Vamps

Fear and First Years

Things only got more tense as the week continued.

Regulus was now instinctually checking the news every hour for updates, almost certain that Evan was doing the same, though neither would admit to it. The law had already passed through the house, and was due to be voted on in the senate the following Friday. Until then, the vampire population was forced to wait in terrified silence as they waited to hear their fate.

Regulus saw the most change out of any place within their lunch room. The majority of the younger kids were more withdrawn, visibly shakier than they had been before. Regulus and Evan did their best to assuage their concerns, when the little first year Mirabella had asked, tears forming in her eyes, if she was going to die or not, Regulus and Evan exchanged a look.

Anything they said in that situation would have been a lie. They didn't know what was going to happen and that was even worse.

Walburga and Orion Black had arrived back to Grimmauld on Monday, so it was back to full sunlight in the downstairs area and fully body sun protection for Regulus. His mother had taken one look at her son's face, lip curling in clear disgust, before turning on her heel and walking the other direction. Regulus pushed down the pain of rejection, but knew it was exactly what he should have expected.

Sightings of Sirius were fewer and farther between after their parent's return, each interaction a ticking time bomb, charged and ready to go off at any second. He'd promised Regulus that he wouldn't leave him, held his hand and promised, but some little voice in the back of Regulus's head couldn't bring himself to believe that.

Regulus sat in their normal lunch spot alone on Monday.

He'd known that Barty wasn't going to be there, he'd received a rather long, winding, and dramatic text message from his friend at around six am that morning informing him that he was extremely ill and would not be able to grace Regulus and Evan with his presence come meal time.

Regulus hadn't however received any kind of correspondence from Evan, and that was more concerning. The last time the boy had been sick he texted immediately, a bad angle selfie taken from his bed titled, "me when God takes me down". The memory itself was honestly ridiculous, Regulus's friends both were, but the fact that now his message inbox lay empty left an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

He'd texted Barty about it, but neither of them knew any of Evan's other friends, meaning that outside of the boy himself, they had no means of confirming his whereabouts, and the thing Regulus was more worried about, his safety.

They knew that his father worked in politics, they weren't sure exactly what that meant, but it usually manifested in Evan talking about how proud his dad was of his vampire son. The two things connected meant that the man was likely involved with the newest legislative affairs in some way shape or form. So by proxy Evan could be involved.

Regulus tried to tamp down his fear as he slammed his peanut butter sandwich, his mood apparently clear enough that almost everyone else was giving him a wide berth.

About halfway through however he looked up as Mirabella sat down next to him, face set determinedly.