Black Rose [Regulus Black]

44 - beautiful libraries & interesting ideas

"If it helps, you're glowing."

"It doesn't," Lily snapped, the pregnancy evidently taking a toll on her. "I was throwing up all night."

"And you still look splendid, dear," James said kindly, entering the Potter kitchen. He glared daggers at his houseguests, who immediately started complimenting her.

"So beautiful," Alessandra nodded, nudging Regulus.

"Nobody would've thought you were pregnant," he added.

"You have nice feet," Sirius said.

Remus elbowed him, hard.

"Is that cake?" Lily perked up when her husband brought out a dish from the fridge. James, bless him, wordlessly slid the plate in front of her with a fork, and she dug in. Alessandra couldn't help but wonder how she managed to pull it off; the nausea, the swelling, the body pains...she could never. Growing a whole human inside you was no small-

Alessandra squeaked as Lily spat out the cake, foaming at the mouth as bubbles, literal bubbles erupted from her mouth.

"Merlin's nutsack!" Sirius swore. "Prongs, that was meant for you."

James picked up the dish and threw it at his face, but Sirius ducked and pulled out his wand. "Hold on, let me fix it."

"Absolutely not," Regulus declared, waving his wand. The soap bubbles receded and the foam disappeared, leaving behind a very drenched, very mad Lily.

"James," Lily asked softly. "Why is there a soap that looks like a cake in the fridge?"

"Because- because Sirius did it!"

"Oh, please, I only did it because you slipped laxatives into the hot chocolate!"

"That was you?!" Regulus whirled around to face James, who looked like a deer in headlights. "It took me weeks to recover from that. Weeks! I felt like I was dying, Potter! What is wrong with you?"

"I feel like this is mostly Lily's fault," James raised his hands. "After all, she was the one who told me what they were and where I could buy them."

A drop of silence.

"Excuse me?"

Uh-oh.

⚜

Haven Number 451 was the most wonderful library Alessandra had ever been in.

To be fair, she had never been in many other libraries because of her upbringing, but this place had a certain charm to it. Lamps were glowing on every table, bathing the room in light that wasn't so bright that it hurt your eyes but also not so dim that you felt drowsy. There were thousands of books, accessible through moving shelves and ladders, things Alessandra had only ever read about in books (she didn't even know they were real). The library also had a really nice smell to it, it smelt like old books and oatmeal raisin cookies and she thought she even detected a hint of citrus. She wanted to bottle up the smell and keep it with her forever, it was so comforting.

"How exactly do you know this place?" she asked Regulus.

"Are you surprised I know how to read?" he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm asking how you know a Muggle library. Actually, how does the librarian know you?" Her eyes had nearly popped out of her head when the librarian's eyes lit up at the mere sight of Reg.

"My cousins live somewhere around here, and their house was so boring that I used to just walk around aimlessly until I discovered this place when I was ten." Regulus hummed contentedly as he recalled that time, years ago, when Sirius had went to the Hogwarts for the first time and decided to spend Winter Break in the castle, leaving him all alone in the house. Staying in Uncle Cygnus and Aunt Druella's house was painfully boring, but his boredom had escalated once Sirius wasn't there. Regulus would never tell Sirius this, but his sarcastic commentary was what made those 'vacations' a little bearable.