The Granger Way
I'll Walk You Home

"Wait up."

Regulus paused, turning his head to look at Hamlet Granger as he hung up his apron. He stared, gray eyes taking in the sight of his older brother—his brother-in-law—reacting to him leaving the bookstore with his bookbag held to his chest with both arms, although the left still wasn't functioning at a hundred percent. He wasn't sure if his left arm, his once dominant arm, would ever function at a hundred percent, but that was life.

"I'm coming with you."

"What about work?" Regulus protested.

"It's alright," Grandpa Richard said, smiling at the two. "He's been here since this morning, even longer than you, but Lettie can always use an excuse to eat his mother's cooking."

"Hey," Hamlet said, reaching out for Regulus' bookbag. "This isn't why I'm doing this. That's just a bonus." He swung it over his shoulder, smiling. "You are fine with me walking you home?"

"I guess," Regulus said, looking at the ground, feeling deprived of the bag in his arms even though the weight was quite remarkable, possibly a bit more than he should be trying to manage with his weaker arm not functioning as it should. He felt Hamlet reach out and ruffle the top of his head.

"You are worth it, Sebastian," Hamlet said.

Regulus frowned, that doubt of not being worth anything still lingering in his brain. He was, after all, a former Death Eater, someone who, "It doesn't matter that I didn't know, didn't believe that they were killing Muggles like Lettie. I was still a part of it."

"So, I know you're studying for your A-levels," Hamlet said, reaching out and pulling Sebastian into a hug as they walked, which felt strange given Regulus wasn't used to his actual brother—Sirius—ever touching him in such a manner, which in turn made him feel even more broken, and not worthy of what Lettie was doing. "But you're not getting rusty regarding that magic stuff?"

"I don't do magic anymore," Regulus said. "I'm not that person anymore."

"Yes, you are," Hamlet said, pulling him in tighter, smiling down at him, which made Regulus look awkwardly away, wishing in the back of his mind that Sirius would have shown some level of attention to him growing up, even though he likely would have reacted the same way to that attention as he was to the attention Hamlet was giving him now.

"I might not have turned out the way I did."

"You're still the little brother who magically popped into our life that night, crashing right into our now dead family coffee table that we've now replaced with an even nicer one, so just think of that incident not as you being to blame for the breaking of the coffee table, but you giving us an excuse to get a new one."

"What?" Regulus felt the corner of his mouth twist.

"There we go!" Hamlet let out a laugh. "There's Sebastian's smile that I love and adore!"

"I'm not a good person."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because," Regulus said. He took a deep breath. "Did Olivia…."

"Olivia's told us nothing. It's for you to tell us."

"I wasn't exactly hanging out with the right people," Regulus said.

"Oh?"

"They kind of liked to go after people like you."

"People like me?"

"Muggles. People who can't do magic."

"How did that make you feel?"

Regulus flinched and tried pulling away, only for his brother-in-law to reach and hold onto his shoulders as he avoided eye contact.

"Not good, I take it?"

"Shouldn't you be asking me what I personally did?"

"Isn't that why you ended up in the bloody situation you were in?" Hamlet said. "You don't have to go into details, Sebastian, but aren't they the reason you landed in our family foyer the bloody mess you were? Wasn't the reason you nearly died because of them, because you couldn't be a part of what they were doing?"

Regulus remained silent.

Hamlet laughed, letting go with one hand so he could reach up and brush back a lock of black hair. "Thought so. You're not that kind of person, so I wish you wouldn't be so hard on yourself." His free hand patted Sebastian's shoulder, and he started walking. "Oh. And I know I don't know anything about magic, but I've read enough of the sci-fi and fantasy genre to know you shouldn't let special abilities like yours go unused, but if you want, I can help you come up with a plan to, I don't know. Some way for you to use them unnoticed, so whatever happens when you don't happen? For now, let's get you home."

"Uh—yeah," Regulus said, moving to keep up with Hamlet, unsure of what to think of his older brother's actions, given he'd never gotten anything of the sort from Sirius, at least not that he could remember. He felt Hamlet reach out again, pulling him into a hug as they walked, this time not flinching at the touch and instead leaning in, letting it make him feel as if maybe, just maybe, he was important.