✧PITY PARTY✧

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"You asshole, why did you have to push her!"

"I didn't know, and if I knew then I wouldn't have!"

"But you did, you don't ask who's the father! It's like Aidan asking if I'm carrying your child or not, how would you feel?!" Regulus' blood began to boil and simmer over, he's hurt his sister for his careless questioning.

How did he expect her to be happy about his child when he didn't give much of a second thought on hers?

His eyes turned to Orion in help, but his father scoffed. "You're on your own Regulus." Phoebe began to walk away as well, and when he learned that she too was holding back.

"Regulus that was beyond hurtful, and after all the times you said you missed her...How could you treat her like this?"

"It was an honest question, she said Rabastan was off looking for the Dark Lord. When was there time to—"

"She loved him Reg, and he received her love. Isn't that all you should know? All you should ask is if she's okay...But you failed to do that." She stopped him from following as she slammed the door from Rory's home.

He was only thankful that Liz had the children, or so he thought. Instead he was met with the bright eyes of Romulus.

"Hey bud, how about I bring you off to Auntie Liz? I bet Anton and Alex would love to play."

"You hurt mummy!" He shouted, his voice piercing into half a scream and half a shout. His arms slapping forward to come into contact with his uncle.

And Regulus sat and took the rage of his eldest nephew as it was indeed his fault.

"Rommy I'm sorry bud, I truly didn't mean to make your mummy cry."

"That's my sister!" It tore his heart further as he bowed his head, perhaps it was telling that the little lad tell him the truth.

"And I hurt your mummy, who's my sister. Let this a lesson for you hun, that you should never hurt them. And if you do, you have to make things right. And I plan to...But you son have to go into the main house." Romulus remained silent and gave his uncle an award-winning side-eye, which Phoebe had given him a loving kiss for working out what happened.

"Regulus...How could you—"
"I let my anger out from him on Rory...I cannot begin to know where she might've gone." John sighed, rubbing her hands down from his face as he walked off towards the window.

"She wouldn't risk departing too far, she hasn't been around long enough to go to other friends. The penthouse?" Phoebe shook her head.

"I already checked the fireplace, it's empty." Regulus began gripping the locks of his hair, and held his breath as he needed his sister.

His girlfriend was right, after wanting her back for long...He turned his back so easily.

He was the git now.

It wasn't until the hour hit when a parcel was announced by Lennox and Romulus was tasked to fetch it. "Reggie, Uncle Reggie! Pheebs! Lizy!" He shouted, and he was met by the solemn expression of his elders.

"What do you have there lad?"
"It's from mummy!" He shouted, and that caused Liz to jump to her feet and look over the boys shoulder.

"She's at the Salem Library, course she would have access to it on the grounds of working with Mr.Crawford." Liz gave Romulus a small kiss to his forehead as he giggled.

"Did you read that yourself son?"
"No, it smells like mommy. But look, it's her pen ship!" Regulus shook his head with a light smile.

"Penmanship Romulus, you'll be writing one day too. But boys who don't go to bed at a good time might be doing lines all day." Romulus gasped, while Phoebe turned a confused gaze off to her boyfriend.

"Lines?"
"You didn't write lines in detention?" Phoebe rolled her eyes and shook her head, no matter how highly superior the wizarding world in Britain seemed...They felt so damn far in their beliefs.

Lines?

Good god is that barbaric.

"What'd you have for detention then?"
"Homework, but it was only the one time." His eyes danced in amusement as it was surely not the case, but in the company of family, it was better left unsaid.

In light of the situation, Liz took to turning the conversation to how Phoebe felt and what she planned to do. "I'll be still going to school and interning, but I think for the first few months of him being born I want to stay home." She looked to Regulus and he smiled lightly, wishing all the more that he could stay home as well.

"I'll be taking an easy winter break so I could help, and then start late in the new year..." The two talked so whimsically about the plan that Elizabeth couldn't help but smile, but Romulus was here to bring them all back to earth.

"There a baby in your tummy? Like mummy?" Phoebe cooed down to the boy and he offered his hand to touch her stomach, in all fairness...Aurora was indeed ahead in terms of growth in the pregnancy.

However Phoebe was just a few weeks behind.

"Can I play with him?"
"Of course, but he has to stay in there with his mummy until he's grown." An understanding 'oh' had come from the eldest child and Phoebe continued to humor him until a succeeding frown came.

"Mummy misses papa," Romulus whispered, it was simply the young couple and their shared nephew in their apartment.

They offered to take him for the night so he wouldn't be alone, and he gratefully accepted-- if they could go back home so he could have his stuffie and get Loki,

"Do you miss papa?" Regulus asked, earning himself the twentieth scowl of the evening, but unbeknownst to them both. He shook his head.

"No. He makes mummy sad, Mummy shouldn't be sad." His uncle padded him first on the head before taking his shoulder firmly. "She shouldn't be, but she's worried about your sister? You said a sister, she's worried about her and the rest of your siblings."

"But we're happy, we live on a farm!" Phoebe shook her head to Regulus in telling that he couldn't say any more on behalf of his sister.

Especially since she was probably building a story for her to tell them anyhow.

"Your father didn't deserve your mummy, it's best if you forget him Rommy. It won't do any of you any good. And besides, I think Anton and Alex like you." He nodded, Regulus knew very well that Anton and Romulus got along swimmingly.

While Halsey could entertain herself for hours on end.

Aurora returned early the following morning and apologized to both Elizabeth and John, as she had meant to sit Regulus down and talk to him...Rather than him finding out the way he had, but neither could justify Regulus' outburst.

Instead Rory hurried along to knock on the door to Phoebe's and Regulus' apartment, only to see Phoebe looking almost as awful as Rory was.

"I—I'm sorry did I wake you?" Aurora looked entirely worried on giving her soon to be sister any disruption. It was her first pregnancy and she should be enjoying this blessing.

"Oh Rory I was so worried!" She shouted, wrapping her arms around her in a forceful and tight hug. And it took Aurora by surprise, especially considering Regulus was no where in sight.

"I was at—"
"Salem's library. Liz told us when you owled. How are you feeling? Are you alright?"
"I should be asking you all this Pheebs, this is your first time." Phoebe shook her head and led her further into the home.

It had been entirely different since when Rory first arrived, a proper layout of her own design dominated the couple's home.

"I've helped Liz a lot with her pregnancy, I think I have the mornings down already. She gave me the leftover brew that you sent her, it's working wonders...Let me make a kettle!" She cheered, and Rory was left in the living room with teary eyes as she shook her head.

If Rabastan was here...Life wouldn't be the way it was, because in what world would he have left Britain. He didn't say it out loud, but the stigma of how different America is, is the reason why she almost wasn't allowed to attend Salem.

"Rory?" She called out, having it all settled on a tray and it caused a soft smile to erupt. "Sorry, my thoughts drifted. Did you say something?"
"Just asking if you're alright, as if you aren't asked that a dozen times a day...But I did want to tell you what Romulus said last night." It caused Rory to halt her first sip and dart her attention back to the pregnant witch before her.

"It's not like him to act out."
"Nono...He think he's over the idea of a father, and I'm not saying that for you to feel guilty. But in the event that they ask, what do you plan to—"

"That he's working, and eventually that he's dead." She took a cautious sip of her tea, hearing Regulus' warning that Phoebe always has it smoldering hot.

"Romulus doesn't care about his father anymore, all he cares about is you...His new sister, and his current siblings. And I know—I know that your souls are still intertwined, but Liz is still trying to find an alternative to the numbness."
"I appreciate it Phoebs, believe me I do. But...It hurts to know that my son hates his father, already, at such a young age. It's beat my own father with Sirius." Phoebe pushed forward to consult the woman, but Aurora shrugged it off.

"I really cannot fathom any more pity."

"But I should've known that you are pregnant. Reg was just so excited to tell you that I completely missed all the signs to know that you're—" Aurora shook her head.

"This one is completely silent, I only feel awful when I think about him."
"Do you think you'll ever find peace, I'm only asking because then maybe it would be wise to seek—"
"I'M NOT GETTING A BLOODY DIVORCE!" She screeched, her breath not reacting the way she felt, her chest pumping up and down.

"You don't know what any of this is like, to have your husband be evil and thinking that propaganda of a mass murder is a blessing. When it's a curse! I have been with him since fourth year Phoebe, I will not get over him in a few months. Not when I see our children, and certainly not when I'm with child. You of all people know what I believe in." Phoebe casted her head down, attempting to relay an apology but Aurora held her ground.

"You crossed the line, and if I hear that word again I'm cursing the next soul who does. Maybe then you'll understand what I feel every time his soul is being ripped slowly away, and I am still by his side...Because I'm a dumb witch who should've listen to all those around me when I married the bastard." Regulus Black certainly returned home at the worst time, he has never heard his sister in an angry monolog. But the second she caught his presence she seethed.

He hadn't even received a witty comment, and when he called out her name she turned partly over her shoulder.

"I have nothing to say to you, especially if my own brother thinks I'm whoring it up." She continued on her way within the field, and decided to relax beside the tree she and Elizabeth would enjoy come the warmer months.

And they were fast approaching, having been away from the New England weather she realized how bipolar it would be. Some days hot, and the others a twist of below-freezing temperatures.

Instead she caught herself mediating, thought she rightly didn't know how she went from hyperventilating to catching the sun in a very different position in the sky, to a warm present in her mist.

"Rommy?" She whispered, rubbing her eyes moving her shoulders. Only to see that there was a cloak over her to keep her warm.

Romulus is a true blessing.

"Auntie Lizzy said that I should stay with you, is Sissy making you sick?" The mention of Sissy had jumped to Narcissa in his mother's mind and he frowned.

"Could we have lunch mummy? The Auntie Lizzy made us lunch."

"Of course love, have you been waiting long to eat with me?" He shook his head, already withholding some information from his mum. Perhaps an hour? Not that it was that long, but he opened the large basket and pulled out everything passed his mum the bottle.

"Hmm, bless you Liz."
"Bless you Auntie Liz." It caused Aurora to smile down to her son and smile brightly to her little boy.

"I love you Romulus, I love you and your brother and sisters very much."

"And Sissy?" He questioned, and she nodded instantly. There were no hateful thoughts coming to the small child growing inside her now, she just wished it was on better terms, in their homeland and with her father.

"Of course, you know, she's going to need a name when she comes...How about you name her?" His eyes looked beyond wild, as though she presented him with the biggest gift box. Or on Christmas morning this past year, all of which shocked him to this state.

But this was where he nodded eagerly.

"How about you tell me for my birthday, and it'll be our secret. We won't tell anyone else."

"Okay, but what if they're a brother...Or two!" Aurora was undoubtedly relieved to say that it was only one babe, and she smiled down telling Romulus that it was indeed a girl and indeed only one.

But she mentioned to still pick both a boy and girl name.

After their little private picnic, had she been met by Liz in her kitchen settling a meal in the fridge and the children off and around.

"Rory...I had a word with Phoebe and—"
"I'm sorry Elizabeth, I've been off my rocker for a while and it's..." Rory wanted to say that it was fine, that everything was fine.

But both Liz and John were pitying her and she sighed further.

"Yes but you have a lot more of a reason to blow up, gods if Wyatt dared asked me the fertility of my child I'd—" John calmed his wife down and smiled kindly to Aurora.

"Phoebe was out of line suggesting what she did, but they're young Rory...They don't understand what it's like having someone you love as much as a child, or holding onto hope. We understand, and I'll be going off to my friend in Washington to see what can be done in terms of silencing the pain." John said, and thus the conversation took a grand turn from there, it was easy going, and the plans for the children's education was about to skyrocket.

Especially when Salem was going to be open to lads as well. It excited the Halliwell family and secured a donation from the forefront.

The only issue is that Aurora had to focus on her well-being and health, her children, as well as her potion's project and this.

But first thing was first...She would have to tell those she's working with that she was with child, and that meant telling Aidan.

*

"Raba I thought you wanted me to show you Salem?" Her voice sounded so angelic, so soft. "It's late, and the children—"
"The children can wait," He spoke, relishing in the fact that he had her in his grasps. His hands being able to touch the softness of her porcelain skin."I however, can't." 

"I have never met a more impatient man than you Rabastan Lestrange." He hummed in an unnatural delight after hearing his full name come from her swollen lips.

"You'd make any man impatient Aurora, but you're my kitten. And I've decided that we'll stay in bed for the rest of the day." She pouted, her eyes glistening off behind him.
"But what about a bath?" Was her rebuttal, and he peered over his shoulder to catch what she had been staring at.

So perhaps she knew about his plan.

"For a kitten, you rather like the water."
"And for a bastard, you're more of a git." Soon the room was filled with their intertwined laughter, as Rabastan made the effort to roll her onto him and trap her into another round of what they just accomplish.

"Raba, we shouldn't hide in here...Halsey or Romulus will come looking." He silenced her with a kiss, then another...Then another.

When their heavy breaths were starting to even out for the second time that morning, it caused Rory to shift up and around to summon her robe.

"I want to show you today Raba, up up...Come, we still have tonight." She cooed, and he cocked a grin as he took his wife's hand and she led him into a second den. It was one of the places she'd entertain her friends, but with so much going on it hadn't been used in some time.

"And it won't cause any harm to you?"
"No, but I haven't been Salem in such a long time that my tail is quiet heavy—Don't laugh! I'm serious!" She cheered, and he couldn't help but adore her embarrassment.

"Come, let me see your true form." He whispered, locking one final kiss before seeing her feline eyes enact and his wife form down to a four-pawed beast.

Salem blinked up to him before sitting down on her rump and clawing the air with a single paw. "You're beautiful kitten."

Meow!

"I'll take that as a yes, it is rather fitting though. A strong feline, wouldn't think anything less love...And I'm sorry for damning our first introduction." He had kneed down to level with her partly, but she simply nuzzled her head further and began to purr off to her husband.

His baring returned with a gasp as he scrambled up from the cold tiles, snatching the thin cloth and positioning it back onto his shivering form.

"Dunno how I feel about you dreaming like my sister like that." Rabastan huffed off towards Sirius, his only sane company. "Surprised you've lasted this long Lestrange, unlike your roommates." 

"Says the mass murder..." Rabastan was still in the mindset that Aurora was within Azkaban and settled into the corner further. It wasn't worth the aggravation to argue with Sirius.

Not when he threw so many good points into his argument, it was his fault he was here, his fault that Rory was in trouble, and his fault his children don't have a father.

Sirius withheld the fact that Rory was safe or that she sent her patronus, he held onto the fact that she was far off in America.
Thriving. Just like her contingency plan consisted of.

Maybe she had Harry? He remembered fondly how Cara and Harry had gotten along so lovely that he couldn't imagine another pair.

But even thinking of Cara meant drawing her father into the conversation...Then again, one couldn't choose their parents...

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Date Posted: 01-06-20

Time: 5:36

Words: 3282

Surprise coming Wednesday *WINK* *WINK*