What You Can't See
On the Bus Again

"You look bored."

Regulus sat up from his bed. For days he lay on the bed, staring at the sea of green, trying to read a book from his shelf to distract himself, but instead ended up using his thumb as a bookmark as the book rested near him. As he sat up, Regulus closed the book. His gray eyes blinked at the sight of his father entering his room as he sat on the bed, legs crossed, unsure of how to react to the presence of Orion Black.

And then he saw the bag.

His mouth opened. His eyes blinked. Regulus looked at the book bag he knew he'd left at Sirius' place, not knowing what to say at the sight of the familiar wear and tear on the bag. He also wondered when his father got into

"Sirius managed to scrounge up your bag from somewhere in Diagon Alley after your incident with the Gryffindor students," his father said.

"What?" Regulus said, confused at what his father was saying.

"So it looks like I won't get to buy you new text, although thinking about it, I know you likely prefer having books that feel familiar in your hands, so perhaps it's for the best," his father continued, setting the bag on Regulus' bed. "Also, if you want to save face with your mother, you could always tell her that your older brother was overreacting to the situation. It might actually get him on her good side for once."

"Will it? Put him on her good side?" Regulus said, brightening at the thought.

"Regulus, Sirius is never going to return home, so you might as well continue visiting him at his place," his father said. "Which you can, given you're no longer grounded."

His father turned to leave as Regulus swallowed. "Wait? You knew? Since when?"

Orion paused, then turned back. "I know you've been visiting your brother since last summer. And before you ask, I am fine with that."

"So my spellwork has been failing?" Regulus choked out, glancing at the window.

"What are you talking about?" his father asked.

"You noticed I was gone, which means you saw me leave. That means the spells I cast to make sure nobody saw me—they really weren't working as I suspect."

Orion stared, then walked over. "Honestly, I don't know what you're talking about, Regulus. However," He said, reaching out and gently taking Regulus' left forearm in his hand, looking right at where the Death Mark was on his arm. "I don't have to see something to know."

"Bella's birthday present," Regulus muttered, his eyes narrowing. He took a deep breath.

"Speaking of your birthday, you're going to be turning seventeen soon. What will you do if they ask you to do something you don't want to do? What if he wants you to torture or kill someone?"

Regulus frowned. "I do research. That's it."

Orion frowned back, his thumb pressing slightly into Regulus' arm. "Let me clarify that I'd rather you spend time with your brother, but I don't want to lose you." He then let go. "I'm more than willing to cover for you when it comes to your mother, Regulus."

Regulus frowned the urge to visit Sirius defintiely there. "Do you know how she found out?"

"There aren't many places to apparate around Grimmauld Place," Orion said. "But that place is used by those not using the Floo to get to and from our place. But if she asks, I've given you permission to ask for Sirius' help getting home in a pinch until you can Apparate on your own."

And then his father was gone, leaving Regulus to reach for his book bag and pull out one of his textbooks. A sigh of relief escaped, his eyes closing as he found himself pleased to have the book in his hands. Yet, he found himself unable to read, his mind still pondering what had happened, particularly his father's unexpected reaction to everything.

"I can see Sirius, though," crossed his mind, yet there was no hesitation in casting the spells and getting on the bus the next day, and yet—

He couldn't help noticing the Muggle girl watching him this time, seeing him despite having cast the spells, while his mind wondered how this was even possible. Regulus kept glancing at her nervously, noticing another Muggle girl nearby. And whenever he saw her looking his way, Regulus turned his attention to the book on charm spells he'd been reading.

And then he was startled, having not noticed her moving from where she sat next to the other Muggle girl to sitting next to him. "Oh."

"Hello," she said, glancing over at the other girl, making Regulus wonder if the other girl could see him. The first spoke softly, brushing a strand of straight brown hair behind an ear, which made Regulus swallow, his mind not understanding why a slight heat started on his cheeks. "Apologies for the other day."

"No need to apologize," Regulus muttered, still looking at his book, his entire body tense and unable to move as the girl interacted with him, resulting in Regulus wondering if he wished Orion hadn't permitted him to visit his older brother if he should have mentioned taking Muggle transportation.

"Yes, I do. Because what happened made you uncomfortable," the girl said. "My name's Olivia, by the way. And I was going to say that the book comes from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night."

"Regulus," he muttered, still looking at the book while not reading it. "After the star."

"That's cool."

"Olivia," the other girl said, making Regulus startle, his book dropping to the floor as he looked up at the other girl. "What are you doing, talking to…."

And then she sat down, just as Sirius had when he'd first visited his older brother, and Sirius had been there at his flat. Regulus let out a yelp, as did the girl, as she moved to sit in the seat next to him rather than on him, and they both stared at each other, with him looking into a vivid pair of hazel green eyes as the girl brushed back a lock of short brown hair.

"What the," the girl said. "Where did you come from?"

"Wait?" Olivia asked, handing him his book, having picked the book up off the floor for him. "You didn't see Regulus here?"

"No," the girl said. "What are you, invisible?" She then leaned slightly to the side, sighing, her eyes widening as he shoved the book into his book bag, which he pulled close to his chest. "Wait. How could I not have noticed you?"

Regulus shrugged his shoulder, not wanting to bring up the subject of magic while also wishing to ignore the presence of the two Muggle girls.

The second leaned over. "You didn't tell me he was this cute, Olivia."

"Grace," the girl who'd tried introducing herself to him the other day said as Regulus held his book bag closer to him, not understanding how the one Muggle girl had been able to see him while the other had not, at least until the second had inconveniently broken his spells by sitting on him. He took a deep breath.

"Well, he's actually quite good-looking," the girl said as his eyes closed, but in the back of his head, REgulus found himself wishing it was just the one girl, the one who had asked about books, not understanding why he was interested in the brown-haired, brown-eyed Muggle girl.

"Mildly. Only mildly," Regulus told himself.

"Would you go out with my friend Olivia here?"

"I—yes," Regulus said, not really thinking about the question as the answer slipped from his tongue, simply wanting to get the two off his back, only for his eyes to spring open upon realizing what he'd said. His eyes blinked, only for him to find himself grateful that the bus had arrived at the stop near Sirius' flat.

As Olivia chided Grace, he hurried to get off, feeling a slight flush to his cheeks, not noticing the former following him until she said, "Sorry. I didn't mean for my friend to make things awkward like that."

Regulus turned, his eyes blinking as he continued holding onto his bag. "Wait. This isn't your stop."

"I can walk to the pizza parlor from here," Olivia said, frowning.

"I need to get going. My brother's waiting for me," Regulus said, walking away.

"Wait," Olivia said. When he'd managed a few steps away, she asked, "Is magic real?"

"What?" Regulus turned, staring, realizing he'd slipped, revealing himself to a Muggle girl, which made the feeling of panic grow. Yet, something about this girl—the Muggle- also attracted him or his curiosity. He could not put a finger on the feelings running through his head.

"I was just wondering if the stories my grandfather told me when I was little are true," Olivia said.

Regulus swallowed. "I don't know how to answer that question, to be honest. And I really need to go."

"Yeah. You said your brother's waiting," Olivia said. "Hope to see you soon."

He should have said no. He knew he should have at least said maybe, but instead, for some unexplicit reason, Regulus said again, nervously like before, "I—yes."