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He shook himself out of his memories attempting to focus himself again. Regulus clutched the locket in his hand and stood up slowly. Everything seemed to drag out; as though time itself had slowed down, the silence of the usually creaking house making him squirm with discomfort, yet a single noise could destroy the entire mission by waking his parents and rendering him helpless and at their mercy.

He took a last look at his room hoping for some sort of comfort but found nothing he could see that he was particularly sad to leave behind. It could have been a stranger's room if he removed the pictures of himself from the wall. His gaze fell upon a vase sitting on a table in the corner. He remembered how it had come to be there and felt himself slip into the past once more.


Reggie was young and had no desire to in pureblood politics, the ministry of magic or anything else that was not along the lines of hide and seek. Running about in this household was never a wise idea yet neither he nor his brother was particularly bothered by this rule. After all, surely every little boy should be able to run about once in a while and they found that if they were quiet and did not disturbed any of the other occupants in the house, they were quite safe from any reprise from their parents...most of the time at least.

Their mother had been telling them off more recently though as Christmas had just passed and the house was littered with many horrible, ugly and ridiculously expensive gifts including an especially disgusting vase from their Aunt Druella that must have cost at least an arm and possibly a leg- Borgin and Burkes most finest no doubt.

However, Reggie did not care for any of this until he ran into the cabinet it was perched on and watched in horror as it fell to the ground and shattered before his eyes on the stone floor.

Seconds...minutes...hours seemed to pass in silence as Regulus contemplated what this could mean for him. Just then, Sirius ran into the room shouting, "Found ya!" His face alit with excitement and victory before taking in the tears welling in his little brother's eyes. He frowned and searched around him, looking for the source of his brother's misery. His face paled as he took in the broken shards of what used to be one of their mother's favourite ornaments.
"Reg, what have you done..." he whispered.

"I...I...I don't- It wasn't-" Little Reg stuttered out a half completed reply before losing the ability to speak altogether.
Sirius bent over and picked up one of the glass remnants staring at it as though he could will it to repair itself. He snapped up straight to attention as he heard the sound of his mother's approach, the clicking of her low heels echoing off the walls. Reg was barely able to consider this as the door flew open revealing his mother wearing her usual mask of permanent displeasure.

"May I ask what in Merlin's name are you doing that could possibly cause so much noise and disruption. You know how that sort of behaviour vexes me."

It was then her eyes narrowed at the mess on the floor before widening in a rare outward display of anger."And what...is this?" She eventually managed to spit out.

Before Regulus could even begin to think about how he could escape his punishment, Wulburga Black, turned on him searching his face for guilt and obviously finding it written all over his face. He could think of no excuses and was prepared for the worst but his brother was less fazed by his mother's anger and his sharp mind had already come to conclusion of how he could rectify his brother's situation. He stepped forward.

"I'm sorry Mother." He said staring intently at the wall over her shoulder.
"Pardon," she replied, somewhat surprised.

"I'm sorry for the mess I made. It was an accident, I promise."

Had Wulburga not been so shacked by her eldest's seeming honesty, she probably would have taken in Reggie's confused face and the fact that Sirius was indeed further from the mess than Reg who had not yet moved since the accident occurred. However, any qualms she may have had were quenched when Sirius held out the piece of the broken vase he had picked up earlier, showing had been in contact with the item. Fury erupted within her but again she made no display of it on the outside.

"I was trying to clean it up and Reg came to help but got scared of being involved..." Sirius lied, his gazed no fixed directly into his mother's eyes-his mask firmly in place, showing no tell tale signs of a lie.

"Outside. Now." She gritted out quietly between her teeth.

Sirius lowered his head and marched out of the room, followed by the mother and eventually Regulus, who was still in a trance like state. They entered the kitchen and Wulburga open the back door leading to a small decrepit yard and gestured for her son to go through first. He did without a sound and was nearly at the other side before he turned back expecting to see his mother at his heels.

His mask fell as he saw she was still in the doorway and he only had time to register her small and cruel smile before she slammed it shut and locked it, leaving him outside in late Autumn/early Winter, with no proper jacket or food, and no way to leave the 'garden'. Satisfied with her punishment she left the kitchen and Regulus who was now pressed against the window staring at his brother. Their eyes met as Siri plonked himself down on the ground against the fence. Reggie questioned him with his eyes to which Sirius merely shrugged, used to being punished and happy to take the blame for his baby brother.

That night was a sleepless night for both boys: Sirius because of the cold and hunger and Reggie due to the guilt pressing down on him. He wanted to ask Sirius why he had done that but knew he would get the usual response, "You're my little brother, and it's my job to look after you." Or something along those lines.


He never realised how much he had come to rely on Sirius' protection and it had cost him as he got older. He became more arrogant like his family each day and less able to fight off the pull of the Dark Arts as he was subject to them less than Sirius. But now he had joined the Death Eaters, it was common to be subjected to some sort of torture curse and he found he had gain a lot of wisdom as a result.
Looking away from the repaired vase which had been moved to his room for safety after the incident, he turned again to the door and started towards it.

He swept from the room without a glance back.

A/N: Sorry about the late update, but school has been so hectic. But now we have reached the realms of the summer holidays so updates should be more common :D
Hope you enjoyed and please leave a review