What You Can't See
Unexpected
"Regulus, what are you doing?"
Sirius watched as his younger brother turned as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, although he did see Regulus' eyes blink in confusion and his mouth open like a fish. Regulus responded in his usual calm way, saying, "Sirius?"
And Sirius didn't know how to respond, what to say regarding the strangeness of having arrived at his flat to find the door to his flat unlocked, remembering how he'd slipped his wand out, knowing the only person who should be there was his younger brother unless, of course, a Death Eater was there, lurking and waiting to kill him, only for him to relax once he heard the water running, his first thought was that no Death Eater would be using the restroom unawares of the flat's owner coming home.
Unless, of course, the Death Eater in question was Regulus.
Sirius took a deep breath, wanting to yell at his younger brother to get out of his life and out of his flat, as he found himself eying the Dark Mark that his younger brother had just been scrubbing. At the same time, his mind also tried wrapping around Regulus, leaving the bathroom door open when he knew Regulus' preference for privacy. Yet, nothing came out.
In the silence, Regulus turned, turning off the water while still rubbing his cheek for some strange reason. At the same time, his sleeves were still rolled up, the Dark Mark peeking out from under the left sleeve as Regulus leaned backward against the sink as Sirius' younger brother muttered, "What am I doing?"
"That was my question," Sirius muttered, wishing he'd not become accustomed to the strangeness of his younger brother showing up out of the blue while also expecting he'd not given Regulus a key to his flat in hopes of avoiding his younger brother breaking in using underage magic. He lifted a finger and pointed, swallowing as he did, unsure what to do with a definite Death Eater in his flat. "What's with that?"
Regulus' eyes blinked, and one hand, his left and dominant hand, shot up to touch his cheek, his head tilting in confusion. "What? This?"
"Not," Sirius sighed, reaching out and grabbing Regulus' left arm, yanking Regulus' arm down. "This, Regulus! When did you get the Dark Mark!"
He watched his younger brother's gray eyes blink, his head tilting down to look at the Dark Mark without batting an eye, while his other hand absentmindedly reached up to touch his cheek while he continued to stare. "That?"
"Yes, that!" Sirius said, hissing. "I should…."
"You mean Bella's birthday present," Regulus muttered, disinterested in the Dark Mark, let alone what that meant.
"Birthday present?" Sirius said, his grip tightening.
"Sirius, that hurts," Regulus muttered.
"Yeah. And I've got a bloody Death Eater in my home," Sirius said, only for Regulus to look up, his head tilting while not making eye contact as if he were off in his world, nor was he phased by what Sirius just said.
Finally, Regulus said. "And what does that have to do with anything?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Sirius shook his head. "Regulus. Don't you understand what this means?"
"No. I've other things to worry about," Regulus muttered, looking away, the fingers of his right hand pressing into his cheek.
"Other things to worry about?" Sirius tightened his grip again.
"Hey. That hurts. Why…"
"Regulus! You're a bloody Death Eater! What could you possibly be more worried about?" Sirius asked, watching his younger brother's eyes widen, his mouth opening then closing. After his mouth shut, Regulus turned his head away and sighed. "Regulus."
"It's not that big of a deal," Regulus muttered.
"This, or whatever's going on in that head of yours?"
"What's going on in this head of mine?" Regulus' eyes closed. "I shouldn't be liking it."
"Being a Death Eater?" Sirius said, feeling his eyes twitch.
"No. Kissing," Regulus started to say, his fingers still pressed into his cheek, but then he stopped speaking, looking at the wall.
"Kissing?" Sirius shook his head. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. Don't," Regulus muttered, yanking his arm away, turning back to the sink, going back to scrubbing, shaking his head as he did so, yet Sirius watched as Regulus attempted to scrub his cheek.
Sirius reached out, turning off the faucet, which widened Regulus's eyes, allowing Sirius to place his hands on his younger brother's shoulder and guide him over to the sofa. "Sit. We need to talk."
"About what?" Regulus muttered.
"To you, a kiss is," and then Sirius frowned, deciding not to sit down next to his younger brother. He took deep. "Wait. You're upset because you got a peck on the cheek by a Muggle girl."
"It was an accident!" his younger brother said, turning to look at Sirius, his eyes wide. "And I didn't like it!"
"Oh? Because it was a Muggle?" Sirius snapped, feeling his stomach churn. He could feel his ears heat up as he tried holding back the anger he'd usually be letting lose, yelling at whoever was on the other side, or pranking them.
"What does her being a Muggle have to do with anything?" Regulus said, his pale skin flushing around the cheeks and ears. "My first kiss…."
"First kiss?" Sirius let an eyebrow raise. "Those awful aunts of ours have kissed us on the cheek."
"But she wasn't family," Regulus blurted out. His fingers started to fidget, opening and closing around the sofa's edge as he looked away. "It was the first time a girl…."
"Regulus, first kiss doesn't mean what you think it does," Sirius snapped, raising his voice.
And Regulus stared, confusion on his face, which only made Sirius even more exasperated at dealing with his younger brother at that particular moment. He watched Regulus' Adam's apple bob, and his younger brother said. "What do you mean it doesn't—that was my first kiss."
"On the lips," Sirius said, touching his own with a finger and watching his younger brother become even more mortified.
"Sirius! You pervert!" Regulus muttered, moving away from his older brother as his cheeks became a more vivid red. And there he was, on the other side of the sofa, legs tucked up, acting like a typical teenager, a young wizard not old enough not to run afoul of the underage use of magic laws.
Sirius frowned, then sat on the other end, watching his younger brother warily. He pointed at Regulus' left arm, a thought suddenly occurring to him. "You're underage."
Regulus stared as if he weren't following what Sirius was saying.
"As in, you're not supposed to use magic outside of school."
"Oh. That. Technically," Regulus muttered.
"Oh, yes. Because you're casting spells to make you invisible before coming here and using magic to break into my house, how you've not gotten into trouble with the ministry, I don't understand," Sirius said, his body tensing as the idea didn't seem like a good idea.
"First, I didn't use magic to break into your house. I just waited until you got here and followed you in," Regulus said. "Or were you pretending you didn't see me?"
"Why the bloody Merlin would I pretend not to see you?" Sirius said, shaking his head.
"Because she saw me! She's seen me," Regulus said, glaring at Sirius now.
"And I don't know what you're talking about," Sirius said. "You didn't break into my place; you're still casting that spell."
"Which has been obviously failing because that Muggle girl has been able to see me on the bus," Regulus muttered.
"Ah. Yes. The Muggle girl who kissed you on the cheek."
"It was an accident. The bus stopped, and," Regulus shook his head. "I don't know how I'm going to get home."
"What do you mean," Sirius said, taking a deep breath. "You don't know how you're going to get home."
"Because my spells never worked!"
"Which explains why you haven't run afoul of the ministry," Sirius sighed, shaking his head. "Which means I'm right in wondering why Voldemort would want to mark an underage wizard when they can't use magic that isn't tracked by the ministry." He then paused, frowning. "But wait. Your spell work has been working because I haven't seen you, so what's going on?"
Regulus took a deep breath, glaring at him.
