A/N: Sorry it took so long to post the chapter! I've been trying to choose classes/sports/etc. for high school and I've been really busy! I know it's a stupid excuse but it's all I've got. Also, just a note for reference; because Reg is a death eater, and because this is written from Reg's pov, I've decided to refer to Voldemort as 'the Dark Lord' for as long as I can remember. If you find this annoying, however, (kind of like my use of commas) please let me know by reviewing. Any reviews are greatly appreciated! Also, happy belated v-day! I know it's like a week late but whatever.
Disclaimer: J.K Rowling's book, characters, etc. have never and will never belong to me. The plot is my own, however
Chapter Four: The Meeting
Regulas awoke to a grubby, wrinkle-covered face leaning over him, poking his nose. He got up with a start. "Kreacher!" Kreacher looked alarmed. "Master, Kreacher is sorry for waking Master up. Mistress wishes Kreacher to wake Master up for urgent business." Reg had to smile at Kreacher's method of waking him up. "It's fine Kreacher. Thank you very much." Kreacher bowed and left the room.
Groaning, Reg stood up and stretched. He ran a hand through his hair and riffled through his closet. He quickly slipped on a pair of jeans and the cleanest t-shirt he could find. "YOUNG MAN! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN IS TAKING YOU SO LONG?" Reg groaned and rushed down the stairs—two at a time. "Coming, Mother!" Cursing wildly as he tripped over the last chair, Reg hurried into the kitchen…where he stopped short at the sight of Wazhilda Black.
His mother was wearing long, silk, black dress robes along with silk gloves and diamond jewelry. Reg grinned—it seemed that she had also deemed it proper to wear a magical corset. Ha! I knew she couldn't really fit into a size four. His smile faded as she quickly glanced at his messy attire and sniffed. "Disgusting. You will be showered and attired properly in these custom designed dress robes by exactly 8:20." Reg stared. "But—that's in ten minutes, Mum!" "Your point? Now I suggest you hurry up young man." Reg quickly grabbed the dress robes and rushed up the stairs, muttering.
Reg rushed down the stairs, ten minutes later, grumbling while running a drying spell over his damp hair. Wazhilda stared at him and then coughed and looked away. "You've forgotten your trousers." Reg stared; "What?!" His mother coughed again. "Your trousers," she said urgently. Reg quickly looked down—and was met with the sight of his boxers under his dressrobes. "#$%^!" Reg quickly rushed back upstairs to hide his smiley-face boxers. He came back downstairs, suitably abashed, five minutes later—refusing to make eye contact with his mother. She sniffed imperiously, produced some floo powder, and stepped into the fireplace saying "Lestrange Manor." She disappeared seconds later. Reg stepped in, excited, also muttering the same words. Great! Now I get to see Bella's future house! Bet it's huge! He felt the familiar whooshing sensation and firmly tucked his elbows in as he spun past many elaborate fireplaces. He stopped at a fireplace as tall as him and elaborately decorated with glowing snakes.
Reg stepped out of the Lestrange fireplace to find his mother dusting her dress robes off. He followed his mother's example and dusted his robes off, in turn. Wazhilda turned to Reg and led him into the Lestrange parlor, a sizeable room decorated with black leather furniture, a glowing green fireplace, paintings of Salazar Slytherin, portraits of the Lestrange family (glaring imperiously down at Reg), and large, dusty bookshelves containing fading, cobweb-covered, evil-looking books. Mother and son sat on adjacent couches waiting for, well, Reg didn't really know what.
The two waited together in silence for ten dreary minutes. Finally, Rodolphus entered the room with Bella on his arm. "Welcome, Wazhilda, Regulas" Bella simpered, playing the role of hostess. Then, Rodolphus spoke directly to Reg. "You are to enter the hallway and walk to the third door on the left. Knock on the door and wait, until invited in, to enter. Do whatever you are told—unless you want to suffer the consequences." Reg quickly left the room and heard the sound of Bella, Rodolphus, and Wazhilda conversing pleasantly—at least, as pleasantly as purebloods can—as he walked out.
Reg walked into the long hallway. Right, was it the third door on the left? Yeah, now I knock. Reg knocked and waited. Man, this is a huge hallway—and it's totally intimidating. Seriously, what is it with Slytherins and their obsession with everything dark?! You could at least light the hallway with something other than the green torches that we always had in the Common Room! …WHAT WAS THAT? Reg stopped talking to himself when he heard a remote voice calling, "Come in." #$%! If I die…With that, Reg slowly pushed the door open and walked in.
He was met by the appraising gaze of someone, or something, behind him. Reg quickly spun around—only to be met with the hissing of a snake. Reg jumped, but then regained his composure and began petting the snake while calmly talking to it in parseltongue. "What is your name?" questioned Reg. "Nagini…" whispered the snake. "What are you doing here?" "Buisnessssss" came the snake's reply. "For who?" questioned Reg, honestly curious. "Massster." Was the brief reply. "And who is your master?" questioned Reg, in parseltongue. "Me."
The voice came from behind Reg—speaking in Parsletongue as well. Reg spun around, yet again, to meet the coldness of black, snake-like eyes. The sight disturbed him—for some reason, the man emanated a feeling of menace. "I am Lord Voldemort. You may call me 'the Dark Lord.' And you are Regulas Black." It wasn't a question. Reg nodded and swallowed nervously. Voldemort continued; "Come, come. Sit. Tell me about yourself. You are a Black, pureblood, cousin to Bellatrix, and a parselmouth." Again, it wasn't a question. Reg nodded, and began speaking—fearing to disobey.
Where to start? "Please begin with your relationship with your brother." He can read my mind?! "Yes, I can read your mind. It is one of my many formidable talents. Now, please proceed." The Dark Lord exhibited an air of haughty arrogance. Reg, somewhat frightened, began; "Well, my brother, Sirius, used to be my best friend. We did everything together; competed for mum' attention, practiced magic secretly, and pranked Kreacher—our house elf. No matter how hard Sirius tried, though, I was always the favorite. Sirius was too good to really be part of our family. Then, Sirius made friends with that James Potter…and the werewolf…and Pettigrew. Ever since then, we've grown apart." The Dark Lord stared at Reg with black eyes—"And you've never had contact with him since?" Reg sighed, knowing he couldn't lie.
"Sirius left our family and was disinherited a couple summers ago. I've met up with him occasionally and tried to convince him to join our cause, or not to fight on either side. I'm not sure what he's going to decide in the end." The Dark Lord narrowed his eyes, as if trying to assess whether Reg was telling the truth. In the end, he nodded in affirmation, seeming to accept that at least part of Reg's statement was true. Reg sat on the edge of his chair, nervously, waiting for the Dark Lord to speak.
"You are a very interesting person, Regulas Black. I sense you, for some reason, are reluctant to join my cause. However, I also sense that you have a yearning to prove yourself—perhaps to prove yourself better than your powerful brother? No matter, no matter, you will soon see that allying yourself with my cause will make you more powerful than any those fighting with Sirius. Yees, I know that your brother has joined Dumbledore against me. Warn him that if he does any real damage, he, or one of his friends, will pay the price." Reg merely nodded.
The Dark Lord assumed a cheerful tone; "Now, back to more important matters. You can speak parsletongue. Few wizards nowadays possess the noble talent. In fact, I am the only one I knew of until now. Please explain what you know…and explain it in parsletongue." Reg swallowed nervously; "Well, as you know, my Lord, the Blacks are a pureblood family who has long been in Slytherin. We have supported muggle-baitings and the separation of the magical and non-magical for centuries. I suppose it is only natural for one of us to be parsletongue. I believe one of my distant ancestors was a parsletongue and so I assume that it has been passed on, skipping a few generations, to me." "Amazing," whispered the Dark Lord, still in parsletongue. "Your talent will prove quite useful to my cause."
"Umm," swallowed Reg nervously, "Do you mind my asking why you wanted me to come here? I mean, isn't it dangerous to trust a new member with your location? Aren't you afraid I'll reveal it?" The Dark Lord smiled. "Will you, Regulas? I think not. You care too much about yourself, and the fate of your family and friends, for that. But, to remind you, know that your mother, brother, and any of your servants and friends will die if you say one word about our cause." Reg shuddered. "You can be sure I won't, my lord, and not just because of my loyalty to family and friends."
The Dark Lord smirked. "Ahh, yes, you also seek power. That is only natural. Now to answer your question, I called you here because I think you have potential. Potential to fail and potential to succeed. That is why I have brought you here—to test you. Your first task, as a death eater, will be to organize a muggle baiting in Derbyshire. Very remote, not too much work; it is only to prove yourself. If you succeed, you will be promoted. You will receive further instructions at a later date. Your service to me begins as of now."
Reg swallowed hard and nodded. Can I do this to so many people who are just like me? Shut it Reg! Just think like Mom! They're just muggles, I'm better than them, I'm a pureblood! Am I really that much better than them? We're all people, after all. SHUT UP REG! If you wanna go through with this whole 'death eater' thing, you need to get used to this stuff and get over your qualms. "Yees… Regulas, you will be…interesting. You could be great once we get rid of your conscience. I can sense your power…bubbling underneath the surface…and a thirst to prove yourself. In time,… in time you will get the opportunity."
Unsure when to leave, Reg waited to be dismissed. At a slight gesture of the Dark Lord's hand, Regulas knew it was time to leave. He got up and walked out unsurely, only to be stopped by the Dark Lord's voice. "One more thing, Mr. Black. Bellatrix and Lucius mentioned a certain hand-crafted, specially ordered mask. It would please me to see it." "Of course my lord," muttered Reg docilely. Whatever happened to my independence? "That, Regulas, will come with time. Now, the mask?"
Regulas carefully withdrew the beautiful mask, slowly unveiling it from under the fabrics of its box. Voldemort took it carefully and eyed it critically. "Ahh, yes. Masterfully forged. Goblin made, I believe?" He took Reg's nod as an affirmation and continued his assessment. "Endowed with hundreds of potent defensive, as well as offensive, spells. The carved snakes represent Slytherin, I am sure, along with power and wealth. And, ah yes, the Black family crest—very important, and one of my favorite pureblood family representations. Not like that awful crest which the Goyles bear. But yours, beautiful." breathed Voldemort. "Well, I have to say, I'm impressed with Bella and Rodolphus' choice. Quite artistic, as well as striking and memorable. Yes, I think you will go far with this." Reg stuttered; "Th-thank you, my lord. I'll be sure to tell them." "Ever the polite one, aren't you. Well then, Mr. Black, until we meet again."
Reg quickly walked out of the room and breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that wasn't as bad as I expected! …but I wanna compare notes with Bella and Lucius—see how it went for them on their first try. Ugh! I hope they don't brag…and I hope Mum doesn't get to nosy! Reg walked into the parlor to the expectant faces of the Bella and her fiancé, his mother, Lucius and his wife, and the multiple house elves. "Well, how did it go?" demanded Bella. Reg wasn't paying attention; "When did they get here?" he said, gesturing at his cousin and Lucius. His mother glared; "Manners, darling" she said with gritted teeth. "Narcissa and Lucius came to offer their support after they heard you'd been summoned." Reg smiled. "Thanks Cissy, and Lucius."
Bella was not to be deterred; "So, what happened?" Reg glared at her. "You're ruining my happy moment, but fine! So, I walk into the room and see only the Dark Lord's snake—Nagini. She scared me but I started talking to her and-" "WHAT!?" interrupted everyone but Narcissa and Wazhilda. "You're a parsletongue?" "Why didn't you tell us?" "How long have you known?" "Why aren't I a parsletongue?" "What did the Dark Lord say?" Reg held up his hands to fend off the barrage of questions, trying to tune out Bella's screaming. Where to start?
"Umm…well, I've known I was a parsletongue since I was about three. I always used to talk to snakes. Cissy caught me one time, which is how she knows, and Mother caught me numerous times. I guess none of us told. And back then, I didn't know that it was good to be parsletongue so I kind of hid it. Later, when I knew it was something to be proud of, I didn't draw attention to it for fear of drawing attention to the movement. I also didn't want to remind Sirius that I could—and he couldn't." They all, save Cissy and Wazhilda, looked at him with a mixture of awe and jealously. Then Bella broke the silence; "So, what did he say—the Dark Lord?"
"Erm, well, uh," began Reg, "well, er, he thought it, the mask I mean, was a very good gift and complemented me. He conversed with me in parsletongue and then he talked about my past and my objectives, beliefs, ideals and tasks. Then he officially welcomed me and gave me a task—to organize a muggle baiting. Then, as I was about to leave, he asked to see my mask and complemented it quite a lot. I told him I'd pass on his appreciation to you, Bella and Rodolphus." The two nodded, Bella looking like Christmas had come early (along with several thousand muggle killings). Reg continued; "After complementing the mask, he wished me luck, told me I had good potential and told me he'd be seeing me…erm, is that good…do you think?"
Bella jumped up and hugged Reg while Lucius and Rodolphus clapped him on the back. "It went well, then?" Please, please say yes! Lucius smiled, running a hand through his slick blond hair; "It went extremely well. It didn't even go that well for me or Bella, and we're some of his most loyal. I'd say it's a good sign—he never hands out assignments to newcomers, especially not personally. And his speaking parsletongue to you is a great honor." "You'll go far," whispered Bella, her eyes brimming with happy tears. As his family surrounded him, embracing him, Reg saw Severus quietly arrive through the floo and slip into the hall.
He was alone. The two briefly made eye contact and Reg nodded in greeting. Then Snape quietly entered that Reg had occupied minutes ago. So he's here too, then. I hope it goes well for him, knowing that he's a half-blood. I wish I could go talk to him, he looked so sad; too bad Mum's here. I can't even go near him with her and Bella hanging around. Oh well. It's not like I can do anything.
Reg was interrupted from his thoughts by his mother. She cleared her throat; Regulas glanced at her. "Regulas honey," she began with false sweetness, "I don't recall you showing me your mask. I would like to see it." Reg knew an order when he heard one; "Of course Mother, I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to show you earlier." Reg carefully took out the white box—as he had done with the Dark Lord—and unveiled his mask. It glittered beautifully among the green and silver velvet. Reg couldn't wait to try it on for his first mission.
Meanwhile, his mother gasped and carefully removed the mask. "Regulas, it's beautiful!" she gushed. "Oh Bella, Rodolphus, you shouldn't have." The two smiled at each other; "it was nothing. It was worth it to see Reg join our ranks." "Oh I know; we're so proud Reg!" The praise and compliments went on until a house elf entered with tea. The family sat down and Reg was left to ponder. I wonder how Sev's doing. He hasn't come out in a while. I hope he's okay, he deserves some attention… I wonder if the Vold-er-the Dark Lord actually is interested in me. I mean, I'm a pretty boring person—and am nowhere near as powerful as Sirius—or even Mum for that matter.
Hmm…I'm surprised Mum doesn't join the ranks herself. It's not like she's that old. And she loves all the pureblood hype. She's probably just lazy coz she's definitely powerful enough. Anyone trying to cross her would never be heard of again—'cept Sirius. I'm not sure how he managed that. Oh look! Tea cakes! YUM! I'm so starved! Especially after having my mind invaded by Voldemort…talk about stressing and weird! OOOOOO! PUDDING! I LOVE PUDDING! At this point, Regulas began to eat as quickly as was deemed polite. Lucius and Rodolphus looked amused. Rodolphus, being the host, addressed Regulas; "Reg, it's fine. We don't care if you eat too much. We were just as exhausted after the Dark Lord questioned us for the first time. Plus, we know what it's like to be a growing guy. Heck, we still are. Also we're family and don't care so don't bother to be polite and just EAT!" At this, Reg mumbled his thanks through a stuffed mouth and began gobbling even more food down as his female relatives looked on in disgust.
When Reg finally stopped acting like an older version of the then nonexistent Dudley, Wazhilda sniffed disdainfully at Reg, reluctantly took his arm, and made their good-byes for them. Reg, ever the courteous gentleman, bowed, kissed the girl's hands (they writhed in disgust as they pictured his food-filled mouth) and thanked the guys. Promising to keep in touch, and let them know how his assignment went, Regulas stepped into the floo and went home.
Later that night, as Reg lay back and relaxed in his own leg, a letter appeared—apparently banished directly to him—in his lap. A dark mark about half the size of Reg's was stamped onto the envelope. Excited, and extremely anxious, Reg opened the letter and began to read.
Regulas—
I hope you have brains enough to realize that this is your first assignment.
I'm sure you know that this is your Dark Lord—I am personally giving you this task and you must, I repeat must NOT give this note to anyone.
Two Mondays from now, you must go to Derbyshire and stage a muggle baiting.
Hopefully, this request is not too difficult for you…or your conscience.
To test your leadership, I have decided that you will be presiding over several more senior Death Eaters—they will be less easy to manage but you must be prepared. You will share this task with Severus Snape.
I have included a list of Death Eaters whom I have hand-selected to help/test the two of you. I wish you the greatest of luck and look forward to meeting you soon.
-Lord Voldemort
Reg turned the envelope upside down. A list of names fell out. Reg slowly began to read the list, feeling extremely apprehensive. Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, Mulciber, Lucius, Rodolphus. Good, that's not too bad—and I'm sure Lucius and Rodolphus won't mind being under my direction for a day…hopefully… Reg glanced back at the list and saw one last name that he had missed the first time. "Bella." F---!
A/N: So? What do you think? Please review to let me know! I know it's AU but that's the way I wrote the story to be. I like to sympathize with Reg especially because he had to live up to a hot, talented, amazing, hott brother—Sirius (can you tell I like him?). The story's kinda starting out slow because I need to build the basis of Voldemort/Reg's and Sirius/Reg's relationships but I promise it will get better once that's all set—I'm almost there. Let me know if you like the way this chapter went or not by reviewing! Please, pretty please! I haven't had many reviews and my goal is to get to 10. (I know, pathetic, but no one seems to be reviewing my stories so I don't know what readers think. cries) Anyway, please review—if you do, I will consult my magical forces and see if I can arrange a date with a hp character for you! Yay! Happy fanficcing peoples and thanks for reading! If any of you got this far in my A/N, I applaud you! (Most people I know don't read them. In case you're wondering, I do!) Anyway, happy fanficcing (again)!