Chapter 29

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Greenfell Manor

"How did it go?" Lydia asked the minute Regulus walked into the room.

"She tried to rip my head off, as expected."

Regulus went to meet with Narcissa Malfoy, who was apparently unaware of his new status as a living person, because the moment she laid eyes on him, she raised her wand and demanded to know who he was.

Regulus proved his identity to her and with minimal explanation, he gave her a brief summary of how he time travelled, his new goal of destroying the Dark Lord and a short confession of his kidnapping of her son, who was in fact very alive.

"Well I am rather grateful you have managed to return with your head fully attached to your shoulders. Am I to take it as a sign of your success?"

"Well, I suppose you could. While she was utterly grateful we evacuated her son from that place of horrors, Narcissa wasn't exactly pleased about the fact that we let her believe that Draco was dead, for so long. But, she agreed to help."

Once she got over the initial shock of all these new revelations, Narcissa swore the Malfoy's alliance to Regulus in exchange for saving her son's life. Regulus gave her a magical coin which she could use to contact him by putting it in water. Similar to a pensive.

Regulus noticed the relief wash over Draco's eyes. Narcissa's son was the only other person in the room. He was unsure of what his mother would decide to do with Regulus' offer to jump the Death Eater ship and work for the order. While she was actively present at the Malfoy Manor, unlike her husband and son, she wasn't branded with the Dark Mark. Her willingness to spy for Regulus gave Draco hope. While his father would not be able to escape a heavier sentence, perhaps his mother could get off easier?

Regulus was just as pleased, he needed Narcissa as Severus returned to Hogwarts, agreeing to not contact them again. And, Regulus knew asking Bella to actively report to him on Voldemort's plans was pushing it. She agreed to look around for the Horcruxes, and be of use to her family when the right time came, but she wasn't a spy material.

12 Grimmauld Place

At the Grimmauld Place, the days seemed to drag as Remus and the others fully recovered from their failed mission. They held off any reckless activities for a while, as per Regulus' request. And with the exception of regular reports on the death toll, that was increasing on the hands of the Death Eaters, the days were mostly peaceful between the Order.

Until the day Claudius decided to visit.

And he brought someone with him.

"I thought a change of surroundings would do him good." He said pleased, as he presented a fully alive and too well dressed, smirking figure of Draco Malfoy.

"Great! Now we have two Death Eaters." Regulus heard Ron whisper to Harry.

"That's alright Mr. Greenfell, I was planning to bring him here soon anyway." Said Regulus, extending a hand to greet the blonde boy who he hasn't seen in a few days.

"Behave." He told him quietly but Draco only nodded obediently. His eyes wondered to where Hermione stood with Potter and Weasley.

"Granger." Draco smirked. "Potter, Weasley. You're looking well." He said and went to introduce himself to Sirius for the first time in his life, leaving two boys rather confused.

"Draco Malfoy." He said politely extending his hand to Sirius. The wizard regarded him with a calculating but pleasant look on his face.

"It is nice to meet you, Draco." Sirius said, tilting his head to the side slightly. The boy didn't seem as rude as Harry and Ron made him out to be. Sirius watched as his nephew turned to Remus and nodded his head politely at him.

"Professor Lupin, I trust that you've been well?"

"Long-time no see Draco." Remus replied slightly surprised at being addressed by Malfoy, but nonetheless amused by this sudden change in the boy's character. Draco made eye contact with the Weasleys, and politely nodded at them. But once his eyes drifted to Regulus who raised an eyebrow at him expectantly, Draco's mouth twitched as he tried to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley." He acknowledged them with a small, forced smile.

"I can't believe he's been staying with your grandfather." Ron was saying to Hermione, as he was looking at the boy in question. Draco sat on the other side of the room with Claudius. He didn't dare to move, or say anything less than polite.

"I mean, he's a muggle, your Grandfather, how on earth did he manage him? Wasn't he scared Malfoy would hex him?"

"I don't know, Ron. Maybe you should ask him yourself." Hermione replied, not looking up from the newest release of the Daily Prophet.

"What exactly did Regulus and Claudius do to Malfoy? He's not himself." Harry furrowed his brows. Seeing Malfoy so obedient and well behaved was simply unnatural and suspicious.

"They taught him manners." Ron chuckled in satisfaction, making Hermione shake her head, wishing they did the same to him.

At some point Hermione, Ron and Harry withdrawn to the adjacent living room, to escape the heated debate about the Horcrux hunt and other Order related things, the adults were having for a long while.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself with these people." Regulus came into the room to join them. He sank into the nearest sofa and sighted loudly into his hands. Draco followed him inside, but chose to go and stand near the window, and watch the rain pour from the sky.

"That bad?" Hermione moved to sit closer to him. Draco noticed Ron wince, when she went to hug him and Regulus put his arm around her.

"Why didn't he just drown?" Draco heard Ron say to Harry, who only sighted. Draco moved to stand behind where the two boys sat and he lowered himself between their heads.

"Devil takes care of his own." He said making their heads whip faster than the speed of sound.

"Granger and a Black, who would have thought…" Draco chuckled to himself.

"She's a Greenfell actually." Harry corrected him, as his eyes landed on the unlikely pair.

"Greenfell and a Black, how most interesting." Draco blinked, crossing his arms. Ron scowled and turn to play with the note from the fake locket. Harry and he were looking at the remains of the Diary and the Ring, trying to think about what other Horcruxes could look like. Regulus warned them not to take them out of the special druid box they were in but Ron didn't care.

Draco placed three crystal glasses on the table that Kreacher got for him, and he poured fire whisky in them. He offered a glass to Harry, who took it by accident, too baffled by his random action, to refuse. Draco took the other glass, and took a sip.

"We shouldn't…"

"Relax Potter, it's not like you never drank it before." Draco cut him off.

"Regulus Arcturus Black, sounds like a typical death eater name." Said Ron, a little too loudly.

"It's a pureblood name you ignorant, crimson-haired cretin." Ron and Harry turn to see Regulus standing before them with his arms crossed and a sneer. Draco chocked on his drink from laughter. Trust Weasley to piss off one of the most dangerous wizards out there. Draco wasn't buying into all the good behaviour Regulus was putting on. He had a chance to experience his thirst for blood first hand. Ron was on his way to experience it too if he continued to disobey Regulus like this.

Regulus picked up the remains of the Horcruxes, and went to put them back in a special box to hide it in its secret hiding place in a wall, behind one of the paintings. Hermione got up from the sofa and went over to help him.

"Nice one, Weasel. Just when I thought you can't get under his skin any deeper today." Draco told him amused. Ron's prejudice towards Regulus and Draco and his continuous rude behaviour were pushing the limits of Regulus' patience. "I knew you were reckless, but making an enemy out of Regulus Black is borer line suicidal."

"Why don't you shut up, Malfoy!" Ron hissed, but Draco only chuckled, which vexed Ron even more.

"I suggest you run to Longbottom very quickly now, and ask him to give you your small brain back. It turns out their lack does make a little difference. And grab some nice flowers on your way back, so you can apologise to Black for your tactlessness." Draco scolded him with the widest smirk, and turned to go back to his previous spot by the window. He turned around to see where he left his glass of fire whisky, just in time for Ron to see the mirth plastered all over his pale face.

It was too much for the youngest male Weasley, he let his emotions rule over him and lashed out. In all his anger, he built up for Regulus, Draco triggered something within him. Ron whipped out his wand as if out of control of his own body, and he aimed it at Draco.

"Ron no!" Harry stood up to stop him, but it was too late.

Draco's eyes grew wild as the spell was coming towards him, but he had no wand on him. He left it with Klaus to experiment with and see if it can be, upgraded. Instinctively he raised the palm of his hand up and his eyes glowed gold.

The spell bounced off of the invisible barrier Draco made but the impact make it split into three. Draco saw one aim for Hermione and Regulus, but Regulus was fast enough to notice it in time before it hit them. He shielded Hermione with his body and extended his arm.

"Ástríce" He cast, not having any time to reach for his wand.

The second bit was heading for the door, but Claudius chose that moment to walk in. The third bit hit the mirror and bounced back, heading right at Draco. In that second Draco made his choice.

"Gestillan!" He shouted, making the spell burst in the air, before it hit Claudius. Unfortunately, the third bit of the spell was too fast for him to stop.

Draco fell to the floor unconscious.

"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed in fear and ran to him. She dropped to the floor, and began to look for the source of injury. Regulus went over to check on Claudius, who seemed fine, unlike Sirius and Arthur who entered just in time to see Draco's eyes turn gold.

"Are you alright?" Regulus asked his mentor.

"Of course I'm alright! Go help Hermione." He ordered, making a move to push him towards where Draco was lying on the floor, and wanting to go there himself and check on the boy who just saved him, but Hermione needed no help.

"Efencume... ætgædre, eala gastas cræft ige gestricaþ þis lic forod." Regulus, Claudius, Harry, Ron, Arthur and Sirius watched Hermione use druid magic. They saw her eyes turn gold. They heard her enchant through her falling tears as she tried to call the life back into Draco's body.

The blonde suddenly woke up with a gasp, which turned into coughing. He sat up and reached out for something to hold on to, as if frightened. He was shaking.

"You're alright, you're alright! I've got you." Hermione embraced him and held him close. Claudius and Regulus let out their breath they were holding in anticipation. Arthur and Sirius stood there gaping, while Harry and Ron looked as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Careful Granger, this is becoming our thing now." They heard Malfoy say once he calmed down and let go of Hermione.

"You're right. Next time I should let you die." She replied, making him chuckle.

"I think it's time for someone to explain what happened here." Said Arthur, looking around the room.

"What happened is your son almost seriously injured, if not killed myself, my granddaughter, Mr Black and Mr Malfoy." Claudius' eyes flashed with anger.

"That, that was druid magic!" Exclaimed Sirius suddenly, looking between his brother, Draco and Hermione.

"Did you teach them this?" He asked his brother directly, with a look on his face Regulus has never seen before. "Did mother show you? Did she teach you?"

"Wait a minute, mother could use the Old Magic? And you knew about this?" Regulus' eyes went wide.

"Of course I knew about it, that's partly why I ran from home. I couldn't access it, not even a spark, so they got angry and rushed me with other things." Sirius explained.

"No I, they never, I taught myself, from the books I got from Claudius." Regulus revealed. "I had no idea mother could use the magic, she only told me of our druidic ties and even then, it was only because she found out who Hermione was."

"Sorry, come again?"

"Well, the cat's out of the bag now." Claudius sighted. "I think it's time for us to have that conversation."

"I'm sorry Harry, I wanted to tell you but I was afraid you would see me differently because of it, and at that time I wanted nothing to do with all this, and by the time I accepted who I was, it was too late to tell you." Hermione was trying to explain herself to Harry. Ron refused to speak to her, partly scared but mostly embarrassed he nearly hurt her and angry she kept so much from him.

"It's okay, I understand." Harry mumbled out. "I won't pretend I'm not hurt you kept this from me, but I understand why you couldn't tell me. I wasn't born in a magical family but I have a good idea about what Wizards think of Druids. I understand why you chose to keep this from me but, why didn't you tell me about Malfoy?"

Hermione sighted.

"I'm not sure, Harry. He just sort of, happened."

"When did this all, er you know, start?" He asked, awkwardly making a weird gesture with his hand. Hermione smiled amused.

"We got paired together in Potions, in second year. We worked together well, and he forgot to be nasty to me. After that we kept running into each other. I don't think he planned on befriending me to this extend, you know." She said looking at the blonde who was in a deep conversation with Tonks. Now that Draco's true colours were out in the open, he no longer held back his need to bond with the part of his family he never got to properly meet before.

The rest of the Order was soon informed of the Druidic heritage of Greenfells, Blacks and Malfoys. While some of the Order didn't take it very well, others took it better than Hermione expected. Remus even knew about Blacks, since he was Sirius' best friend and Sirius Black never cared much about keeping family secrets a secret, so Remus was told of every reason why Sirius chose to run back when they were 16.

Once all the general concerns were addressed and any remaining hard feelings dismissed, the Order of Phoenix saw great potential in having the Old Magic at their disposal. They got away with minimal impact, as the Order was forced to move on and shift their focus to the series of events that soon followed…

Greenfell Manor

Hermione was suddenly brought back to the land of the awake. She felt the presence next to her shift and gently grab her wrist to move it away. She felt the cold wrap around her exposed body as the covers were pulled up for a few seconds.

Where was he going in the middle of the night?

Hermione's eyes stirred half open.

"What is it?" She asked in a hoarse voice, still half asleep.

"I didn't mean to wake you, go back to sleep." He turned to kiss her on the cheek, gently placing his loving hand on her head. His fingers combed through her curly hair, before he moved across the bedroom in the darkness, to grab his clothes.

"Where are you going? What's happening?" She pushed herself up as he rushed to put his clothes on.

"Regulus." She insisted, as he failed to answer.

"It's Narcissa. They are going to attack the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. I'm going to get them out of there."

"I'm coming with you." She jumped out of bed and reached for her clothes.

"No." He commanded. "You go to the Order. Wake them up and let them know. I'll be back with the twins by then but I have a feeling they will appreciate being informed of this as soon as possible."

"You can't go alone."

"I'll take Klaus with me, don't worry." He grabbed his black trench coat and kissed Hermione on the forehead. "I'll see you in few minutes, okay?"

"I love you." She said stopping him in his tracks.

He turned around and moved quicker than Hermione ever saw him move. He pushed her against the column she was standing near to and connected them at the lips. His hands gripped her hips as she ran her fingers through his soft, dark hair.

"I love you too." He whispered into her lips as he reluctantly let her go. "I have to go." He said planting his last kiss on her lips.

Regulus disappeared behind the door as soon as Hermione nodded. Once he was gone she realised the twins had no idea who he was. They never had the chance to meet him. But it didn't matter, she was sure he could handle them.

She quickly moved to throw the rest of her clothes on, and left for the 12 Grimmauld Place.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

Regulus and Klaus, whom he woke up only two minutes ago aparated straight into the ground floor of the Joke shop. Klaus followed Regulus through the shop to the back and upstairs into the private upstairs section of the building, where George and Fred were sleeping soundly.

Regulus went to stir George awake, and gestured for Klaus to do the same with Fred. The twins reacted quite strongly at first, but when they detected no danger from the two, they were fast to comply with Regulus' instructions.

"Grab your wands and anything of importance." He ordered.

Klaus took a comb of hair from each twin and dipped them in vials with potion. He passed them to Regulus who cast the spell.

"Þece treowee andwlitan heora fram gesiht eallra!" His eyes glowed gold.

He then gave them back to Klaus who held them up and chanted his own spell as he poured the liquid out. The potion turned into smoke in the mid-air and once it touched the ground, the fumes began to form into silhouettes.

Fred and George watched as the exact copy of each stood before them. Klaus' eyes glowed gold and the two figures went to lie in their beds.

Suddenly they heard a noise from downstairs. Regulus heard a laugh that could only belong to Bellatrix.

"We have to go." Regulus whispered as he pushed the twins towards Klaus and formed a circle around them with some powder.

"Bedyrne ús! Astýre ús þanonweard!" He chanted, making the powder ignite.

And like that, they were gone, leaving no trace behind.

12 Grimmauld Place

Hermione ran through the corridors of the Grimmauld Place, shouting for everyone to wake up. She scared everyone enough to have them up on their feet within a minute. After gathering everyone downstairs, she explained Regulus was warned about the attack on the Joke shop, and that he went to fetch the Twins.

Some were ready to go after him, but Hermione advised against it, assuring that it was safer to wait for them in the safety of the headquarters. Sirius suddenly became very interested in how Regulus came to know of the attack, but she only told him his younger brother had someone trusted deliver sensitive information to him whenever possible. She didn't reveal how the source was able to contact Regulus in his dream exactly, but Remus suggested it was most likely done with dark magic.

"Why didn't he come here to let us know, before going off on his own? What if this is another trap?" Suggested Remus. Last thing they needed was getting caught into another trap, not to mention losing Regulus. At some point, he became an irreplaceable addition to the team.

"There was no time. But you have nothing to worry about, Regulus is not easy to fool." She assured, making tea for distraught Molly.

"If it was so urgent, how come he took time to wake you?" Asked Harry stopping his nervous pacing for a second. He couldn't stand just sitting and waiting like this. He much preferred to be in the middle of real action.

"We were together, he didn't mean to wake me." She dismissed, without thinking.

"Why were you together in the middle of the night?" Ron asked suddenly. Hermione could feel his eyes burn into her.

"It's none of your business, Ronald. We stayed up late." Technically, it wasn't a lie. Hermione and Regulus were up until midnight, researching spells that could prove very useful and even lifesaving, in the near future. Both of them had a lot to learn still. Hermione simply chose not to mention that Regulus sleeping in her bed was a regular occurrence as of late.

She watched the realisation draw on Ron's face.

"You're sleeping with him?!" He accused with a horrified look on his face. Hermione watched his reaction turn to anger as he began to list every reason why he was against her relationship with Regulus developing in such way.

"Well, we're engaged!" Hermione blurred out, aching to shut him up already. She didn't need her private time with Regulus be discussed in front of all the adults.

Regulus refused to do anything more than kiss her, he wouldn't even see her at 'improper hours' of the day, not to mention sleep anywhere near her. His propriety and decorum was driving her crazy. She confronted him about it but he dismissed her complains with some pureblood crap. So, she took the matter in her own hands and spoke to the only person, other than Sirius, she knew who could understand what went on in Regulus' mind.

Draco Malfoy.

It wasn't that she wanted to rush him into anything but it began to worry her that Regulus drew a line and refused to cross it. It wasn't eighteen hundreds anymore! She didn't know if it was his respect for her or was he having second thoughts? Draco found her concerns amusing, but promised to speak to his mother's cousin.

Regulus proposed to her two days later, with a Black family heirloom.

It was official now.

Hermione and Draco were going to be a family.

Ron looked as if he was about to explode, and Sirius, who didn't look surprised at all, moved to calm him down. Hermione figured Regulus must have gotten the heirloom from his older brother.

Then, out of nowhere a circle of fire formed in the middle of the room.

Four figures appeared in the middle of it.

"Fred! George!" Molly ran up to scoop her sons into a tight embrace.

"Thank you, thank you for bringing them here safe." She said to Regulus and Klaus, hugging her sons still and checking if they were in any way hurt.

Death Eaters going after the Joke shop was a clear message.

Voldemort has taken over.

Grimmauld Place – few days later.

The twins were settling in nicely and were up and about inventing new products. It was a great shame that their shop went down in flames, but Fred and George were fine as long as they had each other and a group of potential test subjects available.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Regulus sat in the drawing room. They figured the horcruxes had one thing in common. The Founders. So, objects that belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. They were going through every book on Founders they managed to get their hands on.

"Well, what about Hufflepuff's Cup?" Draco suggested laying his book on the table for others to see.

"That's exactly what we're looking for."

"It says here it was last seen in possession of Hepzibah Smith, but shortly after her death the family noticed it was gone along with another object, the Slytherin's locket." Hermione looked up at the three boys giving them a look.

"Well, if there was any doubt before, it sure is gone now."

Harry clutched his head with both hands.

"Harry? Harry, is it happening again?" Hermione kneeled in front of him.

"What's happening again?" Regulus' eyebrows furrowed.

"His scar, it hurts and he gets visions sometimes, of Voldemort." Ron provided. He still wasn't over his dislike for Regulus, but he chose to put his personal feelings aside for the sake of working together. Like a grown-up person. It wasn't like he had any choice anyway.

"Harry? Harry!" Hermione was trying to shake him out of the trance, hoping to break the connection but Harry screamed and passed out.

Regulus was pacing around the room, thinking. He was trying to find an explanation for the connection Harry had with Voldemort. The Order dismissed it as a side effect of Harry surviving the killing curse as a child but Regulus knew there was something more there.

Regulus had his suspicions about what it could be, but was it even possible? Could Voldemort have made a Horcrux out of a living baby by accident?

"I saw him break into Ollivanders. They were others there. He was questioning Ollivander."

"What were they talking about?"

"I-I don't know. I didn't hear. I was just there, it felt like I was watching from above, like, like I was the one doing it to him."

Regulus' eyes opened a little wider. He took his wand out and headed straight for Harry, picking him up by the collar and throwing him against a wall.

"Regulus!" Hermione shouted after him.

"Regulus! What on Merlin's beard do you think you're doing?!" Sirius pointed his wand at his brother, as did Ron and Remus.

"Salazar! 'I open at the close.' So, that's what it meant!" Regulus exclaimed bitterly. "Clever, that old coat was clever… he is cleverer than any of you lot and he's dead." Regulus barked at the Order behind him.

"What on earth are you taking about?" Sirius hissed. "Have you gone insane? Let Harry go!"

"It didn't make sense before, I couldn't understand why would Dumbledore think Potter had to die, but now it makes sense. He has to die, there is a Horcrux inside of him. A Horcrux Voldemort never intended to make. I had my suspicions, how else could Harry have survived the killing curse? His scar is a trace of dark magic. But his visions are the last confirmation I needed."

"Kill me, then." Said Harry, from where he was being held against the wall, by Regulus.

"Harry!"

"Go on! There is no other way, we need to destroy all of them!" Harry insisted. Little did the Order know, that Harry had the Resurrection Stone tucked inside a snitch that was sitting in his pocket.

"Regulus no! Please don't do this, we can find another way!" Insisted Hermione. She must have forgotten that Harry wouldn't stay dead for long if Regulus killed him now.

"Shall we try, Potter?" Regulus smirked coldly at Harry, who was breathing heavily.

"No! Now is not a good time! If you kill him he will know! He will feel it. He will know we're after his Horcruxes." Draco went to pull Regulus off Harry.

"He's right." Said Harry, no longer pinned to the wall but standing on his own next to Regulus who was no longer pointing his wand at his throat. He made no move to get away from the wizard who just tried to kill him.

Regulus looked around the room and sighted.

"Fine, I'll get Claudius. Maybe he can think of something to temporarily block this connection off, but Potter. This is a very dangerous game we are playing. Once His Darkness finds out about this, he will try to use it against us. If you can see what he's doing, then he will for sure be able to the same, and better. He will get into your head and once he does, our chances of winning this war, will drop significantly."

"Then we must hurry." Harry told him.

Regulus turned and left the room.

"See? I told you he was dangerous! I told you! But did anyone listen to me? No." Ron went on his bashing spree as soon as Regulus was gone.

"He's not dangerous Ron." Hermione said gently, sitting next to Harry.

"Are you under a love potion? Did you not see what just happened here? He was just trying to kill Harry!" Ron insisted angrily.

"Weasley, If Regulus wanted to kill Potter, Potter would already be dead." Said Draco, leaning against a wall. "So get you head out of the gutter because Potter has a Resurrection Stone in his pocket."

"How do you know?" Harry furrowed his brows. It was meant to be a secret between him, Regulus and Hermione.

"Klaus told me." And Niklaus Greenfell naturally knew all the details of everything that went on in and around the Greenfell Manor from his spirit friends. Not the alcohol, the Great Grand uncle Archibald.

"You have The Resurrection Stone?" Remus asked shocked.

"So what? It doesn't change the fact that Black was trying to kill him." Ron crossed his arms.

"Ron he knew I had it. It was hidden in the snitch, Regulus helped me open it." Harry confessed and Ron's confidence suddenly fell. Sirius laughed.

"See? I told you Remus. That boy is going to cost me an early death." Sirius sad down in the closest chair.

His brother was impossible…

That's right! Regulus is a king of sass and attitude! And constantly surprising Sirius.

Well if there had ever been any concerns or doubts about Hermione x Regulus, I hope they've been addressed and waved goodbye through this chapter! They will be together; I don't plan on messing with their love anymore. And as I just wrote this I had this thought go through my head, 'should I?' but no, I kept them apart for long enough.

Their engagement was postponed long enough, I know I know, I should have made it all romantic and fluffy but I promise I will do my best to make up for it later!

Don't forget to leave me your favourite songs in the Reviews! So, I can think of you guys when I write the next chapter haha.