AUTHORS NOTE:
Bellatrix has made another appearance, and Regulus and Sirius are on a strained relationship as of now, and this will carry on for a while, it is crucial that Sirius grows to feel angry towards his brother, betrayed.
Anyways, leave a review of what you thought, if you'd like. It would mean a lot to know whether I am doing well in righting Dark Hermione, and Regulus and all that.
Enjoy x
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Chapter 5
Making his way out of the Great Hall, Regulus could feel them following closely behind him.
"Reggie!" he heard Sirius call for him, and he remembered what Hermione told him, and he took a calming breath, trying to carry on, to not turn around and hug his brother, to check if he was better. His older brother, the person he'd looked up to for so long, he wished to be as brave as Sirius one day, he wished today was that day.
He kept walking, and he felt them catch up to him, Sirius and his friends.
"Reggie—hey Reggie, wait up!" Sirius was grabbing onto his shoulder now, and Regulus stopped, Hermione's words echoing in his ears, and he knew she loved Sirius, almost as much as he did. So he knew that nothing behind her words was cruel towards Sirius, he knew it was necessary.
He stiffened as he quickly shrugged of his brothers grasp, and he could almost feel Sirius's deep frown radiating onto his skin, he could feel the tension and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
"Reggie?" it was soft, and so confused. It was a question, as if unsure of what he should do now; he was only twelve, this was too much.
"Leave me alone, Sirius." He almost hissed through his clenched teeth, he was forcing out, it hurt, oh God did it hurt, and he felt the air shift suddenly, and Sirius seemed farther then he was, he could feel the imaginary distance forming between them.
"What? Ah, c'mon Regulus! That stupid wall won't make you forget me! We're still family, no matter what that bitch says or does!" his voice was getting too loud, this will grab the attention of many, but he knew what he had to do, and it hurt his heart, it broke pieces of it and he felt them scratching at his insides as they fell.
But he closed his eyes, squeezed them and then opened them, and felt the darkness consume him. He was going to be the true Black his mother had bred him to be.
He pulled his wand out quicker then he could think of anything else, and before he knew it, he was pressing it against Sirius's neck, and Sirius's eyes widened.
"Never speak of my mother like that again. Stupid boy, you are Sirius. You are no brother of mine, you're no Black. Just a disgrace, a reckless fucking loser." He growled at his brother, his eyes blackening slightly and James and Remus instantly pulled their wands out, but not quick enough because the next thing that happened was Sirius slamming his fist into his brothers face, and he felt the bone crack.
"Stop!" he heard her scream, and he could sense her rage. They were hurting her Regulus. She ran towards them, and he felt Sirius being thrown away from him, and soft hands gripping at his arms, lifting him off the ground.
"Stay away from us Sirius. Dark magic has coursed through our veins since we were children, and we've been taught spells that would make McGonagall faint. You would know, wouldn't you?" her smile and voice were cold, emotionless, and he gazed at her with a dazed look, impressed at the way she was able to place this mask on her face and play the act so well.
"You're no Black, Sirius. Stay away from us." She growled at him, and grabbed Regulus's wand off the ground, quickly muttering a quick healing spell under her breath, his nose making a horrifying sound as it was pushed back into place, and she grabbed his face, checking for any other injuries aside from the once broken nose, and the blood running down his face.
Turning to give Sirius and his friend's a dark glare, watching as Sirius looked at them with a pained expression on his face as they turned to walk away, he felt his heart break a little more.
But he reminded himself, this was for Sirius's protection. This was important; this was the bravest thing that he's ever done.
And once they were in the safety of only each other's company, Hermione collapsed into his arms and began shaking with her sobs, her cries loud, and he was shocked that the Silencio she cast was holding so well, not cracking at the impact of the screams she was letting out, and then it was his turn and he punched one of the walls nearest to him, bruising his knuckles, and they comforted one another.
He thought, what a horrible thing he'd done, and he was just twelve, just a boy.
It'll be worth it.
•••••••••••
Going home this summer, Regulus was greeted by a rather happy Walburga Black.
"Lucius Malfoy's mother sent me a letter while you were at school my darling, and she told me that her son had overheard that you'd fought Sirius, dishonored him as a Black. I am so proud of you my love, so proud. That fool is no longer apart of our family, he'd tainted the Black family name, should be dead for it, but he's residing with those blood-traitors, the Potter's" she spat their names out like they were filth, and to her, they were.
"Anything for the most ancient and noble house of Black mother, and anything for you." He smiled at her, a grim smile that didn't reach his eyes, his eyes darkening with hatred, but she was clueless as to what emotions were, and so she was stupid enough to disregard the way his hand tightened on his wand.
"As did Hermione, smart girl, and she seems to be close to you, what would you think of her as a wife?" She gave him a wretched smile, and he felt his stomach turn. Hermione was no wife, she was his sister, but how to disobey his mother, how to avoid a beating, he tried to think of the most Slytherin way to get out of this, as that was coming to be more useful to him then he'd thought it would be.
"We're still so young mother, when the time comes, we'll see." He muttered, and she graced him with yet another smile.
"Such a good boy, Regulus" she kissed the top of his head, and he wanted to push her away but he stayed quiet, living through the Hell that was burning him alive.
•••••••••••
Hermione had not told her father of what she did, and it was important that she didn't. He would never understand, he would demand for her to apologize to Sirius, his love for her cousin was near to the love he held for her.
"How was your second year, sweetheart?" he asked, his gaze holding so much love, and shining with pride, as if she was the most amazing thing to have walked this planet.
She felt the sourness rise up her throat as she recalled the words she spoke to Sirius, and the tears stung at her eyes, but she snapped out of it quickly and graced her father with a bright smile, one that would make him believe that she was okay.
"Wonderful father, absolutely wonderful."
This was the first time Hermione had lied to her father.
•••••••••••
Sirius was not happy, regardless of being far away from his mother, and his father.
In fact, he was royally pissed off, very confused and sad.
He couldn't comprehend what had happened in the time span of one year, for Regulus to completely turn on him the way he did, and Hermione, oh Gods, he felt the shiver run down his spine as he recalled her cold tone when she regarded him, and her eyes were dark, and holding threats if he were to ever touch Regulus again.
He was just so fucking confused!
What had happened? He wanted to understand what he'd done for them to suddenly decide that Walburga was right, and that he was tarnishing the family crest of the house of Black. He felt his tongue go dry as he thought of the words his brother used when defending their mother, or his mother, Sirius did not associate himself with that woman, not anymore at least.
And was uncle Alphard aware of this? Or worse, was he the one that ordered Hermione to stop speaking to him?
But no, uncle Alphard loved Sirius, and treated him as more of a son than his parents ever did, protecting him and listening to him the way a parent should.
His fist still burned with the sound of it coming in contact with Regulus's nose, and he felt himself shiver in the darkness of his bedroom.
He felt so cold, and he thought that once he was far away from what it is to be a Black, he'd still have Regulus, and Hermione, the two had always looked up to him when they were toddlers, following him around and doing what he did, puffing up their chests as if they were attempting to imitate his bravery, to be as brave as Sirius.
But he was a coward, who was reckless, and hit his brother.
He sighed to himself, he'd been tossing and turning in his bed for what seemed to be hours, not able to sleep whenever he pictured Hermione's face, and Regulus's words. He feared of what they were up to, there must be an explanation for this.
And with that small reassuring thought, Sirius went to sleep, but nightmares of bloody noses and the harsh words of his brother and cousin had him waking up only two hours later, but by then it was morning, and James was downstairs, making loud noises as he told his parents of their fourth year.
And when Sirius made his way downstairs, he made sure to wipe the frown off his face and replace it with a smile, the Potter's have been so good to him, a second pair of parents, or rather the only parents he ever felt like he'd had. And he couldn't worry them, not more than he already had.
So he smiled, and joined James in the story telling, and they spent their morning laughing with their parents, and Regulus and Hermione were forgotten, if just for a little while.
•••••••••••
There was another dinner at grandfather's house, two days before they were due to head back to Hogwarts for their third-year, and Hermione and Regulus had spent their summer in the Black library, reading up on anything and everything.
Most of the books that littered the library were filled with dark magic and they found themselves intrigued with the whole concept, and so they read until their eyeballs were due to fall out of their heads.
As for their friendship with Severus, the two made sure to send letters to him everyday, if only to check on how he was, not really sure of how his home life was, but assumed it wasn't so good for Sev to be such bitter person. Or maybe he was just okay before he came to Hogwarts and had James Potter and his little gang bully him into oblivion.
Severus made sure to always respond to them, sarcasm being his main tool for conversation, and something shifted in their friendship, and they seemed to be much closer, a bond that was stronger perhaps, and this made them happy, as the worries that sat on their shoulders were beginning to get too heavy for just the two of them to carry.
Severus, like Sirius, James and Remus, was going into his fifth year, and as the summer was coming to a close, his responses became less frequent and this worried Hermione, very much.
She told Regulus of her worry for their friend, and he told her that it must be nothing, that he was just busy, but there was something there, something she didn't quite understand, and so she tried to push the feeling of uneasiness away, but she would be sure to ask Severus if he was all right once she saw him in school.
As two thirteen year olds, Hermione and Regulus were beginning to feel what Alphard referred to as raging hormones, were both were extremely hormonal, and more prone to arguments than they were when they were younger.
But their arguments never lasted more than ten minutes, and soon they'd be back to reading, making observations and keeping notes, telling each other of the different discoveries they made, and sharing their opinions on different dark spells and hexes that they thought would be useful in the future.
When it was time for dinner, they were shocked to see their cousin Bellatrix, who'd recently married one of the Lestrange brothers, but Hermione couldn't remember which one it was, only that he was horrendously stupid, and that grandfather found him to be an irrelevant excuse for a pureblood.
Bella looked, to say the least, jittery, her smile a bit manic, and her curly hair frizzing, as if representing her insanity.
By her side was her husband, Lestrange looked to be as equally unhinged as Bella currently was, and their outfits matched, both wearing black, their wands tucked away.
Bellatrix's dark eyes caught sight of her younger cousins, and her smile seemed to grow, but it wasn't comforting at all, in fact it felt like the room temperature had just dropped a couple of degrees, but Hermione knew better than to resist, as did Regulus.
They couldn't show their cousin that something was off, and that they spent this entire summer missing the blood-traitor.
She approached them and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek, and Hermione almost wiped away the mark of lipstick that was on her face but she remained still, and it was Regulus who spoke up first.
"Bella, you're looking well, marriage really does suite you." He grabbed her hand and gave it a small kiss, and their cousin smiled, nodding her head, as if approving of whatever he'd just said.
"Yes, you look beautiful." Hermione added, and bowed her head slightly, a sign of submission, as if acknowledging that Bella was indeed the strongest one between them three, and she patted Hermione on the head, gracing her with yet another horror-filled smile that made bile rise in Hermione's throat, and Regulus's stomach turn.
"Ah, Regulus, Hermione, must I say how proud I am of the both of you. Honorary Slytherins!" she squealed, clapping her hands, her voice high-pitched and ear shattering but they smiled, nodding.
"Unlike that blood-traitor, Sirius" she spat his name with so much venom, and her eyes darkening in a way that made Hermione feel as if she was staring into a cold abyss, and she put a sneer on her face, her anger directed towards Bella for regarding Sirius like he was dirt, and Regulus scowled, but to everyone in the room, it was like they were sharing Bellatrix's hatred towards their once-family member.
"It's so shocking to think that he could be related to you Regulus, doesn't seem like he could be the brother of such a brilliant boy like yourself" her voice still so high, and Hermione almost winced.
"Brother? That's no brother of mine Bella, trust me. He is nothing to me, and is nothing to the house of Black, a bloody Gryffindor." Regulus spoke, his voice cold and Hermione mentally high-fived him for saying this, smart boy.
"Oh Regulus, you make me laugh! If you ever need me to give the little brat a lesson, just let me know. I've got a few connections, very good connections." She grinned, clapping her hands together and Regulus almost doubled-over to throw up right there, but he stood even straighter and gave her a well-practiced smirk.
"I'll be sure to hold you up on that offer cousin" and he kissed her hand once more.
"Anyways, I've a big announcement, that's why Rodolphus and I are here, we've recently met a brilliant man, a man of power, who wants to rid this world of mudbloods, and oh Auntie you would love him" she began, grabbing Walburga's hand.
"We've joined his little group, to fight for his cause." And she pulled the sleeve of her dress up, revealing her forearm, which was tainted by a mark that looked to be a skull with a snake going through it, and just looking at it made Hermione's blood run cold.
"How wonderful!" Walburga clapped her hands; her eyes finding Regulus, and the two teenagers who stood in the room realized that this meant nothing good for them. This meant something far worse than just family problems, much, much worse.