Sorry for the late update, I've been working on uni assignments. This is one of my favourite chapters, please review and enjoy
Idiocy – Regulus had to speculate; sometimes his idiocy really surprised himself. At times like this he had to wonder whether he really had become the Black Griffindor his brother's stead. Traditionally, a Slytherin planned, like Sirius was plotting every second of what he executed, Sirius was smart, he took things slowly and planned and had 100% success rate. He did not do things in the rush of the moment except when the time called for it like with Umbridge and the locket, and apparently his first meeting with Rita had not been planned either but more of a spur of the moment, then again, it was Rita, it had not really had all that much of a risk. Traditionally, a Griffindor steamed right ahead on a bout of foolish courage, only there really wasn't such a thing as foolish courage, there was courage and there was foolishness.
Courage was not the absence of fear, but feeling fear and being able to disregard or work through it because there were no other options. That was the difference between courage and foolishness, foolishness was doing something to appear brave. Maybe he was being a bit harsh, judgemental surely, stereotypical with a Slytherin mind-set, certainly, but in retrospect, had Sirius been in this position himself it would not have come as a surprise. Of course the new Sirius would know exactly what to do and have the power to get out of all predicaments with relative ease, but ten years ago, this sort of situation would be normal. Sirius and his marauder brothers always steamed into things no matter how dangerous they got. They acted first and hardly ever thought while they were doing it or afterwards or at all really.
Sirius and the others, they only ever pretended too if they got caught and punished but even then their actions were always noble and brave, like becoming animals so they could go and play with a werewolf. This move was just foolhardy and thinking of Sirius just made him wince in guilt because Merlin knows what was going to happen now. It was love for his brother that had landed him in this predicament, well more accurately; it was his love for his brother's praise. He had always lived to impress his brother, for the man to say 'I'm proud of you' and to value him like their parents always failed to do. Regulus briefly wondered whether this was why he always liked Slughorn and why Sirius had formed an uncanny attachment to Minerva.
Sirius had praised him to the high heavens when he helped him capture the Lestrange brothers and again when he pointed out what Umbridge had been wearing. He called what he was doing 'their' revolution, not his and they raised Harry together. This was what drove him to find out about the horcruxes even though the process made him ill because it helped his brother, it was something only he, Regulus Black could do, something his older brother could not, something he valued Regulus' help in, he could not resist. He'd always loved Sirius more than his parents, growing up all they'd ever had were each other and they kept saying so, and he never much cared for their praise and encouragement as long as he had Sirius beside him.
He beamed with pride when Sirius thanked him for his help, it spread through him like a drug and he found himself wanting more, needing more. In order to get this he did the only thing he knew worked, he continued to prove himself. It had seemed like a wise decision at the time, he was lost in thoughts of how proud Sirius would be with him, how valued he would be, and now he was here, berating himself because everything had gone wrong. This was one of the worst messes to get caught up in because he had no idea how to get out of it. He could almost hear him now, "how could you be so reckless," and "you could get us all killed". Oh yes, when they were children Sirius had taken his role as an older brother very seriously or Siriusly as he would call it.
Regulus had always been reckless; he always claimed cheekily that he learnt from the best. He was not very good with his self-preservation, and Sirius had been awfully self-sacrificing, ending up jumping from frying pan to fire to save his butt. He always got an earful from him later, like when he had almost broken Arthur Weasleys back and Sirius had yelled at him for a good ten minutes before ignoring him for a whole week. Shunning had always been the worst punishment Sirius could deal out to him and he knew it, but he had saved him from suspension which his family most certainly would not look kindly upon. While the reason for it would not be unfavourable in their eyes, being suspended at all was dishonour on the Black family name.
Yes, Sirius was always such a good brother and acted like a father to him, which was what he needed really and more than he could say for their real parents. Regulus was not the best little brother, not all the time anyway, they snuck into each other's bed at nights and played together and so on, but Reg always said things he did not mean and because Sirius was older he took them to heart. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" He would say and Regulus would laugh at him without humour and disregard him and he own rushed replies full of mocking and snide ignorant, naive, young anger he could only have the intelligence to regret and feel guilt over many years later. "Who do you think you are Sirius talking to me like that, you are not father!" And "what's the matter little girl, can't take a risk?"
"Some big brother you turn out to be." That was his favourite insult as a child because it seemed to cut Sirius the deepest. The irony of the situation was that it was Regulus who was the bad brother and Sirius who was the best. When they were older he stopped being so reckless because he knew it hurt his older brother, worried him and started vying for his praise instead. Whenever Sirius saw his rebuking may have been too harsh or Regulus was mulling over it too much or he was frightened by how loud his older brother's voice could get and how scary he could look and sound, Sirius always broke. Reg was the light of his childhood, the only thing that kept him at the house for so long before running away to live with James. He could never stay angry at him for his reckless behaviour or his cutting, hurtful, thoughtless comments for long.
He would always sigh and sit down and pull his brother who was only a head shorter than him into his lap. He would hold him in his arms, breathing him in, hugging him, an everlasting shield and show of protection that would forever be there. He would apologise for scaring him and being too harsh and say that he did not mean to hurt him. He would say that he loved him again and again until he was sure Regulus could never forget it. "I only say these things because I care about you. I hate to see you putting yourself in danger or in a precarious situation. If you got hurt Reg... I don't know what I'd do." he'd make eye contact and make him promise to be more careful and not do it again and Reg always said yes.
He said yes and he always meant it. When Sirius said those things he always felt such guilt, he was always so sorry for hurting his brother with those thoughtless things he said. It became clear just how much Sirius loved him, had always loved him and always would love him and it would twist the sinews of his heart. He would throw his arms around his brother, overwhelmed by the love he was shown, he'd bury his face into Sirius' chest and bawl how sorry he was. He'd say he did not mean it and promise never to worry him again. But he always did, so it became a routine, a systematic cycle of sorts that could not be broken because Reg just could not stay away from the thrill and the desire to prove himself, for praise, and here, years later, it still happened.
Getting Sirius to tell him about the Room of Requirement was easy. It was a unique room that would pique anyone's interest so he could pepper him with question after question without seeming suspicious. Sirius was only too happy to talk about a subject that was not related to death and fighting. Since starting this revolution it was so hard to find a subject that was not related to hunting and corrupt officials and He Who Must Not Be Named. Seeming as, as far as Sirius thought at least, they were going to go to that room eventually anyway, after appropriate planning, training and precautions were taken to uphold his 100% success rate Regulus would need to know about it. So Sirius told him about it, about what one could hide, what one could find, what you could ask for, how to get into the room in the first place, where in the school it was, everything.
Regulus did not press for information every day; he did not want to arouse suspicion. Regulus had changed a lot, had grown up somewhat and he had gained his trust not just by letting him help with the revolution, calling it 'ours' but just by letting him bond with Harry. Yes Sirius knew what he was like, a leopard never changes its spots as they say, he was not quite sure who said it first, Kipling maybe, or Tennyson, someone like that. Sirius knew he was bound to pull a stunt like this and had warned him how dangerous it was. He'd done similar things before, but never before had it been a situation so dire, and never before had it been something so dangerous that Sirius would not jump in after him. Now Harry was involved Sirius should probably not come to his aid, they had the child to think of, Harry came first.
Once Regulus felt he had enough information about the room he head off. Thinking back on it, getting into Hogwart's grounds was easy enough too, a bit too easy coming to think about it. He had grabbed the invisibility cloak from the main wardrobe, Harry still had no use for it, he was too young to need one, he was five, his life revolved around custard and pretending to be a plane. Because he did not have his brother's ability to apparate around some barriers like he did not have his strength and unlocked core and so forth... he had Kreacher apparate him to Hogwarts, simple. Kreacher was Sirius' personal elf and was loyal to him, but he had a soft spot for Regulus, and if you were the privileged favourite child and it gave you sway then you were a fool not to use it. He swore the elf to secrecy and he reluctantly agreed.
It did not matter that the place, even though it was after hours was milling with students and teachers, he glided to the room invisible, praying it would be empty. There were a group of students in every generation that found out all of the castles secrets and therefore there were bound to be a few who knew about it and that did not even factor in the teachers. Sirius would have thought about all of this before leaving Grimmauld Place, made sure nothing got in their way, somehow. But he was not Sirius; he was the hot-headed baby brother, Mr Screw-up from frying pan to fire. What hurt the most was that he had almost done it, it had gone so smoothly for a while and he had entertained the idea of returning home before Sirius even woke up and him being none the wiser.
He found the mirror of Erised rather quickly, it stood in the corner of the room, it was just as he remembered it. What he saw was him place the diadem of Raveclaw into the cup of Hufflepuff, so he learnt more information, he needed the cup before he got the diadem and then he'd have both. He was just about to go home triumphant, armed with this tidbit of information; all of it transpiring before Sirius even woke before his plans went balls up. The shit hit the fan in the form of a purple robed, white bearded man for some reason God only knows entering the room. Albus fucking Dumbledore well wasn't this just fucking great. Somebody who was looking down on him had a sick sense of humour, fate hated him. But it was not fate's fault, it was his foolhardiness.
Dumbledore for some reason and God knows what that reason could be, had entered the room and that messed up the poorly formed plan. Regulus had pulled the cloak that Sirius had told him Dumbledore was not fooled by anyway over his head as soon as he heard the door creak and ducked behind the objects in the room in time. Still, even though he'd done this Dumbledore knew someone was in the room with him, one of his incomprehensible powers. He was standing by the only entrance (and exit now) as calm as always, arms crossed over his chest, twinkle still in his eyes. "Whoever you are, come out now, I know you are here." He was so calm, cool collected, like Sirius when he executed his plans. "Show yourself," he said, his breath had no even quickened, a plan, that was what he needed.
He needed that thing he should have drawn up before he left the house – like Sirius was doing, that was why Sirius had said not to do this yet. He was not done planning, he was not done making sure the shit would not hit the fan and because he had not carefully drawn one up the plan had gone cocks up. The only consolation was that Dumbledore did not know who he was yet, he only knew that someone was in the room and it was someone who did not belong there, he did not know it was a dead man. Oh, and Dumbledore had patience, that was why he was calmly waiting by the door for whoever was there to realise there was no possible way he could beat Dumbledore which gave him time to desperately try and scrabble for a plan.
Oh yes, the old man was confident in his power. He tried to fool you into thinking he was a harmless old man but he was sharp and powerful and he was right. Dumbledore was cocky for good reason because he could not best or get past Dumbledore. There was no possible way he could take on Dumbledore; it was as simple as that. He was going to get caught and he was going to get apprehended and Sirius and Harry – he mentally slapped himself. Now was not the time for a panic attack, he had to make the best of a bad situation. The fact he was as good as caught was a harsh fact but a truth he'd have to work around for now, Harry and Sirius had been caught yet and once his identity was revealed he would be questioned, probably under veritaserum.
He had the time for about one spell once he was caught; he had to make it count. He doubted the surprise of the intruder simply being him would count for anything much against someone so trained. He would be surprised sure, but he would not let in hinder the inevitable short battle that was going to commence soon. Dumbledore certainly knew it was not one of his loyal students and teachers in here from what he sneak peeked from around the objects shielding him from view of his defensive stance, one of his uncanny abilities. He had his wand drawn already too and his senses were on high alert but he was pretending none of this mattered to him, he still looked unbothered. That was another ability the old man possessed.
He probably had a shield around him, he just could not detect it but the man was that damn powerful and he could hide it. that ruled out most of the spells that came immediately to mind such as 'stupefy' or any sort of hex that would give him distraction enough to slip past. That plan relied mainly on luck anyway, there was no telling Dumbledore would not catch him once he slipped past anyway, he was too powerful for him. No, he already knew he was going to get caught, he just needed to try and minimise the consequences for the people this was all about, Harry, little Harry. He needed to try and save him, still, somehow, there was still time, there must be a way and obvious one he was just missing because he was panicked.
He could not allow himself to panic and then consequently by caught without anything to fall back on; a little veritaserum later they'd know everything. The aurors would find Grimmauld Place that was too hidden from anyone that was not Black blood and accepted at that moment and Sirius and poor little Harry and he could not let that happen. They had been so much already; he owed them this, all he could do. Even if he cast glamours they'd be seen through eventually and there was little point stalling if Sirius was asleep and believed he was safe where he was. What if he was caught, what if Sirius was arrested, what if he was kissed, what if Harry was taken away, what if he was locked away too, what if all was lost? What if... what if...
Sirius was awfully powerful, he might be able to get him and Harry away but there was no certainty about the matter, Dumbledore would no doubt have so many aurors on the job of hunting Sirius down after all. Sirius or Harry might get hurt in crossfire of the battle that Sirius would put up to protect his Godson which was worse than Sirius getting caught and Harry getting taken away. Harry at least they knew would remain safe and be given to a loving family, not as loving as him, but what of Sirius? Dumbledore would probably question him under truth serum and find out he was innocent but there would be consequences for his actions. But what if the aurors had orders to kill if need be, he'd be lost forever, so soon after they'd reunited, only halfway through their revolution, Peter still not caught, Reg would not be able to live with the weight of guilt on that magnitude.
Unbidden the face and voice of his brother appeared to him again and he started bawling apologies and excuses. His brother was not telling him how much he'd screwed up though, he was telling him to shape up and try and fix this the best he could. "What is done is done, it cannot be changed, we have no hourglass, you just have to try and find a way to fix it without fighting him as he is too good." Reg wracked his brain, stopping his 'sorrys' to think practically, there must be a way, if not to stop Dumbledore and get past him then warn Sirius. He just had to top panicking and thinks, he could do this, he had to. "Think Reg, there is a way to do this Reg and you'll find it, I love you and I'm proud of you, good luck, help us Reg, please."
This had started out as an act of proving himself and it had ended in disaster. He cast a silence charm around the bubble he was sitting in and starting talking as quickly as he could without being unintelligible. Dumbledore had lost his famed patience and had started to search the room, he did not have long before his little hiding place was discovered, he had to act quickly. "I'm so sorry Siri, I know you said we were going to go together and you were planning it but I was emboldened by helping with the Lestrange brothers and I wanted to prove I was invaluable to this revolution so I went by myself." His words came out in a quick tumble, tears streaming down his cheeks, he just could not seem to hold them back.
More than anything he wanted Sirius here, to hold him, to say he was not angry, to say he understood and was not going to yell and offer him a smile. But he was not here, he was at home, sleeping, blissfully unaware and betrayed, all of this was his fault. So much relief on his next move and he had to try, and he convinced himself it was going to work. "I went to the room of Requirement Sirius, and I did find out useful information, I found out you need to cup before we get the diadem from the mirror of Erised and that's in Gringotts I think, that is the only other place that is as secure as Hogwarts. I was so close, it was going well, I was just bout to come back with this information before you even woke."
He had to take another vital few moments to compose himself enough to continue again. "Dumbledore entered the room, I don't know why and it was awful bad luck and he knew someone he did not know or did not belong was there. I can't get past him Sirius, he is too strong for me to hope to get away, of course I shall try but I do not have unrealistic hopes and dreams although evidently I still charge into danger and I fully understand if you don't want me to join you in this revolution anymore, I am a liability now." It was a harsh, hurtful truth, but one he was going to have to face. He had just put them in danger, you can't have someone like that assisting you in something so important, relying so fully on trust and competence.
"He is going to catch me Sirius and he is going to find out everything with truth serum. You are in terrible danger Sirius, get Harry and Kreacher and get the hell out of there, I'll stall as long as I can but I reckon you've got about 25 minutes. Again, Sirius, I am so, so sorry, more than you could ever know." He forced himself to stop there, he could not keep apologising, it was not like it was doing any good. Regulus got his feet and yelled "expecto patronum!" A huge silver serpent shot out of his wand, out of the door and away. Even if the silence charm, that was now dropped concealed the yell, Dumbledore did not miss a huge silver snake speeding past him. His patrounus being a snake was a huge comfort for him, he was not a Griffindor he was still 100% Slytherin.
Now Regulus was well aware that there were ways someone could prevent a patronus from getting any further away. But this Patronus needed to reach its target, it only needed to be left alone for another ten seconds before it was too far away for any wards or spells to be cast to stop it, not even Dumbledore, well for Dumbledore he'd make it twenty seconds. He made the second most foolhardy move in his life that night. It was clear Dumbledore was not wearing a shield, cocky bastard but that was all as well. Perhaps he'd dropped it when confronted with a dead man in his school, who knows? Well while he was staring at him he was not stopping his patronus and given who he was it was pretty damn clear to whom it was headed. With a quick prayer to the heavens he coiled his muscles and jumped him.
Tackling a 120 year old man, no matter how magically powerful said 120 year old man was, to the ground, was not exactly the proudest moment of his life. He wrapped both arms around his neck and his legs around his waist, straddling him and on impulse bit his shoulder just because it was the only wand-less attack he could think of doing in this position. He yelled in his ear as loud as he could for more distraction and when, almost thirty seconds later when the old man finally managed to get the crazy dead man off of him he was too late to do anything. Sirius was going to be fine now, and Harry too, they had to be. Now he had to go absolutely crazy to lengthen the time it took for them to reach his office for him to be questioned.
He would admit he found it rather fun in a way, despite the circumstances. He made his eyes go wide and foamed at the mouth being quite explicit in his insults and screams to the world. He bit and he punched and kicked and took off running in a real attempt to get away but knew there was no chance. It took a full ten minutes to reach Dumbledore's office, about the same time his patronus would reach Sirius and Harry; he would be listening to his message now. It would not take him more than ten minutes to grab supplies and get out the house. It would take even less than that if Sirius was desperate enough; he had more than enough money to replace everything.
He did not know whether his unlocked core meant that it protected him from the aurors ability to read the location of the last apparition that happened in the immediate area but he sure hoped so. If not, Sirius would think of something and he'd give them as much time as he possibly could. It was the least he could do. Soon enough he was restrained and Dumbledore had very professionally pushed aside the fact he was taking to Regulus Black to focus on the fact he had a connection to his very live and active brother. Soon, Severus was called and here started more drama, now was the crucial turning point, his last hope for more stalling was the fact that in light of recent events Severus Snape would be Sirius' man before Dumbledore's.
"Kreacher!" Sirius yelled as he grabbed Gate Master's bag and started to pile clothes into his, his and Harry's, "go downstairs and pack as much food as you can carry." He really had no idea why he was still using Gate Master's bag, it was perfectly good but he did have and could purchase better. It was not a trophy of any sort, of course not, just complacency, getting a new bag had never been high on his mind so he never got round to it. It was a bit like tidying his room as a kid with the Potters, they never kept house elves. He refused to say he was a messy person but once it was suggested there was something else you desperately wanted to do so it just kept being pushed back and back... well anyway, he diverged.
"Once you've packed food, go to Gringotts and withdraw money, lots of it, about 10,000 galleons should do it, no wait, make that 30,000, I have no idea what's going to happen now!" Each item of clothing shrank as he threw it into his bag which was larger on the inside than it was on the outside. It was primarily black outfits for him and cloaks, and he'd said before, once you have worn entirely black once you find it hard to return, or maybe it was just his name that made him feel this way. Yet standing there in the shore of Azkaban with that black cloak billowing behind him, looking so dangerous and so vengeful... He'd killed a man that day; he was wearing his bag now, he had eaten his food, entered and wrecked his home and hadn't cared, he still didn't.
"Meet me in the holiday home we have in the Bahamas!" He yelled as he threw Harry's clothes into the bag as well. His clothes were mainly star patterned; he'd grown an infatuation for the night sky and especially shooting stars which was rather adorable. Sirius, being the doting Godfather and father he was had purchased him stars. His wizarding clothes had stars that moved about on the clothes, though of course Harry could not wear them around Hermione and the other muggles he knew by association. Harry stirred and made a wordless whine at the ruckus and Sirius stopped his activity to give him a quick cuddle. Everything was going to be fine, he would make sure of it, he'd get Harry to safety first, then go back for his idiot brother whom he was going to give a stern talking to but still loved him with all his heart of course. Blood was thicker than water and all that, especially Black blood, always so family oriented.
"But master!" Kreacher yelled up the stairs, he would apparate her and talk to him normally as yelling at one's master could be considered uncouth, but that would mean halting in his activity. Regulus had said he was going to stall but Sirius had no idea how much time he had and could not take any of it for granting to wasting of it, their safety was in jeopardy here, they could pick up of manners again later. "The Bahamas is not guarded as well as this place and as it is the only other property owned by Black it will be the first place checked! Besides, aurors and ministry officials can read the destination of the last apparition that took place in any given area, unless you can block it or prevent it, it is not safe!"
"Don't go straight there. I'm going to apparate to about twenty different places first to throw them off track and take about an hour to get there!" Sirius yelled, throwing Regulus' clothes into the bag now and the book of baronetcy, just because. "It is quite dangerous to do without being splinched but I know you can do it, you are bonded to me after all, my elf. Besides we are not going to be in the Bahamas for long, only a couple of days to regroup and think! We can hardly stay there as the revolution must go on and is happening in England, and I have to find out where Reg is and save him, again! It would be unfair to keep Harry away from Hermione for that long as well," they still met up all the time, "are you done packing up downstairs yet?"
Eventually Kreacher appeared before him just as Sirius was packing his mother's jewellery. Really the only thing he was doing was spiting Mundungus here, mangy cur. "Have you got as much as you can carry from downstairs Kreacher?" He asked as he shrunk it all down and stuffed it into Gate Master's backpack. He did not wait for him to answer though he might have caught a nod as he put the backpack on and went to pick up a still dozing Harry; it was still late at night after all, maybe 3am. "Remember Kreacher, 20 different places, Gringotts, the Bahamas, then rest, no, make us all something to eat, unless I get there first, I'll be going more places first and be taking it slower for Harry so he does not get hurt. Good luck." With a pop the elf was gone.
"Harry, you've got to wake up now, take a deep breath and hold it, bury your face in my robes, like that, yes, that's right, I'll tell you when you can take a breath." Sirius had never done this before but it was worth a shot. Holding Harry close to him he apparated, and then he apparated again and again and again. He went all over Britain, the places he knew he could get to with no difficulty do he did not end up splinching himself or Harry. He did not stay in the area long enough to be recognised by the passer bys but long enough that half a trace could be laid down, don't stay long enough and not even a werewolf could track your scent there. He stayed for about a minute in each place, Harry taking deep breaths each stop.
He had about fifty stops in all, he did not dare do any more than that because he was tired after so many apparations and that was no easy feat. Even for someone like him with his open core fifty in short succession was excessive, there was a reason why one could not do it legally until seventeen years of age, and there was no one to help him should a mishap occur, not to mention he was carrying an extremely important passenger. After just under an hour he appeared in the holiday home the Black family had in the Bahamas. The magic meant only Black family could enter, and those the Blacks chose to admit. They never admitted many; the upmost trust was required so usually reserved for family, to date, James was the only one he admitted entrance too.
This was one of his favourite holiday homes; he and Reg were allowed to come here as often as they liked to 'get out of their parents' hair' and they would not have it any other way. Although Sirius could get past most wards, and as he was holding Harry, he got past too, after a little while he modified it so only, he, Harry, Reg and of course Kreacher who was included anyway, could get past. Kreacher had gotten her before him having not gone to as many places, although he'd have had to spend a couple of minutes in Gringotts. He was cooking lasagne, the smell was intoxicating. Yes, he'd eat first, and then sleep; he'd worry about Regulus and the message later. Allies, especially ones close enough for entrance to his properties were in very short supply.