Homeward Bound | Regulus Black

Chapter Nine

Regulus stood at the top of the staircase in Grimmauld Place, and ran a hand through his growing hair to comb it out of his eyes. It was the first morning in a while he'd woken up before Esme. As he'd trudged out of bed and onto the landing, the house was eerily quiet.

"Es?" He called out.

No reply.
He began descending the stairs and paused halfway down to call again, "Esme?"

It was fair to say that over the past week, since they'd left Hogsmeade, Regulus had been in a pretty irritable mood. Given this had coincided with a low-energy week that Esme had mostly spent in bed, this had minimised any risk of her testing his patience.

"Yeah?" A voice called back, "I'm in the living room."
He looked up at the clock on the wall. Seven o'clock in the morning. He frowned. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Sh!" Esme exclaimed, "I can't hear it when you speak." Regulus finally reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the living room to see the woman crouched down on the floor with her ear pressed up against the far wall.

After stifling a yawn, he questioned, "What's going on?"
"I can hear the muggle neighbours... I think." She replied.

Regulus pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment. "I think I need a cup of tea before you try to explain that to me." He tiredly rubbed his eyes, "Do you want a coffee?"

"I've got one, thanks." Esme explained as she stood up and listened against a different part of the wall, "And I made you a tea. It's on the kitchen table."
"Oh, thank you." He went to collect the still-steaming mug and, when he entered the room again, he asked, "Have you seen Kreacher this morning?"

Esme nodded and answered, "He was in the kitchen this morning muttering something about dust. Those years on his own really did a number on him."

That caught Regulus' attention, but he didn't know why. Almost as though he was supposed to remember something he'd forgotten. As if something was right on the tip of his tongue that needed to be said. He shook his head, took a sip of his tea, and sat down in the armchair. "So what are you doing with you ear against the wall?" He questioned as he watched Esme.

She finally moved away from the wall and turned to face him. "I think I can hear the muggle neighbours."
"You what?"
Esme pointed to the wall, "Through there."

"There's no way you can hear them - this place is so heavily enchanted against that." Regulus explained before taking another sip of his drink.

"I'm serious!" She complained, "If I press my ear against the wall, I can hear them. They've got noisy kids, I swear! You can't hear it if you don't press your ear against the wall."
He chuckled and set his mug down on the table beside the chair. "Well don't press your ear against the wall then. Problem solved."

Esme sighed and shook her head with disappointment as he dismissed her fun, and she wandered towards Regulus and sat on the arm of the chair he was in. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I think you're just spoiling my fun." She lowered her head so their noses brushed against each other.
"I'm not really sure you can call that fun. I'd call it insanity." He countered.

She laughed, "And you love me anyway. I think that says more about you than it does me." She leant in to briefly connect their lips.
"Well that's not reassuring in the slightest." He chuckled.

It was quite remarkable how drastically, and how easily, Esme could lift his mood. The way she did it so effortlessly and sometimes without even being aware of it fascinated the man.

"I love you." Regulus hummed as he looked up at her.
"Eh." She shrugged with that signature lopsided smirk, "I'm indifferent."

He scoffed, and then another laugh escaped past his lips. "If you're not careful, I'll marry you."