A couple of days after his tense conversation with his mother, Regulus was feeling very much on edge.

Clearly his mother had temporarily taken on board what he'd told her because she had been acting rather distant - and this provided a whole new layer of tension to the household. So Regulus was in dire need of a proper break.

He had paid a rather discrete visit to Esme, by leaving the house unreasonably early in the morning, and they were currently walking down in the valley beside the Avery home.

"Are you alright? You seem distant." Esme asked, linking their arms together as they sheltered under a large oak tree from the first signs of rainfall.

Sighing, he turned his head to look over at the girl for a moment before explaining, "I think I'm just anxious. I have a knack for ruining things that are good for me."

"Like what?"

"Like my friendship with you. That allowed me to be independent and open to creating my own opinions about things, and I threw that away when we first got to Hogwarts. I threw away my relationship with Sirius because I was bitter... What's to stop me from ruining it when we're just getting along again?" Regulus mumbled sheepishly.

Esme looked out at the horizon for a moment before she turned her body to face him fully and she said, "That worry you have, that's what is going to stop you from ruining anything. You care and you're trying your best, so you have nothing to worry about. Besides, we've dealt with things far more dangerous than your brother."

"That's a good point, thanks." Regulus pocketed his hands, "How are you doing, by the way?"

She smiled warmly at him, "I've had a trend of good days for about a week now. I'm slightly concerned I might wake up tomorrow feeling worse than I ever have before, but there's not a lot I can do about that, so I won't fret just yet."

He reached across to place a hand on her arm and comforted, "I'm glad you have such a healthy attitude."

"I'm growing." She replied, "That's thanks to you, really. If it weren't for you I'd probably be struggling to suppress everything right about now."

"Well, you just promise to let me know if you ever feel like you're struggling again."

Esme grimaced slightly, "I don't like to burden you."

He lifted her hand to press a quick kiss to her knuckles before stating, "Esme, I love to be with you when you're happy and carefree, but I'll also be sitting beside you every time you feel down. It's not a burden, it's a pleasure."

"You're so mushy." She nudged him with her shoulder.

Though Esme was never particularly keen at addressing emotional and uncomfortable topics, it was always pleasing to know that they were both working through their own trauma and even if they couldn't understand what the other was going through, they continue to stick by each other no matter what.

"I really haven't changed that much, have I?" Regulus laughed lightly and looked up at the grey sky above them through the branches.

She beamed at this, "That's okay; I don't desperately want you too. But also, if you want to, that's okay too."

He raised at eyebrow upon hearing this, "Who are you and what have you done with the real Esmerelda?"

Esme rolled her eyes and stepped back slightly, "Oh sure, you know I'm just trying to be nice."

Regulus smiled again, "That's what's so peculiar."

"Fine." She shrugged it off, "I won't bother trying to be nice again. Shall we get food?"

"Food?" He faltered slightly, trying to keep up with the girl's quick pace, "Where from?"

Esme pointed towards the top of the hill on the right side of the valley, "There's a small muggle village just over there."

"Muggles?" Regulus faltered again, "As in non-magic people?"

"Why? Does muggle have another definition?"

"Well... No."

"Then yes, non-magic people."

"Right..." He narrowed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows into a frown - not entirely comfortable with that prospect.

"Oh come on." Esme tugged the hood of her coat over her head and linked her arm around one of his again as she started to gently tug him towards the hill, "I've been over there plenty of times; it's fine. Weird, but fine."

"Do you even have muggle money?" Regulus asked in disbelief as he reluctantly started to follow alongside her.

Reaching into one of her pockets, Esme pulled out a white and amber note and waved it in the air, "Yes. This is ten pounds. I don't really know what that is in proper money, but it's always enough to buy lunch. There's a cute little sandwich cafe in the village."

"Okay, well... As long as you know what you're doing." He begrudgingly accepted.

She turned to him with a wide grin and said, "You really are just stuck in your own little world, aren't you?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Esme didn't reply straight away and instead took a moment to snicker to herself, leaving Regulus in mild confusion as he waited for a response.

After about a minute, he realised that perhaps the girl wasn't going to explain herself and he nudged Esme gently, giving the signal that he wanted to know what she had meant.

"I mean..." She began slowly, "You don't really have much experience of the world outside of your parents' little bubble. That's fair to say, right?"

Regulus' pace slowed and he blinked quickly as he thought about that.

She wasn't wrong.

He spent so much time brooding over the fact that his parents were so oppressive towards him, Regulus had never thought about how much he needed to broaden his horizons. Though, good first steps would be furthering his relationship with his brother and perhaps visiting this muggle village.

"I guess you are right. It's strange how I've never thought of it that way." The boy sighed at last as he strode forward to keep up with Esme.

"Well you had more important matters to address." She replied, "And besides, you have years of your life to experience stuff."

"I suppose so." He nodded.

So together they went, over the hill and down into the little muggle village. Out of the rain and into the small cafe. Out of the wizarding war and into a new, peaceful world.

A couple of hours later, after they'd finished the last of their food and drink, and Esme had taken such delight in paying for the meal, they found themselves wandering back over the hill and down into the valley again.

At this point the rain had settled into a fine drizzle, the kind that is almost unnoticeable unless you stand still with your face up towards the clouds for some time. And as they much preferred to be outside, away from both of their families, Esme and Regulus took shelter back under the large oak tree.

The ground was dry under there for the time being, and Esme had lain her coat out over the grass for both of them to sit on for a short while - at least until they had to return to their real lives.

For a while, they simply sat beside each other, happy in the company, and looked out over the greying landscape.

"Oh! Oh!" Esme suddenly clapped her hands together eagerly as a wide grin grew across her face, "I can't believe I nearly forgot to tell you this!"

"What is it?" He asked, leaning back on his hands. In the past, this kind of declaration would have struck fear through the boy that Esme had either concocted, or already executed a notably dangerous plan. However, Regulus had now grown somewhat used to this, and there was no point in him growing nervous because he knew he would want to get involved regardless.

"Ha! It's funny, don't worry." She eased him, "I saw Ignatius only a couple of days ago - he's been travelling on Death Eater business apparently. Nobody tells me any more details than that. Even if my father won't admit it, he doesn't trust me. He wants me quiet and married off. Anyway, that's not the point."

Regulus found himself sat there, rather comfortable, with a large smile on his face as he could feel his concerns lift off his shoulders as he listened intently to the girl.

She continued on, "He finally convinced the Zabini girl to go on a date with him. Oh, I can never remember her name. Anyway, so, when I first saw him he was coming home after his date and-oh you'll never believe what happened!" Esme was already laughing at the mere memory, "You better not tell him I told you."

"I promise I won't."

"Okay," Esme laughed again, "So apparently they went out for drinks and it didn't go very well - Ignatius said she seemed uptight. As they were leaving, at the end of the date, oh, Merlin! So they stepped outside and, bear in mind Ignatius had been drinking, he leant in to kiss Zabini on the cheek and... Well... As he leant in towards her, he threw up all over the side of her face!" Esme burst out with loud laughter and began to wipe tears from her eyes.

"Wait..." Regulus frowned as he tried to get the mental image out of his thought, "The Zabini girl known for being beautiful? Your brother was sick all over her face? Like, that actually happened?"

"Chunks and all!" She clutched onto her sides as she rocked forwards in order to try and catch her breath.

He had, up until this point, tried and succeeded in suppressing his laughter. Though now he was watched Esme giggling with such unrestrained glee, Regulus couldn't contain himself and began howling with laughter too.

"I-I can't..." Esme panted, "My father nearly went through the roof when he heard that!"

Regulus chuckled, "How does it feel to be the favourite child now?"

"Oh I'm never going to let Ignatius live it down."

After a couple more hours of laughter and carefree conversation, Regulus had his arm resting around Esme's shoulders as they wandered slowly back over to her house.

It had been a much needed, utterly pleasant break for Regulus to get out of his house for a short while, and it had drawn to an end all too soon.

"So I'll come around to your house tomorrow afternoon before we go to meet Sirius. Is that alright with you?" Regulus asked, turning his head to press a kiss to the side of her head."

Esme nodded, "That's fine. I'll see you tomorrow."