is this agreeable to you?
When Kai steps out into the living room of Jade and Sirius’s flat, she feels a strange mixture of bashfulness and confidence — the first from the fact that she’s still quite uncomfortable with being stared at, the latter from the fact that she’s sure her choice in her ball gown and accessories are quite riveting. Luxurious enough to pass as Regulus’s significant other at Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black’s engagement ball — she’s so confident that she can imagine that even Dumbledore would be happy that he had chosen her to work undercover.
So when she steps out, in her glimmering gold ball gown, matching gold bangles, fur shoulder wrap, hair feathers — amongst other accessories she had accumulated from her years of thievery — she is entirely shocked when Regulus stares at her first blankly and uncomprehendingly, and then hard .
“No,” Regulus says immediately, blanching.
Kai feels something in her deflate as she stares at him incredulously. “ No ?” She echoes, brows shooting up as she regains her composure. “What do you mean, no ?”
“I mean, absolutely not,” Regulus continues disapprovingly, his nose wrinkling delicately as his gaze roves over her. His posh English accent is pompous and dripping with disdain as he continues, “Your choice in dress is hideous. Awfully so.”
Kai gapes at him, the low burn of embarrassment settling in her stomach as she stares at him hard. “ Hideous ?” She repeats, her voice climbing an octave.
Regulus nods, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but before he can continue, Sirius, who had been watching next to his brother, coughs, his elbow darting out to indiscreetly shove into his brother’s ribs. “What my dear, daft, daft brother means to say is that it’s…”
“—tacky,” Regulus finishes for him helpfully.
Sirius’s amiable smile twitches into a pained grimace as he shoots his brother a look out of the corner of his eye.
“I think it’s not bad,” Jade pitches in, stepping towards her to admire it. The amber-eyed girl had been watching in quiet interest from Sirius’s other side, her gaze strangely approving as she takes in Kai’s ball gown. “The fur might be a bit much, but I like it otherwise.” Behind her, Sirius is muttering to Regulus furiously, but at Jade’s comment, he stops and gapes at his girlfriend.
“Yes, but you also used to wear those awful pants—” Sirius begins, but cuts off immediately when Jade whirls around to stare at him.
“ Awful ?” She echoes incredulously. Kai winces a little out of sympathy for Sirius, who also winces underneath Jade’s stare. “You said you liked them after—”
“No, darling, I just meant—” Sirius backtracks quickly, his voice rising to a new panic, but Regulus cuts in.
“I just meant that they’re disagreeable to me,” he says evenly.
They all fall silent and still. Jade and Sirius’s eyes flicker from Kai to Regulus, who’s standing with an innocent and expectant expression on his face. Kai, on the other hand, is beginning to fume, the color rising steadily to her cheeks, not out of embarrassment, but out of irritation as she begins to work herself into an anger. “Of course,” Kai begins, ignoring the grimaces from Jade and Sirius. “Because everything just has to be agreeable to you, hm?”
Regulus’s expression falters, as if he’s realized he’s said something wrong. His eyes widen fractionally, and he straightens slowly, as if to not spook a wild animal. “That’s not what I meant—” he begins, but Kai has already steamrolled ahead.
“And what would you , pretty little aristocrat,” Kai fumes, “—would think is agreeable for me to wear, hm?”
Regulus quiets, as if then realizing that he should choose his words with care. Sirius steps forward, shooting his younger brother a warning look, but Regulus seems not to notice as an odd look flickers across his face. Kai watches as he smoothly fishes out his wand and waves it languidly. From his room, a carefully wrapped package levitates into his hands and he proffers it to her jerkily, his gaze fixating away from her pointedly. “Perhaps you’ll find this suitable,” he says, his voice revealing nothing.
Kai narrows her eyes at him, and when she makes no motion to take it, he tips his head towards it in a strangely odd-fashioned motion. Sirius, likely astutely noticing a brief deflation in her anger, grabs the wrapped package quickly and shoves it into Kai’s hand, barking out a sharp laugh of what sounds like relief. “Wonderful, Jade, love, why don’t you help her get dressed and we’ll see how this one is?”
Jade straightens quickly, nodding rapidly as she ushers Kai back into her room. “We’ll be right out,” she agrees before Kai can resist — or perhaps consider hexing Regulus. Once the door is closed behind them, Jade sighs a little as she holds out the wrapped package to Kai, who takes it grudgingly. “He’s just as bad as his brother,” Jade comments as Kai pull away at the delicate ribbon holding the package together.. “They can both be so emotionally constipated—” Jade is saying, when the words die in her throat at the sight of the unwrapped package.
Out tumbles emerald silk, the glistening fabric sliding over her hands like water as Kai holds it upright. The green is beautiful, vacillating between the color of ink and a deep green in the light. “Wow,” they both breathe out. Though Kai is stubborn and catches herself in her awe, she is also a thief with a vicious affinity to all things beautiful, so she holds no resistance as Jade begins to excitedly undo her corset to get her into the new dress.
“Why does he have this?” Kai grumbles as she slides into the dress. Admittedly, it fits better than the earlier ball gown — the fabric slides like wind against her skin and falls like water over her body.
Jade simply smiles at her in mild amusement, her gaze all-knowing as she shrugs. “I reckon he’ll find it agreeable,” is all she says as she opens the bedroom door and nudges Kai out.
When she emerges from the bedroom, Kai straightens and juts out her chin stubbornly at Regulus, who has also straightened from his earlier slouch against the wall.
Regulus is staring at her assessingly, his gray gaze heavy and roving, but unreadable otherwise. “Well?” She demands, eyeing him irritably. “Is this agreeable to you?” She didn’t think that her choice of dress earlier had been that bad at all — no, Regulus was just an uptight prude with no sense of fashion. Though his current clothes suggested otherwise — he was looking irritatingly handsome in his billowing satin shirt and finely tailored trousers. A heavyset robe of what looked like emerald velvet was folded neatly over his arm as he assessed her change of clothes. Distractingly, Kai notices that the emerald of his robes is the same color as her dress.
“Yes, it’ll do,” Regulus said shortly after a pause before turning away from her.
Kai scoffed a little, before hitching her skirt up a little to follow him. He was so bloody irritating that it was easy to forget that she fancied him sometimes. “It’ll do,” she mimicked, purposely drawing her voice in his haughty manner. “You spare no compliments to a lady and you call yourself a gentleman,” Kai grumbled under her breath.
— — — — —
The carriage ride to the Malfoy Manor is tense and silent. Kai is quiet because she can begin to feel the nerves build in her stomach — the familiar ache of anxieties that begin to gnaw at her before any mission or paid job she accepts. But this one feels different — it feels like higher stakes and she can imagine all the ways that their night could go wrong. She could imagine any of the Pureblood aristocrats seeing through her and Regulus’s cover easily — maybe they can see it in the way she holds herself that she doesn’t belong there, or the way she drinks or dances or laughs. Maybe Dumbledore made a grave mistake in entrusting this cover to her. Kai is so quietly engrossed in these thoughts that she didn’t notice that the carriage had stopped, and that Regulus had already climbed out of the carriage and had been waiting for her.
“Please forgive me and accept my hand,” Regulus says as he stares up at her. His hand is outstretched to help her down from the carriage. Kai blinks down at him a few times before she realizes that he had mistaken her silence during the carriage ride for stormy anger.
Kai would rather hex herself than admit to Regulus that she was nervous, so she shoots him a withering look to disguise any anxieties. “I’m afraid I might be disagreeable to you,” she says wryly, swallowing down her nerves.
To his credit, Regulus looks embarrassed, though she’s not sure if it’s because of what she’s said or if it’s because the other couples that had descended from the other carriages had begun to look at them curiously. “Your choice in dress was… eccentric,” Regulus says slowly.
“Wow—” Kai drawls unimpressed, but Regulus shoulders on before she can work herself into an anger.
“But I will admit my words were quite harsh, and I apologize. Please forgive me and accept my hand.” Regulus is looking up at her through his lashes, and her mind goes unhelpfully blank despite her irritation with him. In their time together, she’s never heard Regulus utter any semblance of an apology to anyone, so hearing it from him plainly is quite jarring. She’s about to move to take his hand when he continues, his gaze flitting away from her. “And, on the contrary, I never said you were disagreeable to me.”
Not fair , she thinks, swallowing thickly. Her resistance entirely dismantled, Kai grabs his hand none too gracefully and steps down from the carriage. At her contact, Regulus straightens, his fingers wrapping around her hand firmly as she steps onto the cobblestone. He lets go of her hand immediately, his hand darting into the pockets of his sleek robes, but Kai pays him no mind as she straightens her dress and looks around.
The Malfoy Manor is large and grand, with rising marble pillars decorating the front of the mansion and beautifully pruned hedges leading to a garden. Glowing orbs of colored light bob gently in the air, lighting the cobblestone path that leads to the manor’s doors.
When they enter the manor, Kai becomes immediately aware of the weight of stares. “They’re staring,” she hisses to him, though she tries to maintain a neutral expression and not one of panic. It’s difficult though, especially when she can see the unabashedly scrutinizing stares from her peripheral view. Being stared at goes against every fiber in her body, against every skill that she has survived off of thus far, but she holds in her panic.
“Of course they are,” Regulus murmurs. When she looks up at him, she’s irritated to see an expression of true impassiveness on his pretty features. If anything, he looks entirely bored as he surveys the room.
“I thought we were supposed to go unnoticed,” she whispers to him, feeling a flush crawl up the nape of her neck at all the attention.
Regulus snorts softly, his gaze finally flickering down to her in plain amusement. “No, thief,” he murmurs, quiet enough for only her to hear. “That was never the plan.” Before she can say anything else, he lifts the crook of his elbow and tilts his chin down imperceptibly at it. “We’re supposed to sell our unity. Now take my arm before you raise any more suspicions.”
Kai straightens, doing as she’s told grudgingly. When she loops her hand around the crook of his elbow, he stiffens a little. “You’re holding on too tightly,” he hisses, his eyes flaring briefly before it smoothes back into one of cordial blankness as he dips his head in greeting to a nearby couple that had glanced over in interest. Kai blinks down at her hands before realizing that irritatingly, he’s correct. She had been gripping onto his arm like a lifeline, her fingers bunching up the velvet fabric of his robes.
She loosens her hold immediately, taking a steadying breath. “I didn’t expect to be stared at like this,” she says, still feeling entirely tense. She doesn’t understand how Regulus can look so calm and unbothered in an environment like this.
“It’s because you’re with me,” he says simply, taking a gorgeous glass chalice from a nearby server’s plate. Kai eyes the glimmering details of the chalice distractedly before registering what he had just said. She narrows her eyes at him instinctively, thinking that he was being big-headed as usual, but Regulus’s expression holds nothing of his usual arrogance as he eyes the glimmering contents of the chalice assessingly.
He seems to sense her doubt because he just sighs, as if she’s being unbearably dumb. “I’m the only heir to one of the most powerful families in the Wizarding World. And I’ve never taken anyone to any of the bloody balls we always had to attend,” he continues, taking a long sip from the chalice. When he lowers the glass, his lips are stained scarlet from the wine. “Of course they’ll be staring.”
“Oh,” Kai says dumbly, tearing her gaze away from his mouth when another thought occurs to her. “Why haven’t you taken anyone—”
“ Regulus ,” a voice drawls from behind them. When they turn, Kai finds herself in the path of a tall, willowy girl her age. Immediately, Kai’s attention is dragged to the girl’s hair — long and adorned with delicate gold designs that’s glossy enough that Kai can feel her fingers begin to twitch. She’s beautiful, or she would be, if her face wasn’t twisted in a look of barely concealed contempt as it falls on Kai.
“Carrow,” Regulus greets coolly, dipping his head politely.
“Amycus,” the girl corrects, a little smile playing across her lips. She really is pretty, Kai thinks as she tears her gaze away from the gold in her hair. “We’re on a first name basis, aren’t we?” Regulus says nothing to this, and at his silence, Amycus Carrow’s gaze slides over to Kai. “And who is this?”
Kai straightens, clearing her throat as she dips her head, mimicking the way she had seen some of the other women do earlier when they entered. “Mei,” Kai answers, dipping smoothly into her fake background. Though she wished they had picked a cooler name, the others in the order had wanted something forgettable.
“Mei,” Amycus drawls, looking entirely unimpressed. Her brows arch as she scrutinizes her. “And what’s your family name?”
“Tian.”
“Hmm,” the girl hums, looking at her assessingly. “Haven’t heard of it.”
“I’m not from around here,” Kai says, casting what she hopes is a demure look, and to her relief, Amycus doesn’t seem interested in finding out more. Instead, the girl seems to have put her attention into scrutinizing Kai’s dress.
Amycus’s expression betrays little outside of the Pureblood aristocratic impassivity that Kai has gotten used to from Regulus. Kai forces herself to not straighten, and instead leans into Regulus’s arm a little more. Predictably, Amycus’s eyes track the movement impulsively. To his credit, Regulus doesn’t move away from her, but she catches the way his bicep tenses under her fingertips.
“Beautiful dress,” Amycus says finally, though her lips are pursed to suggest that she thinks otherwise. “Where is it from? I haven’t seen it in this season’s brochures.”
Kai freezes, but forces herself not to tighten her grip on Regulus’s arm. Frankly, she has no idea where the dress is from outside of Regulus tossing it to her nonchalantly earlier. Amycus seems to catch onto this because she continues, her nose wrinkled in thought — or disdain, Kai isn’t sure.
“Or is it from Cordia’s? No offense intended of course,” her attention slides to Regulus, who has been strangely quiet throughout the entire exchange. “I can’t imagine anyone connected to the Black family giving business to a shop that sells to Mudbloods.”
Amycus lets out a sharp laugh, but Kai is scrambling to follow along with the conversation. Cordia’s? Brochures? She knew she was being subtly insulted, but she had no idea what any of these words meant—
“Isn’t it from Madam Delfina’s newest line?” A new voice cuts in. Kai turns to see a girl with ash-blonde hair looking at them, her expression one of perfect boredom. It looks even more mastered than Regulus’s disinterested expression.
“Aspen,” Amycus greets with a tight-lipped smile before continuing, “No, I didn’t see it in her latest brochure—”
“By newest line, I meant, unreleased,” Aspen interrupts, stepping closer to inspect Kai’s dress. Kai can tell that the girl is subtly impressed by the way her gaze roves over Kai’s dress. “Of course, only her upper echelon have access to those designs.” Amycus’s mouth shuts, a flicker of cold irritation flashing across her face. But Aspen ignores her and turns to Regulus. “Am I correct?”
Regulus speaks up, finally , his voice strangely stiff as if he was reluctant to disclose this information. “It is of Madam Delfina’s designs,” he confirms. Kai’s gaze slides up to him discreetly, but he’s pointedly not looking at her.
“And how did you manage to convince her to sell this?” Aspen asks, her gaze roving back over Kai’s dress. Kai wants nothing more than to conjure a deep hole and bury herself within it than be perceived and scrutinized at this level, but instead, she stands perfectly still and matches the girl’s assessing stare. “I attempted to get my hands on this, but she refused me. Twice, actually. In fact, I didn’t even see this color.”
Regulus looks away, his tone bored as he answers shortly, “I had it made.” Kai’s gaze darts up to him in surprise. She hadn’t thought about the dress’ origins at all, let alone thought that it had any high society significance. He’s still pointedly not looking at her at all, his gaze roving around the room in careful disinterest.
In front of her, Amycus pales a little as she says, “Custom made?”
Regulus’s gaze turns to Amycus coolly. Kai finds herself grateful not to be on the receiving end of that, because his stare is unexpectedly chilly. “As you implied earlier, Carrow ,” he begins, his voice cold. “Only the best for those connected to the Black family.” He pauses for a beat, his eyes flickering to Kai. His gaze is heavy with significance as he looks at her, his glower softening in a way that makes her breath hitch. “And she’s to become a Black.”
Kai, who has remained silent and still for this exchange out of fear of saying something that would flag suspicion, jolts at his words. Luckily, both Aspen and Amycus seem equally as caught off guard that they don’t notice her shock as they both gape at Regulus. The witches and wizards that had been hovering around them indiscreetly also go quiet.
“The rumors are true then?” Amycus blubbers, her eyes wide with shock. “You’re engaged ? To her ?”
Almost immediately, cold anger steels Regulus’s expression as he draws himself to his full height. Kai finds herself once again relieved not to be on the receiving end of his stare because for the first time, she becomes aware of how tall he is as he looms over Amycus. His body language is sharp and intimidating, power rolling off his figure in waves. Though she’s not on the receiving end of his dark glower, she finds herself forcing herself not to shrink away as he radiates cold anger.
Amycus, however, is not as fortunate, because as she bears the full weight of Regulus’s vicious sneer, she wilts. “You were terribly mistaken if you had any delusions that I would get engaged to a Carrow ,” He jeers, his voice vicious and cruel. Either Regulus is very good at acting or he’s actually angry, Kai finds it alarming that she’s not sure which it is. “Insult my fiance again, and I’ll speed up your family’s decline.”
At his vitriol, Amycus nods swiftly, her pale face rapidly turning a violent shade of red as she bows her head. Regulus ignores this and turns back to Kai. She’s caught off guard to see the harsh anger of his expression dissipate, replaced by an impossibly apologetic quirk of his lips, as if he had accidentally stepped on her dress. “Shall we go, my love?” He murmurs, his gaze tracking across her face carefully. Unlike the other whispers they had exchanged earlier, this one is loud enough for both Amycus and Aspen to hear.
Kai nods dumbly, her stomach doing a traitorous flip as she lets Regulus gently lead her away from the two witches. They make their way out to a balcony with little interruption, most of the other attendees swiftly moving out of their way, likely because the nearby couples had been eavesdropping on Amycus’s humiliation and had new fodder for gossip. When Regulus closes the balcony door behind them and turns to her, Kai is caught off guard to see residues of his irritation still flickering across his face.
Frankly, she doesn’t know what to address first — his jarring display of cold venom or his public proclamation that they were to be married . Kai doesn’t even know how to begin to approach the second topic without perhaps tossing him off the balcony, so she begins with the first. “Are you angry?” She starts cautiously, taking in the displeased twist of his lips.
“Why’d you let her talk to you like that?”
Kai blinks, surprised by his question. When she doesn’t answer right away, Regulus continues, running a hand over his face in clear exasperation. “You get angry at me for the smallest things, and stay quiet when she’s insulting you—”
“You think I don’t understand that?” Kai interjects, a flash of irritation twisting in her gut. She had just stayed silent during the entire exchange, letting this random witch talk down to her and treat her like dirt. She had told herself she stayed silent out of caution of saying the wrong thing that would tip off their cover, but deep down inside, she knew that wasn’t the real reason. “What I didn’t understand was anything she was even saying!”
The irritation in her gut spills over into frustration. She had never fooled herself into thinking she was a part of high society, though she perhaps longed for it in the darkest corners of herself, and now that she was in it, she found herself like an alien to the entire world. She felt out of place, painfully so. But she had felt out of place since the beginning, when Dumbledore had brought her over to Britain, when she found herself in the middle of some war that she didn’t understand, when she found that she had to work with wizards that refused to trust her skills.
“ You are made for this world,” she continues, taking a step forward to jab her finger at the silk material of Regulus’s shirt. “Not me. I’m…” She had been counting on Regulus to take a step back, but he remains entirely still, and the space between them closes. He’s looking down at her with a peculiar expression, something shifting in the mercury depths of his eyes. Unhelpfully, she finds her frustration and anger mollified at their sudden proximity, her angry rant faltering on her lips, but out of spite and stubbornness, she refuses to back away and instead finishes a little lamely, “Why didn’t you just tell her where the dress was from in the beginning?”
Regulus, who had been staring down at her intently, looks away now past her shoulder stiffly. “It wasn’t important—”
“Not important ? ” Kai echoes in disbelief. “She just tried to make a fool of me because of my dress and you didn’t think it was important to tell me where it was from or even say anything so that I could defend myself and—”
“We’re together, of course you’re going to be wearing the highest end dress. I thought that much was obvious,” he says, sounding exasperated. The tips of his ears have grown pink, but Kai, in her frustration, cannot find it in herself to try to understand why. Because now she’s angry .
“ Together !” Kai snorts, looking at the sky to bid her some mercy or patience. She’s working herself into a panicked anger now. “We’re not together, we’re engaged now because of your big mouth! They’re all expecting us to get married ! This was never the plan— You need to go and clear it up that we’re not engaged —”
“No,” Regulus says firmly, looking at her finally. His gaze is unreadable as he stares down at her, the grays of his eyes black in the dim lighting. Kai gawks at him, but before she can argue any more, he continues. “There were already rumors circulating about my engagement. If we didn’t clarify it, they would have seen right through us — the Black heir would never entertain a public relationship if not to marry. And Amycus is the biggest gossiper, so it was best to just state it now.”
Kai quiets, her mind mulling over his explanation. “And for your sake, you’ll be untouchable if you have the title of my fiance,” Regulus adds slowly, his gaze carefully trained on her as though he’s approaching an animal he might spook.
Finally she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. She still has the urge to be angry with him, but Regulus is regarding her so carefully and uncertainly that she finds her resistance dissolving rapidly. “Still, you should have told me earlier,” she grumbles. It really did drive her mad when he was correct. “And what am I supposed to say or do when people approach me?”
Regulus is quiet for a moment, his gaze thoughtful as he thinks over her question. “Just smile and nod,” he says after a moment.
“Like you smile at these events,” she snorts in disbelief, thinking back to his expression of cool disinterest.
He looks affronted as he frowns down at her. “I’ve mastered it after years of attending these events,” he says.
She rolls her eyes, clearly not believing him. “You looked bored .”
“No, look,” he insists. When Kai looks back at him grudgingly, Regulus’s cool expression of impassivity smoothens into an impossibly soft smile. He looks like a little gentleman and all, the corners of his lips quirked up politely. Despite herself, her stomach does a little flip and she finds herself unable to look away even as the smile slides off his face in place of a smug smirk. “See?”
“Yes, well, I don’t see how I’ll be able to master that in one event,” Kai grumbles, mainly to be difficult and to hide the flush she can feel creeping up her neck. It would have been easier to stay angry if he wasn’t so irritatingly handsome.
“Try it,” Regulus challenges haughtily, his eyes glinting devilishly in the low light.
Kai — stubborn, proud, and irritated — straightens and offers him her best smile, not too big, not too soft. Regulus stares at her blankly for a moment, before his lips twitch as if he was trying not to laugh. “What?” She demands, the smile sliding off her face rapidly.
“Your smile is more of a…” he pauses, his eyes bright with mirth. “...grimace.”
Kai frowns at this, feeling her face burn with embarrassment. She takes a step away from him and turns back to the door, muttering irritably, “Come on. Before your lot of rich wankers start to get suspicious and think we already got married.”
“We can work on it,” Regulus calls after her, the laughter clear in his voice as he follows. Kai ignores this — and him — until he catches up with her and proffers his arm again. Grudgingly, she looks her fingers back into the crook of his elbow as he steers them back into the ballroom.
Inside, they pass by a boy with golden hair. But it’s not the boy’s perfectly coiffed hair that catches Kai’s attention, but a gold chain hanging from the pocket of his velvet vest. Gold pocket watch , she thinks automatically, doing the mental math to discern how much it might be worth. The chain wasn’t thick, but from a quick glance, she could tell that it was carefully handcrafted and from another glance at the boy’s rather carefree posture, she could guess that it would be easy to steal—
“Don’t steal anything,” Regulus murmurs to her quietly. He had gotten closer to her at some point during her mental calculations, and the warmth of his breath against the shell of her ear jolts her out of her concentration.
“I would never,” Kai says defensively, shooting him a look, but his eyes are infinitely all knowing and unimpressed.
“I saw you looking at Carrow’s hair earlier. And at Evan’s watch.”
Kai feels the low burn of embarrassment settle in her stomach and she finds herself unable to offer any witty defense. Regulus doesn’t give her time to think of anything though because his gaze flickers away from her as he says, “If there’s anything that you want— that piques your crow brain, I can just purchase it for you.” Again, before she has a chance to respond, Regulus steamrolls forward, his attention focused on the ballroom around them. “Ah, I do believe it’s time for the waltz,” he says mildly. Kai is still reeling — first from the fact that he had noticed her eyeing things to steal, second that he had offered to do something kind for her.
In fact, she’s so in shock that he had noticed — she feels entirely caught in the act, and she had never been caught before — that she doesn’t notice as Regulus leads them towards the center of the ballroom until it’s too late. “Waltz?” Kai parrots belatedly. Around them, couples have begun to take up similar positions, while around the edges of the room, single girls are casting wistful glances at Regulus.
“Mm,” Regulus hums in acknowledgement, stepping away from her to give her a funny little bow. He blinks at her innocently, his eyes wide with clear anticipation. “It’s tradition.”
Kai glances at the couple next to them and quickly, but awkwardly, mimics the curtsy the woman does. “You’re mental,” she hisses, darting a panicked look back to Regulus, who is watching her calmly. If anything, he looks entertained , his eyes bright with amusement as they take in her visible alarm. It’s the most expressive he’s been all night — outside of his earlier show of anger. “I don’t know how to waltz —”
“Fortunately, I’m good at leading,” Regulus says dismissively, taking a step closer to her. He’s smirking now, clearly drawing joy from her panic.
It takes everything in her willpower not to scramble back away from him. “No one mentioned anything about—” She cuts herself off abruptly as a couple nears them. Around them, everyone has already begun to move in graceful circles.
“I’ll place my hand here,” Regulus says quietly, lifting his hand to hover over her waist. When he makes no other motion to set his hand on her waist, she realizes that he’s waiting for her response. Kai nods in agreement, swallowing thickly. There was no way out of this, it seemed, so Kai would just have to sell it the best she could. His eyes are laser-focused on a point beyond her as he carefully sets his hand at the curve of her waist. Kai has to remind herself to breathe as she tries not to focus on the warm weight of his hand over the thin silk of her dress, or the way that she can feel the pressure of his long fingers.
“What next?”
“Your hand,” he says curtly, offering his hand palm-up. Kai obliges, taking careful care to loop their fingers together. His hand is startlingly warm against hers, his touch burning.
“Like this?” She asks, her gaze flickering back up to him. Though his expression is impassive as ever, she can see the severe rigidity his shoulders have set to. Prude , she thinks in amusement as Regulus makes an odd sound at the back of his throat in affirmation. “You’re too stiff,” Kai hisses, casting a quick glance around them. “No one will ever believe—”
Regulus tugs her closer until her torso is nearly flush against his, his long fingers now firmly pressed against the small of her back as he begins to slowly lead her in a graceful arc around the room. Immediately, Kai unconsciously tenses at the unexpected proximity, even more so when he drops his head closer towards her face. “You’re the stiff one,” Regulus murmurs, his voice low as his lips nearly brush the shell of her ear.
Kai forces herself to relax, despite the traitorous flip her stomach does. The bastard always knew what he was doing. She could tell with the smarmy smirk that had begun to curve along his lips. With her free hand, she lets her arm rest against his upper arm, slightly past his shoulders so that the tips of her fingers brush against the open v-neck collar of his silk shirt. At her brush against his collarbone, Regulus’s grip on her waist tightens imperceptibly. “That’s higher than what’s proper,” he hisses, though his expression impressively remains the same. They twirl past a blonde-haired couple that shoots them a curious glance. Regulus dips his head cordially to them. “Narcissa,” he greets briefly, before leading them away from the couple.
“I’m afraid I was never educated on what’s proper ,” Kai drawls, smirking at the reddening tips of his ears. She readjusts her grip on his arm, mimicking that of the couples around them. Still, however, Regulus’s biceps are tense beneath her fingers. They fall into a heavy silence, with Regulus looking stiffly past her and Kai turning her face away from him to spare the both of them a little space as she tries not to trip over either of their feet. It feels as though they’re both hiding from each other, despite the close proximity. She was beginning to lose count of the circles they danced around the room when Regulus speaks up again, his voice thick from disuse.
“The dress,” he begins, his gaze flickering down at her collarbone briefly. Kai suddenly becomes very aware that her shoulders are bare and she can’t help but shiver a little under his heavy gaze. His pale eyes track the motion before dragging painstakingly up her neck towards her face.
“If I have to hear one more thing about it—” Kai begins to complain, but the words falter on her lips at his next words.
“It’s not bad,” he finishes choppily.
Kai’s brows shoot up and she nearly steps on his foot — maybe intentionally. “Is that supposed to be a compliment? If this is because of what I said about you not being a gentleman—”
“You look nice,” Regulus interjects, his fingers tightening almost imperceptibly on her waist. Kai looks at him in surprise, only to see that he’s still looking past her pointedly.
“Oh,” she says dumbly. She’s beginning to get dizzy, though from all the twirling or from his words, she doesn’t know. At this proximity, she can see the faintest of a pink flush begin to crawl up from the collar of his silk shirt. “Thank you,” she adds after a moment, though it comes out more embarrassed than she would have liked.
She’s not sure if Regulus has caught on to her change in demeanor because he straightens, the careful scrutiny from his gaze dissipating. Instead, he looks strangely pleased at her reaction for the briefest of moments until an arrogant smirk curves over his lips. “Though I suppose I was the one who chose it, so the praise goes back to me,” he muses aloud obnoxiously.
Kai lets go of his shoulder to swat at it. “ I’m the one wearing it, you wanker. Without me, it wouldn’t look this beautiful,” she sniffs.
“Perhaps that’s true.”
Kai freezes at his words, going entirely immobile. Regulus tries to continue dancing and somehow manages her to tug her along, though she nearly trips over her feet. With his hand pressed firmly against the small of her back, Regulus dips her down smoothly, perhaps as a distraction, but Kai’s mind is already hyperfocused on his words. “Did you just call me beautiful?” She asks as she stares up at him wide-eyed, her lips twitching.
She can see the pink flush that had been crawling up the nape of his neck bloom across his cheeks. “I did not,” he insists, sending her a glower as he re-rights her. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop thinking it.”
Kai grins up at him cheekily and for once, decides not to argue. Seeing Regulus Black blush is enough to feel like she had won. Regulus seems to sense this victory because he swiftly changes the subject. “In Pureblood society,” he begins as he looks past her shoulder pointedly in what looks like a calculated move to conceal his expression.. “—it is tradition for couples to wear the same color to signify their unity. That’s why your other dress wouldn’t have worked. Outside of how awfully flashy it was.”
“I see,” Kai says, choosing to ignore his other comment. “So why couldn’t you just change your bloody vest to be gold? It would’ve just taken a quick charm.”
“You look better in emerald.”
Kai’s heart does another little somersault and she makes a strangled sound, her eyes wide as she stares at him. She feels as though he had just smacked her right between the eyes. But Regulus doesn’t seem to notice as he lets go of her, the absence of his hand leaving an empty void around her.
She hadn’t even noticed that the orchestral music had ended and that the floor around them was clearing. She’s still rendered speechless when Regulus finally looks down at her, his lips clamped together and a pinched look on his brow, some kind of emotional conflict flickering across his face before disappearing. He looks as though he wants to say something, but is unsure of how to proceed. “I’ll get us some refreshments,” he says after a moment, clearing his throat.
“Okay,” Kai agrees steadily, feeling the urge to be far away from Regulus before she says something regrettable. He nods in confirmation, his brows still furrowed as he moves away from her. Kai shakes her head a little and steps towards the edge of the room, where she tends to naturally gravitate towards out of habit.
She loiters by the wall for a while, enjoying the brief peace as she gazes around at the other attendees with mild interest. It seemed as though she was going to have a little break from playing the role of Regulus’s fiance, when a voice from next to her speaks up. “Miss Mei, is it?”
Kai turns, wiping the wary look off her face as she assesses who was speaking to her. To her surprise, the boy with the golden hair and gold pocket watch is standing next to her. Up close, she can see that he’s about her age. Something about him reminds her of a child — she doesn’t know if it’s the way he’s peering at her curiously or his cherub-like demeanor, but she finds herself not as tense as she was when Amycus had approached her. Kai nods, giving her best Regulus impression as she confirms, “That’s correct.”
To her surprise, the boy breaks into a smile, his teeth flashing white as he beams at her. “I’m Evan Rosier,” he says, his smile jarringly bright. Kai blinks once before dipping her head politely. “Oh, none of those cordialities,” he says dismissively. “Reg and I are close friends.”
“I see,” Kai says, mainly because she doesn’t know what else to say.
“Has he not spoken about me?” Evan asks, his eyes widening in dramatized shock. “And to think we shared a dorm for seven years!”
Kai offers a nervous laugh — was this something she would know as someone in a relationship with Regulus Black? Not just a relationship now , she reminds herself wryly. An engagement. “I think he may have mentioned you,” Kai says hurriedly.
Evan’s incredulity melts away back into curiosity. “Perhaps. I’ll have to get back at him later,” he says loftily before his expression returns to one of curiosity. “I heard from a little bird,” he begins, his eyes bright as they assess her. “—that the two of you are engaged. How did you manage that ? The Regulus I know is quite difficult to tie down.” Kai is silently panicking about how to best sell their cover, but fortunately for her, Evan Rosier seems happy enough to continue the conversation for the both of them. “I imagine he’s quite difficult to be around. That git — have you ever met anyone so emotionally constipated?”
Something about Evan Rosier’s demeanor and chattiness feels harmless — or at least, not as dangerous as the other attendees — so she finds herself relaxing a little. “You’re right,” she agrees, her gaze roving around the room. Immediately, she catches sight of Regulus’s tall figure. He’s holding two chalices as he nods politely to an older wizard. Across the room, his eyes snag on to hers questioningly, his brow furrowing in concern again. “But he can be unexpectedly warm at times,” she adds after a moment.
Evan, who had just looked curious before, now looks entirely taken aback by her comment. Briefly, Kai wonders if she had said the wrong thing, but Evan nods earnestly in agreement. “You’re absolutely right. He wavers between hot and cold,” he agrees. “Though I must admit you’re the first girl I’ve heard that from.”
Kai tears her gaze away from Regulus to look back at Evan in surprise. “Oh? What do people normally say?”
“I’ve heard it all,” Evan sighs mournfully. “Difficult, big-headed, a bastard. Ah, I remember one Hufflepuff — and you know Hufflepuff’s are generally known to be boringly kind to a fault — called him, and I quote, ‘an outright demon.’”
Kai grins a little at this, trying to imagine Regulus in school. “They’re not wrong,” she muses and Evan grins back at her cheekily.
“The most irritating thing was that he was still popular after all this,” Evan complains. “As was his brother, so it appears to run in the family. But all the witches loved his whole moody temper. And that’s not to say that he didn’t have fun with them either.”
Kai’s brows shoot up at this. “Regulus was popular with the witches?” She repeats in disbelief. “He’s such an… an old maid!”
Evan snorts, laughter glimmering in his eyes. “Reg a prude ,” he chokes out, shoulders shaking with disbelieving laughter. “No he was quite a—”
“Evan,” a voice cuts in smoothly. Kai turns to see Regulus in front of them gazing at his friend coolly. “I see you’ve become familiar with Mei.”
“Yes, I was just telling her all about your deviant behavior back at Hogwarts,” Evan says with a sly grin. Kai shoots Evan a wide-eyed look — why would he ever admit that to Regulus? But judging from the entertained expression on his face, Evan Rosier was an agent of chaos.
Regulus stiffens a little, a look of irritation flickering across his face before he looks at her carefully, as if gauging for her reaction. “Right,” Kai says awkwardly. “Sounds like I may have been mistaken in calling you a prude—”
Evan chokes back a laugh as Regulus runs a hand over his face. “Don’t listen to him. He was the gossip mill of Hogwarts—”
“Of course, that’s how I know all about your explorations” Evan says amiably, seeming entirely immune to the withering look that Regulus shoots at him. Kai has never seen Regulus have much of a reaction to any of her jibes, so to see him steadily growing agitated around Evan is strangely refreshing. “You know, the girls used to call him the Slytherin Prince—”
“Evan—” Regulus begins, looking visibly vexed, but Kai cuts in hurriedly.
“Ah, is that something to drink?” Kai says quickly, before Regulus can hex Evan. As much as she’s enjoyed Evan’s company, she doesn’t think it would be a good look to Dumbledore if they were kicked out of the ball.
Regulus’s attention turns back to her reluctantly as he nods, handing her the chalice. “Elderflower wine,” he says as she glances in at the scarlet contents before taking an experimental sip. The elderflower wine is sweet and smooth. When she lowers the chalice, she’s suddenly very aware of Regulus’s gaze darting to her lips. Remembering the way the wine had stained his mouth scarlet, she dabs at her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Huh,” Evan says aloud, as he watches Regulus with visible interest, as if he just discovered something. As if remembering that he was there, Regulus narrows his eyes at Evan briefly before turning back to Kai.
“I think we can go now,” he says with a little nod.
Kai tries not to let the relief show on her face. “Wonderful,” she says — and she means it. The longer she was in that ballroom, the more aware of how exhausted she was getting from bearing all the stares and interactions. Best to leave before something goes wrong. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Rosier,” she says as they step back.
“Evan,” he insists, before dipping his head politely. “And the pleasure was all mine,” he says smoothly, offering her a smile. His smile seems so genuine that Kai can’t help but smile a little in return.
When she turns to follow Regulus towards the exit, she finds that he’s watching her carefully. “You mastered that quickly,” he observes, sounding subtly impressed. “It didn’t look much like a grimace this time.”
Kai shoots him a sideways glance. “I’m not sure I was thinking about it much,” she says with a shrug.
“Hm,” is all Regulus says, his brows furrowed in thought or displeasure, she isn’t sure. After a beat, he carefully loops his arm around her waist in preparation for apparating.
“Must we apparate?” Kai is complaining when a voice behind them drawls, “Regulus.” Kai is starting to think that a telltale sign for trouble is when someone calls him by his full name.
When they turn around, Kai sees a beautiful woman, perhaps a few years older than them, smiling at them. But something about her smile seems off , and it’s not until the woman lopes closer to them with the liquid grace of a shark that Kai can place why the alarms are going off in her head.
The woman’s smile is wicked , almost maniacal, entirely unrestrained unlike all the rest of the attendees that had exchanged tight-lipped smiles and disinterested glances. Up close, Kai can also see that the woman bears a striking resemblance to Regulus — all sharp cheekbones and high noses and the same sterling eyes. Only, hers are bright with an emotion that instinctively sends chills down her spine.
“Bellatrix,” Regulus says, his voice betraying little, but Kai can feel the way he stiffens against her.
“You weren’t planning on leaving without catching up with me, were you?” Bellatrix drawls, tilting her head to the side.
“We were just on our way out—”
“Wonderful! This will be quick. My dear cousin, Reggie ,” Bellatrix drawls, her eyes glinting as she addresses him. “I do believe we’re missing a Black at this party.” Next to her, Regulus’s expression and posture doesn’t change at all, but because they’re standing so closely together, Kai can feel the way his fingers tense against her waist.
“You’d be wrong to call him a Black,” Regulus replies coolly, his gaze haughty and his nose wrinkled delicately with contempt. Kai says nothing as she tries to not look confused between them. Clearly, Regulus has understood what Bellatrix is hinting at.
“You’re right,” the wild-eyed witch agrees, though her lips curve into a challenging grin that could have sent chills down Kai’s spine. “But the more, the merrier, hm? I think we ought to pay our ex-Black a visit. For old time’s sake.”
“Well you’ll have to find him. As far as I know, he’s dead to me,” he drawls disdainfully, his gaze flickering past Bellatrix in clear boredom.
“Fortunately, I know exactly where the blood traitor’s at,” Bellatrix chirps, drawing out her wand. “I’d love to help your fiance get acquainted with family history. You know, you never properly introduced her to the family.” Her gaze turns to Kai now, merciless and feral. Kai matches it evenly, letting her brows draw together in mostly authentic confusion as she tries to ignore the way Regulus’s fingers are bunched in the fabric of her dress now, despite his disinterested expression.
“It’s only family history if he was family,” Regulus begins, but Bellatrix ignores him as she beckons at them to hold on to her arm. Kai forces herself not to glance at Regulus as she reaches to take it. She can’t see a way out of this if they don’t want to make Bellatrix suspicious of them.
“It’ll be fun ,” Bellatrix says with unrestrained glee as she apparates them. The apparating is horrifically fast and dizzyingly unrestrained, likely tied to Bellatrix’s wild magic, and it takes everything in Kai’s willpower not to double over and vomit all over Bellatrix’s dress. Regulus’s arm is still wound around her waist securely when they land, and to her relief, he lets her lean on him heavily as she swallows back her nausea.
“ Hello hello ,” Bellatrix sings. It’s the silence that follows Bellatrix’s greeting that makes Kai look up from the spinning ground, only to see that they’re in what appears to be a living room. She didn’t expect to recognize anyone, but to her horror, she recognized all of them.
James Potter and Remus Lupin are sitting cross-legged on the plush rug of the living room, a piece of parchment with wild scribbles on it in front of them. Behind them, Jade is sitting on a couch with Sirius next to her, his arm wound tightly around Jade in a manner eerily similar to the way Regulus was holding her. Behind them, a fireplace is crackling, the warm glow of it lighting up the room. It would have been a cozy scene, had the look of shock and horror not flashed across each of their faces as their gazes all snapped up to the newcomers. In a split second, they all scrambled to their feet, their wands drawn simultaneously.
Next to her, Kai could feel Regulus stiffen as his gaze flickered to Sirius briefly. Bellatrix didn’t seem to notice as she cocked her head at all of them. “Not a very warm way to welcome a guest now, is it?” She croons, barking out a sharp laugh as she twirls her wand in her hand.
“You’re no guest here,” Sirius all but snarls, stepping in front of Jade.
“I just wanted to pay the blood traitors a visit,” Bellatrix continues, as if Sirius hadn’t said anything at all.
“Leave, Bellatrix,” Sirius growls.
“I will,” she agrees, a wicked smile curving across her lips. “But not after some fun. You see, your dear ex-brother’s fiance—” Bellatrix jerks a thumb at Kai, “—is new to the British Pureblood society. I wanted to show her some tradition , if you will.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she can see a muscle in Regulus’s jaw jump. His grip is nearly unbearably tight on her waist now, but Kai feels as though both of them may topple over if he lets her go.
“Tradition—” Sirius begins, a look of cold disgust on his face.
“You see,” Bellatrix turns back to her, her brows arched in fake interest. “We Purebloods have a long-standing tradition of watching duels at our parties. It’s most entertaining when we pit two Mudbloods against each other.” Kai’s blood runs cold at her words, but she forces her expression to school into one of mild interest. “But the new Ministry liberals have banned that. Fortunately, I’ve been itching to jump into a good duel. And anyways, there are only blood traitors here. Oh, and a Mud—”
“ Apologize ,” Sirius snarls, his wand raising towards Bellatrix’s face. Though Kai hasn’t known him for that long, she’s used to seeing either an expression of foolish adoration or mirth on his face. The look of pure fury on his features is jarring. James and Remus’s wands raise quickly as well, their faces grim with anger.
Bellatrix seems unphased though as she continues circling around the room with a bounce to her step. “I’ll consider it if I duel your best wizard. The Dark Lord would love to hear about this,” she grins, casting her gaze amongst them languidly. “Well? Who is it? Potter? No one’s ever had hopes for your family of blood traitors, but I heard you’re the best in the little Auror class Dumbledore’s managed to lump together.” When they don’t say anything, Bellatrix barks out another ruthless laugh, her gaze turning in disgust to Remus. “Or is it you, werewolf?” Kai watches the color drain out of Remus’s face. “You were Fenrir’s favorite—”
[redacted passage because spoiler]
“I have to admit, she’s quite terrifying when she gets like that,” Regulus murmurs, quiet enough so that only Kai can hear. Kai nods in astonished agreement, watching as Sirius flits around his girlfriend.
“ You circling me like this is going to make me need to see a healer,” Jade is saying irritably as she reaches out to grasp Sirius’s hand to anchor him in place.
“You do need to see a Healer!” Sirius exclaims, reaching for his wand. “Lily’s shown me some healing spells— I can clean it and close it up before it gets infected.”
“It’s not going to get infected — it’s magic , not some rusted knife,” Jade points out, swatting his hand away. “Leave it!”
“But what if it scars?” Sirius nags worriedly, his frown deepening.
“What’s a scar or two? Moody has a bunch — it’s a battle scar,” Jade grumbles, reaching out to grab both of his hands to stop him from moving.
But Sirius is too fast, and likely experiencing the aftershock of his panicking, because he grasps her face firmly and bursts out rather nonsensically, “I’m looking at your face for the rest of my life! I’ll be the one kissing your face for forever! Can’t I have a say!”
The room goes quiet immediately. The others have turned to stare at the couple. James is nodding in seeming agreement while Remus is grimacing. Next to her, Regulus snorts a little. Kai doesn’t know when her mouth had dropped open, but she’s dimly aware of gaping at them as she watches Jade deflate instantly, her face flushing a violent shade of scarlet.
“Great. Now sit still,” Sirius beams as he conjures a towel and lifts it to his girlfriend’s cheek.
“You’re shameless,” Jade grumbles, clearly embarrassed still as her voice holds no bite.
“Mm,” Sirius hums in agreement as he gingerly begins to clean the cut.
“They’re disgusting,” Regulus mutters, shaking his head a little. His nose is wrinkled delicately in clear disdain as he watches his brother
“I’ve never paid for anything in my life, but I think I would pay Bellatrix if she came back here to hex me right now,” Kai agrees, watching Sirius sneak a kiss onto Jade’s forehead. To her surprise, Regulus makes a strangled sound, something akin to a suppressed laugh. When she turns to look at him, she’s caught off guard by the glint of mirth in his pale gray eyes.
“Handsome,” she says aloud, succumbing to the flip that her stomach does.
Immediately, the mirth disappears as Regulus blinks down at her unimpressed. “You’re just as bad as them.” Kai just shrugs in response, turning her attention back to the others.
“I’m surprised she got one on you, Slytherin,” James says.
“Has anyone ever heard of that curse? Sectum-something?” Jade asks, her gaze mostly directed at Remus who shakes his head.
“I was surprised by that too. Also, how did she even get in here? Or know to come here?” Remus points out, running a hand over his face. All of their gazes flit over to Regulus indiscreetly.
“It wasn’t me, if that’s what you’re suggesting,” Regulus says haughtily, drawing himself to his full stance. Despite herself, Kai feels defensive on his behalf too and is about to say something when James speaks up.
“I don’t think so either,” James agrees after a moment, frowning. “There should have been protective wards. It’s Wormtail’s house after all.”
Remus nods in agreement as he runs a hand over his face. “Right, Wormtail, what happened to the protective enchant—”
Peter, who has been quiet this entire time with an understandably worried expression on his face as he gnawed at his thumbnail, speaks up suddenly, his attention directed towards Kai. “Ah,” he says distractedly. “You’re bleeding.”
Kai blinks at him once, before down at herself to see that Peter is right. In the fast chaos of the duel, Kai had turned her attention away from the cut on her leg back to Jade in concern, but now that he pointed it out, she could feel a dull throb against her upper thigh. They all turn to where Peter is pointing to. Kai also glances down at herself, only to see that the emerald silk of her dress darkening around a clean cut in the fabric.
As someone paid to blend into the background, Kai finds herself quite uncomfortable at the weight of all their attention, so she says distractedly, “Ah, the sectum-something rebounded earlier.”
“Merlin, sorry Kai, I should have been more careful with where I was redirecting—” Jade begins, looking stricken.
As someone who is also used to being alone, Kai also finds herself quite uncomfortable with the level of concern that she is being shown, so she waves off the amber-eyed girl with a casual air. “It’s not your fault. And it’s not deep at all — barely felt it and didn’t even remember until Pettigrew pointed it out.” It’s almost as if she’s jinxed herself, because the cut begins to ache even more with her words.
“Lily will be here soon—” James begins, but Regulus cuts him off.
“Come on, we’ll apparate to a Healer,” he says, reaching out to hold her elbow to apparate.
Kai swats at his hand. Apparating might really make her hurl this time. “No, it’ll heal by itself,” she says, waving him off. “I’m fine—”
“You will be if you let me heal it.”
“It’s not even deep—” Against her will, the cut throbs again, but she manages to stubbornly keep a straight face. She can feel the others watching them bicker with great interest. Kai doesn’t know what to do with all this attention and Regulus is beginning to make a bloody scene.
“Dark magic is my field of expertise,” Regulus says haughtily, his gray eyes tracking across her face. “The cut might not be bad, but I can tell that you’re in…” he trails off, his gaze flickering away.
“That I’m what?”
“Dark magic is my field of expertise,” Regulus says again dismissively. “We don’t know what spell Bellatrix used and it’d be quite inconvenient if we find out you’re hexed to be under the Dark Lord’s control. I’d give it maybe 5 hours before we see you attack everyone.”
Kai falters at this, scowling a little. She wants to argue and point out that he still clearly doesn’t trust her, but she can’t conjure up any reasons that he might. And her leg has begun to throb with increasing pain, so instead she sighs.
At her clear concession, Regulus straightens, his fingers wrapping around her shoulder carefully as he guides her to the kitchen. “Come, I’ll inspect it and clean it in the kitchen.”
When he sits her down at the kitchen table, Kai scowls a little, still irritated with him being right. He was such a bloody know-it-all all the time. “You didn’t seem this concerned about dark magic with Jade,” she muttered as he conjured a towel and began to wet it in the sink.
“It’s because Jade has my guard dog of a brother barking around her already,” Regulus points out smoothly as he kneels down beside her.
“Yes, well, you’re being just like Sirius,” she retorts.
They both pause for a beat, a moment too long, the implication of what she said lingering between them. Kai is halfway through internally cursing herself for speaking without thinking when to her relief, Regulus shoots her his characteristic irritated glower he always gives when anyone points out the Black siblings’ similarities. “I ought to just leave you to the dark magic,” he mutters, but his voice holds no bite.
Another thought occurs to her that begins to work her into a little anger. “Is it because you think I’m more susceptible to dark magic? Because I’m a—”
But Kai feels her anger deflate immediately like a balloon with his next words. “It’s because I’m not concerned about other people.”
Kai blinks at him. Not fair , she thinks, finding herself unable to say anything else in response. Regulus isn’t even looking at her to see the impact of his words. Instead, he’s knelt down next to her, a damp towel in his hand and the sleeves of his silk shirt rolled up. She had been too busy working herself into anger that she hadn’t even noticed him preparing anything, but now that she was mollified, the view of him kneeling next to her makes for quite an arresting sight.
Kai watches the minute movement in his throat in dim fascination before her attention is drawn to his gaze as he looks up with her. His gaze flickers away from her face. “I’ll… start cleaning the wound now,” he announces. Though his voice is quiet, the silence in the kitchen between them makes it sound jarring.
Kai nods automatically before she understands what he means as his eyes flicker back down to her thigh, his gaze heavy with significance. “Oh, right,” she manages after a moment. She slides the hem of the silk dress up a little to reveal the cut on her mid-thigh. Regulus’s gaze darts away from her bare skin so quickly that she can’t help but release a laugh. “Prude,” she scoffs, though she can feel her ears begin to flush at his reaction. “I think I’d rather take my chances with dark magic than with you using your wand on me with your eyes closed.”
He shoots her a scathing glare, but Kai can see a faint pink dust across his cheekbones. He looks irritatingly pretty flushed, she realizes dimly as she stares in fascination at his blush. “I have half the mind to leave you to the dark magic,” he mutters again, but his gaze roves back down to her bared thigh as he lifts the towel in his hand.
“You’re not using magic to clean it?”
“We don’t know what the spell is, so I’m not sure how the magic might mix with other spells,” he explains as he dabs at the blood that had begun to harden. It’s a nasty sting, and Kai can’t help but grit her teeth at the burn. At Kai’s sharp inhale, he pauses immediately, his eyes darting to her face.
She shakes her head a little. “Go on then,” Kai manages, pressing her lips together as she braces herself for the burn. But Regulus’s hands are impossibly gentle, and the next contact doesn’t sting nearly as much. It’s strange. Regulus’s words are always so barbed and thorny, but his hands reflect the opposite. It was always entirely confusing. She’s not quite used to being treated this gingerly, so she doesn't know what to do as they fall into a silence. She also doesn’t know where to look, what with Regulus being so close to her, but she opts to focus on his hands as he gently wipes at the blood that had begun to dry on her thigh.
After a while in silence, she fidgets a little, finding the quietness too heavy with a significance she can’t quite place. “Sorry about the dress,” she says finally, looking down at the torn silk in dismay.
“It's no matter,” Regulus dismisses distractedly, his attention laser-focused on the wound. Kai watches one of his soft curls fall across his brow as he continues to dab at the wound.
She fingers the luxurious fabric of the silk mournfully. “It’s such a waste,” she sighs disappointedly. It really had been her first time wearing something of such quality, and she had been looking forward to admiring it when she’d put it away at the end of the night. “I don’t think magic can fix it, but maybe I can ask Lupin to mend it,” she continues, half-conversationally, half-seriously as she pinches the glossy fabric between her fingers. “You know, I saw him crocheting a jumper the other day—”
“Do you like it that much?” Regulus asks sharply. Kai pulls her gaze away from the emerald fabric and is caught off guard to see that he had paused in his cleaning and was looking up at her. She hadn’t thought that he had even been listening to her with the way his attention had been focused on what he was doing.
“Of course,” Kai answers after a moment, tearing her gaze away from the way he was looking up at her. In the warm glow of the kitchen, the light softened the sharper planes of his face. He’s so painfully pretty, and in the warm light, he looks akin to an angel with the way his curls frame his face. She looks back down at the torn silk. “It’s beautiful.”
She expects him to make another jab at her affinity of being drawn to luxurious and materialistic things, but instead Regulus just makes a small noise at the back of his throat as he turns back to cleaning the wound. Dimly, she wonders if he knows that she’s not talking about the dress anymore.