Hello, hello, hello!
Thanks again for all the reviews. You make my day :)
Glad to hear so many of you are overjoyed that Regulus survived. Killing him seems like a waste of a good, intriguing character. It's a shame we never really got to know him in canon.
On with the show!
If Someone Cared Enough
Chapter 114: Welcome Back-You're Busted
The group returned to Prince Manor to find the matching displeased frowns of Hank and Willow Evans, a nervous Ponderosa, a worried Eileen, and a thoroughly furious Augusta Longbottom.
"Reckless lot of fools!" she spat out, quite literally spitting on the ground in disgust, "Can never stay out of trouble more than a second."
Simone for her part gave off an applause-worthy air of nonchalance, "I don't know what you're talking about. We merely went looking for something to treat Kreacher with. Pretty run of the mill errand, wouldn't you say?"
"More like a run of the mill suicide mission," Petunia snorted as she entered the room, arms laden with blankets.
"Take these," she ordered rather than told Regulus, "You'll catch your death of cold."
Regulus took the proffered blanket with nary a protest, wrapping himself up in it immediately and breathing a sigh of relief at the warmth.
Simone stared at Petunia, giving nothing away in her blank expression, "Pet, you're overreacting. We were only gone for a little bit."
"Try several hours," Petunia snapped, smacking a balled up blanket into Simone's chest with a hurt look. She was far gentler and kinder handing one to Thea, "My first time seeing you in months and you disappear all afternoon to try and get yourself killed."
Simone's eyes softened, "Pet…"
"There's no use trying to deny it," Willow intervened, brow furrowed the most Severus had ever seen, "We all know what you've been up to today."
"That's right!" Augusta jumped in. She pointed a wrinkled, bony finger at Regulus, "It took a bit of time for him to come to, but your house elf told me everything. Inferi! Are you all daft in the head?!"
"To be fair, we didn't know there were inferi in the lake when we went," Severus defended, "That was as much as surprise to us as it is you all of you…"
The glares he received cowed him instantly.
His mother's eyes were the worst, swimming with nothing but heartbreaking concern.
She came over to rewrap the blanket draped over his shoulders.
"You could have been killed," she whispered softly, eyes scanning Severus over for injuries.
She gasped when she noticed the bloody bandage around his wrist, "What in Salazar's name happened?"
"It's nothing," Severus assured, tugging his hand away to readjust the bandages; he'd need an actual salve to close to wound, "I did it myself."
Eileen and Willow looked positively scandalized.
"Why would you hurt yourself?" Willow asked, coming over to hand Eileen her handkerchief. The other woman gave her a grateful smile and blotted the blood seeping through Severus's wrappings.
Severus spared Regulus a wary glance, "Well…the inferi were put there to kill anyone who sought a drink from the lake."
"And there was a potion one had to drink that specifically makes you nearly die of thrist," Simone added.
Severus nodded his thanks for her help explaining things, "So Regulus…drank the potion—it was the only way to get something we needed!" he threw in at the aghast expressions on all the adults faces, "But he needed something to drink, and we couldn't summon or conjure water…nor get it from the lake. So I…"
He mimed slashing his wrist.
Willow gasped in horror. Hank look absolutely green.
Eileen clapped her hands to her mouth.
Augusta for her part seemed mildly surprised but then again it was clear she thought nothing dangerous was too out of question for the foolhardy teens before her.
"He drank your blood?" Ponderosa gasped, eyes widening in realization. He shot a troubled look at Severus.
"Blood drinking isn't some paltry thing for magic folk, Severus," he cautioned, apprehension plain as day on his face, "It's a pact, a magical ritual. By saving him with your blood, you hold a life debt with him; one of the most powerful short of an Unbreakable Vow."
Severus eyebrows shot into his hair; had he actually done that?
He glanced at Regulus. When he'd fed the boy his blood, it has just been a desperate attempt to stall his thirst, the only way to sooth him. He hadn't given the implications much thought. All the blood magic he'd read up on pertained to far darker, more elaborate rituals. Chanting, runes, carvings into the skin or blood of an unwilling sacrifice. It hadn't occurred to him the blood itself was a magical component on it's own; he'd been under the impression it was the spell or runes that gave blood its power.
How was he to know that the mere act of having someone drink his blood at the brink of death would do anything other than satiate an unquenchable thirst?
"I-I didn't know," he admitted softly, "He just…there wasn't any water and I didn't…I didn't know all the potion might do. I just wanted to ease his suffering…"
"Why do you think we stick to blood replenishers instead of the muggle's method of transfusion?" Ponderosa asked, "Saving someone's life with your blood is essentially using the magic in your blood to revive them. You form a pact by doing so."
Severus was stunned.
He turned to Regulus, "Reg…I'm sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing."
Regulus stared at the floor in contemplatively silence, hands clenched around the blanket draped over him.
"It's fine," he said after a moment. He raised his head, chin up with pride and determination.
"Better to owe a friend a debt," he said with conviction, "Then have a master own my life."
The steely fire in his eyes died down slightly, replaced by worry. He turned to Augusta, "May I see Kreacher? Please?"
Augusta huffed, nodding stiffly, "I suppose he'll be wanting to see you're alive. Bloody wretch had to be hexed to the settee; kept thinking he was going to go and find you himself, weak as he was."
She led Regulus out of the room, the dark haired boy following hurriedly behind her, eager to see his closest companion.
"So," Willow said after some time. She swept her gaze up and down the teens gathered in the foyer, "What do you all have to say for yourselves?"
"I am a bloody grown woman," Simone muttered, arms crossed.
Thea elbowed her in the side, making the taller girl cringe.
"We're sorry," Simone said in a clipped tone, pointedly looking at the rug.
"Yeah, mum," Lily nodded, "We're really sorry. We never meant to worry you."
"Well you did," Hank scolded.
Petunia put her hands on her hips, "I nearly called Kingsley to come look for you all. The only reason I didn't is because Lily made me promise not to."
"And we appreciate it," Severus told her sincerely, "Kingsley's too close to Dumbledore; if he was ever captured, he'd be interrogated for information. That's why we didn't want to involve a lot of people."
Ponderosa patted Eileen's shoulder, eyes fixed firmly on the frail woman's son.
"Severus, I know you feel a sense of duty to help those around you," he began, "But you should have contacted the Headmaster himself when Regulus came to you. Certainly Albus could have looked after him. There was no need to risk your lives."
"But that's just the thing," Severus grit out, "There is."
He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I know to you all we're just children, but whether any of us like it the war outside has become our war. Mine and Lily's, Simone and Thea's."
"I don't want to stick my neck out for this stupid fight," Severus confessed, "Nor do I want Lily or anyone else I care about doing it. But it's not like we have the choice to do nothing. It's directly affecting us; if we don't put a stop to it now we're the ones who will be here suffering after your generation is gone."
"You-Know-Who aims to rule the world," Thea said softly, "What he plans to make isn't a world with a future for any of us. We have to act now if we're ever going to stop that future."
Severus gestured towards Thea, "Exactly. Sitting back and expecting some other army to win against evil has never worked out. There's a few muggles wars that prove things didn't get better by laying low and letting things work themselves out. What was that man's name? Hitler? How long did some countries let him spread his hold across Europe before they realized he wasn't going to stop? Anyone who can fight back, should."
Lily glared at Severus, "Oh sure now you're all preachy about fighting the good fight."
Severus turned to her, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means only a few hours ago you expected me to sit back while you and Regulus went in there alone," Lily said with annoyance.
Severus huffed, "I meant what I said; the last thing I want is for you to risk your life."
"Oh so it's fine if you do it?" Lily countered, "You can go off and die, leave me without a boyfriend and I'll what? Spend my days as a spinster? Marry Potter?"
Severus grimaced, "Don't even suggest such a thing. Anyway, I said I was sorry."
Lily raised a brow, hands on her hips, "No, what you said was, 'I guess it was good you came along'," Lily even perfected Severus signature scowl with her impression, "That's hardly an apology."
Severus sighed, "Well I'm saying it now: I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask you to stand on the sidelines."
Lily glowered at Severus, "And yet you always do."
"Do you guys just have this fight every time you jump into something dangerous?" Simone asked in amusement.
"No," Severus said at the same time Lily said, "Yes."
Ponderosa cleared his throat, "Um, back to the moment at hand, if you please."
"Yes," Willow said tartly, "The matter at hand is that you all behaved recklessly, foolishly, and caused all of us a great deal of worry."
"I'm most disappointed in you, Severus," Willow scolded, "Your mother has been through quite enough emotional duress already. The last thing she needs is to worry every second whether you're off getting yourself killed."
Severus shifted guiltily, glancing at his mother, "Sorry, mum."
Eileen smiled weakly at her son, reaching out to push some of his hair behind his ear, "I had no idea where you'd gone. All I'd known was that you had went wherever that house elf had come from, and he'd come here in such a terrible state."
Her eyes welled with tears, "I didn't know if that was going to happen to you as well. Or worse."
"I never meant to worry you," Severus insisted, genuinely feeling like a Grade A ass for putting his mother through all that, "I just…I wanted to help Regulus."
Eileen cupped her son's face, "My sweet, giving boy…"
Willow wasn't done with the teens yet. She pointed at Lily and Severus, "As long as you two live under any roof we and Eileen are under, you will live by our rules."
"With that being said, you're both grounded," Willow continued. She paused, turning to Eileen, "If that is alright with you, dear."
Eileen tilted her head in thought, "I suppose it is my job to discipline my child…grounding is fine."
"Right," Willow turned back to the teens, "Severus, Lily, no leaving the house for two weeks. No potion practice—that's a fun activity, young man, don't try and tell me it's homework," she chided Severus when he went to protest.
"Is grounding really any different than what we're doing now?" Lily whined, "We're hardly ever are allowed out of the house now anyway. We've been hiding here."
"Plus if we can't leave the manor how are we supposed to get school supplies?" Severus asked curiously.
Lily nodded, "He's right, school is right around the corner. We can't go back without supplies."
"Besides," she added, arms folded over her chest, "We're seventeen. That's an adult in wizard law."
"Well it isn't in Mum's Law," Willow replied dryly, "You may go school shopping, but that's it. Consider fun over until school starts."
She looked at Simone and Thea, "And you two—"
"Woah!" Simone cut her off, hands raised, "Technically we're fugitives. Hardly think it's wise to ground us here and get caught housing us."
"Simone is going to be in plenty of trouble when we get back to where we're staying," Thea assured, "Punishment for worrying me and not telling our contact to meet her there." The last of her sentence was said with a disapproving glare at her wife.
Simone blanched, "On second thought…perhaps I should stay here. Catch up on things with Petunia…"
"Nice try," Thea's hand clamped down on Simone's shoulder. She smiled warmly at the others.
"It was wonderful seeing you all again," she said sweetly, "Petunia, when all this mess is over, we should grab lunch."
"Ta-tah!" Thea and a worried Simone popped out of sight with a crack.
"Well, she's back to only being able to punish two of us," Severus muttered out the side of his mouth.
Willow narrowed her eyes, "Not quite…Petunia!"
Her eldest daughter snapped to attention.
"You were aware that these two were heading off to do something dangerous?" Willow asked demandingly.
Petunia faltered under her mother's glare, "…yes?"
Willow's scowl became more pronounced, "And you didn't think to try and get a hold of us? Or maybe an auror?"
"I-I was sworn to secrecy," Petunia stammered out, "Besides, I had a house elf to look after. I sort of had my hands full!"
"You should have called for us, Tuney," Hank admonished, wagging a finger, "If you had contacted the ministry via floo, you could have sent Kingsley to fetch us."
Petunia twiddled her thumbs nervously, "I suppose I should have done something…"
"Which is why you're punishment is no visits from Kingsley," Willow said with finality.
Petunia looked ready to argue, ready to point out she was a grown woman in University and not a little girl to be sent off to her room, but the fight left her under the commanding stare of her mother.
"Oh lay off them, Willow," Augusta harped as she reentered the room with Regulus, "They're hardly helpless babies."
"House elf's fine," she told everyone, "More than happy to rest now that he's seen his charge is safe."
She cleared her throat, "Anyway, these kids are right: they're not kids anymore. Seventeen is plenty old enough to decide for yourself to do what's right."
"You were just about ready to throttle them only a few moments ago," Hank pointed out, confused.
Augusta shrugged, "I want to throttle everyone most of the time. I'm a crone; sue me. Do you think I like having my Frank run off into every fight, wand blazing, ready to get his head blown off? Hardly."
"But I'm proud," she went on with pride, "He's standing for what he believes in and he's brave. At the end of the day I can't stop him from doing what he wants, but I can take pride in knowing my boy's a hero."
"But they're so young," Willow protested, gesturing to her children and Severus.
"Old enough to drink," Augusta replied, "Old enough to fight. Hell, they're old enough to start a family."
Lily and Severus flushed scarlet.
Augusta waved a hand, "Why grant them so many other rights and expectations but deny them the right to fight? It's theirs and their friends' freedoms at stake; why tell them they can't have a part in securing their future?"
Willow and Hank exchanged contemplative looks, worry and doubt still swimming in their eyes.
"Anyway," Augusta went on, slapping a knobby, withered hand onto Regulus shoulder, "If you're looking for a young one to punish, this one here's not of age and he did all the same things they did today."
"What?" Regulus bawked, stepping away from the old woman, "I'm not even your child."
"Well you might as well be now," came Augusta's clipped reply, "It isn't like you've got a home to go back, is it?"
Regulus went to protest but faltered. It hadn't occurred to him what his actions might mean for him.
Augusta gave him a knowing look.
"If you go back, you'll probably be forced to take the mark at some point, won't you?" she asked.
Regulus didn't answer, eyes fixed on the floor.
"And if that man is as good a legilimens as they say," Augusta went on, "Then he'll probably see just what you've been up to today. You'd be dead in a heartbeat; if he was kind enough to kill you, that is."
"But I have to go home," Regulus said feebly, "M-my mother…"
Severus stepped forward cautiously, "No offense, Reg, but I've been in your head enough times today to have met your mother…she isn't exactly someone worth going back to."
"B-but…"
Augusta placed a hand on Regulus's arm, "Consider yourself officially a refugee, boy. Welcome home!"
"But what about Kreacher?" Regulus asked worriedly, "I can't just abandoned him. He'd be crushed. And mother would just make him tell her where I was."
Augusta snorted, "She could…if he still belonged to her."
Regulus have her a perplexed frown, "What?"
"That elf raise you, boy?" Augusta asked. At Regulus's nod she continued, "A child-rearing house elf's ownership is generational; if the child so chooses they may have possession of that elf transferred to them upon reaching adulthood. It's how a lot of wizards and witches get their first house elf for their own homes; the elf that raised them becomes theirs by right."
"But I'm not of age yet," Regulus pointed out.
Ponderosa stepped forward, "Technically no…but since you've essentially excommunicated yourself from your family, by law you could represent yourself as an adult. Sirius had rights to Kreacher as well; he just never invoked them when your mother disowned him. Had he done so, you as the other child raised by Kreacher could have challenged his claim…be it by a hearing or by duel.
"There's an old ritual for severing ties with family, "Augusta explained gruffly, "Used by plenty of witches fleeing arranged marriages or abusive husbands; essentially to all magical records your 'dead' to them. They can't prove your alive, all family tapestries list you as dead, all ministry records mark you deceased."
Regulus grimaced, "But I don't want to be 'dead'. Someday I might want to come out of hiding. What then?"
Augusta sniffed, "I was getting to that. The only way to undo the spell is to submit your blood to the Goblins at Gringotts. They are masters at bloodline magic and you have to go to when you want to prove your relation to someone."
"Once the war ends," Ponderosa took over, "You could come back as the long thought dead son of the House of Black and reinstate all your claim as heir. The ritual is complicated; takes some pretty skilled hands to accomplish."
"And I have a good feeling of what powerful wizard we can ask to do it," Severus grumbled.
Ponderosa nodded, "Basically the spell acts as an unofficial emancipation from one's family. They can't prove you're alive even if they suspect you ran away. Short of bumping into you on the street, you're dead to them; your own person to do as you wish, unbeholden to their rules."
"But what about Kreachers?" Regulus asked.
"A quick ritual could declare Kreacher's yours by right," Augusta explained, "then you don't have to worry about mummy dearest summoning him back. Without the ability to summon him back, she'll have no choice but to assume he 'died' as well."
"And more likely than not your mother will believe the only possible conclusion is that you're dead," Severus pointed out.
Everyone looked at him in puzzlement.
"How come you're so sure?" Lily asked.
Severus shrugged, "Walburga Black is a barmy woman who believes her family is worth all it's weight in gold. While Sirius was a thorn in her side, she's always clearly seen Regulus as the dutiful, obedient son she always wanted. It's probably inconceivable to her that Regulus would turn his back on all she taught him. If he just up and disappears, she might just assume someone did away with him; it would be preferable in her mind to thinking he disobeyed her."
"Plus she's batshit crazy," Severus finished.
"And if she finds no trace of him, she won't have proof of what happened either way," Augusta added, "So long as he lives under a magical roof, the trace won't pick up on him using magic. And he won't have a mark to be summoned or tracked by."
No one had a good argument for it; it was sound logic for the most part.
She shrugged, "It's settled, "Regulus and Kreacher are dead."
"But my schooling," Regulus protested, "I still have two more years left."
"Hopefully by the start of your seventh year we'll have ended this war then," Severus replied.
"In the meantime, there's no reason I couldn't tutor you," Augusta declared, "I already plan to be reteaching Eileen some basics from her school years; adding you to the roster won't change much."
"So I'll be spending a lot of time with you," Regulus surmised. He looked positively horrified.
Augusta slapped him on the back, "You're stuck with me. Congratulations!"
"I have one question still," Petunia spoke up. She turned to her sister, "The thing you guys went to get from the cave…did you get it?"
Lily turned to Severus expectantly, "Is it still safe?"
Severus reached into his pocket, pulling out the dragonhide wrapped locket.
"It's here," he said, waving the bundle. He looked down at it warily, "Even through all these layers I can still feel it trying to work it's evil magic. To corrupt…to poison."
"So what's the next step?" Regulus asked.
"It can't be destroyed by normal means," Severus explained.
He looked up at the others, "As begrudged as I am to admit it…I think we'll need some help."
{page break}
Somewhere on the shore of a quaint little summer cottage, a young woman with bouncy, brown curls and rosy cheeks sat outside on a bench overlooking the water. Cup in hand, she sipped lazily on lavender tea and idly nibbled on a scone as she listened to the waves roll in and out on the beach. Wind rustled her hair, salty air tickling her nose and making her sigh.
"Mary," called a woman's voice from inside, the glow of light in the kitchen window casting shadows, "Time to eat."
"Coming, Nana," Mary replied, standing up to gather her cup and saucer.
It was always nice to visit her Nan, the elderly woman bringing nothing but sweet kindness and cozy hugs whenever she saw her grandchildren, but the growing tensions out in the world made it harder to enjoy these moments of quiet.
Mary couldn't help but wonder how her friends were, about what the future would hold. More and more people were disappearing all across England, homes found destroyed with ominous symbols floating in the sky. Children were becoming orphans as parents didn't make it home, families mourned sons and daughters vanished without a trace. It was terrifying to think just how bad things were becoming.
Mary pulled her summer shawl closer shuddering from a sudden chill. Would there are be an end to the terror?
A hooting caught Mary's attention just as she went to enter the cottage, making her pause in the door. Turning, she spotted a sleek, tawny owl gliding towards her on the ocean breeze.
"Well hello there," she greeted as the owl landed on the table she'd sat at moments before, "Don't you look familiar. Did a certain redheaded friend of mine send you?"
The owl hooted in answer, holding out it's leg.
"For me?" Mary cooed, taking the letter and giving the owl a treat. She waved as the owl flew off.
Mary examined the envelope, seeing her name written in familiar loopy writing on the front.
"Let's see what this is," she murmured. Breaking the wax seal, she pulled out the letter and unfolded it.
Her gasp drew her grandmother out of the house, "Mary? Mary what's wrong?"
She came outside to find her granddaughter slumped on her knees, hand over her mouth.
"Mary, dear, what is it?" she asked Mary, grabbing her by the shoulders.
Mary didn't answer, continuing to stare at the letter as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Mulciber is dead
Even as Mary sobbed, she couldn't say she had ever felt such relief.
So Regulus is 'dead' and Kreacher too. Wonder how Sirius will react to the news. Word of the sudden disappearance of the Black family's remaining heir is bound to get around.
So Simone and Thea have checked out again. Might be a while before they return, but then again, they aren't the main characters.
I felt the need to add that little tidbit with Mary. Seemed important that she know her attacker can never harm her again.
Review please :)