Written for the HP Rare Pair Fest on livejournal. See my livejournal (linked on my profile page) for more details.
The potion was not the turquoise that it looked like in the book. Regulus stared at it, a frown line deepening in his forehead as he wondered what he had done wrong. He had been so careful, reading each line over and over before doing anything. The writing was small, cramped and written in a curvy style that made it nearly impossible to read and Regulus had a headache from trying to decipher it all. And now, the potion wasn't the right color. Regulus bit his lower lip hard enough that he tasted blood, picking up the potion book and throwing it angrily. It had taken him four months to create the potion and now it wasn't good enough.
Regulus sighed, standing up and going over to pick up the book again. The book had opened to the page with the instructions of the potion and he glanced at the fine print. If potion is not the color pictured it can still be used but there is no guarantee of where you will go. Regulus read the line, looking at each individual word before he poured the potion into three separate vials. He had no choice. Voldemort was going to come after him soon, he was sure. Voldemort knew that Regulus wanted out. Regulus didn't have another 4 months. He just had to hope that the potion took him somewhere that he could help.
If he didn't go then he was dead anyway. He had already said his final goodbyes. His family and everybody he knew well would think that Voldemort had killed him. That was the way that Regulus wanted it. He didn't want anybody to know what he was doing. He didn't want Voldemort to know what he was doing. He was determined to finish Voldemort in the way that it seemed only he knew how to do if it was the last thing that he did.
One of the vials went into his pocket. If he didn't go far enough into the future then he would be able to have a backup plan. He placed another of the vials under a board in the corner of the room. He whispered enchantments, protecting the vial. Regulus wasn't sure what use it could be but he didn't think that two backup plans could be a bad thing.
Regulus felt only a moment of hesitation as he put the vial to his lips. He wished at that moment. He wished that he had never gotten involved with the Death Eaters. He wished that he had gone into Gryffindor with Sirius and even more he wished that he had made peace with his brother before this. He didn't feel like he had a choice though and so he drank.
Apparition. That's what it felt like as he twisted and turned, his body contorting in strange ways. He felt as if every part of him came apart and then he was together again and laying… in the exact same place? Regulus stood up slowly, his legs shaking and he wasn't sure if they would even support him at first. He was in the library at Grimmauld Place, the same room where he had drank the potion. It looked like he went into the future judging by his surroundings… Well that was good although he wasn't sure just how far into the future that he went.
There was dust all over the furniture and spider webs and mold on the walls. Signs of neglect were all over the room and Regulus felt fear shoot up his spine. He wasn't sure just how far into the future that he came but if he was too far then it would be no use. Even with his knowledge, he wasn't sure if he could defeat Voldemort if Voldemort was already defeated… or if he took over the world.
Knowing that there was nothing he could do but investigate, he went over to the door, opening it slowly and looking around. Considering the neglect he doubted that anybody lived in the house but he couldn't be sure. Perhaps Sirius lived here. Regulus didn't think that Sirius would be too keen on cleaning… or on doing anything but being rude to Kreacher considering their childhood.
Regulus froze when he heard voices downstairs, not recognizing the voices and wondering who was in his house. He reached into his pocket, thankful that he hadn't lost his wand in the travel and sneaked through the house. The voices were coming from the drawing room and so he stood outside the door, trying to hear what the people were saying. He could only make out a few words but one sentence caught his attention.
"-are examined by the Ministry, remember? They'll know Sirius left you the place."
Hearing the female's voice, Regulus pushed open the door, his wand pointed towards the windows, where he had guessed the voices were coming from and, seeing the three strangers there he was proved correct. "What are you doing in my home?"
Immediately the three turned, their wands raising but Regulus didn't curse them yet. The girl gasped as she looked at him, her hand flying to her lips. "Who are you and how did you get in?" the one with black hair asked and Regulus could tell by the way that his wand didn't waver that he was the one mostly likely to try to curse him.
"Harry," the girl whispered and her wand was shaking. Regulus thought that she would be good in a pinch but she wouldn't want to hurt him if she could help it. "Don't you recognize him?"
The two boys, one of them Harry apparently, looked at him and Regulus took the opportunity to look back. They looked about his age but not familiar and certainly not close relatives. The girl, unless Regulus was mistaken, was a Muggle-born, not carrying any of the typical characteristics of any of the common Pureblood families. The red-head was probably a Weasley (nasty family, according to his mother) and the other looked distinctly like a Potter.
"Wait…"
"Regulus Black?" the black haired boy said, interrupting the redhead, his eyes wide as if he was looking at a Thestral. Regulus inclined his head, not lowering his wand. "You're dead."
Regulus' head snapped up, one eyebrow raising. "I hate to argue but I'm really not… Kreacher told you that I was, didn't he?" He looked between the three and the girl nodded, her wand lowering half an inch. "That was the story I had told. Who are you? What year is it? Did he get rid of the locket? Where is he? Where's my brother?"
With those words, he lowered his wand, keeping it in his hand but he had things to do. "I'm Hermione Granger," the girl said and Regulus glanced over at her, nodding in greeting and then at the other two as she introduced them. "This is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. We're working to get rid of Voldemort as well. Harry Potter… defeated him once but he's back and so we're looking for his Horcruxes. The year is 1997. Kreacher is-"
"1997, you said?" Regulus asked and he shook his head. He had come nearly 20 years into the future. He had only planned on going forward a year, to the year of 1980. After a year he was sure that Voldemort wouldn't be expecting an attack from him. "Alright, well, put away your wands and I will as well and you can explain everything to me."
The three were obviously reluctant and so Regulus put his wand in his pocket first. So many years were already wasted. He didn't want to waste another moment and so he didn't.
After they had exchanged stories (the trio was exceptionally interested in how he had managed to time travel and Hermione was in awe, looking at him with wide eyes) Regulus sat back, thinking about the new information that they had told him. He noticed that they hadn't said anything about Sirius and he was curious but he wouldn't press them. Right now there were bigger matters. When he had learned that he had traveled nearly 20 years into the future he had imagined that things would be very different but this was something else entirely. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. "More Horcruxes. The Dark Lord is willing to go to such extensive lengths."
"Do you know what else he would make into a Horcrux?" Hermione asked, speaking up and Regulus looked at her. He was fairly certain that Hermione was the brains of the operation and he wondered if she'd be too insulted if he asked if she really was Muggle-born.
Regulus shook his head, same as he had the first three times that they had asked him. He looked between the three of them and then stood abruptly. "I'm going to bed. It's late." Regulus didn't wait for their response, going upstairs and sighing as he saw that his room had been ransacked. They had warned him. When he had finally cleaned it sufficiently, he made his way back downstairs quietly, trying to enter the drawing room. It was locked and wouldn't open no matter how many spells he tried. He had to hand it to them. They were obviously skilled.
Regulus didn't avoid them the next morning but they didn't see much of each other. The three of them stayed in the kitchen and he roamed the house, trying to think and wondering about what could be done. He hoped that Kreacher would be back soon. A man visited that he didn't know and he stayed upstairs, listening to them yell at each other and thankful that they didn't say anything about him. When he came down when the man was gone, Harry turned to him, abrupt. "It's best that nobody knows you've traveled through time."
"I agree," Regulus said, turning back to go upstairs. He was surprised when the girl followed him, holding a book of what looked like fairy tales, her finger in the book to keep her place. She followed him all the way into the library and he turned to her. "Yes?"
She smiled unrepentantly, sitting down in one of the comfier chairs that were in the corner of the room. They were obviously very at home in his home. "I find you fascinating," she explained, setting the book in her lap but pulling her hand out, not keeping her spot any longer.
Regulus gave a smirk, one that made girls at school swoon but didn't seem to have an effect on her. Odd. "Well, I do have the good looks going for me," he said and she shook her head, opening her mouth. He held up a hand, stopping her. "I understand. It's not every day that you're hunting for the Dark Lord's Horcruxes and a man from the past drops into the upstairs of a house that you're living in. You're obviously the smart one. Yet I don't recognize you as a pureblood."
"That was a very nice way of asking. I'm a Muggle-born. My parents are dentists in fact," she said and he made a mental note to ask her later what a dentist was. Regulus found her probably as fascinating as she found him. "I am probably the brains of our trio but… Anyway. You've told us that you traveled so that you could get to Voldemort when he least expects it. Why didn't you go back in time? Try to pick the weed before it grows so to speak."
"I considered it," Regulus answered, making himself comfortable because he has a feeling that this was going to be a long conversation. If he wanted to defeat Voldemort then he was going to have to team up with her. She seemed to be the best bet. "However, I don't really know much about his past. He's never really been very open, if you know what I mean. I don't know how far I'd have to go. Even though he would grow up to be the most evil wizard imaginable I just don't know if I could've gone back to when he was a baby."
Hermione nodded, seeming to understand him and he was glad. He knew that it sounded a bit silly. If he just killed that one child then it would save many, many lives but Regulus couldn't see himself killing a child. No matter how evil he was. "That makes sense. I think it makes you different than him. Good. It makes you a better person. What's your plan? How do you plan to kill him?"
"Whatever it takes," Regulus said and he saw a certain level of respect in Hermione's eyes as well as a bit of fear. He figured that was a good response and so he did nothing to comfort her, just dug through drawers until he found a few papers that had been his fathers and starting to read. He was surprised when he looked up a while later and Hermione was quietly reading in the armchair. A smirk found its way onto his face as he figured that she was probably tired of the two idiots' company.
It was only a few hours later that Regulus and Hermione ran towards the kitchen, fear evident on Hermione's face, their wands held high. They could hear the yelling all the way upstairs. The worst ran through his mind, Death Eaters and Voldemort and everything else that could go wrong so the relief was unparalleled when he saw Kreacher and a house elf that he didn't recognize holding onto a man that he didn't know. He could feel Hermione's breath of relief.
"Master Regulus!" Kreacher screeched as he disentangled himself from the limbs of the man he didn't know and Regulus grinned. "What… How?"
Regulus tapped his lips and Kreacher fell quiet, looking around the room at the rest of them. The man on the floor looked curiously up at Regulus and he had a moment where he wasn't sure if he should be in the room with them but it went away. He had to talk to Kreacher. "I'll let you take care of this," Regulus said, waving his hand dismissively. "I need to talk to my house elf."
The conversation went nearly as well as Regulus would've liked with Kreacher looking at him almost sadly. They talked about Harry, Hermione and Ron and the locket and Voldemort and everything that had happened. When Kreacher told Regulus haltingly about Sirius, Regulus felt his breath catch and it was a while before he could speak again. It hurt but Regulus pushed it aside. He had to focus or else Sirius' death would've been in vain.
Kreacher caught Regulus up as much as he could and Regulus considered the fact that he had nobody around to help him. Just the three downstairs who, at least, it seemed were on his side. By the time he went back downstairs the person he didn't know what gone and the trio was looking over some papers. "We know where the locket is," Hermione said as she glanced up at him. Regulus sat down next to her.
The night before the trio was set to go to the Ministry of Magic Hermione found Regulus crying in Sirius' room. He wasn't sure why she was in there but she knelt down next to him, wrapping her arms around his curled figure. Part of him wanted to push her away but the other part needed the comfort and so he just cried in her arms. It hurt. It hurt so much because his brother was dead, dead and miserable before he died. It wasn't fair.
Regulus didn't know how long she held him but eventually he pulled away, sitting with his back against the bed. Hermione sat down next to him, a silent comfort. "I don't know why it's affecting me so much. I came twenty years into the future. My brother…" he trailed off, unsure of what he was even going to say.
"He was your brother. You loved him and he loved you," Hermione said softly, reaching out to grab his hand. He had grown almost close to Hermione. She was the easiest to talk to of the three and she seemed the one who had most of the best ideas. "Sometimes you just need to cry."
Regulus couldn't think of a response and so he just let out a slow breath. Crying had never been allowed in the home when he was young. His parents had never approved of crying, thinking that it made them weak. It was so rare that Regulus cried and the last time he had cried in his house had been in his early teens. Even when Sirius had left he hadn't cried. "It all depends on you three," Regulus said, glancing over at Hermione finally.
Squeezing Regulus' hand, Hermione nodded. "Don't worry. It'll all be okay. Good will win." She didn't sound convinced and she didn't convince Regulus but he nodded, staring at the pictures of Muggle girls on Sirius' walls. He didn't want them to go, he realized abruptly. He had gotten used to having them around.
It had been decided that it was too much of a risk for Regulus to leave the house even with their disguises. So all he had to do was wait. He looked at Hermione for a long time before she said goodnight. "I won't get up to say goodbye so good luck. Tell Harry and Ron I say good luck as well," he said softly. Hermione nodded, not letting go of his hand until she had to.
Regulus slept fitfully and he could hear when they left. Kreacher made him coffee and he sat, wondering what was going on. He wandered the house, hoping that they would be back soon. When he heard footsteps, he turned, prepared to greet them. He had barely opened his mouth when he was knocked unconscious by a curse.
Regulus didn't fully wake up for days. In that time, he could vaguely make out faces that he knew he recognized, hear voices that he was sure he knew. Words cut through him and he tried to pull himself to the surface but they kept him under. Just when he thought that he was going to wake up, something was done to him and he let go again. Bellatrix was there when they finally let him wake up and he tried to appear bored with the situation. "Regulus?"
"Bella," Regulus said, his voice rough from lack of use. He looked around, getting the chance to see his surroundings. Narcissa stood in the far corner of the room, arms curled around herself. "Where am I?"
"Narcissa's home. She has so kindly opened Malfoy Manor up for the Dark Lord," Bellatrix responded, her wand prodding Regulus' neck. "How are you here?"
Shrugging, Regulus let out a dramatic yawn. He was tired, he realized. Tired in a way that somebody was when they had a fever and had slept for so long but somehow they were still so tired. He wondered if it was an after effect from whatever they had used to keep him unconscious. "Don't bother trying to read me, Bella. I've been a successful Legilimens since I was young thanks to my parents."
Bellatrix didn't look happy. "The Dark Lord will be very interested in you. If you don't want to be tortured then you'd best tell us everything that you know."
"Send me to the dungeon," Regulus said, sounding much more cheerful than he felt. Crucio didn't scare him. His parents had used that on him for years but they had always been careful about it. The thought of the Dark Lord using it on him made a chill shoot up his spine.
He hadn't meant that he wanted to be sent to the dungeon but apparently the Malfoy's had a dungeon and he was sent to it. At least he had company, the man who had originally sold him his wand. The man and later a girl named Luna helped make the stay better. Luna always seemed to know just what to say after Regulus was tortured. He heard what had happened with the trio at the Ministry of Magic but he didn't say a word about them. The only time he talked about them was when he woke up yelling Hermione's name.
Regulus sat in the sand, knees drawn up to his chest. He didn't look up when Hermione joined him. "I keep trying to act like I know what I'm doing but I don't," Regulus said, digging his fingers into the sand. "This is too much for me."
"We're doing the best we can," Hermione responded, reaching out to take his hand. Regulus let her take it, looking down at the way her fingers slid through his. It was the kind of silent comfort that she had given him when he had cried over Sirius and he appreciated it. "I was worried about you. I didn't know what they'd do to you."
Regulus shrugged, looking out at the water and thinking about when he had had the chance to be a child. Never. Not really. His parents had never been one to let their kid be a kid. "Just got tortured a bit. About what happened to you I imagine." He looked over at her pointedly and she rubbed a spot on her arm.
Hermione looked down at their hands and Regulus took the moment to study her. He had dreamed about her often when he was locked up. He had had many dreams, about Voldemort and his parents and his brother but Hermione had been in them the most. He didn't want to think about it. "We should sleep. We want to be at our best tomorrow."
"I'll have a disguise. You'll be the one that all eyes will be on," Regulus responded easily, thinking about their plan for the day. He thought they were pressing their luck trying to get four teenagers plus a goblin into Gringotts but he wasn't about to stay there. Things were coming to a head and he wanted to be there when it happened, not stuck behind like last time. "Are you nervous?"
Letting out a breath, Hermione squeezed his hand. He could see the way she held herself around the other two, always needing to be the strong one. They depended on her completely to keep them together. Regulus let her breathe for a moment, being strong for her. "I am," she finally admitted.
He didn't need for her to say more. They changed the subject of conversation and she told him about her family, about her parents and about how much it had hurt when she had to leave them. When she cried, he wrapped an arm around her and she leaned into him. When they talked about his family and he cried, she leaned up, brushing her lips across his. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Thank you," he murmured back. For a moment, Hermione looked at him with a small smile before she stood up, reaching her hand down. He took it, standing up. It was late and they did need to sleep.
"Can we talk?" Hermione asked, resting a hand on Regulus' shoulder. He nodded, standing up and following her. Immediately, he realized where she was leading and he almost laughed when they reached the library. "I didn't think that anybody would be here."
"Well you thought right," Regulus responded, going to sit at one of the chairs. He watched as Hermione sat down across from him. "I'm impressed with you three. I thought that I'd be doing this alone. I'm glad I didn't have to."
Hermione smiled and she reached out to take his hand, sliding her fingers through his. "I'm glad we had you. You had some valuable information about Voldemort."
"I can't believe he's dead." Regulus shook his head, letting out a slow breath. After everything that had happened, everything that he had done and it was over. He didn't know what he was going to do now, not after all of this. This was why he had come to the future and now there was nothing. His brother was gone. "All of my friends are being rounded up to go to Azkaban or are dead. My family is mostly dead. It was worth it but..."
Squeezing his hand, Hermione looked at him knowingly. Regulus thought about how well they communicated, thought about how well they seemed to know each other after so little time together. Their time together had been important, though. They had never had to struggle for conversation, just sitting in comfortable silence when they had nothing to say and they rarely didn't have anything to say. "You have Grimmauld Place at least. And you have Andromeda and Teddy and new friends. Harry, Ron, Luna."
Regulus nodded because he did have Grimmauld Place and he supposed the start of a new life. Harry had told him that he didn't want to live there and that Regulus could take back his home. "I do-"
"And you have me," Hermione said softly, interrupting him. He looked at her almost curiously. It was so natural as he leaned forward, catching her lips. He let go of her hand, cupping her cheek and when she pulled back, she was smiling. "It's kind of weird."
"A little," Regulus admitted because it was. He was born in eighteen years before her and yet here they were, the same age. Even somebody who had grown up with magic would admit that that wasn't exactly normal. "But nice?"
Hermione looked down at their hands, rubbing her thumb in circles across Regulus' skin. "Very nice," she said. He grinned as he leaned in to kiss her again.