Black Rose [Regulus Black]

57 - awful interiors & restored trees

"I can't stop thinking about you," Alessandra said sadly, not even bothering to wipe away the tears. She sat near Chelsea's grave, the bouquet of flowers she'd chosen lying near the headstone. She bit into the single chocolate brownie she'd brought: it tasted like cement but it was Chelsea's favorite sweet and she needed something to connect her to her best friend, even if it was an awfully made dessert.

"I sometimes have these awful dreams about you. You just stare at me with that disappointed expression and I can't escape it. I'm so sorry."

She let out a broken laugh, thinking about the previous night's dream. "And sometimes, all those people I tortured are also there. Some stand with pitchforks aimed at me, others just look at me and cry and ask why I did it to them... I try telling them I wasn't me but what kind of answer would that be?"

"I wonder if it was me sometimes though, Chels..." Alessandra was ranting now. There was nobody else she could tell all this other than Regulus or maybe Sirius or Evan or Lily, but they all seemed to be dealing with problems of their own: Regulus was recovering slowly from the months of torture, Lily was in hiding because someone was trying to kill her precious baby, Evan had just lost his mother and Sirius was exhausted from running around trying to protect everybody. No, her silly dreams and thoughts were best kept to herself. "Sometimes, I still have these bursts of anger that remind me of Voldemort. The urge to slit someone's throat just because they were annoying me. A tinge of dismay whenever someone discusses destroying his Horcruxes. They say I was Imperiused but what if I'm on his side now? Like how absurd would it be, if his idea of daddy-daughter bonding time actually worked out and now I have some sort of sick attachment to him..."

She sighed, finally wiping away the tears on her cheeks. "Anyways, I'm just rambling at this point. I just miss you so much, and I love you, and I regret not telling you about it all."

⚜

"It looks normal from the outside," Remus said doubtfully. They all stood in front of Grimmauld Place, which had revealed itself to Regulus who was apparently the next Secret Keeper now. Regulus couldn't help but find the state of the house: it was a beautiful symbol of the Black family itself, in pristine condition from the outside but utterly devastated from within.

"It was on fire when we last left it," Alessandra told him, and then wondered what Remus was doing here. "By the way, Remus, aren't you the Secret Keeper for James and Lily? Is it safe?"

He stiffened. "It's actually been transferred over to Sirius now, who can apparently do a better job at it. I'm sure he will excel."

The tension grew so thick that only a whole axe could cut through it now. Something was up with the two of them, but nobody really had it in them to ask. "Well," she smiled at them all brightly, trying to ease the mood. "I'm sure you all have it figured out. Let's go inside!"

Regulus opened the door and they all stepped inside, nearly everyone taking a sharp breath at the state of the house. 

"I will admit," Sirius said in awe, "I'd always dreamed of doing this, but I never thought I'd see it happen."

"Same, the interior design was terrible."

They all turned to eye Evan, who grinned at them unabashedly.

"He isn't entirely wrong," Sirius said. "It looked like it had been decorated by a person who hated every colour but black and green."

Regulus felt ridiculously happy that Sirius had defended Evan, even if it was over something as minor as decor. It filled his gut with a warm, bubbly feeling that he couldn't explain. His brother and best friend were getting along, a vision he'd deemed absurd and downright impossible years ago.