This was written for the Pairing Diversity Bootcamp : smugness, the Favorite Hogwarts House Bootcamp : traitor, and for Danie.
I hope you enjoy this. Please don't forget to review.
Word count: 4145
Wild Youth
The first time they met they were still at Hogwarts. He was a Slytherin, she a Hufflepuff. She was talking with a friend and he was too distracted by his own thoughts to notice he wasn't alone in the dark corridor.
They collided rather violently and both their schoolbags scattered on the floor. He glared at her like the accident was all her fault (though he knew that she wasn't the only one to blame for it - not that he would ever admit it anyway) and sneered until she managed to get back everything that belonged to her. It was only when the two girls had left that he bent down to retrieve his own fallen belongings.
At the time, he was the perfect pureblood Black Heir and she was just an unworthy Light witch. Add to that the fact that she was a Hufflepuff and he just knew she wasn't worth even the tiniest amount of his time, not even worth looking at should they be the only people left in the world.
Had his mother been there, she would have told him that he already had had too much interaction with her. She would disapprove of their 'meeting' even though they hadn't even talked and probably would have a rant ready about how he should only stay with his fellow Slytherin Dark pureblood wizards and about what they would have to do to get rid of the 'taint'.
Unfortunately, pleasing his mother wasn't going to be possible just now. It seemed like he would have at least one opportunity to get her to apologize for their rather impromptu encounter in the corridor after all, Regulus thought as he looked down at what he had picked up from the cold floor.
It was an old Charm book. The cover looked torn on the corners and the pages were already aging (the paper obviously wasn't of a very high quality). Had he seen it anywhere else, he wouldn't even have touched it and would have left it lying on the ground. He probably would have sneered at the state it was in (he hated it when people couldn't take care of their own belongings) as he passed by but would have left it at that.
He was glad he had found this though. He allowed his upper lips to curl in what could (perhaps) be seen as a calculating smile as he fingered the name scrawled on the inner cover. She would want it back. It appeared that this book had been in the Bones family for more than a single generation. He guessed that it at least explained the state it was in (well almost - there were older books in the Black Library that were in a better state).
The book wasn't his. It must have fallen from her bag and she hadn't noticed it. It would be an honor to give it back to her. For a price of course, he was a Slytherin after all and that was how they worked (if you want something you had to give something else).
What to ask for though? Apart from an apology that is (there was no way he wouldn't get that). He couldn't ask for something too big, else she refused and preferred to renounce to her book (it was only that a book, if maybe a cherished one) and he ended up with nothing and lost the opportunity. Nor could he demand something too unimportant, because that would just be a waste of this unique opportunity.
With an unusual spring in his step (though he would forever deny it), Regulus left the corridor and went toward the Library. After all, it was where the two girls had been headed and he was sure they wouldn't have changed their destination just because they met in a corridor.
He was right of course. He hadn't been in the Library for more than a few seconds and he was already pinned by a hateful glare. It hurt, really. Or it would have had he cared.
Ignoring the obvious hatred, he strode confidently toward the table where the two Hufflepuff had settled. With a swift gesture, he put down the somewhat tattered book on the table, keeping nonetheless a hand on it (just to show that she wasn't going to get it back just like that). He smirked smugly at the surprised then offended look the blonde girl wore as she noticed exactly what book he had found. She obviously hadn't yet noticed its loss.
"I found this on the floor. If this is how you take care of your belongings I'm not surprised they ended up in this pitiful state… Anyway, I figured you might want it back."
It was obvious by the way her right hand kept twitching toward the book and by the irritated look she wore that she very much did.
"What do you want, Black?" The brown-haired witch asked, spatting his name like it was some kind of insult. He didn't care: she was even more of a nobody to him than the friend she was defending.
"I already told you. I found it and I want to give it back. Consider it a show of goodwill if you wish" Feeling, smug, Regulus smirked as he slid the book toward Amelia, though he still wasn't letting go of it.
Blinking owlishly, Amelia looked from her precious book and the hand on it to the Slytherin's face. It didn't take her long to understand that he wasn't going to give her back her back so easily.
"What do you want Black?" Amelia echoed her friend's question but she was more polite though it was obvious the situation annoyed her.
Still smirking, Regulus answered gallantly. "Merely to tell you that you know owe me a favor, Bones."
Immediately she stiffened and though the access to her precious possession was now free, she made no move to take it back. He hadn't expected her to anyway. It would have been disappointing.
"What kind of favor?"
"Nothing to worry about I'm sure. Perhaps I will need your help someday though…"
"Amelia, you can't be seriously considering this! It's a folly!" Marlene whispered harshly to her best friend. With a look, the blonde-haired witch silenced her fellow Hufflepuff.
"This book belonged to my mother and her mother before her," she explained to her friend. Turning back toward Regulus, she added: "Though I want it back, I won't go against my beliefs to satisfy your idea of a favor."
"Of course. So is it settled?"
She nodded and took her book back. He turned around and left the Library with a light smile on his lips. Behind him he could hear the brown-haired witch berating her friend for accepting the terms of a filthy Slytherin. In another situation he would have made her regret talking against the house of Black but he had gotten what he wanted. He would let it pass this once.
Amelia Bones now owed him a favor. A small one but a favor nonetheless, and considering just how renowned her family was there were good chances it would prove useful in the future.
oO-Oo
Their second encounter happened in very different circumstances though also in a corridor. Several weeks had gone by quickly, as they tended to do when schoolwork was so time consuming, and Regulus still had no idea what he could ask of the blonde witch who occupied his thoughts ever since he had left her in the Library with her best friend.
He wasn't supposed to think about a Light witch all the time, so much that he actually sought her out at every moment. She was just supposed to be the mean to an end - the end being contacts in the Ministry. Except that somehow in the few minutes he had spent with her she had caught his interest and now he was curious.
This time she was both alone and yet not. Alone because for the first time since their first meeting in the Library she wasn't with McKinnon or one of her friends, and not because she unfortunately – for her – was surrounded by three of his Housemates and they had her at wandpoint.
Though brave and skilled, Amelia didn't have her wand in hand, and she wasn't stupid enough to try and face three older and armed students who would have no qualms as to attach her.
That was the scene Regulus found himself in front of as he came back from the kitchens – the House Elves always were eager to give him his favorite desserts. After all it only meant more work for them and they never had enough of it.
"Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, what do you think you are doing?" Regulus' sharp voice surprised everyone since they hadn't seen him coming. Amelia looked relieved at first when she heard a voice but her relief quickly turned to confusion as she realized exactly who had 'come to her rescue'. The three Slytherin just looked stunned and a little worried.
Nott was the tallest of the three. He had mid-shoulders ink black hair, deep blue eyes and the presence of a true and proud Pureblood who knew his own worth. In another world, he would have been handsome – in a darkish mysterious way – but his soul was black and that fact could unfortunately be seen on his face, spoiling his otherwise good looks. Even Regulus, who being a Black wasn't a stranger to darkness, didn't dare touch some of the magic Nott dabbled in.
Handsomeness, however, was the last thing that came to the mind when one's eyes rested on his two goons. Crabbe and Goyle were actually just a step from being considered useless Squibs by their family - if not for the small abilities in Potions they had, one wouldn't guess they were wizards. Their only redeeming skill – if one can call being born with the predisposition of a brute a redeeming skill – was their bulky build that gave them enough physical force to do by hand what they couldn't with a wand.
They mostly used this force to intimidate younger students into doing their homework, which was the only reason they managed to get passing grades. Most people – even some of the Slytherins, though they would never admit it – believed that the only reason they could stay in Hogwarts with their year group was because their parents paid the examiners. Which probably wasn't that far from the truth actually.
The two shorter boys (they only were a couple of inches taller than Amelia, and she was the shortest here) scowled and, at a small sign of Nott's head, turned their wand on the youngest Black.
Amelia gasped, worried about the way this situation appeared to quickly degenerate, but she nonetheless took the opportunity to get away, figuring the safest place would be away from what would probably soon become a very unfair fight. Why, oh why had she left her wand in her bag and her bag in the Potion classroom? And while she was at it, why was this classroom so deeply in the Dungeons, into Slytherin's territory?
Unfortunately for the witch, she was so lost in her personal laments that she had forgotten the first rule when dealing with Slytherins, the one rule that they had been 'taught' during their first week at Hogwarts, when they still were new Hufflepuff. Never turn your back on them.
Of course, Nott sent a spell her way as soon as he noticed her trying to get away. Fortunately, Nott knew better than to try Dark magic in the corridors, and his spell only tripped her. Not that this was any better. She decided at that very moment that she hated the Dungeons, and would do anything to never be in this kind of situation ever again.
Not worried in the slightest by the two menacing trolls look-alike, Regulus only smirked at Nott, though Amelia noticed that his dark eyes narrowed when he saw her hit by the spell his Housemate had sent.
As it turned out, however, no one would have the opportunity to get because Professor Slughorn, the Slytherin's Head of House, entered the corridor at that very moment, defusing the situation with just a few words.
Nott, Crabbe and Goyle got detentions, and only Amelia prevented Regulus from being added to the list, even if that would have been highly unfair seeing as he had only been trying to help for once.
Soon enough, they were left alone. Slughorn had given back her bag to Amelia – apparently he had been looking for her for that very reason – and he had left them, perhaps feeling that they wanted to talk.
"So, I guess I should thank you," Amelia said uncomfortably, breaking the silence. "For, you know, helping me out."
"You're welcome."
She hurried out toward her dorms after that, but before she turned at the end of the corridor and disappeared from his sight, she turned around, biting her lips nervously.
"You know, Black, you're not as bad as you make it seem."
Regulus blinked, confused, but smirked. "Well, don't tell anyone."
"I won't." She scoffed and left him standing in an empty corridor, alone with his thoughts.
"Well, this is new," he said to himself before leaving for his own Dorms.
oO-Oo
From that moment on, Regulus spent a lot – most probably entirely too much – of time watching Amelia Bones. He was aware that his behavior was borderline creepy, but he couldn't stop himself. There was just something about her that he wanted to figure out.
She was different, and she had caught his attention, and he didn't even know why.
In the end, he was still wondering what he could ever say to her if he ever got the courage to talk to her when she came to him.
He was sitting in the Library, looking up informations on the uses of Newt liver for his Potions essay, when Amelia dropped down right in front of him.
"You know, Black, if you have something against me you could just try telling me what it is instead of glaring at me from afar."
Had he really been glaring? Thinking back on it, he realized that he probably hadn't been as discreet as he could have and since she looked upset, he mustn't have done a very good job hiding his confusion on everything that concerned her.
He sighed and put down his quill, closing the ink pot with a wave of his wand. "I don't have a problem with you, Bones. You're just…" He paused, trying to find the right way to express his current feelings. "Not what I expected."
"Well, you're not what I expected either, and yet you don't see me glaring at you at every chance I get!"
He sighed again – he seemed to be doing a lot of that around her – and crossed his hands on the table. "I'm sorry if it bothered you, it won't happen again."
Amelia just blinked in disbelief as he went back to his researches. "You're what?"
"Don't make me say it again, I know you heard me perfectly."
"I…"
"Yes, you can leave now. Please do."
Regulus didn't have to look up to know that the Hufflepuff probably looked highly offended right now, but he hadn't been the one to make the first move. Besides, she had to have been expecting something like that from him.
She didn't leave though. Instead, she opened her bag and settled herself on the wooden bench, taking out what looked like transfiguration homework.
Somehow, this became a habit for them, and by the end of the year, they weren't exactly friends but they definitely weren't strangers either.
It was the first person Regulus spent time with because he actually wanted to, and he had to admit that it was a much more pleasant feeling than only hanging around the wizards his parents approved of.
When the Hogwarts Express left for London, she kissed him on the cheek as she bid him goodbye, and told him to write during the summer before she went back to her friends.
Regulus spent the entire trip in a haze.
oO-Oo
That summer, Sirius left and never came back. Regulus knew he had gone to the Potters – his brother had said so himself – and he had known something like that would happen one day, but it still hurt to see that his brother preferred to spend so much of his time with people who didn't share his blood, who weren't his family.
He knew Sirius hated them, but somehow it still hurt to have it trust so suddenly and undeniably right in front of him.
Their mother didn't react well. She burned Sirius right out of the Family tapestry, disowning him and cursing his name, and spent two whole days getting rid of everything Regulus' brother had ever owned in the House, trusting Kreacher to burn it or vanish it somewhere, and when she could not 'clean' his bedroom, she cursed the door and forbid anyone to ever enter it again.
Unfortunately, Sirius' departure, while meaning the end of the shouting match between his brother and his mother, also meant that now she only had Regulus to focus on.
It was almost like living with a different person. After Sirius left, she went almost mad, obsessed by an idea of perfection that she was the only one to see and understand in a way that made her previous attempts to get her sons to follow her ideals look tame.
She was taller than Regulus but she almost looked shorter as she pleaded for him to be a better son than his brother was.
"You'll make me proud, won't you? You'll be the perfect son, my perfect son. Look at you, clever and bright – a proper Slytherin, not like your brother was… A Black in Gryffindor," she scoffed. "Where is this world going? I don't understand. I did everything right, I raised him up to be a good son, to respect his family and his elders, and what does he do?
"He betrays us, that's what he does. But you Regulus, you won't be like him, no, you won't be like your brother. You're a good son, and you're strong, right? Stronger than your brother ever was. You'll make us proud, son. Make me proud."
His mother was ranting, half-delirious, but at some point she had grabbed Regulus' arm and had refused to let it go.
She half-dragged him to the family Library, forcing him to sit into front of one of the old tables.
"You'll learn your curses, won't you?" He nodded, somewhat anxious as to what would come next, and with a wave of her wand, his mother dropped several heavy and dusty books on the table in front of him.
She squeezed his shoulder a bit too tightly for it to be comfortable, and as she exited the room he heard her mutter to herself that at least he knew better than to consort with foolish Light wizards and Mudbloods.
He thought of Amelia and of the still mostly unwritten letter resting on his desk, and his heart beat faster. He should have known that this, whatever this was, could never be anything more than a nice thought.
A piece of parchment laid open on his desk, with only two words delicately inked – Dear Amelia – for the entire summer.
oO-Oo
The next time they actually met he's eighteen and she's nineteen, and he's fresh out of Hogwarts. He's taken the Mark not a month ago, and his mother was so proud he thought he'd be happy about it, but he had killed an entire family of Muggles to get that Mark – there had been a little boy there, not older than five, and every time he closed his eyes, Regulus could still see his face frozen in terror.
He knew he had already made so many mistakes in his life, but he feared that taking the Dark Lord's Mark one might be the greatest. There was also something slightly disturbing in the way the Dark Lord boasted he had beaten Death.
Meeting Amelia was a coincidence. A nice one, but a coincidence nonetheless. They literally walked into each other in Diagon Alley one day as he was going to pick some Potions ingredients at the Apothecary.
"Amelia Bones, just the person I wanted to see." She hadn't been, but now that she was there perhaps she could help him. "I do believe you still owe me a favor."
He could see the moment she realized that he was right in her eyes. They widened slightly, and then her face closed off.
"Regulus Black. How…" She clearly struggled for a moment to find the right word, before she settled on "nice to see you again. I seem to remember telling you that I would have no part in anything that could harm anyone else."
"It is nice to see that you still think so much of me, Amelia. But don't worry, my intentions are perfectly pure. I simply want to visit your family's Library," he said, smirking, not letting her the time to answer his quip.
"You… What? Why do you want to go there?" She asked, incredulous.
" My business is my own, but I believe I could find something of interest there."
She sighed briefly, but nodded curtly once. "I guess something could be arranged. I'll send you an owl."
He watched her stroll off with a smile, and he felt lighter than he had in days.
oO-Oo
The Bones Library was very similar to the Black one, though it had a lighter feel to it. His mother would say that it was because the Bones were too soft and had turned away from the 'real magic', but personally Regulus thought that it was just a difference in the magics the witches and wizards who had studied there possessed.
The Black Library held several 'lighter' books after all, and he knew that plenty of those families who pretended to be Good and Light actually still kept knowledge forbidden some time ago. He just hoped the Bones were one of those.
He found what he was looking for hidden behind an old copy of Moste Potente Potions, Amelia hovering behind him the entire time he searched.
The book was so old it had no title, and he preferred not to think of the material used to make the pages. Judging from her expression, Amelia shared his opinion.
"Can I borrow this?"
She startled, and considered his question for a long moment. Obviously, she was worried as to what he needed the book for, but she clearly also didn't want to have anything to do with it. In the end she nodded, shrugging her shoulders. "Sure, why not. Take care of it."
"I will."
She escorted him silently back to the Apparition point in the Manor, chewing her lips in that way she did when she was stressed about something.
"What is it?" He finally asked when they got to the small room that was the only place Apparition would work in the Manor.
Amelia merely opened the door and gestured him inside. She reached out for his arm, but let it fall at the last moment.
"It's nothing… Just, be careful, alright?"
His heart constricted painfully in his chest as he stared into her worried eyes. "I will try."
She laughed at that, and then looked surprised by it. "I suppose that's the best I'll get then. Goodbye Regulus," she said, smiling ruefully.
"Goodbye Amelia." He spun and her face blurred away into Grimmauld's Place familiar front steps.
He couldn't help but feel like he had just missed something though, something important.
That evening, he learned that the Dark Lord had made Horcruxes, and laughed himself sick. It was no wonder the man didn't look anymore and had gone mad.
oO-Oo
The Dark Lord came for a House Elf two months later. When Kreacher came back, the old Elf told him everything, and Regulus made a plan.
The night he left for that cave, he took off a slightly dusty piece of parchment from his desk and stared at the only words written there.
Dear Amelia – it seemed those words came from another time. He took his best quill, but hesitated when the time came to write down his thoughts.
He had so many things he wanted to tell her, but perhaps the most important was this…
He wrote three simple words, and sent it off with his owl.
Regulus Black died laughing, because, hey, wasn't it funny how I'm sorry sounded so close to I love you when you meant it?
The rest, as they say, is history.