𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 ⎼⎼ 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤

viii. rainy day

The next month or so, Regulus and Mairead were attracted at the hip. Any time they went into town, they were seen in every store together. Even Marie saw the two, and she barely left Dylan's. Gossip started to spread about the neighbors, some claiming they were so close because Mairead was pregnant, which she was definitely not. Marie claimed that Mairead was not in fact pregnant, and they were close friends. None of the other townspeople believed her.

Mairead didn't mind the rumors as long as Regulus didn't. They were close friends, and that was it. But today, it was pouring rain and Mairead didn't feel like walking in the pouring rain over to Regulus' cottage. She decided she'd stay in and have a girls day with herself. She let herself sleep in until eleven, then drew herself a bath to relax. The sound of pounding rain made her sink into the warm bath with a smile on her face. She even added some bubble solution to her bath to make it fancy. She tied up her hair in a messy bun and drank a glass of wine in the bath, enjoying every second of relaxation.

Then, she dried herself off when she saw her hands start to prune. She wrinkled her nose and wrapped herself in a fluffy green towel. She then walked around her cottage, lighting candles in nothing but a towel. Nobody was going to visit anyway. The telly had on an old movie that she adored, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and she dressed quickly in an old jumper and loose pants to watch it. She curled herself up on the couch and watched intently. Hours passed with Mairead just sitting on the couch, doing nothing. Yes, she felt lazy, but it was a rainy day anyway.

It wasn't like she could just waltz outside and go for a run, or go out shopping with Regulus in the pouring rain. She could just have a day to herself. Without any bothering or without any interaction with the outside world. Before Regulus, she really only talked to Marie and Rich, and never left the house to do anything but shop for groceries. She was known as the hermit girl who lived on the line by everyone else. Before Regulus, she was alone. Now she had someone. Someone to push her out of her shell. Someone to challenge her stubborn attitude. Someone to put up with her weird habits. It felt good to have someone.

She drank more of that amazing red wine Rich had gotten her until both of the two bottles were empty, and Mairead couldn't see straight. Her mind just felt a little fuzzy, but she could make out the knock on her door. She walked shakily towards the door, to open it and see Regulus standing there with a few books in his hand.

"It got a bit quiet at my place. Can I come in?" He asked. She nodded and closed the door behind him. He saw the empty bottles of wine on the coffee table and turned to look at Mairead disapprovingly.

"What?" She slurred. She cleared her throat. "I was having fun. Nothin' wrong with takin' a little hair off the dog, y'know." She dramatically jumped onto the couch and looked up at Regulus innocently. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He picked up the bottles and threw them in the wooden trash can in the kitchen, then came back into the living room to find Mairead squirming on the couch while trying to get comfortable.

"Let's get you some water. Sober up." She scrunched her nose at that.

"No fecking way, I'm fine as I am." She sat up, then stumbled into the kitchen to look for her secret stash of sugary biscuits she had hid the week before. She looked through a few cabinets and Regulus watched her search while pouring her a glass of freezing cold water. Once she found them, she giggled and placed one in her mouth, moaning quietly at the taste.

"You know, you're quite interesting when you're plastered." He chuckled. He handed her the glass of water, which she took a sip of and cringed.

"Why's it so bloody cold? Coulda gave me some normal water, you geebag." She grumbled, but she still drank it nonetheless. Regulus understood none of the slang she used, but pretended he knew. He found it sort of amusing when she swore. It wasn't often, but when she did, it was always funny to him.

"Well if you haven't noticed, you're kind of drunk. You had two bottles of premium wine! Of course I have to wake you up somehow, Rey." She grumbled a bit more, and he started to make some food. It was about dinner time, and he knew she was both a terrible cook and wasn't able to properly cook. Originally, he was going to stay in his house and read, maybe make a potion for dreamless sleep, but not show up at Mairead's doorstep. He was trying to be more independent, but he just winded up at her house anyway. He felt a pair of eyes burning into the back of his head, turning around to meet Mairead's eyes.

"You're real pretty, y'know. Like a god." Her gaze and comment made Regulus flush pink. He rolled his eyes and went back to making small pizzas. "No, I'm serious. I may be a wee bit tipsy, but you're real gorgeous." She leaned her head on her fist and watched him cook. She wasn't lying in the slightest. His features were that of a sculpture.

"Yeah, yeah. Now I'm going to put these in the oven, tell me when it dings, okay? I'm going to clean the living room. Stay here, Rey." She nodded and let Regulus clean, though if she were sober she'd get up and force him to sit while she cleaned. It was her house anyway, not his. She grabbed the bag of shredded cheese and started eating handfuls, sighing in satisfaction at the taste. Sure it was weird, but she was drunk. Nobody cared or saw Mairead Norah Walsh drunk, eating cheese in her kitchen while a boy was over. Marie would have scolded her. Mairead could just imagine Marie going on about how she was making a terrible impression on a future husband, in which Mairead would just wave a hand and roll her eyes.

Now she wished she had listened. She heard shuffling in the living room, where Regulus was setting the couch back to normal from the chocolate wrappers and cushions out of place. His old roommate, Evan Rosier, had been ten times messier than Mairead, so he didn't bat an eye at the messy couch. When he finally set the last throw pillow on the couch, he wandered into the kitchen to see the oven about to ding and Mairead eating some cheese out of a bag. He shook his head and let her, knowing she wasn't thinking clearly. He took out the pizzas right before the ding and set them on the counter, watching Mairead practically drool at the sight of a delicious meal.

"Thank you." Mairead told him. "Really. Haven't had some proper Italian food in ages. Smiley was the only one who could make risotto properly. Bet he'd laugh at any of the so-called Italian places 'ere." She chuckled and took a bite. He was really a great cook. He just ate silently beside her, making sure she didn't fall off the stool. Which he wouldn't blame her if she did. She was obviously in some sort of drunken stupor.

But after a bit of silence, Mairead finally spoke. "Can we talk about Hogwarts?" Regulus did a double take at that. It was obvious the first time he mentioned it she was weary, and when he showed her magic the second she was tense. Why would she want to talk about it now? He blamed it on the alcohol in her system.

"Sure. What about it?" He sat down on the stool next to her and waited for her to make the first move. He wasn't going to step into uncharted waters before getting a sense of what was going on in Mairead's wonderful mind.

"Is it weird to miss it? Like, all of it? The classes, the castle," Her voice trailed off. "Even some of the people. I didn't have many friends, but I miss the ones I did have. Like Smiley and Orla. They were my best friends." Regulus had never heard of any kids in Hufflepuff named Smiley or Orla. "But they couldn't really leave the kitchens much." That made sense to Regulus. Smiley and Orla had to be House Elves. He silently noted that she was a person that was nice to House Elves. He saw her struggling to piece together the words to continue.

"I miss doing magic. I hate sayin' it. But I do." A pregnant pause appeared. Neither said anything that could pop the bubble of nostalgia. After a while, Mairead got up and placed a hand on Regulus' shoulder, lightly squeezing it. "G'night, Reg." He mumbled a small good night and stayed there, wondering why she was so upset about missing magic. Maybe it was because she left it in a hurry. Maybe because she missed being a witch. Or maybe she just missed the simplicity of it all, just like he did. He understood that.

But whatever was the cause of her being so upset, he'd try to solve it. He'd make her a new bloody wand if that meant his new friend slash neighbor was starting to stray away from him because of magic. He'd ditch his own wand if it meant they could just live peacefully. He knew he could finally muster up the Gryffindor courage to break his wand if she smiled and asked him politely.

He would've done the same thing for Sirius if he hadn't treated him like he was invisible, too. But it didn't matter now; if Mairead asked him to, he could do anything.

Maybe that was his problem.