Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

I hope to arrive 

at my death

Late, in love

And a little drunk

–Atticus

Regulus Black was dead.

He had drowned in his eighteenth birthday, like he'd always been told he would.

Water had filled his lungs as thousands of hands made sure he could never reach the surface.

The cave he was in stopped the sunrays from reaching his cold dead body.

The inferius’ claws had scratched, cut through his skin as he had been dragged down.

It hadn’t been pretty, it hadn’t been fast and it had been painful.

Regulus knew all this for he had planned every second of it.

But then he opened his eyes.

The first thing that hit him was the smell of wood, the second was the smell of blood.

And then the pain came.

Regulus curled down on the floor, watching as his wounds closed and healed, leaving only soft almost translucent scars in his skin.

When the pain stopped he was able to recognise where he was; he was back at his house.

Yet, his room didn’t look messy, if anything it looked pristine, a far cry from how he’d left it before walking into that sídhe-cursed cave.

There were no newspaper cuts from all of Voldemort's victims, there were no traces of pain relieving potions.

And his hair, it was freshly cut.

Just like his mother used to do when he started to look like Sirius, when it became too hard for her to look at him without seeing Sirius’ shadow.

It didn’t matter much to him in all honestly, he liked short hair, it was easy to take care of and functional when you needed to brew potions.

He had never before thought of growing it out.

“Fuck” Regulus muttered as he tried to get up from the blood soaked floor.

He felt bile raise to his throat as soon as he managed to silently walk into the bathroom.

Out of instinct he cast a silencing charm.

When he finally managed to clean himself and look properly in the mirror he almost took a step back.

This was how he looked in sixth year, the same freshly cut hair, the hidden piercing on his tongue and the aching pain of a recent tattoo on the nape of his neck.

It was Yule, and Regulus was soon to take the dark mark.

If he remembered correctly he would still have a few days before it happened.

Such a cruel thing, to send him to the turning point of his life in his last moments, but he guessed it was fine.

If this was how he ought to be punished for the pain he had caused Regulus would accept it.

He was a Black, they took pain with grace.

With a long tired sigh Regulus grabbed his clothes and cast a quick scourgify before walking back and doing the same on the bloody floor.

Now in silence in his own room he was able to finally take in all he did. Betray Voldemort, not that he ever believed in the man's cause but regardless, found out his weakness and chose to die so someone else could take him down.

Horcrux, the man had made a horcrux.

To go to such lengths just to stay alive, to let yourself lose your humanity like that.

One horcrux, one horcrux.

“Myrddin” Regulus whispered to himself “He didn’t just make one did he?”

It hit him like a hippogriff how he had ignored something so obvious. Of course that killing maniac hadn’t just made one.

If he wasn’t dead he would have probably gone drown himself again.

Naive, he had been so naive.

He wasn’t given much more time to lament as he heard a knock on the door, he knew for a fact it wasn’t his parents, they never knocked.

“Yes Kreacher?” He asks and he can’t help but let some fondness slip into his voice, at least, even in the afterlife he has a good memory of it all.

“Masters have asked for Heir Black’s presence at this dinner” Kreacher said from the other side of the door, Regulus almost wanted to open it just to see his old friend's face.

“Any other instructions?” He asks, easily slipping into his Heir Black persona, his old mask felt like putting on an old skin.

“No Master Regulus” 

Regulus nods even if Kreacher can’t see him, quickly changing his clothes and reading himself.

“You’re excused Kreacher, thank you” 

When he walks down the stairs to the dining hall his mother is already waiting for him. 

He hadn’t seen her look so composed in a while, and he knew it wouldn’t last long.

The marks left on her after Sirius left were already showing and soon after their fathers death it would only get worse.

“Greetings mother, father” He says politely, as he has been taught.

Walburga soon directs her gaze towards him, watching over him like a hawk while his father simply keeps reading the prophet.

It didn’t surprise him much, Orion never paid attention to either him or Sirius unless it was to choose a punishment.

“Good” Was all his mother said before allowing Regulus to sit.

Regulus ate in silence and waited for what his mother wanted to communicate to him, he remembered this conversation, he knew what she was going to say.

He also knew that his own opinion didn’t matter right now.

“The Dark Lord will visit soon” His mother finally said “You know what to do”

And he knew, he knew exactly what to do to join the ranks, he remembers the fear, the disgust and the pain.

By the end of Yule he would be marked, at sixteen his fate would be sealed.

And two years later he would be dead.

He left the dining hall feeling nauseous and with a reminder of why Sirius had left the house to begin with.

Reliving his life was an interesting experience, he knew his fate, he had seen and lived through it.

Walking to his imminent death with every step.

Could he even change something? Anything?

The horcruxes.

Maybe he could deal with them in advance just in case something stuck.

But how many? And how?

Out of habit he searched for the necklace Pandora had gifted him on his sixteenth birthday, he never wore it at home but outside he never forgot to put it on.

He had been wearing it when he died, he wanted to keep wearing it now that he was dead.

Opening the bag where he kept his friend's gift hidden he soon realised the necklace was missing.

Instead of the odd shaped rune now there was just sand where the necklace should be.

“Hah, you’ve got to be kidding me” Of course, Regulus let out a dry laugh “Curse you Dora, you knew from the start, didn’t you?”

So, he might not be dead, Regulus hated the possibility more than anything now.

But he was not one to refuse to believe something when there was proof in front of him. Pandora had probably given him a modified time turner.

“You did always want to save me Dora” 

The words left a sour taste on his mouth, what some minutes ago seemed easy to handle now sent shivers down Regulus’ spine.

He was back, he had been given another chance.

And yet he had returned to the worst moment possible, just after breaking up with James, the Winter he made his choice.

The winter he had, oh.

He had forgotten, one of the reasons why this Yule had been especially bad.

Unable not to, Regulus poked his flat stomach, he had forgotten about that little detail.

Pregnant, he had gotten pregnant and that same winter he had decided to end the pregnancy.

It had been the smartest choice back then, he did not regret it, he was sixteen and not fit to raise a child.

Did he want the child now?

His child, the taste of the word felt foreign on his tongue, during the war he had only thought about having kids twice.

When Pandora told him she was getting married and when he was ordered to kill a muggle child.

He had looked at the kids' green childish eyes and tried to cast a cruciatus.

And then when Bellatrix hadn’t been looking he had apparated the kid somewhere, begged him to hide as the kid just stared at him in silence before crying in his arms.

The kid's eyes still haunted him to this day, the blood on the kid's face felt stuck on his nails more than once.

He hadn’t really thought of having a child too seriously ever, he should just terminate it like before.

He should join the death eaters and find information from the inside.

Just once more he stared at his stomach and poked.

This was the last piece of James he had, as morbid as it sounded.

A name, he should at least name his child even if it was not even a living being yet, right?

What had James said he wanted to call his first kid? Harry, right? 

“Until I find a safe way to remove you from my body you’re Harry Altair Black” A boy name, Regulus realised, he had done it almost out of instinct.

He had heard that the parent carrying the child could sometimes tell, but that should only be possible after three months at least.

Was the kid a boy? Or felt like a boy?

All this was giving him a headache.

He had to brew the potion to end the pregnancy soon, this had to end before he got too attached.

Brewing a potion without his parents knowing what he was doing while at the same time researching horcruxes turned out to be harder than he remembered.

In the meantime he had figured that there was not a fixed limit on how many horcruxes one could make, which was terrible news as making one only took murder, which Voldemort did more often than not.

Fortunately there were theories on how many times one could split their souls before they simply stopped functioning like a normal human being.

So, Voldemort probably hadn’t gone over sixteen.

On the other hand he had failed at brewing the potion correctly and had to start again soon, which was not ideal.

It was taking him longer than it had the first time and the only thing different was him.

And that the child now had a name.

Oh.

He had named the child, and his magic had picked up on his mood.

Voldemort would arrive in four days, he had four days to make a choice.

Deep down he knew the choice had been made the moment he had given his child a name.

“Come on Regulus, don’t grow weak now” He muttered and tried again, maybe just this once he would succeed.

When the potion exploded on his face he could only groan in frustration, he ignored how his magic had protected his stomach immediately.

He tried again nonetheless.

At the fifth attempt Regulus accepted the truth.

He had grown attached, and he was now thinking of raising a child at eighteen.

At least it was better than sixteen.

He gave up on trying to make the potion and instead switched to how to hide his traces.

If he was going to raise a child there was no way in Myrddin he was going to do it while fighting a war.

So he was doing the same thing he had been too afraid to do the first time, he was running away, and unlike Sirius he was planning.

He already had a separate account by this time, money would not be a problem but just in case he could grab some extra before leaving.

Knowledge about magic and how to hide traces, his time as a death eater had taught him more than enough but reading some more wouldn’t hurt.

A place to run to, France? No, too obvious.

Pandora, he remembered she had once mentioned where she lived, the Rosier’s main family branch's manor.

No one really knew the exact location, but Pandora had told him, he had almost forgotten.

A temporary solution while he looked for a house, yes, he could do that.

While he could he wrote down all the information he could find about horcruxes on his notebook and took his favourite clothes, the ones he never wore in front of his parents.

Before going he watched the family tree tapestry, his brother's name scorched, destroyed for everyone to see.

He saw his own name and cast an illusion spell, he didn't think it would work but there was hope.

Dead, 1978 would be the year the tapestry would show as his last one.

If he was lucky his mother wouldn't look too closely at it and it would buy him some time.

Finally he returned to his room, shrinking everything and casting a weightless charm on it, he shifted into his animagus form, grabbed everything with his mouth and jumped.

He would have liked to say he didn’t look back but he would have been lying.

There was one thing Regulus had forgotten in his very careful planning, no, it wasn’t a book on how to raise a child, his family library didn’t have those.

And if it did then everyone must have forgotten to read them.

No, the problem was that he didn’t really know how to get to Pandora's and Evan’s house.

He could apparate even if he didn’t have a licence, sure, yet if the ministry caught word of where he was there was no way his parents wouldn’t find him, everyone knew how many contacts the Blacks had inside the ministry.

Any sign of unregistered magic the day he left would be investigated to drag him back.

Regulus once more reminded himself that this was a terrible idea.

A really terrible stupid idea he had made after a really traumatic event which consisted of dying.

And now here he was, dressed in the muggle clothes Barty had gotten for him during that muggle phase he had, under the rain in a muggle street.

“Do you need any help?” A voice asked not too far away from him.

A girl that seemed to be in her twenties had stopped and covered him with her umbrella, looking concerned.

“Uh, in what direction is Galloway forest?” Regulus finally asks after a minute of awkward silence, feeling embarrassed at the sudden attention.

At this the girl looks at him as if he had grown another head.

“The one in Scotland?” The incredulity was obvious in her voice.

“...” Regulus looked at his shoes with embarrassment “Yes”

With a long tired sigh the girl pulled out a map from her bag and offered it to him.

“Here, I think you’re gonna need this more than me” Was all she said with a tired sigh before taking in his drenched state “... You can also take the umbrella”

Regulus nods, covering himself and looking at the map with curiosity.

“Thanks…” He says embarrassed, the girl simply sighs loudly again.

“I really hope you're calling a taxi” The girl then waves goodbye while muttering something suspiciously similar to stupid pretty boys.

Regulus watches her go with a lost expression.

What the fuck is a taxi?

In his defense, he's not really knowledgeable about Muggle… anything actually. 

Barty took the course to piss off his dad so he knows some music, sure, but other than that he mostly just knows how to use Muggle hair dye.

That was also Barty's fault.

So, he had to call a taxi, which he wasn't really sure what it was.

He stood confused next to the road, watching the rain pour down.

Worst case scenario he returned to his animagus form and found some cat obsessed person to let him stay the night.

Manipulative? Probably, where his morals fucked up anyway? Yeah.

He watched the moving boxes, cars? Barty said something about cars, and tried to see if they had something to do with the knight bus which he knew of thanks to Dorcas.

Maybe a taxi was like a bus? 

He really didn't know what to compare it to, he had never seen a bus.

As he was lost on his thoughts a black, car?, stopped in front of him, the driver pulled down the window of the vehicle.

Regulus stared at the man's eyes in confusion.

“Need a ride?” The man asked with amusement clear in his eyes.

Regulus looked at the top of the vehicle and found ‘taxi’ written on it.

That… was faster than he thought.

“Yes” Regulus nodded and he tried to guess how to enter the vehicle. Door, that looked like a door handle, the boxes with wheels had doors “How close to Galloway forest can you get?”

The man looked at him with a weird expression as Regulus made his best attempt at opening the door on the first try.

“Around the entrance I guess, that's a long trip, do you have enough to pay for it?” When Regulus nods and finally manages to enter the taxi the man looks at him as if questioning his mental state.

Regulus tried his best at pretending to be unbothered and pulled out his pouch with Muggle money.

“How much would it be?” He asks even if he knows realistically he probably has enough, he did convert a big quantity of money just in case.

“Around three hundred pounds mate, quite far away from here” 

Regulus nods and pulls out the corresponding money, very careful to not get confused.

“Would this do?” He says as he offered the man the money, hoping Barty’s idea of how money worked was right.

Probably since the bastard got twelve owls, sometimes Regulus wondered why the bastard wasn’t a Ravenclaw.

And then Regulus remembered everything Barty did was to piss his father off and then it all made sense.

“Yeah, good enough, buckle up kid” The man picked the money and put it somewhere, Regulus was not paying attention, then pointed at some weird belt?

Regulus pulled and searched around to where to put it.

After getting more weird looks from the driver Regulus finally figured it out.

The taxi, or car, Regulus still didn't understand the difference, was already moving at a fast speed.

It made him a bit nervous, he didn't really understand how these boxes with wheels moved, maybe they were like a small train? The Hogwarts express was powered by magic though.

“So, what brings you to a forest on the other side of the country?” 

Regulus turns towards the driver, who has pulled out a cigarette and is lighting it, and hesitates before answering.

“I'm visiting some friends, they live around but they should come pick me up there”

That sounds believable, right? Regulus isn't sure if any muggles live around but the man might not know that?

“This late at night? What, didn't get your parents permission?” The man jokes, taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

When Regulus grimaces the man blinks twice.

“Man, that was a joke, how old are you even?” He looks at him in worry, as if just realising how young Regulus seems.

Taking a deep breath to settle himself, Regulus is glad he technically doesn't even have to lie. At least that much.

“I'm eighteen, turned eighteen yesterday” He ignored how the dates no longer match, his birthday being in summer solstice "Don't worry, my parents are used to these behaviours from my brother, they won't care”

While the man still seems suspicious he relaxes a bit, Regulus feels guilty for some seconds about the second part.

Sure, his parents won't care he's missing, they care about losing face once the Dark Lord visits. 

Mother might care though, not as much as she did when Sirius disappeared but something.

Regulus hated his conflicted feelings when it came to his mother, she wasn't nice, she didn't even like them but sometimes she would cup Regulus' face like she did.

He closed his eyes and tried not to think more about his parents, it didn't matter, he would not be seeing them again if he had any say in it.

The man seemed to pick up on his mood and simply pulled out another cigarette.

“Want one?” He offered and Regulus both for curiosity and maybe because he knew it would piss his parents off took it “You looked like you needed it”

Regulus stares at the cigarette and wonders why he feels like he's forgetting something.

Oh, he is pregnant, slowly he pulls out one of his packed potions and drinks it in one gulp.

It tastes terrible honestly but it does the job, he did remember Barty saying cigarettes were bad while pregnant.

“Thanks” he says and he takes the lighter and lights it up, trying to imitate what the man did before.

When the smoke fills his throat, leaving a terrible feeling of dryness he can't help but cough.

Next to him the man laughs, probably expecting this outcome.

“Never had one before I'm guessing?” He then offers him a bottle of water, his smile a bit softer “My son had the same reaction when he tried to light one at eight, poor guy though he also had to take a drag for it to work, he was coughing for a week”

Regulus stares at the man before chugging some water, and tries again.

He did just use a potion for this, he was going to figure out how Sirius even managed to like this.

“I’m Thomas, guess we should know each others names if we're about to do an nine hour trip together” 

Regulus nods, glaring at the cigarette as if it would make it more bearable.

Should he give his real name though?

He didn't want to lie to the driver but giving his real name might give his parents a lead.

Even if they would never even think of asking muggles.

“I’m Leo, like the constellation” He settles in, not too far from the truth but wouldn't bring attention if someone asked around.

“Well Leo like the constellation, that's a long name but who am I to judge”

Regulus looks at the man in the eyes and groans, so that was what Dorcas had called dad jokes.

And he was stuck here for nine hours.

Someone kill him.

Would he gain that sense of humour when he became a dad? 

He poked his stomach discreetly, he would find out pretty soon, which he didn't know if was good or bad.

He sincerely hoped the humour was not mandatory, he didn't want to make dad jokes.

James on the other hand… No, stop, don't think about it.

This year had been the worst one of his short life, he had broken up with James, been marked as a death eater, Dorcas had left them to join the Gryffindors, already had by this time, Barty insisted he and Evan would join too and Evan tried his best to pretend he was okay with it.

All in all it was a shitty year.

Regulus wondered if it would be different this time.

The trip was not as boring as he expected, Thomas had two kids, a son and a daughter who would fight a lot and a wife who tried to kick him out of the kitchen every time he attempted to cook.

Regulus himself wondered if he should try to learn to cook, he had tried to learn a bit when he was dating James, mostly because the other boy missed his favourite foods from home.

They had spent hours trying to replicate the spicy disses he missed, Regulus couldn’t help but smile fondly at the memory.

When they finally arrived the sun was already back, the sky filled with orange and red tones from the sunrise.

Regulus took a deep breath of fresh hair and let the feeling of raw magic invade him.

“Ya’ sure you’ll be alright from here?” Thomas asked, clearly wondering where his supposed friends were.

“Yes, don’t worry, I know my way around” Regulus said and Thomas, while hesitant, drove off. 

Regulus did not know the way around.

In fact, he had never been here before.

He simply made sure there wasn’t anyone close before shifting into his animagus form again and walking deep into the woods.

Fortunately he soon felt the wards around it and prayed with all he had that Pandora had added him.

Taking another step forward the wards seemed to inspect him, it was almost creepy but most of the people in the main Rosier branch were like that.

Creepy, yes, that was the word, they held some kind of outerworldness that no one else had.

Not to mention their seer innate abilities.

When the wards seemed content enough with him several houses appeared in his field of vision.

They were beautiful, almost reminding him of ancient Greek temples, if more homely.

White, made of marble, several of them seemed to have inner gardens with fountains in them.

One of the houses specially shone, it was more simple than the others yet Regulus felt it only made it stand out more. Inside a man was tending to the plants, singing a beautiful tune.

Regulus froze as the man turned around and stared deep into his eyes. 

Cassius Rosier, the madman of the Rosier’s main branch, and Pandora's and Evan’s father.

“Regulus, I was wondering if you would appear” Cassius Rosier's deep blue eyes inspected like if he was one of his magical experiments, a sense of uncomfortableness invaded Regulus “My daughter said your fate would be sealed today after all”

Regulus’ hands trembled a bit, a madman, right, Crazy Cassius was the man's nickname. There was a saying after all, there’s not a single sane seer.

“Well meet Lord Rosier” He says, trying to hide the uncomfortable feeling.

The colours on Cassius' eyes seem to twirl, he’s wearing a confused expression before he smiles towards Regulus.

“Well meet Heir Black, may our friendship be blessed by Lady Magic” He then steps a bit too close for comfort, much like how Pandora does sometimes “How interesting”

Cassius Rosier doesn’t bother to look at him more, going back to tend the plants, or caress them more accurately.

Regulus tries to find the words to ask to be allowed to stay until he finds a home but his mouth feels dry.

It's the sound of a soft melody being hummed that pulls him out of his thoughts.

“Reg!” Pandora yells, clearly sounding relieved, Regulus immediately opens his arms to allow her to hug him “You’re here”

As Pandora tightens her grip on him Regulus tries his best to offer her some kind of comfort.

He missed Pandora, after getting the mark he became detached from reality in a way, keeping people away to not hurt them.

Pandora understood, she always did.

“Hi Dora” He says and tries to hide how his eyes become slightly wet “I missed you”

She slowly lets go of him, cupping his head with her hands. As she looks at him she takes a small step back, not letting go of him but the fear clear in her eyes.

“Oh Regulus” Her voice is woeful “What have you done?”

Chapter Text

Regulus looks at Pandora in the eyes, fully knowing that he couldn’t hide the truth even if he wanted. Not from her, never from her.

“I drowned” He says instead, because he knew Pandora will understand “And then I didn’t”

Pandora looks at him with sorrow but she's smiling, and Regulus guesses she likes what she sees.

“I’m glad” Pandora is now fully smiling “Because you didn’t, and you won't again”

And something in her voice made Regulus know it was the truth, after all he now had something to live for.

He couldn’t just go die after giving birth, he would not be an absent parent.

Pandora watches his hand placed in his stomach and gives him a knowing smile.

“Pandora this-” He begins but she simply shakes her head.

“I know, it's okay, you’ve already made your choice after all” Before Regulus can overthink she begins to drag him towards one of the houses, the one that caught the most sunlight “I already prepared your room”

He doesn’t dare question what would have happened if he hadn’t shown up. Would the room forever be empty?

“Its beautiful Dora” He manages to get out once he sees it, the house is not necessarily big but it's decorated with small falling stars all around, his room already has a crib next to his bed and the second room already has a bed filled with plushies.

The house is filled with earthly greens, reminding him of the Slytherin dorms at Hogwarts.

He knew he couldn’t return, not after the stunt he just pulled.

Pandora holds his hand softly, she had probably already guessed what Regulus was thinking.

The comforting atmosphere is broken by a soft knock on the door.

“Dora? What are you doing in there? Can I come in?” Evan asks from the other side of the door.

Pandora looks towards him before saying anything, Regulus simply nods once.

Without bothering to answer Pandora opens the door with a flick of her hand, not even blinking twice at the wandless and wordless magic.

Evan simply walks in, clearly taking in the decorations around with curiosity before finally letting his eyes fall into Regulus.

“Reg wha-, why are you here?” Evan looks at him in shock, clearly not expecting him here. His eyes immediately darken when he sees Regulus’ sorry state from the long trip “What did they do?”

Evan tries to ask calmly but his voice is filled with venom, Regulus only shakes his head.

“Nothing out of the ordinary Ev, just hear me until the end, I’ll explain once we’re all here” Regulus says with a sigh, the sleepless nights are catching up to him and he knows it “Can you invite Barty and-, just Barty, I’ll explain everything once we’re all here”

The three of them try to ignore Dorcas’ absence from their plans, it stings, like an open wound but Dorcas already made up her mind and chose.

It was alright, Regulus told himself, it happened almost two years ago for him after all.

“Is there something specific I should tell Barty?” Evan asks, clearly understanding Regulus’ presence here is not known by his parents.

“Don’t mention me, unless my parents have figured it out already they should believe I’m dead” Regulus explains and Evan only frowns further, Pandora looks between them and gives them a soft smile.

“For now, lets go eat, I’m sure you’re hungry from the trip Reg”

Both of them nod and follow her, Evan watching him with worry and Regulus too tired to say anything.

The food is good, especially the spicy one Pandora passes him. It’s nice, Cassius Rosier joins them at some point, he still looks at Regulus like he was an unresolved question.

But it's nice, it feels safe.

When he’s finally back at his new house Regulus lets himself fall into bed with a smile.

He stares into the crib with curious eyes, it was weird to think that in some months there will be someone sleeping there.

With a sigh he looked at the stars hanging from the ceiling, surprised to find in the middle a sun.

Even after all Regulus couldn’t help but find comfort in it.

Barty was thinking of running away from home again when Evan’s olw dropped a letter on his face.

He ignored his mothers curious glance from the sofa, the same one she only moved from when she had work to do around the house.

Come visit me. Don’t tell anyone. Don’t be suspicious.

That was all the letter said, Barty couldn’t help the grin that formed on his face.

Well, that was a good enough excuse.

Softly he traced Evan’s sophisticated handwriting, letting himself relax with it.

“Mother” He said softly, turning towards her, she tilted her head but didn’t say anything “I’m gonna go out for some time, I’ll return before father does”

His mother looked at him, her face switching between several emotions before settling in resignation.

“All right”

Barty thanked her with a kiss on the cheek before going to pick up all his stuff, he made sure that in case his father returned sooner than expected the room would look like it should.

With nothing else to do he walked toward the fireplace and muttered the closest location to Evan’s house.

Walking out of the public floo establishment Barty went to the road, he soon found what he needed.

Grabbing a simple motorcycle by the road and pressing some pre-prepared runes on it to turn it on, he ignored the screams of the owner and drove off.

Feeling a bit bad he pulled out some muggle cash and threw it at the man, it was probably enough to cover for the motorcycle.

See Evan? I have some morals, I just need it more right now.

He soon reached the edge of the forest, Barty hid the motorbike with some quick charms, knowing he would no longer be noticed by the ministry this close to a Wixen home and walked in.

He hadn’t visited Evan much, while his home was beautiful Barty preferred busy roads and people around. Being here, in the middle of the forest made him restless.

“Guess who’s already here!” Barty yells, waving at Cassius who simply looks at him with boredom.

As he keeps walking he finally reaches Evan’s house, the door is open and Evan is already there, waiting.

“Hi” Barty greets with his usual lazy smirk “So, gonna tell me what is that made you beg for my presence like that?”

Evan rolls his eyes and grabs him by the shirt, pulling him towards another one of the houses. Pandora is sitting in the grass next to it.

“Not even a welcome kiss?” Barty asks but Evan doesn’t answer him, instead they sit next to Pandora.

“Reg is here” Is the first thing that comes out of Evan’s mouth.

Barty freezes, because there’s almost nothing that would make Regulus run away at this point.

They tried, but Regulus was right, if he were to leave that would leave the Black’s without an heir. And Merlin knew Regulus’ parents wouldn’t just accept that.

“He should wake up soon” Pandora says kindly, her presence as calming as usual “He’ll explain”

The three of them sit there in silence for a while until the door opens and a sleepy Regulus appears.

He looks confused at Barty’s presence here but he’s quick to compose himself.

Regulus takes a deep breath, knowing he has to explain, that he has to stop his friends for following the Dark Lord like they had.

He sits next to them in the grass, he doesn’t even bother to place something to stop his clothes from getting dirty.

“I ran away” He finally gets out, everyone looks at him with the same deadpan expression “Mother wanted me to get marked this Yule”

The matched confused expressions on Evan and Barty are gold in Regulus’ opinion, but he guesses it makes sense for them to not understand.

“Reg” Barty sounds as confused as he looks “Hadn’t you already had made up your mind about this?”

Regulus gulps, looking at his shoes to hide his nervousness. Back then he had, back then he had tried his best to get in, to make sure it was him and not Sirius.

“I thought I did” He confesses, softly “But that's not an option anymore, not for me”

Evan and Barty share a look, Pandora simply watches them, Regulus can only find her nonjudgmental posture comforting.

“Have you gone nuts?” Barty finally said, filled with disbelief “Do you know how dangerous betraying the Dark Lord is at this time? While the war is brewing?”

His friends wait for an explanation, for a reason. Maybe they think Regulus simply didn't have the stomach for it, or that he suddenly gained some Gryffindor bravery.

“I’m having a baby” Regulus blurts out instead, making Barty open his mouth and close it.

“What-” Barty begins before Evan cuts him.

“No you’re not” Evan is now looking at his stomach as if it were a cursed artifact “I have enough materials to make a safe abortion potion, if you don’t trust us we can make up a fake identity for you to ingress in St Mungo”

Barty nods vehemently and it is then when Pandora decides to interrupt.

“I believe it’s a bit too late for that” She says and his friends look at Regulus with matching desperate looks.

If he’s already leaving his secrets out in the open he might as well do it fully, Regulus thinks with a sigh.

“I’m not just deflecting” Regulus admits, watching as their friends expressions turn serious “I’m taking him down”

He doesn’t need to explain who he is, the dangerous edge in his eyes says enough.

Barty sighs loudly “Okay you lost it, your mother tortured you enough this time for you to lose it”

Regulus glares at him while Evan covers his face with his hands. Pandora looks at Barty with a hint of amusement.

“Oh no, he's just as sane as he should be” Pandora then smiles happily while Barty groans.

“That's not specially reassuring” Evan mutters, Regulus can’t help but agree.

“Okay, I’m in” Barty finally says after a while, completely resigned “I can’t believe I’m doing this”

Regulus laughs, when he finally manages to stop everyone is looking at him.

“What?” He asks, a bit embarrassed by the sudden attention.

“Nothing, lets just begin planning how to take down the Dark Lord” Evan mutters, looking both annoyed and resigned.

Regulus begins to talk, he starts with taking the mark one winter, he tells them about how slowly everything turned worse.

He tells them about Kreacher, he tells them about the locket.

He doesn’t tell them about drowning, he doesn’t tell them about the new almost invisible scars on his skin.

Instead he tells them how to recognise a horcrux, he tells them everything he has found out.

And with a heavy heart he wishes them luck at Hogwarts, he begs them not to get involved.

And most important of all he begs them to survive.

Barty stayed for three days before he had to return so his father didn’t notice his absence, in the meantime they began crafting him a secondary identity with Cassius’ help.

An adopted member of the Rosier family, homeschooled for he used to be a sickly child. A simple believable story, knowing how secretive the Rosiers were.

Pandora disappeared one day and returned another with a ring that changed Regulus’ hair colour to white and his eyes to green.

“It also has a modification of the confundus charm, it makes it hard for people to remember your features” Pandora explained.

Regulus would try it on several times before it was time to return to Hogwarts. Pandora hugged him goodbye, so did Evan before Cassius took them to the station.

And then he was alone, with his investigation and Cassius.

And the baby books, because even Barty had bought him baby books, his mostly muggle while Pandora’s and Evan’s ones magical.

They hadn’t even asked who the father was, which Regulus secretly thanked, but still.

“You should tell them to ask the room of desires” Cassius mentioned once he caught Regulus filling a board with information.

“What room?” Regulus asked, cautious.

“The one that gives you what you need, in the seventh floor” Cassius looked lost on his thoughts “Tom used to go there to study, hating people as much as he did the common room became too much for him”

Regulus arched an eyebrow at the name but began writing a letter, he knew the room Cassius was talking about, he and James had spent some time together there and he was sure Pandora knew about it.

He sighed and hoped they would find some information by themselves.

“So, who’s Tom?” Regulus asked, hoping to make some polite small talk with Cassius.

“Tom?” Cassius looked a bit lost for a second “Oh he was so cursed, doing something like that to himself and others, a waste, really a waste”

Regulus was taken back by this, cursed, that was such a strange way to describe someone.

"What did he do?” He asks, even though he’s not completely sure he wants to learn what someone like Cassius considers cursed.

But Cassius is wearing a sad look on his face, he isn’t even looking at Regulus anymore.

“Tom, he crossed a line no magical should” Regulus felt chills running down his spine as Cassius voice became softer “He lost his humanity, and he didn’t even want it back”

Barty takes the Hogwarts express without looking his father in the eyes even once. Not particularly hard to do as the man was also pretending he didn’t exist.

He passed through the compartments making sure to take deep breaths, they rehearsed this, they had to act worried about Regulus’ disappearance but not say anything.

As he walked to their usual compartment he locked gazes with Dorcas, who flinched momentarily before looking away. 

She entered the same compartment her Gryffindor friends were in, not even bothering to greet Barty.

Swallowing his anger Barty kept walking until someone bumped into him.

“Merlin sorry!” James Potter’s annoying voice filled Barty’s ears “Oh uh-”

James Potter looked uncomfortable, Barty couldn’t care less.

“Whatever Potter” He mutters but his mind was occupied with other things.

Like if he should buy mini-Reg a kids broom, because Regulus loved flying so maybe that would make a great gift?

Look, Barty was trying, Regulus had decided he was having a child, regardless of how stupid of an idea it was, so Barty now had to do all he could so the kid grew loved.

And not in a war, as Regulus had pointed out.

He opened the door, having finally reached their compartment, and saw Evan already reading some book about transfiguration, Pandora on the other hand held her book upside down.

“Missed me?” Barty asks, his immediate reaction after being to place a silencing charm around them.

“We saw each other two days ago Barty” Evan answers, completely unbothered but the space left next to him so Barty can lie down says otherwise.

“Of course” Pandora answers easily “We needed someone to discuss baby gifts with”

Barty’s eyes immediately shine, of course he should trust his sister in law to be the best prepared.

Evan next to them groans but stops reading to join the,

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Barty asks and Pandora simply pulls out several catalogs filled with baby products.

They spend the rest of the trip discussing what to gift mini-Reg, once they reach Hogwarts they have to go back to pretending to be worried, which fortunately they are all pretty good at.

Pandora takes their hands as they walk past Dorcas’ new friend group, not even sending them a glance.

Evan looks, regardless of the fact that he knows Dorcas won't.

In a way Barty understands, this happened after they told Dorcas they would willingly take the mark, even if it was just to follow Regulus.

Her girlfriend was a halfblood, of course she couldn’t just still be their friend after that, Barty understood because he wouldn’t have been able to look anyone in the face if they joined a group that would harm Evan.

If Evan died Barty would probably lose it.

The one he actually glares at is Sirius Black, Regulus’ stupid brother, who is laughing with his friends, not worried at all about Regulus’ disappearance.

Barty ignores the anger boiling down in his stomach and sits next to Evan, resting his head on him.

“You okay?” Evan asks, Barty just nods.

An owl lands into Pandora as they are talking, she immediately passes the letter to them.

Not a handwriting Barty recognises, is not until he reads the letter that he can tell who it is from.

Regulus really took the second identity thing seriously, to even change his handwriting.

A hidden room on the seventh floor, well, it's good enough of a lead.

The three of them look at each other, clearly Evan is already making excuses in case they get caught after curfew.

In the meantime he looks at Dumbledore, giving his usual speech that leaves a sour taste in every listening person with enough brain to understand what the old man actually means.

Just what he needed to pretend to be even more upset, great.

Sirius watches as Regulus’ friends, minus Dorcas, walk to the Slytherin table without Regulus.

The mark, he didn’t know why James had gone to talk with Regulus before the winter vacations started but he had found out Regulus had taken the mark.

Did you see it? Sirius has asked, James had only lowered his head in shame.

No, he told me himself, I didn’t want to see.

But now there was no Regulus anywhere and Sirius couldn’t even question him.

Of course, he should have accepted a long time ago that Regulus always listened to their parents, but to this extent?

“Padfoot?” James called next to him, his smile had been a bit strained for weeks now, the worry for what was to come was catching up to all of them it seemed.

“Yeah?” Sirius tries his best to give his usual lazy smirk but his eyes can't stop searching around for any signs of silver eyes just like his own.

“Moony was just wondering if you’d like to join the study group” James’ eyes stop into Lily for a while, making  Sirius internally groan “Lily invited us”

Sirius can only thank Myrddin that James hasn’t been that much after Lily these last years, which might have worked for him because now Lily actually talks to him.

Good for him, Sirius guesses.

“Isn’t it a bit early to begin to study?” Sirius pouts, James just looks at him with a deadpan expression.

“Remus with glasses” Is all he says, making Remus, who was invested in a conversation with Lily, choke on his water.

“Nevermind count me in” Sirius immediately answers with a laugh.

Yes, it would do him good to stop thinking about Regulus for a while, and if it got him to see Moony with glasses then even better.

He ignores how he hasn't seen Regulus at the platform, how his friends seem to look more broody than usual.

It's alright, Regulus would probably appear soon and Sirius could go back to fighting him in the corridors.

Barty lets a soft smile show on his face as Evan guides them in silence to the seventh floor, making sure they don't trip.

If they're caught they were going to the astronomy tower, to see the Regulus star.

No one would be too harsh on children who just lost their friend after all.

Pandora was humming a dirge, it was probably not even on purpose but they really looked like they were mourning.

They reach the seventh floor without bumping into any professors, in front of the tapestry featuring the ballet dancing trolls.

“Barnabas the Barmy must have had lots of free time” Barty mentions with amusement.

It's not every day someone attempts to teach trolls how to dance, and ballet at that.

“He was Barmy” Evan points out as he follows Regulus' instructions about how to get in.

“Isn't most of your family too?” Barty bites back, completely unbothered by Pandora looking at her brother with innocent eyes.

“Oh shut your trap” 

When the door finally appears Barty immediately kicks it open, revealing a messy inside.

“What did you ask the room for?” Barty grimaces when he finds several discarded old clothes from at least two centuries ago “Because it looks like a hippogriff barged in and destroyed everything”

Evan just shrugs as Pandora walks in, unbothered by the mess.

“Asked for something that would help find the objects”

With nothing else to do they begin searching around, Barty reads all the book covers with curiosity, categorising them according to the usefulness of their information.

Pandora simply looks around, pulling objects seemingly without a clear pattern.

Evan sighs and looks around for interesting artifacts.

After several hours Barty gets fed up, not having figured out much and simply throws the nearest book, one in the pile categorised as useless, towards a pile of boxes.

As they fall the boxes open and several jewellery pieces come out of them, landing at Barry's feet.

A shining diadem specially calls his attention, it's surprisingly pretty and almost feels like it's begging him to try it.

How… dangerous.

He takes a step back and observes it from a distance, whatever it is it's definitely cursed.

“Ev, Dora, I think I found something” He yells and two heads pop out behind a bookshelf “I’m pretty sure is cursed though”

Pandora doesn't wait, she walks towards the diadem and stares at it in silence.

“It’s alive” She finally says, Evan takes an immediate step back only to return, grab his sister and pull her away from the diadem.

“And that's why were are not touching it” Evan looks at his sister in the eyes with a serious expression “We should first figure out what it is first”

Barty stops paying attention to what they are saying, a sudden idea forming in his mind.

“Hey guys, I might be crazy-” Barty starts, Evan arches an eyebrow at this.

“You are”  He says, making Barty roll his eyes.

“But- doesn’t it feel like an horcrux?” He finishes, both Rosier twins look at him with matching stunned expressions.

The worst part of it all is that it makes sense, Regulus had described the feeling horcruxes gave, how to recognise one.

“Okay, either we’re extremely lucky” Barty looks at the diadem, hidden in a secret room students use to throw things they don’t want found “Or he’s extremely stupid”

Sure, the diadem is hidden, and would be easy to ignore between all the trash around if it didn’t fucking scream cursed.

“I’m leaning towards the second one right now just for our sakes” Evan sighs, before taking out a pouch made for cursed items.

“Do you always carry that with you?” As he asks this Evan looks at him with a deadpan expression.

“Barty” He says, his tone filled with exhaustion “Have you met my family?”

Barty looks at Pandora, who has already disappeared from their sight and chooses to shut up.

When they finally return to their dorm Barty tries to ignore the book about deadly spells Pandora has found, which she has given to him of all people.

Yeah, Barty sometimes looks back and wonders how he even got involved with so many crazy fuckers.

He also ignores how he now qualifies as one.

His father would be so proud.

Chapter Text

No one bats an eye when Barty and Evan show up the next day at breakfast with matching dark circles under their eyes.

The positive side was that it at least helped them spread rumours about something having happened to Regulus, even if there wasn’t an official statement from his family.

“Point me doesn’t work” Evan mutters as he munches on his toast, looking the part of a crazy Rosier.

“It would be pretty disappointing if it worked Ev” Barty says before taking his coffee and drowning it in one go “We could always try do a blood map”

It's not the craziest idea they could come up with, considering they literally have a part of the Dark Lord's soul.

The problem is that blood maps usually need, well, blood.

“Following magic traces could also work” Evan adds, clearly unsure if they can even follow magic traces based on a piece of a man's soul “My family is pretty good at recognising types of magic”

“Doesn’t that mostly apply to ya’ know, fae shit?” What in Barty’s opinion was a great question made Evan roll his eyes.

“You have one fae relative and suddenly all your magic is based on it” Evan looks annoyed, but Barty knows he’s not actually mad.

That’s exactly why he gives Evan his best smile.

“We’ll, said fae relative is your other parent” 

Evan doesn’t even bother to dignify him with an answer.

They spend the rest of the day hanging out with each other, basking in each other's presence and selling their ‘I miss my friends who might be dead so much’ act.

Their house had already taken Regulus’ death as a fact, many first years which Regulus had helped mourned, others questioned his cause of death.

Yet none dare to bring up the topic to their now trio.

It was when the first week was over that Dorcas approached them, her Gryffindor friends waited from a safe distance.

“Regulus, where is he?” Dorcas asks, clearly having gotten wind of the rumours, her voice was trembling almost unnoticeably.

Barty held back the urge to punch her in the face, that he understood her reasoning didn’t mean he wasn’t angry.

“So now you talk to us Cas?” Barty spit out, earning him a warning stare from Evan, Pandora stayed surprisingly out of the whole ordeal.

“Well, sorry for not talking to the ones clearly talking about wanting to join the people that want my friends and girlfriend dead” Dorcas never held back either, it was one of the things Barty respected about her, she gave as good as she got.

“Oh so you leave without an explanation? Just like that” Barty snorted, Dorcas clenched her fists.

“Regulus was going to join him, get the mark” She didn’t punch him, which Barty found disappointing, they could be done with this much faster like that “He looked so eager”

Evan, who hadn’t said anything since Dorcas arrived, laughed, a humorless dry laugh.

“You think Reg wanted it? No! He knew his time was counted when he chose to take it! he wanted to spend the time he had left with us” Barty watches as Evan’s eyes turn sharp “It’s good to know what you actually thought of us Dorcas”

Dorcas freezes, something Barty hasn’t seen her do much in all their years of friendship, she looks lost and for a moment Barty wants to tell her, tell her he understands, because he would do the same if it was Evan’s life on the line.

“So he’s dead” She finally says and Pandora nods.

And they all can see her process the meaning of those three words, she covers her mouth with her hand and looks away to hide the tears beginning to form at the corner of her eyes.

Dorcas has never been one to cry, if you were to ask him when was the last time Dorcas even looked close to tears Barty wouldn’t be able to answer.

“Will there be a burial?” She asks once she has composed herself, the three of them look between each other and can’t answer her.

“If his family wants one, but we are unlikely to be invited”

He feels guilty for lying to Dorcas even if he knows it’s the right choice, because Dorcas wouldn’t even have bothered to talk to them if it wasn’t because of Regulus’ supposed death.

But seeing his old friend's despaired look hits Barty in the small conscience he has left.

She nods before joining her Gryffindors again, she doesn’t ask forgiveness for her behavior, she also doesn’t ask them forgiveness for theirs.

It won’t return to what they have, not now with the war at their doorstep, but her eyes hold hope for what comes after, once the waters have calmed.

Maybe she’s not completely wrong to hope, Barty thinks, after all Regulus is unfortunately a stubborn arsehole, and he has set his mind into taking the Dark Lord down.

“We should keep researching” Evan points out once he’s sure no one's around.

“Ugh, sure let’s research three hundred ways to kill with spells, I think next one is fiendfyre” Barty winks at Evan, which only makes the other boy groan in frustration.

“I swear one more fae joke and you’re going out the window” Evan’s tone is much more serious than at breakfast, making Barty gulp.

“I mean, it is the next spell on the book” 

The tired sigh he receives from Evan says enough for him to shut up, Pandora simply shakes her head, clearly amused.

And Barty guesses that's enough for him right now, he’s here, they’re alive.

Regulus can’t sleep, the name Tom has been stuck inside his head since Cassius mentioned it.

It’s something, perhaps the result of his family’s propensity for paranoia, that renders him incapable of simply discarding the thought.

Because Regulus doesn’t know of any Tom, not one Cassius would know about at least, not one Cassius would describe like that.

He ends up getting up and writing to Evan again, this time telling him to look at the records of past students in his fathers year.

Tom, Regulus doesn’t know why but he’s important, and he will probably not be able to sleep until he figures out why.

He caresses his stomach before opening the door and going out for a walk, he’s not surprised when he finds Cassius waiting for him, his face illuminated by the fire in the man's favourite temple.

“Deneb shines brightly tonight” Cassius simply says as Regulus sits next to him.

“That it does” Regulus nods, the star does shine more than usual today after all.

Cassius looks at him, the color on his eyes seems to twirl and Regulus can’t help but look away.

“You are quite a curious one Regulus, I haven’t met one like you in a while” Cassius smiled at him but before Regulus can ask about what he means the man changes the subject “Have you decided when you’re gonna take your NEWTS?”

Regulus has thought about it less than he’d like to admit, he’s sure he can pass easily, having already done so once before, his new persona has been added to the Rosier family tree and his age has been changed for his real one to make things easier.

Once Harry is born he’ll have to find a way to gather information from both sides, opening a shop in Knockturn Alley is probably the easiest choice.

“I should become a potioneer, both sides of the war had a high demand of healing potions” Regulus decides, a job in which you can gather information easily yet wouldn’t leave him with a heavy conscience.

Healing potions, Regulus never expected to become some sort of healer, even if it was a respectable position no one in the house of Black really healed.

They all knew how to patch themselves up, they knew how to use healing spells to hurt instead, Black’s were good at destruction after all.

“It’s a respectable position” Cassius’ answer was simple, almost formal but Regulus could see his eyes shine with curiosity.

“I’ll take the NEWTS next week” Regulus decided, already calculating how much time it would leave him before the war started to become known around the area “I should begin buying a stablishment”

Cassius didn’t answer but Regulus wasn’t expecting one, he said goodnight to Lord Rosier and walked back to his house.

With the letter sent and nothing else to do Regulus stared at the crib once more, with a sigh he opened the baby books his friends got for him and began to read.

They were interesting, in a way, babies were delicate things, something Regulus already knew.

The books contained information on how to handle allergies, taking away the pacifier, feeding plans.

It definitely was helpful even if it only further worried him, he found himself studying everything just in case.

When the sun rays began hitting his face Regulus woke up on top of a pile of baby books.

He ate lunch with Cassius, who kept staring at him as if he were just the most interesting thing ever and got added to the Rosiers floo wards.

“You're pretending to be one of us so we might as well do it properly” Cassius had told him with amusement, Regulus could only find it in himself to be grateful.

He walked through the streets of Knockturn Alley in his new disguise, looking completely unbothered.

He knows the feeling he should give as a member of the Rosier’s main branch, which is a bit barmy but easy to approach.

He looks around for empty establishments until he finds one in a secluded area, far away from the main street.

The original ownership doesn't much matter when it now belongs to Gringotts, which is good, less questions asked.

He soon makes way to the bank and buys the place, unbothered by the price.

His secret account, now that he's supposedly dead his main one, has more than enough money for him to never work if he wanted to. The Blacks weren't lacking money in any way, something like that wouldn't even be felt in the main accounts and considering Regulus had also taken extra stuff just in case.

Yes, he had more than enough pounds to start a business and not even look at the prices.

Buying the needed ingredients and finding suppliers went next, knowing the war was about to begin the smartest choice was to grow them himself.

He soon made a deal with Cassius Rosier about growing material in the forest, some already grew naturally regardless and they did have a greenhouse.

The deal was pretty good for Regulus too, it simply consisted that unless what was asked went against his morals Regulus would brew it for Cassius.

Of course there was a limit on how many potions Regulus would brew if asked, not that he would probably refuse.

And with that the only thing left was decorating his shop, adding protective wardships and spreading gossip about it.

And taking his NEWTS of course.

Regulus was quite satisfied with his overall progress even if he did begin to puke in the mornings, which was less than ideal.

After a week of work he finally received the owl from the ministry approving of his date for the NEWTS.

That same day another owl reached him, Evan finally wrote back.

Sirius Black was having a terrible week, sure he got to see studious Remus, which was good for the health he swore, but his brother was still missing.

Not that Sirius wanted to see his face but still.

It was weird, Regulus had always been one to stick to the rules, skipping class would probably give him an aneurysm.

So skipping a whole week was just bonkers. And unrealistic if one asked Sirius.

The Regulus he knew would have never allowed himself the possibility of falling behind in classes.

Maybe that was why after a week of watching Regulus’ friends from a distance, and glaring at them, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

“Prongs” Sirius looks at James, who has been more quiet than usual since before Yule “I need the map”

James blinks slowly, as if he was having a hard time paying attention, Sirius is beginning to worry that Lily rejecting him so many times was finally taking a tool on his friends self esteem.

“Oh, yeah sure here Pads” James says while smiling but his smile doesn't reach his eyes, he passes the map, Sirius doesn't waste time and opens it.

“I solemnly swear I'm up to no good” He mutters and begins searching for Regulus’ name, when he finds nothing he searches for his brother's friends.

There is nothing suspicious, which botters him, they're just outside laying in the grass.

Sirius knows they won't answer him if he asks so there is only one option left. He searches for Dorcas’ name.

“Progs, I’ll be back soon, got something to do” 

As if being pulled out of a trance James nods, a bit confused but Sirius guesses they can talk about whatever his friend has going on after he figures out if his brother is outside killing muggles.

“Sure Pads” James says as Sirius skips down the stairs.

Sirius though can't hear him, he's rushing through the corridors until he gets to Dorcas.

She is unsurprisingly at the library, with Lily, Marlene and Mary, the four girls have become closer than ever after Dorcas finally dropped her Slytherin friends.

Good riddance, Sirius thought, nothing good would have come out of it.

“Black” Dorcas greets, she's the first one to see him.

“Sup Sirius!” Mary greets immediately after, grinning at him.

“Hi ladies, mind if I take Meadowes for a bit?”

Marlene arches an eyebrow accusatorily, Sirius tries his best impressionation of Moony's puppy eyes.

“Trying to steal my girlfriend Black?” Marlene squinted her eyes at him, making Sirius raise his hands in defeat.

“I wouldn’t dare Marls, as you know I like them nerdier” He said with a wink, making Marlene do a disgusted face.

“Unfortunately I do know, and with details” Marlene rolled her eyes at Sirius, Dorcas simply nodded at her friends and followed him outside.

Sirius looked around nervously as Dorcas arched an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to talk. Dorcas still didn’t like him much, he didn’t really know why but she didn’t.

“So? Whatcha need Black?” Dorcas looked at her nails as she spoke, showing disinterest, Sirius gulped.

“Do ya’ know what happened to Regulus? I haven’t seen him around” He asks and immediately Dorcas’ expression changes.

He’s almost taken aback by her dark expression, he can almost feel the anger boiling inside her.

“It’s not my place to say” Is all Sirius gets from Dorcas before she tries to turn around.

“Wait- What do you mean!? That’s still my brother Meadowes, I deserve to know if something happened to him!” Sirius is clenching his teeth, because how dare she, that was Regulus, Regulus who he had raised, he deserved to know more than anyone.

“You haven’t acted like he was for a while Black, don’t begin now” Dorcas spits out at him with so much venom in her voice that Sirius can only glare back.

His hand is twitching for his wand, when he realises he huffs and turns around. 

Dorcas ignores him and doesn’t look back as she sits back in the library, deep inside she ignores the feeling of guilt eating her up.

Because she too hasn’t been acting like she cared about Regulus for a while.

Hypocrite, she thinks, but she can’t find it in herself to regret her actions.

“Cas?” Lily asks, giving her a worried look.

“It’s nothing, it’ll heal with time” Dorcas says and can only thank Lily doesn’t push for answers.

Evan is forced to watch Barty perform several terrible attempts of fiendfyre before he takes over.

“Watch-” He's in the middle of casting when Barty stops him.

“Wait, what if we try hitting the horcrux with it?” He asks, his smile resembling a crazy potions master who uses their students as ingredients.

Pandora, who was reading a book in the back just nods and throws them the bag.

“Sure, if it doesn’t work at least we tried” Evan decides in the end, too tired to explain to Barty why it is a terrible idea.

He placed the diadem on the floor and ordered Barty to get close to the door just in case.

“Pestis Incendium” He casts, letting his veins be filled with pure magic, Hogwarts has a lot of it after all.

He points at the diadem and sees it slowly melt, be devoured and then it screams.

Terrible screams that make him cover his ears, losing control of the fire.

When the diadem is destroyed and the screams finally stop it is way too late, there is no way to stop the fire from spreading.

“Run!” Evan yells and runs to grab his sister and push her towards the exit, Barty waits for them and pulls them through.

The three of them end up outside, in front of the dancing troll tapestry, sweating and panting, all Evan can think of is how they just destroyed one of Hogwarts' most magical rooms.

“Hey, good news, at least we know it works” Barty says with a grin, Evan feels like punching him in the face wouldn’t do enough to calm him down.

“Regulus sent another letter” Pandora mentions without further explanation, giving it to them as if it were some candy.

Evan groans in frustration but opens it.

As he keeps reading the less he feels like doing this.

“Anyone ever heard of a Tom? An old student fathers age” He asks even if he knows it's a stupid question, there must be at least seven muggleborns around named Tom or something.

And who even would memorise old students names, no one was that much of a nerd-

“You mean the prefect? He has a plaque for stopping some murders or some shit” Barty mentions off handedly, Evan could kiss him.

They soon rush to find the plaque and write down all the information they can find in the students records, there is nothing after Hogwarts though and it freaks out Evan’s pureblood self a bit.

A prefect who went and did nothing after Hogwarts? No matter what sources of information they consult the following days they find nothing, it was as if the guy changed his identity.

Evan reconsidered his words, changed identity.

This time he searches for a wixen who had appeared around the time Tom Marvolo Riddle disappeared.

It’s a long list and Evan doesn’t even know what relationship Tom Riddle even has with the Dark Lord.

Barty sits next to him, slouching, his eyes filled with boredom.

“Uh that's funny” Barty says, resting his head on Evan’s shoulder.

“What is it?” Evan asks, not completely sure what part of his misery is hilarious to his friend, is it the endless list of names of discarded candidates?

“An anagram, Tom Marvolo Riddle, I am Lord Voldemort” Barty smirks “It's a funny coincidence don’t you think?”

Evan this time doesn’t bother to think he could kiss Barty, he does and when Barty is looking at him with foggy eyes he runs to write a letter.

Only when he has finally sent Regulus the letter does he realise what he just did.

Well, it wasn’t as if it was the first time he and Barty snogged but, ugh, whatever, he would deal with it later.

Tom Marvolo Riddle, Regulus finally has a face that matches and a name to go with it, after that it’s easy, almost too easy, to find where muggle birth and marriage records are kept and verify the veracity of the claims.

He didn’t know if to be disappointed in the Dark Lord, no, Tom Riddle, over how easy it was to figure him out.

Not only that, they are already one horcrux down and Evan’s description does give him some clues about what else the man might have made a horcrux of.

Horcruxes are sentimental objects, the man already used Slytherin's locket and now Ravenclaw's diadem.

The next things he had to look for were the Gryffindor sword, which he knew Dumbledore had so it was not an option, and Hufflepuff’s missing cup.

The question now was how to find it, blood maps didn’t work, Evan and Pandora had tried, soul maps had been a bit more successful but useless in the end.

Regulus spends the rest of the week dealing with morning sickness until Cassius offers him a homemade recipe to deal with the symptoms. In Regulus’ opinion it's the best discovery in the potions field and he has to add it to his shop catalog.

Slowly the days pass and the time to take his NEWTS arrives, he walks into the ministry with confidence and comes out of the exams as nervous as the first time he took them. No, it seemed that taking exams never got better.

The fact that he keeps craving spicy foods doesn’t help his concentration and he ends up eating at the first indian restaurant he finds, it’s muggle, it smells heavenly and the staff looks at him as if he was a nutcase.

“Table for one?” The man at the counter asks, he has a thick accent that Regulus can’t help but find slightly attractive.

“Yes, please” He says, the man points at one of the corners of the room and Regulus quickly relaxes in the chair.

He orders some Vindaloo and finds the spicy flavour comforting, it’s good and Regulus almost wants to ask for the recipe.

As he’s exiting the building a small girl runs inside and bumps into him, inevitably falling to the floor and crying.

“Hey, hey, it’s all right” Regulus tries to make his voice as comforting as he can “Here, let me help you get up, Did you get hurt?”

The girl looks at him with her big doe eyes filled with tears and Regulus melts a bit.

As he’s trying to make sure the girl is alright the owner comes out and sighs.

“Arre, Asha, my love, fell again, haan?” He whispers sweetly, picking up the girl in his arms “Sorry bout that, Asha has just learnt to run and my wife can’t keep up, you see”

Regulus simply smiles softly at them, the girl shyly smiles back.

“It’s alright, she looks like a sweet kid” 

The man looks at him and his gaze turns softer, the kid, Asha, is now looking at his hair with curiosity.

“Baba it’s an Apsara!” She whispers, quite loudly, into her fathers ear, her dad only chuckles.

Regulus laughs softly too, he’s suddenly glad to have extensive magical creature knowledge.

He smiles and places a finger on his lips.

“Shhh, it's a secret” He tells her and Asha grins from ear to ear before placing both her hands on her mouth.

The door opens not long after and Asha's mum rushes through the door, sighing in relief when she locates her daughter.

When Asha is finally back with her mum, Asha's dad smiles at him.

“You know, I reckon you’ll make quite a good father when you have kids of your own” He says as he pats Regulus in the back.

Regulus can tell the man doesn’t know how comforting those words are for him.

“I hope so” He admits, unable to not take a peck at his stomach.

“You will, my little Asha was enamored in seconds” The man laughs, and Regulus himself feels a smile creep onto his face “You look a bit young to be having kids though, not that I can talk”

“I am, but it wasn’t really planned” Regulus admits, feeling his cheeks heating up.

“They usually aren't, still, if your kid eats spice like you do they’re more than welcome at my restaurant” He says with a smile “I’m Arjun”

“Leo” He says easily “I’ll make sure to visit again, since the pregnancy I’ve been craving way too much spicy food, once the baby is born I wonder if it'll still be like this”

Arjun looks at him up and down in confusion, it is not until he waves goodbye that he realises men in the muggle word can’t get pregnant.

Well, at least Arjun had decided that he had enough with being a father and running a restaurant.

Two days later Regulus finds himself again at the man’s restaurant, this time with his exam results.

He knows logically he probably hasn’t failed, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel like puking. Not that he’s sure the puking comes from the stress and not from the pregnancy.

“Ever gonna open that letter pretty boy?” Arjun yells at him with a cheeky grin, his wife smacks him in the back of his head immediately after “Ouch Jaanu, that hurt”

“Don’t be mean, Leo, dear, take your time, exams are after all important” Meera, Arjun’s wife, has almost taken Regulus under her wing, even though she's not much older than him.

They’re a young couple in their late twenties, while Arjun owns the restaurant Meera is looking for a job as a nurse, Asha is their overly energetic but shy daughter who wants to be something called an astronaut.

Regulus fortunately knows what a nurse is, for this reason he has told her he’s taking his exams to be allowed to work as a pharmacist, unfortunately he still doesn’t know what an astronaut is so he’s extremely lost every time Asha brings it up.

“Open it Apsara Leo!” Asha begs, jumping to his arms to be picked up.

Regulus chuckles and gives in, he opens the letter and finds his grades, they are perfect, just like last time.

“All O’s” He says with relief, Asha makes an oh sound “Good, better than good, Myrddin I was so worried”

Meera ruffles his hair before she picks up her daughter.

“Do visit us once you’re less busy with your pharmacy” She says before looking at his stomach “And do tell us when the baby is due dear, we’d like to help if you need anything”

Regulus feels tears forming in the corners of his eyes, he nods gratefully.

“Of course, after my family you both will be the first to know” He promises and Meera sends him a pitying look.

He hasn’t told her why the other father of the child isn’t in the picture, Regulus doesn’t even want to think about what James would think.

Maybe disgust? Regulus broke up with him, told him it was all a game, that he had never loved him and that he was going to join a crazy mass murder.

And instead of doing that he ran away and had his child somewhere, honestly, James would probably be pretty pissed and Regulus couldn’t blame him.

James had begged that night, he had begged Regulus to tell him he was joking, that he was just playing some stupid prank on him.

And Regulus had looked into his pained expression and lied.

Regulus Black did do that a lot, lie, hide information. That was what he was good at.

With a heavy heart he returned home, home, what a weird word yet he considered the Rosier’s mix of houses his home now.

It was good, it really was.

Chapter Text

Regulus begins making the remaining preparations to open his shop, brewing potions comes easily to him, especially healing ones.

He makes simple ones for burns, cuts, small wounds and then goes on to make the complicated ones, blood replenishment potions, skin regrowth ones…

He methodically places them in the protective shelves while keeping the second floor of the shop off limits, there he decorates one of the rooms like a nursery.

These days he has been doing his fair amount of shopping in baby products, both muggle, thanks to Meera, and wixen. Having alternatives calms his mind when he drags himself into a panic just by thinking about how he’s gonna have to raise a child.

Calming down his nerves he walks outside and stares at where his shop's name is going to be, a pretty wooden sign with runes already carved into it for protection.

His whole shop is already warded, something he takes pride in having gotten to do before the death eater raids begin to affect magical shops.

Starless Night, it's the name he has chosen and he can’t help but find it funny. All the Blacks always prided themselves at being in the sky while Regulus was deliberately hiding in the dark.

He pulls out his wand and with it he carves the shop’s name, a small smile begins to creep onto his lips.

He hums as places the ‘we are open’ sign and walks in, not really bothered about customers, he knows once the war starts and his shop is one of the only remaining ones open people will begin to come.

Even so he makes sure the quality of his potions is perfect, he's not about to scam people just because they are desperate.

The bell at the door rings and Regulus is left talking with some gossipy ladies until they decide what they want to buy.

Slowly, as if attracted by the smell of fresh meat, more and more people begin to enter the shop, even if just to take a peek.

By the end of the week Regulus has made quite a fair amount of money and has more information about people's love affairs that he would want.

Regulus makes a routine soon, he works at his shop during the day, eats dinner at Arjun’s restaurant every Friday, tries to decipher whatever cryptic message Cassius gives him before going to sleep.

He hunts for horcruxes every free time he doesn’t spend trying to learn how to raise a child or writing to his friends about mundane things.

There isn’t much to do for a while, they haven’t got any leads about where the other horcruxes are or what they are, all Regulus knows is when the Dark Lord will hide the locket in the cave and that there is something definitely wrong in Little Hangleton.

He has visited to look around the town already two times, all with different looks and ages but the feeling he gets is always the same. He can almost smell the fear in the air, the stares of the locals when they see someone they don’t recognise.

And then there is the Gaunt Shack, he has yet to try entering inside, it reminds him way too much of the cave, the feeling of dread they give it's the same.

Logically if there is something it's probably there but Regulus feels sick just by trying to get close. 

So he has yet to try his luck in the cursed looking house.

He also has another list of things to do, one much longer, one he memorised once and once again when he was researching about the locket.

It’s a list filled with names, he has read them hundreds of times probably, it has dates, places, sometimes the cause of death.

It used to have newspaper cuts, it’s a list of names of the victims, it was haunting to read them but it had helped Regulus realise how the Dark Lord was even crazier than he had originally thought.

With a sigh he put on some dark robes Cassius has gotten for him, hiding any recognisable features by putting on soft enchanted fabric on his face, almost like a veil.

He didn’t look like a hero, if anything he looked like a ghost, which was an accurate description for someone who has died yet remained among the living.

Before he could rethink his life choice Regulus apparated himself to a town close to London, the same town where one of the first actual massacres happened.

He sat on top of a building, waiting for the apparition sounds to start.

The Death Eaters had been attacking and murdering people left and right but they had never whipped out a whole town before this, Regulus had read about it in the newspaper back then, now he was at the crime scene.

He wrote a letter and sent it with one of Cassius’ crows, one that wouldn’t be recognised for any special features and waited.

Even with Death Eaters inside the ministry sending a letter less than half an hour before a raid meant they either wouldn’t be informed or the raid would happen regardless.

The first Death Eater appeared at a children's park, Regulus’ original plan of waiting for the aurors was immediately discarded.

He felt sick on his stomach just by seeing the Death Eater raise his wand, before the man could Regulus cast a wandless expelliarmus.

“Oh?” The man looked at Regulus through his mask, Regulus jumped down the roof and put himself between the children and the man.

He could feel the parents rushing to take their kids away from the scene and Regulus could only be grateful for their quick thinking “Who might you be?”

Regulus knew better than to answer, he immediately went to immobilize him, unforgivables were yet not permitted by the ministry and the aurors were on the way after all.

He aimed at every little opening he was given and the man finally fell, several of his bones broken.

Regulus petrified him before he could apparate away.

In the distance he heard an explosion, the rest had arrived.

He ran towards the noise after making sure the man he already dealt with wouldn’t be able to escape. He sighed in relief when he saw there were also red robes in the mix.

Trusting the aurors to take care of the fight for now Regulus rushed to evacuate the civilians, shooting a freezing spell or two in the way to several Death Eaters.

At some point things began to burn and fire began to spread, it was getting harder to distinguish friend from foe and Regulus already had to dodge several jinxes sent by the aurors in his direction.

In a house not too far away a kid screamed, Regulus didn’t think twice before punching a Death Eater in the face, throwing him at the nearest auror, who had some really red hair, and rushing towards the house.

He kicked the door open, casting refreshing charms without bothering to use his wand to stop the smoke from affecting him, then he ran to the upper floor.

A kid no older than eight was crying as the flames slowly crept towards her, Regulus immediately cast several protective spells around her and a silent aguamenti.

“Sir?” The little girl looked at him with tears in her eyes, Regulus wondered where her parents were.

When he stepped closer and the girl’s eyes filled with fear Regulus was reminded of how he was dressed.

“Follow me, it’s dangerous outside” He offered the girl his hand and tried his best to look as approachable as possible, the girl didn’t trust him but she knew that it was either Regulus or the flames.

She took his hand and Regulus immediately picked her up, running down the stairs and dodging fires around them, when he got out someone bumped into him.

“Ouch” The man, an auror fortunately, complained before he looked at Regulus and his eyes lit up “Oh its you!”

Regulus, unsure of what he meant, simply tilted his head in question.

“You’ve dealt with most of the Death Eaters for us mate, really thanks, saved me from some stinky hexes there” The auror ruffled his really bright red hair and Regulus finally remembered when he had seen him before, he had thrown some Death Eater at him to deal with just moments ago “We almost thought you were one of them for a moment, but you aren’t”

The auror looked at him up and down, as if assessing him, Regulus finally managed to find which surname he was looking for, Prewett, both twins were aurors.

Was this the one he had thrown the death eater at or was it the other one? He couldn’t know, he hadn’t been paying much attention.

“I am not” He said simply while placing his arm protectively in front of the girl, who was looking at Prewett with curiosity.

Prewett smiled, it was the kind of smile that reminded Regulus a bit of James, it was the ‘I’m up to no good’ smile.

“You are the one that sent us the lead, aren’t you?” Prewett’s eyes shone, Regulus sighed internally.

“Maybe” He simply said before looking at the child in his arms, he had to do something about her too, he placed her on the ground softly.

“Sir?” The girl looked at him in confusion “Are you leaving now?”

Regulus ruffled her hair instinctively before lowering himself to her height.

“There are some things to deal with, for now can you tell this man about who your parents are so he can help you find them?”

The girl nods and Prewett looks at him with betrayal but Regulus has already apparated on top of a building and is looking for more signs of ongoing battle. When he finds them he jumps in the middle, shooting jinxes and hexes left and right.

One to the Death Eater's legs, make him fall then freeze, shield yourself from that hex, dodge a killing curse, cast again towards another Death Eater, break his hip with a kick while he’s worried about his robes catching on fire.

He takes down several of them in the time he’s helping the aurors but so many more escape, the Dark Lord doesn’t even show up.

When the last one apparates away Regulus rests his body against a wall, struggling to catch his breath.

Slowly he watches as the aurors begin to get all the caught death eaters in one place and some are rushed to St. Mungos to heal. Regulus takes a look at the new wounds he now had, even with the protective runes around his clothes, and sighes.

Pulling out one of his potions and drinking it in one large gulp took away most of the pain, completely healing himself would have to wait until he got to his shop.

Finally one of the head aurors noticed him and began to walk towards him, panicking Regulus apparated back to the shop, landing himself on the floor.

“Ugh” Regulus groans in pain as he sees his wounds open from the apparition, he gets up slowly and grabs one of the healing potions.

He’s happy to see their effectiveness immediately and waits as the potions slowly regrows some of the burnt skin from a bad bombarda.

“This fucking sucks” He tells no one in particular as he rethinks his life choices again.

He didn’t stay long enough to know how many victims there were this time but at least he knew there were survivors.

He had changed something, he had stopped one of the raids.

And now he could only hope the Death Eaters followed a similar attack pattern as last time.

If he were still inside he could act as a spy but, he sighed loudly as he placed his hand on his stomach, that was no longer an option.

Just going to stop the raids himself was dangerous, especially while he was pregnant, but seeing how the Death Eater had been looking at the kids.

It made him lose all rationality, he had put himself in the middle without thinking about the consequences.

“Je suis vraiment désolé, mon amour, papa a agi bêtement” He mumbles to his son, his stomach no longer as flat as it used to be.

He takes a rest in one of the upper rooms of the shop, hoping Cassius isn’t waiting for him at home. At this rate he might sleep for a full day.

Regulus lays in the bed, watching the ceiling, empty, not like he has grown used to in his new home.

He curls into himself and softly pokes his stomach.

Slowly he begins to hum a soft tune, one he has heard his grandmother sing once, and later Alphard would sing to Sirius.

“Petit enfant des ténèbres

te voici dans le monde, baigné de soleil”

The words come almost naturally to him even after years of not having heard it, maybe it had been the jealousy that came with Alphard's obvious favouritism back then.

“Pourquoi ces pleurs, pourquoi ces cris?

Pourquoi ce silence avant?”

Alphard, his uncle always preferred Sirius and Bellatrix, those two who never obeyed the rules, who made their own path.

Now that Regulus was older he knew that Alphard saw himself in them.

“Tu as troublé le dieu du foyer, le kusarikkum s'éveille:

Qui donc me dérange? Qui trouble mon repos? 

C'est le petit, c'est le petit qui t'éveille!”

But now that he was older he also understood that Alphard, even if Sirius considered him the best of their family members, was just as flawed as they all were.

“Qu'il dorme comme ceux qui boivent le vin,

que le sommeil l'emporte enfin!”

His son would not grow in that environment, Regulus would make sure of it. His soft voice carried his promise in it as he slowly drifted to sleep.

He still dreamt of the green haunting eyes of the child he was ordered to murder, he still dreamt of the blood drenched floors he had seen Bellatrix dance in.

But tonight his mind was calm and maybe his haunting memories weighted a bit lighter on his chest.

Barty hated his father, his life, and Potter.

Look, he didn’t make the rules, Potter was an annoying bastard but he had been mopping since Yule.

And this meant he was taking everyone's attention away from their mopping and that was not good.

It all could have been fixed if Evan had let him punch Mulciber in the face, but no, Evan had kissed him suddenly, like a good proper snog and then ran away wherever the fae ran away after stealing peoples things.

Barty was maybe being a bit sappy but Evan had just kissed him so he was allowed to.

He wanted to kiss Evan again, waiting sucked.

With nothing else to do he grabbed his pack of cigarettes and walked to the astronomy tower.

He passed through Snape, ew, and Mulciber, double ew, and made the really mature choice of only hexing their shoelaces together, something Regulus had taught him how to do wandlessly.

It was poetic in a way, to use Regulus’ spell, Barty at least thought so.

When he finally arrived at the top of the tower Barty had only gotten more annoyed at James fucking Potter than ever. Why did Regulus ever say he at least had a face? Evan was much more attractive, anyone with eyes could tell.

Or Merlin forbid, Lupin, even that guy was more attractive, and his personality was better. Evan agreed, after all the scars did give him that mysterious look.

Was he taking his anger in Potter because he couldn’t take it in Sirius Black without Regulus looking like a wet kitten? Maybe. Did he particularly care? Not really.

He took one of the cigarettes out and lit it up with his hands, a party trick Evan had shown him some time ago.

Now that he thought about it Evan had always been good at lighting things on fire. That was pretty attractive actually.

“Fuck me” Barty mutters as he takes a long drag out of his cigarette.

“I rather not” A voice behind him says and Barty wonders if he’s cursed.

Because there is James ‘the f in my middle name stands for fucker’ Potter in all his glory, with a cigarette on his fingers and a lighter.

Barty wonders how angry Evan would be if he got detention for beating up Potter.

“Potter” He simply says and tries his best to ignore him and enjoy his cigarette break.

Potter doesn’t make it easy though, he looks at Barty as if he’s waiting for him to say something.

Maybe he is, Barty couldn’t care less what the idiot was thinking.

Did Potter ever think actually? 

Maybe only in exams?

“I-” Potter begins, finally having realised Barty isn’t going to talk “Do you have any news from Regulus?”

Barty almost drops his cigarette. Why is James Flibbertigibbet Potter asking about his Reg?

He glares at him but James Potter looks pitiful honestly, he had black circles under his eyes and he looks defeated. 

He has news about Regulus of course, they made him promise to write every week and Barty is helping Pandora crochet a cat jacket for the baby.

He can’t tell Potter that though.

Well, here goes nothing.

“Potter, Regulus is probably dead” He says and makes sure to not look at James Potter while he does, keeping his eyes where the Leo constellation would be if it was nighttime.

He sees James Potter’s horrified face in the corner of his vision and wonders once more since when does he care about Regulus.

“Do you know what-?” His voice sounds almost pleading but Barty can only glare at him.

“No, and it’s honestly none of your business Potter” He says as he throws the cigarette to the floor and stomps on it.

Then he sighs and spells it to the nearest rubbish bin because Pandora hates it when he just leaves it there.

“Okay” He hears and James Potter’s voice sounds soft, if Barty didn’t know better he wouldn’t have been able to notice the way the guy’s voice was trembling.

Barty doesn’t drag their unfortunate meeting for longer, simply walking away from James Potter and hoping to forget this conversation ever happened.

He hears James Potter drop to the floor and keeps walking, it’s awkward to see the usual energetic boy so drained. It makes Barty uncomfortable and he does not know why.

He finds Pandora waiting for him by the end of the stairs and he can’t help but smile at her.

“Waiting for me Dora dear?” He tries using his usual playful tone but he knows it's useless to try to lie to Pandora.

She always knows when something is wrong.

He doesn’t even bother complaining when she links their arms and drags him somewhere.

“I had a dream” She says after a while “Someone drowned”

Barty freezes, because there is only one person Pandora has ever dreamt of drowning. The same person who refused to explain how he died.

“Is it-?” He asks, fearing the answer.

“No, it's not him, he wont again” Pandora says and Barty can’t help but relax, it’s the next words that send shivers down his spine “This time I saw the sun drown”

And Barty had never heard such scary claim, the sun drowning, who would ever be considered the sun?

“Can this person be saved?” Barty asks, hoping it’s not any of them, he can’t lose them, he has already lost Dorcas he can’t take another loss.

“Yes” Pandora frowns, which only worries Barty further, being able to save this person should be good but Pandora looks like it only complicates things “But for that, someone will have to pay the price”

It hits Barty then, something he has craved deep in his bones, nothing in life comes without a price. There is no such thing as a free meal and magic takes as good as it gives.

He doesn’t know if he wants to see what the price for one single life is.

Dorcas lays outside in the grass and watches the sun begin to set, it’s something he used to do with Regulus when they were younger, back when things were simpler.

Regulus then would name every star and constellation he knew and Dorcas would sleep to the boy's calming voice.

Now it’s been more than a month since Regulus didn’t show up at the station and Dorcas silently mourns.

She had never wanted those late night escapades to end, for her Regulus had become like a younger brother, he was sweet but knew how to hold his ground to not get stepped in at Slytherin.

Dorcas had admired him back then, before the war happened and she began to change her views, before she had met Marlene and everything that had seemed so simple turned out to not be.

She now wonders if Regulus had hidden his soft parts under the pureblood persona he usually presented, if he too feared for what his parents would make him become.

When he joined the Death Eaters Dorcas had enough and left, unable to look at the boy she considered a brother again.

And then he died, and then it turned out that every complicated thing was even more complicated than she originally thought.

Regulus didn’t want to be a Death Eater, Dumbledore still made her skin crawl and some Gryffindors were so cruel she couldn’t believe they dared accuse Slytherin’s of the same.

“Hi Reg” She talks, looking at the Regulus star “Hogwarts has been a lot since you left”

She takes a deep breath, ignoring the wetness in her eyes.

“Your brother is as annoying as always, I can’t believe you two are related”

There is no replay, and Dorcas knew better than to expect one.

Yet a foolish part of her still held onto that hope, the hope of Regulus having only been badly hurt.

How cruel, for that to be the best case scenario.

“I- we miss you, things have been- hard, I don’t even dare talk to Dora after leaving you all”

As if hearing her the Regulus star shone brighter, Dorcas almost laughed when she noticed.

“I’m going to marry Marlene” She confesses, and it feels like a secret only she and Regulus know “I’m going to propose to her and draw matching runes in our skin, I’m going to tie our souls together”

It’s a dream she had for a while, once she doesn’t know if she’ll get to fulfill if the war reaches them.

“I had hoped you would be the one officiating the wedding, you know?”

She rests her head in the grass and breathes in, she hears someone approaching in the distance, the clicking of the boots lets her know it’s Marlene.

“Cas? Is everything okay?” Marlene asks when she’s finally close enough, Dorcas opens her eyes just to take in the view of Marlene under the moonlight.

“Just thinking of what if’s” Dorcas confesses and her gaze softens “Join me?”

Nodding Marlene lays down next to her, when she asks what she’s looking at Dorcas tells her about the stars.

And Marlene listens, much like Dorcas once did.

Is not the same, it’ll never be, but it’s still something and Dorcas hopes at least like this he’s honouring Regulus in a way.

The next day the newspaper arrives and Dorcas stares in horror at another town being raided, and then she reads the number of victims.

Six, six people lost their lives, forty were badly injured.

And twenty two Death Eaters were caught with the help of a man dressed in pitch black.

He looks…

“Grim” Lily mutters at the blurry picture taken by a muggle camera, Dorcas couldn’t help but agree.

He stares at the picture for what it feels like ages, whoever this man was had warned the aurors about the raid and then stepped in to save lives with cynical precision.

The man didn't look like a hero though, he looked like the dead.

Regulus woke up on his bed with a pounding headache and the feeling of bile rushing to his throat.

He rushed to the bathroom and puked, then he took the morning sickness relief potion.

A crow was waiting for him by the window which he guessed was Cassius' way of checking up on him.

There was no letter but the bird did carry the Daily Prophet.

Opening it with curiosity Regulus found himself face to face with a picture of himself and a terrible long rant about his fighting abilities.

“What the fuck”

He kept reading and couldn’t help but groan.

“Grim? Really? Do I look like a fucking dog?”

Regulus grunted and decided to ignore everything for a bit longer, only six deaths, it was still six deaths but…

He had changed something, he had saved someone.

Then it hit him, Evan was subscribed to the Daily Prophet.

“Fuck I need to write to them” 

He was so dead.

Chapter Text

Regulus tried his best to grab a piece of parchment and a quill as fast as he could to write to his friends before they worried.

Unfortunately he soon recognised Evan’s owl waiting for him by the window, for a moment he considers hiding, maybe like that the owl wouldn’t see him and he wouldn’t have to read his friend's disappointed filled letter.

Evan’s owl pecks at the window, as if to let him know he’s here and Regulus sighs.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming” He mutters as he lets the owl inside, he gets the letter thrown at his face by the annoyed owl as soon as he does “Good to see you too Hecuba”

Hecuba, Evan’s angry owl simply huffs before landing in his head, Regulus notices how she’s softer than usual with her claws.

Opening the shop would have to wait, he thinks as his stomach protests, he should eat something too now that he’s awake.

He ends up using the floo to return home, Cassius immediately hands him a plate filled with fruits when he sees him.

“You had a long day” He tells him and Regulus doesn’t bother denying it, the Rosiers always knew when one was lying “Eat”

“Thank you” He says as he takes the food and begins to eat slowly, the fruit that grew in the Rosier’s property was always delicious.

Everything that grew in this forest was, for this very reason Regulus had asked to grow his potions materials here, Cassius didn’t mind tending to them once in a while and Regulus was confident in his gardening abilities.

He munched the last bits or apple slices, because Cassius seemed to think he would choke if he was fed uncut fruit, and opened the letter.

It was shorter than expected honestly, it only served to worry him further.

To a dear brother of mine

What did you do? Are you nuts? Has the family’s curse finally gotten to you? What made you think that risking your life while pregnant was a good idea?

I have forbidden Barty from sending you an owler, even if only for the sake of the ears of everyone around, our dear sister has just been staring at a piece of parchment for an hour without saying anything.

If you weren't pregnant I would fear her sending you a cursed letter.

You’re lucky we still have several months left at Hogwarts for our anger to cool down you idiotic bastard.

If you ever do something like that again I might help Barty lock you up until you learn self preservation (Yes, he did say that with those exact words).

Take care before we have to force you, idiotic asshole, remember we care.

Love, your favourite brother

Regulus stared at the letter and gulped, Evan was right, he was really lucky that his friends still had several months left away from him to cool down their anger, or disappointment in Pandora's case.

Regulus felt the guilt building up in his chest as he thought of his worried friends, but when he had seen the way that Death Eater looked at the children all hopes of staying hidden had dispersed.

All he had seen was Bellatrix laughing as she ordered to murder a child, the way her eyes shone as the child cried in front of the corpses of his parents.

He couldn’t not step in, not when he knew what the results of doing so would be.

“Lord Rosier” He called, walking behind Cassius who looked at him questioningly, Regulus had not called him by his title in a while “I might need your help”

That definitely got the older man's attention, his eyes shining with curiosity.

“What is it? It’s quite unusual for a Black to ask for help” Cassius didn’t bother to sweeten his words, Regulus was grateful for it.

“I need you to make sure I don’t fall for any curses around, and I need you to grab me and apparate me out of the place if you think it’s dangerous”  He admits it’s not a flawless plan but it’s an improvement from his last one.

If Barty heard he would flick him in the forehead and complain ‘and people think your brother is the impulsive one’, Barty always found it hilarious how Regulus would usually play out every single detail before taking a decision only to ignore everything in the last second and just do whatever.

Like when he decided to become an animagus just to prove Barty wrong, he and Dorcas had worked for months on that little project.

Dorcas, he wondered how her and Marlene were doing, had she heard about his disappearance yet? The Black’s had yet to make a statement on his state; he wondered if his mothe-, Walburga, believed him to be dead.

If she didn’t she probably wished he was, he had embarrassed the family by leaving just as the Dark Lord was about to visit.

Maybe he was now matching Sirius in the family tapestry, burnt out of it, unrecognizable.

“It doesn’t seem too hard, I guess it is time for me to finally leave the forest” Cassius laughs softly before taking one of the flowers he had deposited at the altar, completely destroying its petals with his hands “I’ll make sure you live Regulus Black, It’s been too long since one like you has been born, it would be a waste to lose you before your destiny is fulfilled”

Regulus wants to ask, he wants to know what Cassius means but he doesn’t, Cassius wouldn’t explain, much like Pandora. 

They don’t do it on purpose, he thinks, seers never really managed to say more than allowed.

Pandora could tell him he would die, not that it wouldn’t stick.

Cassius could tell him he wouldn’t die today, not that he wouldn’t die tomorrow.

It was enough for him right now, he had to live long enough to raise his son and see him grow up, he had to.

Regulus Arcturus Black would live until his son no longer needed him, he would not permit anyone to take him before his time now that he was back.

Sirius always said he was too stubborn, he was right. Regulus was stubborn and in the same way he had clung to the opportunity to destroy the bastard that had hurt Kreacher he would cling to his life, he was not giving up now that he had a second chance.

He’s getting whatever is at the Gaunt Shack today, and if luck’s on his side maybe he’s gonna get another horcrux to destroy.

“When can you be ready to leave?” He asks Cassius politely who just hums happily before offering his hand.

“I think it’s better if we do it today” He says and Regulus decides to trust him, taking his hand.

Cassius doesn’t bother to ask where and Regulus doesn’t bother to ask how he knows, it’s not like he hasn’t told him about his visits to Little Hangleton.

Regulus casts a glamour on both of their clothes so they look more muggle, they both walk through the streets in silence until they reach the property.

It was old, the wood was beginning to rot and Regulus wouldn’t be surprised if rats had made it their new home.

But it was dead silent, not even the sound of a bird or crickets around, it was as if not a single living being wanted to get close. 

Regulus had to agree with them, he also wanted to turn around and never step food inside again, the putrid smell filled his nostrils and he almost gagged.

“Oh, Tom really did go this far then” Cassius muttered behind him as Regulus searched around, careful not to touch anything.

He looked around but found nothing, yet there was the presence of something cursed around, Regulus recognised the feeling, it was a horcrux.

He turned towards Cassius who was simply sitting on the floor, looking at the floorboards. Then the same moment he felt Regulus’ gaze on him Cassius lifted one of the floorboards wandlessly, revealing a golden box.

Knowing what could happen if he doubted Regulus casted several protective charms around before levitating the box, Cassius simply got up and appareated them back home,

Once there Regulus walked towards Cassius’ room for experiments, one he had tried really hard not to ever go in, and casted fiendfyre.

He didn’t even bother opening the box, he never kept it close to himself.

The box burnt slowly and then revealed a ring, it was beautiful in a way he could not completely understand, as if begging him to put it on.

Cassius next to him placed a hand on his shoulder, making him realise he had already crossed half the room.

He didn’t wait anymore, he directed the fiendfyre towards the ring and heard its screams as it dissolved.

When only the strange stone was left, seemingly unaffected by the fire, Regulus turned around and ran outside, throwing up today's meal.

Cassius simply patted him in the back before offering him the stone.

“Are you going to tell me what this is?” Regulus tried to pretend his whole body wasn’t shaking, the screams the ring had left out echoed through his head.

“It’ll belong to you, and then your son” Cassius simply said, Regulus guessed that was enough for now, taking the stone and placing it inside his pocket.

Cassius helped him reach his home to rest, he was sent to bed but not before he was given him some porridge and several potions for his health.

That night he spent most of the time just looking at the little stars in the ceiling, the sun in the middle and hearing the soft sounds of crickets outside of the house.

He wondered, not for the first time, just how much taking down the Dark Lord would take. How far had the man gone? 

How many horcruxes were there even?

The next day he wrote a letter to Evan, apologising to his friends, explaining himself.

Soon after he received a response, Evan reluctantly admitted he would also find it hard not to interfere if kids were involved while Pandora simply told him to take care of himself.

Barty was allowed one single paragraph which he filled with worried words hidden as complaints.

Slowly the days at his potion’s shop became more monotone, getting regular costumes he ended up knowing by name.

Finally, almost three months after his disappearance, as Imbolc had long passed, the house of Black finally made a public announcement.

Regulus Arcturus Black was officially dead, the reason? Health complications. Regulus almost wanted to laugh when he saw the news.

It meant his mother would not come looking for him, even if she thought he was alive in her eyes he was dead.

And Regulus was grateful.

That day he made sure there were special offers for health potions, when Royce Yaxley, always a gossip, asked for the reason Regulus simply smiled.

“I’ve got some good news today, you see” 

He gave that same answer to anyone who asked and when they realised they wouldn’t be getting an explanation people stopped asking.

He spent the rest of the time visiting Meera, Arjun and Asha or investigating about Tom Riddle, there weren’t many leads to follow but he did reach a conclusion, if he was trusted the locket other Death Eaters might have been trusted with other horcruxes.

When he told his friends his theory they all agreed to keep an eye on any interesting news of someone being trusted with some ancient artifact.

The only thing left was the raids, there would be another one soon, in Beltane and Regulus would already be more than five months pregnant by the time, it was unwise to get involved. He repeated that to himself once and once again, trying to shake off the feeling of guilt eating him up.

As he was lost in thought the bell rang, three figures entered the shop, two adults and a child. Regulus immediately recognised them as the Prewett twins, with them was the kid Regulus had saved from the fire.

He guessed she must have been a muggleborn, or a halfblood maybe, she looked at everything around the shop in awe, Regulus let out a soft chuckle.

“Hi, welcome to Starless Night, something specific you’re looking for?” He asks when he catches the twins staring at him with mirrored confused expressions.

“Hullo uh- sir? Do ya’ have some potion to deal with old injuries?” Twin one asks, Regulus really should ask who was who.

“Yes, what kind of old injuries would you need to heal?” He asks and sees the kid freeze and look at the twins with clear fear, Regulus doesn’t like the implications of that.

“Uh like, scars? Scars from burning mostly” He says nervously and Regulus frowns, he knew the kid hadn’t been burnt in the fire, he had made sure of that and scars from burning usually would heal over time.

Of course it depended on how deep the wound was but- why would a kid he made sure to save from a fire have burning scars?

“... I do” He says calmly, trying not to sound accusatory, he directs them to the self with what they’re asking, ignoring how nervous the kid looks “Here”

Twin two takes the potions and casts several evaluation spells in the, Regulus doesn’t bother to hide his eyeroll.

Behind twin one the kid laughs softly, when Regulus looks she immediately flushes red in embarrassment.

“The quality is impressive” Twin one mutters, Regulus simply looks at him with a deadpan expression, realising the situation twin one laughs nervously “Ah, uh- Well meet, I’m Gideon Prewett”

Regulus guesses the other one must be Fabian Prewett then, also the one he gave the child to.

“Leo Rosier” He says simply and Fabian Prewett sends him a weird look.

“What Rosier branch are you from? Excuse my lack of knowledge but I’ve never seen you at any gatherings” 

Having rehearsed these types of conversations several times Regulus doesn’t even flinch at the question, he’s calm, he’s always been a good liar.

“The main one” It’s a simple answer but anyone informed knew how many secrets the main Rosier branch kept, if he had said any other branch his lie would have been immediately caught.

And claiming to be from a main branch of any family was no small thing, no one would claim something like that unless they were confident they could get away with it or just plain stupid.

“Ah” Fabian Prewett look a bit put off by his answer “I thought the Rosier heirs were twins”

Not even bothering to hide his amusement, Regulus nods.

“They are” 

The kid behind Fabian laughs, Regulus watches her fondly, he wonders what happened to her parents, why they weren’t in the house with her.

As Fabian Prewett stares at him in awkward silence, Gideon Prewett simply shrugs

“Well, thank you for the potions Mr Rosier” Gideon pats his brother in the back before flashing a smile in his direction “If we ever need to heal ourselves we’ll make sure to come back”

The kid behind Fabian Prewett looks between the brothers, who are now bickering between each other, and runs towards him.

She looks at him with a nervous expression but Regulus notices the stubbornness in her eyes, it reminds him of his brother, Sirius had the same look as he boarded the train to Hogwarts for the first time.

“Uh sir?” She whispers to him, signaling him to lower himself, Regulus easily obliges and once he’s at her height she whispers in his ear “You’re the one who saved me, right? Don’t worry, I won’t say anything, not even to my new guardians”

Her eyes are now filled with the same look he’s seen in several stupid Gryffindors, the best way to describe it is noble, is sweet in a way.

“I am” He admits easily, even if the kid were to say anything it would be her words against his "It's good to hear you’re safe now”

The girl beams at him, looking excited to be proven right.

“I am too, dad used to be so mean and press those ciga-rre-ttes in my stomach but Fab doesn’t! And now I have this stick- Fab calls it a wand but that's dumb, it's a stick- and everything weird is normal!”

Regulus can't help it, he ruffles her head and chuckles when she sends him an offended look.

He tries to hide the anger boiling in her stomach when he finds out what they need the potions for.

“Fab even let me chose what to name you” She says proudly, Regulus tilts his head in confusion "Obviously I said you were like The Grim, they say it’s a dark omen but honestly I always thought The Grim is just trying his best to tell us so we can say goodbye ya' know?”

He doesn’t know what to feel about that, he definitely doesn’t look like a dog, especially not a black one that was Sirius.

He’s more of a cat person, really, his animagus form proves it but looking into the kids innocent shining eyes he can’t really tell her that.

“It’s an impressive name” He says instead and he can almost hear Barty laughing at his misery, the bright smile the girl gives him it’s worth it though.

“Ivy!” Fabian calls and the kid, Ivy, looks at him with a guilty expression, Fabian’s hand is covering his brother’s face and Regulus can only be amused at the scene “Myrddin don’t disappear like that”

He offers her his hand and Ivy takes it happily, only doubting for a moment Regulus gets up and ignores Fabian’s distrustful expression.

“Fab!” Ivy calls her guardian's attention and she seems to think of the first excuse in her head to explain why she ran to talk with some random man “I think Leo it’s pregnant!”

Regulus, who can tell she’s trying to make up something a kid her age would say simply freezes. Because he is pregnant and now Fabian is mortified at what the kid he’s in charge of said.

“Ivy, you can’t say things like that- sorry Mr Rosier, Ivy didn’t mean anything bad with this, It’s easy to tell you’re way too young-”

Before Fabian can mutter more apologies Regulus sighs.

“I am” He says and both Ivy and Fabian gape at him “I don’t know how she could tell but I am”

Gideon Prewett, who has finally managed to detach his brother's hand from his face, looks at him with confusion.

“Aren’t you like I don’t know fifteen?” 

Regulus looks at him in disbelief, Gideon doesn’t even seem apologetic.

“I’m eighteen” He finally gets out and he can tell they think he’s a bit too young, but he doesn’t owe them explanations so he doesn’t give any.

When the twins finally leave Ivy waves goodbye at him happily, Regulus smiles softly at her.

“Bye bye sir Leo! When your baby is born you have to show them to me!”

The Prewett twins seem mortified by how fast Ivy has trusted him but Regulus doesn’t mind that much, Ivy is a sweet child and he’s happy to know she now has a good guardian taking care of her.

He hates to think what could have happened if he had given Ivy to a different auror, someone that might have just left her at some orphanage and never think of it again.

He immediately begins writing another letter, it looks like he’s not going to celebrate Beltane as quietly as he expected.

Sirius might be losing his mind, which maybe it was long overdue seeing his family history but that didn’t make it less annoying.

His brother hadn’t appeared in three months, three, Meadowes didn’t answer his questions and there was absolutely no way he would ask one of Regulus’ Slytherin friends.

Slimy gits, all of them, when they crossed paths they would always glare at him with so much murder intent Sirius was surprised they hadn’t hexed him yet.

If Remus hadn’t stopped him he might as well have sent an howler to his mother demanding answers.

His mother Walburga who he’d rather cut his hand than talk to again. 

He was growing desperate to know what the fuck his brother had gotten involved in this time, because of course the little fucker couldn’t just be a git like all the other little brothers.

With a sigh he simply gets ready, Remus has dragged the three of them out of bed, James was beginning to sleep more and more which only made him worry further.

Not even talking to Evans helped him, they could now be considered friends even but James only looked worse everyday.

Sirius had tried everything, leaving the two of them alone, accidentally borrowing one of Lily’s notes for too long so he needed someone to give them back…

Sure they were now friends, thanks to his efforts, but nothing was working and all Sirius could think these days was Regulus.

Not that he cared, of course not, it was just-

It didn’t matter, he quickly washed his teeth before rushing to get dressed to go eat breakfast, James still laughed at the fact that he washed his teeth twice but he bet no one had prettier teeth than him, Remus would agree.

“Pads” Remus greets him with a soft smile and Sirius can’t help but kiss him, making Peter fake a gag.

“It’s too early for this shit” Peter says before dragging James away from them, James simply lets him, clearly not fully awake yet.

Remus and him share a worried look but follow after without saying anything.

When they arrive the Great Hall is noisier than usual, something Sirius notices right away, people are passing around The Prophet and when he sits hundreds of eyes land on him.

“What?” He snaps, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched, Lily passes The Prophet to James, clearly so he passes it to him but James freezes.

He stares at the page for at least a minute, not even breathing before he looks at Sirius in the eyes.

When he notices the tears threatening to spill Sirius feels the blood drain from his face, is not that James doesn’t cry, he does and a lot, happy tears, sad tears when they get hurt, but never like this, never this raw grief in his eyes.

James doubts before passing him The Prophet, Sirius reads the first headline over and over again, trying to make sense of the words. But it doesn’t matter how many times he reads them, the meaning doesn’t change, there isn’t a ‘oops, got you! It was a prank’, the words won't change and Sirius will no longer have a brother.

Regulus is dead, his mind supplies helpfully, he tries to shut it up.

He slowly gets up, the eyes on him are beginning to be too much.

Regulus is dead.

He sees Remus try to follow him, he hadn't even realised he had reached the doors.

Regulus is dead.

His mind repeats the same words like a mantra as bilis accumulates on his throat, burning him.

Regulus is dead.

He doesn’t remember how he managed to reach the dorms, or the bathrooms in them, he only realises he's throwing up when he feels Remus' hands holding his hair in place so it doesn’t get dirty.

Sirius almost wants it to happen.

Reggie is dead.

Remus helps him clean himself but he can only follow the instructions as if he were under an imperious, he sits on the floor Remus lets him.

“My brother is dead” He says, tasting the words on his tongue, they taste like a curse.

He knows Remus is looking at him, he knows he probably looks like a madman right now.

My brother is dead.

How long had it been since he called Regulus his brother out loud?

“They probably killed him” He tells Remus and he can feel him flinch “He was the perfect son yet they killed him”

He laughs, it's a bitter laugh that hurts him to get out. 

Remus sits next to him, slowly to not startle him.

Sirius couldn’t care less.

“I raised him” He whispers, almost like a secret “He was more my son than theirs, and now he’s dead”

Remus holds his hands, they're trembling and he knows it.

“I’m sorry” Remus tells him and really, there is nothing he can do to fix this.

“Moony, they took away my kid forever and I let them”

Remus holds him close but Sirius can only think in his brother's annoyed face, they way he would glare and hex him, never strong enough for it to hurt.

He doesn’t notice he’s crying until Remus begins to clean his face softly.

He doesn’t go to classes that day, or the next.

When James returns late at night, looking as drained as Sirius feels and hugs him Sirius can only hug back.

James didn’t know Regulus, only what Sirius told him but he knows it’s enough for his friend to blame himself.

He knows James wanted to basically kidnap Regulus and hope the idiot would realise living with them was much better, that he would choose to stay.

Sirius had told him he was barmy back then and lectured him on how Stockholm syndrome was a thing, now he could only regret not even considering it.

Time turners only go back twenty four hours, getting an unmodified one would mean sneaking into the ministry and not getting caught.

Maybe-

“James” He says one day, he doesn’t remember exactly which one, James looks at him, his face filled with noticeable dark circles “Do you think using a time turner would work?”

James looks at him, tears already in the corner of his eyes, he looks away from Sirius before answering.

“I don’t know” He admits, his voice trembles “But for that we would have to go before this year started, before he got the mark”

Sirius looks through the window in their dorm, the stars shining seem to mock him.

“I would do it”

His admission doesn’t seem to surprise James for he only nods.

“I would too”

Chapter Text

Barty watches as Sirius Black leaves the Great Hall as if chased by dementors, he wants to laugh a bit but a nagging voice in the back of his head, maybe his conscience which he could swear he didn’t use to have, telling him that there was nothing funny about this.

When Sirius Black, Lupin and Potter didn’t show up to class the next day Barty feels a teeny tiny bit bad.

Not too much though, he’s not a Gryffindor.

The rest of the month is spent studying, mostly Evan studying and Barty messing around with whichever topic he could find. 

He can’t completely forget Pandora’s words, they keep replaying in his head every time he closes his eyes.

As far as Barty remembers he’s always had a good memory, a bit too good in fact. He could remember the contents of a book word by word after just reading them once, he had never forgotten a single conversation he had in his life.

Regulus said it was a bit scary sometimes, Evan would look at him weirdly and Pandora, she looked at him with pity.

Pandora’s pity wasn’t overbearing like others, it came from understanding, of knowing. She didn’t look at you as if you were made of glass and would break at any second, no, she looked at you and saw where you had broken and mourned.

She had never tried to tell Barty he had to do better, try to fix his behavior, it was nice, Barty never knew what to do with nice.

“You look stressed” Evan comments, his face was blank but Barty recognised the worry on his eyes “We could take a break”

Barty places his head on Evan’s shoulder, almost coquettishly.

“My, my Ev, it almost sounds like you care about little old me”

Evan rolls his eyes but the worry stays, Barty knows he just can’t lie to Evan, not successfully at least.

“Come on, I could go for a walk” Evan says as he begins to pick up their stuff, Barty follows after as he always does.

Evan interlocks their fingers as they walk through the corridors, Barty hears him humming softly and he soon feels a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“What are you singing?” Evan turns towards him, he looks a bit put off, as if he hadn’t realised what he was doing.

“I don’t know, Dora used to sing it to me when I couldn’t sleep” Evan admits sheepishly, Barty feels the sudden need to push his friend against the nearest flat surface and smack their lips together.

“It’s… good” He says instead, looking anywhere but Evan’s cheeks, which have taken a soft pink tint.

They walk around for a bit, reaching the abandoned classrooms easily, Barty is about to propose they return to the library when Evan shuts Barty up by covering his mouth with his hand.

There are two voices discussing something and at first Barty wonders if Evan has suddenly gained an interest for gossip, until Evan pulls him closer silently and he recognises who’s talking.

“But Albus- what if someone– I can’t, oh Myrddin, I don’t know Albus, I know nothing about Tom” They hear professor Slughorn’s voice from the other side of the door, he sounds frantic, clearly defending himself.

And that fucking name again, Tom, why was their House Head in an abandoned classroom with their headmaster talking about some Tom? 

There was only one answer, they knew The Dark Lords real identity and they kept it a secret, fuck this was worse than they thought.

He locked eyes with Evan and he knew they both had reached the same conclusion, Slughorn knew something and Dumbledore wanted that information.

“Horace, my boy, are you sure you have nothing to tell me? Anything he said that caught your attention?” Dumbledore’s words are filled with fake sweetness that make Barty want to puke, at least he’s here with Evan and not dealing with this torture of a conversation alone.

Slughorn stays silent for a second, as if doubting if to say something or not.

"No, nothing at all headmaster” He finally settles at, Barty doesn’t know if to be relieved or not.

He hears Dumbledore click his tongue in annoyance, clearly this was not an outcome he expected.

“Very well then, just remember Horace, Tom is someone who needs to be stopped, he’s caused enough pain already”

They hear footsteps approaching the door and Barty soon comes to the realisation that they’re gonna get caught, he drags Evan to the nearest broom closet and closes the door just as Dumbledore exists.

For good measure he takes off his shirt and messes both their hairs, Evan doesn’t even have time to react.

They wait some seconds in silence on top of each other, waiting for the door to open, when it doesn’t Barty lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck” He says and he tries to slow down his heartbeat, Evan watches him in amusement but Barty can tell he’s not as composed as he looks, his ears are red and Barty wants to bite them “We almost got caught and what the fuck are those two discussing in a random abandoned classroom students use to shag?”

Evan pulls himself away from Barty’s embrace before beginning to try to brush his hair with his hands, Barty himself decides to rebutton his shirt.

“Okay, plan?” He finally asks and Evan considers their options.

“We could interrogate professor Slughorn ourselves” Evan says, Barty considers it.

“He didn’t tell Dumbledore anything, why would he tell us?”

The smile that creeps into Evan’s mouth, his teeth a bit too sharp, makes something in Barty’s stomach twist.

It shouldn’t attract him but it does nonetheless.

“Well, I never said we had to be nice about it, after all, we have the upper hand”

They both get out of the broom closer together, they leisurely walk towards the abandoned classroom Slughorn is still at, the man looks miserable honestly, Barty almost feels bad.

Evan doesn’t bother to knock, he simply enters, dragging Barty with him, and sits in front of Slughorn.

Their professor looks at them, his hands are sweating, Barty grins at him and takes pleasure when the man tenses up.

“Ah, Misters Crouch and Rosier, what brings you two here? Is there something you two need?” Slughorn glances at the door, Barty can tell he would rather be anywhere but here.

“You see professor” Evan starts sweetly, his eyes never leaving their professors “We have found ourselves in a bit of a problem of sorts”

Barty sees professor Slughorn relax, clearly assuming they were just looking for him because of class related stuff.

Slughorn nods easily, smiling at them, Barty almost feels bad.

“Ah, well then dear boys, do ask! You two are excellent students after all, I do wonder what you two would have questions about”

Evan takes his sweet time staring at his nails before looking at their professor's eyes again.

“We were looking through the student records professor, all the prefects became respectable people in some way, all except one” As Evan keeps talking Slughorn gets more and more nervous “You were House Head back then so we wondered, what can you tell us about Tom Riddle professor?”

Slughorn grips the table so hard Barty fears it will break.

“No” He says and he sounds scared “Who sent you? I didn’t say anything! I didn’t!”

Evan doesn’t even react to the sudden outburst, Barty tries his best to do the same but he knows he’s smiling.

They did say he looked like a madman when he smiled.

“No one sent us professor, we were just curious you see” Evan continues “But we do need to know what Tom Riddle told you unfortunately, we can do this the easy way or… Well, we’ll get the information regardless”

Slughorn looks at them and his eyes are filled with fear and also resignation, Barty simply tilts his head and plays the role of an obedient dog waiting for instructions.

If Evan tells him to bite, who is he to question him?

“No, no- you two can’t just” Slughorn takes out his wand but before he can cast anything a spell is shot in his direction, Barty doesn’t even get time to see it.

At the door Pandora is holding Slughorn’s wand with an emotionless expression, she doesn’t look surprised or worried, she simply walks towards them and sits next to Evan.

She’s holding their professor's wand and playing around with it as if it was nothing more than a quill, Slughorn gulps.

“So? What option do you choose?” Evan asks and Slughorn takes a step back “Is that so? I really hoped it didn’t get to this, legilimens”

Evan grabs Slughorn by his collar as he stares deep into his eyes, he’s searching for something clearly and Pandora simply watches.

When he pulls away Evan is looking as pale as a sheet and Slughorn looks terrified.

“Seven pieces” Evan mutters “Six horcruxes, seven pieces”

“You two- you three! What- why-” Slughorn splutters and Barty has half a mind to simply spell him shut.

“So… our dear Tommy made six of his creepy thingies? Better than sixteen that’s for sure” Barty says, it’s good news, it's really good news.

“This is illegal, using legilimency! Oh Myrddin” Slughorn continues, slowly Pandora gets up.

“I’m sorry professor” She begins in her melodic voice, is sweet just like venomous flowers are “We are going to make sure Tom doesn’t hurt any more people”

Slughorn looks at them in disbelief, Barty smirks at him, the lack of trust doesn’t bother him much.

“Why are you all doing this?” Slughorn asks and Pandora simply gives him a soft smile

“You see” Pandora points her wand at his head “We have to protect our family, Reg is very dear to us and so is Harry, so I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us too”

“I don’t understand dear girl, what are you talking about?”

Pandora gives him a sad smile and Barty feels himself holding his breath.

“Obliviate” Pandora whispers and slowly Slughorn’s eyes turn misty, none of them say anything for a minute.

Barty can’t believe he just saw Pandora point her wand at a professor and then obliviate said teacher with it, he soon realises Evan is not shocked and wonders if Pandora was always like this.

Pandora drags them to the astronomy tower, not even bothering to check if they bumped into someone. She left Slughorn’s wand at a table back in the classroom and Barty would bet the man wasn’t going to remember anything about their conversation.

“Wait” Barty says once Pandora finally stops and sits at the edge of the tower, dangling her legs “Who the fuck is Harry?”

Because, he gets what Pandora said about protecting Regulus, but they know no Harry here.

Pandora gives him a knowing smile.

“You two are going to love him” She says and she sounds so sure Barty believes her.

Regulus is finishing his shift when a hooded man walks in, it was quite late today but it was Beltane, he would have to skip the celebrations in favour of stopping tonight's Death Eater raid.

He hates it, the fact that Riddle chose such sacred celebrations to commit such unforgivable acts, just like how he desecrated ancient relics.

If he arrives on time he could get to do some small celebrations with Cassius, that is if he doesn’t pass out as soon as he touches the bed of course.

He was sure dancing in a maypole wouldn't be as fun with only two people but it was better than doing it alone. 

The hooded man walks to the counter and Regulus waits for him to talk, slowly the man takes off the hood and in front of him is a face he knows too well, a face that still occupies most of his dreams.

James.

But is not James, the nose is wrong and he looks too old, he doesn’t have the small scar James has in the corner of his jaw nor the same up-to-no-good smile.

“Lord Potter” He says, realising who he’s looking at, is quite easy to tell the family resemblance now “To what do I owe the pleasure of such a late visit?”

The man, Fleamont Potter scratches the back of his head in embarrassment, just like his son does, Regulus can’t help but soften his tone a bit.

“Am I that easy to recognise?” The man asks and Regulus arches an eyebrow.

“Lord Potter, you are one of the most famous Potions Master alive, as a Potions Master myself it would show clear ignorance to not recognise you” 

He wonders for a second if he’s been too blunt but Fleamont Potter lets out a chuckle, his laugh is nothing like his son’s, is quiet and almost private where James is loud and pulls you in.

Regulus had to admit he was a bit of a fan of Fleamont Potter but who wasn’t between any Potion’s enthusiast?

“My bad, should have known my face was easily recogniseable” Fleamont Potter says easily “Heard your potions are quite the high quality from a friend, I’m in need of some potions for headaches, I fear I ran out of them and have no time to brew myself”

Regulus nods, calmly directing him towards one of the selves, Fleamont Potter looks around the shop with curiosity, Regulus can feel his hands sweating.

He has the Fleamont Potter in his potions shop, buying his potions.

“These are impressively good quality, who’s your supplier?” Fleamont Potter asks, and Regulus flushes red.

“I- We grow our ingredients ourselves at the Rosier Manor" He admits shyly, Fleamont Potter looks at him, clearly impressed  “Cas- Father helps me with the gardening”

“Lord Rosier did have a reputation for his impressive grades in both astronomy and herbology” Fleamont Potter deposits several potions in front of Regulus who quickly calculates the price “He did also have a reputation for being denied the option of taking divination though”

That would check out, Regulus thinks, Pandora and Evan were also politely asked to not take divination, not that either of them would, the Rosier methods of divination were very different from usual seers after all.

Not even Regulus knew how their abilities worked, the Rosiers were the family most closely related to fate, Pandora used to say they were more weavers than seers.

He tried not to give it much of a thought, it wasn’t worth it.

“All of us in the main branch are denied taking that elective” Regulus quickly passes Fleamont Potter the parchment where he has scribbled all the prices, the man deposits the money in the counter easily.

“A shame really, considering the role divination takes in our traditions” Regulus nods along, from an outside perspective not having the option to learn divination is a great loss but for the Rosiers it probably is a blessing in disguise.

The styles of divination just differ too much.

Regulus nods in understanding and Fleamont Potter suddenly looks embarrassed.

“Ah, talked a bit much didn’t I? Sorry lad” Fleamont Potter begins packing his things and Regulus can almost see the resemblance between father and son.

“Worry not Lord Potter, your company is not unwelcome” He says kindly and it's the truth “Would that be all?”

“Yes, only needed something for my biwi, she went to have dinner with a friend and caught a cold” He says easily, much more comfortable than when he walked into the shop.

“You must love your wife quite a lot” Regulus says, he tries to hide the knot of jealousy that has begun to form in his stomach.

What felt like a lifetime ago he used to dream of a future like that with James, he genuinely had believed he could achieve it if he worked hard enough.

Then he was marked and he pushed James away.

“I do” Fleamont Potter sounds bestowed, Regulus can see the man soften “What ‘bout you lad, got anyone waiting for you?”

Regulus’ smile wavers.

“No, not anymore” He admits and he can feel the way Fleamont Potter regrets his words “It’s better this way though, he was too bright for someone like me”

Funnily enough the Black’s had always been attracted to the light, just like moths they tried once and once again to reach it, just to be burnt by the fire.

For Regulus that light had been James Potter, and even when knowing the dangers he had decided that maybe, being burnt by the sun itself was worth it.

So Regulus had burnt, and much life Icarus in the end it was not the sun that claimed his soul but the sea.

“Sorry to hear that, but you’re young kid, there is still time” Fleamont Potter sounded awkward but sincere, Regulus had the sudden urge to confess he was talking about the man's son just to see how he would react “I’m sure things will work out in the end, they tend to do”

“Let’s hope you’re correct” Regulus said, fully meaning it “Have a good night Lord Potter”

Fleamont Potter finishes packing his things and puts his hood back on, as he’s opening the door he takes a last look inside.

“Have a good night you too- uh? Actually, I didn’t get your name” 

Regulus realises he never gave his name, he quickly covers up his embarrassed expression with a polite cough.

“Leo Rosier” He says and he knows it’s not a name Fleamont Potter will recognise, Leo Rosier didn’t exist until some months ago.

“Well meet Leo Rosier” Fleamont Potter says and Regulus looks at him with shock, an ancient greeting is not something he expected from James’ parents.

“Well meet Lord Potter, may magic bless our meeting” He finishes, when Fleamont Potter finally leaves Regulus feels drained.

He checks the time with a quick tempus and groans when he realises he’s running out of time, he quickly sends an anonymous letter to the aurors, just like last time, before quickly switching into his disguise.

Before he can consider staying at home and letting the aurors deal with it he apparates on top of a building again and waits.

He stays there for a while, waiting for the sounds of apparition to happen, he knows that after the first failure of a raid Riddle might choose to change the dates of the upcoming ones.

But not this one, not a raid done at Beltane, which holds such a strong significance in wixen culture, not when the defenses will be lower because most are at home celebrating.

Riddle never held respect for ancient traditions even if he preached otherwise and Regulus knows.

It doesn’t take long to hear the sounds of apparition, at first there is only one but then slowly the town is filled with masked men in dark robes.

Regulus watches, his movements slow and controlled, like those of a cat. The men don’t notice him as he observes them.

He recognises Lucius, his cousin Narcissa's husband, he wonders not for the first time what she saw in him. Honestly, sometimes he thought the only good thing Lucius brought Narcissa was loyalty.

He didn’t like Lucius, Evan, Barty, and Regulus had spent several balls making sure Lucius was miserable honestly. Most of the time they would simply hide the man's favourite shoes, or curse his cup so anything on it would taste terrible.

Even then he had to admit Lucius would never dare do anything that would place Narcissa in danger. 

And well, Lucius was better than having to marry one of their cousins he guessed, he had accepted that fact begrudgingly.

“Lucius” Regulus turns his head towards the venom filled voice of his other cousin, Bellatrix, of course she was also at the raid “What did our Lord want to talk to you about?”

She sounded wild, Regulus only ever remembered her sounding like that.

Him and Bellatrix had never really gotten along, not when they were kids and she believed him too weak, not when they were older and he proved her right.

Bellatrix and Sirius were really close as kids, Sirius had always been Bellatrix's favourite and everyone knew.

They both were loud, didn’t follow orders and in a way neither of them followed The House of Black’s traditions. That was why those two were Alphard’s favourites, Regulus still laughed when he remembered the face their uncle made when the one that actually broke tradition turned out to be Andromeda.

He wondered what his uncle would think of him, would he refuse to believe it? Would he be proud? Or would he, much like with Andromeda, pretend nothing happened?

“Sister in law” Lucius replied politely, unlike Bellatrix he didn’t use names but he made sure everyone would know who she was “Why would I speak of what our Lord has trusted me with?”

Regulus could feel the magic around Bellatrix turning sharper, almost sharp enough to cut like a blade. She was annoyed, and clearly angry, Regulus would bet all his money that she was clenching her teeth 

“My, my, brother in law, believe yourself to be so special because our Lord trusted you with something small” Bellatrix spat venom with every word she spoke, Regulus almost found it amusing “Our Lord gifted me a symbol of loyalty, what did he give you?”

Lucius was probably rolling his eyes under the mask, Regulus for the first time had to agree with the sentiment, Bellatrix only grew more and more crazy with time.

Whatever Lucius was going to replay was cut by the sound of more people apparating, the aurors had finally arrived.

“Our Lord was right, we have a rat” Someone, probably one of the Lestrage’s, muttered, Bellatrix’s eyes shone madly.

“Our Lord is always right” Bellatrix grabs the man by the robes, pulling him behind her “Now, let the hunt begin”

She’s cackling, just like Regulus remembers her doing, the aurors are running in every direction already while the Death Eaters have begun to burn down the houses.

Regulus jumps down in all the mess, not bothering to greet the aurors and begins to fight two Death Eaters that are cornering auror Shafiq.

“Grim…” Someone mutters as he takes down the two Death Eaters and Regulus can’t help but scrunch his nose in distaste.

It really is a terrible nickname.

The sounds of the battle blend in with the cries of confused muggles, Regulus can easily tell the Death Eater attacks have become more coordinated in comparison with the last raid.

“Hey Grim!” A voice he recognises as Fabian Prewett yells “Care to lend a helping hand?”

Fabian Prewett is being surrounded by four Death Eaters, one of them Regulus recognises as Bellatrix, she’s laughing maniacally.

Without saying anything he knocks out the Death Eater he’s fighting with and jumps to cover Fabian Prewett’s back.

“Thanks mate!” Fabian Prewett yells as he throws a punch instead of an hex, the Death Eater didn’t even see it coming and takes two steps back as he holds the mask in place.

Regulus immediately tries kicking a Death Eater before hexing him, he’s quite satisfied with the result.

Most wixen don’t expect muggle attacks in battle, Barty was right.

The battle doesn’t end until the early hours of the morning, Regulus can only watch the last Death Eater disappear with disgust.

“Got more of them thanks to you” Fabian Prewett tells him as he walks over to him “I can feel you sulking from here mate, what's the problem?”

“I was hoping to get back home in time to celebrate Beltane” He admits and Fabian Prewett seems to agree.

“They do seem to enjoy turning sacred traditions into something you’ll rather forget, yes” Fabian Prewett pulls out a cigarette, offering one to Regulus.

Regulus glares at the package, he already made the mistake of trying one once, there is absolutely nothing that will convince him to try again.

“Not a fan?” Fabian Prewett asks.

“They taste like shit” Regulus says as he observes who the aurors have caught, Lucius is not between them, he doesn’t know if to be relieved or disappointed.

“Well innit, you’re not supposed to eat them”

Regulus sighs, turning around to apparate back home when Fabian Prewett grabs him by the arm.

“Wait-” Fabian Prewett is staring at him with a strange glint on his eyes “I asked around, you aren't one of the members of the order Dumbledore is making, are you?”

Regulus shakes his head “No, I rather not work with someone like him”

Fabian Prewett doesn’t even look put off, if anything a small smile is beginning to show on his lips.

“Good, good” He says before taking a long drag out of his cigarette “We want to join”

Regulus freezes, what did this guy just say?

“Pardon?”

“We want to join, me and Gideon” He says, this time more clearly, he pulls out a piece of parchment with the information needed to contact him, Regulus just stares at it in bewilderment.

“Aren’t you an auror?” Regulus asks, not fully sure what they want from him.

“I can multitask” Fabian Prewett shrugs “Just, think about it”

Regulus sighs before apparateing away, as soon as he reaches his bed he throws himself on it.

He slowly begins to work in healing the small cuts on his skin, then the deeper wounds, Bellatrix had thrown him a pretty strong burning hex on his thigh before running to help her stupid husband, who was almost caught.

Honestly that might have been the reason him and Fabian had turned out pretty alright even against five Death Eaters at once, with Bellatrix out of the picture the fight was fairly easy in comparison.

Once he has healed all his wounds Regulus places his hand on his stomach, he has begun to show quite a bit and he knows attending more raids will be dangerous.

There shouldn’t be any more for a while, not after two failures and several wounded Death Eaters, Riddle will have to wait and plan.

In the meantime he can enjoy what's left of the year by calmly attending his shop, when his friends return from Hogwarts he’ll probably be forced into a vacation but… he’ll cross that bridge when he gets there.

Chapter Text

Regulus is not surprised when more and more clients begin to flock to his shop. After hearing the news of the raid prices in both healing potions and ingredients for them have risen.

His prices though remain the same and people notice.

He busies himself with the shop, holding back the need to throw himself into researching the horcruxes.

Bellatrix’s discussion with Lucius is stuck in his head, playing in repeat like those muggle records Sirius had.

He also reads Evan’s last letter more often than he’d like to admit. He misses his friends but that's not the only reason, Evan, Barty and Pandora had found invaluable information, they had found the number of horcruxes Ton Riddle had created.

Knowing there were six and after Lucius’ and Bellatrix’s conversation there was only one horcrux he had no clues to help him find.

Bellatrix had said something about loyalty, probably the missing Hufflepuff cup, that one was easy to guess.

Lucius’ on the other hand… It could be anything.

He mouched with annoyance in some vada Meera had insisted he take to work, stating he was way too skinny for a pregnant person. Regulus didn’t really feel that way, he had gained quite the weight this last month, hiding his pregnancy was beginning to become a nightmare.

“Good day Leo” Fleamont Potter greeted him with a soft fatherly look, Regulus was beginning to get used to the older man passing by to chat once in a while “I see you restocked your healing balms”

After he met Fleamont Potter the first time he had expected to never see the man again, for Myrddin’s sake the man was a potioneer, he didn't need to buy from Regulus! But then he appeared again and bought some balms for his wife, and then he came back again because his wife had liked his balms more than her husbands.

“Good day Fleamont” He relaxed involuntarily, Fleamont Potter had become a constant in his life in less than a month, insisting Regulus that he call him Fleamont instead of Lord Potter and changing potions tips here and there “Yes, we ran out of them sooner than expected but making some more was no big deal”

Fleamont nodded, calmly checking the quality and humming in content, Regulus let him wander around the shop. 

“You know, if I was in my prime I would offer you an apprenticeship, I haven’t seen a genius like you in years” Fleamont laughed a bit at his own words, Regulus stared at him as if he was out of his mind “It’s really a shame though, my body no longer is what it was”

Because that was the Fleamont Potter, it was already surprising the man wanted to discuss potions with Regulus, and now he was saying he would have offered an apprenticeship?

“Is there something wrong with your health?” Regulus asked, worried, James would be devastated if something were to happen to his father.

James loved his parents, Regulus knew because James told him so, it was said in an attempt to convince Regulus to run away to his house but the words were still true.

If there was something Regulus could do to help Fleamont he would, he wouldn’t let James lose a family member.

“Ah, nothing you lad should worry about, I’m just getting a bit old, that's all” He dismissed Regulus’ concerns with a wave of his hand "Regardless, you already have your potions master title, no need for me to step in”

Regulus internally sulked about the missed opportunity, sure he wouldn’t have actually taken it, he had responsibilities, like dealing with the crazy megalomaniac so his son could grow up in a more or less stable environment.

It still sucked though, he wanted that apprenticeship.

“I would still recommend you to visit St.Mungo for a health check up, just in case, better be safe than sorry” 

Fleamont seemed to consider his words, Regulus couldn’t help but let his walls fall a bit at the obvious consideration of his feelings. Fleamont never ignored what Regulus said, he was really similar to James in that aspect, sure they would in the end do whatever they wanted but his words were listened to.

Back at Grimmauld his words were ignored at best, punished at worst. Regulus had grown so used to not being listened to that the first time Barty agreed with him he almost fell from his seat in shock.

To today's day Barty still laughed about it, Evan on the other hand would get a murderous look on his face that let Regulus know the other boy was thinking of ways to murder Orion and Walburga.

“I just might” Fleamont gave in, Regulus smiled a bit “Now, how are things going with you? Visiting St.Mungo anytime soon?”

It was said like a joke but Regulus nodded almost in instinct, Fleamont looked at him in worry.

“Uh” Regulus said coherently, trying his best to not instinctively place a hand in his stomach.

Is useless though because Fleamont is scanning him with worry, and with his wife, Lady Potter, being a healer Fleamont soon recognises the signs of pregnancy.

Regulus gulps, he really hopes Fleamont doesn’t ask about the other parent of the child.

“You-” Fleamont looks like he’s reconsidering all his life choices, Regulus feels a pang of sympathy, he does that too on a daily basis after all “But- you’re-?”

Regulus watches the man fumble with his words as he tries what Regulus knows is the polite way of telling him he’s way too young. He knows, it’s stupid, he’s still keeping Harry.

It was decided the moment he named the child, really.

“Pregnant yes” He says trying his best to seem completely unbothered, he's really good at it luckily, thanks Walburga.

Fleamont looks at him in a mix of worry, surprise, horror and confusion. Regulus tried his best to not find it a bit funny.

“I- but you said- you mentioned you no longer had a partner?” Fleamont manages to get out as politely as he can, Regulus looks at the wall behind the man instead of his eyes.

“Yes, I no longer have a partner” Regulus watches Fleamont's face fill with preoccupation over him and feels a bit awkward. He didn't know when Fleamont had managed to worm himself into Regulus' life just like Meera and Arjun had “Worry not, I have my family's support, I'm not dealing with this alone”

Those words seem to calm down Fleamont, it was things like these that make Regulus realise why James was so quick to love.

With parents like Fleamont, loving was like breathing, it wasn't a weakness or something shameful. It wasn't a conscious choice you made after weighing out the pros and the cons.

Regulus could only hope that he too turned out to be a parent like Fleamont, that he too made his son feel safe enough to love freely, to fall and get back up. To make mistakes because he trusted someone would be there to catch him.

“I'm glad Leo, and I'm so sorry about your partner, you deserve better” Fleamont gives him a sad smile “If you need anything me and my biwi’s home is open”

He considers for a second appearing at the Potters just to see how James and Sirius are doing. At the same time he fears just seeing their faces after so many years.

He also considers telling Fleamont who his partner is just to see the man's reaction, he would never of course, but it would be pretty funny.

“Thank you Fleamont” He says, he doesn't accept but he also doesn't refuse. Maybe, when the war is over, he will call in that favour.

Fleamont gives him a soft smile, Regulus gives in and smiles back. As they keep discussing potions and theories, Damocles Belby’s last project was quite the uproar these days.

Regulus wondered what would happen if the man succeeded at creating a cure for lycanthropy, would the laws against magical creatures finally begin to change? Or would things stay the same?

Behind them the bell rang, Fleamont turned around slowly but when he saw the woman at the door his whole face softened, Regulus didn’t even know the man could soften further.

“Jaan, I thought you said you were gonna get some books” Fleamont questioned but he looked delighted to have his wife with him, Lady Potter seemed to know that because she arched an eyebrow at her husband.

“I did, I’ve got the books already agapēté, you got so invested in potions again you lost track of time” She looked more amused than anything at her husband's antics, she was looking fondly at him.

Regulus watched as Fleamont coughed in embarrassment, it was like watching an alternative reality. James had told him his parents loved each other but seeing this in person, it always took him off guard.

Could he have had something like this at some point? Would James have even wanted to spend a lifetime with him or would the boy have gotten bored?

“Ah, Leo, this is my biwi, Euphemia, I already told you about her, haven't I?” Fleamont’s eyes shine brightly under the fairy light Cassius had gifted him to decorate the shop, it makes the man look younger in a way.

“Hi Leo, my husband couldn’t stop talking about a young potioneer genius he met, I’m glad to be able to finally meet you” Euphemia smiles kindly at him as she offers her hand, Regulus takes it easily and shakes it “Your healing balms are wonderful, is not every day I prefer someone else’s potions over my husbands”

Regulus nods politely, if he thought Fleamont looked like James Lady Potter is almost a carbon copy, she has James nose and eyes, while James definitely gets his wild hair from his father the hair color is all from his mum.

The way James stands, the way he rests more weight in his left leg than his right. He’s seeing it all on Lady Potter, all at once.

It makes his chest ache in longing, the feeling crawls on him like a bug, twisting his insides.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Potter, your husband talks greatly of you” He says and sees Lady Potter scrunch her nose just like James does, her eyes narrow at the action.

“No need to be so polite dear, you may call me Euphemia” She says before her eyes shine just like James’ do when he gets an idea “If you insist on calling me by my title then call me Lord Thalassia”

Regulus has heard of that surname before, is a known family in Greece, Pandora told him that during the same time that the Rosier family was stabilising themselves the Thalassia family was believed to be descended from Poseidon, but before that they were believed to be descendants of Po-se-da-o, who was considered a chthonic deity.

The Thalassia family always held a air of mystery around Greece but it had been even stronger back then.

The Rosiers too were believed to have connections with the gods back then, it was believed they were blessed by Apollo with the gift of prophecy, even now that the Rosiers had moved to England most still honoured a god or another.

It also explained why the Potters were so open to hosting unexpected guests, the Law of Xenia, while muggles no longer were held by ancient laws; several wixen valued tradition deeply, especially laws that nurtured community.

“Well meet Lord Thalassia, may the depths keep the souls trapped” Regulus kissed her hand in greeting.

“May magic bless our meeting, may your sight never be clouded by the darkness Leo Rosier” Euphemia kissed his cheek in greeting, clearly pleased by her family name being recognised.

“Now” Euphemia turned around to look at her husband, her previous seriousness disappearing with such a simple action “I believe I came here to restock my healing balms”

Regulus watched as Euphemia walked around his shop and added even more things to her husband's own list of items, meanwhile Fleamont simply watched with a bestowed expression.

Regulus tried his best to imagine his own parents in the same situation, Walburga would never show that much emotion outside, other than anger, and Orion would probably just leave his wife and return home without her if she took too long.

Yeah, impossible situation, just imagining an Orion that cared and Walburga cracking jokes was giving him the creeps.

His mother was cruel, Sirius was right when he called her that, but in Regulus’ opinion she was cruel in a different way than the one Sirius thought, for Regulus the cruelest thing Walburga did was act like she cared. She would say she loved you while she made sure your limbs ached every time you moved, she would look at you and call you ungrateful for not loving her as much as she loved you.

Regulus hated how while he never missed Orion he missed Walburga, his mother was cruel, but Regulus had grown only knowing cruel. 

“Ah Leo, I never asked, is your store gonna open during summer vacation?” Fleamont asked, pulling Regulus away from his, honestly quite depressing, thoughts.

“This summer I’ll probably have one of my siblings take over the shop, mostly because my due date is at the end of July” Regulus explained, Fleamont stared at his stomach like if Regulus was his own son and he was cursing the other parent for knocking him up and leaving.

Euphemia, who was now piling several allergy potions at his desk, turned around faster than Barty did when someone mentioned punching his father.

“You’re pregnant? Oh Styx, What are you doing here working!?”

Regulus is a bit put off by Euphemia's genuine worry, he thinks his job is not very taxing considering what he actually cares about is the gossip his clients give him. Dark Lord supporters relaxed in the presence of another pureblood, Dumbledore's supporters relaxed at his fair prices and polite behavior regardless of their background. 

The gossip Royce Yaxley had spread about him not wanting to be the Heir for he was not interested in politics also helped, how the man even knew that Regulus couldn’t guess but he was not going to look a gifted horse in the mouth.

“It’s alright Lord Thalassia, my siblings are returning from Hogwarts soon, I won’t be working for much longer” He tried to calm her down but Euphemia didn’t look convinced, Regulus had the feeling this wouldn’t be the last time he saw her at his shop.

“Even so… do pass by if you ever need any help Leo, both me and my husband would be delighted to help you”

Regulus, knowing this is a losing battle, nods which makes Euphemia smile at him brightly, he silently questions how they manage to smile so brightly, he would say it was the Potter genetics but Euphemia wasn’t a Potter by blood, only through marriage.

Maybe it was contagious? 

Euphemia Potter does show up the next day instead of her husband, and the next too, when Fleamont shows up again the man just shrugs and says his wife has the tendency to pick up strays, Regulus doesn't know how to feel about that.

Euphemia's warm presence though is welcome, it makes his day brighter just like his friday dinners, which he spends with Meera, Arjun and little Asha.

Arjun has made it his job to teach Regulus how to properly use spice, it seems that just throwing anything that reminds him of James in the food doesn’t actually work.

It was not like he and James knew what they were doing, James would propose a recipe based on how he remembered it smelt and Regulus would try to not cringe when it turned out wrong.

James also had the tendency to add chili to everything so Regulus did that too, he had believed it made things taste better, in his opinion it did, but Arjun was horrified by this knowledge.

Meera, who confessed she was a terrible chef and was not allowed in the kitchen without supervision, took it upon herself to teach him what baby books hadn’t.

“Okay Leo, one hand under their head and neck and the other under their butt” While Meera corrected his posture Asha painted on the floor next to them, for some reason the Leo in the drawing was surrounded by water.

It would be pretty eerie if Asha's drawing skills weren’t those of a child.

“Like this?” Regulus tried again, feeling a bit like an idiot, Meera made it look so easy.

“Good, with a real baby it’s easier laal, don’t worry” Meera’s comforting words did nothing to alleviate Regulus’ worries, in less than a week his friends would return from Hogwarts, Barty was keeping quiet, for the first time in his life, about the gifts they had bought for the baby.

Regulus himself had bought probably more than needed of everything, Meera comforted him by explaining it was normal to feel anxious or like you didn’t have enough for the baby when pregnant.

Regulus was just thankful his shop also brought him money, not just information, so that he could keep buying things without feeling guilty about spending money.

“Meera, what if I’m a terrible father?” Regulus asks, making sure Asha doesn’t hear him, he didn’t want to worry the poor child but he just had to ask.

What if he turned out like his parents?

“Where is this coming from Leo laal?” Meera places her calloused hands on his shoulders, Regulus wonders how she gained the small scars in them more often than not.

But Meera hasn’t asked about the almost translucent scars that cover most of his body, some even reaching his face, so he won't ask her either.

If she ever wanted to tell him Regulus would listen, but until then he would wait.

“My parents…” Regulus tries to find the correct way to say it, usually he didn’t have to, Evan guessed, Pandora just knew, Barty understood for he himself had a father he’d rather not be related to, Dorcas had seen his scars and immediately realised what was going on. They were Slytherins, they understood. Meera was a muggle, a strong, warm, kind one but Regulus couldn’t tell her how deep his scars ran, how his mother would torture her for touching him if she knew “They’re terrible parents. They’re even worse people”

Meera watches him struggle with his words but lets Regulus continue.

“My brother ran away from home before me. My mother had tortured him almost to death” He doesn’t look at Meera’s face as he continues “I did nothing to stop it, after, when he was half delirious and I knew he wouldn’t remember, I made sure he reached his friends house, when we saw each other at school again I pretended to hate him for not following the family traditions”

Pretending to hate Sirius had been laughably easy, Sirius hated that he was a Slytherin, Regulus hated that Sirius had replaced him with James.

So he just continued by the path he had made for himself and let Walburga swallow all his will to fight.

“I followed my mothers words like my brother couldn’t, I acted like I believed what she did, like I wanted what she did. I would have joined the crazy murderous cult she wanted if I hadn’t gotten pregnant” Regulus doesn’t dare look at Meera’s face, she hasn’t said anything yet and Regulus doesn’t know if to consider it a mercy “When I was at school I tried my best to mix with what my mother called the right sort without being surrounded by assholes like Luci- an idiot my cousin married, I did my best to keep any relationship that didn’t fit the right sort private and short, and then this absolute insufferable idiot of a man didn’t leave me alone”

Regulus looked at Meera’s eyes, holding back the tears.

“Meera, he was just- so bright, how could I ever have kept away?” 

Without saying anything Meera held his hands, softly rubbing circles in them with her thumbs.

“Oh Leo laal, I’m so sorry you had to go through that” The tears Regulus had tried to keep at bay began slipping out, softly running through his cheeks “But you are not your parents, you will never be. The fact that you chose what was best for your child shows that”

“Meera you don’t know what I did to survive in that house I-” Before he could finish Meera covered his mouth with her hands.

“You survived and that's enough, I don’t need to know because how I see you won't change. And most important of all, the person you have chosen to be is one I want to be here for”

Regulus couldn’t hold back the sobs that escaped him, his hands trembled as Meera cleaned the tears rolling down his cheeks.

He had never been a pretty crier but right now he couldn’t care less about that.

“Shh, it’s okay laal, all is okay” As Meera comforted him he felt something small bump against him.

Asha had run to hug him, looking at him with her worried big doe eyes.

“Don’t cry Leo don’t cry!” Asha hugged him tightly and Regulus couldn’t help but sob harder and hug her back.

“I’ll try Asha” He promised, Meera watched them softly.

They would be okay, her smile seemed to say and Regulus was surprised to realise he believed her.

Lily Evans was not surprised to find James in the astronomy tower again instead of doing his rounds.

The first time it happened she had been annoyed at him, they were prefects and with it came duties. 

But then James had turned around and she could not ignore the tears running down the boy's face.

She had to admit he looked pitiful, so with a tired sigh she sat next to him and watched the stars too. She had never held that much interest for the stories in them, they were stories of people long gone after all.

James on the other hand seemed to love them with all he had, mind, soul, body, they all belonged to the stars.

“Here again?” She asked, watching as James tensed before recognising her voice.

“You know me Lils, always watching the stars!” James joked but Lily had long since told him she didn’t buy his bullshit act.

“What happened James?” She tried to sound soft but that had never been her forte, she knew that both her and Severus were like that since they were kids.

The fake joy in James’ eyes dimmed, his smile turning into a grimace.

“Nothing ever escapes you eh, Lils?” James looked away with a guilty expression, Lily sat next to him and didn’t press him for answers. After all James never really told her the real reason why he was here “I think I loved him”

Lily turned around to look at James’ face, he wasn’t looking at her but at the stars in the night sky, if she remembered correctly the stars he was looking at made the Leo constellation.

The words James had said didn’t completely register, until they did. James loved loudly, she knew that, she had unfortunately been at the end of the boy's love before he knew better. Lily still remembered the start of fourth year, she had punched James and a week after the boy came to thank her.

It was hilarious in her friends opinion, Mary said James had really needed to be hit by reality and her punching him was what made him realise he was being a dick.

Fortunately James didn’t just thank her but also asked for forgiveness and stopped with his weird confessions. At first she hadn’t really believed him, four years of the idiot's antics was a long time after all, but James kept his word, he approached her like a classmate and nothing more.

Honestly, Lily had grown quite fond of the new side of James, the one that was funny for everyone involved and not just his pretty ridiculously named group.

But they weren’t friends, Marlene was James’ friend, Mary dated Sirius Black, who had this weird codependent relationship with James, for a while, but not Lily. It was Remus who Lily was close with in James' group, and only Remus.

She had never thought she would be here hearing James talk about some boy, a boy that was the reason for how he looked like a dead man walking since christmas break.

It wasn’t hard to guess who the boy was, there was one person that didn’t return from break, the whole school had talked about it, lowering their voice, wondering who was next.

Regulus Black was dead, he had never returned from break and some suspected he had refused to join The Dark Lord.

“What was he like?” Lily asked. She had not interacted much with Regulus, honestly she had been a bit intimidated by the younger boy.

If she had to describe him as anything it would be a black cat, beautiful, graceful but a dark omen. His stoic face unnerved her more than Mulciber and his gang ever could, something about him sent shivers down her spine.

Sirius was similar at first, Lily didn’t know what it was about the brothers that made her survival instincts kick in, but slowly she grew used to him, to the way his magic sometimes made her automatically check where the exits in the room were.

James laughed, a dry laugh that was almost painful to hear.

“He was a stubborn bastard really” The words that came out of his mouth were not what she expected “He didn’t even talk to me and when he couldn’t ignore me anymore he punched me in the face. It didn’t hurt, he was terrible at fighting without magic after all”

As if remembering a good joke James smirked, it was a bit funny for Lily to know Regulus had also punched James, it made the boy she never got to know human in a way.

“In the end I had to bribe him with information about Si- information he wanted for him to talk to me” James scratched his head a bit ashamed but he looked quite proud about it “I wanted to be his friend, he was sarcastic, funny. I fell for him slowly, I didn’t even realise it was happening”

Lily wanted to ask but she didn’t feel like she had the right, even being here, listening to James talk about Regulus black felt like intruding in a private moment.

“We dated for a while, I think I realised I wanted to tie our souls together when I made him try my horrendous cooking and he didn’t even hesitate before taking a bite. It was terrible, he had to stick his tongue out immediately after to throw it to the trash” There were tears falling down James’ cheeks like waterfalls “And then this year he- he said he had never loved me, or even liked me, that I was a fool to believe so. That he was with me for some fun and that he had joined The Dark Lord, he said he had the mark, I begged but after he said that I- I left, I couldn’t even look him in the face without crying”

If one were to ask Lily she didn’t think Regulus had been marked, she didn’t tell James that though but there was something about Regulus, his face when he boarded the train that made her stop and look at it.

He had resembled an inmate waiting on death row. She had buried that memory deep into her mind, just like how she noticed Evadne Nott in her seventh year looking ready for war before she boarded the train, she was now Lord Nott and was in the process of marrying her Hufflepuff boyfriend.

There was something about both their looks that made Lily stare, maybe it was the fire in their eyes, something in them that made her gravitate towards them, want to see more even if it scared her.

“I’m sorry James, I can’t make it better but if you ever need anything you know how to find me” 

James gave her weak smile which Lily returned, they both had grown closer, maybe it was because Sirius kept leaving them alone in the library to go snog Remus, or maybe it was the fact that they did rounds together as prefects.

Maybe it was the talks they had at the astronomy tower sometimes, talks like these where Lily felt comfortable enough to talk about her own problems too.

She liked James, not romantically like Sirius seemed to want her to, but she did, people noticed how they now walked together to class more often than not, Mary joked about it sometimes.

It didn’t matter much to her honestly, she could easily ignore it and James started to do the same. They knew each other, they knew the other wasn’t interested in them like that and honestly, that was all it mattered in the end.

Not Severeus’ angry looks, not Mulciber's dirty jokes, them.

Lily ended up dragging James back to the Gryffindor dorm so he would rest before walking back to the astronomy tower to have a fag, Remus had gave her some in sixth year after a terrible fight with Petunia and she just hadn’t stopped.

It wasn’t a full moon yet, she noticed, she wondered if Remus could feel it.

“Oh, what a wonderful surprise” A soft melodic voice startled Lily, almost making her drop her cigarette “It’s been a while since I saw a loose tread”

In front of her there was a blonde girl, almost white blonde, looking at her with curiosity, almost like one would look at a rare flower in the wild.

Lily had never seen someone looking so ethereal, almost like a goddess. 

“Uh” She said, immediately cursing her brain for being so slow but when the girl giggled Lily completely forgot her frustration.

“Hello, Venus shines quite brightly tonight, doesn’t it?” The girl walked towards her, tilting her head in question, Lily could only nod as she tried to hide the redness on her cheeks.

“Do you-” Lily, not really knowing what to say passed her the muggle cigarettes, immediately cursing, what if she was a pureblood and didn’t even know what a cigarette was?

“Oh, well, I haven’t had one in a while” The girl picked it up, before Lily could offer her light she clicked her fingers, summoning a small flame just like a lighter would.

Taking a deep drag Lily watched the girl do the same.

“I’m Lily Evans, you?” She asked, unable to hide her curiosity.

The girl puffed up the smoke, as it exited her mouth the smoke took the form of a flower, Lily watched in awe.

“Pandora Rosier” The girl, Pandora, said softly, she turned to look at Lily directly in the eyes, it felt like the colors in them twirled “It seems that fate wanted for our paths to cross later than I’d prefer”

Chapter Text

The summer heat could be felt every time one left the house, Regulus had always loved the warmth as a kid, for the first time he hated it.

It made him sweaty and made the usual robes he wore to look less pregnant impossible to wear.

So Regulus, for the first time, found himself hating summer and the warmth it brought.

His clothes were filled with cooling charms even if Scotland was technically quite cold. There had been a thunderstorm a few days ago, but Regulus didn’t care, it was annoyingly hot, at least more than usual.

“Ready son?” Cassius asked with an amused face, offering his hand to apparate them to the train station.

Regulus had to admit he was a bit excited about the possibility of running into Sirius and James, even just seeing them from afar would be enough for him.

He actually preferred it that way, seeing them from afar, they wouldn't be in danger because of him if he kept his distance.

“No point in delaying it” Regulus took Cassius’ hand, today he was an older brother who had missed siblings enough to accompany his father to the station.

Cassius smiled softly at him, the colours on his eyes twirling, he appeared to be looking somewhere further, Regulus wondered if Cassius was seeing the results of his choices.

They disappeared in a flash, when Regulus opened his eyes again he was surrounded by the hustle and bustle of parents and various family members, just like them animatedly waiting for the return of their loved ones.

Regulus finds himself smiling without wanting to, he never liked platform nine and three-quarters much, not until today.

He caught sight of Euphemia and Fleamont arriving, not wanting to take much of their time Regulus hid himself behind Cassius. It wouldn't be good for him if Euphemia and Fleamont suddenly decided to strike up a conversation with him while Sirius and James were there.

The deep rumble of the engine and the rhythmic clickety-clack of wheels on tracks could be heard as the train approached, the loud whistle sounded in the hair, filling Regulus with a feeling of nostalgia.

Hogwarts felt like so long ago yet he had just left Hogwarts when he died, he never thought he would set foot here ever again.

He watched the faces of the first years disembark the train and run to greet their parents. The smiles on their faces made Regulus question how his own son would act. Would he also run to greet Regulus, his father, with a smile?

He hoped so, he really did.

Pandora was the first to approach them, dragging Evan and Bartty with her, Regulus didn’t bother to put on his usual facade of indifference, instead he smiled softly at his friends and melted into Pandora's hug.

Evan soon took over and hugged him too, Barty, after making sure no one was paying them attention, joined the hug.

“Good to see you brother of mine” Evan jokingly nudged at him with his shoulder, Regulus thought he was having a bit too much fun with this.

“I-” Regulus instinctively looked around, as if to make sure no one was looking at his obvious display of emotion, some habits die hard “I missed you all too”

Barty and Evan shared a knowing look, making Regulus want to roll his eyes at them.

“Merlin the pregnancy is making you all soft” Barty ruffled his hair making Regulus scowl in annoyance, he hated the fact that he had missed these bastards.

Before he could kick Barty in retaliation he felt someone approaching them, Regulus felt a sense of foreboding.

Turning around he was met face to face with Euphemia, whose face held a glint of amusement, next to her Fleamont greeted him with a simple wave.

And there, next to them was Sirius, Regulus didn't know if to be glad that James wasn't with them.

He discretely looked around and found James talking with Lily Evans and her parents, he didn't look for much longer.

“Hi Leo, we didn't expect to see you here” Euphemia greeted him softly, Regulus couldn't help but nod at her.

“My siblings are back from Hogwarts, I might have missed them a bit more than usual” He admits and ignores how Evan smiles knowingly at him.

“Ah- yes, it is to be expected because of your condition after all” As she talks Regulus watches Sirius awkwardly picking at his nails, he seems trying his hardest to not look at any of them in the eyes.

Regulus almost finds it a bit funny how uncomfortable they're making Sirius feel.

“I don't believe you've met actually, this is Sirius, he's as good as my son” Euphemia says, making Sirius yelp in surprise and blush from embarrassment simultaneously “My other son, James, is Myrddin knows where, that boy is really too fast at getting lost”

Small mercies, Regulus thinks not for the first time, James was surprisingly good at disappearing and reappearing. It was infuriating yet endearing, the boy would suddenly decide he had found a cute insect and before anyone knew he was charging behind it and nowhere in sight.

“Perfectly fine Lord Thalassia, my own siblings have the habit of disappearing, I completely understand” He says and watches Evan stick out his tongue at Pandora, clearly knowing who Regulus actually meant.

Pandora, unbothered, gives her brother a cold smile.

“A shame really, I believe you two would get along” Euphemia sighs making Fleamont chuckle, Sirius stands awkwardly clearly regretting having decided to accompany them “Well meet, may your sight never be clouded by the darkness, you must be Evan and Pandora, Leo talks greatly of you two”

Evan and Pandora let Euphemia kiss one of their cheeks, returning the greeting and answering in synchrony, something Regulus forgot they could do.

“Well meet Lord Thalassia, may lady magic bless our meeting, may the depths keep the souls trapped” At Pandora’s and Evan’s answer Sirius stares at Euphemia with the same expression Regulus had when Fleamont greeted him in the old ways, is amusing and Regulus wishes he had a muggle camera.

“Leo, lad, you mentioned one of your siblings would take over the shop while you’re resting, right?” Fleamont asks, Regulus nods.

“Yes, my brother, Evan, will take over for me during the summer, after that we might begin looking for someone to help in the shop” Regulus hasn’t yet figured out who even he could pay to work for him but he’ll have to, at least temporarily.

For some reason the Prewett twins' faces come to mind, making him shudder, there is just no way he would get involved with those trouble makers.

“Don’t worry Lord Potter, we’ll make sure this idiot actually rests, leave it to us” Evan says and Barty nods along, Regulus’ betrayed look only seems to amuse them.

“Ah, it's good to know young Leo has you all with him” Fleamont smiles, Regulus watches and he can’t help but look around for James.

Soft amber eyes lock into his and Regulus suddenly can’t breath, James, James, James. He’s looking at them and his eyes hold no signs of recognition but it’s him.

James doesn’t look good, Regulus can tell he hasn’t been sleeping correctly but a small weight seems to have been lifted from his shoulders, next to him Lily Evans whispers something in his ear, making him laugh, yet he doesn’t look away.

“I’m quite lucky yes” Regulus manages to get out as he forces himself to look away, Pandora gives him a knowing smile but doesn’t say anything.

There is not much more to say and Cassius pulls out a sand clock from his left pocket, shrugging he takes out an envelope.

“Fleamont” Cassius says, being the first time he addresses anyone around him “Give this to Charlus, I think he’d like to know”

Fleamont watches Cassius with an emotion Regulus can’t fully guess what is before taking the letter, he doesn’t check for damaging spells, he seems to know Cassius wouldn’t bother with something like that.

“I’ll try but you, more than anyone, know how he’s been since that” Fleamont is looking at Cassius dead in the eyes “After all, I heard you were his friend”

Cassius smiles, his teeth are sharp just like Pandora's and Evan’s, it’s playful, like a predator toying with its prey.

“Oh Fleamont” Cassius voice holds a glint of madness “Tom doesn’t have friends”

Regulus feels his blood freeze, he wants to ask Cassius what else he knows about Tom Riddle even if he knows it’s useless.

Ironically it’s James' voice, calling for Sirius, that makes him relax.

“Pads! Come here Marls just had the best idea ever!” His voice is loud enough to be heard across the platform and Sirius excuses himself politely as fast as he can and runs to James.

The irony is not lost to Regulus as he watches his brother leave, Sirius’ back looks smaller than he remembers, when Sirius left he remembered it being bigger.

Or maybe it's just Regulus who has grown.

Regulus leaves the station with the feeling of having lost something he didn’t have to begin with.

The rest of his days are spent with Pandora guiltripping him into resting, Evan telling him about the gossip he’s heard and Barty making terrible jokes.

“Are you ever going to return to your house, Barty?” Regulus asks him after Barty accidentally burns something that Regulus hopes was not expensive.

“And miss your birthday? Nah, and it’s not like I want to see the dick that I have to call father anyway” Barty shrugs and Regulus can only groan “Oh, I almost forgot, Pandora wanted me to ask if you wanted honey cakes for your birthday, as you can’t drink mead and all that”

Regulus arches an eyebrow, his expression never betraying him.

“Barty” He makes sure his voice shows how unamused he is.

“Yes?”

“My birthday is tomorrow” He points out but Barty just nods “Where the fuck are you going to get honey cakes from on such short notice?”

Barty, as if finally realising the flaws in his plan, turns hopefully towards Evan, who was calmly reading and ignoring the fire.

“Don’t look at me, I can’t bake for shit” Evan doesn’t even look up from his book and Pandora nods along.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure the answer will find us soon”

It turns out the answer was Arjun and Meera helping them bake, Regulus doesn’t ask how Meera knows the traditional honey cake recipe, in exchange Barty babysits Asha.

His birthday turns out to be quite enjoyable in the mix of muggle traditions Arjun and Meera have.

Eating sweets before dessert makes Barty and Asha smile like idiots, Meera gifting him clothes to wear, a Dhoti and a Kurta is a sweet plus in Regulus' opinion.

In exchange he gives them a pair of matching bracelets with protective runes, Pandora and Evan give them a solar disc.

Finally Barty and Pandora give him the first gift, a crocheted cat jacket for Harry, which is completely black and resembles Regulus’ animagus form. Regulus might have cried a bit and pulled them closer.

Regulus himself shows them a pair of little shoes with cat paws under them he had bought not too long ago, Evan quietly admits to having bought cat paw gloves for Harry and Regulus to match.

Pandora also brings him several baby clothes with different themes, the sun being the most recurring one which Regulus tries his best to pretend it doesn’t remind him of James.

Finally he has to kick Barty under the table when the idiot says he bought Harry his first broom, they’re lucky Arjun took it as an inside joke.

Meera sits him at some point to perform Aarti, a ritual to ward off evil, as the wick is placed on a round silver plate and rotated around him Regulus feels actual magic around him.

When Meera has finished he looks at her eyes and knows Meera is not a simple muggle, and she knows he realised.

He lets her draw a tilak on his forehead and tries to ignore the elephant in the room.

It is later when Barty convinces everyone to dance, to celebrate the wixen way, his words, not Regulus’, that Meera sighs softly next to him.

He lets her guide the dance, for he can guess she knows the steps, Evan is dancing with Pandora and Barty has forced Arjun into something no one could call a dance.

Little Asha is drooling on top of Cassius, who has been looking at the baby as if it were some strange thing.

“I was born a squib” Meera tells him calmly as she twirls Regulus around “I don’t think I’ll ever forget my roots but placing my family in danger, after all I’ve done to protect them is something I cannot risk”

Regulus nods, he understands if she thinks keeping contact is too dangerous, it hurts but he knows sometimes one has to be selfish.

In her situation he would too.

“Meera I-” He starts but Meera interrupts him before he can continue.

“Don’t be stupid Leo, laal, you’re family, what I’m trying to say is, no matter what, if you need, I’ll protect you” The dance is coming to an end, soon it’ll be midnight and there is one last ritual left Regulus can’t skip “I might not be able to do magic but the rituals, the blessings, still run deep in my veins”

Regulus can’t help the tears that begin dropping from his eyes silently, Meera doesn’t say anything, she just cleans them without a word.

When they’re finally back at home Regulus doesn’t hesitate as he walks towards the piled wood and lits it up without a word.

He prays to Lady Magic once more, muttering the incantation softly just like he has so many times before, just like he did on his last birthday not that long ago.

With his eyes closed he places his hands inside the fire, feeling the flames caress him softly.

When he opens his eyes the flames are red, Gryffindor red.

This time it doesn’t take him by surprise.

James watches his parents talk with the Rosiers, there is a boy with them he has never seen before.

His parents are talking to him and James stares at him and knows he probably looks stupid, when the boy locks eyes with him the first thing he notices is his eyes, they're green yes, but they shine a bit just like Regulus’ did.

Even when he's returning home he’s unable to stop thinking of Regulus.

And now the boy is looking at him and James can almost feel his magic react, trying to pull the boy closer. It is deeply embarrassing if he’s being honest.

When he asks after who the boy is, the answer he gets is Leo Rosier, the eldest of the Rosier siblings and a genius when it comes to potions. When he asks Sirius all he can say is that Leo Rosier has only recently made his existence known, something not that weird considering the Rosier main branch.

The summer passes calmly and as June is ending summer solstice arrives, with it Regulus’ birthday, the longest day of the year and the shortest night.

He isn’t surprised to find Sirius smoking a fag in the roof.

“He would be turning seventeen today” Is all Sirius says as he passes the cigarette to James, who takes it easily.

“He should be” James agrees, taking a small drag, he never really liked the taste it left on his throat.

“Sometimes it feels like he never really left” Sirius says as he looks at the night sky, watching the stars with almost adoration “Like he will return to me in the end”

James lets him rant, he knows Sirius needs it, especially after everything happening. The order of phoenix Dumbledore had invited them to, Mary looking at Lily one last time before leaving.

He still doesn’t know what Mary told her, he just knows it was nothing pretty, he had to pull Lily together himself and watch her cry silently. Lily was never silent and hated to see how much the war was taking a toll on them.

“I think it was my fault” Sirius confesses, looking guilty “If I had forced him out of that house with me maybe things would be different”

James looks at his friend, really looks at him and sighs, it would be easy, so easy to blame Sirius, to place the blame on him to ignore the pain. But deep down he knows, he knows it's not Sirius’ fault. It would never be.

“If it was someone's fault it would be your parents and Voldemort Pads, not yours” James lets the cigarette burn as he pulls Sirius closer, resting the boy's head into his shoulder “That house was killing you, you couldn’t have stayed there and Regulus… Pads, he chose to stay”

Sirius didn’t give him an answer for a while, James hadn’t expected him to.

“I just wish he had chosen me instead of them”

James too wishes the same, if Regulus had explained instead of lying through his teeth would things have been different? If he had forced Regulus to tell him the truth would he be alive?

Questions like this led nowhere good, he knew that much but sometimes James could only wish he could hold Regulus’ hands again, kiss the boy's knuckles and tell him everything would be okay.

“I do too Pads, I do too” He says instead, he has to stay strong for Sirius, Sirius who has lost his brother, Sirius who would never admit how much he missed his brother.

Sirius who would forever miss his favourite star, Regulus would frown and point out Regulus was actually a quadruple star system which always made James laugh, Sirius who would have to live with the fact that the last words he told Regulus were insults.

At least James got to tell the boy a truth, the last words he told Regulus after all were you’re a coward Regulus Black, but I think I’ll love you forever.

And unfortunately he probably would.

Regulus was eating dinner when his back began to hurt. He had been exhausted the whole day yet he couldn’t relax, his whole body felt tense.

He had cleaned the whole house, preparing it for Harry to arrive, never fully convinced of the results. What if Harry preferred a red room? He was sure James tried to paint his room red at some point so maybe he should?

“Barty I can see you try to place the broom in my sons dorm put that back he’s not flying until he's at least six”

He watches Barty pouting while Evan laughs his ass off, he doesn’t care, who in their right mind would give a child that young a broom? For Myrddin’s sake he isn’t even born yet!

“Reg, you’ve changed the position of the pillows seven times, I think that's enough” Evan manages once he has stopped laughing and Regulus simply stares at him in silence until Evan gulps in fear “Nevermind, my bad, go on”

But as time went on every step felt heaving, it almost felt hard to breath, the pain on his lower back got bigger.

Pandora made him sit as both Barty and Evan shared worried glances, all of them waited for Pandora to examine him.

“Oh” Pandora didn’t sound really surprised “St Mungo it is”

And with those simple words hell broke loose, a beautiful muggle saying Arjun taught them. Barty fainted as if he was the one having the baby, Evan began calling for his dad and Regulus feels the colour being drained from his face.

Cassius runs into their room in his night robes looking like he just had a vision, which does nothing to soothe Regulus’ nerves.

They end up apparating to St Mungo’s entrance late into the night, Barty carrying Regulus like he was dying and for the first time Regulus can’t even yell at him.

The first healer that sees them almost has a heart attack thinking Regulus is dying, then she panics because Regulus is doing exactly the opposite of dying he’s fucking giving birth.

Regulus can only curse James all the way to the surgery room, as he’s laid into the bed and passed several potions he holds Evan’s hand.

“If for some reason in the future I decide to have another child punch me in the face” He says and drowns it on one go, as he slowly loses feeling in his lower body he sees the healers faces as they try kick out Barty, as he’s not technically a blood relative. Regulus feels a bit bad for them, after all he himself knows how hard getting rid of Barty is.

As the surgery begins Regulus holds Evan’s hand tightly, he’s not unfamiliar with blood, thanks maman, but he sure as hell doesn’t need to see the healers opening up his stomach and pulling out a baby-

He’s not panicking, Regulus is not panicking.

Oh Myrddin why is his baby fucking blue?!

And then-

His baby cries Regulus almost sobs in relief as his son begins gaining colour, he smiles at his son as the healers quickly cast cleaning spells on him and begin stitching Regulus up.

His baby, oh he’s beautiful, Regulus can feel tears rolling down his cheeks as he lets go of Evan’s hand, which looks slightly bruised.

“Mr Rosier, your child” A nice healer he doesn’t remember the name of offers him his child and Regulus holds the baby with almost childish wonder.

“Hi étoile” He whispers lovingly “Welcome to the world Harry” 

Barty suddenly turns towards Pandora, Evan too turns to look at her while a healer takes care of his hand, maybe Regulus squeezed a bit too hard.

“You knew the baby’s name all the time!?” Barty asks Pandora who just smiles softly “And Re- Leo! You didn’t tell us?!”

Regulus looks at Pandora and is not surprised to learn she already knew the name he had chosen, is Pandora after all.

“I didn’t tell anyone” He says and Barty pouts but he trusts Regulus enough to not doubt his words for even a second “Now, I’d like you all to meet your nephew, Harry Altair”

He doesn’t add the Black but they all know it’s there, Regulus watches his son and holds back the need to pitch his cheeks.

“Why is he so ugly?” Barty asks and gets kicked by Evan before Regulus can send a jinx on his way “Ouch! Hey, it's a valid question!”

Regulus huffs, holding Harry closer to him, his son, his beautiful son.

Slowly Harry opens his eyes, and a deep green meets him, a green so similar to the killing curse it makes Regulus want to take a step back.

A green he had seen once before in a kid's eyes, a kid Bellatrix had ordered him to murder.

Chapter Text

Regulus stares at his son's eyes and feels his body freeze, he’s unable to look away, he knows his friends are staring at him, waiting for him to do something but he just can’t.

Was this punishment for his sins? Did he manage to curse, taint his son? Regulus feels like crying in horror.

And then his son, his baby, laughs. Is soft, sweet yet it brings Regulus to tears.

He knows he’s crying, it doesn’t matter, he kisses his son’s forehead as tears fall down his cheeks. It doesn’t matter if his son is cursed, it doesn’t matter because he’s Regulus’.

Is easy to tell he mostly looks like James, something Regulus is a bit miffed about, the one that put all the work was him and yet nothing in the kid resembles him.

“He’s perfect” He says anyway and it’s true, he can’t help but boop his nose which makes his son laugh.

How could he even fathom that his son was cursed? It’s ridiculous, he can’t believe he just acted like a superstitious bastard.

He looks at his friends and finds Evan patting Barty’s back as he cries, like a loser. When they get out of here and Regulus doesn’t feel like he’s falling asleep where he is, he's so gonna use this as blackmail.

Pandora smiles at him and Regulus can only nod, offering her his son. Pandora chuckles softly when Harry instinctively grabs her hair.

“He has your nose” Pandora says, looking slightly amused by this, Barty tilts his head to check the baby too and lets out a childish gasp.

“He does!” Barty exclaims happily, making Harry stop smiling “He’s also got your glare wow”

“It’s a baby Barty, he’s just annoyed by loud noises” Regulus says, rolling his eyes, Evan laughs but makes sure to do it quietly to not bother Harry.

Regulus lets himself be dragged by the healers for some extra checks before he’s allowed back at home, he trusts Harry to Pandora while this happens and ignores Barty’s baby-talk.

Finally, after some long excruciating hours he gets his son back and he’s allowed to go home, he holds Harry close to his chest as they take the floo.

The sun is slowly beginning to show when they arrive at Rosier Manor, something Regulus can’t help but find amusing, July had ended just as Harry was born.

“Harry Altair Black” Regulus whispers into his son’s ear “I’m your papa and I promise I’m gonna take care of you, so please, grow healthy and happy, that's all I ask”

Barty, Pandora and Evan join him slowly, sitting on the wet grass with him to watch the sunrise. Cassius smiles at them and Harry, surprisingly, smiles back at the man, as if they were sharing some big secret.

“Reg” Barty pretended to clean a tear from his eye “You’ve become such a softie”

Regulus didn’t even hesitate before sending a stinging jinx in Barty’s direction, Evan snorted, clearly having stopped Barty from dodging.

“Okay, I get it, not in the mood for teasing jeez” Barty pouts as he places his head in Evan’s lap, he keeps looking at Harry with teary eyes to the point that it would make people assume the child is his “Wait- doesn’t he look a bit like…?”

Evan frowns, clearly looking for a resemblance in Harry, Regulus gulps, after all Harry is a carbon copy of James if one doesn't count the green silvery eyes.

“Potter!?” Barty and Evan snap their heads to look at Regulus at the same time, Regulus does his best to appear unaffected.

“Regulus Arcturus Black, you did not fuck the Gryffindor quidditch captain” Barty looks horrified, which honestly makes Regulus feel a bit better, Evan is just staring at Harry in shock.

“I might have dated him…” Regulus admits, making the light leave Evan’s eyes, dramatic bastards, both of them “In my defense, for me it was around two years ago”

“That's even worse Merlin” Barty pretends to puke, which Regulus, who has been actually puking in the mornings, ignores “You had feelings for that… thing. Was he at least a good fuck?”

Regulus groans and covers Harry’s ears, who seems to find the whole situation funny because he laughs.

“Yes Barty, he was” Regulus says with a deadpan expression, making Barty look even more disgusted “The best I had actually” Regulus adds to rub salt in the wound.

A choking sound escapes Barty which fills Regulus with pure joy, Harry as if sensing his mood, began gurgling.

“Altair don't listen to your papa he’s stu- a dummy” Barty corrects himself quickly when he catches Regulus’ glare “And he’s been awake for more than twenty four hours, probably”

Harry coos at this, as if agreeing which makes Barty smile like an idiot, Regulus wonders if this is what some people call baby fever.

They stay to watch the sunrise together, the warm sun rays hitting their skin, it’s the first day of his baby on earth and Regulus wants to enjoy it a bit more before he inevitably falls asleep for hours.

In the end Pandora pushes him to his room, the baby crib placed next to his bed almost makes him tear up. Pandora and Evan give Harry a soft goodnight kiss while Barty gives both Harry and him a disgustingly wet kiss, Regulus can’t find it in himself to be mad.

He doesn’t immediately place Harry in his crib, instead he lays in bed holding Harry close to his chest.

Harry is a small baby, just like Regulus himself was, he remembers Sirius mentioning it when they were kids.

Slowly he feels Harry growing tired and closing his eyes, when he feels Harry’s hand warped around his pinky Regulus finally lets himself relax.

"Fais de beaux rêves, mon amour”

Regulus wakes up by Evan shaking him while Barty tries his best to calm Harry down. It turns out paternal instincts are bullshit and when his child cried he didn’t fucking wake up.

He runs to help Barty, who, taken by surprise, almost drops the baby. Regulus can only thank Evan for having quick reflexes and a mind that isn’t half asleep.

It takes them twenty minutes to get Harry to sleep again and Evan looks genuinely terrified, Pandora simply lays on the floor and doesn't say anything.

“I better be godfather” Barty blurts out, dead serious.

Regulus lets out a long tired sigh “Your boyfriend had to stop you from accidentally dropping him like two seconds ago”

Barty arches an eyebrow, clearly not seeing a problem and Regulus is too tired to deal with this. 

“Your point?” 

Regulus thinks about it, getting to the realization that his kid does need a godfather. He looks at Barty’s hopeful eyes and lets out a tired sigh.

“... I can't believe I'm doing this” It's stupid but if there is someone Regulus trusts to the end of the world it is Barty, the idiot boy that wanted to be friends because it would ‘piss off my dickhead of a father’. 

Fuck it, he knows Barty would die for his son if needed, so what if he’s a bit of a bastard? He’s Regulus’ bastard. He’s so lost in thought he almost doesn’t hear Pandora.

“Oh another star will be Harry's godfather” Her melodic voice makes Regulus almost not register the meaning of her words.

Another star? A star… There is just no way he reconnects with his family after running away. Who would he even ask? He was only close with Narcissa and as far as he knew she still felt like a woman last time he checked.

There was only one person Regulus could think of and-

“Wha-?” Barty turned around as if having a sudden realization “Your brother!? The one who abandoned you?! REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK!”

Is inevitable really, Harry wakes up and begins crying, with a sigh Regulus picks him up on his arms and rocks him gently, for a moment Barty gets distracted and forgets his annoyance completely.

“In my defense this is also news to me” Regulus grumbles, naming Sirius godfather is something he hadn’t considered. Would Sirius even want anything to do with his child? 

But Sirius would protect Harry, if it wasn’t for Regulus at least for James.

Sirius is a safe option, someone that isn’t part of Regulus’ group, someone outside just in case something happens.

Harry squeals and Regulus looks at his eyes, now under the light it is obvious they have silver sparks, just like Regulus’.

“Alright, let’s make my idiot brother my child's godfather, I still have some of his blood around” He says and Barty looks at him as if he had some screws loose, which seeing his family he probably does.

“Blacks” Evan snorts “Always so dramatic”

Without needing to ask, Pandora makes a small cut in her thumb, pressing it against Harry’s forehead. Without wasting time Regulus accios a vial of blood from one of the drawers and dips his finger on it.

As the blood drips in his son’s forehead Regulus whispers the incantation quietly, is soft and Harry laughs, clearly unaware of what's happening.

When he sees the blood turn gold and disperse into pure magic he knows it has worked.

“So, quick question” Barty looks at them with actual concern “Should I worry about you all collecting my blood at night or is this like a weird Black family thing?”

Evan blinks twice, clearly coming to the same conclusion Regulus has, it seems that keeping your family's blood just in case is not that common out of the ancient families.

“Just a pureblood thing” Evan says as he shrugs, Barty doesn’t look convinced.

“I am a pureblood” Barty complains, Harry on his arms laughs happily.

“Ancient blood purebloods, and your father is both a muggle hater and the so called dark arts hater, the epitome of stupidity really” Regulus explains as he rolls his eyes “It is no wonder you don’t know sod all about blood rituals”

Barty stares at them with his typical unbelieving look, the one he gives them every time they talk about the ancient traditions. The Rosiers and the Blacks are vastly different when it comes to them, or at least the main Rosier branch as the secondary ones have adapted to the English old traditions, the Black’s on the other hand usually mix French and English old traditions.

Even so, it isn’t a secret, the only problem is knowing what to look for but any pureblood, ancient blood or not, would easily have access to enough information about all the ancient celebrations in different parts of the world.

Except Albania for some reason, Regulus doesn’t know what's going on in Albania and he genuinely doesn’t want to know. He guesses the Rosiers might, emphasis in might, have some information as Greece is right next to it.

Muggleborns might have it a bit harder to find information about the old ways but only in specific rituals, which translates to blood rituals mostly because for some reason muggleborns find them barbaric.

He’s not completely sure about half-bloods, he guesses it depends on how big they are about wixen traditions or how they act, but if Snape of all people was allowed to learn then it shouldn’t be that hard.

Barty gives them his puppy eyes, which Regulus still doesn’t know if to feel disgusted about or put off by how good he is at acting, and basically begs to be lent a book around the topic.

Evan, who is a weak man, immediately folds.

“I’ll give you a book tomorrow, I’ve got some at the family library” 

Regulus looks at him with a deadpan expression, ‘at this point just fucking propose to him, will you?’.

He wonders if Barty will ever realise half the things Evan lends him are family only things, or spouses. Real subtle.

“This is why I love you Ev” Barty laughs loudly, completely unaware of Evan’s cheeks turning deep red, Regulus wants to leave and its his fucking room. 

Fortunately for Regulus Barty gets distracted by Harry and tries to play with him, Harry, like most babies do, grabs the closest thing he can find and pulls.

It’s Barty’s hair.

Barty was stupid enough to place his head close enough for Harry to grab, Regulus wonders how this is the same Barty that got the highest NEWTS score in history.

Contrary to popular belief babies grips are strong, really strong, and Barty just happens to find out in the worst way possible.

“Altair please, my not godson because your papa is a bi- dummy” Harry laughs, making Regulus kiss his cheek, completely ignoring Barty’s suffering “Please release this poor-”

Harry pulls, then, when Barty thinks it’s all over for him he lets him go. Regulus is a bit proud, he’s sure he did the same thing to Barty once, completely deserved of course.

His son is a day old though, so he has to do the correct thing which is showing violence is wrong.

“Harry mon amour” His son looks at him with his big eyes and Regulus has to force the words out of him “You can’t pull peoples hair, it hurts and uncle Barty loves you. You wouldn’t want to hurt uncle Barty, right?”

Harry seems to think about it, or think about it as much as babies can, Regulus is not quite sure if newborns understand anything at all.

His son babbles and Regulus takes it as an answer, Barty too seems pleased, he asks to hold Harry and after some hesitation Regulus lets him.

“You know what? You’re not at fault of your papa’s terrible choices baby Black, I'll be your non official godfather regardless” Barty states proudly, Harry mirrors Regulus’ look of disbelief and exasperation before babbling something, for Barty it is more than enough "Exactly love, you are so right”

Barty does not return to his house, and Regulus doesn’t believe he will at all this summer, not that he’s one to talk.

The three of them, Evan not included because the poor sod is taking care of the shop in Regulus stead, take turns in feeding Harry at night. Regulus tried to do it alone at first but when his friends saw his eyebags he was dragged to bed and forced to sleep.

At night he was sometimes awoken by Harry’s cries even when it wasn’t his turn, mostly because Harry hated, like really hated, being separated from him. He loved being held by Barty but if he wasn’t held by Regulus for too long the little shit would cry, and Myrddin did the kid have lungs.

Meera, who they had visited after some days of rest, joked about Harry being a papa’s boy, Regulus had flushed completely red but he didn’t hide his proud smile.

Asha walked and looked at Harry for an hour in curiosity before walking up to Regulus, looking a bit shy.

“Apsara Leo” Regulus tilted his head, looking at her with curiosity, she hadn’t said anything before “Why do his eyes change color?”

Regulus stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Harry immediately, he was met with the usual silvery green eyes, making him relax.

“What do you mean Asha? His eyes are green, they haven’t changed” Regulus asked softly, making Asha pout.

“But they were grey when I first saw them, like yours” Asha pointed out, Regulus booped her nose and played along, dismissing it as kid things.

He should have listened to Asha, because the price to pay was Barty laughing at his misery.

And Harry… Harry looked like a carbon copy of him now… except really small.

“What the fuck” Regulus stared at his son in disbelief, Harry simply let himself be held without complaining, wearing an innocent expression on his face.

“Oh Merlin this is the best day of my life” Barty, who had acquired a camera, was taking pictures like a madman “I wish Evan was here to see this, a mini Reg! He no longer looks like Potter!”

Pandora, the traitor, was smiling at him with a knowing look, Regulus hates his life. 

Harry, as if sensing his emotions, places his small hand on his cheek, making Regulus immediately smile and kiss his forehead.

Unfortunately Harry’s newfound magic brought several problems, one, visiting Meera and Arjun would become a bit complicated, two, metamorphmagus abilities were a Black family trait so he would have to hope people blamed endogamy and three, Harry imitated Regulus a lot.

His son, much like he was as a kid, found it amusing when adults, or teens in this case, panicked, so when he figured out changing how he looked made everyone stressed he kept doing it.

So this morning Regulus woke up to find Harry looking like him, completely, no traces of James at all.

He was surely paying for his past life's sins here and Harry was making sure to give him enough heart attacks to send him to the next one.

It took three more days for him to figure out that he could also imitate objects, so his son was now green, completely green. Regulus wondered if sending an anonymous letter to Andromeda would work because he was pretty sure this was not normal metamorphmagus behaviour.

Or maybe it was, for all he knew Andromeda's own kid fancied themselves a carpet and decided to transform into one for fun.

Pandora took a look at his green son and nodded, not even reacting.

They had three days of Harry imitating Regulus, and now Harry had decided he preferred being green, just wonderful.

“Étoile, can you please turn back to normal?” Regulus tried once more, just for the sake of it.

It didn't work, Harry simply drooled on his arms, Pandora passed Regulus his breakfast.

Regulus sighed and ate, this was his life now and at least his son wasn't Gryffindor red or something.

Small mercies Regulus, small mercies.

Sirius Black did not expect to receive a letter mid summer from The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, Hah.

But his dearest mother decided that after months of his brother being dead that maybe a funeral was due. Sirius didn't know if to be more surprised about the fact that she bothered to prepare the funeral or that he was invited.

What the fuck.

He was invited and reminded of his debt to the house of Black. Sirius genuinely was beginning to think his dearest mother had lost it, not that she was ever completely sane. Maybe Regulus’ death, her golden child, finally made her crack. Sirius hoped that if that was the case Regulus’ ghost was laughing at her.

It was a trap, Sirius knew the invitation was a trap.

He was still going to go anyway.

Fuck, he was still going to go anyway.

It wasn’t anyone's funeral, it was Regulus’, his little brother, the little shit that Sirius taught a shoelace tying hex to when they were kids, the same little shit that then proceeded to use said hex on Sirius for a whole week.

If he were to not show up Sirius would never forgive himself.

Holding the letter close to his chest Sirius weighed up whether to tell James. His friend had taken Regulus’ death almost as bad as him, sparing him the worry might be for the best.

He couldn’t tell Remus, he would forbid him from attending and Peter…

Peter was terrible at keeping secrets, everyone and their mothers would know before Sirius could place a foot outside the house.

So it was either tell no one and risk whatever his family had prepared for him… or telling James.

Fuck it, it was James, he would understand.

Sirius dragged his feet to James’ room and knocked, James opened with a confused expression, Sirius never knocked.

“Pads?” James asks, it was one in the morning and even if neither of them being asleep was out of the ordinary Sirius’ behavior was freaking him out.

“It’s Regulus” Sirius whispers and sees James immediately tense “The funeral is tomorrow and… I was invited” 

James stares at him in silence and for a moment Sirius believes this is it, that James would tell him it was stupid, that James would ask him to not go.

And Sirius knows, if James asks him he won't go, because it's James, because James is now Sirius’ only brother.

And deep down Sirius knows that if that happens, he won't ever forgive himself. He can only hope James knows that too.

“Are you- Can someone accompany you?” James chokes on his words, there is nervous edge to his words “I- it’s probably a trap Pads and maybe if I went with you- I mean, I thought it could help”

Sirius stares at James dumbfounded, he knows James cares, he knows, but every time he sees him so easily do things just because- it takes him by surprise. Blacks don’t do kindness, Blacks don’t show care.

Most of the time Sirius doesn’t want to be a Black.

“I know” He admits instead, because he knows his parents, he knows they wouldn’t invite him because they care or because Regulus is his brother and he deserves to be there.

No, he knows they want something from him, and Sirius knows they won't back down with a simple no.

“The invitation is only for me” He adds when he catches James’ worried expression, yet for some reason instead of taking a step back James takes one forward.

He never really knew when to back down.

“I have my cloak” There is a light in James’ eyes that Sirius hasn’t seen in a while “I’ll sneak in with you”

“If they catch you we’re both dead” Sirius admits dryly yet he knows there is more life in his eyes right now than there has been in months.

“Well” James gives him a lopsided grin “Then we better not get caught, right?”

They both know there is no backing down from this, yet Sirius finds himself surprisingly calm. A year ago just the thought of willingly walking back to his family made his skin crawl.

And now he was going to do just that, for Reggie, for his soft, idiot brother who got himself killed. 

The brother he couldn’t protect.

“We should send someone our wills just in case my dearest mother feels curse happy” He adds as a passing thought, James doesn’t even flinch.

“Sure, I’ll write to Lils, I’m sure she’ll handle our funerals with the dignity we deserve" James says, Sirius thinks that if it were up to Lily they might as well get ‘idiots’ written in bold letters on their foreheads so that everyone knows.

He doesn’t say that though, instead he smirks at James, his tone clearly teasing “So Lily eh?” 

James sighs, staring at him as if Sirius was acting stupid again before running to grab a quill and some parchment.

Somewhere in Cokeworth Lily Evans feels the sudden sense of dread and an impending headache.

Chapter Text

James had made a lot of questionable choices in his, objectively, short life. Like that time he snuck dungbombs into his room at eight, or that time he told Marlene her hair was too pink when he was nine, or when he decided to befriend the heir of The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black at eleven, or when he decided that becoming animagus was the best idea ever at fifteen…

You get the idea.

Honestly some of his choices made people question his will to live- or just his survival instincts in general- but none of that equated to the stupid decision of dating Regulus Arcturus Black.

Slytherin prince, star seeker, Sirius’ younger brother, future death eater.

Yeah James was pulled to him like gravity, it was terrible, he fell into Regulus’ orbit as if it were fate.

And honestly, the worst of all, even after all the pain, James didn’t regret it. Knowing how Regulus’ lips felt, how his eyes softened when he looked at James… he could never regret learning those things about him.

It had been the day before Yule break when Regulus had asked him to meet in the astronomy tower to talk, James had honestly not thought much of it, after all they met there to watch the stars more often than not.

He hadn’t expected to be met with sharp words and hate filled eyes.

He hadn’t expected to be left crying.

“You think I loved you? Don’t make me laugh Potter” Regulus had given him a cruel smile, yet his eyes, his beautiful grey eyes didn’t spark like usual, James had noticed, of course he had “Me? Loving someone like you? I can’t believe how naive you are”

That night it had rained, Regulus had told him he had taken the dark mark, that he was joining the Dark Lord, and James had begged.

Stay with me, please, don’t go.

It hadn’t mattered and Regulus’ look remained determined, James’ hopes had crumbled right in front of his eyes.

Please Reg, tell me it’s a lie, tell me you’re lying.

He hadn’t wanted to see, he couldn’t see. Regulus, his star, turned into some version of him James knew wasn’t true.

You’re a coward Regulus Black, but I think I’ll love you forever.

And then Regulus Black hadn’t returned to Hogwarts, the boy James knew had died somewhere in the dark halls of Grimmauld Place, and James couldn’t stop it, he hadn’t even seen it coming.

Suddenly James had to learn to live in a world Regulus wasn’t part of, where he couldn’t even watch from a distance and softly bask into the light the other boy brought.

And he had, slowly, Lily helped, his friends too, he had gotten better and when summer arrived James finally felt like he could breathe without breaking into tears.

Until Sirius came to his room holding a letter close to his chest as if fearing losing it.

James had attended several funerals, his grandparents dying from old age, even wixen found it hard to live past two hundred, the neighbour's husband who had always been nice to James when he was a kid, he had been a sickly man and that winter had been especially cold, James still remembered the soft smile he had when he was placed in the casket.

Yet none of the funerals were like this, unexpected, sudden, there had been no warning signs and yet, here he was, putting on traditional mourning robes and painting runes on his skin.

Sirius was waiting for him outside, they had both passed their apparition exam so arriving on time wasn’t a worry.

Before leaving he placed two small offerings to Po-se-da-o and Hēlios, he didn’t ask anything other than to be allowed to see his beloved one last time.

Even if it was just his cold dead body James wanted to see his face again before his head was cut and his body transformed into pure magic.

James walked down the stairs careful to not wake up his parents, it was a good thing the Black’s insisted on being buried during the night, when the stars could be seen.

James, out of habit, took his hand to his chest to grab his necklace, it wasn’t there, he had given it to Regulus and asking it back had felt wrong.

It was a sun shaped silver necklace, it used to be gold but James transfigurated it for Regulus. It represented Sūrya, the sun god who the Potter family had worshiped for as long as their manuscripts dated.

He had hoped it would protect Regulus even in the darkest nights when the light couldn’t reach him. Now it just felt like a naive promise like the ones kids who knew no better did.

“Prongs? Alright there?” Sirius called, he was resting his back against his father’s lemon tree wearing a controlled expression, James knew he was pretending for his sake.

“Yeah- just had a lot in my mind” Sirius sighed and didn’t press further, which James thanked because he wasn’t sure he could make up an excuse right now “Shall we go?”

Sirius looked at his own robes, he looked colder, the muggle clothes usually softened him even if his style didn’t scream soft at all. It was probably the fact that James had only seen Sirius wear robes on formal occasions, he didn’t like them at all.

But now he was wearing them, for Regulus, the corners of his mouth turned upwards, he was glad.

“Sure, there is no point in delaying it” Sirius ruffled his own hair, clearly nervous “Put the cape on, they might be waiting for me at the entrance”

Nodding James did just that, the silk-like feeling of the invisibility cape against his skin almost made him shiver. 

“Ready?” James said, grabbing Sirius’ arm, Sirius nodded, his face unreadable.

“Ready” He said, apparateing them silently.

James blinked as he took in the surroundings, they were in a wheat field, how ironic.

He let go of Sirius’ arm and they began slowly walking towards the group of people standing next to a small burial fire; a ceremonial dagger and a chalice filled with an unknown liquid laid on top of a plinth.

The first person James saw was Walburga Black, she stood tall next to her husband, Orion Black, who looked more annoyed than anything. James had to contain his anger to not punch her, this was the woman that had sealed her son’s fate, the reason why Regulus was no longer between them.

And then there was Orion, who James knew would never show care for his own flesh and blood.

Sirius walked with his back straight, only his eyes betrayed him by slightly trembling the moment they met with his mothers own.

“Sirius” Walburga’s voice cut sharp, her eyes assessing her son more like a defective artifact that had to be dealt with than a son “How good that you showed up finally, it was high time you remembered your blood”

James could see Sirius clenching his fists, fighting the urge to direct sharp words in her direction, only stopping by the fear of not being allowed to see Regulus.

“Don’t get your hopes up mother, the only reason why I’m here is Regulus, him and him only” 

At Sirius’ words Walburga’s face soured, Orion didn’t even react, James didn’t think Sirius expected him to.

Behind them James heard cackling, as he turned around to look the laughter only intensified. 

“Aw doesn’t this bring back memories?” A woman whose hair was filled with wild dark curls began walking towards them, she looked oddly amused by the scene “I almost feel at home”

Sirius huffed with distaste and yet there was a wariness to his posture nothing could hide.

“Bellatrix, I would say is lovely to see you again but I heard lying rots the soul” Sirius gave her a smile, one with way too many teeth, Bellatrix only laughed louder.

Both of them stared at each other, waiting for who would throw the first hex. 

“Both of you, stop it” A cold yet firm voice cut through the tense silence like a knife with calculated precision “This is not a place to fight, not when we are all here for the same reason”

Bellatrix rolled her eyes but turned around, dangling on her feet as she returned to the voices side, she pouted in an almost childish way but didn’t protest.

“Sirius” James could now see her face, it was a blonde woman he had seen hang out with Regulus during first year, he knew exactly who it was. Regulus’ favourite cousin.

“Narcissa” Sirius greeted politely, clearly tired, both of them seemed to reach a silent understanding “How is the ceremony going to proceed?”

Narcissa Black is someone James was always curious to meet, she had married Malfoy, a weird pompous idiot he had the displeasure of running into twice, which was fascinating because Regulus hated Malfoy with passion.

Not because he was a bad husband, he was a fool for his wife it seemed, but because eleven year old Regulus didn’t like how close Malfoy was to his favourite cousin and made it his goal to make his last Hogwarts year a descent into Tartarus.

For what Regulus had told him both him and Barty had a personal vendetta against Malfoy, to the point that if the opportunity presented itself to bother him they would, regardless of consequences. 

Why was Crouch involved? James didn’t know, what he did know that the hatred between Regulus and Lucius Malfoy would have transcended generations.

If Regulus had lived to have children. James felt bile piling into his mouth, the thought of what could have been still made him sick.

“We’ll proceed with a symbolic beheading, then we’ll offer his name to the fire, the rest will be done as tradition mandates” Narcissa said curtly, there was a strange shine into her eyes that only later would James register as unshed tears.

“What do you mean symbolic?” Sirius asks, his words echoing in the silence, none of the Blacks except Narcissa really seemed to want to answer.

“There isn’t a body to bury” Narcissa finally says, choking on her words, she doesn’t give any further explanation but James can see Sirius freeze.

He himself feels the cold settle on his bones, there isn’t a body to bury, Regulus’ head won't be cut, his body won't be burnt and transformed into magic, his ashes won't be buried nor dispersed through the field.

And James knows there is only one question in everyone's minds, what actually happened to Regulus Black this Yule? What was it that left them with not even a body to mourn?

Sirius looks at everyone with a controlled rage that almost scares James, like a cursed artifact waiting to explode.

James watches as the ceremony proceeds, Sirius keeping away from Walburga and Orion all he can.

Narcissa is the one in charge of the ceremony, holding the ceremonial dagger high she makes a swift cut, clearly symbolizing beheading.

James lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he lets his hands caress the wheat to soothe himself, he watches as Sirius's gaze remains fixed in what will be his brother's grave yet will never hold him.

Regulus' grave will forever remain empty, not in the way most wixen graves are, for the fire burns away the flesh and frees the soul, but with the fact that his body would never be transformed into pure magic, his body would never pass through the proper rituals.

James watches as Narcissa makes a small cut with the dagger, letting only three drops of her blood drop in the chalice.

It gets passed around and so does the dagger, slowly all attending members of the House of Black have placed their blood in the chalice.

Narcissa mutters the incantation and calls upon the name of Lady Magic, asking her to turn Regulus' body into magic. Even if the body is not where the blood will be offered.

Finally Narcissa circles around them and draws protection runes on them, James, almost with curious morbidity, watches as the mix of blood and unknown liquid drips into their faces.

He has always been fascinated by the fact that the Black's blood always looked a shade of red too dark.

Narcissa returns to her original position, drawing the runes on herself, her posture is calm but her eyes seem to almost be predicting a storm.

James watches as she drops the contents on the ground, on the plinth, the wheat is stained with a dark red.

Narcissa once again chants, so does Sirius and everyone else, James almost feels compelled to join. The plinth lights on fire, a soft, warm almost familiar fire.

It slowly devours where Regulus' body would have been, letting out soft sparkles of pure magic as it comes in contact with blood.

As the fire dies the atmosphere turns almost solemn, there are too many unanswered questions, too many things James wants to ask.

He knows Sirius wants to too.

Narcissa marks the grave, burying some of the ashes that the fire has created, yet none of them belong to the owner of said grave.

The first to leave are people James doesn't know personally and can only guess who they are, Arcturus he recognises simply by the fact the family magics wrap around him to the point anyone could feel it.

Then there is Cassiopeia, or who he hopes is Cassiopeia and not Lucretia. He’s heard his māma talk about Cassiopeia Black, who cares little about others beliefs of her and more about the quality of the wine.

Lucretia on the other hand, from what he heard the Prewett twins mention, was probably the most sane Black around as of right now, her spot only being questioned by Andromeda who James didn't believe was even invited.

Sirius didn't leave as more of his family members kept doing so, even Bellatrix, who James had feared would stay and stir trouble, left quite early.

Only Narcissa and someone James didn't recognise remained.

“Uncle Alphard” Sirius greeted the man as he approached, James recognised the name quickly, Sirius's favourite family member after Regulus.

“Sirius, I am quite sorry to only get to meet you again in such circumstances” The man, Alphard, awkwardly stood next to Sirius, who just silently stared at the grave.

“...” Sirius didn't say anything, James didn't think he could even if he wanted to.

“I’m sorry about your brother Sirius” Alphard continued awkwardly ”You know what they say, the good die young”

James always hated that phrase, he had heard it before, Marlene clearly believed it, James always countered it by pointing at his parents. 

James had forgotten that his parents were not really that young.

“He was just a kid” Sirius half whispered, he didn't cry, he probably didn't have any more tears left.

Alphard Black uncomfortably patted Sirius in the back, Narcissa stared at them in silence, she clearly didn't like Alphard.

“Sirius, your brother, he did a brave thing, you should be proud of him” Alphard's words tried to be soothing but Sirius's eyes darkened “He must have taken it from you, it was never his nature after all”

The tension could be cut with a knife, Sirius took two steps back from Alphard, who didn't seem to understand, Narcissa clenched her fists.

“His nature? Uncle Alphard, Reggie was a sweet child, and if it wasn't for this cursed family it would have staid that way” Sirius almost spat his words out “If you want to badmouth my younger brother at least have the fucking decency to not do it in his funeral, where I can not hex you”

Alphard looked like he wanted to add something but Narcissa stared at him with an emotionless expression, James felt chills running down his spine.

“Uncle Alphard, some of us wish to mourn our loved ones, if you're kind enough to grant us at least that?” Her tone was cold and final, Sirius almost seemed to relax at them.

Alphard grumbled something under his breath that James didn't catch but left, James had expected Narcissa to leave too but she suddenly turned around.

“It's a trap” She said as she stared at Sirius in the eyes “But you already knew that, isn't that right?”

Sirius laughed, actually laughed, it felt hollow in James’ ears.

“He's my brother” Sirius says simply and Narcissa lets out a sigh.

Something in her eyes speaks of both understanding and rebellion.

“I’m doing this for Reggie, not for you” She begins "If I were you I'd watch out as I’m leaving, after all leaving your back unprotected can be quite… dangerous”

Sirius's eyes shine with understanding, Narcissa takes her leave politely, but not before leaving sunflowers on Regulus' grave.

James finally gets to walk closer, he wants to say something but his throat feels dry.

Sirius turns around to take his leave, before he can even begin to walk a numbing hex is thrown their way.

“Dear Narcissa took her sweet time before leaving, didn’t she?” Bellatrix waves at Sirius, not particularly caring about having failed her sneak attack “Well, little Reggie was always her favourite”

James curses, Bellatrix is way too confident to have come unprepared.

“Not even respecting the traditions of dueling anymore dear Trixy?” Sirius mocks “And here I thought me and Andromeda were the only ones to break tradition”

Bellatrix’s eyes sharpen and James wonders if Sirius has a death wish, he’s walking towards Sirius to apparate them away when he feels the anti apparition wards.

So, James did say he had made some stupid choices during his life. Great, wonderful even. Sirius must have felt the wards too because his smile drops by a little bit, James wonders how effective attacking Bellatrix as a stag would be.

“Shut up blood traitor” Bellatrix spits out, that's all she says before beginning to throw hex after hex at Sirius, slowly building up a laugh.

James dodges all the spells he can but soon he finds himself lost at what to do, they don’t even know what Bellatrix even wants.

Sirius and him seem to think alike because with calculated precision he throws a quick succession of bombardas before cackling madly, James doesn’t think Sirius would like how similar he looks to his cousin right now.

“So Bella, going to kill me now?” He asks with a mocking tone, clearly pleased by the strands of burning hair Bellatrix has to put out with a quick humidae “Cleanse the family?”

Bellatrix bites her tongue, her eyes holding a controlled madness in them, not like the wild uncontrolled one from before.

“No” She says simply, her expression souring “Aunt wants you alive you see, they still need an heir from the main branch”

It's like a cold water bucket being dumped on them, the funeral invitation was not of care or respect, but because they need an heir, because Regulus Black was the heir Sirius could escape.

Now there was no Regulus, and they needed their heir back.

“Fuck no” Sirius says, his words as cold as ice “I'll never become dear mothers perfect little heir”

Bellatrix smiles, amused, the wildness returning to her face.

“It doesn't matter if you want to or not” As she smiles several masked strangers appear, they're Death Eaters, two of them, James can guess who's behind the mask “Now, Sirius, this would have been easier if you just said yes”

James soon realises that Sirius has only seen one of the Death Eaters appear, the other one is behind him and as Sirius dodges an imperio the one behind him casts again.

If I were you I'd watch out as I’m leaving, after all leaving your back unprotected can be quite… dangerous.

James doesn't think twice and drags Sirius out of the spell's way, revealing himself in the process.

Bellatrix's eyes sparkle, both masked Death Eaters stare at them in silence and James would like to say confusion.

“Oh? So there are two… how fun” Bellatrix doesn't bother to wait, she begins throwing spells left and right and while James and Sirius are good Bellatrix is too.

There must have been someone else, maybe Walburga, maybe another Death Eater, but suddenly all James knows is a spell flying towards Sirius, and he's too slow.

And then Sirius trips.

Behind them he hears an engine sound, and then several spells begin to be thrown.

James looks to see what Sirius has tripped in and an innocent eyed cat stares back at him.

Bellatrix clicks her tongue, clearly not happy about the prospect of having to fight them yet unable to actually severely harm Sirius.

A motorbike speeds across the field towards them throwing jinxes and hexes left and right.

It's Lily Evans, looking beautiful yet deadly- and clearly angry.

Really angry.

What the actual fuck, is he high?

“Ah- a mudblood too, isn't this beautiful?” Bellatrix begins to cast but one of the Death Eaters grabs her by the shoulder.

Sirius watches in awe as Lily Evans parks in front of them, casts a protective barrier and the cat, the same one that Sirius has tripped in, jumps to her.

He knows it isn’t Robert, Lily’s cat, because, for one, Robert is chubby and ginger, this is a black cat looking at them with very human disappointment.

Did Lily get another cat? One that judges you? This one sure did at least.

“Need a ride?” Lily asks, arching an eyebrow, her tone clearly mocking.

“Evans you are a saviour!” Sirius yells as he jumps to the motorbike, James follows immediately after.

Lily doesn't waste a second and starts the motorbike, driving in zig zags. James makes sure to cast protective spells and not fall off as best as he can.

“Not that I'm not happy to see you Lils, but since when do you drive a bike?” James asks, trying not to sound too out of breath, he's sure she never mentioned even wanting a motorbike.

“I don't, but I know an older kid in the neighborhood, asked to borrow it” She says and the cat purrs “Done it a couple of times since I was fourteen, he’s cool with it”

“Isn’t that kinda illegal?” Sirius yells as the air hits his face, he resembles a dog so much James laughs, he knows Sirius has been wanting to ride a motorbike since forever, the muggle age to ride one was sixteen, but only mopeds, now Sirius was seventeen though and he could legally get one.

James and his parents had been thinking about gifting him one for his birthday in November.

Lily shrugged, clearly unbothered “I mean, is not like you’re a cop” She then proceeds to take a sharp turn towards what James hopes is a road, Bellatrix and the two Death Eaters are no longer in sight “Now, can one of you idiots tell me why did you decide to walk to the danger without a clear escape plan?!”

James gulps, Sirius looks away, the cat meows.

“Uh Lils, not that I’m not grateful but… how did you find us?”

Lily Evans had been tense all day to the point that not even Petunia's rude remarks got to her. Honestly it might not even be because of her weird sense of dread, her comments were becoming repetitive and honestly, quite unimaginative.

And then she got a letter from James, it would have been a common occurrence, it would have been if the letter didn’t contain her friends’ fucking wills.

Lily might have screamed in frustration on her pillow before punching it imagining it was James, or Sirius, she wasn’t picky.

If she at least had the location and not just the vague we’re about to do something really stupid you would disapprove of, ugh, why was she friends with idiots!?

She had given up on all hope of sleeping until she received another letter, one hopefully stating their very alive state, and then a crow stared at her through the window, its eyes unblinking.

Like if they were an owl a letter was tied on their leg, Lily rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

As she opens her window, clearly a crow acting like a messenger owl wasn’t the most bizarre thing she had seen in the magical world, a black cat jumps in with almost aristocratic grace.

“Great, just what I needed to feed on my paranoia” She grumbles but takes the letter from the crow.

Dearest, Lily

I had a dream this afternoon, you were in it. 

In it a certain dog and stag seemed to need some rescuing, rather urgent one at that.

They are at a place most can't easily find but I thought I might as well send some help. This is Lionheart, he’s a great guide, give him the same trust you'd give me.

On another note summer has been quite exciting, my nephew was born not too long ago, he's a healthy baby that acts too much like his papa. If you have the chance you could come meet him, I'm sure you'll love him.

Oh, and watch out for the warriors left shoulder. 

When done please give the letter back, our family crows know how to dispose of letters containing sensitive information, next time I'll send Iphigenia again, she loves your treats.

May the sun watch over you,

Pandora Rosier

Lily stared at the cat, then at the crow, it was a letter from Pandora, who she had managed to stay in contact with during the summer.

Usually the letters were delivered through Iphigenia, Pandora's owl; she hadn't even known her family had crows.

Lionheart watched her with a calculated look, Lily felt judged, Robert, her cat, tilted his head but didn't approach the new arrivals.

Pandora came from a line of seers, or so she had found out after asking Marlene, Dorcas had admitted Pandora carried the family gift the strongest.

So no, Lily was not surprised Pandora knew about James and Sirius needing help, the nicknames were… enlightening but not surprising.

A weird magical cat to act as a guide? Weird sure, but Lily liked weird. She really fucking did.

“Uh… so how are you supposed to guide me? Do I just follow you?”

The cat huffed, clearly questioning her intelligence, then he jumped over to her desk, looking for something.

Lily gave the crow the letter before walking over to her desk, trying to not question her sanity. Lionheart grabs a piece of paper with curiosity and rummages through her things until finding a quill.

Slowly the cat writes three letters M A P, Lily nods, clearly she should have thought of this before, map, of course, of course the cat knows how to write.

She finds the first map she can, Lionheart, pleased, meows. The cat walks over the map and finally places his paw on a specific spot, there is nothing around but Lily guesses that's the whole thing with Wixen.

“There?” She asks, just to make sure, the cat meows again in approval “Okay, great, an hour an a half from here more or less”

She can't walk, she needs a way to get there, and fast.

“I need a vehicle” There is a plan, or the beginning of one already forming in her head, but first of all, she has to ask Scott for a favour.

Lily, contrary to popular belief has not always been a goody two shoes. For the record, she isn't, people just assumed and she didn't see the need to correct them.

So when she runs to the door, passing her parents, and gives them a short excuse they just laugh it off, a bit used to her carefree behaviour.

Petunia yells to her something not too nice but Lily doesn't care much right now. Lionheart jumps to her shoulder, letting himself be carried and Lily can't hold back the urge to pet him.

Lionheart tries to dodge at first but seems to accept his fate by the time they reach Scott's house, his mum, Mrs Linda opens the door for her with a kind smile.

“Oh Lily dear, hello, what brings you here so late?” She asks, a hint of worry in her tone.

“Mrs Linda I need to talk to Scott for a minute, can I come in?” Lily gives her an innocent smile, which Linda absolutely knows is bullcrap but always lets her get away with.

“Youngsters these days… sure, come in dear” 

Lily sprints to Scott's room, she opens the door with so much force Scott jumps from his bed.

“Lily what-?” He begins but she doesn't let him finish.

“I need your bike, right now” She blurts out, she can only hope Scott doesn't ask too many questions.

“At this hour?” He asks, clearly curious, Scott is three years older than her, he has watched her grow, Lily knows she can't lie to him.

“Two of my friends did something really stupid” She says, giving him a bit of truth “I’ll pick them up, drop them home and return as soon as I can”

Scott looks unsure, his eyes holding worry for her.

“Please, you know I wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency” Lily begs him, Scott doubts but finally gives in.

“Alright, but you pay for petrol” Scott's grumbles “And I’m gonna need your friends names and their parents numbers”

Lily hugs him, Scott rolls his eyes but Lily knows it's an act.

As she’s getting on the motorbike Scott ruffles her hair.

“Hey Lily, I never asked ‘cause it's none of my business but what happened with the Snape boy?”

Lily gulps, Severus is not a topic she particularly enjoys thinking about these days, when war is already at their doorstep.

“He- I don't think I can forgive him for what he did Scott” She admits, it's probably the first time she says it out loud “But I want to so bad”

Scott doesn't ask more, and Lily is grateful. Lionheart jumps with her to the motorbike and for a moment Lily wonders if it's safe for a cat.

Lionheart stares at her with a bored expression and all she can do is hope that magic cats can ride motorbikes.

Reg was having a good rest, Harry was sleeping, Barty was shagging Evan somewhere and Pandora was probably talking with the fae.

Overall one of the first calm mornings since Harry discovered he could change his appearance.

He hadn't expected Pandora to run to him in a frantic trance and grab him by the shoulders.

“The fields, the wheat fields, the stag and the dog, the sun and the brightest star, they might just be swallowed today” Pandora looked at him in the eyes, the colours on hers twirling, Regulus felt dizzy.

But he understood, James and Sirius, wheat fields and danger.

He knew exactly what Pandora meant, his family had a preferred funeral place, it just happened to be in a wheat field.

Great, he was getting dragged to save his brother's sorry arse again, wasn't he?

Worst of all, he wanted to.

Chapter Text

Regulus was beginning to think his life was a cosmic joke, apparateing to Lily Evan’s house of all people to guide her to the Black’s preferred funeral places, to stop his stupid brother and even stupider ex-boyfriend from whatever plans his marvellous family had this time.

It was safe to say Regulus was tired, Harry had finally stopped turning into random colours, now he only instinctively changed to look like whoever was holding him, and even better, Harry was sleeping, quietly.

A fucking miracle, really, his son seemed to have the same sleeping habits as Regulus had while being a Death Eater. 

Now in his animagus form Regulus could only roll his eyes as he covered himself from the air that hit his small form. Lily Evans drove like living was optional, it unfortunately reminded Regulus of Barty, which was not a compliment.

“Uh Lils, not that I’m not grateful but… how did you find us?” James asked and Regulus, still in his cat form, wanted to bite him so he would shut up.

Look, Evans probably didn’t even understand that to get in any place owned by the Blacks you needed to be a Black. Or be accompanied by one, which was why Pandora had practically kicked him out and sent him as help.

“I got some help from a friend” Lily arched an eyebrow, her face revealing nothing “And I should be the one asking questions too. What the fuck is wrong with you two? Placing yourselves in danger! Have you two been hit in the head so much you forgot we are at war?!”

James gulps, Sirius has been doing his best to avoid looking in Evans’ general direction for a while. Regulus is a bit grateful Evans is redirecting their attention towards a topic that places his identity in less danger.

“I- Lily” James’ voice is quiet, he trembles a bit with his words “The funeral, it was Regulus’”

He doesn’t know how that changes anything but Regulus watches as Lily’s face turns understanding. Regulus wonders if they’re dating yet, last time they had, or at least the rumour mill thought so.

“It was still stupid, but… I guess we are Gryffindors” Lily concedes, her tone soft.

“Reckless and stupid” James nods, his smile cocky, Regulus feels as if he’s echoing his own words.

The first time he described Gryffindors like that James had puffed in distaste, now he was using those same words with a smile on his face.

“Indubitably!” Sirius echoed, his smile too big to be sincere, Regulus could tell “But that doesn’t explain how you got in though”

Regulus now wanted to chew off his brother’s fingers, why did Sirius always have to make things more complicated? Couldn’t he just play stupid?

“I rode a motorbike Black, How else?” Lily was rolling her eyes, which Sirius couldn’t see but Regulus absolutely could, clearly liking Lily Evans more than his brother right now he meowed in agreement.

Sirius lets out a frustrated sound, sounding uncannily similar to a dog, Regulus snorts. He doesn't know how but Sirius hears him, squinting his eyes in his direction.

“Evans, I think your cat hates me” He says, completely serious, James tilts his head to see better and Regulus can only freeze.

Not great, he wants to go home now, he hasn’t slept enough to deal with James of all people. James, who he doesn’t even know how to feel about, for him it has been two years since he last saw him somewhere besides the battlefield.

For James it has only been months, Regulus knows James is loyal to the core, even when he began dating Lily at the end of the year it was obvious a part of him felt guilty.

Regulus hadn’t blamed him then, James moving on and forgetting him had been the plan after all. Regulus Arcturus Black had been born on the longest day of the year, summer solstice, yet he was still born at night, away from the sun.

Maybe some people were just not fated to enjoy the warmth it brought.

“Most cats hate you” Lily’s teasing remarks pull Regulus out of his thoughts “They are quite smart after all”

Sirius pouts but doesn’t deny it, James turns to the east and looks up to the sky, a mournful look adorns his face.

“Oh” James tone is bittersweet “Regulus has begun to show in the sky”

It is late August already, Regulus realises, it felt as if time was slipping through his fingers, soon his friends will have to return to Hogwarts, Regulus doesn’t feel ready to say goodbye yet.

“Ah! The little shit is shining quite brightly” Sirius laughs, tears appearing in the corner of his eyes that couldn’t be blamed on the wind “Ah… Really, what a shit timing”

Regulus meows, almost in comfort as they begin to see civilization, Lily arches an eyebrow at him questioning but slows down.

Not wasting time he jumps down, he looks at Lily with a grateful expression he hopes she understands before turning to James and Sirius.

James is watching him with curiosity while Sirius… he almost looks at him as if he recognised him.

Regulus looks at them a bit longer, taking in their features, immortalizing them in his memory before turning around and running off to a dark alley.

They don’t follow him, he doesn’t expect them to. He morphs back into himself, his heartbeat racing with adrenaline and something he can’t name. 

Not for the first time he thanks the trace is automatically erased from wixen when they hit seventeen. With nothing else to do he apparates back home, after all, his son is waiting for him.

Not long after James Potter walks into the dark alley, looking for the cat without knowing why. He doesn’t find him and he can’t help but feel like he lost something important.

Regulus had managed to get Harry to not use his abilities for a whole hour when he decided that some glamours and some notice-me-nots should be enough to be able to visit Meera and Arjun.

And if it wasn’t enough, then Regulus would bullshit his way out, he wasn’t a Slytherin for nothing.

“Leo, laal, sit, you look tired” Meera, as sweet as usual, made him rest on the sofa as soon as he saw him, her tone left no room for arguments.

“Hullo” Regulus greeted, a bit awkward “Sorry, we had quite the busy weeks”

Arjun and Meera wore matching understanding expressions, clearly Asha had also given them their fair share of trouble when she was a baby.

“Rough time sleeping?” Arjun joked, Regulus grunted.

Harry in his arms babbled, a funny smile in his lips as he grabbed Regulus’ robes with so much strength they wrinkled. 

Meera cooed at Harry, who immediately changed his eyes to match hers, Meera didn’t react Regulus could only hope she hadn’t noticed. The notice-me-nots and glamours did their work as long as one didn’t try to pass them, unfortunately Meera had probably been raised around magic even if she couldn’t use it.

He knew he would have to give some explanations at some point but he hoped to win some time for a while.

Asha ran to hug him, having just woken up, Regulus smiled softly.

Regulus happily ate Arjun's food with a smile on his face, he had missed this, Harry happily drank milk Regulus had heated up for him and Asha made faces trying to make him laugh.

It was good, yet Regulus knew, he was running out of time.

The contact information scribbled on a piece of parchment weighs heavy on his pocket, he doesn’t like the fact that he knows it might be the only option.

When he returns home Pandora gives him a sweet smile as she takes Harry from his tired arms, the little menace, who had taken more hair from Arjun’s head than age ever would, slept peacefully, drooling on them.

“You have decided” Pandora wasn’t asking, Regulus looked away.

“We don’t have many options” Regulus admitted begrudgingly “They might be useful”

Pandora gives him a knowing look, Harry chews on her clothes as he sleeps, Regulus takes it as his son defending him.

“There are always other options” The colour in Pandora’s eyes twirls “The questions is if you’re ready to face them”

He isn’t, not yet, and Regulus apparates to his shop, maybe it’s time he tries being brave again.

He writes a letter to both twins, is short, nothing special, a date and a place. He signs not with a dog paw but a cats, for some reason he finds it hilarious.

The crow he has chosen to use looks at him with curiosity, Regulus doesn’t know if he’s even making the right choice.

It takes less than an hour to hear the apparition sounds, with not much else to do, Regulus opens the door with a flick of his wrist.

“Mr Rosier?” Gideon Prewett greets in confusion, Fabians follows close behind.

“Heirs Prewett” He greets back with fake confidence “I heard you wanted to join?”

The face both of them make is enough to make Regulus laugh, well, he guesses it is unexpected for a main branch Rosier to be so involved in the war.

He has also presented himself as a normal shop owner most of the time, or he tried.

“You- did Grim send you?” Fabian asks, his frown deepening.

Regulus walks out of the counter, accioing three chairs and transfigurating a table. He could, of course, invite them to the upper rooms, which are perfectly fine for conversations, he doesn’t trust them enough for that yet though.

“In any case it would be Grim sending you two to me, not the other way around” Regulus scoffs, Gideon seems to take it as an enough answer, taking a seat in front of him, Fabian follows after, far less convinced “But first, we should start with what is that you two expect”

Fabian and Gideon share a look Regulus knows too well, when he and Sirius were kids, and their small existences didn’t know anything other than the dark halls of Grimmauld Place, they used to do the same.

“We want to stop the war before it takes more lives” Gideon begins, his tone turning serious, Fabian’s eyes darken.

“We don’t support the Dark Lord but joining Dumbledore… we would only do it as a last resort” Fabian admits reluctantly, it reminds Regulus why he never asked the headmaster for help, Dumbledore is a powerful man, but being powerful doesn't equate to good.

Regulus has seen the headmaster play favourites, twist his words, turn children into soldiers loyal to a cause they don’t fully understand.

He has seen Dumbledore refuse ancient traditions, attempt to erase them with the excuse of equality with muggleborns, deepening the divide between the two.

Then like a fool he preached about the prohibitions on Dark Magic, as if magic could be classified under something as simple as Dark and Light. 

After all wixen go putting flowery names to their spell, giving them an alliance ‘oh that's Dark Magic’ ‘oh that's Light Magic’, they seem to forget all magic comes from the same place.

“I understand” Regulus says, he tries his best to not sound cold “But that's not what I’m asking. What I’m trying to say is, what do you expect to do in the war?”

Fabian and Gideon don’t look caught off guard, Regulus hides a pleased smile. Those two, they might act like fools but they didn’t come empty handed.

“Well, we are quite good creating spells” Fabian and Gideon are wearing matching grins “Honestly we wanted to support Grim and help him whenever we could by sharing inside information”

“We work as Aurors, we have quite the access to certain classified files” Guiden shrugs, as if he wasn’t confessing to offering to commit a crime or two “If that's what it takes to stop this madness we are more than ready to do so”

Regulus feels a pang of guilt about the fact that all he needed them to do was cover for him at the shop. Seeing their abilities it feels like an insult.

He rubs his temples in frustration, how much can he safely reveal? How much does he have to hide?

“I understand” He finally says, letting out a tired sigh “We are dealing with The Dark Lord so I will need to ask for a vow of silence, what I am to share should not leave this room, regardless if you decide to work for me or not after hearing it”

The Prewetts must have already considered this for Fabian pulls out a ceremonial blade without blinking.

Regulus watches as they both make a sharp cut on their palms, vowing on Lady Magic, when their wounds heal and the hair smells like copper Regulus nods.

“Then, follow me” He gets up, returning the table to its original form and waiting until they get up to place the chair back.

The three of them walk inside one of the rooms, there is a round table, it’s decorated with stars and constellations carved in wood, it also has runes carved, filled with gold.

Evan carved the runes in his free time, Barty bought the table and Pandora designed the stars. It wasn’t a birthday gift, not exactly as it was given to him when Harry was born, but maybe that was how they made up for only giving him baby things on his birthday.

Not that he complained, the cat themed clothes made Harry look so cute Regulus didn’t want to stop holding him for hours.

Regulus couldn’t help but pass his hands through the Aquila constellation, landing in Altair with a fond smile, maybe he should buy Harry another toy?

He was quite fond of the black cat plush toy Barty had bought one day as a joke, complaining that as an unofficial godfather he had the right to pamper his favourite non official godson.

As the three of them sat at the table Regulus bit his inner cheek, this was it, he really was telling the Prewett twins.

“The Dark Lord is as of right now, inmortal” Regulus could see Fabian’s and Gideon's pupils tremble, he was sure they were holding their breath “I’m working to fix that”

“With potions…?” Fabian asks, sounding unsure, Regulus shakes his head.

“No, the potions shop is just to collect information, what I’m doing is destroying horcruxes” Regulus doesn’t believe they have heard of horcruxes before, even if the Prewetts have never shied away from the so-called dark arts.

Gideon blinks twice before looking him in the eyes.

“You keep saying I, not we” Gideon sends him a questioning look and Regulus nods.

“Contrary to what you two think, I don’t work for Grim” He begins, Fabian frowns but Gideon looks calm, he has probably reached the right conclusion “I’m Grim”

Fabian looks at him, the surprise written all over his face while Gideon simply nods.

“I suspected it, after all Ivy acted too comfortable with you to be the first time you met” Gideon reasons calmly, Fabian is staring at his brother gaping.

“Yes, Ivy recognised me, how I can not guess” Regulus squeezed the bridge of his nose, he really didn’t want to think about how many people could possibly recognise him “Regardless, I’m guessing you two need an explanation on what a horcrux is”

They both nodded at the same time, mirroring each other, Regulus took it as permission to begin explaining.

As he continued talking he could see the horror appearing on both their faces, when he mentioned he wanted to make six horcruxes, seven soul pieces Fabian looked close to puking.

“This is… I have no words” Gideon pitched the bridge of his nose “Going against the laws of Magic so easily… It’s worse than we feared”

Fabian stops his hands from trembling, taking deep breaths to relax.

“What do you need us to do?” Fabian looks at Regulus with a determined expression that makes him flinch, there is a fire on Fabian’s eyes that isn’t seen very often.

“The reason why I’m not capable of doing much myself right now is, as you guessed, that I gave birth not long ago” Regulus tries his best to act unbothered but he can feel his voice being a higher pitch than usual.

Both Prewetts look at him before Fabian gasps in surprise.

“You were going to the raids while pregnant!” Fabian sounds horrified, much like his friends were, Regulus rubs the back of his head in embarrassment.

“In my defense, the original plan was to just observe” He tries, getting equally disbelieving looks from both of them “One of the Death Eaters attacked a child… I might have reacted in the heat of the moment”

Fabian grimaces instinctively at the mention of children, probably thinking of Ivy, Gideon just gives him an understanding smile.

“Trust me my family has already made their opinion clear on this” Regulus says, letting out a tired sigh “Now, I might need someone to cover for me at the shop and gather the usual information Death Eaters leave around, make a comment or two about not trusting Dumbledore and they will not shut up”

The Prewett twins begin to show matching grins, clearly this is the type of job they enjoy.

“How do we know who is a Death Eater?” Gideon asks, his eyes hold a glint of madness all ancient families have in a way or another “Some are obvious, like Bellatrix Black, sorry Lestrange, but others make it harder to distinguish if they are just sympathisers"

With a smirk Regulus pulls out a blank parchment, tapping on it with his wand, slowly several names begging to be shown with dates and information details.

He had written this before leaving Grimmauld Place, next to all the information he had about horcruxes, there were dates too, raid dates, reasons…

All he knew about the Death Eaters and The Dark Lord, classified meticulously.

He offers the parchment to Gideon and Fabian and waits as their faces turn ghostly pale.

“How do you know all this?” Fabian questions and Regulus can only lie.

“I have someone inside, their identity is private but they can be trusted” The person in question was his past self, but Regulus couldn’t say that “Some of the information might be outdated, as I have made a dent on his plans his behavior might change. So, are you two in?”

Gideon and Fabian share a single moment of silence where they look at each other, they’re both grinning.

“Well, the ministry does owe us a small vacation” 

Regulus grins, his smile for a moment resembles his brothers almost uncannily.

Regulus kisses Harry’s cheek as he watches Gideon and Fabian deal with the clients, fortunately Harry has decided to simply look like Regulus in his disguised form as long as he’s being held by Regulus.

Evan seems quite thankful of getting a break, making Regulus feel slightly guilty even after being reassured it was no problem at all.

Harry babbles something no one really understands and Evan pokes his cheek, Harry immediately tries grabbing Evan’s finger to no avail.

“He’s cute” Evan says, poking Harry in the forehead this time, Harry immediately pouts “He has your personality”

Regulus rests his weight against Evan, relaxing in the presence of his friend, he’s glad the clients can’t see them from their position.

“It would suck if after putting on all the work not only did he look like James, he also behaved like him” Regulus admits, Evan arches an eyebrow at him.

“I still can’t believe you’ve got yourself knocked up” He admits, not looking away from Harry “At first I was pissed that you were going to throw your future away and have a child but… Seeing this, seeing how happy you are… I think I’m grateful”

Regulus doesn’t know what to say, he hadn’t been thinking about his future, after all he had chosen to give it up a long time ago. He hadn’t realised how it might look to his friends, who still believed they could escape the war.

“Thank you Ev” Regulus whispers, holding Harry close to his chest “For everything”

Evan huffs, pretending to not care, but he kisses Regulus’ forehead anyway.

“You have nothing to thank, adelphé"

Regulus was about to answer when the doorbell rang, another client walking in, he hadn’t expected it to be Fleamont Potter.

He came in alone, which wasn’t unusual but he also hadn’t visited much during summer, only once or twice.

Regulus looked around the shop and seeing the last client before Fleamont leaving he decided to get up to greet the man.

Fleamont's face lit up the moment he saw Regulus, walking over to greet him when he caught sight of Harry in Regulus' arms.

“Oh who is this cutie?” Fleamont immediately gave a big grin to Harry, making Regulus soften “Hullo Leo, I’m happy to see everything went alright”

Regulus smiled, Evan behind him shrugged and went to talk with the Prewett twins, giving them directions and explaining the certain  potions in more detail.

“Good day Fleamont, I see you’ve been doing good too” Regulus mentions, the man looked younger somehow, revitalized if anything.

“Ah yes, I decided to follow your advice and went to visit St. Mungo, turns out if we had gone any later it could have turned deadly” The man kept talking as if it wasn’t anything important, making Regulus freeze “Honestly, thank you, you might have saved our lives”

Regulus stared at the man in shock, his embrace tightening around Harry, who immediately bit him in retaliation, he was lucky babies this young didn’t have teeth.

“I didn’t do anything, I’m just glad it seem to have been solved easily” 

Fleamont laughs, freely, almost easily.

“Dragon Pox is quite damaging yes but nothing an early intervention can’t fix, we were lucky” Fleamont easily brushes Regulus’ concerns off, clearly much more interested in Harry “Now, who is this little guy?”

Regulus smiles easily, is a bit embarrassing how proud he is of Harry so easily.

It makes him wonder how Walburga even managed to hurt Sirius and him when they were kids, how she even thought of it.

“This is Harry Rosier, Harry, say hi” Regulus’ voice is soft and Harry babbles something incomprehensible at Fleamont, who looks like he has been gifted the world.

“Oh hi Harry laal, aren’t you lovely?” Fleamont looks smitten, and then Harry turns into a mini James, no, not James, a mini Fleamont.

Both Regulus and Fleamont stare at each other in uncomfortable silence as Regulus thinks of all the ways to explain this.

“So… he does that sometimes” Regulus manages to get out awkwardly, Fleamont blinks twice and coos again at Harry.

“A metamorphmagus! How rare, I thought it was a Black family magic” He still sounds a bit out of it, clearly trying his best to not sound as confused as he feels “Tell me Leo, Harry’s father wouldn’t happen to be my son, Sirius, right?”

Regulus chokes on his own spit, ew ew ew, no. His disgusted face must be obvious because Fleamont looks away awkwardly.

“Dadga no, absolutely no, the Rosiers are simply related to the Blacks even if it's a bit far away, must have met the conditions to appear again” Regulus makes sure his voice is steady as he speaks, all he said is technically the truth after all.

“Ah, thank Myrddin, I hoped Sirius wouldn't do something as stupid as knocking someone up and leaving” Fleamont looked relieved and Regulus could agree, he didn’t want to hear about his brother knocking someone up “I would need to have some words with him, after all I wouldn't let one of my sons behave like that”

Regulus looks away awkwardly, the fact that Fleamont is so protective of him and Harry fills him with warmth.

The problem is that the one that knocked him up is in fact Fleamont's son, the man just got the wrong one.

Harry, clearly bored of the exchange, changes back to look like Leo Rosier, Regulus' disguise and yawns, Fleamont looks at him with so much fondness it could melt even Snape's cold dead heart.

Actually, Regulus is not sure if Snape is capable of having any emotions that aren't negative, the arse was hard to deal with even when technically they were in the same team.

Only thing he and Sirius could agree on, not that Regulus would ever admit it.

“Can I hold him?” Fleamont asks, looking tear eyed, Regulus was beginning to think baby fever was contagious.

“Yes, but be careful with your hair, he will try to eat it” 

Regulus carefully passes Harry, who looks unbothered by it all, Fleamont’s eyes are shining, Regulus can almost feel the magic humming just like Pandora can.

Fleamont soon finds out Regulus hadn’t been joking when he warned him about the hair, Harry does in fact manage to get some in his mouth, is tragic.

But Fleamont looks happy, really happy, and Regulus for a moment can almost pretend they’re a normal family, that Fleamont is just visiting his son in law at work because he misses his grandson.

That when he returns home James will laugh and kiss him, they will talk about work and joke about this.

The days after turn slow, Regulus enjoys his time watching his son grow, Evan, Barty and Pandora start their last Hogwarts year and Fabian and Gideon begin to try teach Harry their ways of mischief.

Regulus misses his friends, not just for the support they gave him when taking care of Harry, but he misses them like one would an amputated leg.

Harry is two months old and Imbolc approaches and Regulus knows he has to move, he kisses Harry’s hair and breathes in. His son looks confused, and Regulus can’t help but think Harry knows he’s about to do something really stupid.

Cassius watches him silently, he doesn’t look worried nor has he said anything ominous yet, it doesn’t calm him down.

“I’ll be back by the morning” Regulus says, and it feels more like a prayer, Cassius simply stares.

“You will” He finally concedes and Regulus’ hands tremble slightly, his hands hold into his sun shaped necklace, the one he doesn’t usually wear because of fear; or was it guilty?

He leaves Harry in his cradle and without looking back he apparates as close as he can into Malfoy Manor. 

He knows the place, he’s been here before, he was added to the wards when Narcissa got married. He doesn’t believe they took out the name of a dead person.

Narcissa would, if it had been someone else but his favourite cousin, even if she liked to deny it, had always been the softer of her sisters.

He stepped into the house, the wards let him through.

It was almost disappointingly easy to walk around in disguise around Malfoy Manor. Today he had red hair, like a Weasley, he thought it was quite funny to torment Lucius by looking like the man's ex.

Narcissa would find it funny, she did always have a good sense of humour. Unlike a certain peacock obsessed prick.

Was Regulus still mad about fighting a peacock? No, of course not, the blasted thing just acted too much like his owner. It was annoying, Regulus hadn’t been losing when Narcissa came to help him.

Lucius’ house was as annoyingly extravagant as he remembered, the only thing that had changed, which he knew he could thank Narcissa for, was that at least the decorations now at least matched.

He walks silently, knowing Death Eater meetings were around this time he didn’t think he would run into Lucius but one could never be too careful.

He remembers Bellatrix’s words believe yourself to be so special because our Lord trusted you with something small.

The good thing about Lucius was that the bastard was predictable, he always kept his secrets either in his office or his secret compartment inside the library.

So Regulus walked through the empty corridors and carefully deactivated all the detention spells around. There weren’t that many, the Malfoy’s weren’t as paranoid as the Black’s.

Lucius’ office didn’t give off the feeling horcruxes did, Regulus was now sure it wasn’t here. He still looked around, mostly to see if he could find any useful information.

There wasn’t much, mostly deals and cursed artifacts that could get you a life sentence in Azkaban. 

Carefully he returned everything to its original position and left without making a sound.

The library wasn’t too far away, Regulus could probably find it with his eyes closed, after all this was the only acceptable place inside Malfoy Manor.

Narcissa’s gardens outside were the only thing acceptable outside and peacock free.

Regulus pulsed his magic through Lucius’ annoyingly good runes, the ones that hid his compartment full of even more illegal shit. 

When the bookshelves move to reveal a staircase Regulus can only smirk, Lucius might be good at runes but Regulus was better.

As he walked down the pungent feeling of cursed magic could be felt, Regulus knew he was at the right place.

The object emanating the violent magic was a small book, laid next to other books like if it were just any other. Regulus immediately placed several protective spells before levitating it into his bag.

“Reveal yourself” A cold voice, one Regulus knew too well, called behind him. He almost cursed out loud, the overwhelming magic from the horcrux had numbed his senses.

Regulus turned around slowly, staring into his cousin's eyes with an unnerving calmness.

“You are not Arthur” Narcissa arched an eyebrow, she didn’t sound particularly surprised. She was pointing her wand at him almost lazily “Yet you know my husband's secrets, his habits and… the wards aren't rejecting you, so? Who are you?”

Regulus almost smiled softly at Narcissa, his cousin looked young, younger than he remembered. Even in her confident stance he could see her hesitance, well hidden of course, she was a Black after all.

But it was there, the Narcissa he knew had turned colder, more calculating, she would only doubt in front of people she trusted, and those weren’t a lot.

“I am not Arthur” Regulus looks at his cousin, he doesn't want to fight her.

Narcissa watches him, her wand is against his neck, Regulus knows her next move before she begins.

He twirls, wandlessly casting an expelliarmus, he’s about to run when Narcissa smiles. 

“I really thought I was going insane” Narcissa laughs, is so off putting it reminds Regulus of Bellatrix “What the fuck are you doing here Reggie?”

Those simple words are enough to make Regulus freeze in place, he feels like a child again, powerless, nervous.

“You think I wouldn’t recognise you?” Narcissa asks, this time softer “You idiot, I would know you even if you turned into a frog”

Regulus feels like crying, he had missed Narcissa, he had missed the cousin that helped him through his Hogwarts years, the cousin that always got his back.

“I’m sorry for not saying anything” He says, his voice comes out broken “I swear I have my reasons”

Narcissa cups his face with her hands, softly, just like she did when they were children.

“I know” And he knows she believes him “I’m angry, because I mourned you, because I cried for hours think about not getting to see you grow, but I prefer you alive and away than dead and close”

That feeling is something they both understand, with Andromeda, with Sirius, and now him.

Narcissa walks him to the exit, Regulus transfigurates a coin to act as the replacement for the horcrux.

He’s going to say something, he’s not sure of what exactly when he hears the floo go off. Narcissa meets his eyes and they both know they don’t have much time.

“Go, I’ll buy you time”

Regulus nods, kissing her cheek.

“Thank you” It comes out a bit rawer than expected “Oh and Cissy? Visit a new potions shop in Knockturn Alley, I heard they have a wonderful new headache relief”

He doesn’t look back as he walks outside of view, outside the wards, he trusts Narcissa to understand.

The horcrux in his charmed bag weighs heavy and like Cassius said he’s home by the morning.

Harry is awake, he isn’t crying but the moment he sees Regulus his smile widens, and honestly? Regulus’ does too.

Chapter Text

James watched as the summer ended with a mournful expression, there was a time where he might have thought about joining the Auror training program.

His grades were enough for that, and his dueling skills were more than enough.

It felt like a lifetime ago now. 

He didn’t know when he stopped wanting to work as an Auror, maybe when he began seeing the ministry's incompetence, or maybe when he realised that everytime he read about a raid he only thought about the victims not getting help in time.

At some point it became more about catching Death Eaters than stopping people from getting hurt.

Or maybe, just maybe, James, deep down, still held the hope that Regulus Black was alive, hurt but alive and he didn’t want to be unable to help him.

“I think I’m gonna be a healer” James admits, Sirius gives him a look he cannot fully decipher “Maybe like that, I can save more lives”

Sirius looks at him, really looks at him. James doesn’t know what he finds but Sirius relaxes.

“I never thought of it but” Sirius takes a deep breath, his voice slightly trembling “It suits you”

James smiles, the letter from headmaster Dumbledore still in his pocket.

He should answer, he can guess what inside, he should want to answer.

“Thanks Pads” James rests his head on his friends shoulder, Sirius passes him the fag.

His parents have returned from St. Mungo not long ago, their treatment successful, James had for a moment thought the worst.

Both his parents were acting as if it were no big deal but it was obvious, if they hadn’t followed Leo Rosier’s advice they very well might have died.

Leo Rosier, Leo Rosier, an unknown name, someone that appeared one day and everyone pretended he had always been there.

The man was a mystery in many ways, his father had described him as a genius, his mother as a lovely young man. 

“Have you thought about what Dumbledore asked?” Sirius took his cigarette back, taking a puff himself.

James had, he had also tried to ignore it for as long as possible, the whole ordeal with Dumbledore’s order of phoenix was complicated. His parents had been against it from the start, James didn’t know what was right.

“I don’t know Sirius, we just finished Hogwarts, we are just eighteen, Sun above, you are just seventeen!” James messes up his hair, not that it makes much of a difference “What could we even do to help?”

Sirius shrugs, not particularly bothered by James’ maybe small meltdown.

“At least we'll be doing something” Sirius says in a matter of fact tone, James hates that he agrees “The other option is watching as they murder wixen like Lily and do nothing”

James sighs, deep down he knows Sirius is right, even if his parents don’t trust the headmaster, even if James would prefer doing an apprenticeship on St. Mungo, he knows the times are too turbulent for this.

“Okay” He says, trying to make his tone as confident as usual.

“Okay?” Sirius asks, a bit unsure.

“Yes” James nods “I’ll do my apprenticeship at the same time, māma is a healer, she can help” 

Sirius’ grin widens, he looks amused and James can only roll his eyes, knowing exactly what the idiot is going to say.

“Oh? Throwing the family name around? How Black of you” 

James, despite himself, feels the blood rushing to his cheeks. James Black is a name he hasn’t dreamed of for a while, fucking Sirius, making him remember.

Regulus would have laughed at him, like it was James’ fault to dream of marrying someone as perfect as him.

But that was what it was, a dream.

James could feel his expression sour, shaking his head he tried to redirect his attention elsewhere. 

Thinking about Regulus would do him no good, not when Sirius was still mourning, not when the wound was so fresh.

“I’ll write to the rest, ask them what their plans are” James doesn’t think Peter will want to join though, and Mary… he gets a bad feeling these days when he thinks of her, small chills running down his back, James tries his best to ignore it “You write to Moony?”

Sirius nods, he looks detached in a way, angry in a silent way James doesn’t see often. It should unnerve him but it doesn’t, if anything it reminds him of Regulus.

“Sure, should I invite him?” 

Sirius looks unsure, James can only sigh, it doesn’t matter how much they remind Sirius this is also his home his friend will still ask.

“Of course Pads” James then, because he can, gives him a smug smile “You can even take him on a date”

Sirius shoves him playfully, James puts off his cigarette so he doesn’t accidentally burn something.

“Oh sod off” Sirius’ words hold no bite, James can only laugh a bit.

They’re going to be okay.

Regulus went to his shop with his hands full of potions to restock, Cassius had helped somewhat and Regulus was beginning to think the man really saw him as a son.

Or maybe he saw Regulus as a weird stray his kids had picked up, with Cassius one could never know.

Harry held onto him with a dumb smile as the twins cooed, Regulus had to shoo them to work. 

In retaliation, because nothing in Regulus’ life could be easy, Harry bit him. The kid didn’t even have teeth. 

He wanted to blame James’ genes, he really did, unfortunately it was common knowledge that when he was younger he had the tendency to bite.

In first year he had bitten Barty at some point, he didn’t particularly remember why, only that the boy deserved it. Then there was Sirius complaining about getting bitten every time Regulus didn’t feel like talking.

So this was his fault…

He watches as Harry basically drooled all on top of him and sighs, he would do nothing to change this though.

Regulus kisses his son's forehead, his son stares at him with his killing curse green eyes, the silver sparks in them remind Regulus of the stars.

The bell at the door rings, Regulus hides in the zone behind the counter, letting the twins deal with whoever client was crazy enough to arrive at opening hour.

Then he hears the sound of heels against wooden floor.

Before Fabian can open his mouth to greet her, Regulus steps in.

“Hello Cissy” Regulus tries his best to not sound as nervous as he feels, Harry looks at her with curiosity, Narcissa seems to have stopped breathing “There is a room behind where we can talk privately, follow me”

Fabian and Gideon arch an eyebrow at him, clearly questioning, Regulus looks at them completely unbothered.

“My cousin and me will be away for a while, if you two need anything knock on the door” 

With that he and Narcissa walk together, Regulus hugs Harry tighter to his chest.

Only when the door is closed does Narcissa speak.

“Reggie what in Dadga’s name have you done?” She looks between his new looks and Harry, her hands trembling.

Regulus sighs and deactivates the disguise on the ring at the same time he casts several silencing and detecting spells on the room, on top of the already existing ones.

“I ran away” Regulus admits, sitting down on one of the chairs, not before offering one to Narcissa. 

He places Harry in his lap who looks delighted and changes himself to look like Regulus again, Narcissa feels almost dizzy as she watches.

“I wasn’t going to, originally” Regulus admits, Harry’s presence soothing him “But in the end I- Cissy, I just couldn’t. I’m sorry, I never wanted to leave you there but I won't return, I can’t”

Narcissa watches her cousin, they’re both the youngest, yet she was the one that had raised him.

Not Bellatrix, she had been too busy dealing with her own descent into madness to do anything else.

Not Andromeda, who would usually make sure they didn’t get into trouble, completely forgetting Regulus because he was quiet, soft.

Regulus never got into trouble, at least not after that summer when he was six. Narcissa didn’t know what happened but it wasn’t hard to guess, one just had to take one look at the trembling Regulus and another at the missing space Sirius always occupied.

She sometimes wondered if Sirius ever realised why his brother had changed so much to begin with, why Regulus had begun acting more guarded and less like a child.

Narcissa had done her best to make sure he had someone to rely on, someone who he trusted to stay quiet, because they both understood the best way to survive a family like theirs.

Because neither of them could run away.

“Reggie” Narcissa softened her voice, the baby in front of her that looked so much like her baby stared at her in curiosity “Does this have to do with the kid in your arms?”

Much like she expected Regulus nodded, Narcissa sighed.

“Cissy” Regulus gulped, Harry imitated his posture as best as he could, which wasn’t much honestly “Meet your nephew, Harry Altair Black”

“Oh Reggie” Narcissa looked at her cousin and his son, Regulus held him as if it physically hurt to be away “What happened?”

Finally, under Narcissa's caring gaze Regulus feels like he can relax, he doesn’t feel capable of telling her everything, no, only his family knows what actually happened to him.

But he knows he can tell Narcissa enough.

Enough to protect her from her husband, enough but not too much that it places her in danger when it comes to The Dark Lord.

“I found out something that put my life in danger” He says carefully, Narcissa watches him in worry “Something that can take down The Dark Lord”

He sees Narcissa's hands shake, he expects it, he also expects the immediate composure that follows after.

“Are you going to?” She asks, pretending to be unbothered.

Regulus knows her too well to believe it.

“Yes” His answer is simple, he doesn’t beat around the bush. There is no point in lying about something so obvious “I’ve already started”

He lets Narcissa think, not bothered by the silence. He knows what she’s thinking, her husband, her family. Both things are being balanced and he has to wait to see which one wins.

“There is no way to convince you otherwise, is it?” She asks, defeated, Regulus knows he’s won.

“No” He denies, its a simple truth “I’d rather raise my son in a peaceful world after all”

Narcissa sighs, a tired sigh that he knows too well.

“Give me my nephew, I might as well hold him” She finally says, Regulus gives her a smug smile.

Harry babbles incoherently and Regulus kisses his forehead again before allowing Narcissa to pick him.

“Careful with the hair, he likes to eat it” He warns, and for the first time someone actually listens to him because Narcissa ties her hair with a flick of her wrist.

Well, Narcissa was the smartest out of his family members.

Harry wastes no time to change his looks to match Narcissa making her gasp in surprise, only encouraging Harry further.

“He’s blessed by the stars” Narcissa mutters, holding him so carefully, as if fearing the smallest gust of wind could break him “A metamorphmagus, two in the same generation”

They’re both thinking of Andromeda, even if neither of them say anything.

Narcissa turns around, her eyes never leaving Harry.

“What do you need me to do Reggie? With what can I help?”

Regulus thinks of it, he doesn’t want Narcissa involved but at the same time, someone knowing she isn’t loyal to The Dark Lord like her husband is, could also be a way to protect her.

“Actually” Regulus’ left eyebrow twitches, he knows Narcissa notices it “Could you tell me if Bellatrix has been gifted any artifact recently by the Dark Lord? Something to prove her loyalty?”

Narcissa looks at him and nods, well, that fixes one of his problems at least.

“She’s been saying The Dark Lord gifted her a cup, an ancient artifact from the founders” Narcissa’s voice is soft, yet she looks on edge “She moves it around, I wouldn’t know where it is at the moment”

Good, Regulus reasons with himself, they know what most of the remaining horcruxes are now, a cup for loyalty from the founders age, there is only one cup that matches that description.

Helga Hufflepuff’s cup. Considering his obsession with artifacts he doesn’t doubt is the real one.

He might need to check the Gryffindor sword too, just in case that is the sixth they can’t locate, it makes sense after all.

“Thank you Cissy” Regulus doubts Narcissa knows the extent of the help she has given him “You don’t know how much that helps. If you know where the cup is, could you send me an owl?”

“Of course” Narcissa agrees easily “As long as I can keep seeing my nephew”

Both cousins look at each other in comfortable silence, Regulus tries memorising her cousin's face, she looks tired but there is a spark in her eyes that wasn’t there before.

As it begins to get late Narcissa has to leave, Regulus understands but dreads it the same. Lucius can’t know she’s been here, talking with a cousin he’s never heard of.

He puts back his ring, his disguise coming back and Narcissa puts her mask back on.

Before going Narcissa kisses both his and Harry’s cheek softly.

“If I hear new of a raid I’ll owl you, I trust you will understand the message"

After Narcissa leaves with a regal posture, exiting with several beauty products Regulus has stocked just to give her an excuse to return. They still have healing properties of course but they aren't particularly practical when it comes to actual emergencies.

Fabian and Gideon pop their heads out, looking extremely curious, Regulus sighs, he had forgotten that deep down those two were Gryffindors.

“Stop looking and get to work, I’ve got some news about the horcruxes”

At this both twins grin at each other, Regulus can only roll his eyes and rest his back against the wall behind the counter. No clients can see or hear him and he wants to keep it that way at least until the afternoon.

Some clients, the regulars, ask for his health, which the twins dutifully explain calmly that he’s out for family business, which with the Rosiers family branch can be anything, and that he will return as soon as he can.

Regulus pokes his son in the cheek, making him laugh and smiles.

Even if they know where the cup is stealing it now before the locket is placed in the cave is stupid, they have to wait until his birthday, June twenty one. Then they steal both the cup and the locket without dying.

There has to be a way, Regulus wont die again, not when he has a son to take care of.

If they’re lucky the other remaining horcrux will be destroyed already, if it’s the sword of Gryffindor that is.

With nothing else to do he begins writing a letter to Evan, Harry drolls on top of the letter, Regulus sings it with a cat paw.

After some thought he paints Harry’s hand with gold paint, one that it’s safe on the skin and lets him place his hand on the bottom of the letter, next to his paw.

Harry lets out a delighted sound and Regulus kisses his cheek.

“There étoile, now uncle Ev knows it’s from both of us”

Regulus spends the morning playing with Harry, babies can’t do much other than babble nonsense but his son is an excellent listener. He knows thanks to the books his friends got for him that babies needed to hear people talk to learn so he does his best to express himself.

It’s when he’s reading a french children's book to his son, who keeps grabbing his cat plush toy and yawning, that he hears a knock on the door.

“Leo, uh Lady Potter asks if she can talk to you?” Fabian sounds confused, Regulus can only guess the company he keeps does look strange.

A cousin married to a Death Eater, Lord Thalassias or for the general person Lady Potter, and then he was trying to destroy The Dark Lord at the same time.

Yeah, he should not forget the fact that he was a Rosier from the main branch, known for their link with prophecies and that he was hiding his real identity, which was the deceased Heir of the House of Black.

His life was really a mess.

“One moment” He sighs, picking up Harry and placing him on his hip before wandlessly cleaning the room, letting Harry keep his plush toy.

When he gets out Euphemia is waiting for him with a soft smile and a bag full of gifts, Regulus should have seen this coming.

“Hi Leo” her voice is firm but it holds so much care it makes Regulus want to take a step back “My husband said he got the opportunity to meet your son but the idiot didn’t even bring a gift”

Regulus feels a lump on his throat.

“Lord Thalassias there is no need-” He begins but Euphemia cuts him off.

“None of that Leo” Euphemia was honestly quite scary so Regulus shut up “I know there is no need, we are doing this because we want so do us a favour and accept the gifts”

Leo nods, Harry makes hands in Euphemia's direction making her expression soften easily.

“Thank you Euphemia” Regulus says finally, making her smile.

“Of course” Euphemia simply watches them with a soft smile, the look she gives Harry is almost maternal “How’s this cutie called?”

“Harry” Regulus admits, his cheeks flushing, he really hopes Euphemia doesn’t know about James’ preferences with names because that would be an awkward conversation.

He doesn’t add the Rosier, he doesn’t want to lie to Euphemia. Euphemia who if things had been different, who if Regulus hadn’t been, well- Regulus, she could have called Harry her grandson.

“Hi Koukli” Euphemia smiles at Harry, still making grabby hands, Regulus chuckles.

“Want to hold him?” He asks, unsure, Euphemia, much like her husband, immediately looks happier.

“Please” She's more composed, unlike her husband, in a way she’s regal like Narcissa, but she looks so delighted to have the opportunity to hold Harry it softens her completely “Such a cute thing, Leo, he’s wonderful”

“He is” Regulus admits, passing him Harry, not without first warning her about the hair eating habit. Euphemia is smart enough to understand he’s serious and act accordingly, her hair is soon out of reach for Harry, who pouts “I had never thought I’d love someone this much”

And it's true, he loved his friends, he would forever love them, he loved his brother, he could never not even when he hated him, he loved James even after so much time.

But those loves didn’t compare to Harry, his little star, he hadn’t even though something so precious could exist.

“I understand” Euphemia is wearing a melancholic look “Before James, my son, was born I believed I understood love and honestly I did, you don’t need a kid to understand something so humane, but when James was born I understood a different type of love. I knew that there was nothing I wouldn’t do to keep him safe and happy”

Regulus understood, he felt the same, for Harry he would stop this war, he was going to.

This was why he would never understand his parents. How do you see a child and claim you love them when you can bear to watch them suffer? And Walburga hadn’t just watched them suffer, she had made sure herself it happened by her hand.

Harry, as if sensing his emotions, turns into a weird mix between Evan and Barty, making Regulus laugh. Euphemia watches, her expression unreadable.

“Ah, I’m guessing Fleamont already told you?” Regulus asks, a bit red in the face.

“He did” She admits easily “Told me he almost had a heart attack thinking one of our sons became a deadbeat father”

Regulus chokes, he tries his best to make sure his emotions don’t show on his face.

“Ah- yes, he did ask if the father was Sirius Black” He tries to not sound disgusted by the accusation “Fortunately I’m sane and don’t particularly like the family tradition of marrying relatives”

Euphemia laughs, patting his head softly, she approaches him with caution, almost as if he was a wounded animal.

“If you ask me I never thought Sirius was an option, after all that boy is head over heels for a friend of his”

Regulus immediately knows who she's talking about, Remus Lupin, the best of the four marauders, if you ignored the small detail of him being a werewolf.

And that the boy genuinely thought he was good at hiding it, well, he had to give it to him that most students simply believed a werewolf at Hogwarts was impossible to happen and dismissed it as simple coincidences.

Ah yes, wixen and their stupidity.

Regulus had forgotten to lower down the bar, his fault.

“Yes, my brother told me, Remus Lupin? Son of Lyall Lupin, right?” Evan had in fact mentioned it, when they gossiped, because his brother was pathetically in love with Lupin so Regulus deserved to make fun of him.

“If even other years in different houses notice the boy is hopeless” Euphemia pitches the bridge of her nose, clearly she has seen Sirius’ pathetic pinning as much as Regulus “If the boy ever admits to liking him it will be a miracle”

“Blacks do tend to ignore their feelings until they’re ambushed and forced not to” He admits easily, because that was exactly what James, the arse, had forced him to do, which would have been a good thing if war wasn’t at their doorstep and Regulus wasn’t going to be forced to join a crazy megalomaniac.

“Personal experience?” Euphemia asks, not hiding her curiosity.

“My siblings best friend was a Black” He explains, referring to himself in past tense was awkward.

“Ah- Regulus” Euphemia says his name like if she personally knows him, it's unnerving, there is a pained expression on her face “My condolences for your loss. May his soul shine in the sky”

Regulus looks at her and nods, he hadn’t expected Euphemia to know about Black traditions with souls and stars, then it was true her brother in law was married to Dorea.

“Thank you”

He can’t get any more words out of his mouth but Euphemia doesn’t mind, they stay there, playing with Harry for a bit as the day passes.

When she leaves Regulus doesn’t know what to do.

“Leo?” Fabian asks, Gideon and him look worried.

“Nothing to worry about” He tells them, holding his sleeping son on his arms “I figured out what one of the horcruxes is and who has it”

Fabian and Gideon share a look, Regulus rolls his eyes.

“Come on, let’s make sure we know what each of us has to do”

A month later, when Narcissa sends him a letter about delicious pastries he has to try, he easily recognises the location and time of the next raid. And if Fabian and Gideon manage to be there on an outing and call their colleges just as it begins, well, who could blame Leo the potioneer?

And if a black clothed figure is seeing observing the mayhem under a veil, making sure the least people possible are harmed then, well, how could anyone tie it all back to Regulus Arcturus Black, who has been dead for months?

Regulus wakes up this day like any other, the preparations for Samhain won't begin for at least a week and Harry is sleeping peacefully.

Then Harry, like usual, bites him.

Except it hurts a bit.

Regulus looks at his son's mouth to find two teeth, proudly peeking out.

Immediately he rushes to write to his friends, pictures included.

Dear Evan, Pandora and Barty

Guess who just got his first teeths? The books said it should begin at four months but it's only been a bit less than three!

How is the term going? Do any of you need help with your NEWTS? Also, tell Barty to rest. I know he’s overworking himself, the thing with the Gryffindor sword can wait.

Take care you idiots.

L.R

At Hogwarts Barty groans in annoyance, his lips curving upwards betray him. Evan hits his head with a book while Pandora coos at Harry's small teeth.

Their nephew is quite cute after all.

Arcturus Black considered himself a smart man. Family magic warped around him effortlessly and people bent to his will.

But these days he was beginning to think something was wrong with his house. It started when his heir, Sirius, ran away.

He had found it odd, not many would ignore the allure of the position of Lord Black. But Sirius was never normal and alas he, much like Andromeda, had a lover not many would approve of in the family.

Arcturus wouldn’t have minded that much, Melania would have hated having to deal with Lyall Lupin but she would as long as it made their grandson happy.

But Sirius leaving put Regulus in the light and Arcturus watched their youngest shine for the first time with his own light. There was something about Regulus, that even when he was obedient, screamed of rebellion.

He wasn’t loud, he wasn’t Sirius, but Arcturus had found himself quite happy with the new heir, Regulus wouldn’t lead the family astray, not like Orion had.

And then Walburga had owled, a simple invitation to a funeral that screamed that had been organised by Narcissa and not her.

Arcturus had realised then that there was something happening to his family when he should have seen the signs before.

But what bothered him the most was the family magics slowly slipping from his fingers and the shining name on the family tree, holding them as if they belonged there.

And they did, Arcturus guessed, the family magics had found an Heir they loved and Arcturus could not fight them even if he wanted.

The silver shining name of Regulus Arcturus Black seemed to be challenging him, the new branch under him protected almost from view seemed to shine with laughter.

Harry Altair Black.

What a curious name his grandson had given his child.

But also, which bastard has gotten his youngest pregnant!?

Arcturus held his cane tightly and considered swinging it against someone's bollocks, Melania watched her husband with worry.

Well, the family did need a reminder of who was Lord Black.

Chapter Text

Regulus kissed Harry’s cheek as he prepared the Samhain offerings and the bonfire, Cassius too made his own version of this but it was both messy and orderly, it was confusing in the way Pandora also was.

He had spent the afternoon preparing his and his son’s masks, he had thought of making them resemble his original one, a black fox mask, but something stopped him.

He didn’t want anything that reminded him of his family, not right now, not when he would never be part of it anymore.

“Bah!” Harry said, clearly unbothered by it all, Regulus booped his nose, his eyes filled with love.

“You’re right mon fils, I should stop worrying so much” He doesn’t question his choices anymore, he grabs the materials and begins making a cat mask, one black for him, one white for his son.

His has silver additions while Harry’s one has golden ones, in the middle of his forehead the mask has a golden sun. It resembles Mycenaean makeup, Regulus feels quite proud of how the mask turned out.

As the night arrives Regulus completes the ritual, sitting Harry on his lap, the runes painted on their bodies seem to reflect the light of the stars.

The fire shines brightly in front of him and as his magic becomes attuned to the dead around Harry giggles. 

Cassius watches, joining their bonfire, giving his own offerings. Regulus lets him, after all, in a way Cassius is part of his people.

The fire burns softly with the offerings and as the dead approach and bring their somber tune with them, Regulus and Cassius dance, Harry tightly held into his arms.

It reminds Regulus of simpler times, when he and Sirius were permitted to spend the celebrations on their own after the parties. He missed the lake he and Sirius would run away to, a Black property not many knew or cared enough about, the lake had a small island in the middle where he and Sirius would lit the bonfires and dance around.

He had married Dorcas and Marlene there before he had died, tying their souls together. It was the last time he and Dorcas actually saw each other outside of the battlefield.

Regulus sometimes wonders why Dorcas asked him of all people to officiate the ceremony, why not someone else. 

Did she miss him like he missed her? It couldn’t be true that no one else knew the soul tying runes and rituals.

Slowly the sun begins to show, Cassius basks in the warmth of it and Regulus can’t help but do the same. 

He places his mask down on the offerings, then he takes Harry’s mask and places it next to his. He hasn’t called upon ghosts of his ancestors or passed loved ones. He doesn’t have ghosts to call anymore.

Harry yawns, a soft sound that melts Regulus’ heart, he kisses his son softly.

He’s reminded once more why he’s doing this, why he can’t run away yet. Seven soul pieces, six horcruxes, three gone, five located, one left.

He repeats it to himself like a mantra sometimes, that he has to wait until his eighteenth birthday to go pick the remaining ones left, but the wait is slowly killing him.

It’s less than a year but it feels like people keep dying by the minute. He can help with the raids, the most explosive part of the job, he can help with healing victims by selling quality potions at reasonable prices.

But he can’t help with the snatchers, he can’t help with the pain the victims and survivors have to go through.

It’s exhausting, knowing that there really is so much you can do.

Regulus sighs, he can’t afford to dwell into self pity, not now.

He spends the next days working in the shop, Fabian and Gideon were out for a raid instead of him, claiming he was too tired from destroying the diary, which was true, but it felt like an excuse to let him enjoy some calm.

Regulus notices how more and more members of the order begin to visit his shop with time, he guesses the rumours have spread. Most potioneers have lost access to well priced ingredients with the war, making the potions prices skyrocket.

Regulus had expected that, for that very reason he supplied his own ingredients. Extra work, annoying, and without Cassius’ help impossible but it worked.

It’s not only order members that begin to appear more often though, he recognises several Death Eaters, lower rankings mostly, buying healing potions.

His shop has become something akin to common ground, he would find it hilarious if people's lives weren’t on the line.

With a sigh he looks at the clock, Fabian and Gideon are out to deliver a big batch their sister has asked for, he knows it's for Dumbledore’s order, which the twins are still not happy Molly, their sister, is in, but he doesn’t mind that much.

His brother and the father of his child is also there, in a way one of his potions could be what saves them. Regulus just hopes it won't come to that.

He watches the grandfather clock again, time moves annoyingly slow and Harry is sleeping, he won't wake his son up just because he’s bored.

The only thing saving him from the boredom is that it's around this hour on Mondays that Fleamont tends to visit, or maybe it will be Euphemia today. He’s almost sure they are as bored as he is, that or they have too much free time.

Honestly it was probably both, Euphemia would come complain about her stupid sons joining the order, Regulus agreed with her about their stupidity, and Fleamont looked deflated after learning James and Sirius would follow Dumbledore.

Regulus had been surprised to learn that they didn’t trust Dumbledore at first, it came as a shock because he knew for a fact that James trusted the man with his life, and so did Sirius. But the Potters didn’t and Regulus wasn’t going to pretend he did.

So sometimes he badmouthed Dumbledore with Euphemia, it was fun. Fleamont and him still preferred to discuss potions though.

He stared at the door, he wondered what his brother would think of him, he hadn’t seen him after the funeral, not even in raids yet. He was probably training with James before going into the battlefield, Dumbledore was a fool but not that big of a fool.

If he were to bump into Sirius one day would he muster up enough courage to talk to him? Regulus didn’t know.

He missed Sirius, almost more than James, Sirius was someone he would forever miss yet he was the first person Regulus lost.

Maybe that was why.

The door bell rang softly, Regulus recognised the footsteps before he recognised the face.

He felt his breathing stop, he could hear his heartbeat getting faster and faster.

Because in front of him was James Potter, James, Jamie.

And he wasn’t alone, next to him was Sirius, Sirius who looked worse than Regulus remembered, Sirius who Regulus had missed for years.

Sirius, who didn’t know his godson was sleeping in the next room. James who didn’t even know he had a son.

“Uh Hello, you’re Leo right” James asked, a nervous smile adorning his lips.

Regulus has spent hours losing himself in those lips, he had forgotten how much he ached for a taste. 

James Potter found himself enjoying his mornings and hating his afternoons for the first time of his life.

The healer program was far more interesting than he expected and with his talent in transfiguration he was fast to choose a specialisation for the following years.

Fixing bones and fractures suited him best, it also happened to be one of his areas of interest. He might even figure out how to stop Remus’ bones from shattering during the full moon or how to make sure the damage wouldn’t be permanent.

Healer Greengrass was impressively good at her job and James found himself looking up to her, a shame her wife was an arse and a blood purist.

Healer Greengrass deserved divorce and full custody of the kids, and maybe her wife begging for forgiveness.

So yeah, James enjoyed his mornings, he enjoyed learning like he never had before at Hogwarts. He was allowed to move around as he worked, even encouraged in fact, and the learning topics kept changing almost every day.

The same couldn’t be said for the afternoons, as they would meet the order and Sirius would come back from having fought with Moody with a tired expression and his usual energy destroyed.

James knew Dumbledore trusted Moody but the man was sometimes too much, he forgot they were teens still, pushing them as far as he would professional Aurors.

Talking with Molly also turned out a bit awkward, she was nice don't get him wrong! It was just that her and Sirius didn’t get along, at all.

Honestly dealing with the people was just part of why his afternoons sucked, the other part was that they weren’t doing much of anything.

Dumbledore spent the first days explaining their situation which James was grateful for.

Then went on a rant about the greater good, which James understood a bit but it got tiring after the first day. Myrddin how he understood Regulus now when he complained about Dumbledore.

And then there were the accusations against Grim, which James felt was a bit unfair.

Grim was a veiled figure that would appear in most raids, he would mostly make sure civilians were safe and prioritized their lives over catching Death Eaters.

James knew this because he had worked with victims from the raids at St Mungo, but Dumbledore seemed to think otherwise.

Why he seemed sour and warned them about Grim James didn’t understand. Sure the guy, if it was a guy, was an unknown variable but he kept helping people.

So yeah, Grim was someone James didn't worry or give much of a thought about. It was not like he would run into the guy as a healer.

On the other hand Sirius was a bit bitter about his animagus form being stolen, James thought it was hilarious how much his friend pouted about it.

But all in all, he was fed up with Dumbledore doing close to nothing, like come on! He was the greatest wixen of their time, why was he sitting in his office?

So when his dearest baba gave him an excuse to not attend their daily, because of course they had to be daily, meetings James ran with it and dragged Sirius with him.

It also came with the plus of meeting whoever the fuck was Leo Rosier. His parents seemed to love the guy and honestly his parents were pretty good judges of character.

He had asked Sirius what he thought and he had shrugged.

“He’s polite I guess, I don’t know it was honestly a bit awkward” Was all he had gotten which honestly Sirius what the fuck.

He was not prepared for Leo Rosier at all. James opened the door to Starless Night, a name that Sirius found hilarious and found himself almost taking a step back.

Everything in Leo Rosier’s shop made his heart ache for Regulus, from the colours to the smell.

And then Leo turned around to look at them, his face a perfect emotionless sheet. James honestly found the man as strange as the rest of his family, him ever more so.

Leo Rosier had something about him that made the blood on James’ body freeze. Something in his eyes made it feel like he had seen all there was to see.

Uncanny could be a word used to describe him.

Then Leo Rosier blinked and James looked at his eyes, they were killing curse green.

Regulus blinked twice, realising he was staring, he tried his best to stop the blush reaching his face.

“Ah, yes, sorry. You must be James? Fleamont's son” Regulus hoped they couldn’t hear his heartbeat, he tried his best not to look at their faces “And you must be Sirius?”

“Yep, the better looking” Replied Sirius with a wink, Regulus’ face turned disgusted out of habit, making Sirius cough awkwardly.

James looked at both of them and let out a nervous laugh, oh Jamie, he was still so stupidly nice.

“So, my baba couldn’t come by this week, so mata sent us” James ruffled his own hair, messing it up even further, Regulus watched in amusement “Uh- we have a list of potions?”

Regulus smiled softly at them, it was nice, to see them so carefree, he knew it wouldn’t last.

“Of course, can I see?” He asked, Sirius immediately passed him the paper “Thank you”

Regulus read through the list and quickly began preparing their batch, several of the potions were for major injuries which worried Regulus.

“Are Euphemia and Fleamont hurt?” Regulus asked, he didn’t try to hide his worry.

“What- no?” James looked at him with sincere confusion, Sirius too.

Regulus nodded, still pulling out several potions from different cabinets and selves.

“Good, it’s just a lot of potions for major injuries, I worried for a second” He watched as James and Sirius shared an understanding look, Regulus guessed they knew what the potions were for.

Regulus had almost finished packing when the baby monitor spell went off, Pandora, Barty and him had created a better version after Regulus slept through the first seven times.

“Sorry, I have to attend that” Regulus excused himself before James and Sirius could say anything, he could hear Harry crying in his mind.

He ran to the nursery, this was the Potter luck rubbing off on him, why did Harry have to wake up now?

“Oh étoile” Regulus kissed his son's cheeks and rocked him gently, Harry immediately relaxed and clinged to him, not letting go.

Regulus resigned himself to his fate and walked back to James and Sirius, it was okay, Harry had blond hair right now and if he changed his looks he could always claim he was imitating Sirius or James.

When he returned with a baby in his arms James and Sirius watched with awe, James’ eyes were stuck on Harry, who was sucking on his thumb.

“A little brother?” James asked, smiling softly at the kid.

Sirius watched the baby, almost mystified, Regulus wondered what he was thinking.

“No” Regulus denied, making James frown “He’s my son, his name’s Harry”

He knew exactly what just passed through James' mind at that very moment, James wanted to call his child Harry, he didn’t know this child was his son.

“He’s so cute” James grinned at Harry who immediately made grabby hands at him, James’ eyes immediately lit up.

Regulus sighed, clearly fate hated him.

“Do you-” He gulped, oh this was horrible “Want to hold him?”

He cringed at the way his voice sounded, he was lucky James hadn’t noticed.

“Yes please” James gave him a happy smile, Regulus felt as if his lungs were filled with water again.

Oh Myrddin he was drowning, Regulus Arcturus Black was drowning.

He passed Harry gently into James’ arms, Sirius came a bit closer to take a look, softly and cautiously Sirius poked Harry’s cheek.

Just like he used to do with Regulus.

Immediately Harry grabbed Sirius’ finger, then, because Regulus knew his son and he definitely knew that face, he tried to warn Sirius.

It was too late, Harry bit Sirius’ finger, and he now had teeth.

“Ouch” Sirius complained, he didn’t pull his finger away though, instead he watched the kid with a fond look “He has teeth uh?”

Regulus immediately went to try to stop Harry from biting further, Harry gave him an offended look but stopped.

“Sorry, he sometimes does that, he also pulls hair so do watch for that too” Regulus explained with a bit more amusement than he should, Sirius loved his long hair, it would be funny to see it filled with baby slobber.

Sirius laughed, pulling his hair into a high ponytail with some quick spells.

“Your baby is mean” Sirius tried to play it off as playful but there was a hint of sadness to his voice, Regulus didn’t know what he was thinking.

“He gets it from me” Regulus says, trying his best to ignore Sirius’ sad look “But mostly it’s my brother in law’s fault, I swear he’s a terrible influence”

Sirius laughed, soft, more soft than Regulus ever remembered him doing.

“I didn’t know Pandora had married?” Sirius admitted, Regulus was not surprised, Sirius was never that close with the Rosier twins, it was Regulus who had befriended them at a gathering.

“Not Pandora, my brother, Evan” Regulus corrected easily “He’s marrying Barty Crouch, the smartest idiot I know”

James looked lost in thought, Regulus could guess why this was, Regulus had spent nights complaining about those two not getting their shit together for a while.

Were Evan and Barty together yet? Probably not, but when Regulus died they were so he was allowed to call Barty his brother in law.

Evan would flush red, Barty would be mortified, Regulus was ready to deal with that.

Regulus looked at Sirius’ complicated expression, he probably didn’t have a good opinion of his friends. Regulus didn’t know how Sirius would react.

“Oh, I didn’t know they were together” Sirius looked lost, it was as awkward for him as it was for Regulus.

They were pulled out of the conversation by James’ surprised gasp, in his arms now there was a perfect copy of a mini Regulus, making him sigh.

“He also does that” Regulus shrugged at Sirius’ shocked expression “The Black genes won with him I guess”

He picked up Harry from James’ arms, making Harry pout, Regulus took his time, taking in the image of James holding his son, their son.

“Is he-?” James began, choking on his words, Regulus had the sudden fear of being accused of sleeping with one of his family members again.

“The Rosier main branch is closely related to the Blacks, it was surprising to find out my son was a metamorphmagus but honestly it makes sense”

James breathed in relief, Sirius seemed to have just realised he had flirted with a relative. Regulus almost wanted to tease him about following family traditions.

Harry giggles and Regulus watches his brother instantly melt, who knew Sirius had such a soft spot for kids?

Regulus coughs politely, Harry immediately places his hand on Regulus' mouth, Regulus couldn’t stop the corners of his lips from twitching upwards.

“I’ll finish packing your potions” Regulus tries his best to not get distracted again, if he keeps talking he’s bound to slip at some point.

James and Sirius wait as Regulus finishes, at some point Regulus has had to trust Harry to his brother to hold while he reaches a particularly dangerous potion and double seals it.

He watches as Sirius and Harry play a game of sticking their tongue out at each other with a fond expression, James watches Harry fondly but Sirius is the one that looks attached.

Regulus can guess why it is, the godfather bond was being finalised in real time and both Harry and Sirius didn’t seem to notice.

Regulus didn’t dare break the moment. 

James and him crossed looks, immediately Regulus felt his cheeks flushing red, this was horrible.

“Are the potions finished?” James asks him, always polite, Regulus nods.

“Yes” He says and makes his way to pick up Harry, he sees Sirius’ reluctance to let go, is almost sweet “I also packed some extras, some calming draughts and a modified dreamless sleep, you two look like you need some rest”

James blinks, a bit embarrassed, Regulus ignores the curious looks.

“I wouldn’t want my favourite client's sons to get sick, it’s on the house” He tries his best to sound unbothered but the eyebags James is carrying worry him too much, and Sirius’ exaggerated smiles only make him stress further.

“Thank you Leo” James gives him a tentative smile, Regulus tries his best to keep a blank face “Well meet third Heir Rosier, may your sight never be clouded by the darkness”

Regulus nods, Sirius looks at them with a weird expression.

“May lady magic bless our meeting, may the depths keep the souls trapped, Heir Potter” Regulus answered in kind, James grinned, picking up one of the boxes and passing it to Sirius “Oh, and I’m not the third Heir, I’m the second” He added with a teasing expression “My siblings are both the first Heir”

James laughed, clearly knowing Regulus was teasing, as they turned their backs and said their goodbyes Regulus couldn’t help wishing they would stay.

When the door finally closed he permitted himself to fall to the floor, hugging Harry close to his chest.

Maybe James and Sirius would visit again, maybe he could ask Fleamont and Euphemia about them without feeling guilty.

Maybe he didn’t need to feel like he was drowning again.

James had tried his best not to show he was scared shitless by Leo Rosier, genuinely, the guy was scary.

When an alarm went off and the boy ran James almost prayed to all the gods and deities he knew that they didn’t just piss off a serial killer.

And then Leo Rosier came back, not alone, not with an emotionless expression, but with a baby and a soft smile.

What in Helios’ sacred cows was that?

The baby was a mini Leo, same frown and everything, which was a bit weird until Leo explained the baby was his son.

Now James had to admit the baby was lovely, he was called Harry, which was the best name to give a baby in his humble opinion. Leo had good taste and Harry had some sort of effect on Leo Rosier that humanised him.

So when the baby made grabby hands at him James immediately melted, of course the baby was a bloody menace though, when Sirius poked him he was immediately bitten.

James tried his best to not laugh his ass off in front of his parents favourite potioneer. Which was pretty hard, Leo’s eyes had opened comically wide as if embarrassed.

“Sorry, he sometimes does that, he also pulls hair so do watch for that too” He had explained and only then did James catch an amused smile on his lips.

After that Sirius and Leo began talking about family members, James honestly zoned out, paying attention to the baby.

“Hullo, you look so pretty tara” James tried to ignore how the term reminded him of Regulus “Look just like your dad don’t ya?”

Harry laughed, trying to pull his hair, Harry booped his nose.

Then he looked at Harry’s eyes, a perfect grey he knew way too well. His heart stopped for a moment.

Then, slowly, Harry sifted, his hair turning curly and as dark as the night sky, his nose pointier and- James felt like he was choking.

“He also does that” Leo didn’t look surprised, just resigned, his face was emotionless again but James could feel his world crumbling “The Black genes won with him I guess”

Regulus wouldn’t have, right, it made no sense, it had to be someone else.

“Is he-?” James began, choking on his words, he wanted to know, he needed to know. 

“The Rosier main branch is closely related to the Blacks, it was surprising to find out my son was a metamorphmagus but honestly it makes sense”

James felt the air return to his lungs, he knew it couldn’t be but seeing a baby, one that looked so much like Regulus, would break him.

Harry, the baby was called Harry, just like he would have convinced Regulus to call their child if they were to ever have one. He would convince Regulus with little favours, a promise to name their second child, maybe he would accept Crouch as the second godfather even.

Regulus would play tough but James knew him, James thought he knew him, he had to remind himself.

But Regulus was dead, and Harry would never be their son, Harry had just imitated Sirius, or maybe old photos Evan had of Regulus.

Fuck, he had to get a grip, it had been almost a year already.

Leo took Harry from his hands, maybe sensing his distress, or maybe he just didn’t trust him with his son. Leo was hard to read, not like Regulus had been, if anything it would be an older Regulus, one that hadn’t had James, one that James could no longer read.

Of course Leo wasn’t Regulus, he would never be but maybe he could be friends with him, his son was nice and Sirius had grown attached to Harry anyway, there was no point in hiding it.

Leo even trusted Sirius, who James loved dearly but looked all but trustworthy when it came to babies, to hold his son while he packed their last potions.

Harry also looked like he had a favourite after his dad, which was Sirius, James didn’t even know he was so good with kids.

He caught Leo looking at Sirius and Harry fondly and for a moment James seriously wondered if Leo had lied and the baby was Sirius’ before discarding the idea, yeah no, there was something in Leo’s eyes that felt more, familial, it felt wrong to call it romantic.

Leo caught him looking and James had to try his best to not flush red in embarrassment.

“Are the potions finished?” He tried to sound relaxed but his muscles tensed, Leo was back to being a marble statue without emotions fuck, the guy was scary when he wanted to.

He shouldn’t have sounded so demanding, fuck James, just wonderful, keep fucking it up, baba will be so happy that you got banned from his new favourite shop.

“Yes” He says simply, James relaxes or tries to as Leo makes his way to pick up Harry, Sirius looks reluctant and James for a moment wonders if Sirius is seriously, ah!, planning to kidnap a child, he hopes not, he’s sure Leo can, and will, cut their heads off “I also packed some extras, some calming draughts and a modified dreamless sleep, you two look like you need some rest”

James has to stop himself from staring at Leo with a dumb look, that was surprisingly nice, and considerate. Maybe Leo was like Regulus? All spiky on the outside, a softie on the inside? He could work with that! 

“Thank you Leo” James gives him a tentative smile, he immediately panics when Leo doesn’t even blink, if anything he looks even more murderous. But he has manners, he can show it! “Well meet third Heir Rosier, may your sight never be clouded by the darkness”

Perfect, his mata would be proud, he can’t believe he memorised all those greetings for the wixen that still followed ancient greek beliefs.

He watches Leo’s expression and he’s happy to be able to tell he’s a bit shocked, success!

“May lady magic bless our meeting, may the depths keep the souls trapped, Heir Potter” Leo answered in kind, James grinned, definitely a win, then to be able to move his hands he  picks up one of the boxes and passes it to Sirius “Oh, and I’m not the third Heir, I’m the second” Well fuck, all that for nothing James thinks until he catches a teasing grin, arse, he’s decided, Leo is an arse “My siblings are both the first Heir”

Oh, right, Regulus had explained that, Pandora and Evan Rosier both didn’t want to be Heir so they decided to flip a coin, the coin landed sideways, they both became Heir.

The memory of Regulus’ exasperated fond smile made him laugh, he waved goodbye, dragging Sirius with him.

Okay, Leo Rosier was a bit of a weird guy but he was a main branch Rosier, in fact, in comparison, he looked quite sane.

He was still scary though, but it was okay, James made friends with Remus who in first year was a bit scary, for Dadga! He dated the Regulus Black; he could deal with scary Rosier perfectly.

And his cute son, because he evened it out, Harry was a sweetheart and James hoped if he ever had kids they were like Harry.

Though he might need to begin looking for names again.

Maybe Altair, it was Regulus’ favourite star.

Maybe?

Wait- how was he going to have a kid anyway? 

Sirius watched him weirdly and James just sighed, he had to wake up early tomorrow for the morning shift.

Chapter Text

Sirius returned home in silence, letting James do the talking.

There was something he couldn’t put a name to in Leo Rosier that reminded him of Reggie so much it hurt to look. 

Regulus was dead, he had to remind himself, Regulus was dead, a nagging voice in the back of his head reminded him.

The kid, Harry, he was just a carbon copy of the Regulus he raised, the only difference was that Harry wasn’t afraid like Regulus had been. Harry laughed freely with everyone, Harry wasn’t afraid of loud footsteps, Harry didn’t control his expression when adults walked in the room.

No, Harry was everything Regulus could never be, everything he would never get to be.

And it hurt, because it was his fault.

He had decided to not talk with his brother after he was sorted into Slytherin, he had decided his brother was exactly like his parents, he had decided to leave him in that house, the same house that was eating both of them alive.

And in the end it was those decisions that brought his brother to his death.

Sirius watched the stars in the sky, the lights on the muggle street made it hard to distinguish them from each other.

But he could always find Regulus, the star, he had made sure of it.

“I want a tattoo" Sirius turned towards James, his breath uneven, he couldn’t get the images of Leo Rosier and Regulus overlapping out of his head.

“Sure Pads, whatever you want” James, oh sweet loveable James, Sirius doesn't know what he’s done to deserve him.

“I want to go alone” Sirius admitted, he ignored the flash of hurt in James’ eyes “I think I need to do this alone”

James nodded, Sirius could tell he was still unsure but he would not take his words back, he needed this.

“Alright” James conceded, his worry slipping through his words “But I walk you there and pick you up, it’s getting late”

Sirius accepted, he knew it would calm James down, making sure his friends were alright always did.

They ended up finding a tattoo shop in one of the weird alleys on the way home, Sirius could swear he had already gotten a tattoo here after a fairly terrible party once.

He entered alone, James waiting outside lit up a cigarette, Sirius breathed in the smoke.

“Hello, do you have time for a quick tattoo today?” Sirius feels almost out of place as he enters the shop and two workers turn around to look at him.

There is a third one in the back that keeps sketching on a piece of paper, completely ignoring them.

“Ah, yeah, no clients at this hour” One of them says, she pulls out a sketchbook and a pen from under the counter and tries her best to not seem awkward “Do you have an idea of what you want?”

Sirius nods, he does know, he’s thought of this tattoo for years now. He’s never had the strength to go through with it.

“Yes, if you let me draw it?” He asks, using his best smile, one that he knows for a fact Regulus learnt from him.

“Sure” The girl passes him the pencil and the sketchbook, clearly a bit surprised about the new development, Sirius wonders how many people actually draw their own tattoos.

He draws the Leo constellation, making sure Regulus stands out, a little crown on top of his star. He doesn’t think of Leo Rosier, who looks so much like his brother, he tries not to see Regulus’ ghost every time he looks at the boy's eyes.

“This, in my ribs” Sirius says, once he’s finally satisfied, the girl nods as she traces the lines.

“That’s a painful area” The other worker says after a bit, not judgmental, more curious than anything. He’s looking at Sirius like if he were a puzzle “It will hurt”

Sirius grins, he knows it looks a bit crazy, a bit like Bellatrix does.

He finds out he doesn’t mind it that much.

“With this one I hope it does” Sirius says, because it hurt to lose him, it better hurt to get part of him back.

There might have been something in his eyes that made them stop asking questions, simply directing him to lay down while they did their job.

It doesn’t hurt but Sirius didn’t expect it to. Nothing comes even close to Walburga’s cruciatus, nothing except losing Reggie.

He doesn’t feel when they finish the tattoo, he’s almost disappointed.

“Seeing your other tattoos I guess I don’t need to explain how to take care of it?” She tells him as Sirius pulls out a bunch of money.

“No, don’t worry about it” He smiles, it comes out soft almost, the new ink adorning his skin weights heavier than he thought.

“Good” She says simply, counting the cash faster than Sirius has seen some goblins do “Your friend is waiting for you outside”

He’s passed in the change, he doesn’t check if they’ve done the money count correctly, he doesn’t even remember the price anyway.

“Thank you” He says as he closes the door, James looks at him like a kicked puppy.

He’s been waiting outside and Sirius knows for a fact that in stress his friend has finished at least half of his cigarettes. 

James didn’t use to smoke, at least not back at Hogwarts.

“It’s done” Sirius confirms, he doesn’t think he can put into words what he just got.

“Can I see?” James asks, because of course he knows, he knows when he can’t put things into words, he knows when no words feel right to describe what he’s feeling.

So Sirius shows him the new ink adorning his ribs, he watches as James’ face shows a devastated look, he watches as his friends eyes turn wet.

“Oh” James manages to choke on a simple word, Sirius simply nods.

“Come on, it’s getting late” Sirius tells him, because he knows every time he brings Reggie into the conversation it pains James, he’s seen it happen.

Sometimes he wonders what would have happened if he made an effort for those two to get along. It’s weird, he can’t see it happening, they’re both too competitive for their own good. But sometimes, when James mourns Regulus just as much as he does Sirius also mourns what could have been.

Sirius never thought he would find himself agreeing with Regulus over Dumbledore, but the guy really was a manipulative bastard.

Look, he wanted to fight, in fact, he was ready to deal with everything. For Myrddin he was the one that pushed James to join!

But he had seen how they treated Dorcas, how they doubted her every move. He had seen people pulling him and Remus apart, just because Dumbledore kept having talks with only him.

Sirius was many things, but first he was a possessive asshole just like his brother, he didn’t take kindly to people trying to separate his people.

And Dorcas was Regulus’, so now that he wasn’t here Sirius would take over. 

“Black” Moody called his attention, Sirius internally groaned, he had been using more of Walburga's lessons on etiquette since he joined the order than in the last six years “What is so important that you’re not paying attention?”

Sirius clenched his teeth, Dadga, Moody was annoying when he wanted to be, if only he wasn’t such a good dueling teacher.

“Sorry, the week’s been a lot” He says, adding apologies that don’t feel true. He watches Lily in front of him, they’ve gotten closer since they became training partners.

He understands a bit more why James has a crush on her now, Lily is explosive, she matches his own fighting style.

Sirius had always favoured burning spells, Lily prefers blowing things up, it’s fun.

She’s also impressively smart, that's where she and Dorcas work, even if Dorcas prefers taking down the enemy with no flashy moves.

Marlene honestly usually joins him in burning things, mostly the training puppets, Marlene even tried to test if one could use aguamenti to drown or hold back someone.

Training is fun, and Moody is a fucking good teacher, Sirius knows that.

He just hates that he’s seen Dumbledore do nothing when presented with a threat.

“Longbotton has told us the aurors received another lead of when a raid is going to happen” Moody continues, making Sirius pay attention “It’s very likely that Grim will also show up, Black, Evans you two will be joining Dearborn and Vance, stun as many Death Eaters as possible”

Sirius and Lily shared a look, so they were sent to the battlefield, wonderful. 

He turned to look at James to find him looking close to vomiting. Remus next to him had turned as white as parchment paper.

“Potter!” Moody called suddenly, making James almost drop from his seat.

“Yes? I mean yes!” James tried his best to plaster on a smile, clearly failing, Sirius could see his left eye twitching.

“You go with them and stay back, take care of the wounded” Moody used a nicer tone in James, Sirius wondered if Moody just had favouritism towards healers “I checked with your mother and you don’t have healer training the day of the raid”

James nodded, clearly relieved, Sirius gave his friend a smile, under the table he held Remus’ hand.

Remus tightened his hold, Sirius let him. If it had been the other way around would he have stayed put while Remus was sent to fight? He didn't think so.

The meeting continued as Moody explained their strategy, which honestly basically consisted in healers stay back, fighters go up and try not to die. Sirius could feel the disappointment oozing out of Dorcas without even having to turn around.

Yeah, explaining their presence at the fight to the aurors was not going to be pretty either.

The raid was going to happen a day before Yule vacation, just before Hogwarts students boarded the train. There would be no time for the news to reach the students before they arrived home and realised there was nothing left.

Sirius could easily guess this was done on purpose, demoralization was a war strategy after all, one he knew his own mother used against him.

When people believe there is no way out they stop fighting, even if you open the door for them they will ignore it.

Just like Regulus did.

Because Sirius was dragged out by James, he didn’t even remember leaving the house but he got out.

Regulus never did, and Sirius wanted, needed, to know why.

When the meeting finally ended Sirius walked out for a quick smoke, Remus followed him, resting his head on Sirius’ shoulder.

Lily joined them, getting out her own pack of cigarettes.

“I thought you stopped?" Remus asks her as he takes Sirius’ cigarette and takes a drag.

Lily rolls her eyes, unamused and makes a flower with the smoke, Sirius watches almost in awe.

“I was going to” She says, her posture is relaxed but Sirius can tell she’s tired “You know how hard it is. I also got the bonus of having a very good teacher on how to shape the smoke”

Remus arches an eyebrow, clearly interested but Lily only gives them a cocky smile that reveals nothing.

“I see” Remus says, smiling too, Sirius feels like he’s the only one not getting a joke.

Rolling his eyes he steals back his cigarette, taking a long drag and failing miserably at shaping the smoke.

“What should we do about Grim?” Sirius asks, because what the fuck are they supposed to do about the random dude dressed in all black a wearing a veil that just happens to appear at all the raids?

Moody has repeated several times not to trust them and Dumbledore himself looks wary of them, so yeah even if Dumbledore is an arse he stills trusts him enough to know Grim, whoever they are, is not to be messed with.

“Ignore them I guess” Lily says, shrugging, like its not a big deal “They don’t seem like the type to start a fight if you don’t get in their way”

Sirius arches an eyebrow, James said the same thing, even claiming Grim to be a nice person, probably. It’s annoying, there is just something about them that rubs him the wrong way.

“James said that?” Sirius asks and Lily sends him a resigned look.

“Yes” She says, her tone final “And I trust him to be a good judge of character, he’s not a stupid teenager anymore fortunately” 

Sirius can hear the unsaid, the same cannot be said about you, digging into him like a cold knife. He knows Lily probably didn’t mean it that way, he knows, Dadga he knows.

It doesn’t make it sting less.

Sometimes he feels trapped in the age he had when Regulus died, he knows it’s not true, it’s his brother's death that pushed him to be better, learn from his mistakes, try his best.

But he sometimes feels it's stupid, the fact that his brother should be seventeen, legally an adult but he would never reach that age.

That Sirius was growing old and Regulus wasn’t.

It doesn’t feel real.

“Whatever” He says, pressing himself closer to Remus, his warmth bringing him comfort “Let’s get ready to kick some shit-eater’s”

Lily and Remus both look at him and sigh.

“That's the worst name you could come up with” Remus mutters under his breath.

He still kisses him when they arrive, and Sirius feels himself melt into his arms. James throws them a book so they stop, claiming his poor eyes have been tainted and his soul corrupted.

Sirius smiles as he falls asleep.

Planning for a raid sucks, Sirius decides, James has thrown at him at least three medical supplies, ones that won't be damaged if they hit him, and Remus has been pacing around the room to the point Sirius fears he’ll burn down a trail in the floor.

He misses Lily because she would immediately call them stupid and relax everyone with her presence. Because Lily is cool like that, Sirius is just glad she’s her mission partner because he’s not completely sure he remembers what Moody told them to do.

Lily would, he hopes, maybe she’s as bad listening to Moody as he is, then they’re fucked.

“Prongs for fucks sake you’ve checked your that the potions are properly sealed six times!” Sirius groans before lying on the floor, James just looks at him with a look of desperation.

“What if they explode and I need one?” James looks like he’s genuinely going over all that could go wrong in the span of seconds “Do I teleport to Leo’s shop? Is he even open?”

Sirius stares at the ceiling, they’re definitely stressing each other out but they have ten more minutes until they need to leave.

“He’s probably open” Sirius says, lying through his ass, he does in fact not know when Leo Rosier opens his shop nor has he asked anyone but it calms James down “If not you have extras at home”

James nods, finally finishing to pack his medical bag. With nothing else to do he throws himself to the ground next to Sirius.

Remus stops, he turns to look at them and laughs before joining them.

“We look like shit” Remus comments, making James laugh.

“Do we now Moony?” James teases but Sirius can feel the stress hasn’t completely left his body.

“We can look like shit together then I guess” Sirius says, then, because he can, he winks at Remus “After all, you’re the one that decided to be with us, Moony”

Remus groans “I was pestered into befriending the two of you assholes” He grumbles but Sirius knows he does not mean it.

“I wonder what Pete is doing” James mutters “Since his mother got sick we’ve seen him less and less, he would ask us for help if something was wrong, right?”

Sirius sometimes thinks James worries too much but it’s true Peter looked worn out last time they saw each other.

“Wormy will be fine, and if not we can always drag him with us” Sirius says, shrugging “It’s us all four after all”

Remus snorts but doesn’t deny it, James smiles like the sun.

“Yeah, it’s forever us four, marauders and mischiefmakers” 

Sirius counts down the minutes they have left to leave, using them to rest on the floor next to his friends.

When James appareates them away he can’t help but feel the separation from Remus more than expected.

“There you two are” Lily greets them with a wink, behind her Emmeline Vance arches an eyebrow.

“Okay, we are all here now, Caradoc will explain the basics but in twenty minutes we better be at Barnoldswick”

Sirius nods, James tenses up.

Only now does Sirius realise he’s the only healer. And he’s not even a proper healer yet.

“Four magical families reside in the area, two are considered blood traitors, one are a muggleborn couple and the last one are purebloods” Caradoc Dearborn explains as he passes his hands through his beard “We should make sure to protect the muggleborn couple first and then the ones considered blood traitors, the pureblood will be fine”

Sirius can feel James tense at this.

“What if they go for the purebloods too? If we all protect the other, how can we stop it?” He asks and Sirius has that small voice in his head that tells him James is stupid for worrying for pureblood stuckups.

“While that could happen is much less possible” Dearborn continues, not bothered by the question, or simply uncaring “We should focus on protecting who they wish to kill”

Sirius can tell James doesn’t like what he’s hearing but he understands their reasoning.

Lily watches it all unfold with a look Sirius can’t decipher, she doesn’t say anything or asks questions until Emmeline pulls out a map of the town.

The five of them appareate to the outskirts of Barnoldswick, the first thing Sirius notices is the fire.

“Fuck” Dearborn curses, passing a hand through his hair “They’re already here”

Sirius looks at the houses burning, the fire reflecting in his eyes. He looks at Lily and sees her figure standing out in the fire, her hair mixing with the flames behind.

She nods and Sirius knows what they have to do.

“Let’s go” He says, Lily Evans takes his hand and they run towards the flames.

As he tries his best to control his breath Sirius notices a dark veiled figure holding two children in his arms.

Grim looks at him, Sirius somehow knows he’s looking at him from under the veil, before turning around.

The kids cling to him as he drags them away from the fire and Sirius stays there, watching the figure in dark robes go.

“Sirius! We don’t have time for this!” Lily calls, pulling him out of the strange trance he’s found himself at.

Sirius runs towards Lily but his eyes keep looking for the dark robed figure.

He just knows there is something wrong with him.

Regulus Black was going to kill his brother.

He fully meant it, in fact, Sirius was lucky Regulus hadn’t strangled him on sight

What the fuck was Sirius doing on a raid? There was no way in Náströnd that they genuinely believed he was ready for battle yet. It had been months! 

Okay, maybe Regulus was selling his brother short, Sirius was an excellent dueller, but he was sure the idiot wasn’t supposed to be throwing jinxes and hexes this soon.

Of course the annoying asshole couldn’t stay put for once in his bloody life. No, his brother's existence revolved around stressing Regulus to death.

“Mister? Where are you taking us?” One of the kids, the one whose first instinct had been to punch Regulus, well, attempt to, thinking he was a kidnapper, looked at him with big innocent eyes.

Yeah, no, Regulus had a kid, he knew exactly what those eyes meant he was not fooled.

“To a safe place until we can find your parents” Regulus admitted, he had looked around the debris of the house, hoping to find at least a body but the parents were nowhere near.

And seeing the remains of a fight around the house it didn’t look like the parents had left willingly.

The other kid, younger than his brother didn’t say anything, clinging to Regulus for dear life. 

“Mister, are they dead?” The oldest asked, making Regulus almost trip as he jumped through buildings with the help of floating charms.

What was he supposed to answer to that?!

“I mean, uncle died and mummy was sad, but she said uncle would wait for us in heaven” The kid kept talking, but Regulus saw him holding his younger brother’s hand softly “So maybe they went visit uncle ‘cause they missed him”

Regulus does not know what heaven is but he guessed it was another version of the afterlife, maybe a muggle religion? Which one though? Barty mentioned the most widespread religion was christianity?

Regulus didn’t like christianity much, mostly because of the witch hunts. He had to admit he didn’t know much about religions in general, the House of Black did not believe in gods, only in the stars and the power they held.

The stars held stories, magic, power, they were made of everything pure and it was them, the Blacks, who had the honour to carry the stars in their blood and tears.

He also knew of the beliefs the Rosiers held, devotees of Pythius Apollo while still making offerings to other gods in the pantheon or out of it.

Then there were the Potters, devotees of Sūrya, of the sun, Regulus felt it was fitting, for someone who is- used to be, his sun to know of its importance.

“I don’t know” Regulus admits, because lying to children never does good “But I’ll do all I can to find them”

The words feel dry, stuck on his throat, these kids probably don’t even understand what’s happening. Myrddin he hates how he cannot reassure the kids.

The oldest one nods, as if he understands, Regulus doesn’t think he really knows what being dead means, he hates that he might not get the chance to learn slowly, with his parents' help.

The younger one just clings, silent, and Regulus can only carry them softly to the aurors.

He’s recognised as soon as he appears, most surprisingly like him, others don’t so much. It doesn’t matter, he doesn’t want to be friends with the stupid assholes that feel like they can abuse their authority, he really hopes Sirius won't end up like that or he might have to beat up his brother himself.

The ministry is still corrupt, and thus so are some aurors, there is not much Regulus can actually do, and even less right now.

Sometimes he thinks it's a shame, having lost the opportunity to hold the Lord Black title, there are many laws he could propose to change, first on his list is a protection law for brownies, the actual name for house elves.

Maybe like that he could have protected Kreacher.

He waves at Alice Fortescue, someone he knows he can trust because Narcissa only has terrible taste in men, and passes her the kids with a nod.

“I’ll take them to the back, thank you Grim” She gives him a reassuring smile, Regulus takes it as his cue to go back to battle.

It’s there when he realises she’s shaking, Fortescue is not someone who trembles like a leaf over minor injuries.

The cruciatus, is a gut feeling, maybe the Black family paranoia but he knows he’s right.

Fuck, now he feels like shit for making her carry two kids on her arms.

Regulus knows he doesn’t have time to wait for her return but he also knows that if she does not receive treatment next time she gets cast the curse on her it will be worse. The aftereffects of the cruciatus pile up, he knows this by experience.

Cursing he pulls out a potion, placing it somewhere he knows she will notice and leaves a note with James’ handwriting, he doesn’t have time to make up another handwriting anyway and James’ handwriting is shit.

No one would figure out it’s him or Leo Rosier, who both have perfect handwriting.

Dadga he was turning into a Gryffindor.

He doesn’t waste more time to return into the battle, he tries his best to find wounded and bring them back, everytime he prays one of them is the kid's parents.

He doesn’t ask. He doesn’t have the stomach to handle the truth right now.

At some point he runs into Fabian, he joins his battle with an exasperated sigh.

“Grim! Hate to ask but can you deal with those two?” Fabian dodges another hex directed to his face, Regulus can tell he’s trying his best not to panic.

The idiot let five Death Eaters round him.

At least they don’t seem like particularly good, no high ranks either, Regulus would recognize them immediately.

Without saying anything he appareates next to one of them and kicks his legs, then presses his wand to his neck.

He doesn’t bother to use it though, he casts a binding spell wandlessly while his partner tries to hex him and steps on his private parts without blinking.

Finally he takes out two small flasks and forces them down their throats.

Fabian finally returns, panting and sweaty, he’s dragging two knocked up Death Eaters, the third one managed to run he guesses, lucky bastard.

“The fuck you just gave them?” Fabian asks in horror, Regulus shrugs.

“A mild sleeping potion, they’ll wake up in seven hours” 

Fabian looks at him like he had just confessed to poisoning them, Regulus finds it a bit offensive.

“Okay, I forgot you are a genius, go on” Fabian mumbles under his breath, Regulus takes his chance to move to another location.

He follows the noise and the smell of burning wood, finding himself again in the middle of a battle.

He watches as Lily Evans throws herself against two Death Eaters with a viciousness he didn’t expect, she burns through their clothes until she manages to knock them down, next to her Sirius laughs.

“Good one Evans!” He yells and immediately gets hit by an hex, Regulus watches in disappointment.

There are other two members from Dumbledore's weird group, those two looked a bit older, not that it was easy to tell considering how slow wixen aged, but they seemed to hold themselves better than his brother.

Lily Evans was honestly doing pretty good for herself, no stupid things like questioning the morality of burning down someone's clothes and risking third degree burns.

He could understand why James loved her, why he would rather be with her than him, Lily Evans was bright, it was just quite obvious now that Regulus saw her surrounded by fire.

Her craziness, because honestly there was no way she wasn’t at least a bit mad, matched James’ love for trouble. Regulus could never give him that, he was just, well, Regulus.

He hated the cold yet managed to be born at night in the shortest night of the year, he loved the warmth of the sun yet he had died away from it, in the dark.

He hated that it made sense, James and Lily Evans, he wishes it didn’t hurt so much.

Now that he thought about it, where was James? 

Him and Sirius were always together, he knew that, it was indisputable, James and Sirius, inseparable idiots with a love for stupidity.

Where the fuck was James?

Regulus watched them and guessed they had it handled, he, on the other hand, had to find James.

He appareated to the highest point of the town, watching around, he found Gideon fighting next to Frank Longbotton, he was now Alice Fortescue’s boyfriend, right? Well, he was fit.

Focus, he reminded himself, he found the aurors medical tent, not well hidden, wonderful, he should send them a message to fix that. They probably wouldn’t, the ministry didn’t want to waste their oh so precious funds. 

Not James, not James, not- What the fuck was James doing healing people?

Since when did he know how to do that?

Regulus watched in awe, he was surprisingly good, and Myrddin, those arms, fuck Regulus was a weak man and James looked so good as he fixed someone's leg.

Fuck, Barty would never let him hear the end of it. Getting distracted in a raid because James Potter looked unfairly good while tying a bandage in someone.

Regulus has to physically force himself to stop looking and return to battle, and still all he can think of are James’ stupid soft amber eyes.

He broke up with the man three years ago! At this point it was just embarrassing. He will take this secret to the grave, but Myrddin was James still fit.

He jumped back into battle to clear his mind, breaking a Death Eater's wand hand easily before kicking him in the stomach.

They were like rats, turning more vicious when cornered, Regulus grunted as one of them managed to make a deep cut on his stomach.

He hit that one especially hard, not bothering to hide the pleasure he got when he fell to the ground. The wound would scar, surely, but so would the asshole's face.

Regulus grinned under his veil, he was breathing heavily when he caught Sirius being blown up by a particularly vicious destructio.

He watched Sirius lying on the ground and for a moment Regulus could feel his heart drop. Then Sirius moved, the absolute git.

Regulus clenched his teeth, without thinking twice he ran towards his brother. Two Death Eaters had already begun to surround him.

Regulus knew the spell before they began to cast it, there was a special look, one people made before they killed someone. Those who could cast the killing curse without flattering had a specific look to them, Regulus knew, he had that look too, he had grown with people who had that look.

So he didn’t doubt before grabbing Sirius and appareating away from the battle, he hadn’t even thought where exactly but he wasn’t surprised to find himself in the forest, outside of Rosier manor.

He had taken them all the way to Scotland, fuck.

He might have overreacted, he had to admit that.

Sirius immediately got on guard and Regulus slow, painfully slow, let go of his arm.

“What the fuck, why did you take me here!?” Regulus can tell Sirius is panicking but he can do nothing about it, he watches his brother almost in childish awe “What the fuck do you want from me?”

Sirius looks angry, Regulus, almost in reflex, freezes, he immediately regrets this decision when Sirius confuses this as an attempt to hex him and takes the opportunity to punch him in the stomach.

Fuck, he’s still wounded there.

Regulus feels his head hit the ground at the same time he sees Sirius’ expression of shock.

Well, fuck, that's what he gets for saving his brother again, Pandora is going to murder him when she finds out.

Sirius watches Grim fall to the ground in horror, their black robes slowly turning sticky around their stomach.

The smell of blood fills his nose so fast he can feel his hands shaking.

Fuck, fuck, did he just accidentally murder someone?

He slowly presses his boot against their side, earning a grunt from Grim. Okay, so not dead.

“Uh” Sirius feels a bit stupid now “Do you… need something?”

He can feel Grim glaring at him from under their veil, it makes Sirius feel slightly bad for punching them.

“...No” Grim grunts out, Sirius is surprised about how young he sounds. He expected someone older by how he’s seen him fight and how much trouble he’s been giving Dumbledore.

But Grim now on the floor, definitely glaring at him, doesn’t feel that- well, impressive, it feels like he just found an angry wet cat.

Grim slowly gets up, his hands shaking as he keeps one of them pressed on his open wound. Sirius can see him grilling his teeth from pain, or annoyance, he’s not sure.

“I’ll take you back to the fight, you are in no shape to appareate back” Sirius tells him, and he can see the internal debate Grim is going through before he nods.

Sirius does just that, the moment they arrive at the small tent James has set up he sees Grim trying his best not to fall to the floor.

Fuck, who even is this guy? And how is he still standing? His clothes are drenched in his own blood.

“Pads what-?” James is running towards him when he suddenly stops, taking in the view.

“Sup Prongs, can you lend this one a helping hand?” Sirius manages to get out, he was not planning on befriending Grim of all people but whatever, it's not like he can leave the kid to die.

Because now Grim has, extremely reluctantly and in an estate of panic, sat down and accepted the help. And he looks young, really young.

“Okay, I’m not a professional healer but I’m in training” James manages, clearly stressed “Could you take off some of your robes? Enough so I can deal with the wound? Oh I’m James by the way, call me James, well meet”

Sirius tunes him off, rushing back to the battle, Grim will be okay, he’s on good hands.

He looks for Lily, finding her surrounded by three Death Eaters, all knocked up, next to her Caradoc Dearborn and Emmeline are tying them up while Lily recovers her breath.

“Lils!” Sirius calls, Lily turns around, a hundred emotions crossing her face as she runs towards him.

“Sirius!” Lily grands him, checking for wounds “God I’m so glad you’re okay, Grim jumped just in time before they cast the killing curse but one can never be sure”

Sirius blinked, how could Grim have known they would cast that spell? Has he fought enough Death Eaters to know? Or has he fought other people too?

Who even is Grim?

“I’m alright really” Sirius says, his tone light, he doesn’t want to worry Lily “The git took me to some random forest and almost dropped dead when I punched him so I left him with Prongs”

Lily sighs, clearly disappointed in him, Sirius feels a pang of guilt, Grim risked his life to save him and the first thing he does is punch the poor kid.

“I can’t believe you” Lily mutters, shoving him lightly.

“Yeah yeah, I realised I was wrong to judge the kid okay? No need to kick a dead dog” Sirius grumbles, Lily rolls her eyes while Emmeline watches them with a small smile.

“Okay, time to leave” Dearborn grumbles, clearly he’s not one for chitchat “There is no more fighting around, lets go collect Potter”

Sirius does realise most things have calmed down by now, there still are houses burning but there are no sounds of battle around.

Is almost eerily silent.

“Sure”

When they get back Grim is no longer around and James is looking slightly nervous, Sirius wonder what the fuck happend while he was gone.

“Ready Potter?” Dearborn asks, his tone clearly indicating James better say yes.

With a flick of his wand James makes everything return to his bag, his tent becoming smaller and Sirius smirks, take that Dearborn.

“Yeah, let's go”

Sirius grabs onto James and they all return to the Order’s quarters, wonderful, now the only thing left is dealing with Dumbledore.

Sirius is so looking forward to it.

He misses Reggie, he would understand his sarcasm, he always did.

Regulus moves his robes enough so that the wound can be treated, revealing only part of his stomach.

He can feel his face heating up just as James kneels on the floor to inspect the wound.

“How in Sūrya’s flames are you still standing?” James’ looked absolutely horrified, he looked at the hundreds of scars visible, the ones from the inferi, as if questioning his life.

Regulus felt shy for no reason, he had been naked in front of James before yet showing just his stomach, now with his almost translucent scars adorning all his body, made him feel like a teenager again.

Depending how you counted he would only be nineteen in Yule, at the time he came back from the dead, which honestly sucked because changing his birthday to a morning in Yule felt wrong.

James carefully cleaned the wound with a spell before applying pressure again and stitching it up softly, using several potions to numb the area and speed up the healing.

Regulus watched without saying anything, letting himself relax as James worked.

Suddenly James stopped, his eyes landing in the remains of the scar from his cesarean section, it was already fading, it would soon yet Regulus felt suddenly embarrassed by it. Fucking Potter and his ability to make his stop functioning like a normal person.

He needed Harry here, his son sucked up all of his attention and made him stop thinking of James. He missed Harry too, would Cassius remember to read him his favourite children book? It was in french, did Cassius know french?

When Regulus looked again James had returned to working, looking quite embarrassed himself of getting distracted. Regulus almost laughed, oh James, he was still so easily distracted with anything that picked his curiosity.

“There you go” James finished, looking quite proud of himself “Don’t do place pressure on the wound and take this blood replenishing potion, if you want faster healing I would recommend potions that focus on internal healing”

Regulus already knows that but he nods, he quite likes the worried look he’s getting from James.

“Also, don’t exercise while you’re healing” James continues, he looks like a proper healer, Myrddin Regulus is still so gone for this man “And don’t put yourself in dangerous situations if you can”

Grim looks away and he’s quite sure James realises it because he sighs, like he used to when Regulus refused to do something that was for his own good, like sleep.

“I’ll try” He says, trying to keep his tone neutral.

He gets up, to James’ utter horror and walks towards the first alley he can find to appareate back home.

“Wait! Grim!” James calls him, making Regulus stop because he is a weak, weak man “Thank you”

Regulus looks at him, confusion radiating from him.

“For helping so many people” James adds, his cheeks red from embarrassment “I’m doing my apprenticeship in St. Mungo, there are a lot of people alive thanks to you”

Regulus hadn’t thought of that, he didn’t know.

It’s a weird fuzzy feeling that fills him, the satisfaction of knowing that at least he’s done something, that it's not all in vain.

“Thank you James” He says, softly, more softly than he intended.

When he sees James' expression he panics, appareating away.

Fuck, shit, fuck.

Regulus Black walks to his drawer and grabs several potions and drowns them in one go, speeding up the healing.

He’s so fucked, Myrddin, he’s still in love with James fucking Potter.

Cassius watches him from his seat, Harry curled up on his cradle.

“You made several choices today” Cassius says, his eyes look more focused than usual “Not all of them willingly though”

Regulus feels the need to bang his head against a wall, he doesn’t though, because unlike Sirius he has manners.

“Maybe” He says, because what the fuck was he thinking? Letting himself feel James’ hands on him even in a professional setting was dangerous.

He softly takes Harry out of his cradle, lying him on his bed, next to him.

Harry’s soft breathing immediately relaxes him, Regulus kisses his forehead softly.

“Cassius, what am I supposed to do?” Regulus asks, because at this point he doesn’t know.

Cassius stays silent for a while, Regulus doesn’t dare turn around to look at him, instead he watches his son sleep, calm, unharmed, protected.

“You don’t let yourself drown” Cassius settles in “You won't like the price to pay for it, but you have to, you can’t be the one drowning this time”

Regulus feels chills running down his spine.

He had forgotten, there was a price to pay for everything, and magic would always take what it was due.

Chapter Text

Arcturus Black was a patient man, he possessed a knowledge that only came with age, one that only could be acquired after making mistakes once and once again.

Arcturus Black knew rushing only made things worse in the long run. He knew how to bind his time and not show weaknesses.

Slowly he had begun to move pieces on the chessboard, and the first piece-

“You’re looking better than expected, cousin” A cruel smile shows in her blood red lips, Arcturus doesn't know what else he expected from her “Finally decided to lower your pride and ask for help?”

Arcturus sighs, he knows he's making the right choice for there is no one other than his wife that he trusts more.

But why is her personality still so rotten?

“Good afternoon Cassiopeia, finally managed to leave a country without needing to be kicked out?” He bickers back, pretending he doesn't see the hint of amusement on his cousin's eyes.

Cassiopeia doesn't even acknowledge him, instead she summons a chair in front of his desk, one far more ostentatious than his, and sits.

“Ah Arthy, you really know how to make me miss you” Cassiopeia sighs, her posture relaxed, almost coquettish “But you have yet to tell me why you made me come here so secretly, I really hope dear Melania knows about this”

Arcturus can feel his left eyebrow twitch, it doesn't matter how many years he's known Cassiopeia for, she still manages to get on his, and everyone's, nerves. 

“Th family needs some… changes” He tries, wincing at his own voice “I must admit I haven't been the most present for a while”

Cassiopeia rolls her eyes, unimpressed.

“Since you kicked Marius out you mean” Her tone is sharp, cutting, Arcturus makes no mistake in recognising it for what it truly is, contained anger waiting to burst.

Marius is a silent reminder of the choices Arcturus had made, Marius who had been born a squib, who Arcturus knew full well what fate awaited him if he were to stay.

“I sent Marius away to protect him” He reminds her even if it sounds flat on his own ears.

Cassiopeia stares at him, silent, it unnerves him. Cassiopeia’s silences have always been more dangerous than her loudest.

“Did you do it to protect him or did you do it to protect yourself, Arcturus?” 

Cassiopeia's words cut him sharper than her knives ever could, her cold eyes stare at him and he knows, at that very moment, that she will never forgive him.

“I did what I thought was best at the time” He settles at, feeling all his years at once “And it had not occurred to me that even I might err”

Cassiopeia’s posture slightly relaxes, it's more than he expected. Is less than he used to have.

“Now, I do believe mistakes need correction” Arcturus picks up his cane as he slowly gets up “And for that I'm swallowing my pride today, so help me Cassiopeia, is not often that I ask for something”

There is something behind Cassiopeia's eyes he can't completely recognise. She sighs, a long tired sigh that doesn't suit her young looks but does her age.

“Alright Arthy, I guess I can bet on you again” 

Arcturus smiles, the shadows in the room slightly flicker.

“I'll try not to disappoint”

Regulus tries his best to control his breathing, watching his son helps yet it is not enough.

“I didn't expect you to react like this to the news, I apologise Regulus” Cassius admits, looking the closest thing to ashamed he's ever seen him “But fate can only be bent so much”

He knows, he's known for a while, but he had been ignoring it for as long as he could, hoping the problem would magically disappear.

At some point Regulus would have to return there, to the cave, where he died. 

He was waiting, counting down the minutes before he could destroy the rest of the horcruxes.

Narcissa was locating the goblet, and after there was just one more left, one more to locate before the locket.

Regulus had ideas, about what it could be. The sword of Gryffindor was there, yet not easy enough to grab. Not that the other things were.

But if he chose the sword Dumbledore would have probably been able to tell. The question was what he would have done about it.

The other option had to be an object he always carried around, something of value yet easy to disguise.

What they chose to go after was a dangerous gamble, and in the end it came to how much one could trust Dumbledore.

Would the old man deal with a horcrux if he found it? Would he risk destroying it?

Would he even know how to?

Regulus wasn't sure, and there was too much at stake for him to dare and go in blind.

The soft sound of Pandora's apparition pulled him from his thoughts. Pandora was the only person he knew that had managed to change the sound of apparition and of course instead of writing a paper on the mechanics she decided to simply make it sound like a nursery rhyme.

Ela hypne mou, pare to
Ki ame syrianise to
tis Polis tin Agia Sofia,
tis Chios ta perivolia,
kai gemise tous korfous tou
triantafylla kai roda.

As the soft song envolved him Regulus relaxed instinctively, seconds later the sounds of Barty and Evan arriving could also be heard.

Pandora was the first to find them, greeting her father with a kiss before lowering herself next to Regulus.

“You're hurt” She pointed out, her displeasure obvious on her tone “You haven't been resting either”

Regulus is too tired to defend himself, he simply nods, letting Pandora fuss over him.

He has also missed her too much to not melt into her embrace.

“Missed you too Dora” He tells her, knowing it's missing its usual cutting edge, he can't find it in himself to care.

Pandora kissed his forehead before softly caressing Harry's cheek, making him giggle in his sleep.

“Father told you too much” Pandora half whispers, Regulus looks away even if he knows it's not his fault “Listen to me Regulus, you can't be the one drowning this time, and not just because you have Harry waiting for you”

Regulus knows, the very reason why he won't walk into that cave without a plan, the very reason he's been acting less reckless than he had back then.

“Can't or won't?” He asks, because there was a difference, and they both know full well what it means.

Pandora seems to consider it for a moment, the colours on her eyes twirling almost like a kaleidoscope.

“Both” She says, and it's final “Who'll pay the price has already been decided”

And isn’t that such a scary thought? The fact that Regulus won’t know the price of his actions until they catch up to him?

Regulus sighs, he knows better than to try to defy fate.

He’s not left alone with his thoughts for long as his annoying friends immediately rush trough the door.

Evan has the decency to greet his father, Barty doesn’t even bother and jumps on top of Regulus.

“Reg! I missed you” Barty looks at him with fake tears on his eyes, Regulus, now laying on the ground with Barty’s weight on top of him can only glare.

“Barty, get off, you’re opening my stitches” Regulus complains, making Barty freeze, Evan’s expression immediately turns dark.

“What do you mean stitches?” Evan’s tone is cold, Regulus gulps.

“It’s not as bad as it looks” Regulus tries, which only further infuriates Evan, he considers grabbing Harry and running away before discarding the thought, Evan would manage to find him.

Suddenly Harry cries, Regulus immediately turns his attention back on his son. It’s a good distraction from his problems and he sees Evan immediately soften.

“Aw Althy is awake, did we wake you up?” Barty begins, cooing Harry softly.

Regulus doesn’t even blink at the ridiculous nickname Barty has given his son, he knows a lost battle when he sees one.

In Barty’s defense Harry begins to relax, instead he looks at Barty with the same offended expression Regulus usually makes.

“B-ba” Harry begins, Regulus immediately kisses his cheek.

“Pa-pa” Regulus says, slowly pronouncing the words and pointing at himself.

Harry frowns, as if annoyed at his lack of correct pronunciation, Regulus just laughs.

“He’s already talking?” Barty asks in shock, Regulus laughs.

“Babies are learning how to talk since they’re born Barty, and Harry babbles a lot, he just has to learn how to make it make sense” Regulus says, Harry sucks on his thumb which Regulus immediately substitutes for a pacifier.

“So smart, he definitely takes after you Reg” Barty and tickles Harry, who spits the pacifier at him and hits Barty in the face.

Evan sighs, clearly disappointed in Barty who laughs before sitting next to them on the floor.

Harry’s eyes turn towards him, curious, then he tries to grab Evan’s hair. Regulus doesn’t know why he’s surprised.

Harry is the reason that now that Regulus has begun to grow his hair he has to braid it to make sure it remains unharmed. Honestly the long hair gets a bit on the way, he’s not used to it but the extra disguise reassures him.

Maybe when the war’s over Regulus will cut it again, not as short as he used to have it, just enough for his curls to softly fall on his face.

“Can I hold him?” Evan asks, his voice soft, Regulus immediately nods.

Harry relaxes easily in Evan’s arms, playing with Evan’s necklaces and pulling, Evan just lets him with a fond look on his eyes.

“On-on” Harry babbles and Regulus laughs softly.

“Oui, tonton Evan” He agrees easily and Harry looks satisfied.

Regulus watches Evan, who looks close to bursting into tears, for a stoic asshole he was always a softie.

The five, not six because Cassius has disappeared at some point, stay together in the room catching up.

Regulus informs them about the raids, omitting the details about running into Sirius and being almost knocked out by him. He’s not ready for Pandora’s disappointed look.

He tries his best to brush off James healing him as a small detail but Barty immediately catches how red his ears turn.

“Potter, Regulus, Potter, Why?” Barty asks, as if Regulus had an answer “Was it not enough that you are directly involved in passing down his terrible genes? No, you also had to blush like a virgin when he’s mentioned”

Regulus covers Harry’s eyes as he hexes Barty, who jumps up in surprise.

“What the fu- flip Reg” Barty complains, pouting “It’s not my fault you went for Potter of all people”

“You can’t judge my dating history when you dated Lockhart” Regulus huffs, Pandora smirks at Barty, clearly remembering those terrible times.

“For a week Reg, I dated him for a week” Barty mumbles, clearly offended “And I didn’t have a whole a- uh, kid with him”

Evan laughs, Regulus rolls his eyes.

“I regret the fact that I ever considered making you godfather” Regulus grumbles, he does not mean it but he wont ever admit it.

Yule was one of Regulus’ favourite celebrations, mostly because he and Sirius were left alone to do as they pleased after the galas.

Now he didn’t have Sirius but his friends and a son. The preparations for Yule came easy to him, preparing the Yule log, which would be burning twelve days and twelve nights, the small offerings, the feast.

Everyone had begun making the gifts time ago but it felt good to relax. Regulus hummed softly as he finished the last gifts, carving runes into a firefly shaped necklace.

As the night arrived Regulus could feel his magic reacting, not as much as Pandora surely but he was raised to feel the changes of the magic around him.

Tonight The Wild Hunt would happen, ghosts would cross the veil and do a procession through the sky, they would be led by Sleipnir, an eight legged horse, wolves and ravens.

Offerings would be given in hopes it would be a blessing and not a curse.

Regulus hummed softly, Harry placed on his hip as they moved around.

Evan would be the one to light up the log, Pandora had refused saying she would rather do it with more people around next year. Regulus had just nodded and decided not to ask what she meant.

Soon the screams began, the familiar sight of thousands of ghosts surging the sky, wolves and ravens at their tails greeted him.

The procession always made Regulus hold his breath, no matter how many times he’s seen it.

He held Harry closer, chuckling when the kid tried to get a better view.

It didn’t take long for them to lose sight of the procession, when it was over Regulus could finally breathe, he looked at Pandora, every year's question the same.

“Hard to tell” Pandora admitted “But I would say a blessing”

Barty grinned, resting his head in Evan’s lap.

“Well! I’ll take my chances, better than last year, that was obviously a curse” Barty said before picking up some extra food, Evan scrunched his nose in distaste “So, gifts?”

Regulus pitched Barty in the stomach before throwing his gift at him, Evan rolled his eyes but gave Barty his gift too.

Cassius watched them in amusement but soon joined the giftgiving.

In the end Regulus had to open double the gifts, the ones for him and the ones for Harry. He also had to open the gifts he received as Leo Rosier, he also had to send gifts as Leo Rosier.

Life was terrible, at least he hoped the twins would appreciate the communicating devices he had created for them, a small coin that would burn if you were in danger and pointed towards the other.

When it came to Euphemia and Fleamont, well Regulus had tried his best, giving Fleamont some of his notes for potions and Euphemia a marble dagger with runes carved and currents drawn in it.

Sirius and James, he simply gifted them healing potions, because Dadga knew they would need those. He could excuse adding them to the list by using Fleamont and Euphemia, if anyone asked he just didn’t want to get on the Potter’s bad side.

He ignored how both James and Sirius had also sent small gifts for both Harry and him, he tried to pretend it didn’t mean anything. 

Because it probably didn’t, because Sirius and James didn’t know it was him.

Next night Evan walked to the log, placing both his hands on it, letting the flames engulf him, burn through the wood.

Yule had officially started, Regulus prepared the gifts for the second day with a sigh. Twelve days, twelve nights, twelve gifts.

“Harry, if you fall in love make sure they’re not a Gryffindor” Regulus mumbled “Those latch on you and before you know you can’t make them leave even if you die”

“Pa!” Harry says, not paying attention.

Regulus looks at his son in disbelief.

“You really had to go and say the closest thing to papa while I’m complaining about James, of course” Regulus didn’t even know why he tried.

Harry tilts his head innocently, Regulus sighs.

“Don’t worry about it étoile”

Charlus picks the letter, turns it around and drops it again.

He's been doing this for months now, since Fleamont dropped by and gave it to him.

Cassius, a name he hasn't heard in years, a name that brings back as many memories as Tom does.

His first reaction had been to try burn the damned thing, just to get his message across.

He had cut ties from his past, from Tom.

Yet the letter didn't burn, trust Cassius to guess exactly his every move. Because of course he was still as annoying and cryptic as when he was younger.

So he kept the letter, picked it up, looked at it, even made a Dadga forsaken crane with it which of course that was allowed, damnit Cassius.

But he didn't open it.

Because that would feel like he was giving up, like he was admitting he hadn't yet distanced himself from everything as he thought.

He tried to crush the letter, just because, it didn't even fold a bit. Damnit Cassius.

Out of spite he began making a snake with the letter, Cassius never really liked them which Charlus found hilarious.

As he finished the last folds the letter suddenly returned to its original appearance. 

It looked like Cassius still didn't like snakes. Fucking asshole.

“Dammit” Charlus mumbled, Dorea some shelves away paid him no mind and kept looking for some obscure book on curses “You win Cassius but fuck you”

This time Dorea snorts, clearly amused, Charlus glares at his wife who seems to only find it funny.

“Well, he did always win when he actually tried, didn't he?” Dorea points out, not even bothering to look in his direction.

“That doesn't mean I have to like it” Charlus mumbles, irritated.

“It just means you have to deal with it” Dorea replies, unbothered “Now, I'd like to enjoy silence in my own library, you have your own, soundproof too if I may remind you. If you must speak do it where me and the books are not bothered”

Charlus pouts, which makes Dorea send him an unimpressed look.

“Maybe I just wanted to spend some lovely time with my wife who I love” He says, he's quite happy when Dorea closes her book and looks at him.

“Charlus” Her tone is calm.

“Yes dear?” Charlus sends her a cocky smile.

“Scram” 

Charlus groans, picking up his things and cleaning the mess he's made.

“Why did I marry you?” He asks even if he knows the answer.

“So I didn't have to marry Lestrange and your parents would stop pestering you about getting married” 

Charlus pouts but doesn't deny it, instead he throws her a paper crane, a normal one not the letter, and runs away before Dorea can throw him something ten times more deadly.

Dorea curses as he makes a run for it, making him laugh.

“Love you too dear!” He replies, closing the door just before a hex hits him.

He does, in the end, make way to his library, because Dorea insisted on having three at least.

The Blacks are crazy so he didn't expect less, at least Cassiopeia, Dorea’s older sister, came to help them design them so he didn't need to figure that part out.

And Pollux didn't even know where he lived so one less Black to deal with. Thank Surya honestly.

It was a good thing that since Marius had been kicked out they stopped big family gathering, which he would have been forced to attend. Sometimes he considered sending Marius a basket as a thank you for his sacrifice.

Chapter Text

Regulus woke up feeling the cold air against his cheek. For just a moment he wondered why he wasn’t in his room, in Grimmauld Place before sitting back up.

It was Yule, a cold afternoon in Yule and he had fallen asleep on the grass next to Evan.

He blinked twice, his vision no longer blurry and watched as Barty babbled with Harry in mermish, Regulus shared an exasperated look with evan before smiling softly.

Still, if his son began talking in mermish before french Regulus and Barty were going to have a problem.

“Are you ever going to tell him?” Regulus asked, his tone revealing nothing, Evan shrugged.

“I suppose” Evan’s tone was almost emotionless “I should probably wait until the war ends though, just in case”

Regulus arched an eyebrow, not believing Evan’s act, they practically grew up together Regulus knew exactly what Evan was doing.

Evan was especially good at being detached, his own way to protect himself, Pandora cared too much, Evan cared too little was what people said. Regulus knew the truth, out of all of them Evan would be the first to break if something  were to happen.

“Are you afraid of losing him or him losing you?” Regulus didn’t try to soften his question, Evan was not one to appreciate things like that “Is it living with what could have been or dying and leaving him alone?”

Evan bit his inner lip, he looked at Barty playing with Harry, grinning like he had everything he ever wanted in the world.

Barty caught his gaze and winked at them, Evan’s lips twitched upwards.

“You know I’m not a good person Reg, I don’t fear death” Evan sounded resigned, Regulus knew there was more to it.

“But?”

Evan sighed, clearly realising Regulus was not going to let him get away that easily.

“He makes me greedy” Evan admitted, Regulus snorted “I want to tell him, I want him to know, to think of me but I know that if I die it will destroy him”

Regulus nodded, he understood the feeling.

“So you won't tell him”

“No” Evan’s tone was final.

“Okay” Regulus accepted easily, Evan stared at him in shock.

“Okay?” 

Regulus shrugged, he would not push Evan to confess, not when he had similar fears.

He hadn’t contacted Dorcas, or his brother, or Jam–

“Yeah, okay” Regulus smiled softly “We can do all this after the war”

“Age really changed you” Evan muttered under his breath “You used to be more pushy”

Regulus rolled his eyes and shoved Evan playfully.

“Oh, I was like that until my dead trust me its not age” 

Evan smiled, then shoved him too, just like when they were children.

“Then its parenthood” Evan stuck out his tongue, Regulus very maturely flipped him off “Because now you’re like, the old one in the group”

“I came back in Yule so technically only now I am nineteen” Regulus pointed out “You all were just a year younger until like today”

Evan rolled his eyes “If you want to get technical Dora is still a year younger only”

Regulus groaned, Pandora and Evan were probably the only twins that could claim to be born in different years. Last day of the year, first day of the year, Pandora blackmailed her way into attending a year later than what they wanted so she could go with Evan.

“It doesn’t work like that and the thirty-one is in two days, and you’re immediately next, don’t give me that look”

Evan laughed, softly, almost like a bird, Regulus couldn’t keep pretending he was annoyed.

“Sure old man, if you say so” Suddenly Evan gasped, Regulus felt a sense of foreboding “Wait, does that mean you’re a year older than Sirius now? Oh this is gold”

Yeah, that would do it, Regulus hexed Evan’s eyebrows off with a blinding pearl-white smile on his face.

He didn’t regret it even after Evan retaliated by hexing his hair red.

Time passed slowly in Rosier manor, Regulus still believed the name was ridiculous because it was several manors, not just one manor, but whatever. 

Yule gifts were exchanged everyday, Harry didn’t pay much attention to them though, but Regulus did for him. James and Sirius had gifted Harry both toys, really Sirius? A kids broom?, and several protective accessories.

The little ribbon bows Regulus was going to clip into Harry’s hair as soon as he was sure it wouldn’t hurt him were beautiful. And extremely cute, even Barty had admitted ‘Potter’ had finally used his brain.

They were night blue with little stars, resembling a muggle painting Regulus hadn’t heard of until Barty had shown him.

De sterrennacht, or La Nuit étoilée in French, Regulus had to admit the painting was quite beautiful.

Harry had also taken to babbling nonsense, which was obviously not nonsense to him so Regulus tried his best to answer with all the seriousness possible, and Barty had taken to talking to him in a different language everyday.

Regulus had forgotten Barty knew that many fucking languages. 

“Ba” Harry pointed out, his voice completely serious, Regulus nodded.

“Bien sûr, mon amour, tu as faim, n'est-ce pas?”

Harry squinted his eyes, clearly considering his options, Regulus waited patiently for an answer.

“Ou ah” Harry declared before trying to bite Regulus’ hand.

Regulus snorted; he kissed his son’s head, Harry was still biting, which was normal, he was teething.

In Meera’s words muggle methods to make teething unpainful sucked, Regulus was so glad they had spells to make it unpainful. He wouldn’t know what to do if Harry began crying from pain, especially a pain he could not heal.

Maybe he would just go into his lab and not come out until he figured out a way to help, his skills might be on runes and the so called dark magic, terribly stupid way to categorise magic by the way, but his skills in potions were still above average.

He was confident in his abilities, if Harry needed a potion he could create it.

As if sensing his mental turmoil Harry placed his hand, his sticky hand, on Regulus’ face. Regulus blinked, Harry looked at him owlishly and blinked exactly like Regulus.

“Let’s wash your hands before we eat étoile”

Harry did not want to wash his hands, Regulus had to bribe his kid with the promise of letting him hold Leo the cat while he did so.

Leo the cat was one the cat plush toy Barty had gotten him, he had been named after Harry had decided that throwing things at people was a good idea one day.

Barty thought it was funny and Regulus knew Evan and Pandora agreed, because his friends were traitors.

Worst of all? Harry had cried after throwing Leo the cat because he wanted the plush toy back.

All in all Harry didn’t usually throw tantrums, if anything most of the time the kid would simply bite people and be done with it. Or stare at you with the same expression Regulus had when dealing with stupid people, which was fine in Regulus’ opinion, people are stupid most of the time.

He did try to stop the biting though, and the grabbing hair, he didn’t always succeed.

Barty and Pandora waited for them at the table, the smell of warm food filled his nose.

“There he is! How ya doing ometto?” Barty grins, Harry immediately adopts the same crazy grin.

Regulus wants to roll his eyes but Barty easily passes him the milk, already warmed at the correct temperature, and Pandora easily places food on his plate, just so that he would eat an appropriate amount.

He loved his friends dammit.

Regulus switches positions, making sure Harry is comfortable and begins feeding him, Barty kept cooing at Harry even if the kid wasn’t even paying attention.

Finally Regulus burped Harry and placed him in Barty’s arms, the idiot was vibrating with energy.

“Aw Althy aren’t you just perfect?” Barty mutters as Harry places his, now clean, hands on his face.

“Bee!” Harry proudly states before grabbing Barty’s hair and yanking it.

Regulus watches as Barty’s eyes fill with unshed tears, he was pretty sure those weren’t from pain.

Not completely sure though.

“Reg! Reg! He said my name” Barty turns to look at them with his puppy eyes, clearly vibrating in excitement “Dora isn’t he the cutest? Our mini Reg said my name!”

Pandora nods, a competitive look in her eyes, at that moment Regulus decides he deserves a nap and disconnects from whatever Barty and Pandora were about to do.

He should find Evan, he was as crazy as them but at least he could, on occasions, behave like a well adjusted adult.

As he walked out of the room he could hear Pandora repeat her name slowly and Harry laughing. He was sure Barty was going to gloat about being the first one whose name Harry said.

They were all ridiculous really.

Evan was tending their garden, around him several small spirits wandered around, none of them were malicious but they also weren’t much helpful.

“Getting some extra helpers?” Regulus asks anyway, because one thing Evan loved was working with any magical creature he could find, including wixen.

Evan pushed away a puffy wind spirit, maybe a newborn anemoi?, before looking at him.

“Something like that” Evan settled on, Regulus didn’t bother to contradict him, instead he joined easily on the harvesting of the potion’s materials.

It was quiet work, and the small spirits honestly sometimes just made it harder to work. But Evan liked them, he liked hearing their unintelligible words, he liked seeing them drift around and he liked when they brought him small gifts.

A collector, Evan was, his animagus form suited him more than anything, a crow, not a raven, smaller, quieter and not one for solitude.

Not that the asshole would ever admit it.

“Yule will end soon” Evan reminded him, Regulus didn’t need it, he had been counting the days they had left together from the start “I know we have letters but… please Reg, don’t go do something stupid alone, wait for us”

Regulus swallowed, he knew deep down that he couldn’t promise that.

“I’ll try” He could not give more than that and Evan didn’t pretend he believed otherwise.

“You can’t die” Evan reminded him “You have Harry”

“I know” Regulus didn’t avoid his friends gaze, sometimes he forgot, Evan had Pandora’s same eyes, the ones that made you dizzy if you looked at for too long.

Those magic filled eyes any old family wixen would recognise.

“Then that's enough”

It was obvious to Regulus that Evan had felt something settle in place, not seen, because Evan did not see.

But Evan felt, more than any of them, he had always been the softest after all.

Regulus hated goodbyes, so when his friends had to return to Hogwarts and he had to return to work he could only sulk in silence while Barty laughed at his misery.

“I’ll try to speed my NEWTS date Reg don’t worry” Barty promised, and Regulus was pretty sure he wasn’t joking.

Barty was a genius.

“We… could” Evan admitted thoughtful, if less sure “It’s not likely that we’ll find another horcrux at Hogwarts and we already extracted all the information Slughorn may have”

Pandora hummed in agreement, Regulus hated that it made sense.

“I don’t want to be the reason you all don’t get the full student experience” Regulus admitted, like a hypocrite.

“Reg, tesoro, baby, love of my life” Barty grabbed him by the shoulders and began to shake him “I’m so ready to never see some of our classmates faces ever again, also, Dumbledore sucks and seeing him every time I eat ruins my appetite”

“I have to agree” Pandora said with a cheery tone that didn’t match the occasion “He doesn’t like me either so is mutual though”

Regulus was going to unpack all that later, not now, the fuck did Dumbledore do for Pandora to dislike him?

“Eh, I don’t think I’d be missing on much if we leave” Evan finishes, unbothered “Is not like we lost anything in the castle”

“See Reg? We’ll join you in your crazy world dominating plans as soon as we can” Barty finished, his smile too wide “Aren’t we just the most loyal henchmen?"

Regulus’ eyebrow twitched “What you all are is stupid”

He still hugged them, and maybe his eyes got a bit wet, whatever, who was going to call him out on it?

The days after were spent far more calmly, playing with Harry or talking to him about complex runes, Regulus might have temporarily run out of bedtime stories and had grown desperate, runes were supposed to be boring anyway? Right? Boring things put people to sleep, it made sense.

It didn’t work as well as Regulus expected, Harry loved hearing him talk about runes, he had to buy more bedtime books soon before he began to explain eight circle rune calculations to a not even a year old.

Gideon and Fabian didn’t understand his pain and instead kept laughing at his misery, they referred to Harry as mini-boss and when Harry babbled nonsense they nodded and pretended they were following his orders.

The doorbell rang softly just as Regulus was beginning to doze off from boredom, with both Fabian and Gideon away in business, spying on some Death Eaters Regulus had told them about, and no clients yet Regulus had nothing to do.

Not that he believes Fabian and Gideon would find anything Narcissa didn’t know, but it was always good to have other sources, just in case.

“Hullo Leo!” A way too familiar voice makes Regulus snap his neck in their direction “How was Yule?”

James Potter, in the flesh, wearing the most obnoxious shirt he’s ever seen. Why James, why do you embarrass yourself and your associates by wearing what has to be considered one of earth's horrors.

“Morning Heir Potter” Regulus greets, silent glee at James scowl at the address.

“Leoo! Call me James” James tries pouting, Regulus, who had dated the man and became an expert at bullshit saw through him immediately.

“What do I get from that?” He says instead, because he’s actually interested in James’ answer. 

Also, he’s bored, he missed James, he needs a way to keep the guy entertained and a way to not die of boredom.

“My wonderful and unparalleled company of course” James says without missing a beat, but Regulus can tell he no longer says it with the same confidence as when they met, is, weird in all honestly “I’ve been told I’m quite the catch to keep around”

Regulus raises an eyebrow, letting his amusement slip through.

“Do a lot of people tell you that?” He asks, his voice completely neutral, James nods. Regulus immediately smiles “So sorry to be the one to tell you you’re surrounded by liars”

“You wound me Leo!” James takes his hand to his chest, ever the one for dramatics “And here I thought you were beginning to enjoy my company”

Regulus can’t help it, he laughs, James makes it easy, he really does. As he laughs he almost misses the look James gives him, one he can not quite decipher.

“Alright James” Regulus says, ignoring the beaming smile James sends his way at the lack of formalities “I’m guessing Lord Thalassias sent you? She asked me to make some extra potions to deal with blood loss"

James nods, his smile still manages to make Regulus squirm. Dadga that smile should be illegal.

“Yeah, but I’m also here to buy some for myself” James pulls out enough money to cover Euphemia's potions and gives it to Regulus without a second thought “Mind if I look around?”

Regulus shakes his head “Not at all, this is a shop after all”

James doesn’t waste time and begins piling potions on the counter, Regulus easily calculates the price in his head.

For the average wixen this would be a lot of money, but the Potters are filthy rich, just like the Blacks, honestly most ancient families are.

Whatever, the goblins were both richer and more advanced when it came to money and structure. No one could beat them and Regulus was really glad he was on okay terms with the one in charge of his gold.

Ragnok was easy to talk to and wouldn’t rat him out to his family for the right price, mostly because Regulus was the only one who bothered to respect him and the fact that the old goblin had a soft spot for kids, which Regulus had been when he first met him.

Five year old Regulus deciding he wanted to learn everything about goblin culture and asking Ragnok to teach him could have gone worse, definitely.

“Hey Leo, where is Harry?” James’ question pulls him out of his thoughts “Is he in the other room?”

“Yes” Regulus answers instinctively, then shyly looks away for a split second “Do you want to see him?”

“I’d love to, he’s such a cute child honestly” James admits, Regulus watched him fondly.

Myrddin, it was in moments like this that Regulus wanted to come clean regardless of the consequences. James might be angry at him, hate him even for the words he said before disappearing but he didn’t think James would hate Harry.

And if that was the price to pay, Regulus would take it. Because he couldn’t find it in himself to regret Harry.

“Follow me” Regulus says, wandlessly closing the front door to anyone but those he keyed into the wards “He’s in the nursery”

James follows him without an inch of suspicion, which makes Regulus sigh in exasperation, this idiot doesn’t have a distrusting bone in his body.

The nursery is beautiful, the painted night sky in the ceiling and the details Pandora, Evan and Barty added in their free time are obvious.

If James thinks anything of the design choice he doesn’t mention it. Instead he walks silently, more silent than Regulus has ever seen him and looks down at Harry, sleeping easily on his crib.

“He’s so small” James mutters out in fascination, making Regulus laugh.

“Babies tend to be” Regulus doesn’t bother to hide his smirk “He was born at the end of July, give him time to grow”

James grins at him and Regulus feels his heart skip a beat.

Myrddin, this man is going to kill him.

“Summer baby?” James asks and softly, absurdly softly like Harry was made of glass, places his index finger on Harry’s cheek “I was a spring baby myself, you?”

Regulus snorts, if he’s honest he doesn’t know.

Regulus Black was born on the night of the longest day of the year, always so close to the sun yet never quite able to reach it.

Leo Rosier was born on a quiet night of winter, in a house that he wouldn’t stay long enough to become home.

“Winter, I was born in winter” He says and it feels like the truth, because Regulus Black died the same way he was born, and Leo Rosier didn’t “This is the weirdest way someone has ever asked me for my birthday though”

“Always aiming to please” James easily says with a grin, and it feels easy, for Regulus to fall back into old habits.

James Potter makes it easy to love him.

He doesn’t bother to act surprised when in less than a week James is back at his shop, with Sirius in two, his eyes clearly asking to see Harry.

Regulus pretends to put up a fight, it doesn’t come out as convincing as it should.

Sirius plays with Harry and his eyes shine with love, James helps him around the shop with a smile as bright as the sun.

Regulus should fight it, he really should, there is a reason why he didn’t tell them about his plans, why he kept them away from Voldemort.

Yet he selfishly lets them get close to Leo Rosier, because it’s easier. Sirius doesn’t hate Leo, James doesn’t think Leo is a Death Eater.

Leo Rosier is just a father with a cute son, a potioneer that can help them because his prices are always fair.

So when James and Sirius visit day after day Regulus stops fighting it.

“Leo! Where do you have my favourite boy?” Sirius asks as he practically kicks the door open, Regulus has to stop himself from glaring at him.

He doesn’t succeed completely because he can see James shivering behind Sirius, and Sirius for a second freezes.

He forgets sometimes, that James and Sirius don’t know he would never hurt them, that they don’t know that he keeps an eye out in the raids to see if they are around.

They haven’t been coincided again yet but Regulus knows it’s only a matter of time.

“Harry’s sleep Sirius” He says and rolls his eyes, Sirius immediately relaxes “But with this much noise I’m sure he’s now awake”

“Eh, guilty” Sirius says sheepishly, then turns towards Regulus with pleading eyes.

“Yes you can see him” 

He pretends he doesn’t melt at how eager Sirius is to see Harry, how often he asks about him when he visits.

James does too, almost as much but Sirius has basically Harry’s schedule memorised.

“Good! I know he loves Leo the cat but-” Sirius begins to look for something in his bag, Regulus tries his best to pretend he’s not curious “Here! Sirius the dog, I got it for him some days ago because ya know he’s stuck on that cat, but maybe he would like some change?”

Regulus wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, instead he was holding back tears.

“I’m sure he’ll love it Siri” He says and leaves before he can catch Sirius’ expression, when he returns Harry in his arms immediately makes grabby hands at Sirius.

“Hello petite étoile” Sirius mutters as he kisses Harry’s curls “How was your day? tell Padfoot”

“Ad-ood” Harry greets with a toothy smile, Sirius immediately melts “Pa-pa eep”

Regulus watches as Harry babbles about something only he understands, James next to him watches him.

“Harry has gotten better at pronouncing” James sounds proud, Regulus hopes he is.

“He has” Regulus admits easily “He knows what he wants to say, he just lacks the means, he’ll get there eventually”

James chuckles, and Regulus gives him a smile, a quiet private smile he hasn’t given in a while.

Suddenly James looks away, the tips of his ears deep red.

“Yeah, after all he takes after you” James is still not looking at him “You’re one of the smartest people I know”

Regulus freezes, as the realisation hits him.

Oh Dadga, was James flirting with him?

Oh Regulus is fucked, utterly, terribly fucked.

He can’t believe it’s Sirius who takes his attention away from the panic.

“Yo James, how are things going with Lily by the way?” Sirius asks, completely unaware his friend is blushing and that Regulus is once more the cause.

“Sirius, me and Lily aren’t like that” James says and by the tone Regulus can tell this is a recurring discussion.

“Sure, any other girls you’re talking to then?” Sirius asks with a knowing grin, James rolls his eyes.

“Maybe I’m talking to other boys Padfoot” James mutters, a bit louder than intended.

Sirius laughs, Harry looks at him weirdly and Regulus couldn’t be prouder of his son.

“Good one James!” Sirius says, like if James being with a boy is unimaginable “Tell me when you come up with a better excuse”

James sighs, clearly having given up, Regulus watches him in pity.

Regulus is going to say something to make James look less like a kicked puppy when he sees the man’s gaze travel down to his lips and flush deep red.

Yeah no, he’s not touching that with a bargepole, no, James might feel some attraction towards Leo Rosier, okay, perfectly fine.

Leo Rosier is not Regulus Black, could happen, could be worse, Regulus just has to pretend he doesn’t see it.

James’ sad expression now can not affect his plans to stop a crazy megalomaniac.

He has work.