DOORWAYS || MARAUDERS ERA

ϟ90: LILY AND RHEA WANT TO SHARE A CELL IN AZKABANϟ

"Don't be bloody daft, Meadowes. Sirius is going to commit murder if anything happens to Regulus."

Rhea, Lily and Sirius were standing on the 9 ¾ platform, along with Luna, Timothy, Amy and Dorcas, who were going to Hogwarts for their last year. James, Marlene, Mary, Remus and Peter were back in the McKinnon Manor (they were stationed there by Rhea).

Regulus was yet to come, but Lily, Sirius and Rhea wouldn't be able to talk to him on the platform when he did arrive, since Walburga Black would accompany the young heir.

Sirius begged Rhea to let him murder his mother, at which Rhea sighed and told him that he'd be sent to Azkaban if he did so, which would be catastrophic indeed. 

The past few weeks had breezed away quickly, which was a shame, really, since they had been trying to salvage the last moments of peace, after which they'd fight the war.

Of course, after Rhea and Remus had experienced what Sirius termed 'a bizarre hallucination after a heated make-out session', the FOTT club had organized an emergency meeting in Hog's Head (Lily was behind this, of course, since she simply loved FOTT meetings. Aberforth constantly struggled with the desire to chop their heads off). 

They'd spent hours trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for what Remus and Rhea had seen (it had unnerved Remus more than it did Rhea), but their efforts were fruitless. In the end, they had to wrap the session up (Severus was relieved, since he said he had 'better things to do'). But Luna, Dorcas, Amy and Timothy promised them they'd ask Caelus the moment they reached Hogwarts.

"C'mon, Rhea," Dorcas insisted, looking at her. "I know you have your suspicions about the—post make out session incident—"

"The next person who calls it that will seriously regret it." Rhea muttered, leaning her elbows on Lily's shoulder. "And yes, I do. But I dunno...anyway, you guys should ask Caelus. I'm sure he knows..."

"How come you haven't asked Caelus this before?" Timothy demanded.

Rhea sighed, but Lily intervened. "This isn't the time. You guys can send us a letter when you find out—on second thoughts, don't send a letter. Luna has a three-way mirror that connects both Rhea's and Severus's mirror, so use that."

"Still can't believe you copied mine and Prongs's idea." Sirius grumbled, but his eyes were searching for someone in the crowd anxiously, and they knew he wanted to meet Regulus as badly as Regulus wanted to meet Sirius.

And as if on cue, they heard Sirius take in a sharp breath, and all of them turned to look at the crowd around them. It took a while to find Regulus amidst the cheerful and overactive students bustling around the platform with their parents, but soon, they saw a tall, slender boy with jet black hair neatly combed and grey eyes narrowed in dislike and resentment. 

The reason for his expression was clear when a few students parted to form a path for a woman dressed in silk, embroidered robes as she walked regally forwards with her hand on Regulus's shoulder. 

Regulus, as though sensing someone's gaze on him, turned sharply to look at Sirius, who was clenching his jaw in an obvious attempt to restrain himself from walking up to his mother and insulting her. 

A flash of bitterness and envy crossed his eyes as he looked upon the group, and Rhea knew he too craved the freedom of talking and laughing with his friends without facing criticism. But the expression soon vanished, and Regulus turned on his heel to board the train, giving Walburga a brief nod of farewell. 

"Oh, dear." Amy sighed, looking at Regulus sadly as he heaved his trunk onto the train and walked around in search for a compartment. Before they could do anything else, the warning whistle sounded, and everyone on the platform panicked as they boarded the train hastily.