Chapter Text
"What did he say?" Dobby shrieks, a loud croak that pierces the air with an inhumane anxiety.
Regina freezes in her steps at the sound like a dinner bell calling her to feast, the words ringing in her ears as her head snaps upward. She hikes up her skirt, breaking into a high-leg sprint.
"Was that Dobby?" James questions, stepping through the trees, leaves crinkling under his feet as he jogs over to her. Stumbling slightly as he barely manages to hop distractedly over a log, he still trips, his other foot not quite making it over the log, and he goes careening harshly into the rough ground.
"Be careful," Regina hisses, turning her body, arched slightly towards him. "Whatever it is, it's not worth hurting yourself over."
James, teeth gritted, pushes up off his hands and knees to his feet, wincing slightly at the sunlight that peaks through the leaves into his eyes.
Regina looks at him, biting back a chuckle as she watches the warm brown of his eyes, thoughtless with the obsessive determination of things just out of reach.
"Do you think it's Lily?" James questions, reaching a hand to push away branches as he jogs past her.
Regina gasps, her eyes narrowing wetly as her mouth pulls tightly into a displeased line—before she instantly forces a wide smile and begins nodding. She's never felt more gratitude to a random gossip than Dobby; he always does the right things.
"Maybe the town's in danger, we have to check it out," Regina tells him.
"Yeah, that makes more sense," James agrees, not bothering to turn as the pelting of leaves continues to crumble beneath his focused path.
Chuckling behind him, her eyes crinkled into slits, Regina laughs even louder, hi-tailing excitedly over a log as she follows James.
...
"Why are the two of you breathing like that?" Petunia screams, a finger aimed at the two as they break through the trees into the town's barrier.
"Are you out of your mind? We thought something happened, so we came to check on the village! Is someone hurt?" James yells, his voice a panicked confession.
Regina looks around, her eyes pivoting wildly at the sight of so many eyes that didn't turn to them—bakers, pub owners, people that were already outside of their businesses and homes. Many of their gazes are fixed on her brother and Remus on the ground, where even the dust seems to part around them, looking filthy and promiscuous.
"Regina, keep your mouth shut!" Sirius yells, his voice groveling as his wide eyes remain fixed in her direction.
"Absolutely not!" Regina yells back, her eyes wide with fury. "I will not hold back any longer," she declares, shaking her finger progressively higher. "If this absurdity is to end, let it be on his shoulders!" Regina wails, fixing a finger intently at Remus. "After everything our family has done for you, how dare you!" she chides reproachfully.
"It's not his fault," Sirius tries to explain, his voice quieting as he continues, "I started it."
"Shut the hell up!" Regina yells frantically, shaking her head. "You see I'm doing something." She glares, snarling at him, still shaking her head frantically with the vindication of someone that had never been corrected. "You be quiet, you stay quiet," Regina insists, her finger firmly at Sirius as she continues stepping properly out of the trees.
"I just told you to leave it alone," Sirius calls, his voice growing sterner as he looks at her. "I don't need your help and I don't want it either." He declares, shaking his head intently. "I take full—" Sirius begins.
"Don't you dare accept the blame for his perversion!" Regina yells, her voice piercing with an almost desperate shriek. "You have to hold on, be strong, think of our father," Regina tells him pointedly.
Sirius pauses at that, his eyes widening before he shakes his head. "No, no, I already know what happened. I—" Sirius tries again.
"Blasphemy!" Regina interjects, her voice shrill with indignation. "This vulgar Jezebel has corrupted your mind and turned you away from this town!" Regina wails loudly, her finger aimed precisely at Remus again.
"Stay out of this!" Sirius yells loudly, his voice harsh as he barks at her.
"You shut your mouth!" Regina yells at him, her voice a gutter on war, and she gesticulates wildly, her hands cutting through the air. "I will not allow this slanderous harlot to drag your name through the mud of this town," she declares, her voice heaving with conviction as she stomps her foot roughly in the dirt as she turns to point at Remus again. "Lay you to shame before our father," Regina reminds him once more.
"Hey, hold on a minute, you're just taking your brother's side, you don't have any proof!" Petunia yells, her voice shrill as she screeches.
"Shut the hell up and get your elephant ears back inside!" Regina snaps, turning her eyes to Petunia. With her body shaking roughly with the force of her indignation, "Do you believe I would dare to strangle you with the baggy curtains you call draws!" Regina yells.
Petunia pauses, her mouth open in a quiet gasp of horror.
The town, united in their curiosity, snaps from speaker to speaker.
"Hold on a minute, Petunia has a point," James interjects, one hand on his hip and the other raised in her direction.
"Coming from another harlot!" Regina cuts in sharply, trying to cut down his claim.
"Remus hasn't done anything wrong," Vanity calls out, raising her hand in avowal.
"That is an awful lot of words for a woman that might be sleeping on the tower, dangling from the strands of her hair until the clock hits 6 the next morning," Regina interjects, turning her threatening finger on the woman.
"We've known him for years, he's a good person," Dobby mumbles quietly in the corner, his body jostling like a vibrating bell as he meets Regina's eyes.
"Why are you throwing all of the blame on Remus? Wouldn't it be better to resolve this in a way where nobody has to be blamed?" James cuts in.
"How many years have you spent harassing poor Lily through the town?" Regina questions, her voice dripping into an almost honey-like trickle.
James causes his head to buck as he blinks, his eyes darting around before settling. "I don't see why that—"
"How many years have you spent being shot down by the same girl, only to get right back up to lap at her heels like a moping mutt?" Regina questions, her gaze steadily on James as she subtly flicks her fingers in Sirius' direction.
"What, do you prefer I lap at yours instead?" James bites back, throwing his hands in the air with a chuckle as he looks around.
"How could we believe anything he says?" Regina questions, her hand raised in James's direction as she turns to look around the village. "The only thing he hunts harder than Lily before losing the trail is self-respect!" Regina pauses, her hands circling each other as she tries to formulate the words, finally settling on "debacle," and she looks back up to meet James's eyes.
"Who here doesn't know that your brother has been stalking Remus across town?" James yells back, his eyes lighting with an indignant passion as he eggs a finger at her, turning loudly to the town.
Regina opens her mouth, a retort against Remus on the tip of her tongue, but suddenly a splatter of mud slams wetly across her face.
Her eyes wide, she looks down to see Sirius glaring up at her as he wipes a muddied hand on his cream-colored shirt.
"Aha!" Regina calls, a finger aim skyward as she declares, "What did I tell you?" Regina turns, her eyes wide, her voice whistling like wind passing through a hollow trunk.
"Your brother just threw mud at you! Why else would an older brother do something like that to a younger sister unless—" James begins, frantically stepping towards her.
"Exactly! Who here doesn't know that my brother loves me more than the air in his lungs?" Regina questions.
"That's my point," James agrees, flailing his hands in exasperated relief.
Sirius shakes his head, glaring at James.
"And now he is taking it up on himself to literally fling mud at me," Regina explains, swallowing roughly as her voice trembles before rising sharply in pitch as she turns to point viciously at Remus. "Pelting me with such filth for this harlot!"
"You're out of your mind if you think anybody is going to believe that," James tells her, finally crossing the space between them to stand in front of her, a finger raised to her lips in clear warning. "You need to stop this nonsense."
Regina is quiet for a moment, her eyes meeting James with something soft enough to look like compliance before she rolls around again sharply. "Who but a witch could manage such a thing!" she yells, her feet pivoting slowly as she turns slowly to face the townspeople.
Dobby grabs the sides of his hat, screeching, "Witch!"
Petunia lets out a loud gasp, her body flailing forward before hands reach out to pull her inside.
"You wicked puritanical bitch, stop it right now! I'm going to kill you! Didn't I just tell you that it wasn't his fault? Leave him alone, go, get away, shoo!" Sirius calls, his breaths rasping as he tries to pull himself from under Remus.
The town seems to take a collective gasp at Sirius' response to Regina.
"I didn't—I'm not a witch! Sirius, tell them!" Remus yells.
"Exactly! Regina, go home, he's not a witch! Mind your damn business and get out of here!" Sirius calls at her, on his knees just in front of Remus.
Remus, clearly uncomfortable, reaches out a hand to push Sirius' rear forward and out of his face.
"Vulgar displays! Isn't that exactly what a witch would do and make him say?" Regina yells, her finger aimed sharply at where Remus' hand had just made contact with Sirius.
Dobby lets out a rasping scream, the sides of his hat dragging so far down it covers his eyes before he falls backwards.
"Come on, okay, everybody just calm down, take a breath," James calls, his arms spread placatingly as he turns away from Regina. "We all have our moments, but we've known each other for years."
"Like Romilda thought she knew Avery before she was chased out of town!" Regina yells, her voice shrill with panic.
"Remus is not a witch," James calls, his voice soft, his warm eyes sweeping over the remaining crowd.
Dobby, who had just moved into a sitting position, grips the corners of his hat, still unable to see as he shrieks, "Pee!" before collapsing again.