I do not own any of the characters that J.K. Rowling has presented beforehand.

This is my first story ever, so do with it what you want. Thanks for coming!

"What do you mean you're leaving? You aren't allowed to leave!"

Regulus was hiding on the steps away from his family arguing downstairs. He heard Sirius backtalk his mother again. This time the hits weren't shutting Sirius up. The arguing continued, Sirius was taking hit after hit. Regulus plugged his ears to drown out the slaps and spells hitting his brother.

"Walburga, that's enough!"

Regulus flinched at his father's muffled shout but kept his mouth shut to prevent the whimper from escaping. He removed his fingers out of his ears and strained to listen. He was waiting for Sirius to talk; his brother never gave in. Regulus continued listening, hearing nothing but his parents arguing. Why wasn't Sirius saying anything?

"He is a disappointment. Bloody Gryffindor! How embarrassing, I'm going to be the laughing stock of my next meeting with the girls. Greengrass and Rosier won't let me live it down."

Regulus wiped his eyes; he missed Sirius all year from him being away at school. Now that he's back, the fighting resumed. Why couldn't his mother love Sirius as she loved him?

'You are going to be my little prodigy, love. You will do the Black family name some good, unlike your brother. I don't even know if I still consider him a part of this family.'

He was always doted on, never having to deal with his mother's wrath. Regulus learned right away that to make it in this home; you needed to abide by the rules. It was necessary to enjoy being a pureblood. Regulus didn't even know what that meant other than it made them unique.

"Get up!"

Regulus heard nothing but a grunt. It sounded like she kicked him, and his eyes filled with tears. He wished his brother could stay at school; he didn't get hurt there.

"I said, GET UP!"

He clenched his eyes closed, trying to mentally make Sirius get up. He wished with all his being for his brother to listen for once.

"He's unconscious, how do you expect him to get up?"

"He's a lousy twit. I can't stand him, take him out of my sight."

Orion walked over to his son, trying hard not to hex the woman. It was so hot and cold with her; it made him feel a rollercoaster of emotions. He hated that his oldest son was continually maltreated. He levitated Sirius and made his way out of the kitchen.

Regulus jumped up too late before his father rounded the bannister to go upstairs. Orion paused seeing the boy with wet eyes and fear etched in his features.

"Go to sleep, son. Sirius will be okay." Orion whispered, hoping the god-awful woman didn't find out Regulus was out of bed. She would go on another rampage of how the youngest was best and Sirius would be targeted more.

"Yes, father." Regulus turned and rushed back to his room. Kreacher was standing there, and Regulus shut his door, running over to the house elf. "She hurt Sirius again."

"Kreacher knows. Kreacher heard."

Regulus hugged the house elf, trying to stifle his cries. Kreacher held him saddened that his favourite little master was upset. He would feel no remorse for the other one. He agreed with his Mistress. Sirius was a disappointment, not to mention a foul person towards the house elf. Sirius wasn't allowed to boss around Kreacher.

"Master Regulus must get in bed before Mistress comes upstairs."

Regulus looked up and wiped his eyes for the second time.

"I want to go to Sirius' room," Regulus whispered, and Kreacher shook his head no.

"You must stay in your room, Master. You don't want to get in trouble."

Regulus turned regardless of the warning and peeked his head out into the hallway. He could hear his parents faint arguing downstairs meaning he was cleared to go.

"Kreacher, I want you to lay in my bed and pretend to be me until I come back," Regulus instructed.

"Kreacher thinks this is a bad idea." He became angry but walked over to the bed following direction. He would do anything for his little Master.

"I want to make sure he's okay." Regulus grabbed his favourite bear from when he was younger. It was something Sirius got for him one Christmas with the help of their father. He thought maybe it would help his brother.

He tiptoed out of his room and walked quickly into the room across from him. He closed the door silently before turning to face Sirius. Regulus ambled to the side of his bed, the moonlight pouring in allowing him to see his brother's face. It was bruised but looked like his father healed many of the cuts. His vision blurred by the tears threatening to come out. It was getting worse as they grew older.

Regulus crawled into the bed next to him and placed the bear under Sirius' arm. He watched as his brother's chest rose up and down, his breathing showed that he was alive. He was scared one day Sirius wasn't going to survive one of their mother's attacks, and Regulus would be left alone.

"Sirius?" Regulus whispered, and his brother's eyes twitched.

"Go to your room Regulus. You're going to get in trouble." Sirius kept his eyes closed.

"Are you okay?" Regulus whispered again, ignoring the second warning of the night.

"What do you think?" Sirius snorted but felt guilty for lashing out at his baby brother. He opened his eyes and looked over to Regulus, whose eyes were wide with sadness. Sirius knew his brother was about to cry.

"Come here." Sirius opened his arm, and Regulus laid down, scooting in close. He couldn't hold the tears in anymore and buried his face in Sirius's side.

"I'm okay." He hated when Regulus witnessed or heard whatever went on. Sirius would have held back had he known Regulus was awake. Kreacher usually muffled his room when anything went on. It was the only thing he and the bloody elf agreed about, keeping Regulus out of the crossfire as much as possible.

"You weren't moving." Regulus choked on the cry breaking out between his words. His hand fisted Sirius' shirt, and he felt his brother hug him tightly.

"Hey, listen to me. I'm okay. I was pretending so mum could back off. I'm a good actor, eh?" Sirius plastered a smirk on his lips, trying to ignore the pain in his body.

Regulus looked up and saw the playful expression. He smiled softly, and Sirius ruffled his hair.

"I will always be okay. I promise."

Regulus woke up, his eyes slowly drifted open as his ears adjusted to the soft breathing beside him. He stared at the ceiling, letting the memory fade from his mind, Sirius' young face forever engrained in his memory. It was one of the reoccurring ones that never left him. Now his brother was rotting in a cell in bloody Azkaban.

He sat up, removing the blanket off himself and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stayed silent, not wanting to disturb the other occupant. Another muggle girl lured into bed with ease.

He used to hate what he had become but over time his conscious shrunk smaller and smaller until it disappeared. He had no one. Both parents gone, a child was given up, Emma went to who knows where, Voldemort was possibly still alive, and Sirius was sitting in a cell. It took months for it to sink in and months to get over the fact that he was alone. Regulus rejected everything that made him, him. He left and never looked back.

The only way of returning was if he found the key to destroying the Dark Lord once and for all. That is if Voldemort was still alive. It was agonising not knowing. Regulus made sure he never didn't know something. Observe, listen, stay in the background and research the unknown. It was his way of things, a more silent approach. Sirius was always the force to be reckoned with head-on while he was the silent killer. It was the perfect combination for disaster. But Sirius was sitting in a cell, rotting for the rest of their lives.

Currently, he was on the hunt for the Slades. The couple had something of his, and there was so much ground to cover. He started on the west coast of the states. Why he sent them to America was beyond him, and he regretted that decision ever since.

He lathered himself with the useless soap from the hotel, trying to scrub off the now unwanted lingering touch from the night's activities. There was always regret in the morning, no amount of scrubbing could cleanse him thoroughly.

Another notch on his belt, another reason for his dreadful mother to disown him, another thing his father could be disappointed about, and another thing for Sirius to congratulate him on. His lips curled up into a soft smirk as he imagined his brother high fiving him on the score. Merlin, how much his brother insisted on loosening up and enjoying life. Regulus learned too late to do it and with no way of even telling his brother that he was okay.

The only thing that kept his sanity was the voice in his mind, the one that took the shape of his brother at Hogwarts in the ugly Gryffindor robes. Regulus sighed and leaned his head back, letting the water run over his face.

He kept his eyes closed and continued washing, his hand navigated the washcloth over his toned stomach, travelling up to his chest. It took a couple of years for him to develop into the high bar Sirius set. Anybody would see him now, and he could pass as his older brother. Puberty had come late for him but was in his favour. The ease of flashing a simple smirk, making any woman's knickers in a twist brought an understanding of why Sirius was so flirtatious.

Once washed, he cut the water and reached for the towel on the shelf. He dried himself off and tied the towel around his waist.

Please be gone.

He turned the knob and walked back out to the room. Regulus sighed relieved seeing it empty with a note on the nightstand. He read it, and it was always the same cliché wording with a number attached. Regulus never called them.

"Lumos." He mumbled, and the tip of his wand lit near the map. The gold dot locating his spot was blinking near Phoenix, Arizona. He sighed seeing the rest of the country. There was so much to cover.

Regulus started on the west coast almost a decade ago and was barely making it to the Midwest. Crawling every state, city by city was beginning to drive him insane. Where the hell Elliot ended up was pissing him off. He wished there was a tracker set in place beforehand, but there was no time. They dispersed as quickly as possible and ever since there was no contact. The longer the search dragged on, the more it became annoying. He needed to find them and make sure they were okay.

He looked around and saw the desert stretched out for a good amount of distance; it wasn't a problem as he grabbed the miniature sized motorcycle out of his backpack. He flicked his wand, casting the spell to make it go back to its original size. He straddled it and looked down to his cellphone seeing the digital numbers displaying ten fifteen p.m.

Cellphones adjusted to their time zones automatically. It made having the contraption much easier. Regulus still hated having to adapt to the muggle lifestyle. His parents were probably rolling in their graves seeing what he was up to the past couple of years. Bedding muggle women, drinking muggle alcohol and using their things; his mother would have killed him on the spot. But it was the only thing that kept him going at this point.

For the next hour, he was roaming around in an area called Scottsdale and waltzed in a tall extravagant hotel. He pulled out his debit card and handed it to the receptionist.

"Evan Rosier?" She said a little odd, but he shrugged and smiled.

"Yes, ma'am." He answered, and she continued typing away on the computer to check him into the room.

"Where are you visiting from?" She kept her eyes away from him.

"From London, decided to come see what being in America was all about." He smirked, and she smiled back at him.

"Are you from here?" He asked, trying to flirt with her.

"Yes, lived here all my life. You're in room 723, here is your card and ring if you need anything. The paper next to the phone has the directory." She handed him both cards and felt her cheeks flush as he winked.

The elevator paused on the seventh floor, and Regulus stepped out reading the sign telling him which way his room was. He opened the door and threw his backpack down on the bed, shrugging out of his jacket and taking his shirt off. His shoes came off next, and he was about to take his pants off when he noticed the view his room had. He walked over and scanned the city, taking in the nightlife. There wasn't much muggles walking about at such a late hour. Moments passed by and a knock interrupted the silence.

"Room Service." The feminine voice called from the hall. His attention snapped to the door, frowning as he hadn't ordered anything. Regulus grabbed his wand and held it to his side, opening the door with his other hand. The receptionist was standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, love, I think you have the wrong room. Unless you were what was being delivered." Regulus smirked at her and tightened the grip on his wand.

"I, uh…" She looked both ways before taking a step towards him. As she entered, he stepped back as she closed the door.

"What do you need?" He showed his weapon, the girl's eyes widening seeing it. He worried she was there for more than a night's shag.

"What are you doing with that?" She snapped, her accent changing to one like his. He was now frowning as she crossed her arms.

"Protection. What do you want?" He was no longer nice.

"Do you even know how to work that thing?" She demanded and stuck her hand out as if he was going to hand it over so quickly.

"I do." He snorted at her gesture and took another step back. She made one towards him.

"Weapons are not allowed in our hotel; I'm giving you a chance to hand it over."

"I'll leave." Regulus turned to start grabbing his discarded shirt.

"Wait that's not why I am here." She confessed. He stood back up and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Then why are you here?" He questioned, now more confused than ever.

"You're not Evan Rosier." She mumbled, and, in an instant, he pointed his wand at her. She raised her hands scared he was going to shoot her.

"Who are you?"

"Put the gun down, please, before you hurt someone."

"Not until you tell me who you are." He snapped, and she rolled her eyes. He raised an eyebrow at her as she closed her eyes, whispering the incantation to her glamour protection charm. His eyes widened as her red hair was replaced with brunette and her other features coming into view as well.

"Emma?" He exclaimed, she froze at the sound of her name. They both stared at each other. He lowered his wand, and she let out the breath caught in her chest. Her heart was still pounding.

"Regulus." She said back, feeling relieved that she was right. They stayed still, and he took off his glamour charm, morphing back into the man he became over the years.

"I can't believe it's you."

"How are you here? Why are you here?" He demanded. It felt unreal seeing her standing in his room. It was bound to happen; he was going to find her or the others.

She walked over and wrapped her arms around him. He took a couple of seconds to recover, but slowly hugged her back. They held each other for a couple of minutes, Emma placed her ear over his heart. There was never a confirmation from him that he survived. It's been years of radio silence. It was bizarre that he walked into her hotel.

"I can't believe I found you. Are Elliot and Charlotte here as well?" Regulus asked excitedly.

"You're looking for them?" Emma pulled away and looked up to him. He was almost unrecognisable as she peered into his eyes. He became a splitting image of his brother.

"Of course, I'm looking for them. They have my son."

"Our son." Emma corrected him immediately.

"Of course. Our son." He smirked, and she rolled her eyes feeling his smugness.

"Why are you still gallivanting about as Evan? I thought he was dead?" Emma raised an eyebrow.

"I'm supposed to be looking for Regulus." He sighed, and she frowned at the ridiculous of the statement.

"But you are Regulus?" She questioned, and he snorted. "Unless you are a fake."

She undid her arms, and he tightened his embrace on her. Her giggled made his heart beat faster, the butterflies raising havoc in his stomach making him realise just how much he missed her.

"Stranger Danger." She teased, and he started to pepper kisses all over her, "Help, I'm being attacked."

"Shut it, woman." He growled and captured her lips, her giggle replaced with a moan and she pulled him in closer. He grabbed her face, not allowing her to move away from him. She could feel his erection against her, making her quiver. How long had it been since they saw each other?

"Regulus," she mumbled against his lips, and he pulled away, both breathing heavily.

"Yes?" He asked her.

"Where have you been this whole time?"

"Looking for the four others."

"You're so far from them; it's not even funny." She commented.

"So, they aren't here with you?" he frowned.

"No, they went to the east coast to New York City. Elliot expanded his father's company."

"They stayed close to each other? That wasn't the plan." Regulus snapped, upset they didn't follow their instructions.

"Well, they wanted to stay together, and I was okay being on my own," Emma reassured him. "Why are you looking for them?"

"I want to know that they are okay. I want to know Felix is okay." He mumbled. She shook her head and just kept her head rested on his chest. He had filled out lovely.

Eleven years; it's been eleven years since they last saw each other. Emma thought and relaxed against him.

"He's fine, Regulus. They all are," she said softly.

"When was the last time you spoke to Elliot?"

"Two days ago. He sent me a message about his grades and how he's doing. Our child is brilliant, he attends Ilvermorny, and—"

"Ilvermorny?" He held her at arm's length now, angry. "What the hell is he doing at Ilvermorny?!"

"Yes, he attends Ilvermorny." She confirmed and noticed him become angrier.

"Why? The whole point was to keep Felix under wraps, away from magic, away from everything." He snapped.

"Well, his magic was too strong. He and Ryan both were too much to handle; they needed to control their magic." She explained.

"Ryan?"

She closed her mouth and became nervous. She forgot Regulus didn't know about Ryan.

"It's the Evans boy." She whispered hoping he wouldn't have an outburst.

"Evans?" He frowned and then recalled who they were. "They had a second child?!"

"Yes. He's a year younger than Felix but both in the same year."

"Wow, I didn't even think about them reproducing again. A little rude to be honest." He thought out loud, and she looked at him confused.

"It's not rude; they can make as many children as they want." She defended the couple.

"They have one son with another family, so they replace him with another? It's rude."

"It just happened, Regulus. What does it even matter?" She frowned at his dry tone. There should be no reason why he's upset.

"Right." He deadpanned and just dropped it. He thought about the second child, jealous the Evans was able to raise one of their children at least.

"Do you still have to work?" He decided to focus on the beautiful woman in front of him. Tomorrow, he can deal with Elliot and the rest of it.

"I have two hours left on my shift. Why?" She sneered as he rolled his eyes.

"I haven't seen you in eleven years. You know how hard it is to not rip you out of your clothes right now?" He started to kiss her cheek, to her jawline, the target being the base of her neck. She chuckled and hummed in approval.

"You are going to have to wait, Mr Black. I must finish working. Not everyone is annoyingly rich like you."

He nibbled her, and she let out a moan, his hand fisting her hair. He pulled her head back, getting better access to her favourite spot.

"Regulus…" she whispered, and he captured her lips, not caring that she still had to man the front desk.

"Let the other girl work. You know I will always take care of you." He muttered against her lips. She pushed him back on the bed and fixed her suit.

"People always assumed I was with you because of the money. That's not it at all." She became offended at his comment.

"Who cares what everyone says? I know you love—"

He paused as the diamond ring finally was noticed. She followed his gaze and immediately crossed her arms to hide it.

"You're married?" He sat up furiously. She shook her head.

"No. I'm a widow," Emma explained calmly.

"What?" He stood up and undid her arms to see the ring again. He instantly recognised it upon closer inspection. It was his grandmother's ring.

"You kept it."

"Of course, I kept it. You promised me forever even though I thought you died some time ago. I couldn't believe Evan Rosier walked into my damn hotel of all places."

"I forgot what your face looked like. She isn't as pretty as you." He winked at her, and she smacked his arm.

"Are you calling me ugly?" She joked.

"No, of course not." He pulled her back into his arms. "Run away with me. Please."

"I can't just leave." She started but was cut off by his kiss.

"Yes, you can. Despite you not caring about my money, I have enough in a separate vault to last us four lifetimes." He kissed her, and she rolled her eyes but kissed him back just as eagerly.

"Please." He muttered against her lips.

"Fine. When do we leave?" She said knowing well enough that she would never say no. Emma waited years for this day.

"Tomorrow morning."

She chuckled as he peppered kisses all over her again, happy that he was indeed alive. He picked her up and took her to the bed to make up for lost time.

The next morning, Emma woke up in his arms. She smiled as he continued sleeping. She softly traced his face with her pointer finger. They were only eighteen when they did what they did. It was so difficult to leave him at the most crucial time.

He smirked, becoming aware of her soft touch gliding over the bridge of his nose and down to his lips. She felt the butterflies in her stomach.

"I missed you so much." She whispered, and he felt his heart race.

Emotion was never easy for him, it's a sign of weakness, and he did well to turn off his feelings after a certain age.

"You must be poised and collected. Not like your fool for a brother, Sirius. Be good and calm; it's the smart way."

His mother's words brought fear to him if he felt anything out of the ordinary. He mimicked his father's façade. It wasn't until he became a Death Eater, he saw the side of guilt his father hid so well. Orion Black cried when he saw Regulus come home with the mark.

"What have you been doing this whole time?" Emma interrupted his brooding thoughts.

"I started in California. It takes a while to go through each state." He sighed realising how much time was wasted.

"Well, Elliot is a well-known billionaire." She turned away from him, sitting up to search for her cellphone. She spotted it next to his gun, which brought back her original thought of the thing.

"Why do you have a muggle weapon?" she turned with her cellphone in hand. He sat up and reached over her and kissed the tip of her nose as he grabbed it.

"It isn't a gun." he put it in her hand, and it morphed back into his wand. She smiled at the cleverness of the charm. "I charmed it so that I could carry it around muggles. If I were to get it confiscated, then it stays a gun."

"Very clever of you." She smirked.

"You act so surprisedly that I thought of it."

"No not surprised. I just forgot how smart you were. Are." She corrected, and he leaned in to kiss her. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he was kissing Emma. Eleven years without each other and she still loved him. Regulus owed her so much, and he wouldn't rest till he made up for lost time.

"Elliot lives in New York, you said?" he breathed out as they came up for air. She nodded her head, catching her breath and picked her phone back up. She pulled up an article about Elliot's company.

Regulus saw the logo of the online newspaper. He summoned the map from his jacket pocket, unfolding to see precisely where the state was. He saw the small state literally on the east coast.

"I would have been searching for years to come." Regulus crumbled up the weathered paper and tossed it aside.

"You're lucky I recognised you and your alias name." Emma chuckled as he threw a fit.

"I was always lucky to find you." He winked at her. She rolled her eyes at his flirty comment.

"You've become such a flirt, I see. How many women have you slept with since I last saw you?" She crossed her arms, worried for the answer. It was more than a decade, and she was asking for every detail of it. The problem was, did she want to know?

He now rolled his eyes and removed the blankets from him. It was one question he didn't want to answer. Also, if he explained, that means she would have to tell him, and he didn't know how well he would take to her activities on their time apart.

"Regulus Arcturus Black." She snapped getting out of the bed, following him to the restroom. He closed the door, needing to use the loo.

"Emma Abigail Greengrass." He mimicked her tone and chuckled. She groaned out loud only furthering his amusement.

"My hand was regularly used." He answered her question through the door.

"Yeah fucking right." She scoffed.

He knew it was going to be difficult to get out of the question. She waited till the sink started to run and swung the door open, leaning on the frame. Her eyes narrowed, the thought that he slept with even one woman was upsetting.

"I'm sure you had your fair share of fucks."

"No." Her cheeks flushed, giving away her real answer. He walked over to her and grabbed her chin to make her look up to him. He rubbed his thumb on her bottom lip, and she bit it out of his touch.

"Let's say our past isn't our future. I found you, and now we can move on." He tried and saw it was only a temporary solution. "I want to see Elliot."

"You can't see them," Emma said letting the distraction happen. She didn't want to talk about what activities she was up to on their time apart. It was a dark couple of years at first.

"Yes, I can, I need to see my son. Plus, I'm interested in the Evans boy." He mused, pulling on his shirt and boxers. She started to get dressed as well.

"They update frequently. I can tell Elliot you're here."

"No. Don't tell them yet. I would like to make a grand entrance." Regulus smirked thinking of how Elliot would react to his surprise appearance.

"Fine. But you can't talk the boys." She demanded, and he rolled his eyes. "Both of the boys are doing well with no sign of physical harm. They are both smart, pampered, spoiled children." Emma smiled at the thought. She was glad to be able to report that to him.

"I would still like to witness this. Plus, I heard New York is nice. One of the many people I've spoken to on my journey. They said I would like the east coast." He grabbed some clothes out of his backpack.

"Fine. I can ask Elliot to see us. We can use our other faces, so no one recognises us on our way there." Emma walked back into the restroom and turned the shower on. "I also need to tell them I officially quit downstairs. Telling them my fiancé decided to come back from the dead."

It had been a while that he felt anything genuinely satisfying. The way she said fiancé made the warm little fuzzy ball of happiness grow in him.

"Your fiancé is starving and would like room service." He teased, and she scoffed from the restroom. He heard her rant about him being spoiled. It made him let out a genuine laugh. It had been a while since he was alright with present time. Now on to the next task to finish what he started.