Upside Down Mirror: Granger Yet

Catching the Present

Regulus' forearm burned for what felt like forever, but eventually, the summons from Voldemort faded away. The fear of what the sudden sensation meant didn't fade away and he took a deep breath to push it into the back of his head, knowing there were more immediate concerns. After all, when he dropped the plate he heard his wife and younger two girls call out in worry.

"Mom, what's going on?" Elizabeth spoke hesitantly, almost as if she felt like the sudden episode she just witnessed was an off-limits topic.

In a way, they were, for there'd been a similar episode the summer vacation before Hermione's second year where she asked her Muggle parents—or the parents she thought were both Muggles—to accompany her on her shopping trip for school supplies because she wanted to share her world—the world Regulus was from, with both of them.

Regulus liked making his girls happy, sometimes as his wife said, to his detriment. Despite the warnings going off in his head that it wasn't a good idea to venture back into the Wizarding World lest someone ended up recognizing him, yet he told himself nobody would expect him of all people to be dressed in a Muggle manner.

After all, Elizabeth insisted she would not attend Hogwarts, disbelieving she was a witch-like Hermione, yet Regulus and Olivia were concerned about her getting behind and wanted to purchase the books she would need to self-study which in turn meant getting the books for her.

Yet, everything that could go wrong did.

He'd not expected one of Hermione's friends to be the son of James Potter and Lily Evans, yet there he was looking like his father with the eyes of his mother which was just as disconcerting as Mr. Weasley's strange obsession with Muggle money which had over the years become a normal thing for him.

Drinks with Mr. Weasley and all his strange questions about Muggles was an enjoyable thing, which felt a tad strange given his lack of any friends back at Hogwarts—people he could truly call friends. He'd not expected Lockhart standing there, signing books that were lies while he told Olivia that they would not be getting a second set of his books for Elizabeth.

Without reading them, he was sure they were filled with lies, never having liked his interactions with Lockhart.

The fact he'd interacted with Lockhart made him worry he might recognize him, only for Lockhart to gravitate towards Harry for some reason Regulus couldn't fathom given the fact Hermione's friend seemed like a quite normal boy, raised by his mother to not have some of James Potter's less than admirable traits.

It still left him reeling and unprepared for seeing Lucius Malfoy followed closely by a child Regulus assumed was Cissy's boy, let alone the ensuing fight between the two grown men, nor was he prepared for Elizabeth to outright reject the books they brought home.

Regulus took a deep breath, refocusing himself. "Now is not the time to have a mental breakdown." He pressed his fingers together while thinking over the situation. "My mental breakdown back then might be why Hermione never talks about her life in the wizarding world let alone why Elizabeth wants nothing to do with it."

He glanced up at whoever was nearby but found himself surprised to see Jules there, her stuffed rabbit clutched in her arms. She said nothing, simply looking at him and he let his mouth twist into a smile, wanting her to not feel so worried about what was going on with him in that particular moment.

"I'm okay."

"You're not okay," Elizabeth muttered. "And mom. Why aren't you explaining what happened? That wasn't normal."

Regulus felt his gut clench, picking up the panic in Elizabeth's voice while Jules continued looking at him. He opened his mouth, expecting to say something before Olivia or Elizabeth, worrying his middle daughter might spew more words out from her panic when Jules held her stuffed rabbit out to him. "Here."