his stomach. 

"Fuck," Pandora agreed, taking another bite of her chocolate cake which suddenly tasted too sweet for the situation. "You have no choice, Reg. The Potters are the safest option." Regulus bit back the guilt that made him feel sick and forced himself to think rationally. He wasn't safe anymore and neither was his friends. Maybe he would have to rely on his brother more than he wanted to admit.