UDM: Free Falling II - Seconds Away (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Sleeplessness

—fingers pulling—

An eerie green light, the color of the dark mark as it lit up the sky over the homes of individuals the Death Eaters killed emanated everywhere. He gagged, wanted to scream—

Except—

Regulus' eyes blinked, his entire body stiff as he sat up in bed in the still drab bedroom he'd picked for himself, the curtains hanging over the window not preventing the moonlight from shining through, his mind registering the scream came not from himself, but someone else.

"Lyra."

Reaching out a hand, Regulus pushed the covers back, standing up as he looked out the window, noting the phase of the moon, the light replacing the rain from when he and Lyra headed to bed the night before. He took a deep breath.

"Wonder what Sirius will be up to with his friends in a few days, given it's a full moon."

He let out a deep breath, shaking his head before heading out of his bedroom and heading to the floor below, to the door of the room Lyra picked out for her bedroom, planning on knocking on the door to wake her if need be, to draw her out of the nightmare Lyra found herself in.

Regulus paused, fist lifted to an open door, gray eyes blinking in confusion, used to closed doors and secrets at Grimmauld Place. He took a deep breath, standing outside the room, calling out. "Lyra? Do you hear me?" He swallowed, unsure about whether to step into the room or not, as the palms of his hands sweated. "Great. What do I do?"

A pair of hazel-green eyes appeared in the dark, startling Regulus, his eyes blinking. Softly, Lyra said, "Hi."

"Hi," Regulus said, the hand he meant to knock on the door with reaching up to rub the back of his neck as Lyra moved out of her room, heading for the drawing room of their flat. He followed after, watching her. "You alright?"

"Can't sleep," Lyra said softly, sitting on the couch.

"I see."

"Nightmare."

"Oh," Regulus said. "Same as me." He took a deep breath, then said, "Same." He tilted his head, frowning, sitting on the other side. "What do—when you have a nightmare, what do you do?"

"Television."

"Television?" Regulus tilted his head, frowning.

Lyra's hazel green eyes blinked, her head turning to look at him. She glanced at the floor nervously. "Muggle thing."

"A Muggle thing." Regulus took a deep breath. "Something we obviously don't have, right?"

"It's alright," Lyra said.

"Why does—what does," Regulus continued, looking at the wall. "What does the television do to help with the nightmares?"

"The moving pictures drum out the noise in my head," Lyra said.

"Ah," Regulus said.

"Books can work as well," Lyra said. He glanced over, watching her fingers fidget against the edge of the couch. "But we don't have books either."

"So, you like books?" Regulus asked, glancing around their flat and letting out a sigh. "I guess we do definitely need to get some books. I like books too, and they're a nice distraction from—well, things. And you do need to learn more about magic and stuff, whether you go to Hogwarts or not."

"But aren't they different?" Lyra asked.

"Meaning?" Regulus tilted his head, feeling tired, bags under his eyes, letting out a yawn as he leaned against one arm, looking at his adopted family member in curiosity.