Hey guys! Bet you didn't expect me to get back to you so quickly. It's partly to make up for my absence, but also because I'm going to be away for a couple of days. Since I am a benevolent god, I decided to post this earlier rather than later. (Just kidding)

So... Wow! So many followers, favourites and reviews, thanks so much! (And so flattering, btw) Especially my named reviewers: xXRosexScorpiusXx, iwantsprezzatura, Constellation15, creelluka (still waiting for the rest of your fanfic!) , HT188, Ash-Caro-Lynn and darkworkangel. Also bridgit: have fun in India!

I couldn't reply to any of the guests, so I'm replying in general to all the reviewers. I'm glad you're all enjoying the story! Emma's mum's kind of quiet, she only corrects Charles in private and is a sort of "peace" person. She doesn't really like conflict. Rab's such a doofus, but he didn't mean to interrupt Regulus, does that count for something?Anyway this chapter is long, but it's worth the read! (Hopefully)

'Emma! Emma!'

'What?' she asked blearily, shielding her eyes from the light.

'We should get going,' Regulus's face slowly came into view. 'I told Mother I'd be back by lunch, and if you're coming too, well…Let's not tempt fate, okay?'

'Oh Merlin, my head,' Emma groaned as she sat up.

Saying that the room was a mess would be an understatement. Bottles and cups were lying around, spills were everywhere, and Emma could have sworn that there was vomit on the wall. Several people were comatose on the floor, Alecto was still lying on the sofa, an arm casually wrapped around Emma. She pushed it off gently, picking her way towards the hall. Meanwhile, Regulus looked as presentable as ever, dressed casually but smartly in a shirt and jeans. She tried to picture him with bed hair or odd socks and failed, giggling slightly as she thought of Sirius on Christmas morning and then feeling guilty about it. Then she looked in the mirror.

'Merlin, I'm a mess,' she lifted her eyes to the ceiling upon seeing the black smears around her eyes and cheeks.

Thankfully she hadn't put any lipstick on, but her hair looked more like James's than ever, i.e. a bird's nest. She quickly checked for both earrings and her locket: all there. Her eyes were red and puffy, probably from her rude awakening, and her dress was slightly askew. As she rightened it, she realised that her feet were bare, she must have kicked off her shoes whilst dancing, but they were slightly muddy, and she had no explanation for that.

'I think you still look beautiful,' Regulus smiled at Emma, pulling a leaf out of her hair.

'Is that a requirement to say to a girl with a hangover?' she teased, and he smirked, an almost guilty look on his face. 'There's no way your parents are going to see me like this.'

'Rabastan probably wouldn't mind if you borrowed a towel,' he suggested. 'And there must be Pepper-up Potions somewhere.'

'Somewhere?' Emma snorted. 'I know you were drunk too, there's no way you'd be able to look so put-together if you hadn't had one.'

'Fine, I'll stick some in some tea, and you can drink it on the way back,' he said. 'We're getting the train. My parents disconnected the Floo in case Sirius tried to come back and steal something.' He shook his head in disbelief.

After her shower, Emma felt much better. She wiped off the smudged makeup, and found a ribbon to tie her hair with, though whose she couldn't say. She rootled through her purse, but couldn't remember how to transfigure her trunk back with her throbbing head. The only spells she could think of were Lumos and the Jelly-Legs Jinx. Good going, Ems.

'Um, Regulus?' she tried to quietly call down the stairs, wrapping a towel around herself. Unsurprisingly, there was no reply.

She didn't really want to go back into the kitchen, but the bathroom was on the second floor, and she didn't think he would hear. She sighed, and began quietly making her way down the stairs, thanking Merlin that no one would be up at 9am.

'Well hello, Miss Potter,' Avery smirked, opening the front door as she was on the third to last step. She cursed the fact that the Lestranges' staircase was in the hallway. 'Not every day you get greeted by a girl in a towel.'

'Hi,' she said, though her heart was pounding. He looked scarier in the daylight, or maybe it was just the nakedness talking. Or the lack of drunkenness. 'What are you doing here? I thought you left early...'

'I have business with Rodolphus,' he said, the smirk not leaving his face as he drew closer, stepping up onto the stair next to her. He fingered the ribbon tying her hair. Too close. 'Cute…Very schoolgirl of you.'

'Oh,' she stammered intelligibly , trying to ignore their proximity. What on earth was I thinking last night?

'You know, I've given it some thought,' he seemed to read her mind. Oh shit, does he know Legilimency as well as Occlumency? Impossible... 'I think I deserve something for keeping quiet about your.…situation with your family. In their old age, who knows what would happen if they found themselves on the wrong side when the war's over?'

'You're bluffing,' she said more confidently than she felt, as he took another step nearer. Why did I leave my wand in the bathroom? What kind of witch am I? 'Yours would go down too. And they haven't done anything...'

'Am I?'

She felt trapped, though all she needed to do was to walk down the stairs. They were surrounded by people and Regulus was fully awake only down the hall. If he tried something, she could scream, but she seemed to lose her voice as he put a hand on her arm.

'Emma?' Regulus's disembodied voice asked. Her eyes flickered to the kitchen door opening and he walked towards the stairs. 'Do you want milk or - what the hell are you wearing?' he asked, voice fading and eyes drawn downwards.

Emma's hands flew to her chest, though the towel was doing a better job of covering her up. She would have laughed at her ability to shock her friend if Avery wasn't standing less than a foot in front of her. Regulus seemed to notice him for the first time. A single glance to the girl's face was all it took to make his school-mask - as Emma had dubbed it - appear on his face.

'I should probably tell you that my cousin Bellatrix has taken a liking to Emma,' he said coldly to the older boy.

'I should probably tell you that I have also taken a liking to her,' Avery smirked. This was the action of the rigorous Quidditch captain and sadistic man that they had known in his last school year. Emma wondered why he had been so different the night before. Or maybe it was me who was different. 'And judging from last night, Potter seems to have taken a liking to me.'

But he carried on up the stairs anyway. Emma let out a shaky breath when he disappeared from view. Her breath came out in short bursts, but she tried not to let Regulus see. How was it that they managed to keep their cool? She felt distinctly un-Slytherin-like in that moment. Resourcefulness, cunning... maybe my parents were right to be disappointed in me. I'm a disgrace to my House.

'What were you thinking?' he asked.

'I - I need your help with my clothes,' she said, banishing her thoughts and blushing at how the phrasing sounded. He raised his eyebrows, but followed her up the stairs in silence, glad of the change of topic.

'So,' Regulus said, eyes flickering down before he made an effort to look at her face. His cheeks reddened slightly.

Emma didn't think she'd ever seen him so embarrassed.

'I transfigured my trunk into my purse, but I don't think I feel up to doing any spells yet,' she explained, as he seemed extremely interested in the purse.

'Right,' he drew his wand and reversed the spell. 'I'll just, you know, wait outside, if you need me.'

He all but fled, shutting the door behind him. Emma giggled to herself as she dressed more parent-appropriately. She already felt better clothed. Less vulnerable and more like her. More prepared. She made sure to put her most conservative jumper on, in case Avery came back down.

'I'm decent again,' she said, emerging from the bathroom.

'Right,' Regulus said, appearing to gather his wits. 'Tea.'

'Flowers?' Regulus asked, as Emma got into the taxi.

She had made him stop the taxi as they drove near a park: partly because she felt carsick, but there was another reason too. She had carefully selected a bouquet of fresh orchids for Mrs Black, since she hadn't brought a gift. Her parents' lesson on being polite, at least, hadn't fallen on deaf ears.

'Yeah, I thought your mum would like them,' she replied, buckling her seat belt on.

'Grimmauld Place, please,' Regulus told the driver, who nodded in return.

When they pulled up, Regulus pulled out some Muggle money and handed it to the driver, whose eyes widened. 'Will you be wanting change for that?'

'Nah, keep it,' Regulus said distractedly, as though the Muggle was a bothersome fly.

'How much was it?' Emma asked interestedly.

'No idea,' Regulus replied, shrugging. 'I just got it for a Galleon in Knockturn Alley.'

'Fair enough,' Emma squinted at the appearing house. 'What if they don't want me?'

'Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Come on.'

Emma ran her fingers through her hair one last time, making sure it was tidy, and took a deep breath. You've got this, she told herself. If there's one thing you're good at, it's talking to people. Just don't be nervous. But the voice in the back of her head whispered that she hadn't managed to talk herself out of that supply closet. It's not like the Yule Ball. But there could have been a repeat of the Yule Ball if Regulus hadn't walked into the corridor...

'Emma, what a lovely surprise!' Orion Black said, shaking her hand in the entrance. 'Let Kreacher get your coat for you.'

'Thanks,' she said shyly, giving her coat to the house-elf, who beamed at her in return.

'Manners, Kreacher!' Orion warned.

Kreacher bowed. 'So good to see Mistress Emma again, so good indeed, such noble blood and such a good friend of Master Regulus. Master Regulus even says that -'

'Here's my coat Kreacher,' Regulus said louder than usual, and Kreacher vanished with a crack. 'House-elves.'

'Walburga? Walburga dear, Emma Potter's here,' Orion called up the stairs.

'Oh really?' Regulus's beautiful mother came gliding down the stairs. 'Oh hello, Emma, it really is delightful to see you again.' She embraced her and Emma's eyes watered from the perfume. 'What are you doing here?'

'I -' Emma started, but Regulus surprised her by interrupting.

'She couldn't stand living with Sirius, Mother,' he said quickly. 'You know how that is...'

'I thought I said that name was forbidden in this house,' Orion said sharply with a glance towards his wife. 'You know how upset your mother gets.'

'It's quite alright Orion,' Walburga waved him away, before taking Emma's hands in her own. 'You come with me dear, you can sleep in one of the guest bedrooms on the second floor. Kreacher?'

'How can I serve Mistress?' Kreacher bowed until his nose scraped the floor.

'Make up the bed in the Tulip guest bedroom would you? And take Emma's trunk up,' she ordered, turning to Emma. 'Oh you poor dear, don't worry, the Tulip room is quite airy, and it has a view of the garden, which is quite nice, isn't it dear?'

'Oh yes,' Regulus said, shooting an amused look at Emma. "Tulip room?" she mouthed back. He started to laugh, but smoothed his features when his mother turned around.

'Why didn't you tell us that Sirius was at the Potters'?'

'I forgot,' he said, averting his eyes.

It seemed like Regulus hadn't given up on his brother after all. Or maybe it marked the last shred of loyalty he had towards the person he grew up with. In any case Emma sensed that this was dangerous territory. She cast around for a distraction.

'Would you mind showing me around? I seem to have forgotten which room is which.'

'Of course,' Regulus jumped at the excuse and held out an arm to escort her upstairs. Emma was strongly reminded of his tale of etiquette lessons during the boat ride on their first day of school. 'If you would.'

Upstairs, they burst into smothered giggles. The room itself was perfectly fine: a normal guest room, but true to Mrs Black the surfaces held vases of Ever-blooming tulips. The curtains were also decorated with the flowers and there was a small plaque on the door that read the room name in curled handwriting.

'Tulip room,' Emma sighed, wiping tears from her eyes. 'I love your mother.'

'Are you ready?' Regulus asked.

His parents were out for the evening and she had told him about her predicament with her parents and Avery. They were in the drawing room - the quietest room in the house, but also the emptiest. It was used only for Orion's guests from the Ministry and the walls had been soundproofed for the utmost discretion. Of course, Regulus's father locked it as a precaution, but true to his Slytherin nature the boy had found a way to circumvent this problem. The sitting room balcony wasn't too far from the drawing room's one. They couldn't have been outside for more than five minutes but Emma's cheeks had flushed pink from the cold. The drawing room was unusually warm, however, and she had flung her scarf over a piece of furniture upon entering. They now stood just far apart enough that if they stretched their arms, their fingers wouldn't quite touch. The distance was, apparently, a necessary requirement in learning Occlumency. It was also supposed to be easier standing.

'I think so,' Emma said, taking a slow breath and concentrating on, well, nothing. 'Wait. How can you do Legilimency?'

'Trick from cousin Bella,' he smiled. 'She's not as mad now she has something to concentrate on. I'm not too good at it though, so if you manage it, it might still not be enough. I can teach you enough that we can get Bella to do the rest though.'

'Okay, I'm ready.'

'Legilimens,' he said.

Images of her first year welled up: her father's face falling when he realised she was in Slytherin, her mother not knowing what to say for the first time that Emma could remember, realising that when her parents said it didn't matter it really did...

'Stop, stop.' she gasped, clutching her locket.

'You need to stop that habit,' Regulus told her. 'It'll show that it means something to you: which could be seen as a weakness or a secret. I would vote for both, because usually you keep your vulnerabilities secret.'

Emma looked at him, surprised. She had never heard him speak so curtly before, but it made her realise just how analytical he could be. What else have you noticed during those silences of yours? she asked him in her head.

'That's the way you need to be,' Regulus said, his tone softening. Perhaps her face had given away more than she expected. But Regulus had seen her as a first year, crying because she hadn't gotten into the right house. It was hard to come back from that. 'You just need to stop…caring. I'm trying to teach you.'

I can do that, she thought to herself. Come on.

'Again.'

They continued for about an hour before Regulus stopped.

'I still haven't managed it though!' Emma said.

'You're getting frustrated, and I'm getting embarrassed about your memories of James,' Regulus said matter-of-factly, slumping into the small settee in front of the fire, head resting in his hands.

'Oh come on, he's my brother,' Emma said. 'It's perfectly normal for him to wander around in boxers sometimes.'

'It's not perfectly normal for me to have the image of you stealing his towel from him at age twelve burned into my mind.'

'I'm going to get a sandwich,' she said, stomping down towards the kitchen. 'Hi Kreacher.'

Kreacher emerged from his newly made den. Den was the only word to describe it. Many colourful blankets were hung up from various hooks beneath the kitchen sink, and what looked like a basket was filled with newly-fluffed pillows - probably a Christmas present from Regulus. Strewn around it were little keepsakes and photographs, but Kreacher had closed the cupboard door before she had the chance to see what of. A spike of guilt ran through her. She never really thought of Kreacher as a person. Just as... a pet. Like Fluffy. But Kreacher was obviously much more than that. She brushed the idea away, resolving to treat Kreacher more like a person in the future.

'Do you want a sandwich? I hope you've been keeping your bed clean. You know how Regulus gets about that. Kreacher?' Kreacher had fallen to the floor.

'Make Kreacher a sandwich? That is much below Mistress Emma's station, Mistress would never allow it,' he stammered.

'You know what Kreacher? Mistress isn't here. Hope you like peanut butter,' and Emma shoved the sandwich into his hand. 'Am I allowed to bring this plate upstairs?'

'Of course Mistress Emma,' Kreacher giggled. 'Mistress isn't here, and Kreacher will clean up crumbs.'

'Thanks Kreacher.'

She proffered the food to Regulus and they sat eating in silence for a while until Emma suddenly jumped up with a muffled noise. Regulus watched her warily as she ran from the room - unlocked from the inside - and reappeared a few minutes later with a present in her hand.

'Here. At New Year's I just forgot, what with everything else going on...'

'Thanks,' he replied, taking the object with curiosity. He opened it very carefully: peeling the Spellotape off so that it wouldn't tear the wrapping paper. 'Hey, isn't this my wrapping paper?'

Emma nodded, beaming.

'Impressive. You usually tear through it,' a small pouch the size of his pocket fell into his lap. 'Is this -'

'A Mokeskin pouch,' Emma grinned. 'I found it in the attic one day, but I thought it suited you better. You're so good at hiding things and keeping them close to your chest that I thought you could do it literally too.'

'Thanks Ems,' he leant over and hugged her with one arm. 'This is really cool.'

'Open it,' she urged.

A small snake fell out and broke into five pieces. The metal looked dull and grey for the time being, but Emma knew better.

'You can store a spell in any of the five slots and it'll glow green,' she explained. 'If there are two or more -'

'They can fit together like a jigsaw puzzle,' Regulus finished. 'Have you got my Snitch?'

Emma produced it from a pocket. Regulus took it from her and it separated into two in his hands to reveal the same snake. 'Snap.'

She was too busy marvelling at the fact that the Snitch had just broken in two to say anything about the snake at first. 'How...?'

'Snitches have a hollow centre,' Regulus explained. 'I found out in second year when I stole my first Snitch and thought I had broken it when I was examining it in my dorms later that evening. I looked it up afterwards, and found out that not only do Snitches remember their first touch, but are often used to store things people don't want found. I still can't believe we thought of the exact same present though.'

'I thought it'd be useful for, you know,' she replied.

'Fighting in the war,' he continued. 'Creepy.'

'Well we're friends for a reason, aren't we?' Emma nudged him.

'Right, and one of those reasons is making sure that your non-believer family is presumed to be neutral,' Regulus reminded her, dusting off any last crumbs and getting to his feet.

'Yeah,' she replied, very unenthusiastically. 'Great.'

Empty your mind, she told herself, concentrating hard on the wall opposite.

'Legilimens.'

She was back at the Yule Ball, she couldn't breathe in the small closet. This is payback for them... I can't wait to see James's face when his precious little sister turns up battered in the Hospital Wing. And suddenly she was trapped and he was holding her face and...

'Protego!'

She had physically recoiled from the memory and bashed her knee against the chair she had previously pulled out. The physical pain was enough for her to regain some sense of self, but before she could even register her counter-curse she was sucked into memories again, except this time they weren't hers:

Regulus and Sirius playing with their broomsticks outside, Sirius making friends with a Muggle on their road, Walburga shouting at Sirius, reminding him of the filthiness of the "Mudbloods" and the importance of keeping their blood pure. "Toujours pur"! she would say. Do you know what that means? Repeat after me, toujours pur! Don't let the House of Black down.

Bellatrix was showing a Muggle her powers: she could already hurt people on command. The Muggle didn't know what was happening, but knew it was the little girl doing it. Sirius screaming and screaming until their mother arrived and cast a memory charm with Regulus watching, always watching, as she took them back inside and beat Sirius until he ran to his room sobbing. Go away Regulus! but Regulus wouldn't go away, and hugged his brother until the crying stopped.

Sirius coming back, proud to prove his difference in Gryffindor. The shouting lasting the entire night, and breakfast was as if nothing had happened. Congratulations on getting into Slytherin Regulus, his mother said, she was always calmer when they did things to make them proud, couldn't Sirius see that?

Are you a blood-traitor, asked Bellatrix, and Regulus was shaking his head, no he wasn't, he was anything but that. He had to be the perfect Slytherin, it would calm his mother down. Mudblood, he used the word for the first time in second year, but it felt like he was the dirty one as the boy ran crying to the toilets.

Are you my brother or not? asked Sirius angrily. Are you going to stick up for me? She's mental, you know it, just like our cousin. You can't fix her. But Sirius, Regulus pleaded, if only you would agree with her, do what you like but in secret. In secret? Sirius asked in contempt. Just like we're secret brothers? You'll only talk to me when no one's around, you'll only come into my room after the damage is done, you're so scared of what people will think. We're not secret brothers, we're not brothers at all. It was third year, and Regulus spent an entire night skipping stones at the lake, not doing anything just skipping stones, and he hid his feelings more than ever because they weren't helping, they weren't helping anyone and it just HURT so much.

Kreacher was always there though: Regulus didn't have to explain to Kreacher because Kreacher already knew. He was the only one who knew Regulus, the real Regulus and not the list of achievements he presented to his family. Master Sirius is just such a handful, Kreacher would say, there's no time, no time for Master Regulus but they were all proud, very proud, but Regulus hated that word so much.

Fifth year in the summer and the fighting was worse than ever. Regulus was talking about the Dark Lord and what he knew of it, and his parents were proud, so proud, and Walburga didn't even care about the Muggle posters that Sirius had on his walls, but Sirius had to ruin it by defending the Mudbloods and it just went so far, too far, and suddenly Sirius was upstairs, packing his things and Regulus was watching, pleading him not to go and leave him by himself. Sirius just looked at him and said what he had in their third year: we're not brothers. A brother would help me, defend me, you've never been my brother. Regulus wanted to scream, didn't Sirius see? He was doing it all for Sirius, the good marks, the prefect badge, it deflected attention. At first he didn't even believe in the Dark Lord's policies, just wanted to make their parents happy enough to leave Sirius alone with his love of Muggles and his freedom and Regulus was so careful, so controlled for him, but now he was so used to it that he just stared in silence.

Sirius was out of the door and never coming back, and Walburga was shouting, screaming so loudly that Regulus was scared that the neighbours would hear and the Ministry would come and find out, but she calmed down and called him into the drawing room to see her blast his brother's name off of the family tapestry No! he answered back for the first time. He's not my son, do you hear me? He's not your brother, I have only one son. For the first time, Orion spoke against her and went out searching for his son, his favourite son, Regulus secretly thought, but he was too scared to say it out loud. Scared that it was true.

Two days later Kreacher brought him banoffee pie and vanilla ice-cream and they spent the day by the creek at the bottom of the garden, and Kreacher was the only one who remembered his birthday, even though he was sixteen and his brother wasn't there anymore, but his brother was there more than ever, and he made the house so stuffy that Regulus sometimes felt like he couldn't breathe...

'Get away from me!' Regulus shouted, bringing Emma back to the present.

She stumbled back, shocked. Regulus had dropped to his knees, but immediately turned around, his back to her. His entire body seemed to shiver and Emma was scared that he was going to be sick.

'Don't look at me,' he said eventually in a shaky voice, breath coming in shuddering gasps.

'Alright, alright, I won't,' Emma said calmly, shutting her eyes.

She shuffled forwards, groping blindly in front of her. When her hand touched cloth, she immediately pulled Regulus into a hug, soothing his hair the way James would if it were her, and…the way Regulus would for Sirius. Every inch of her was screaming at her to get away, but she ignored it. This is Regulus, she told herself. And he needs me. Her hands trembled slightly, but she didn't stop.

'I don't want you to see me like this,' Regulus tried to push her away, adding in a quiet voice. 'It's embarrassing. Let me just...'

He got up and she opened her eyes. He was avoiding her gaze, shuffling out of the room as fast as he could, but the memories seemed to have winded him. She should probably give him some privacy, let him pull himself together and find a way to suppress the rest of the memories. But Emma thought he had had enough privacy in his life.

'Kreacher?' she asked, noticing the house-elf cowering in a corner.

'Y-yes Mistress Emma?' Kreacher croaked in a small voice.

He was huddled up as far as he could in his pillowcase, but she could see the big frightened blue eyes peering out. Her heart went out to him, never being able to do anything except watch his family tear itself apart.

'It'll be okay,' she patted his head.

'But Master said -'

'I know what he said,' she replied, scanning the room.

Her scarf lay on one of the chairs and she grabbed it, tying it around her eyes, feeling the heavy cloth obstructing all light and almost all of her nose. She adjusted it as she uncomfortably breathed stale air. The scarf was covering her ears slightly, and it felt eerie to hear the rush of blood and muted sound. Her balance was off, but that wouldn't be important right now.

'There, Kreacher,' she said. 'Will you help me find Regulus now?'

'Regulus?' she asked uncertainly. She thought she was in his room. Kreacher had led her up three flights of stairs and turned right to the end of the corridor. That was where his room had been before, in any case. 'I can't see you anymore.'

'You've already seen more than I would ever want you to,' he said tonelessly, but there was a catch at the end of his sentence.

There was a tug on her dress, and Kreacher whispered. 'He's sitting on his bed.'

He disappeared with a large crack, fearing that he had already overstepped his boundaries. Emma tried to make her way to the middle of the room, but it was a lot harder with the scarf muffling her senses.

'Oof,' she said as she toppled over Regulus's bed, narrowly missing falling off it altogether.

He let out what could pass for a strangled laugh.

'It's okay for it to be about you for once in a while Reg,' she said, trying not to let the worry seep into her voice. The truth was that she had never seen him this way before.

He snorted in disdain, and she shuffled closer, searching for his hand with her own.

'It's not only Sirius who has been hurt,' she continued. 'You can stop feeling guilty.'

'Stop it,' he said, and his voice was shaking. He tried to get it under control, to no avail. 'I - Don't do that.'

'What?'

'Read me like a book. It's disconcerting.'

'Well at least it's the other way around for a change,' Emma laughed, then felt a lump in her throat. 'Regulus, I'm so sorry.'

'Not like you did anything,' he muttered.

'I didn't forget about you,' she said simply, and wanted to smack herself. You're reminding him that his family did. He doesn't want to talk about it Ems, he just wants to pretend it didn't happen. All of it.

'You know,' she said idly. 'Whenever James and I got into a fight when I was little, my mother would put us to bed and read a story from Beedle the Bard. It would put us to sleep, and in the morning we would have already forgotten what we were upset about.'

'Well, you were lucky,' came the reply, and he pulled his hand out of her grasp.

'Maybe you just need a fairytale,' she said. 'Go on, humour me,' and bullied him into letting her sit next to him. She realised that he was shivering, and wrapped an arm around him.

'Can't read if you can't see,' he huffed, but allowed the contact. 'Besides, we don't have the book.'

'I'll tell it from memory.'

'Go on then,' and Emma thought she could hear a slight smile in his voice.

'High on a hill in an enchanted garden, enclosed by tall walls and protected by strong magic flowed the Fountain of Fair Fortune. Once a year, between the hours of sunrise and sunset on the longest day, a single unfortunate was given the chance to fight their way to the Fountain, bathe in its waters and receive Fair Fortune for evermore...'

It was late by the time she finished the tale, and Regulus was silent for such a long while that she was sure that he was asleep. Sure enough, when she took her scarf off his eyes were closed. She decided to let him sleep in peace and had just disentangled herself when she felt a hand on her arm.

'Stay,' he half-mumbled, and Emma was sure that he wasn't talking to her.