Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter. Sequel to the one-shot, I of the Storm.

Obscured Away No More

"Regulus?"

There was a strange sinking feeling of dread in the back of Orion's mind, to the point he finally decided to react to that feeling. With each step on each creaking stair, he came closer to the rooms of his children, the oldest long gone having fled the house while the youngest was still there under their roof, only to feel like a shadow of the person Orion knew his youngest to be.

It was there that he discovered light creeping under the door frame, indicating Regulus was still away, which surprised him as he'd been sure when he'd caught Regulus in his study that he'd told the boy to head to bed, which was, in turn, the reason he'd hesitated so much in approaching his youngest to broach the subject, knowing what he'd found in his study—what Regulus had been looking at really couldn't wait until the morning.

Something wasn't quite right.

So Orion opened the door, calling out to his son.

And there Regulus was, standing by his desk doing something that he'd not wanted to be caught doing. And then, "Sir?"

"Regulus, can we talk?"

"I'm not sure what there is to talk about," Regulus said, looking at the floor of his room.

"How about we start with you still being awake when I told you to go to bed?"

"Studying," Regulus muttered.

"Except you're not. You're not studying, are you?"

"No, sir," said the boy. It wasn't that Regulus couldn't lie.

"No. You prefer your little white lies, don't you, my boy? Because you hate lying as much as you hate disappointing others." Orion stepped in and closed the door behind him, carefully watching Regulus, tilting his head as he did so, but one of the first things he noticed was Regulus wasn't dressed for bed. The second was how Regulus had objects arranged on the desk as if he were planning something. Orion stepped over, carefully looking at the items, and asked, "Now, what would you want with a knife?"

Regulus didn't answer, but then-

Orion turned his head slightly so he might look at the boy, who'd tucked his hands behind his back while pushing his lips together as his gray eyes focused on the ground. "You don't want to tell me?"

"Sorry."

Orion let out a sigh. "And you don't think we have anything to talk about, dear one?"

To which Regulus stiffened, his head darting up to look at his father. "What?"

"I asked if you really didn't think we have anything to talk about?"

"No. I mean, what did you call me?"

"Dear one," Orion said, watching the boy start to fidget, his head darting to the side, panic beginning to sit in. He set a hand on the back of the chair in front of Regulus' desk. "Little one, don't you remember me saying that I love you?"

"Why?" Regulus looked at him at that moment, that child who rarely ever looked someone in the eye.

"Because you are my little one."

"I'm the spare."

Orion stared. "You mean the spare Walburga, and I never expected to have?"

Regulus looked away, worrying his lip, trying to keep his composure. The boy was good at keeping up that mask most of the time, but it seemed—honestly, it seemed as if Regulus was somehow becoming unraveled. And Orion waited, hoping Regulus might clarify his train of thought, hoping not to pry the boy for too much information. "Because I wasn't wanted."

"No. Because we hadn't even been trying, we thought," Orion paused, frowning., realization dawning on him. "I just realized that's a conversation I've never had with you."

"How can you just realize that," Regulus said. "You're not stupid like that."

"I'm not stupid like that?" Orion asked back, wondering where Regulus was going. Thankfully something clicked. "Oh. No. I'm talking about a completely different conversation that might have made this conversation a bit easier for you to understand. I'm talking about how I've not talked to you about how—um, well." Orion sighed. "Sex."

He wasn't surprised when Regulus' head darted up, his cheeks and tips of his ears turning a vivid red. But what Regulus said next surprised him. "How? How did you know?"

Orion stared, realizing that Regulus's face's redness was a level of panic. His hand tightened on the back of the chair, and he made his voice firm. "Regulus, are you telling me you've had premarital sex?"

Regulus looked at him in horror, his mouth opening like a fish.

"I'll take that as a yes. Seriously. I'd expect that of Sirius, but you?"

He watched Regulus begin to tremble, his hands dropping to his side as he looked at the ground. "I'm not perfect! When will you and maman understand that!"

"I've always understood that," Orion said firmly. "But having premarital sex? I thought you would have known better. Why would you do something like that?"

"Because whoever you pick," Regulus said, his head shooting up as he looked his father in the eye. There was a pain in those eyes, yet Regulus realized, as indicated by how he now gripped his arms tightly and hugged himself, that he'd overstepped. He looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Orion stared, observing Regulus. "You were saying something about who we pick?"

"As in who I'm expected to marry."

"Regulus, do you really think we wouldn't let you have a say?" Orion asked. The boy glanced to the side of the room, worrying his lip. "And here's a chance for you to say something."

Regulus shook his head. "It's not something you'll want to hear."

"Can I be the judge of it?"

"Let's just say, if she heard me say it, she'd probably be screaming at me louder than she ever did to Sirius," Regulus said.

Orion frowned, trying to figure out what his youngest was getting at. "Regulus, are you not into girls?"

To which Regulus looked at him in confusion. "Am I not into girls? I'd not really thought about it, but I did enjoy," to which his mouth snapped shut, and the redness returned to his face. "Um? Should we be having this conversation?"

"We should definitely be having this conversation," Orion said firmly. "It was a girl you had sex with?"

"That's a rather weird question to ask," Regulus said. "But please. Please don't ask about her. She has nothing to do with this."

"But doesn't that mean there is a girl you've taken an interest in?" Orion asked.

It was then that Regulus gave him that look, the one he'd always provided when asked a question about what Sirius was up to, one which clearly said, "you don't want the answer to that."

Orion glared at his youngest, pointing to the edge of the bed. "Sit. Now. We're definitely having this conversation, Regulus."

Regulus didn't move.

"What if I promise none of this will be repeated to your mother?"

Regulus looked up, a hopeful look on his face. "Promise?"

Orion glared.

Regulus let out a sigh, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Orion turned the chair, facing Regulus, sitting on the bed and sitting down. "So, is it safe to assume she's not a Pureblood?"

"As if any of the Pureblood girls would ever give me a chance," Regulus said, gritting his teeth together. He then stiffened, looking at his father.

"And what's that about? You're the heir of the Black family now, so surely there are girls who've taken an interest in you." Orion watched Regulus squirm, his hands lowering, so he clenched the bed sheets. "Regulus, be honest with me."

"Will you kill me if I say it's a Muggle girl?"

"Bloody Merlin, Regulus!" Orion took a deep breath, finding himself glad Walburga wasn't there. "Why?"

"Why?"

"That's what I asked."

"You want the honest truth?"

"Regulus, I already asked you to be honest with me."

"Because she was nice to me."

Orion sighed. "Regulus, you can't have sex with every girl who is nice to you."

"Well, it should please you to know she's the only one who's ever been nice to me, so there's not much problem with that, now, is there?" Regulus said.

"Is that what you meant by no Pureblood girls giving you a chance?" Orion said.

"They only care about the family name," Regulus said. "And I know that's what I'm going to be saddled with."

"What about a half-blood?" Orion said his throat tightening.

Regulus looked up at him. "As if maman would allow for that. She'd rather pretend nothing is wrong with me."

Orion took a deep breath. "If you don't want to marry, you don't have to."

And that had an unexpected reaction from his youngest. He was visibly startled, relaxed even. His silver eyes blinked relatively fast. Eventually, he said, "Me? The last chance the Black family has, not marrying?" Regulus shook his head, leaning back while looking at the small window. "She wouldn't allow for it. But I'm resigned to my fate."

"You mean like you're resigned to your fate of becoming an Obscurial?" Orion watched Regulus startle, looking at him in horror. "You didn't think I noticed that I wouldn't care."

Regulus looked at the window. "I'd honestly hoped you hadn't. I'd hoped I could avoid being such a dishonor to the family name."

"How?" Orion said. "How were you going to do that?" And there they were looking at each other, and Orion knew. He sucked in his breath. "That's what you were planning on doing, wasn't it? Of dying?"

Regulus froze, his body stiffening. And he knew he'd been caught.

"You'd honestly do that to us, little one?"

"You'd have Sirius back!" Regulus protested.

"Sirius is lost to us, and we're the only ones to blame," Orion said. "But please tell me that you're not lost to us either."

"I'm a lost cause, old man!" Regulus snapped his eyes closing. "I can't do anything about this except to die! If I don't die," there came a deep breath, almost as if he were holding back a sob. "I'll do exactly what I don't want to do! Not that you would care! I mean, isn't that what you wanted?"

"For you to become an Obscurial!" Orion snapped.

"To become a murderer!" Regulus said. "You want me to use my magic to hurt people!"

Orion stared. He then said, "Is that why you hate your magic?"

"That's precisely why I hate my magic!" Regulus said. "I hate myself! I can't believe I was ever naive enough to believe any of the stuff I did! He's a monster and doesn't care about us! But then, we're monsters like Sirius said!" Regulus lifted up a hand to his face as tears fell. "I don't want to be a monster."

"You're not a monster," Orion said.

"I am! I am becoming one!" Regulus said.

Orion lifted a finger to his lip. "Quiet, else your mother might hear you."

"Her," Regulus muttered in disgust.

Orion stood up and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to the youngest. Gently, he lifted an arm and pulled the boy into a hug. He felt Regulus tense and watched the boy's face turn red from the unexpected affection. "I won't let you. I won't let my little one turn into a monster."

"He'll kill you," Regulus said.

"We Black are powerful in our own right."

"He's immortal."

"Surely, Regulus, you don't believe," Orion started to say.

"He's made a Horcrux."

Orion stiffened, looking at his boy, who refused to look him in the eye. "A Horcrux? Are you sure?"

Regulus said nothing, instead looking away as if wanting to escape.

"You were simply going to," Orion said but then paused. "You weren't going to leave it simply, were you? That's how you planned on dying, isn't it?" He turned the boy's face to look at him. "You brilliant boy. Why do you have to be such a fool sometimes?" Orion sighed. "You don't have to become an Obscurial because I don't want you to use your magic to hurt others. And your grandfather and I will see that the Horcrux is taken care of."

"But," Regulus said, his face tear-streaked.

"But you haven't done anything wrong, Regulus."

"Yes, I have. Kreacher got hurt because of me. He nearly died because of me," Regulus said, the tears coming quicker.

Orion pulled him in close then, letting out a sigh. "And this is why you're not a monster Regulus, but it's my job as your father to protect you. Let me do what I've so far failed to do."

And he let him cry, his mind already forming plans.