The library was a stop Regulus had to make before leaving school. Several books needed to be returned.
It was quiet enough to hear the faint rustle of turning pages. Most students had already packed and were ready to head home. Only a handful remained, bent over their research.
Regulus moved slowly along the shelves when a hesitant voice sounded behind him.
"Regulus?"
He turned. Lily Evans stood between two rows of shelves, arms full of thick books. The top one was Advanced Potion-Making.
"Lily." Regulus paused and greeted her warmly.
She stepped closer, her voice tight with nerves. "I… I wanted to send you a Christmas gift, but I don't know your home address."
"Could you tell me?" Lily's green eyes fixed on his gray ones, hope flickering through them.
Regulus was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his tone was still gentle, tinged with apology.
"I'm sorry, Lily. The Black family address is protected by ancient magic. I'm bound from revealing it."
"External mail, especially anything sent through non-magical channels, can't be delivered directly either."
12 Grimmauld Place was wrapped in powerful protective enchantments.
The address itself carried magic. It was a top-level secret. Even knowing it could trigger defensive wards.
On top of that, Walburga despised anything connected to the Muggle world. A gift from a Muggle family would not only be destroyed, it could cause Lily unnecessary trouble.
The light faded from Lily's expression. She lowered her head, red hair falling forward to hide her eyes.
After a long pause, her voice came out quiet and subdued.
"Is it because… my family is Muggle?"
"It has nothing to do with that." Regulus shook his head.
There were indeed wards at 12 Grimmauld Place that blocked Muggle mail. If he truly wanted to receive something, there were ways around it. He simply could not say that.
"Anyone outside the family who learns the address triggers the defenses. There are no exceptions. Even close relatives would be cursed if they revealed it casually."
"The magic automatically screens bloodlines. Unapproved parcels are destroyed on arrival, and the sender can be affected as well."
Lily listened, then nodded. She let out a small breath of relief.
This was all foreign to her. Hogwarts classes never covered things like family wards, address curses, or automatic bloodline screening.
These were secrets passed down through pure-blood families, magic woven into old walls and genealogies.
The other pure-blood students she knew never brought these things up. They did not explain them, and they never thought they needed to.
To them, it was common sense. As natural as knowing the sun rises in the east.
If someone like Lily, born to Muggles, crossed a taboo out of ignorance, it was never seen as their problem. It was simply a Mudblood lacking manners.
She had never tried to ingratiate herself with anyone. She had only decided that Regulus was someone worth befriending. Respect and equality were rare things in a world soaked in blood prejudice.
As long as Regulus was not rejecting her gift or her friendship, the address did not matter.
She did not ask again. She only held her books a little tighter.
She turned to leave, then stopped. Looking back at him, her green eyes curved into a gentle smile.
"Then… I'll give it to you after the holidays. Is that okay?"
"Yes." Regulus nodded without hesitation. "If you don't mind, tell me your address. I'd like to send you a gift as well."
Lily blinked, then smiled in earnest. "It's 4 Privet Drive, Cokeworth."
"Merry Christmas, Lily."
"You too, Regulus."
He watched her disappear at the end of the shelves and let out a quiet sigh.
The gap between worlds was never something goodwill alone could erase. Still, this friendship was one he intended to protect.
The next morning, the Hogwarts Express arrived right on time. The platform buzzed with noise. Students crowded together, laughter mixing with the hoots of owls.
Regulus carried his trunk. Hermes was staying at school. Cuthbert and Alex followed behind as the three joined the flow toward the train.
Cuthbert leaned in, lowering his voice, barely hiding his schadenfreude. "That Lestrange didn't get to leave."
"Heard he was doing Dark magic experiments in an abandoned classroom yesterday. Professor McGonagall caught him in the act. He got injured too. He's spending Christmas in the hospital wing and getting detention after the break."
Regulus lifted a brow but did not ask for details.
Rabastan's outcome had been expected. Hermes and Cuthbert were not subtle, but they were effective.
"Isn't that Potter?" Alex said suddenly.
Regulus followed his gaze. James Potter stood by the train doors, laughing with Remus and Peter.
Sirius leaned against the carriage, still wearing those faded jeans. When he saw Regulus, the smile on his face stalled, then he turned away.
Lily stood nearby, saying goodbye to another girl. When she noticed Regulus, she waved, smiling openly. Regulus inclined his head in return.
The whistle blew. Regulus boarded the train and took a seat by the window.
Cuthbert and Alex sat across from him, excitedly discussing plans to visit Diagon Alley for the latest broom models, and to check out a newly opened magic shop in Knockturn Alley.
Regulus did not join in. He watched the scenery slide past the window instead. Fields, forests, cottages blanketed in snow, like a frozen painting.
By the time the train reached King's Cross, the snowfall had thickened. Flakes melted on his shoulders, leaving a brief chill behind.
He said goodbye to Cuthbert and Alex, then headed alone toward a quiet corner at the edge of the platform.
"Master."
Kreacher's voice sounded beside him. The house-elf wore a tattered linen cloth and bowed deeply, his nose nearly brushing the ground.
"Master has sent me to take you home."
Regulus nodded. "Let's go."
Kreacher raised a withered hand. A faint silver light flickered at his fingertips.
No wand.
No incantation.
There was not even a clear surge of magic.
An invisible barrier wrapped around them.
The surroundings twisted and blurred. The noise of the platform cut off as if muted, vanishing in an instant.
Space no longer felt like an obstacle. It was more like fabric, easily folded. They stood at a crease, and in the blink of an eye, the distance was crossed.
When Regulus opened his eyes again, they were standing in the entrance hall of the Black family home.
Indigo flames burned in the fireplace. Portraits along the walls turned to look at him, whispers rising and falling.
Regulus remained still. The moment of spatial displacement lingered vividly in his mind. It was fundamentally different from Apparition.
He had read detailed accounts of Apparition in the family archives and heard Orion describe the sensation himself.
It was like being forced into a narrow rubber tube, then shoved out the other end.
A wizard had to focus completely on the destination. Any mistake risked splinching.
The entire process was filled with crushing pressure. As if space itself were being torn open, forced through, then exited violently.
It was a method of brute passage, fighting against spatial resistance. Every jump came with intense discomfort and severe distance limitations.
Kreacher's magic was nothing like that.
There was no pressure. No resistance. No discomfort at all.
It felt as though space itself had stepped aside for them.
Or perhaps they had simply moved from one point to another, with no process in between.
This was pure spatial displacement. No resistance to overcome. Movement that followed the rules of space rather than fighting them.
Regulus flexed his fingers, magic flowing lightly over his skin.
House-elves could perform complex magic without wands. They could appear at their master's side instantly, no matter the distance.
This movement seemed unrestricted by wards. Even anti-Apparition spells were useless against it.
In the cave where he would one day die, a place even Dumbledore could not Apparate into, Kreacher had moved freely.
If he could unravel the nature of this spatial magic, it might break free of the rigid framework of wizarding spells.
No incantations. No wands. No distance limits.
Perhaps even gravity itself could be discarded.
True freedom of movement.
And that was the necessary path to the stars. To break past the atmosphere and explore the cosmos, spatial magic was indispensable.
Once the thought took hold, it refused to let go.