The Hobgoblins (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Coming Down

"You're coming down from an episode, dear. That's why you're feverish, dear. Keep a damp cloth on your neck as you do your school work, and it should come down."

Regulus' head rested against his desktop, his eyes on the door, his ears craning to hear the door across from his own open despite knowing in the back of his head this would never happen. Fingers reached up into his locks of curly black hair, and a sigh escaped. "That was embarrassing."

Watching the door, he waited as well for Walburga Black to show her face, to let him know the embarrassment his episode entailed for the family, but he still remembered Orion saying, "You're too old for this kind of thing!"

"Episodes?" Regulus kept his head on his desk, feeling all too warm as his Aunt Lucretia closed the door, having come over when Orion informed her he'd fallen ill. Sitting up, placing a hand on the damp cloth to keep it put on his neck, Regulus frowned. "Great way to fill even more broken and different than before. They act like this has happened before."

His free hand reached up, pinching his nose, breathing in, calming himself as instructed, remembering Lucerettia's stern words to Walburga when the woman peeked in and flipped the moment Regulus uttered his brother's name. "Are you trying to make him sick again?"

Regulus uncovered his eyes, reaching for his schoolbag so he might dive into his school work, knowing he needed to finish something soon so he wouldn't find himself cramming all the work in towards the end of summer and stressing out yet again when his eyes landed on the notebook he'd pulled out to scribble lyrics in.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the notebook and read the lyrics he'd just written. "Brother of a monster, monster of a brother, throwing friends away, not caring if they live or die, everything about you a lie, brother of a monster, monster of a brother, our relationship..."

Regulus let out a deep breath, then finished the last part of the reading, "Our relationship, I don't want to die."

A knock came at the door. Regulus' mouth pressed together, and then he looked up, frustrated at his family, who had kept a close eye on him since his episode. "Come in."

The door opened, and—

Regulus sat up straight, the cloth falling. His hands shot up and back, attempting to grab and replace the damp cloth. "Shoot." He took a deep breath, looking at the person. "What are you doing here?"

"Uncle Ignatius said we should talk, but Aunt Lucretia said you weren't feeling well," Adrian said, looking around the room. He took a deep breath. "And they might have said something about Sirius leaving home."

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me?"

"I don't." Adrian closed the door, stepping into the room to sit on the bed.

"It's not as if you'd understand."

"Well, I don't want to. I don't want to understand a world where we can freely use magic before Muggles, where we..."

"That's because you've never been a monster."

Adrian fell silent while Regulus looked at the words he'd written, thinking he and Sirius were alike yet so different, both being monsters in very different ways. "So because you think you're a monster, you'll become one?"

"No. That's not..." Regulus turned, still holding a cloth to his neck. "I want to no longer be a monster."

"Sirius has gotten into your head, hasn't he?"

Regulus frowned. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"I mean, he treats you like a monster, so you think you are one, right?" Adrian said. 'But you think us revealing magic to Muggles will solve things?"