Regulus had barely been able to sleep since Andromeda had gone missing, and he wasn't the only one. December turned to January but there was no sign of Andromeda being anywhere until that day—her birthday.
An owl showed up in the middle of Regulus sitting a numeracy exam. It had tapped on the window so loudly, so impatiently, that Father had no choice but to let it in and hand Regulus the letter, for it was addressed to him. At first he thought it was Sirius', but he recognised the handwriting once he folded it on an instant.
"Andy- Andromeda-" he stammered, unable to get over his shock right away. Father grasped the letter back and read it. Twice.
Then he turned to face Regulus, who was still in shock. Andromeda had written to him, this meant she was fine, she had to be fine for her to write him a letter. But then, why did Father look like something was very, very wrong?
His question was answered before he could ask. "She married a mudblood," Father hissed. "That's why she left us in distress, to go off and marry that filth!"
Regulus flinched back as his father slammed his fist down on the desk. He had rarely seen his father angry. "She says you knew she was in love," he spat at him, "you kept this from us?! Speak!"
"W-what?" He couldn't believe his cousin would have ran off with a mudblood, it seemed so of of character for her. "N-no, Andy didn't- this isn't... no..."
"Look at me," Father growled, forcefully grabbing Regulus by his chin as he stared into his eyes. A few seconds passed, maybe more, before he let go and walked out of the room, taking the letter with him, leaving an utterly confused Regulus behind.
It wasn't long before he could hear doors slamming downstairs, so he got up from behind the desk to investigate. He sat on the top stair listening to what happened below, conveniently out of sight. Everyone downstairs was yelling at the same time, and it wasn't just Mother and Father, but also his aunt Druella, his uncle Cygnus, and even his cousin Bellatrix. He had to agree with their anger, though he was mostly in disbelief, if his cousin had truly married a mudblood... she had gone against her family, the highest act of treason. He couldn't ignore that. Oh, if only he had told someone she was in love! Hadn't she said people wouldn't approve? Why didn't he just say something!
"I'll kill her!" Bellatrix's yell suddenly silenced everyone downstairs, as they were probably as shocked as Regulus was to hear her say such things. Kill Andromeda?
"Bellatrix!" His aunt screamed. "She's your sister!"
His cousin lowered her voice. "No. If I get my hands on her, if I see her, I'll kill her—I'll kill them both."
"You'll do none of that!"
"I'll have her feel the consequences-" she rattled on, despite her mother's warning.
"Bellatrix!" Aunt Druella warned again. "That's enough-"
But Bellatrix didn't listen. "She needs to feel our Lord's wrath!"
"Listen to your mother!" Uncle Cygnus' voice roared through the house, and Regulus nearly stumbled down the stairs. He couldn't make out what happened next, but it went quiet for a while.
He slid down a few stairs, straining his ears as he heard the conversation continue in whispers. But it didn't take long for the people downstairs to grow angry again and raise their voices once more.
"Perhaps it's not too late to bring her back?" It was his father who spoke loudly enough to silence the others' angry words once more. "We have to take care of her, she's family."
"Oh, I'll take care of her, just you wait..."
"Hush, Bella. Not like that. We need her back alive, and unharmed."
"Since when do any of you care about what happens to blood traitors?"
"She's not just want blood traitor," Aubt Druella took over. "Orion is right. She's your sister."
"She's filth-"
"Bellatrix is right." Uncle Cygnus was the last person he expected to butter those words, but he did. "Now, killing people is uncalled for, but we have been betrayed. She betrayed us, and there's no going back. We cannot call such people family, Dru."
"What?!"
"She made her choice. It's ours to accept that choice."
"Accept it? I will not stand for this, no daughter of mine shall get away with marrying a mudblood!"
"And I'm sure neither of your daughters will."
Regulus held his breath, but he had heard enough to know what was going on. They were going to erase her, wipe her from the family tree, act as if she had never existed—just like all those people who came before. And yet, he stayed still.
"Narcissa and Lucius make a fine couple, their wedding should be as soon as possible—with Abraxas' permission, of course. As for Bellatrix..."
"I'll make a respectable, pureblood marriage, don't worry," she laughed. "As if I'd want to even be in the same room as those dirty creatures."
"See? Your daughters are in safe hands."
"What about our Andromeda?" Aunt Druella asked, her voice dropping to barely a whisper. He couldn't just hear her pain, he felt it. He felt the same pain.
"We don't have a daughter called Andromeda," Uncle Cygnus' cold reply sent Aunt Druella crying, wailing as she called out for understanding, to bring back Andromeda, to contact her at least!
He jumped up and ran back upstairs, his aunt bringing him the brilliant idea of sending an owl to his cousin, asking her about it himself!
Once back in the drawing room, he grabbed some parchment, dipped his quill in some ink, and started to write, quickly in case anyone tried to stop him. His heart was beating faster than ever, and he wasted no ink on unnecessary words. He knew what he had to tell her. He rushed the sentences, dipping his quill and writing so fast that he didn't let the tip drip off above the inkwell, blotting the parchment, smudging the lines, the letters blending together. He was sure Andromeda would understand what he had written, though, that she would understand why he had rushed the letter instead of focusing on his penmanship.
Andy
come back
Bella wants to kill you
theyll burn you off
please come back
say youre sorry
hurry
regulus
The final two words he wrote were barely readable, there was barely any ink left on the quill but he didn't dip it in again, for the door flew open and his father stepped in. He threw the quill on the desk and grabbed the parchment, hiding it behind his back as he tripped over the chair, knocking it over as he backed against the wall to keep his letter safe.
"Regulus, what's going on?"
"N-nothing."
His father rushed across ths room towards him. "What do you have there?"
"Nothing!"
"Show me your hands."
Regulus showed him his right hand, holding the parchment with his left. Then, he changed hands.
"Both hands together, Regulus."
He pressed the parchment against the wall, and held it up with his back, showing both of his hands to his father. He thought it was a pretty genius strategy, but his father didn't fall for it.
"I know you're hiding something."
"I'm not!"
"Do not lie to me." His father held out his hand. "Give it to me."
Defeated, he handed him the parchment.
"What is this?" Father asked, squinting at the words.
"A letter," he mumbled, stating the obvious but not wanting to reveal the contents. However, he didn't have to hide, for his father had already guessed.
"To Andromeda." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. And still, he nodded to agree. "Regulus..."
"I heard you downstairs! I just want her to come back," he protested, already going into defense mode, something he wasn't used to, but he was ready to do whatever necessary if he could only get this letter out. "And I'll make sure she does!"
"She won't come back, Regulus."
"She will! If she reads my letter, she'll realise what she's done, she'll come back!" But he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, himself or his father?
"Do you know why we call people like Andromeda blood traitors?"
"Don't call her that!"
"I'll call her whatever I like, Regulus," Father said coolly. "And I see no reason to not call her by what she is. Let's not forget who made the decision to turn on her family."
Father took a few steps back from him and put the letter down on the desk. "You see," he continued, "families are bound by blood to look out for each other, to protect each other, to care for each other. Betraying your family, your blood, the entire wizarding community with a heinous act such as marrying a mudblood, defiling yourself and your lineage with scum, it is the single most awful thing anyone can do. Such people don't care about family, or loyalty. Andromeda doesn't care about you."
"But... what about, you said, bringing her back, about us caring about her..." he couldn't accept that Andromeda would just stop caring about them, and he couldn't believe his father would just accept that.
"Cygnus doesn't think it's a good idea."
"But Aunt Druella doesn't want to lose her," he tried. Surely that was reason enough to try and het her back?
"She's already lost her. Andromeda chose to abandon our family, she may as well be dead."
"But she's not! She's alive, so she can come back."
"No," said Father. "She can't. She won't. And that might be for the better... if she ever were to return—you heard Bellatrix. She won't treat her kindly."
"She wouldn't hurt her sister!"
"Regulus, you have to accept that she's no longer Bellatrix's sister. She is not your cousin. Bellatrix will do to her what she sees fit to do to any blood traitor: she will kill her." The look of disgust on his father's face, though he tried to hide it, surprised Regulus.
"I won't let that happen!"
"You are no match for someone like Bellatrix. Not only is she twice your age, but she knows advanced magic, dark magic. She will get what she wants."
"But she'll listen to me, right? She's got to!"
Father didn't answer straight away. Regulus felt the panic rising in his chest. Andromeda had to listen to his letter, because he knew somewhere that his father was right. Bellatrix seemed far too eager to kill her earlier, and he would never be able to stop her, verbally or otherwise. This letter was his only chance at getting Andromeda back.
"You know what?" Father said after a while, "I'll give you one letter. Write a new one, a better one, and we'll send it to her. If she answers before nightfall, and the answer is satisfactory, maybe things don't have to be this way after all."
Regulus nearly ran up to his father to smother him in thank-yous but he collected himself on time and smiled widely at him instead, picking the chair back up and getting some new parchment as he sat down and started to think about the contents to the letter.
It took him nearly an hour, but he managed to put something down that he thought would be short enough to be clear, yet detailed enough to make Andromeda aware of why she had to come home.
Dear Andromeda Black,
Thank you for your letter.
I am very glad to hear you are alive and well. We were all very worried about you because you just disappeared and never told anyone where you were going.
I am really sad to hear that you married a mudblood. Please, tell me he tricked you or something. Is this a potion, a spell? How can we help?
Please come back if you can. We can still help you. Just send an owl before nightfall and we will know what to do. Please. We need you. I need you.
Lots of love,
Your cousin Regulus Arcturus Black
Together with his father, they sent it off, using the same owl that had brought him the letter before. It had still been waiting for its payment, all afternoon.
After that, waiting began.
