You'd been standing under the awning of Flourish and Blotts for the better part of ten minutes, pretending to skim a copy of Advanced Potion-Making, waiting for the downpour to ease.

It wasn't easing.

And then, the air shifted.

You looked up.

Regulus Black stood there, shoulders hunched against the wet, dark hair plastered to his forehead. He was thinner than you remembered. Sharper. His coat was too light for the weather, and there was a faint bruise curling along his jaw that hadn't been there before.

He was smiling, though.