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Chapter Text

Dumbledore's office was grandiose, extravagant and somehow awfully replicant of the man himself. Remus found himself feeling small standing south of Dumbledore's desk, eyes fixed on the bookshelves on the side rather than the aged man behind the desk. Dumbledore paid Remus’s nerves no mind, even in the corner of his eyes, Remus could tell he wore his simple, inspective look. “I find it probable to presume you are unaware of why you have been called here.” Dumbledore plainly stated, his candorous voice as inscrutable as it always was. 

“Yes sir.” Remus answered, no matter how long he had been at Hogwarts he still found Dumbledore intimidating in a way none of his friends quite seemed to anymore. 

“It is of no shock to you that I am to admit that recent years have been more tumultuous in regards to the current war.” Dumbledore started, the war did garner Remus’s attention, bringing his attention off the walls of books and painting, meeting Dumbledore's inscrutable stare. 

“I have heard things have started to worsen.” Remus was downplaying what he had heard by a lot though he doubted Dumbledore was expecting much else from him.

“Of course, of course.” Dumbledore started with a kind smile that unleashed Remus."Many students have begun to seek participance or training in preparation, I assume you are aware of this, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black are right on the top of that list.” he continued, Remus nodded. “Whereas most students I have to turn down, it is, of course, a safety issue and most definitely not my place to push students into war. I find myself in a… conflicting situation.”

“How so?” Remus asked, hoping that maybe in some stroke of luck it would have little to do with him. 

“Lord Voldemort” Remus flinched slightly at the name “is gathering help wherever he can, obviously we can not dissuade witches and wizards from joining, no matter how hard we try, each individual is entitled to the choice of following him.” Dumbledore paused, sitting himself up straighter, his light beard falling more centred, lighting deep in contrast to his deep maroon robes. “But outside of witches and wizards we have more leniency, a different sort of sway if you please.” 

“I’m not quite sure I follow.” 

“Centaurs, giants, vampires and creatures of similarity all have a pull to listen to their own, we have people who have agreed to sway these opinions of such nature towards at least neutrality." 

“I suppose you would like to add werewolves to the list?” it was rhetorical, Remus knew the answer. 

“If you are up for it.” 

“I…” Remus started. He didn’t quite know what to say. He had never met another werewolf, aside from the one who bit him at least. He wasn't sure if he ever wanted to. 

“Feel free to think on it Mr. Lupin.” Dumbledore finished. Remus stared at him. 

“Is there any detail you can give me before I decide? It's not something I can just blindly agree to.” it was a logical question that the only functioning part of him could think to ask. Remus of course wanted to help, James and Sirius would be bloody jealous, Peter too, maybe, to a lesser degree but werewolves? Remus had never expected to be offered any kind of special role because of his lycanthropy; he had come to terms with this, the distrust that came with what he was and yet here Dumbledore was, asking not just in spite of it but because of it, this was possibly worse. 

“It would be of the utmost secrecy, you couldn’t tell anyone what you would be doing, obviously. All I can say at the moment is it would involve going away for no more than a week.” Dumbledore explained. Remus didn’t answer immediately.

It was an honour to be chosen for such a task, even if it was only because of the very worst part of him. At least if he did it he would be definitively a good werewolf which was a feat he had been trying to prove since he was just five, remembering the promise he made to his parents, never to lose himself to such less savory means. It would be helpful too, to the cause, to stop the war, Remus knew that for sure.

On the other hand he was only just Seventeen as of March, he was rather untrained and definitely not the best wizard in his year, it was probably a death sentence.

A braver person would have said yes immediately. James, Sirius, even Peter all would have said yes. Maybe if he did end up dying he would be immortalized for his bravery. Maybe he could finally have people know about the whole werewolf thing without initially assuming he was a monster.  “I guess there's no reason I couldn't," Remus sighed, Dumbledore looked pleased. “Do you know when I would be going? Or where?” Remus asked. He felt nervous asking, he regretted wearing the sweater over his uniform, it made him feel all too warm.

“Tomorrow morning. There is a pack just north east from here, I will be seeing you here before breakfast in my office tomorrow morning, you’ll pack tonight, albeit lightly, possessions are frowned upon by most werewolves.”

“Tomorrow?” Remus balked. 

“Less of a chance for words to get around.” Dumbledore responded. “You are dismissed.” he said with a smile, gesturing one aged hand towards the door. 

Remus left with his mind running rampant. Tomorrow was far too soon with far too little notice. Remus didn’t know anything about werewolf packs beside the little bits in library books he had read when he was just eleven. Remus didn’t know what to bring, what would he say to his friends, what would he even be doing in a pack? He needed time to prepare, he needed this to not be so sudden, he was already a bit strung out, with the full moon coming soon; no doubt that is why he was going so quickly but that only meant he was already achy and worn. 

“By the way Mr. Lupin,” Dumbledore added as Remus opened the door. “I find it best that you do not mention this to your friends, it is dire that this stays a secret.” Remus nodded half heartedly. He felt nauseous, overwhelmed, maybe he was excited, just a bit, to meet people like him had been a childhood fantasy. He went down the stairs quickly, he heard the door swing shut behind him, he focused on watching his feet on the stairs, then on the concrete floors. 

He was back in his dorm before he knew it. It was, of course, empty. Supper had just started. It wasn’t odd for him to skip closer to the moon. His appetite always grew closer to the moon, his skin would feel too tight, everything would be overwhelming, he couldn't do anything about those, resisting eating was one of the few restorations he had occasionally done, when he could bear it. Now he just felt preoccupied, his stomach hurt. There was anticipation brewing in the wolf, it contrasted his worry nicely. 

Remus thought the best thing to pack was probably nothing beyond what he typically brought to the moon, thin clothes something to ease his nerves, he used to take chocolate that Madam Pomfrey had always given him. Now he’d sneak in whatever half empty bottle of alcohol Sirius kept on him, for the nerves of course.

He took to lying on his bed. Staring at the canopy above it. He felt his stomach growl. He ignored it in favour of reaching for the book on his nightside. He opened it just to stare at the words. It felt nearly illegible.

He wished he knew how long he’d be gone. If it was just till the moon it would probably only be two days but Remus felt as though Dumbledore wouldn't have asked if he was set on such a small timeframe. It didn’t matter, Remus doubted many werewolves brought suitcases of clothes to the full moon let alone something to do. Could wild werewolves even read? Remus felt the thought was harsh but he truly didn’t know. 

Remus could usually read, not at the moment it seemed, he was far too caught up in his own head to focus on the book he had pulled out. The only distraction came later, when his friends, the Marauders  as they liked to call themselves, pushed through the door. “Remus!” James exclaimed, first through the door wearing a bright smile that almost always sat on his face. “We missed you at supper!” 

“Wasn’t hungry.” Remus mumbled. 

“Aw, certain monthly troubles?” Sirius laughed from behind James, he and Peter both look shorter standing behind James who was comically taller than the two and yet still remained shorter than Remus, though what he didn’t have in height he made up for in figure, he was far bulkier than Remus from his time spent playing quidditch and what not. 

“You alright moons?” Peter asked after Remus remained silent for a moment.

“I’m fine Pete.” Remus responded quietly, he pushed himself up from where he lay on his bed. 

“Never hurts to check.” Peter started, “I suppose you’ll feel better after the moon.” he added with a small smile.

“He’ll feel better on the moon, you mean.” James corrected.

“Just because you love to frolic in fields once a month doesn't mean the whole wolf thing isn’t painful, James.” Peter argued. 

“You're just pissy ‘cus we can frolick, all you do is scuttle along.” Sirius responded with a sharp laugh. He swung an arm around Peter, who rolled his eyes. 

“Well you're just excited because you want to chase sticks in a field which is possibly worse than whatever I do as a rat.” Peter quipped, blowing a strand of Srius’s hair away from his face, it had grown awfully long in the past couple years. James let out a laugh, Sirius turned up his nose. 

“Tragically.” Remus sighed, thinking of his discussion with Dumbledore, “there will be no chasing, scuttling or frolicking on the moon.” 

“Oh c’mon mate, you can’t still think it’s not a good idea for us to go out? Nothing bad’s ever happened!” James whined. He sat on his bed, the one next to Remus’s, it was closer to the door. Peter joined him, sitting next to him on the bed. Sirius leaned against the frame of Remus’s, looking down on him from where he stood.

“It’s not that.” Remus paused. He wasn’t sure what to say as to the why, it’s not like he could tell them, Dumbledore made that clear. Remus wasn’t a huge fan of lying but he was arguably quite good at it. “I’ll be heading home for the moon.” He finally added. 

“What?” the other three exclaimed, with a couple other words that flowed over each other making them hard to figure out. 

“My dad wants me home, just for this one, you know how worried he can get.” 

“Your dad always wants you home, that’s never meant you actually go before!” Sirius exclaimed.

“He’s more adamant, ‘fraid ‘cus of the war and all.” Remus explained halfheartedly. 

“Moony you’ve got to know you’re much safer here! He’s got to know that!” Peter argued. Remus just gave him a shrug. 

“It’a already been decided, I leave tomorrow morning.” Remus stated, he reopened his book to try to signify that he really didn’t want to talk about it.

“Does Lily know? Does Mary? Marlene? This is so sudden Rem! You can’t just go home?” James questioned frantically, listing the girls off on his fingers, it would have been funny if Remus wasn’t feeling so dreadful. 

“You're coming back right? This isn’t like that stupid home schooling stuff from fifth, right?” Sirius added, moving from leaning to sitting on the edge of Remus’s bed, looking at him sharply, his stare felt dark despite the soft grey colour of his eyes. Sirius, despite his name, almost never looked as serious as he did whenever it came to Remus's own well being, it was a look that Remus had come to realize looked quite natural within the bony features Sirius had. 

“I am coming back, yes, it’s only a little while, I would rather not talk about it.” Remus said with a sigh. The other boys shared a glance. Remus flopped back down to lay in his bed. He rolled over, facing the bathroom door, rather than the worrying faces of James and Peter. 

“How long have you known? I mean shouldn't you have told us sooner?” Peter carefully asked, Remus rolled back over to look at them, James and Peter both sat very unmoved Sirius was just out of Remus’s sight, sitting near his feet at the low of the bed, 

“Found out this evening, dad probably wanted me to have too little time to argue.” Remus answered, a lie that came naturally, his parents were overbearing to the point where no matter what they did Remus loved to attempt to argue. 

“That's shite.” Peter responded. James' laugh was muffled as he hid his face against Peter's arm, the contrast was nearly as comical as their height difference, Peter's paleness made James look all the more tanned. 

“Classic Lyall.” Sirius added, Remus nodded along. 

They didn’t bring it up for the rest of the night. Remus was thankful for that. Remus was not thankful for the churning in his stomach, the worry that seeped through his body as if it was his blood. It made everything worse. He already felt sore, achy, like his skin was too thin, he didn’t need to be burning on top of that. 

Sleep came almost too quickly after lights out. Everything was wrong, Remus hadn’t felt this terrible about a full moon in ages, the worry having subsided with the Marauders  there with him. Obviously they couldn't be with him tomorrow, no matter how much he wished to go in any way but alone. 

Remus left the dorm before any of the other boys were even up. They would have pestered him about seeing him off if they had been up, no doubt. Remus preferred to lie to them as little as he could so he chose to leave early, taking nothing but his wand as he headed towards Dumbledore's office. 

Despite getting up so early Remus was rather functional. Between the hyper activity of his senses and the aching in his bones it was an unpleasant and completely grounding walk. Discomfort and worry permeated each of his steps, he liked it better than the anticipation and eagerness that soaked the core of his mind. 

The door was unlocked when he got there. He could see Dumbledore sitting at the desk further in the office as he pushed open the door. Dumbledore signalled him to stay where he was, getting up to meet Remus by the door. “I was worried you would have a change of heart.” Dumbledore said with such a lightness to his voice that Remus almost felt relieved. “I suppose Gryffindors are known for their bravery, I should have expected the same from you,” he laughed. Remus gave a forced smile. 

Dumbledore led them out of his office, back down the stairs and into the maze of halls. Dumbledore was a quick walker, Remus thought it odd of him considering his age. “The nature of this mission is not to make yourself obvious, it goes without saying that it will be dangerous but I believe that with such features as your own you are suited well for it.” Dumbledore explained, Remus nodded rather pointlessly since Dumbledore was looking forwards as he walked ahead of Remus. 

“Am- is there something I’m doing in particular? I’m not really sure what the ‘nature of this mission’ is.” Remus asked, staring at the paintings on the wall, each giving him odd looks as he quoted the older man back to himself.

“You will be gathering information, had I not mentioned it?” 

“No, sir.” Remus mumbled.  

“Ah, must have slipped my mind, I find myself getting simply too old.” Dumbledore laughed. He turned to look at Remus, they had stopped, waiting for the stairs to arrive, Remus felt Dumbledore's soft warm gaze to be a bit too warm. 

Dumbledore had always been a bit sketchy to him. He had invited Remus to Hogwarts personally, clarifying despite his condition he was welcome. He had argued with Lyall in a tone so similar to the soft kindness in his words now. Remus’s instincts always flagged the man so dangerously no matter how mellow and agreeable he acted. “We need someone to see where the allegiances of the werewolves lie. I am quite aware that you know of Greyback, he and his pack are rallying with Voldemort, I suppose we want to make sure others are not following so blindly.” 

“Oh.” Remus answered. It didn't clarify all too much. Remus began to wonder who the ‘we’ was that Dumbledore kept referring to. He wondered if they were all so okay with sending a seventeen year old into such situations or if Dumbledore was as forthcoming with them as he was with Remus. 

“You’re not to be all too outstanding, never make yourself the centre of attention, don’t mention Hogwarts, don’t mention your allegiances, remain passive, subtle, listen to others, speak as little as possible.” Dumbledore instructed, turning back to the stairs, leading Remus down and closer to whenever their destination was. “There is no need for you to put yourself in any unnecessary danger Mr. Lupin.” 

“Of course, sir.” Remus answered with a nod. “Do you know how long I will be gone for?”

“Four days, you’ll stay for the full of tomorrow for the moon and the full of the day after, in the evening of the next night you can apparate- I am told you can do that- to the leaky cauldron, you can floo back to my office from there.” Dumbledore explained, quickly, it was also so completely premeditated, Remus wondered if he even had a bit of a choice in the matter from the start. 

“Is that also how I will be getting there? I’m still not entirely sure where I am even going.” Remus asked quietly. They had stopped, just outside the main doors, standing facing the courtyard. It was quite a lovely scene, still in shades of warm yellows and pinks and soft greens under the rising sun. Remus would appreciate it more if he hadn’t felt entirely too nauseous and quite frankly awfully afraid. 

“You will get to the outer area by sidealong apparation with me, I won’t be staying, you'll have to rely on your senses to find the pack, I trust it will be easy for you.” Dumbledore implores. Remus had no clue if it would be easy. “May I see your wand?” He added, holding out his hand. Remus obliged quickly, watching as Dumbledore put it into a pocket of his robe.

“Won’t I need it? How else am I supposed to protect myself if things say, go south? And I need it to get back at least, for apparating.” Remus questioned with a look of shock that never quite suited his scared face. He felt like he should look more intimidating and less like an awestruck child. 

“You can do without, apparating is not as difficult as it seems, The others will grow suspect if you have it.” Dumbledore explained casually, he held his hand out again, this time for Remus to take. 

Remus hesitated. He definitely needed his wand to apparate, he was not very skilled at apparating and more importantly he figured if things went poorly he would rather have it then to not. Dumbledore stared at him. He related his hesitation, taking Dumbledore's arm. That last thing heard before things got blurry was a quick. “Good Luck.”

Chapter Text

Dumbledore was not there when Remus finally took in his surroundings. He was at the edge of the woods. To his left there was farmland that reminded him of his parents home a little too much. To his right there were woods that bubbled all too familiarly with the same sort of feeling he gained near the moon. He went right. 

The woods were thick. Thicker than the forest at Hogwarts, if he were to be with a friend he would have made a joke that wit was thicker than Mary's ever-tangled mess of curled hair. Remus was not with a friend, he was entirely alone as he waded into the trees, he felt his chest tighten, it could be fear or excitement at this point, the only difference was on where the emotions came from. 

Remus followed whatever instinct was leading him towards the depth of the woods. He went deeper into the woods. The closer he got the less life he saw, birds no longer sang from the trees, the rabbits and foxes that ran along the edges of the woods had long since added out. 

He knew he was there before he actually saw the place. He could smell it, he could hear it, he could feel it, it was almost overwhelming, so much of those things that he had only ever felt from within now settled just out ahead of him. He wished he wasn’t so excited. Werewolves were not kind, they were not something to be sought out, monsters was the common descriptor. Seeking them out just proved how much of one he was. He should hate it. 

He was greeted upon arrival, an old structure, some kind of ruin, stood tall in a clearing. He could only see a few people out front. A tall man, dressed in shoddy clothes covered in scars all too similar to Remus’s own, spoke as spoon as Remus could see him. “Who are you?” he asked, his voice was gravely, Remus could see that the man was a good deal older than him. 

“Um, Just no one, really.” Remus answered, his voice was meek, his heart beat quickly in his chest. 

“Where did you come from? Why are you here?” The man asked further, approaching Remus.

“I didn’t really come from anywhere, I just sort of followed my, um, senses? And ended up here.” He answered nervously, making up whatever he could. All those years covering as a marauder in hopes of lighting a punishment were paying off. 

“I can tell you are one of us. I can also tell you are not a new wolf, I’ll ask again, where did you come from?” the man had amassed a sort of posse, the others that were out front coming in closer to him, there was a thin girl on his left and a burly teen to his right, Remus felt sordidly overwhelmed, he should have said no to this mission, merlin he was in over his head. 

“I really have come from nowhere, never really a permanent place, you really think after people find out what I am they’d keep welcoming me into their home?” Remus snapped, mustering every ounce of acting ability he had to convince the man in front of him. He didn’t answer right away, Remus felt sweat begin to build up on his neck. 

“We’ve all felt that.” The girl on the left muttered, she held out a hand, it was calloused and thin, “I’ll show you around, you’re welcome here.” Remus took her hand and gave her a soft nod. He heard the man mutter something under his breath as the crowd dispensed. “Don’t mind Owen, we’ve had a lot of visitors recently, mostly witches and wizards, you smell like them. We don’t get along with them.”

“I stayed at one's home for a bit recently." Remus lied. “She tried to kill me when she found out what I was.” 

“Happens to the best of us.” She sighed. “I’m Matilda, by the way.”

“Remus,” he answered quietly.

“Oh that’s ironic, isn’t it?” She laughed, taking him into what looked to be a decayed foyer. They stopped in front of a larger group, all dressed in similar clothes, chatting idly. Matilda waved to the one furthest in the room, an older man who looked as though he had been put through a wood chipper. “Mark, We’ve got a new one!” She yelled, a couple of the people in the room looked up, most didn’t.

The old man, Mark, came over to them, followed by an equally old woman with less of a dishevelled look. “Another new addition? He doesn’t seem freshly bitten, looks as bad as the worst of us too, are you sure he's new?” Mark questioned.  

“I was bitten when I was younger.” Remus answered, feeling morbidly calm in a place filled with so many werewolves. 

“It’s apparent.” The other girl answered coldly.

“Shut it, Allison. He’s new here, not new in general.” Matilda explained. 

“Are you a permanent addition?" Mark asked. Remus shook his head. Looking past Mark and Allison, at the worn stone walls of the building. It reminded him of a more decrepit Hogwarts. 

“Not likely, I’m, um, searching for someone, a friend of sorts.” Remus answered, a half lie, he was technically looking for something. 

“Just here for the moon then?” Mark replied calmly, it seemed visitors were not too uncommon, The other woman seemed peeved at the comment. Remus nodded. Mark gave a soft smile and turned to Matilda. “You don’t need to show me everyone who passes through, I trust whoever you let in is of good quality Matilda,” he added. Matilda gave a sheepish look before tuning quickly, gesturing for Remus to follow. 

Matilda was friendlier than he expected. Her timid looks seemed to be more of an illusion. It was funny since Remus had expected everyone to be a little more like the man from earlier, crueler, bigger, scarier. It was odd to have such a poor image of people who as it turned out really were quite similar to him. 

Matilda was one of the younger, more up front members in the pack, at least according to herself. She spent her time with the group from earlier mostly. Owen, the one from earlier, was shockingly nice once Remus was ‘cleared’. Apparently he had been on edge since as if recent times there have been more unsavoury characters around, in his own words, not Remus’s. Remus had wanted to ask more, to ask if it was about Greyback, about the war, but he worried the attention that would draw. 

Aside from Owen and Matilda, Remus was introduced to a couple others of the group he had first seen. Despite the more ragged look of the group, Remus noticed that none of them seemed particularly animalistic. So much for stereotypes. Remus figured if anyone should have known better it was probably him. 

He felt strangely comforted in the company, despite the poor conditions the woods brought and the unease of the moon. These were all people like him, people worse off, free from whatever backlash Remus would have if he were so uncharacteristically open at Hogwarts. 

It felt strange to be able to share what it was like with people so similar. It felt like talking with an old friend you went to elementary school with, it felt so vindicating to have people who understand so intrinsically what it was like. Even with the Marauders , Remus had never been this open, they had never been able to reciprocate in the way Matilda and Owen and the others seemed to be able to. It was scary how nice it was to be so heard. 

Remus spent the day after the full moon feeling perfectly, strangely, normal. Not his depressing normal of being cut and bruised half way to hell. Not his normal after with the Marauders , as complete as their company was for the wolf, it was never quite so completely unharming. He felt normal like relief from just taking a test normal, normal like how, for lack of a better phrase, normal people were normal. 

He had few memories of the night, he remembers flickers, he remembers fighting and running in a group, as a group. The cuts and scrapes on his body tell him it wasn’t all daisies and roses but instinctively, he knows it was in good fun, whatever happened. 

He found himself resting in the dingy ruins of a castle with the others. It wasn’t alarming to wake up like this, no memories worn and tired. Apparently it was common. He was close to Owen and another member of this pack, a thirty-something farmer looking fellow who piqued Remus’s interest a fair bit since from what he heard this man had been running with multiple packs before here. If anyone would have information that Dumbledore had wanted to find, it would be this guy. 

When the man headed out towards the front of the castle Remus found himself itching to follow. Maybe he was being weak to his instinct, wolf bulshite and all, but he did. The man stopped closer to the exterior, leaning against one of the trees and looking out in the depth of the woods. 

Remus thought he looked less like a farmer now, the overalls he had worn before, funny as they were, did seem to shape Remus’s images of him a lot. Now the man wore the same worn clothes as the rest of the pack, the same worn clothes Remus also wore, a tribute to the time spent under the moon. “Are you following me?” The man asked. 

“Not particularly, just wanted to see the sunrise.” Remus lied, moving closer to the man, staring into the sea of trees that had begun to emit a golden glow in the presence of the rising sun. 

“Heard you and I are both just ‘passing through’, Don’t suppose we know each other, ‘nother wolf pack or something?” The man questioned, he seemed to think they were the same type of drifter, Remus figured it would be absolutely idiotic to tell him he was in fact not some kind of travelling werewolf but rather a student and a wizard one at that. 

“Not to my knowledge, Haven't been in many packs from around here.” Remus answered, before adding, "haven't been in many packs at all to tell you the truth, not that many are as nice as this one.”

“Ha! That’s the truth, last one I was in was fucking crazy, one before that was just downright sinister.” The man laughed, this piqued Remus’s interest, crazy or sinister, both were words Remus would probably describe Greyback as.

“Lot of the ones I’ve seen recently coupling up with that wizard, apparently they're rallying up for some kind of war.” Remus knew it was risky to bring it up first, the man seemed angered by the mention. 

“Same here, saying shite ‘bout how they're being accepted for who they are but any werewolf who's doing dealings with a wizard’s not a real wolf in my book.” The man spat. “Had a buddy I used to travel with, he got himself all caught up with Greyback, ‘m sure you've heard of him, saying all sorts of crazy shite, split ways when he asked me to join with that loon.” 

“Greybacks the big one, ya,” Remus agreed. “I know some other packs are leaning towards him, safety with wizards and all that.” 

“Not from what I’ve seen, Greybacks the only one truly with him, all the others down that path are just in it with him, aside from that most just go into hiding, not much of a difference from what they ‘xpect werewolves to do anyways.” The man replied matter-of-factly. It was useful to know, definitely what he came here for, thank merlin this mission wasn’t necessarily a failure. 

“It’s sick.” Remus let slip, he hadn’t quite meant to say it, the other man seemed to agree anyways. 

“Big Ol’Greyback thinks that once the war's over they’ll just let wolves start running rampant or whatever, as if they won’t try to cage us like beasts, fucking always the same with wizards.” The other man continued. “I’ve heard he’s a real bad one, Volde-something or whatever his name was. My buddy used to talk about how Greyback would say he’s going to last forever, the guy’s apparently some kind of immortal.” 

“Even wizards can’t gain immortality.” Remus stated. It was something they had learned in class in the first year, magic had limits. 

“Not this guy apparently, he’s got some dark magic hoodoo shite that makes it possible, Greyback knows it, my buddy knows it, he’s supposed to reek of dark magic.” The man explained. Remus shuddered at the thought, he seemed so sure, it worried Remus to even think it could be true. 

“Dark times ahead if it’s true.” Remus sighed. The man gave a chuckle.

“No darker than usual for people like us.” He said before turning back to the ruins, leaving Remus standing on the edge of the woods alone. 

Remus left the pack the second day after the moon. He didn’t get much more information beyond what he had heard just after the moon. He supposes it was more than enough, werewolves are cowards aside from Greybacks pack which were possibly worse off. There was no sort of dark wizard sway within the werewolf community here, only in Greybacks pack, which was growing. Voldemort was apparently inherently unkillable. Manageable stuff. 

Remus hadn’t known how to head back to the field he had started in. He ended up just picking a direction and walking. It was mid afternoon if the sun was anything to go by and it was since it was all he had to go by. He still wore the clothes he had gotten from Matilda after the moon, he made sure to thank her before he left. She was nice, Owen was nice, Mark was nice, it was almost shockingly all nice within the pack. 

Remus took two hours to get out of the woods. He was nowhere near where he had entered from but he supposed it didn’t matter. He was supposed to apparate. He had never been shown how to apparate without his wand. Remus figured he was likely to be stuck out here. 

There was only so much the three D’s of apparation could do when Remus had no wand to channel his magic through. Arguably the destination was easy enough, Leaky Cauldron, he’d been there before. Determination was a bit scuffed, he was still tired and quite frustrated, being left wandless in the middle of nowhere and all. Deliberation, that was easy, it’s not like he had anywhere else to be and he most certainly had all the desire to be anywhere but lost in some random country side. 

Remus chose to try his best in each area by flopping into a patch of tall grass and just desperately focusing all his thoughts onto apparating. He’d done it before, with his wand but who needs that? It’s only the most fundamental element of casting spells! He ran the words Leaky Cauldron through his head like a chant, he focused on it, he focused on what it felt like to apparate, he focused on letting the magic flow, slowly, he had always been good at not being too hasty in his magic, it used to be so hard to channel he absolutely had to be.  

He could feel the world start to turn in on itself, it had only taken upwards of another hour and a half, but it had finally started, he shut his eyes. When Remus opened his eyes he found himself in a dingy wood hallway which could really be nowhere but the Leaky Cauldron. He followed the hall to the stairs, each step creaking on the old floor, it reminded him of his own rickety bones. 

When he made it to the lobby he was greeted by odd stairs from the few patrons of the establishment. The man behind the counter immediately flagged him over. “I supposed you're the riff-raff Dumbledore warned me about?” The man, an older gentleman with impressively odd sideburns, asked. Remus nodded. “Floos just to the back of the room, powders already paid for by the big man.” He chuckled, gesturing to the fireplace on the back wall. Remus nodded a quiet thank you and headed over. 

Remus had never liked the floo network. It was uncomfortable and a bit embarrassing and that was ignoring the ease of messing up, merlin Remus half expected to end up back in some random countryside. He of course used it anyway, careful to pronounce "Dumbledore' s office’ as articulate and clear as he could.  

In a flash of green light he was there, ashen and still wearing his shoddy clothes from the pack, he felt a tad bit under dressed. “Mr. Lupin!” Dumbledore greeted kindly, “we were just waiting for you to join us.” he gestured between him and the phoenix that often sat with him. Remus gave a sheepish smile. “How was your travel?” 

“Good, I couldn't get much information but I have some." Remus supplied, Dumbledore nodded along, Remus noticed his wand sat on the edge of Dumbledore's desk, he took it without asking.

“Splendid! I’ll have the elves fetch you some clothes, and perhaps something to eat, in the meantime, I’d love to hear all about it.” Dumbledore said, as if Remus were an old friend and they were about to have a casual catch-up over some tea. 

Remus did just that, listing what little he had learned, giving as much detail as he could possibly have from his limited time away. Midway though his tale, true to Dumbledore's word, a house elf came in with a folded thing of what looked to be Remus’s own clothes followed by a platter of some kind of pastry which Remus had to remind himself to be restrained of since his past few meals had consisted of poorly seasoned meats.

 Remus continued his retelling through bites of food which tasted even better than usual. Dumbledore seemed satisfied until Remus brought up his last point. 

“I had one of the others there mention something else too, something about um, you know who, and his sort of abilities or something.” Remus cautiously avoided using Voldemort's real name, he hated the way it felt in his mouth when he used it or maybe it was just fear, that Remus was unwilling to admit

“And what is that?” Dumbledore questioned calmly, he was stocking his beard as he spoke, Remus wondered if it was habit or some kind of nervous quirk. 

“They said he was immortal. In a dark magic way.” Remus started. He noticed a change in Dumbledore's eyes as he continued, an angered look that contrasted the calm blue of his robes. “I know it’s not really possible but he seemed so convinced it was true, apparently so did a friend of his and so did, um, Greyback.” Remus lowered his voice saying Greyback's name, it felt worse than Voldemort's to him, though unlike Voldemort’s he never refused to address that monster by his name. “I just wondered if there was a possibility.” 

“Of course not.” Dumbledore answered all too quickly. “He is as mortal as you and I, whatever it is you heard is just a blind man's fear.” He added, his voice slowed back to usual. He still had that look in his eyes. It made Remus curious. It made Remus feel it more believable then he did before. He should look into it, perhaps. 

“I see.” Remus mumbled in response, picking at the scratchy sleeve of his muted jumper.

“If that is all, Mr. Lupin, then I would like to have to get back to your classes, of course you are not expected to go today, I’m sure you are awfully worn but tomorrow it is business as usual.” Dumbledore instructed. Remus nodded, pushing himself up from the chair he had steeled in and taking the folded clothes before turning to the door. 

“I feel implored to tell you there is a lavatory just down the hall from here. I would suggest you visit to change before heading further into the castle.” Dumbledore offered, Remus nodded as he headed to the door. “I’ve also made sure to instruct your professors to be lenient at your departure, I trust you can assume that this will likely not be the last time I ask this of you.” he added. Remus hated that he really had expected that. 

He did end up getting changed in the lavatory, even splashing some water on his ash covered face. He made an appointment to stop at the library too. The librarian, Madam Pince, gave him little trouble even as he headed back to the restricted section. He figured it was the best place to look. 

He blamed his impulsive interest in the one thing Dumbedore told him to forget about during his time with the Marauders. Being an avid rule breaker had made him a little less deterred by this direct dismissal. Something in Dumbledore's behaviour had just piqued his interest. It was no harm to anyone but himself to just look. Who knows what he would find, probably nothing- hopefully nothing. 

Chapter Text

It was hard for Regulus to study in between Barty and Evans incessant chattering. He had his O.W.Ls coming up, so did the other two, he just seemed more inclined to study rather than goof off. It’s not like he felt he was going to fail, he doubted any of them would, they had been studying all the way since fourth year, mostly under Dorcas who was taking them back then considering she was a year ahead and all. 

Barty and Evan just seemed to lose wind as of recently, they were ‘idly prepared’ evening sinking to making light jabs at Regulus's continuous studying. Regulus didn’t mind, it was better than certain other subjects of conversation. 

It was harder for Regulus to study when he was actively being dragged out of the library by an over enthused Barty and an absolutely complacent Evan. “We’ve been studying for longer than I’ve been alive, Reg!” Barty whined as he yanked at Regulus's arm. “Supper ends soon and I’m going to kill you if we miss it again!” 

“You don’t need me to eat with you, I’m perfectly certain you can do so on your own, and besides even if you couldn't I’m sure Evan wouldn't mind playing mother.” Regulus snapped, one hand held firm on the table. It was futile, Regulus may be quicker but Barty was a fair deal stronger. 

“Like I’d put my hand anywhere near his mouth, bastards got a worse bite than a bloody quintaped” Evan barked, Barty probably would have glared at him if he could do so without losing grip on Regulus.

“Charming, Rosie, real flatterer.” Barty returned, you could hear the smirk in his words. “Why not put your strengths into helping me drag this poor sod to eat something rather than putting dirt on my name.” 

“Well someone ought to keep that ego of yours down and there's not much I can do in the Regulus department, quite frankly I fear he’s got a worse bite than you.” Evan replied, his only contribution turning out to be a book, which he chucked out Regulus’s second hand that missed its mark by a large margin. 

“Fine then I suppose there's only one thing to do." Barty replied, dropping Regulus’s hand. Regulus thought with naivety that that would be the end of it. He knew for sure he was wrong when Barty started chucking books at him, paired with some nonsensical yelling, he looked proper mad, even Evan seemed not to understand what was going on. 

Regulus figured it out when he saw the librarian heading their way. He was getting them kicked out, the bloody git. Regulus would hex him if it would do anything other than make things worse. Barty gave him a knowing smile when he saw Pince coming towards them. Regulus could hear Evan stifle a laugh.  

They were kicked out. Barty was banned for the rest of the week, Evan and Regulus just got off with a warning. Once they were a significant ways down the hall Regulus turned to Barty with a gravely annoyed face. “Bartemius Crouch Junior, I am going to kill you.” He stated plainly. 

“Can I eat first?” Barty replied casually, slinging one arm around Regulus, the other pulling Evan in. “It’d be seemingly pointless of us to get kicked out if I didn’t at least get something to eat.” 

“Maybe I’ll poison your meal, best of both worlds.” Regulus proposed with a pensive look, Barty seemed unaffected by the thought.  

"Wouldn't it be better to punish him by not letting him eat, I know a good hex for making everything taste worse than how flobberworms look.” Evan offered. 

“I’ve always wondered how flobberworms taste.” Barty muttered, dragging the trio towards the Great Hall. 

Later in the evening, after supper, which Regulus participated in rather begrudgingly, Regulus, Barty and Evan set out to their usual spot, an alcove that was shockingly devoid of paintings, it had been Pandora, Evan's sister, who found it, she had been looking to go some place with ‘less eyes’. Pandora wasn’t with them at the moment, scurrying back to her room after supper with haste, muttering about experiments and what not. It was a little worrying. 

Dorcas also had chosen not to accompany them, she, like Pandora, had been more distant as of late. Hers felt more like avoidance than Pandora's did. Regulus understood. Things had been rocky since more and more of the students at Hogwarts began whispering about the war. They never talked about it, Regulus thought it was better that way. 

It was quieter without the girls, Pandora was always the most talkative with them, Barty was a close second but without Dorcas to scold him he tended to end quite off the rails in whatever he was talking about. Evan, despite his propensity for teasing Barty, loved to listen to him talk about whatever gruesome shite he had been thinking about, often adding in comments of his own. He never chose to interrupt. Regulus had little in the way of sway over what Barty says, not in the way Dorcas did anyways. 

Sometime midway though Barty's rant about the similarities in alchemy and some muggle weapon of mass destruction they were interrupted. Alton Avery and Wolfric Mulciber, two of the three chasers on Slytherin's quidditch team, the worse ones in Regulus's opinion seeing as Dorcas was the third, as well Severus Snape and Mallory Wilkes made their way over to the group. Back in fourth year this would have meant trouble but Regulus had noticed a striking decrease in the group's hostility. “Black, Rosier, Crouch.” Mucliber greeted sharply. None of the three answered, Barty gave out a sigh. 

“Not an awfully warm welcome." Avery muttered after a beat of silence. “We’re all friends here aren't we?” he added inquisitively, an unprompted comment that Regulus found to be very strange. 

“No, no I wouldn't say we are.” Evan answered with a smile. 

“Oh come off it now, us Slytherins have got to stick together, promote a united front for what’s to come.” Mulciber mused. Regulus rolled his eyes. 

“I think the only thing that’s to come is a hex heading straight for you if you don\t leave us alone.” Barty retorted, Regulus could see he had already pulled out his wand. 

“No need to be crass Crouch, we all want the same thing here, no?” Mulciber replied calmly. 

“Oh and what's that? For you to spend the rest of your life with a Langlock curse?” Barty continued, not faltering under Mulciber's words. 

“A continued hierarchy, power where it belongs, continuing the lines of the sacred twenty eight, that kind of thing.” Avery spat, Regulus could see he too had tightened a grip on his wand. 

“Oh see, no that’s not what I was thinking at all.” Barty sighed, “shame you came all the way over here just to be wrong, especially with those stiff legs of yours, makes walking such a challenge.” 

“Stiff legs?” Avery questioned, tilting his head, Evan face sprouted a smirk, Regulus rolled his eyes. 

“ Locomotor Mortis ” Barty cast, Avery's legs went stiff, leading to him falling into Wilkes who took down the rest like dominos. “Those stiff legs.” Barty cackled, before quickly pushing himself up and heading down the hall, Regulus and Evan followed. 

“You fucki-” Wilkes stared, pulling out his wand, only to be knocked back by a blast from Evan. He could hear Barty start laughing from up ahead. Regulus wished had gone back to the dorms with Dorcas. 

They ran until they were up a whole floor. Barty and Evan both laughing nearly manically, Regulus couldn't help himself from contributing a soft chuckle. “What kind of idiot falls for that!” Barty breathed, making Evan laugh a little more. 

“You know the only smart one of them is Snape, I swear I’ve met trolls smarter than the other three.” Regulus quipped between breaths of air. He hated running. 

“I’d bet a galleon that the other three are trolls.” Evan added with a laugh, Barty nodded in agreement.

“They’re idiots alright, completely nonsensical.” Barty giggled, “sacred twenty-eight is already a load of dung and on top of that two of them aren’t even on it.”

“The Mulcibers are pretty bottom wrung pure-bloods too, probably’ll get kicked off before the war is even over.” Evan added, “even my family’s got more status then there's which is outrageous because my mum’s practically insane.” 

“If I was some kind of dark power mongering wizard I would have kicked them out ages ago, imagine having to try and get egotistical Avery to follow orders, like that’ll stick.” Barty remarked, elbowing Evan in the side, a friendly jab that was a bit unnecessary considering Evan was still dubbed over catching his breath between his words. 

"Wouldn't last a day in any situation.” Regulus mumbled. 

“I’d do way better than them, not that I would join up or anything, if I did, it wouldn't be some purity bullshite either, ‘just do it to piss off my dad.” Barty said with a small smirk. Regulus didn’t reciprocate it, Evan did but it seemed forced.

“Hey if you did get the mark or whatever we’d probably end up together, dying on the shite side of the war, my parents seem to think I just have to get it.” Evan joked, it didn’t land quite right. Most pureblood families had been forcing their children to join once school ended, Regulus knew that's what his wanted. At least Evan seemed to get a choice. 

“Please, with us on his side Voldy would definitely win.” Barty replied with a concerning lack of care. 

I doubt that’s a good thing.” Regulus muttered, looking past Barty down the hall. It was as avoidant he could get without literally walking away. 

“S’not like we’d suffer.” Barty retorted calmly, Evan gave a sheepish nod at that. 

“So what? Are you really okay with following a murderer just to piss off your father?” Regulus asked, more rhetorically than not.

Barty answered anyway, “I mean I’d also get to hang around Evan, you too probably, aren't your parents y’know like that?” 

“My family has nothing to do with my opinions.” Regulus lied. They did, of course they did, no matter what Regulus personal givings, he’d always be paraded as if he agreed with them, Walburga Black was more stubborn on this then anything else. 

“So you're not going to get the mark? Because I’d probably also bet a galleon that you will, like it or not.” Barty jabbed cruelly, Evan gave him a glare which Barty ignored. 

Regulus didn’t have an answer. He just let out a deep breath and stormed off down the halls. He heard Evan chide Barty as he left. Barty had always been a particularly prickly thing, Regulus knew that, even a hint of insult towards him and suddenly he was king of the pricks, which funnily enough was actually a nickname Evan and Pandora used to call him. 

Regulus also knows Barty is not wrong. Regulus had no say in what role he’ll play in the war. Regulus will be on whatever side his parents chose and it was pretty clear which one they would pick. Regulus wouldn’t complain, he would just follow. He’d be whatever their idea of perfection was, whatever it was that Sirius had not been. It made him feel nauseous. 

Apparently Regulus wasn’t the only one having a bad night. In passing the potions room, Regulus could hear faint moans and mumbles, likely from Professor Slughorn. Regulus, being the exemplary student he was, went to check in on him. It was the kind of thing that got you a place on his shelf, it was also the kind of thing that would distract from the darker thoughts about his own family. “Professor?” Regulus greeted as he entered the darkened potions classroom. 

The first thing Regulus noticed was the smell, the second thing he noticed was the bottle of mead that lay empty and discarded on the desk at the front of the classroom; it’s only remnants seemed to be at the bottom of Slughorns cup, only lasting a second before getting poured down the professors throat. 

He seemed shocked to see Regulus in his tipsy state, which was made even more apparent by the candour of his voice. “Regulus! I must be half mad! It isn’t class time now is it?” 

“No sir, I just heard noises and thought to check in.” Regulus responded, coming closer to the desk.

“Ah, my boy, then you must forgive me for causing a racket, I seem to have slipped into an old habit.” Slughorn bellowed far too loudly for the small quarters they were in. “I was just, ah, reminiscing I suppose, things have been changing all around.”

Apparently everyone wants to talk about changes today Regulus's mind spat cruelly, he quickly brushed away the thought. “Oh well if that’s all I should head out, I'm certain you would appreciate the time to yourself. Regulus answered, hoping for a quick out, Slughorn had always thought highly of Regulus, usually it was a good thing but tonight it might just have him stuck with his clearly drunken teacher which he truly did not wish to deal with. 

“Don’t be silly my boy! I most certainly don't mind the intrusion, especially not from such a bright wizard.” Slughorn praised. Regulus would have rolled his eyes had they not been locked with Slughorns. “Tell me, how has your studying for the O.W.Ls gone?” 

“Well sir, I was actually just in the library earlier tonight.” Regulus answered. 

“That’s wonderful, no doubt you were studying with Crouch, also a very bright young wizard.” Slughorn complemented after another attempted sip of his now empty glass. “Such bright wizards, it’s always bright wizards.” he muttered to himself which piqued Regulus’s interest. 

“What’s always bright wizards?” Regulus questioned tactlessly. 

“Oh nothing nothing, don’t listen to the rambling of your old professor.” Slughorn laughed.

“I doubt much you say can be considered rambling, as such a talented professor.” Regulus flattered in a shameless attempt to get Slughorn to continue. 

“Talented, yes, talented, knowledgeable too, knowledge always leads to bad places.” Slughorn replied, leaning further back into his chair, Regulus moved further into the room, as if it were to be a game of cat and mouse. Regulus waited for the professor to continue flinging the silence. “I wonder if my knowledge was what led to all this, if I hadn’t just thought to dismiss it, such an odd question.” 

“Odd question?” Regulus pushed, coming even closer to the professors desk. 

“Oh yes, so odd, such an obscure magic, dark magic too, not fun stuff.” Slughorn blathered. If Regulus hadn't started speculating they were talking about the Dark Lord before he definitely would have now. “Seven, too, such a high number.” Slughorn had clearly disregarded Regulus, talking only to himself. “One would do the trick, keep him alive- live past death at least what a worry if that… I should have seen it.” The professor wallowed. Regulus gave him a pitying look, though he was more caught up on what he had said. ‘Keep him alive’, no magic could do that, now could it? 

Regulus tuned out the rest of Slughorn's rambling, none of which seemed as important as what he had just said. Regulus made a point to excuse himself quickly that even, his mind running rapidly over what Slughorn had implied. 

Regulus of course chose to head to the library to look into whatever dark magic Professor Slughorn was talking about. Tragically, due to a certain wizard's antics, Regulus also had to wait until evening of the next day to do so. 

He skipped the ending of his last class to get there before Barty or Evan had the chance to lure him into some new nonsense. Pince was not at her desk when he entered. In fact no one seemed to be in the library at all. Regulus knew students were not technically allowed to enter the restricted section, even with a note Pince would typically just run the book to them herself but she wasn't here and Regulus was in a hurry, or at least that’s what he would say if she came by. 

The restricted section was closer to the back, tucked behind a little rope which didn’t do much in itself but under the watchful eye of Madam Pince students almost never made it back. Regulus was about to be a steadfast exception. 

It would help if he knew what he was looking for, the restricted section was already probably a nightmare to traverse, he doubted it was any better when the whole plan was open random books. He skipped the first couple shelves, never much good right at the entrance, probably. Regulus wasn’t actually sure. Regulus had only ever been in the restricted section once, sure he’d gotten a couple books once or twice but usually Pince would just deal with it. Apparently it was ‘too unsafe’ to let students go though it which was stupid because why put it in a school then? 

The first book he pulled tried to bite him. That was a shock. Regulus had been pretty sure books didn’t do that. The second one gave him a searing headache to read. The third literally started turning itself to ash. Regulus was starting to really dislike the restricted section. 

If Regulus knew what type of magic he was looking for he could at least use some kind of tracking spell but he really had no clue. At least he could say pretty safely he had found the dark magic section. It was apparent on the way the books glowed in an almost unnoticeable shimmer of black smoke, Regulus doubted it would be easy to even tell if it hadn’t been such a large section. 

It took him shelves worth of books, several nearly dodged hexes and curses and a narrowly avoided blast of what looked to be hard ice but Regulus thought he finally found the book. It was the second of a series, it was mentioned in a summary from the last issue. One book of course leads to another, which leads to another. The first of the series was missing but it was brought up again in the third and there was another book about them too, unrelated to the first too but still sitting neatly on the shelf next to them. 

Horcruxes. Dark magic that causes the user to live past death. An unspecified incantation and a murder was all it took. Convenient. Regulus felt like he had to be right, what else could it be. It would keep him alive- live past death, whatever Slughorn had said.

Regulus chose to stay hidden in the restricted section to read the dark magic books. It wouldn't be a good look to bring them out considering current times; and maybe also considering he really wasn’t supposed to be back here either. Most of it was unrelated though that didn’t make it any more palatable to Regulus, each newly disturbing magic made Regulus’ skin crawl. Even just the horcruxes were inhumane. It was something to do with the soul, tearing it and if Slughorn was right, which he certainly might not be, there were something near seven of them. It was certainly a cause for something.

It was certainly hard to think about it more when interrupted. “Oh…” A voice from above where Regulus was hunched on the floor said. Looking up made it worse. Remus Lupin was one of Sirius’s tricky little friends. Maybe not little, Lupin was the tallest of their group, certainly taller than Regulus too. “Nice to see you Regulus.” He sounded confused, as if he hadn’t been expecting anyone to be around.

“Lupin.” Regulus responded, turning his nose back to his book.

“Doing some… light hearted reading?” Lupin continued angling to get a better look at the book in Regulus’s hand.

“None of your business.” Regulus spat. "Shouldn't you be out cursing Snape or something with my brother?” 

“Nah, Snivellus isn’t all too interesting all of late. I think James got something for the librarian though, probably why she’s not here now, maybe you should thank him since you're clearly reaping the benefits.” Lupin suggested. Regulus shut his book in an annoyed fashion and looked up at Lupin. He had a new scar, new since Regulus had last looked at him anyways. Regulus had always found him to be an interesting person to look at. The scars screamed danger but the big red jumper screamed dork. 

“I don’t need to thank Potter for anything.”

“So you're not in the restricted section ‘cus the librarian’s not here to stop you?”

“Are you here for a reason Lupin? I happen to be quite busy, no time for childish antics.”

“I can see that, studying for your O.W.Ls, right?

“Yes.” Regulus hissed.

“I don’t remember horcruxes being on my O.W.Ls, is there a new curriculum? I hadn’t heard.” Lupin said in an awfully insinuating tone. It was odd for Lupin to bring up horcruxes in specific, why not another one of the many pieces of magic in the book. 

“Curiculums change.” Regulus retorted with a glare. Lupin hummed before placing another book atop the two Regulus had picked out and placed next to him on the floor. 

“I liked the first one best, got all the nitty-gritty details.” Remus sighed before turning on his heels and leaving. Regulus stared at the empty space Lupin had moved from. Why in merlin's name was Remus Lupin looking into horcruxes? Out of all the people, him, really. Was it for the same reason, it couldn't be for the same reason, Regulus hardly found himself believing it there's no way Lupin would have had the same conclusion. Regulus took the book Lupin had left behind and started reading it. 

Chapter Text

It had been two weeks since he had started to research horcruxes. It had been two weeks and he had found nothing. It was abnormal for him to fail to achieve his goal. He wanted to find a way to locate them or some kind of undeniable proof that the Dark Lord had used them, there had to be some kind of tell, Regulus just couldn't find it. 

Two weeks he had taken from his studying. Two weeks of pointless research in things of varying relations, falling down unfounded rabbit holes with no results. pointless pages worth of notes and theories gone to waste, constantly proved invalid. He was starting to doubt that he had been right in the first place. It was a difficult magic with no documentation of the actual incarnation and no proof that one can even make more than one, let alone seven. Regulus was starting to think it was a waste of time. 

His research, while palatial, went unnoticed by any of his friends since he already had been nose deep in a book because of his extreme studying habits. Pandora had made a few comments on the nature of his books since she herself had been sneaking into the restricted section for her own fun little experiments. 

The break in his research ended up coming in the form of a letter rather than a book. Every day at breakfast, mail would be flown in. This day in particular Regulus received a letter from his cousin which he almost just tossed to the side, it took intervention from Pandora to actually get him to open it right then and there.

Pandora had joined them for breakfast at the Slytherin table most days despite her place in Ravenclaw. She and Evan were twins and beyond that she mostly just liked their company more than her seemingly strange Ravenclaw friends. Regulus liked Pandora a fair bit but he had to admit she was positively odd. As such Pandora, in her own strange way, had grown to be fond of Regulus’s unbearable cousin Narcissa. 

She took the letter right out of his hand with no more than a quick “Oh my favorite cousin!” it was technically correct though Narcissa, nor any of her sisters, had never had much connection with their mothers family. There had been bad blood between Regulus’ aunt Druella and Evan and Pandora mother since before Narcissa was born, though the feud exemplified itself in the distaste Regulus knew Narcissa carried for Pandora. It was not mutual since Pandora seemed to find Narcissa quite endearing ever since she saved her from getting hexed in first year. 

“Pandora give me back my letter.”

“Why, you never read them, all that trouble to send you a letter and you just skim it and never respond.” Pandora pouted, she did give the letter back, slowly hanging it back over the table. “All my and Ev’s cousins never send us anything, and they're twats or think we're too crazy to commune with, but that aside, she’s so nice to you, she’s so much nicer than the other one, Reg, and she just got married, you never even congratulated her.”

“You congratulated her enough for the both of us, I shouldn't have brought you to that wedding.” 

“I was perfectly pleasant at that wedding, it was her fiance who was a prick.” Pandora muttered. 

“Husband.” Regulus corrected. 

“Didn’t you say he was ‘whiner than a banshee’” Barty interrupted as he entered, taking the spot on Regulus’s right, Evan was with him, sitting across from him side by side with Pandora. 

“She also called him a prissy git.” Dorcas added, she had been quiet all morning up until now, she was on the other side of Pandora, pressed up right against her to stay as far away from Mulciber who was just a couple paces down the bench. 

“He was!”

“You almost got me thrown out of my own cousin's wedding.” Regulus argued.

“Our cousin ! And you barely like her anyway!” Pandora shot back.

“I still had to be at her wedding! My parents were livid, definitely not happy with my choice of guest and I figured ‘Cissa wasn’t either.” Regulus cried as he began opening the sleek letter. “If anything I’ll send her a reply apologizing for your crass behaviour.” 

“I wasn’t that bad.” Pandora muttered. Dorcas gave her a pat on the back. Arguably it was Regulus’s idea to bring her, she was of good enough status that his parents were happy with the choice even if they were practically related, and she liked Narcissa enough that he figured she’d be excited. He regretted that decision. 

Regulus rolled his eyes as he pulled out the letter, he read it over, still half listening to Dorcas and Evan pick at Pandora's unruly mannerism. He skipped over a lot of the first bit. She was back from her honey moon, she was fairly happy, Malfoy was lovely, typical stuff. 

He started reading a little more intently when she started talking about the war. Lucius Malfoy had the dark mark. The letter didn’t say that of course, Regulus actually knew that from before, Narcissa was considering getting it, to cater to her husband. She mentioned their family, I know the Blacks also have an allegiance, I think it would suit me as a member of both families. Regulus didn’t like that. Regulus didn’t like the next line either. I know our family will require you to do the same. That was hard to read even if Regulus had already known. 

Somehow the fact that Regulus was expected to become a death eater was not the most interesting part of the letter. The last paragraph was about something that Lucius had now been doing as a show of loyalty. He was keeping something, trusted with a dear possession of the Dark Lord himself, to keep it safe. The letter stated. It was a weird mission to keep, ‘hold onto my prized possession’ doesn’t seem all too impressive of a task, especially since the Prophet was always on about raids and murders and what not but Narcissa talks as if it was of the highest honour. 

Narcissa mentioned she didn’t know the significance, just that it was an honour. Regulus had an idea of the significance of it. Prized possessions, something of value, something that would make a good horcrux. Why would the Dark Lord cherish anything, why would he need something stored or protected unless it contained his own soul, or part of it at least. It made sense. 

Maybe he was reaching, just trying to verify his research but maybe he wasn’t. He wanted to check, Regulus wondered if it would be weird to pay an impromptu visit to his cousin and her husband. It probably was. Regulus would have dwelled on it longer if Pandora hadn’t spoken up, breaking him from his sporadic thoughts. “So what’d my favourite cousin say? She break up with her fiance yet?”

“Husband.” Regulus corrected softly.

“She break up with her husband yet?” Dorcas asked in Pandora's stead, seeing as she had no desire to fix her phrasing. 

“Nothing in particular, she had a good honeymoon.” He replied, folding the letter and placing it into his bag. 

“Was there some kind of massacre at her little vacation? You look ill Reg.” Evan commented, Regulus shook his head. 

“Maybe she gave unnecessary sex details, I do in all my letters to relatives.” Barty joked, or possibly joked, Regulus wouldn't actually put it past him. 

“Aren’t you a virgin?” Dorcas challenged between bites of oatmeal. 

“Wha- No!” Barty argued, looking positively offended. Dorcas gave him a shrewd look, Barty furthered his denial. Regulus left breakfast quickly, hoping to get some air, or maybe hoping to avoid another Barty-Dorcas argument that often ended in a copious amount of food being thrown around. 

Regulus ended up sitting outside his first class, waiting for time to pass, letting his thoughts run rampant. 

Regulus chose to spend his evening heading back to the library. He had managed to avoid thinking about the implications of Nacissas letter, which still sat neatly in his bag, through the act of throwing himself into his classes. Tragically as of today classes were over so Regulus had nothing to do but sate his curiosity.

The library was as empty as ever. Arguably it was closed for the next little bit since Pince was at supper along with the rest of the student body, but the door wasn’t locked and Regulus figured that meant he could argue it wasn’t entirely closed if caught. 

The restricted section is empty which is not much of a shock. Regulus didn’t have to spend half an hour actually searching for the section he needed which he was thankful for. The lack of books attempting several increasingly dangerous attempts to attack him was also a relief. 

The shelves with the books from his last visit were near the back. Three instalments of a series on darker magic and a biography written by a wizard from the late seventeen-hundred who had been attempting to prolong his life, a feat which he was ultimately unsuccessful in. There was another book wedged between the biography and the series now, one that hadn’t been there before. He took it off the shelf, placing it neatly next to the others on the reformed pile on the floor. 

The series posed the same information as it did previously, light mentions and the second and third with a more in-depth description in the first book. The biography never stated much beyond that fact that the wizard never sunk to attempting to create one. All those did was confirm his suspicions about the things Lucius had been tasked with keeping. Some sort of connection to the object which is then stored in a safe place, typically only used by deeply demented wizards since it is dehumanizing in nature. 

The new book had no title and for the most part seemed just as scant in its information as the rest. There was only one section on horcruxes, two pages which stood out to Regulus immediately since it was marked with a little paper that read for your ‘O.W.Ls’ and was crudely signed with ‘Lupin’ at the bottom, Regulus crumpled the note quickly before reading on. 

This book had the most details. Not necessarily the most information since it never described the magic itself but it did highlight certain other conditions. For example the murder had to be inhumane, done for no reason. It also detailed that the magic was especially potent making it naturally draw out other sorts of dark concentrations and it was rather dangerous since the soul is extremely fragile making it only accessible to truly talented witches and wizards who had no such care of their own morality. It seemed quite fitting that someone like a man who literally goes by the Dark Lord would be so drawn to the magic. 

Obviously aside from the validation in his research and notes the sort of conformational information was definitely more disturbing than not. If the thing Lucius had been instructed with was a horcrux then that probably meant there were more then one which probably meant that even if the war somehow ended the Dark Lord really wouldn't be able to die which was kind of in poor taste considering he was a little of kilter in his beliefs to put it kindly. 

If Regulus could just get into the Malfoy house, which he could if it was under the pretense of proving his allegiance to the Dark Lord, which he didn’t quite want to do but if he wanted to he could and then he could probably confirm it which was something he should definitely do before suggesting it to anyone around, no need for anymore fear mongering, it was bad enough as it was without the looming threat of the Dark Lord, the main source of every problem going on in the wizarding world at the moment, being immortal. 

He could probably bring it to Dorcas, he knew she was particularly interested in joining whatever forces the ministry and Dumbledore were amassing, she was a brilliant wizard too and anyone was more likely to believe her since she was already a pretty outspoken radical within Slytherin. At least they'd believe her over him since he screamed pureblood in every which way. 

He didn’t check out the books, he hadn’t last time either, just wrote down the new information on a blank piece of parchment and put the books back. It was darker when he was leaving. Pince was back too which meant he had missed supper, she didn’t say anything as he left, probably hadn’t even noticed he was back there. He left swiftly. 

Call it what you want but Regulus would say it was fate that the first person he saw since leaving the library was the only other person he figured would have even a modicum of knowledge on the subject. He didn’t necessarily like that it was probably fate since he didn’t necessarily like the person, seeing as Lupin was a tad strange, and worse than that, one of his brother's friends. 

It only really crossed his mind to at least ask the man what he thought when he saw him walking quite aggressively down the hall. “Lupin!” he shouted, which did catch Lupin's attention, likely in an unseemly manner since he looked awfully peeved. 

“Regulus.” Lupin responded curtly without so much as breaking his stride. Unlike Potter and Pettigrew, Lupin had always addressed Regulus by his first name which was plenty his own fault since the first time the two crossed paths on their own, sometime in early first year for Regulus, he had flinched at the loud shout of his last name. Remus switched to calling him Regulus after that, even as Regulus and Sirius grew increasingly hostile to one another. 

“Stop, I ne-” Regulus started only to be cut off by Lupin, who in his defense did stop if only to have a shout at Regulus before continuing on. 

“Look Regulus I don’t really have the patience for your very demanding way of talking to people, whatever you need I’m sure one of the several hundred other students at this school would be more than happy to bow to your noble Black family bullshite.” Lupin complained with a flail of his hand and a positively annoyed look as he started back down the hall. The comment about his family meant that whatever Lupin was worked up over was likely Sirius’ fault. 

“I do not have a very demanding way of talking to people.” Regulus corrected swiftly, following Remus as moved. “And whatever problems dear Sirius is causing you has very little to do with me!”

Remus stopped again at the mention of Sirius. “Not everything I do revolves around your brother! And even if he did do something I hardly think it has any sort of relation to this conversation!.” 

“Could have fooled me, you're almost as far up his arse as Potter is.” Regulus muttered, Lupin glared at him. 

“I appreciate the time you’ve taken out of your day to stop me just to insult me but if that's all I’ll be on my way.” Lupin shot back before once again turning back around and heading down the hall. 

“That is not all, come back here!” Regulus demanded as he once again took to trailing behind Lupin. “I need to know what you found out about horcruxes” Regulus added, which caught Lupin's attention quite spectacularly seeing as he stopped dead in his tracks. 

“Why?” Lupin asked, turning to face Regulus, stepping back in his direction. His tone was no longer as angered as it was a second ago.

“For my O.W.Ls.” Regulus lied with ease. Lupin rolled his eyes. 

“I am not an idiot Regulus. I know there's nothing in any class that even delves ever so slightly into horcruxes.” Lupin replied. 

“Times change.”

“Because at the height of a wizarding war the school decided, well here's a brilliant idea, let's teach these children how to do dark magic! Nevermind half the students come from families who have knowingly aligned themselves with you-know-who.” Lupin mocked. 

“Exactly.” Regulus answered quickly. Lupin wore a sour expression. 

“Go back to your friends Regulus, I have no interest in talking to you about this if you're going to play dumb.” Lupin sighed and then once again turned to leave.

“You think he has them too don’t you.” Regulus whispered, looking not quite into Lupin's eyes. The effect was clear anyways, Lupin looked far more serious as he said it, he clearly understood the implication of Regulus’ words. 

“I wouldn't know.” Lupin answered, Regulus gave him a knowing look. “It’s not like I can know for sure.” Lupin amended. 

“I could, I mean I could figure for sure, I just need a little more of… something.” Regulus explained in an entirely too unconvincing voice. Lupin looked rather convinced anyways. 

“How?” Lupin questioned. 

“I haven't exactly gotten there yet, I just need to know if you know something I don’t so that when I do I can be sure.” Regulus clarified rather poorly. 

“I doubt I have much more than you, we’ve read the same books y’know.” 

“I assume you have notes, let me see them.” 

“No.” Lupin immediately answered. 

“Why not?”

“They’re personal! Anything they contain I can tell you.” 

“I don’t quite know what I’m looking for, I just want to check!”

“Just-” Lupin quickly stopped himself when the sounds of approaching foot prints could be heard. Lupin dragged him into one of the closer classrooms and shut the door behind him. 

“Quite unnecessary don’t you think.” Regulus proposed. 

“I don’t think Sirius would be all too happy if he heard I were talking to you.” Lupin argued.

“I thought you two were fighting.” 

“We are.”

“Then shouldn't you not care? I doubt he could ever truly be mad at you anyways" Regulus stated, he had noticed the way Sirius was with Lupin ever since his first year, it was sweet then how he was with Potter, it always irked Regulus just a little. 

“Of course I- wait what does that mean?” Lupin questioned. 

“Are you two not seeing each other?"

“No!” Lupin immediately denied before speaking up again a little less ferociously. “No, Sirius is not interested in anything like that, he’s got a bloody girlfriend!”

“But you’re interested in him?” Regulus wondered, mostly to himself, he had genuinely thought they were dating or at least liked each other in some way; it was odd to hear it wasn’t as such. 

“Wh-, Y’know what I’m starting to change my mind on the whole notes thing.”  Lupin said quickly changing the subject as he pulled out a little notebook that looked worn. 

“Thank you.” Regulus replied with a little smile taking the book from Regulus's hand, flipping through the pages. 

“So how exactly are you going to ‘confirm’ our little suspicion?” Lupin asked after a beat passed. 

“That’s not pertinent to you.” Regulus answered much to Lupin's distaste. "What's this mean?” Regulus pointed to a note about a line from one of the books ‘especially potent, making it naturally draw out other sorts of dark concentrations’. Lupin's note mentioned a couple page numbers that Regulus hadn’t looked at followed by a note about plausibility in the act. 

“Dark concentration is mentioned a couple times, it refers to something that I could feasibly use as a resource.” 

“What is it?” Regulus pushed. Lupin just stared at him.

“That’s not pertinent to you.” He responded smugly. 

“My cousin sent me a letter, they have something from the Dark Lord and I want to see if it’s a horcrux, but I wouldn't be able to tell.” Regulus hissed. “I’d also have to get in and out of my cousins without arousing suspicion so I can’t spend several hours searching the house needlessly.” 

“Dark concentration is used to refer to a lot of things throughout that book, the numbers are the pages where it’s mentioned, the note means that the thing it refers to I… have, so I should be able to sense it, I think.” Lupin explained. 

“If you have something that can sense them then I need it.” Regulus demanded, looking up from the notebook to stare at Lupin.

“It’s not a thing.”

“Spell then.” 

“It’s not a spell, it's… like a condition.” Lupin skirted around with his phrasing again, not very forthcoming. 

“Is it contractable?” Regulus questioned.

“You don’t want it.” 

“If it means I can find the possible horcrux my cousin is harboring then yes I do.” 

“You don’t.” Lupin snapped. 

“You can’t possibly know that, what is it?” Regulus pushed. 

“You don’t need to know that.” Lupin hissed. 

“Don’t be so cagey Lupin.” Regulus replied, putting the book down before crossing his arms. 

“Regulus it doesn’t concern you.” Lupin continued. “If you need to be able to locate them then just bring me with you.” 

“Sneaking you into my cousin's highly guarded house on my own is hard enough. I have no way of getting you in, let alone myself.” Regulus argued.

“James has something that could help us get in.”

“I am not talking to Potter about this, please tell me you haven't talked to Potter about this.” Regulus retorted, looking to the door, as if Potter was just going to prance in, thankfully he didn’t. 

“No I haven't, not enough evidence, plus James would ask far too many questions.” Lupin responded with a bit of a laugh. It posed a question though, made Regulus wonder, how did Lupin know about this? Why was he looking into all this?

“Lupin, how did you find out about all this?” he asked. 

“Regulus just because we have one single similar thought does not mean I owe you a bunch of personal explanations about my personal goings about.” Lupin hissed, he had grown awfully irritated in the past couple of minutes if his stupid tone was anything to go by. 

“Lupin, you know what I would have to do in order to get into my cousin's house that easily? This isn’t just some extra curricular I’m doing for fun, this is something important!” Regulus practically shouted. “I’d have to get the bloody dark mark Lupin, I don’t want to get it for nothing! I don't want to get it at all but I will if it means I can search that house!” 

“So then don’t get it! I can sneak in and I’ll check, I’d have a better chance of finding it then you!” Lupin suggested, placing his hands down on the table.

“You’d get caught, the Malfoys are vigilant, more so since the war and I don’t trust you enough to just let you do that.” Regulus dismissed, turning his noise up. 

“Then we both go, you’ll distract them, I’ll search." Was Lupin's next suggestion 

“Then I’d still have to get the mark.” Regulus argued.

“Can’t you just visit your cousin?”

“In the middle of school? With no reason too? No.” Regulus stated firmly, even if they got along fine, he and Narcissa were never that close. “And I’m not getting the mark on the off chance you have a way to find it so unless you tell me how there's no chance of that.” 

“I…” Lupin parted, running his hand through his hair with a sigh “I can find it if it’s there, I promise, I just can’t tell you, we're not exactly close.” It wasn’t a lie, they had only talked pretty much twice before this year, aside from that they only saw each other whenever he and Sirius had an altercation which gave them a pretty polarizing relation. Plus no doubt Sirius had banned any of his friends from going near Regulus since Regulus had done the same with him. 

“It’ll be an equal exchange won’t it, you’ll know I’m a fucking death eater and I’ll know whatever your hiding.” Regulus proposed. It made him feel weird, to call himself a death eater, he hadn't wanted to be, he half hoped Lupin would dismiss the idea just so he didn’t have to. 

“What if there's nothing there, we just move on, you live as a death eater, I live knowing you know.” Lupin wondered. It almost seemed like an unfair exchange, though Regulus hardly knew what Lupin was hiding.

“If there's nothing there then we don’t have anything to really worry about. And I mean you could get me arrested as a death eater if I say shite about whatever you've got going on.” Regulus countered, pointing a finger at Lupin

“Fine.”Lupin responded

“Fine?” Regulus repeated.  

“Fine.” Lupin nodded before counting one with a hefty sigh.  “I’ll, fuck, I’ll tell you, but then we go together. You'll get the mark, I find whatever it is your cousins got if anything and then we just go our merry ways.” 

“And you're sure you won't get caught? My cousin’s not exactly an idiot.” she wasn’t and Lupin wasn’t exactly the picture of stealth since he was quite tall and awfully distinct with his scars. 

“James’s got a really good invisibility cloak, I’ll borrow it, she won’t know.” Lupin explained tilting his head to the side a bit. Regulus gave him a quizzical look, he assumed that was probably how they had gotten so many pranks done, who would have guessed. 

“Okay.” Regulus affirmed, he held out his hand as if this was some kind of business deal.

“Okay.” Lupin replied, shaking his hand. Lupin was awfully sweaty, he wondered if it was because of the thick jumper he wore from the stress of the conversation.

Regulus waited for Lupin to explain, he didn’t, just sat there with a tight face. “Not much of an explanation still, what's the poor brooding Lupin got that’s so terrible he just has to hide it?”

Finally Lupin spoke, looking past Regulus, eyes fixed on the walls. “Dark concentration was used interchangeably with dark creatures, like vampires and banshees and, luckily for me since I am one, werewolves.” Lupin stared at Regulus, like he was expecting some kind of breakdown of sorts, regulus sat in contemplation for a couple moments before actually bursting out laughing.

“Oh merlin Lupin, your name is terrible then.” He said between laughs, Lupin lightly punched him in the shoulder, a far too friendly gesture for their jaded relationship. 

“Shut up! That is a terrible reaction!” Lupin cried with a look of shock. “I’m a monster, an actual known killing monster and you laugh?” 

“Were you born or bitten?” Regulus questioned.

“Bitten, I was five.” Lupin responded solemnly, looking down at his feet. 

“Oh, Sorry.” Regulus apologized, it was awfully young. 

“Don’t apologize, s’not like you bit me.” Lupin started, clearly he had heard it before. “I should, um, get going.”

“Me too I guess.” Regulus concurred, “I’ll have to send a letter to Narcissa before we finalize anything.”

“Okay.” 

“I’ll, find you I guess, when I figure out when.” Regulus decided as Lupin headed for the door. 

“Okay. Avoid near the moon.” Lupin warned, with a wave as he left the classroom leaving Regulus alone in the empty classroom. Things felt a little more real having actually said something out loud. 

Chapter Text

The day after the full moon was when Remus finally received notice from Regulus about their planned visit to the Malfoys. He had managed to get a note into Remus’ bag, which he had no clue how Regulus had done since they have no classes together and he actually hadn’t seen him all day. At first he hadn’t even realized what the note was for when he first read, just assumed it was scrap paper. Instead it was a note that said no more than the time and place (May seventh, behind the furthest Ravenclaw stand towards the end of the game.) with a neat little R.A.B in the bottom corner. 

That meant that Remus had two-ish days to steal James' invisibility cloak without him noticing. It shouldn't be too hard, it’s not as if he sleeps with the things. Not all the time anyways. James always kept it safely tucked into his trunk. At least they had no pranks coming up, James and Sirius were too invested in quidditch even though their match wasn’t two-three weeks from now they desperately wanted to win. 

The main issue was getting some alone time in the room, or maybe it was hiding it so James didn’t find it immediately. The guilt also sort of hindered his enthusiasm, stealing from James was bad enough, hanging out with Regulus was probably worse. At least it was temporary. Just for confirmation, nothing more.

Right now the issue was that Sirius had practically glued himself to Remus over the past week. They had fought, it was over a week ago but Sirius was clearly still not quite over it. It was a stupid one too, the fight, Remus had been quicker to anger with Sirius since the incident with Snape last year. 

They fought because Sirius was trying to set up Remus and Mary. Sirius had taken to dating Marlene sometime earlier in the year, because of this Remus just had to date someone too. Mary was the pick since she was friends with Marlene in fact she and Remus were also quite close. Sirius thought it was too perfect. Remus thought it was annoying since Remus was pretty clearly not interested. 

At first it wasn’t an issue, it only came to be an issue when Sirius started trying to bring Remus on double dates. It wasn’t fun, it was awkward. Mary didn’t seem to enjoy it either. It was worse since it meant seeing Sirius and Marlene act all couply. Of course Sirius, as oblivious as ever, started bitching to Remus about how unreceptive he was being. Remus, being equally as annoyed with the issue, argued back. It sprawled out of control. Sirius said something worse than whatever Remus had. Sirius had apologized the next day and was now set on making it up. 

The issue came then since Sirius was certain Remus hadn’t forgiven him since he had been absolutely glum as of late. Remus had been absolutely glum because he was lying to his friends, breaking into a pureblood house with Sirius’ brother to steal possibly part of Voldemort's soul from a house where Voldemort himself would be. Tragically this was not something Remus had much desire to share with Sirius or any of his friends for that matter which meant he was at an impasse of sorts. 

Remus snapped the next day over lunch. He still hadn’t come up with much of an idea for stealing the cloak and he still couldn't shake the unrelenting Sirius. Remus decided to spend lunch in the dorm, he had some assignments he desired to work on and he also figured he could get some much needed alone time and perhaps a possible opportunity for his theft. Of course that did not happen since Sirius decided to tag along. 

He was studying on the floor, laid flat on his stomach with his books and quills strung out in front of him. Sirius was not studying. Sirius was laying on James’ bed flicking his wand around, causing little subconscious bursts of magic as he often did when he was bored. 

Remus finally had enough when Sirius’s little paper birds, which he had created to keep entertained since Remus was being poor company, started flying closer to where Remus was. “Sirius.” Remus scolded. 

“What?” Sirius asked with an all too confused face, as if he hadn’t even realized what he was doing.

“Your birds.” Remus replied pointing up to the little row of birds flying closely above him.

“Oh.” Sirius flicked his wands, the paper quickly lit up before disappearing, leaving nothing but a couple pieces of ash to fall on Remus’ books. “Sorry, hadn’t realized it, ‘m just a bit bored I guess.” 

“If you're bored, why don’t you go hang out with James and Pete, I’m sure it's a little more entertaining than sitting here.” Remus suggested, looking up from the book he was reading. 

“See I can’t though.” Sirius sighed dramatically, leaning his head over the edge of James’ bed to stare at Remus. His face started to go red from being upside down. 

“I don’t see why not.” Remus responded, flipping the page of his book as if he was still reading it. 

“Because you’re still upset with me” Sirius stated, which was growing more correct by the second for entirely different reasons. 

“Sirius I am not.”

“You’ve barely said a word to me in the last couple days!” Sirius shouted, flipping himself over now facing Remus with his head upright. 

“I’ve barely said a word to anyone, Pads!” Remus shouted back, throwing a hand to dramatize his point. “‘Sides, even if I was mad, what good would bother me while I study? If anything, wouldn't I get madder?”

“So you are mad!” Sirius confirmed, pointing at Remus who let out an annoyed sigh at the comment. 

Remus took in a deep breath in an attempt to keep his voice as steady as he wanted it to sound. “I’m not, I’m just suggesting that this isn’t the best course of action to be taken if you want someone to not be mad at you.”

“Moons you're sending mixed signals because it sounds like you're saying you're mad.” Sirius implored, twirling a strand of hair around his wand as if they were having a rather bland chat. 

“Well maybe I am getting a bit mad because you're arguing with me and that does quite work me up.” Remus pointed out, shutting the book. Sirius looked as though he was about to say something but Remus cut him off, realising he might just be rather mad at Sirius after all. “And you haven't given me a lick of space since last monday and I do dearly miss my space Sirius!” 

“So you’ll be less mad if I just stopped talking to you.” Sirius replied, sounding awfully hurt, he had dropped his hand holding his wand, letting his hair fall back down to where it sat below his shoulders. 

“No! I’m not mad at all and you don’t need to stop talking to me, I'm just saying it’d be nice if you gave me some time to study, just for right now.” Remus rectified, it had little effort since Sirius still looked a bit upset.

“You’ve been studying forever though, I mean shouldn't you also leave, just to take a break?” Sirius offered, altering the subject. He was dead wrong anyways, Remus had done little studying at all, between staring at Sirius and researching whatever he could about sensing dark magic and what not he had gotten very little school work actually done. 

“I don’t need a break from studying, maybe I need a break from you.” Remus mumbled to himself without much of a thought to his words, Sirius recoiled as if they were a physical blow. It was not uncommon for them to fight nowadays. As of late Remus had found himself and Sirius to be like two puzzle pieces with a missing tab, they didn’t quite fit the same anymore, not like before that stupid prank. Remus now a little more unforgiving and Sirius all too easy to hurt. 

“Well fuck you too then Remus.” Sirius responded quickly, pushing himself up off the bed and getting up to leave. It was awfully dramatic for him to get so upset from one little comment but Remus’ supposes Sirius was always dramatic. 

“Pads I didn’t mean it like that!” Remus sighed apologetically.

“Sounded an awful lot like you did.” 

“For merlin's sake Sirius you know I didn’t.” Remus reiterated a little more aggressively, running one of his hands though his hair in a similar fashion to how his father had done when he was bothered. 

“So you don’t want me to leave.” Sirius questioned, he seemed to know the answer, already most of the ways to the door, wasn’t really a far walk since the room was not too big. 

“That’s not-” Remus started. 

“Yes or no question Moons.” Sirius added, cutting Remus off, which was deeply annoying.

Apparently when annoyed Remus was a lot more hurtful since instead of furthering his back tracking he decided to just make things worse. “You know what! Yes! Yes I do want you to leave! You're bloody smothering me and it’s more bothersome than not.” 

“Fine then!” Sirius snapped, heading out the door. It shut behind him with a slam. Remus gave a deep sigh before face planting on the cover of his book and letting out a muted scream. 

It’s not that he was even actually mad at Sirius. If anything he was just annoyed with him. Remus should be allowed to be annoyed with Sirius if you asked him though Sirius seemed to disagree. They hadn’t had much of a problem before because Remus used to be more than okay with just letting Sirius push over his boundaries like a bulldozer. It was different now. 

They had fought a lot over the latter half of fifth year but things really had gotten better, they were normal. Then Sirius started dating Malrene. It was selfish, how Remus started acting after that, there was no way around it. It hurt to see them together, so Remus picked fights and avoided him if he could. He hadn’t really started doing it on purpose, at first he really only thought he was doing it as a sort of penance for the whole prank last year. Remus realized this was not the case when the things with Mary started. He saw them so much after that. It was almost intentional then, the fighting, it worked to keep them apart at least. 

He never much liked thinking about Sirius like this. It was funny since he really only truly realized it after the whole thing with Snape. He had been avoiding Sirius but he wasn’t angry at him. He missed him more than he didn’t, even when he was rightfully mad he just felt so terrible. He thought it would be fine. It was fine until he started dating Marlene. Dating was one thing but Marlene was another. They were friends, he saw both of them all the time and it hurt all the time. It was tiresome to be around them.

Obviously he would never admit any of that. Apparently he might not really ever have to since Regulus had apparently figured it out immediately. That was mortifying. Regulus probably thought he was plenty pathetic after that. Not that it mattered, Regulus wasn’t much to Remus at all, he had really only agreed to work with him because of his own curiosity, and a slight desire to switch from the whole 'I'm in love with your brother’ topic. 

With Sirius gone Remus could actually focus on that part at least. His little part in his and Regulus' plan. Stealing the cloak. James kept it in his trunk so it would be easy to grab. The trunk was visible to Remus from his spot on the floor, slid under Jame’s bed, right below where Sirius had been sitting not moments ago. 

Obviously it did have a lock but it was just a little muggle one. Alohamora opened it swiftly, popping the lock open. Remus was quick in his endeavor, pulling the cloak out from the bottom of James’ other knick-knacks. 

He kept it folded before placing it in the side pocket of his school bag. The sidepocket, unlike the rest of his bag, was often used for the cloak and other such items for the Marauders  pranks since in early fifth year Remus had managed to get the pocket under an undetectable expansion charm, allowing it to fit twice as much junk then it usually could. 

Remus felt a certain amount of guilt when he left the dorm, both for what he had said to Sirius and for stealing the cloak. In the past couple weeks he had probably done just about enough stupin shite to have the Marauders  and all his friends even, come out and hate him. His bag felt heavier as he headed to his next class.

Regulus felt sorely unprepared for tomorrow. He had managed to slip a note to Lupin and he had managed to coerce Narcissa into some sort of inquisition with her husband so that he could in turn somehow convince the Dark Lord to let Regulus join the death eaters as an official member just under three years before he graduated with an absolutely flimsy excuse about ‘determination’. Regulus was honestly shocked it had worked. 

He had actually met the Dark Lord once before. He would occasionally use certain prestigious members of the pureblood communities' houses for his meetings. The Blacks home had been used only a few times since both his mother and father were both heavily supportive of his efforts, only lacking in the motivation to get the mark themselves. Regulus was mostly at school when it was, only once was he home, one time over summer. He remembers his mother had praised him for his interest. He remembered the cold look the Dark Lord had worn. Perhaps it was interest he wore instead of contempt with how easy he was with Regulus' proposition. 

Regulus read over the letter multiple times that evening. It was simple and sleek as everything that came from Narcissa was. He was to use a portkey that was to be mailed in tomorrow morning to get to the Malfoy's house after his quidditch match, no one would notice his absence since most people would be too enthralled in celebrating or wallowing in defeat. Narcissa mentioned for him to remain timely in his endeavour. She had warned him that impatience was not to go unnoticed. It felt like a threat. 

On top of the fear he felt about actually getting the dark mark, he also had a quidditch game before it and as the only seeker he had an awfully important role. Dorcas and Barty were both on the team as well. Dorcas was currently their captain. She had taken over after Aldan Dextere, the old captain, had been hit with a bludger so bad he hadn’t been able to see straight for a month. He quit after that. Barty was one of the two beaters, a role that suited him a lot more than it would seem. He looked scrawny to put it plainly but he was awfully violent which seemed to more than make up for it. 

Dorcas had been the first of the three of them to try out, getting put on the team only in her second year. Regulus joined in his third, Barty joined in his fourth. Slytherin was good because of it. At least the three of them pulled their weight more than Avery and Mulciber, who were far too violent which often led to at least one foul a game. 

Tomorrow they were up against Hufflepuff. It was their final game of the season and the team had been practising non-stop because of it. Regulus had gone to bed without being able to feel his arms more times then not because of all the practice Dorcas had been running them through. Regulus was almost thankful the season was nearing its end though he sort of dreaded finishing tomorrow’s match since he definitely wouldn't be going anywhere pleasant that evening. 

Dorcas seemed stressed as well though she likely hadn’t been worrying about the dark mark all too much, she was probably worked up about the quidditch match. She had been captain nearly the whole season and she had mentioned to him she really wanted to keep that position next year despite Avery and Mulciber’s calls to have her removed. 

She and him ended up spending the evening together, just the two of them. Dorcas had been the one to suggest it, grabbing him from where he was originally perched in the common room. He didn’t argue and now here they were, sat on the edge of the Great Lake. Dorcas had been skipping stones, caught up in her own thoughts seemingly as Regulus was in his as he read Narcissa's letter. 

She only spoke up once it started to get a bit colder, tightening her cloak and finally looking away from the horizon. “Regulus.” she started, pausing tentatively waiting for him to look up from the letter. “Do you think we’ll stay friends after next year?”

“I don’t see much of a reason why we wouldn't." Regulus responded as he folded up the paper in his hand, placing it back into it’s spot in his bag. “It’s not worth worrying about too much anyways Cas, you’ve still got another year stuck with us.”

“Stuck with you makes it sound like I wouldn't want to, which is really only true in Barty's case.” Dorcas replied with a soft laugh. “I just mean with… everything, I don’t think we’ll end up on the same side of all of this and I don’t really want to lose any of you.” Dorcas added hesitantly. She never much talked about this kind of stuff, Regulus both felt honoured he chose her and a bit scared about the reality of it all. 

Regulus didn’t answer right away. “I think,” he finally started, pausing again to finish his thought. “I think you’ll only lose us if you stop reaching out, I don’t think there’s any world where the four of us stop coming to you unless you stop coming to us.” he continued, pushing himself a little closer to Dorcas,doing his best not minding the dirt accumulation on his pants. 

“I worry I might have to if things go how they seem to be going.” She whispered. It took him a second to realize she was crying a bit. He had never seen Dorcas cry. 

“Then you’ll have no one to blame but yourself, Dorcas.” he answered cruelly. He put an arm around her in an ill attempt to comfort her, as if it could make his words any softer. 

“I know.” She mumbled. “I know and I know you probably don’t have a choice but Evan and Barty talk as if it’s a choice and Pandora won’t talk about it at all and it’s all so trivial, like a big joke to them and-” Dorcas rambled. “-and I worry that they’re going to all go mad, and I worry that one day I’ll see them die and I won’t even be able to mourn because of their choices.” 

“Dorcas.” he tried, she didn’t respond, only pressing her head firmly into his shoulder. 

“I worry about you too.” She whispered into his sleeve. “I know you don’t have a choice and I know you won’t leave and I know where you’ll end up because of it.”

“You don’t know anything about my circumstances, Dorcas. There's two years for things to change.’ Regulus lied, more to himself than Dorcas, the words seem to comfort her anyways. “I think it’s best if we just pretended nothing was wrong until then.” 

Dorcas didn’t say anything, she just wrapped Regulus in a hug, tightening her grip till he was nearly strangled, Like a snake coiling around a mouse. “I wish this wasn’t happening right now.” She whispered mostly to herself. 

“Pretend it isn’t.” he replied, a strategy that he had been employing ever since the war efforts started to grow. A strategy that would probably be ineffective after tomorrow. Dorcas had her eyes closed, Regulus had his eyes open, eyes trained on the small bit of skin above his wrist where his sleeve had rolled up. It was fair as of now, tomorrow it would be replaced reddened and stained with ink.

They went back inside a little after that. Neither of them spoke all the time back to the dungeons. Dorcas only spoke up once she was half up the stairs to the girls dormitory, wishing him a quick goodnight and offering a small thank you. Regulus felt nearly sick, the letter in his bag felt heavy.

Chapter Text

Regulus caught the snitch within the second hour of the game. The Hufflepuff seeker had almost no chance against him, he was only a second year and a muggleborn at that. Even if Regulus didn’t think him adequate for it, it didn’t make him any worse than the other seekers despite what a good lot of his teammates were saying but he also knew it meant the poor boy hadn’t had much experience riding a broom. 

The rest of the team did admirably, this is true for both teams actually. Hufflepuff was up for the first half of the game but by the end, even before Regulus had found the snitch they had started to trail behind Slytherin. 

Typically, Regulus would associate his victory with celebration, being thrown into a little group hug with Barty and Dorcas, waiting for Evan and Pandora to come out from the stands. It wasn’t the case right now. All he felt was nauseous and all his thoughts were attempts at building up an excuse for why he would be missing the usual post-win celebration. “I can’t feel my hand.” He whispered to Barty who was all caught up in a deep kiss with Evan. Regulus had forgotten they were dating, not much had changed since they started. 

“What?” Evan yelled back, answering in Barty's stead when the pair finally parted. 

“I can’t feel my hand, I’m going to visit the hospital wing.” Regulus explained, raising his voice to be heard of the Slytherin's cheers.

“You can’t what?” Barty yelled back, sharing a glance with Evan.

“Feel my hand!” Regulus waved his hand to embellish his words. It did not work. 

“What are you yelling about?” Dorcas shouted, coming up behind  him, she had Pandora by her side, along with one of her roommates, Penelope-something. Regulus never bothered to learn their names, he honestly hadn’t realized Dorcas ever spent time with them. 

“My hand is numb, I’m going to the infirmary to get some cream or something, I’ll meet you at the common room.” He replied, enunciating each word. She gave a nod.

“Do you want me to come with? Or better yet I’ve got this potion that'll probably work– if you don’t mind being slightly blue in the hand for a couple days.” Pandora offered, Regulus shook his head.

“You need to tell Barty and Evan where I’m going, they’re too caught up in each other to hear me.” He replied loudly. “Also I don’t want a blue hand.” he added as he headed away from the group. 

Regulus then quickly made his way over to the back of the pitch where it was pretty empty aside from Lupin who was leaned against the wooden beams of the Ravenclaw stand, cloak strung over one of his arms. “Regulus.” he greeted. “I expected you to be quicker.” 

“I expected you to be slower getting away from Potter, Pettigrew and my brother, you four hang off eachother like fucking Grindylow.” Regulus retorted, hooking a hand around Remus’ wrist and dragging him towards one of the more secluded entrances to the school.

They didn’t speak at all as Regulus dragged Lupin into the castle, taking them into one of the first floor lavatories that had been out of order since first year when a group of students, who Regulus suspected were in fact Lupin and company, had blown it up using some sort of experimental charm seemed inconsequential enough since the thing had been quickly repaired with magic only to have it found that the plumbing no longer worked at all. 

Regulus pulled out a bag from one of the stalls, leaving it next to Lupin on the floor. “Theres a portkey in there, we’ll likely be put out a little in front of the house, I suggest you put that cloak on before then.” Regulus instructed pulling black dress clothes from the bag and moving to change from his quidditch attire. Lupin didn't respond, not vocally anyways, Regulus couldn't see him so he had no way to know if he nodded. 

“In all my years of school this is probably one of the weirdest reasons I’ve ended up hiding out in a lavatory you know.” Lupin muttered, his words were accompanied by an odd fluttering of paper. When Regulus came out, dressed in something a little more appropriate to see the Dark Lord in, he noticed that Lupin was looking over a map. 

“You're in your sixth year and you still need a map?” Regulus questioned harshly. Lupin let out a chuckle. 

“Yes.” Lupin answered with a twinge of mockery in his tone. Regulus rolled his eyes as Lupin folded up the map. “You never said how we’re getting back.” Lupin added, looking at Regulus.

“I was never told.” Regulus responded. “Put your cloak on, we’ll be leaving in a second.” Regulus demanded, Lupin did, making all put his head and a bit of his torso uncovered. Regulus had to admit it was a pretty splendid piece of magic, better than any cloak he’d seen used before for similar activities. 

“Regulus If I end up stranded at the Malfoy house because you have arranged a personal way back I will kill you.” Lupin threatened, almost like a joke but not quite. 

“You won’t, cover your head.” Regulus instructed, Lupin obliged, now only visible was one of his hands which was sitting in Regulus’ own and he grasped the little teacup that had been sent by Narcissa this morning. 

Regulus hated traveling by portkey. It was more nauseating and a little scary. He had only done it once or twice, he had expected Lupin to have done it less. They were able to both land with a little grace at least, not that anyone would be able to see since Lupin was completely invisible and Regulus was too far out from the Malfoys to be seen. 

Malfoy manor was as extravagant as he had expected it to be. Regulus led the forwards, only aware that Lupin was even there by the light pressure of his invisible hand on his shoulder. Narcissa met them, him, halfway down the lined entrance. “Cousin, it’s nice to see you are prompt.” She greeted with a thin smile. “I hope you don’t mind, we have owled your parents at the news.” 

“Good to see you as well. I’m sure my parents will be pleased, I do not mind.” He responded with her same expression. 

She led him into the foyer which was filled with the extravagance you would expect from such a prosperous family. Lucius was already in the room, standing next to a chair. Bellatrix was on the other side. He hadn’t known she would be here.

“Dearest Regulus!” She sang too sweetly as they entered. Her dresses short sleeves showed the mark upon her own arm, soon Regulus would be bearing one to match. He hadn’t really thought this through all too much. His nerves were acting up. The nausea from the portkey was replaced with a worse bought from this. 

“Bellatrix, Malfoy, it is nice to see you both.” he greeted, Lucius remained as still as ever, only a slight smile changed and only for but a second. Bellatrix beamed, moving towards him and cupping his cheeks, he felt Lupin move his hand from his shoulder to right below it on his back. It was comforting even if they weren't friends. 

“Don’t be so stiff cousin, you’ve finally done something truly exceptionary, coming here, be a little more excited.” she sounded so proud, even pressing a firm kiss onto his forehead before circling back towards Lucius. They waited there for a little while, none of them moving much at all except for Narcissa who was getting a house elf to bring tea that no one would drink. Lupin's hand remained firm on his back. 

A dark trail of smoke announced the Dark Lord's arrival. He sat calmly in the chair that Lucius was behind, sitting comfortably as if he had always been there. He looked pale from his near-white arms and the little fragment of his bony face that Regulus could see from under his hood. No one greeted him, no one spoke at all. The only movement in the room was the thin hand waving Regulus forwards. 

Regulus felt Lupin squeeze his shoulder before his hand disappeared. A last comfort before Regulus doomed himself to the cruelty he associated with the death eaters. He would never be free from this after unless he cut his own arm off. It wasn’t the first time the thought crossed his mind. 

Regulus moved forward slowly, stopping once he was directly in front of the Dark Lord. “Regulus Black.” he started, Regulus could see his wand held loosely in his thin fingers, his grip looked almost dainty. “You come from a good family and show good promise being so intrigued by our purpose.” purpose as if it was all he was living for, prejudice and murder. Regulus wanted to cry, instead he gave a sharp nod. “Tell me, why seek out this blessing so young, even your peers, as unwavering as they are in our truth, have yet to seek this out.” 

“Because where they falter in uncertainty, I know there is no other path for me. Even if I am too young to be of much use I am determined to support what is right ” Regulus answered, a well practised half-truth that he struggled to believe at all in the face of the loss of his last shred of self. The Dark lord hummed a response, it sounded hollow, chilling. Bellatrix wore a smile the size of her face. 

“Give me your arm child.” Regulus obliged, holding his left arm forwards. The Dark Lord gripped it tightly, holding the wrist with his cold spindly fingers. He was quick with his movement, flipping Regulus' arms over and with a simple wave of his wand revealing the pale skin of Regulus’ forearm. “You are correct, you will be of little use to me as it is now, I only wish you to keep an eye on the headmaster, keep a steady grasp on his plans, what students he favours.” The Dark Lord instructed as he pointed his wand over Regulus’ arm. He felt it grow warm. 

It was much more painful than Regulus had expected. Even just at the start, it felt as though it was being etched into his skin, burned, and then etched again, his arm grew red with the pain. It was painstakingly slow too, each line, each little fraction took an increasingly large period of time. 

Regulus was sure there was a better way, he remembers Sirius got a tattoo back in second year, it was a magic one that he had gotten to piss off their parents while he still lived there, a little moon that displayed the phases. Thinking back on it, Regulus figured it was probably for Lupin, how sweet. He had said it hadn’t hurt even a little bit with all the magic. This was meant to hurt, it signified what Regulus was, how little power he had. It was humiliating, tears welled in his eyes though they never quite fell. 

It felt like a sacrifice. It felt like he was lesser than whole because he was. This didn’t make him some sort of warrior for his blood, his rights and what not it made him a shallow vessel for someone elses agenda. Amalgamated him into a mass of others tearing his choice into nothing. It was less of a mark and more of a brand, a seal something that kept him contained. 

“You can scream, you are young, you can scream if the pain is too much, it is nothing in comparison to what you will feel as an agent of my army.” the Dark Lord whispered, Regulus could see a cruel smile on the end of the man's face. He wished he could see the look in his eyes though the hood of the cloak. Regulus wished he hadn’t screamed, he did anyway, it felt involuntary. 

Remus was aware that whatever Regulus was doing was painful when he heard the shrieking start coming from the floor below. It made Remus grimace though it didn’t quite get him to stop his search. 

He had made it through the first floor pretty easily, there weren't many things on that floor and most of them were kitchens and dining rooms (who needs more than one dining room, there were like three!). The second floor was mostly empty aside from some drawing rooms and possibly Malfoy's office judging by the minority files sitting at the table. The only issues on the second floor came from the paintings who each were confused at the odd sensation of someone being there. The third floor had many bedrooms, much more than any two person family needed. 

Remus was thankful to have James cloak on when he checked in the last room on the floor. Since the bedrooms seemed to hold Malfoy's father, a sickly looking old man who hadn’t even noticed when his door opened despite the outward appearance of no one being there, maybe he hadn’t quite needed the cloak, the man seemed positively ill, as if he wouldn't last through the week. 

Remus did check the man's room rather quickly since old Malfoy was clearly ill. He did offer the man a sip from the water cup next to his bed when he saw him fail several times attempting to grab it himself. He hadn’t even blinked watching the cup float over for him to take a sip. Remus left swiftly after that.

The fourth floor was just storage by the looks of it. Remus spent most of that floor just trying to avoid the weird amount of trap furniture and gimmicks that was found on it. One of the couches had growled at him which was strange. A necklace personally asked him how he was and enticed him to put it on with words such as  ‘I promise I won’t strangle you’ which were very unconvincing. He got his hand stuck in a doorknob that transformed into another hand, holding him tightly in place, not only causing him to let out a yelp but also drop the cloak. 

After freeing himself from the hand he decided against pulling the cloak back on, figuring no one would be on such a high floor when. He also took to trying to pry open the door, which was hard since the handle firmly wouldn't let him. 

He was set on getting past it anyways. The door itself was ordinarily in fact everything up until now could be described as some sort of ordinary. The only thing out of ordinary was a particularly odd sort of feeling coming from behind the door. Something that Remus hadn’t felt anywhere else. It was a repulsive smell and a sickening feeling and yet despite that Remus couldn't find it entirely appalling. He was nigh certain it was the horcrux, or at least some kind of dark magic. 

Alohamora didn’t work on the door. Neither did any other lock picking spell Remus had learned. He couldn't blast it off and he certainly couldn't pick it since the handle seemed impervious to any sort of immobilization. 

In a last ditch effort, before attempting his next idea of crawling out the nearest window and attempting to scale his way up, he cast a silencing charm and then over the door. He gave it a couple knocks to test if it worked, each of which let out no sound at all. Then he threw his weight against the door, trying once, and then again. The second time the door did fall though, leading Remus to a spiralled staircase leading upwards. Remus gave the handle a rather petulant smile before continuing on up. 

The next challenge came with an easy solution. A rug on the upper edge of the stairs that had a similar mechanism to the girls dormitory stairs at Hogwarts. The easy solution was that since this was a rug, all Remus had to do was roll it up and toss it down the stairs to sit with the frustrated door handle. 

When Remus finally made it up the stairs (and he really meant finally, there were quite a few.) he found himself in a sort of miniature library. It was clear this was one of the turrets that he had seen from outside since the room was cylindrical. One wall contained a ceiling high shelf that made the room appear awfully shallow. Between that and the little writing desk on the other side sat one small window that looked out over the large grounds of the manor. 

The audacious scent had grown stronger when he altered the room. He could still feel a bit of a pinch in his head and the nausea had doubled. Somewhere on the bookshelf he suspected which gave him little direction since the bookshelf was twice as tall and about four times as wide as him. It was stronger a little more towards the middle, a little lower down too but nothing quite drew it out. 

After thoroughly investigating the shelf Remus came to the conclusion that the book shelf was probably some kind of door which he didn’t quite know how to open. He knew that a lot of the secret passages at Hogwarts required certain spells or levers to get through, he tried most of the spells and attempted to yank a couple books off the shelf in hopes of one of them being some sort of key, all of which had no results. 

The books themselves also contained no helpful hints since they were mostly wizarding books that Remus hadn’t read or in a language Remus didn’t understand. He tried every revealing spell in the book and even attempted a similar effort to the one for the door which also didn’t work. 

After at least a good couple minutes of attempting anything he resigned to sitting himself at the desk. It was like the ones at Hogwarts, though the inside was found to be empty and the paper and quills on top were seemingly unused. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

When Remus did eventually find the key it was more of an accident done out of frustration. He had scribbled something along the lines of fuck this door on the paper only for it to disappear into the page. He tested out a couple other words (mostly greetings and insults, he was awfully peeved but wanted to remain somewhat polite) until he finally came up with an idea of sorts. Please move the bookshelf, was all it took for the shelf to start rearranging itself, sliding one of the sections behind another to reveal a stand in a patch of grass. 

The sort of smell of what he could only assume to be dark magic grew tenfold when it was revealed. Remus walked over far too carelessly since immediately upon stepping on the grass with just one foot it started to claw at his leg. It left a nasty array of slices along his already scarred leg that burned as if they were poisoned, which he desperately hoped they weren't though he wasn’t all too caught up on worrying about that right now, distracted by what he could only assume to be part of Voldemort's soul. 

The plants were easily removed by Aguamenti’s lesser known sister, Aguaparis which had a sort of opposite effect, sucking the water out of the killer grass, effectively killing it. Remus stepped a little more cautiously into the circle of now grey grass and stared at the podium in the center which held a little black book, some kind of journal that reeked of whatever damaging feelings it emitted. 

Remus carefully removed it, placing it into his bag as if it were to fall apart in his hands. The touch of the book gave his hands pins and needles. He was surprised that nothing else jumped out at him as he removed it though he wondered if maybe the protection on the book was Voldemort himself. He wondered if he could feel it, feel the part of his soul being moved, touched, he desperately hoped he couldn't or else Remus was certain he wouldn’t make it out of here today. 

After taking the book he attempted to close the library back up with an order for it to shut which worked rather nicely. He replaced the rug on the stairs, placing it back to how it was as best he could. He used a spell to repair the door and then headed his way back towards the stairs, putting the invisibility cloak back on only once he reached the bottom of the stairs. 

Regulus was no longer screaming when he made it back to the lower floors. Remus wasn't aware when exactly he had stopped but he seemed to have. He was still in the same spot when Remus reentered the foyer, kneeling now in front of Voldemort. Remus couldn't see his face but he assumed it was not exactly kept at the moment. 

He crept very slowly back over to Regulus, placing his hand back on to his back, signifying he was there. He doesn’t know if it was a subconscious act but Remus felt Regulus press his back closer into Remus’ palm. 

Voldemort was at the tail end of some speech to Regulus about power and responsibility, which Remus paid no mind to, Regulus didn’t seem all too invested either, slumped over on the floor, probably more focused on whatever pain had led him to cry out earlier. Remus subconsciously found himself rubbing Regulus’ back a bit, a little gesture that his mom used to do to him when he was really young after the moon. 

Once Voldemort finished his speech Regulus and Remus by proxy were led out of the room by Bellatrix Lestrange, formally Black, she had been married for quite a while now. Remus hadn’t known she was going to be there, he wasn’t all too glad she was only having heard bad things about her from Sirius. She didn’t lead them back outdoors, instead taking them to a farther back room that looked to be one of the service corridors from the kitchen.

 “A house elf will be fetched to take you back after we finish saying goodbye to the Dark Lord, obviously you have no need to present for that, best you just get back to school, write to mummy and daddy, heal up that arm of yours, it hurts less the next day.” Lestrange explained in her tooth rotting tone. She was looking past them, still distracted by Voldemort's presence in the other room. Regulus nodded silently, which Lestrange took as her cue to leave. “You're one of us now Reggie, be proud of it.” She added with all the confidence in the world. 

Remus waited until her footsteps simmered to nothing to whisper to Regulus. “Are you alright?” he whispered as he moved his arm from Regulus back to a more encompassing grasp around his shoulders. Regulus didn’t respond. Remus sighed. 

“Look, we can’t exactly take the house elf out since you’ve, uh, got a carry-on lets say, “ Remus warned, taking Regulus with him deeper into the house, towards one the backdoors that the large house was bound to have. “This is not a good time to go catatonic y’know.” he added, dragging Regulus' complacent body along with him. 

Just Remus luck that before even making it outside they were interrupted. It was only a house elf but seeing as Regulus was not answering. “Master Black.” the house elf greeted. “Master Black, I’m here to take you back to school.” She continued after receiving no answer from Regulus. 

Remus did what he used to do to James when he got called on while sleeping in class, a light charm Sirius had taught him in second year that acted as if someone had stuck a cold ice-pop on your back. He was thankful it worked since the next option was a full on slap. 

“Merlin!” Regulus exclaimed, waking from whatever headspace he was caught up in. He looked awfully freaked out, rapidly assessing his surroundings. Remus squeezed his shoulder, it seemed to calm him slightly.  “What was that for?” he hissed, more to Remus than the house elf, though she seemed to think it was towards her. 

“I’ve just called your name master. Please, allow me to return you to school.” The elf explained, holding out a hand. Regulus stared at her. 

“I’m-” Regulus’ voice was shaky, he paused as if to try to calm himself, “I’m alright, I should be able to get back on my own.” Regulus replied, voice only the slightest bit steadier. He took a hazed step backwards, Remus kept a grip on him, feeling Regulus’ own legs give out ever so slightly. 

“Master Black I was instructed to send you back to school. Please, you must cooperate.” 

“I am, you are still sending me back, you are just sending me on my way rather than directly.” Regulus replied shakily. “I just need some time to think.” He added quickly, taking another few steps back. 

“That is not my order, please come with me.” The elf repeated a little more hesitantly. 

“Oh no that’s quite alright, consider your order completed.” Regulus pushed, backing up further until he and Remus were close right up the door on the wall behind them. The house elf matched the steps, drawing closer to the pair, hand outstretched. 

Remus took what he would consider a rather risky chance, opening the door behind them swiftly, hoping it was some sort of exit. The heavy door made a loud creaking noise as it swung on its hinges, turning inwards to reveal a grand set of stairs that apparently Regulus had not accounted for. Taking another step back pushed Remus over the top step, sending both him and Regulus tumbling down the stairs and into whatever horrors a family as precariously dark as the Malfoys would have in store for them. 

Chapter Text

The first thing Remus noticed when he got his wits about him from where he lay at the bottom of the stairs, was that there was no light at the top of the stairs. The door had been awfully, heavy Remus could only assume it had shut on him. He felt James cloak slip off of him a little down the fall. There is no point in putting it back on down here, choosing to shove it into his bag. 

The second thing he noticed was the sharp pain welling up in his ankle which, given the situation he elected to ignore just for a bit. The door at the top of the stairs remained closed which meant the house elf had either given up or decided that the basement wasn’t worth the travel which was not a pleasant thing to think about. 

Remus pushed his torso up off the ground with a grunt. “Lupin?” he heard Regulus question from close beside him. 

“Yep.” Remus responded with a strain to his voice. “Are you alright Regulus?” he added, considering the state of his own mangled ankle and the other probable bruises from the fall. 

“Heads bleeding quite nastily though it’s not nearly as bad as-” Regulus paused, his voice drifting off. “My arm’s quite pained.” he finished, his voice of emotion. 

“I think my ankle’s fractured.” Remus supplied.

“Can you stand on it? I doubt the house elf’s still at the door so we can probably head back that way.” Regulus sounded higher, he had likely stood up though it was hard to tell since the room was awfully dark. 

“Sure, ya, just give me a moment.” Remus replied, pulling himself up using the nearby wall. He could hear Regulus shuffling up the stairs. Remus made a half hearted attempt to follow though it was difficult since putting nearly any weight on it led to a searing pain. 

His attention was drawn away from the pain by a loud rattle followed by a shout by Regulus. “The door’s stuck.” he stated. 

“Try harder” Remus instructed as he stared downwards at where he would probably have seen his foot if it hadn’t been so dark. He continued placing it up and down a couple times, each step leading to another wince of pain. 

“Not helpful, Lupin. It won’t open.” Regulus shot back with another fit of rattling from his attempt.  “This is stupid.” He mumbled “Aloham-”

“Don’t do that.” Remus cut him off “You're underage, still got the trace on you.” 

“You do it then, I don’t like how dark it is down here.” He sounded similar to Sirius as he spoke, Sirius never liked the dark. 

“Alohamora.” Remus cast, pointing his wand in the direction of Regulus’ voice. The door was briefly illuminated only to remain shut when Regulus tried to open the door again. With another flick Remus illuminated the tip of his wand, he was getting awfully good at casting without using an incantation. He made eye contact with Regulus from the bottom of the stairs. “I don’t think I can apparate.” Remus realized, vocalizing his thoughts mostly by accident after a failed attempt. 

“Does this mean we're stuck down here.” Regulus asked rhetorically. 

“I think this means we only have one way to go.” Remus answered, gesturing to the other doorway which led into another dark hall. “Do you know the incantation for healing bones.” he added, looking down towards his ankle. 

“Brachio Emendum heals them but it’s far too difficult to use without practice, you could try Ferula for bandages though.” Regulus offered. 

“I suppose you can do the first one?”

“Quite well, yes.” Regulus said with a smirk as he descended the stairs. 

“And we’re sure you're sixteen not seventeen?” 

“Fifteen.” Regulus corrected. 

“Ferula.” Remus cast, rather scathingly. All it succeeded in doing was bringing a wooden splint and a couple bandages near his feet. “Fifteen, quite young.” Remus quipped, handing Regulus his wand as he bent down and began bandaging his foot. Medical magic was never his forte but he was very good with bandages. It was a shame to have to remove his shoe though, frigid down this low. 

“Same age Sirius was when he ran, I reckon that’s just as dangerous as this.” Regulus responded coldly. “Hurry it up with that, I’d rather not spend my evening down here, I’ve had a poor enough day.”

“You won your quidditch game, wasn’t that quite fun?”

“Not when I had my arm– not to mention my individuality– violated afterwards.” That shut Remus up. He ended up leading him and Regulus further down the trail, not bothering to look back at Regulus whose angered expression was just as scary as Sirius’ maybe more so with the blood pouring down it. 

The hallways ended up being rather long, rather daunting as well. Remus used a few more spells to light the candles lining the path which might have been the wrong move since it also illuminated several previously unseen skeletal remains that lined the hall. 

The next time either of the pair spoke to each other was in the face of the next passage, blocked by a spindly gate and what looked to be a snake-like bird chewing on what looked to be a sanded down bone, likely from one of the even more plentiful skeletons within the gated area. “Lupin, what is that?” Regulus whispered, leaning into Remus as to remain as quiet as possible.

“I, um.” Remus started, staring at the thing as it circled around the room. “I think it’s snallygaster, though they're native to America.” Remus answered. “Why does your cousin have a snallygaster in her basement?” 

“I couldn't tell you– is there a way around it?” 

“They’re not very dangerous to wizards, they don’t like it when their prey knows what they are. Curious though, curious enough to go for a bite just to see what you are. I doubt there’s a way around.” 

“Brilliant.” Regulus replied sarcastically. Remus gave him an annoyed stare. Letting out a sigh, he began rooting though his bag, pulling out the invisibility cloak from earlier. 

“I’m sorry if this is uncomfortable for you, I won’t quite enjoy it either.” He said, throwing one hand around Regulus and using the other to string the cloak around them both, it was a tight fit for the two of them. “Aberto.” he added, causing the door to swing open slowly. “Don’t mind if I use you as a crutch, it’s best if we go faster.” Remus whispered, shifting some of his weight to Regulus who he felt give a nod. 

The terrarium that the snallygaster resided in seemed almost like the outdoors. There was a simple tree erected in the middle. The dark room looked as though it was a park, gated on either side. The snallygaster paid no mind to them, continuing its circling. Remus almost felt bad for it. He didn’t let that stop him from shutting the gate behind them, keeping it trapped in the Malfoys basement. 

They took the cloak off after passing through the gate, Regulus was the one that did it, handing it back to Remus who left it sitting over his arm. Remus still hung partially off Regulus, it was quicker that way, Regulus didn’t shake him off. 

The next obstacle came in the form of a large chasm blocking the way lined with a gross looking sludge. “Do all pureblood families have underground obstacle courses?” Remus asked, looking down at the bottomless pit pushing his good foot forwards to prod at the sludge. It felt like tar. 

“Not to my knowledge, no.” Regulus answered. “I think we should have just chanced the house elf. Even if you got caught I’d probably get off fine.” 

“I don’t think insinuating I should have died is polite, especially not since I can just shove you down this hole, Regulus.” Remus retorted. It wasn’t much of a threat since Regulus was supporting half Remus’ weight. He let out a breathy laugh which annoyed Remus greatly.

Remus fixed his eyes on one of the pillars on the other side, a little past the edge of the tar, closer to the next chamber. It was an easy enough solution. Remus figured that this was not a place one typically went with their wand. “Carpe retractum.” a white string appeared from the tip of Remus wand, replacing Lumos’ bright light with a much dimmer one. Seeing as the statue was transfixed to the other side the string began tugging Remus and Regulus who Remus made sure to hold a firm grip on, to the other side. 

It was a bit terrifying to be dragged over the pit by nothing but his wand but the pair made it over anyway. Feet trailing through the tar until they were pulled right over, crashing into the stone pillar before sprawling backwards on the floor once the spell let up. 

Once again laying on stone, Remus began pushing himself up, Regulus offered a hand which Remus took gratefully. The other side of the pit held three doors, all unlabeled. Remus and Regulus humbled over in tandem. Each of the doors bore the same little circle window, each with a different path laid out behind him. 

“Go for the one with the plants.” Regulus instructed after peering through the windows. Remus cocked an eyebrow at him. “Narcissa likes to garden, if any path is right it’d be the green one. Even if she only just moved in, Malfoy always tried to appease her.” He added. Remus pushed the door with the shrubbery behind it. It looked like a maze, a fitting sight since this basement was clearly one. 

The first thing that occurred to Remus was that the plants were trying to kill them when he started to feel Regulus slip away from him, letting out a yelp as vines wrapped his legs. The easy fix was to just drag Regulus which worked fine until the florals started appearing. Remus had always been hypersensitive to plants, heightened senses were more a curse than a blessing, but these plants seemed clearly intended to irritate beyond usual means. 

It took several turns to get past the shrubbery and its plethora of excess vegetation before the arrived into a thinner slightly less green path. There were no turns the rest of the way, Remus could only assume it was the way out. 

Devilsnare lined the edges of the path, laying limp left undisturbed. The pollen of the flowers seemed to be dead set on asphyxiating them, at least Remus just ended up sneezing, Regulus spent half the tunnel coughing. Smaller vines snapped and scathed past their skin, leaving the two lined with cuts that Remus could deal with with a quick episky. 

The end was blocked by a large fanged germanium, something that they had seen in herbology which had been noted that it should be avoided and nothing more aside from that. Notability it was much bigger then the ones they had been taught about, its large size enveloping the whole door, its grand display of teeth dissuading anyone who made it this far from progression. Its long leaves and vines swung out rapidly causing Remus and Regulius to jump back a couple steps, much to the chagrin of Remus and his banged up ankle. 

Remus recognized its aggression, it was similar to the whomping willow by its rapid movements. Immobilizing it was easy enough, its petals falling limp over the rows of teeth at its center. Regulus looked at him with a befuddled look. Remus freed Regulus from his weight in lieu of searching through his bag for something. He placed a quill on Regulus' hand which just furthered his curious look. With a wave of his wand the thing changed into sheers. “You’ll have to cut it, the vines are supposed to be resistant to magic.” Remus instructed with a mocking smile. 

“You cannot just– why can’t you do it?” Regulus responded, shoving the sheers over, they were larger than usual making Regulus’ hands look comically small. 

"Couldn't risk it, if it woke I’d be killed, no way I could dodge anything with my ankle all mangled.” Remus snapped back. Regulus gave him a sour look before turning to the fanged germanium and reluctantly working to cut it, carefully skirting the edges of the plant. 

The germanium fell with a loud clash, Regulus jumped back, Remus was far back enough that the thing didn’t come near him. The only worry he had were the small vines still nipping at his legs from behind. The door, once revealed, looked just like the one from earlier only more worn, slightly rotted around the edges. 

Beyond the door was the way out. It was like the end of a cave with just about a classroom worth of space between them and what looked to be the woods. Neither of the pair moved despite the little space between them and freedom. The cave was lined with a faint white light circling the area. It wasn’t worth it to chance stepping into the circle without knowing what was in it. 

“There’s something on the roof.” Regulus muttered eyes engrossed on the moving lines of the ceiling. “Remus I think it’s a lethifold,” he added transfixed, staring up looking almost scared or maybe just mystified. The lethifold was definitely a bigger concern but Remus was more focused on the fact that Regulus had called him Remus rather than the typical Lupin. “There’s been barely any sightings of these, only one survivor known, it’s amazing to actually be able to see one, especially here, you know there supposed to be tropical.” mystified then. 

“I don’t suppose the ‘one survivor’ thing is unrelated.” Remus questioned hopelessly. 

“Tragically it is, they're XXXXX, no way we survive if we get in that tiny space with it.” Regulus explained. “I wonder how they got it, I imagine transporting it’s harder than transporting dragons with their carnivorous tendencies.” he seemed genuinely enamored by it rather than frightened at the inevitability of it killing them. Eating them rather. 

“Transporting it’s the least of our concerns, Regulus, how do we make it past it.” Remus hissed, looking at the flowing black shroud move along the cavetop. 

“I’ve read that patronus stuns them, not really repelling like with demantors, but enough to get away.” Regulus hummed with a soft smile growing on his lips. 

“That does shite for us since I can't do a bloody patronus and you’re just unable to do any magic right now.” Remus grumbled looking down at his shoes. 

“You can’t do a patronous?” Regulus asked, finally breaking away from the ceiling to stare at Remus. 

“S’not like there’s a class for it, I have no reason to, not like dementors and fucking lethifolds are a daily occurance for me.” Remus retorted. “Any other way to, I don’t know, hurt it? Stun it? Distract it even?” 

“Probabaly not, that cloak of your won’t work either, they sense things rather than see them– no eyes and all– truly fastening stuff.”

“Well isn’t that wonderful.” Remus mumbles sarcastically to himself. He looked at Regulus “How do we get through then?”

“Run?” Regulus suggested, looking at Remus with a sheepish shrug. 

“Do you happen to know how fast they are?” Remus asked.

“No, I simply figure if we run fast enough it will give us a decent enough chance, how’s your ankle?” 

“Fine enough, at least it’s not nundus or chimereas.” Remus answered with a heavy sigh, taking Regulus’ hand and giving him a despairing look. “You good to go then?” he continued. 

“Propabaly.” Regulus answered with a nod. 

Remus let out a deep breath, bracing himself for the pain in his ankle, deciding last minute that maybe it was best to freeze the thing. “Glacius minora.” he muttered pointing his wand at his ankle which quickly fell into some kind of numbness before squeezing Regulus’ hand and pushing off from where they stood. 

They made it out of the cave in a matter of seconds, it wasn’t very large. It would have been fine if the circle hadn’t been broken when they stepped in, allowing the black cloud to chase after them. “Fuck I think it’s gaining!” He heard Regulus yell from behind, one hand still gripped in Remus’. 

“Nothing we can do about that! Just keep running!” Remus yelled back, following his own advice, running through the sparse trees in the upcoming area. He was slower with Regulus but he couldn't risk letting him go, lest he lose the poor boy. They made it quite far before he felt a tugging on his hand, bringing them both to a halt. 

“Can we… take…a break.” Regulus panted, heavy breaths lining each word. He had let go of Remus hunched over resting his hands on his knees and staring downwards, letting out a string of pitchy coughs. It was a fair reaction, they’d been running for nearly half an hour. It was warrant yes, but not necessarily a good idea since the lethifold was still somewhere behind them. Remus could see its dark figure farther off between the trees. 

“We’ve got like,” Remus looked at the black figure and then back at Regulus, taking a couple deep breaths through the pause. His ankle had started to thaw, he could feel the pain spreading like fire. “Five minutes before that thing fucking eats us.” He sighed deeply. “Maybe try to push through?”

“Push through!” Regulus cried in his winded voice. “Not all of us–” he paused for another breath “Not all of us are fucking werewolves, I have the stamina of a regular teenage boy!” Regulus argued.

“I’m not a good runner ‘cus I’m a werewolf, in fact I’m barely a good runner! Your just a shite runner withing fucking… asthma or something!" Remus decided. He figured Regulus wouldn't even really know asthma was. Regulus gave him a confused look which Remus ignored, grabbing Regulus wrist this time and starting to drag him running along.

They were definitely slower this time, between regular wear and tear, Remus fractured or probably broken by now, ankle and Regulus shallow breaths they were definitely not in good shape. They made it another good stretch of land before Regulus came to another abrupt stop, yanking his wrist from Remus’ as if he was being burned. “Regulus we do not have time to be–” Remus started, turning around and immediately cutting himself off, watching as a thin black tendril came from the newly appeared mass of them coming from the lethifold. Regulus let out a sharp cry

“Remus! Remus! Can you–” Regulus cried, being cut off by the tendril hoisting him in the air, hung upside down from his ankle. “Remus!” he shouted, sounding terrified. 

“Holy shite! Regulus are you alright!” Remus yelled, muttering another slew of curses under his breath. 

“No! No, I am not alright! Remus! Get me down from here! These things fucking eat people! Get me down!” Regulus pleaded shrilly. Remus threw a couple of curses at the mass, none having any effect. 

“Fuck! What do I do! Nothing's working.” Remus whined, trying a few more curses, hexes, charms, the works. 

“Use a bloody patronus!” Regulus yelled back, the tendrils had sort of flipped, Regulus still held upside down was now over the black cloth rather than under it. 

“I don’t know how to use a patronus! It doesn’t work!” 

“Have you ever tried! It’s an easy charm! Hell it’s an easy trick just be fucking happy!”

“I have tried! It doesn’t work! Shite, fuck, Regulus what the fuck to I do.” Regulus gave him an incredulous look, kicking around his legs as Remus held out his wand once again. “Expecto Patronum!” Remus shouted, doing his best to think of anything beside the fact that Regulus could possibly die. He thought of Hogwarts, his parents, his friends. Nothing happened. He gave Regulus a look.

“Try it again! This time mayb–” Regulus was swung quickly left. “Try harder!” He shouted through his movements. 

Remus thought of his parents. Nothing happened. He thought of Lily and Mary and Malrne, even the Marauders  but still nothing, each cast failing to work, Remus would have been a little more frustrated if he wasn’t so freaked out. 

Remus tried again, this time thinking of Sirius. Less about the actual time they spent together. He thought about how they argued. He thought about how it never mattered, no matter how horrid it got he was never mad. Remus thought about how he felt when they fought, the sort of warm longing he felt, the desire to apologize, not to push, to forgive. The sort of emotion that consumed him like a wildfire, or perhaps like the lethifold would if this didn’t work. “Expecto Patronum” He shouted, this time shooting a white flowy light at the dark mass carrying Regulus. 

The black smoke retreaded, the white faded, Regulus fell to the ground with a loud thud. Remus could see he had hit his head again. He was going to have a horrid bruise by the end of this, maybe a concussion. Remus spent a little too long staring at the space where his patronus shot out. It wasn’t corporeal or anything, but it was there. He pushed the wonder aside with force, remembering to check on Regulus before the lethifold recuperated. “Regulus!” He shouted, running up and crouching by Regulus’ side,  flipping him facing upwards. 

“Oh fuck me my head feels terrible.” Regulus griped, pushing himself up slowly, pausing halfway up to lean over and puke. “Merlin.” He muttered, finishing pushing himself up with a much quicker burst. 

“You’ll have to worry about that later.” Remus replied with a sorry face. He pushed himself back up and then offered a hand out to Regulus who took it and joined Remus standing in the sporadic woods. 

“I think we’ll be fine, I doubt it'll come back after that.” Regulus sighed.

“D’you think we should maybe call someone, like the Ministry or something to get that thing contained.” Remus wondered, Regulus just shrugged in response. 

“How’d you even explain this? We shouldn't even be here and someone’ll report it eventually.” Regulus responded, looking around at the woods. “How do we get back to school from here anyways?” 

“We could apparate.” Remus suggested. “I mean eventually we could.” he clarified. 

"Wouldn't work, I don’t know how. Lessons are in sixth year not fifth” Regulus sighed.

“I could do a sidealong, maybe not now, I’m positively drained but there's a town a little while over, could get something to eat and then we’d be good to go.” Remus offered, digging though his bag looking to see if he had any muggle money on him, he did luckily. 

“Where do you see a town? All I see are trees and dirt.” Regulus said, scanning the edge of the woods. 

“It’s a little far out whichever way there is.” Remus pointed towards a few trees and some bushes seemed to be the only thing that way. “I can hear it a bit so it shouldn't be too long of a walk.” Remus added, holding out his hand to Regulus again who gave him another confused look before resigning and just grabbing Remus’ outstretched hand. 

There was no more running. Remus just led Regulus’ forwards towards whatever town was apparently up ahead. A little far ended up being a bit of an understatement, it took them nearly another  hour to get anywhere. He let go of Regulus’ hand once they were right on the edge of the woods. The trees parted into a quaint looking bundle of houses. Remus gave Regulus a sort of smug look before leading the pair off the dirt and onto the street of the small town.

Chapter Text

Regulus had only ever been in a muggle restaurant once before this. Sometime with Sirius when he had still lived there, just after Sirius’ first year. It was a lot nicer there than wherever this was. 

He and Lupin were in some old looking building that looked like it had seen better days. He would have never entered a place like this of his own volition and yet here he sat, bloody head and now adorned in Lupin's jumper to cover his swollen arm. Lupin looked no better, his pants were shredded and his ankle was now purple and swollen. Regulus figured they fit right in a place like this. 

Lupin had ordered for both of them. Regulus put his head down on the wood table, comforted at the alleviation he felt resting his head. He remembered how good it felt to finally sit after all the running, even if it was on the poor quality chairs of this establishment. 

“So.” Lupin started after a beat. “I do think I found… something in the house.” he added, digging through his bag to produce a black diary that looked perfectly ordinary to Regulus.

“And you're certain it’s a horcrux?” Regulus questioned looking at the book. 

“I’m certain it’s something, I’ve got nothing to compare it to but the sort of magic coming off this book is far worse than anything I’ve seen before.” Remus explained, picking it up again, flipping through the pages. “Does T.M Riddle mean anything to you?” 

“No.” Regulus stated plainly, watching as Lupin stared intently over the pages. “Lupin, Give it to me.” he instructed, holding out a hand. 

“Remus.” Lupin corrected, not relenting the book. 

“Lupin is fine, this doesn’t make us friends.” Regulus argued, reaching his hand further, Lupin pulled the book back. 

“You called me it at the house.” Lupin stated. “And when the lethifold had you.” It was technically true, even if Regulus had done it unconsciously, more caught up in his fascination with the lethifold as well as his preoccupation with not dying over his manners in front of Lupin. It didn’t mean anything more than that he was distracted. 

“Extenuating circumstances.” Regulus replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice. 

“I call you by your name. ‘Sides Lupin makes me feel like I’m going to get in trouble.”

“If I call you Remus then you’ll give me the book?” Regulus questioned, looking at the little black diary. Lupin nodded. “Remus, give me the book,” he repeated.  Lupin, or rather Remus gave him the book with a smug smile. Regulus flipped through the pages himself, T.M Riddle was the only text in it at all, faded over the years but still legible. 

He rolled up the sleeve of Remus’ jumper and held the diary close up to his arm. The dark mark grew a couple shades darker with his action, which confirmed both that the mark would say when the Dark Lord was near and that the book contained part of him. “I think that confirms it.” he whispered, looking at Remus’ surprised face. He didn’t look too long at the dark mark, it was still red and grossly pained. He rolled down his sleeve. 

“What do we do about it?” Remus asked, taking the book back from Regulus' hand and putting it in his bag just as the waiter came over with their drinks, just water which Regulus drank almost immediately. “I reckon we ought to report this, I mean there's really no winning the war until this is destroyed.” 

“All that would do is alert him that someone’s looking.” Regulus argued, remembering Slughorn's words. “When Slughorn first mentioned it to me he implied there were more. Seven at most.” he added with a grim look, playing with the straw in his drink. 

“How does Slughorn know about this?” Remus replied before quickening, continuing, as if he only fully registered what Regulus had said after the fact. “Wait seven? There’s seven of these!” 

“I don’t know how Slughorn knows, I just know he seemed pretty upset about it last time he was drunk. And there's seven at the most, I doubt all of them are made yet.” Regulus explained with exasperation. 

“Well then we’ve definitely got to tell someone.” Remus stated, sipping his drink.

“Why must we? It’s not like we know it’s true and what good would it do us anyway if there’s more.” Regulus returned. 

“Of course we know it’s true there’s literally one at the table with us.” Remus nearly shouted.

“It’s too risky to say anything, we’ll both be killed.”

“I’ll die in the war anyway, not after it if no one does something to stop this.” Remus gestured to the book. 

“At least that’ll be later.” Regulus offered. 

“Later for me, you’d just live on in that bloody pureblood utopia.” 

“I would not, I am actively defying the Dark Lord, I’f be killed.”

“Not if no one found out you were doing this, if you just dropped it right now like you’re clearly trying to do.” Remus snapped. “Suppose that’s probably what you want,” he added. 

“That is not what I am trying to say.” Regulus argued. “I’m just-” He started coming up with very little reason for such a thing, it really wouldn't be the end of the world to him if they did drop it, not in the way it would be for Remus anyway. “Who do you suppose we tell then?” He decided without justifying the switch. 

“Dumbledore?” Remus suggested. 

“Not a chance. I don’t trust Dumbledore in the slightest.” Regulus stipulated. 

“The Ministry then.”

“I trust those bastards even less, you know Malfoy works there, who knows how many other death eaters are there.” 

“What about the Minister himself?”

“Like he’d believe us, a werewolf and a death eater, not a chance.” 

“Okay well if you're going to be so negative then what do you suggest we do?”

“We do nothing. If you're so set on them being found then I’ll look for the rest of them on my own.”

“As if I’d let you do that!”

“You're not letting me do anything, you don’t control my actions!” Regulus hissed. 

“Okay how are you going to find them then? You only knew that was one when you held it three inches from your bloody arm, I doubt that’s as effective as what I can do!” Remus nearly yelled back.

“This doesn’t concern you, it was my idea to look for this one in the first place, so this is my battle not yours!” Regulus argued, tilting his head up as if this was something noble. 

“This is everyones fucking battle Regulus! People will die from this war!” Remus whisper-shouted, looking positively angered. “We can do it together if you're so set on going allows me to make sure you’re actually doing something and not just letting this go unfixed. We could maybe tell your brother even.”

“Not a fucking chance, I’d rather die then work with Sirius.” Regulus hissed. He would rather not spend much time with his estranged brother. If he were to be honest he would also mention his desire to keep Sirius safe but he was a liar and more importantly Remus would be insufferable about it. 

“Then just us.” Remus amended. Pausing before adding, “probably best that way anyways, no one else getting hurt or anything.”

Regulus considered it for a moment. It would be better to have Remus than to not. Plus he couldn't do magic outside of school yet. “Fine.” he answered after a length of silence. 

“So what do we do now?” Remus questioned, as if Regulus had any idea. Their food came out before Regulus could answer. Remus had gotten them both club sandwiches and chips, both looking less edible than anything Regulus had ever had before, which wasn’t saying much since he often only had high class meals. 

Despite the unappealing looks the food was nice, salty and a bit greasy, but nice. Remus finished half the sandwich before Regulus made it through more than a couple bites. “I guess we don’t have any leads on another one.” Remus said through bites of food. Regulus shook his head, mouth too full to answer. Remus smiled at him, he must have looked fun, dishevelled, bleeding, mouth filled with what could only be described as poor man's food. 

“And if you so desperately want them gone we’ll need a way to destroy them too.” Regulus added after swallowing a bite. Remus nodded. 

They spent the rest of the meal coming up with slightly ludicrous suggestions on ways to destroy the horcrux aside from the ones mentioned in the book. Feindfyre was far too uncontrollable and basilisk venom was simply impossible to get. They also placed guesses to what else the horcruxes could be, nothing seeming plausible. It was almost kind of fun, sitting and chatting with Remus, ignoring the severe gravity of the situation they were now in. 

Remus paid for their meal, Regulus would have since he was the wealthier of the two but all his money was galleons which were not an acceptable form of currency here, muggle coin only which was stupid because muggle money was stupid. 

“This is probably not a very good idea, to do this ourselves, I mean.” Regulus commented a little down the block. Remus let out a chuckle, he was a few steps behind Remus, limping had slowed him down. 

“Most certainly.” Remus answered, once again holding out his hand when they entered into the alleyway behind the nearest building. 

They ended up in Hogsmeade. The apparition thankfully hadn’t splinched either of them. Remus didn’t talk as he headed further into the town, taking them towards the edge of the area right up against the shrieking shack. He instructed for Regulus to climb over it, which he did hesitantly, annoyed at being told what to do. He then helped Remus over, his ankle had started bleeding a little more profusely, Regulus grimaced at the sight. “Where exactly are we going?” Regulus questioned as they crossed the field to the bones of the old building. 

“There's a path from here to there, more secretive than the front entrance would be.” Remus explained, Regulus looked at him skeptically. “It’s where they um, they put me over the moon, probably where all the shrieking comes from.” Remus mumbled. 

His words were verified when Regulus studied the interior of the building. They entered through a busted window that Remus seemed to know just the right enchantment to sneak in through. The inside was lined with scratched walls and broken furniture, Remus avoided looking up beyond his feet. Regulus knew it was not his place to say anything. 

He was led down a sort of dirt path under the building. Remus immobilized the tree as they exited the small cubby hole entrance. Regulus at least now understood why Dumbledore kept such a dangerous tree on school grounds, it was safer with the tree rather than the werewolf. 

Remus looked set on heading back to his dorm, it was decently late out and if Regulus had grown a little less fond of him throughout the day he probably would have let him. Instead he rerouted the man, leading them both up to the infirmary. 

Regulus nearly managed to talk his way out of staying the night. Remus was a lost cause, apparently the freezing and repeated strain meant even after the bone was fixed he was doomed to the hospital wing overnight. 

Regulus, still wearing Remus’ tattered jumper thankfully avoided Madam Pomfery checking his arm but was not so lucky with his head. He claimed it was fine, just a scratch which she initially believed until performing a couple of spells and determining it was best to keep him for observation for the night. 

She hadn’t questioned how either of them got the wounds nor why they were together. She believed, or at least pretended to believe, that he was there because of a simple case of rouge books from the library and that Remus had narrowly missed a step on the stairs and then chose to ignore the pain till now. She was a smart enough woman not to pry, he knew she wasn’t dumb enough to believe it. 

Pomfery and Remus seemed to have an amicable relationship which is what Regulus believed to her kindness, he had seen her curse students halfway down the hall for lying about injuries far smaller than what they had. He didn’t mind her pitying glances if it meant she stayed silent. 

When Pomfery left the first thing Regulus did was change the colour of his jumper with a little spell. It was an ostentatious maroon and navy striped thing that he changed to a more quiet green and black combo. Remus gave him an almost joking head shake when he did. 

While Regulus did wish to further look into the horcrux he was tragically stuck in bed under the watchful eye of Madam Pomfery, sitting at the front desk, shooting both him and Remus glares when they stood. With not much else to do he ended up dozing off, spending his evening in a restless sleep.

He was awoken barely an hour later by cries from the front desk. Remus seemed to stay sleeping though it from the looks of it, staying on moving under the white sheets in the bed next to him. He probably had more experience being here than Regulus. 

“You mean he’s actually here! He wasn’t earlier I swear we checked!” came the unmistakable voice of James Potter. Regulus was never much of a fan of Potter, rather than dwell on his cries he took to digging though Remus' bag, only stopping once he had received the diary which he once again began to look over. 

“He came in less than an hour ago though I do recommend you let him have his rest.” Pomfery answered in his monotone voice. “You could visit your brother, he came in a little before Mr. Lupin did.” Pomfey added, it was a lie which he hadn’t quite understood why she told. She was no doubt talking to Sirius there which meant that Remus' whole crew was looking for him. He would have cared more since clearly none of his friends had come by but he had gone missing far too long ago which means they too had probably been by earlier. Even if they hadn’t it didn’t matter, they had different ways of showing they cared. 

“My brother’s here? Why? I thought he was down with the Slytherins, celebrating or whatever.” Sirius replied. He sounded nearly worried. Regulus doubted he cared beyond that of his curiosity. 

“You can ask him yourself if you must.” She stated calmly. “Remember visiting hours do close shortly so if you do be quick.” 

Sirius muttered something under his breath. Regulus heard footsteps in the other direction, he figured Sirius wouldn't stop by. Apparently he figured wrong since a couple seconds later had Sirius coming in, no longer flagged by Potter and presumably Pettigrew. “Regulus.” He greeted firmly. 

“Sirius.” Regulus returned, not looking up from the blank pages of the book. 

“Do you know what happened to ‘im?” Sirius questioned, gesturing to Remus’ sleeping body. “Pomfery wouldn't say but I assume you’d have heard if you were in earlier.” 

“If Pomfery wouldn't say then why should I?” Regulus challenged, shutting the book, it was probably a more important gesture to Sirius who wouldn't have known there was nothing on the pages to read while it was open. 

“Never one for challenging authority, Reggie.” Sirius mumbled.

“He broke his ankle.” Regulus responded to spite him. 

“Oh. I guess it’s bad if he’s staying overnight.” Sirius commented to himself. They sat in science for a little while before Sirius piped up again. “And…” he paused, refusing to look straight at Regulus. “What about you? Are you… fine.” Sirius questioned. Regulus looked at him with an annoyed face. 

“I’m fine Sirius.” Regulus answered. It was a lie of course but Regulus doubted Sirius would care for the real answer. My arm hurts because I did what we were both supposed to have done earlier then either of us ever should have had to, my head hurts because I was trapped in our cousins torture basement, I feel ill because I was nearly killed by a fucking lethifold. He doubted Sirius would care. 

“What happened? Bandages around your head are never a good sign.” 

“Nothing that concerns you, Sirius.” 

“I think if you're injured it does concern me, you're still my brother Reg.” Sirius replied, almost sounding hurt. Regulus had to stifle a laugh, Sirius looked affronted. 

“I’m injured a lot more now because of you Sirius, you don’t get to play the big brother card when it suits you if you're just going to run off when things really matter.” Regulus spat.

“I– That’s not, that’s different Reg.” Sirius stuttered. “You know that’s different! And you know I have tried, I did try! A lot! You just never could accept help, always playing the fucking victim! This is why I don’t check in anymore, not because I left, because you can’t accept that I had to!” Sirius replied, gaining confidence with each harsh word. 

“Well then why don’t you leave again, since you have to and all.” Regulus returned with the same visceral spite filling his words. Sirius opened his mouth to say something only to stop. He turned and left without another word. It hurt more than Regulus wished to admit. 

“Little harsh, no?” Remus whispered from the bed next to him.

“Go back to sleep.” Regulus responded coldly. He attempted to follow his own advice, ignoring whatever comment Remus made under his breath. 

He would say he was successful since the next time he opened his eyes it was clearly much darker out, Pomfery was no longer up at the desk and Remus was rolled back into the white sheets on his own bed, happily sleeping away instead of making little judgmental comments at Regulus. 

Regulus found himself once again perusing the blank pages of the diary. There was nothing aside from the name. He’d never seen the name Riddle before, not in any books or stories. He could check the library, it would be this late to just slip in. He should at least tell Remus.

He shook Remus awake. Remus was very resistant, taking several minutes of rough shaking was enough to get him up. He had almost wished he had just used that ‘Barty method’ wish involving just shooting a jet of water at the victim. Remus should be thankful he chose not to. “What the actual fuckkk.” Remus dragged in a tired voice. “Reg’lus, what are you doing?” He moaned, looking at Regulus' face which was looming over him, lit wand in one hand book in the other. 

“I’m going to the library.” Regulus stated, unphased by Remus’ lethargy. It was more of a show, it’s not like he had to tell Remus but he knew Remus didn’t think he was going to take this seriously which Regulus was. He’d already committed treason and now he’d committed to further committing treason, might as well do it as best he could. 

“Wha– Regulus it’s the middle of the night, I am not doing that.”

“I never said you had to, I just wanted to let you know I was going.” Regulus responded, turning to leave.

“Wait.” Remus sighed, pushing himself up and rubbing the tiredness from his eyes and reaching over the side of his bed to his bag. Regulus hadn’t noticed before but he seemed to be wearing pajamas straight from the infirmary's storage. 

Remus pulled out a thin line of paper, handing it to Regulus who took the edge of it, attempting to balance it and his wand. Remus held out his other hand expectantly. Regulus placed the diary into the outreached hand with a sour look. Regulus took the paper from Remus hand, it was entirely blank. “What is this?” 

Remus held his wand up to the paper. “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” Remus spoke while Regulus stared at him. Before he could make a comment on the odd phrase the map sprouted a deeper brown that spread across the paper, creating what looked to be an etching of the school, centered with text reading ‘Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present The Marauder's Map.’

“What in the bloody hell is this?”

“The Marauders Map.” Remus answered rather unhelpfully. 

“Oh well that clears it up.” Regulus spat sarcastically.

“It’s a map of the school, it’ll let you know if anyone's coming your way. So you don’t get caught and all.” Remus explained, unfolding part of the paper with the tip of his wand. Regulus gave a hum in place of a thank you before turning to the entry and heading down the hall.

It was much easier to traverse the halls secretly with the map, much as Regulus detested the thought of using something made by his brother and his tricky company, even if he was coming around to Remus. It was a quick trip to the library.

Regulus took the horcrux books first and foremost, he figured no one would miss them. He also went through the school records section taking any book which apparently had any mention of the last name Riddle, which ended up being several books though the information itself was never specified so there was a decent chance a few of them were actual books on riddle which was not exactly what he was looking for. He also took some simple ones on location spells and tracking as well as a few on more flexible types of curse breaking to find certain ways to dispel the magic. 

The way back was worse, he had to dodge Filch and his pesky cat on several occasions and if that wasn’t enough he nearly walked right down the corridor that Dumbledore had apparently been down. He made it back anyways, uncaught and still with considerable ease. It irked him ever so slightly. 

Remus was sitting with the horcrux, now fully up rather than half asleep, hunched over the little black diary with a quill in one hand, it looked as if he were writing, something that Regulus had most certainly not done. “Remus.” he greeted. 

“Regulus! Regulus the book talks! It responds to what I write, his soul is responsive– and sixteen mind you– it’s incredible!” Remus greeted, nearly forgetting to keep his voice hushed. 

“What?” Regulus questioned, placing the stack of books on the tip of Remus’ bed, not bothering to place them nicely. 

“It writes back, come look!” Remus ushered. Regulus joined him hunched over the book. He watched Remus write on the page. What is your name dissolved into the beige paper, returning Tom, as said earlier. It was mystifying to see. 

“It talks?” Regulus muttered squinting at the page. 

“It does!” Remus replied. “I doubt it’s really a good thing but merlin it’s fascinating.” 

“Truely.” Regulus mumbled. “Come back to it later, we have records to go though. Looking for Riddle, Tom Riddle apparently.” gesturing to the pile of books, which really was a large pile, so much so that it had started to teeter since placement. 

“Oh but that’s so much less fun.” Remus grimaced, letting the diary swing shut as he leaned towards the tower of books. 

“You could always go back to sleep, I’m sure I’ll do fine without you.”

“You’ve got twenty-something books laid on my pillow so I do doubt it.” Remus hissed, taking one of the books off the pile. He threw another from the pile into Regulus' chest which caused him to nearly come out with a laugh which he quickly stifled. 

They spent a good chunk of the night reading, noting any important details down onto parchment that didn’t erase your writing. They both seemed to be invested in the idea of Tom Riddle, whoever he was, being whatever the Dark Lord used to be though neither of them seemed to find much on Riddle or his schooling aside from a few awards and mentions in club photos. 

There was little else known in lieu of destroying the thing. They did attempt a couple spells to no avail. Neither wished to destroy the thing too promptly anyway, the fear of the Dark Lords reaction was present within them both. When Regulus began to feel his eyes grow increasingly heavy he gave a confirming look to Remus, who looked equally as tired before packing the things up into Remus bag since Regulus was still without his own. 

He doesn’t remember falling asleep this time either. He does know that when he woke it was closer to midday and Remus had vanished from the bed next to him. It was Sunday so he had nowhere to be but he dragged himself out of the bed anyway, preparing for his first full day as a death eater. The thought made his stomach churn.

He missed the distraction that Remus had provided, annoying as he was between the research and his pointless conversations; it had kept Regulus’ mind free from thoughts about his new found affiliation. Without that he was left to his own thoughts, his own loyalties apparently. His mind felt claustrophobic. He pretended they didn’t.

Chapter Text

Remus hadn’t realized how truly invigorating being able to talk to someone about his life without fear of judgment would be. He knew the diary was most definitely not a healthy outlet, especially since it allegedly housed a piece of the soul of the worst person he could possibly think of. It was just nice, not to have to worry about having what he said get relayed to other friends or judged by unassuming friends. 

He had actually promised Regulus he wouldn't write in the book. He intended to keep that promise, he even managed to for nearly three days before ending up succumbing to his intrigue and took to writing in it. It had been a full day since then and Remus found it safe to say it probably was not a great idea because of the addictive nature of the book's cunning charm. 

Tom Riddle, more formally known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, was sixteen when he put his soul into the diary under circumstances that Remus had yet to be able to work out of him after an incident that he wouldn't give any details over. He had yet to find any real record of Tom Riddle within the school; he had dumped the record books Regulus left with him back in the library in hopes Regulus would pick them up again since Remus had exhausted his ability to look over the boring content within them. 

It was easier to find things about Tom Riddle from Tom Riddle himself. For example, Remus had found out he was a Slytherin, he was a good student who had apparently gotten an award for some form of excellent behaviour that would remain unspecified. He was also very good at manipulating people, even with that understanding Remus found himself drawn into the charms of the diary, it was likely intended to have such an effect so Remus chose not to mind it too much, as long as he was aware it’d be fine. 

None of the Marauders questioned his sudden interest in writing, Remus had always been a more note oriented person rather than whatever James, Sirius and Peters style of hoping and praying their memory excels (which it typically did. It was not odd behaviour for Remus to be invested in a book. 

Invested was one way of putting it. Remus would say it was less about investment and more about validation. When he complained about Sirius and Marlene the book took his side, when he complained about school the book offered him notes and advice (which typically went untaken since it was always a little dark). 

This night in particular laid claim to one of Remus’ frequent writing sessions when he found Marlene up in their dorm, laid calmly on Sirius bed while Sirius practiced incantations with Peter at the end of the bed. Remus settled onto his bed with little indications that either of the three other occupants even noticed his arrival, quite caught up in the spell work or in Marlene's case, sleeping. 

You could hex the girl. Riddle's words suggested when Remus listed his grievances of seeing her so casually in Sirius’ space. She wouldn't be much of a girlfriend without a mouth: oscausi– removes victims' mouths. Remus of course returned that he was not going to hex Marlene, they were friends even if he was mostly upset with her as of late, to no fault of her own, it was his own issues that had soured their relations. 

Redirect his magic then, he could hex her, it’s a simple trick, Riddle proposed. You could charm her to love another. You could charm him to grow increasingly repulsive until you’re the only one even able to love him. Riddle was not the greatest at his solution but Remus liked to think his heart was certainly in something akin to the right place. It was not a pleasant thought to grow sympathises for someone who had already been proved to turn out so truly wrong.

You could take note of your surroundings. The book offered before the words faded completely, growing none to replace them. It was an odd phrase to end on until Remus heard Sirius right beside him “Not much of a note.” He said looking at the blank page of the diary.

“Are you really chastising me for my lack of work whilst actively avoiding your own.” Remus responded, gesturing to Peter who was still holding up his wand reading over the page of the open textbook next to him. 

“Wormy’s got it handled.” Sirius said with a smirk, shoving Remus over and taking up the empty space now next to Remus. 

“Wormy’s not the one doing your exams Sirius, you are.” Remus answered, looking down at the empty book. 

“He will be if I pay him enough. Oi Pete– ten galleons or twenty?” Sirius shouted, chucking one of his shoes towards Peter to capture his attention. Peter gave him a blank stare. 

“Depends on if you want them done properly, ten’ll certainly get you some answers but it won’t guarantee they’re right.” Peter retorted before attempting his non-verbal spell again only for it to produce half a spark before fizzling out. 

“James’d do it for free.” Sirius pouted, pulling out his wand and mimicking Peter's movement silently, giving only a full spark but not much beyond that. 

“Is that what it’s supposed to do?” Remus questioned, looking between the two. 

“It’s supposed to change the colour of your… eyes?” Sirius guessed.

“Hair.” Peter corrected, looking over the page. “It’s supposed to be nonverbal too which is a pain.”

“Wait, I don't want to change my hair colour!” Sirius exchanged looking aghast. “Is that really what we were doing!” 

“Yes! Page one hundred and fifteen was on hair colour and style.”

“I thought we were supposed to be doing two-fifteen?” Remus replied, sitting up to check his actual notes where he had listed the page number. 

“Was it? Weren't we on body modifications, hair is perfect for that.” Peter argued. 

“What’s two fifteen?” Remus questioned as he searched his notes. 

“Two fifteen is people to animals, I feel like that’s more seventh year stuff, no? At least it is non verbally.” Peter answered. Remus checked his notes which apparently did not have the page number written down on them. 

“Well now we’ll never know! Rem’s gone and screwed us all with his shite note taking.” Sirius supplied, leaning over Remus' shoulder at his poorly scrawled notes. 

“At least I take notes, where's yours at Pads?”

“Right there, down in front of you, don’t you know we share in this dorm.” Sirius sang, tugging the notes from Remus’ grip and laying back down with the piece of paper held in front of him. Remus glared at him while Peter tried not to laugh from the floor. “Ask Marly if she’s got any,” he added. 

“No chance I’m waking her up.” Peter responded, prompting Sirius to toss his other shoe across the way, this time hitting Marlene rather than Peter. She shot up with a cry. 

“Sirius, this better not have been your shoe.” was the first thing she said after recurring from the hit and her rest. She was in fact holding up his shoe, the black boot was unmistakable. 

Sirius of course ignored her threats. “Marls, do you have notes for Minnie's class today?” 

“Nah I skipped today, Mary and I were out by the owlery. Though I can– and will– transfigure this very nice shoe into a duck if you don’t apologize for waking me.” She answered, pointing her wand at Sirius' shoe. 

“You wouldn't dare! That’s breaking up grounds!” Sirius sighed dramatically, Marlene raised an eyebrow and firmed her arm. They stared at each other for a beat, as if it were a challenge. Then Sirius got up, walking back to his bed and pressed a firm kiss on her forehead. “I would never apologize for my mischief,” he added into her choppy blonde hair. 

Marlene wore an incredulous face. She shucked the shoe right into Sirius' now very close range face and then got up and left swiftly with a nice smile worn on her face. Remus would have laughed if it were any other two people. 

If Remus had self control– or self respect really, the first thing he did would be anything aside from immediately report back to the known-to-be-evil diary. It was a silly little complaint that of course garnered a very aggressive response from the diary which had notably only gotten more violent since Remus started writing in it. Turn the shoe into a dubog and have it bite her ankles off, it answered. Remus of course turned its suggestion down. You will get nowhere if you never act on your anger. Was Riddle's final note before once again choosing to ignore Remus’ complaints. 

It wasn’t the worst advice but Remus considered himself to be non-confrontational and would rather not piss off Marlene or Sirius since both of them were awfully good wizards and would likely put him in the hospital wing. Maybe he could do something less severe, perhaps poorly practice his own hair related magic and dye Marlene's hair back to its original brown or perhaps cut Sirius a little shorter under the guise of an accident. 

Before he had the chance to think more on the matter, a thing which he was thankful for since it was quite unlike him to be vengeful even if he was a bit hot headed. James pushed his way into the dorm with as loud an entrance as always. “My dearest friend, My most beloved Marauders , my closest comrades.” he started upon entry causing all three of the other boys to look up. “Evans had agreed to work on our potions project together, alone, and in a secluded place!” 

“You mean like how most people work on their potions projects together?” Sirius inquired, flopping into the place on his bed which Marlene had vacated. 

“Yes but it’s me and Lily Evans! She would never have agreed to this if I wasn’t growing on her!” James explained, walking into the room and flopping down onto the ground next to Peter. 

“Or maybe she just wants a good potions grade Jamie.” Peter suggested, placing a hand on his back comfortingly. 

“You weren't there, it wasn’t even reluctant, it was like if I hadn’t suggested it, she would have offered anyway!” James argued, dumping out his bag to reveal his large number of text books. He grabbed the potions one out immediately. The other Marauders  all looked at him skeptically. 

“James it’s been six years you’ve got to move on.” Sirius sighed. 

“No! Evans is coming around to me! I swear!” James retorted.

“Do you solemnly swear it?” Sirius answered with a light laugh.

“Yes! I solemnly swear!” James cried. Leaning into Pete's comforting arm. “We’re at least becoming friends! My charm is irresistible!” 

“Oh James.” Remus said, shaking his head. James looked at him harshly. 

"Wouldn't her seeing you as a friend be worse? Then you’d be in the same boat as Snivellous was all through to fifth year?” Peter asked, looking at James who shook his head. 

“It’s different! First off I’ve backed off plenty unlike old Snilvels who was absolutely leering at her always.” James explained. “I’m fine just being her friend, I mean even that’s better than having her bloody hate me. Her face wasn’t made for hate, too pretty.” 

“The reason you two don’t work as friends is ‘cus she thinks you’ll think she’s leading you on mate, I don’t think that’s going to change.” Sirius supplied, flipping from the top of the bed to the bottom to get a better look at James huddled from. 

“But I don’t think that! I really do want to be friends with her! Who wound’t she’s perfect!” 

“So we’ve heard.” Remus mumbled, which caused Sirius to laugh. 

“Prongs it doesn’t matter what you think it matters what she thinks you think. Get a girlfriend or something, show her you’ve moved on.” Sirius instructed, the comment irked Remus and his natural agenda against Sirius and his fascination in girlfriends. He’d had several before Marlene, Marlene was only bad because Remus couldn't dodge her like he did with the others. 

“But I don’t want a girlfriend and I haven't moved on, I've just accepted that she’s not going to date me and I’m fine with that.” James sobbed. “I mean who else is there that can compare to Evans? She’s so smart and pretty and kind and a bit mean but in a hot way. No one else ever called me out on my bullshite before her.” He lamented. 

“I’d argue Marls can compare, not to perpetuate my lovely relationship but y’know, I’m right.” Sirius argued, a comment that went entirely ignored by James. 

“You don’t have to love everyone you date James. That's part of dating, finding someone you like and learning to love them, you can’t just expect to date the love of your life every time, you think I loved all my girlfriends.” Peter pointed out, rubbing his hand across James' back. 

“C’mon James you gotta get out there! Move on past Lily, one step at a time, get laid or something.” Sirius suggested with a little smirk.

“But I don’t want to date!” James shouted.

“Everyone dates!” Peter exclaimed.

“Remus doesn’t! Why not get on his arse about it! I’ve got a good reason at least!” It was not the first time the others poked fun at his inherent lack of romance, though it was never a big deal to him until more recent years. 

“Hey I’ve been trying to set him up with Mary for months now!” Sirius argued, looking at Remus and immediately continuing over Remus' attempt at defending himself. “Just because you're a werewolf doesn’t mean you can’t date Rem, I’m saying you just gotta give her a chance.” 

“I don’t date because I don’t want to date, not even Mary, Sirius. Unlike you-” he jabbed a finger at James. “Who doesn’t date because he’s been caught up on the same woman since first year!” Remus deflected. It was funny for him to point out since he had a similar reason in regards to Sirius, though the werewolf thing also deterred him a bit. 

“It’s romance! I love her! It’s not some stupid childhood crush! I have the right to be caught up on her!” James retaliated. 

“You most certainly don’t!” Sirius argued. 

“You lost that right when you made us all sit and listen to you lament about her for the entirety of fourth year.” Peter added. 

“And beyond.” Remus muttered, looking at the lamenting James had just done. 

“If you wanted me to shut up then you could have said something!”

“We did!” Peter cried.

“You were to bust ‘oh her hair is the colour of the sunrise’ ‘oh she’s so pretty-” Sirius started. 

“She is beautiful!” Jame intercepted. Beautiful and stunning, and absolutely brilliant and she’s just so-”

“Oscausi.” Remus cast almost subconsciously. It was the same spell Riddle had mentioned earlier though Remus found it better suited for James than Marlene. He was almost surprised to have used it, trusting Riddle was a horrid gamble, he was almost just as surprised to find it worked as he had said, removing James mouth. James of course looked horrified at his sudden loss of voice accompanied by an even worse face when he put his hand to his face only to realize he no longer had a mouth. 

Despite James' horror, Remus found the whole thing shockingly entertaining. It may have been a bit of a darker spell and it was probably pretty horrifying to experience but Remus couldn't help but let out a bit of a shocked cold laugh. “Remus!” Peter cried, looking over at him with a face as horrified and shocked as James. Sirius didn’t seem to mind, laughing away. 

“I wanted him to shut up!” Remus retorted a bit cruelly. “He did say we could get him to shut up!” 

“I think he meant you could ask mate.” Sirius giggled. 

Remus sighed and waved his wand, lifting the spell which was a mistake since James immediately continued talking, “Remus! Remus why would you do that! What spell was that! Where was my mouth! Oh merlin, how would I talk to Evans if I didn’t have a mouth.” Somehow he really had immediately gone back to Lily. 

“Your mouth was where most would prefer it was, which is nowhere.” Remus argued. “You’d think that after literally losing your ability to speak about Lily you’d stop talking about Lily.” Remus shook his head as if disappointed. 

“That was fucking brilliant.” Sirius remarked, ignoring James' dramatic hurt cry. “Where did you learn that!” 

Remus was not tempted to answer honestly in the slightest considering he learned from a very evil diary. Instead he just gave a half hearted shrug.

“Mysterious as always Moony.” Peter replied with a laugh. 

Lightheartedness of the situation aside, Remus felt a bit concerned at how easy it was for him to use the spell riddle had told him about. He shouldn't have trusted it to be what it was nor should he have used it even if he was certain since it was clearly a less than pleasant spell. 

Remus did his best not to dwell on this, instead spending the night arguing with the others as if it were any other day. As if he hadn’t put trust in a part of Voldemort himself's soul which lay neatly on Remus' bed as if it were just another one of the boys in the room. 

The next day Remus took his chance to confirm James’ little claim about Lily himself over lunch where her, him and Mary were gathered in the library studying for their classes away from the distractions of their rowdier friends. 

It was a quick plan made before Peter, Sirius and James were at breakfast. Remus had gone early in order to pick up a letter from his mother, they had been corresponding about the flat he had been convincing her to buy him for the summer. She was still resistant to the idea, Mary and Lily weren't resistant to the idea of studying at all. 

He hadn’t mentioned his lunch plans to James for obvious reasons, wherever Lily was rumoured to be he was bound to show up. He didn’t tell Sirius either, lest he get the wrong idea about him and Mary. He did tell Peter, Peter was nice enough not to mention, crash, or make a big deal of it. 

“Lily.” Remus started, paying little mind to whether Lily was listening or not, keeping his eyes still on the line of the textbook he was reading through. “I’ve heard you’ve agreed to work in seclusion with James, what’s that all about?” he questioned in a seemingly uncaring voice. Mary gave a sharp gasp.

“Lily you didn’t.” she responded, which did draw Remus’ attention of the page just to see the embellished shock on Mary's face as well and the reclusion on Lily's own. 

“Oh don’t make such a fuss, Potter is good at potions, mostly, and I needed a partner, the in seclusion part was just a side effect." 

“No denial? An admittance to wanting to work with James? What sort of polyjuice potion fuckery is going on here!” Mary cried with a laugh. Lily scowled at her. 

“He’s not making a big deal out of it is he? I will back out if he is, hold me to my word, I will!” Lily asked, turning to Remus. 

“Shockingly, no, he mentioned it and then just went back to his usual level of, well, Jamesness, he seemed pretty okay with the fact that you might just want him as a friend.” Remus answered, flipping the page of his book. 

“We are not friends, I still dislike Potter, I just want to get a good mark and not have to spend so much time avoiding him, I swear it’s a real hassle.” Lily responded, shutting her book quite roughly. She took the notes Mary had been writing about the charm she had been working on much to Mary's disgruntlement. 

“At this point you two kind of are friends, I mean you both are mostly civil and I mean all your friends are friends with his friends and I mean your friends with his friends unless Remus is just here for convenience of course.” Mary stated, taking her notes back from Lily. 

“We’re acquaintances.” Lily stipulated, sliding closer to Mary to at least read the notes over her shoulder. 

“I’m a bit hurt by the lack of refusal about my being a convenience.” Remus laughed. 

“Well see why would I deny the truth, we keep you around for your brilliant mind and your ability to shut up not only Potter but also Sirius and Peter.” Lily explained, resting her head on Mary’s shoulder and looking up at him, her eyes were the shade of green that always ever so slightly unsettled him though it was cut by the warmth of her smile. 

“Ah, my true purpose.” Remus agreed with a nod. 

“You say that as if he actually uses that little talent, all you ever do is enable them!” Mary argued, “I’d reckon on a typical day you make them worse rather than better.” 

“It’s all about the balance Mary, sometimes I have to help them fill up a classroom with giant bubble animals so that on occasion I am able to stop them from poisoning the food supply with spices Sirius uncle gifted him that are supposed to burn someone's tongue off.” Remus explained with the most heartfelt look he could muster. 

“Idiots, the lot of you.” Lily chided while Mary laughed. 

“I cannot believe Marlene, our lovely, mostly sensible, super gorgeous, could literally date anyone Marlene is dating Sirius!” Mary nearly shouted. “By choice!” Mary added, as if the idea of dating Sirius was very ludicrous which was a statement Remus didn’t quite agree with, though perhaps Marlene being the one to date him was a bit odd. 

“They’re pretty similar when you think about it though, both beaters, very lively, I think it’s kind of cute.” Lily offered while Mary shook her head. 

“They’d be better if they kept to themselves, no offence Mary but if they keep trying to set us up I’ll actually kill one of them.” Remus added, looking back at the textbooks insurmountable scrawls. 

“Oh none taken, I had enough of it too, they think they're so subtle too, ‘oh Mary come have a pint with us, I swear it's just us’ I’m not an idiot I know Remus’ also going to be there.” Mary agreed.

“It’s sweet in a way though, I mean they just want you two to have what they have.” Lily propagated, looking between Remus and Mary who were sharing a distasteful stare. 

“Okay but imagine they were doing that with you and James.” Mary argued.

“Oh, I take it back.” Lily said, recoiling at the thought. She sat back up straight, pushing herself off the bench before rejoining the shelves. “Why not just tell them then?” She yelled from behind a row of shelves. 

“Ugh like it’s that easy! ‘Just give it a chance Mary, dating’s wonderful’!” Mary imitated, using her hand to symbolize Marlene which caused Remus to laugh. 

“I’m half tempted to just hire someone from Hufflepuff to pretend to date me so they stop dragging me out on things, it’d be plenty pathetic but I can't take this anymore, if I have to spend another evening camped out with you while they make out on the bed next to us I’ll drop out.” Remus whined, doodling little lines on his parchment. 

“And it’s worse when they don’t communicate because sometimes you’ll say no and it’ll end up just me and them which should be considered some type of bloody torture I swear!” Mary continued. 

“Okay geez, I didn’t realize it was such a sore spot.” Lily said, placing a thick book in front of her on the table before sitting down. 

They went mostly back to studying after that aside from a couple small conversations. There were a couple questions the three ended up working on together too for the harder classes and for the pointless paragraphs they were to memorize for classes like herbology and astronomy. 

Remus also made a point of checking the records section too, noticing that the books Regulus had left with him earlier were once again missing meaning either someone else had a strange interest in Riddle or Regulus had gone back and picked them up again. 

He hoped it was the latter, the implication of someone else looking into Riddle could only really mean two things, one of which involved adding another person to his and Regulus impromptu team which he wasn’t a big fan of since he only barely could stand the bickering when it was just Regulus. The other implication was that someone else was interested in Voldemort which was really a poor sign no matter the case. 

In terms of Voldemort, Remus had come to find Riddle to be a good study tool for sixth year Defense Against the Dark Arts. Apparently it was his best subject and likely more importantly, in terms of dark arts, the best way to learn counter curses was to first know the curses themselves. If you truly want to defend yourself you should practice more offence, students should know how to fight if they want to amount to anything, was a popular comment he had been getting a lot in this specific instance. 

There are other things that defend too, things that I could help you control. That was the most unsettling one, Riddle had no way of knowing about his lycanthropy so who knows what he was talking about. The school would be better if it could be defended from such things. Was another unsettling addition which more sounded like blood purity shite rather than actual lessons. 

“Remus you're working on counter curses, yes?” Lily asked peering over the desk to check Remus notes. Remus nodded. “Can I see your notes?” She asked, gesturing to the black book.

“You can have the textbook.” Remus replied, shoving over the large book he had been scanning for the past half hour. 

“Oh don’t make me read the textbook, you’ve been scribbling in that thing for an hour now, let me use it.” Lily pleaded, making grabbing hands at the book. “I can feel my brain melting. I cannot read another six thousand words of preamble, why do I need to know where banshees are native to and how they migrated to know how to defend against them.” 

“I’ve got personal notes in here Lils’ I don’t want you reading them.” Remus lied, clutching the book closer to himself. 

“Oh you should let me read it then!” Mary suggested, always one to pry. 

“Neither of you are reading it, it’s personal.” Remus stated firmly. 

“How many secrets could you really be keeping in there you're on the like tenth page!” Mary screeched, electing a ‘sush’ from one Pince a couple desks over.

“I have an odd style of writing, there are more deeper in,” Remus explained. 

“Just because you want to keep your mysterious reputation running doesn’t mean you have to be all cagey Rem.” Lily chastised. 

“It’s not being cagey for me to want some privacy, it’s my book and they're my notes, I don’t see any reason why I can’t just keep them to myself!” Remus complained.

“You share your notes with Sirius all the time and you share your personal thoughts with us all the time, what's so different about it there?” Mary argued, tilting her head all inquisitively. 

“My personal thoughts and notes are mine so if I don’t want you reading them it’s not your place to tell me what to do with them.” Remus argued back 

“Stop getting so worked up about it, they’re just notes!” Lily snapped, shutting the book in front of her as a gesture of her anger. Remus shot her an uncharacteristically sharp glare before piling up his books and leaving in a very Sirius manner. 

It was petulant but he hadn’t been able to think of much of another way to keep saying no to both Lily, who was arguably quite stubborn, and Mary who just hated when things were kept from her. Remus hoped they wouldn't mind too much, he would hope neither would be mad at him. Despite his childish storm off he wasn’t really mad at them. He regretted it a fair bit once he got down the hall. His pride seemed to keep him from turning back despite that. 

Chapter Text

Regulus was perfectly okay. It had been eleven days since Regulus got the mark. It had been eleven days since he had started wearing only long sleeves, covering his arm. It had been eleven days and Regulus’ arm still felt as though it was on fire even after he knew for sure it was perfectly healed. 

He wanted to talk about it. Or maybe he didn’t, but he felt he needed to though, with it taking up so much space. Remus had been busy since Malfoy Manor and the silence had started to make him feel as though he imagined it. As if he could make up the mark on his arm. 

He had spent the majority of his week throwing himself into his O.W.Ls as a distraction. He also took time to do research about horcruxes or Riddle, neither of which Remus seemed to be doing, they had made eye contact in the library a couple times, Remus studying for classes with his friends, always sporting Riddle's diary but never any books on Riddle himself. 

Regulus knew the work was just a distraction when it came down to it but he couldn't bring himself to care. It was better than letting himself spend all day sitting and wallowing. Distractions were good. Regulus was good at distractions, you don’t grow up in a house like his without developing such a skill. Sirius had and it had clearly cost him, Regulus was smarter than that. 

He made a point of keeping an eye over Remus’ habits. He wouldn't call it stalking. If anything he was protecting him. Remus had been glued to that book since the Manor. He hadn’t been at first, four days if Regulus’ observations were right. The next day at breakfast though the book was present. 

The solution to both his concerns, the ones that pertained to his own suffrage and his ones about Remus’ reliance was simply talking to Remus, which is what he did. 

It wasn’t easy to catch Remus alone, his only opportunity came late one night during prefect duty which he had notably been neglecting over the last couple weeks. Pulling Remus away from Evans was easy enough, Evans was pulled away by a misbehaving student and seemingly to her, when she returned Remus was gone. 

In actuality he was down the hall, being dragged off by Regulus. “Regulus.” he hissed as Regulus pulled him further down the hall. “Regulus, what are you doing?” Regulus didn’t answer. Only turning to look at Remus once he decided they were sufficiently far away from Evans.

“Remus, give me the diary.” Regulus demanded, holding out a hand. 

“What?” 

“The diary, give it to me.” Regulus restated. 

“No, what, why?” Remus answered. He clutched his bag as if Regulus desired to steal it. 

“Because you’ve been using it.” Regulus cried though he kept his voice in a hushed whisper. 

“So? It’s not like it’s a bad thing, I know it’s a horcrux, I’m not actually listening to it or anything.” Remus argued, not relenting the book. Regulus gave him a sturdy look before rescinding his hand in favour of pulling out his wand. 

“Relashio.” Regulus jinxed, causing Remus to drop his bag. He seemed unprepared enough which meant that Regulus had all the time to grab the bag and pull out the book, pushing it into his bag, maintaining eye contact with Remus harshly. “Thank you.” Regulus spat.

“You’re an arse.” Remus answered. 

“It’s for the better.”

“Any other reason for this little meet up or are you here to steal that and skip?” Remus asked, taking to walking down the hall, he seemed intent on continuing with his patrol now with Regulus rather than Evans. It was odd since Regulus was used to patrolling alone, the other Slytherin prefect was an arse so Regulus chose to spend his patrols on his own rather than needlessly honour the partner up with that incompetent guy or anyone else he got paired up with for that matter. 

“Not really, I just came to the conclusion you are not to be trusted with the diary.” Regulus answered truthfully. 

“Oh and why’s that, ‘cus I’m a werewolf?” Remus suggest, Regulus hadn’t known if he was playing the prejudice card or if he genuinely believed that. 

“Because you're emotionally susceptible, be a little colder and maybe you’ll get it back.” Regulus corrected sternly. “Your dear friend Riddle is like a ghost, barely in any records.” 

“Riddle is not my friend, Riddle is young you-know-who and therefore probably has more information on himself than the library.” Remus remarked. “If either of us were to make friends with him wouldn't it be you, pure blooded Slytherin already branded with his mark" Remus jabbed, the comment had Regulus spit turning sour, he hated the reminder. He must have made a face since Remus looked as though he was sorry as soon as the words had passed. 

“Did he tell you about why he got a special award for service to the school? There's a trophy in the school trophy case for him with that inscription but none of the books I’ve checked have had any sort of explanation.” Regulus questioned, ignoring the second part of Remus' comment, more to keep himself from yelling at the man rather than a lack of agreement. He looked up at Remus who just shook his head. 

“He’s fairly secretive.” Remus explained with a little shrug. 

“I would have assumed you would at least find some information about him with all your communication but it truly does seem like I’m the only one putting in the effort after-all.” Regulus sighed. “I have my O.W.Ls coming up Remus, I should be working on those, not this.” He added to defer from the insulation he had been keeping an eye in his general direction which he had been but such behaviours were not new nor something he wanted to discuss. 

“Oh hey after your Owls, after the school year ends really, how are we going to y’know keep this up?” Remus asked, changing the subject from his inherent lack of work. 

“We won’t, do your own research and we can reconnect after the summer.” or not Regulus added internally, not really expecting much from Remus anymore. 

“Sounds unproductive.” Remus argued as they turned down another dark corridor. 

“It sounds better than having my parents learn what I’m doing though whatever letters you would be sending otherwise.” Regulus argued back.

“Well see, that's why my idea works so well, it doesn’t involve your parents at all.” Remus replied, looking down at Regulus with a smile. Regulus didn’t meet his gaze, instead moving his hand over to his arm, rubbing over the cloth that covered his dark mark. It was a habit he had picked up since he got it, rubbing at the skin as if the mark would just rub off. The mention of his parents standing as a reminder of his place in all of this, something the mark did as well. 

“I truly don’t know what your idea is but I assume I should just go ahead and deny it now.” Regulus commented with a hitched breath, any summer without his parents seemed improbable on a good day. 

“My once-removed-great-aunt's son just finished college, something at Cambridge, him and his mate are vacating his flat so she asked if I’d want it. It would probably be better for me if I went and found myself a roommate before I moved in.” Remus offered, looking at Regulus as if it was a perfectly good idea.

“What makes you think I would want to live in your shite muggle apartment?” Regulus questioned. His parents had often told rumours of the depressive lives muggles lived in trashy homes with disturbing vile appliances. Regulus knew better then to trust them entirely but he also knew better then to discredit the notion seeing as they likely were to suffer many chores in the lack of magic. 

“Freedom?” Remus suggested. 

“I do not think my parents would really want that, I’m not even sixteen yet.” 

“Sirius always said they were more lenient on you, why not ask? You can pretend you're staying in pureblood country with Avery or something.” 

“You shouldn't listen to everything Sirius tells you, especially not about our family.” Regulus hissed back. “My parents know the Averys’ well enough that they would have the means to catch me in a lie.”

“I’m not saying you have to, I’m just saying it’s easier if we remained in contact and it’d be easier to remain in contact if your overbearing mother wasn’t managing your mail.” Remus argued. He knew where Remus got the idea, his mother used to go through all Sirius mail which eventually turned to her getting hit with several jinxes from an enchanted letter that ended up with Sirius sorely out of order. It was different with him, he knew better than to be so flagrantly disrespectful. 

“Do not talk about my mother.” Regulus snapped, pressing his nails into his sleeve, the pain in his arm flared up, it was a calming sensation despite the cause. Remus held hands up defensively at the coldness of Regulus' voice. Regulus let out a brief sigh, releasing his grip on his arm, before continuing, “if I were to live with you wouldn't we be caught by Sirius, you know he won’t approve of this little partnership.” 

“I’m not going to mention to them where I’m staying, the unprompted visits would kill me, don’t get me wrong I love my friends but the moment they go without supervision we’ll all get killed.” Remus explained, shaking his head with a dramatized depression. 

I can ask.” Regulus finally agreed after thinking it over for another little while. “If anything it would be best to keep an eye on you since I clearly wouldn't be able to take the diary over summer without losing it to my family.” 

“Sure, sure.” Remus mumbled. “It’s not official yet anyways, my mum's been trying to get me to stay back home but if I don’t take the place now it’ll get sold and it’s more local then where we live, fucking Wales, it’s just all grassland up there.” He lamented. Regulus wasn’t sure why he was telling him this. 

“I will write to my parents about it, don’t expect anything, they can be… strict.” Regulus affirmed. 

“So I’ve heard, if you can’t y’know, move, is there another way to keep in touch? I know Sirius used to have us send things through muggle mail, he got caught eventually but I mean anything along those lines?” Remus rambled slightly. 

“No. I tend to just wait until summer’s over to reconnect with my friends or we see each other at banquets and such though I do doubt you will be at any of those.” Regulus commented. 

“Ya not a chance, a room full of posh blood purists sounds like a bloody nightmare.” 

“It’s not always bad, sometimes Pandora and I can convince Barty to cause enough of a ruckus to entertain.” 

“Unless entertain contains muting the bloody twats then I don’t really see myself enjoying it.” Remus argued. “I think with between my face and my parents I’d probably get rituality sacrificed at one of those.”

“Oh no, we only do ritual sacrifices once a month.” Regulus joked. Remus let out a hesitant laugh.

They mostly patrolled in silence after that, it wasn’t uncomfortable, not for Regulus anyway. After another couple minutes of walking Remus broke off right around the Slytherin common room which meant Regulus had the simple choice of heading back to his dorm. 

Evan and Barty were both still up when he entered. They were always up late, both piled onto Evans bed. They both shot him with mischievous smiles as he entered. “Back so soon, no troublemakers tonight?” Barty hinted. 

Immediately Regulus felt concerned. “What did you do?” he asked demandingly.

“Real discrete Bee, good job.” Evan hissed, he hadn’t needed to speak up to be heard by Barty who was lying entirely under Evan, it looked uncomfortable and yet despite that neither of them seemed bothered. 

“We’ve done nothing, Regulus, why would you suggest such a thing?” Barty replied coyly, ignoring Evans' admittance. 

“If I am in any way implicated by whatever you’ve done I will personally work to get you both expelled.” Regulus stated calmly as he walked further in the room, picking up his night wear and heading towards the bathroom. 

“No show?” Barty asked. It was a strange question that had Regulus turning back to him.

“What?” 

“You always change in the bathroom now, I get that Scint and Mule are kind of creepy but you always used to give Evan and I a little show.” Barty clarified with a smirk. Scint and Mule were the other two in the dorm with them, and between them and Barty and Evan, the latter two were far creepier if Regulus was being entirely honest. 

“I can assure you whatever show I was giving you and Evan was unintentional.” Regulus retaliated. “Perhaps I stopped changing in here because I figured I didn’t want to be a performer in your sex addled mind.” 

“Yes but it’s not just that, you’ve been all mopey recently, all those jumpers and quick retreats to the dorm, if something's the matter you can tell us.” Barty pried, head now hanging off the bed so he could get a better view of Regulus while still remaining suffocating by the entirety of Evan 

“I’ve just been a bit stressed from all the studying.” Regulus lied, resuming his travel to the bathroom. 

Neither of the other boys stopped him this time. He did here Evan whisper “I thought you said you were going to ask tactfully, I don’t think asking him to strip for us is tactful.” to which Barty just laughed. 

Regulus changed quickly, eyes held up, making eye contact with the wall rather than the dark patch of ink on his arm. Obviously the mark explained his sudden desire to remain clothed in front of his friends but he would rather die then admit it to them. He hardly wished to admit it to himself. 

He remembers the letter he got from his mother the day after, she had been so proud. He vaguely remembers Bellatrix being proud. His father was apparently proud too though his mother had been the one to mention it rather than him. He wasn’t proud. He couldn't be. 

The mark was no longer surrounded by red skin, the colour had faded ever so slightly, only picking up on nights before the paper listed more raids and attacks. He hated seeing it then, knowing something was happening and not being able to say anything. Worse yet, being compliant with it. 

It’s not that he was necessarily an equalist, he didn’t have the kindest opinions on muggles, he just didn’t think they needed to die for it. He didn’t think half bloods or even muggleborns were terrible, maybe just a bit worse, like a coin pulled from the dirt, it’s not as if the value had changed. He didn’t agree that people should die for something out of his control. Regulus understood that things were rarely ever under his control. 

This, what he was doing with Remus, that was under his control even if the situation itself wasn’t. He let out a deep breath, resetting whatever worried faces he had made back to his blankest expression. He left the bathroom after longer than he should have needed to get changed. 

He said a quick goodnight to Evan and Barty, quick enough that they had very little time to push further. Behind his closed curtains he slept poorly. Bad dreams permeated his sleep and bad thoughts permeated his head when he lay awake. He pushed through anyway, the silencing charm over his curtains at least let him go uninterrupted. Unseen in his disgruntled state. 

It took him four days to muster up the courage to ask his parents to move out. He was with Pandora as he wrote. She was working on something for potions. He accompanied her to make sure that when she inevitably blew something up there would be someone there to put it out. While she worked he sat, staring at a blank piece of parchment. 

The issue with writing to his parents was that no matter how he asked they would probably take it as defiance, or perhaps some kind of insult which would prove painful for him. He had half the mind to ask the diary which sat in his bag, it would probably be a little more inconspicuous then what Pandora's suggestions would be. He of course didn’t, he was no Remus when it came to trusting the diary. 

Sixteen year old Riddle was still the Dark Lord, just as persuasive, just as manipulative, hiding it under a layer of charm. Regulus was family with the act. His mother had made sure of that when she realized she had failed with Sirius. Only one child had to be able to be the Black's heir and she had likely chosen him as soon as Sirius got sorted into Gryffindor. 

Tragically it was her own tendency to manipulate that he was going to use in order to move out. Regulus was more trusted than Sirius. He was better kept and he knew she would love to flaunt his independence and his initiative. He knew she couldn't truly deny him either if he phrased it as a way to be more available in his role as a death eater. 

I must implore you to trust me to bring status to our family on my own. It was a perfect sentence, would she really be able to deny him freedom if he was doing it for their family. He knew his father would be convinced, he had wanted Regulus to be more independent from the get go, he had once told Regulus that ‘the only thing Sirius had over him was his individuality, even if he was botching it by hanging out with mudbloods and blood traitors’.

His father had always hated how much his mother had coddled him. His definition of coddled had to be skewed since Regulus wouldn't consider teaching him how to properly control a room and attacking him for acting anything but in her ideal image was coddling. It’s not as though he didn’t appreciate the guidance, it just hadn’t been much in the way of coddling. 

I hope you allow me to make use of this gift. Another manipulative line Regulus had thrown in. His connection to the Dark Lord was a gift in their eyes, they wouldn't let him squander it, even if it meant letting him leave. 

Regulus signed the letter the same way he always did to his parents, solely to his mother, who would relay it to his father. With care, your son. He used to sign his name, your son, Regulus, there was no need for that anymore, to his parents they no longer had two sons so why differentiate. 

Regulus made sure to also mention his tireless preparation for the O.W.Ls, nothing like a reminder how much of a perfect son he was to help sway their convictions. 

He flooded the letter neatly and placed it into the cover of one of his text books as to keep it comfortably folded. He’d visit the owlery later, he remembered Dorcas also had plans to head that way at some point so maybe he would go with her. “Letter for your parents?” Pandora questioned as she softened something into her cauldron, causing it to bubble a bright purple colour. Regulus almost didn’t answer, too captivated by whatever she was doing. 

“Yes, I haven't written to them in some time.” Regulus explained. 

“Evan writes to ours enough for the both of us.” Pandora supplied, mixing the strange liquid, causing bubbles to pour over the top. It was definitely not something they learned in class. 

“Pandora.” Regulus implored, looking at her cauldron with an intrigued, if not disturbed, look. “Might I ask what it is that you're making?” he asked, leaning in ever so slightly before reminding himself that this was Pandora making the potion, causing him to pull back immediately. 

“I’m hoping to entirely dissolve one of my roommates' beds.” Pandora explained, staring tentatively at the elixir. I want it to be entirely gone, not even a trace left to remake.”

“Why?”

“She told me that I was weird and that my brother was a slag for sleeping with Barty.” Pandora replied, watching as the bubbles sunk deep holes into the table. 

“Why not just hex her?” 

“Because her bed was imported from her home, she always complained the dorm ones were too stiff and she needed ‘her bed’. This will hurt more than a hex.” Pandora said with a smile as she added an actual spark of magic from her wand. Regulus was shocked the whole pot didn’t implode. 

“Do you have anything you’d like to dissolve? I need to test it first, no good if she can just bring the thing back, magic’s all fun until you realize other people can just stop you from doing all the more fun stuff.” 

Regulus, sensing the opportunity, pulled out the diary. He doubted it would work and it would definitely skew Pandora results since the thing had proven to be nigh impossible to destroy under the several hexes and curses Regulus and more reluctantly, Remus, had tried on it the last time they saw each other.

They had started taking prefect duty together, Remus disappearing from Evans' sights after disappearing from whoever he had been partnered with prior, only to turn up at the end of the night as if they had ‘just missed each other’. Regulus took a cruel satisfaction at her annoyed face as well as Remus’ when she inevitably shouted at him especially since the pair had fought to avoid the usual random pair ups only for Remus to start disappearing. He made sure to stay out of sight each time she came back, thankful for the warning from the map Remus always seemed to carry. 

The diary was placed on the desk, sitting next to the holes that had formed in the table under Pandora's brewing. He placed a couple wards over the table in an attempt to prevent the damage from worsening. 

The potion did nothing aside from spill of the diary which shot a couple of aggravated sparks. He got Pandora to try a couple more times, just for curiosity's sake, only having her stop when the scoops of potion started to spread to the edges of the table, threatening to fall to the floor, likely burning right through it. 

“So it doesn’t work.” Pandora sighed. 

“I mean it does, just not strongly enough to break wards or anything.” Regulus comforted while looking at the table's undisturbed state. 

“ I should add more bundimun ooze then, the recipe I’m basing this off of used the diluted stuff but if it’s not strong enough I reckon the regular stuff would work. I know Slughorn keeps some too, he used it to show how ‘not to’ make doxycide.” Pandora muttered, walking to the locked cabinet on the wall, muttering a quick spell before opening it and beginning rummaging around. Regulus prayed Slughorn wouldn't return to see it. 

“When did we learn to make doxycide?” Regulus asked, not bothering to look at Pandora, choosing to concentrate on cleaning up her potion. He had hovered a couple rags over from Slughorn's rack on the wall to clean up the spilling potion, though all he succeeded in destroying the rags which fizzled to nothing almost as soon as they touched Pandora's potion. He was lucky he hadn’t tried to touch it with his hands. 

“We didn’t but Slughorn talks to himself when mixing on his own, teaches to, it was an empty room and he was just chattering to himself about which vials to use so he wouldn't accidentally upturn Tassocry's divination class. I think he’s just sort of stuck doing it from all his time teaching, maybe not, I talk to myself and I’ve never been a teacher, I know Tasoscry talks to herself too, not in a teacher way, in a way like me and Sybill.” Pandora rambled as she sorted through the vials in the cabinet. 

“Maybe it’s a divination thing.” Regulus suggested. “I don’t talk to myself and I've also never once taken divination.” 

“Quite a shame since your future is so distinctive.” Pandora mumbled, an odd thing to say but it was Pandora. “You don’t talk to yourself because you don’t think yourself good company, I like myself and therefore talking to me is fun for me.” Pandora added this time more to Regulus as she came back over to the table with a vial of putrid coloured ooze. 

“I don’t talk to myself because the habit wouldn’t go unnoticed in my house.” Regulus offered as he gave up in scrubbing the tables and instead used his wand to redirect the spillage back into Pandora's cauldron. 

“That’s part of the charm.” Pandora said, pouring the ooze into the cauldron.

“Certainly not the type of charm that is expected from me.” Regulus responded, watching as the liquid changed from a soft purple to a dark one.  

“If I was everything that was expected of me I think I would be a very different person.”

“That would be a shame, I think you're decently alright how you are.”

“Well you’re quite the opposite, all expectations met and I’d say you’re also decently alright, who’s to say I wouldn't be better like that.” Pandora rebutted, a poor argument since Regulus wouldn't think himself decently anything nor would he say he’s meeting all his expectations, if asked he would probably say he was almost as defiant as Pandora herself in a possibly even worse way. 

“If that’s how you wanted to be then I’d probably say it would be better but I feel you're happy how you are now so I would say you're better now.” Regulus offered. 

“Maybe there's another universe where we're swapped and you’re the defiant one of the two of us.” Pandora suggested. “I think I would love to meet that version of you, not because I don’t like you like this but you’d probably be half a beat better at it then I am and I figure it’d be good to see. I’d probably like to meet me too, just to see what I’d be like.” 

"Wouldn't you just be Evan?” 

“Maybe a bit, lets hope not though, I couldn't see myself dating Barty.” Her potion had started to thicken, clinging to the ladle. 

“In a world where we were all a little swapped wouldn't Barty just be normal?” Regulus asked, watching as the thick mixture started to eat at the sides of Pandora's cauldron, thinning it ever so slightly.  

“Let’s hope not, it’d be too strange to see him all prim.” She replied, pouring the liquid out of her cauldron and into what looked to be a large bag of some kind of animal fleece. “I wonder what Dorcas would be like, my instincts tell me she’d be sort of like Wilkes, all mean and evil but kind of a coward, Evan would be a little bit of a mix between me and you, I wonder if everything were reversed would it be you that ran away instead of your brother?” Pandora whispered, talking more to herself even if she seemed to be asking Regulus, he chose not to answer as to avoid thinking about his brother.

He followed her out of the class. They apparently weren't headed to the Ravenclaw dorm as Regulus had suspected. Instead he followed Pandora halfway up the stairs to what he eventually realized was the divination classroom.  “Pandora, I’m going to head back to my dorm.” He told, tapping her lightly on the shoulder to make sure she was listening, rather than ignoring him in favour of his own thoughts. 

“You should come up first, I want to check something.” 

Regulus did not want to check something, especially if that something had to do with him and divination. “Not today Dora, sorry.” He replied. 

“You really should, there's something off about the space you take up as of late.” Pandora said with an unreadable expression. Regulus just shook his head and mumbled another sorry. 

Pandora was good at telling when things were off so it’s not like not getting the reading would change whatever she was thinking. The only difference was that Regulus wouldn't know himself. He hoped to keep it that way. 

Chapter Text

The full moon ended up falling on the first day of June. Remus was happy to note that Dumbledore had not decided to send him back to the werewolves this month. He was unhappy to note that spending one moon with other werewolves had somehow made spending the next worse without.

He felt it in his bones more than usual. His heightened senses were just a bit more aggravating. The loud chatter of his friends over the last few days had been worse than usual no matter how accommodating they attempted to be. 

It was as if the wolf could tell it was going to be once again stuck in the shack, even in the woods, on the grounds of the most nauseatingly magical place it could be.

Remus, over the years, had grown aware of the wolf and even his own sensitivity to magic. He could feel it and smell it and maybe even touch it in ways that most other students couldn't ever dream of. 

He remembers when the Marauders  had found out about this they thought it was wicked. Remus never had that thought, it was too heavy, too strong, as if he were constantly submerged and shackled by a gift he desperately hadn’t wanted to be aware of. 

The day of the moon was a Wednesday, Remus would have been in class if not for the debilitating headache he had developed slowly through the course of the morning. Instead he found himself waiting for Madam Pomfery in the beds in the hospital wing. 

Peter was with him, he had intended to go alone only to immediately find himself nearly blinded by the pain making it hard to stand straight, let alone walk. James had offered to go with him but James chattering would have been too much. Sirius wasn’t there. Peter was always best at telling what Remus needed in a pinch anyways. 

“You should probably go to class.” Remus instructed, leaning against the frame of the uncomfortable bed. Peter was sitting at the end, digging through his bag. 

“Sirius and James always make sure to take notes when you're like this, it’s not like I have to be there.” Peter responded, pulling out his wand from his bag. Remus wondered why he always put it in his bag rather than in his pocket like most people did. 

“I don’t need someone to watch over me when I’m ‘like this’ though, I’m really fine on my own, Pete.” Remus argued.

“Maybe this isn’t about you then, maybe I just want to skip class.” Peter offered, flicking his wand, Remus watched a pillow fly over from the next bed. Peter caught it, placing it between himself and the wired frame at the end of the bed.

Peter spent a couple seconds rearranging himself before continuing. “You haven't had this bad of a reaction in a while.” 

“It’s just ‘cus I was home last one, it’s like a new environment all over again here.” Remus explained. “It’s not new, nor is it out of the ordinary, I really don’t need you to watch over me.”

“I already told you, I’m just here to cut class.” Peter responded with a smirk.

“You best think of another cover story Mr. Pettigrew.” Madam Pomfery instructed, coming towards the bed from the curtained area near the back of the wing. “Comments like that often get students sent back to class.” 

“Well it’s either I get kicked out for skipping class by you or I get kicked out by Remus for wanting to make sure he's alright.” Peter complained, throwing a hand up. 

“Perhaps I’ll make an exception then, if you are to be a dear and grab me some of the calming drought from the cabinet.” Pomfery responded, pointing her wand at the cabinet near the wall, it flew open with the move of her wand. Peter gave a hum before following the point of her wand.  “I suppose you are here with your usual affliction.” she added, turning back to Remus. 

“Just a bit of a headache, It’s nothing to get all fussy about.” Remus replied, raising his voice in a point to make sure Peter could hear him. He watched Peter stick his tongue at him from where he stood in front of the cabinet. 

“Well dear it’s better safe then sorry, I would rather you come too soon rather than too late, I can cure a headache sure but if things got worse there's very little medical magic could do.” Pomfery explained, waving her wand once again, Remus felt his headache lighten faintly. 

“Yes and who would help me keep Sirius from killing someone if you died from exploding brain syndrome." Peter added, bringing over a little bottle from the cabinet. Pomfery took it from his hand, checking over the label before handing it to Remus who drank it quickly. 

“I don’t think my brain is going to explode from a headache, Wormy.” Remus retorted. Pomfery handed him a goblet of water she had produced seemingly from thin air. He accepted gratefully, hoping for relief from the bitter tasting elixir. 

“What if it starts to transform early though, your werewolf brain doesn't fit in your human head and then it explodes? Maybe that's what's happening.” Peter argued.

“That is not going to happen.” Remus stated.

“It might, werewolves are pretty unknown, it totally could!” Peter furthered with enthusiasm. 

“Maybe stop saying the word werewolf so loudly.” Remus instructed, looking past Peter to make sure the room was empty. 

“As someone who has studied all manners of lycanthropy rather thoroughly I can safely say there is little chance of his brain shifting early or exploding, Mr. Petteigrew.” Pomfery comforted. 

“Little but never no chance.” Peter argued. 

“Real comforting Pete, thanks.” Remus affirmed, kicking a foot out at him, narrowly missing as he jumped back. 

“Just doing my best to keep us informed." Peter said with a laugh before settling back down onto the end of Remus' bed. 

Peter left a little before lunch. He had told Remus he was going to pick him up something, which Remus insisted he didn’t do since his stomach was awfully finicky around this time of the month, having a preference for rawer meats and not much else. Remus didn’t feel like indulging the feeling this time.

When he returned he was accompanied by Lily and Sirius. James had stayed back with Mary and Marlene since neither of them knew about Remus' illness yet and he’d rather they didn’t find out.

Lily found out last year. Snape had been the one to tell her, apparently she had told him she didn’t believe him only to turn back to Remus and immediately ask for confirmation. He remembered that time vividly, Lily had been standoffish for a couple weeks, only letting up after asking for help on her Magical Creatures essay that was set to be on werewolves. 

Since then she had been a rather comforting presence, if not a bit too pitying. Where James, Sirius and Peter elected to act as if nothing was wrong, Lily chose to make sure Remus knew it was alright for things not to be. It was nice. 

Lily sat quietly on the exposed section of the bedside table while Peter and Sirius took to sprawling themselves over the open parts of the bed. Peter was back by Remus' feet and Sirius sitting next to Remus, hanging slightly off the side of the bed. 

“Is there a particular reason why you're all here? It’s impeding on my nice period of rest.” Remus asked, after a long pause of having all three sit and stare at him. 

“We're worried about you.” Sirius answered honestly. 

“I couldn't stand another minute of James.” Lily answered, probably also being quite honest, though he could see the worry in her face which made it a little more apparent she was here for the same reason as Sirius.

“I’m bringing you lunch.” Peter replied, throwing him a piece of toast pulled from somewhere in his bag, awfully unsanitary. “Theres also an apple and probably squished muffin where that came from.” 

“And where exactly did this come from?” Remus asked, eyeing the toast suspiciously. 

“Folded in a napkin in my bag, might be a bit squished and possibly tasting slightly minty since I’ve got peppermint leaves somewhere in my bag.” Peter clarified, Remus gave a shrug before eating the toast. It didn’t taste like much, really only succeeding in making his stomach churn a little. 

“Hey if Moony’s not gonna take the muffin can I have it? James ate half my lunch.” Sirius asked. Peter looked to Remus who nodded, before throwing the muffin at Sirius who caught it and began taking it apart into chunks. 

“Are you really not going to eat anything else? You missed breakfast too.” Lily wondered, giving Remus an inquisitive look. “At least eat the apple.” 

“‘M not that hungry,” he argued. It was a blatant lie and she knew it. Remus pretty much always ate more closer to the moon, the not eating was more of a protest of their worry as well as a little way to starve out the wolf. 

“You still have to eat.” Lily pushed. 

“I’ll eat later then.” Remus offered, another lie since whenever later was would probably have him locked up in the shack rather than sitting at the tables in the Great Hall. “Do you have notes for my morning classes?” he then asked Sirius, quickly changing the subject. 

“I’ve got them for defense against the dark arts but I think James has the ones for the other two.” Sirius replied, digging into his bag. 

“I’ve got some from transfiguration if you want those instead of James’s.” Lily added. Remus nodded at her. “Okay, I would also give you my care of magical creatures ones but we didn’t actually do much today, Kettleburn dragged us halfway across the grounds looking for thestrals only to remember most students wouldn't be able to see him and more problematically for him, he couldn't see them.” 

“I thought we already learned about thestrals?” Remus questioned. 

“Yes but apparently one of the thestrals was to half a calf soon and he wanted us to see it happen, which obviously was stupid since no one can see them in the first place.” Lily clarified as she placed what looked to be her transfiguration notes on his lap. 

“I mean everyone knows Kettleburn’s a bit off, the real question is why did no one stop him?” Peter asked, leaning inwards a bit. 

“Why would anyone?” Sirius replied vibrantly. He was still picking at the muffin from earlier, occasionally offering a chunk to Remus who took it absentmindedly. “Who would want to do actual class when we can spend the whole fifty doing nothing!” 

“People who want to learn, Sirius!” Lily grumbled. “I’ll have you know I tried to tell him but he and Potter kept butting in and cutting me off.” she added, glaring at Sirius. 

“We were doing you a favour mate, you know how pissed people’d be at you if you actually got us doing work then! You’d have been made a pariah Lily!” Sirius argued. 

“I’d rather listen to Kettleburn teach then listen to him re-hash the entirety of last month's lessons while wandering around aimlessly.” Lily argued back. “It was terribly boring and we were still technically being taught it was just stuff we already knew.” 

“Which means you didn't have to pay attention, Lils, and don’t tell me you didn’t spend half the class just chatting with Mary, you were clearly not listening to Kettleburn!”

“Well yes after I gave up trying to tell Kettleburn because of someone's meddling , I did chat with Mary but that’s beside the point!” 

“I think that's exactly the point!” Sirius shouted, prompting Remus to shush him. “You benefited from not doing nothing because you got to just hangout with Mary.” Sirius finished quietly. 

“It wasn’t ‘hanging out’ we were being dragged around the school while in class, all we did was complain about how boring it was!” Lily snapped back. 

“Oh sure.” Sirius replied sarcastically. Lily just shot him another glare before pushing herself off the bedside table. 

“If you're going to be a prat then I’m going to leave.” She stated, before glancing back to Remus. “I hope you feel better Rem, let me know if you want my notes from this afternoon or tomorrow rather than this slacker’s.” 

“If you're heading to lunch then can you send James up?” Sirius called after her. 

“Like I'd ever talk to Potter willingly!” Lily called back before heading around the corner. 

“Do you think she’ll send him?” Sirius asked, looking at Remus. 

“No, no I do not, Sirius.” Remus responded. “You two don’t have to stay here either y’know, I’m fine on my own, I could probably even go to class this afternoon anyways.” Remus added. The pains in his head had shrunk substantially and the aching in his bones was hardly anything new.

“Pomfery told me not to let you go to class.” Peter answered a bit sheepishly, Remus looked at him with a confused expression not remembering that part of the conversion at all. “You were sleeping.” He clarified. 

“‘Sides it’s not like class is as important as you.” Sirius added. “Which is to say since Peter got the morning shift I’ll stick around through the afternoon.” 

“Oh no fair.” Peter argued. “You always skip classes after the moon, I think someone else should at least get the before.” 

“I skip because I’m a genius and don’t need class, can you say the same?” Sirius retorted. 

“Hey I am just as smart as you!” Peter cried, kicking a foot into Sirius's leg. Sirius let out a sharp gasp. 

“No need to resort to violence, I think just because of that I should have to stay anyway you brute.” Sirius replied, looking at Peter as if he had hit him with a full blown curse rather than a light kick. 

“While I appreciate your concern, if this is really just about skipping classes to you I’ll have Pomfrey kick you both out.” Remus interjected, looking between the two as if challenging them to argue. 

“It’s about solidarity mate, if you're forced to miss lessons possibly harming your entire education then we will too, as your friends and all.” Sirius quickly retorted with a face of mock respect. Remus stared at him plainly. 

“Okay both of you out.” Remus replied calmly. 

“Woah, both of us! I haven't even said anything!” Peter yelled, holding his hand over his chest in offense. Remus just shrugged at him

“You don't really have the authority to quick us out and I don’t actually see Pomfery anywhere.” Sirius argued, cranning his neck to stare further into the room. 

“It’s like you want me to forcibly remove you.” Remus sighed. “You know I’m loads stronger closer to the moon right, I could perfectly easily just carry you out myself Pads.” He placed an arm around Sirius' shoulder, threatening to lift up his torso only to be half shut down by Sirius squirming.

“I fucking doubt it! I’ve been beater for the quidditch team for three years now Moony, I don’t think your werewolf strength can compare any more.” Sirius stated, flexing one of his arms which made both Remus and Peter roll their eyes. 

“You hit a ball with a bat once a month! Maybe I’d be more inclined to believe you if you actually did some of James stupid strength training!” Remus shouted before pushing Sirius half of the bed. Sirius of course retaliated by kneeing him in the shin as he pulled himself up with the wired frame of the bed. 

“And be some fucking tosspot who wakes up half the dorm at five in the morning! Like hell! I get enough ‘strength training’ at practice which is more than you’ve got.” Sirius retaliated, using his wand to pull off the pillow from the other bed and hitting it into Remus' face.

“Sirius I will fucking drag you out of here by your bloody feet!” Remus yelled, grabbing the pillow out of his hands and discarding it on the floor. 

“If you go anywhere near my feet I will quick you in the face!” Sirius replied, using his magic to bring the pillow back and attempting to whack Remus with it again only to be stopped by Remus’ arms. 

“Y’know what if you two are just going to fight maybe I will leave.” Peter muttered, pushing himself from the bed, narrowly avoiding another swing from Sirius’ pillow. 

“Well if Pete's leaving then I guess that means you're stuck with me.” Sirius replied, throwing the full pillow at Remus who deflected it onto the floor. 

“What a shame.” Remus sighed, shaking his head as if it really were upsetting. Sirius laughed. 

Peter waved the two a quick goodbye which Sirius reciprocated while Remus pushed out of the bed, picking up the other pillow and returning it to its original bed. “I really don’t get why she’s keeping me here all day.” Remus sighed as he climbed back into the hospital bed. 

“James said you weren't even able to stand this morning, sounds pretty bad.” Sirius offered, settling back into the bed next to Remus. 

“James was exaggerating, It was just a bit of dizziness.” Remus lied as he pulled open Lily's transfiguration notes. 

“You don’t need to lie Moons, I know it gets bad sometimes.” Sirius replied softly. He was laying on Remus' shoulder, he could feel the tickle of Sirius’ long hair on the exposed parts of his neck. Remus tried not to focus on their closeness. 

“It’s not any worse than usual, the only worse thing is the fact that I’m missing class, end of year exams are coming up and I doubt missing classes like this is going to help me pass.” Remus complained. 

“Oh c’mon, you always get good grades! ‘Sides, it’s not like the moons affected any of your classes so far.” Sirius comforted.

“I nearly failed the first and second year because of all this.” Remus corrected, waving his hand to emphasize his words. 

“You were still getting used to everything then, I mean look at you now Moony, you're practically top of the class, you're a prefect for merlin's sake!” 

“I’m honestly pretty sure I’m only a prefect because Mcgonagall pities me.” Remus argued. 

“No way is that true!” Sirius yelled, pushing himself up so he could look straight into Remus’ eyes. With a pointed finger and a very accusatory tone he continued, “first off, Minnie does not feel pity so there's that, and more importantly! You’re absolutely brilliant Moony! You’re an amazing student and I won’t have you saying otherwise!” Sirius finished, before plopping back down next to Remus. 

“You know your words hold no value since we're friends and all.” Remus disagreed. “I can’t trust that you're being honest because when it comes down to it since we're friends you’re probably just saying what you think I want to hear.” 

“My words hold the most value in the entire world dear Moony.” Sirius corrected, placing an arm around Remus shoulder and giving him a squeeze. 

“Sure Padfoot, sure.” Remus agreed. Arguing would upset Sirius and more importantly, more often than not, Sirius, whether it was his words or just him in general, did have quite a lot of value to Remus. 

They spent the rest of the afternoon together, only parting briefly  later when Pomfery came to take him to the shrieking shack, giving her usual potions and wards before giving him a tight hug and wishing him safety before leaving him to transform alone in the shack.

At some point it was safe to assume the Marauders  showed up, they had been joining him as animagi for the moon since last year but Remus never remembered much of the moon anyways. Only coming to the next day, sore, scared and once again alone in the shack. 

The next day was once again spent in the hospital wing. This time he had actually managed to convince the entirety of the Marauders along with Lily, to leave him be when class started, not wanting to impose further and also desperately wanting to be alone for a little while. 

It had been a hard battle to win, especially since both Peter and Sirius’ other option was to go to their divination class, which both of them were deeply sorry to have taken, finding it awfully boring.  Remus and James used to tease them relentlessly when they both chose to take it. Talk about foresight, they’d say, couldn't even predict that class would be an absolute bore. Needless to say it was quite the spiel to get them to go to class. 

Lily had gotten James to go with her with ease, she had barely gotten the words out and he was already following her down the hall. Remus was thankful for Lily's help. It wasn’t that he didn’t want the company, it just felt patronizing. Lily seemed to get it more than the Marauders. 

Pomfery had told him we would be able to leave after lunch. It wasn’t ideal since it was still hours to lunch but at least it gave him something to think about rather than just stare at the secluded little nook where he often stayed after the moon. 

At least he had something to do in the form of the several pages of work from the classes he had missed. He’d had enough to do after a regular moon but he remembered the stacks of work from the moon he had spent with the pack, at least it wasn’t that. 

Around eleven Remus found himself in the presence of slightly unusual company. 

It’s not that he and Regulus were strangers anymore. They had been talking more since May. not really in the way friends do, it was more like exchanging information for a project. Regulus hadn’t mentioned anything about moving in with him over summer either so he figured that was more of an overstep on his part. 

Regulus had no reason to visit Remus after the moon. They were pretty set in their research, nothing dire had been discovered recently so there was no reason for Regulus to visit him at such an inconvenient time. 

It seemed Regulus didn’t know exactly why he was there either, standing awkwardly at the end of the room, you wouldn’t be able to see him at all from the main area of the hospital wing behind the curtains of Remus’ de facto bed. 

After a couple moments of awkward silence, Regulus finally spoke up, though his voice was meek, almost as if he was being forced to say something, as if he hadn’t shown up on his own. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Remus responded, clear confusion permeating his word. 

“How was… your evening.” Regulus tried, slowing as if he expected Remus to come out and snap at him for even bridging it up. 

“Oh obviously it was entirely pleasant.” Remus deadpanned, holding up his bruised arms to make his sarcasm even more potent. Regulus' face contorted to a near smile for just a second. 

“I could hear it– you– the howling last night.” Regulus half whispered, not quite looking at Remus. “Evan and Pandora will often take us out during full moons but I never paid much mind to noises before.”

“There’s charms, wards and shite up that make it harder to notice. Peter said the same thing when they all found out.” Remus replied. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.” He added, noticing the concealed concern Regulus wore. 

“I’d hope not. I’d rather not have you die if we're going to be working together on all this, even if you're not the best resource. You're better than none. Or Barty, god you're better than Barty.” Regulus remarked, shaking his head solemnly. Remus laughed, albeit briefly, the aching and shifting of his ribs made it painful. 

“I’ve heard Crouch’s got the highest grades of your year.” Remus challenged, stifling his laughter for the sake of his ailed body. 

“His grades are not a reflection of his personality, he’s gotten just about as many detentions as they can even give.” Regulus clarified. “I reckon if he'd known about your lycanthropic tendencies he'd be at your door begging to be bitten each night, just for the experience, the bloody idiot.” 

“Well I’d just have to give in now, it’s truly not as bad as it seems if you ignore the brutal misshaping of your entire body.” Remus replied sarcastically. He took a couple seconds to crack each of the fingers on his left hand before continuing. “I’m not sure if wizards would have them, but muggles have these chiropractors that specialize in pain relief by doing shite like cracking your bones. I've always sort of thought of the breakage to be kind of like that, almost therapeutic.” 

“I’ll assume you’re joking but just know Barty would probably believe you.” 

“I’ve made the same joke to James and he believed me.” Remus replied with a nod. 

“Idiots.” Regulus agreed. It was silent for another beat before Regulus continued. “You’re alright though? Or at least no worse than usual?” 

“No worse than usual.” Remus nodded with a slight smile. 

“Good.” Regulus started, “doing this alone doesn’t seem like a great idea, I’d hope not to be forced to do as such.” he added quietly. 

“If I were going to die I’d suggest you find someone else anyway, I’d rather not meet you too soon in the afterlife ‘cus you were dumb enough to act on your own, it’d make me think you less than James or Crouch.” Remus argued. Regulus huffed in return. 

“Well we’re lucky you’re not dying.” Regulus retorted.

“Not yet.” Remus joked though it didn’t seem to land with Regulus. Without so much as a smirk he started digging through his bag before placing a bottle of something on Remus’ bedside. “What’s this?” Remus asked, eyeing the bottle. 

“Something Dora and I brewed, it’s technically experimental and it’s more for taking your mind aches rather then actually fixing them, I’ve tried it before with no adverse effects.” Regulus explained, “Don’t drink more than a mouthful.” 

Remus took a tentative sip. It tasted like cider, much nicer than most potions Pomfery had him take. “‘Xpected it to taste worse." he said after a sip. “Thanks.” 

 "It's nothing, nice to see you're okay, I’ve got to get back to class.” Regulus said before quickly turning back towards the exit. He left just as abruptly as he arrived and Remus still wasn’t quite sure why he’d been there in the first place. 

“Thanks for the visit.” Remus mumbled after Regulus was already out of sight. He decided not to dwell on it. The potion helped with his work anyway, the pain wasn’t gone but as Regulus had said it helped him keep his mind off of it and on his paper. 

Lunch came quickly between his transfiguration papers and practising his nonverbal spells for Defence Against the Dark Arts. James was the one who came and picked him up, Remus must have looked real bad since James spent the whole way trying to subtly support Remus weight. 

He didn’t eat much over lunch, his stomach was a bit off from his activities last night. The few bites he did either tasted like dirt or made him feel nauseous. Seeing Sirius and Marlene huddled, bickering like a married couple in their own little world made him more nauseous. Suddenly he wished he hadn't drunk Regulus' mystery potion. The pains would be more tolerable then whatever seeing them made him feel.

Chapter Text

Letters from his parents were easy to spot. His mother used a very particular type of envelope; she always used vellum instead of parchment too, saying it connected them to their french roots. She loved to talk about where they came from, who they came from, she was a very proud woman, people often said Regulus took after her. It could have been an insult nowadays. 

She hadn’t written since he had sent the letter, the one about moving out. He had sent it eighteen days ago. She had met him with eighteen days of silence, the longest she had ever taken to reply to a letter before that was nine days and she had been entirely in France. Regulus worried about what she might be thinking. He had to keep his thoughts from thinking too bad, his mother wasn’t as cruel as the worse parts of his mind tried to make it seem. 

Regulus put the letter in his bag without reading it. No one intervened. His parents had always been a subject they chose not to comment on. Barty knew what it was like, Pandora and Evan never quite got it, Dorcas hadn't had parents since she was fifteen. None of them were too equipped to deal with his strange relationship with his parents when they could hardly even think on their own. 

He left Herbology to read it. He let the Snargaluff that had been planted by the sixth years nick his arm. He made sure it got his right not his left, the torn fabric of his sleeves revealing his pale arm rather than the inked mark on his left. 

Instead of going to the hospital wing as Sprout instructed he headed back to the common room. It was empty, a predictable sight since even with the older students spares, second period was just not a conceited time for students to be so far out of the way from the class halls. 

He sat on one of the couches in the middle of the room, looking at the murky waters of the Black Lake before even pulling the letter out. 

Regulus opened the letter with care, taking the contents out and unfolding it. His mothers neat cursive was as distinctive as ever, filling the page way past her usual five lines. She was typically more concise, never needing much explaining behind her words, each senate written plainly, her points clear, inarguable and cold. 

The first thing that jumped out at Regulus was the first section. Before the second and third paragraph was a small section, barely two lines, written by his father. 

Orion Black was not known for his love for his children. Orion Black was known for his love for prosperity, Sirius was prosperous despite his shortcomings. Regulus was known for being everything his brother was minus a thin line of self. He was hard work, he was his mothers years of buildup and tribulation. He was never enough for Orion Black's ideal image of perfection. 

His father had once told Regulus he was never going to make it beyond the walls of Grimmauld place. He had once told Regulus that he should have been the one to run away instead of Sirius since Sirius was the only one who could make something of the Blacks. Regulus knew what he meant to his father which is what made the letter so odd.

Your mother is wrong to try and convince me argue you stay here, you will never make anything of yourself if she keeps you here. The Dark Lord is a step in the right direction. It sounded almost encouraging. It sounded like he was at least partially allowed to move out, in his fathers eyes. 

His mother reiterated the point with a softer tinge, If it’s what you want I will not keep you here. He could hear her saying this, the tone, she clearly wanted him to change his mind. I trust you to be proper on your own, you’ve proven to be going in the right direction. Regulus didn’t like that, as if the dark mark was the only thing proving he was alright on his own. 

His parents had written to him a couple days after he returned from Narcissas. They were both quite ecstatic, Regulus could tell because his mother and father hardly ever wrote first. He didn’t send back a response until he had to ask about moving out. The letter had made him sick to his stomach. It wasn’t so much about him as it was their beliefs, it wasn’t about him and yet they were so proud, he’d done nothing and they were so proud. 

It made him sick now too, this new letter, that once again admonished him of the weight of his imperfections in light of his stupid act of devotion to a cause that’s significance waned for him every passing day since. The brand had changed things for the worse to Regulus; it stripped the ignorance from his eyes in a way that ruined the black and white colouring his parents loved. 

Moving out meant he would at least be free of the constant reminder that his parents believed him to be better because he pledged himself to a man who would rather him die killing hundreds of innocents rather than just learn to bloody ignore them. It wasn’t as hard as it sounded, most purebloods came with a disdain for muggles and such relatives and yet none decided the best course of action was world domination. 

Regulus tried not to think about the mark much and so he was glad he wouldn't be stuck around his parents who thought the thing was a mark of the highest honour instead of the scissors that cut away his independence. It was cruel to be excited to lose them so soon but Regulus had been taught to be okay with cruelty from his youth. 

The one part that caught him was his age. He was just a bit older then when Sirius left them. The circumstances couldn't be more different in his parents eyes. Sirius left as a Blood traitor, burned from the family tapestry. Regulus would leave as a Blood purist who was going to exemplify the Black name for generations. At least Sirius had been honest. Regulus was lying to his parents, a lie that clearly cost him Sirius and if he ever let the mask slip for Sirius he’d lose his parents. What a horrid hand to be dealt. 

Regulus sought out Remus the next day. They had plans to meet anyway, Remus had apparently found out more about the award Riddle had gotten from a strange interaction with Professor Binns. 

Before they had stuck to meeting solely during prefect duty but apparently Remus had gotten tired of having Evans chew him out for disappearing multiple nights a week. Instead they met in the early hours of the morning, the sun not yet peaking above the trees of the Dark Forest. 

They met close to the quidditch pitch, Remus was wearing a t-shirt that Regulus recognized as one of Sirius’, it had been one of the ones he had bought to annoy their mother, some sort of muggle band shirt. Regulus contrasted his lax dress with his full uniform, already regretting his decision as his uniform began to stick to his body moisture settling in the air. 

Remus looked worse than Regulus. Regulus made a point to wake up an hour earlier in order to let himself wake up before having to drag himself outdoors making his morning start closer two rather than three, Remus seemed to not have a similar idea looking just barely awake. “You look terrible.” Regulus commented as Remus approached. 

“Peter accidentally got James stuck to the ceiling till eleven.” Remus explained through a yawn. He had the tracking map he always had tucked in his pocket. “Well arguably Peter just put him up there, James got himself stuck by trying a counter curse non-verbally. Either way it’s hard to sleep through James screaming like someone stabbed him” 

“How charming.” Regulus replied vacantly. “What’d Binns tell you about Riddle?” He asked, not bothering to dwell on Remus’ personal issues. 

“Not about Riddle, more about the award. Special services to the school is something given out when a student makes some sort of contribution to the school's well being.” Remus explained, his words muffled slightly as he slid his hands up his face in an attempt to wake up. 

“I think we could figure that part out ourselves.” Regulus replied. 

“Prick.” Remus mumbled, Regulus didn’t argue. “He mentioned the last person who got it had discovered who was behind attacks at the school, preventing it from being shut down several months early.” He added with a smug smile to his words. 

“What attacks?” Regulus asked quickly, 

“Well if I knew that I would have said something about it.” Remus retorted with a click of his tongue. “I wanted to ask if there were any other people who’d gotten the award since then, didn’t want to start researching if there was some bloke in the sixties who got the same one making Binns comment ’bout him rather than Riddle.” 

“Could you not have just checked the trophy cases?” 

“I did, couldn't even find the one Riddle got so I figured searching for a second when I couldn't find first was sort of pointless.” 

“It’d have been closer to the back, from the forties and there is no second one, I did check.” Regulus stated. They had started walking towards the castle, side by side though Remus seemed tired enough in his walking to start drifting occasionally, 

“Well then I’ll have to look into attacks in the forties– merlin the forties, that’s what? Thirty years ago, how old is this guy?” Remus replied

“The Second instance of the award was received by Tom Riddle in his sixth year attending Hogwarts.” Regulus quoted from one of the few records of Riddle. “If forty-three was his fifth year then he was born in either twenty-six or twenty-seven. He’d be in his fifties now.” 

“I’d say it’s strange he’s still so powerful at that age but Dumbeldore's probably over a hundred and is still regarded as one of the most powerful wizards ever.” Remus said as they entered back into the stone interior of the castle. 

“It makes sense if you think about it, more age is more time to master magic.” Regulus argued.

“It’s just counter intuitive, muggles base fighting on physical strength so they're all at their best during their thirties which is like the physical peak before the steady drop off into becoming elderly.” Remus explained.

“Muggle means of fighting don’t compare to magic.”

“I don’t know, I’d definitely feel a little more scared of you-know-who if I watched him beat the living shite out of Dumbledore in the ring.” Remus laughed. It must have been funny to imagine since he kept pausing only to start laughing again. 

“What’s the ring?” Regulus asked despite himself, he shouldn't care about some muggle custom. He wasn’t versed in muggle fighting aside from the fact they use their fists and such and he only knew that because his mother had made a point of comparing them to animals. 

“It’s like an arena, they’ll have a fighter in each corner and then when the match starts they have to stay inside and fight each other.” Remus explained, “it’s a bit of an odd name since the ring’s typically a square, though I guess in sumo wrestling I think they still use rings.” He mimed the shapes with his hands as he spoke, it seemed subconscious. 

Regulus hummed an affirmative and then after a beat of silence continued. “You’ll have to show me at some point then.”

“If you think getting letters into your home is too hard then what makes you think I’ll be able to sneak you out to a wrestling match?” Remus replied still with a bit of laughter in his voice. 

“My parents have said they are fine with me living away from home if you're still fine with me staying with you.” 

“Oh! Yes, yes of course that's fine.” Remus answered, genuine shock very apparent in his tone. “I’ll have to let you know when my mum sends me the address then, and I guess I’ll have to let her know that I’ll be having a roommate which is fine anyways since she got a two bed anyways, wanted me to have an office for school work but I think she was gunning for me to find someone anyway, rents not cheap I guess.” 

“Rent’s not a problem for me, I don’t doubt my allowance would cover it.” 

“Well we’ll be splitting it so it's not too bad.” Remus answered, “and it’d also mean we wouldn't have to get up at three in the fucking morning to meet up.”

Regulus gave an affirming nod before looking back towards the far end of the corridor. It would be nice to be able to communicate a little more freely since Regulus was still a bit miffed that they both had to get up so early to exchange the bare minimum of ‘he helped the school’ which was pretty easy to deduce without confirmation. 

Remus had taken them into some sort of secret passage when Regulus made the decision to tell Remus about why his parents were letting him move. It’s not that he wanted to complain to Remus or anything. They weren't friends, it was just that he had no one else to talk to about it and he figured his own thoughts were awfully convoluted on the matter which led to quite a few childish breakdowns on his part. “They’re only letting me move out because of the mark.” He mumbled, looking more at his feet then at the dark shadow of where Remus likely was. 

“What?” Remus replied. 

“My parents.” Regulus clarified. “They only decided to let me leave because they think I’m already decided in my views, since I’ve already gotten the mark.” 

“Oh.”

“It’s funny because Sirius left right around his fifth too.” Regulus said with a forced laugh. “I suppose I’m clearly different from him though, proactive in the proper direction, to them at least.” 

“Well that’s not very funny at all.” Remus answered as he pushed open the door. Looking back on the outside of the tunnel Regulus could see they had stepped out near the potions room, out from behind the painting of incarnations of Circe from the early medieval era. 

“I mean we're both leaving and yet only one of us was burned from the tapestry which is a bit humorous.” Regulus offered with a more hesitant and less forced laugh. “I suppose if they knew I was also running to fight against the Dark Lord and party with mudbloods they’d be a little less keen on my leaving.”

“Don’t use that word.” Remus replied quickly. 

“Mudblood?” Regulus questioned,  Remus nodded, “I don’t mean it as an insult. They would but I don’t.” 

"Shouldn't use it anyway.” Remus muttered, he came to a stop a little in front of the door to the potions classroom, Regulus stopped too, they would have to part ways at the next corner if they were to keep going. 

“Better mudblood then halfbreed, no?” Regulus pushed, Remus glared at him. “Merlin, my parents would probably rather I run to Potter rather than you.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not going to tell them then.” 

“Maybe I will, I might rather the curses my mother would send my way over the praise I’ll get for pledging to kill your kind.” Regulus said as if he were actually pondering the thought. 

“They might turn on you if you did.”

“They would no doubt, after the failure with Sirius they’d probably just off me and pretend I died for the cause.”

“Awfully cruel.”

“They’d have to or else our family’s image would be squandered, Toujours pur has to be upheld.” 

“Your family motto sucks.” Remus stated, leaning against the wall. 

“It’s not like I created it.” Regulus replied with a shrug “tu es un Black et tu agiras comme tel même si cela te tue.” He added, his mother's words from his youth, typically right before some sort of event. She wouldn’t kill him but she’d let his father do it. 

“Dydw i ddim yn siarad Ffrangeg, ti'n cocyn bach.” Remus replied, Regulus had no clue as to what he was saying though he did sound a bit annoyed. 

“What?” Regulus asked.

“Sirius always speaks French and just expects us to know it too, to fix this, because I don’t speak French at all, I’ll respond in Welsh since he knows shite in Welsh.” Remus explained, eliciting a hum from Regulus. “Speaking of Sirius, I’m gonna head back to the dorm before he notices I’m gone.” He pushed himself off the wall as he spoke. 

“Probably for the better you get some more rest too, I’m sure your work ethic matches your face when you're tired, which is to say it will be horrid.” Regulus commented as Remus headed towards the left turn. 

“So kind, Regulus.” Remus muttered sarcastically, walking backwards now to face Regulus before he disappeared down the corridor. “I’ll look into whatever was happening in forty-three, you keep looking for a place for us to research that’s more practical than waking up at three– don’t put too much into it, your exams are more important at the moment.” He added just before turning down the corner and disappearing. 

Regulus let out a sigh after Remus was gone. Whatever happened in forty-three wasn’t that important he figured, not in regards to the other horcruxes at least so he didn’t mind leaving the research to Remus. 

He let himself rest for a couple moments before heading down the opposite way, back towards the dungeons to finish his night, or morning technically. He wouldn't be able to sleep so studying would have to suffice. He hoped his short bout of rest would be enough to keep him sane for the day though he did doubt it. 

Regulus was wrong to ever even indulge the idea of waking up so early, let alone actually go through with it. He nearly passed out in most of his classes but his real issue was the evening. 

Dorcas had wanted to practice quidditch, she had the pitch booked straight though dinner and all the way until just before. Regulus had been on that stupid pitch for nearly an hour and he severely doubted he would make it another, let alone another five. 

At least as the seeker she left him out from physical training since he was better off leaner for his speed. Tragically that didn’t mean he was left out entirely, instead he just focused on flying and chasing. She also always had him work on dodging obstacles ever since he had been hit with a bludger in his fourth year. 

Dorcas was a bit of a fanatic, more obsessed with winning than most of the others on the team. He assumed it has something to do with her rivalry with McKinnon in Gryffindor. As her friends he did support her but as someone who hated all the extra activity, especially on the last weekday before the O.W.Ls he wanted to go back to the dorm. 

It was worse since quidditch was already done for the year meaning that aside from Barty and him, no one else had bothered to show up much to Dorcas' disappointment. Barty at least seemed to be enjoying himself, swinging the bludgers around with a freedom found only when the pitch was nearly entirely empty. 

Regulus was not enjoying himself. He had fallen half asleep on his broom several times, luckily always catching himself before he began to slip off but it was only a matter of time before he ended up falling. 

By seven Regulus found himself laying on his back in the middle of the pitch, too tired to remount his broom. Dorcas was focused at the weird game of toss her and Barty had invented to notice which gave him a good five minutes of rest before the bludger they were using found its way to Regulus’ patch of grass. 

Rolling over was enough to dodge the thing but it wasn’t enough to keep Dorcas from realizing he was quite frankly, slacking. “Regulus.” she started, pausing to listen to Regulus’ annoyed sigh. “What’cha doing?”

“Practicing?” Regulus suggested as her looked up at her from the grass. 

“Really now?” She questioned to which Regulus just nodded. 

“Mhm.” he nodded, Barty had joined them now, giving Regulus a pitiful stare. 

“Get up.” she demanded. Her robes fluttered a bit in the light wind.

“‘Cas exams start next week and it’s been a long day.” He argued, not moving from the ground. 

“Evan said you slept through half your classes, how long of a day could it have been.” Dorcas argued back, hands on her hips with her disapproving face peering down at him. 

“He was up early this morning.” Barty offered. “Heard him up at ‘round one for some reason.”

“Why were you up at one? You knew we had practice today!” She chided, Regulus started blankly, choosing not to answer Dorcas.

“Ev and I’ve been theorizing he’s got some kind of paramour somewhere at the school, always up late, sneaking around, he’s stopped changing in the room too, figure he’s got love bites and such.” Barty suggested, making Regulus laugh quite spectacularly. It was a tragic assumption since it’d mean he’d been fucking Remus, Sirius’ best friend who was clearly in love with him which was just deeply sad for both parties.  

“Merlin, Reg, have you?” Dorcas asked, her disapproving look now replaced with one of shock making him laugh a little more. 

“No, nothing like that.” He said through his laughs. “I’ve been struggling to sleep with all the stress, that’s all, you know better than to trust anything Barty says.” 

“Hey!” Barty cried.

Dorcas at the same time responded with a nod, “true, Barty's never been quite right in the head.” a comment which made Barty look even more offended.

“Okay first off, I do not buy this is just stress, you're too smart for that and second I am perfectly right in the head and we should always trust what I say all the time.” Barty stated with unfounded confidence. 

“More times than not wherever I’m in grave danger it’s your fault Barty.” Regulus retorted, finally pushing himself up from the ground. 

“That is not true!” Barty shouted. 

“Didn’t you once nearly shove me off the astronomy tower?” Dorcas asked though it was clearly rhetorical since everyone knew he had. 

“I was thirteen! You cannot hold that against me! We were only up there because of ‘Dora anyways!” Barty cried, elbowing Dorcas which was a shite decision since she elbowed him back hard enough he nearly fell over. 

“Still happened.” Regulus argued, finally standing up again. “I’m going to head back to the dorm, I know you’ve still got the pitch booked but I am too tired to keep this up.” He stated firmly. 

“Fine, but I expect you to come to our last practice then, it’ll be after exams and I know you skipped it last year but you will go this year.” Dorcas instructed, pointing a finger at him.

“I skipped it last year because it was pointless and I wasn't friends with the captain, of course I’ll be there this year." he replied, picking up his broom to leave. “Make sure to keep Barty till later, he’s been on about me changing an awful lot recently and I’d rather him not be there when I’m fresh out the shower. 

“Oh come on! It was one comment! Evan never complains when I ogle him.” Barty pouted, crossing his arms. 

“Well considering your silence charms are horrid I know for sure you and Evan have seen each other entirely nude so I doubt it would matter to him.” Regulus responded, causing Barty to grow a soft blush. 

“Whatever.” Barty snipped looking away from Regulus before kicking back off the ground, pulling his broom upwards. 

“I’ll have him back at curfew.” Dorcas stated before following him up into the air, leaving Regulus to head back to the dorm on his own. 

Chapter Text

Most of Remus' friends didn’t have an exam Wednesday morning, with the exception of Peter, Sirius who had the divination exam. Most of Remus' friends did have an exam later in the evening though which was inconvenient in terms of schedule but he supposes it made sense since it’s a bit hard to do anything in astronomy if there’s no night sky. 

Lily, Remus and Mary spent the morning studying in the common room while James and Marlene fooled around. Lily, James and Peter didn’t have the astronomy exam since they had opted out of the class so Remus wasn’t quite sure why Lily was so set on studying. 

Lily's work ethic was truly insane. Sirius’ was also pretty tedious, having an exam in the morning had him studying late last night and having another tonight would keep him up even longer. Remus would have felt a little worse if he hadn’t seen how sup Sirius had been despite his early morning. 

So far the exams had gone smoothly enough for Remus, arithmancy had probably been his worst which he expected. He had history of magic on Friday but none on Thursday so he had ample time to prepare. James had his muggle studies Exam with Marlene on Thursday which neither of them seemed to care about at all. James had been claiming that Arthur Weasley had convinced him to take it over the summer which he had regretted, Marlene claimed to know enough about muggles to pass no matter what. 

Remus had almost taken muggle studies as well, just to see what was being taught for his own curiosity but his mum had talked him out of that, arguing he could probably teach the class rather than take it considering he had grown up entirely muggle, barring his once a month excursion to the shed where he briefly became a werewolf. 

He was lucky the full moon had been early this year since he had had a few unfortunate experiences of it being dead on an exam day which made it quite a bit difficult to do. The next moon was pretty far away too, taking place just a day over a week from now. It was still an unfortunate date, first of July meaning he would have to stay at Hogwarts an extra night, the Marauders had been trying to convince him to let them stay with little luck. Remus was known to be quite stubborn. 

Speaking of Marauders, Sirius and Peter were both making their way into the dorm, looking impossibly dejected. “How was it?” James called as they settled into the common room, Peter crumpled onto the floor next to Lily and her open text book, Sirius strung himself across the rest of the couch, sparing only the corner that Remus was now backed into. 

“In the spirit of divination.” Peter started, pressing his face into his hands, “I predict I will fail terribly.” 

“Well hey if you do then at least you’ll get that prediction right.” Mary joked from her chair, James had stopped chasing Marlene around and was now standing above her, leaning on the chair's back. 

“That’s probably the only prediction he’ll get wrong, I swear Wormy’s got the mind of a seer.” Sirius interjected. “I hope he gets it wrong at least, if he’s done bad then I’m doomed!” 

“Your not doomed pads, I’m sure you did fine.” Remus comforted, patting one of his feet. 

“You’ve got too much faith in me, I think that’s the worst I’ve ever done on an exam.” Sirius whined, kicking Remus’ hand playfully. 

“I’m sure you both did fine.” Lily offered, placing a hand over Peter's back while James stared at them. 

“Probably did better than fine.” Marlene added, moving towards Sirius and placing a kiss on the top of his head. Remus averted his eyes only to catch Mary's from across the room. They shared a grimace though Mary's was probably more about her distaste for the couple's actions rather than the couple themselves. 

“Nope, I won’t have all this positivity! I've failed! I swear it.” Sirius whined, always dramatic. “I’m going to spend my whole summer preparing to retake sixth year because I failed my bloody divination exam!” he added. 

“You’re going to spend your whole summer stealing my parents' love and affection while I work tirelessly ‘Pa’s friend's shop.” James corrected. 

“Can’t steal what I already have Prongs.” Sirius joked while James shot him a playful glare. 

“Fucking prat, get a job and make something of yourself Padfoot.” James returned, “Moony and I both out here working our arses off and here you are sitting on yours.”

“You're working for a cushy job for a  family friend, I’ll be off my arse stocking shelves or something, do not lump us together James.” Remus interjected

Sirius at the same time argued, “I’ve got a job, it’s called being my uncle's favourite nephew and getting all the gold from his will!”

“Some people just don’t know how to put in the work.” James said, sauntering over to Remus and placing an arm on his shoulder which Remus shook off. 

“I hope you blow yourself up so bad your whole head of hair falls out.” Remus snapped, it was mostly a joke though he really couldn't stand James comparing looking at potions to any sort of work Remus would be doing. Last year he ended up working nearly every day on a farm a little from his house which was a nightmare, he would have probably paid to do what Jame’ll be doing this summer. 

“If anyone deserves to get their hair blown off it's Sirius the parent stealer, I swear my mum likes you more than me.” James muttered, throwing one of the pillows Remus had moved to the floor when they arrived and throwing it at Sirius. 

“Touch a hair on my head and I’ll skin you alive Jamsey.” Sirius warned before taunting him further, “‘sides Effie says she likes us both the same, no need to worry.” 

“I wish I had an Effie, my mums sectioned each of me and my brothers off into ranks, makes us compete to move up, it’s a bloody nightmare.” Marlene said with a sigh. She had moved behind the couch where Sirius sat, further from him then earlier which Remus was grateful for selfishly. 

“That’s barbaric!” Peter shouted, finally perking up his saddened post-exam state. 

“Thats the McKinnons, once went with Marls for summer and I swear all three of her brothers tried to use me as some sort of ball at one point or another.” Mary confirmed with a shudder. “Apparently I look like a quaffle since I spent at an hour being tossed through hoops by Harlad and his girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend, broke up last month, ugly thing too, been dating since seventh year and nearly seven years later she fucking cheats on him.” Marlene corrected, shaking her head solemnly. 

“Is that the one with the red hair or the one with the crooked teeth?” Lily asked, closing up her books. 

“Crooked teeth, Elias’ has the red hair though he dyed it recently, black not blond so we look even less alike.” Marlene answered, running a hand through her choppy hair. 

“Keeping an eye out for your long lost brother Lils?” Sirius chimed.

“I wish, anything better than Tuney.” Lily replied, pushing herself up off the ground. “Suppose I’d rather be an only child than spend another dinner hanging out with her twat of a boyfriend.” 

“I’d rather be an only child.” James commented, shooting a pointed glare at Sirius. “I had it all until someone decided to show up.” 

“Shut up.” Sirius retorted, tossing a pillow at him. “Could do worse than me I reckon, could have spent the first fifteen years of your life hanging around a mini version of my mother.” Sirius added, clearly referring to Regulus. It was harder hearing Sirius talk about Regulus now that he knew him a bit better. 

“Not all siblings are bad.” Peter argued. “My sister's pretty nice when she’s not with her friends.”

“That’s ‘cus she pities your sorry arse.” Sirius replied quickly, earning him another set of glares this time from Peter. 

“She only pities me because I have to spend time around you.” Peter retorted earning a laugh from Lily who seemed to be heading towards her dorm. 

“It’s an honour to spend time around me!” Sirius shouted, shooting up to a sitting position, kicking Remus on the way. “I’m a delight and your sister knows it!”

“Really making a pass at Pete’s sister in front of your girlfriend.” Marlene said, raising an eyebrow at Sirius who just looked awfully unapologetic. 

“Don’t be jealous Marley, I’ve got plenty to go around.” He replied, earning him a smack on the head from Marlene who then joined Lily heading up towards their dorm. Mary ended up following too, as if she hadn’t wanted to be left alone with the Marauders. 

"Shouldn't you go after her?” Peter questioned after a moment. 

“She knows I’m joking.” He stated, leaning his head on Remus' shoulder, an action that Remus found quite unfounded. “We get each other like that.” 

“No need to rub it in.” James chided. “I wish I had a girlfriend.” 

“Move on from Lily and you’d get one.” Peter stated, moving to the chair where Mary had been sitting. 

“I can’t move on from Evans, she’s just too brilliant.” he sighed with his love-struck expression that Remus had come to associate with Lily. 

“Like a broken record.” Sirius sighed, shaking his head. “You’ve got to move on mate, find a summer fling at least.” 

“I don’t want a summer fling.” James replied, he’d taken where Sirius’ head used to lay which Sirius used as a reason to squish closer to Remus who felt his face flush a bit at the action causing him to turn his head and face the wall. 

“You’ll have a summer fling and you’ll like it.” Sirius instructed, Peter let out a laugh, James just turned his nose up in disgust. “I’ll make it my summer goal, get James laid.” 

“You’ll definitely fail that.” Peter argued along with a nod from James. 

“We can work together, spend our hangouts throwing James at single ladies in London.” Sirius suggested, James let out a shout of refusal while Peter just laughed.

“I’m not wasting my summer on such a futile cause.” Remus interjected with a high laugh, he felt Sirius shift to look at him, he was far too close. “Some of us have actual things to do over summer that don’t include stalking poor women on James' uninterested behalf.” 

“You're not ditching us all summer to work again are you? We barely saw you last year!” Peter questioned. 

“Probably not, at least not to the extent of last year, I’d have to spend some time finding a job anyway so at least during the start of summer I’d be free, probably.” Remus answered. He also had to factor in Regulus to his summer now, seeing as he had impulsively invited the guy to live with him. Remus had been worrying how that’d end up going. 

“So first week we can do something?” James suggested, eyeing both Remus and Peter who spent large chunks of the summer off galavating with his family overseas. 

“Probably.” Peter replied first. “I’ve got plans through late July to mid August, Mum’s planning on having us do one of those big cruises ‘round then.” 

“I should be fine too, as long as my parents are good with it.” Remus lied. Living away from home did mean his parents had a little less say in his summer whereabouts, though he was yet to tell the Marauders about that fact, namely because he figured none of them would quite appreciate his roommate. 

“We could do just the first week, ma’s always happy to host and I know her teas do wonders for dear Moony after the moon.” 

“It’d work better if Moony had us stay for the moon and then we could just go to the Potters just after.” Sirius added, causing Remus to give a glare which Sirius couldn't quite see since he was still rested on Remus’ shoulder. 

“I’d have to visit home first anyway so that’d be pretty pointless, ‘seconds a Saturday anyways so we could go from then till next week.” Remus argued, Peter gave a nod. 

“Works for me, gives me a decent chance to put my shite home first anyways.” Peter agreed. 

“I still think we should stay the moon.” Sirius argued with a childish huff. 

“Too bad that's not your decision to make.” Remus replied, finally pushing Sirius up off his arm. 

“So Saturday the second? I’ll have to write ma’ but she’d never say no, Sirius’ll be there anyways and she thinks you two-” James gestured between Peter and Remus. “-are the best of us.” 

Remus felt a bit bad making plans so soon into summer, leaving Regulus alone in the flat in the middle of muggles was a bit cruel but she shouldn't mind too much. 

Worst comes to worst he could just hole up in the flat. Remus tried not to think on it too hard anyways, it felt like a bit of a betrayal to be so worried for him sitting so close to Sirius. He wondered if he’d ever tell him, living with his brother was definitely not the worst thing to do but it was most certainly up there. He tried not to think about that either. Sirius would understand, he’d have to and it’s not like he hadn’t done his fair share of cruel things to Remus. An eye for an eye, it’s a mean thought but Remus thinks it nonetheless. 

The day after Regulus’ last O.W.L ended up being his birthday. Pandora told him it was the cosmics rewarding him for taking his O.W.Ls, Barty corrected her later telling him it was a chance to get pissed after failing, a lie if he ever heard one since there was no way he or Barty failed at all. 

Summer was just on the horizon, he heard the increased talk of summer plans. The Rosiers were planning another trip. Barty was spending his weeks complaining about his Ministry internship. Dorcas had acquired the role of commentator at an amateur quidditch league. Regulus had also been informed that, to thank him for his blind leap of faith from moving to some shite apartment with a halfblood werewolf behind his parents back, Remus had gone and planned to be away the first week which Regulus had pretended not to mind upon hearing so. 

Thinking about it later actually did make it seem like a good idea, giving Regulus a chance to settle on his own, getting accustomed to the place before having to adapt to Remus’ presence. 

Speaking of roommates. Barty and Evan had just been crowned the worst ever after crudely waking him up at twelve to wish him a happy birthday before retreating back to bed as if they hadn’t just lit off a spell that filled his entire bed with streamers. 

Pandora was winning in terms of treatment today, she had brought breakfast up to his dorm and then even spent the morning with him in one of his favorite places, the library, despite her propensity for loud rambling and very un-peaceful explosions. 

Dorcas had orchestrated lunch in her room, kicking her roommates out in favour of housing him as well as Pandora, Barty and Evan. Regulus might have preferred her roommates, at least they wouldn't be singing as Barty and Pandora were. 

Regulus was happy to keep it just a celebration between the five of them, Dorcas always threw parties for hers, Evan and Pandora did too, though theirs was always less extravagant. They were lucky Barty was born in July since there was no telling what he'd plan if it were during school. 

Regulus was never much a fan of his birthdays, childhood filled with stuffy parties his parents threw, the school year was no better. Sirius used to make a big deal of wishing him a well, yelling in the Great Hall if only to embarrass Regulus. He stopped in Regulus third year. 

Regulus associated his birthday with high class snobs and another year closer to his inevitable dissent in blood purity and dry work in the Ministry, taking after his father in some way. Even at school he wasn’t safe from the reminding letter his mother sent. He hardly read the one she had sent today, skimming it and crafting a short response to show his gratitude, she’d have shown it off when he was younger, showing her sons polite tendencies, now he assumed it ended up in the garbage just as hers had, seen as too childish for even still celebrating. 

For what it was worth, sixteen was probably going to be his last good year. Even if he had the dark mark it’s not like he could be forced to do much about it with the trace on him. Sixteen also kept him young enough to avoid his parents betrothal agreements which started at seventeen, he was almost looking forwards to those less then he was the Dark Lords missions. 

Regulus used to dread the thought of coming of age. He still did but it seemed lesser now. He was already a death eater, it’s not like he could revoke that. Betrothal was not something to look forward to but perhaps with the upcoming war he could divert that. 

Coming of age also had him standing to inherit the estate rights from his parents, a right that used to be Sirius’ though his untimely escape had ruined that. Regulus had never seen his father more than he did that week. It was not much of a good thing. 

Today though he was not coming of age nor was he inheriting any estate. Instead he was gathered up with his friends, all sitting tightly on Dorcas’ small bed just hanging out like teenagers should. It felt so simple as if there were no looming threats of war, no Dark Lord, no dark mark, Regulus wished it were truly the case. 

It was not his own feeling either, he could see it in all of them. People who grew up in homes like theirs were always so very good at pretending. Pandora and Evan were elusive in their talks of the future, Dorcas choosing never to speak on it at all while Barty just acted as if things were going to be different. Regulus liked to pretend school wouldn't end at all, it was harder than it seemed with the dark reminder on his wrist. 

Regulus tried not to think about it. It was easier with a distraction right in front of himself. Classes were over and he had pretty much exhausted all resources on Riddle. Remus had reached out to him after finding out all he could on the attacks in the forties. The only mention had been of some poor muggle born girl who passed and even that had been a dead end since there was no name provided. 

Instead of a more investigative distraction Regulus settled for letting himself meld into the conversations of his friends who had been discussing increasingly horrid ways to torment him on his birthday, a yearly event that never ended how any of them wanted. “I could probably stand to rig up a banner.” Dorcas was saying when Regulus tuned back into their words. 

“That’s so easy though.” Evan argued. “And where even would you put that, it’s not like putting it in the Great Hall would get us anything but a detention.” 

“Whos giving out detention over the last week?” Dorcas replied.

“We could do it in the common room, it’s a student space so it wouldn't get us in trouble.” Pandora suggested twirling her wands in her hands a bit. 

“Ugh but that’d mean the only people who see it are Slytherins, where’s the fun in that.” Barty interjected. “What if we just made people the banner, like have them hexed to say it all day?” 

“How would we go about doing that? It’s hard enough to enchant people and there's hardly a spell that’ll have them announce it like a banner would.” Dorcas said with a dismissing motion.

“I know a potion that could do something similar, though if we’re hoping to avoid detention maybe it’s not the proper choice since it’s not all too safe– or tested– I’m not even sure if it works actually.” Pandora offered with a sheepish smile. Evan looked over at her with a bit of a dissuading look, though she hardly noticed. 

“Or we could do nothing, I really don’t mind just celebrating the five of us.” Regulus input, his same suggestion from every year that did typically pan out for him, though it always took a bit more than just one try. 

“We didn’t do anything last year Reg! Or the year before that! I can’t believe you have a fucking school birthday and you don’t ever put it to use!” Barty whined, leaning onto Regulus’ shoulder only to be shoved off. 

“I don’t like celebrating my birthday, nor do I like celebrations in general.” Regulus stated, brushing his shoulder where Barty had laid as if he were something disgusting, garnering an amused huff from Dorcas. 

“What a bore! Birthdays are the one day a year where no one can be mad at you! Even my fathers less of an arse on my birthday!" Barty shouted, this time leaning back into Evan who did not brush him off, instead placing a hand over his chest. 

“I don’t think that’s quite universal Barty.” Regulus responded. “If you want to do something celebratory for me then I suggest we do something I like.” 

“And what do you suggest that be? exams just finished so it’s not like we can do schoolwork.” Dorcas questioned almost smugly. 

“I like non-school work things.” Regulus argued. “Just because I like being educated doesn’t mean all I like to do is study!”

“Oh! You like flying! Maybe we could do something on the quidditch pitch!” Pandora suggested with a smile. 

“It’s been raining out all morning and Hufflepuff booked the pitch to celebrate their win this year.” Dorcas stated with a grimace. 

“We could sneak into Slughorn's office and steal a pint, I know he’s got a stash of mead somewhere." Barty suggested. 

“Still thinking from your interests, Reg doesn't like to drink.” Evan replied, Barty clicked his tongue in annoyance. “What about Hogsmeade? Couldn't we go there?” 

“And run into every student ever? I’d rather not.” Regulus argued. The nice weather always brought students to Hogsmeade, in particular it drew out groups such as his brother or Mulciber's little gang, neither of which he had any plans of dealing with. 

“Oh! We could do gifts! I know you said you didn’t want anything but you have to know we’d get you something!” Pandora tried. 

“That’s not much of a thing to do, it’ll prolly take less than thirty.” Barty complained, “that being said Ev and I also got you something.”

“Ya, I did too.” Dorcas added hesitantly.

Regulus had actually expected them to get him something, they had played this game every year. Regulus tells them not to bother, saying he’s hard to please and every year they all get him something that somehow never fails to please him. If he hadn’t suspected this year would be the same he’d surely start to doubt his own intellect. 

Pandora seemed to have concluded that would be their activity since she was the first to grab her bag, hanging herself over the edge of the bed and pulling out a poorly wrapped bundle. Evan pulled whatever he and Barty got him out from his pockets and Dorcas pulled hers from somewhere next to the bed. 

“You’d think I’d stop asking for you not to buy me anything.” Regulus remarked as he looked over the three packages laid in front of him. 

“You would but I can already hear you saying the same thing next year.” Dorcas replied. “Open ‘em up.” she added with a smile. 

He did, starting with Dorcas’. Dorcas by far had the best wrapping job done on hers, the neat purple paper folded with precision. She had gotten him a broomcare book as well as the book he had mentioned last year regarding the history of broom making, something that Barty had previously called ‘ a boring book to anyone but Regulus Black’ , a statement that was arguably true about most of his books. 

“Thank you Dorcas.” He said flipping through the pages. She smiled at him with her warm expression that has hardly surfaced as of late. 

Next was Barty and Evans, likely bought on one of their Hogsmeade dates that they used to attempt to drag Regulus one despite his completely inactive role in their relationship. It was a small thing that looked to be prepackaged only for the packaging to have suffered numerous blows of undetermined origin. Inside the small package lay a small grey-blue cylinder. “I’m not quite sure what this is supposed to be.” he admitted after looking over the thing for a couple seconds. 

“It’s a prophecy, originally we were going to get you the book on them but then Barty’s father decided he’d be visiting the Ministry over the weekend and we figured he’d be distracted enough by Barty for me to sneak around.” Evan explained. 

“It was made in the twenties so it's probably passed but we figured even just an old one would be good.” Barty added with a nod. 

“You… stole me a prophecy?” Regulus asked, looking over the thing with a new puzzled expression. “How did you manage to steal me a prophecy?” 

“With uncharacteristic ease.” Evan answered. “It’s a bit of a dud since you’d only get to hear the thing if it’s about you and seeing as you're not from the twenties I doubt that applies.”  

“How is this a dud! It’s a prophecy, an actual prophecy!" Regulus countered with a giddy smile. 

“So you like it?” Barty questioned.

“Yes! Of course, yes!” Regulus replied as if it were obvious. “Though I would like to make it clear that I do not condone you two sneaking around the ministry, things like that will get you locked up in Azkaban.” 

“Like they’d catch us.” Barty laughed. 

“We’re far too good for that.” Evan added, tightening his hold around Barty.  

“One day your egotistical mindset is going to get you into the wrong situation.” Pandora warned. “You shouldn't tempt fate at the Ministry, it’s a deeply untrustworthy place and it’s filled with conspiracy.” 

“Like my father would stand for that, he’d just sweep it under the rug like all my little mishaps.” Barty argued with a grin. 

“And then what? you’d let my brother get sent to Azakaban for the both of you? You’ll be burned if you think you can live well without him, you’d do horribly, you’d lose it plain and simple.” She replied with an uncharacteristically emotionless voice. 

“Evan’s not going to Azkaban.” Dorcas cut in, placing a hand on Pandora's shoulder. “And Barty's already lost it, now give Reg your gift before we get caught up in hypotheticals again.” 

Pandora did as told, handing Regulus her wrapped bundle and handing it to him. Her expression shifted quickly into a smile from its past empty expression. 

Regulus unwrapped Pandora carefully, revealing a couple things. The first he noticed was a black jumper with a soft feel which held a book and a candle in the center. The book was shabby and definitely not a title that Regulus remembers bringing up, the candle was a deep teal colour that Regulus felt inexplicably warm looking at and the jumper seemed to be embroidered with a number of silvery patterns around the hem that Regulus didn’t doubt Pandora did herself. 

“I made the candle too.” she said with a smile watching as he looked over the embroidery. “It might not work but the wax is infused with some of my magic, it’ll have varying effects if I’ve done it correctly, responding to whatever mood you're in at the time. It was definitely tricky but one of the Ravenclaw boys helped.” 

“It’s quite pretty.” he commented, replacing the jumper with the candle before swapping it again with the book. “What’s with the book? I don’t recognize it.”

“Nothing monumental really, I just felt like you needed it when I saw it so I got it for you.” Pandora explained as if it were a common occurrence. Regulus had personally never felt such a pull and figured Pandora innate spiritualism was to blame. The title and the words were written in a language Regulus couldn't understand but upon inspection the pictures he found it to be a copy of a children's book he remembers reading when he was younger. He placed it into his bag with a shrug. 

“Well you’ve gotta try the jumper on.” Dorcas stated. “It’s fabric like this that keeps the word from getting too bleak. Feel the sleeve!” She instructed, holding the sleeve out to Barty and Evan, both of which gave a pleased hum upon feeling it.

Regulus was not going to try the jumper on, at least not out in the open. He had a jumper on already and doubted the new one would fit over it and due to certain unseen issues with his arms current composition he would hardly think himself fit to change in front of his friends. The dark mark would distance him from Pandora, probably frighten Evan and barty and completely demolish his relations with Dorcas.  “I’ll try it on later.” Regulus decided, 

“Just do it now, s’not like wearing a jumper’s gonna overheat you since you’ve clearly not got an issue with that.” Dorcas replied nonchalantly, plucking the sleeve of his weather playfully only to have him yank away his arm quickly. Hopefully she thought nothing of the act. 

“I’ve been working a ban on changing in front of Barty after he implied himself to be a creep about it.” Regulus explained after a beat of thought. 

“Don’t worry I’ll cover his face with a pillow.” Dorcas suggested with a grin not nearly as big as it was just a minute ago. 

“Your going to suffocate him?” Evan wondered, which Dorcas nodded to. Barty, always one to retaliate, immediately shot a hex at her, lighting the ends of her thin braids a light earning a shriek from her. 

“You fucking prick!” She hissed with an elevating swish of her wand. True to her word, a pillow from behind Evan floated up and began to smother Barty. Barty of course cried something in relation though it was hard to hear through the pillow. “Well see now, Bartys clearly-” Dorcas paused for a moment, dodging one of Barry's flailing legs. “-down, put the jumper on.” She pushed. 

“I do want to see if it fits, had to hem it a bit so I’d like to see if it still sits right.” Pandora added.

“I would but it’s perfectly unreasonable for me to go through two jumpers in one day, I’ll have it on tomorrow." Regulus offered though he could tell at least Dorcas wasn’t sold, Pandora looked unbothered.

“Don’t be stiff Reg.” Dorcas chided, tilting her head to the side. Regulus didn’t look at her, instead focusing his eyes on Barty who was now free albeit gasping for air while Evan held the pillow back from rejoining Barty’s face. He felt the chill in Dorcas voice through his entire self. 

“I’m not being stiff, it’s not like you're bugging me to use the candle right away nor are you pushing me to learn whatever language the book is to read it, I hardly see the problem with me not wearing the jumper.” Regulus snapped, pulling it towards himself and folding it neatly, away from Dorcas, the distance from her was nigh tangible.

“I just wanted to seat it on, merlin Reg, you're acting like I’m asking you to tug your arms off!” Dorcas retaliated. “Don’t wear the jumper then.” 

“I’ll wear it tomorrow.” Regulus snipped, gathering up the rest of his gifts into his bag, he felt the desire to leave though it was distant, as if he was no longer there already. 

“It’s supposed to be warmer tomorrow.” Barty shouted, him and Evan still wrestling the pillow. Dorcas flicked her wand and the pillow went still. 

“Not nearly warm enough.” Regulus commented absentmindedly. “I’ve been running awfully cold as of late.” he lied, an excuse to defend his thick dress lately. “If we're done with this I’d like to see if Hufflepuff is done with the pitch, I do quite like flying.” Regulus added switching the subject and pushing himself off the bed. 

“Even if they're not, you know I’ve got push with Bagman, poor kid’s scared of me, reckon Bones is too even if she's two years older.” Barty replied, pushing himself up as well as to follow Regulus. Dorcas didn’t seem too keen on following, he wondered if she had grown suspicious as she had seemed awfully fixated on seeing his bare self. 

There was a certain discomfort in Regulus' bones, a sort of pained friction as Barty threw an arm around him as they headed out of the dorm. The burning feeling of Dorcas' stair burned into his head even as Evans body blocked her from directly seeing him. He felt an unease in even the speculation that Dorcas might have an inkling about what he’d done, an unease that made him quite nauseous.

The fresh air would help. Maybe the distance would help, he couldn't think about Dorcas if she wasn’t there. He still felt bad leaving her alone in the room, Pandora and Evan both following him down to the pitch. 

Maybe it was a bad thing that she hadn't come, maybe it was a sign she saw something was off. Things would only grow poorer if she saw something amiss. He could lie to himself all he wanted, about the nature of things, about his arm but Dorcas wouldn't let that stand if she knew. It would likely ruin everything if she knew, he was already ruined in and of himself, the little parts that he’d managed to keep, he couldn't stand to lose much else aside from that.

Chapter Text

Remus woke up feeling achy as he always did before the moon. The school had been empty since noon yesterday, the train left promptly leaving him alone in the castle. Alone at least in terms of students, Pomfery had remained, as had most of the staff, finishing papers or in Dumbledore's case just sort of hanging out. 

He’d spent his lonely afternoon and subsequent lonely night holed up in his dorm room, not really in the mood to satire at the empty corridors of Hogwarts. He’d barely slept through the night, waking up every couple hours between the aches and the unfamiliarity of the emptiness of the dorm. He had almost caved actually, before the train pulled out of the station, he’d almost pulled back on Sirius hand, he would have if Remus asked, he had wanted to stay anyway. Remus wasn't selfish enough to do that, almost but not quite. 

He had visited Pomfery after waking up, picking up some tonic for his aches and something to help his drowsiness. She had instructed him to stay put for a minute, wait for them to take effect. “I know you don’t like spending much time here but as your healer I advise you to stay at least until the tonics take effect.” Pomfery advised, he watched her shuffle by him, keeping his head hung, focused on the red robes at her feet. 

“Alright, alright, I won’t stay all day though, I’m really fine." Remus sighed, kicking his feet against the floor with little success, he had long grown too tall to do that comfortably. 

“I know dear but it’s best to make sure nothing goes wrong, even with professional healers things can sometimes go awry.” she replied, standing close to the end of the bed. “If you’d like I could fetch you a book or something to eat if you’d like.” She added. A book would be nice, he couldn't summon any desire to eat though. 

“A book would be nice.” he voiced, looking up at her with a soft smile. 

“Alright dear, would you have any preferences, I know Pince has returned home for the year but I have certain experience traversing the library, I was a student here myself once.” She laughed. She’d only mentioned her school years once or twice before. It was more of a distraction than an actual point of conversation but the thought did give Remus a bit of an idea. 

“When was that?” Remus questioned, it was impolite that he hadn't asked before even if the only reason he was asking now was for information. 

“Pardon me?” She asked.

“When’d you attend? I’ve never asked before,” Remus repeated. 

“I started forty-six, graduated fifty-three.” she answered, returning his smile. Three years after whatever attacks had transpired under Riddle, she might still know something even if she hadn’t been there directly. 

“I was reading about something that happened around then actually, some kind of attacks in the forties, I think they were a little before then but I wonder if you heard anything about that?” Remus questioned, forcing his voice to sound as casual as he could. 

Pomfery let out a light chuckle which didn’t quite fit the tone of the question. “I do believe I’ve heard about those, though I figure that sort of thing isn’t just something you stumble onto.” she started. “I didn’t attend during the attacks but I did hear about them, students from previous years making light of the situation.” She continued with a sigh. 

“Could you tell me about them? If you can?” Remus pushed. 

She hummed a sort of affirmative though it took her a couple minutes to think of a response. “From what I heard they were mostly just petrifications at first. Allegedly the school was going to shut down because of it, more so after a girl, fourth year Ravenclaw, awfully young, passed away.” She explained looking down turned at the thought. “One of the students caught the beast towards the end of the year and the student hiding it was expelled.”

“What was it? Who was behind it?” Remus asked once she finished talking. 

“That dear, I haven't been privy to learning, kept under lock and key the events of that year. What I do know is the attacks were painted to be in the name of Salazar Slytherin, the attacker acted under the guise of his heir opening the Chamber of Secrets.” 

“What’s that?”

“Some old myth, nothing to worry about, definitely not something worth getting into before your transformation.” She answered dismissively. “Your’re good to leave if you’d like, the tonics should be quite worn in, just make sure to be back before evening.” She instructed, moving deeper into the room and out of his sight. 

“Okay, thank Madam Pomfery.” He hummed, jumping off from the bed, only to wince at the sore sting and his ankles. “Later I guess.” he muttered to himself heading to the door. 

Remus of course directed himself straight to the library. Whatever the Chamber of Secrets was would probably clue him into what Riddle was doing in his fifth year, at least more than whatever he’d been looking into for the past couple months. 

Pince was in fact gone as Pomfery had said but Remus knew enough spells for drawing out books and the Chamber of Secrets turned out to be common enough that there was books on it in the regular parts of the library and Remus didn’t need to venture into the restricted section which was a blessing since he had yet to learn the spells for dragging out books from there. 

The Tenth Century and Subsequent Mythology highlighted it best. A rumoured chamber created by Salazar Slytherin in order to ensure his ancestors would be able to continue his goal of ridding the school of mudbloods. It was only a myth and there was no known location, evidence or known information on the monster that apparently lay within. Overall Remus deemed it just as much of a dead end as everything else he saw. 

The only sort of connection this suggested was that Riddle might possibly be related to Salazar Slytherin and only under the condition that he was behind the attacks which was speculation on speculation which was pretty loose for Remus. On the other hand Riddle being related to Salazar Slytherin was not much of a shock considering his predisposition for hating anything short of a pureblood. 

Now arguably it was rather annoying for Remus to be once again hit with a very quick end to his research which he desperately needed in terms of the fate of the wizarding world. Regulus would have probably chastised him for his lack of progress.

More importantly Pomfery had been unfortunately right since he felt the unease of his mind sitting quite unfortunately in with the wolf. For Godric's sake the moon was going to be terrible. He had spent nearly all the day in the library too, letting the hard chair nearly meld with his sore bones, wasting away until his eyes and head hurt more than usual. 

Remus had skipped lunch and breakfast and supper and he was probably supposed to be in the hospital wing already. He probably fell asleep at some point too, it would explain the crick in his neck and why he remembered spending at least a couple minutes face down in a book that wasn’t even about the right thing. Dangers at Hogwarts: What We’ve Done, it was about bullying more than actual terrors which was a shame since Remus knew that aside from regular beasts in certain classes, the school did happen to have a werewolf at it which was quite a danger. 

It was a slow walk to the hospital wing. It was a late walk to the hospital too, his bones were scraping ever so slightly at his skin as it always did when the sun went down. He could feel his gums aching, the lights stung on his eyes, merlin it was late. He hadn’t even really made it all the way to the hospital wing when he saw Pomfery making her way down the hall, ushering him to follow her towards the tree. 

The shrieking shack always smelled worse in the summer. The light rain that tended to transpire over the latter seasons at Hogwarts growing mildew and mold on the worn wood structure. The heat brought out the stench of his own dried blood. The smell made him sick, sicker than he already felt. 

Remus’ couldn’t remember much beyond the stench. The night had begun its ascent to maturity and he’d started to wane in consciousness. Pomfery was gone, he could see that. The Marauders weren't there. They were probably up. They always stayed up on the moons they couldn't be there for, a tradition before they had become Animagi. It was stupid of them to do, no point in punishing themselves for something out of their control and yet they did. 

Thinking about the Marauders before the moon was probably worse than leaving himself stuck on the Chamber of Secrets. The wolf would miss his companions and Remus would definitely feel it. Remus misses his companions and the wolf could clearly tell. It was going to be a long night.

Remus didn’t remember how exactly he got to his flat, the morning after the moon was undoubtedly one of his worst, even after Pomfery patched him up he was still sore and his thoughts were murky. He knew he had briefly been at his home since Pomfery hadn’t known to arrange him a trip to his flat, not knowing he had one. He didn’t remember saying goodbye to his parents though he could tell he had if the boxes sitting in view of the housing stuff from his mum were something to go by.

  He could tell he was definitely at the flat now because faux Sirius (Regulus) was hunched over him and he was on a very shitty couch rather than a very shitty hospital bed. “I thought you were going to Potters.” Regulus said. 

“‘Ve gotta drop things off first.” Remus mumbled, pushing himself up off the tattered brown couch. “I’m not bringing school books to James, he'd burn them.”

“How is that guy getting good grades?” Regulus remarked. He handed Remus a glass of water which was uncharacteristically nice though Remus paid it little mind, more focused on the water which felt nice on his stripped throat. 

“James is a natural– doesn't even use his fucking books. Speaking of books, you want these? They're sixth year so you wouldn't have to get your own.” 

“N-” Regulus started, a quick refusal that was quickly shut down by a puzzled look. “Actually sure why not, arguably I should save since I have rent.” 

“What about your allowance?” Remus asked, placing a hand against his forehead which did hurt quite spectacularly now that he thought about it.

“Saving up for when they disown me for this.” Regulus replied, uncrouching from the ground and moving away from the couch. “I took the further room, if you're still here when I get back I’m going to force you to make us lunch, I have no clue how to use that stupid stove.” He added as he moved further into the flat. 

Remus did leave pretty shortly after Regulus said that. He hadn’t bothered to do much exploring though he did venture into the kitchen to write Regulus some instructions on using appliances. He also moved the several boxes of stuff his mum had sent him with, housewares and other such general stuff, onto the counter so that if needed Regulus would have easy access. He left for the Potters just after that, he hadn’t actually ended up doing much unpacking before then, only throwing his books stacked on the counter before apparating. 

Remus had spent four days at the Potters. His first day was pretty uneventful, mostly unpacking, mostly spending the evening with James’ parents. 

The second day had him out and about as the Marauders always were, thoughts occasionally drifting to Regulus who he had left behind. 

The third day sucked, they talked about girls mostly, Peter’s ex girlfriend was going to be on his cruise. Sirius spent twenty minutes on the phone with Marlene that morning (Remus spent ten on the phone arguing with Regulus about how to run the dishwasher though he definitely knew better than to use that rebuttal). James was debating writing Lily, he didn’t, Remus did though making sure to mention James after his persistent begging. 

The fourth day was starting out quite promising. He had been called by Regulus again in the morning (apparently having to do his own laundry was new and more importantly the launderette was not in the building and he had gotten briefly lost). Aside from the annoyance surrounding his friend's childish reaction to him getting any sort of non-parental call the morning had gone uneventfully which was nice. 

They went to one of the nearby rivers after lunch. Remus wasn’t much a fan of the place since it was decently busy and he was decently hideous to look at. Eye-catching, that's what Sirius had said when they first went back in summer after fourth year, a statement that briefly had him blushing before he rescinded back into his self depreciation. 

His being seventeen at least let him use concealment charms to cover a number of the unfortunate products of his lycanthropy, something that both of James’ parents had always refused to do much to his disappointment. The bite itself was impervious to the concealment but luckily enough for him no one batted much of an eye if he wore a t-shirt into the water covering the garish scar that sat over the right side of his waist. 

Remus never liked swim wear much, finding it to form fitting in nature so he’d typically find himself in loose clothing garments that he didn’t mind getting worn down rather than the tighter shorts his friends seemed so comfortable in. The discomfort of the wet fabric would always be more palatable than the stares and aches of baring himself as most teenagers seemed accustomed to. 

Sirius was quite fine wearing the thin swim wear that most teenagers wore. Remus thought this fact might be as bad as if he himself were to wear such outfits. They were at the small river during busy hours, Remus sitting on the grass next to the edge of the water while James, Sirius and Peter ran around the shallows of the river, each looking comfortable in their own right. 

Remus paid little mind to James or Peter, eyes trained on Sirius, he had gotten bulkier since joining the quidditch team though it didn’t quite ruin his lean build. His hair was tied up in a hair tie Remus knew to be Lily's since Sirius never bought his own. His skin was pale as always though Remus knew from past years that it would only grow terribly burned as the summer progressed. Remus had to force himself to look back down to the page of his book. 

James ended up joining him before the other two, sitting neatly in front of Remus still wearing his joyous face from his prior activities. Unlike Sirius, James did darken over the summer, already a couple shaded past where he typically was though the school year. He hadn’t worn his glasses out which was more because he had forgotten them rather than the lie he told Remus which was that he had learned from his mistakes after losing them last year, a lie if he’d ever heard one since James never learned from his mistakes. 

“How’s our Moony doing in the light of the sun?” He asked, breath still staggered from his running. 

“Just because you call me Moony doesn’t mean I’m nocturnal.” Remus replied, not looking up from his book. 

“But you are nocturnal, always up late reading and doing schoolwork.” James argued. 

“I’m also up decently early so that’s not much of a point to make.” Remus said with a cheeky grin.

“Wolves are nocturnal.” James rebuked, Remus had yet to look at him though he could practically hear the smirk in his voice. 

“Wolves are crepuscular.” Remus corrected. 

“I don’t think that's a word mate.” James stated, pushing a hand into Remus’ booking, causing him to look up finally. 

“Crepuscular means they’re active more in twilight.” Remus explained looking at James who was smiling as always. “As are many species of rats, dogs and deers.” 

“So what you're saying is we should get out earlier on the moon to really experience the cremuscular-ism of our species.” James replied with a nod to which Remus let out a light laugh. 

“Crepuscular, there’s no M and you missed the P.”

“Crepuscular.” James repeated.

“Mhm.” Remus replied with a nod. 

“The fuck are you two on about?” Sirius asked, sitting next to James and throwing an arm around him. 

“Didn’t you hear,” Peter started, sitting between James and Remus. “Crepuscular.”

“That means nothing to me.” Sirius stated. 

“It’s when animals are active at twilight.” James explained, throwing out a hand as if he were some kind of professor. 

“Or at dawn” Remus added. “Twilight is the more literal translation but it’s also used for animals up at dawn. I’ve always just seen it as the in between hours, not night, not day. 

“Very clever.” Sirius complimented though his voice sounded almost disinterested. “Still means a fat lot of nothing to me,” he added. 

“Wolves, dogs, rats and deer are apparently all cremuscular.” James explained which garnered more of an intrigued ration from Sirius. 

“Crepuscular, you’re doing the thing with the M and the P again.” Remus corrected. “It’s not perfect anyway, deers are more nocturnal than crepuscular during summers and dogs will adapt their schedules more to their owners rather than to a specific time and rats can go either way.”

“Have you been having trouble sleeping lately Prongs?” Peter asked, James shook his head, nearly hitting Sirius’ in the process. 

“Wait who’d my owner be?” Sirius asked after pondering the sentence for a beat, likely the reason he didn’t move when James almost smacked into him. 

“I think as a living breathing person you don’t have one.” Remus answered. 

“Probably Moony.” Both James and Peter answered. Sirius let out an almost offended gasp which dissolved into more of a laugh.

“Oh c’mon now Sirius is his own person.” Remus argued, defending Sirius who looked all too content on just letting the answer slide. 

“Yes but when you tell him to shut up he does.” James stated. “And whenever he’s got something to show us he’ll go off to find you first.”

“That is not true!” Sirius laughed. “I didn’t deny the owner thing because Rem’s sensible enough to be a responsible pet owner but I run to you two just as much as I do him!” Neither James nor Peter looked convinced. 

“I more of said it because Remus’ wolf’s got a bit of a thing with Padfoot, always liked him best.” Peter said, shaking his head with faux disappointment at the fact. 

“He does not!” Sirius cried. 

“Even if it does it’s only ‘cus you're too small to fixate on as a rat and if it spends too long staring at Prongs it’ll opt to eat him! Wolves hunt deers y’know!” Remus hissed. He didn’t bother denying it, the wolf had always felt more drawn to Padfoot then the others and it felt wrong to argue on the wolf’s behalf though he;d rather die then say it was because it felt just as drawn to Padfoot as Remus did Sirius. 

“Moony would never eat me!” James shouted which attracted a couple odd stares from nearby groups. “He’s as gentle as a bowtruckle!” 

“Oh yes because I got like this-” Remus started, gesturing at his scarred self “-because the wolf’s just a complete sweetheart!”

"Doesn't really stick the landing when you’ve concealed all your scars.” Peter mumbled. 

“Oh yes! I do have a bone to pick about that, Remus, why would you hide them!” Sirius immediately stated, as if he had been waiting for the subject to come up. 

“Because they’re hideous.” Remus answered because it was the truth of the matter. 

“No they are not.” Sirius argued. “I hardly recognize you without them!” 

“That’s a good thing Sirius, they’re horrid.” Remus argued back. 

“They’re not that bad.” Peter offered, quieter than Sirius’ blatant shouting. 

“They’re not bad at all, I don’t get why you hide them.” Sirius repeated. “If I had scars like that I’d show them off all the time.”

“Well you don’t and I do so I can do what I want with them.” Remus stated firmly, crossing his arms. Sirius sat himself up straight, separating from James to match his stiff posture. 

“Reverte.” Sirius cast, his spell sounded more like a challenge than an incantation. Remus could see the wand concealed partially in his hand, Remus hadn’t even noticed him pull it out.  

“Sirius!” Remus hissed. “There are muggles present, what do you think they’d say if the previously normal looking kid suddenly grew about a dozen scars?” he chided. “Think before you act!” 

“They’d think they just hadn't noticed and then remark at how cool you looked.” Sirius replied smugly. 

“No they’d think it was bizarre and then call me a freak.” Remus argued, waving his hand to return his concealment. Sirius who looked as though he were about to retaliate was silenced by Remus throwing his book at him. 

“Did you just do wandless magic?” James asked, watching as Remus textured skin returned to the smoother lie it had been earlier. 

“I’ve been casting concealment charms since I was eleven, I could probably do one in my sleep.” Remus replied, voice still riddled with annoyance from dealing with Sirius. Remus pushed himself off the grass before extending a hand to Sirius who took it cautiously. Remus pulled him up and started taking them towards the water, ignoring the snickers of James and Peter who found Sirius’ compliance quite funny after their conversation. 

“What exactly are we doing?” Sirius asked from behind. 

“Swimming.” Remus answered. “I’m awfully annoyed with you and I figure shoving your head undertow a few times might attract less attention than hitting you.” 

“Well that’s not too bad, I’m all swea-” He started, interrupted by the arrival on the edge of the water where Remus immediately pushed him off. Sirius, now quite a bit lower than Remus and awfully wet, ran his hand through the wet strands of hair that had come loose under water. Remus hated how nice he looked. “Feeling better?” Sirius asked.

“No, not quite.” Remus said with a sigh though he figured it didn’t quite stick considering he was smiling pretty visibly as he spoke. “Might have been better had you hit your head or something.” 

“You and I both know that if I had gotten injured you’d have immediately worked yourself up over it and apologized all evening.” Sirius argued. He reached a hand out to Remus, which Remus took, letting Sirius pull him into the decently shallow water, making it a wonder that Sirius hadn’t hit his head. 

The water was cold enough that Remus would rather focus on it than denying or affirming Sirius’ claims, which were true but he’d rather not admit that. “S’nice isn’t it.” Sirius stated, floating a little further from the waters edge. 

James and Peter both joined them shortly. They spent most of the rest of the day out in the river, fooling around and splashing in the cool water. It was a nice time that Remus wished would last longer than it would. 

He always felt quite dreadful thinking about leaving the Potters, leaving the summer fun of the Marauders company and the large home of the Potters, though in most years it was more about how dreadfully boring summer at his house would be while this year it had more to the young death eater he was living with and their fun summer plans of research and preparing for war. 

Unlike in previous years, James' parents had not had to accompany them down to the river as James had finally got their permission to take the family car on his own. The car barely got any use considered the ease of magical travel but it was something the Mr. Potter had insisted on having nonetheless. 

Remus was the only one of the Marauders who knew how to drive and as such he was stuck driving them to as well as from the river. He didn’t have his licenses even if he could drive so it was best they didn’t get pulled over ot anything, something he needed to remind all three of the others boys of multiple times since there flailing out the window and constant little animagus transformations were likely going to get the lot of them sent to jail. 

The drive back to the Potters was fun, if not stressful, as doing anything with his friends tended to be. Sirius had suggested they take a detour into one of the nearby towns to grab a bite, which went unchallenged until Peter reminded them that none of them had thought to bring money. James had tried to get Remus to let him drive which had no effect because Remus had seen how reckless James was on his broom so no matter how much pleading he did Remus would never cave on that subject. 

In the end they made it back to the Potters safely with no food and no instances of James driving. The four of them choose to crash all in James room for the night, warn from the day of swimming and too tired to do much beyond lay on his floor and chat. It was a fun night that Remus would say was entirely successful barring the fact Sirius had ended up falling asleep quite literally on top of him which truly did nothing good for his very teenage hormones. 

He ended up spending the majority of the night awake, much to the annoyance of his tired mind and much to the enjoyment of his lovestruck heart. He was thankful James had crashed easily, not willing to bend to a resurgence of James’ nocturnal comments of earlier. Remus eventually drifted off to the sound of the other three boys snores and the quiet beat of Sirius’ heart over his own.

Chapter Text

Between his successful navigation of the stove, toaster, dishwasher, washing machine and general muggle streets, Regulus would say he was sufficiently immersed in muggle habit. He had also made his own meals, cleaned which involved putting away some of the things Remus’ mother had sent over and doing certain gross tasks like wiping down the dust on the window and sweeping the floors which meant he was also decently self sufficient lacking the magic and house elves of both his home and the castle. 

On the morning of the sixth day he received a letter, a letter from his owl rather than a strange flyer that had been found in the post box (an odd contraption in the lobby of the apartment building that muggle mail was found in). 

The owl was Regulus’ from school which had accompanied him to his new home even if it did spend many hours at Grimmauld or just plain out. Clémentine, named for the orange feathers surrounding his eyes would often loiter at his parents home to retrieve stay mail from his relatives who had yet to be informed of his move or to receive mail sent by his parents who were still unaware of his address which he kept saying he’d send but never really delivered on. 

This morning Clémentine had brought him a letter from Narcissa who was unaware of his move apparently since she had told him to meet her on the steps of Grimmauld in the early evening hours so she could bring him to her and her husband's house for unspecified reason that he assumed, dreadfully, were to do with the Dark Lord. 

Now Regulus was not new to transit in the general sense, taking the train to Hogwarts every year had made sure of that. That however did not mean he was willing to ride a muggle train (or two if the Cambridge travel book Remus had gifted him a couple days after his birthday was anything to go by). 

Regulus had not gone far at all within his new neighbourhood, only visiting a few locations such as the launderette across the street and one of the nearby parks a few streets down. 

Aside from his few excursions, he had spent his days reading through the books he and Remus had managed to smuggle from the Hogwarts library that dealt with the matters of dark magic and magical history. Remus had also added some books about the Chamber of Secrets on his last day, not that Regulus needed them; he was familiar with the myth though Remus hadn’t informed him it was important. 

Regulus also spent time brewing potions and reading up on how to destroy particularly dark magic in hopes to perhaps create or find something to help deal with the diary. Unlike Remus, Regulus had actually kept to his plans of not writing in the diary even if he had wanted to so he also had no new leads from it. 

In the end Regulus ceded to the idea of the trains after a long morning of staring at the letter and coming up with a grand total of zero other ways to get to Grimmauld that wouldn't involve calling his parents, who wouldn't pick up since the phones were muggle, or Remus who he had already called twice this week and hadn’t wanted to make it a third. 

The ticket was easy to fake, he couldn't use magic but transfiguration wasn’t just spell work, there were certainly potions that he could brew quickly enough to do the job. Finding the train station was actually harder than forging a ticket in the end. 

Regulus had a certain amount of trouble navigating the muggle streets, signs and maps could only do so much and he would quite frankly rather die than ask a muggle. It wasn’t that he had anything against them he just felt so out of his depth that he couldn't quite fathom the conversation doing anything but make him hurl. Imagine what his parents would think, Regulus of the noble house of Black asking a muggle for help, he’d be dead before the train even arrived. 

The train station was less busy then Kings Cross. Most of the other people waiting were close in age to him, apparently there was a university in the area so it made sense, kids returning to their homes for the summer, loving families lining the stations. Regulus’ mother hadn’t had a genuine smile to his recollection ever. His father never never wore anything beside a frown seeped in anger. 

The train was thirty minutes late. Regulus had never been left to wait for something for so long, it was infuriating. Between the sickening brew of anticipation, the grating bore of the wait and the slow growth of the crowd surrounding the train tracks, Regulus was overwhelmed. Not overwhelmed like how he is with school work, overwhelmed like how it felt to be in his house, it was always a dangerous feeling. He didn’t have a voice to complain, he didn’t have anyone to complain too. The train arrived. 

An hour went by. The train ride was blurry. It was stuffy and muggy from the heat. The train inspector saw what he wanted when he looked at Regulus' enchanted ticket. He sat in the back corner. Tucked away, small, body crumpled in on himself. He had a habit of trying to hide within himself when he felt like this. Even if it was hot he felt thankful for the coverage of the black jumper he wore, his hands playing with the hem of his left sleeve. 

The second train went quicker, less than ten minutes, he was off at the first stop. The walk to Grimmauld would be shorter. It was too early to head straight there. There were benches at the platform. He sat quietly, pressed into the corner of the thin framed bench. Time passed. “Do you mind if I sit?” someone asked after some amount of time from somewhere around him.

“No, that’s fine.” Regulus mumbled, squishing himself further into the corner of the bench, as if he had the room. 

“Are you alright?” The person asked again, “if you don’t mind me asking.”

“I do mind.” Regulus answered.

“Okay, sorry then.” the person responded. If he were attempting to make conversation he would have probably told the person that he was not fine in a way that had become so normal he didn’t quite recognize it as anything but fine. Instead he pushed himself off the bench and headed to Grimmauld.

Narcissa was waiting on the steps. She didn’t question why he wasn’t coming from inside, just holding out a hand with no warmth and letting the world bend around the two of them.

They weren't at Malfoy manor. Regulus didn’t know where they were, outside some building in some empty lot. Lucius was there. Narcissa wasn’t. He just gestured for Regulus to move closer to him. “Put this on. It’ll start soon.” Lucius instructed, tossing dark robes and a silver mask his way. “Your arm will burn the first couple times.” he added, donning his own mask. 

Regulus put on the garbs with little protest. It was just him and Lucius, standing, not talking out in the heat which was intensified under the rays of the setting sun. His arm burned under the fabric as Lucius said it would. 

Lucius wasn’t kind when he grabbed Regulus’ shoulder. Nothing like the soft hand of his cousin. They didn’t walk in the building, Lucius apparated them, pushing Regulus away from them as soon as they hit ground. He didn’t let himself spend time stumbling on the ground. 

The masks kept him from recognizing anyone aside from Lucius and the Dark Lord. He wondered if it would be better for himself to drop the honorifics, it’s not like he respects him. The Dark Lord. Voldemort. Tom Riddle. The Dark Lord might be best for consistency, he’d be dead on the table if he ever addressed the man himself as Riddle. 

The meeting ran long. The Dark Lord assigned missions to the various members. He talked about their purity. Riddle wasn’t a pure bloods name, Regulus felt the man hypocritical since he doubted he was anything more than a half-blood. 

He never assigned anything to Regulus. He didn’t assign things to a lot of people. Things were still supposed to be discrete, which was clearly not a good thing judging by the crowd's reaction. Regulus noted how many there were. It was supposed to be a small meeting too, if this was small then the prophets estimates of thousands of men and women joining the Dark Lords cause might not be some sort of lie. 

Regulus would have wished to go home if he felt it would be a comfort. His parents wouldn’t think running from this to be acceptable behavior and Regulus was never to be anything but perfectly acceptable. The empty apartment that he and Remus shared wasn’t nice either. He had been alone for the last few days, it’d do nothing. 

He wanted to see Pandora or Evan or Barty or Dorcas. Merlin, even Sirius. 

“Muggles think they are the top of the food chain. The egocentric ruler of this world. They spit on us as if we are dirt. We are hidden under their dirty mudblooded feet. Stepped on.” The Dark Lord stated. Regulus thought of the stranger at the train station who treated him far better than dirt. “Mudbloods steal power from where it rightfully belongs. Bloodtraitors mix and mingle with those animals creating the abomination of half-bloods who sit among us if they are anything but lesser.” Regulus thought of Remus who had been nothing but kind and patient with him, if not a bit annoying. 

Regulus felt sick. The other death eaters jeered, throwing taunts at the fictitious others the Dark Lord spoke about. He could hear Bellatrix. He didn’t know which one she was but her laugh was almost as identifiable as her face. 

The burning, which he assumed was a summons, in his arms had subsided. Logically he knew that and yet it burned. It always hurts, fictitious pain like the fictitious magic stealing mudbloods. Regulus thought the masks were a nice touch. He might have been crying. He wasn’t. He should have been crying. Anyone else would have been crying. Regulus Black was not anyone else, he was just barely anyone. He was a nameless death eater on the wrong side of the war who was going to end up dead and eternalized as a blood purist. 

Regulus hadn't even noticed the meeting had ended. He barely registered Lucius’ hand once again on his shoulder. He barely recognized the empty field shift into the street outside Grimmauld place. Lucius wasn’t there. The trains would have probably stopped running. He would rather die than go inside. 

He didn’t know where he was going when he started down the street. He removed the mask and the robes, careful not to discard them, he’d be in trouble if he needed more. They hung over his arm, weighing down over the steady pain on his forearm, growing with each unconscious drag of his nails, only later would he looked to find them lined with the scraped remnants of his blood and skin

He walked in a fashion similar to the one Barty would do when he was drunk. Dancing the lines of the sidewalk and the road; he nearly got the vomit bit too, though his lack of a lunch had him more dry heaving a little ways down the road. With each breathy heave he felt his lungs grew wearier, gasping for air that he seemed not to be able to reach instead finding himself wheezing and coughing. 

Regulus ended up at a payphone, not one of the ones in the garish red boxes, one at a little kiosk, hanging on a nook of a building.. He had coins, left over from the launderette, sitting in his pockets. He didn’t know how much it cost, he just shoved all the coins in and hoped it’d be enough. 

He dialed the Potters again, the number was familiar. As the phone rang he wondered about what would have happened to him if the Dark Lord, or Narcissa, or Lucius had seen the muggle money in his pocket. Would they have killed him? Tortured him? Dismiss it? Was he even important enough for them to care? They hadn’t checked, did that make him even less important?

What result would Regulus even have wanted to happen? His chest felt tight. His thoughts were running like water. His heart was either beating too fast or too slow. Regulus wasn’t even sure if he was breathing at all. 

“Hello?” the phone said. “Hello?” The phone repeated after a minute. Regulus stuttered some sort of answer. 

“Regulus?” the phone asked. “Is that you?”

“Yes.” Regulus said, mixing it into an exhale.

“Are you alright? Did something happen?” The phone questioned. 

“I don’t know where I am right now.” Regulus breathed after a minute of silence. Or maybe a second. 

“Are you not at the flat?” Remus, because it was Remus, thankfully, who else would it have been, would Sirius have been that kind? “It’s like midnight, why aren't you at the flat?” 

“There was-” Regulus started, he had to think, why was he out? He hadn’t really been told before arriving. “I had a meeting.” He decided on. 

“Oh.” was all Remus said. 

“No one aside from my parents knows I moved out.” Regulus continued, recounting for the both of them. “Malfoy left me at my parents, I can’t go in there right now. I just can’t.” 

“Are you still there?” 

“I’m up the street.” 

“Do you need me to come get you?”

“I don’t know.” 

“I’ll come get you.” Remus decided. “Stay where you are, it’ll take me a bit to get there.” the phone went silent. 

Regulus sat down. His chest still felt tight. He still wasn’t crying. 

Remus appeared in front of him after some amount of time. “Hey.” he greeted. Regulus just looked up at him. 

“I would have been fine if you hadn’t come.” Regulus said. The words felt dry.  

“No I didn’t, do you want to go home?” Remus answered. He was sitting on his trunk. 

“Why do you have your trunk?” Regulus asked. 

“I told James I was going home early, it’s only a day.” Remus explained. “I don’t think that’s what we should be talking about right now.”

“I don’t want to talk about me.” Regulus immediately replied. 

“‘Kay. Give me your hand.” Remus instructed. Regulus did, Remus took it in his own, it was warmer than Narcissa's. 

The apartment was dark. The four apparation probably screwed up his stomach for the next couple days. Remus turned the lights on, Regulus could see him moving around the apartment, fiddling with the boxes that he hadn’t bothered to put away. 

Regulus slept on the couch, he hadn't bothered to get changed. He hadn't bothered to wash his face or his teeth. He couldn't wash the tattoo off so it’s not like he ever had much of a chance falling asleep feeling clean. 

It was the second day since Remus had joined Regulus at the apartment. Regulus was not used to the company, though loath as he was to admit it, he was not finding it to be much of a bother. 

Regulus had to admit that he had also appreciated Remus' touch to the apartment. He had been bad at dealing with all the things that Remus’ mother had sent and he was not willing to go though any of it. Remus got straight to work though, putting out rugs, storage, pictures, lining the book shelf on the left wall, putting pillows on the couch. It felt almost homey. 

Regulus hadn’t helped, he had just sat on the couch, sort of hollow, sort of tired, mostly just unwilling to think. The only reason he had even gotten up at all yesterday was because Remus had demanded he accompany him furniture shopping, stating they needed a shelf for the door and a stand for Remus’ record player, a muggle device that he knew Sirius had one of, bringing it home despite their mothers objections.

This morning Regulus was more spry and definitely more awake than the day before. The shower had helped, he still had the same soaps he used at school, it felt routine. 

What didn’t feel even remotely routine was his rather successful attempt to make breakfast for both himself, and Remus who was sitting in front of the door putting together the shelf they had gotten the other day. 

The apartment was a lot more open than Grimmauld, a fact that was more noticeable when he had to pay attention to someone other than himself. He could see almost entirely into the living room from the kitchen and he could see the fall of the door and the dining room. The only places he couldn't really see were the bathroom which was still decently closed, following the line from the kitchen to the dining and then to the small door for the bathroom, and the bedrooms were blocked too, giving the main area a sort of backwards L shape. 

He placed both plates of egg and toast on the dining room table, which was too large for just two people but it came with the apartment so who were they to throw it out. “Come eat.” Regulus instructed. It was odd to say in such a context.

Remus did join him at the table, abiding the half built shelf in front of the door. He didn’t complain about the simplicity or the quality of the food. Regulus had almost expected him too, it wasn’t great. Regulus had almost wanted him to, it was better then the weird sort of hesitance-pity thing he had been doing since Wednesday night. 

“Why were you looking into the Chamber of Secrets?” Regulus asked, breaking the awkward silence that had been looming over them just moments before. 

“‘pparently the attacks done in Riddle's  fifth were about it.” Remus answered through a mouth of egg. “You heard’ve it?” 

“Yes, any self respecting pure-blood has.” Regulus stated, remembering the first time he had heard it, back when he and Sirius weren’t even attending school. 

“D’you think it's real?” Remus asked, pointing his fork at Regulus. 

“I don’t see why it wouldn't be.” Regulus replied. “If they could hide a werewolf then I’m sure they could hide a secret chamber and another creature.”  

“I am not a creature.” Remus argued, more playfully than Regulus had expected. 

“Anyone who picks apart their toast like that is a creature.” Regulus remarked, eyeing the tufts of toast Remus had torn up. 

“What is wrong with how I eat my toast!”

“You're dismembering it!” 

“Whatever.” Remus grumbled. “And by the way I am way easier to hide than an entire chamber!” 

“Is that supposed to be a good thing?” Regulus questioned. 

“I don’t know.” Remus sighed, starting on the dismemberment of his second piece of toast. “Did you ask the diary about it?”

“No.” Regulus replied. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to use it, it’s dark magic and we know practically nothing about it.”

“We know nothing about anything, it’s the only lead we’ve got.” Remus stated solemnly. 

“He would have been my age at the time of writing it, I doubt the him in the diary knows anymore then we know now.” Regulus retorted. 

“Well he’d know who he is and he’d at least know more about making a horcrux than the two of us!” Remus snapped, “we could at least ask.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Regulus said, placing his fork on his plate neatly. It was a subconscious gesture to signify his finishing of the meal that didn’t quite matter if he was done considering he would be the one washing the plate rather than an elf or a servant. “And we do have other leads so we should at least follow thoughts first.”

“Do we?”

“Yes.” Regulus confirmed though he was a bit skeptical himself, they were loose connections but it was better then that dairy. “Based on Lucius having the diary we can assume other death eaters might have others.”

“Key word being assume, Regulus.” Remus interjected. “Plus how would we even investigate that, do you even know any other death eaters.” 

“There’s Bellatrix, I’ve already drafted a letter to her, you can look it over before I send it.” 

“Another one of your sick cousins? That’s not quite a road I want to go down.” Remus complained with a huff.  

“You don’t have to, you can look into Riddle.”

“I have been looking into Riddle.” Remus stated with a plain stare. 

“You’ve been looking into Riddle as a wizard but Riddle's not a pureblood name, you can check Muggle records for him, can’t you?” 

“You’re saying you-know-who is a half-blood?” Remus balked, placing his own plate atop of Regulus’ and picking them up on his way to the kitchen, Regulus followed behind him, stopping to lean the island to the left while Remus washed the dishes. 

“He has to be.” Regulus stated. “Someone would have heard of him if he wasn’t.” 

“Guess that means we have something in common.” Remus laughed, raising his voice over the running water. 

“Guess that means we don’t.” Regulus muttered, Remus laughed again. 

“I’ll check for Riddle where I can, though muggles don’t quite store data like wizards do.” Remus said, leaving the dishes to dry in the sink, he rested them in a drying rack, something that he had picked up the other day. Regulus had protested it, citing Remus’ magic but Remus just dismissed him. “They’ve got a database on a computer for the library at the university, I've been hoping to go there since mum and I found this place!” 

“I’ll reach out to Bella, if anyone has a horcrux it’d be her.” Regulus stated. “I want to visit Knockturn Alley too if you could drop me off.” ]

“Why do you need to go there?” Remus asked. “Good people don’t hang around those shops.”

“I’m not a good person.”Regulus replied, rubbing at his arm. “You don’t need to pick me up, just drop me off, I’m going to pick up some floo powder while I’m in the area.”

“You need to learn how to apparate.” Remus muttered. 

“Even if I could, I've still got the trace on me.” Regulus answered. 

“I’ve had an idea about that actually.” Remus stated wearing a grin that made Regulus uncomfortable. 

Knockturn Alley was an awfully creepy place. He’d been there before, only with his parents, it didn’t make it any less creepy. 

He had three places he wanted to visit, the first being a glorified antic shop that he had known many dark wizards frequented. 

Borgin and Burkes was exactly what you would expect from a place in Knockturn Alley. The shop keeper was a bit of an odd man and most of the artifacts lining the shelves were poor excuses for a prank or half baked magic duds. 

“Here for business or pleasure Mr. Black?” The shopkeeper asked. Regulus winced at the mention of his name, not expecting to be recognized in the creepy shop. He hoped no one else would stop by, it’s not like he needed more witnesses. 

“It doesn’t concern you.” Regulus snapped, heading to the back of the shop. The poster had been something that caught his eye the last time he’d been here, offloading cursed artifacts with Kreature. 

It was a mimic of a comprimens robe, bound to be weaker then the real thing. Instead of taking the whole thing he sliced off a sleeve before heading to where the shopkeeper sat. “Is that all Mr. Black?”

“You sell floo powder?” He asked which garnered a nod from the shopkeep. “Add however much five galleons will buy.” Regulus instructed, handing over seven, two for the sleeve and the other five for the powder. 

Regulus put the sleeve over his arm as soon as he stamped off of the dusty store, thankful for the clean air. The sleeve was tight, gripping his arm enough to make his wrist and bicep red. The pain would fade, the lightweight of the robe nicely covered the tattoo, no risk of it slipping. 

He visited Morbibund’s next, picking up as many books as he could, all on varying dark magic and records of the sacred twenty eight. Unlike with Borgin and Burkes he stood no chance of being recognized here, more of because no one ever went here. Dark wizards were never much of the reading type apparently. 

His last stop was a popular one so he made sure to keep the hood of his robes up. Even in the heat it was better to remain covered though the robes he wore were a bit ostentatious, a deep shade of purple rather than black ones. Too much of a reminder of the death eaters. 

Mr. Mulpepper’s Apothecary was known for selling hard to find potions and ingredients. Regulus had sent Kreature there multiple times to pick up ingredients for his own concoctions and Pandoras. He never mentioned where he got them from to her but he suspected she had known anyway. 

Aside from his general stock he also picked up something on behalf of Remus, or more of on his suggestion considering Regulus was paying. Remus had yet to explain much of his plan to remove the trace. All he had aid was just to get Regulus to cooperate enough to actually buy the polyjuice potion. He’d brewed it before but he hadn’t had the time to spend two months doing so. 

The polyjuice potion ended up costing a fortune, not that Regulus didn’t have enough to buy it. What Regulus didn’t have enough of was ways to get back to the apartment. The closest floo grate was a couple blocks away from the apartment. 

The walk back was long and discomforting, between the sleeve still strangling his wrist and the weight of his purchases on the cheap shopping bags he had brought, stolen from Remus. The fresh air was nice. It was nicer than it was two nights prior, less suffocating. More freeing.

Chapter Text

Remus’ dad had always hoped Remus would show an interest in the Ministry. When Remus sent the letter asking if he could see what his dad did at work the response was almost an immediate yes. Monday morning he would meet his dad outside the Ministry.

He spent Sunday evening arguing with Regulus, who was not as big a fan of his quite genius plan. “Are you sure that’s going to work?” Regulus questioned for the hundredth time that evening. “I just don’t think that’s how it works Remus.” he added after Remus let out another annoyed sigh. 

“I’ve done my research, I’ve talked with my dad, I’ve consulted books. Regulus this was one of the first things I looked into when I found out I was a wizard.”

“It’s just... Less magical than I would have thought.” Regulus sighed. 

“Not everything needs to be a complex spell, the trace is successful because it’s simple and therefore hard to work around.” Remus explained once again. 

“It can’t just be records though!” 

“It is! What else would it be? How else would they know when everyone turns seventeen? How else would people be able to get around it with homeschooling and what not!” Remus cried, the dinner table had slowly become overrun with books and papers and now the repeated appearance of Remus’ annoyed fist. 

“It’s just so simple.” Regulus never looked straight at Remus when they argued. He figured it was subconscious but it always made Remus feel horrid. 

“That’s part of the genius.” Remus stated. “Tragically it is also where some of the biggest flaws come in.” 

“And the biggest flaw needs to be exploited by both of us?” Regulus questioned. “I don’t see why both of us have to go, does your father even know that I’m coming?” 

“Not you, no which is fine because you’re not coming.” Remus answered. “James is.” 

“See I’m still not sold on that part either.” Regulus hissed. 

“James comes from a respectable family with no association to you-know-who and my dad won’t question why I want to bring him.” Remus said with a grin. Arguably he did need Regulus to come and to do that he couldn't be himself. He didn’t need him to be James though, that was just a sort of prank for him. 

“Potter is an idiot and I’d rather die than spend a second being him.” Regulus complained. “Why can’t I just be Sirius or something, It’s not like it would be hard to find a loose scrap of his hair and I know how he acts well enough.” 

“Sirius is too… eye catching.” To Regulus it might have seemed as though he was referencing his gaudy presence and his Black family blood traitor status ability to draw eyes. While it was technically true Remus was just thinking about him, quite stunning. 

“Potter and I are nothing alike, he’ll see something is up.” 

“My dad’s only seen James a few times, just keep aloof, he’ll never notice.”

“I’m not aloof.” Regulus muttered. “You’re sure it has to be him, you're sure I have to go at all?” 

“You have to go and you have to go as James. He’s the only one of my friends that would feasibly come.” Remus stated. Out of all the parts of the plan this was the only one Regulus seemed genuinely against, it was quite funny. 

“If I go as James I’ll get caught, I can’t feasibly convince anyone I'm him.” Regulus imitated, shooting Remus a glare.

“You can and you will, you’ve spent years pretending to be alright in that hell house of yours, I’m sure you can put up an act for an hour.” Remus pushed. It was cruel to drag Regulus’ family into it but it seemed to be an effective chip to play since Regulus just gave a huff and reopened the book he was reading. “I’m gonna head to bed.” Remus said after watching Regulus read over a chunk of text several times over, clearly more focused on keeping himself from acknowledging Remus rather than actually doing work. 

Remus went to his room after that. It was much smaller than the dorm at Hogwarts and his room at his parents cottage. He had his mom send over most of his posters and clothes from home to help fill the space. His bed was a twin with a ratty frame that was pinned to the left wall over the one window in the room. On one side of the door he had a small desk, a small dresser sat against the other, aside from that there was not much else he could fit. 

It was nice to sleep in a space that was truly his own even if it was stuffier than a shoe-box, even if the light buzzed keeping him up, even if the carpet of the floor was always ever so slightly sticky. Even with its faults Remus slept quickly. 

Remus met his dad near the Ministry entry as promised. ‘James’ had been silent as soon as they left the flat aside from occasional french muttering that Remus never quite caught. The sight that almost made Remus forget his morning yelling match with Regulus. If he were a little less insensitive he would have made a reference to the stories Sirius used to tell of his and Regulus’ parents. 

“You ready?” Remus asked, looking at Regulus who looked completely discontent as he fiddled with the bottom of his jumper. He looked like James. He looked at James in appearance only, Remus amended, the high scowl and still not quite James outfit were all Regulus. 

“No.” Regulus hissed in return. “I have never in my life been described as cheery and I’d most certainly not wish to change that.”

“It won’t be that bad Regulus.” Remus replied, a statement growing in popularity within Remus’ vocabulary. 

“Well aside from this horrid act I also have little faith in your plan.” Regulus added as they rounded the corner towards the Ministry. Remus could see his dad just up ahead a bit.

“Good to know, a little too late to voice those complaints though.” Remus grabbed into Regulus' upper arm as he spoke, dragging quickly towards his dad. “Da! Hey!” He said with a wave as they got close.

“Remus, James good to see you boys!” Lyall greeted, giving Remus a side hug and offering ‘James’ a sturdy handshake. “I’m pleased to see you finally taking an interest in my work son, though I am a little shocked with how sudden this is, guess you might have something to do with it James?” 

“Well you know my mother-” Regulus started, only for Remus to elbow him, keeping his arm out of sight from his dad. “My ma’ always says we should be proud of who we come from.” ‘James’ said with a very forced happy voice. 

“Ah yes, Effie’s quite the family woman, you’ll have to tell them I say hi when you head back.” Lyall responded, paying no mind to the strange candour of ‘James’. “Alright, come along boys.” Lyall added, leading the two towards the concealed entrance of the Ministry. 

“You are a terrible actor.” Remus hissed to Regulus before following behind his father. 

The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was housed farther into the ministry than Remus had hoped. The office only had four other people in it and most of them Remus had met before. “My desk is just over here, you boys will probably find my job to be a bit boring so if you want to I’m sure no one here would mind you asking what they're doing.”

The office was smaller than when Remus had last visited. His father had a larger stack of paper and a more grim expression that matched the dull black of the walls and the faces of his coworkers at the other desks. 

“I’m sure it’s not that boring, I can’t imagine anything in the Ministry is boring.” ‘James’ sang with a wondrous voice that made him sound like a child. 

“Oh James, you just wait, the reality of the Ministry is that it’s only interesting when we’re recruiting, then it’s all paper work.” Lyall laughed. 

“You say that every year, da’ your job’s plenty interesting.” Remus replied. “Do you mind if I head to the loo?” 

Lyall nodded his head. “Just take James along with you and don’t stray too far, I’d rather not have you off in the Ministry on your own.” Lyall pulled Remus a bit closer. “The Ministry's not good with people with your condition Remus, just make sure to be safe.” he whispered, Remus nodded. 

“We’ll be fine da.” Remus whispered back. 

“There’s nothing to be worried about Mr. Lupin, I’ll keep Remus out of trouble.” ‘James’ added still not quite in a very James voice. Lyall looked comforted anyway. 

“If anything you’ll get me into more trouble.” Remus laughed, pulling fake James towards the door after his comment which went out to real James many times before. 

“We only have an hour so you better know where you're going because if I have to drink that disgusting potion and impersonate this disgusting person for any longer I’ll turn myself in.” Regulus hissed as soon as they were out of the dark office. 

“I know it’s near the filing stuff in the basement.” Remus said with a grin. It was more than enough to get what was needed. He had worked with far less information in the constraints of the childish pranks he and the Marauders were always pulling.

“Well isn’t that brilliant.” Regulus hissed sarcastically. Remus just shrugged and continued towards the lifts. 

Regulus had never put his faith in such an absolutely unstable, senseless plan in his entire life, and he hung out with Barty so that was saying something. Remus hadn't even known where they were going when he shoved Regulus into the Ministry lifts rather unsubtly, garnering odd looks from the other passengers. 

Luckily filing was as boring and therefore as unappealing as it seemed since aside from the plethora of flying papers the halls were empty. The other wizards had all gotten off on floors above, the last one out even making sure to check that he and Remus were at the right stop since apparently no one went down there. 

Dodging the onslaught of papers flowing through the air was difficult enough on its own, it was harder when Remus had them stopping in the middle of the thin corridor every couple minutes to read a door before muttering something to himself and moving on. 

“Do you have any idea what you're actually looking for?” Regulus snapped after Remus moved from another door. 

“Roughly, it’s definitely not the Department of International Treaties with Centaurs, just trust me.” Remus replied, stopping at the next door briefly before moving again. It was a difficult command since every inch of Regulus was telling him that the fool was going to screw this up for both of them. 

“Tragically trust is something earned, Remus, and right now, if anything I’d say you’re going in the wrong direction!” Regulus shouted, or tried to, only keeping his voice above a whisper. 

“I am? Did we pass it?”

“I meant metaphorically!” Regulus shouted for real this time. “Merlin, you are exhausting.” 

“Why not help a little bit then or would you rather just stand there and bitch?” Remus snapped looking from the plating of the door to give Regulus a look. Regulus assumed he was pleased to see the upset face he wore when Remus let out a light laugh before continuing down the hall. 

“I would help if you had told me what we’re looking for but you didn’t because you seem not to know.” Regulus returned, crossing his arms, a petulant gesture, almost childlike, that would surely have gotten him into serious trouble back at his parents.   

“I do know, Department of Underage Magical Documentation.” Remus replied, reading off the plaque on the door he had been at. He did look a bit stupid when he tried to emphasize his point by entering but the door seemed not to budge, leaving Regulus to be the one to huff out a quiet laugh. “Alohamora.” Remus cast, wand now outstretched. The door didn’t budge. 

He tried the handle a few more times and a few more charms, a couple more alohamora’s with several suffixes to have its power grow, as well as a couple other useless ones. “You really didn’t prepare for this? You had to have known security in the Ministry is good.” Regulus said with a grin. 

“Oh shove off.” Remus snapped. “I don’t see you casting anything.” He added as if that wasn't the reason why they were here. 

Regulus didn’t mind the comment in any way, instead he fished into his bag and pulled out a vial of a bubbling pink liquid. He uncorked and poured it over the handle which immediately began to sizzle and dissolve. “Move your foot, it’ll burn off if this gets on it.” He instructed, Remus obeying quickly. He gave Remus a very holier then though look as he pushed the door open, no longer locked by its magical handle.

The smug look only lasted a second, as soon the door was fully open and they had both stepped inside loud alarms started blaring. Remus quickly shut the door behind them, throwing a few wards and charms up in hopes of keeping it shut when the guards finally came running. 

“So that’s definitely not part of the plan.” Remus remarked. “Um, just look for the cabinet labeled R or B and I’ll, um, think of a way out of this.” Remus instructed, his voice shaky and nervous. Regulus understood the feeling.

The search for the cabinet that would likely house his papers was difficult since the room was plenty big and for some reason lacked any sort of reasonable order. R was right by where Remus stood, when Regulus pointed this out Remus took a pause in his nervous thinking to check it, only to have it zip away from him. “I fucking hate this place.” He remarked. 

The same thing happened with the next couple approaches either of them made. It was terribly annoying and awfully stressful, especially once Remus was no longer viably helpful, more focused on dealing with the pounding at the door and keeping wards on the shut door while the Ministry guards repeatedly tore them down. 

“Colloportus! Epoximise, um, protego, fianto duri. Colloportus. Depluso?” was Remus’ increasingly ineffective line of spells. “Immobulus!” he added with annoyance, turning back to Regulus, the spell freezing the moving cabinets that had been running from him. 

Regulus’ papers were not in the B cabinet, which was stopped right in front of him. The R cabinet was closer to the front of the room and housed Regulus’ papers close to the top. It was a paper held in a folder that listed his relevant birth details followed by a list of what seemed to be every spell he cast. 

At first he figured it was a short list of his last recent but as he pulled the file out of the folder the page extended, pulling out further endlessly before Regulus gave up on getting the full thing out and decided to just drag the one end to Remus. 

Remus, taking notice to the paper through his now more random then not casting, took the end out of Regulus’ hand and pointed his wand at the little nineteen-sixty-one which quickly changed into a nineteen-sixty. The paper immediately began folding itself under Remus and Regulus' grip on the top until it was a small strip before lighting itself on fire, burning to ash. “Congrats, you're seventeen, start blocking the door!” Remus huffed before returning to his own spell work. 

“How exactly do we get out of here?” Regulus asked after another couple seconds of continued attempts at keeping the door sealed.

“Well originally we were going to walk but someone had to alert half the fucking Ministry we’re here.” Remus snapped. 

“I’m sorry you couldn't open the door.” Regulus remarked. “How was I supposed to know my method would lead to this?” Regulus jabbed his wand towards the door before continuing with another couple silent spells.

“Because your method involved destruction of property!” Remus cried still with a whisper to his voice to avoid the guards overhearing, a gesture which was not returned since whoever was out there kept on shouting at them. “Does it just work on doors?” 

“It’ll work on anything.” Regulus replied. 

“Ceilings?”

“I mean that’s part of anything, is it not?” 

Remus gave him a satisfied look before pushing himself up onto one of the file cabinets, raising one hand to the roof and then the other to Regulus, who handed him the half empty vial from earlier with a concerned look. 

“Can you do illusion work? I forget if you learn anything like that in fifth?” Remus asked as he shifted the vial into his one hand and then extended his first to help regulus on top of the cabinet. 

“Vaguely.” Regulus offered. This seemed to satisfy Remus who gave him a gesture to cast something, which he did, an odd spell that had been mentioned in his charms class, it made the targets(s) appear as though they were underwater, not quite in focus and a bit uneven. For safety he added a smoke charm, which began to fill the lower parts of the room with a thick film, perfect for when the door finally released itself under the strength of the opposition's spells. 

Remus had already splashed a bit of the potion on the ceiling, opening a hold leading up into some poor blokes' office. The man gave a startled gasp as the two climbed into his office. Remus muttered an apology, Regulus did not, taking Remus by the elbow and pulling him up from the floor. 

They went up another floor that way, standing on the now yelling man's desk, probably getting footprints stamped all over his papers. Remus, who was a good couple feet taller than Regulus had to pull him up into the seemingly empty corridor. 

The empty corridor was pretty quickly not empty, Ministry guards making their way to the two of them and spectators occasionally moving in to get a closer look at the two now strangely distorted people running through the hall. 

It took several turns, loops and very gaudy spells to lose the Ministry guard tail. It also took a very conveniently placed door to the stairs, which Regulus hadn’t even known the Ministry had, why would it when the lifts are much easier and rather preferable. They didn’t run up the stairs to the floor right away, instead taking a break crouched undo the doors window, waiting for the Ministry guards to disperse. 

Between gasps of breath (more so from him then Remus, he truly did have terrible stamina) Remus cast him a glance only to start laughing or attempting to laugh since they still did need to stay quiet. “What?” Regulus whispered, looking at what he could of Remus and his slightly off features, the water-like distortion clearing with a flick of his wand.

“It’s just– this just went really poorly.” He laughed. “I haven't had a plan go this wrong since probably second year.” 

“It’ll go worse if they hear you through the door.” Regulus replied, pushing himself into a standing position and peering into the hall which looked decently vacated. “Do we have to go back to your fathers or can we just leave?”

“We can leave, I can call him once we get back to the flat and say they had us leave because of the break in, didn’t want any non-workers in the place or something.”

“Okay, up or out?” Regulus asked. Gesturing between the stairs and the now unattended hall outside the door. 

“Out, stairs are bad on my bones.” Remus winced, looking down at his legs which were clad under slacks that Regulus had been adamant he wear instead of the hideous shorts he had wanted to, completely unacceptable.  

“What are you, old?” Regulus snickered before peering further out the window and then dragging Remus back though the door and into the corridors of one of the lower floors of the Ministry. 

“My body tears itself once a month, obviously I’m not exactly fit.” Remus hissed as they cautiously moved down the hall into the more crowded central area.

“Don’t play the werewolf card, I'm not going to pity you.” Regulus whispered, moving past the other workers crowding the lifts, pressing the button to call the lift. 

“Like you don’t mind not having to run up the stairs, wheezy.” Remus laughed as they entered the lift, Remus bee-lined for the buttons while Regulus stared at him with disdain.

“Wheezy? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Regulus hissed, tuning his noise up against Remus, looking towards the doors as the lift climbed upwards.  

“Your shortness of breath hasn’t gone unnoticed, you sound worse than my dead granddad did before he passed.” Remus explained eliciting a stray hex from Regulus. Remus let out a yelp and Regulus let out a triumphant ha. “The fuck? Don’t fucking hex me, the only reason you can fucking hex is because of my insights!” 

“Oh that's funny! As if today wasn't horrid.” Regulus muttered. 

Remus retaliated by sending back a staining jinx which had Regulus stomping on his foot rather petulantly which had Remus shoving him rather childishly into the side of the wall which had a this voice interjecting with “merlin what happened to close knit group of friends.” 

Looking backwards revealed Barty, who neither of the pair had noticed. Regulus would have immediately made a few jabs at his prim internship look, he had a full suit and his hair was no longer its usual dyed blond, having faded to a mousy blond that resembled his natural hair. As James rather than Regulus, he couldn't quite do that. 

“Crouch, didn’t see you there, could have said something.” Remus greeted.

“Figures, the one time it’d be nice of you to run your mouth and announce yourself you were silent, ever get tired of disappointing people?” Regulus added callously, a natural comment that would have flown right over Barty's head if he were him. 

“Wow. harsh Potter, I thought you were the kind one!” Barty replied, holding his hands up in surrender. 

“Well y-” Regulus started only for Remus to grab his shoulder.

“James-” Remus warned. “-is the kind one, he’s just had an off day.” implying that James would not retaliate no matter how much Regulus wanted too, between his usual level of banter with Barty and his rather annoying day he was feeling rather aggravated. 

“Hmm, Y’know I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lupin and Potter fight! I've seen Black and Lupin, I’ve seen Potter and Pettigrew but Black and Lupin always seemed civil.” Barty sang. 

“We’re not fighting.” Regulus argued. 

“We’ve fought before.” Remus added looking rather confused. 

“Have y– we?” Regulus asked, he had also never seen Remus and Potter fight, both seeming to be the most lenient of the groups, or well James seemed lenient, Regulus had also held a firm belief that Remus was was a bit of a push over which he had yet to disprove. 

“Yes!” Remus cried. “We’ve been friends for almost seven years, of course we’ve fought!”

“Just seems like you're one to fold.”  Regulus whispered though it was all too audible in the small elevator. Thankfully before Barty had a chance to retort his stop came up. 

“Well, Loony, Potty, it’s been unpleasant, see you both at school.” Barty said with a wave before fading into the mass of the floor. Regulus kept an eye trained to where he lost saw him as the doors shut, Remus seemed uninterested. 

“Next time you see Crouch you make him forget he saw us here.” Remus hissed after a couple minutes passed. “If I hear a single roomer that James and I hate each other or that James is some sort of fight forgetting amnesiac I’ll have your head.” 

“Barty doesn’t care enough about you or Potter to run that, Loony.” 

“Good, if I end up in Azkaban because Crouch blabbed and they investigate us I’ll sell out and turn you in to you-know-who.”

Chapter Text

Bellatrix had reached out to Regulus seven days after he sent his letter. Clémentine had taken four more to get it back to him. She was clearly in no rush to reply which was normal for his most crazy cousin. 

The Dark Lord trusts me far more than that foolish coward Malfoy. Was the opening line which would be some kind of indication if it was anyone else but Bellatrix was quick to anger and always seemed to hate everyone but her own and Lucius was anything but her own. 

Dearest cousin if you wish to gain favour with the Dark Lord you have to make yourself known, you have to prove yourself, the boring jobs are a stepping stone that you should be proud to stand upon until he sees you as he does me. He was awfully into the whole death eater thing though the combination of commenting on her greater intimacy with the Dark Lord and her mention of ‘boring tasks’ did seem to bear a resemblance to Naricssas comments about the horcrux bestowed on him, he would have to ask further. 

My husband and I have been in the Dark Lord since the beginning, the cowardice of my sister and betrayal of Andromeda– her name was written fuzzily, as if it was written several times over before having the ink scrapped off– has shamed the severity of our families alliances but your eagerness will help bring about new praise to our family, especially in absence of that blood traitor brother of yours. As if anything about him would bring praise, his betrayal would ruin him for his family and his allegiance would bring shame to Sirius as well as Andromeda he supposes. Regulus hadn’t seen Andromeda in ages. He might have reached out if she were anything more than he was, if he were more like Sirius who he knew visited her. 

Your inquiries about my happenings are both ill-formed and unwelcome. We are part of something that requires us to be of a certain subtlety and your hapless intrigue into such issues that are none of your business will prove you to be of less than desired use for this upcoming revolution that we both desire. I wish you to be of use as I am but if you remain so naively open and trusting you will have a falling out worse then your brothers and I will be there to watch it happen. You are my cousin but we no longer share a name, if you bring shame to the Blacks then I will let them fall with all their weight on your shoulders. Be smart about this.

I wish you well, cousin and I hope to see you soon. I heard Narcissa sent for you at the last meeting, next time I would suggest you to seek my help rather than hers since her loyalties are half-hearted and her pathetic husband is a pansy who it is best to dissociate from. 

Regards,

Bellatrix Lestrange

Rather uniforming and a decent reminder that Bellatrix was not a friend or an ally. Bellatrix however, was an opportunist and so if Regulus were to seek out the same path he tread she had made it clear she would be supportive if not helpful to an extent. 

He could likely reach out to her again, schedule time to meet up, for her to teach him how to be a death eater or something, he doubted she would object and it would give him a chance to search around her house in some sort of fashion. 

The issue was Bellatrix, while clearly wanting him to be like her, had displayed her suspicions of him just as she had displayed her respect. If he were to get caught snooping there is no doubt that she would kill him or at the very least turn him in. 

Another issue with Bellatrix was her husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, who was just as mad and just as observative as her. Even if Bellatrix lowered her guard, which was already unlikely, he would not. On top of that, even if he somehow managed to disarm Rodolphus’ suspicion they also lived with his younger brother Rabastan who likely also wouldn't be all too receptive of Regulus. 

“I’ve gotten word from my cousin.” Regulus shouted into the kitchen, placing the letter on the low table in front of the couch. 

“Oh that’s terrible.” Remus replied with a grin, coming into the living room holding two mugs, one of tea, Remus’ preference and one of coffee, Regulus' choice. Regulus also had a taste for tea but he found coffee more invigorating and as such, despite its bitter taste it was far more with the time it took to drink. 

Remus set Regulus’ on the table next to the letter, taking his own to the second hand chair in front of the bookshelves which were still quite barren aside from text books, Remus’ classical muggle literature which Regulus still couldn't bring himself to read and a number of dark magic books that the pair had amassed from Flourish & Blotts and Morbibund’s.

“It’s not terrible it’s useful and even if it wasn’t she's my cousin and she's not as horrid as my brother has made her out to be.” Regulus said, taking up the coffee from the table and having a sip, scrunching his nose a bit at its bitter taste which he still hadn’t gotten quite used to. They never had coffee at Hogwarts and his parents would probably consider it too muggle to have but here there was a strange abundance, Remus having bought some for himself only to discard it upon the tea shipment from his mum. 

“From what I’ve heard she’s been hexing him since birth and she’s right mad.” Remus argued. “Didn’t she once blast through the wall between your room, I remember Sirius complaining about sharing a room with you for months.”

“She does enjoy hexing us and she is mad but those aren't always bad things.” Regulus returned. “And if you pried you would have found that the wall exploded because Sirius opened her trunk after she said not to so it’s really more on him.”

“She must’ve known he’d open it.”

“Of course she did but that doesn't mean he’s in the right for doing so.” Regulus confirmed, sliding forth on the couch to reach some of the loose parchment from the crowded surface of the table. “Also sharing a room with Sirius was much worse on me than him, you must know how terribly he snores and he’s got all these ostentatious posters and he’s just generally loud.” 

Remus let out a fond huff at the list Sirius bad qualities which had Regulus gagging at the lovesick fool. “What?” Remus asked at Regulus’ face of disgust. 

“Your infatuation with my brother disgusts me, having gotten to know you I will say you could do better.” Remus smiled at Regulus’ words which had him adding “which isn’t even a compliment, anyone could do better.” Best to keep Remus honest about the nature of their relationship, they were not friends nor did he have to like Remus, they were more like coworkers or maybe teammates was a better comparison seeing as Regulus was wealthy enough to have never spent any time working unlike poor Remus. 

“I am not infatuated with your brother.” Remus finally argued. 

“You are.” Regulus argued back, taking up a quill to join his parchment, starting on a draft of something to return to Bellatrix. “I think I’m going to ask to visit Bellatrix.” He added, switching topics before Remus had the chance to argue against him. 

“So you can visit Bellatrix for no reason but not Narcissa?” Remus questioned, which was fair, he had stated rather plainly he needed a reason to interact with his cousins outside of holidays, he just figured that having the dark mark was reason enough. 

“The mark grants me reason.” Regulus stated, looking down at the paper adorned with his neat cursive rather than at Remus. “Trsut me Remus I wouldn't have got it if I hadn’t needed to.” Regulus pressed his palm and the body of the quill to his forearm, the tight fabric of his robes sleeve had since settled into his skin as if it were part of him.

“Your cousin would have, she would have gotten it on a whim without hesitation, you should hear what they say about her Regulus, it can’t be safe to go to her.”

Regulus returned to writing his letter, acknowledging Remus with a hum. “She believes I am the same, I’m younger than her when she got it, you know.” It was hard to write and chat at the same time, writing the letter would have been hard anyway. “Bellatrix will not harm me even if she suspects something is up, she would have to be sure to act.”

“Bellatrix Lestrange, the madwoman of the house of Black, even Sirius was scared of her growing up, coming back from holidays with things I’d probably consider horror stories ‘bout her.”

“I am not Sirius.” Regulus snapped, the ink blotting on the page as his hand froze. 

“Well that's apparent.” Remus laughed, crossing leg and pushing back into his chair, not a care in the world as he opened the book he pulled from the table. “Sirius may be a bit off but even he knew better than to poke at the sleeping dragon that is your nutty cousin.” 

“Nice to see you're not too far up my brother's arse to ignore his antics.” Regulus replied, ignoring the continued dirt thrown on Bellatrix’ name.

Remus muttered something along the lines of not being far enough up Sirius arse, which Regulus chose to ignore, before responding a little more properly. “His antics may be childish and annoying, but from what I’ve heard Lestange’s antics are downright criminal and cruel! You should just stick to writing her letters, you know she’ll have you killed if she finds you snooping through her home.” 

“I’m her cousin and I’m not a child, I wasn’t even really asking, just informing, I’m going to visit her.” Regulus stated. 

“If you die there I’ll have your grave marked with ‘I told you so’.” Remus remarked before turning back to his book. 

Bellatrix lived in a place that reminded him much of Grimmauld place. It was hidden as was Grimmauld and it was dark and lined with dark magic. The walls were plentiful and daunting in a way that swallowed you how, the only light came from behind the drawn curtains and from the fire he had flooed through. 

Rabastan was the one who greeted him as was he the one who escorted him into the living room. Rodolphus was a Ministry man alongside his duties as a death eater. Bellatrix was a late sleeper or she had been when she left the madding eye of Regulus’ uncle and aunt. It was one of the few ways to make it out, marriage.

“You're younger than I thought.” Rabastan said after Regulus settled into one of the chairs in the dim living room. 

“That is a rude way of greeting someone.” Regulus returned, matching the disinterest in Rabastan's voice. 

“Living with your cousin has brought out a cruder side of me, if you think I’m bad you should have a chat with my brother.” Rabastan hissed sitting in the chair across from Regulus. He ordered a house elf to bring them refreshments only to give the poor thing a shout when it was a couple seconds rather than instantaneous. Regulus hated to see it but knew better than to speak up. 

“Is Bellatrix going to be much longer? I don’t mean to be rude but I am here to visit her, not you.” Regulus asked once he had been seen taking a sip from the cup, careful not to let a drop beyond his pressed lips, distrust felt at home in meetings like this and he was not going to lose before he even saw Bellatrix. 

“She will, eventually, comes and goes as she pleases, like this is her house rather than a Lestrange estate.” He grumbled. 

“Is that what you think oh brother in law, the house is your brother's not yours and as his wife it is more mine then yours.” Bellatrix interjected, pulling the cup of something out of Rabastans hand. She sounded aloof if not threatening. 

“You're his wife in name alone Bellatrix and you have no claim to a single thing that is branded with the name Lestrange.” Rabastan snapped before pushing out of the chair and passing Bellatrix down the hall. 

“Oh but ‘Bastian I’m just as much a Lestrange as you are, don’t be so uncaring.” She shouted at him, giggling slightly as the words left her mouth. She turned back to Regulus and put a hand next to herself as if telling a secret. “He’s a bit pissy about me and his brother, thinks I’m not a fit wife because I’m not like my pathetic sweetheart of a sister.” 

“I think you ought to be nicer to him, you are intruding, Bella, even if you have the right to be here.” Regulus offered. He could imagine what it would be like if he had ended up stuck like Rabastan in a house with Sirius and some insane woman he brought home under a deal from their parents, to be shuffled further into the fold of the Black tapestry under the name of an undeserving fake. He was already lesser than Sirius, another would make him just as insufferable as Rabastan. 

“Well– hmm you make a point dearest baby cousin– but I’m not intruding, this is my home no matter how much Rabastan hates it, I live here and I bear his name, he intrudes on me in my space as much as I do his.” She hummed, taking over Rabastans seat, lounging over the edges, cup enclosed in both hands. “Did you come here just to advocate for a like-minded little brother or are we going to have a better chat?”

“I’m here because I’ve heard you are quite venerated and I would like to hear about it.” Regulus stated plainly. Bellatrix grew a very brazen grin at his words of praise. 

“Of course you would, who wouldn’t?” Bellatrix laughed. “I guess I would have assumed you wouldn’t, Sirius’ little overlooked brother, never one to reach out for what he needs! You're just as much an island as he was, you just made yours quietly and a little more meticulously, at least that was you to me.” 

“I guess you don’t know me all too well then.” He answered, her words still sinking in like glass shards in flesh. It wasn’t untrue. It wasn’t true either. He was not Sirius and he was not an island in any way. 

“Maybe.” She said with a pointed smile. “You would have been right though, not to ask, it’s different for everyone, Lucius is a suck up, the Lestranges are a good front, I am a loyal follower, if you want to be important you can’t just be me, no one can just be me for starters but he also doesn't need two of me, he doesn’t need two Malfoys and he doesn’t need two Rodolphus’s that's to be seen in how he treats poor little Rabastan!” 

“Well maybe I want to know what he needs in me, if I am to rise to where you and Lucius are then I need to know what to be.” Regulus stated, pointing out solely the two of them as possible horcrux holders. “I just hoped that someone as close to the Dark Lord as you are could help identify what he would need from me.” He added carefully and oh was it the right move seeing as the implication of her closeness had her pushing up in her seat with a newer, more untamed smile. 

“You're a cunning man, Regulus!” She laughed, spilling some of her drink in her poorly tamed fit. “You’re every bit as calculative as a Ravenclaw and you're a coward but not nearly as bad as Malfoy you're unassuming and people can’t help but be disarmed at your porcelain face!” She continued, turning herself to sit in the chair properly. “You’re a watered down version of your flamboyant big brother in the most complimentative and demeaning way.” 

“Is this your way of saying I’m not enough of anything to be of substance in this war?” Regulus asked genuinely. It was an insult and a truth and it stung worse than any hex or jinx that she could have flung at him. A watered down version of Sirius seemed to encapsulating everything in his life. 

“I’m saying you are a disarming calculative underdeveloped version of something brilliant. Give it a year and you’ll be hoisting missions on every finger, hanging the muggles by a rope and entrusted with the most important missions like Malfoy, like me and Rodolphus.”  

“Are you and Malfoy getting the same missions? I’d heard he was personally entrusted with an important task from your sister.” Regulus quickly questioned, ignoring her proddings into his psyche and her horrid cruelty to focus on what he wanted. 

“Malfoy is a fool to think anything that happens to him is special.” Bellatrix snapped, slamming her cup into the table, it would have cracked had she not had the set enchanted.

“So you and Rodolphus have been entrusted with similar missions?” Regulus pushed.

“What me and Rodolphus are entrusted with is of little importance to you.” She stated. “For you to have such an interest in the happenings of anyone but yourself is foolish.”

"Shouldn't I want to know what is to become of my life?” He asked. Bellatrix clicked her tongue in disapproval. 

“This movement is not decidedly set, we know the start, we know the end but the path between the two is uncharted in its challenges, challenges that will come to each of us as its own new thing, to try to apply my path to yours is foolish.” She said, beckoning the house elf who was clearly frightened of her to gather her cup. It was slower in its reaction than it was with Rabastan. “I’ll have you know it’s more foolish, deadly, despicable, if you stray from the path or worse if you turn back. Are blood will not keep you safe in such misgivings.”

“I have no intentions to stray from the path.” He lied, not meeting her eyes, instead following the movements of the elf, who had returned to gather his still full cup. He did not intervene when Bellatrix gave it a kick even if he knew the action was cruel. 

“You can say all the words you want but your actions are questionable, why are you even here baby cousin, you know well enough you don’t need me to help you through this.” 

“Can I not just visit my cousin, we are on the same side Bella and you know I do love to know things, no matter how cryptic you are this conversation has been very telling of what is to come for me.” He replied, looking at the portraits on the wall, the past Lestranges in their glory sat above shelves on strange trinkets.

“I wonder in what capacity has this been helpful to you.” She giggled before finally pushing fully out of the chair. “Rabastian! Fetch my cousin the floo powder! We’ve finished here!” Bellatrix shouted into the empty of the house. 

“Get it yourself Bellatrix, I am not your slave!” He called back from presumably upstairs.

“I am the matron of this house now! You are to get it or I will have word with your brother about your presence in this house!" She returned, crossing her arms. 

“Like that’ll go your way!” He replied, standing halfway down the stairs, looking down on the two of them. 

“Can you not just have the house elf bring it?” Regulus asked. “Do you not just keep it by the fire actually?” he added after a moment of thought. 

“So that our guests can just break away without saying goodbye?” She asked rhetorically. “And as if I would trust any magic item with a house elf, especially one loyal to my husband over me, I’m not foolish enough to trust such a creature.” 

“If you let me know where to find it I would be more than able to get it, we’re family so you need not treat me with the courtesy of an average guest.” He suggested, hoping for the small chance to get a look around her house for evidence beyond her loose and confusing words. 

“I would rather he do it, I don’t take lightly to him being so flippant with my authority.” Bellatrix replied, eyes fixed on Rabastan who wore a cold smile, Regulus could see the dark mark though the slit in his sleeve, it made the cold house feel even colder though no one else seemed to feel it. 

“You have no authority over me.” Rabastan stated. “I would have been more understanding if the appearance of your cousin was anything more than a childish cry for solace, then I might have chosen to respect his presence and by extension yours and his status as your families heir but seeing him just makes things more apparent that it is not as such.” 

“You insolent-” Bellatrix started, displeased at the insult to their family line, but Regulus cut her off.

“It’s quite alright that you think that, I am much younger than you and have no such title until my father has passed but that does not give you the privilege to disrespect the matron of your family.” 

“Bellatrix is not my family, she is yours, the floo powder is in the gallery, second door past the kitchen.” Rabastan answered before disappearing up the stairs once again, his footsteps heavy with agitation. Bellatrix followed him up the stairs without wishing Regulus so much as a goodbye. 

Regulus was used to the disrespect that came with his status. The Black family had less notoriety then it used too and which each runaway, the now deceased Alphard, the mudblood-fucking Andromeda and the blood-traitor Sirius, that status depleted. It got so much worse with Sirius, the family's heir, the next to inherit the position at the head of the family. People looked down on them when he left and they looked down on Regulus for not being him. Prejudice seeped into the minds of members of the sacred twenty-eight and being a part of them would not save him from such views. 

Regulus pushed his family politics to the side when he entered the gallery. It was very much a gallery, little shelves and stands for certain magical things, artifacts and whatnot. Nothing of particular interest. The floo powder was on a shelf with a certain number of other useful magic that faded into shelves of poised jewellery that Regulus didn’t dare touch. 

Aside from the floo he found himself having little interest in the other contents of the room. He didn’t possess Remus’ senses so if there were a horcrux or any other particularly potent artifact he would have no way of knowing. 

He spent a couple moments surveying the room anyway. That's when a certain display caught his eye. It wasn’t anything stunning, shiny or glowing in fact it was quite the opposite. An empty uncovered case near the back of the room that looked as though the contents were removed in a rush since there were glass shards lining the floor. It was enough of an oddity that Regulus would be certain to bring it up to Remus. He did hate that that was one of his first thoughts. Trust the werewolf was not an ideal thought especially since Regulus barely truly trusted anyone. 

Bellatrix could be heard yelling upstairs. Rabastans voice was unheard; he had likely been silenced by her. Regulus did not wish to intervene. 

He said his goodbyes to the house elf rather than his cousin, he asked it to tell Bellatrix he was on his way in a kind fashion that seemed to puzzle it. Kreature used to have a similar face when Regulus would speak to him in the same manner. The kindness was not common in their types of families, even Sirius hated Kreature enough to be rude to him. 

He entered the fire swiftly, his concerns un-resolved and even heightened in the waking suspicions of Bellatrix. She would make for a dangerous enemy if she were to uncover his misgivings. He probably would have been less cautious but he would rather die to anyone then her if it meant avoiding such an annoying gravestone. 

Chapter Text

One full week was the duration of Dumbledore's suggested mission to the werewolves this time. From this evening till next Tuesday, how lovely. Unlike last time he was supposed to have a week's notice but Dumbledore had sent the letter to the Lupins and Remus hadn’t been there to receive it. His parents sent it only for their owl to be delayed for whatever reason so here Remus was with a letter and a twenty minute time frame to get to Hogsmeade and confer with Dumbledore. 

“Are you going to go?” Regulus asked from his position hanging over Remus’ shoulder.

“He didn’t even phrase it as a question this time.” Remus sighed. “I don’t think I have a choice.”

“So I’ll see you in a week's time?” Regulus questioned, pulling away from where he stood and passing into the living room.

“I guess.” Remus mumbled, still looking over the letter. He was supposed to be at the Hog’s Head for lunch, bringing nothing but himself which was only slightly worrying in comparison to the overarching concerns of the whole ordeal. “I’ll have to call the Morgans and tell them I won’t be on the farm for the next couple days. You’ll have to get groceries on your own too, it’s not as hard as it looks and you know where I keep the cash now anyway.” 

“Or you could just return a letter saying, ‘Got this late, have plans– sorry.’” Regulus suggested, coming back around to toss an apple core that had apparently been somewhere in the living room. 

“I’d have to go up to the school anyway for the moon. I'd rather not deal with Dumbledore being on my arse for not going when I’m there.” Remus sighed. He placed the letter on the table leaving the wood dining room chair and joining Regulus in the kitchen. “If you need me…” he continued before pausing to think of a good way to get in contact with him. “If you need me call the number on the fridge for my parents, they’ll be as much help as I am.”

“I am not doing that,” Regulus muttered. 

“Well then you better hope nothing goes wrong.” Remus said with a smile. “Shite, should I send something to James, Sirius and Peter? I reckon they’ll want to hear from me sometime before the moon, do I even have time for that?” Remus mumbled, talking more to himself than Regulus as he approached the phone. “And I have to call the doctor to reschedule your appointment which actually reminds me Regulus, I’m taking you to a muggle doctor since I figure you’ve never been checked from muggle illness.” he added, dialing the Morgans line on the phone. 

“Wait what? I am not doing that! Just because I live in you muggle appa-” Regulus started while the phone rang.

"Regulus, I'm making a call, shut up.” Remus hissed with a smile before the line connected. Regulus did shut up, though not before whispering some sort of insult that Remus didn’t quite catch. 

Remus spent the twenty minutes before meeting Dumbledore writing shite letters to his friends and calling miscellaneous people that would be affected by his week absence. The last thing he did was write out a couple notes for Regulus, who had disappeared into his room, before apparating into the warm empty street of Hogsmeade. 

The Hog’s Head was small and dingy and it smelt very pungently of something that Remus was happy to not be able to identify. Dumbledore was not there though there was another elderly man within the establishment so Remus wasn’t entirely alone. “Ale?” The man asked, wiping the dirt from the bar. 

“I’m underage.” Remus said, taking a seat at one the barstools. 

“Is that a no?” The man asked, pulling out an empty mug. 

Remus thought about it for a second before answering. “No.” the other man pulled out another mug and began filling the two with a drink. 

“What brings a lad like you to this small place so late in the year, isn’t the school year over?” the man asked through a sip of his drink. 

“I’m meeting someone.” Remus took a sip of the ale.

“Meeting someone in a place like this can only mean trouble, do yourself a favour and get out.” The man said refilling his glass. 

“Shite way to promote business, telling customers to leave I mean.” Remus took another large sip of the drink, it probably wasn’t a good idea but Remus didn’t quite care all things considering. 

“This place’s going to go down eventually, minds will let it run its course so I can retire.” he replied, refilling the contents of Remus’ half empty cup. 

“Now Aberforth you're not serving minors again are you?” The unmistakable voice of Dumbledore rang. 

“What’s it to you?” Aberforth (Probably) grumbled.

“I’d just hoped you would be willing to set a good example, getting dragged off to Azkaban for serving kids isn’t a great legacy.” 

“Don’t act like you haven't done your fair share of Azkaban worthy venteurs, Albus.” Aberforth returned. “Don’t tell me this is the person you're meeting.” Remus nodded, making Aberforth grimace. “Well then I’ll repeat myself with a greater urgency, do yourself a favour and get out.” 

“Don’t be so dramatic brother-” Dumbledore started. He said more but Remus was incredibly thrown off by the ‘brother’ comment. It could have been a saying but they did definitely look alike now that Remus is looking closer. “Mr. Lupin, Mr. Lupin, are you listening?” Dumbledore said after Remus spent a couple more moments staring between the two of them. 

“Sorry, yes.” Remus lied. “I just hadn’t known you had a brother,”

“Not many people do.” Aberforth huffed. 

“Yes, Aberforth likes to pretend we aren't." Dumbledore said with a calm laugh. “Now Mr. Lupin, we have something to discuss if you're willing to join me down the street.” He held out an elbow which Remus took reluctantly, Aberforth gave him a sorry look as they exited the establishment. Dumbledore offered no farewell to his brother, Remus would have wondered more about the nature of their seemingly sour relationship had he not had his own issues to worry about. 

They walked decently down the street, nearing the sight of the field around the shrieking shack, a familiar place that Remus never much liked to look at, his reasons always more potent than the usual remarks of its damned architecture. 

“I know you must find it quite unfortunate that I have reached out about this again Mr. Lupin.” Dumbledore stated plainly as they walked down the barren streets of Hogsmeade, Remus had hardly ever seen it like this. Even in winters it managed to draw in most of the students on the weekends they were able to go. “But I must restate the unrivalled importance of this outreach, we mustn't let such opportunities go to waste.” 

“Is it really that important?” Remus asked quietly. He had gotten very little with the first pack he had seen and he figured the werewolves had a certain history of avoiding wizard kind and even in a war most of them would remain at least neutral without much prying. 

“Every little thing we can do is important, there are only so many of us willing to fight this war and its missions like these that can prove the difference of life and death.” Dumbledore said, running a hand over his beard. “I know it is a lot to ask and I know you are much too young for me to be asking, it is, in the end, your choice if you go or not.” 

“Is it my choice?”

“Of course.”

“No it’s not.” Remus decided, Dumbledore said nothing. “I’ll do it.”

“That is your decision Mr. Lupin, shall we go then?” Dumbledore asked, not even bothering to address Remus’ comment. 

“I guess.” Remus answered before the world folded, leaving him alone in a field, no sign of Dumbledore for the second and definitely not the last time. 

In contrast to the pack Dumbledore had sent him to in April, this pack was unruly, violent and definitely a lot more what Remus had pictured when werewolf packs were brought up. 

There was a large number of members too which was more concerning then not because they were a little more Greyback leaning then not which was worrying because it possibly meant they were a danger to him and also because Remus was just not fond at the idealization of the sociopath who had bitten him when he was a child. 

He had spent less time socializing then he had with the last group as well. The days before the moon he had really tried but they were an awfully prejudiced group and he didn’t quite feel comfortable with the chatter of tearing out the throats of wandering wizards considering his disposition. 

The moon had been a painful night. Most of the others had been awfully amped to get to ‘reveal their true skin’ a concept that Remus didn’t feel fit him all too well considering in his mind the wolf was an entirely separate and very much non-him entity that he was rather against freeing. While he had definitely spent the night fighting, biting and hunting it had most certainly not been of his own choice, nor had he been very good at it considering the number of wounds he woke with, ones he failed to recognize as of his wolf's claws. 

The subsequent days after had been quiet. He stayed in smaller groups of less fanatics. He avoided the leader of the group and his usual ring of equally as feral guards. He got little information aside from a deep understanding that this pack was certainly not one to attempt to dissuade from their animal nature. 

There was no one he felt the need to say goodbye to when he slipped out on his last day. He was hopeful that Dumbedore would see the need to summon Madam Pomfery since his body was still aching and possibly bleeding from his time there, especially since he had no tonics, spells, or potions to help heal the deep gashes which were already threatening to scar deeper than his usual round of wounds. 

The woods were sparser than the last ones which reminded him an awful lot of the shallower areas of the forbidden forest giving a small bit of comfort in the familiarity as he wandered to the edge. The comforts of familiarity chafed away the longer he wandered, the already prominent aches of his bones heightened in wear, wounds growing agitated, feet beginning to blister on the messy wood floor. 

Apparating without his wand was still fairly challenging but he was quicker than the time before thankfully. He ended up in Hogsmeade rather than the Leaky Cauldron, a call which he was thankful for since he was wearing a very hideous set of rags and was covered in a film of dirt and dried blood. 

Dumbledore waited in much of the same area where they had parted a week ago which felt more like a month ago for Remus, as alone as he possibly could be in the dense concentration of werewolves with no entertainment beyond the cruel conversations and never ending arguing of the pack. 

Unlike Remus who was awfully tense and definitely very uncomfortable, Dumbledore rested calmly against the rotting wood fence barring the fields leading to the shrieking shack which Remus felt an unfamiliar warmth when seeing which truly was a testament to how sordidly out of place he felt in the pack over the moon. 

“Sir.” Remus greeted.

“Mr. Lupin, nice to see you are decent.” He returned humorously, eyes scanning over the grimy features that Remus no doubt presented. 

“Was a bit rougher than last time.” Remus explained even though Dumbledore hadn’t asked him to. “I do not think anyone there had much in common with our um, ideology."

“Is that so?” Dumbledore asked though he didn’t seem quite shocked. “I must say I am quite happy you have returned in one piece if that is the case, most of that nature will become quite aggravated when faced with a belief that does not match their own.” It was a very convoluted way of saying what Remus was only sure could be ‘I’m glad the werewolves didn’t succumb to their nature and kill you’ which was a very black and white assessment of werewolves that Remus couldn't find it in himself to argue with. 

“It’s not as if I tried very hard.” Remus said mournfully. “I certainly could have done more to try to change some of their minds but I found myself at a loss for words.” I was horridly afraid they would kill me and I didn’t want that to happen even if it damned all of wizarding society to a war with the werewolves.  Remus’ mind corrected as Dumbledore thought of a response. 

“That is perfectly fine Mr. Lupin, anyone in your situation would have acted similarly, besides, right now all that needs to be done is collecting information which you seem to have done.” Dumbledore replied. It was true and Remus most certainly had every right to act as cowardly as he did given the fact that he was 17 and there were significantly more of them than him but he couldn't help but feel like he had let the man and wizards as a whole down. 

“There wasn’t much to gather, none of them were even remotely considering backing the ministry or anything but it’s not as if they were certainly with you-know-who and his werewolves but they were more with him then with us.” Us being a generous term since Remus hadn’t actually been asked to join Dumbledore's secret society of rebels that James had mentioned several times before even if he was working on missions that Remus had deduced to be for them. 

“And that is all we need to know.” Dumbledore said with a smile. “Is there anything else that you heard while you were there of note?”

“Not exactly, a couple rumours about the promises you-know-who has said to help garner the werewolves as well as other creatures, some mentions of giants and vampires siding with him but I figure you already’ve heard of that.” Remus replied, looking away from Dumbledore and down at his feet which were both sore and bare, his shoes having been destroyed under his transformation. 

“Yes, yes that has been brought to my attention prior to now, you shouldn't worry too much about that.” Dumbledore answered a little too quickly. “If that is all Mr. Lupin then I suggest you head on back to your parents home, I presume they are to be worried sick and more importantly they are definitely to be more used to you then I am regarding your appearance.” Remus wasn’t sure if he was referring to his injuries or his general appearance, both of which were awfully unkept and both of which technically could be solved by his parents if he were to be heading to others rather than to his and Regulus’s.

“Of course, sir, um, I suppose I’ll see you when school starts up?” Remus said or possibly asked, hoping to reveal the status of the next moon hopefully with more than ample time to prepare. 

Instead Dumbedlore gave a hesitant nod before adding. “Hopefully so,” and then disappearing in a snap which Remus replicated in his own apparation. 

He was in the living room, facing the couch and Regulus who seemed comfortably sat on it up until Remus appeared causing him to let out a scream which Remus would have laughed at if it hadn’t been for his frustrating and illusive conversation and his poor body state. 

“Salazars sake! Announce yourself!” Regulus shouted after a beat before looking Remus up and down, his face growing into a more disgusted state. “What the bloody fuck happened to you?”

“Wildrness.” He answered, moving to sit next to Regulus only for Regulus to wave a hand at him.

“You are not sitting on the couch covered in that much grime, go shower!” He demanded, placing a decorative pillow that Remus didn’t recognize onto the open seat of the couch. 

“You know what couch is used right? It’s already grimy and my legs hurt so I’d like to have a minute to sit.” Remus replied, moving the pillow onto the floor much to Regulus’ dismay. 

“If the couch is grimy then you are fully filthy! Remus you look like you’ve been rolling in dirt and I do not like cleaning so I would appreciate it if you washed up!” Regulus hissed.

“I’ll fucking clean it!”

“Sit on the floor!”

“I bought the couch! I can sit on it if I want!” Remus retaliated, which was a half truth, the couch came with the flat which technically he did buy even if Regulus was paying some of the rent the couch was with purchase not with rent so it was technically Remus’. 

“Whatever! At least move out of the way, you're blocking the screen!” Regulus shouted back, waving Remus once again to the side. 

“W-” Remus started at the mention of ‘screen’. Turning his head briefly had him looking at a small box fixed on a stand against the wall separating his bedroom and the living room “When the fuck did we get a TV?”

“One of the ladies at the grocery store recommended it to me.” Regulus explained as if it were a very common occurrence which it was definitely not. 

“What grocery store is selling TVs? You know how expensive those are!” Having not seen one the couple times he had gone, Remus assumed Regulus was most definitely not going to the usual place which was not good because everywhere else was most certainly not cheap, especially if the place was selling a TV set. 

“The one I went to? And it’s not like I used your money, I visited Gringotts and exchanged some of mine!” 

“How did you even set this up?” Remus asked, knowing Regulus’ past issue with electronics.

“Magic. Move, I'm watching whatever this is.” Regulus answered. 

“I’ll move and shower before sitting on your precious couch if you have a look at my wounds, you're good at healing magic right?” Remus suggested, feeling a pang in the gash that was lining his collar bones, stretched and aching anew with the shouting. 

“Yes, fine, Go shower you smell horrid.” Regulus agreed, leaning a bit to look past Remus at the screen which was terribly funny given his past discretions with muggle appliances. 

“Oh fuck you.” Remus replied as he headed towards the bathroom leaving Regulus and his TV alone. 

Showering was nice even if he had desperately wanted to sit down. The heat was a relief on his joints and the weight of the dirt being washed from his skin was certainly nice. 

Regulus was also polite if not a bit snippy when looking over Remus’ wounds, using magic on the deeper ones and pulling out potions for the pain, it was quite nice. He appreciated the relief too, still a bit miffed at the absence of Pomfery after the moon, an over sight on Dumbledore's part, or perhaps an attempt to keep her out of the loop, either or he did desperately need the medical attention, even if it was from an underage student and even if the relief was half what it could have been. 

Once he was less pained and more cleaned he did join Regulus on the couch, sitting in a peace only noise coming from the small TV screen which was one a news station that Regulus seemed awfully intrigued by as if moving pictures and such didn’t exist outside of muggle context.

“You’ve got letters by the way.” Regulus said when Remus left the couch, venturing to the kitchen to eat something that was not unseasoned, slightly raw meat for the first time since last week. “They’re on the island, I know ones from Sirius, I recognized his writing.” 

“Did you open it?”

“No, should I have?”

“No.” Remus answered, his words muddled through the slice of bread he had chosen to eat.

The letters were in fact on the laminate counter top of the kitchen island, four of them total. They were, as stated by Regulus, unopened. James and Sirius used the same envelope, Peter sent one from wherever he was vacationing from, Lily had sent something though Mary and Marlene hadn’t which was a bit warranted since neither knew about his monthly issue, and finally there was one from his parents. 

He read the one from his parents first, they were definitely not used to him not being around right after the moon and they must be especially worried since it was already three days after. The letter was much of what they usually said after the moon which was varying versions of ‘are you okay’, ‘do you need medical help?’ and ‘you're not a monster’.

Peter wrote mostly about his vacation, he knew Remus well, choosing not to dwell on Remus’ known to be shite time. Lily was the opposite, her questions were numerous as was her concern. James was chipper, being as morbidly curious and largely unconcerned as usual. 

Sirius was Sirius, that was all Remus could really say on the matter. Sirius was just concerned enough that it didn’t make Remus feel like he was some sort of plague ridden deathbound child, instead just leaving him feeling content. More than content really, maybe it was just because he was Sirius. 

I miss you, James had been a nightmare since you left (earlier than intended, cruel taking away our Moony time). God what an opening ‘I miss you’ Remus felt sick, sick in a good way, not sick how he had been for the last week, sick like butterflies in his stomach.

I know the moons passed, how’d that go, bet it’s better then whatever painstaking questions Lily wrote (note that I had to hide this letter from James since the mention of Lily which has made him think I’m sending you something dirty). Remus wanted vaguely to scream. Maybe Remus just wanted, it felt weird for Regulus to be nearby. 

I can’t wait to see you Moony, you best visit again, make up for lost time and all. It was the last line and Remus read it over so many times, memorizing the cursive loops and slight messiness, he felt childish reading the words but he couldn't really help it. 

He must have spent too long staring at the page since Regulus was suddenly behind him and making his usual disdained faces at the mention of Sirius. “If you keep staring at that it’ll burst into flames, merlin you need to move on Remus.”

“Shut up.” Remus snipped, ramming an elbow back to somewhere near Regulus. “I don’t think I can anymore, if what happened in fifth is anything to go by at least.”

“What happened in fifth?” Regulus asked. 

“Nothing, your brothers an arse, I forgave him anyway.” Remus explained, leaving out the part about him nearly killing Snape and the weird subsequent social politics that were resolved under Remus’ compromising as usual. 

“Isn’t that life with him?” 

“Yes.” Remus answered, doing his best the fondness out of his voice at the thought of Sirius’ general mannerism. It hadn’t worked by the growth of Regulus’ disdain. 

“Creep.” Regulus muttered. “Make something of better substance for us, I’ve been living on egg and bread and a very stuffy dinner party at my parents which solved nothing.”

“You’ve been to your parents?” Remus asked as he turned to the fridge which had a decently sorry selection but enough to make some sort of sauce for pasta which Regulus definitely needed looking at his gaunt features. Remus filled a pot and placed it on the stove. 

“There was… another meeting, this one was better, Bella took me back to my parents after.” Regulus explained, lighting the burner with his wand. Remus pulled a bag of noodles from the cabinet.

“And you were okay with all that?” Remus questioned, remembering Regulus’ past meeting. 

“Yes.” Regulus answered, moving towards the kitchen table a sign to let Remus have the kitchen which was fair since he had seen Regulus cook and it wasn’t quite pretty. “I’m sure it was no worse than your moon.”

“I guess.” Remus said before letting the conversation fade into nothing. Regulus had begun reading one of the many boring notes that had amassed on the table while Remus mixed random herbs into an amalgamating sauce. It was a decently calm night which Remus found almost dangerously domestic considering it was Sirius’ brother sitting next to him and further more the thing that brought them together was the impending threat on wizarding society. 

Aching bones, elitist cults and looming wars aside Remus found himself strangely content with the passing of the night, studying and lounging carelessly after his horrid week in the woods. Perhaps absence does make the heart grow fonder, it was a better explanation than the implication of actually going to enjoy the forced company of Regulus. 

Chapter Text

Between whatever research he and Remus were doing, exploring the shockingly not so horrid muggle world and the infrequent death eater meetings Regulus found the summer to have been shockingly bearable so far. 

It was nearing halfway through August and he hadn’t really seen his parents, which was fine if not preferable, though he would never admit such a thing upon being asked. To balance this was the sad fact that he hadn’t seen much of his friends, who had learned from past years that frequently contacting him over the summers tended to be less than welcome in his house. 

He had learned countless pointless muggle things, had been to a muggle doctor- which was certainly strange since muggle medicine was most certainly far behind that of magical medicine though said doctor did state he was fine if not slightly malnourished and possibly asthmatic which had Remus burst into quite an unbreakable fit of laughter. 

The malnourishment thing made sense. The asthmatic thing was a complete unknown to him though the doctor insisted he take a prescription for some sort of inhaler, which he hadn’t  done because he didn’t quite believe in the condition and he hadn’t wanted to give Remus the satisfaction, his amusement at the idea was properly annoying. Regulus suspected Remus had gone behind his back and got one anyway though he hadn’t the proof of such matters.  

Aside from his medical faults there was significantly less nuance in his summer than usual which is why he hadn’t been surprised at all when Bellatrix started causing issues.

Things had really started to veer into an improper direction at the second death eater meeting. He had taken Bellatrix’s advice and stuck to her after it ended, her voice and stature giving away which one of those masked figures she had been nearly immediately. 

She was seemingly excited to see him. She had insisted on personally dropping him off after the meeting. She had followed him in, not to his house but to Grimmauld place where she thought he still lived. She acted perfectly respectful when his parents treated them to dinner up until it was mentioned that he had moved out. It wasn’t much of a change, Bellatrix was always a little less conventual in her talk, her mannerism, but he could tell the fact had thrown her so when his parents excused the pair after their meal was done he made a hurried exit through the fireplace without so much as an explanation to her. 

Then the letters started, letters making it sound like more than it was, he had gotten three since then. Two invites for a meal which he had agreed to, making that his lunch plan for the day. The third was a likely less controlled one that she might have been entirely inebriated when she had written it since it was partially illegible and the second half was a series of convoluted and very wrong accusations. 

Lunch was at Bellatrix’s. He flooed in, rather than her rather unsubtle suggestion of her picking him up provided he gave an address, a privilege not even his parents had, which was more of an oversight then a freedom, between Clémentine picking up letters from them and the increase in busyness in their schedule they had simply forgotten to ask and if the matter was brought up he would say he had forgotten as well, even if it meant incurring their wrath at his inattentiveness. 

The house elf greeted him at the fire place, showing him into the familiarly dreary living room. There was no sign of Rabastian this time which Regulus might have counted as a blessing, not having seen an all too pleasant side of him with his last visit. 

The other one was there though, his brother in law technically, Rodolphus. Him and Rabastian looked alike, same sort of soft curls in their hair, even if Rodolphus’s was longer, same angled jaw, roughly the same height by the looks of it too, it was a three years difference between the pair of Regulus remembered correctly and yet they still looked nigh identical. “You’re Bella's cousin?” he asked, passing through the living room. Regulus nodded. “She’s in one of the sitting rooms upstairs, third door on the left, don’t go in the second door.” He instructed, before disappearing past the kitchen. 

The second door immediately grabbed Regulus’s attention, it was the same as the first and as the third came after it, its deep brown matched the others, its handle was brassy but not worn like the others in its row. He wouldn't have noticed any of this if Rodolphus hadn’t mentioned it. 

Regulus was curious. Yes, he was naturally always very inquisitive but he was also very controlled, not naturally, it was worn into him over years in his house, he moved to the third door. 

“Cousin, nice to see you.” Bellatrix greeted, she was sitting as if this were a meeting, thin black dress as if she were in mourning, hair unkempt, sat on the side of a small round table, gesturing Regulus to sit across from her. Unlike the living room the indigo curtains were pulled back neatly letting in the sun. Thankfully there were no portraits in there, he couldn't handle more than the one piercing stare. 

“Nice to see you Bella, any particular reason you’ve asked to see me?” Regulus questioned, sitting across from her. He kept on the edge of the seat. 

“You reached out first Regulus, I’m just returning the favour.” She said, her voice sounding so similar to her mothers, Druella was almost as manipulative as his own mother and it showed in her eldest child. “Don’t tell me I‘m being intrusive, we’re family, we only have so many left with the faults of our more altruistic siblings.” 

“Of course you're not being intrusive, we are family Bellatrix.” Regulus lied in the same tone, a trick from his own mother. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Don’t play coy.” She snapped, leaning towards him, her hair falling forwards in its usual unkempt fashion, tight curls covering most of the darkness of her eyes. “I’m sure you can infer why I wanted to talk, keeping things from people isn’t very inconspicuous you know dear cousin, it’s hard to keep confidence in you when you're being all… deceitful.” 

“Deceitful? Bellatrix I hadn't told you I moved it’s not like I killed your mother.” 

“Being secretive may be worse than killing my mother, she’s an old bat and with the upcoming change in our world we need to trust each other!" She lamented.

“Bellatrix, she's your mother, don't speak ill of her.” Regulus chided. “And she’s my aunt who I respect, don’t be crass.”

“Don’t change the subject, I grew up in the same family you did, I know how changing the subject works.” She argued. 

“I only mean to correct your behaviour, we are a noble family and we are to act like it, now that I’ve done that, sure, let's talk about my house, what do you want to know cousin.” Regulus replied, crossing his leg to divert from his eye role. 

“Oh good, Philma! Bring tea!” She called, the house elf, Philma apparently, came with tea seconds later, Bellatrix didn’t even look at her, Regulus whispered a thank you. “So where to start, why did you move?” She asked, not bothering to fake her thought. 

“I wanted to, I’m sure you know what it’s like in our home.”

“Now who's being crass.” Bellatrix giggled, taking a sip of her tea, she let out a little his and stuck her tongue out from the burn. 

“Don’t make it horrid Bella, I just mean it can be a bit strenuous with our family.” Regulus explained though he perhaps was being horrid as well.

“So our parents were suffocating and they what, just let you go, they've got more tentacles than the squid at Hogwarts, I had to get married to even have a chance of getting out, Narcissa got married, and-” Bellatrix cried, growing increasingly exasperated as she continued. “And they were so suffocating Andromeda had to bloody run, your brother had to fucking run and they just let you leave?” 

“I made the right choice.” Regulus stated, a practised line, a lie he had told them, he had told himself. 

“You made the compliant choice, we all did.” She answered, he would have argued if she were wrong, it’s not like she gave him a choice anyway. “Where’d you move, surely you're still near Grimmauld, with the Dark Lord's rise, we need to stay close.” 

“I’m close enough.”

“Where?”

“Close enough.”

“You live alone?” Regulus hesitated, a poor mistake. “So that's a no, who do you live with, Rosier, you were close with him right, or is it Crouch, he was nuts but had potential, please tell me it’s not Meadows, she’s going in the wrong direction.” 

“I live alone.” Regulus lied. 

“You don’t.” Bellatrix countered, taking a punctuating sip of her tea, Regulus hadn't touched his, still worried it may have been poisoned. 

“I do.” Regulus pushed. 

“So it’s not Rosier, not Crouch, not Meadows, thank merlin, is it Rosier's sister, the Ravenclaw?” She continued. 

“No.”

“But it is someone?”

“No.” Bellatrix eyed him. “Bellatrix It’s past noon and I have evening plans, I must take leave.” he lied. 

Regulus didn’t give her time to refuse, he just got up, gave her a nod and then turned and left. She did follow, she might have heard him but his words were mumbled and with a green flash he was back in the abandoned building, the one about a streets way from the apartment, it was the closest spot on a floor grate even it it did mean walking a block in the humid muggle streets. 

He looked over his shoulder the whole way back to the apartment. Remus wasn’t home, Regulus could feel himself growing queasy. He drank from the kitchen tap, it felt unnatural, Regulus had lived in the shite apartment for over a month now and he had managed to avoid tap water, it felt almost impecunious. 

“Crappy place you’ve got, cousin.” Bellatrix greeted from behind. 

“You followed me home.”

“I did, Cambridge is not close.” She had drifted to the kitchen table, looking over the papers, neatly stacked in ways that made the thoughts behind them quite illuminated, he was going to get killed. 

“Cambridge is an hour away, don’t go through my stuff. “ He pulled her back by the elbow. “Leave Bella I haven't invited you in, you may not have been before but you are intruding now.” 

“No.” Bellatrix answered. “Whats all this?”

“Schoolwork.” he stated harshly. “Leave Bellatrix.” She did not leave, she drifted further into the apartment, pausing at the living room before passing to the end hall with the bedroom doors. She tried Remus’ first, he shut the door in before she even had it open.

“Gryffindor by the looks of the flag I could see, don’t tell me it’s Sirius, I’ll hurl, or I’ll kill him, or I’ll kill you.” She stated, he couldn’t help but believe she would. 

“It’s not Sirius.” Regulus stated, Bellatrix stared deeply at him. 

“No, you don’t look like you're lying.” Bellatrix hummed before turning back to the living room, she looked at the papers on the coffee table, the documented parts of horcruxes sitting on the table. He pushed them off. “You're acting off Regulus, explain yourself!” She said, spinning on her heeled shoes  and placing a grip on his shoulder, he could feel the red mark forming from her grip. 

“Bellatrix nothing is off, I need you to leave.” 

“Something is off, you are looking into magic that I use which isn’t like you, you live with a Gryffindor and half this apartment is filthy muggle shite!” Bellatirx shouted, her nails digging into his arm, she stepped closer, she was taller than him, her hair was flown out more than it had been earlier, she looked crazed. 

“Nothing i-” he started, she grabbed her wand, cutting him off with a jostle of his body. 

“Lies! You’re lying! If you're lying then you have something to hide!” She shouted. “Regulus, you are going to tell me what is going on!” She arched her wand at him.  

“You are jumping to conclusions!” He tried. 

“No! No I am not!” She hissed. “You’ve got to be a traitor! You're like Andromeda, and Sirius! Blood traitor! And you’ve got the audacity to lie about it!” 

“No I-”

“Shut up you disgrace!” her arm wavered, as if she were actually conflicted about hurting him, she might have been, he felt light headed. “You're no better than my no good sister, you're a disgrace, you're a traitor, I’ll have your head!” her arm rose, he was quicker. 

“Stupefy!” He cast, pulling his wand from his pocket, she hadn’t been expecting it. He wasn't even supposed to be able to do magic now, the shock in her eyes apparent before she was thrown into the bookshelf.

Her body lay limp on the floor, he felt sick, his vision swam, he wanted to join her laying there, on the floor. Instead he took some breaths and started making a plan or something resembling a plan, really just something to make this feel more okay then it was. 

Remus liked working at the Morgans farm. It had its flaws, it was far from the flat so he had to apparate, it was long hours and hard work and it was certainly a bit gross though what was he to expect working on a farm. 

He had first started working there last summer, an opportunity set up by his parents since the Lupin cottage was fairly close to the Morgans farm. It had been fun and hard and rewarding. 

He had specifically enjoyed the walk home which used to be forty minutes of treacherous hiking between the properties ending in a nice lazy evening at his parents home. Now he typically liked to do something similar, apparating close enough to the apartment to avoid the eyes of his new neighbours on his worn and dirty clothes. He would then go up to his flat, grab something to eat and then turn in for the night. 

The Morgans weren't inherently great in their own work ethic which was one of the reasons Remus enjoyed his routine so much. He would start working anywhere from dawn to noon and return sometime after dusk most days of the week; good hours, good work, good pay, it was nice. 

Today he had returned past midnight, closer to one. It was later than usual and he hadn’t expected Regulus to be up at all, noticing his habit of heading to bed near nine or ten no matter the day's events, a simple routine that Remus hadn’t the luxury of having, turning in anywhere from seven till two. 

Regulus as it turns out was up. Sitting at the kitchen table, head holding up his hands looking awfully distraught. “Evening.” Remus greeted, setting down his bag next to the outstretched wall covering the bathroom to his right. 

“Hey.” Regulus replied, sounding a little less there than normal. 

“Why are you up?” Remus asked after a moment of silence.

“I think I’ve fucked something up.” Regulus replied not looking up. 

“I’m sure you didn’t.” Remus comforted. Whether he believed his own words was not of importance. “What happened?”

“I’ve kidnapped my cousin.” Regulus sighed, dropping his head and arms onto the table, causing a couple quills and papers to scatter. 

“What?” Remus asked, confused at the very strange and possibly very illegal comment. 

“Bellatrix, she’s bound but she’s here.”

“Regulus.” Remus started, pausing, running a hand over the front of his neck, his face running though a decent few expressions. “What?” he repeated. 

“We, um, we had lunch.” He explained, recounting the events hesitantly. “Not lunch really, we had tea, she asked about things, she followed me here, she looked around and then she I mean she saw the place, she put a couple pieces together and tried to attack me.” 

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I said I tried to, didn’t I?” It could have been a mocking comment but Regulus sounded more like he couldn't really remember. “She didn’t know I could do magic, technically I’m underage, so I guess I had an advantage.” 

“So what happened to her?” Remus asked, almost not wanting to know the answer. He had moved behind Regulus, placing a tentative hand on his back. In the few months they had been more than enemies on behalf of Sirius, Remus has gotten decently good at comforting Regulus. It was in contrast to Sirius too, Sirius you had to envelop him, get him out of his head even if it meant yanking him out screaming. Regulus was different, quieter, soft touches and calm words worked well enough, he never screamed or cried either which was worrying to a bystander but Remus felt almost grateful to avoid dealing with that. 

“She’s bound.” He restated simply. “She woke up once but it was earlier and she was disoriented so I just stunned her again. She hasn't been up since, I don’t know what to do.”

“Is she here?”

“Where else would she be?” Regulus all but sobbed. “She’s in the bath.”

“Okay.” Remus said, moving his hand from Regulus’ back and running it through his hair. “Okay, well we’re definitely going to have to move her then.” Remus sighed, moving towards the bathroom. The door was staring at the two of them from across the table, the old mahogany frame almost taunting them. 

Remus pushed it open, Regulus wasn’t looking, still pressed into the table. It looked normal at a glance, the sink pressing the wall to the right was neat as usual, the rug was a bit pulled up, the towels had fallen from where they hung across the door now scattered on the tile floor, half in the small waste bin. The shower curtains were nearly hung covering the bath sitting against the end of the left wall. It looked as though there was nothing wrong. 

Pulling back the shower curtain to reveal something hideous was a common horror sight. He thinks they must have felt how he did now, upon yanking the curtains and finding the wriggling body of a very awake and very angry Bellatrix Lestrange. There was something keeping her from doing much beyond rolling, there was something preventing her from screaming but there was nothing keeping her from glaring right at him with her cold dark eyes. 

“Regulus!” He called upon fully coming unto the realization that she was not in fact knocked out at all. “Your cousins up!” Regulus was in the room in a matter of seconds, wand out in a prepared fashion that Remus hadn’t thought to do at all. 

“I think this is it for us.” Regulus remarked upon seeing her, having a better view of his face showed how frazzled he had truly been. On top of getting a look at his face Remus came to notice his wand was not his at all which meant he had stolen Bellatrix’s. In a gesture of perhaps kindness he pulled the thing from Regulus’ grip and shoved it into his back pocket of his jeans, which he had yet to change despite the dirt staining their hems. 

“She’s entirely immobilized and wriggling like a fish on our bathtub, I think we’re good for now,” Remus returned, turning back to Bellatrix who shot him a nasty glare. 

“She’s missing Remus, She’s missing and I was the last person to see her.” Regulus started, his words breathy and frantic. “And she knows something about everything so we can’t let her go but she’s my cousin and keeping her is out of the question and I didn't know what to do about this at all which is horrid because I’m sure you can understand that I don’t like not knowing what to do!” 

“Yes, ya this situation is not good but there’s things we could try, we could at least talk to her?” He suggested, Regulus gave him a sort of dismissive glance that Remus could only barely make out under all the worry. Instead of paying mind to Regulus; freak out he turned back to Bellatrix. “So I am going to let you speak and we're gonna figure out what we can do about this.” He explained, talking as if she were a child before waving her own wand at her lips. 

Upon realizing she could speak the first  thing she did was shriek. Remus granted a slitting charm over the room as to keep it counted from the neighbours which shut her now futile idea down. “You fucking-” she hissed along with a couple other erratic starts. “You disgusting mudblood! I will have you killed! I will kill you!” She yelled at him. Regulus averted his gaze which did not escape her attention. “You! Blood traitor, sympathizer, scum! How could you, your a disgrace, a-”

“Bellatrix please.” Regulus pleaded, still not looking at her. 

“Don’t say my name, you traitor! This is the Gryffindor you're holing up with?” She cried, looking over to Remus. “Sirius’ little mudblood freak of a boyfriend? Don’t tell me he’s here too, all three you together betraying wizard kind, you’re fucking pathetic.” She spat. The boyfriend comment didn’t escape his mind, it was the second member of the Black family that had implied he and Sirius were an item which almost calmed given the situation. 

“Bealltrix that’s not-” Regulus started only for Bellatrix to cut in again. 

“Shut up!” She cried as she continued to wriggle within the bath. She looked as though she was going to say more but Remus flicked the wand silencing her once again. 

“So talking to her is a no go.” Remus said, not looking away from Bellatrix’s angered movements. “Could we alter her memory?"

“I don’t know, we’d have to take it all, not just the ones from the past day, she’s been onto me for a while.” Regulus sighed, sinking onto the closed cover of the toilet in the corner across the bath. 

“No, taking it all doesn’t work, it’s too noticeable so someone might cure it.” Remus countered. “What about some sort of promise, there that one vow-thing we could have her take so she’d die if she blabbed?" 

“Bella’s loyal to a fault, she’d rather die than betray the Dark Lord.” Regulus argued. 

“So what’s our option here then? We just keep her locked in our flat for the rest of her life?” Remus replied, looking back at Bellatrix only to be met with a glare. 

“I don’t know! I guess? It’s not like we can let her go!” Regulus snapped. He was picking at the fabric covering his arm, Remus didn’t think to bring it up. 

“Okay, great, brilliant.” Remus sighed with exasperation. “So we’re just keeping her locked in our bloody house until when? After the war’s over? What happens if we die or something? Does she just rot here?” 

“I don’t know!” Regulus shouted. “I told you! I fucked up, this is a collosal fuck up and it’s going to get us both killed!” he whined. “I mean what happens when Rodolphus comes around asking questions, merlin what do I say to him after being the last person his wife saw before she disappeared! What do I say knowing I’ve got her locked in my house?” 

“Oh we’re fucked.” Remus sighed, he had begun to itch at the corner of his neck, preceding with the calming motion despite the pain of his raking nails. “I mean we could at least ask her about the horcrux though.” He whispered, hoping Bellatrix couldn't hear over the plastic shower liner she had been disrupting with her movement. 

“Well yes we can, and it’ll sure be good that we knew about that when we’re lying in the ground dead because she sold us out to the Dark Lord!” Regulus whispered back. “It’s not like she’d tell us anything anyways.” he added in his usual volume, gaining her attention. Remus flicked Bellatrix’s wand again. 

“Hey did you-know-who ever task you with hiding a very valuable artifact of great importance to him and if so where did you hide it?” Remus asked calmly, as if this wasn’t a kidnapping and she wasn’t seconds from rolling out and killing them with her teeth and her teeth alone. 

Bellatrix let out a sort of mad giggle before answering. “I don’t have to tell you anything, look at how you're treating me, this is hardly a comfortable way to interrogate someone.” She laughed. While no where in there had she said yes he almost felt like she had, she seemed to know what they were talking about. Remus flicked the wand again, shutting up her continued cackle. 

To her surprise, instead of walking away he moved to the end of the bath, reaching over the edge to pull her up and then dragged her limp body to one of the dining table’s chairs and repeated himself. “Did you-know-who ever task you with hiding a very valuable artifact of great importance to him and if so where did you hide it?”

She let out a hiss of ‘mmms’ which had him once again removing her silencing charm. “Keeping someone immobilized isn’t very nice either, why not do something about that?” She sang. 

“Because you’ll kill me,” he answered. 

“I’ll kill Regulus, I have less of a problem with you, your just a worthless little mudblood trailing behind Sirius and whatever the other boys names were and I mean look at you now, what once Sirius got tired of you so you moved to fucking the younger one?” Bellatrix giggled, lolling her head to the side, nearly falling out of the chair only for Regulus to appear to stop her. 

“That is… not the situation at all.” Remus clarified. “Sirius and I are perfectly fine, Regulus and I are working together, that’s all.”

“Sure.” She hummed. “I’ll tell you about it– the artifact– if you let me kill him.” She said, changing the aim of her negotiations. 

“So you do have something.” Remus replied. 

“Oh don’t be dull you knew I did, anything Malfoy and my dear sister have the privilege of doing I’ll have done with ten times the significance!" She stated. “Let me kill him and I’ll tell you all  about it!”

“Sirius or Regulus?” He asked, not actually pondering the idea, more just in curiosity, Regulus gave him an offended look anyway. 

“Either or, your pick, I mean Sirius seems done with you, heard he got a girlfriend and everything, that's got to sting but Regulus was already second so would you even mind him being killed?”

“Okay first off, why does your whole family seem to think Sirius and I are dating, we’re not, we never have been-” She let out a loud laugh, he kicked her in the shin which turned the laugh to a cry. “-and second off Regulus is not second they’re two different people and I’m not going to let you kill either of them.” He stated. 

“Pity.” She pouted. “I guess we’re at an impasse, are you just going to put me back in the bath? Or perhaps will you kill me? People will come looking, you know! You’re as good as dead!” She looked quite crazed but the statement seemed true enough. 

Instead of dignifying her with an answer he once again had her silence and then pulled Regulus into the kitchen, making sure to keep a clear view on Bellatrix. “I think we have to keep her,” he stated. 

“We can’t.” Regulus argued, taking a glance at Bellatrix who had rolled onto the floor only to end up stuck rolling between the table and the bathroom wall. 

“She has one and with enough effort she’ll have to tell us, anyways we can't kill her and we sure as hell can’t let her go, what's the alternative?” Remus replied in a whisper of a shout, placing a hand on Regulus’ shoulder, looking down onto his conflicted face. 

“I don’t know! How would we keep her, we use the bathroom you know, what do you suggest we do with her? Hide her in a cabinet?” Regulus returned. 

“Sure we can keep her in the bathroom, we’ll move her out as needed, one of us should always be home with her, don’t shower or use the bathroom home alone either if we move her out someone had to be with her.” Remus determined, looking at her sorry state. 

“Oh fuck that, that means I’ll have to stay with her nearly everyday since you’ve got that stupid job of yours.” Regulus snapped, raising his voice which caught her attention. 

“I work four days a week. It's not that bad, would you rather leave her unattended?” Remus countered. 

“What about food and what if she had to piss or something? What do we do then?” Regulus tried. Remus had to think a bit before answering. 

“We can feed her, or I can, my contribution since I’ll be leaving you to deal with most days.” He answered which Regulus seemed, not pleased but maybe okay with. “We could unbind her legs for say half an hour a day for bathroom things, she doesn’t have her wand so she couldn't do magic and we both have wands, if she did manage some sort of escape, I think it’s the least we could do.” 

“Ten minutes, thirty’s to many, especially since she’ll have all day to plan an escape, ten and it’s not a set time, one day it’s noon and the next it’s four and so on.” Regulus stated. “I can’t believe I’m  negotiating the terms of my cousins kidnapping, I’m a fucking monster.” 

“You’re not a monster, you’ve just been put in a hard place and possibly going to spend life locked up if word of this gets out.” Remus argued, giving him a playful pat on the back in an attempt to lighten the very dark situation. 

“Or you’ll lose your life to my cousin and the cult we’ve both joined.” Regulus added, pulling the pair back towards Bellatrix’s writhing on the floor. 

“Regulus.” Remus stated, staring down at Bellatrix, really taking the gravity of the situation, the death eater on the floor, the horcrux she was hiding somewhere. This was the real turning point for him, he could have walked away before this. Regulus was branded, this was his life but Remus still had an out but this was a crime, this was an act of defiance, this was going to be Remus’ life from this point on. “Merlin, I think we’re truly fucked.”

“Remus.” Regulus returned, yanking up one side of Bellatrix. “Obviously we’re fucked, now help me drag my cousin into the bathtub.” He finished humorously.