CHAPTER EIGHT
Muggle London
April 12th, 1978

Daphne, or should I say dear Daphne?

I don't know, tell me in the next letter. Sirius and I have visited the Muggle village not too far from my home, did you know that the Muggles sell a lot of things? I bought some things, though. Also, have you seen the scores for the Chudley Canons vs Kenmare Kestrels? I was really hoping for England to win, I mean we do have better players...better luck next time, right?

My mum keeps asking about THE secret girl, told me she didn't care about her house and all that. I reckon she knows. I promise I haven't said anything, not until you don't give me permission. But, she would love you.

Remus and Pete are supposed to come soon, we are going to play Quidditch and cards. It's going to be fun. Though, Sirius is all about going out in a pub...I'm not against it but our parents are. He keeps insisting on the fact that he's an adult now, and doesn't need assistance. But, I know Mum will kill me if I bring him back plastered. Besides, Pete doesn't handle alcohol very well...especially the elf-wine!!! He's out after one glass. Remus could drink it all day, though. He's a real man, isn't he?

Enough about me...how are you? How are things at home? Mum and Dad are quieter, I know a war's coming but I can't do much right now. I was just hoping you were doing okay and away from danger, that's all I want. Is your little brother okay, too? Heard he was doing quiet the mess with Barty in Potion last time.

I miss you and I wish you were here.

I love you,
James, your secret lover.

ps: Feather is a nice owl, Winky loves her.

Daphne folded the parchment carefully and grabbed the box she had charmed herself. Getting to use her wand as its perks she'd say. She looked it one last time and smiled fondly at the heart he had tried to do at the end of the letter, or his messy yet beautiful handwriting. She reminded herself to answer later and closed the box softly, before putting it back under her head.

The Dark Lord, or Tom, had been at her house for the past few days. He had apparently discussed it with her parents, and they had both agreed to let him stay for a moment. So, she found herself having dinner with him and sharing tea in the afternoons. Evan had been quiet, staying his bedroom a little more than usual and Daphne reckoned he was scared by the man staying in their house. She didn't blame him though.

"Mum," Daphne called for her mum as she strolled around the house. "Letty, have you seen Mother?" She asked as she spotted her house-elf in the kitchen.

"Mistress Rosier is in the garden with Master," she said softly. "Does Letty need to call them for Missy Daphne?"

"No, it's quite alright," she responded, heading for the back door but was stopped by his voice. Turning her head, she noticed Letty had disappeared leaving her alone in the kitchen. "My Lord."

"Please. Tom is alright, dear," he told her. "How are you today? It is a sunny day, isn't it?"

"Very," she answered, remembering the warmth in her upstairs bedroom. "Are you planning on going outside? Perhaps enjoy the sun?"

"Only if you would do me the pleasure to come with me," he replied, holding his arm for her so she could link hers with his. "Good."

"How do you feel My—Tom," she corrected herself rapidly. "Are you alright with us? I mean staying here for a few days or weeks, whatever suits you the most."

"I feel perfectly fine," he responded firmly. "Thank you for taking the time to ask," he then added as they strolled in the garden. "Are you doing alright in school? Bacchus always talks about how intelligent you are."

"I got an O in almost everything, except for Herbology. I am kind of struggling with this subject, but I'm sure I will improve myself before N.E.W.T.S," she explained sweetly. "I thought I could help you more regarding Charms and—"

"I am sure you will be amazing where I decide to put you, Daphne," he cut her off, smiling kindly.

Was it a real smile?

If Daphne hadn't been aware of his real identity, she could find him charming. She couldn't help herself but glance at him, he looked so different in the sun—so alive, if she was honest with herself. His skin was glowing, instead of appearing so tame when he was inside and she found him quite alright for his age.

"I will admit that," he started, letting out a breathe. "It is a shame that I am much older than you," he told her. "I am sure any gentleman would be delighted to court you, am I right?"

"I haven't thought of it," she admitted.

It was true. Daphne had never given a thought about courting nor marriage, she had an awful image of it. All her family, except for the disowned ones, had been forced into a marriage with their own relatives or their parents would set up a betrothal. Weirdly, it had never happened with Daphne, and her parents had never talked about it.

"What a shame," he replied. "A young beautiful and intelligent witch, like you, has never thought of a betrothal nor did her parents, interesting," he added, more like talking to himself and she decided to not say anything about it. "I am sure you will find a suitable man in our little group, won't you?"

Daphne nodded, "Yes."

"My Lord," her father greeted him as he appeared out of nowhere. "I heard you were looking for me."

Tom hummed, "Bacchus, my friend, yes," he spoke, letting go of Daphne's arm. Before he continued, he turned to meet Daphne's eyes. "Thank you for walking outside with me, dear. You are free to go back inside."

With a soft bow, she hurried herself inside and knocked on Evan's door. She hadn't seen him in ages, and she wasn't exaggerating—he would come down to eat and go back to his bedroom as fast as he could.

"Ev, it's me," she whispered softly as she turned the knob, and entered the room. As soon as she stepped inside, she was met with an awful smell, making her grimace. "You need to get out," she added, looking around.

He scoffed, "Not with him outside," he muttered.

Daphne rolled her eyes, "I was thinking of going for a small walk, maybe fetch Regulus on our way and go to London," she proposed, running a hand through his hair. "So, fancy it?"

"Definitely," he said excitedly. "I need to get out of this bloody house or I might go mad. Reckon Mum will let us out?"

Daphne shrugged, "I'd rather go out than have one more dinner with him," she said bitterly. "Come on. I have some Muggle money, we can have a cone or whatever you want," she told him as he hurried to dress himself.

It was funny to her, at least. Evan would shout on every roof about how disgusting muggles were, or how muggleborns needed to be extinguished—believe it or not, he had used that word once. But, whenever they could, Daphne and him would go out on small walks in the city, which they both cherished. Hurrying to the floo, Daphne told Letty to clean Evan's bedroom, then they stepped in it. Soon enough, they were standing in the Black's living room with Walburga in front of them. Oh, bloody great.

"Daphne, Evan, what brings you here unannounced?" She queried, barely glancing up at them as she held the Daily Prophet.

"Aunt Walburga," Daphne greeted as Evan did the same, earning a small bow of her head from her. "We were wondering if Regulus would like to accompany us to Diagon Alley," she lied.

"I'm sure he won't be opposed to a refreshing walk," she told them before clearing her throat. "Regulus, you have guests! Hurry to come down, please," she shouted, then returned her attention to Daphne. "Is our Lord appreciating his time with you all?"

Daphne nodded her head, "Perfect. We had a talk about it, he's very satisfied," she told her aunt. "I am sure he will seek for you soon, we both know he cannot stay in the same place too long," she explained.

"Yes, that is right," replied Walburga, satisfied. "I must say, I am very proud of you and Regulus, you keep proving yourself worthy of our Lord and I am extremely satisfied as well," she expressed a little softer this time.

"Thank you, Aunt Walburga," Daphne said softly, taken back by her sudden attention but smiled widely. 

"Mother," Regulus' voice echoed as he approached the living room. "Oh, cousins. I didn't except you today," he spoke. "Is there anything wrong?"

Walburga smiled fondly, "Not at all," she replied rapidly. "Daphne, here, wanted to know if you would be interested in joining them on their walk. They plan on going to Diagon Alley," she told him as he nodded his head. "I've told them that a walk wouldn't hurt you, right?"

"I would be delighted," smiled Regulus, apparently relived to leave the house. "I will see you later, Mother."

"I won't bring him back too late—always at a reasonable hour," she chuckled as Walburga nodded, watching them step into the fireplace. "Bloody hell, I really do hate using the floo," she mumbled, stepping out of it.

Evan patted Regulus' back, "Ah, Reg, it is a pleasure to see you," he exclaimed. "How are you, eh? Hanging up in there?"

Regulus chuckled, "Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks for thinking of me," he told them with a shy smile on his face.

"Oh, please," Daphne said, dismissing him with a careless hand. "I'm sure you were eager to leave the house as well," she smiled softly at him. "Oh, by the way, I've lied to your mum."

"What?" He asked, eyes widening.

"We are not going to hang out in Diagon Alley, I was thinking of going to Piccadilly Circus or—"

"Muggle London, then?" He said, horrified by the fact that she had lied about it. "We can't, Daph."

"Relax, Reggie," Evan said, smiling. "Daphne and I do it all the time, no one cares where we are—we just have to return home in one piece and it'll be alright," he told his cousin. "Besides, Muggle London is good. You would be surprised."

Daphne cupped her cousin's face, "Oh, come on, Reg! Live a little," she cheered softly. "It is already hard enough for us to have a normal life these days, please don't make it harder," she pleaded.

"Mate, you have to say yes," Evan added, begging his cousin. "Daph will take you some place nice, we will have cones and laugh about something Barty did," he told him.

Regulus released a breathe, "Alright, alright," he finally told them, earning squeals from Daphne. "Where are we going, then? Some muggle cafe?"

"No," Daphne replied. "Piccadilly circus, Reg," she smiled widely.

The three of them strolled around London, the two Rosier smiling as they noticed how much fun Regulus was having. He had never stepped a foot inside the muggle world, it had never interested him—or maybe he just didn't fancy the idea of upsetting his mother? Could be a possibility. But still, it was heartwarming to see him so careless and free.

By the end of the day, Regulus had dragged them to multiple bookstores and coffee places but had stated word by word: That coffee is terrible, it's too...sweet. Kreacher does it better, he had complained. Evan had simply frowned and said: how do you like your coffee? and to which their cousin had replied: Black.

"How are you liking it so far?" Evan queried as he held the cone in his hand.

Regulus hummed, "Daph and you do it all the time?"

"Basically," she chuckled. "We go out and just walk around the city, it gets beautiful at night."

"Your parents don't mind?"

Evan snorted, "Fuck no," he replied. "Mum lets us go whatever we want, as for Dad, he's mainly busy with our Lord," he said with a small sigh. "Am I the only one finding him scary?"

"No, of course not," Daphne replied. "He's frightening."

"Our Lord is not frightening, he is majestic," Regulus replied, holding his head up high.

Evan glanced at him and patted his back again, "If you say so, Reggie. If you say so," he muttered, eyeing Daphne silently. "Alright, where to, Captain?"

"Wherever you want, lads," she smiled. "We could always drop you home, Reg," she proposed, reaching for the pack of cigarettes in her pocket. "Fancy one?"

Evan hummed, putting one between his lips as she lighted it, "Thanks," he muttered, puffing the smoke on Regulus' face to annoy him.

Regulus scrunched up his nose and waved his hand in front of his head, "How can you do that?" He muttered, pointing at the cigarette.

Evan shrugged, "They say it helps the nerves."

He snorted, then glanced at Daphne, "You look like Sirius," he pointed out, his eyes shifting between the cigarette between her fingers and the leather jacket.

"I take that as a compliment, Reggie," Daphne teased him. "Alright, do you want to go home?"

"Please," he said quietly. "Thank you for today. It was great," he added as she chuckled, holding his arm for him to take.

Evan hummed next to them, "Don't thank us," he replied. "We are happy to take you wherever you would like, Reggie," he smiled.

"You both ought to stop calling me Reggie, it is awful," he muttered. "Even Pandy calls me like this now," he complained.

"Stop bloody whining, cousin," she told him playfully as he shoved her away. "Alright, ready? We are going to Apparate. Is it alright for you, Reg?"

"Yes," he nodded.

It was a little after five when Daphne bid her goodbyes to Regulus, and headed to her own house with Evan by her side. Evan had kept babbling about how great the afternoon was, until dinner where he stopped talking completely. Daphne waited until everyone was asleep and the moon was up high in the black sky to grab her quill, and pour her emotions into words on the piece of parchment—Dear, James...

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authors note, the chapter is more like a filler but oh well! but at least we can appreciate evan/regulus/daphne a little. they're literally my favs 🤭

thank you for 10k reads, this is UNREAL. i'm happy you are all enjoying the book and again i apologise for the shitty chap 😭

next one is from james' pov :)