Chapter Text
Charlie left the Regulus’ room, softly closing the door behind him.
He had stayed sitting at Regulus’s side until he fell asleep, and then just a bit past that, unable to pull himself away. Regulus had always been handsome, Polyjuiced or not. Charlie joked that he must have held a full interview to find just the right form to take on as his disguise. After getting over his initial surprise during the first Order meeting though, Charlie found that he was quite partial to the man’s true appearance. Something about the defined, aristocratic bone structure yet surprisingly soft features. When Regulus was asleep, it was easier to see that softness in him; the gentleness and youth in the curve of his lashes, in the light flush of his cheeks. So, Charlie had sat there for a moment, taking in the man’s face during this rare moment in which the man wasn’t fully on his guard and putting up sky high walls against the people around him.
Charlie shook himself, realizing that he must look like a creep of some sort just staring, and allowed himself to adjust the hair on Regulus’ forehead one last time before exiting the room.
The hallway right outside was empty and dark, with only a few dim bulbs providing barely enough light to avoid potential tripping hazards. Not that it was really enough to go by for someone like, say Tonks, but Charlie could clearly see that there was no one left at the end of the hall by the drawing room. He turned toward the other end of the hall, starting towards the room he and Bill shared when they were both at headquarters — not that Charlie had been staying in that room much as of late, preferring to sleep elsewhere in Grimmauld. As he approached the landing though, he spotted Sirius and Lupin lingering by the stairs.
Sirius was the first to spot his arrival before he quickly looked past him back down the hall, searching for someone who wouldn’t be appearing. Lupin nodded in greeting, but paused before clearing his throat.
“Everything alright with him?”
Charlie hesitated but responded, “Yeah… yeah I mean as well as it can be, right?”
Lupin nodded thoughtfully as if that cleared up the matter, but soon startled as Sirius suddenly shifted, crossing his arms from where he leant against the stair rail. When it seemed that Sirius wasn’t actually going to say anything in favor of staring rather moodily at the ground, Lupin gave him a quick glance before turning back to Charlie.
“Well, let us know if he — or you — need anything.”
Another huff from beside him. Sirius finally pushed away from the rail, lightly scoffing, “Boy’s more tight lipped than the most neurotic Occlumens, I doubt he’s capable of asking for help with anything more personal than planning a shopping list.”
Cauldron, meet kettle. Charlie wasn’t about to comment on that statement to Sirius’ face, but he couldn’t help but think that the man was being quite hypocritical. Sirius and Regulus were much more similar than either would ever admit. Not just in looks but in aspects of their wit and sarcasm, and more so in temper and mood. And as a prime example, the Black brothers were some of the most closed off siblings Charlie had ever had the pleasure of knowing, even if Sirius did a better job of hiding it under his devil-may-care facade than Regulus. Not that Regulus ever particularly tried to present himself as inviting.
As Lupin and Sirius began to take their leave, Sirius lightly clapped Charlie on the shoulder and nodded jerkily.
“Keep an eye on him, will you?” asked Sirius briskly, before quickly making his was back down the stairs following Lupin before Charlie could get out a response.
Charlie watched them go. No matter how similar the two may be, he couldn’t help but agree that Regulus was guarded even by Black brother standards. Hell, Charlie hadn’t even known what the man looked like until months after meeting him, much less whatever could have happened to him to prompt the events of the evening. It wasn’t necessarily that he was still angry about that; he wasn’t really one to hold onto a grudge. But it was just that there was still more he was in the dark about. He didn’t know what had actually happened to pull Regulus fully out of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s service, or for that matter, what had led to his suspension in time for nearly fifteen years. Charlie had, however, gathered that he had mysteriously been put into some sleep or stasis of some sort while doing something to achieve something . This something constituted a defection from You-Know-Who, so clearly was no broomstick ride on a bright, sunny day. Regulus clammed up even by his own standards when indirectly asked about it, pointing the conversation elsewhere abruptly. Could the defection be related to whatever had happened with the Boggart tonight — could it have caused that severe of a reaction?
His blood ran simultaneously hot and cold at the thought. The boggart turning into multiple Inferi was horrifying enough, but Charlie had a feeling that there was more to the story than just an irrational fear of the dark creatures. The way he had collapsed, apologized… Charlie almost wanted to sneak back into the bedroom, just to check on him, to make sure he’s still safely asleep, to try and understand him.
Charlie sighed and ran a hand over his face. He needed to get moving. The floor creaked forebodingly as he trudged away down the hallway — not back toward Regulus’ room — but toward the room he was sharing with Bill. He hoped that Bill would already have turned into bed;. Charlie would check on Regulus in a bit but he needed to sit for a moment, and to talk this whole mess out with someone. He cared so much for Regulus already, and tonight had done nothing to change that. If anything, Charlie felt an even stronger need to look out for him, to steady him and be steadied in return. But it had also made it clear how little he actually knew about the man. Not just little things, but important, life altering things. Charlie really wanted this budding connection between them to grow and last, but he also wanted that connection to be deep and real.
Curiosity weighed heavily in the back of his mind but he tried to shove it away as best he could. There was no way to get any more answers tonight, no matter how long he stared at Regulus’ sleeping face. Despite being very much aware of this, at least logically, he still couldn't help but wonder as he opened the door to his bedroom, how much more was there to Regulus Black that he didn’t know?