Granger Yet
Further Headache

"What further headache am I having to deal with now?"

There wasn't much time to think of what kind of headache Sirius managed this time beyond the fact Apparating a second time made his head swim, as did the awakening whispered mutters of the family portraits—although there might have been some such mutters from the portraits during the din of his arrival. Regulus couldn't right remember, distracted as he was by other things and having preferred going about the hose unnoticed.

Missing from the cacophony was the voice of one portrait in particular, with Regulus remembering, despite his state of mind, the screaming of his mother as Sirius and his brother's friend hauled him up the stairs, and instead, he heard—

"Jules," Regulus muttered, rocking slightly as a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him. His left hand managed to reach out and grab onto the handrail as Sirius let go of his arm. "What is she…."

"I'm sorry!" Hermione blurted out. "In all the commotion, I forgot."

Regulus felt his gray eyes blink, the confusion not going away as his older brother said. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"That they were coming?" Regulus asked, watching Elizabeth look up at the landing he stood on, her eyes wide. She stood there, her hands clutching the handle of her sewing machine that she, for some reason, brought with her even though, in the back of Regulus' mind, he didn't think she'd be able to use it there. Jules was still crying on the floor for reasons currently left unexplained. Thoughts of her hating him, even more crossed his mind as he contemplated how to handle the situation best.

"Uh, no," Sirius said. "I mean, I didn't—I just wanted to calm her down. I didn't know. I really didn't know to touch her when she's upset," Sirius said.

Regulus turned his head, looking at his brother, his eyes narrowing. "How could you not know?"

Sirius looked at him with wide eyes, and Regulus heard Jules' crying lessen slightly in volume. "What do you mean? How could I not know?"

"She's my daughter, Sirius, "Regulus said, glaring at his brother, lowering his voice so those on the ground floor couldn't hear what he said next. "And don't you dare call her a monster?"

"Hey!" Sirius said.

"Dad?" Elizabeth said from down below, making Regulus turn to look at his middle daughter, who—

"Don't put words into my mouth, Sirius said as Jules' tears turned from heartbreaking sobs to sniffles. And then—

"Daddy!"

Regulus heard the footsteps on the stairs and turned his head in time for his youngest to tackle him around the waist, causing him to stagger and find the need to sit on the top of the step, returning the child's hug to the best of his ability. "There, there. I am here. Really, I am."

At the same time, Hermione said, "Careful, Jules. Dad's already hit his head," and then paused briefly before adding. "At least once."

"You are?" Elizabeth said from downstairs, her voice straining as if she were about to burst into tears.

"He has?" said another voice from above, which made Regulus look up to see Molly Weasley standing there on the same floor as them, her mouth pressed into a frown. He heard the sound of Elizabeth setting down her heavy sewing machine.

Regulus felt his gut clench, remembering having given the impression three summers ago that he was a Muggle, yet in the back of his mind, he knew she couldn't possibly be pleased with the deception, let alone his status as a Death Eater. "Mrs. Weasley, I…."

He found himself nearly knocked backward again as another hurried up the stairs and latched on. His eyes blinked, feeling tears from both girls wetting his black shirt, but as carefully as possible, or perhaps as well as he could, he attempted to return their hugs. "Lizzy. I thought you wouldn't want to see me, princess."

"Don't call me that!" Elizabeth protested, her voice muffled by his shirt. "And why wouldn't I want to see you?"

"Because," Regulus said, thinking of how she'd reacted before he left. He started to turn his attention back to Molly to apologize when another person spoke.

"Well, Molly! Isn't it great that we found Mr. Granger here at Grimmauld place? I thought we'd be looking forever for him."

"It's not Granger," Sirius muttered in irritation.

"Arthur, really," Molly said, a sigh escaping from the Weasley matriarch. She clicked her tongue. "And what is this about you having hit your head?"

"That," Regulus said, his head swimming from being Apparated, the mutterings of the portraits, and his youngest knocking him off his feat. Through his teeth, he lied. "I'm fine."

"You are not," Molly said. "And what is with your hand?"

Regulus turned his head to look at the hand Hermione bandaged, not flinching as he looked at it. "Oh. Nothing."

"Nothing?" Hermione said.

"Wait, a second," Sirius said, his voice growing louder. The tone—Regulus had never liked when his older brother got that particular tone. "What did you do to your hand?"

"Nothing," Regulus muttered, as the portrait below suddenly went off as Sirius raised his voice enough, making Sirius hurry past, thundering down the stairs.

"You bloody," Sirius said, muttering curses at their mother—although the portrait was just a representation of her.

"I CAN YELL VERY LOUD TOO!"

Regulus cringed, his eyes closing. "Jules, sweetie."

"Jules!" Lizzy said, pulling away, turning to tug at the front of his shirt. "She's gone bonkers, yelling and talking to that portrait downstairs. As crazy as that man there!"

"That man there?" Regulus said, tilting his head as Sirius thankfully snapped the curtains of the portrait shut. "And talking to that portrait?"

"I know," Sirius said, starting up the stairs. Regulus opened his eyes to see a huge grin on his brother's face. "She actually made mother at a loss for words; she did. Genius, I say."

"Uh, huh," Regulus said.

"Hey," Jules said. "I wanted to yell with her some more."

Regulus' eyes blinked, his mind wrapping around the idea of his youngest wanting to yell with Walburga Black. Elizabeth twisted around so she could sit on the stairs next to him. "Don't you dare! You're quite mad, you know! This whole place is mad."

"But," Jules opened her mouth, turning to yell over the stair railing at the curtained painting.

"Jules! No!" Regulus said. His eyes closed. "Please don't. Daddy's head hurts."

"So much for being alright," Molly said, walking over. "Girls. Please head to the drawing room so I can see your father."

"And who are you?"

"Lizzy!" Hermione said, obviously horrified at the way her sister spoke.

"She's," Regulus started saying.

"Someone who is going to see what we can do to get your dad patched up," Molly said.

"I can help!" Jules said a tad too loudly. "Jules can help!"

"Why can't daddy patch himself up?" Lizzy said. "He's a doctor, isn't he?"

"Isn't he a dentist?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Yes, well," Hermione said. "He is."

"And a doctor. And a book clerk. And whatever he," Elizabeth said, pulling away. "Never mind! I don't know why I bothered!"

And then she was gone, or almost. "Wait. Where's the drawing room?"

"Through that door," Molly said.

"I can help daddy!" Jules continued insisting, continuing to hold onto him. "Daddy's a doctor and can patch himself up!"

"Yes, well," Molly said.

Regulus frowned, waiting for a response from Sirius, expecting his older brother to say something like, "And how did that go for you?" Yet nothing came. He opened his eyes, looking at his brother to see Sirius frowning at him, the smirk gone, but following his eyes, he saw his brother looking at his hand.

"Jules?" he said.

"Yes?"

"You can help daddy by doing as she says," Regulus said.

"Oh! Okay," his youngest let go of him and started hurrying towards the drawing room, only to screech to a stop a few feet away before turning back to hurry down the stairs.

"Jules," Regulus said. "Wrong way."

She continued down, going past Sirius, who followed her. "I've no idea what she's," his older brother said, and then Jules started back up, a familiar rabbit in her arms. Sirius frowned. "Oh. That thing."

"Daddy needs his rabbit!" Jules said, shoving the well-loved stuffed toy at him right in the face before taking off to the drawing room.

"Thank you," Regulus muttered, glad to feel the rabbit in his hands, letting it continue to press against his face. It was a pleasant feeling, particularly with how his head still pounded.

He heard Arthur Weasley clear his throat. "So, I'm confused. About the whole dentist thing."

"Arthur. It's really not the time," Molly sighed. "Sirius, if you please?"

"I am missing something, though," Arthur said, coming further up the stair, tugging on Sirius' arm as he did so. "It's good to see you're relatively alright, Mr. Granger."

"It's not Granger," Sirius said, heading into the drawing room with Arthur and Lupin.

"It is, too," Regulus muttered, both hands gripping the sides of the stair.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked.

"You can help by keeping your sisters occupied. I really need to have a word with your father, Ms. Hermione Granger," Molly said.

Regulus closed his eyes, already dreading the conversation, still remembering he'd not yet apologized.