Chapter Three

"The Aftermath"

Morning sun rays were starting to creep up on the horizon when Lily had woke up quite groggily to see that her husband had Bloom and Harry sleeping on top of his chest—with two baby bottles that were empty. It was clear to her that James hadn't bothered in waking her up to feed them.

James had took it upon himself to feed them both while he'd allowed her to sleep in—giving her the rest that she had needed.

It had warmed her heart to see James' innocent and peaceful features. Lily had scooted up to James, a warm smile blossoming her lips as she had latched her arm onto James' as she admired his features.

An unexpected twitch had caused James to stir from his slumber—rubbing his eyes to see that it was early morning. The man had turned his head to see Lily gazing at him rather affectionally. It had made James grin at her.

"Admiring how handsome I am, Lils?" James said in a teasing voice with an eyebrow raised—rather amused, causing his wife's face to turn bright red, unable to slip out a single word.

Lily had blinked her jade green eyes; her attention had fallen on the two children and curled her lips together. "Why didn't you wake me up, James? I could've helped with—"

James had titled his head at her, chuckling. "You had a rough night, Lils. And you needed all the rest you can get, and you looked rather adorable."

"That's swell and all James. . ." Lily placed a hand on her husband's face still blushing despite feeling the guilt linger in her chest. "But you had much of a night as me. We're both in this together."

"I know." James had planted a kiss on her cheek lovingly—dispelling away all of her troubles. "And that's why I don't want you to dwell on it, alright. Why don't you get ready, and I'll keep my eyes on them by the time you come back, Lils."

"Thanks James." Lily had given her husband a quick kiss on the cheek—causing James' cheeks to flush brightly. "I promise I won't take long."

Thirty minutes later, Lily and James had found themselves at the entrance of the Great Hall, which was nosier than usual as hundreds of students were chattering amongst one another.

Lily's gaze had shifted onto the enchanted ceiling, where thousands of lit candles were floating under the clear bright sky had managed to impress Lily even after all those years. A warm but comforting smile tugged at her lips.

The loud chattering had soon died down as silence had befallen the entire hall.

The students—who were currently having breakfast had noticed the arrival of Lily and James—were glancing in the Potters' direction out of pure curiosity; some were trying to catch a quick glimpse of the Boy Who Lived who had vanquished the Dark Lord was being held in the arms of his father, James Potter.

Although many pureblood Slytherins had a deep frown on their faces, in realization of the Potters survival and what it meant to their own families who had themselves allied with the Dark Lord.

Lily wasn't fond of all the gawking that she and James were gaining as it had made her feel rather uncomfortable. The air around her had felt somewhat thick and stuffy and in a way, she was finding it hard to breathe until the moment Lily had felt her husband's arm slip around her waist, trying to destress her anxiety away.

Lily had glanced at James.

A heartfelt expression had flittered across James' face, trying his best to calm her down with his soft-spoken words. In that moment, she was truly grateful for husband's presence. He had easily dispelled all her troubles away beneath the harsh, treacherous waves.

Last night had been a painful pill for her to swallow. Cold shivers had wracked her body as the images of Lord Voldemort flying in her mind had nothing but a blur of horror. The flash of the bright green spell hurling her way was rather unforgettable, a painful nightmare that reminded her that she and James had indeed lost their lives, until an unexpected miracle had occurred last night.

The majestic woman with bright golden, gleaming wings had manage to resuscitate her and James back to life again with her gifted ability.

The Fairy Queen.

Lily hadn't even slipped out the truth to Dumbledore nor had she had the intention of spilling such a secret. Dumbledore needn't to know nor anyone for that matter as it was, after all, it was a private matter.

Lily couldn't even discern as to exactly why she was so determine not to; it was all twisted up, and it would be quite difficult for them to understand the situation in its entity and to actually process the significance of what the strange fairy woman had meant to little Bloom. And the only ones who knew such a confidential secret were Remus, Sirius, and her former best-friend Severus.

James and Lily were eternally grateful for Dumbledore's short, but, curial speech—causing the students' attention to be focused on the Headmaster, rather than on him, Lily, and their children. And with that, they had found themselves at the staff table, where Sirius and Remus had awaited them. The seats had been perfectly arranged for James, Lily, and their two children.

"It'd been less than an entire day, but somehow the Daily Prophet had already gotten the hold on the news of your family's unexpected survival, and the defeat of Lord Voldemort . . . and . . ." Sirius could no longer express any enthusiasm as he had continued to read the entire article. His face had darkened.

James's curious hazel eyes had drawn over to the Daily Prophet that Sirius was currently reading through, rather, being disgruntled. Sirius face had twisted out of disgust—and his hands shaking out of horror.

"May I take a quick read, Padfoot?" James asked out of curiosity easily noting his best-friend's expression that changed for the worse; a near frown slipping on his lips and his dark brows knitting together.

Sirius had let out a heavy sigh, as he handed the Daily Prophet over to James, muttering cursed words under his breath about a certain dirt rat and his demented cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. That foul woman. . . he had truly despised his family for their beliefs and what they had stand for. He was utterly disgusted.

"Peter Pettigrew Found Guilty of Betraying His Friends

A Death Eater Hidden In Disguise And an Escapee Criminal

Harry Potter Hailed as The Boy Who Lived

The Potters' Miraculous Survival. . ."

James had read through the Daily Prophet with a dissatisfied smile on his face, not liking a single word that had been written in the article. It had made him grumble certain cursed words.

"Bloody hell." James whispered. "So, the bloody rat had managed to escape the aurors."

Utter indignation and fury had overtook James' facial features. There was no single doubt in James' mind that Peter had manage to use his animagus ability—transforming into a small rat that was scurrying down in the gutters, avoiding being caught.

It had disturbed James greatly in knowing that the murder—Peter—was not behind bars in Azkaban along with other Death Eaters, but was out there somewhere, roaming freely in his rat form.

"Look at this Lily," James said, trying to not lose all of his temper and keeping his cool on, but it was nearly impossible. All coloring had drained from his face—appearing dreadfully ashen.

In a surprising move events of You-Know-Who's demise, in the early morning of November 1st Death Eaters Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rudolphus Lestrange, her brother-in-law Rabastan, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. had committed a gruesome attack against the highly gifted Aurors Alice Longbottom and Frank Longbottom with the use of one of the Unforgivable Curses. The Cruciatus Curse. They had tormented the Aurors couple into insanity, thus leaving their only son in the care of his extended family members. . .

Lily for her part had felt sick to her stomach. She couldn't utter a single word as her heart had ached painfully. Sadness had washed over Lily as she had thought about her dear friend, Alice.

Poor Neville.

Tears had crept into the corner of her jade-green eyes. The boy was the same age as her little Harry. Now, Neville had to grow up in a world without the love and adoration of his parents. Alice and Frank will never get to see their son growing up—nor witness his every milestone that Neville would embark on—and that in itself was a cruel reminder.

War had destroyed lives and tore several families apart with unnecessary violence that spilled the blood of innocence—causing hearts to shatter.

In so many ways, Lily knew that she and her husband were very lucky to be alive—to be among the living without anyone knowing how she and James managed to survive, to have the chance to raise little Harry and Bloom.

Her jade green eyes had drifted to little Bloom who seemed to be cooing at Remus—her red bangs floating all around her face. Lily's expression had softened.

Memories of that winter night had flooded Lily's mind. Bloom being founded by her and James alive is a miracle just as much as her and James living after being directly hit by the Killing Curse. Even her sweet little boy had survived, miraculously. Her deep love for Harry; her sacrifice had created a protection against Lord Voldemort's wrath.

Lily's was snapped out of her thoughts upon James' gentle touch on her shoulder. James had looked devastated.

"I should've gone after that pathetic, spineless, bloody rat myself . . ." Sirius snarled, flaring out his nostrils. ". . . and dragged him to the Ministry of Magic myself. Peter would've had his fate sealed in Azkaban."

Remus had shot Sirius a pitiful look. "Don't blame yourself Padfoot. I still can't wrap my head over the fact that Peter betrayed us."

"You see, I'd expect that kind of disloyalty from Slytherins since their motives are slippery like a Snake. I don't even understand how Peter's been sorted into Gryffindor in the first place, when's he nothing but a bloody coward and a weakling—"

James had cut Sirius off, appearing rather gloomed. "Well, I wouldn't say weakling, he had his slight moments of bravery, but Peter definitely was cunning enough to outsmart us all."

Sirius' grey eyes hardened. "Yeah. I suppose we did overlook his weakness and misjudged his character."

Harry was amused, trying to pop the magical bubbles that James conjured from the tip of his wand, with his pudgy fingers, giggling. James was filled with gratitude to the woman with wings for giving him and Lily a chance at life.

The slight creaking of a door had pulled a certain black-haired wizard out of his depressing and self-loathing thought. His heart thrummed quickly as thick sweats had formed all across his forehead.

Nervousness had swelled within his chest as his foot nervously tapped against the stone floor. The wizard couldn't shake his fear away. He should've been dead and not alive. To be among the living was a cruel and twisted punishment. He was nothing but an utter disgrace to his parents and to most Slytherins.

But had his parents had known the rightly so-called truth about Lord Voldemort's motives, or know the extreme lengths that the Dark Lord would accomplish even if he had to murder a member of their family?

'Toujours Black.' His father, Orion's thick, haughty voice had rung through Regulus' mind.

'For the Greater Good.' His mother, Walburga, had always uttered such words and had believed in it regardless of gruesome crimes that were being committed.

That mere statement had been a method of Gellert Grindelwald to justify his horrific crimes during the global wizarding war. And unfortunately, this concept had still clung onto various pureblood families until today, Cold shivers had swept down his spine. Goosebumps had formed all over his skin.

This—It's all so wrong.

They're wrong. Regulus closed his eyes. But the more important question was it too late for him to change and mend his horrid ways, to rewrite his wrongdoings for the better? To apologize and to seek forgiveness?

He was repulsed by their hateful, racist, bigoted ideology. Something that unfortunately he had parroted, going along with his family's beliefs, to pledging his life to the Dark Lord. Although, his so called 'lifetime' service had only added up to about two years or less, before Regulus had decided to work against Voldemort discreetly after discovering his sinister secret that had him trembling; his face ashen.

It was during that time Regulus had finally woke up to the truth that surrounded him after becoming so disillusioned by living his life as a Death Eater and serving the Dark Lord in order to please his mother and father.

"Regulus."

A woman's soft voice had piped up—looking at him with gentleness. She had placed her slender hand on his shoulder, giving him a small squeeze for comfort.

"I promise you that everything will be alright."

Evelyn had given her cousin her word.

Regulus had lifted his head to be greeted by his cousin's bright heart-shaped face. Evelyn Black. Hope had twinkled in her grey eyes. Her rosy lips twisting into a comforting smile. Regulus had noted Evelyn had such a way with her soothing words that reminded him of Andromeda's high-spirited attitude—always so carefree—but at times Evelyn could be brash just like Sirius.

"I know." Regulus muttered under his breath.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Bright emerald light had erupted from Bellatrix's wand onto the young, distressed Muggle family, instantly killing them one after another. The family of five lying on the ground of their home. . . their eyes glossy. . . frozen in time. . .

That night had been his very first mission requested by Lord Voldemort—and the very first time he'd managed to vomit when Regulus was left alone.

Seeing the gleeful twinkle in Bellatrix's eyes as she had manage to end the lives of a young family, had made him feel sick and disgusted.

Dreadful nightmares had haunted Regulus for several weeks ever since the incident. Seeing the desperation, pleas, and utter horror that had crossed the Muggles' faces whenever Bellatrix had raised her wand and whispered a spell that would end their very lives—like the marionette strings that had been cut off—collapsing to the ground, motionless—all signs of life were gone.

To be in Dumbledore's office was something that Regulus hadn't processed yet, or worse, betraying the Dark Lord. This wasn't how he imagined his life would turn out to be—aiding the Order of the Phoenix and spilling Lord Voldemort's deep secret to the wizard whom the Dark Lord had greatly feared. The irony.

"Hello Mr. Black, and Evelyn."

Regulus had stiffened in his place at the use of his last name unlike his cousin Evelyn nor Sirius who were close to Dumbledore than him. It was only natural that Albus would address him in such a formality.

Evelyn's lips had stretched into a wide smile—her teeth gleaming. "It's certainly nice to see you again, Albus."

"Hello Mr. Dumbledore." Regulus had returned the gesture, but it had come off rather stiff and slightly awkward.

Albus Dumbledore had took his seat behind the desk facing Regulus and Evelyn. The old wizard was exactly how Regulus had remembered him to be, but slightly older, but he held the same wrinkles around the corner of his eyes, his long white hair, and the same exact twinkles in his blue eyes. Always being so calm as ever with a smile on his face.

Regulus was flustered in the face.

He didn't know where to begin or how to apologize or. . . to admit his own wrongdoings that Regulus had wanted to take back for being such an idiot. For falling into the 'wrong' crowd as Sirius had called it.

"Please address me as Albus, Regulus. We are no longer professor and student, but rather allies from now on." Dumbledore said kindly.

He was finding it quite difficult to believe the compassion that the headmaster was offering him despite his history and for once being associated with the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord.

Regulus swallowed hardly; he genuinely appreciated the elder wizard's kindness. "I'd take that you've gotten my letter, am I correct?"

Dumbledore had given a nod. "Yes, I have. And I daresay, anyone who was willing to risk their life in aiding the downfall of Lord Voldemort has earned my respect."

Regulus was astounded by Dumbledore's reaction. It was rather strange to hear such impressive words roll of Albus' tongue even though Regulus felt like he hadn't truly deserved it—not for all atrocities he'd committed. The blood of innocence that were spilled because of people like him who were bigoted and racist and had wanted to terminate their existence for being inferior.

"Uhh, thank you, sir." Regulus faltered in his words of gratitude.

"You do realize the gravity of the situation you've written in the letter, correct? Because you haven't just betrayed Lord Voldemort, but also, those who are close to you, your family, and friends." Dumbledore emphasized but had oddly appeared to be proud by Regulus' life changing decision.

Regulus knew he wouldn't just be betraying his parents, but his entire relatives and the people he was closely associated with as well, his legacy, and everything he once believed in and knew . . . would simply crumble down.

But knowing what the Dark Lord had done—or was trying to pursue—and what he intended to do was far graver than what anyone in his entire family had believed in. No. It was far worse than what anyone could ever imagine.

Lord Voldemort wasn't just trying to cleanse the Wizarding world out of muggles and muggle-borns. No. He was creating something far dark, and frightening known to the Wizarding world—horcruxes—it was something that no wizard in history had ever accomplished. A feat he took upon himself to accomplish. Lord Voldemort splitting his souls in order to achieve immortality and to cheat death was a terrifying outcome.

There was no doubt in Regulus's mind that Lord Voldemort wasn't entirely gone, but extremely weakened for the time being. He was out there somewhere in a completely different form with no body to possess.

"Sir, do you know what a horcrux is?" Regulus asked curiously, though he noted Albus' behavior, and in a way, he had a suspicion that the elderly wizard had an inkling of an idea—frowning deeply.

"Yes. I'm aware of them," Dumbledore answered solemnly. "And from my understanding, it's a very advanced form of Dark Magic. Unfortunately, any information regarding horcruxes had been eradicated completely."

Evelyn had shivered even though she knew about the Dark Lord's plans from Regulus, still, the idea itself had greatly unsettled her.

Regulus had pulled out the locket from his pocket. It was Salazar Slytherin's ancient locket, engraved with his own signature magic—gleaming under the sunlight. The heavy darkness was easily rolling off the object that had made Regulus shudder. Every attempt in destroying the locket had resulted in failure. No magic had been able to destroy the locket so far.

"I do believe that there's a piece of Lord Voldemort's soul within the locket, which is why—"

"You alongside Kreacher were in the cave in the first place, I presume?" Dumbledore asked bluntly. "To retrieve it."

"Yes. But even so, with all my attempts I could not destroy it." Regulus frowned, appearing disheartened. "It's impossible. The magic in it is powerful but I'm certain there's another way to get rid of it for good."

Regulus had nearly lost his own life in the cave hadn't it been for Kreacher's unimaginable loyalty and love to him. Kreacher had managed to catch a hold of Evelyn—a tremendously talented witch against the Dark Arts in the family—and brought her to the cave in hopes of assisting his Master from losing his life.

"Well, you needn't worry about that at the moment. We'll discuss the matter, later." Dumbledore said coolly, before turning his attention onto the young witch. "And I'm speculating that Kreacher was the one who brought you to the cave, to rescue Regulus, no?"

Evelyn knew that Albus had meant it more as a statement rather than question. She could spot the flickers in his eyes—appearing quite curious.

Evelyn gave a nod. "It hadn't been easy at all. Lord Voldemort had that place infested with dead bodies that do his every bidding for him. . ."

"Inferius." Dumbledore said matter-of-factly, unsurprised by Tom's motives as he would do anything in his magic to keep his magical artifacts hidden and well-protected, no matter how dark or gruesome the curse would be.

Memories of that night had flooded in his mind. If it hadn't been for Kreacher's sheer betrayal, he wouldn't be alive, but among the inferius. His own corpse would be serving Lord Voldemort years later and that caused Regulus to shudder.

Evelyn had arrived right on time, displaying her 'incendio' spell which had ignited the entire darkened cave brightly, causing the inferius to scream.

The once disfigured corpse that snatched at him, clawing at him, choking down beneath the cold waters had let loose of him, fleeing from the intense blaze. Regulus was pulled out of the dark, murky water by Kreacher—coughing up water—and with that, they Disapperated away from the cave to safety.

"They seemed to be dangerous at first until I casted incendio," Evelyn said. "But we managed to escape their grasp and flee the cave to an abandon town."

"And as you can imagine, Evelyn had found me on the brink of death, and with that we used it as a disguise to fake my death and went into hiding via a Fidelius Charm." Regulus clarified. "She was my Secret Keeper."

"Ah." Albus appeared to be intrigued. "That does explain how you managed to survive so well like a true Slytherin." Albus said thoughtfully.

"I appreciate your words, but I must get—"

Dumbledore had lifted his hand—gesturing for Regulus to stay in his place and to not to leave just yet. "I must apologize for imposing on you like this Regulus, but I do believe it's time for you to face your brother, Sirius."

"Sirius?" Regulus hadn't intended to splutter and loudly too. It was uncharacteristic of him to display such emotions. But his brother of all people?

Surely Sirius wouldn't believe his grandiose tale. No. Sirius had a tendency to call him out on his shitty, pathetic excuse.

"I doubt that Sirius would hate you, Reg." Evelyn had calmly reasoned with her cousin; the smile stretching across her face. "In fact, I have a feeling that he would be thrilled to see you safe, and most importantly, you're out of the Dark Lord's inner circle."

"And I reassure you'll have my backing on the matter. You're not the first Death Eater who turned to me in hopes of bringing down Lord Voldemort, Regulus." Dumbledore said smoothly; his blue eyes twinkling.

"What?" Regulus had slipped the word out, rather shocked, eyes unblinking. "And who would that be?"

"That would be none other than Severus Snape." Dumbledore answered.

Evelyn just lifted an eyebrow, just as puzzled as Regulus. "Huh? Now that's something I didn't expect out of Severus at all."

"I mean, he was always boasting about joining the Dark Lord's rank in our school days. It's all what he'd aspired to be." Regulus commented.

"Color me intrigued, but what made Severus change his mind? He never really had the intention of backing down." Evelyn said after a moment.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with the Dark Lord targeting Lily Evans and her family." Regulus theorized.

"You think Severus is still pining after Lily after all those years?" Evelyn said, looking perplexed. "And that's the reason why he switched sides in the first place?"

Regulus casually shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure what Severus' motives were, but it could be a possibility."

Albus was vaguely amused by the duo, and in a way, it had reminded him back to the years that Regulus and Evelyn were both children, in Slytherin House, being gifted with their cleverness, always finding instant solutions to every problem that hurled their way.

Sirius wasn't the one for such exotic surprises, pranks yes, but that wasn't what bothered him. No. Not at all. Sirius had rubbed his side temples with his fingers. It was impossible. The news that Dumbledore had shared with him had been downright overwhelming for him to hear.

Regulus Black was alive.

His younger, soft idiot of a brother wasn't dead like Sirius had presumed to be when he heard last heard that Regulus had gotten cold feet once he'd gone far too deep and wanted out. But one doesn't simply resign being a Death Eater otherwise it would mean death.

Regulus betraying Lord Voldemort had threw Sirius off guard in realization that his own brother had wanted his former Master to be obliterated for good. Just like him and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix and the rest of the Wizarding world who wanted the Dark Lord gone.

How could Regulus escape such a harrowing fate was beyond Sirius' knowledge?

The Dark Lord wasn't exactly known for his mercy or sparing someone's life without having a high price to pay. In fact, Lord Voldemort was inhumane, never would he allow anyone to walk away freely without being tortured or murdered for that matter, unless, if they had somehow lied their way out, or, of course used powerful manipulation.

Sirius was rattled.

He wasn't entirely prepared to see his younger brother after all those years. Cold, depressing memories had flooded his mind. Memories of him snapping at Regulus, and also in a way, he hadn't truly supported his younger brother but allowed him to drown with the rest of his unbearable, racist, bigoted family.

Perhaps a part of it was his fault too for not being a better brother and in guiding him to the right direction. Guilt had swelled in Sirius' chest.

Sirius was in his brother's room, glancing at all his things that were of course tidy and untouched.

It was dead silent—not the usual kind of quietness he felt prior to his younger brother's death—but it felt as if something was missing from the puzzle.

Sirius hadn't felt so moved until now.

The man was torn and didn't know what to do.

He didn't know what to make of it, but he felt guilt and remorse. Sirius shouldn't have given up on his baby brother so easily. He shouldn't have allowed him to follow his parents' wretched, dark, insane, beliefs. He should've guided Regulus to the path of light, not abandon him alone in an alley with nowhere to go but a misguided road.

Sirius felt like he was a horrible older brother to Regulus, as he allowed him to drown with the rest of his snidey family members.

He was grateful that his mother wasn't even home as the man would rather not see his Walburga who had supported little Regulus about the ideology of Pureblood supremacy. Her beliefs in the supremacy of pureblood wizards and witches had corrupted his innocent mind with their sickening and twisted thoughts about the world, deeming those who are muggles and muggle-borns being inferior. That they were the ones who were dirtying the Wizarding world with their filthiness.

His younger brother Regulus had been completely disillusioned by the Death Eaters' lifestyle. Regulus been so young and naïve about the world that he was living in and the way he'd looked up to their parents with full adoration and respect had made Sirius' stomach churn uncomfortably.

Walburga and Orion had done to the best of their ability to tear apart their sons' brotherhood—causing him and Regulus to stand on opposing sides of the war.

Sirius had blamed his parents for everything that had gone wrong with Regulus.

Walburga Black, a pure cold hearted and cruel woman had despised her older son as she had constantly thought of him being a disgrace and an abomination in her eyes. A full-on blood traitor to the family.

The spiteful witch had a rotten habit of burning family members right off the Black family tree, deeming them as blood traitors, as she'd personally disowned her own older son, Sirius, after he'd ran away at the age of sixteen to the Potters. Walburga had burned his face off the Black family's tapestry, including her own brother Alphard who'd given her disowned son the Blacks family's inheritance, and she also had burned Andromeda's face as well, who had married Muggle-born Ted Tonks.

No one had seen Andromeda ever since she had married Ted Tonks.

He felt sick to his stomach.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end.

His brother shouldn't have died a tragic death.

Sirius felt lost in the disgusting and shattered world, as tears had sprung in the corner of his eyes. He'd never felt so broken from before—never feeling such an intense feeling of sadness wash over him, almost like it was snuffing out his burning flames. Tears continued to glisten down his pale face as he'd picked the photograph of little Regulus smiling.

"You bloody idiot." Sirius murmured, shaking his head.

"Padfoot."

Snapping himself out his thoughts, Sirius had jerked his head towards the source of the concerned voice. His gaze had met James' distressed face—his hazel eyes were flickering with unease. "Are you alright, mate?"

Sirius had ran his fingers through his sleek black hair that fell to his shoulders. He gave his best-mate an apologetic look. "You would think so, right? That I should be happy that my brother is alive and a defected Death Eater, no?"

Lily detected the anguish laced in Padfoot's voice. Heartbreak flittered across her face—feeling for his anguish—as her lips twisted into a small frown. "Sirius. I know how painful this must be for you—"

"You really don't Lily. No one does!" Sirius unintentionally snapped at her due to his own frustration.

"Now Sirius be reasonable." Remus tried to calm his friend down. Sirius was known to be rash at times with his infamous Black temper.

James knew that Sirius hadn't meant to raise his voice at his wife, but he could clearly see the irritation written all over his face regarding Regulus' situation.

"Petunia." Lily said bluntly, looking Sirius directly in the eyes.

Sirius's face had flushed a bright red, nearly forgetting that Lily had an older sibling who despised her very guts for being magical—or so what Petunia would say an abnormal freak.

"She had her fallout with me, due to me being a witch, and well it wasn't exactly pretty. And I'm still trying my best to mend things with her, but Petunia's way too self-absorbed." Lily had sighed heavily. "But if Regulus was willing to betray Lord Voldemort and to take him down with his life, I do believe, there's some goodness in him. Just hear him out."

Sirius had seemed to ponder over Lily's words. She had a valid point, perhaps he'd been judging his younger brother far too harshly without knowing his reasons. Lily's implication of words about his younger brother had hit Sirius in the heart.

Their fallout hadn't been the best ever since they'd been divided apart with him being sorted into Gryffindor and Regulus being sorted into Slytherin, joining the other cold-blooded and ruthless Snakes.

But to Sirius's astonishment, Regulus had displayed his inner Gryffindor. It was no ordinary feat, but it had took a great skill of bravery for Regulus to betray the Dark Lord. Perhaps Regulus had a heart of a lion that was deeply tucked away in his heart all along. It had made Sirius smile.

"I guess you do have a point, Lily." Sirius considered; the guilt sweeping his heart over the promises he'd made but never fulfilled. He had broken his vow in guiding Regulus to the right path. "I probably haven't been the best brother to Reg either."

"And this your chance to mend things right, Padfoot." Remus said thoughtfully.

"We'll be there for Reg," James smiled. "And help him to redeem himself."

Sirius was thunderstruck by his friends' compassion. They were willing to help Regulus to find a better path. He wiped the tears that were filling the corner of his eyes. He was grateful to have such friends who not only cared for his wellbeing but that of his little brother.

It hadn't took long for Sirius to be in front of Dumbledore's office followed by his friends—his heart palpitating. Sirius for one was never easily agitated, but this was different.

Sirius slipped inside the office to not only greet his brother, but to notice that his cousin Evelyn was there, supporting Regulus it'd seemed. Her hand resting on Reg's shoulder, softly comforting him with her words. It was obvious to him that Dumbledore had waited for their presence.

Evelyn had turned her head to see that her older cousin Sirius along the rest of his friends who arrived—giving Sirius emotional support.

"Sirius!" Evelyn's face had lit up once she had spotted him and rushed over to him. She had welcomed Sirius with a tight embrace. "It's so good to see you again."

"It has been far too long since I last saw you." Sirius smiled. "Where have you been all this time?"

Evelyn had laughed—pulling away from him. "I've been keeping Regulus company ever since he'd betrayed You-Know-Who."

"Oh." Sirius mouthed, feeling somewhat offended by his cousin who hadn't kept him well-informed. "So, you knew about Reg's betrayal for a while then?"

"Sirius, I wanted to let you know, but it was getting dangerous by the end. It was better that only a few people knew the truth that way Reg would be protected." Evelyn expressed warmly.

At this being said, Regulus' voice had piped up.

"Sirius."

Sirius flicked a glance on his younger brother, somewhat skeptic at his brother's sudden change. He supposed some things never truly change. Regulus dressed in his nicely traditional emerald trimmed wizard robes that only amplified Sirius's repulsion. It had nearly reminded Sirius of their father, Orion Black, but of course Regulus was the less haughty version of Orion.

"You little idiot, why didn't you reach out to me and say anything?"

Sirius had given Regulus a bone-crushing embrace.

"I wanted to tell you the whole truth. . ." Regulus had let out a heavy sigh. "But I figured to keep a low profile until the whole storm blows over."

After a moment, Regulus broke eye contact with his brother and noticed the presence of the Potters and Remus. His grey eyes had drifted onto Harry—who was in the arms of his mother, fiddling with her long red hair—he'd assumed was the Boy Who Lived and the only wizard to ever have survive the Killing Curse.

"Hello Regulus." Lily and James greeted warmheartedly.

Regulus had raised a curious eyebrow at the presence of Remus.

"And Lupin?"

Remus had offered the former Death Eater a pleasant smile.

"Yeah. You see my friends are rather curious of your Death Eater renunciation." Sirius said a little tightly.

James rolled his hazel eyes at Sirius' sassy remark. "You don't have to be rude, Padfoot."

Regulus offered James a meekly smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to his insolent ways. It's Sirius' way of trying to be a good brother."

"Don't bully your brother, Sirius." Evelyn said, placing her hands to the side of her hips—chewing Sirius out on his typical behavior. "He's been through a lot you know. Merlin if you only knew what Regulus attempted to do to bring down the Dark Lord otherwise you wouldn't be patronize him."

"I—wait! What did he precisely do?" Sirius frowned, not liking the sound it.

"Ah, and what a grandee tale that is, Sirius." Albus had chimed in, appearing rather awed by the young brother's strength. "Your brother had shown incredibly bravery, far beyond his years. And it is sufficient for you to know that Regulus had done more than single-handedly to defeat Lord Voldemort."

"What?" Sirius said startled.

Even the Potters and Remus seemed to be having a hard time digesting Professor Dumbledore's words of enthusiasm. It was as if they were stuck in some sort of trance, unable to process any new information into their brain.

"Indeed, my dear boy." Albus smiled; his eyes twinkling. "And I'm sure Regulus would be delighted to share quite the tale with you. But for now, I must discuss important matters at hand."

"Like what?" Lily asked curiously.

Even James had looked at Dumbledore rather oddly. "About last night. I do believe there were certain things that weren't brought up, which raised many questions."

Fear had sept its way into Lily's chest—taking a quick glimpse at her husband. James seemed to be calm and collected. Although, there was a subtle trace of worry lingering in his eyes.

"Lord Voldemort isn't known for his mercy, nor sparing a life as you are well aware of and his signature method is using the Killing Curse against his opponents as his final solution so no one would get in his path."

Regulus and Evelyn had glanced at one another before turning their attention at the Potters, Remus, and Sirius. The eerie silence that had befallen them, their puzzled looks. . .they definitely knew something but were keeping their lips sealed.

Regulus could always tell when someone was lying—their features would tense up, and of course, the way they would fidget around, and the unsettling quietness.

"And yet last night, when you and Lily showed up, you were both unscathed which is rather peculiar wouldn't you think?" Dumbledore's eyes had drifted onto the little girl who was in the arms of James who was babbling and curling her small hands into a ball; her sapphire eyes sparkling; and the small red curls around her face, floating.

"Err. . ."

James was speechless. He hadn't assumed that Albus would carefully note on their strange behaviors last night. Everyone else had seemed to be glad by the fact that they had manage to survive the Dark Lord's wrath, not giving it much of a second thought.

"The girl, I dare say, has a unique ability to heal. Something that I never seen among young children from before." Albus observed Bloom in the arms of James. His gaze had soften on the child—fascinated. "And perhaps this healing gift alone, might've allowed you and Lily to survive the Killing Curse."

This had made Regulus' and Evelyn's jaw drop in astonishment—their grey eyes had widened. Evelyn's lips had twisted. "But isn't that considered an impossible feat."

"It doesn't make any sense. No one can be revived once they were met with such a deathly curse." Regulus said, still shocked by such revelation. "Like what Evelyn said, it's not possible."

"And yet, it's been possible. James and Lily are evidence of it," Albus said smoothly with a relaxed smile on. "Unless something else had happened that night that you wish to share."

"Uh—" Lily was the first one to break the tensed silence. "We may have a slight idea that Bloom does have some sort of healing magic, but it's still, rather vague and it's something we don't really understand ourselves."

"I suppose that's reasonable." Dumbledore pondered.

"Bloom?" Evelyn lifted a single black eyebrow; her lips twisting into a soft smile. "What an unusual, but beautiful name for a girl."

Lily smiled warmly. "Thank you."

"You know something, my cousin, Andromeda's daughter, Nymphadora has a unique magical ability to change her appearance at will." Evelyn offered.

"You mean, she's a Metamorphmagus." Remus said, rather awed.

"Yup. This particular talent isn't noted in our bloodline. . . so naturally Nymphadora is blessed with such a rare gift. Maybe Bloom's gifted with healing."

"Bloom could be," Regulus stated, gazing at the girl. "You wouldn't know for sure until she's older."

Regulus was simply trying to understand the extraordinary phenomenon that had surrounded the Potters. The man couldn't even blink an eye. It was something he couldn't comprehend. Perhaps this had been the very reason why the Dark Lord had targeted them in the first place; Lord Voldemort had an impression that the Potters, or specifically, their young son Harry was a threat to his mere existence.

I was granted with a rare ability, to restore a life back, called 'The Flame of Life' and not everyone in my family is given such a gift.

James recalled the words of the young queen. The queen hadn't explicitly stated how she'd earned such a gift or how she had been given the Flame of Life in the first place.

"Yeah. We won't really know anything, until she has a better grip at magic to know for certain." James said. He hadn't wanted anyone to be diving deep into what he and Lily knew just yet. They had barely found about it last night.

"Anyways," Evelyn clicked her tongue deciding to change the subject; her eyes filled with such delight. "I have do have a date tonight. . ."

At this being said, Sirius had snapped out of his thoughts—both eyebrows being questionably raised—shocked. Lily appeared to be thrilled. James and Remus were just as surprised as Sirius.

"What? A date?" Sirius didn't even bat an eye—just staring at her. "And since when do you have a date? In fact, when was the last time you dated someone, Evelyn? And why am I always the last person to hear such news?"

The smile on her face had faded as Evelyn scoffed. "Well, I suppose that happens when you no longer keep in touch with me."

This had caused Sirius's cheeks to turn bright red—flushing. "Still. . . it would be nice that you would reach out to me every once in a while."

"You do make a point, Sirius." Evelyn said. "But he's the one who invited me to meet his family and of course he'd extend his courtesy in wanting to meet my family."

Regulus felt his stomach drop. "But I'm not entirely sure if someone like me should come."

"Nonsense Reg." Evelyn dismissed. "I've rambled enough about you, Sirius, and Andromeda."

"Oh." Sirius said. "And who is this man exactly?"

"Alec Lovell."

"And it seems like you're already smitten by him." Lily teased.

Evelyn's face had turned crimson. "Well, Alec is not like any other wizard I've ever known. He's so different and a gentleman. He's respectful, kind, and just. . . extraordinary."

"But I've never heard of that surname from before." Sirius commented with a slip of a frown on his face.

"They're supposedly from America but had recently moved to London about seven months ago. And from what he told me, he'd lost his sister and brother-in-law, in tragic accident, leaving behind a child, his niece whom he's looking after."

Lily felt the chills run down the back of her spine—shuddering. Lately, all what she's been hearing about children being orphaned due to their parents being tragically murdered or being abandoned or being kidnapped. It was just depressing. This made her tighten her grip on her precious son, Harry—planting a kiss on his head. Lily hadn't wanted to let go of her little boy.

"Merlin." James said. "I'm not sure what their story is, but almost, every parent we're coming across is either dead, gone, or just lost, and their child becoming an orphan."

"I know." A heartfelt look flittered all across Evelyn's face. "He was really close with his little sister, like it's painful for him to talk about it. But he does have an older brother, which I suppose is a good thing."

"Poor bloke." Remus sympathized. "It must've been hard on him to lose a sibling."

"Yeah."

"So how did you two first meet?"

Regulus was the only one familiar with the story—of course Evelyn being the only one to share it with him due to being in hiding.

"At a park. I was babysitting Nymphadora that day and just happen to come across him." Evelyn reminisced on her memories even though it hadn't been so long ago. Their fateful encounter in that park had been rather blissful, but in such an odd way. It had been about three months ago since they've met.

"I see." Sirius lips had curled into a teasing smile.

"So, you really like him, don't you, Eve."

Evelyn rolled her eyes—ignoring Sirius's childish voice—almost sounding like an eleven-year-old who was teasing someone's first crush. "Obliviously. It's important for you to be at my side, tonight."

"Don't worry, we'll be there for you." Sirius winked, giving his full-on confidence to his cousin.

"We'll?" Regulus croaked out faintly.

Sirius had clasped Regulus by the shoulder. "Yes, you soft idiot. We're going to be there for her."

"And what will you be doing?" Evelyn asked James, Lily, and Remus.

"We'll be paying Augusta Longbottom a visit." Lily smiled.

James had his arm placed on his wife's shoulder—nodding to her. It was the best thing that he, Lily, and Remus could do. Poor woman to not only lose her son, but daughter-in-law, leaving her to be the one to look out after little Neville.

Evelyn's expression had morphed into that of heavy sadness. "I've heard about what happened to Frank and Alice. Maybe I'll stop by tomorrow. It seems like everyone these days are losing loved ones."

Author's Note

Hello Everyone! Well the long and awaited Chapter 3 is finally here! I know it's been quite a while since I've last posted, but life is annoying at times, but what can we do, eh?

This chapter is majorly different hence why it took longer and I wanted to dive into deeper aspects of the Regulus and Sirius, earlier on rather than later. It already seems that Dumbledore is onto something about the Potters' miraculous survival. So lots of things will be different compared to the OG fic.

I already had a hunch that most of you wanted Oritel and Marion alive, so yeah I'm keeping them alive, although it's going to be very interesting and how the drama is gonna ensue! LOL

Ohhhhh I can't wait to write chapter four! Now, that's going to be fun to say the least (or maybe to be me at least).

Like always please leave your reviews and comments down below! I really do appreciate it and love to hear your thoughts about it!

Until Next Time!