Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Ninety Two

"Remind me again why I agreed to this?"
"Because it's a nice thing to do."
"That's not a good enough reason."

The autumn of 1979 was practically the same as the summer had been. It was still warm and dry and Esme was not impressed.
She adored autumn and winter - when the cold weather settled in and the leaves changed colour. This particular autumn it was still too warm to wear anything jumper-related, which was Esme's favourite part of the season.

"We could have said we were busy." Esme pointed out as she attempted to button up the back of her dress.

Regulus chuckled slightly, stood on the other side of the room as he did his tie up the mirror, "I'm not sure that would have worked given they know we're not doing anything, and haven't done anything for months."
"Alright, smart arse."

He shook his head with a grin, "At least I got us out of going to the ceremony. It could have been a lot worse."

"Yeah, thanks for that." She admitted, "Oh, and can you do up these buttons for me? I can't see what I'm doing."
"Of course." He wandered over towards her and fumbled slightly with the small buttons for a moment before he got the hang of it and did up the neck of Esme's dress.

Regulus watched as she turned around, and settled his hands on her waist. Esme rested her arms up on his shoulders and tucked some of his dark hair behind his ear. "At least this wedding got Sirius out of the house for the day." She pointed out with a smile.
"See? There's your silver lining." He offered.

"Do you not think, perhaps..." Esme straightened out his tie and dusted off his jacket, "It might be a little uncomfortable - us going to Lily and James' wedding?"

"Because we don't know them?"
"Yeah."
Regulus paused for thought, "Maybe. I think it's nice though - a break from all of the war stuff going on."

"Do you think everyone will know that we're... Technically Death Eaters?" She asked.
"No." Regulus shook his head, "I trust they didn't say anything."

"Alright." Esme nodded, then stood up on her toes to briefly connect their mouths, "Let's go to this stupid wedding."

Regulus smiled, "Oh, before we go, you do look absolutely breathtaking."

Esme blushed slightly, "I wish you wouldn't do that; you know I can't take a compliment." Then she grazed her thumb along the side of his jaw, "Thank you, though, and you look very pretty yourself."
He laughed, "Thanks."

The wedding reception, much like the ceremony, was a small affair of only a select group of people.
Needless to say, really, Esme did not feel like she was fitting in well.

"Will it look bad if I go home now?" She whispered into Regulus' ear as they sat side by side at one of the empty tables beside the dance floor.
He hummed and nodded, "Possibly. I mean, given we have only been here..." He checked his watch, "Twenty minutes, yes."

"I'm going to need a drink when this is over. Will you want one?" She asked.
Regulus raised an eyebrow, "They haven't even finished their first dance yet." He gestured to Lily and James swaying together in the centre of the dance floor.

"I'll take that as a yes." Esme got up from her seat and wandered over to the long white table at the back of the room, which was lined with countless glasses all magically filling themselves up with sparkling champagne.

"Esmerelda, it's been a while. I didn't expect to see you here."

She lifted up one of the glasses from the table and took a sip before turning to see who had spoken.
"Ah, Remus, right? I haven't crashed this wedding, if that's what you're implying?" She mused thoughtfully as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder watching the dancing-mad couples began to join in as the music grew louder.