Chapter Text
Regulus sat quietly, his head in a book, his eyes scanned page after page he was completely enraptured with the contents of the book.
His focus was broken by the voice of his brother.
“We should do something, I’m so bored.” Sirius whined dramatically flopping into Remus’s lap.
He looked down affectionately at Sirius playing with his long curls.
Regulus rolled his eyes and crossed his arms at the the overly affectionate couple.
“You two are so gross.” He mumbled mostly to himself.
“You’re just jealous, Reggie.” Sirius sing songed, raising himself up just enough to laugh at his scowl.
“You know what, my dear padfoot, that sounds like a great idea.” James declared jumping out of his chair.
Of course he did, though Regulus to himself, he though anything Sirius was a genius plan.
They were the most obnoxious group of boys he had ever the displeasure of meeting.
“It’s the winter holidays, and we haven’t done anything interesting, we need a story to tell when we get back to school.” James announced to the room.
“You know, I heard there’s an abandoned neighbourhood a half an hour drive from here.” Peter chimed in, he had been mostly quiet for the duration of the conversation.
“You’re a genius, wormtail!” Sirius cried jumping up to give his soft spoken friend a bear hug.
“Okay, okay, squishing me.” Peter squeaked out.
God their nicknames for each other were so stupid and childish, thank goodness they didn’t give me one, he thought.
“Why do I even hang out with you guys.” Regulus groaned.
“Cause’s it’s us or our psycho parents.” Sirius cheerily replied.
“This is so stupid, you guys want to go to a ghost town?” He said.
Everyone turned to look at one another and nodded their heads in unison.
“You guys are impossible, just for the record I’d like it to be known that this is the most boring idea ever.” Regulus’s stated.
He was right of course, he’d rather never speak to anyone but that group of boys for the rest of his life than spend another hour with his mother.
He hadn’t exactly had a picture perfect childhood, his parents had been abusive he knew that, they would beat them, but for the longest time he just thought everyone’s parents did that. He didn’t really like to bring it up, especially after how it had split up him and Sirius for the longest time.
He still somewhat resented Sirius for leaving him, but he felt that he buried it well enough that no one would ever know.
He signed loudly just so everyone would know how much he detested this plan.
But everyone was already pulling shoes on and grabbing bags.
He got up from his spot on the floor and walked into the front hall.
He grabbed his doc martens and tugged them on, he never really took anything out of his bag that sat by the door so he just chucked it over his shoulder.
By the time he was ready the whole group had assembled by the front door.
Remus grabbed the keys, due to the fact he was the only one who had a car or a drivers license.
“Shot gun!” Sirius called out.
Regulus groaned, the only person in the group worse in the group was James and he had to spend a half hour trip stuck in the back seat with him.
Whatever, it didn’t matter he told himself, he pulled his phone and wired earphones from his pocket and put his playlist on shuffle, if he had to sit in the back with James, it would be in silence.
*•*
He took the left side while Peter took the right, forcing James into the middle.
He took his bag off letting it sit in between the gap in his legs.
The back seat was already squishy enough, it didn’t help that James was a football player which made him pretty buff.
He was almost chocking on his cologne.
He clipped his seatbelt in.
James at least seemed apologetic about how much space he took up.
Remus fiddled around with his phone stand, trying to get the gps working, he truly had no sense of direction, so he did really need to put it on.
“Everybody strapped in?” Remus asked, turning
He chucked up a quick thumbs up, trying to get the window open.
“Alright.” Remus said as he shifted the gear stick into drive.
And they were off just like that.
He stuck his head out the window liking the feeling of cool air rippling through his curls.
It could almost be considered a cinematic scene, his head out the window, mitski playing softly in his ears.
His peace was quickly ruined by Sirius turning the radio up loud enough to be heard over his own music.
It was loud enough to hurt so he decided just to take his headphones out.
Great, so he had another half an hour of this.
This was so stupid, there was nothing to do in an empty town, they would just spend the whole time wondering around and would just end up busted for trespassing.
It was dumb, yet it wasn’t the worst idea the group had come up with.
He thought about the time Sirius had thought it had been a good idea to break into Peter’s house to surprise him for his birthday, Peter thought he was being robbed and called the cops on them.
He chuckled to himself at the look on Sirius’s face when he heard the sirens.
“Watcha thinking about?” James asked.
“Nothing.” He replied cooly, attempting to avoid a conversation.
“Yeah, Reggie, tell us.” Sirius teased turning around, to stare at him with a wide grin.
“Fine. I was thinking about the time you stole dad’s car and crashed it into a dumpster.” He lied cooly.
Sirius laughed loudly, wiping tears from his eyes.
“You really did that?” Peter inquired.
“Yep, he was eleven to.” Regulus replied.
The whole car burst into laughter.
“Not even I knew that.” James joked.
Everyone knew James and Sirius had been best friends since forever they were practically attached at the hip since birth.
“Yeah whatever, we already knew you guys are like co dependent.” Remus teased.
“Oh, don’t get jealous, moony.” Sirius said, grabbing Remus’s face and kissing him fiercely.
Remus nearly swerved off the road in his distracted state.
He gripped onto whatever he could get his hands on.
With a screech Remus flung them back onto their correct position on the road.
“Okay let’s not distract the driver thank you.” Regulus snapped.
Only when they were safely driving again did he notice that he was gripping not only the side of the door but also James’s arm.
“Sorry.” He muttered to ashamed to look James in the eye as he spoke.
“All good.” He replied casually.
Regulus rested his head against the door, trying to get his heart to stop beating so fast.
Remus cleared his throat awkwardly, “sorry everyone.” He apologised.
“I regret nothing.” Sirius said, laughing loudly.
The whole car groaned and he was pretty sure Peter through a bag of stale popcorn at him that he had found in the side of the door.
His suspension was confirmed when Sirius opened the window and spat something out with a groan.
“If you’re going to throw food at me, at least make sure it isn’t stale, Pete.” Sirius complained.
“To quote a very stupid man, ‘I regret nothing’” Peter retorted.
That earned him a laugh from Regulus, and he leaned over James to give Peter a high five.
“Nice work.” He congratulated him with a big smile.
“Ugh, Regulus, don’t encourage him, you little traitor.” Sirius whined.
Remus chuckled from the driver's seat.
“Yeah, keep up the good work, wormtail.”
“Shut up moony, not you to.” Sirius complained giving Remus a playful whack on the thigh.
“Hey, you heard us, stop distracting the driver.” James said in his best impression of a class pet.
“You guys are all against fun.” Sirius moped.
“Of come on, padfoot, cheer up, we’re almost there.” James said in an attempt to lift his spirits.
He was thankful for that because the last thing they needed was a sulking Sirius Black.
“We are?” He asked his head popping up like an excited puppy dog.
“Yes, Sirius, we are almost there.” Remus replied, checking the gps.
Regulus had a look for himself and saw that it was true, they only had ten minutes left of the drive.
Thank god, he thought to himself, it was almost over.
“Hey remember that time we convinced Remus that it was a Monday?” Peter brought up trying to fill the silence.
“That wasn’t fun for anyone.” Remus grumbled.
“It was pretty funny moony.” Sirius teased.
“I was investigated for an hour by a teacher about my mental state, because they thought I was schizophrenic!” Remus cried.
Regulus laughed loudly.
“Why did they think that?” Regulus asked.
“Because he thought he was late so he just showed up in his pyjamas and a backpack.” Sirius giggled.
“Hey don’t tell him that,” Remus told him swotting his arm, “I rode the bus there like that thanks to you lot, and if Regulus had any level of respect for me he had definitely lost it after this conversation.”
“Rode the bus!” Peter cried, no one told me that!”
“Yeah thirty minutes on public transport with me standing there, like an idiot, in teenage mutant ninja turtles pyjamas.” Remus recalled.
“How long ago was that now?” James wondered out loud.
“Six months?” Sirius guessed.
“Seriously? You at the big age of seventeen were tricked into thinking it wasn’t the weekend, by Sirius?” Regulus said in disbelief.
Remus groaned.
“I am not proud of it.” Remus stated.
“I’m surprised Sirius managed to remember to convince you.” Peter admitted.
“Hey don’t make me bring up the time you forgot your own little sister at the supermarket.” Sirius warned in a joking matter.
“Well at least I didn’t abandon my brother!” Peter said with a laugh, he failed miserably at attempting to riff off of Sirius’s joke.
The whole car fell into a heavy silence.
“Maybe not the time.” James whispered to Peter.
“Yeah I think I got that.” Peter hissed back.
five minutes passed in silence, an air of anticipation hung heavy in the air.
Even though he knew that it was going to be boring, something deep down in him was curious about what they would find.
What had made these people flee the town?
He didn’t even have any recollection of this town when it was still inhabited.
*•*
They turned a corner and the gps announced they had made it to their destination.
They drove through a two way street, each house looked like the on across from it, it looked more like a replica model than a real town.
All the cars were still parked in the drive ways.
It gave off an eerie vibe,
Every house had a roof so faded you couldn’t make out the original color, a few windows had been smashed in.
The whole air sent a shiver down his spine.
“Cold?“ James asked, he though he was mocking him at first but there was only sincerity.
“Im fine…thanks.” He replied awkwardly, why was he being nice to him?
Remus pulled over by the side of a nature strip that separated two driveways.
“Alright, everyone out.” He announced.
Regulus was one step ahead already fleeing the car, he ready to get this over with.
Sirius would go through two houses and get bored and they’d be off again and he could call Barty and Evan to talk about their winter in alps. Arguably better than whatever this was.
Reasonably the Potter’s had enough money to take them all out with Barty and Evan, but Peter and Remus wouldn’t take handouts and Sirius wouldn’t leave them.
The whole group was almost equally attached to each other, he always felt other in the group. He couldn’t find a way to fit like the rest.
He missed his friends. He wished he could talk to Pandora; she could tell him which planets were in place that were making him sad.
They started walking up the street slowly taking it all in.
Even the houses all looked the same there was something a little different than the last.
One had a bike hanging from the roof, it looked like a gentle breeze could have knocked it down.
“It feels weird here.” Sirius pointed out.
Regulus went to agree but James pushed Sirius playfully with his shoulder.
“Don’t get cold feet now padfoot, we’re already here, c’mon let’s go explore.” James said, trying to get the group excited about touring a ghost town.
“Potter?” Regulus spoke.
“Yeah?” James replied.
“Shut up.” He said firmly.
The whole group laughed loudly.
James didn’t seem offended in fact he laughed louder than anyone, he even wiped a tear from his eye.
Regulus scowled at the fact his joke had not had the intended effect.
They walked down the road instead of the side walk, no one ever came out this way, it’s not like they were in danger of getting hit.
His eyes trailed along the houses as the walked past.
Soft toys hung over the fences and tied to the satellite dish antenna like flag claiming the house
“Is anyone else cold or is it just me?” Remus asked rubbing his hands up and down his arms.
“Yeah it’s weirdly cold out here.” He replied.
“That’s weird I’m not cold at all.” James replied, “Regulus what happened to your jacket?”
Fuck he had forgotten it back at the house.
“Um I forgot it.” He mumbled.
He felt goosebumps run up his arms, it wasn’t from the cold though, he felt as though he was being watched.
He turned around but there was no one there.
He shrugged it off, it was probably just his imagination, his whole body felt heightened here like every time he turned around someone was undoubtably going to be there.
They kept walking past house after house, it was starting to get boring looking at the same place over and over.
Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
Peter pointed one out in particular.
“Hey look, theres a cat in that house.” Peter exclaimed.
They all looked where Peter was pointing at but there was no cat.
“Pete, what are you talking about?” Remus asked, squinting up at the window.
“Guys I swear there’s a cat in the window!” Peter exclaimed.
“Sure, and there’s a dog at that window.” James joked as he pointed to the house across the street.
Peter looked at him with a serious look.
James swung around to check.
“Peter there’s nothing there I was joking, there isn’t any pets nearby.” James said matter of factly.
“There it is! I saw it! You have to believe me!” Peter begged, he looked so genuine Regulus felt bad for him.
“Look, if it makes you feel better, we can go and check, alright?” James assured him.
Peter nodded slowly, carefully.
“You can come with me and Regulus to this house and Sirius and Remus will go and check the other one okay?” James explained.
“Hey I don’t like the idea of splitting up.” Remus cautioned.
“Don’t worry moony I’ll be your knight in shining armour!” Sirius cried out as he dragged Remus off to the house.
“Meet back here in fifteen, okay?” Remus called out.
“Got it!” James called back.
He wanted to protest having to go with James, but he just wanted to get this over without wasting anytime, he didn’t like it here he just wanted to go.
Besides it wasn’t like he had much choice now that Sirius was determinedly dragging Remus towards the house.
When Sirius had made up his mind about something there was no stopping him.
“Yeah alright, prongs.” Peter thankfully agreed.
They turned around to look at the house where there was a supposed ‘dog’.
He looked the house up and down, of course they had to go into the house that looked older than any of the others on that street.
The time between walking to the door and opening seemed to slow down, like they were in slow motion.
They stepped onto the porch, and it creaked with the weight of their footsteps, it seemed even colder under the roof of the porch like they had been put into a freezer, His teeth chattered and his body shivered just as if they had been.
“Hurry up and open the door it’s freezing.” Regulus snipped at James.
“Alright, alright,” James said just as the door swung open, “after you.” He said to Regulus with an over the top bow.
He would not be entering the creepy house first and gave James a shove and with a chuckle James stepped in first, he followed quickly behind him.
He turned around to check that Peter had come through.
But he was still standing on the other side of the door frame.
“Are you-“ he began.
Peter’s expression of fear turned into something more like rage as he slammed the door in his face.
It knocked him back, and he landed straight on his backside.
He got up and dusted himself off, Peter was probably just joking around with them.
He turned around to see James staring into the distance.
He looked around and realised that they weren’t inside an old house.
They were in the exact same town except for the fact it was all new.
All the houses were just the same, but the roofs had colour again, just as uniform as the old town the colour of the roofs went: red, yellow, blue, green
All the toys and bikes that had been hanging from roofs and over fences were now neatly placed in the front yard.
It was just the same thing.
Over and over again.
But there was another thing that was different to the other town, this one stretched on for forwver or maybe longer.
“James, where are we?” He asked.
“I have no clue.”
He turned around, hoping to find a door, instead he was met with open air.
So they were stuck here.
Great.
He was stuck in an unfamiliar place with James Potter. That was fine he could handle that.
“James.” He said, “James, there’s no door, we can’t get out.”
James swung around to see that there was in fact no door.
“Great so we’re stuck.” Regulus said bitterly.
“Very funny guys, you can let us out now!” James called out desperately.
“Potter, there’s no door you idiot, this isn’t a fucking prank, we can’t get out.” Regulus snapped.
“What are you getting mad at me for i didn’t shut the door!” James demanded.
“Sorry.” He mumbled.
“It’s fine.” He dismissed.
“Where’s Peter, he suggested this place, he should know how to get us out?” James asked.
“Your friend is the one that slammed the door on us.” Regulus replied bitterly.
“What? Peter? He wouldn’t do something like that.” James brushed his comment off with an awkward chuckle.
When Regulus just stared back at him James’s expression changed to anger.
“Peter, couldn’t have known, he just-he wouldn’t okay?” James answered anger seeping into his voice.
“I’m not saying he did know! What I’m saying is that he’s not here right now and we are, he shut that door so he obviously knows enough not to come in with us!” Regulus snapped back.
“You can’t know that!” James insisted his voice losing its bite and it started to sound like he was trying to convince himself rather than Regulus.
“Whatever it doesn’t matter.” Regulus sighed, trying to shift the focus, “We just need to get out of here.”
“Yeah, thats a good idea.” James replied.
God this might be the worst day of Regulus’s life.
He looked around, spinning every which way and that to see some sort of exit.
“Maybe if we enter one of the houses it would send us back? Since entering on there got us here?” James asked.
Regulus was about to answer when a voice loud enough to sound like like it was coming from a loud speaker erupted.
“Hello and welcome!” The voice announced, “it seems you two have made it to the town!”
Regulus looked at James in confusion but James just shrugged his shoulders, he looked equally as confused by the voice.
“Here are the rules!” The voice announced again.
“Rules?” Regulus thought out loud.
“One, you are safe during the day to go where ever you please, but when it turns to night you must find a home to stay in.” The voice explained, “two, you can never stay at the same house twice.”
“And finally don’t sleep during the day, Any questions? None? Okay great.” The voice cut out and they both waited in silence to confirm it wasn’t coming back.
“Why do you think we can’t go out at night?” James asked.
“I don’t want to find out.” He replied.