Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Seventy Nine

Sitting in bed beside Esme the following morning, Regulus would have described himself as having a brilliant time.

He was leaning against the headboard, with Esme's legs tangled in his lap. Their arms wrapped warmly around each other as she hummed contentedly and never separated their lips for more than a few seconds at a time.
This was, much to their dismay, soon to be interrupted.

Suddenly, the door violently swung open and a shaggy haired boy donning a battered leather jacket leapt into the room.

"You do know it's morning-oH NO! MERLIN! Stop! God, stop! NOW!"

Sirius slapped his hands over his face to cover his eyes, and started pacing back at forth as he muttered horrified complaints and curses loud enough to mask anything he knew he didn't want to hear.

Esme groaned with annoyance as she shuffled over to sit firmly on the other side of the bed. She folded her arms tightly across her chest as Regulus straightened himself out, combed a hand through his hair, and patiently waited for his brother to lower his hands from covering his eyes.

"I'm thankful I'm wearing a t-shirt." Esme muttered under her breath.
This earned a chuckle from Regulus, who quietly responded, "Oh, that might be the first thing that you and Sirius agree on."

"That was disgusting. I hope you two know that." Sirius loudly grimaced again at the memory of seeing his brother and Esme making out.

Regulus scoffed, "What exactly do you think we were doing? It really wasn't bad."
"I can't believe you let me walk in to see that!" He arched back.

"Strange..." She mused, "Because I always thought bedrooms were typically private rooms. I guess I, and everyone else ever, must be mistaken."

Regulus nodded in agreement to this before adding on, "And I always heard of this thing called knocking? You do it on a door and wait for permission to enter."

"Yeah, you two sickos are hilarious." Sirius retorted, taking a step further into the room so he could sit at the end of the bed, though he quickly decided against this and stepped back again.
"What do you want?" Regulus asked.
"Oh, yeah." He remembered, "Well breakfast is ready downstairs, so come and get it. Though you'll have to keep your tongues out of each other's mouths in order to eat."

Sirius lingered in the room awkwardly for a few moments.
Regulus glanced over at Esme, who was thoroughly amused by the situation, before he turned back to his older brother, "Sirius, perhaps you could leave..." This horrified Sirius, until Regulus clarified, "So we can get dressed?"

"Right, yeah. Okay." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "I'll go downstairs, but I'm timing you two. You better keep your hands off my brother." Sirius jabbed his finger in Esme's direction.

She scoffed, "I think you need a girlfriend of your own."
"I could get a girlfriend of my own! Ha! I got the last word!" Sirius exclaimed proudly before dashing out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him again.
The couple stared at the empty space for a moment, just in amazement at what had unfolded.

Then, Esme snickered, "Is your brother actually five years old?"
"I think so." Regulus nodded in dismay.

Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent with Sirius watching Esme and Regulus very closely. A few times, James and Lily had questioned why exactly he was staring at them so intensely, and after lunchtime it was starting to reach boiling point.

All day heavy rain had been lashing down from the grey skies and despite this, James and Lily had left to Diagon Alley for the afternoon.
Remus and Peter had also returned home earlier that morning and now, Sirius and Regulus were sat whiling away the time by playing a game of wizard's chess.
The game was set out on the coffee table in the living room. Sirius sat on a tattered cushion on the floor on one side of the table, and Regulus sat up on the red chesterfield sofa on the other side.
Sat beside Regulus, Esme was contentedly reading a book set comfortably in her lap.

"What are you doing?"

Esme looked up from her book to see Sirius was suspiciously eyeing her actions.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
He pointed at her book, "You're drawing in it."

"Yeah..." Regulus shook his head in dismay, "She does that. No matter how uncomfortable it makes me."

"I don't know why you're uncomfortable; I'm not drawing in your books, am I?" She tutted with disapproval as she turned over another page in her book.
"Not anymore." He replied.
"And I apologised for that!" Esme nudged him with her elbow, "Besides, that was only a one time thing."

"I don't understand?" Sirius frowned, "Why are you writing in it? Isn't that just a story book? Are you making notes?"
She sighed, "I mean, last time I checked I bought this book with my own money, so... I think I can do what I want with it." Esme deliberately lifted up her pen and drew a large circle around a group of words on the open page.

"Alright, fine." He held his hands up in the air, "As long as you're not writing down chess moves to help Reg cheat."

Regulus chuckled, "Yeah, I don't need that. Check." One of his pieces moved to corner Sirius' king piece and he leant back in his seat, folded his arms, and smiled smugly.

"How the hell did that happen?" Sirius' face fell before he looked up at Esme and jabbed his finger towards her, "You were writing down cheats for him, weren't you?"
"No." She closed her book at last, "I was writing mushy love letters to him."

"Oh dear Merlin..." The older boy winced, and then pretended to throw up, earning a mild laugh from Regulus. "I give up." He  pushed the chessboard away from him and complained, "It's not fun when you win every time."

"How far do you think I can push him?" Esme whispered to Regulus.
He snorted, "It seems to take more to make him snap than Ignatius."
She patted him on the leg, "Just watch this."

"I know you two are going out but I'm a lot happier when, in my mind, I pretend that you two repulse each other." Sirius pulled out his wand and gave it a quick flick, moving the chess pieces back to their original positions, ready for another match.

Esme flashed her lopsided smirk and said, "Shall I just start making out with your brother? Would that make everything better?" And she threw her arm around Regulus' shoulders.
"What?" Sirius cried out, "No! Obviously it wouldn't. You can't just make out with Reg whenever you want."

Regulus thought about this for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and explained, "No... I think she can do that, actually. There'll be no complaints from me."

"You two are the worst." Sirius grumbled, "Maybe even worse than Snivellus."

"Oh, Snape." Regulus thought, "I'd forgotten about him. You two really did hate each other though."
Sirius gritted his teeth, "That's putting it mildly. He one of your lot now?"

Esme and Regulus glanced at each other before he answered, "I haven't heard anything about him, so I don't really know. I think we can assume though."
Sirius hummed, then replied, "If he isn't a Death Eater now, I'll shave my head."

"Do that anyway." Esme snickered.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at the girl, and opened his mouth to retort, but after a few seconds he decided against it.

This brought a laugh out, past Esme's lips as she responded, "You know, maybe my purpose in life really is just to wind you up."
"Oh great, yeah, of course." He clambered up to his feet, "That's just delightful. I'm so glad you're now a part of my life."

"You're very welcome."

Sirius wandered off into the kitchen, and Esme resumed reading her book. Regulus just sat quietly for a moment, before turning to the girl beside him with a small smile as he offered, "A game of chess?"
"Oh-ho no." She shook her head, not looking up, "I'm not an idiot."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It means..." She closed her book again, "I don't fancy being beaten today."

"Oh, come on..." Regulus leaned into her side, "I won't rub it in your face when I win."

Esme sighed, stood up, and moved around the coffee table to sit down on the floor where Sirius had been sat before. "Okay, fine." She gave in, "Just don't tell your brother when I lose."

"I love you." He smiled sweetly in a slightly sing-song voice, "And I'll tell Sirius you won the match."
"Thank you. And... Yeah, love you too."