O Beija-Flor - Regulus Black (Complete)

LXI -

SINCE BRAZIL'S INDEPENDENCE DAY IS HERE, I HAVE SOME FREE TIME, SO YOU HAVE 8000+ WORDS TO READ, I HOPE YOU ALL DON'T MIND. ANYWAYS, HAVE FUN. I'LL SEE YOU ALL AT THE END.

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TW: SMUT (second part of the chapter)

Draco did not leave his bedroom even when his mother knocked and begged, all too scared of the fact that his father was out in the world again. It took Sirius agreeing to give the spare key to Narcissa to make sure he wasn't doing something stupid while locked away out of fear or anger.

The Weasleys came to pick the children up without much explanation besides that Bill was already back home and that the first moon would be the only answer that they could give themselves since not even the healers of St. Mungus could answer that worry of theirs. Ginny had stopped crying, but her face was still red and bloated as she left Grimmauld Place around lunch-time and Ron refused eating lunch before going home. Harry stood in front of the fireplace as if he wanted to follow, but did not feel welcome to do so.

It took six days of Harry moping, Draco's nightly-terrors and Narcissa's disassociating pale state were brought to an end by a surprising visit. The oddest thing of all was that no fireplace was lit and no loud crack of Apparition called their attention.

What they had were knocks at the front door.

The first to hear was Kreacher, who popped into Regulus' bedroom at the moment he was stepping out of his shower, frenetic that someone was knocking at the door when they had not been expecting guests.

"I'll go in a second," Regulus dismissed, knowing that the door wouldn't be opened by anyone other than Sirius or someone with Sirius' permission, and him, seeing that he was now Heir to the House once more. "Just let me put trousers on."

"Master, please!" Kreacher whined, helpless.

With Sirius still in bed and Remus in bed with him, it was not safe to ask them to come out in a hurry, so Regulus was responsible for the house – and that included Harry, apparently because he became his family since he was Sirius' family and all that; a silly thought that Regulus did not completely agree, but wouldn't dare call out.

Letting the towel go as Kreacher glanced at the bedroom door and putting on his sleeping shorts without anything underneath to appease the house-elf, he got his wand and followed Kreacher down the stairs and towards the front door, glancing out the window to still see muggles walking around without looking at the house that 'suddenly appeared', so the house was still safe. By the noise, there were people in the library talking, but they hadn't heard the front door. By the voices, he recognised Narcissa and Cecilia. He crossed the front of the library double doors and walked to the corridor to the mudroom, looking on the window beside the door and frowning when he saw no one.

He held onto his wand a bit tighter, no longer knowing if the drops going down his forehead and back were sweat of the hot day or from the stress and fear that was starting to take over him. He opened the door at once, hoping to get the person by surprise, which he did by the way the person squeaked and yelped.

Hermione Granger had wide eyes at the wand pointed at her even before her eyes saw the half-naked man at the door, making her eyes even wider.

"Holy fuck," Regulus whispered, lowering his wand in relief. "It's you. Hello."

"Hi?" she said, sounding a lot like a question. "I'm sorry for showing up without notice, I just... I needed to talk to Harry and he wrote saying that he was with Padfoot, so I guessed he was staying over the summer."