Part Forty-Four
Regulus turned to leave with his family, hoping that an opportunity would occur to him later, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find his cousin Andromeda standing there holding her sleeping two-year-old daughter. "Andy," he said, giving her a hug, "I've missed you."
"Reggie, are you not even going to say hello to your brother? You know how much it would mean to him," Andromeda pleaded.
"Andy, I… Do you have parchment and a quill?" he asked, thinking of a solution to his problem.
She sighed, "Here."
Regulus wrote a brief note and handed it to Andromeda asking her to give it to Professor Dumbledore. "You know I can't speak to him, Andy. It wouldn't look right."
"Reggie, if you thought less about how things would look…" Andromeda's words fell on supposedly deaf ears.
I wouldn't be doing this at all if I thought about how this would look, Regulusthought. I'm tired of pretending to be what everyone expects me to be. He paused for a moment and then wrote a second note and asked his cousin to deliver it to Sirius.
Remus, calm down, Freedom said, for perhaps the hundredth time in twentyminutes.
Calm down?! How can I calm down?! That traitor must pay for all the lives he's ruined!
Remus, he hasn't betrayed them…
Betrayed!? You want to talk about being betrayed!? What do you call what he did to James's parents?!
Remus, we don't know that was…
We don't know that was him, were you going to say?! Who else knew that they would be home that day, Freedom?! Who else knew that they wouldn't be at work?!
Whoever works with them, I would guess! Freedom snapped, (yes, she knewthat it had most likely been the rat, as well, but that wouldn't help if she said so, and this situation was beginning to irritate her).
What about the article in the paper?! I'm going to get thrown out of Hogwarts because the rat decided he hadn't done enough damage and tipped them off!
Freedom had no answer for that.