9. Tick-tock (Sirius)
"Well she's either kidnapped or murdered," Sirius concluded. "It's not like she took a walk in the woods and got lost."
James, Remus and Peter nodded in agreement.
"I wonder which it is," said James, before adding. "And which one is worse?"
"If You-Know-Who captures someone you can bet they're going to have a hard time," said Sirius matter-of-factly. "She's probably getting tortured as we speak."
"Don't say that!" Peter exclaimed in a terrified voice.
"Unless she's already dead," James filled in.
"Unless she's already dead."
The sudden disappearance of Harriet Vance - the Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement - was the only thing people talked about in school that day. It had been in The Daily Prophet that morning. Without a trace, she was gone. Vance was second in rank, after the Minister for Magic, so getting to her must have been big for the Death Eaters.
Being kidnapped by Death Eaters must be terrifying. Not that Sirius had to worry. He wasn't the kind of wizard the Death Eaters would target. Although, maybe his parents would offer them a sum of money if they promised to kidnap him as well.
"I don't think she is," Remus chimed in, where he was sitting on Sirius' left. "She must be sitting on a lot of information. The Death Eaters will want that before they get rid of her."
"Yeah," said James gloomily.
Yeah, that was probably the case. That wasn't very good for her, or for the wizarding world as a whole. She would, understandably, cave and give up the Ministry's secrets.
The four of them went quiet. Sirius took another bite of his sausage and swept his eyes over the Great Hall packed with students. A distressful murmur from everyone discussing exactly the same thing filled the air.
"And there was a muggle official who was found dead a couple of days ago," James added and turned to Remus, who also paid attention to the Muggle news. "Remus, did you hear about that?"
"Yeah," sighed Remus.
To be honest, Sirius didn't find the disappearance of some muggle as interesting. What was the odds it was connected to Voldemort?
He swallowed the last of the sausage.
Lily, who was sitting across the table a couple seats down, suddenly leaned closer to Sirius, James, Remus and Peter.
"How did you know that," she asked James, looking surprised.
James managed to not lose face when Lily voluntarily talked to him for the second time in less than 48 hours. "I read a muggle newspaper," he said calmly, slightly turning in his seat to look at her.
Sirius shared a grin with Remus.
Lily's eyebrows shot up, and she looked the tiniest bit impressed. "Oh, okay."
Very few wizards gave a shit about what muggles got up to. The fact James did must make him less of a jerk in Lily's eyes.
"What happened?" Peter asked.
James shrugged. "Don't know. He turned up dead. Could have just been a normal murder for all I know, but it's not impossible it was the Death Eaters." James turned to Lily. "What do you think?"
Sirius smiled inwards when James tried to keep the conversation with Lily alive. Being the supportive friend he was Sirius let the two of them talk alone and gave the food on his plate his full attention.
"I don't see why they would target some muggle now," said Lily. "They don't matter at the moment. This is a fight between You-Know-Who and the Ministry."
"Yeah," James agreed.
When none of them said anything else Lily's eyes moved to Remus. She gave him a faint smile when their eyes met. Remus looked uncomfortable as the corner of his lips did a failed attempt to smile back.
Now she pitied him.
"What do you think happened to Vance, Lily?" James continued, which made Lily turn away from Remus. "Did You-Know-Who take her?"
Remus relaxed his shoulders and Sirius shot him a lock telling him it was nothing to worry about. So what if Lily thought he had cancer? It was an improvement, really. Now he had an explanation as to why he disappeared and so on.
"Yeah," Lily responded right away. She raised her eyebrows, and said bitterly: "It's starting now."
This was the end of an era. They could stop asking themselves what Voldemort was doing. He now had started to carry out his plan in the open.
Their conversation with Lily died out, and, to James disappointment, she turned back to her friends. Sirius continued with his lunch as he shot a glance towards Regulus at the Slytherin table. The two of them hadn't talked to each other since their fight in September. Sirius hadn't wanted to talk to that racist little idiot, but, he had been stupid. Helping the Order of the Phoenix was more important than his pride. He had to set things right between Regulus and him.
Lily and her friends were done eating and started standing up.
"See you in Herbology," said Lily.
"See you," said Sirius and Remus together, as Peter mumblingly uttered the same phrase.
James stared after Lily and her friends as they left. He seemed to whole-heartedly regret he hadn't picked Herbology as one of his N.E.W.T-subjects.
"Should we get going as well?" Remus suggested.
They all got up and started walking through the Great Hall. When they reached the big oak doors Sirius stopped, casting an unsure look at the Slytherin table on his right.
He should just go for it. Waiting wasn't going to make it any easier...
"Sirius, you gonna keep walking?" James wondered snidely, where he was standing behind Sirius.
"I just... " Sirius turned around to look at his friends. "I just wanna talk to Regulus. I'll catch up with you."
James, Remus and Peter all knew Sirius had argued with Regulus, since Sirius had ranted about it, and, on top of that, he had been able to use it as an explanation as to why he'd attacked Snivellus when Remus had told him not to. It hadn't even been a lie. At least it was a part of the reason. Worked-up after the argument with Regulus Snivellus had just been even more annoying than usual.
"What exactly is going on with you two?" James asked, frowning.
Sirius shook his head to indicate he didn't have time to talk about it at the moment. "I'll catch up with you later," he repeated.
Sirius turned away from the doors and made his way along the Slytherin table. Several of the students stared at him as he passed. Regulus was sitting facing the wall, but when Sirius stopped behind him one of the guys sitting opposite Regulus raised his eyebrows, looked at Regulus and gave a nod in Sirius' direction. Regulus turned around in his seat. His eyes immediately narrowed, as he looked at Sirius with loathing.
"Before you say anything," said Sirius hurriedly. He had to force himself to utter the next sentence. "I'm sorry."
Regulus stared at him without speaking. Sirius shot a look at the Slytherins surrounding his brother. They all stared back. Could they not? Were they lives really that uneventful that Sirius talking to his brother was the highlight of their day?
"I'm sorry, okay," he continued. He nodded his head away from the table. "Could I talk to you?"
He had already done far too much begging in front of Regulus' loser friends.
Regulus, actually looking less suspicious than Sirius had thought he would, stood up and followed Sirius to the aisle between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw table. No one would be able to overhear them in the noisy hall.
"Okay, I know we don't see eye to eye on a lot of things," Sirius started. Regulus didn't interrupt him but kept eyeing him in silence. "But I wish we could still… hang out."
This was so far-fetched. There was no reason Regulus would fall for this.
Sirius shifted his weight. Regulus kept staring at him.
"Okay."
Now it was Sirius turn to stare.
What?
Regulus looked at Sirius. He didn't seem angry, but rather a little nervous himself "We want you to be a part of the family," Regulus added after a long moment of silence.
'We'. Ugh. Sirius bet his family talked about him behind his back all the time. The way Regulus phrased that made Sirius' skin crawl, too. Regulus made it sound like their family were waiting for Sirius with open arms, hoping he would change for the better.
Like he was the one who needed to change.
Sirius pursed his lips. "We could catch up," he suggested, avoiding to acknowledge what Regulus had said.
A small pleased smile appeared before quickly disappearing from Regulus' lips. "Yeah," he agreed. "You free this afternoon?"
Sirius could think of a thousand better things to do.
"Sure."
Regulus gave a short nod before he turned around and went back to his friends. Sirius made his way along the Slytherin table. He could feel them all staring at him.
Sirius couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling of suspicion. Why had Regulus suddenly accepted his friend-request? What had changed since last time? Maybe Regulus was telling the truth about their family? Maybe they all waited for him to come around so they could stop being ashamed of him?
James, Remus and Peter stood right outside in the Entrance Hall waiting for him. James raised an eyebrow when Sirius came through the large doors.
"You care to tell us what's going on?" James asked snidely.
Sirius would rather keep his friends out of his Regulus-affair, but since he would hang out with his brother this very afternoon that wouldn't work.
"Regulus and I made up," was Sirius short answer.
James didn't buy that. His eyes narrowed disbelievingly as his mouth opened in a puzzled gesture. He probably thought Sirius was a little nuts. Whatever, he could believe what he wanted. Hopefully, he would come up with his own (wrong) explanation to why Sirius was going out of his way to befriend a Black. That way Sirius didn't have to explain himself.
"Are you ready to go to Herbology?" Remus cut in.
"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "See you later, James. I'll give Lily your love." He smirked.
James gave Sirius an irritated look but let the Regulus-thing slide. He disappeared up the marble staircase.
Herbology was held in the greenhouses and thought by Professor Sprout. It was far from Sirius' favourite subject. He hated the feeling of sticking his fingers in the dirt and getting earth under his fingernails. It was also boring. Sirius had been told Herbology was a useful subject and that's why he had picked it as an N.E.W.T.-class.
They had Herbology together with the Slytherins, which wasn't something Sirius could complain about. It added some excitement to the slow going class. But these days it also meant Snivellus would get some more spying-time. Sirius spotted the greasy Slytherin as soon as he, Remus and Peter reached the greenhouse they could be working in that day. Snivellus, standing by some of his so-called friends, looked over to Sirius, Remus and Peter, his lips turning into a smirk.
"What happened to your face, Lupin?" Snivellus called out.
Remus immediately tensed up when Snivellus pointed out the new scar on his temple.
"Why don't you mind your own business?" Sirius casually suggested.
Snivellus left the shelter of his friends and moved closer to them, staring at Remus with interest. His comment hadn't just been some random banter. Snivellus actually wanted to know what had happened to Remus. This was the second time he had caught him clearly injured.
"Was I talking to you, Black?" said Snivellus, sweeping some greasy black hair out of his face. "Lupin, what happened to your face?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," said Sirius snidely when Remus didn't answer. "Maybe his face got sad when it saw your ugly mug."
"He really can't answer for himself can he?" Snivellus smiled, eyeing Remus again.
"He can," Remus cut in cooly.
"He just doesn't want to waste time on you," said Sirius. "Be happy I'm more patient." He jerked his head upwards in a sharp nod. "Now piss off before I flip you upside down again."
Snivellus' smile dropped. Sirius smirked when his reference to the end of last year had the effect he had hoped for.
Snivellus lowered his voice and walked even closer. "Maybe you should stop with whatever you're doing," he said silkily. "It seems to be killing Lupin."
Sirius wanted to laugh. What exactly did Snivellus think they were doing? His face didn't reveal that thought, and instead, Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"Maybe we could use you instead," he said, playing along.
Sirius remark made Snivellus look surprised. Good. Now maybe he would believe they were actually up to some weird experiment. That would send him off in the totally wrong direction.
"I will find up what you're up to," said Snivellus quietly.
"Not very intelligent, are you?" said Remus. "If we were up to something maybe you shouldn't give us a heads up you're trying to find out what it is."
"Good point," Sirius smirked maliciously. "But we always knew good old Snivellus' not very sharp."
Snivellus gave the two of them a dark look. He spun around and walked back to his Slytherin friends. Sirius turned to Remus, who hard-set eyed Snivellus before meeting Sirius' gaze.
"Mate, relax," Sirius advised him. "Didn't you hear him? He's not even close. He thinks we're making Frankenstein's monster or something." Sirius snorted.
Remus looked a bit calmer. "Yeah, I guess…"
Sirius shot the Slytherins another look. He hadn't figured out the dynamic between them. Snivellus couldn't be more than just a sidekick. He was a nobody, easily put in his place by Sirius and James. He didn't have the kind of family tree Slytherins valued either. Not every Slytherin could be one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, but, even when they weren't, most of them belonged to an at least somewhat known family with a "proud" heritage. Sirius and James had actually done some research years ago, and they hadn't found any wizard with the name Snape. He was totally not pureblood. Probably a very weak half-blood.
A fucking hypocrite, that's what Snivilus was.
Sirius hated being a Black. The Black name came with a branding of "I-hate-muggles-and-am-a-snobbish-bastard", and everyone who met him assumed he was like the rest of his family. But at the same time, it was hilarious to rub his extremely pure blood in Snivellus' face.
As Sirius absentmindedly looked out over the area by the greenhouses he met Lily's eyes. She didn't seem angry or upset, but rather limitless as she shared a look of mutual understanding with Sirius. Her sudden interest of James plus learning that Remus was "sick" had softened her up to their group, and now she could easily see Snivinus for the douchebag he truly was.
Sirius looked out over the mixture of red, orange and yellow in the trees standing in the distance. The uncomfortably cold stone he was sitting on made him shudder in the already cool air. September was over and done with.
Sirius was very happy he'd finally bought a warm cloak, which he had been putting off for ages (because shopping was fucking boring). The fancy tailored one with the Black family crest his mother had ordered for him was at the very moment lying in some dark corner in the attic of number twelve, Grimmauld Place.
"So who do you hang out with?" Sirius asked without looking at his brother.
Regulus was quiet for a moment, and Sirius eventually turned his head to the right. Regulus, sitting on a stone as well, dressed in an identical cloak to the one Sirius had thrown on the attic floor, met his gaze. He shrugged.
"Derrick and Nash mostly."
"Derrick Selwyn?" Sirius wondered.
He had never heard the name Nash before, but he had met Derrick Selwyn multiple times during their annoying family dinners with the Selwyns.
"Yeah," Regulus confirmed in a "so what?"-voice.
Selwyn was pureblood, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, and shared the general Black-world view. Translation: he was a jerk.
"Cool," Sirius said in the most indifferent voice he could muster.
He turned back to look at the forest.
Sirius and Regulus had met after their last lesson of the day. Since Regulus was the Seeker of the Slytherin Quidditch team the subject of that mutual interest had actually come quite naturally as it occupied them during their aimless stroll over the Hogwarts grounds. Now Sirius couldn't think of a single thing to say. He was bored, but he had to talk to Regulus to get close to him.
"And you still hang out with the Potter kid?" said Regulus, not sounding very approving.
Sirius looked back at Regulus. "I am."
He's pureblood too, dumbass.
Sirius considered mentioning Remus and Peter were also his friends but decided it was better to expose as little information about himself as possible.
They both went quiet again. Sirius picked out a big oak tree with bright yellow leaves to stare at.
"You don't hang out with Sniv- Snape, do you?" Sirius couldn't help to ask eventually.
He just had to find out.
Sirius was prepared Regulus would act all defensive because Sirius hated on a Slytherin, but to his surprise, Regulus started to laugh.
"The Half-Blood Prince? I don't think so."
"The Half-Blood what?" Sirius asked curiously.
Regulus smirked. "The Half-Blood Prince. It's a nickname he's given himself."
'The Half-Blood Prince'. Was Snivellus kidding? What kind of name was that? Talk about being a snob, calling himself a prince. But why was he boasting about being half-blood?
Sirius snorted "That is fucking sad."
"It is," Regulus agreed. "Why do you think I would hang out with him?"
"I was hoping you weren't."
"Yeah, you and Potter pester him," Regulus said matter-of-factly.
"Because he's annoying as fuck."
"Yeah." Regulus laughed dryly.
So Snivellus being a dick was a universal understanding. At least his brother got that part of life right.
Their conversation died out again. Sirius looked back at the forest and absentmindedly kicked a small stone lying at his feet. He could hear chattering in the distance from the other students who'd gone outside.
"Are you nervous about the O.W.L.s?" Sirius asked, mostly to have something to say. He sounded like an annoying parent.
Regulus gave Sirius a look reflecting what Sirius just thought. "I don't know," he said eventually. "Were you?"
"No."
Tests didn't really worry Sirius. But it was a pain studying to them.
"Just make sure you study and… whatever." Sirius made a sweeping motion with his hand. "In other words, do the opposite of what I did."
Regulus gave a short laugh.
After that, their conversation flowed easily. They kept it on a small talk-level, and at the end of it, Sirius couldn't deny he had enjoyed his brother's company. Regulus was funny and surprisingly easy to talk to. Fortunately, Regulus seemed to feel the same way, which really had been the whole point of the afternoon activity. Sirius needed to gain Regulus' trust.
It wasn't until afterwards, while Sirius was climbing the stairs to the seventh floor, he realised something was bugging him. He was only supposed to be a spy, he couldn't actually start to like his brother. Regulus wasn't a good person, he knew that.
Even though the two of them had avoided any topic they knew they would disagree on, Regulus had shown his true self nonetheless; both of them had mocked Snivellus for his nickname, but not for the same reason. Sirius had done it because of the snobbish word "Prince". Regulus had done it because of the "Half-Blood"-part.
And that said so much about who Regulus really was.
