What You Can't See (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Failing Magic

They kissed.

Regulus found himself staring, his mind wrapped around what just happened, knowing full well neither he nor the Muggle girl happened to kiss the other, but she stared at him as well as his cheeks and tips of his ears flushed even more from the awkward, unexpected kiss. The girl's eyes blinked, choking out, "I'm sorry!"

And he was off, his mind already mortified moments before at the realization that his magic failed, that the spellwork he was so proud of in a mere moment fell apart, leaving him face to face with a Muggle. Regulus remembered his eyes blinking, how somewhere in his mind he had registered the Muggle in front of him was a girl.

A Muggle girl with whom Regulus just shared a kiss—his first kiss.

Off the bus, Regulus looked around, his mind trying to focus on the direction he needed to start walking so he could arrive safely at his older brother's flat, where he could hide. "My spellwork failed. My magic failed."

The young wizard took a deep breath, remembering how the girl spoke to him without hesitation, leaving Regulus unsure of what to do. A part of his mind at the time knew his encounter with the Muggle girl wouldn't go over well if the rest of the Black family found out, but this—

"This is worse."

His fingers played with the wand, making Regulus remember how he'd not noticed himself slipping his wand from his sleeve, his first thought to erase her memories despite at that particular moment knowing this would be a significant breach of underage magic if he were found out. But she noticed and started asking what his wand was, only to—much to his surprise—switch tactics by saying, "Alright. I'll pretend I didn't see."

"But you saw me," Regulus said, the words almost not coming out, his mind racing at the thought of speaking with a Muggle while knowing doing so wouldn't go over well should his family find out.

"I mean the stick."

Regulus remembered his eyes blinking, his confusion growing in the moment, not understanding how a Muggle, someone who wasn't magical, could so quickly brush off the appearance of a wand while also letting him know she wanted to talk to him about books, which in his mind held far more courage than he ever could. "Like Sirius."

Letting out a sound of frustration, he rubbed the back of his neck before glancing back at the bus, which was taking off, noticing the girl looking at him from the bus window as if only a short time since the awkward kiss had occurred and the heat—

Regulus took off, remembering—or he hoped he remembered correctly, the direction he needed to go to reach Sirius' flat, already dreading the conversation that would occur should his older brother figure out anything was wrong. Thoughts started rushing through his head as he headed up the stairs, each idea of a different scenario of what would happen when Sirius managed to pry out what happened to him, making him not look forward to once to the visit.

Yet, staying outside, let alone going straight home, wasn't an option.

"Not when my magic failed, my spellwork failed. How the bloody Merlin am I going to get home? How am I not going to be found out? By our parents? By the rest of our family?"

Regulus took a deep breath, arriving at the top of the stairs on Sirius' flat floor, his head jerking slightly, worried that one of Sirius' neighbors might see him lurking around the place. A shudder ran down his spine, unsure of what to do, still remembering how he'd turned his head so he could hear what the Muggle girl's name was, despite knowing he shouldn't care what her name was, just in time for the bus to pull to a stop, sending her towards him with the momentum of the bus stopping, her lips brushing against his cheek.

The young wizard frowned, lifting his fingers to touch the spot, breathing deeply and all the feelings rushing through his head. "Why? Why, when I'm terrified of the family finding out, am I feeling," and then, "I'm wrong for feeling that, for liking it." Shaking his head, Regulus continued forward. "Bloody Merlin, I'm a pervert like Sirius is."

He arrived at the door, his hand reaching out, hoping that Sirius was home so he could get the awkward situation over, only to find the doorknob wouldn't turn, meaning his older brother wasn't home. Regulus sighed, rubbing the back of his neck before reaching into his bag while still fiddling with his wand with his other hand. He pulled out the keys, holding them in his hand.

"What's this?"

"A key to my flat."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you using magic to break into my place."

"As if I were doing that," Regulus thought, taking a deep breath as he reached out, putting the key to the flat in the lock and turning. "All I did was wait for you to return from wherever you go, and my spellwork did the work. Or at least, I thought it did. I mean, Sirius wouldn't have pretended he couldn't see me, right?"

He opened the door, slipping into the flat while slipping the keys back into his bookbag and taking a deep breath as he looked around. Regulus frowned, heading over to the kitchen area, shaking his head at the dirty dishes his older brother left behind, remembering how his older brother was.

"No. I shouldn't put it past Sirius to pull some kind of prank. I mean, sure, I was never on the receiving end at school, but I also made a habit of avoiding him, particularly when I knew he was in a mood."

Regulus shook his head, dropping his book bag on the counter, heading straight for the bathroom, where he turned on the faucet, the accidental kiss as well as the failed spellwork thrusting its way into his head right before he began to wash up, trying to wash away the strange feeling that wouldn't go away, that, " I shouldn't be feeling this way. I shouldn't," along with trying to ignore the tattoo on his arm marking him as a Death Eater

He continued shaking his head, his ears decerning the front door of Sirius' flat opening, not thinking about being on his guard as he didn't know whether the person was his older brother or not, not being one of Sirius' friends, or even a family member that tracked him. Regulus continued washing up, trying to sort the thoughts rattling around in his head when—

"Regulus, what are you doing?"

Regulus was startled, turning to look at his older brother, his gray eyes blinking as he looked at Sirius, who was frowning at him as his mouth opened like a fish. "Sirius?"