Excerpt: Lullaby Moon

"Shh, Albus. Look at me."

Al peered at his father through watery eyes. "What?"

"Do you really think you love him?"

"Yeah. I do. It hurts."

His dad smiled. It was pained and uneasy, but it was a smile, and Al was willing to take that over nothing. There was a chance he wouldn't wind up in Mungos' after all. That was a good thing anyhow. Better than what he expected. Anything that didn't lead to being locked away somewhere was better than expected. He hadn't expected to be treated seriously, that was for sure. He didn't know what to do with himself now.

"Sometimes it does."

Al nodded and turned to lay sideways on his bed. He reached out a hand for his dad and wasn't surprised when the invitation was accepted and his dad got up onto the narrow bed beside him. Al's fingers grazed along the cover of Regulus' journal on the floor and he lifted it back onto the bed.

"I was reading back today. Over some of the entries I'd already read. They're different now. Every last one of them is different." He flipped through a few pages and then stopped at one. Turning over he held the book up for his dad to take a look at. "See?"

"What did you do to it, Albus?"

Anger shot through Al in a rush and he jumped off the bed with an accustatory glare. "What'd you mean 'what did I do'? Fuck you, dad. Forget I said anything. Just, forget it."

"Until you settle down, I'll leave you alone," his dad said pacifingly.

Al kept on glaring until his father had long since vacated the bedroom. He stomped back to his bed and dropped back onto it, yanking the journal out from under his back. He thumbed through the pages aggressively to the one he'd earmarked last. In disgust, he read quietly to himself about Regulus' thoughts on him. He ignored the wetness leaking from the corners of his eyes as he got to the end of the spiteful entry. Despite himself, he flipped to the next page. It was hard not to. Like watching two broomsticks colliding in midair and watching the graceful tumble back down to earth of the players before they splattered horrifically onto the Quidditch pitch below.

"I hate you," he grunted to no one as he began to read the next entry. He gave the date a passing glance and was grateful it wasn't that far from the one before. Settling down against his pillow, Albus read the tight, neat script of Regulus' hand and slowly fell asleep.