Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Seventeen

Not that he would dare admit it to anyone, but the Christmas holidays were taking a particularly large toll on Regulus Black.
With Sirius not being there, it felt weird.

Sure, the brothers would clash viciously on common occasions, but Regulus still deeply missed his brother. He suspected Sirius leaving home was partly the reason for Walburga opening their doors to Esme and Ignatius for the holidays. Their presence certainly distracted the Black's from their missing family member.

Regulus could tell, as well, that Walburga and Orion were affected just as much as he was. The concern was etched on the boy's face. As if he hadn't dealt with enough pressure in his short life, trying to be perfect to compensate for his troublesome brother. Regulus had the job of maintaining his perfect facade and now also filling the hole Sirius had left behind.

This would always prove to be an impossible job.

The kitchen door clattered open and the door shaking in its hinges was hurriedly followed by an exclamation: "I did not mean for that to happen!"

Seeing Esme in the doorway, her arms mounted high with books stacked to her chin, it wiped the worry from Regulus' face in an instant.

"I'll get the door, wait there a second." Regulus stopped pacing and immediately made his way over to the girl, holding the door open so she could move freely into the room.

Esme set down the books on the table and turned to the boy with narrow eyes full of suspicion. "What are you doing?" She inquired.

"Nothing." He replied shortly.
She raised an eyebrow, "Blatant lie."
"How so?"
"Someone as smart as you never chooses to waste their time doing nothing. What were you doing?"

"You know..." Regulus mused with a smirk, "Bar the accusation, that was almost a compliment."

"Oh shut up, Regulus." She muttered disapprovingly, separating the stack of books and spreading them out over the table.
He watched for a moment, as Esme moved the books about, ordering them and reordering them over and over.

"The better question is: what are you doing?" He quizzed.

"I'm trying to figure out the best way to read these books. You have to rely on information from one to understand the other but there's no clear order to any of it." She mumbled, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she moved one of the books again.

Regulus chuckled slightly, intently watching her, "Your tongue is sticking out."

Esme's face fell as she pursed her lips together, "No it wasn't."
"Yes." He replied, "You always do that when your concentrating. Nothing wrong with it."

"You... You have a real knack for something. I just don't know how to explain it." Esme looked up at him now, her expression curious.
"What does that mean?"
She smiled softly, "Normally I can tune out my surroundings when I really want to focus on stuff. I almost become oblivious. If you're around, I can't seem to do that."

"Is it because of my dazzling personality?" Regulus laughed, leaning forward onto the kitchen table.

"I put it down to you being so annoying that nobody could ever stand a chance of ignoring it."

"Charming."
"Thank you."

"Actually." Regulus mused, an idea beginning to form in his head, "On the note that we've agreed to understand each other more, I have a proposition."

"Proposition? You really sound like your father. What's with the formalities?" She scoffed, stacking the books into an ordered pile.
"Stop being annoying and listen to what I have to say." Regulus couldn't even pretend to be annoyed at the girl as a smile spread across his lips.