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“Muggles messed with something they shouldn’t have.”
It was a simple declaration, one which seemed to come more frequently from Walburga Black as the years passed, but then the matriarch of the Black family wasn ’t one to let it go that Muggles had managed to make the outside world unsafe.
At least—unsafe for them, or so was said at first when the incidents started occurring, and those in the Wizarding world thought themselves safe from the problem plaguing the Muggles. Ghosts, after all, were never something Wizards had any problem with, even though their kind sometimes tended to linger and not head onto the afterlife.
But then, the world wasn ’t dealing with the ghosts of wizards and witches, perhaps even Squib lingering after they died. However, neither Sirius nor Regulus could recollect anything regarding a Squib lingering behind, and Walburga was quick to quell such questions. Instead, both were expected to remain inside, where it was safe.
“I don’t understand why we just do nothing.”
Sirius paused from where he sat on the couch, or more of lounged upside down in an attempt to stay off the boredom. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“Yes. I heard you,” Sirius muttered, his eyes going wide as he looked at his younger brother. “And I can’t believe I just heard that come from your mouth.”
“I’m not sure why you’re surprised,” Regulus said, sitting opposite of his older brother, a book in his lap, studious as ever and, in Sirius’s opinion, not the best judge of the reality of a given situation. “I think it’s a definite missed opportunity, particularly the longer we wait.”
Sirius stared, then let out a sigh. “And what do you mean by that?”
“The Muggles are dealing with an obvious magical catastrophe,” Regulus said. “One that is likely to make them forget some of their old prejudices against us, but only if we act sooner rather than later as the longer this goes on, the more likely they’re to anger us turning a blind eye or even blame us for being the reason it happened in the first place.”
“Of course,” Sirius said, letting out a rather annoyed huff at what his brother said. “There had to be a catch to you being nice to Muggles, wasn’t there?”
“What do you mean there’s a catch?” Regulus looked at his older brother, frowning. “I don’t know where you got this idea from.”
Sirius pushed himself up, twisting so he could now actually sit on the couch without missing a beat, and said, “This is about showing off your supposed superiority, isn’t it?”
Regulus let out a snort. “It’s about what? Are you serious? And don’t crack that lame joke you’re always cracking with your name. Because I’m actually being serious about this, and you’re turning it into a joke.”
“You only want to help the Muggles so that they see you as a Wizard as superior.”
“You’re putting words into my mouth,” Regulus said. “And it is the job of the superior to be….”
“See! I’m not putting words into your mouth.”
“Well, since I have the superior intelligence between the two of us, let me help you out by saying, yes, you are putting words into my mouth Sirius, but what is bloody wrong with helping those inferior to us in their time of need.”
“Did you just?” Sirius stiffened, then reached for a pillow, lobbing it at his brother’s head. “You just actually said you’re superior to me! You little arse!”
Regulus let the pillow fall, far from amused. “In intelligence. You’ve got the superior looks, the superior social skills, the superior charisma. Shall I go on about how you’re superior to me? Or should I go into how many times you’ve turned a blind eye to those inferior to you in their times of need? Shall I, Sirius?”
“You are a bloody moron and an insufferable git!” Sirius snapped, shaking his head, far from amused. “You don’t even understand the words coming out of your mouth!”
“Oh, I completely understand the words coming out of my mouth,” Regulus muttered. “It’s you who doesn’t understand what I’m saying. You never do.” And then came the sigh. “Not that anybody really understands what I say, so I guess it’s not….”
And then he stopped, staring. Sirius frowned. “If you want to help the Muggles, then why don’t you?”
“Because all I have is my superior intelligence,” Regulus said. “And what I say always goes over people’s heads, yourself included.”
“Yes. But it’s not for unselfish reasons that you want to help them, is it?”
“I’d have thought you, who wants to be friends with Muggles, would be more inclined to this idea,” Regulus said.
“But you don’t.”
“Who says I don’t?” Regulus said.
Sirius opened his mouth, only to find nothing coming out. He finally said. “Mother. Mother wouldn’t have anything to do with it, and if she said no, you wouldn’t.”
“You really don’t understand her, do you?” Regulus said, closing his book and setting it beside him.
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
“Do you understand why she doesn’t want us to be friends with Muggles?”
“Because they’re inferior to us,” Sirius said.
Regulus rolled his eyes. “Everybody is inferior to us, Sirius. We are, after all, members of the House of Black.”
“Yes. Yes. Pureblood elitists. I get it.”
“No, you really don’t,” Regulus said. “Because we’re not just Purebloods. We’re the Pureblood family.” And then, “And I see this is going over your head, but to get to the point I was trying to make, maman—her issue with Muggles is the fact we have to hide who we are, so us being out in the open and not having to hide who she is….”
“Would change nothing,” Sirius said. “She would still loathe and despise Muggles and think them below her.”
“Of course, she would. I think the only person she doesn’t think below her is her husband,” Regulus Black said. “I mean, isn’t the only reason we’re around because they needed an heir and a spare, just in case anything happens to you?”
Sirius felt the color drain from his face. “What did you….”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” Regulus said. He frowned. “Also, another problem with me fixing the situation with the Muggles is I’m honestly out of the loop regarding what is going on. How it started, that kind of thing. What magic they had to have messed with to get this kind of stuff to happen. If I could just get an idea of what was going on, what caused the problem in the first place, I could come up with a solution.”
Sirius let out a sigh, standing up. “Stop being so full of yourself, Regulus.” And then, “Even you aren’t smart enough to figure out the solution to this ghost problem. Nor are you brave enough to do anything about it.” He saw how his brother’s eyes changed, darkening. “And I’m glad of it.” He walked over and ruffled the top of Regulus’ hair only to have his hand batted away in irritation. “To me, you’re not just a spare.”
“Aren’t you bored, though?” Regulus asked.
Sirius flinched, his hand reaching to continue ruffling the top of his brother ’s head. “Wait? Are you…”
“Am I suggesting we do something together?” Regulus said, his eyes lightening and his mouth forming a pout. “Yes.”
“Regulus,” Sirius said. He then sighed. “I need to think about this. I still think you’re a wanker, though, who only cares about this to further your own self.”
“But you’d be the one getting all the glory because you would have to do the hard work, I think,” Regulus said. He then froze. “No, never mind. It’s foolish of me.”
“What is?”
“I am not to put the family heir in danger. I’ll think of something else,” Regulus said.
“Oh no, you’re not,” Sirius said. “Did you not hear me? About you not just being a spare to me? You think too much about what kind of loss you would be to the family and never about what kind of loss you would be to me. So enough with this ghost business. Put it out of sight, out of mind.”
“Fine.”