Chapter Text
James Potter has always strived to do the right thing. Yes, he has sometimes messed up and made mistakes. Yes, he has sometimes even been cruel. But he has made it his purpose in life to do the right thing—to do his duty.
He became a police officer to save people, to save lives. That was his duty. But, if James was being honest, he hadn’t really had the opportunity to. The people he worked closely with were involved in the analytics of organized crime, and they worked closely with the NCA. So many of James’ nights were spent in the office, finding patterns and leads.
James knew that the work he was doing was helping people, somewhere, but it felt discouraging to analyze the same crime syndicates committing the same crimes over and over again. Every gang almost always started with either drugs, gun trades, or trafficking. And, even though it was depressing, James got used to the consistency of it.
Then came the Death Eaters. They were the first gang to try and conquer all of London, and they would have succeeded, but the leader Tom Riddle was convicted and jailed in a gunfight with a neighboring gang. After that, more gangs were getting bigger, scarier, having more power, and worse: having control in the government.
One perfect example of this is the House of Black. Leader, Orion Black, has been well known to be a crime lord, but is still put in positions of power. It is well known that he is a criminal, but the police have yet to catch him doing—well, anything . He has never been put in jail, not even for petty crime.
But James thinks that now, he has finally got his chance. To make a real difference, and to take down the House of Black.
The NCA agent in charge of the case tossed him a file, a rather thick one, and smiled at him.
“You’re a lucky one. Not many cops get an on-the-field, undercover job just a few years into their career.” Her red hair was silky, long, and distracting but not so much that it stopped him from paying attention. After all, this may very well be the most important job of his life.
James smiled. “And may I ask why I am getting this?” James knew it was unusual to be getting this type of job, but he was more than ready.
Still, these kinds of jobs were always the ones that were the riskiest. His parents would be worried sick every day waiting for him if he went undercover. And he would have to be apart from Sirius, Remus, and Peter.
The woman chuckled, and continued. “The increased activity of organized crime in this area has made it necessary to take these criminal firms down. Your job is to get us evidence to take them down from the inside.”
As she continued talking, explaining how James didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to, that he always had an out if he wanted to, James flicked open the file. His eyes landed straight on the picture of the men walking out of a building. He focused on the young man walking next to Orion Black, who was the leader of the House of Black. The young man, who must be Orion’s second son, looked proud, haughty even. He had an arrogant look on his face that countered his beautiful curls and smooth-looking skin.
Even as the agent was talking about how he would be safe—Lily, he snuck a glance at her visitors name tag—James knew this was a mission that he could not just walk away from. The Black firm was one of the most deadly, brutal, and powerful. Orion Black would kill him if he even thought James was a traitor. Yet, he wasn’t as nervous as he thought he would be.
And some part of James doesn’t want to discount Orion’s son. Contrary to what Sirius had told him, Regulus doesn’t seem like the type to just let someone walk away.
After some more talking, Lily exits the room, leaving James in the office to wallow in his thoughts. He flicks open the folder again, skimming through the rest of the information. A nagging feeling creeps into James’ chest. A feeling that is asking him, hey, do you really want to do this? Do you really want to spend years with minimal contact with your family and friends? Is your duty that important?
He isn’t alone for long, not long enough to think about the answers to the questions running through his head, because the silence is broken by the squeaking of a door opening and a head of long black hair poking through.
“Sirius, hey!” James smiles tiredly at his friend, happy to have someone to distract him from his thoughts. Sirius had joined the agency a year after James did, and quickly became an analyst for the same department as James. Sirius has invaluable knowledge of the inner workings of the house of Black because he was once part of it . He grew up meant to take over as the boss, being groomed to be the perfect leader, but he didn’t want that life and ran away.
Sirius had once told James that the main reason he joined this field was to save all the kids like him. Save the kids that were only involved in crime because they were forced to and had no other choice.
James belatedly realizes Sirius doesn’t know about his mission yet, doesn’t know that James is meant to be infiltrating his family .
“So what was that about?” Sirius asks, smiling a shit-eating grin, “Did Detective Lily want a piece of—”
“I’m going to infiltrate your family,” James blurts out. He was never good at keeping secrets, he guesses that is something he needs to work on.
“My family? You mean their moronic gang?” Sirius scoffs, making the face he always does when talking about his family. “They’re not my family anymore. You and Remus and Peter are. They’re just—they’re just…stupid,” he finishes lamely.
James barks out a short laugh. “Yeah they are stupid. But I’m taking this job which means I really need your help Sirius. I’m going to do everything I can to take them down.”
“Of course I’ll help you.” And Sirius looks serious as he continues, “And so am I.”
***
Orion Black slams his hand down on the long, ebony table, causing all the glasses and glass cutlery to jump and twitch. Regulus thinks that’s how he feels when he’s with his father. More peaceful than his mother, that is for sure, but twitchy and uncertain because any moment something could go wrong—something that makes him snap.
“Our profits are decreasing,” Orion snaps. “We need more men, more guns, more of fucking everything.” He turns his head down to the other end of the table, sharp gray eyes pointing directly at Regulus.
“Regulus. You will be in charge of this.” All eyes on the table snap to him. Regulus thinks he is suffocating now. “It’s about time you proved yourself worthy.” His heart is racing in his chest, but Regulus fights to maintain composure as he sends his father a single nod in response. He grips his slacks tightly in his hands under the table, trying to stay calm.
Shit. Now that he has his first real role, Regulus cannot stay on the outskirts of the business. This is it. This is his life. Until the day he dies a stupid, painful death. Oh god, how he wishes he was Sirius right now.
He was probably happy now, right? Regulus remembers him sneaking out often with his friends. He had a boy too, someone he loved and could now maybe even love openly. Regulus remembers glancing out his bedroom window, spotting Sirius laughing and hugging a warm, mellow-looking boy. Regulus had never felt like that about anyone.
“Regulus.” Regulus’ eyes snap up to look into the dark unflinching gaze of his mothers. “Get up. You’re embarrassing yourself.” He looks around the room, and shit, everyone else has left already. He stands up slowly, taking the time to smooth down his suit, and the creases in his slacks from where he was grabbing them.
His maman grabs him roughly by the arm, fingers clenching so he can feel it. “You are the only heir. You are eighteen now. You will not mess this up,” she hisses.
Walburga opens her mouth to say more but is interrupted by Bellatrix slamming open the door, looking positively insane with messed up hair and a sharp knife in her hand.
“Hello darling Reggie,” Bellatrix sing-songs, “I have a job for you.” She motions a shoo-ing gesture with her non-occupied hand, motioning for Walburga to leave Regulus and her alone.
Walburga glares at the interruption, but ultimately lets go of Regulus’ hand. Being Orion’s wife is important, but that does not beat being his right-hand woman. Walburga gives him a sharp look on her way out, as a warning to not mess up, before walking out the door.
Once Regulus and Bellatrix are alone, she pauses for a moment, leaving the dread to seep into Regulus’ bones. “Follow me, Reggie dearie.” She smirks at him before turning around with a swoosh of her hair. “We are going to have some fun with the newbies”.