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To the neighbors, he was a curiosity.
Regulus knew that given the way they looked at him once he started venturing outside of the Granger house, even when they first brought him home from their clinic. And he was sure that they were talking about his sudden presence, not that it bothered him given the fact he was used to others talking about him, often right in front of his face.
After all, he ’d always been the quiet member of the Black family, always going unnoticed, consistently underestimated because of how small he was. Which was perhaps the one good thing about his small size that he’d always hated, yet the Granger older siblings seemed to adore—that he was a younger, smaller brother than they were that they could effectively spoil.
He ’d heard them talk about Sirius, the Black family black sheep. They heard them talk about him, the strange one who didn’t fit in with the other Purebloods, and everyone noticed. Sirius spoke about him to his friends, saying he was the child his parents wanted, always wholly missing the fact their parents would have much preferred Sirius, the healthy child—something that became more obvious to him when he started reading the medical textbooks.
There was no denying he was smaller than he should have been for a Black, but even the Grangers were concerned about how he was underweight. He ’d never had anybody to voice his concerns regarding his lack of weight, and that he ’d always felt it wasn’t right before now. “ Sure, grandfather was a healer, but as a Black, there was an expectation, so coming to him with that—I don ’t think I could have. ”
Yet, despite seeing the neighbors and knowing they were talking behind his back, he ’d not interacted with them. Something made him think the Grangers were limiting his interactions, which made sense given how he’d smashed into their coffee table, having Apparated out of nowhere. It wasn’t that they hated the fact he was magical. It was more that they were hiding his magical abilities to protect him.
So, he wasn ’t expecting one of the neighbors to up and pay a visit.
“Why don’t you make us tea, Rabbit?” maman said, smiling at him while the neighbor lifted her eyebrows in amusement, or at least the oldest of his two siblings told him that’s what was likely happening when someone raised their eyebrows and smiled. Still, it was a good kind of amusement.
And, he was pretty pleased that he was able to make tea, among the other things he’d learned from his new maman. “So this is the young man living with you. Quite the sweetheart.”
“He is,” maman said. “He’s a wonderful addition to our family.”
“So you’ve adopted him?”
Regulus made the tea, everything at a level so that he didn ’t have to lift his arms to the higher shelves just yet, though eventually, they’d be moved back up to the shelves.
“Actually, he’s Olivia’s husband,” maman said without batting an eye.
Regulus paused, still smiling, looking at the woman, unsure how she would react. And there was a definite look of surprise and stare, so he decided to continue making the tea simply. He wasn ’t looking at the neighbor when she said, “Are you okay with that? No, you and your husband must be okay with it. It’s just surprising.”
“It’s a complicated situation. He’s a good kid, despite having a bit of trouble. We almost lost him.”
“You’re s0…” The neighbor let out a humming sound. “You and your husband are so understanding and kind.” She then looked at him. “You’re quite lucky.”
And Regulus let his smile grow, his way of saying he knew, before going back to his tea, not surprised that a frown at his behavior appeared. “Um, Eleanor?”
“It’s alright. As I said, we’re lucky Rabbit is alive. He’s slowly regaining mobility and the ability to speak.”
“I see. Thank you for explaining. Poor…” The woman paused. “Eleanor, what’s his name? It can’t possibly be Rabbit.”
“Oh. That’s Olivia’s nickname for him that we’ve come to use as well. As he’s taken our last name, his name is Sebastian Cesario Granger.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Sebastian.”
And he smiled in response before going over to the writing pad nearby, writing out, “ It ’s nice to meet you as well. ”
It was shaky, given that he was still working on using his left hand, his dominant hand. He moved to bring the tray a little shakily as maman explained he was still working on regaining his mobility. Doing tasks like this was good for him as it was an excellent alternative to just physical therapy.
“I know!” The woman slammed her hand down. “They’re married so that they could come with you and Leontes to ballroom dancing.”
“I don’t know,” maman said, turning to look at Regulus, who was pouring the tea, taking it slow, so he didn’t spill, which was likely why she had him make tea—a way to improve his skill.
“Isn’t Leo too little?”
“Oh!” Maman laughed. “Leo is named after his grandfather, sweetheart.”
“Oh.”
“He speaks!”
Regulus nearly jumped, looking at the neighbor as she clapped her hand together.
“So, what do you think?”
“Come on. Don’t…”
Regulus reached down, writing. “ Supposedly, I ’m good at it. ”
His mother ’s eyes widened. “You learned ballroom dancing.”
He frowned, then wrote. “ It was expected. ”
“My. What a find you have here, Eleanor. He doesn’t seem the type to cause trouble at all.”
“You might say trouble found him,” his maman said. She turned, smiling. “But how do you feel about it, given how you feel about your family?”
He ’d not thought about it, then wrote. “ No bad memories of this. Only good ones. ”
“Then I’ll talk to Olivia and papa.”
“Papa?” the neighbor asked.
“It’s what he calls Leo. One of the few things he’s comfortable saying.”
“How adorable! He’s absolutely…” The neighbor clapped her hands. “And you. Does he call you mama?”
Regulus thought she was making too big a deal over such simple actions but said, “ Maman. ”
Maman smiled. “That’s what he calls me, to answer your question.”
…
And so—he and Olivia would join them for ballroom, under the strict instructions not to overdo it and let them know if anything felt off or sit if he started getting tired as he was still physically recovering.
Yet, despite how excited he was—
“You’re not wanting to do this.”
Which startled Olivia as she looked at his small notepad. He wanted to say dressing up did make him feel uncomfortable since it was the first time.
“I. No. I’m just not used to dressing up like this, and I’ve never done this before. Never thought I would.”
“Sorry.”
“No! Don’t. I’m doing it with you,” Olivia smiled. “And I can’t know until I try. You like it?”
Regulus smiled, feeling nervous as he held her hand. Maman said something about it being their first official date, but it wasn ’t lost on him how backward his and Olivia’s relationships were to a normal relationship.
And—
When they arrived, there were whispers, something about whether they should be there as it was for married couples, only for the neighbor, the one to suggest it to hurry over, saying something about their marital status, and—
“Yeah. I’ve gotten the same response when I told my friends that you’re not my boyfriend or fiance—we’re actually married. And, I don’t know what I’m doing, so be patient with me.”
He smiled, nodded his head and—
He enjoyed himself, although he did quickly tire. Which possibly made the question of them being able to keep up correct, albeit he didn ’t think they messed up too much before they had to sit, and he fell asleep leaning up against Olivia. And he didn’t care, as he enjoyed doing it with her.
She nudged him awake when it was time to go and said, “I enjoyed it, though I think I’ve got a bit to learn if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.”