Chapter 2
"Ginny…" Ginny groaned and rolled over, trying to ignore her mother's gentle voice as the woman tried to coax her out of bed. "Ginny, dear, it's almost breakfast time, wake up."
Ginny blinked blearily up at Molly's worried face. "I'm tired, Mum, can't I just sleep?"
"Oh, Ginny," Molly exclaimed in relief. "What on earth are you doing in here? It's horribly filthy and you should be sleeping in your own room, anyway. You had us all scared witless, what with Hermione coming in and saying you weren't in bed this morning and then you not answering us when we called!"
Recalling her encounter with an ex-Death Eater the previous night, Ginny sat bolt upright, nearly hitting Molly's chin. Sirius was standing just inside the door, his arms crossed and his eyes unfocused. He looked vaguely as though he were seeing and smelling something absolutely revolting.
"I'm sorry, Mum, but I couldn't sleep and then as I was headed back to my room this door just sort of… opened… I came in to explore and… Oh, Mum, there was a man in here, and we talked for a while and I guess I fell asleep. He said his name was—"
"Ginny, that's impossible," said Molly gently. "You look to be the only person who's been in here in ages."
Ginny looked around. The room was dust, except where her small footprints had disturbed the dust around the desk and wardrobe. The covers of all the books were grey and fuzzy, cobwebs laced between the piles and decorating the corners of the ceiling and walls. There was a small patch of visible dark green fabric on the bed where Ginny had curled up to sleep, but the rest was a musty and dirty as the room around it. Looking down at herself, Ginny saw that she was covered in the grit from her sleep; she must have tossed a bit in her sleep to gain the effective blanket of lint and dust that turned her a cloudy colour and lightened her dark hair.
"But…" Ginny was confused. Regulus had been in the room and it had been perfectly clean the night before. How could it have possibly acquired decades of filth in a few short hours?
Sirius finally snapped out of his disgusted trance. "You probably wandered in, fell asleep, and had a bad dream, Ginny," he consoled. Then his voice turned stern. "Let's get out of here. Molly, if you don't mind, this is one room I'd like to leave as it is; no cleaning or anything."
Vaguely surprised but not about to be told what to do, Molly turned on him, her fists propped on her hips. "And why exactly would that be, Sirius Black?" she demanded crossly.
"Because it was the room of a Dark wizard, Molly," Sirius snapped, his temper flaring immediately. "Who knows what could be lurking in the corners and shadows. It's best to leave it be."
Ginny got up quickly. "But he's not a Death Eater anymore," she protested.
"Of course not," returned Sirius, "he's dead."
"That's not what I meant!" Ginny tried to explain, but Sirius and her mother had already left, arguing about the state of the room as the headed down to the kitchen.
Ginny looked around unhappily, trying to figure out what had happened to the room. "Regulus?" she asked the air quietly. "Are you there?"
When she was finally positive that she would receive no response, Ginny trudged downstairs, her brain working full speed despite the immediateness of her awakening. There was no possible explanation for her encounter the previous night, not if the room was so… so terribly empty, so devoid of life the way it had been that morning. Why did these things always seem to happen to her?
Ginny nearly tripped on the stairs as the portrait of Mrs. Black downstairs started shrieking and Tonks's voice rose above it, apologising to everyone. She caught herself in time and paused to regain her bearings, all thoughts of mysterious disappearing men and their strange rooms chased from her head by the horrid racket.
"JUST SHUT UP, WILL YOU?" Sirius bellowed from somewhere down the next flight of stairs; near the portrait, Ginny assumed. She could hear him yanking on the heavy curtain that surrounded Mrs. Black, trying to hide her from sight and sound.
"FILTHY MUDBLOODS, TRAITORS, YOU HORRIBLE, DISGRACEFUL SON, HOW DARE YOU BRING THOSE THINGS INTO MY HOUSE! WHAT WOULD YOUR FATHER THINK—"
But the noises suddenly ceased, just as Ginny entered the main hallway. She looked around curiously and found that Tonks had, once again, knocked over the umbrella stand. She shook her head and smiled at the clumsy auror.
Tonks, her customary bubblegum pink hair in early-morning disarray, grinned back at Ginny. "Wotcher, Ginny," she greeted enthusiastically. "About breakfast, isn't it? Well, come on, we don't want Molly's food to get cold!"
Ginny skipped down the remaining flight of stairs to the kitchen with Tonks, considerably happier than she had been only five minutes previous. She settled in her chair in the kitchen as Molly put a plate laden with food in front of her and took a big bite.
The ever bushy haired bookworm Hermione stared at Ginny for only a moment before she fired up, as Ginny had known she would. "Where were you?" she demanded. "We were so worried about you, you weren't in your bed when I woke up and it was so early – we couldn't find you anywhere!"
Ginny swallowed the scrambled eggs and took a swig of her orange juice before answering with a carefully thought out speech that would seem innocent enough and that she knew no one could disprove except the man she'd spoken to. "I couldn't sleep, so I went up to see Buckbeak. When I came back there was a door open on the floor Mum's bedroom is on, so I went in for something to do and I must have fell asleep."
"Speaking of which," Sirius said loudly as he entered the kitchen, looking thoroughly harassed, "it would be best if you didn't go in that room again, Ginny."
The girl nodded meekly, knowing why it must have upset him so much.
The day past in a blur. It would be Christmas Eve the next day and everyone was excited. They put the finishing touches on the Christmas tree and the house decorations before everyone bid everyone else a good night and went to bed.
Once again, Ginny found she couldn't sleep. She didn't want to wander, for fear that she might encounter that baffling entity previously known as 'Regulus Black' and now known as 'dead'. For the exact same reason, she wanted to rise from her bed and sneak back upstairs, to find a repeat of last night. Ginny wanted more than anything to solve the mystery that surrounded his existence or lack thereof.
Ginny struggled with herself for a long time, lying in turmoil in her bed. Hermione had long since fallen asleep. The youngest Weasley sat up in bed, glaring over at the mirror placed directly opposite her on the wall.
"What am I, scared?" she sneered at herself quietly, trying to muster up some sort of motivation to get up and move. "There's nothing to be afraid of, if last night is any indication. And even if he isn't there and I really dreamed it all up, what harm is that?"
As she crept out of her room for the second time in as many nights, Ginny knew that the damage his non-existence would cause her would be substantial – it would only help solidify her belief that she was losing her mind.
Up two flights of creaky stairs and passed two doors on the right side of the last real hallway, Ginny stood staring at the door that she would soon enter, if she could muster the courage. She stretched out a trembling hand, staring at the doorknob uncertainly. Her chocolate eyes flicked down the hall and then up it, making sure she was alone. After all, Sirius had said she wasn't to go in there anymore.
Ginny turned the knob.
"Hello, Ginny. Couldn't sleep again?" Regulus's deep voice queried from inside the room.
Ginny sighed, reassured. "No, not really," she answered as she stepped in the room. Regulus was at his desk with a bit of blank parchment in front of him. He looked up at her and smiled.
"I was just writing a friend of mine. Have a seat, I'll be done in a moment," he suggested, motioning vaguely to the bed.
Ginny complied without hesitation. She watched his back as he bent over the paper and scratched at it with his quill. Marvelling at the sense of relief that still hung thick in the air around her, Ginny leaned back against the headboard and closed her eyes.
Regulus turned to her and cracked a smile. "Are you tired now?"
Her eyes flew open. "No. Just thinking," she replied quietly.
Regulus nodded. "So what brings you up here tonight, little redhead?"
Ginny grimaced. "First, what happened? This morning the room was so… and you were gone… But now it's just as I remember it was last night!"
"Ginny, Ginny," Regulus said, shaking his head as though she were being incredibly foolish, "I can't have the others knowing I'm here. You shouldn't even know." He fingered his wand somewhat nervously. "I should just erase the memory. But I won't," he said hurriedly as Ginny's eyes widened in fear.
Taking a deep breath, Ginny steadied her nerves. "But… the room…"
"No one would believe there wasn't someone here if the room was clean, would they?" he asked after a slight pause. "I had to do something."
"You worried me. I thought maybe I was right about—" Ginny broke off, fearing she'd said too much.
But Regulus only gave her a wry look and matching smile. "Think you're going insane sometimes?" he asked. "I know that feeling.
Ginny gaped at him. "How… How'd you know?"
After another pause in which Regulus's eyes dropped to the floor, he replied, "It's in your eyes. They're so… broken. Has no one ever told you that before?" He looked up sharply, searching her face.
Ginny shook her head, wonder in her eyes now. "It's like you're reading my mind," she whispered, half afraid. "No, no one's ever said that, but I've often thought as much."
Regulus settled back in his chair. "It's much easier to read emotions in one's own eyes than in others. I can't read minds, unfortunately; I was impossibly inept at Legimency. Not Occlumency, though, otherwise I'd have never lasted as long as I did with Voldemort."
As soon as Ginny recovered from the automatic shudder attack at the sound of Voldemort's name, she looked back into Regulus's face. He seemed amused by her reaction and she glared at him. "What? I'm sure everyone you say that name to has the same reaction."
He was suddenly sober, his face completely serious. "I don't get the chance to say it to most people," he reminded her.
Ginny flinched. "Er… right. Sorry."
Regulus shook his head. "It's alright," he said, the sombre expression dropping in favour of a more cheerful smile. "I suppose it's hard to imagine a life like that when you've got people to talk to."
Ginny looked away, feeling absolutely horrible. She bit her lip and steadied her nerves before turning back to face Regulus. "I… I suppose so…"
"Don't feel bad," he urged. "I understand. You know what you know, not what I know."
"That's right," she agreed shakily. Then she changed the subject back to her original point. "Why can't you let anyone else see you?" she demanded. "Are you saying if Harry or Hermione or one of my brothers wandered in you'd hide from them?"
"Yes."
"But—"
He sighed and shook his head for what seemed to him to be the millionth time that night. "Ginny, can you honestly tell me you think Harry would just let me live here in peace, knowing my status as a Death Eater? Do you really think he believes I ever betrayed Voldemort? And Hermione, I've heard her talking around the house – you can hear everything from in here. She's smart, and not that I'm saying you aren't, but she'd rat me out, run for help or find a way to incapacitate me and drag me downstairs."
"And my brothers?" Ginny asked quietly. "I'll admit that Bill and Charlie wouldn't hesitate to bring you in or even kill you, but Fred and George? Ron? They're harmless."
"Nobody is harmless," Regulus said gently, his eyes soft. "Even you, Ginny. I've placed my life in your hands by trusting you with the secret of my existence. If I do one thing to offend you, you could go running to your mother or Sirius and everything could come crashing down around my ears. If I do one thing wrong, everything I've worked for these past years would be destroyed. I have to be very careful."
Ginny's temper flared. "I wouldn't betray you," she snapped. "I'm not that kind of girl."
"I apologise if I offended you," he murmured quickly.
"It doesn't matter if you offended me!" she hissed.
Regulus looked up at her curiously. "Why don't you say my name?" he asked unexpectedly.
The anger dissipated at a rapid pace and Ginny stared at him, shocked. "What?"
"In the entire night you've never mentioned my name, but I've said yours five times," he answered. "Even last night, all I got out of you was a 'Mr. Black'. I don't understand."
"There… hasn't been a need to – you were counting how many times you said my name?" Ginny asked, disbelief colouring her tone.
Regulus cracked a smile. "When you've been alone as long as I have, you tend to notice strange things."
Ginny fought back a blush; that hadn't been what she meant – she'd been counting as well. But she hadn't realised that she hadn't said his name. "Well, there hasn't been a need to say your name," she said, completing her earlier sentence.
He watched her for another long moment and nodded minutely. "I see," he said wisely. "Well, there's never a need to say one's name in conversation unless their attention strays." He hesitated. "It's just habit, I suppose, being raised in my family and always having to repeat 'My Lord' at the end of every sentence when speaking with Voldemort."
"Sirius doesn't do that," Ginny pointed out.
"Sirius was a rebel among our family," Regulus dismissed. "He didn't exactly agree with our ideals."
"'Our'?" Ginny quoted sourly. "Does that mean you have the same values as your dear old mum down there in that cursed portrait?"
"No, no, not at all," he clarified hurriedly. "I haven't thought like them for a long time. Admittedly, when I was younger and more foolish… But not anymore. I know better."
She watched him suspiciously. "Promise?" she demanded, feeling utterly ridiculous and childish as the words passed her lips.
He seemed to be thinking along the same lines, a mocking smirk playing about his lips. "Swear," he replied anyway. He glanced at his wristwatch. "Maybe you should go to sleep now, Ginny," he suggested.
A wave of exhaustion flowed over her, just as it had the previous night. "I have one more question," she persisted.
"Ask away."
Ginny took a breath and searched for a tolerant tone, at the end of her rope with the man before her. "Where…" she began finally. "Where were you when I woke up?"
Regulus pondered a moment. "I was out," he responded finally. "Searching for a copy of the Prophet. I like to keep current."
Ginny nodded. "Okay." She yawned widely. "I suppose I'll go then, I'm exhausted."
"It's no wonder," Regulus murmured gently. "It's nearly one in the morning."
"Is it?" Ginny asked as she got up and stretched. "Well then, happy Christmas."
"Is it?" Regulus asked, surprised.
"Oh, yes. It's December 25, didn't you know?" She yawned and leaned against the door, looking at him through heavy eyelids.
Regulus shook his head. "I wasn't aware. Time really is relative, I suppose."
"Will you be here tonight as well? In case I can't sleep?"
Regulus nodded, smiling slightly. Ginny smiled, satisfied, and turned to leave.
The door was only open a crack when Ginny caught Regulus's last words of the morning. "Happy Christmas, Ginny."
