Chapter 7: 100 points for Gryffindor impulsiveness

I don't own 'Harry Potter'

Note: Remember the warning about terrible plot resolution? Here we are.

Lestrange Manor was an imposing building, all dark bricks and wrought iron decorations around the outside, and the entire aura made Harry feel nauseous.

It wasn't just the design that was the issue, but rather the lingering feeling of malevolence clinging to every inch of the property. Harry wasn't the best at sensing magic, but the cloying sensation of dark magic was thick enough for even him to sense. Clearly someone had been doing magic they weren't supposed to, and he could feel his skin crawl just standing in the vicinity of it.

He looked at Regulus to see his already-pale face look pasty and ill, and the stony expression told Harry the other man wasn't exactly comfortable at his cousin's manor either, even if them being here was the best possible plan they had.

A still-Imperiused Bellatrix was strangely enough the best ally they could possibly have, and the crazy bitch had also managed to Imperius her husband into helping them. Rodolphus Lestrange was apparently pathetically easy to take off guard, and the man had subsequently begun to follow his wife's every order like a loyal dog.

His brother Rabastan had now joined the other 'guests' at Grimmauld Place under the watchful eyes of a very determined Kreacher, along with Walden Macnair and Barty Crouch Jr. The fanatical idiots had been more than willing to go along with Bellatrix who was still spouting her usual praise for Tom, allowing her the chance to catch them unawares and knock them out, helping Harry and Regulus to add to the growing collection of the nastiest Death Eaters. They just had to add the Lestrange couple and they would be done.

Regulus had asked if he was letting Snape go free, but Harry revealed he was actually being rather vindictive about the situation.

"Regulus, these arseholes are going to end up getting arrested and sent to Azkaban, but what do you want to bet they'll try and sell out their 'friends' to save their own skin? There's no doubt that someone'll try and implicate Snape so he's going to have to try and save himself pretty fast. He is a smooth talker, so maybe he'll go free.

"But freedom's its own kind of punishment. Either he goes to Azkaban, lives a life on the run, or goes free and has to live with the knowledge that the woman he's loved for years will know every disgusting thing he's ever done. She'll probably never speak to him again, especially after she warned him about the Death Eaters back in school. My mum might not have handled things the best way in Hogwarts, but she did tell Snape his friends were disgusting humans and not to trust them, yet he did it anyway.

"He can live with the knowledge that Lily Evans is now Lily Potter and she'll never speak to him again."

Harry knew he sounded particularly harsh but Snape was an arsehole. Yes, he'd saved Harry countless times and was a double agent that put his life on the line, but that didn't excuse his ridiculous bias towards his own House and the fact that he was a grown man bullying children because his own life sucked. It was pretty hypocritical that he'd always pointed out Harry's mistakes but had never owned up to any of his own.

Severus Snape deserved the painful realisation that Lily hated him and was disgusted by what he'd done as a Death Eater. Harry had no doubt she would be.

"Harry?"

He mentally shook of the thoughts of his most-hated professor and turned to Regulus. The Black was stood looking uneasily at their two companions, the dazed expressions of Bellatrix and Rodolphus a far cry from the usual glints of cruelty or madness. Harry had Imperiused the two of them again to make sure they would stay still, and the insane couple would be forced to stay out of sight and not make a sound, not answer Voldemort or anyone else while Harry and Regulus dealt with the madman.

First they had to ensure the bastard couldn't escape if things didn't go to plan immediately. The house-elves at Lestrange Manor had all been sent away already, the orders to clean all the other Lestrange properties useful for keeping them away. They'd been told not to return for anything at all until the following day, meaning the small creatures wouldn't want to earn their masters' ire by ignoring orders. There wouldn't be any house-elves getting in the way at least.

Harry watched as Rodolphus closed his eyes and felt through the wards of the property, trying to figure out where Tom was in the massive building.

"He's upstairs in his personal suite."

"Where exactly is the personal suite?" Regulus questioned sharply.

Rodolphus gazed at them vacantly. "On the third floor, all the way at the end of the corridor on the left."

The Potter met his partner's eye and they both nodded at one another. Harry turned back to the vile Lord and Lady Lestrange to give more instructions.

"Firstly, you two will enter the manor silently. Then you will go to the main fireplace and shut off the floo connection, making sure to be as quiet as you can possibly be. You will make sure that every single fireplace in this manor, even the one being used by Voldemort, is detached from the floo network. No fireplaces will be able to be flooed from or to."

Regulus cut in. "Then you will hide yourselves in the basement and raise the wards of the manor. This includes the Apparition and portkey wards. You will make sure that nobody can leave or enter Lestrange Manor by Apparating or using a portkey. You will also include house-elf Apparition, and you will freeze all the portraits. You will not come to the aid of the Dark Lord if he calls for you or demands your presence, you will remain in the basement, standing quietly and doing nothing until we come and fetch you. Do you understand?"

Distracted words of affirmation were offered sedately and Regulus caught Harry's eyes and smiled grimly. Despite the situation, the green-eyed man couldn't help but remember the chaste yet intimate kiss of the previous evening and he tried not to blush. So not the right time.

"Right. Time to get to it."

A few minutes later saw Harry and Regulus stood by themselves in the imposing and disturbing Lestrange Manor, the dead silence incredibly disconcerting. After all, while they might have trapped Voldemort in one place to dispose of him, they had also trapped themselves in with him. Harry might have the Elder Wand and Regulus was a formidable duellist, but they were still trying to take out a Dark Lord – there was no such thing as an assured win.

They each took out the tranquilizer guns they'd stolen from the zoo – Harry hoped nobody else would get blamed for their thievery – and made sure they had the appropriate drugs ready to go. One the one hand Harry could see this as a massive cop-out for getting rid of Tom, but on the other he really didn't give a shit. Not only did it actually make some logical sense, but the opportunity for hilarious irony was way too tempting to pass up.

Tom Riddle was incredibly strong in terms of magic and knew a lot about esoteric spells used in combat situations. He also knew plenty of shields that were very effective against all manner of offensive spells. The thing about that however, was that the majority of magical shields were only designed to repel magical attacks, allowing anything physical to pass through unimpeded. This was why offing Tom without magic was more logical, hence the guns. (Harry would have suggested actual guns if he'd known where to get them, but just because he was a little mad didn't mean he was a well-connected criminal.)

The other reason that taking Tom down as if he were a wild animal was the better idea was simply to amuse himself and Regulus. Tom was a bigoted, prejudiced arsehole who spent more time acting like a toddler throwing his toys out his pram rather than a fully-functioning adult. Granted the idiot had split his soul into pieces and was probably legitimately insane right now, but that was beside the point.

He'd spent years proclaiming muggles to be beneath him, to be stupid and as useless as ants, so much so that he completely ignored anything about their technology, evolving culture and even their politics. All things which had the potential to affect the magical world seeing as how magicals were the minority, but all things which were ignored by a crazy person that seemed to simultaneously have a superiority and inferiority complex, as well as a fuck ton of daddy and abandonment issues.

For someone like him to be taken out using something that he would deem totally beneath him was actually hysterical to Harry, and once he'd explained things to Regulus the other man had looked bemused but had agreed with him. Though he'd also called Harry petty and vindictive, so who knew if he really agreed? Bastard. I'm not petty. Petty would be feeding Tom to the bloody basilisk and laughing as his beloved pet ate him.

… Maybe I do have some issues.

Harry shook off the thoughts and caught the Black's eye, gesturing with his head to the staircase and getting a nod in return.

No time like the present.

"That was disgusting, and I hate you."

"Regulus! It's not my fault that happened! I thought he'd just fall over in a dead faint or something, not … that."

"Well, he did, and now I feel sick."

"You're not the only one ..."

The Potter and Black duo turned to look at the remains of what used to be the Dark Lord Voldemort, Tom Marvolo Riddle, snake-face, etcetera, etcetera, and both tried to resist adding to the mess on the floor by vomiting. In their defence, the sight was genuinely revolting.

Once more in their joint journey to rid the world of Tom, the supposed 'hard part' had turned out to be pathetically easy, as after they'd crept up the stairs they'd found Tom's suite … completely unlocked. Apparently having Lord Lestrange raise all the wards had served to reverse the ones that Tom cast himself. Which was pathetic, but whatever.

They'd then disillusioned themselves, mentally and physically prepared themselves for some high-paced and adrenaline-filled battle before slowly entering the room, completely on guard and ready for Voldemort to jump out at them, wand brandished and spells flying.

He'd been asleep.

It had been such a let-down and Harry had been so furious that he'd shot all ten doses of highly-concentrated tranquillizer at Tom, joined by at least five of Regulus' before the body had started to move.

Fortunately for them – or not depending on your point of view – Tom hadn't exactly been conscious. Instead the body in front of them had started seizing up and foaming at the mouth, eyes rolling backwards in their sockets as the body thrashed around so badly it fell on the floor. By that point Tom's magic had started swirling around the room, trying to heal him if Harry was right.

Instead the violent magic seemed to react to the drugs in Tom's system, the wild force making the drugs work even faster. (Maybe? Harry wasn't exactly a doctor or a Healer, so he had no real clue what had happened). All he knew was that one moment Tom had been having such a bad fit that he was seconds from death even if they didn't help him along, the next his body had started leaking blood. And other substances. Out of every single orifice on his body. Every orifice.

The urge to puke was strong.

Along with the various … substances, the body seemed to have shrunk in on itself, now looking like a slightly mummified and emaciated mess. And they still had to get the body back.

This was going to be so fun.

Harry turned to Regulus who raised a brow at him. "I'm not touching that."

This was not going to be fun.

"This is utter chaos."

"Indeed."

"I am a little worried about the bastards trying to bribe their way out, though. You wouldn't believe how many of them got away with the whole 'I was Imperiused' thing last time."

"Don't worry, Grandfather's going to be at the Ministry and he'll demand for trials with Veritaserum. Lord Black isn't really someone the Wizengamot can ignore."

Harry turned to him with a puzzled look. "Exactly how did you get your grandfather to be in the right place at the right time?"

"... I sent him a letter."

"Huh. Okay," Harry shrugged.

Regulus narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you going to ask what I wrote?"

"It's not really any of my business, Regulus. I told you before, Black business is Black business."

Before he could reply there was a pained shout of disbelief and he and Harry turned as one to see James Potter and Sirius Black looking at the group of bound Death Eaters in shock. It was more than mere shock though, the two looking like they'd just had their hearts ripped out at the sight before them.

They'd never expected to see Peter Pettigrew with a Dark Mark on his arm.

Instead of trying to figure out a way to deliver their unwitting prisoners to the Aurors, they'd decided to bring the Aurors to the soon-to-be inmates. Considering that Bartemius Crouch Sr. was currently the Head of the DMLE, the same gentleman who'd thrown his brother into Azkaban without a trial (even imbeciles deserved to be proven guilty before incarceration), Regulus had suggested sending simultaneous letters to Crouch, Amelia Bones and Alastor Moody to ensure someone came to their location.

They'd sent a few letters stating that the dead body of a certain Dark Lord and a fair number of his primary followers were unconscious and awaiting capture just outside the Shrieking Shack in an abandoned clearing.

A surprisingly short while later (he'd heard many dreadful things about Auror response time), various members of the DMLE had shown up en masse to investigate the scene before them. Regulus could tell they hadn't actually expected to find a number of genuine Death Eaters, most of them some of the most notorious, captured and being offered up to them on a silver platter.

He and Harry were currently stood to the side of the clearing huddled together under Harry's cloak, making sure that the Ministry was actually doing their job. Something which had seemed awkward when someone had realised one of the Death Eaters was actually the son of the Head of the DMLE. Crouch was certainly looking a little furious at the situation.

He supposed fury was one possible response. The other seemed to be the utter misery and denial etched on his older brother's face. He and Potter looked completely disbelieving, the Lord Potter (apparently) actually arguing with Amelia Bones to free his friend. James Potter seemed to be entirely convinced that there had been a mistake with Peter Pettigrew's place amongst the Death Eaters, though Regulus knew full well the snivelling man had come crawling to the Dark Lord by himself.

He'd seen the older man just once, though Regulus had had his face covered the entire time as per Voldemort's instructions. He was rather glad the insane man had forced Regulus to wear a mask the entire time he'd met the others, wanting to keep the fact that he had the 'control' of the House of Black a secret for a later date. Of course he wouldn't get the chance now, and while others had been suspicious of him being a Death Eater nobody had been given definitive proof. There was no way he could be implicated in the trials, and the fact that Harry had removed the Dark Mark was more than enough to ensure he stayed away from prison.

Not to mention his grandfather would simply help Regulus bribe his way out if it came to it.

Regulus looked up as the madness carried on, people moving left and right as they carted off bodies to the holding cells at the Ministry, including the very dead body of one Tom Riddle which nobody wanted to touch.

"The Aurors are probably going to want to question you at some point."

"I know," Regulus replied. "Perhaps we should relocate to a more public venue? That way when they try and make their accusations there will be witnesses to them being proven wrong."

Harry smirked at him. "You're such a Slytherin."

"You're not exactly the most noble lion yourself, you know."

"Well, the hat did try and put me in Slytherin first."

Regulus just sighed wearily at Harry's cheeky grin. It said something that he was becoming so accustomed to being wrong-footed.

Why am I not surprised?

"Black!"

Harry turned to see Moody stalk up to Regulus with a stern-looking Amelia and a furious Sirius behind him.

He felt his heart sink at the sight of his beloved godfather's face; the Sirius of this time was still an immature child that hadn't evolved past his narrow-minded hatred of all things Slytherin. While the adult Sirius had still been rather iffy towards the snakes, twelve years of Azkaban had muted that anger, especially as the person responsible for his new home had been a friend from Gryffindor.

Harry loved Sirius immensely but he didn't think the man was the most mature person around, and this situation had probably stirred up all sorts of issues floating around in the back of his head. He could only hope this would go well for Regulus.

"Auror Moody. To what do I owe the pleasure on this fine day?"

The Potter tried not to roll his eyes; Regulus managed to sound polite, bored and entirely apathetic all at the same time, all the while maintaining the standard 'pure-blood' mask of no emotions. He wondered if it said something about him that he found the look attractive.

"I have a warrant to search your arms for the Dark Mark."

They work quick.

It seemed as if having Lord Arcturus Black going mad at the Ministry had inadvertently lit a fire under the DMLE and they were now questioning everyone possibly involved. Though Harry did wonder who it was that suggested searching Regulus seeing as none of the other Death Eaters had been introduced to him yet. He had the sinking feeling the older Black brother was acting out in his anger.

Regulus kept his composure and raised a thin brow questioningly. "Is that so? I'm going to assume you wish to get this over and done with, so I shall oblige you as quickly as possible."

Before the Auror trio could try and haul Regulus off, the aristocratic man casually removed his robe and lay it on a nearby sign before starting to roll up his sleeves. By now there was a crowd avidly watching the spectacle of Aurors questioning a member of the House of Black, and Harry had to bite his tongue to stop the smirk that wanted to appear.

The Aurors wouldn't be able to dismiss the results after having performed the tests in public and they'd probably end up looking all the worse for it. Harry loved Sirius, but Regulus was someone that knew the real him and didn't care, so if Sirius started in on his brother he wouldn't let it stand.

Regulus finished expertly rolling his sleeves, adjusting the cuffs so they lay straight before holding his arms out in front of him with his palms up. At the sight of two bare arms most of the crowd looked to be won over, a few looking disapprovingly at the Ministry officials who were still frowning.

"That's all well and good, but there's more than one way to hide something."

Moody stalked forward and jabbed his wand towards Regulus' arms. The Black didn't move but Harry was sure he was feeling some sort of pain from the spell; the Potter didn't recognise the magic but he could tell it was invasive and not at all gentle.

Soon enough the paranoid Auror had cast every detection spell he could think of and begrudging backed away. "He's clean."

Amelia cleared her throat looking embarrassed. "Mr Black, I apologise for –"

"There's no way!"

Everyone, including the crowd, turned to Sirius as he shouted, a slightly crazed look to his grey eyes. "He has to be a Death Eater!"

"And why is that, Auror Black?"

Eyes were suddenly on Harry as he looked up at the cluster of people from his spot next to a display case.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, why are you so determined that Regulus Black is a Death Eater when it has clearly been proven that he has no Dark Mark? Do you have so little faith in your colleague's ability to discover a hidden mark?"

"Because I know him! He's always been a good little Death Eater in training, learning dark magic and curses. There's no way he's not one, I know what he's like!" Sirius shouted.

Harry felt the urge to cry but ignored it. "Oh really? It's interesting you say that Mr Black, especially as it's common knowledge that the two of you haven't had proper contact in years. The fact that you didn't speak at Hogwarts is common knowledge, the fact that you ran away from home at the age of sixteen is also fairly well known, as is the fact that you don't have any contact with your family at all, nor have you for years.

"So no, Mr Black, I don't think you know Regulus Black. He's been a stranger to you for far too many years for you to be able to say that you know him. Not to mention I'm more than a little concerned about you working on a case investigating your estranged brother. The familial relationship aside, your feelings on the matter are clearly less than professional. Are you sure there isn't a conflict of interest on this case? If this is how the Department of Magical Law Enforcement handles things, I dread to think of what sort of morals you have."

His words seemed to have caused a metaphorical shock in everyone listening to him, and Harry mentally thanked Andromeda for her lessons once more. Moody looked more than a little pissed off but also strangely approving, and Harry remembered that the crazy man had always thought it better for people to think for themselves. Amelia looked utterly mortified at this point, especially after having her department's deficiencies pointed out for the – approving – crowd to hear.

Sirius looked like he'd slapped in the face.

He stepped back from Harry, face paling and gaping, eyes darting back and forth from Harry to Regulus. The sight of pale and bare arms still on display kept catching his attention, and Harry thought he could see a hint of remorse in the familiar silver eyes. He didn't know if their relationship would ever get better, but hopefully Sirius wouldn't automatically think the worst of Regulus for simply being himself.

"Is that all, or do you need me to strip down naked to assure you of my bare skin?"

Harry choked at the drawling and mocking tone, though he was more focused on the images that had sprung to mind from the sarcastic words. No, bad Harry! Do not think about naked Regulus, stop it!

He shook of the unwanted – but oh-so-wanted – images just in time to see trio of Aurors bid a hasty retreat under the eyes of the disapproving public, though Sirius' eyes looked incredibly conflicted. Harry just hoped he would start to realise not everything existed in black and white.

Regulus had his back to Harry, pulling his robe back on with effortless grace. Bastard. He turned around and gave Harry a strange look.

"Thank you. For defending me."

I want him.

The thought was like a punch to the gut and he suddenly remembered that little voice in the back of his head. It was telling him to take his time, but the last time he'd ignored that voice he'd gotten to meet Regulus Black and had made the best of a weird situation. He could do it again. He might have almost been put in Slytherin, but he was still an impulsive Gryffindor.

"Regulus, can we go back? Like, now?"

The Black frowned before striding towards the Apparition point with a hand on Harry's shoulder. A quick Side-Along later and the two were stood in the drawing room.

"Harry, what –"

Regulus' words were unfortunately cut off before he could ask anything, but fortunately they were cut off by Harry.

By Harry's lips to be exact.

Harry held on to the other man's waist for a few seconds before he pulled back breathlessly. He had a feeling his face was flushed but he really didn't care. Well, as long as Regulus didn't care, anyway.

"Please tell me this is okay."

Considering Regulus' reply was to spin him around and shove him against the wall, devouring his mouth as he did so, Harry had a feeling the reply was positive.

He wrapped his hands around the other man's neck and pulled him closer.

I knew ignoring that voice wasn't bad.

A/N: Hey guys!

Hopefully you don't absolutely hate me for my ridiculous way of ending things with Voldemort this way, I just thought it would be so fun for Harry to make a complete mockery of everything Voldemort was by doing things like this. Sorry if you don't like it.

There's going to be an interlude chapter soon enough with reactions from other characters, and I'm also considering doing a part two of this later. It definitely won't be plot-based, more a slice of life fic about Harry and Regulus' lives together. What do you think? Let me know :)

Until next time!