Black Rose [Regulus Black]

35 - body butters & bedtime stories

There was a very real possibility that Regulus had just entered heaven.

Heaven wasn't an endless sky with clouds for the land, as shown in the movies Alessandra and he watched together occasionally. Heaven was a brightly lit room with stacks and stacks of colorful bottles. Heaven was filled with strange yet euphoric combinations of scents that bombarded you but in a pleasant way.

Heaven was The Body Shop.

"I can't believe you've ever been to one of these before," Alessandra snickered when he sniffed a yellow bottle and closed his eyes in appreciation. "Surely they exist in the wizarding world. Don't tell me you've all gone without soap, that would be concerning."

"Of course we have soap," he was quick to defend. "We just use potions... Merlin, I had no idea that Muggles used these. How do they do it?"

"Chemistry."

"I beg your pardon?"

"They use chemistry... like you know how you have your potions ingredients? We have chemicals that react in certain ways and produce things that have... different tastes and smells."

"And these are not magic?"

"These are not magic," she confirmed.

His eyebrows knit together and he squinted at the yellow bottle in his hand. "So this is like... a nice-smelling potion?"

"Yes, but no magic."

"But how?"

"It just- it just is! Like, okay, in the magic world, people would've carried out experiments with spells and potions, right? Similarly, in our world, people just experimented with what they had — flowers and food and all that."

"Experiments," he repeated thoughtfully.

He turned to grab a new bottle — this one was purple — and smell it, and she pressed her lips together in mirth when he groaned slightly and his head tilted back. He looked like- like-

She turned around and shut her eyes, shoulders shaking with the effort to not laugh.

By the time she turned back around, he'd disappeared, and after a few seconds of looking around, she noticed him stumbling down the aisle in a dreamlike trance. He looked like a child in a sweetshop.

It was too funny for her too handle, and she allowed herself a giggle before walking around to take a look herself. Her fingers trailed assortments of containers - small bottles, large jars, all looking adorable and smelling absolutely delightful. A pang of longing hit her chest because it was all expensive - her budget had been so tight this month that she had to spend as less money as possible.

She exhaled loudly, not looking forward to the prospect of going back to her frigid apartment. She was definitely better off than a lot of people - everybody preferred a frigid apartment over no apartment at all - but thinking about the flaws in what she had still made her heart sink.

"Alessandra?" Regulus popped out from behind the aisle like some sort of genie in a bottle, causing her to startle. He held up a jar filled with vibrantly coloured, swirling cream. "What is this?"

"Body butter."

"Can you eat it?" he questioned, peering through the translucent container as though he was hoping to gauge its secrets from a single glance.

"I... don't think so."

He pouted and opened his mouth to say something, when they heard someone.

"Oh my God, Alessandra!"

Alessandra's eyebrows knit in confusion because she couldn't really remember who the voice belonged to, but judging by the way Regulus' eyebrows had jumped so far up they nearly reached his hairline, she ought to. She turned around to see a woman with red hair approaching them with a smile on her face, her hands full of small bottles of cream.