WRITTEN FOR QLFC, SEASON 9
Book Club: Cemetery Boys
Prompt:
(dialogue) It's not haunted / Look, if I'm here, and I'm a ghost, then it's haunted.
The first night she was at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, Hermione woke up to loud banging. At first, she thought it was coming from the window. Sliding out of bed, she walked over and peered through the curtains.
Not even a stray cat lurked outside.
Hermione started walking back to her bed when she heard the sound again. Looking around, she stiffened when she realised it came from the mirror.
Pulling out her wand from beneath her pillow, Hermione tiptoed towards the mirror, her heart in her throat.
She cast a Homenum Revelio on the mirror, and to her horror, the spell came up red—a clear sign there was someone in it. Pointing her wand at it, Hermione called out, "Who's there?"
"Let me out of here!" a man's voice called out, startling Hermione into dropping her wand.
"Who are you?" She crouched down to pick her wand up and caught sight of a handsome black-haired man inside the mirror.
His grey eyes narrowed in on her, his fist still raised to bang on the inside of the mirror. "Who are you? What are you doing in my room?"
"Your room? This is my room!" It was half the truth, though. The room had originally belonged to Regulus Black, Sirius' brother. But it was Hermione's for the summer before she went back to Hogwarts for her fifth year.
The man scowled at her before placing his hand on the glass. "It's not your room. Anyway, we can discuss that later. Let me out. It's too cramped in here."
"I'm not letting you out. I don't know you or what you're capable of," Hermione stated, crossing her arms. This was unbelievable! I'm talking to a man in a mirror.
The man gritted his teeth. "My name's Regulus, and unfortunately, I'm stuck inside this mirror. Happy? Now, get me out."
Hermione's eyes widened when she heard the name, but she still didn't step up to help him. The diary incident with Ginny was still fresh in her mind. She nibbled on her lip before asking, "What happened to you? How did you get stuck inside?"
"Long story short, I haunt the mirror. Now, help me!" Regulus banged on the mirror again.
"It's not haunted."
"Look, if I'm here, and I'm a ghost, then it's haunted," Regulus argued, glaring at her. "How else would I be stuck inside a mirror?"
"Dark magic?"
"I am a Black... What did you expect? Besides, I didn't even know I'd be haunting my own mirror after I died," Regulus deadpanned. "If I'd known, I'd have gotten a bigger mirror. This one's cramping my style."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why are you here now?"
"Because you're the first person to come into my room after my death. Your presence woke the spell I used. It tethers—"
"Your soul to this world if you've got unfinished business." Hermione completed his sentence, having read about it in a book in the Black's library. "Apparently, you spent a lot of time in front of the mirror if it's the object that links you to this place."
Looking away, he muttered, "No comment. Just help me already."
"Fine, I'll go get Sirius," Hermione said, walking towards the door. If it really was his brother, Sirius would know. Though Regulus seemed harmless enough, she wasn't going to help him if there was a chance he was an evil entity; Hermione wasn't an idiot.