Ballycastle Bats Practice Round

Forbidden Love

Challenge: CHASER 1- A relationship between two characters with different blood statuses.

Prompts: 11 (myth) carrots let you see in the dark, 10 (dialogue) "what do you want from me?" & 8 (restriction) no using the word forbidden

(I messed with some ages)

Regulus Arcturus Black was in a massive dilemma. His father had left them for two months for 'business' in Italy, leaving his mother in charge, who was still- thankfully unsuccessfully- trying to disown his older brother Sirius, who had isolated himself from the rest of the family after their mother had pushed him too far- into the arms of the light wizards. Sirius didn't belong there and he knew it. The Blacks in their entire history, have never sired a child with a light magical core. Sirius just didn't seem to understand that dark didn't always mean bad, and light didn't always mean good. Oh but the worst thing, the absolute worst, was that Bellatrix had just found out that Sirius was intending to marry that half-blood Remus Lupin, and had decided to tell mother. Luckily for him, Bellatrix was stuck in detention, so she wouldn't be able to send a letter until tomorrow morning, which gave Regulus twelve hours to change his brother's mind.

The first hurdle was actually getting close enough to talk to him without one of his Gryffindor cronies trying to attack Regulus. It was an hour after dinner, so Sirius was surely in the tower- which made Regulus' mission much harder. Sirius wouldn't respond to Regulus' messages, so he'd have to go up to the tower himself. He really, really, didn't want to do that. But, for his big brother, Regulus would do anything. To the tower it was.

Regulus followed a young Gryffindor from McGonagall's office to the tower, watching as the young boy said a sentence to the obese woman in the portrait to make her smile and swing open. A password, then. This was not good. Regulus doubted that the woman would allow him, a Slytherin, inside the lion's den, even if he was related to one of her house's students. He was so caught up in his worries that he didn't notice that someone was walking up behind him until it was too late.

…

Sirius Orion Black was in a massive dilemma. His father had left them for two months for 'business' in Italy, leaving his mother in charge, who was still -thankfully unsuccessfully- trying to convert his younger brother Regulus to the Death Eaters, who had cut himself off from Sirius after James had bullied him too far in the hopes of gaining his attention- nearly pushing him to the dark side. Sirius knew that James had good intentions, but he wasn't sure that he was going about it in the right way. It seemed that James had never learnt to flirt like a proper person after his silly infatuation with Evans that ended when she finally decided to tell it to him straight- that she wasn't. Apparently she fancied this Ravenclaw girl a year younger than them who they hadn't talked to before. James had been a little distraught for a while before one night he came bounding into their dorm room declaring his undying love for Sirius' younger brother. Peter and he had, of course, checked him for multiple spells or potions before he got too mad at them and complained to Sirius that he hadn't done anything rash when he'd come and declared his undying love for Remus- which happened to have really terrible timing, seeing as Remus had just walked into the room and proceeded to walk straight back out. That had left Sirius devastated until Lily had come barging into the room to ask if he was serious about his feelings for Remus. Sirius assured her that he'd never been more serious in his life (while James jinxed Peter for laughing "Sirius is serious!"). Lily had smiled sweetly at him and then threatened his life if he ever hurt Remus.

After being assured that Sirius would rather die than do so, she demanded he court Remus properly, as she'd read up all about the proper courting process for that Ravenclaw of hers. The first step was a courting gift that Sirius had ordered immediately, a simple but very symbolic leather bracelet with a Grim on it. The fact that Sirius had put every single protection charm and rune that the other three marauders could think of probably spoke more volumes to Remus than the bracelet itself. Sirius had been overjoyed when he saw Remus wearing it the next day. The fact that they shared a dorm room made it a little awkward, but James had vowed to follow Sirius everywhere to make sure that nothing inappropriate was going on, which sucked because all he did during those times was ask Sirius questions about Regulus, which wasn't too bad, but the fact that Sirius didn't know the answer to many of those questions really bothered him. He wanted to know more about his brother, but how could he do that if he was never able to get close to him without one of the Slytherin students reporting the action to their mother?

Sirius was startled out of his thoughts when the portrait swung open and Regulus stumbled inside, the back of his cloak being held in a tight grip by one Peter Pettigrew.

…

Regulus frowned as he was pushed inside the Gryffindor portrait by one of Sirius' 'friends,' who was treating him especially roughly after he'd questioned the house's password: "carrots" and had proceeded to laugh after the elder had told him it was because they helped you see in the dark, and seeing in the dark was an advantage of lions. Regulus only really became frightened when he saw both his older brother and his messy haired friend, James Potter, jump up immediately when they saw him. He saw Remus Lupin look up from the book he was reading to glance between him and his brother before placing the book on his lap to subconsciously play with the new adornment on his wrist that must have been the courting gift from Sirius. He winced when Pettigrew stepped on his back but was shocked when both Sirius and James growled and the latter actually came forwards and lifted Pettigrew clean off of Regulus. He was grateful for it, so after he rolled up into a sitting position and stood, brushing himself off, he sent the other a small smile and an acknowledging nod, assuming the Gryffindor would understand. He looked away just in time to miss the way James' cheeks flared with colour and he dramatically placed his hand over his forehead, leaning heavily on Lily Evans, who had come forward to watch the proceedings.

Regulus looked to Sirius -who was steadily staring back at him- and then at all the other Gryffindors surrounding him. He was most likely in enemy territory depending on how they saw him, and from the looks on some of the Gryffindor's faces that he didn't know, and some from his own year, he was not welcome here. He cleared his throat and tried to ignore them.

"Can I talk to you in private please, Brother?" He saw Sirius' lips twitch at the nervous tone that Regulus couldn't help, but he nodded nonetheless and gestured for Regulus to follow him into the dorms. Regulus was going to mention the small crowd following them, but when he realised that it was only James and Remus intending to follow them inside he relaxed some. It would be difficult to talk to Sirius about Remus, in front of Remus, but he had to push through. When the door clicked shut behind them and he heard Remus mutter locking and silencing charms, he realised what he was doing. This was the first time he'd spoken to Sirius in a long time so he didn't know of his brother's thoughts regarding himself. What if Sirius hated him as much as the rest of the family? His brother's next words didn't really help the situation any.

"What do you want from me?" Regulus gathered his courage -more of his brother's thing, really- and glanced quickly at Sirius' intended life partner before exhaling his words in a rush.

"You need to cease your courting-" Sirius blew up before he could finish.

"What?! No! What are you even- the first thing you've said to me in months and it's this? Why would you do this? How dare you! You can't just come back and ruin-"

"Sirius." Regulus had never been more grateful to a half-blood in his entire life. Sirius had immediately calmed down; like a dog whose leash had just been pulled by its master (yes he knew some Muggle things, get over it). Remus turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure there's a very reasonable explanation for why Regulus would want us to terminate our courtship?" Regulus nodded and looked down. It had been a long time since Sirius had yelled at him like that, he just had to take a moment to regroup.

"Yes, yes -erm, I… It's just-" Regulus huffed; irritated at himself. The Gryffindors were all staring at him like he was some kind of abnormality. Oh no! An unconfident Slytherin! Will this be the thing that ends the Wizarding World as we know it?

"It's Bellatrix." Sirius' face immediately shuttered close. It was an unpleasant thing to see: the usually cheerful and mischievous Gryffindor with dull eyes and a solemn look on his face. Regulus looked away and cleared his throat. Surprisingly, it was the encouraging face of James Potter that got him talking again.

"She found out and she's jumping at the opportunity to run and tell mother that you're courting a half-blood. She has detention tonight, so you only have a few hours to do something or she might actually find a way to disown you this time and -and I don't want that to happen. It's not like I want you to do it- it's… it's nice seeing you so happy after so long a time," Regulus mumbled, "but you know they all think it's wrong to be in a relationship with him, especially as I heard mother talking about wedding contracts for the both of us. I can't think of anything else to do to stop her from disowning you than if you agree and leave. I'm sorry." If it was possible, the mood in the room had gotten even more solemn, with even James losing his trademark smile. Regulus truly did feel bad for doing this -he wouldn't have cared if Sirius went and married a Mudblood; as long as they made his big brother happy. And if there was one thing Remus Lupin did better than anyone else, it was making Sirius happy.

"No." Regulus' head shot up like a whip. Sirius had that determined look on his face that Regulus had always admired before, but now it was a little unwanted. "No, I won't ever leave Remus unless he wants me to. I love him and that's that. I won't marry someone else just to keep mother happy. Hell, I already have a better mother who loves me for who I am, not what she wants me to be. I have a real family now, full of mothers and fathers and brothers who love me, so she can just leave me the hell alone." Regulus wasn't sure if Sirius had meant that last sentence the way Regulus had received it, but that didn't stop the tears from gathering in his eyes and his breath stuttering. Did he really mean that? He didn't need Regulus anymore? He didn't love Regulus? If he had looked up, Regulus would have seen the sudden realisation flash through identical grey eyes with regret following close behind. He would have seen pity in brown eyes flecked with amber, while hazel eyes would have reflected sympathy and affection to him. He however, didn't look up.

"Alright." Regulus would have to find another way. He swiftly turned on his heels and waved his wand at the door, breaking the spells before sweeping out, ignoring the other's calls for him to return. He walked swiftly through the Gryffindor common room and had nearly made it to the door before he was tripped and fell to the ground again, courtesy of Pettigrew, who had been rather bitter when he realised that he wasn't able to follow the others up into the room. Humiliated by the jeers of the surrounding crowd, Regulus gathered himself up again and practically ran through the portrait hole, moving into the closest classroom and shutting the door firmly behind him, locking and silencing it while he was at it. His cheeks burned red and he couldn't help the sobs that shook his slight body.

Of all the people in his family, he'd never have thought it would be Sirius to stop feeling anything for him. He'd expected his mother first, when she realised that he just couldn't bare to be a Death Eater -oh! If he could make a deal with his mother for Sirius' freedom in return for his own, maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't disown him and he could continue to court the half-blood until they married and Sirius became Lord Black. Even if he'd have to bow down to a disgrace and possibly hurt some innocent people, if it kept Sirius free, he'd do it. Regulus glamoured his face and used the disillusionment charm so he wouldn't be caught out of his dorms. He shuddered at the feeling before unlocking the door and started the trek to the Slytherin dorms. He had a letter to send.