Once upon a Midnight Dreary - Regulus Black

Chapter 4

"𝔄re you still mad at me?"

"I am," Regulus answered offhandedly, not even looking at me. Kicking sand, he walked along the seashore and I hurried after him.

Despite the sunny weather, a chilly sea breeze swept over us, making a wild tangle of Regulus' hair. I felt a prompting to reach out and smooth his wayward curls back from his forehead, but I suspected that he wouldn't have appreciated it if I did that. He stared at the rippling sea, his gaze hard and offended.

I came up beside him, hesitated, then ventured to at least touch his shoulder. I quickly realized that this was not one of my finest ideas as soon as my eyes met his, and he shot me a sharp look. Guessing from his expression, he probably had the avowed intent of impaling me and throwing my remains to the crows.

"And how long are you planning on staying mad?" I asked casually. "I could do with a minor heads-up. Just for future reference."

Regulus let out a scornful scoff, the wrinkles in his forehead deepening. He looked away towards the distant cliffs and the dark blue sea. While he was observing the play of the waves crashing together in an erratic swell on the surface, I was staring at him instead. He had a fine profile, the side view of his jawline perfect, his nose delicate, his brows dark beneath his windblown curls. It would have made the nicest picture if someone chose to paint him standing here barefooted, with his hands deep in his pockets. The sleeves of his white shirt and trouser legs were rolled up, his posture stiff and his expression peeved.

Maybe it wasn't such a miracle that detective Theodore had found out about my feelings. If I always marveled at Regulus like this - which I probably did –, then it was more surprising that no one else had blown my cover yet.

"We could have finally spent this week together, but you disappeared without a word and didn't respond to any of my letters," he huffed. "You even visited Jiao but not me. You could have travelled abroad like you did last summer, and I wouldn't have known about it if it weren't for her telling me that you were still around."

He blew out his breath in a long, slow whoosh. His frustration that had possessed him began to dissipate, only to be replaced by a kind of weariness.

"I hate to be walked out on," he mumbled the words quite inarticulately. "It reminds me of Sirius leaving home and never coming back."

A few weeks ago, he was the one to continuously try avoiding me and not open up to me about his struggles; I wondered if he had already forgotten about that. I recalled Jiao's gooey parable about both parties needing to make equal effort in order to make each other happy, and I realized that there was no use bringing our past conflicts up. He had the right to be upset, anyway. Avoiding him and wasting that little time we had together was the last thing I wanted, and yet that was exactly what I had ended up doing.

"I would never walk out on you," I said in a low, almost crooning voice.

I bent over wrapping my arms around his shoulders, and I hugged him from behind. His muscles gradually relaxed, his body language no longer so strictly tense.

I took advantage of the opportunity and put my arms around his waist instead. I held him tighter, cradling him against my chest and he laid his hands on mine. As I talked, he drew conciliatory circles on the back of my hand with his thumb.

"I had to clear my head after meeting the Dark Lord. I thought he would be more hospitable, but he's not a very neighborly bloke. He introduced me to his snake, though. I suppose that's as good as it gets."

"What else happened?" Regulus demanded, and he broke into shivers when I blew my breath across the nape of his neck. "Jiao was concerned about you, too. She said you weren't yourself the last time she saw you. Even Potter thought that you were acting strange."