Summer Camping Day 3: Aquaphobia- Regulus Black x OC
Regulus Black x Cecelia Potter
Description: On a particularly hot day, the group decides to go swimming in the lake. That proves to be a problem for the younger Potter as she has a secret only James knows about.
Word Count: 1.6k
It seemed hotter than it had been all trip. If Regulus had to take a guess, it was close to 26° (80° f) and everybody was miserable. Everyone was practically in their underwear just laying around until Sirius perked up.
“Why don’t we go swimming? The water should at least be somewhat cold,” he suggested hopefully. Instantly the other perked up and agreed. Well, everyone except Cecelia, who plastered a fake smile on her face. The only one who noticed her lack of enthusiasm was Regulus, who had been sitting beside her. He shot her an ‘is everything okay?’ look, but she just nodded, brushing off his worry. No one noticed the interaction though as they ran to their designated tents to change into their bathing suits. Cecelia was the last one out, and was thankful that the others had already gotten into the water and were messing around in it.
“There she is!” She heard Sirius exclaim from behind her, not giving her the opportunity to turn around before he picked her up from behind. She gasped loudly.
“Sirius put me down!” She exclaimed, trying to wiggle out of his grip.
“Not going to happen!’ He said in the same tone. The girl’s eyes widened as she realized he was carrying her to the water and she began to struggle more violently.
“Padfoot please don’t do this,” she begged anxiously. He seemed to take her anxiousness as fear of the water being cold because he laughed.
“You’ll be fine, it’s just a little water Cece. It’s perfectly fine!” James seemed to sense his sister’s distress because he turned around. Once he processed the sight in front of him, his eyes also widened.
“Padfoot put her down now!” He shouted severely. Sirius continued to ignore the warnings, even lifting her higher when she became more aggressive. He finally reached the edge of the dock and prepared to throw her in, but was stopped by James practically jumping out of the water to knock him onto his back.
The boy fell with a grunt, letting go of Cecelia from the force of the impact. She wasted no time in scrambling to get up and sprint back to her tent, ignoring James calling her name and attempting to grab for her hand. The others could only watch the interaction in shock. Regulus’ mouth dropped open when James knocked his brother down and it stayed that way until Cecelia was back in the tent.
“What was that for Prongs?” Sirius grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. James shook his head and huffed.
“Cecelia obviously didn’t want to go in the water, you should have set her down,” he admonished rather than answering his friend.
“What’s the big deal?” Gaia asked, climbing onto the dock to assist her boyfriend. James wasted almost no time in answering.
“Cecelia has aquaphobia,” he explained, greatly surprising everyone. “When we were younger my parents asked me to help her and Madeline learn how to swim since they couldn’t be there as much. Maddy came along well, but Cecelia was having a bit of trouble. Maddy had always been the more athletic twin anyway. One day we were having a small party over the summer, all of our family was invited to my Uncle Bakkum’s house because he had a pool. When she told Uncle Bakkum about her swimming lessons, he told her the only way to learn was to experience it firsthand and he threw her in the water.” Violetta gasped. “She nearly drowned, if Henry hadn’t been there to save heer who knows what could have happened. She’s fine with showers or baths, but she’s refused to go near pools, lakes or oceans since.” The others sat in a stunned silence, not knowing what to say.
“Oh man,” Sirius mumbled embarrassedly. “I didn’t know Prongs, I wouldn’t have done that if I had.”
“No, it’s okay Padfoot. I know. She won’t blame you, don’t worry,” James responded gently, making the boy sigh in relief and nod. “She just doesn’t tell a lot of people because she’s really embarrassed about it.”
“But that’s nothing to be embarrassed of,” Violetta responded.
“Yeah, you can’t control how you feel about something,” Gaia added, prompting Ella to nod in agreement.
“I know, but she has a hard time remembering that,” James sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Regulus turned his head to his tent where Cecelia ran to and he hummed.
“I’ll go check on her,” he informed them, swimming to the shore. Violetta wished him luck while James thanked him. He dried off as quick as he could and walked towards the tent. His heart broke when he heard a sniffle from inside.
“Cecelia, darling are you okay?” He called softly. Cecelia debated lying, but she knew that’d just prolong the talk.
“No,” she eventually called back. Regulus was both relieved that she didn’t lie yet still sympathetic about the situation.
“Can I come in?” He inquired in the same tone. Cecelia called a ‘yes’ to him, so he unzipped the tent and walked in. Cecelia was sitting on their sleeping palette with her knees pulled to her chest. She had apparently changed back into her clothes in the time that James had told them about her dilemma. Regulus said nothing as he zipped the tent back up and shuffled over to her. He sat beside her, but not too close just in case.
“Jamees told us about your uncle,” he mentioned softly. Cecelia let out a small huff and shook her head.
“Great, now everyone knows that I’m sixteen and I still can’t swim,” she muttered, her face becoming red at the thought. “They probably think I’m a child, you too.” Regulus didn’t think twice before shaking his head.
“I don’t think that,” he responded. She let out a noise that said she didn’t believe him.
“None of us do,” he continued, choosing to ignore her. “Padfoot feels terrible, and everyone feels bad about not stopping him. We just didn’t know.”
“Because it’s embarrassing,” she countered promptly.
“It’s a minor setback,” he corrected. “There’s not a single thing for you to feel embarrassed about. People learn things at different rates and there’s nothing wrong with that. Or sometimes you just don’t learn if you don’t want to and that’s valid.” When Cecelia didn’t respond, he continued.
“You know, I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until I was thirteen.” Cecelia finally faced him, which made him smile internally.
“Wait, really?” The surprise in her tone was evident and it made Regulus laugh.
“Yep,” he responded. “I was too afraid of falling down, so I decided not to chance it. That meant not learning and I was fine with that. I only decided to learn when you asked if I wanted to go biking around the park after third year was over.” The girl remained quiet as she processed the information. The thought of him learning how to ride a bike just for her warmed her heart and put a small smile on her face.
“Now, I’m not saying that you need to learn right now, but everyone misses you out there. How about you just sit on the dock while we swim?” He compromised. Cecelia pursed her lips and considered his suggestion before nodding.
“Yeah, okay,” she finally responded. A wide grin appeared on his face and he stood, holding out a hand for her. She gingerly took it then stood with his help. After making sure she was ready, Regulus led his girlfriend back out to the lake. The others were surrounding the dock talking amongst themselves, but stopped when they noticed the couple.
“Hey Cece,” James greeted with a small smile. She returned the greeting and sat down at the edge of the dock, hanging her feet off it so they were submerged in the water. Regulus smiled at the gesture then paused looking around.
“Hey where’s Sirius-” he wasn’t allowed to finish his question before Sirius came barreling towards him, tackling him into the lake with a shout. Cecelia immediately began cracking up as the brothers surfaced from the water, the others joining soon after.
“I have never seen you look so scared in my life,” Sirius exclaimed between laughter. A small smile formed on Regulus’ face and he chuckled.
“Oh come off it Sirius, you’d be the exact same if the roles were reversed,” he defended quietly. Sirius rolled his eyes.
“Yeah right, you and your 57 kilo weight and almost 2 meters could take me down,” the elder brother responded teasingly. Regulus’ ears tinged with pink and he splashed some water at him, prompting Sirius to splash him back.
“Shut up,” he grumbled with a small laugh. His eyes wandered over to Cecelia, who was now talking animatedly about something with Gaia and Remus shortly before the three of them burst into laughter. A grin tugged at his lips and he swam over to them.
“What’re we talking about?” He inquired, resting his arms on the dock beside Cecelia’s legs. The girl grinned and pushed some hair away from his face.
“Moony was just telling me about the time Prongs and Padfoot both pretended to be his boyfriend when Nina Gullon wouldn’t stop flirting with him,” she explained with a giggle.
“Wait, seriously?” He questioned the older boy with a laugh. Remus couldn’t help but laugh as well as he began going over the story again. As he talked, Regulus felt another hand grab his, and he didn’t have to look to know it was Cecelia’s. Rather than saying anything, he interlocked their fingers and gave her hand a light squeeze. She copied the gesture, the two of them sharing a loving smile before facing Remus once more.
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