Sleep results in the headache breaking away sometime at night, only for sore muscles from sitting up on the couch at his aunt's and uncle's to replace the headache.

Even stranger—

"You're already over here?"

Regulus' eyes blinked, his mind registering Adrian's presence as he turned his head, only to cringe upon seeing he'd slept in until noon. He let out another yawn, stretching and turning back to Adrian. "But you're here as—hey! That's my notebook."

"I was just curious..." Adrian said, flipping through the notebook as he crossed his legs in one of the chairs.

"You shouldn't be digging through..."

"...whether you managed to write any more lyrics," Adrian said. "Which you have."

"They're not any good, though," Regulus sighed.

"Come on." Adrian closed the notebook, waving it. You have actually managed not to disappoint."

"I..." Regulus stopped speaking, never getting to the point of asking if Adrian spoke the truth. "Sorry, but I can't do this."

"Look. I'm sorry about taking your notebook, but..."

"Not that. I mean the band." Regulus let out a sigh. "Not with how things are with Sirius right now, not until I know things aren't—I really don't know how things stand."

"There you are!" Ignatius said. "I'd invited Adrian over as I figured you needed a friend your age, given how crazy things are with everything that's going on with Sirius right now."

"What do..." Regulus closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. "How much did Papa and maman say? Regarding Sirius?"

"That," Ignatius said, is a conversation for another time, my dear boy. "You simply need to relax as it's the beginning of your summer term before the two of you take your O.W.L.s, which will be a very stressful year of studying, so please take time to enjoy yourselves. And I'm glad you two are friends."

"Family," Regulus corrected. "We're family."

"Really?" Ignatius said.

"It's not as if she'd ever approve of anyone as a friend," he muttered. He thought, with silence, that nobody in the room had heard him.

"By that, do you mean Walburga?" Ignatius said. "I know things are difficult, what with her not approving of any of your older brother's friends..."

"I honestly can't think of a single person she'd approve of," Regulus said, leaning into his hand.

"Not my Adrian here?"

"Adrian's family. He doesn't count."

"Adrian, I do apologize," Ignatius turned to Adrian. "Regulus can be a bit..."

"Odd?" Adrian said. "I already know about this. Instead of asking him to invite over friends, ask him to invite over acquaintances instead, though there may be no telling who he'll invite over."

Regulus shrugged, but then, he looked right at Adrian. "Wait? Was that an insult?"

"Can we discuss this later?" Adrian said, looking at his uncle. "Maybe when..."

"I'll leave!" Ignatius threw up his hands. "Then you two can chat."

The man left, leaving them. Regulus frowned, closing his eyes, wanting to go back to sleep, the familiar smells and textures of his aunt and uncle's place calming him. "So, what did that mean?"

"I've got the feeling you, for one thing, would invite over the sort that mother of yours wouldn't approve of," Adrian said, returning to the notebook.

"Hey! You can't!" Regulus said, swallowing.

"I will," Adrian said. "So the band members, since..."

"I told you, I can't."

"You'll be wearing a mask."

"But if she finds out? I mean, the one song hit rather hard to home."

"She won't. She doesn't listen to that kind of music."

"But Sirius does, and he's in the house. And he never listens to me," Regulus blurted out, waving his hands. "He's always..."

"Maybe, if you write music, he'll finally listen to what you have to say."

"Huh?" Regulus frowned, confused. "What does that mean?"

"If you did do the band thing, though," Adrian said, still looking through the notebook, flipping pages. "And didn't tell her, would you invite them over as acquaintances?"

Regulus tilted his head. "Yes. Why..."

"Bloody Merlin. You didn't even think that through, did you?"

"Not that she's ever asked me to invite acquaintances over so I've never..."

"Regulus!" Adrian sighed. "You may be worse than that brother of yours for getting into trouble!"

"What?" Regulus pointed a thumb at his chest. "Who, me? I don't go around school pranking the rival house, nearly getting a student..." His mouth snapped shut, and he closed his eyes. "Oh, never mind. Never, never mind."

"You know I can be both family and friend?"

"Nope. There's family, there's friends, and there's acquaintances."

"Sure. I hope she never asks you to invite acquaintances over."

"But Ruiz and Figgis are nice. If I could be friends with them, I'd want to be."

Adrian stopped speaking and looked at Regulus. He said, "You would want to be friends with them?"

"Yes, but she'd never let me."

"Because of their blood status?"

Regulus nodded his head.

"And it never occurred to you she'd never even let them in the house if she knew their blood status?" Adiran sighed. "Bloody Merlin. I've met that woman at one of Uncle Ignatius and Aunt Lucretia's functions, and I think she'd actually kill them Reg. So no. Don't invite acquaintances over, for the life of them, don't."

"Oh. Kay." Regulus pressed his thumbs together, frowning.

"Hey?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there really a werewolf at the school?"

"Huh?" Regulus' head shot up. "How did..."

Adrian held the notebook, moving it up and down so it shook. "Your lyrics."

"Oh, bloody not again!" Regulus said. "Uh, no. There is no werewolf. Absolutely..."

"I like the lyrics, and I doubt anybody who didn't know would guess, so does it really matter?"

"Yeah, it bloody matters!" Regulus said, his face turning red. "Sirius would kill me!"

"Sirius would..." Adrian snapped the notebook open. "Sirius isn't a werewolf, so...oh. Uh, boy. That's. Well."

"Well, what?"

Adrian closed his eyes, closing the notebook. "I overheard you and Sirius the other day, remember?"

"And?"

Adrian opened his eyes. "The lyrics, 'His once in a blue moon' and 'Give the children a chance to live a normal life,' all in a song about werewolf children? Do you even understand how political that is, Reg?"

"I don't understand politics so that I will say no."

"And that would explain a lot, I guess." Adrian tapped the notebook against his neck. "Do you believe in werewolf rights? What is your stance?"

"Anybody turned into a werewolf as a child should be taken care of by the Ministry of Magic for life," Regulus said.

"Why?"

"Because it's not their fault, they were turned, whereas adults are supposed to take precautions and such."

"That's a bit harsh," Adrian said. "Given I think even adults have issues preparing for those things."

"They do?"

"Ugh. You are so blindly naive," Adrian said. "But, you do have the stance spelled out here that—well, I think Sirius might want to hear what you think on this one?"

"I'm sure he doesn't," Regulus said, glancing away. "He never listens to what I say. I mean, you heard him. He'll never listen to a snake in the grass."

"Then be someone else. Be..." Adrian opened the notebook up, the color draining from his face, and then, his voice tightened. "Reg? Do you support You-Know-Who?"

"If you mean whether I'm a Death Eater or..."

"I mean, do you support his cause? Do..."

"I'm too young," Regulus said.

"But if you were old enough?" Adrian snapped the book closed.

"He's making the world a better place."

"Bloody Merlin," Adrian threw the notebook at him. "Fuck you!" He stood up. "You know. You're right! You can't do this thing because there is absolutely no way that you could be part of our group with that kind of belief."

"You don't want..."

"To what? Discuss it?"

"No. A world where we don't have to hide from Muggles?"

"Bloody Merlin!" Adrian got up. "Do you even know what you're talking about? He murders people! He murders—it's all in the papers."

"The papers?" Regulus' eyes blinked. "Bella says they're all lies."

"What?" Adrian sucked in his breath. "I can't do this!" He took another deep breath. "Regulus, you are bloody on your own, but I never want to see your face again."

"What did I..."

"You bloody idiot!" Adrian said loud enough for Uncle Adrian to come into the room. "I'm not interested in any of that that you're spouting off..." Adrian turned his head to his uncle. "I'm going home, but I'll be telling Fabian and Gideon they can keep their darling Death Eater cousin!"

"What?"

Adrian walked over, grabbed Floo powder, and disappeared.

Ignatius turned to Regulus. "What did you say?"

"That I didn't want to scare Muggles?"

"That can't possibly be what you said, Regulus!" Lucretia said.

"But isn't that the reason we're in hiding," Regulus muttered. He reached a hand up, squeezing his arm. "But maybe he doesn't understand?" His eyes widened. "Was I the only one? I mean, Sirius never..."

"Regulus, what are you talking about."

Regulus closed his eyes. "Isn't the reason maman never let us play with the neighborhood children because of me? Because I scared them?"

The silence—

He took a deep breath. "I thought so. It's why Sirius thinks I'm a monster?"

"Regulus, I'm not sure..."

"It did happen, though? That something happened to scare the Muggle children near Grimmauld Place, and I was the cause."

There came more silence.

"I thought so."

"We thought you didn't remember."

"Lucretia, I'm not sure..."

"I don't care what Walburga thinks," Lucretia said, shaking her head. "I told her trying to erase everyone's memories wouldn't resolve any of the issues."

"I thought so," Regulus said, picking up his notebook and setting it in his lap. His hands shook, and a few tears fell. "But, Adrian says I can't be a part of that, their band? Because I..." He swallowed. "I hate being different."

"Regulus."

He sighed, opening the notebook and scribbling down more lyrics, unsure where any of it was going beyond the fact that doing so made him feel better.

"I'll talk to Adrian," Ignatius said. "There's obviously been a misunderstanding.

"I doubt it," Regulus thought, writing lyrics about wanting to feel like everyone else, wanting to be friends, and not being allowed so many things.

Writing the lyrics—

Doing so became cathartic even if he was out of the group.