A/N: WARNING: The first part of this chapter contains suggestions of gruesome violence, so if you wish not to read it, then I suggest you skip to the second line break.

Soooo...I hope you read the warning. Also, there's the MA version (not talking about violence here ;) ) on ao3 under the same pen name. Thank you for the inspiring reviews on the last chapter!

Please let me know what you think of this one :)

Chapter 27: The Raid

March 24th 1978 (Friday)

"Up for a little bit of fun, Black?" Rodolphus Lestrange drawled with his face split into a nasty grin as he walked towards him. They were gathering in the parlour of the Malfoy Manor, waiting for the rest of the Death Eaters to arrive, and then they would be on the move, divided into two groups, heading towards different locations. It was the night of the raid.

Regulus stared back at his cousin's husband with an unreadable expression and merely arched a brow at him.

Bellatrix's full-throated cackle echoed over the room. "Now, now, dear husband. Let's not tease my baby cousin," She said, her full mouth curved into an evil smirk as she approached them, holding her hand out to Regulus.

"Bella. Wonderful to see you." Regulus said stonily, before bowing towards her offered hand and nearly touching her knuckles with his lips while holding her hand lightly. He forced himself not to look away when he straightened up and saw her eyes flashing with hunger.

"Where is the grumpy Mudblood-lover?" Bellatrix asked from Regulus while her haughty eyes took in the room, her nose held high as she assessed the people around them. There were over twenty of them, mingling amongst each other as they waited for the sign to leave.

Regulus too glanced around him. "He'll be here."

Bellatrix smirked to him. "He better be. The Dark Lord does not tolerate disobedience." She said with a honeyed voice, gripping Regulus by his arm while her eyes swept over his face, eyeing him closely. "You've grown, baby cousin. Almost a man, you are." She cooed venomously, licking her lips suggestively.

Regulus gagged inwardly and supressed the urge to roll his eyes at Rodolphus, who was oblivious to Bellatrix's antics, and was merely gawking at his wife with a sick expression, something between lust and worship, regardless of how the mad woman was clearly eyeing her own cousin in the most inappropriate way.

"Such a handsome boy must have a line of girls behind his door," She continued while her eyes were roaming over his body in a way that made his skin crawl with nausea. Regulus tried to remain indifferent. Her nails dug into his skin and he tried to focus on not giving her the opportunity to look into his eyes. She was a powerful Legilimens, he knew. He knew, because she had taught him. He also knew he was no match for her.

"Trust me, he has." Severus said coldly, as he appeared next to Regulus. He nodded to Bellatrix and Rodolphus in greeting, who both stared him with a hint of arrogance in their eyes.

"I trust they are all purebloods?" Rodolphus asked darkly.

"Naturally," Regulus merely said.

Bellatrix looked at him with a gleeful expression.

"Severus, you are coming with me, and you, dear cousin, are going with Rodolphus tonight," Bella spoke, with overwhelming enthusiasm in her voice before turning to walk towards one of the two larger groups. She pulled her mask on and cackled as she went. Severus glanced at Regulus, silently communicating with his friend before he moved to follow Bellatrix. The Dark Lord had given the raid to the Lestranges as a gift – or so Rodolphus had earlier explained – to his most devoted followers, and Regulus could see that his cousin and her husband were beside themselves. It made him sick.

Regulus could only try to stay calm. If he stayed calm and followed the others, he wouldn't be harmed. He knew he wasn't placed high enough in their ranks to be trusted with a killing order. Or so he hoped. The Dark Lord himself wasn't attending in the raid, but instead he was letting his followers do the dirty work. Regulus didn't mind though, because the risk of his mind being read was significantly smaller, even more so now, when Bella would be with the other group.

Regulus glanced at Rodolphus, who gave him a curt nod and pulled on his mask. He walked slowly towards the other group. Regulus took a deep breath and followed him.

The nightfall had come, and the full moon brightened the darkness. Regulus and the group of Death Eaters were led by Rodolphus into a small village in Kent. It was agreed that the other group, that was led by Bella, would make a mess in the muggle London, targeting as many people as possible, and thus drawing the Order's focus away from their own people. In the meantime, Rodolphus's group would attack a family of known blood-traitors and Order members.

It had been too easy. It was as if they were indifferent to their safety. Like they assumed they'd not be the ones targeted. Even though Regulus had told Hermione they would attack tonight. It took almost no time to dismantle the wards around the house. Half of their group had circled to the back door of the building, and then they stepped in.

Curses were cast, but the family of four was no match for the ten Death Eaters, and one by one, they were beaten. Regulus had thrown a couple of curses himself, but hadn't really hit anyone. He had thought that that was it. That they would end their victims' lives quickly with the killing curse, cast the Dark Mark and then leave, but Rodolphus appeared to have different plans. Their leader ordered them to stun the woman, the man and their two daughters.

"Bring the girl here," Rodolphus grunted behind his mask, and as two Death Eaters dragged one of the unconscious girls into a bedroom where Rodolphus was waiting, he continued. "You can have her here, Carrow. I'll take the other one."

The Death Eater – Carrow – nodded, and dragged the girl further into the room, and another Death Eater followed him in. They revived the girl and Imperioed her. Meanwhile, others were tying up the man and the woman – the girls' parents onto two chairs, and made them face the door to the bedroom. So that they would have to watch their child being molested before they were all killed.

It was sick. It was too much. Regulus felt like he couldn't breathe. But he had to. They'd kill him the minute he disobeyed, before he would even have a chance to call for help. Before he could even lift his wand.

Rodolphus beckoned for Regulus to follow him while he dragged the other girl by her hair towards the sitting room. Golden hair flashed and Regulus blanched as he recognised her. Marlene.

Regulus gritted his teeth as Rodolphus waved his wand over her. Marlene whimpered as she was being revived, immediately trying to struggle away from the man's grasp and she moved so that Regulus could see her face, he saw that her eyes were filled with fear. Rodolphus grinned maliciously and growled enthusiastically as he felt her up with rough hands.

"I just want to have some fun with you, little blood-traitor…Don't you want to have some fun, too?" Rodolphus taunted, pushing the girl down on her knees in front of him, gripping her hair in a way that must've hurt like hell. Marlene screamed in pain and terror.

Regulus swallowed deeply. He was going to be sick. "Just kill her and be over with it," Regulus said quickly with the most even voice he could master.

Rodolphus turned to look at him, an angry snarl escaping from his mouth. "I knew you were too soft for this. You're trying to make it easier for the Blood-traitor, huh? You'll be sorry when your cousin hears about this, little boy…" He said darkly. "Be quiet or you are next, Black." He growled and turned to the girl again.

Marlene glanced at Regulus in horror, her eyes widening with disbelief and recognition.

Rodolphus unbuttoned his fly and freed his member, dragging the girl's face closer to his crotch. "Suck it. If you use any teeth, I'll make you pay, you filthy slag."

She struggled again, refusing to do what he had told her, and soon Rodolphus was losing his patience. He growled and cuffed her hard on her face, dragging her face up again with a firm grip on her hair.

Regulus could see that her lip was bleeding while she sobbed in hysteria. He felt like he was going to vomit or faint any minute now. Why didn't he do anything to help her?

"We'll just do it the easy way then, eh?" Rodolphus grinned venomously, turning to look at Regulus.

Regulus tried to breathe calmly, swallowing the bile from his throat, choking down a sob that was threatening to come out. He was glad he was wearing his mask.

"Imperio her." Rodolphus commanded.

Regulus's face screwed up in anguish as he cast the curse.

"Reg!" Hermione gasped, running towards him.

Regulus was kneeling on the floor in the empty pub, his hands covered in blood. His whole body was shaking as he wept uncontrollably.

At first, she had been in shock to see his state. Then she had felt the urge to comfort him, to help him.

"Reg…? Regulus? What's wrong?" She asked quickly as she kneeled in front of him, her hands searching his body for wounds.

Ab was busy warding their home. "Is he wounded, Mione?" He asked roughly, while throwing spells around them, putting the wards back up.

"No, I don't think so," Hermione said with a wavery voice when she didn't find any open wounds.

The blood had to be someone else's. She tried not to think about it as she took his face between her hands.

"Reg? Does it hurt somewhere?" She asked helplessly, and he only shook his head, staring into her eyes with agony and regret while tears ran down his cheeks.

"What happened, Reg?" She exclaimed, the panic again taking control, now that she had made sure he wasn't physically hurt. Emotionally…that was probably a different case.

"Marlene…" He croaked, averting his eyes. Ab came finally to them, crouching and looking grimly at Regulus.

"McKinnons?" He asked sharply.

Regulus nodded, staring at the floor. "They didn't make it." He breathed.

Hermione stilled in shock. No…It couldn't be...

Ab cursed and stood up abruptly. "Hermione, you'll stay here. I have to go." He grumbled, pulling his cloak on.

"Ab –"

"No, Mione." He interrupted. "I'll send a Patronus to my brother. Do not leave this house." He snapped, turning on the spot, disapparating with a pop that echoed through the quiet pub.

Hermione stared at Regulus in terror. Marlene…She took a look at his red hands and suddenly felt nauseated. She ran towards the trash bin on the other side of the counter, bent over it and retched. And again. When she had vomited her stomach empty, she stood up, shaking from head to toe.

"Let's go upstairs." She stammered, taking a hold of his elbow. Regulus followed her without restraint as she led them to their sitting room on the second floor and gestured for him to sit down on the couch. It was like she was in someone else's body. She moved and spoke, but her mind was still downstairs, paused on the last words he had uttered to her. She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Reg…What happened? Is Marley okay?" She whispered, glancing at his hands again. Her face twisted with revulsion. No…She couldn't be dead…He had meant something else. Perhaps there was something else, something he'd left out?

He was still crying silently, and lifted his head to look into her eyes. "I'm sorry Hermione," He mumbled. "I'm so sorry." He said grievously.

Hermione let out a loud sob. "No!" She gasped. "No!" She yelled. Tears were burning her eyes and flowing down her cheeks. She took a few strides towards him and slapped him hard on his cheek. He only stared at her with a sorrowful look in his grey eyes.

"No!" She screamed, sobbing hysterically. She slapped him again. He didn't even move.

Hermione buried her face in her hands and sank on her knees on the floor, letting out loud, convulsive gasps as she wept.

They stayed like that, Regulus on the couch, staring at the fireplace with an empty look in his eyes and Hermione on the floor, numbly looking into nothingness. It felt like hours had passed until they heard noise from downstairs. Ab had come back. They both leaped on their feet, both gripping their wands, just in case, staring at the door to the staircase intently.

"It's me, Mione. I'm okay." Ab grunted from the stairs and soon he opened the door. Hermione lowered her wand and rushed to hug him, crying violently against his chest.

"W-What happened?" Hermione stammered with a thick voice and pulled back to meet his eyes.

Ab sighed. "McKinnons. None of them survived." He said gravely. Hermione gasped and broke down to another set of sobs.

Ab soothed her hair and held her close to him for a while. Regulus stood further in the room, watching them silently.

"Go to rest, Hermione. Both of you. We'll talk in the morning." Ab said eventually, looking grief-stricken and tired. He broke off their embrace and gave Hermione a look that told her to obey.

Hermione nodded stiffly.

"It's best if you stayed here tonight," Ab said to Regulus, and gave a final pat on Hermione's shoulder, before he vanished to the stairway, heading downstairs.

"Come on." Hermione muttered to Regulus, slowly walking upstairs. Regulus followed her, and they both were silent as they washed up and changed into their pyjamas – Regulus borrowed a set of Harry's old clothes Hermione dug from her beaded bag – and lay down on her bed.

"I'm sorry I slapped you," she whispered, as she stared at the ceiling.

"It's all right," he said quietly.

"Can you hold me?" Hermione said with a broken voice. She needed to feel warm again. She needed him to take away the cold, the numbness.

"Of course, love." He said softly, pulling her back against his chest, enveloping her in a snug embrace.

Hermione was glad he'd managed to scrub the blood off his hands. She quickly shook the thoughts from her head. She didn't want to think about it now, even though the question burned in her head. She was afraid to learn the truth.

March 25th 1978 (Saturday)

The next morning, Hermione woke up alone in her bed. She briefly thought – hoped - that last night had simply been a horrible nightmare, but the feeling soon disappeared and grief took place in her mind again as she saw Regulus sitting in an armchair close to her bed, leaning his elbows against his knees, his face buried in his hands.

"Reg?" She croaked, sitting up in her bed. Her voice was hoarse from all the crying and screaming last night.

Regulus turned slowly to look at her. He looked tormented. He looked beaten. He looked guilty. She could see it all in his eyes.

"What happened?" She asked unwillingly, dreading his answer. Even though she didn't want to hear what he had to say, she knew she needed to hear it from him.

He was silent for a while, eyeing her mournfully. "I was there." He whispered.

Hermione pressed her lips together to prevent herself from letting out a sob.

"There were ten Death Eaters, myself included, and we…attacked the McKinnons' home." He said, his voice faltering, his eyes slowly moving over her face.

Hermione gritted her teeth. She wasn't going to cry now. She needed to hear everything there was to know about it. "Did you kill someone?" She asked with a strained voice, her face scrunching up in dread. She had to know. It would be too much. Marlene…

Regulus shook his head, clenching his jaw, looking nauseated.

She felt a small tinge of relief, but something in his expression made her stomach twist with terror. "Then whose blood was it?" She demanded coldly.

Regulus blanched. "Marlene's."

Suddenly the air seemed to leave her lungs, and she couldn't breathe. "No…" She gasped.

His face was twisted with pain and self-loathing. "Lestrange cut her. Then he wanted to have her without her resisting. I had to hold her down." He said with his voice thick with despair, a wretched look in his eyes.

Hermione cried aloud. He'd just stood there and watched when someone he knew was tortured and molested?

"How could you do that?" She whispered bitterly, tears seeping from her eyes, her whole body shaking with horror. "How could you?!" She screamed.

Regulus took a wavering breath, and his eyes filled with tears.

Ab knocked on the door. "Hermione…Can I come in?" He asked.

"Y-Yes." She stuttered, wiping her wet face.

Ab came in and eyed the situation warily before he turned to Regulus. "The Headmaster is downstairs expecting you." He said grimly.

Regulus nodded and stood up, exiting the room after one last sorrowful glance at Hermione.

Ab sat down on the edge of her bed, taking in her blotchy skin and red nose. He looked at her sad eyes and pulled her into a comforting hug.

March 27th 1978 (Monday)

The news of the McKinnon family raid had reached everyone before Sunday, as it had been printed in the Daily Prophet. Hermione had contacted her friends on Saturday morning, and the boys had come to visit her at the pub later that night. Peter, Alice and Mary couldn't come, as their parents had insisted that they should stay at home and not travel anywhere before the school started. Lily was visiting her relatives, but she had managed to persuade her parents to let her leave to school earlier, and had agreed to spend the weekend at Hermione's before the school started.

The Hog's Head had been closed during the weekend, but on Monday, it was back in business. While Ab was quite busy downstairs, Hermione, James, Sirius and Remus were upstairs in the sitting room, silently staring at the fire and exchanging few words every now and then. The boys had decided to spend the Monday evening with Hermione in the pub before they would travel to James's home on Tuesday to spend the rest of their holiday there.

James sighed and eyed his Butterbeer bottle with a displeased look. "I wish I had Firewhiskey. This is just depressing…" James said absently, taking a swig from the bottle.

Hermione pursed her lips at him. "You're welcome to go downstairs to the pub," She said with a challenging look. She knew the boys wouldn't dare. Even though they were of-age, the bartender was still her 'father'.

James rolled his eyes. "Like that's gonna happen…"

Sirius gave James a sad little smile. "Luckily you have mates who think of everything," He said and placed a Firewhiskey bottle on the table, smirking slightly as Hermione arched a brow at him. "Happy birthday, Prongs."

James gave him a satisfied nod. "Cheers, mate."

"That better not be nicked from downstairs," Hermione said warningly.

Sirius merely shook his head as he summoned glasses from Hermione's kitchen and filled the glasses with the liquor, handing one to everyone. They toasted for James and then remained quiet.

There were no raging birthday parties, no spin the bottle, no dancing or cheering. There were only four friends sitting next to each other in a comfortable silence, occasionally sipping their drinks while reminiscing someone they'd lost.

Hermione knew Marlene had been closer with the other seventh year Gryffindors, as they'd known each other for several years. While she was sad because of her death, she was more shocked because she'd known it would happen, but she hadn't managed to stop it. Somehow it made her feel responsible. And frightened. What if she couldn't save them after all?

April 2nd 1978 (Sunday)

The week had gone quickly. Everyone was still on alert because of the raid. The Daily Prophet had published instructions for safety, and Hermione could see that the streets in Hogsmeade were abnormally quiet. But nothing more had happened. Voldemort's troops hadn't struck again. Hermione had learned that none of the muggles had died on the night of the raid, but only suffered several injuries, and she reckoned that it had probably served as a diversion.

Regulus had sent her a message, to ask if he could come to see her on Sunday evening. At first, she hadn't wanted to see him. She resented his actions during the raid, but at the same time, she felt ashamed how she had acted towards him, when he clearly had been in so much pain and feeling guilty for what he'd seen and done. A small part of her knew it was unreasonable to blame him like that, but was it really so that he hadn't had any choice in the matter? She had eventually answered him and agreed to meet him.

Hermione was sitting in their living room on Sunday evening, a teacup warming her hands as she stared at the fire. The door from the stairs opened.

Hermione turned to look at the stairway and saw Regulus closing the door behind him. He walked towards her, eyeing her with an unreadable expression. She stood up, placed her cup on the table and turned to him, staring at him unsurely. When she saw a hint of desolation in his eyes, she sighed longingly and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

Regulus let out a deep breath, a choked sob, and pulled her closer to him, his hands gently caressing her neck and back as he trembled against her.

They stayed like that for a while, until she broke their embrace, looking up to him.

"I'm sorry you had to be there." She whispered, looking at him searchingly, a tear escaping from the corner of her eye as she thought of last week.

He looked at her dejectedly, brushing the tear away with his thumb, and the weariness in his eyes racked her insides.

"Reg…" She whispered. "Talk to me, okay?"

He averted his eyes, breaking away from their embrace and walked to sit on the couch where she had been moments earlier.

"What do you wish to know?" He asked with a blank voice. He rested his elbows against his knees and looked down, his hair framing his face. Hermione sighed inwardly, and sat gently next to him.

"Don't close yourself off from me, Regulus…Please…" She said with a trembling voice, pushing his hair away from his face to see him better.

"What the fuck do you want me to say, Hermione?" He growled, turning to look at her, his grey eyes blazing with anger. With fear. With guilt.

Hermione flinched.

"I'm fucking terrified," He said harshly, rubbing his face angrily and looking away. "I don't even want to think about it," He said, his voice thick with emotion, a nauseated look in his eyes.

Her heart ached for him. "Can I hold you?" She whispered after a short silence.

He nodded, glancing at her, an empty and lost look in his eyes. Hermione pulled him close to her and Regulus pressed his face against her neck, shuddering as she held him tightly.

There was a long silence before he spoke. "How does it happen?" He asked quietly, not moving up to look at her.

"What?" She asked softly, having quite a good suspicion of what he was talking about.

"My death."

Hermione sighed. She knew they had to talk about it, eventually.

"You were on a mission. Trying to destroy him." She said vaguely, not sure if this was the right moment to talk about Horcruxes.

"How?" He asked sharply.

"You were drowned by an army of Inferi." She said gravely.

Regulus was quiet for a moment before he snorted. "That sounds fucking ridiculous." He said dryly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well. I guess you'll never have to find out exactly how ridiculous it is." She said snidely.

She could feel him grin against her skin before he placed a tender kiss to her neck.

"Reg…" Hermione breathed as he began to trail soft kisses along her neck and jaw, his hands caressing her sides, pulling her closer to him.

"We shouldn't…We have so much to talk about…" She said unsurely. She wanted him, of course, but she knew they had to talk about the future eventually. They had to talk about everything.

Regulus sucked her neck and made her gasp. "I can't. I don't give a fuck. Not now." He said harshly, as his hands moved to caress her thighs.

Soon they were both breathing heavily, and Hermione's fingers had found their way into his hair, gripping him, pulling him closer as he ravaged her mouth with his lips. She arched to him, moaned into his mouth as he caressed the junction of her thighs through her jeans.

"Reg…" She whimpered.

With a low groan, he pulled her onto his lap to straddle him, never breaking the kiss.

He moaned as she rocked her hips against his pelvis. He gripped her bum and pulled her tightly against his erection. "Circe…I have to have you, love," he said with a strangled voice.

A delicious shiver went through her spine as she saw him staring at her with such hunger and such devastation.

"My room." She said, her voice shaking.

A while after they were in Hermione's bedroom, draped around each other and relishing the warmth of one another.

"Shower with me?" He asked quietly, when Hermione started to shiver slightly in the cool air.

"Okay," She said softly.

She stood up from his lap and went to the cupboard, grabbed two towels and handed him the other after draping the other around her. Their eyes finally met and he was staring at her intently.

"What?" Hermione asked hesitantly, seeming a bit uneasy under his stare.

"Nothing." He said sombrely.

Regulus couldn't help but think that while he was giving away his soul to the Dark Lord's cause, she would be his anchor, the one thing that kept him sane. Even though he knew that what they had, wouldn't - couldn't - last long, he still wanted to have every single memory of her he could get. Because the reality was that he was going to be a Death Eater and she was with the Light. And he knew that very soon would come that day when she couldn't be in his life anymore.

After showering, they retreated back to Hermione's bedroom and went straight to bed, as it was already late. Hermione was glad that Ab was still busy in the pub, and thus being oblivious to the occurrences taking place upstairs.

They were snuggling against each other, her back against his chest, his arms circling around her, holding her close to him, and Hermione had already drifted into a soft slumber when he spoke quietly to her ear.

"Tell me about them."

She blinked. "Who?"

"Your friends."

She turned to face him. "Harry and Ron?" She whispered with a frown.

He nodded, staring at her with a searching look.

Hermione sighed, her mind whirling as he thought what to say. "We met in the Hogwarts Express, our first year, but we didn't become friends right away." She said, looking at his bare chest. "I was kind of a know-it-all, and didn't really have any friends at first…"

"Was?" He asked with a hint of a smirk on his lips. Hermione narrowed her eyes to him. He grinned back.

"But then we became best friends, and were like that, until…until I came here." She finished with a frown.

"Do you want to go back?" He asked softly, his fingers drawing patterns against her stomach.

Hermione took a deep breath. "I…I don't know," She whispered earnestly.

The truth was that she didn't really know anymore. Somehow, this life here had become important to her, the people here, her friends, they meant something to her, while the memories of her old life drifted further and further away. And she wasn't sure if she wanted to leave this new life behind, if she somehow would manage to find a solution to travel back to her old life.

Of course, she missed them - Harry and Ron, the Weasleys and her parents. But what if the future she knew didn't exist to her anymore? She had already changed things, and didn't know how that affected the future. Even though she had a strong suspicion that she was indeed in an alternate timeline, she couldn't know for certain.

And even if the last week's raid proved that she couldn't rewrite everyone's fate, she knew that she had been able to change at least some things. What if she was able to change her friends' lives to the better? Harry could have his parents and Sirius, Neville could have his parents, and Ron and Ginny could have their uncles. Was she really that selfish that she'd deny that from them?

Regulus kissed her forehead and pulled her snugly against him, breathing in her scent, seemingly savouring the feel of her body against his. Soon they drifted into sleep in each other's arms.

April 7th 1978 (Friday)

Lily arrived at Hogsmeade on Thursday night, surprising Hermione, as she'd thought her friend would be arriving the next day, on Friday. Nevertheless, Hermione was grateful for her arrival, even if they did spend the first night crying over the loss of their friend.

Lily hadn't seen James during the holidays, but they had owled each other nearly every day. Even so, it seemed that she couldn't wait to see him on Sunday, when they'd be returning to school. Hermione and Lily had agreed to rest and relax during the weekend, as both girls were way ahead in their studies, having completed their homework days ago. The only plan was to visit Tomes and Scrolls on Friday and buy the newest wizarding novels there was, and then get back to the Hog's Head and be absorbed in them.

"So, about today…" Lily said as she took a piece of toast and lathed some jam on it. They were having breakfast on the second floor of the pub. Ab was occupied with his paper and tea, while the girls made themselves breakfast and talked about the books they were hoping to find in the book shop.

"Yes?" Hermione asked and took a sip of her coffee.

Lily cringed a bit. "I know we agreed to take it easy, and just stay here, but James owled me, and…" She said, glancing in Ab's direction.

"He wants to see you?" Hermione asked, a bit amused by her friend's troubled look.

"Well…Yes…He and the guys are coming to Hogsmeade today, and he asked for us to meet them in the Three Broomsticks, if that's okay with you?" Lily asked, waiting Hermione's answer in anticipation.

Hermione suppressed a chuckle as she saw a faint smirk tugging Ab's lips. "Of course. What time are we meeting them?"

Hermione, Sirius and Remus sat at a corner table in the Three Broomsticks, and even though the village had been quiet after the raid, the business was now slowly improving, and that meant the pub was nearly packed that night. They had a couple rounds of Butterbeer together while they chatted about their holidays. Everyone had decided to leave the raid out of discussion, as it would've been too depressing.

Later on, Hermione realised that James and Lily had been away from their table quite some time. As she was about to go to the bar and ask Rosmerta if she'd seen them, Sirius pulled her back to their table, a grin curving his lips.

"They're fine, Hermione." He said and shared a knowing look with Remus.

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean, fine? Where are they?" She snapped, eyeing the boys with a stern look.

Sirius laughed. "Don't look at us with your judge-y little eyes. They're probably just shagging in the restroom." He said with a small lift in his brows, while Remus shook his head.

Hermione scrunched up her nose. "Ugh. Thank you for sharing that, Sirius." She said snidely.

"You asked. Is someone feeling a bit sour tonight, huh?" He asked teasingly. "Reggie been brushing you off?" He asked, a grin spreading across his face.

"Pads…" Remus said with a warning in his voice.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I'm quite satisfied in that area," She said with a smirk of her own.

Sirius groaned, his expression resembling something between nauseated and repulsed.

She shrugged. "You asked."

"You're evil, Hermione." Sirius muttered and shook his head in disbelief.

Remus let out an exasperated huff and went to buy them the next round. As their werewolf friend left the table, Sirius turned to look at Hermione with a thoughtful expression.

"You've seen him lately?" He asked vaguely.

Hermione frowned. "Why?"

The look in his grey eyes hardened. "Do you know where he was on Easter Friday?"

Hermione grimaced. But that was all he needed to know. Sirius clenched his jaw and cursed silently.

"Sirius…You know he's on our side…" She whispered to him, after glancing around them.

He narrowed his eyes to her. "So, he's forgiven when he kills one of my friends?" He said darkly.

Hermione blanched. "He didn't…Sirius, we can't discuss this here!" She hissed to him.

Sirius scowled at her but said nothing more to the subject.

Soon Remus came back to the table with their drinks, and saw the tension between his two friends. There was an awkward silence before they continued their discussion about school and Sirius's motorcycle, which the boys had apparently been fixing during the holidays, until Lily and James joined them, both in an obviously dishevelled state.

April 9th 1978 (Sunday)

Marlene's and her family's funeral had been the day before. Many members of the Order had been present, since Marlene's parents had been part of the organisation. Marlene's and her sister's friends had attended, as well as some of their relatives. The Ministry had placed several Aurors to provide security just in case, but luckily nothing exceptional had happened during the burial. As Hermione had watched everyone cry and mourn their losses, she'd only been able to blame herself for not having prevented it from happening.

On Sunday night, the girls left the Hog's Head and walked to the school. The students were arriving from the train station as they reached the front doors, and it felt like everyone was staring at Hermione and Lily. Of course…because of Marlene…

The boys, Mary and Alice were already sitting at their house table, saving seats for them. Hermione sat next to Mary, opposite to Alice. She was now sitting where Marlene used to sit, and the others seemed to notice it too. Everyone was quiet, even though every other student around them was chattering and laughing with each other. Well, not everyone, Hermione thought when she snuck a glance at the Slytherin table. Regulus and Snape were sitting there, staring blankly ahead, both of them paler than usual.

"Any problems in the train?" Lily asked from Remus after the Headmaster had welcomed them back and said a couple of words about the McKinnons and after they'd had a moment of silence to acknowledge their deaths.

The Head students were expected to patrol Hogwarts Express, but since Lily had stayed at Hermione's for the whole weekend, James had been the only Head student in the train on Sunday.

James turned to look at Lily. "Why don't you ask me? I'm the Head boy," He said incredulously.

Lily arched a brow at him. "Are you seriously asking me that, Potter?" She asked wearily. "Ugh. Don't even think about it, Black," She added when she saw that Sirius grinning at her.

Hermione's lips turned up slightly. It was just so…normal. Lily and James bickering. Lily snapping at Sirius as he tried to joke and make stupid puns. Hermione knew they were far from normal, but still, a glimpse of this reminded everyone that everything was not lost.

As the feast was over, and everyone started to drift towards their dorms, Sirius stayed behind, mumbling something about going for a smoke. The others thought nothing of it, and continued their walk towards the Gryffindor Tower without him.

Sirius didn't make his way to the grounds, but slipped into a broom closet on the first floor and took the Marauder's Map from his pockets, flipping it open and tapping it with his wand.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," He muttered, and eyed the parchment intently for a moment, before flicking his wand on it again. "Mischief managed," He recited and made his way towards the dungeons.

Regulus knew that his brother would want an explanation about the raid and his participation in it. Sirius knew he was a spy, but Regulus reckoned Sirius still doubted his allegiance with the Order, and that Sirius feared Regulus would be easily persuaded to the dark side. As if anticipating that his brother would confront him after the feast, Regulus decided to walk slowly towards the Slytherin dungeons.

"Hello, Reggie." Sirius said coldly, walking quickly towards Regulus, who stilled in mid-walk.

He turned around to look at his brother, who was practically seething with anger. "Sirius." He nodded. "If you wish to talk to me, I suggest we get out of the halls…" He said quietly, staring blankly at his brother.

"Fine. Where?" Sirius asked impatiently.

Regulus jerked his head towards a near classroom. "There." He muttered and walked into the room. Sirius followed and after closing the door, he threw a few privacy spells on it.

"So? What did you want to talk about?" Regulus asked calmly. He of course knew what was on his brother's mind, but he let him do the talking.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You know what. You were in the raid." He growled.

"Yes." Regulus said plainly.

Anger flashed in Sirius's eyes before he surged forward and punched Regulus in the face, knocking him down and breaking his nose in the process. "I fucking new it!" He spat at Regulus, who was now holding his bleeding nose with one hand, as he stood up with the help of the other.

"Did you kill someone?" Sirius asked with a hateful look.

"No. I didn't." Regulus said quietly and eyed his brother warily, trying not to flinch from the way his brother looked at him back. Like he was disgusted with Regulus. Like he loathed him.

"But you were there. You were fucking there…You – what, watched on the sides when they killed her? When they raped her?" Sirius spat, baring his teeth.

Regulus blanched, his eyes widening with dread.

"Oh, don't look so surprised, Reggie. I know how your new friends function," Sirius growled at him. "You're just a fucking coward."

Regulus swallowed bile from his throat, trying to stay calm. Trying to shake away all the memories from Easter Friday that were threatening to overpower him. "I know," He said hoarsely, looking at Sirius with regret. "I'm not like you, Sirius. I'm not brave…" He continued, his voice wavering.

Sirius gaped at him, seemingly speechless when seeing his brother's façade crumbling down.

"I was just so…so frightened." Regulus breathed, giving his brother a pleading look, his face screwed up in pain. His whole neck was now covered in blood that had seeped from his broken nose.

Sirius frowned, looking contemplative. Regulus knew that Sirius understood that he hadn't had any choice – otherwise he'd been killed as well for disobeying rules.

Sirius let out a weary sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I hate it. I hate that you're part of it…" He said quietly and then gave Regulus a look filled with regret. "And I hate myself for letting you join them…for not being able to look after my little brother…" He muttered, swallowing hard as his face scrunched up with quilt and worry.

It was the most honest thing his brother had ever said to him. Regulus could only try to breathe calmly and not let the emotions that were surging inside of him take control. Clenching his jaw, he gave his brother a curt nod. "Thank you," He whispered, not trusting himself to say more without breaking down.

Sirius seemed to understand, as his lips curved slightly up. "Come here, Reggie." He said tightly and walked closer, wrapping him in a bear hug.

Regulus pressed his eyes closed and let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps he hadn't lost his brother after all.