Regulus Black

Part of me wants to leave right now. To not get her anymore involved with this-, with me. But as the pale morning sunlight is shining in through her bedroom window, casting shadows across the duvet, I can't bring myself to leave.

I'm selfish.

That's why I came here in the first place. I could've gone to see Evan, or Barty, or even Pandora. But I wanted to see her again.

I didn't have any intentions of sleeping with her again, it just happened. And now I'm worried that she's going to wake up and hate me even more.

Meredith shuffles beside me, starting to wake up. I ran my fingers through her hair, memorizing every freckle on her face.

She opened her eyes and smiled at me.

"You're still here," She whispered.

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm still here."

Meredith sits up in bed, the white sheets pooling around her waist. "I thought that you might've left, gone home."

I shook my head.

Meredith glances over at me before getting out of bed, wrapping a fluffy robe around her body.

She paced around her room, getting clothes out of her dresser. When she took off her robe and started to get dressed, I looked away, peering at the back yard outside of her window.

"This doesn't change anything between us," Meredith said.

I looked back at her. She was smoothing out her shirt, looking at the wardrobe in front of her.

"I know," I replied, trying to hide my disappointment.

As much as I wanted her to say that she'll take me back, that we'll figure things out, that it doesn't matter because we love each other, that's not going to happen.

I glanced over at the clock on her nightstand.

10:23.

"I have to go home," I said, watching as she moved about her room to get ready for the day.

Meredith stopped and looked over at me.

"You're actually going back there?" She asked, her voice quiet.

I nodded, "Yes, I have to."

"No, you don't. You don't have to go back."

I frowned, "Trust me, princess, I do."

Meredith picked up my clothes off of the floor and sat them on the edge of the bed. "Okay," She muttered, sounding slightly annoyed.

I started getting dressed, trying to ignore the loud silence between us.

"So, what are you doing today?" I asked, silently cursing myself for the stupid question.

Meredith sat on the edge of her bed and put on her shoes.

"I'm going to Marlene and Dorcas's flat," She answered. "They're having some people over for Easter."

"Your parents aren't home?"

She shook her head. "No, they're both at work. So that's why I'm going to see my sister and her friends."

And her friends.

"Is my br-, is Sirius going to be there?" I asked, buttoning my pants.

"Yes, James and Lily are on their honeymoon so I would assume he'll be insufferable without him."

I grabbed my shoes off of the floor and slipped them on, feeling Meredith's eyes on me.

"Why'd you tell McGonagall to switch up patrols?" I asked.

Meredith sighed, "Because it's hard to be around you and not make stupid decisions."

"And last night was-"

"A stupid decision," Meredith answered. "But I also don't regret it one bit."

I felt like I could breathe a bit better knowing that she didn't hate me even more.

"Me neither," I said.

I grabbed my wand off of her nightstand and stood awkwardly by the door.

"So you're leaving?" Meredith questioned, her voice unreadable.

"Yes, I am."

Meredith got up. "Okay, I'll walk you out."

- - - - -

Meredith McKinnon

I didn't want him to leave. But begging him to stay was a bad idea. It was a bad idea to invite him in, sleep with him, and have him spend the night. It was a bad idea, but it felt so right. Which is why I let him leave. I'm not going to let myself get attached to him again.

After Regulus left, I finished getting ready and took the Floo to Marlene and Dorcas's flat in London.

When I stepped out of the fireplace, I could already hear the chatter.

Mary, Dorcas, and Peter were seated on the couch, Marlene fiddled with the record player, and Remus was sitting in the armchair with his cup of tea.

"Morning everyone," I said, brushing the nonexistent dust off of my clothes.

Dorcas chimed, "Meredith!"

Remus gave me a small smile.

"Hey Meredith," Peter smiled.

Marlene waved, digging through a pile of vinyls.

"Oh, I love your top!"

I smiled, "Thanks, Mary. Where's Sirius?"

"He's in the kitchen," Remus answered.

I nodded, "Alright, I'm going to make some tea."

I pushed through the door and into the kitchen. Sirius was standing by the stove, tapping his foot as he watched the kettle.

"Hey, Sirius," I chimed.

He looked up, "Good morning."

"Making tea?"

"Yup," Sirius replied, "I forgot how long it takes water to boil. Moon-, Remus usually makes my tea for me."

It's nice to see Sirius and Remus all domestic. They used to argue all the damn time at Hogwarts.

I grabbed two mugs out of the counter and put tea bags in them just as the kettle started to whistle.

Remus came into the kitchen and set his mug in the sink. "How's the tea making going?" He asked, teasing Sirius.

Sirius rolled his eyes and reached past me to pour the boiling water into the mugs. He set the kettle back on the stove and looked over at me, doing a double take, then giving me an odd look.

"What?" I asked.

Sirius poked my neck. "You've got a love bite, McKinnon," He joked.

I covered my neck with my hand. "You've got to be kidding me," I muttered.

"Remus, come look at this," Sirius said, prying my hand off of my neck.

Remus stifled a laugh and stepped closer. "Holy shit, is that from Reg-" He cut himself off. "Who is that from?"

Sirius looked over at Remus.

"What'd you just say?"

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Remus rubbed the back of his neck. "I asked who it was from."

"No, it sounded like you said Reg."

"Who?"

I stayed silent, hoping that I could just slowly back out of the kitchen unnoticed.

"Regulus. My brother," Sirius looked at me. "Why would he be talking about Regulus?"

Remus beat me to it, mouthing 'I'm so sorry', before leaving Sirius and I in the kitchen.

I stared at Sirius wondering if I could play the dumb blonde card right now.

"Meredith, did you snog my brother?"

"We actually-"

Sirius dramatically threw his hands up. "Bloody hell, you shagged my brother!"

"Yes," Was all I could say back.

"Are you guys like in love or something?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm not in love with Regulus," I muttered.

Sirius exhaled dramatically. "Oh thank Godric," He said. "Because that would be a completely different story."

"I'm sorry, Sirius," I admitted. "Are you mad?"

"No, it just shocked me. Merlin, I think I have a gray hair."

I rolled my eyes. "Sirius, you're nineteen, I highly doubt that your hair is turning gray."

"Just take your tea, Meredith," He joked.

I was expecting Sirius to be mad-, or at least irritated. After his initial outburst, he seemed fine with it, which was odd.

"Are we good?" I asked.

Sirius ruffled my hair. "Yeah, we're good. Just don't go falling in love with my little brother."

"Don't worry, I won't."

He doesn't need to know everything that went down between Regulus and I.

I gave him a small smile and grabbed my cup of tea off of the counter. I was adding a spoonful of sugar when Sirius spoke again.

"So who's the better kisser?"