His Greatest Wish, by AndromedaMarine
A/N: My muse is telling me to make a larger leap through time. You will see one of a few at the end of this chapter. Thank you, DaniWilder!
The Butterfly Effect
Kreacher obeyed his master, they disappeared through the Anti-Disapparition jinx cast by the Aurors, and Regulus thanked Merlin elves had a different kind of magic. Less than a second later, with a loud crack, Regulus and Kreacher appeared in the living room of the Longbottom residence. Sirius and Frank burst through the doorway with their wands out.
"Petrif—" Sirius started to cast the Full Body-Bind Curse, but he lowered his wand mid-spell when he realized it was Regulus and their house-elf. "Regulus?"
Frank hesitantly lowered his wand, keeping an eye on Kreacher, who crouched partially behind Regulus and looked just as creepy as Siri had described several times over.
A wave of panic passed over Regulus's face when he realized Kreacher really had taken him to his brother. "Sirius," he acknowledged finally, swallowing down a dry throat.
"What happened?" Sirius asked, his wand still clutched tightly in his hand, but aimed at the floor just in front of his brother's feet.
"I'm not really sure," Regulus answered slowly. "I just woke up maybe thirty seconds ago. There was this huge crash from downstairs and I heard the start of some kind of fight, but Kreacher appeared and he Apparated us here."
"Why did you come here?" Frank asked.
At this question an expression of worry crossed Reg's face again. "Sirius, didn't you get my letter?"
"Yes, but—"
"I couldn't go to any of my friends, Sirius, they're all supporters of You-Know-Who. They'd be suspicious as to why I left Grimmauld in the first place."
Oh, now he comes around, Sirius thought to himself. Not that it's a bad thing. I hope. "Well I should hope they wouldn't expect you to start fighting a bunch of Aurors, if that's who it was," Sirius replied.
"Like you'd know," Regulus said automatically in a scathing tone. He immediately regretted it when he remembered he'd come to his brother for help.
"Yeah, actually, I think I would. I've spent my life trying to distance myself from your lot, because I know what they're like."
Frank inserted himself in between the two brothers, who were slowly taking steps towards each other as if they were going to start physically fighting. "Guys," he said, lifting his hands on either side of him so his palms were facing the two brothers. He'd placed his wand in his pocket. "Sirius, you said yourself you hoped Regulus would come around, and look—he has. He wants out, don't you see? You can't start calling him one of them again, because he isn't."
Regulus stared with astonishment at Frank, the son of two powerful magical people who Walburga Black frequently referred to as traitors, for associating with Muggles by protecting them. Never had he expected anyone from Gryffindor to defend him to another Gryffindor, particularly his brother.
"I don't want to die," Regulus whispered quietly to the floor when he realized just how close to it he'd come. A battle between Aurors and Death Eaters in the drawing room—yes, because that was the perfect way to stay alive during a war of which he wanted no part.
Frank and Sirius fell silent and turned to look at the young Black together.
Sirius found it hard to believe that Regulus's transition was this simple, this fast, and wondered if somehow Sev had known something before trying to speak with him at the start of term. He and Reg had been at odds nearly all their lives, complete opposites of the spectrum that became obvious when they were Sorted.
"Look," Regulus continued, "I'm only here because you're the first person I thought of when Kreacher came up to my room."
"Just out of curiosity, why didn't you think of Severus Prince?" Frank asked.
Reg seemed surprised by this question. "Severus Prince isn't family. Sirius is."
Sirius was struck by this extremely uncharacteristic sentiment from his brother. "What exactly made you change your mind about You-Know-Who?"
Regulus answered immediately. "Narcissa told me about Lucius's initiation—poisoning Ward Arcturo, and how Rabastan got expelled for playing a part in it. And now Rabastan's in the Ministry's custody, and he'll probably get life in Azkaban, if not worse." No explanations were needed for what Regulus was referring to. "Look, logically, what You-Know-Who's trying to achieve just seems a bit stretched, at least to me. He must know he has to die someday, I mean nobody lives forever."
"You know," Frank said, "I think Sev in particular would really like to talk to you." He turned around and went back into the kitchen, jotted out a note and sealed it, and sent it with the family owl out the window.
Lily woke up hearing Sev's voice issue from the mirror on her bedside table. She rubbed her eyes and lifted the mirror. "Sev?"
"Lily, Frank sent me a message—you need to see it right now!" He appeared simultaneously excited and worried.
"Sev, it's not even eight thirty—wait, what kind of message?" Sev's use of the world message and not letter triggered something in her mind.
"Come over here, I don't want to read it to you over the mirrors. There's always a chance someone's listening."
"Petunia? Not likely." But she was already throwing off the covers. "I'll be there in a few minutes," she said into the mirror and then laid it face down on her table, ending the contact.
Lily left the house quietly, leaving a note on the kitchen table for her parents, and making sure the spare key was still in its hiding place before she went off towards Spinner's End. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon in the distance, but it had yet to reflect off the snow. She reached Sev's house a few minutes later, and when she knocked on the door it opened immediately.
Sev ushered her in and waited a little impatiently for her to take off her coat. Once she did, he handed her the parchment and stood there expectantly, watching as her eyes skimmed the familiar handwriting of Frank Longbottom.
Sev, Regulus Black and his house elf came to my house this morning after Aurors raided Grimmauld. He doesn't want a part of the Death Eaters. Owl me when you get this.
Lily's jaw dropped and she quickly met her best friend's eyes. Sev was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Where's a quill?" Lily pushed past Sev and went towards the kitchen, looking for a quill to write on the back of the note.
Sev stopped her. "I can do better than that," he said. "Remember when I taught you the Patronus?"
Lily nodded, her eyes wide.
"Remember I said they're used for messages?"
Lily's jaw began to drop again. "Yes…are you going to do that?"
"I already have," he replied. "Right after I got the note I sent my Patronus to the Longbottoms. I told them they could Floo here, if Frank's parents are all right with it."
Sev and Lily talked quietly for several more minutes. Eileen was already at the shop in Diagon Alley and was even scheduled to work on Christmas Eve, but not Christmas, since the Alley was for the most part closed on the holiday.
Green flames erupted in the fireplace of Spinner's End and one by one, Sirius, Frank, and Regulus came through. Kreacher clung to Regulus's leg. Sev and Lily stood up from where they had been sitting on the couch with mugs of tea, and Lily didn't wait for an invitation to rush forward and hug both Sirius and Frank. Sev regarded Regulus with interest, but when he saw Kreacher, his lips curled in involuntary disgust.
The wizened house elf has always regarded Sev as a blood traitor even though it was his mother who had married the Muggle. Kreacher didn't look anywhere except at Regulus's leg, and for the most part kept his mouth shut when he eventually looked around the room and saw Lily.
"I think my parents were involved with the fight at Grimmauld Place," Frank said once Lily released him. "We left them a note in case they get back home before we do. They said to contact McGonagall or Professor Hydrus if they're not back by Christmas."
"Wait, they're gone?" Lily asked.
Sirius nodded. Sev was still looking at Regulus, who had noticed and was looking back. The two seemed to be engaged in a staring contest, but Sev was actually using a little Legilimency to see what was going on inside Regulus's head without tipping him off. All he garnered was a feeling of insecurity and a fear, understandably related to what had gone down at Grimmauld Place.
Frank, Sirius, and Regulus were still at Spinner's End when Eileen returned from Diagon Alley for the day. Sev explained what had happened (leaving out the part where he cast a Patronus) and since Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom hadn't called on them, all they could do was figure that either the battle was still being waged or they just hadn't gotten a chance to come home yet. Sirius, Regulus, and Frank all stayed the night, but Sev walked Lily home, telling her to keep her wand close in case something happened.
It was late in the evening on Christmas Eve when the fireplace suddenly became green again. Lily, who was sitting in between Sev and Sirius on the couch, let out a squeak when she saw Augusta Longbottom's head floating in the flames.
"Mum!" Frank exclaimed, leaping from the chair he was sitting in to kneel in front of the fire. Eileen rushed out of the kitchen, dishtowel in her hands.
"Frank, Sirius," Augusta said rather breathlessly, "I want you to stay where you are, if Mrs. Prince is all right with it. Your father and I aren't finished working and don't want you by yourselves."
"It's no problem, Mrs. Longbottom," Eileen answered. "Would you like to step through? I think everyone here wants to know what's been going on."
"I hardly think this is the kind of thing young children should be exposed to—"
"Dumbledore wouldn't keep stuff like this from us," Lily and Sirius said at almost the exact moment. Sev wanted dearly to correct her, but knew that if he did, Augusta wouldn't say anything at all about what had gone down at Grimmauld. "We deserve to know, especially if we could be in danger. Besides, we already know that something happened involving the Aurors, obviously it was enough to prompt Regulus to find his brother at your house." Lily stopped speaking to look everyone in the eye. She was serious about getting her way.
Sev watched as Augusta took a moment and sighed, pursing her lips. She nodded curtly. Her head disappeared and several seconds later she stepped from the fireplace and into the Prince's living room. Before sitting down she pulled her son into a hug. "The Aurors raided the Black residence after we learned it was a meeting place for the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who."
Regulus quietly sat in the chair recently vacated by Frank and watched as Mrs. Longbottom spoke to the room. Kreacher was sitting on the floor behind the chair, tugging his bat ears down over his face. No one noticed him.
"Did you get anyone?" Frank asked. Sev's eyebrow went up when Mrs. Longbottom took a moment to answer.
"He escaped," she said with a sigh, and everyone listening knew she meant Voldemort. "We were able to capture half the Death Eaters there and another quarter of them were killed in the fight. The rest Disapparated with him. We were able to confirm the death of Antonin Dolohov as well as Rodolphous and Bellatrix Lestrange. The Malfoys were captured."
"Wasn't there an Anti-Disapparition jinx over Grimmauld Place?" Sev asked suddenly.
"Why, yes," Mrs. Longbottom answered. "Albus himself cast it. You-Know-Who is a very powerful wizard, and even he has his ways around jinxes like that. It just took him a little while to break through it."
Sev's mind had been working at lightning speed ever since Frank's mother confirmed Voldemort's escape from Grimmauld. Bellatrix, Rodolphous, and Dolohov were all killed and Lucius captured, and to Sev that meant three things: the cup Horcrux would not go to Bellatrix, the diary Horcrux would not go to Lucius, and Draco Malfoy would never be born because Narcissa and Lucius would never marry—since both would be imprisoned in Azkaban. By far Voldemort's best lieutenant had been taken down, but the deaths did not overshadow the escaped or the ones who weren't even in attendance. Many Death Eaters were still scattered throughout Britain and Sev knew that the wannabes in Slytherin would be furious about the holiday events.
The butterfly effect was snowballing faster and faster each day. In fact, the only Horcruxes Albus could currently obtain and destroy were the diadem and the Gaunt ring, respectively in the Room of Hidden Things and the abandoned house in Little Hangleton. The locket still had not been created, and because Regulus no longer wished to become a Death eater, it would not go into Kreacher's possession nor would Regulus be killed by Voldemort—at least, so Sev hoped.
Sev was lost deep in these thoughts when Lily snapped her fingers in front of his face. He blinked and their eyes met.
Augusta had returned home after receiving her husband's Patronus that they were no longer needed at the Ministry since Albus had everything under control. She took Frank, Sirius, Regulus, and Kreacher with her.
"Mum telephoned a minute ago," Lily said, watching her best friend's face. "Your mum wants you to walk me home." She didn't say what was on her mind: that it was obvious something very important had distracted him enough to miss the departure of their friends and not even hear the telephone ring.
"Right…" Sev replied with a distracted sort of smile as he retrieved his cloak and opened the front door.
Several days later the Daily Prophet published an article vaguely detailing the events of the attack on Grimmauld. Seven people had been captured, three killed, and four escaped.
AURORS FIGHT YOU-KNOW-WHO IN LONDON
Several days ago the Wizengamot authorized the use of Veritaserum on suspected Death Eaters, after two months of stalling from Miss Dolores Jane Umbridge and the Department of Wizard Rights. Immediately following this authorization, the Minister and Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, also current Headmaster of Hogwarts, administered the serum on recently-captured Rabastan Lestrange, former student of Hogwarts who was suspect in the murder of caretaker Ward Arcturo. Use of the serum revealed three names: Rodolphous and Bellatrix Lestrange, the subject's brother and sister-in-law, as well as Lucius Malfoy who, after further questioning of Rabastan, the Ministry learned had performed the murder of Ward Arcturo as his initiation into You-Know-Who's ranks.
After learning this information the Aurors were led by Dumbledore and the Head of the Auror Department on a raid to the Lestrange Estate, but the mansion and grounds were empty. Further investigation at Malfoy Manor led the team to Grimmauld Place, which was raided.
Of the fourteen people at the residence, seven were captured, three killed, and four escaped.
Killed: Rodolphous Lestrange, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Antonin Dolohov.
Escaped: You-Know-Who, Marc Avery, Richard Mulciber, and Titus Rosier.
Captured: Walburga Black, Orion Black, Abraxus Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Black, Thorfinn Rowle, and Joseph Nott.
More information about these Death Eaters arrives every hour, but with these seven in custody, You-Know-Who's reign of terror may come to an end much sooner than he anticipated.
Christmas came and so did the New Year, and soon Sev and Lily found themselves back on the Hogwarts Express speeding north over the English countryside, in a larger compartment than usual. It wasn't just the Circle of Seven; Regulus had joined them also. Dumbledore had been contacted about the younger Black's situation, considering Walburga and Orion were among the captured. Although he wouldn't sit at the Gryffindor table, Reg avoided most of his classmates at the Slytherin table.
The months began to pass rather quickly, Sev and Lily turned thirteen, and before they knew it Easter had already happened and they were facing their final exams. Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup thanks to the three skilled Chasers working in unison (their Keeper wasn't too shabby either), Sev was unsurprisingly named the top in their year, and on the last day of term, the Circle of Seven, plus Regulus, could be found out on the grass beneath the oak tree on the edge of the lake.
Sev took a stone from the bank where he sat and hurled it into the water, watching with rapt interest as the ripples extended out into the lake.
He thought of his life, of Lily, the Circle, and of Regulus.
He thought of Dumbledore, Voldemort and the Horcruxes.
And when Lily called his name and invited him to join her in a game of Exploding Snap with the rest of their friends, the ripples on the water drifted out of his thoughts.
He loved the butterfly effect.