"You – I haven't seen you! Sirius was worried – we've been talking with letters. They come by owl – of all things! But you know that, of course! How've you been? I wanted to go to your house, but Sirius said not to-"

"I'm fine," Regulus said. His tone was cold as he tried to shrug the boy off. He didn't let go.

"…Reggie?" Alex's voice was bewildered as he took in my cold tone. Or perhaps it was my robes. Who knew? With a mudblood, it could be anything.

(maybe because I was his friend)

Regulus refrained from shaking his head again. By this time, the parent – the muggle – was coming over.

"Alex?" she said. "I think you can let go now." Alex did, and Regulus turned around, fixing a glare at the boy as he did.

"I know, mum. I just haven't seen him in forever!" Alex was nearly bouncing with excitement.

(and you still haven't seen me.)

Regulus was confused. Why did this kid think he was Regulus's friend? He'd never met the mudblood before – Sirius had talked about him, yeah, but…

(because I told Sirius.)

"Where's Sirius, Reggie?" Alex asked. Regulus thought for a moment before deciding to play along. At this point, he just wanted answers. It really didn't matter who gave them.

(then why don't you listen to yourself?)

It seemed that everyone – everyone! – seemed to be on this little game but him. Maybe the best way to learn more would be to act like they expected him to – like what mother and father didn't want.

He'd have to act like Sirius.

"He's at home – sick," Regulus said.

(and so much more.)

"Will he be alright? Have your parents taken him to the doctor?" Alex asked.

"Doctor?" Reggie repeated. He was sure that he'd never heard the word. It was probably a muggle word. Of course, the mudblood would know it.

(why am I calling him that?)

"Yeah, the doctor?" Alex repeated. He seemed to not understand Regulus's dilemma. Luckily, his mother came to the rescue.

"I'm assuming that's a muggle word?"

"-Oh right!" Alex jumped in. His mother ignored him.

"A doctor's where you go to get better when you're sick," his mum finished.

(I already knew that.)

"Oh, a healer," Regulus said with a grin. "Sorry, I don't know my muggle terms very well."

"S' alright," Alex said. "Do you want to come play with me?"

"Wait," Alex's mother put in. "Does your mother know you're here? This won't be like last year?"

(hell, no)

Mother? Of course she didn't know, but he couldn't tell Alex's mother that.

"Yeah, she knows."

"Then come on!" Alex said, pulling him towards the playground. Regulus looked at the unfamiliar equipment and sighed. He truly didn't know what they were used for.

"We can pretend we're pirates and it can be our ship! Or we could be explorers going to a jungle! Or…"

Regulus let Alex's voice fade into the background. He found the boy to be almost too perky. He'd always

(always? You sure about that?)

thought that Sirius was lively, but even he didn't act like this boy did. Alex was actually trembling with excitement. Regulus always thought that phrase was an exaggeration.

It was strange to see someone actually do it.

"Whatever you want to," Regulus said with a smile. Alex thought for a moment.

"Let's go on the swings!" He turned and began to race for what Regulus assumed was the swings.

"Yeah!" Regulus said, trying to sound as excited. Although, the swings couldn't be that bad… Alex thought they were fun…

Regulus got on one and began to copy Alex and start to swing.

(this is fun.)

They did that for a while before Alex hopped off. Regulus slowed down and joined him on the ground.

"Are you sure Sirius isn't better yet?" Alex asked. Immediately, Regulus thought that Alex had noticed a difference between him and the Regulus he seemed to remember.

"I'm sure," Regulus said.

"It's terrible that he's sick during the summer," Alex said. "I like getting to miss school in the winter when I'm sick, but I hate getting sick during the summer."

"What's it like at your school?" Regulus asked. Call it novel curiosity; he wanted to know what growing up as a muggle was like.

(or I want to know what Alex has been up to.)

Alex thought for a moment.

"It can be fun. I had nice teachers last year, but it can be boring, too. What about at your house?"

"Mother and Father can be strict, but Sirius and I learn about the customs and certain spells and potions. I'm not allowed to have a wand yet. But I will get one before I go to Hogwarts this fall!" Regulus found that it wasn't as hard to pretend as he had expected it to be. All he really had to do was be nice.

(maybe there's a reason that seems so natural.)

"And I will, too! I'm so excited!" Alex exclaimed. "Sirius told me all about it!"

"You've been talking?"

"He's been sending his owl! He was really worried about you, you know. Thought your parents were being mean." Regulus laughed hollowly.

(they did much more than just be mean.)

"No, they were fine," he said. He tried to smile but found he couldn't quite form his lips into one. Did Alex know that his parents got… violent… sometimes?" Sirius couldn't have told him.

(he didn't.)

Mother and Father would be angry. The last thing Sirius needed now was to have their parents angry at him again.

(they wouldn't be angry at him.)

Alex nodded.

"That's better for you, then. At least you don't have any more bruises, right?"

What? Alex did know about how Mother and Father would hit Sirius sometimes. But why did he think

(know.)

that it was Regulus who would have the bruises, not his brother.

"They – they weren't too bad-"

"That doesn't make it right, honey," Alex's mother said. Oh. Apparently, she had been listening in on their conversation.

Well, wasn't that just peachy.

"No – no, it's fine. It doesn't matter-"

(are you sure about that?)

Regulus could feel himself beginning to get worked up.

(beginning to?)

He was shaking suddenly – a cruel variation to how Alex had been trembling with happiness not long ago.

"Honey – honey, what's wrong?" Alex's mother asked.

"N-nothing," Regulus tried to say. It couldn't have come across as less convincing.

"Reggie, you can tell me," Alex's mother said soothingly. Finally, Regulus could stand it no longer.

"It's Sirius," he wailed, sounding more like a child then he cared to admit. "Sirius was hurt! Father hurt him, and – and I'm trying to help him, but it's worse – worse than ever before. He hit his head – and he was bleeding…"

"Regulus, you need to get him to a doctor – healer?" Alex's mother said, sounding worried. Her face was pinched into a deep frown. It spoke of disapproval and sadness – so different than the fierce, angry frowns his mother would wear.

(she's better then my mother ever could be.)

"Mother and Father yelled at me for trying to get them to stop hurting him. They said my p – punishment was to heal him all by myself," Regulus cried. Alex's mother stepped forward, as if to wrap her arms around him, but Regulus stumbled backward, raising his arms in front of his face.

(instincts. I thought she was going to hit me.)

As quickly as the tears had sprung into his eyes, they were gone. So was the way of a Black. They could hide their emotions at moment's notice.

"It's okay, Regulus," Alex's mother said gently. "We need to get Sirius some help. Can you tell me his symptoms?"

"Er… he's confused. And he sleeps a lot. Even when he wakes up he feels groggy. I gave him a blood-replenishing potion, and I gave him a potion for his ribs-"

"His ribs?" Alex's mother asked, horrified.

"A few were cracked," Regulus said. "You know – I should really be getting back to him." He was starting to feel really uncomfortable with his burst of emotion. Alex was just staring at him, and Alex's mother's look was unnerving him.

"Yeah," Alex's mother whispered. "Yeah, you should." Her voice sounded choked.

Regulus nodded and turned.

"Bye, Alex.," he whispered.

As he walked away, Alex's mother whispered something to him. The words made him smile – though he didn't know why. After all, she was just a muggle.

"And Reggie… it's nice to see you; we were worried about you."

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Hey guys! A quick update! Yay!

I know this is a bit random, but the song, "Not Alone" (it's in A Very Potter Musical) is wonderful when sung completely by Darren Criss. I've been listening to it all night!

I hope you like this chapter! I finally fit Alex back into it. I hope you guys like what I did with Alex's mum (I should really give her a last name.) I thought I'd try putting in a concerned parent. Just another thing to help Regulus remember who he is!

Please review!

Thanks to all my old reviewers!

Hey, if anyone hasn't checked out my two story previews (called What Should I Write: Two Story Previews) please do. At this point, it looks like I am going to be writing the dark Sirius one. I'll be starting that soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!