Walburga and Orion remember they have one more son they can count on to do the right thing, but does Regulus want to be that son?

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

She left the pathetic waste of space and blood on the rug, screeching at Kreacher to clean up the mess he had made with his thrashing and to take him to his room. No one had gone up there in years so it should still be the way he left it, with all those distasteful posters which she couldn't blast off the wall no matter how hard she tried.

She walked through the house looking for her husband. Normally, they stayed out of each other's hair. She managed the household, monitoring the house-elves and keeping up appearances among their circles like a proper pureblood wife. He managed the finances and ensured their family's money was put into proper investments. He had no reason to be involved in her or their children's lives, but this was a special case. This concerned both their appearance and their finances.

The Dark Lord was rising in power and was recruiting all those who agreed with his cause: the eradication of the filth of the world. The Blacks remained as one of the most prestigious and oldest families, going back for centuries, by remaining pure and marrying within their kind. Their motto epitomized their belief: "Toujours Pur". All things impure deserved to be scoured.

This man had a plan but he needed an army and he needed funds. He had already approached her brother's family, and they had donated generously, with their oldest jumping eagerly to the cause like a good girl. But he was of a side branch, and she would not accept such effrontery from her own family.

They would present their son, the true Black heir, to the Dark Lord for his cause. He would represent their family in this revolution against impurities. He would have fame and fortune, glory and honour bestowed upon him. It was just a shame that such an honour would have to go to someone so worthless. If only their bright star, Regulus, had been the first-born, then she wouldn't even have to contact her worthless child.

She finally found her husband sitting in his study, sipping on his favourite whiskey. She knocked before entering the room with her head held down, always the subservient wife. "The boy has been placed in his room, dear."

She chanced a look at his face. Her husband regarded her coldly, looking at her from the top of his tumbler before taking a long sip. His lip curled around the edge of the glass before asking, "And is he more willing now?"

She gulped. She wished she had a more confident answer, but all she could say was, "I should hope so, dear. All thoughts otherwise were removed forcibly."

There was a silent moment before her husband spoke once more, "We will talk to him later and begin the preparations. He will be arriving for dinner in the next few days to meet the boy. Hopefully, at the same time, he will find favour in our other son. At least we can count on him to do the right thing."

She nodded dutifully. Regulus would not be hard to prepare. He would do what was expected without question for he was a good boy. However, she had such short time to retrain that cur and she was sure, even with her first lesson, that his stubbornness had not been removed in the slightest. She would have to increase the 'treatment'.

"Yes, dear," she said. She looked up and he waved his hand at her before staring away from her direction. She took that her cue to leave and she made her way out of the study, closing the door soundly behind her. She had to get ready for their talk with their son later.

...oOo...

There was one more son in the Black family, young Regulus. He sat in his room on his bed, his foot shaking uncontrollably and his chest constricted under the effects of a panic attack. He hadn't had one in years, not since his brother had last been here and his reappearance had triggered them once more.

It was the constant fighting and bickering between him and their parents, mostly their mother, that set him on edge. His brother held his own, never wavering under their mother's intense gaze, and it usually resulted in pain and tears, sometimes broken bones and bloody faces, but nothing like this.

The memory of his screams still echoed through Regulus' mind. Their fights had never been that bad and he had never heard such a sound escape his brother's throat, then it suddenly stopped and the house was quiet. Regulus waited with baited breath, his heart racing when he heard the thumping on the stairs. There was the hissing sound of something being dragged across the floor, then door down the hall opened and then shut before the footsteps retreated.

His brother had been placed in his room and Regulus was spared once more. But did he really have anything to fear? Some part in the back of his mind, Regulus always feared his mother would turn on him one day. Her anger would finally boil over, exceeding its bounds and onto him. But his mother had always called him her golden boy. He was the perfect son, the one who respected his parents and held his family's beliefs proudly. He could do no wrong in her eyes.

However, he still felt tense. There was something in the air that spoke of things yet to come. Something big was about to happen. Regulus had no idea what, but he knew it had something to do with his brother. Why else would his mother be so hellbent on having him home this summer and not the summers before? He should go to his brother and share with him his fears and concerns. But he couldn't, frozen in place on the edge of his bed. Though he wanted to, Regulus was a coward out to save his own skin. He wanted to remain uninvolved. He hoped whatever it was would go after his brother and forget that their parents had one more son.