1976 spring – Regulus' 3rd year
Regulus liked to think he'd found a good medium between being a dedicated student and not wasting his youth in books. But with exam season now looming, he was beginning to regret all the studying he hadn't done. He had nightmares of Father glancing at him and then turning away with a disappointed curl to his lips, and Sirius teasing him, because of course Sirius had all O's and E's. He told Roland he had a letter to write, not willing to admit he was rushing to the library in a panic at 9PM hoping to charm Madam Pince into telling him what the third year Ravenclaws had been checking out the most often in Runes and Herbology.
He had just leaped off the moving staircase when his legs froze. In stead of his shoes, two red quaffles, each half as heavy as Regulus himself, weighted him down.
Sirius and Potter. Without their vassals for once. Regulus stiffened but didn't take his wand out : when he didn't fight back, Sirius would quickly get bored and leave.
"Blimey, are we still sore about that Quidditch match?" How did they always know when he was alone? Did they stealthily prowl the corridors all day long searching for victims?
"This isn't about Quidditch." Something in Sirius' expression had Regulus' fingers curl inside his wand pocket after all. "We're here to find out what happened to Mary McDonald. Since you're pals with Mulciber and all."
Chill seeped into Regulus' bones. "I don't know. Didn't ask, don't care."
"'Course you didn't," Sirius said, his jaw clenched and his gaze flat. "Sums up your life. Looking the other way to stay snug among the worst kind of wizards."
An exasperated hiss left Regulus' lips. "I don't know what he did! I know they fought and shouted. I know he ended up obliviating her. I doubt it was anything sexual if that's what you're worried about."
"My bet was the cruciatus," Sirius said coolly. "I'd have told McGonagall to cast a Priory Incantatem, but we know he used someone else's wand."
Mulciber had gone on a rampage when he'd lost his wand. Of course it had been the Marauders.
Regulus gasped in pain as Sirius shoved him. With his legs weighted down, it was like being slammed into a wall. "It better not have been your wand!"
"Black, this wasn't a prank. This was a crime. You've got to know it's messed up."
"Sure Potter, I just love to be attacked in the corridors to get a lesson on what's messed up," Regulus snapped. "I don't know. You're wasting your time. Get Dumbledore to investigate if it's a crime."
"I bet Snivellus knows," Sirius said after a tense pause.
Potter looked skeptical. "McDonald is Evans' friend. Evans must have asked. You think he'd lie to her face ?"
"Well...yeah. We may have found the way to prove to Evans that he's a worm."
Regulus had to laugh. "This is actually about getting into Lily Evans' pants, isn't it?"
Potter flushed but Sirius just snorted. "There's no way you don't know what Mulciber's been up to."
"He's a sixth year. Unlike you, he hasn't made a habit of standing on tables to boast of his achievements to the whole common room."
"We do that?" Potter said with a frown. A slight smile tugged at his lips. "Should we be doing that?" The smile died quickly. "Black, crucio isn't just an argument going wrong. It's an unforgivable! What's next, murder?"
Rizzo's claw-torn body flashed before Regulus' eyes. He refused to lower his gaze. "I don't know what Mulciber -"
"Then you should find out!" Sirius' voice was low and stern and suddenly so much like Father that Regulus cringed. He stumbled as Sirius undid the transfigurations on his boots and gave him back the freedom to move his legs. His brother's scornful scoff grated on his ears. "Look at you, it's never your fault, you never know, as if you weren't making choices every step of the way." He opened his arms theatrically. "Reggie, the oblivious Death Eater!"
"Piss off. You don't get to lecture me about choices." How dare Sirius! How dare he hex him, shove him around and treat him like dirt. "Every time, you attack me! You insult me! Everything I do, you take for granted! I'm still waiting for some gratitude for not letting you starve after you painted your room red and gold."
"What do you two mean starve?"
They both ignored Potter.
Sirius had the gall to scoff. "Are you also still waiting for Mother's apology for having murdered Mr. Allen ? Or is it fine, because it's Mummy. People like her, like Mulciber, Avery, or your pal Snape -"
"Is a half-blood who's friends with a muggleborn, you buffon! Your life is such a scream for attention you just must invent enemies."
"Invent?" Sirius barked a mirthless laugh. "I don't need to invent -"
"Right. You chose to make the nameless halfblood your main target by accident. It's pure chance that your best friend happens to be another pureblood heir." Inside his robes, Regulus hand curled tighter around his wand. "You're no different than those you claim to despise!"
Sirius pulled out his wand and jabbed it at Regulus purposefully. "Stupefy!"
"Protego!" Sirius' eyes widened in shock as the shield blocked his stunner. "Levicorpus!"
Sirius' feet were snatched off the ground. Regulus grinned in triumph. There you go, brother, underestimating me. The spell broke and Sirius crashed shoulders first against the hard floor with a crack.
Sirius unexpectedly laughed through the pain and grabbed Potter's wand hand to pull himself up, diverting his best friend's wand away from Regulus. "Nice spell. You know, I think I like it better when you stop pretending you want to be on my side. Because you never did want that, not truly. You always were on theirs."
"Merlin, you're such a tosser, I -"
"Yes, pretend I am the problem. Keep looking the other way when Mother and Father murder people, when they claim muggleborn should be drowned at birth and squibs poisoned in their sleep! When they act like they have a right to erase Meda. When they torture their own child! They'd go to Azkaban if they did to another wizard what they did to me!"
"You just want to have it all, the Lord title, the manor and the wealth, but still behave like some wild beast," Regulus spat. "You get off on humiliating people! How many have you sent to the hospital wing? I bet you'll murder someone with your pranks eventually, and just find good Gryffindor excuses to soothe your conscience."
"Run away before I hex you for real, Regulus." Next to his furious brother, Potter was just staring, looking uncharacteristically overwhelmed and confused.
Whatever. There was nothing left to say. As Regulus left, his racing heart pounding in his ears, he furiously wondered why he kept wishing for Sirius and him to mend things. As if things had ever not been broken. As if waiting for Sirius to act like a proper big brother was anything but foolish dreams.
Cousin Evan had been right. Sirius would make a piss poor Lord Black. He had no loyalty, he thought of nothing but feeding his own sense of superiority. He judged Mulciber and the others, but these were the people who'd welcomed Regulus, who wanted to help him become someone. Sirius had only ever kicked him down.
The world was a harsh place, and Regulus had found his allies. If Mulciber had hexed that mudblood McDonald and obliviated her, so what? Mulciber had won and made sure not to get in trouble. He'd forced the whole school to respect him with one move. What was wrong with that? If McDonald had known her place, nothing would have happened to her.
Sirius just didn't like the idea of people competing with him for status. He didn't like that there were people who didn't bow to the Marauders. Tough, Regulus was done being in his brother's shadow.
"You showed Black Levicorpus?" Snape hissed. They were in Snape's rooms. Regulus had been too late to the library and, despairing, figured Snape, who hoarded books like some ink-loving niffler, might have something to lend him.
"You're just annoyed you weren't there when I flipped him arse-over-head."
"Yes," Snape admitted. His smile was fleeting. He was paler than usual these days, with nasty bags under his eyes. "But now he'll know to use it."
"Come off it, he won't know it just from having it cast at him once."
Snape just stared at him and Regulus dropped his gaze. Why? Why did he have to be the one who struggled when everything came so easily to everyone else? Severus invented spells in his spare time while Regulus worked so hard and barely scraped Es, let alone invented anything. It had taken him days to master Levicorpus.
"I want to try something," Snape suddenly said. "Think about your fight with Black."
"Okay..." Regulus stiffened when the taller boy pointed his wand straight at his face.
"Legilimens."
Regulus' eyes widened in shock. He was thrown back to the evening. Sirius. The shouts and accusations. The curses. His satisfaction at having Levicorpus strike. His hate for his brother.
Eyes blurring, he gasped and stumbled forwards as his mind released him. Snape steadied him, a peculiar and alarming glint in his black eyes.
"Try it on me now"
"What, legilimency? It's beyond NEWTs level, don't be a git."
Faced with Snape's flat judgmental glare, Regulus took a deep breath and tried. He tried again. Swallowing back his frustration, he tried again after Snape tried to explain some mind theory. After ten unending minutes of abject failure, he got fed up.
"Why do you care if I can't see in your mind? It's hilarious coming from you." Snape had to be one of the most closed off people Regulus knew. They'd known each other three years but they couldn't be called friends. Snape only kept up the tutoring because he needed the money, and the access to high status people that Regulus gave him.
"Funny you said your brother would end up a murderer," Snape muttered, his lips pinched in a thin line.
Regulus swallowed back his temper. Snape looked really terrible. "You're worried about yourself?"
Somehow that was too personal a question. Regulus awkwardly pulled out some homework. Patiently sitting down sometimes got the gloomy older boy to open up.
This time it didn't. Regulus couldn't have known what had transpired the previous full moon. That Snape had made a vow not to speak. Regulus wouldn't learn for years, why Snape had wanted to be legilimized then.
Late June 1976 - Regulus' 3rd year
Regulus hadn't realized before how much people, not just the Marauders, hated Snape. And not just Snape, but most of Slytherin. Perhaps he just hadn't wanted to notice.
He wasn't the reason Snape had been humiliated in front of half the school, but he was the one who'd shown Sirius and Potter Levicorpus. Regulus hated how that made him feel small and goofy. He hated even more that Snape had been right : the Marauders had just had to be shown the spell once.
The year was coming to a close. Exams were over and the day was warm. Many students were lounging outside. Regulus was walking at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, enjoying the view on Hogwarts, and the quiet. Hogwarts looked so much more inviting, more playful, when there was nobody around.
He slowed when he spotted Evans and McDonald on the grass. McDonald was lying propped on her stomach, drawing, her long brown hair spilling over discarded sketches of the castle. Next to her Evans sat eyes closed, facing the sun, her milky skin pleasantly flushed from the heat.
They hadn't noticed him, and so he could stare. There was no question why Potter and Snape were fighting over her. Evans was hot, and loud in that way Gryffindors respected. And for all of Snape's airs, Narcissa had turned him into an eager puppy just with some attention and smiles, so no wonder Evans had the boy wrapped around her little finger.
Impulsively, Regulus pulled his camera out and shot picture. The girls in the foreground, Hogwarts in the back, and in between oblivious students just... living. It felt like a school then, with none of the stifling undercurrents and power plays that darkened their days.
"Reducto!"
Caught up in his camera, Regulus didn't see the blast until his hands were full of dust. He gasped in shock and then blinked dumbly at where his camera had just been.
McDonald, her sketches forgotten, was standing with her wand pointed straight at him. "Go away, Black!" she snarled. "Stu-"
The hex fizzled as Evans grabbed onto McDonald's wand. "Mary! Don't!"
"Are you insane?" Regulus spluttered. His camera. That beast had disintegrated his camera.
"Me, I'm insane? For thinking that a picture of me in your camera could mean a death sentence? For thinking someone may take offence at me for daring to exist?" She violently shook Evans off her, her wand now pointed at the ground. "I'm not sure I'm even coming back next year, Lily. I'm fed up, fed up to have to fight for the right to be human! You heard Sirius, their cousin Bellatrix is one of them."
Regulus opened his mouth.
"You don't think it's dangerous for Mary, Black?" Evans' voice was softer but her stare was hard and her wand was pointed at Regulus' knees.
Regulus blinked, at a loss. "I... I think Snape is miserable and that you should talk to him."
McDonald snorted. A weird laugh escaped her lips and she abruptly turned her back on Regulus and went to collect her unfinished sketches. "I'm so done here."
"Did Sev send you?" Evans said wearily, her arms crossed.
"No. I sent myself. Listen, he lashed out at you only because he'd never been so humiliated, I know he's been apologi-"
The look on Evans' face had him stop. "Black, what does Sev do when other Slytherins use that word? Call them out? Leave the conversation?"
Regulus opened his mouth again but for once his brain was empty.
"Yeah, I thought so. He's wrong, you know : I'm not an exception. I'm just another muggleborn. I can't be friends with someone who can't respect me."
"But he does, and he loves you." It was weird saying it, Snape would punch him, but it was so bloody obvious.
Evans shut her eyes briefly. "It's not enough. He can be friends with people who think muggleborn aren't people as long as they respect him. I can't. I won't apologize for it." She took a sharp breath. "I'm... I'm surprised. I didn't expect you'd willingly talk to someone like me. What do you say, when your friends say mudblood?"
Regulus blinked. "I'm... I'm not political." And anyway, it was just a word. It wasn't his fault they came from nothing.
Evans shook her head in disbelief. "It's not politics, Black. It's people's lives!"
The girls left and there was no dignified way he could go after them. He flushed at having being dismissed so rudely, by two mudbloods at that, and fury at the destruction of his camera soon replaced his shock. The camera cousin Cissy had given him.
Did they truly think they could get away with destroying his belongings? What did they think, that he'd do nothing? That he'd not tell? Mulciber would be delighted to – Regulus swallowed, something bitter dousing his temper.
No, he'd not tell Mulciber. He could fight his own battles. He had all summer to think about how to make sure McDonald would never think to cross him anymore.
His shoulders stiffened as he met Snape's gaze at dinner. He hated this new awkwardness and blamed Sirius for it. He went to sit next to the older Slytherin, refusing to let his brother ruin things further. "Any books you want me to get from Father's library for you? I'm not allowed to take them out of the house, but it won't be hard to make Sirius take the fall for it." He smiled tightly. "You can get me a list."
Snape stared at his food as he ate in silence, but finally he bowed his head lightly. "I will. I am still going to tutor you next year, Black."
Regulus smiled in relief. "Good."
Summer 1976
Sirius had run away.
To the Potters.
Mother was beside herself. 'Cygnus is too soft, if that muggle-loving bint had been appropriately punished, the boy would never have dared!'
Father was quieter, but obviously furious. He and Mother had begun blaming each other. Regulus couldn't remember his parents ever fighting so much.
Sirius wasn't coming back.
Regulus couldn't remember the last thing he'd said to his brother. Something angry, no doubt. When was the last time they'd had fun together?
'You just want to have it all,' he'd accused Sirius, except now his brother had given it all up. Because he hated them. He'd always hated them.
Regulus decided he was going to be relieved. Happy. There was no reason to feel anything else. He was heir now. It was a privilege. Father was healthy, there was ample time for Regulus to grow into his new role. He just had to prove he was good enough so Mother and Father would stop being upset about Sirius.
Yes, this was no doubt for the best.
"Oh stop moping!"
Regulus started, bolting upright. He'd been sitting in the tapestry room, staring at the scorch mark that was now his brother. He hadn't slept well in days, and he'd gotten tired of staring at his bedroom's ceiling. It was six in the morning and even Kreacher was supposed to be asleep. Bellatrix, in tight black robes with her heavy curls pinned back, was not someone he'd been expecting.
"Come, I'm going to take your mind off your silly brother. You're going to assist me." She smiled conspiratorially. "The Dark Lord will be there."
What- Regulus' words stuck in his throat as Bellatrix dragged him back to his room and summoned a set of robes out of his closet. He... he wasn't ready! What could he possibly show the Dark Lord that -. The Dark Lord would -.
"Does -" Does Mother know? He'd been about to say, but it now felt terribly childish and he didn't need to make himself any smaller in front of Cousin Bella. "What about Snape?"
"Who? What about?"
"He's been tutoring me since first year, hasn't Cissy told you about him? She likes him. He invents spells and everything." He did owe Snape for that Levicorpus cock up, and it couldn't hurt to be two for a mission. And next to the half-blood, Regulus would be able to show he was... well, well-bred. "I know where he lives." Before Regulus had come to Hogwarts, some boys had sent their owls to follow the castle owl Snape used. Now people had stopped taunting Snape about that muggle hovel in Cokeworth, but everyone still knew.
"Fine, baby cousin, the Dark Lord will forgive you for wanting to bring a pet."
Regulus refused to squirm under Bellatrix's condescending smirk. He mustered his best superior smile. "Trust me, he's a good pet."
That earned him a laugh. "Oh, he'd better be! I'd hate to waste my time."
Spinner's End was a square brick hovel, in a street full of dreary identical hovels. An awful stench came in wafts from an immense chimney a quarter mile away and the river... What had the muggles done to that poor river? How could anyone accept to live in a place like this? He couldn't fool himself into thinking the place was abandoned because despite the early hour, voices, sometimes loud ones, came from the open windows.
Bellatrix grimaced. "It's like being home again. Look at that street muggle."
A bearded man snored into a pile of rags at the edge of the street. Animals. Regulus wiped sweat from his brow. Their muggle disguise was too heavy for the season, and too rich for this place. He couldn't wait to get out of here.
"Can't you detect magic?"
Her wand poking out of her sleeve, Bellatrix's scowl soon became a deep frown. "Sure he's half- and not a mudblood? I don't -. Ah, here," she finally exclaimed, pointing at one of the identical houses. "barely."
She knocked once and invited herself in. The inside... could have been worse. Clean was too strong a word, but it wasn't filthy despite a nasty stench of stale smoke. Everything was worn, cheap, and... muggle. No sign of magic. No portraits, no floating lights, not even a book. Not that Regulus could see any muggle books in the cramped living-room. Odd, considering Snape spent half his life reading.
"Heck are you?"
Two muggles had been seated in the small kitchen, dirty breakfast dishes on the counter behind them. The man, wearing a sleeveless white shirt and threadbare gray pants, stood up. With a ruddy complexion and a lean but square built, he looked little like Snape. Still it had to be Mr. Snape, because the dark-haired woman next to him couldn't be mistake for anyone other than Snape's mother.
"We'll be borrowing the lad for the day," Bellatrix announced, her wand now obviously on display.
"Jesus. SEVERUS! PEOPLE FOR YOU! Excuse me, youngsters, I gotta go work."
The man didn't hide that they weren't welcome, but mostly, he seemed set on ignoring them. He slipped on a sleeveless coat and strode past them, slamming the door shut as he left.
Standing stiff, Regulus shot a look at Bellatrix. But she seemed unfazed by the muggle's rudeness, instead she stared hungrily at Snape's mother.
"This is no witch's house. Are you a squib? How did a squib and a muggle beget a boy who impressed Cissy with his magic?"
That scowl was Snape too. "We haven't been introduced, Miss -"
"Mrs. Lestrange." Mrs. Snape flinched. "Born Black." The woman flinched again, the last remains of color sucked from her sallow face. "Regulus Black, my cousin and heir to the Black name."
"She's a witch, not a squib," a new voice snapped. Their Snape had finally appeared, disheveled and clad in overlarge muggle clothes that looked like his father's castoffs. "What are you doing here, Black?"
"Rescuing you," Bellatrix answered in Regulus' stead, without sparing Snape a look. She was still staring at Mrs. Snape, shaking her head. "What happened?"
It was more than disbelief lacing her voice, Bellatrix sounded uneasy. Regulus swallowed, unnerved by his cousin's peculiar attitude.
"You should go-"
Bellatrix's arm moved in a blur. "Legilimens!" she breathed, cutting Mrs. Snape's answer short.
"What are you doing here, Black?" Snape repeated in a clenched whisper, his eyes locked on the wand Bellatrix had pointed at his now wide-eyed mother.
"Get some real clothes, good clothes," Regulus replied, hoping he sounded certain and imperious and not like things were getting out of control. "We're going somewhere. You'll be wanting to impress people. Hurry."
Mirthless laughter suddenly bubbled out of Bellatrix's lips. "Father would approve," she said with a hard smile as she lowered her wand.
Disoriented, Mrs. Snape grasped the kitchen chair for support. A snarl twisted her face. "Get out! Get OUT!" Regulus recognized that brand of fury : he'd seen Mother like that, when she'd lost face. Only Mother never lost control like that in public.
"With pleasure, Mrs. Prince," Bellatrix said with a mock curtsy. She grabbed onto Snape and Regulus. They apparated in nondescript hills. "We're going near Norwich, give me a second to catch my breath. And transfigure those rags, Snape."
Regulus swallowed. Apparition from London to the Midlands and the Midlands to Norwich. With side-alongs. His stomach churned, and not just from the apparition's tug. He felt increasingly insignificant, and increasingly worried.
"What did you see in my mother's mind, Mrs. Lestrange?" Snape's voice was cautiously polite, but his expression betrayed a strong effort in self-control. Plain robes had replaced his muggle clothes.
"She's cursed. Your lovely grandpa burned her wand core after she eloped, it's useless for anything but the most basic magics. She got reported for endangering the statute, by her brother I think; it left her without a knut after she'd paid all the fines. Daddy dear cursed her: she can't send an owl to anyone but him and can't go near the Leaky Cauldron"
"I've received owls from her." Snape didn't mention Diagon Alley, and now Regulus wondered who had taken him there for Hogwarts supplies.
"You're her blood, Prince blood. And you only received answers to letters you'd sent first, I bet." Snape's expression betrayed that Bellatrix was right. "She could have told you... It's not the kind of curse that can't be undone. She could have asked anyone for help on Platform 9 and 3/4, mind you... But your mummy is proud and certain you'd run off to your grandparents, choose them over her..." An ugly chuckle left Bellatrix's lips. "Morgana, she's pathetic."
Snape looked petrified. It took him a full ten seconds to open his mouth again. "What of my father, was anything done to him?"
Bellatrix shrugged. "Ask her. If she won't answer, you know the spell to cast."
The silence was heavy and awkward. Snape's unblinking eyes were far away, something ugly stiffening his jaw, and Regulus could only stare at Bellatrix as she took out a chocolate bar and started munching on it.
"What did Sirius tell you about Andromeda?" Bellatrix suddenly said, brushing chocolate crumbs off her robes. They were too formal for sitting on a log and embarrassingly distracting, with all that cleavage. "I know he talks to her."
'Andromeda' wasn't a name he'd heard spoken by his cousin in years. Regulus froze. "I... "
"Don't make me legilimize you, baby cousin."
He took a slow breath. "She... she's happy. Sirius said so, at least." And he understood now, why Bellatrix had been staring like that at Mrs. Snape. The witch who'd left her family for a muggle.
Bellatrix made an odd humming noise.
"He..." Regulus dropped his voice, so Snape wouldn't hear, "Mother thinks the family was too soft on Andromeda, that's why Sirius dared leave. I heard no definite plans but maybe she means to do something."
Something shifted in Bellatrix's expression. "I'll talk to Auntie." She said it softly, almost absently, yet a shiver ran up Regulus' spine.
"Time to go," Bellatrix suddenly announced. "Wipe off that murder-face Snape, you'll scare the Dark Lord."
Snape almost choked as Bellatrix snickered at her own joke. He shot a furious look at Regulus, one that screamed you could have warned me!. Regulus smiled faintly. He was the heir now: if he couldn't be confident, he had to fake it. But his shoulders were stiff and his hands clammy as his cousin grabbed his upper arm once more.
They apparated near a stone and timber cottage, obviously magical but crooked and slightly crumbling, one of those houses held together by layered poor-quality enchantments that, for the most part, had never been designed to weather the test of time. Common houses for common wizards, but they had their charm, with trees entwined with the walls and birdnests in the hatched roof. From the outside, the cottage looked small and cozy, but inside no doubt, everyone had more than comfortable space (and one had to be careful when a grandmother or great-uncle died, because all the spellwork dissolved with them. Terrible accidents had happened when rooms had vanished with their occupants still in them).
There was a garden, but one much smaller than expected, barely a acre of grass, bushes and thick trees. Beyond the wooden arch that signaled the edge of the houses' wards there were only a few scattered trees. What had once been green hills was now a tiny bastion of nature in the middle of tall wheat fields so vast they covered the horizon.
A hard faced man in brown outdoors robes came out of the house, followed by Rodolphus Lestrange. The former bowed with his hand on his heart.
"Thank you, Mrs. Lestrange. I can't overstate how grateful I am."
Bellatrix inclined her head back with a smile. Regulus was fascinated by that smile, playful, eager, friendly even. This was Cousin Bella comfortable.
Childish voices floated from the house. Three heads, belonging to kids between four and nine, appeared behind one of the open windows. The youngest waved. Rodolphus grinned and waved back, causing the kids to duck out of sight, badly muffling giggles.
"Mr. Nettles and his family have been here for two hundred years, Cousin," Rodolphus said, clasping Regulus' shoulder. It was a warm, manly clasp. Regulus smiled slightly despite his nervousness. "Used to be a nice place. Until muggles decided every inch of the land was theirs."
"We're here to make some space." Bellatrix's smile had grown into something... threatening. This was the Bellatrix his parents were afraid of.
She rolled her left sleeve backwards, revealing the snake-and-skull mark of the Dark Lord. She pressed against it with her fingers. The snake, and the skin below it, moved, as if greeting her back.
A thin dark mist filled the air and dissipated to reveal Lord Voldemort.
Regulus bowed. Better than standing there like a cowering idiot.
"We meet again, Regulus." He blinked at Snape. "This one I do not now." His tone was soft, neutral, and yet it took all of Regulus' discipline to not look intimidated. He could taste the magic, dark magic, it was faint but it shouldn't have been. Places pulsed with magic, manors and old places full of history, not people.
"Half-blood," Bellatrix said in way of introductions. "Good at magic. Slytherin."
"Severus Snape, my Lord. I'm honored to meet you."
"No doubt." The Dark Lord said, a mocking edge to his tone. "Show me a spell I don't know, Severus."
Sweat broke out from Regulus' brow. Would he be asked that next ? What spell could he -? He frantically began thinking of all the obscure dressmaking spell Roland had shown him. Surely -
He was too caught up to even notice the spell that shot straight for him. "Bombizatio auris!"
Regulus' hands flew to his ears as his knees buckled. You tosser, Snape! He knew that bloody curse. The buzzing dug like a dagger in his brain. He couldn't help shaking his head like a mad cow to get it to stop. He took a shuddering breath when Snape finally lifted the spell.
"It's like a wasp was stuck inside my ear," Regulus said, straightening as if everything was fine, as if he'd not just being terribly undignified. After all, he had recommended Snape, and the Dark Lord doubtless expected to see effective curses. Perhaps Regulus could make people respect him as someone who found talent. "It's incapacitating because I can't think of anything else."
"Does it hurt?" Bellatrix asked eagerly.
"No -"
"It doesn't pay to physically hurt others at Hogwarts," Snape cut in. "I need to be more subtle."
"Cast it on me." Snape faltered. Bellatrix opened her arms invitingly. "Oh, come on! And don't hold back."
Snape didn't. Bellatrix gasped, her eyes glazing over and her head twitching. She yelped when the Dark Lord hit her with a stinging curse. He'd cast verbally, slowly even, and Regulus felt vindicated that even Bellatrix had been too distracted to fight back.
A few seconds later Bellatrix straightened. She'd... silenced herself wordlessly?
A few spells shot out of her wand, and finally she undid the silence.
"Finite counters it. Craft curses that need their own specific counter, Snape, it's much more effective." She laughed, a pleased laugh like she was actually having fun. "Not too bad for a half-blood."
"Not bad, for any wizard, let alone a teenager." The Dark Lord interjected, causing Snape to straighten and look back at the older wizard with something other than fear. "Oh, no one will forget your blood, but you might make it so that no one will bring it up to your face, ever."
Bellatrix smirked then, as if she knew something they didn't. Lord Voldemort shot her a warning look and her smirk became a full grin. Regulus marveled at his cousin's familiarity. She stood much closer to the Dark Lord than her own husband did. Rodolphus did not look scared, but he acted much more subdued and deferential.
"Enough talk," Bellatrix announced. She strode over to Regulus and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, her other arm pointed at the fields. "There's our problem. You get to solve it."
He'd know there would be a test. Staring at the sea of wheat, he willed himself to believe it wasn't beyond him. Surely, Cousin Bella wouldn't want him to look bad. "So... Like fire?"
"Baby cousin, you sound like a child when you make everything a question."
Regulus flushed. He flushed harder when Bellatrix pinched his cheek with that smirk of hers.
"A fire here will spread against the wind, my Lord, and make the muggles very confused. Unless plans have changed, I understood we didn't want Ministry attention today."
The Dark Lord nodded slightly at Rodolphus. "Indeed. Follow me." He vanished.
Rodolphus and Bellatrix apparated them, somehow aware of the Dark Lord's exact location.
And now the Dark Lord was staring at them expectantly.
Regulus raised his wand, his throat dry. The scenery hadn't changed : wheat, for miles and miles. Incendio wouldn't cut it. He'd need hundreds of -
Something hot and bright had him suddenly turn. Flames poured out of Snape's wand, hot and hungry as they poured over fifty yards of wheat. It wasn't simple conjured fire: the way plants still humid from yesterday's rains turned to ash betrayed dark magic.
Frustration tightened Regulus' chest. How dare- But he'd just look like a whiny baby if he snarled at Snape so instead he focused on the fire, desperate not to look pathetic. But Regulus could push his own magic maybe twenty yards from his wand and all the spells he knew would look like a joke next to - Who was he kidding, the Dark Lord expected more than third-year level light magic.
Regulus sucked in a breath and stopped pretending his heart wasn't racing and his hands weren't clammy. He was a Black. He'd be Lord Black. He was a dark wizard. He conjured wind and he willed it dry. He willed it strong. Exhaling, he poured all his fear, all his nervousness in that wind, allowing the magic to feed from him and leave him empty. He blinked as his wind fanned the flames, and relished in his own sudden calm. Smoke teared up his eyes but he dared smile slightly, satisfied, as Snape's crawling fire began to leap across the field.
"You cooperate well, Regulus," Lord Voldemort commented. "Wise, especially when one lacks power."
It wasn't quite praise, but Regulus' new calm gave him the perspective to value it. He didn't have to compete for power. He had his name, he would have influence, and he didn't mind helping. His hands shook, but his wind lived on and the flames raced onwards, painting the hills with a layer of ash.
The Dark Lord raised his wand. "Shield you ears." A golden dome sprang from Bellatrix's wand and soon conjured bubble-shields covered their heads. Rodolphus' gripped the teenagers' robes, forcing them close.
They all instinctively ducked when an explosion tore through the countryside, as if someone had set a warehouse of fireworks aflame. The galloping wall of fire was now a wave, taller than Hogwarts itself, and swallowing up everything.
"I transfigured some of the wheat into gunpowder," the Dark Lord said, like a teacher expecting them to take notes. "A fire is only so strong as its fuel."
Regulus had been convinced by the stories, but now he saw with his own eyes, why people said this man would change the world. He'd given the wind all his fear but a brand new shiver tightened his shoulders. He stared in wonder at the acres of scorched earth that had made Snape's dark fire look like a child's attempt at magic.
They apparated again. They could see the end of the wheat fields this time, and the asphalt roads surrounding it. They stood next to a beaten earth road, still close enough to the flames for Regulus' throat to burn and sweat to pour down his neck. A house, three sheds and muggle machines stood before them. A broad man stood in front of one of the machine, staring in shock at the blazing inferno devouring his property.
Rodolphus slapped Regulus' back. His encouraging smile was oddly relaxing. "The statute is triggered when an adult muggle learns of magic. Battling obliviators, and the aurors that may follow if obliviators aren't handled quickly enough, isn't for teenagers. So stay out of sight and don't do anything muggles can't explain."
How was Regulus supposed to know what muggles could -
Lord Voldemort's tight-lipped smile was chilling. "Get rid of him."
Get rid- Regulus froze. "We're underage," he said (said, not stammered, he stood tall and absolutely dignified and soothed himself with the feel of his wand's warm wood.) "Won't the Ministry find out magic was used here? Won't a muggle dying close to where magic was used -"
"Leave that to us," Bellatrix said, eyes alight. "We want to see who's going to speak up for muggles. Don't worry, nobody will know you did anything." Her smile died. "Reggie, is this too much for you?" It was a question, except it wasn't. It sharply reminded Regulus that Cousin Bella wasn't someone he wanted to displease.
"No! I... I just must get closer for my spells to strike."
The muggle was too far for them to see his face, just a broad-shouldered silhouette of blue and brown clothes. He stood by the door of the house, and seemed to be hollering. Very soon, a woman and a girl of maybe twelve rushed out with two brown dogs and arms full of various objects. They clambered into the transport vehicle.
"Don't move." The Dark Lord's voice froze him in place. "The car has to pass here to reach the main road. You'll be invisible to the muggles as long as you stay close to me." You'll have no excuse, Regulus heard.
"You've got to admit it's quite a feat," Rodolphus mused as the machine -the car- grew closer, silent amidst the nearing fire's howls. "This muggle family managed to take everything from wizards without anyone batting an eye, on the contrary : Nettles had to spend all their savings to keep what had been theirs for centuries."
"What? What did they have to pay for?"
"The ministry warden, for the muggle repelling wards on that sad plot of land we appeared into. They used to have much more, old trees for wandwood and plants they bred and sold for potions ingredients but they couldn't pay for wards around all two hundred acres, just barely two. The muggles drown their crops with non-magical potions of their own which are poison to people : that alone means the wards must be more complex than a simple repel."
Regulus blinked. That sounded... terribly unfair. He flinched when fingers grabbed his shoulder, hard enough to bruise. The Dark Lord stared him down, his gaze cold.
"Either you fight for wizards, or you side with muggles. There is no middle ground. Use that wand, or go bow to those muggles. I have no use for passive cowards."
Regulus swallowed and raised his wand. He wouldn't be passive. He wouldn't be looked down upon. The Dark Lord was the future and he wanted to be part of it. Less than a minute now, and the car would be close enough. He could see the back of the girl's head, staring at the house, and the fire, as she cradled one of the large dogs.
A hole appeared in the road. The car slammed into it and flipped, crashing on its back, the wheels turning uselessly.
The muggle man's face, smashed upside-down against the windscreen left no doubt of his fate.
"Unlock the car doors, Severus. Regulus needs to stop hiding behind you."
Regulus' wide eyes shot to Snape. The hole in the road, he'd -? The taller boy's jaw was clenched, fierce determination narrowing his black eyes. Regulus swallowed, hating himself for being so indecisive. He should have done that. He could have done that, and he should have.
"They're open, my Lord," Snape said. The older teen locked eyes with Regulus, his eyes defiant. As if this was a competition.
Regulus clenched his jaw and turned back to the road. The dogs bolted out of the upturned car first. The girl crawled out next. Round-faced, chubby, with messy blonde hair and tears streaming down her face.
It had to look muggle-plausible. Regulus' hands shook. Because of the situation. Because just minutes earlier, he'd used fear to fuel a spell and showed his magic that fear made him more powerful, so his own magic encouraged fear.
The teenager jabbed his wand at the dogs. "Impetus!" A sentinel spell, to get mindless live transfigurations to attack intruders. A call to violence. Regulus wasn't sure it'd work on non-mindless mutts, but he couldn't fail. He wouldn't disappoint the Dark Lord. Again, he wove his anxiety into his spell, turning a streak of magic into a blast large enough to hit three and awaken their fiercest instincts.
Regulus stumbled, disoriented by the backlash of his spell. His fear was gone, but his head spun and his legs weren't holding him. Bellatrix pulled him up. Her eyes weren't on him. They were on the dogs and the muggle girl, fighting each other. Tearing each other up. The dogs were evenly matched. The girl had already lost.
Unlike with Rizzo, there was no last-second blast of magic, just a ripped body in a dark red pool and a screaming dog choking on its own blood. The last standing dog suddenly whined and bolted backwards in panic and shock as the spell dissolved. It had been less than a minute. It had been long enough.
It had been like watching someone else's memory. Regulus blinked, still in daze as he clung on to Bellatrix to stay upright.
Rodolphus clapped his shoulder. "Nice work, don't pour all of yourself in your spells, kid. Dark magic is greedy, it's got to be kept on a leash."
He was smiling proudly, in a way Father had never smiled at Regulus, and Regulus smiled back, sluggishly straightening. He'd done it. He'd shown them he could do it. That he wasn't weak.
His mind was barely clearing as his cousin tightly grabbed his arm. He thought he saw a large red muggle vehicle heading for the farm before they apparated away. His stomach lurched from the transportation's jolt, much harder than it had all morning. He breathed in slowly, desperate not to throw up.
They found themselves back at the Nettles', settled in a soft couch while Rodolphus told the good news to the family who began to make plans on how to safeguard a more reasonable amount of land for themselves this time. A glass of water was handed to Regulus. He greedily gulped it down, hoping nobody noticed just how weak he felt.
"You shouldn't use fear," Snape said softly. "With fear, you're tempted to let it all go. It's easier with anger, because you're fine with being angry, it's... justified. You don't want to magically exhaust yourself."
"I hear you." Regulus laughed silently, marveling at the fact he'd cast spells he'd have thought beyond him even this morning. Yes, he'd been terrified, but that had given him power like he'd never been able to summon in class. He understood now, why people said the Dark Lord would make them all stronger. Wizards needed purpose to thrive, and the modern world had stripped them all of true purpose, making them believe a cushy Ministry job was the highest calling. This... this was why they were born with magic. To do whatever they put their minds to doing.
"Thank you, for bringing me," Snape said after a while. "Why didn't you take Mulciber or Avery? Or Rosier? They would give an arm for an opportunity like this. They can pay you back better."
"I'm not so sure they could. Cousin Cissy's never looked twice at them."
"I know you have a crush on your cousin, Black, but I mean it."
Regulus grinned because Snape was teasing, friendly teasing, and that was rare. "Honestly, because I trust you more. I know where we stand. You're smarter and more powerful. I'm a Black and I know people. I can't have what you have and vice versa. We can help each other. Mulciber and Avery... sometimes I feel we're competing. Also, if you're mean, I'll whine to Narcissa, and you'll care way more than Mulciber would when she'll get on your case."
Snape rolled his eyes, but he couldn't pretend it wasn't true. He then frowned, looking at something beyond Regulus. "Do you have books on Occlumency?"
Regulus followed the other's gaze. Bellatrix and the Dark Lord were standing close. Her hand was on his arm, their eyes locked. Wandless legilimency. Less accurate than with a wand, but enough to see what a willing partner was ready to show you (if you were powerful and skilled enough to pull off wandless casting, obviously, but Regulus knew he had to stop being bitter about that if he wanted to fit in with the right crowd).
"We must have, but I doubt he'll be thrilled if he notices you blocking him."
"It's everybody else I want to learn how to block."
They hastily stood up when the Dark Lord strode towards them. Regulus was relieved he managed not to sway.
"You're too young to be of much use to me yet, but soon you'll be men. I have a question for each of you. I'll want an answer by the next time we meet."
Regulus nodded solemnly. "My Lord?"
"What do you want to do about your treacherous brother, Regulus? Don't think to use lack of power as an excuse to hide your lack of will, I will help you, whatever you chose." He turned to Snape. "As for you, Bella told me you are a Prince. A half-blood Prince. What do you want to do about your grandparents?"
"But..." Regulus took a slow breath. He had to ask. "The Princes are wizards, not muggles. We can't just... get rid of them."
"Can't we?" A thin smile drew itself on the Dark Lord's lips. "There might be consequences, but that will be Severus' choice." Red clouded the man's irises. "To abandon a talented magical child to grow among muggles should be punished, don't you agree?"
It wasn't a question. Regulus nodded promptly.
He was a little dizzy later, as he tried to think what he wanted to do about Sirius. Before, it's not like he'd had a choice. Now... What did he want to do? Was there a spell to give people a new personality?
What would be an appropriate punishment? For being a traitor. And a terrible brother.
What would a proper Lord Black do?
Author's Note
Regulus needs to fall before he finds it in himself to make the right choice. So here we are.
I was curious to explore how Voldemort recruited his followers during the early war years, because if he'd started off by crucioing everybody, he'd have had very few followers. So, like in most abusive relationships, he spots the kind of people who crave power and/or recognition badly enough, he gives them what they want at first, he creates a climate of fear by showing what happens to his enemies but makes sure to treat his followers like they're special, and only later, when his followers are marked and trapped (if only because they're criminals and can't go back), he turns on them because he knows they won't leave.
For what it's worth, I don't see Voldemort as someone who's super-powered. I see magical talent a bit like talent for sports. Sure, some people have better genetics, but you don't get to be a high-level athlete without putting in the hours. Voldemort (and Bellatrix to a lesser extent) are the Kung-Fu masters of the wizarding world, they're obsessed by magic and power and so have spent an insane amount of time improving their spell-crafting. More average wizards like playing explosive snap, listening to music on the wireless and going to the pub with their friends, so they're no way near that level.
A bit of world-building because I'm in a chatty mood: I see pre-Statute wizards as pirates of a kind. They took what they needed (food, clothes, houses) and just hexed (from obliviates to love potions and straight up murder) muggles who wouldn't cooperate. I mean, if you have magic, why bother with the daily grind? I'm sure some nice wizards were content to grow herbs and breed chickens, but others doubtless wanted muggles to bow to them. Of course, that kind of behavior creates chaos and muggles still can be dangerous to wizards (especially if they have the element of surprise, and most people probably didn't want to have to kill muggles anyway, or to be attacked because some other wizard behaved badly), so I figure wizarding society decided it would be more civilized to live apart, so the Statute happened and interactions with muggles became increasingly frowned upon. One the one hand, it protects muggles, on the other, it increases the Ministry's power because wizards can't just take what they want anymore, they need to make money to pay other wizards for stuff they can't do themselves. Which means everybody must get jobs and people's status gets tied up to that. Things are more peaceful, until some people realize they could have much more if they stopped following the law. Hence Dark Lords.
