Archive of Our Own ^beta

“What’s up everyone!? We are Barty and Evan, ready to take you on another haunted adventure!” Barty’s loud introduction paired with him sitting down abruptly at the table makes Regulus jump in his seat. After seeing the camera pointed in his general direction, he frowns deeply and glares at his friends. 

“Today, we are joined by two guests! The first one you already know and love, though I don’t really understand why… My sister, Pandora!” Evan reaches to mess with Pandora’s hair, which doesn't really do much since her hair–recently styled in dozens of little braids threaded with white yarn–is pulled in a single braid that falls down her back.

“Our second guest is a new addition to this channel…” chimes Barty conspiratorially, “we’ve talked about him before and you guys have expressed your interest in meeting him, and your wishes are our commands.” The bastard winks cheekily at the camera, causing Regulus to roll his eyes. “Today with us is the kindest, warmest, most cheery and loving person we have the pleasure of knowing… Regulus!” Evan points the camera directly at him, but Regulus is too busy giving Barty the death glare he’s perfected over the years. His friend doesn’t budge.

“I never agreed to this. I’m not doing shit with you.” Barty beams and reaches to mess with his hair. Regulus slaps his hand so hard, Barty complains out loud and nurses it against his chest.

“As said, he’s the kindest, warmest, most cheery and loving person we know,” says Evan in a sarcastic tone, “and he’s coming with us to do a ghost hunting session!”

“No,” says Regulus frowning, “you didn’t ask me if I want to participate, but I’m telling you now. I’m not interested. Go film your stupid ghost video and leave me and Pandora alone.”

“I’m going with them.” Pandora’s voice, with the airy quality it always has, makes the boys quieten. Regulus raises an eyebrow. “They asked me yesterday, and I said yes. I didn’t want to cancel lunch with you, so I told them to meet us here.”

Regulus tries to ignore the pang of disappointment in his chest. He had to muster the strength to make himself look decent and get out of his apartment that morning, fighting all the way to the restaurant not to take his phone out of his pocket and cancel their lunch. Having Pandora tell him she already knew their meeting was going to be cut short is disillusioning, to say the least. His mind quickly replaces the sadness with a bitter ‘told you so’, and Regulus huffs and begins to gather his things. “Well then, I guess that’s my sign to leave. Have a good filming session, or whatever.”

“You could come with us, you know?” Regulus closes his eyes. He’s always had a hard time saying no to Pandora, and the group knows it. Sometimes, it feels like his friends take advantage of that fact to force him to join them in group activities. Regulus can’t really pinpoint when meeting with his friends started feeling like a chore.

“Why? I’d just be scowling in the background, that doesn’t really make for entertaining con-”

“I had a dream last night.” Pandora’s words seem to float between them, making the short silence that followed them quite heavy.

“What do you mean, you had a dream last night? You didn’t tell me.” Evan has lowered the camera, preferring to look at his sister in person rather than through the little screen.

“Because it wasn’t about you, it was about Reg.” She holds her brother’s gaze with resolution.

“Well, what did you see?” asks Barty, leaning forward. He looks like a child, his eyes brimming with curiosity. Pandora looks at Regulus, questioningly. He nods slowly, his interest piqued by her words. Pandora has had a lot of premonitory dreams, but they don’t really portray him, except for the one where she saw the accident that killed his parents.

“It was quite blurry, but I distinctly remember seeing the house where Barty and Evan want to film. You were on the outside, facing the house, and something was calling your name from the inside.” She tilts her head and squints her eyes lightly. “What struck me the most, was the sensation it left me with… I can’t really explain it, but it felt like I had stumbled into something old, something sacred… like I was intruding on a very personal moment for you…” she shrugs. The three boys wait in silence for a few seconds, thinking she’s going to continue, and Regulus frowns when he realises she’s done.

“That doesn’t really tell me much…” he starts with caution, but is interrupted by Barty.

“Oh my god, Reggie! Don’t you see? Fate wants you to join us today!”

Evan nods enthusiastically. “Yeah! She saw the house and she saw you! What else could it mean?”

“It could mean a lot of different things-”

“Shut up, Panda.” Evan puts his hand over Pandora’s mouth, grinning maniacally. “It’s written in the stars, Regulus. You will join our ghost hunting session!”

Regulus gives them his best unimpressed stare, switching between looking at Barty and Evan. Both are giving him puppy eyes, and Evan has turned the camera off, so Regulus knows they actually want him to join, and it’s not just a show for content.

His conflicting emotions rage in his chest. Going back to his room and getting back into bed feels like the best idea right now, especially considering the fact that his friends want to film actual, releasable content, and Regulus doesn’t consider himself to be very entertaining. On the other hand, it’s been a while since he’s joined the group, and the longing for an afternoon enjoying his friends’ company pushes even through the fog that mutes Regulus’ emotions. The fact that he can see the undeniable care in Evan and Barty’s eyes, along with the profound conversation he just had with Pandora about allowing himself to be loved, doesn’t make the decision any easier.

“Fine,” he says with a sigh, letting the anticipation grow for a few seconds, and after seeing his friends’ excitement, immediately adds “but I won’t be making stupid faces or exaggerated reactions.”

Barty and Evan cheer loudly, and rush to hug him. Regulus lets them, faking an exasperated sigh, and Pandora smiles happily at him from her seat. 

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” she says to him some minutes later, after they’ve paid for their meal and are walking towards Barty’s car, “Don’t let the camera pressure you into doing something you think you might regret. They both do that more than enough.” She points with her head towards her brother and their friend and Regulus snickers.

“What do we do?” asks Evan while handing the camera to Barty, who turns it on. Regulus feels a twinge of awkwardness, not really knowing how to act in front of the device.

“Do things you end up regretting,” shrugs Pandora, “especially in front of that thing” she looks straight into the lens with a deadpan expression, causing Barty to giggle.

“Well, I can assure you, we won’t regret this trip!” Evan puts on his youtuber persona, smiling cheekily at Barty, “This manor is said to be an extremely haunted place, its previous owners still roam the endless rooms and corridors, even after death…” His expression turns serious and his voice lower. Regulus rolls his eyes at his dramatic intonation.

Barty turns the camera on himself. “It’s been said, though, that most of the ghosts that haunt the house are friendly, bordering on being pranksters. Most people report seeing poltergeist activity, but some of the occurrences seem too premeditated to simply be due to a restless ghost.”

“Wind currents are a perfectly reasonable explanation,” mutters Regulus under his breath, causing Pandora to snort. Barty and Evan turn their heads quickly, alongside the camera.

“What do you guys think?” asks Barty, walking backwards.

“I’ll have to see the house and meet its ghosts to form my opinion.” says Pandora very matter-of-factly. Evan walks towards her and puts an arm around her shoulders.

“For those of you who don’t know, my sister here is a medium. She can sense energies, and is more in touch with the spiritual world than the rest of us mortals. What would you say are your superpowers, Panda?”

“Superpowers and medium are strong words, brother.” She smiles, “I’d say I’m a vessel for the messages of the spirits. I’m not in control of what happens around me, I simply observe and deliver what is being said, about the present and also the future.”

“Yeah, she used to scare the shit out of me when we were children,” says Evan facing the camera once more, “my baby sister would start speaking in the middle of the night, sometimes even screaming. I would wake her up and she’d start giving details about things that hadn’t happened yet. Guys, you can’t imagine the terror I used to feel when the horrible story Pandora had told me days ago started to happen exactly as she said it would.” Evan shudders, “Scary, scary stuff.”

“What do you think, Reg?” asks Barty, still walking backwards. Regulus looks at him with raised eyebrows.

“About what?”

“About spirits, ghosts, paranormal stuff in general…”

Regulus scrunches his nose and looks at the camera, trying to school his face into a pleasant expression for the future video. Barty looks at him encouragingly from behind the device, and that ends up being all the motivation Regulus needs to speak his mind.

“Well, I- I don’t really believe in ghosts…” Regulus leaves the words hanging, expecting Barty and Evan to put up a show in front of the camera, but both are looking at him like they want him to continue, so Regulus does. “I just think there’s always a rational explanation for everything, but I guess I’m also open to having my opinion changed. Just know that I’m a sceptic and will be questioning everything that happens in this ‘haunted house’. Something truly unexplainable would need to happen in order for me to believe in any supernatural reason.”

Evan steps in front of him, blocking his view from the camera and starts gesticulating for the device. “That’s exactly why we’re taking Reg to this Manor! We’re hoping that the paranormal activity of this house will be enough to change his mind!”

Regulus rolls his eyes and shakes his head good heartedly. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

“You have to step into the house with an open mind, Reg,” chimes Barty in, “you never know what could happen, but if you remain closed off, nothing will penetrate that thick skull of yours.”

Pandora snickers. “That sounds eerily similar to my reasoning against his ‘I won’t date anyone because no one is worth my time’ argument.” She hides her grin behind her hand. Regulus glares at her while Barty and Evan cackle. 

“Oh my god! What if this is your opportunity to find your true love?” Barty turns his head to look at Evan, his eyes twinkling with mischief, “I vividly remember Reg telling us that he felt like he couldn’t handle anyone alive.”

Evan barks out a laugh. “Maybe we should have brought you sooner to a ghost hunting session, instead of forcing you to download Tinder!”

“Ha, ha.” Regulus deadpans, trying to smother the laughs with his death glare. It isn’t very effective.

“We should create some sort of ‘ghost Tinder’ for our Reggie! Let the spirits hand in their applications to go on haunted dates with Regulus ‘picky dater’ Black.”

Evan slaps Barty’s arm repeatedly in excitement. “Dating a ghost would even match his gloomy sad boy aesthetic! Oh, this is perfect, why didn’t we think about it before?”

Pandora snorts and opens her mouth to add to the banter, but Regulus beats her.

“Where the fuck did you park your car, Barty?”

His friend rolls his eyes, grinning, and points with his head towards the end of the parking lot, where the small red car is parked. Even from this distance, Regulus can see the ridiculous flame stickers covering the rear end of the vehicle, making it look like it’s on fire. Cartoonish, faded out fire, but fire nonetheless.

Still bickering, the group stops by Barty’s car and he turns the camera off, fishes the keys out of his pocket and slides into the driver’s seat. Evan quickly hops into the passenger’s seat and starts fiddling with his phone to put on a playlist. Regulus and Pandora take their time placing their belongings on the floor of the vehicle before getting in and buckling up.

Lovin on me starts playing through the car’s speakers, and Evan immediately starts bobbing his head up and down, mumbling the lyrics. Barty glances through the rearview mirror to make sure Pandora and Regulus are seated and ready, and starts backing up the car.

They leave the parking lot in friendly silence, interrupted only by Evan’s animated humming. Pandora also bobs her head as she scrolls through her phone, and Regulus turns to the window to watch the buildings pass by.

After a few minutes, Barty clears his throat lightly, making Regulus focus back on the inside of the car. 

“Reg?” His friend asks, still concentrating on the road ahead. For all the reckless ideas Barty takes part of, he’s a great driver, always focusing on safety.

“Hm?”

“Do you know if Sirius is available to meet with us sometime during the month?”

Regulus frowns.

“You have his number, ask him yourself.”

Evan snickers.

“He blocked me as a joke a while ago, and hasn’t unblocked me since. And Evan, here,” Barty glares shortly at his passenger, “won’t text him because he says I need to ‘learn from my mistakes’.”

Pandora giggles. “You really do need to learn from your mistakes, Barty.”

“Wait,” Regulus tries to make eye contact with Barty through the rearview mirror, “why do you want to meet with my brother?”

“To have a date with him.”

Regulus’ brain takes a second to process Evans’ words. He said them so casually, Regulus thinks he must’ve misheard.

“Come again?”

“I want to go on a date with your brother.” Barty shrugs, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Regulus blinks several times, frowning. “Did they break up?” He mouths to Pandora while pointing with his head towards their friends. She lets out a laugh.

“No, they haven’t broken up!” She says loudly. Too loud for Regulus’ taste, who’s trying to subtly figure out what is going on. 

“What!?” exclaims Barty, turning his head back for a second. “Of course we haven’t broken up, Evan is stuck with me now! He’s the love of my life!”

Evan snorts. “You’re only dating me so you can be closer with Panda.” Barty turns around again to wink at Pandora, who rolls her eyes smiling.

“Why the fuck are you talking about dating my brother then?” Regulus’ voice comes out high pitched, perfectly portraying his confusion.

“To stir up the rumours.” Says Evan like it’s an obvious thing.

“What rumours?”

“That we’re dating.”

“With my brother?!” Regulus’ shocked voice makes everyone in the car laugh. “He’s dating Remus, you can’t just plan a date with a taken man! Also, he’s my brother , you’re not allowed to date him!” Evan lets out a roaring laughter, while Barty holds his closed fist over his mouth, trying to focus back on the road.

“Christ, Reg, calm down,” says Evan after taking a deep breath, “the rumours are about Barty and I. Our followers don’t know we’re dating, so we plan public fake dates with some friends to make them speculate on us being together or not.”

Regulus’ forehead is starting to cramp from the continuous frowning. “Why would you do that?”

“Drama generates views, Reggie. You would know that if you paid more attention to social media.” Barty grins at him.

“I- …whatever” Regulus shakes his head, feeling his brain still reeling from the shock.

“So, is he available?” Evan asks, feigning innocence.

“You’re not planning a date with my brother, even if it’s a fake one!”

“But he’s so hot! It’s going to stir up so much drama!” whines Barty.

Regulus pretends to gag. “I beg you, please don’t say my brother is hot in front of me.”

“He is, though.”

“That’s it,” Regulus makes a show of unbuckling his seatbelt, “I’m jumping out of this car.”

The group erupts in laughter again.

They’ve been walking through the forest for a few minutes when Regulus spots the ‘No trespassing’ sign hanging on the tree Barty’s walking by. There is a partially destroyed barbed wire fence around them, and Regulus frowns as Evan casually steps over the lowest part, trespassing into private property.

“Weren’t you in jail for this?” Barty and Evan turn around, with identical raised eyebrows. Regulus points at the sign.

“Yeah?”

“Why are you trespassing again then? There must be another way to reach this house without breaking the law.”
His friends look at eachother and back at Regulus.

“This is where we’re going, Reg.” Says Evan, “It’s an abandoned house. The only way to enter is through this part of the forest.”

“Abandoned?” He asks. Evan nods. Regulus rolls his eyes. “Do you want to go to jail again?”

Barty snorts. “That’s not going to happen. This is a very secluded area, no one is going to come looking for us.”

Regulus feels a bit exasperated. He looks back to where the car is parked, several hundred metres behind them, and then at the darkening sky. Going back to wait for his friends in the car doesn’t sound very appealing, especially considering he’ll be alone in pitch darkness.

“Fine,” he says, stepping over the fallen wire, “but I’m blaming you if I have an accident, or get ill from the mould or the cold.”

His friends cheer and start unpacking their multiple filming devices, discussing their plan on how to showcase the building to their audience.

“You alright?” asks Pandora quietly, stepping by his side. Regulus nods, still watching Barty and Evan set everything up.

“Yeah, just a bit worried.” At Pandora’s curious gaze, he adds, “I’m assuming we won’t get much sleep today.”

“Probably not, but I think it’s going to be a good experience. I can already feel the energy. It’s ancient.”

Regulus looks at his friend. Pandora’s brown eyes are fixed on the thick wall of trees that stands between them and the house, like she can see beyond the green, right into the heart of the building.

“How so?”

Pandora breathes deeply before answering. “The people who lived here left a lot of residual energy. The ground is almost vibrating with it, and the trees have also absorbed it, so it’s all around us. It’s very soothing.” She closes her eyes, and tilts her face upwards with a tiny smile. “There’s something else beneath that, it feels very similar to my dream. There’s something sacred here, and it’s related to you.” Pandora opens her eyes and looks at Regulus. “Can’t you feel it calling you?”

Regulus, for some reason, feels the need to flinch.

“Not really.” He mumbles. Pandora looks at him with understanding.

“Don’t worry,” she says soothingly, “You’ll feel it eventually. It’s very insistent.”

Regulus frowns and watches Pandora walk away to help Evan, who is waving her to come. Her words leave him feeling uneasy, and he glances around at the trees, trying to find that soothing residual energy Pandora just talked about. All he sees are leaves and branches almost blending in with the sky. Night is almost upon them, and the group still needs to walk a bit to finally reach the house.

Sighing, Regulus walks towards Barty, and takes the camera he’s offering him.

“You can leave it on the entire time if you want, we’ll edit the content later,” says Barty while showing him which button to press to start recording. Regulus nods.

“Alright guys, we better start filming now, it’s getting darker and I don't feel like staying in the woods any longer than necessary,” says Evan, “You have the night vision camera, right Bee?”

“Yup, fully charged.”

“Great, bring your ass over here, you guys can stay behind or come talk to the camera, whatever you feel most comfortable doing right now.” Evan presses the record button on his camera, and lengthens the selfie stick, trying with different angles. Barty puts an arm around his shoulders, pressing a quick kiss against his temple before putting on his charming youtuber smile.

Regulus decides to stay a few steps behind his friends, with Pandora by his side. He watches Barty and Evan redo their history sequence a couple of times, correcting minor details and laughing at particularly horrendous mistakes. Regulus catches some of the history of the house they’re about to visit, it’s apparently a Manor from the 1600s’, inhabited through the years by different generations of the same family. Even when it was still being used, the building had a reputation of being haunted, to the point where the last occupants abandoned the house, scared of the paranormal forces that reside in it. It’s rumoured that the government is searching for descendants of the Potter family, the ones that originally owned the manor, in order to buy the terrain and make it useful again. Barty explains how the paranormal and the urban explorer communities have created multiple petitions to stop the government from tearing the place down, and instead remodel the building, or transform it into an attraction.

“Fuck, this angle makes my roots show so much,” whines Evan once they’re done talking, and start making their way to the house. He’s still holding the camera up high, and the screen shows Regulus that indeed, Evan’s black hair roots are on full display.

“I offered to dye your hair a few days ago and you didn’t listen,” shrugs Barty, looking ahead, “suffer the consequences of your own actions.”

Evan frowns, “Shut up.”

Barty grins maliciously and tilts his head, “Make me.”

From his place behind the couple, Regulus ends up having a front row seat for the rough kiss Evan places on Barty’s mouth. Pandora makes a show of gagging, and Regulus lifts his camera higher from where it rests on his chest.

“Nice, free blackmail material,” he says in a deadpan voice, making the couple look in his direction. Barty barks out a laugh, and Regulus is pretty sure Evan is blushing, although it’s hard to see on his dark skin tone in the near-night.

“I’m regretting inviting you today,” mumbles Evan.

“You mean forcing me to come,” Regulus smiles innocently, lowering his camera until it rests on his chest again.

“Poor Reggie, forced to spend time with his friends,” says Barty in a childlike voice, “As if you won’t have the time of your life recording every single embarrassing moment.”

Regulus raises his middle finger, causing Barty to flip him in response. Evan and Pandora, in a rare moment of sibling sympathy, roll their eyes simultaneously and start walking faster, side by side, leaving both dark haired men behind. Barty and Regulus yelp and try to catch up to the twins, who are already several metres ahead thanks to their unfair height.

The house seems to be enveloped in darkness. It clings to the walls and the corners, reluctantly disappearing when the group point their flashlights, and immediately returning as they make their way through the corridor, like it’s chasing them slowly. The darkness even seems to absorb their lighthearted spirit, quieting the banter down until the group is simply walking silently.

Regulus feels on edge, his senses fully awake and perceptive, almost like he’s expecting something to jump out from the shadows. He’s never done too well in dark spaces, his mind constantly flashing images of locked doors, hanging clothes, stomach aches and dry, raw throats. Regulus pushes the memories of his childhood home back into a forgotten corner of his mind, and focuses on putting a somewhat pleasant expression for the video. The camera, suspended in the air by Evan’s selfie stick, shines a tiny red light every few seconds, like a blinking eye, watching their every move.

“We could use the Ouija board in this room,” says Barty. His voice breaks the silent atmosphere almost violently, snapping Regulus out of his thoughts.

“You’re using a Ouija board?” asks Pandora, concerned.

“Only if nothing interesting happens today, don’t worry.” Evan smiles reassuringly to his sister, who is frowning at him.

“You shouldn’t play with those energies, Ev,” Pandora shakes her head, “You never know who or what you could be inviting into your life.”

“It’s okay, Panda. It’s a last resort, in case we don’t get enough content from our normal methods.” 

Pandora gives Barty a side eye that has Regulus shuddering, before shaking her head with a grimace. “You’re finding someone else to rid yourselves of whatever attachment you end up creating. I’m not saving you this time.”

Evan and Barty share an amused look before nodding solemnly.

A thumping noise near the main entrance has Regulus jumping slightly and turning around. He points his flashlight and scrutinises the dark corridor. Nothing seems out of place. The faded framed pictures are still hanging from the mouldy walls, and although barely visible from this point on the hallway, the wet couch still has all its cushions. The wind must have moved something , Regulus rationalises. 

Three light taps on his shoulder make him turn his head quickly. His friends are moving again, and Regulus is thankful to Barty for making him aware of it. 

The next room the group enters is spacious enough for the four of them to comfortably spread through the space. While Barty and Evan set up some bigger lights in order to have a smoother video quality, Pandora and Regulus pace through the room, inspecting every minor detail.

The walls are made out of bricks, cracked by the passing of time. Moisture accumulates in the cracks, darkening them and making them even more noticeable. There’s multiple scribbles and graffiti covering the walls, and Regulus takes his time observing each of them. Most are signatures, others are sappy messages probably left by couples having a spooky date, and a select few of them are cryptic messages that add to the eerie atmosphere of the manor.

‘The chasm between dimensions shall be closed’ reads one of them. Regulus’ overactive imagination immediately sparks an idea from that sentence, and he spends a minute crafting a story about portals and time travelling. His mind halts the creation of a black, rocky portal, similar to a black hole, when he sees a familiar image.

The Leo constellation.

Regulus does a double take on the drawing, thinking he might be creating lines on the wall where there are none. He’s not. Painted with sharp and accurate black lines and overlined with silver, the Leo constellation greets him. Regulus’ eyes immediately find his namesake.

Regulus, the heart of the lion, is circled in gold.

A quick scan of the drawing lets Regulus know that no other part of the constellation is marked that way. 

“Oh, that’s so pretty!” mutters Pandora appearing by his side. The added light of her flashlight makes the silver and gold paint shine brighter.

“It’s me,” whispers Regulus. When he realises his words don’t make much sense, he opens his mouth again to explain, but Pandora intercedes quickly.

“Yeah, I know,” she says casually before resuming her examination of the wall. Regulus frowns, still staring at the drawn Leo constellation. His stomach feels increasingly tight the more Regulus stares at the wall, so he decides to imitate Pandora and walk away.

From what he can hear, Barty and Evan are about to resume filming. Regulus takes a deep breath, eyeing the drawn constellation he just left behind. He schools his expression once again, and is about to turn around when Barty grabs his shoulder for a second, before loudly exclaiming “Okay guys, we’re hitting record now!”

Regulus can’t help the irritation surging inside of him. He knows his friend is looking out for him and being considerate about Regulus’ inexperience in front of cameras, but he was about to turn around anyways, there was no need to tell him what to do.

Taking another deep breath, Regulus thinks about his therapist and what she would say about projecting his irritation with his mother towards his friends. Barty’s just helping, there’s no underlying ill intent , he repeats in his head a few times before turning around with a neutral expression.

“Our investigation starts now,” grins Evan towards the camera, moving his body to the side to show the room behind him with a flowy gesture of his hand.

“I would like to begin by asking Pandora what she thinks of this place, now that we’ve explored a bit,” Barty turns around to face Pandora, who is still pacing around the room, letting her fingers graze the various drawings on the walls. She looks up with a gentle smile.

“The energy here is very interesting. As I said before, it’s quite soothing, very… domestic,” she shrugs, “I’m perceiving something else, though, and I’m still not sure about its intentions.”

That sparks Barty and Evan’s curiosity.

“Do you feel something evil here?”

Pandora shakes her head. “Not necessarily evil, just… very present and watchful of what we’re doing here.”

Regulus suppresses a shudder. It’s the darkness and his irrational fear of it that’s making him uncomfortable, he rationalises, not letting his friend’s words get to him.

Evan claps once, loudly, and the sound makes Regulus jump. “Perfect! If it’s watching us, it won’t be so hard to contact that energy!”

Barty nods enthusiastically. “I say we give it a try right now. We can start simple, what do you think about the flashlights, Evan?”

With a theatrical manoeuvre, Evan whips two flashlights out of his pocket, and hands one to Barty. He takes it with an inclination of his head, and the two boys walk towards opposite corners of the room to place the flashlights on the ground. Regulus has seen enough  of his friends’ videos to know what this spectacle is about. They’ll ask questions, and the supposed ghost will answer by turning the flashlights on and off. To their credit, they make it look extremely realistic, and Regulus is excited to finally get his answer about how his friends manage to handle the lights without being noticed.

“Okay guys, you know how this goes. We’re going to start off by introducing ourselves and asking if there’s any spirits in the room with us,” Evan says back in front of the camera, fully immersed in his youtuber persona, “Panda, would you do the honours?”

Pandora nods and walks until she’s right between both flashlights. She closes her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. “I’m calling all of the spirits in this property that will willingly interact with us tonight. You’re welcome to join us in this room, we want to ask you some questions, if you’re kind enough to answer them for us.”

Pandora stays silent for a few seconds, letting her words linger in the air. Regulus stays very still, just like the rest of his friends. They all concentrate on the noises around them, but aside from crickets and overall forest sounds, nothing happens.

Some wind current must enter the room, because the air grows  suddenly colder. Regulus feels a shiver run down his spine, and he tugs on his sweater to try and cover as much of his body as the fabric will allow him to. Barty and Evan look at each other with wide eyes, and Pandora tilts her head upwards.

“Thank you for coming here today, we appreciate it,” she says in a soft voice. “My name is Pandora, and these are Evan, Barty and Regulus. We come here to speak to you and learn more about this house. We mean no harm, not to any of you, nor the property,” she sets her jaw and her eyes shine with decision, “You are not allowed to follow us anywhere past this property. You are not allowed to harm us in any way. We ask that you are as respectful towards us as we are towards you.”

Aside from the growing coldness in the room, nothing really changes. Regulus glances around, but the room and the objects in it seem to remain the same.

“To any spirits here in this room, are you willing to communicate with us?” Barty’s steady voice breaks the silence, echoing slightly on the mostly empty space. The group stays still, trying to notice any answer. “We brought these flashlights with us, you can use them to talk with us. Just touch the end of it, and it will-”

A new light illuminates the room.

“-turn on.”

The group stares at the glowing flashlight for a moment in stunned silence.

“Thank you so much for letting us know you’re here,” says Pandora, smiling lightly in the direction of the flashlight.

“How?” asks Regulus, staring at Barty. His friend turns his head slowly towards him, but his eyes remain glued to the corner of the room until the very last second. When they make eye contact, Barty raises a questioning eyebrow. “How did you do that?”

Barty frowns. “I didn’t do anything, Reg.”

Regulus turns to Evan. “Show me.”

Evan shakes his head, “We don’t control the flashlights. These are the cheapest ones, you can find them in any store.”

“One of them broke on the weekend, we just replaced it yesterday,” adds Barty, staring at the source of light once more.

“But you must-” 

As suddenly as the light came on, it goes out, interrupting Regulus.

“Hi,” says Evan, a bit breathless, “Thank you. Can we ask you some questions?”

The flashlight flickers slowly to light.

“What? No. Fuck that,” Regulus walks towards the corner of the room and grabs the flashlight, examining it closely. He ignores Pandora’s scandalised calls and Barty’s cackles.

It does look like a normal flashlight. Regulus presses on the end of it, watching as the light turns off. He presses again, trying to recreate the slow flicker it did on its own. It’s impossible. The flashlight seems to have two modes; on and off, with no in-between. It also doesn’t seem to be modified in any way, it barely has room to hold the batteries inside.

“What the fuck,” Regulus mumbles, scowling.

A small gust of wind, almost like a breath, hits his face making him look up. Regulus thinks he must’ve concentrated too hard on the flashlight, because his eyes aren’t seeing properly. The image in his left eye is darker than the one in his right, like he’s pressed on it a bit too hard, or closed his left eye for too long. Regulus blinks a few times trying to correct his eyesight when the slight darkness moves.

Like, it literally moves.

It’s still there, just further to the left than before. Regulus turns his head to check, and yes, now the darkness affects both of his eyes. He looks to his right, straight at his friends and it’s gone. 

Regulus returns the flashlight to the windowsill where it originally rested, and walks back towards his friends. He can’t help but notice how much warmer the air is in the middle of the room.

“You don’t just interrupt spirits like that, Reg!” admonishes Pandora, looking between him and the flashlight behind him, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just…” he glances between his friends’ eyes. They all look at him expectantly. Regulus clears his throat, “Nevermind, it’s nothing. You’re right, the flashlights aren’t modified.”

“Of course we’re right,” Barty scoffs, putting his hand to his chest in feigned offence, “Can we continue?”

Regulus nods.

“Are you still here with us?” The flashlight turns on while Evan is still speaking, making him smile, “Great, thank you. Were you a resident of this house?”

Off.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” On.

Pandora giggles. “It’s a very powerful ghost,” she mutters mostly to herself. As if responding, the flashlight turns off and on again in quick succession, before rolling lazily off the windowsill.

The clattering sound it makes echoes in the silent room.

The group stare at each other with wide eyes. Evan and Barty are grinning like maniacs, and Pandora looks mostly impressed. Regulus feels his brain scrambling to come up with some sort of rational explanation for what just happened.

“It might be slanted,” he says quietly, examining the windowsill with narrowed eyes. Barty scoffs at his words, walks over to the flashlight, picks it up and puts it back on the surface.

“It’s not slanted, Reg,” he says while lightly pushing the flashlight, trying to make it fall. To Regulus’ horror, the object rolls for a bit before coming to rest. It’s clear it would need a stronger push for it to fall down. It’s also clear the bricks of the windowsill aren’t at an angle.

“We appreciate you showing us you’re here,” says Pandora, “Do you think you could push the flashlight again? Or maybe something else?”

The group waits in silence, concentrating on any new noises.

From the other corner of the room, a clatter.

The second flashlight, the one Evan had placed on the ground, quickly rolls toward them, stopping a few centimetres from Regulus’ feet. He stares dumbfounded at the object, which, as if to add more shock to the already insane situation, rotates in place until it’s pointing straight at Regulus, at which point it begins to flick on and off in a pattern that would be funny if it weren’t for the whole haunted house context.

“What the actual fuck?” says Evan, suddenly appearing by his side, staring at the flashlight with wide eyes, “This has never happened before.”

“I’m a bit scared if I’m being honest,” Barty’s voice comes from behind them, likely by the camera. Regulus doesn’t want to turn around to check his friend’s position, “I feel like we should leave, but this could go so viral…”

Regulus snorts despite the frigid fear tugging at his stomach. “It’s good to know you care more about fame than your friends’ safety.”

“We’re not in danger,” intercedes Pandora calmly, “He’s very playful, he’s just trying to make us laugh, not to scare us.”

Evan whips his head around. Regulus also peels his eyes off the flickering flashlight to turn towards his friend. “He?”

Pandora shrugs at her brother, “I can just tell. This ghost is a he, and a really big prankster.”

The light switches its pattern of turning on and off after Pandora’s words, like it’s answering her. It now does two slow flicks and then three others in quick succession. Pandora laughs.

“Alright…” says Barty quietly. He is indeed standing by the camera, but his eyes are fixed on the flashlight, “should we continue, then?”

The flickering spectacle stops.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” On.

Regulus takes a deep breath and steps away from the flashlight at his feet.

About half an hour later, the group steps out of the room with a lot of information on the ghost. He–because Pandora was right and the ghost is indeed a he–was part of the Potter family and lived his entire life on the property, sometime in the 19th century. They weren’t able to specify which decades the ghost had been alive, as he apparently left towards the end of their strange conversation. Before he stopped flickering lights on and off, Regulus had been able to ask the ghost’s–or rather the former person’s–age. It only took them throwing out random age groups for the ghost to confirm that he had died in his twenties, and then counting up from twenty to find that he had lived to twenty-five.

It’s weird, Regulus thinks, that the ghost is around their age. In his limited experience with spirits–mainly horror movie stereotypes–,Regulus has mostly seen children and adults over forty being portrayed as ghosts, so having a spirit with the same maturity levels as he and his group have is kind of baffling.

That is, of course, letting aside the extremely baffling fact that they’re talking to a real ghost, something Regulus didn’t believe in an hour ago. In all honesty, his brain is still trying to catch up with everything that has happened this far, so Regulus isn’t quite sure yet if he’s seeing ghosts, or if his friends in their attempt to make him a believer, have elaborated an insanely complex prank. Their reactions to the whole flashlight thing have been very credible, though, and Regulus has tried time and time again to find the method they’re using to manipulate the flashlight, unsuccessfully.

Regulus lifts his gaze from the ground when he notices Barty and Evan entering another room, a few steps ahead of him. Pandora follows behind quickly, leaving Regulus alone for a second on the corridor. As soon as he turns to enter through the door frame, a horrified high-pitched scream makes him jump, startled. With his heart pounding on his chest, Regulus tries to figure out what made Barty scream like that.

Evan is hunched over with both his arms around his abdomen, shaking slightly. Regulus feels the paralysing slithers of dread spreading through his body, and he hurries to his friends’ side.

Barty is still clutching his chest with one hand, and holding the camera steady with the other. He’s breathing hard, and Regulus is about to ask him what happened when he sees his friend’s horrified expression turn to a manic smile.

Barty lets out a wheezing laugh, dropping his hand to his knees, trying to find some support for his shaking frame. Regulus realises then that Evan is also laughing. He’s left staring at his friends with wide eyes, confused as to what is going on.

“Christ, Reg…” Barty chokes out between cackles. Evan, at his side, is taking deep breaths, trying to compose himself, “Oh, I almost shat myself.”

“What…?”

“Your eyes!” Evan says while trying to stop himself from laughing again. Regulus frowns.

“What about them?”

“The light! It made them look so red!” Barty wheezes, “Oh, please tell me I recorded that, it’ll be so funny!”

The group gathers around Barty once he finds the recently recorded video, and Regulus must admit that the sight of him walking through the door with glowing red eyes because of the flash of the camera, is quite frightening. They share another quick laugh before setting the equipment in the best position to film. 

Regulus finds himself staring at the walls of the new room they’re in once more. The scribbles seem to be colour coded in this once, seeing as every single one of them is either red or green, giving the room a christmassy vibe that feels very out of place. There isn’t anything really weird happening on the walls, as the scribbles are mostly graffiti signatures, just… no colours other than red and green decorate the walls.

A light tap on his right shoulder makes Regulus turn his head away from the wall, just to find no one there. He frowns and turns his head to his left, where he sees Barty a few steps away from him, grinning and pretending to be focused on the camera settings. Regulus rolls his eyes at his friend’s immaturity, and goes back to examine the place.

Barty seems to take a liking to confusing him. Five minutes pass before Regulus feels his shoulder being nudged again, snapping him out of his concentration on the weird device Evan is using to contact spirits. Again, Barty is at his left side, staring with wide eyes at the little beeping cylinder.

The third time doesn’t catch Regulus by surprise, so he manages to grab his friend’s perpetually cold hand and shove it away from his shoulder.

“Barty, will you quit it?!” he exclaims while snapping his head around to glare at his friend. Barty, standing near the door, looks up from his phone with wide eyes.

“Huh?”

“Don’t act all innocent, it’s not funny!” Regulus crosses the space that separates them to berate his friend from a more comfortable distance.

Then, he realises.

With Regulus standing at the back of the room, it’s impossible for Barty to have run all the way to the door in the split second it took Regulus to turn around. He freezes in place, his mind desperately scrambling to find an explanation.

“Reg, what happened?” asks Barty, concerned.

“You- I just felt someone touch my shoulder, and I thought it was you, like the other times, but then I turned around and you were too far away to have done it.”

Barty frowns, “What other times?”

“Some minutes ago? You did that stupid thing, where you touch the right shoulder while standing at the left side, so when I turned around, it looked like no one was there,” Regulus’ voice gets smaller after each word, seeing Barty’s honest confusion.

“I haven’t touched you this entire time, Reg,” he murmurs. Regulus feels a cold sensation spreading through his body.

“You- Yes you have! Each time I looked, you were pretending to be all concentrated on what you were doing!”

Barty shakes his head with wide eyes.

“Regulus I swear I haven’t touched you since…” he pauses a second to think, “since we got out of the car or something.”

Regulus is frozen. His friends share concerned looks between one another. Evan opens his mouth to speak, but Regulus beats him.

“You have though. Right when entering the house, remember?” Barty frowns at his words, “I heard something fall and looked behind us for a second, and you nudged me when you guys started walking again.”

Barty shakes his head slowly, making direct eye contact. Regulus can see he is not lying.

“I grabbed something…” Regulus whispers, feeling frantic, “right now, this last time, I was expecting you to touch my shoulder again so I reached out as soon as it happened, and I swear I grabbed a real human hand.”

Evan gasps quietly. Barty shares a look with him before turning to face Regulus again, slowly lifting his hands to put them on his shoulders. Regulus can’t help but shudder at the thought that this is the first time Barty has put his hands on his body since before entering the house. His friend squeezes lightly, making Regulus pay attention to him.

“Do you want to keep going, Reg? We can call it quits if you’re not comfortable.”

Regulus stares into Barty’s dark green eyes for a second before shaking his head. His friend squeezes again, his eyes brimming with warmth.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, this will be good for your channel,” Regulus says with a small smile.

“Ok,” Barty says quietly, dropping his hands from Regulus’ shoulders. He walks away to fetch the main camera, brushing arms with Evan on his way there, “let us know if you need a break at any moment.”

Regulus should have said yes. Regulus should have given into the fear of dealing with unknown forces that are apparently able to manipulate objects and physically touch you , but no, he had to play brave boy and say he wanted to keep going.

He is deeply regretting that now.

Evan is sitting blindfolded on a half-destroyed chair they found in the new room they’re at, with huge headphones that are currently blasting alternating radio frequencies from a device that supposedly allows ghosts to communicate with them. Evan hears the words that pop up through the static and says them out loud.

“Fuck you,” he says.

“Are you the ghost that has been following us around tonight?” Barty stands in front of Evan with crossed arms, looking at his boyfriend intently. Evan scrunches his forehead in concentration.

“Get out.”

“What are your intentions?”

“Harm,” Evan tilts his head to the side, like waiting for more words to come, but ends up remaining silent.

“You are not allowed to harm us,” Pandora intercedes quickly. Her serious expression lets Regulus know she’s not playing around.

“Watch me.”

As soon as the words leave Evan’s mouth, an empty beer can falls from the windowsill to Regulus’ left, making the entire group–except for Evan, who is literally under sensory deprivation–jump from the loud noise.

“You are not allowed to harm any of us,” says Pandora firmly, her usually light voice filled with determination, “You are not allowed to touch us nor follow us outside of this property.”

“I swear I heard someone snort… I don’t think that’s ever happened before,” says Evan, blissfully unaware of the tension gripping the rest of the group.

Barty frowns and shares a look with Pandora, who looks equally disturbed. Regulus balances the weight of his body from one foot to the other, feeling uneasy about the situation.

“Little king,” says Evan suddenly, filling the hungry silence that has quickly crept between them, “that one was a very different voice… less threatening,” he adds.

“Little king?” Barty asks, leaning forward.

“Finally here.”

“Who’s finally here? Were you waiting for us?”

“Prophecy. That one was very clear,” Evan furrows his brow.

“Prophecy? So you were waiting for us?”

Evan shakes his head and lifts his hands to press the headphones tighter.

“Woah, woah, there’s a lot happening- Prophecy, two shall… united? Once again…” Evans clicks his tongue, “I’m not getting every word, I’m trying my best… Lion? Something about a lion, brightest star, prophecy.”

“What are you trying to say?” asks Barty with his head tilted to the side,

“The chasm between dimensions shall be closed,” Evan raises his eyebrows, “that one was very clear.”

Regulus frowns. His mind immediately conjures up the picture of the portal he imagined hours ago. He can’t help but shudder.

“Shut up,” before Barty or Pandora can question further, Evan speaks again, “This one sounded more like the first voice,” he adds.

“Who are we talking to?” asks Pandora, stepping closer to Evan. Regulus can see the concern brimming in her eyes.

Evan goes very stiff. His hands shoot to the cushion of the chair he’s sitting on, like he’s trying to keep his balance.

“Guys… I kid you not, I just heard someone say ‘Hello, Regulus’,” he mutters, voice shaky. 

Two sets of eyes look directly at Regulus, who gapes at Evan.

“This is not funny, Ev,” says Regulus, attempting to make his voice sound firmer than he actually feels inside.

“I’m not joking,” says Evan.

Regulus exchanges looks with Barty.

“Can he-? Are you listening?” Regulus raises his voice slightly, waiting for Evan to react to it.

“It’s me,” he says instead.

“Who?” asks Barty.

Evan tilts his head, “Jim? I didn't quite catch it, but it sounded like ‘Jim’.”

“Is that your name? Jim?”

“Jim.”

“Well hello, Jim, are you the one we've been talking to this entire time?” asks Pandora.

“No. Other evil… bastard? I’m pretty sure it said ‘bastard’.”

Barty barks a laugh, “I agree with you, Jim, that other spirit was a bastard.”

“How do you know my name?” asks Regulus, finally coming out of his stupor. His voice comes out slightly high-pitched.

“Miss you,” is Evan’s immediate response. A slow churning begins twisting inside Regulus’ gut.

“Miss- miss me? How…? I don’t think that’s possible,” Regulus stumbles through his words, desperately trying to figure out what is going on. Something akin to a breeze brushes against his cheek.

“So eloquent.”

The impassibility with which Evan speaks gives Regulus whiplash. If it weren’t for the fact that his friend is blinded and deafened right now, he would think Evan is being his usual sarcastic self.

There’s something more as well. There’s a subtle shift in the air around him. Regulus isn’t sure when it started, but he notices it now. There’s something stifling yet hopeful surrounding him, and in some way, it lets Regulus know that even though the words came out of Evan’s mouth, it wasn’t him who spoke them. He’s filled with bewildered giddiness that has him blurting out words before he can even process them.

“Oh, shut up,” Regulus says, “You’re not being the most eloquent right now either.”

A stunned silence fills the room. Regulus can feel Barty and Pandora’s eyes on him. 

“More words… you… falling at my feet? Something like that,” says Evan with furrowed brows.

Regulus snorts. Somehow, he knows what Jim (?) is trying to say. If I were able to speak more words, you’d be falling at my feet .

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

A light nudge against his shoe has Regulus looking down. A flashlight came out of Barty and Evan’s open bag, rolling until it reached Regulus’ foot, where it now rests innocently. Regulus can’t help the small smile that appears on his face.

“What the actual fuck?!” Barty’s loud words snap him out of his trance and make him look where his friend is pointing desperately. In the dim lightning, Regulus sees something laying flat on the ground, with a small circular object moving rapidly on top of it.

Oh, fuck.

The Ouija board is moving.

Pandora snatches the headphones out of Evan’s head, making the man jump and curse in fear. His complaints quickly fall silent as he sees what has the group on high alert.

They make their way closer to the board with careful steps, until they can see what words the planchette is spelling.

E-S-I-M-W-A-I-T-I-N-G-D-O-N-T-H-U-R-Y

“Slow down, Jim,” says Pandora quietly. Her eyes are squinted in concentration.

J-A-M-E-S

The planchette lifts up from the board for a second and then falls back down. The movement feels incredibly petty.

“Is James your name?” asks Barty.

The planchette moves all the way to the top left corner, where the ‘Yes’ option lies.

“Are you the same spirit we were talking to through the Estes method?”

Yes option.

“What is going on?” mumbles Evan, just to be quickly shushed by the rest of the group. Pandora breathes deeply.

“Okay James, what were you trying to say?”

I-M-W-A-I-T-I-N-G

“You’re waiting?”

Yes option.

“What are you waiting for?”

R-E-G-U-L-U-S

Three pairs of eyes are suddenly staring at him. If Regulus focuses a bit more, he can feel a fourth set of eyes waiting for his response. Regulus forces himself to take a few breaths before even opening his mouth to speak.

“What do you mean you’re waiting for me?” his attempt to make his voice come out steady fails. The words leave his mouth as a whisper.

Y-O-U

The planchette stays still for a second before continuing.

D-I-E

Regulus’ heart drops.

He can hear it pounding in his ears, the rush of blood not allowing any other noises to come through.

“You want to kill me?” Regulus feels himself mouthing the words, but he isn’t sure if he speaks them. Apparently he did, because the planchette starts moving again at lightfast speed.

No. No. No. No. No.

The small triangle starts hopping on top of the ‘No’ option, and it would have been a ridiculous sight in any other context.

D-O-N-T-H-U-R-Y

“Don’t what?” asks Barty. His skin looks paler than usual, and he grips Evan’s arm with immense pressure, though his boyfriend doesn’t seem to notice.

H-U-R-Y

“Hury? Do you mean ‘jury’?”

The planchette starts hopping on top of the ‘R’.

Hurry . Don’t hurry.

“You are waiting for Reg to die, but don’t want him to hurry?” questions Pandora. She’s the one closest to the board, and she’s been twirling and tugging at the end of her braid ever since ripping the earphones out of Evan’s head.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Regulus presses his eyes shut and shakes his head.

“Why?” he asks.

L-O-V-E-Y-O-U

The planchette stops its frantic zigzagging to spell the new words with careful movements. After laying on the ‘U’ for a second, it begins slowly dragging down until it stops at the ‘Goodbye’ option.

It doesn’t move again after that.

Regulus has had normal dreams before. Of course he’s had normal dreams, everyone has them. This doesn’t feel like one of those.

Regulus has had lucid dreams before. They’re not as common, and usually very short-lived, but he can definitely say he’s been in charge of some dreams. This doesn't feel like that either.

He’s standing–floating?–in a white void. Nothing moves because there’s nothing around him, yet he feels completely at peace. It’s nice, he thinks. It wouldn’t be so bad to stay like this forever.

“Yeah, but you still have so much to experience.”

Regulus turns around (can he really turn around in a void?), and comes face to face with another man.

Somehow, deep down, Regulus knows who he is. His skin feels like it’s trying to rip out to touch him, his muscles tense with the expectation of reaching out to hold him, his bones sing at the thought of being near him.

His soul shines brighter in his presence.

This is James , Regulus thinks.

James does a little nod in greeting. There’s a bit of distance separating them, and yet they are completely intertwined in the white void. Fused together, as one being.

“This is Regulus,” he hears James say. His mouth doesn’t move, but Regulus feels it. The words resonating in his mind are a feeble attempt of his brain to materialise what his soul already senses and knows.

“It is.”

“It’s good to see you again,” James smiles. His dark brown eyes crinkle at the corners, and his lips part, allowing Regulus to see a crooked canine.

“Yeah, it is,” says his soul, at the same time as his brain goes, “Where do you know me from?”

James’ smile grows wider, and he closes the distance that separates them. It’s a weird sensation. He got closer although they’re already one and the same.

A warm hand brushes against Regulus’ cheek, causing his eyes to flutter shut.

“I’ve missed you, love,” the words tickle the very marrow of Regulus’ bones, and he swears he can feel the ghost of a breath on his lips, “You are always here with me, but… it’s been a while.”

It really has been a while, his soul tells him. Nothing really gets separated from this unified totality, yet Regulus’ bones yearn for James’ touch.

“We can stay like this now,” he thinks. He’s happy. James is happy, Regulus can feel it. There’s no need for change, no need to break perfection.

“No, love,” James whispers, “I can’t stay. I’ve stayed for too long already, waiting to see if I could see you once more before hopping onto our next life. I can’t stay here anymore.”

“Then I’ll stay,” says Regulus, opening his eyes, “I don’t want to go back.”

“No, love,” James whispers, “You can’t stay either.”

Regulus feels his heart shatter, despair trickling down every fibre of his being.

Regulus feels his heart shrug, because of course he can’t stay, he’s not dead yet. Their souls are intertwined anyways, does it really make a difference?

It does, says his mind.

It doesn’t, says his soul.

James presses their foreheads together, and all thoughts abandon Regulus immediately.

Brown on grey, their eyes lock on eachother, just like thousands of times before. Regulus lets out a breath and leans forward, capturing James’ lips with his own.

His stomach twists and scrambles, and Regulus understands what he felt when looking at the Leo constellation, and the green and red walls, and the twinkling flashlights. He wasn’t nauseous. His body was reacting to the signs of their entanglement, his muscles and bones and organs all wanting to reach out.

Their kiss extends for a total of one second, and an entire eternity. Regulus doesn’t care. His mind might be trying to understand what’s happening in abstract terms, but his soul knows that they’ve been like this forever, and will remain that way forever. Their kiss might break, but here, in this void? Time is but an illusion, stretching into infinity until it becomes a dot, collapsing everything that has ever and will ever happen into one single moment.

Regulus has been kissing James forever. Regulus will be kissing James forever.

Regulus has been and will be hearing the faint noise of his alarm clock forever. He can feel himself seeping back into his body, the one laying on his bed, asleep.

Their lips separate, and Regulus is immediately filled with dread.

“I don’t want to go back,” he whispers.

“You have to,” James says. His eyes are kind, just like his smile, “I’ll be waiting for you here, love.”

“I’m coming back as soon as possible.”

Two warm hands cup his face.

“No. No you’re not,” James’ eyes grow serious, but they don’t lose their kindness. They never do, “You have this entire life in front of you. Make the most of it. Learn whatever it is you need to learn, and then come back. I’ll be right here.”

His tears hit the pillow. James feels both incredibly far away, and fully enmeshed with him.

“You promise?”

A smile.

“I promise. Go live.”

Regulus slaps his cellphone trying to make the alarm stop. There’s a residual warmth from his dream, even though there are tear tracks down his cheeks. His lips feel strangely tingly.

With a huff, Regulus raises himself until he’s sitting down, clasping at the point in his chest where the warmth feels the strongest.

He’s strangely full of energy for the first time in a long while, and he even smiles as he dresses himself and opens the door for his whiny cat to come inside his room.

I’ll go live , he finds himself thinking while eating breakfast, and the joy the thought produces makes him choke on his coffee.

I will go live.