Edited 6/12/23: Minor Grammar/Spelling
My whole apartment is empty. I have a camping air mattress and a camping chair left... and a lot of cleanup. My cat is quite perturbed by the emptiness.
Any who, enjoy a little insight into Regulus!
Friday, June 12, 1998
Regulus Black looked a lot like Sirius, but he didn't seem like he'd aged a day since he'd disappeared in 1979. Hermione was sitting by his bedside holding his hand. She'd always felt a sort of kinship with Regulus that she couldn't explain. When they'd first realised who R.A.B was, Hermione had searched his room for anything she could find.
Locked away in the back of the closet, underneath the floorboards was a journal. She'd spent countless hours reading it while they were on the run.
Fall 1997
Hermione flipped to the next page of the journal in front of her.
It's exhausting being what Mother and Father expect of me. I wish I could have run away like Sirius, but I was expected to play the role that he abandoned. I want to hate him, I really do, but some part of me thinks about him taking punishments for me when we were younger.
I've decided that I'm going to do something drastic. I'm going to take a stand against the Dark Lord. I hope the Order will still accept me. If I don't make it out of this, know that I've been questioning my beliefs since I entered Hogwarts and watched Lily Evans and Emmeline Vance destroy everything I was told about Muggleborns.
I never got to tell Emmeline how I felt, but I hope that I'll get the chance when I come back from this Mission I'll get the chance. After Sirius and Andromeda "left" the family, the rest of us were held to ridiculous standards. Narcissa was married off to Lucius the day she finished Hogwarts, all her dreams of being a Charms Mistress destroyed. Bellatrix is…unstable at best. Watching the way the other Death Eaters comport themselves isn't anything like I was promised.
I worry for Severus, I think that he might have been swayed by the Dark Arts in ways that I haven't. The Black's have slightly more protection from the cloying Magic than some other families. I hope that he sees the error of his ways, but even now, I don't feel like I can trust him with my self-imposed mission. I hope that whatever he decides, he doesn't get in too deep.
I suppose this sounds a bit like a goodbye, doesn't it? I have hope that my mission will go well, but I cannot divine the future. If this journal is found by the Dark Lord and his followers, I hope that I've succeeded in thwarting you. If it's found by the Order, know that I was trying to make-up for the choices imposed on me. Not all Slytherins are bad, despite what Dumbledore might have you think. We care about protecting ourselves and those closest to us. That isn't wrong.
Kreacher is here so that we can go on our mission, wish me luck.
Hermione felt tears streaming down her face. So much of Regulus reminded her of Draco and to some extent Theo. Two boys forced into making decisions that most adults wouldn't ever have to face. She touched her bracelet and sent a message to her boys.
Hermione: I love you both so much.
Hermione: Just finished Regulus' journal…
Hermione: I hope our story ends up happier.
Theo: It will be love. Draco and I are curled up right now
Draco: But something is missing…
Theo: Someone is missing.
Hermione: Now I'm crying because I'm not between you
Theo: Take off the locket
Hermione looked down at her neck and the locket that was wrapped around her throat. With a sigh, she lifted it off and immediately felt lighter.
Hermione: I'm still sad.
Draco: At least you have those bloody idiots you call friends
Hermione: Ron left us.
Theo: That FUCKING WANKER. I'M GOING TO KILL HIM
Hermione smiled at that. While she'd always expected that Ron and Harry would be her constant companions, she'd found that Draco and Theo were much more consistent.
Draco: I always knew you were too good for the Weasel
Hermione: He thought there was something between Harry and I.
Theo: Salazar, Witch, warn a bloke before you make such a ludicrous comment.
Hermione: I know we tried to tell him but… the locket is really powerful
Draco: I wish we could see you, darling.
Hermione: I've been dreaming about you two since your birthday, Draco.
Theo: An all around excellent day
Hermione: I've just heard Harry get up, I have to go. I love you.
Draco: We
Theo: Love
Draco: You
Theo: Too
When Harry came out of the tent, he looked at the journal on her lap. "What did Regulus have to say for himself today?"
Hermione looked up at him and smiled softly, "Like Theo and many of the other Slytherins he was forced into his actions by his family. He was only 18 when he died, Harry."
Harry looked uncomfortable, but held out his hand for the book. When he'd finished reading the passage he looked up at her. "Do you ever think that this is how Malfoy felt?"
"I'm sure of it. Theo was always telling me how hard it all was on him. I think we misjudged him," she said softly.
After a few minutes of contemplative silence, Harry said, "Thanks for staying."
"There is nowhere I'd rather be."
Present Day (6/12/1998)
Hermione sat next to Regulus' bed for most of the day, only getting up to go to the bathroom. Lulu provided her meals. Theo came and went, spending a large portion of the day on the Transfigured loveseat she'd made. Finally, after dinner, Hermione was listening to Madam Pomphrey go over Regulus' care.
"...he should be waking up in the next few hours," she was saying to Andromeda, who was perched at the foot of his bed. "All of the diagnostics appear to show that the internal bleeding has stopped. We'll have to do some more tests when he wakes up to see how he was affected in the long term."
Narcissa appeared in the doorway soon after Madam Pomphrey bustled out. "Hermione, Theo," she said softly, "you need to be getting home. Draco should be back soon and you've spent too long away unaccounted for."
Hermione chewed her lip, looking between Narcissa and Regulus. "You'll let us know as soon as he wakes up?"
"Our girl has a soft spot for Reggie," Theo teased.
"He's a hero and he should be lauded as one. I just…" she trailed off, embarrassed.
"It's one of my favourite things about you, love," he chuckled. "You care so much for us motley Slytherins." He pecked a kiss on her nose and helped her stand. "We should be getting home, our husband will want to hear all about our day when he gets back."
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think or if you have any thoughts about what might happen next!