The Story of Regulus Black - Years 1-4

LIX. Nymphadora

Andromeda released Regulus from the embrace that she had pulled him into and held him by the shoulders at arms length, looking him up and down. "You look well," she commented, an expression of relief taking over her features.

Regulus nodded slowly. "Uh - so do you," he replied, unsure exactly how to respond; he hadn't expected it to be so hard and awkward speaking to his cousin again. However, it did make sense, especially considering everything that had changed.

Andromeda nodded her head in a snappy manner, and then quickly released Regulus. "Would you like something to drink?"

Regulus nodded his head. "Sure."

"Come on, then! You have to tell me everything!" She gestured for him to follow as she started away, which he did. As they walked, he took off his woolen gloves and shoved them into the pocket of his coat.

As he left the cozy living room, he looked around. The furniture was a mix of neutral colors, with little notes of yellow and green strewn throughout. The carpet was a light shade of taupe, but there were several rugs covering it.

Upon walking through a large archway that broke through the light-yellow painted walls, they entered a white-tiled kitchen. The walls were white, though there was a smattering of light pink flowers across. It was a large kitchen, considering the size of the house as a whole. The counters - which were made of a light wood with a beige countertop - wrapped around and covered two of the walls. There were upper cabinets made of a matching light wood shade, and they spanned the same amount of space as the counters beneath.

There was a sink, a stove-top, an oven which had been built on top of a counter, and a fridge. In the middle of the kitchen, there was a square white table with four light green chairs surrounding it and a vase with a few yellow flowers sticking out in the center.

Andromeda entered, gestured for Regulus to take a seat at the small table, and hurried to one of the cabinets. "What would you like to drink? We have tea, water, I believe we have some juice-"

"Do you have coffee?" He asked.

Andromeda gave him a look of surprise. "You drink coffee now?"

Regulus nodded his head. He saw a small smirk quirk the corner of her lips before she turned back to the cabinet. "Yes, we do have coffee," she grabbed several things from the cabinet, and piled them onto the counter.

Regulus watched as she drew her wand, put the kettle on, and levitated two mugs from one of the upper cabinets. "Ted and Nymphadora are out," Andromeda said, putting a few tea leaves in one cup, and an odd filter-looking thing on top of the other, "wanted to finish up with the Christmas shopping. We saved all of the decorating for today, in case you came and wanted to help. Of course, you don't have to, we just-"

"I'll help!" Regulus said hastily.

Andromeda flashed him a smile from over her shoulder, and she grabbed a few more things from the cabinets. "Well, excellent! That'll be fun!"

Regulus nodded his agreement. He had never properly decorated for Christmas before, but he suspected that it must be fun.

Andromeda finished with both of their drinks, cleaned and put everything away with a few flicks of her wand, and she dropped into the seat across from Regulus. Regulus took the mug of coffee from her outstretched hand, and he cupped it in both of his. He let out a sigh of relief as the warmth seeped from the porcelain cup and into his cold hands.

"So, you must tell me everything! How are you liking school?" Andromeda started, looking at her youngest cousin in interest.

Regulus took a sip of his coffee, enjoying the warmth that travelled down his throat and into his belly, warming his body. "It's good. I like it." He responded, setting the cup gingerly onto the table.