"It's refreshing to see young people so concerned with preserving our valued traditions. With Merlin knows what is being taught in that school… Well, it's no wonder so many children have been brainwashed by that Muggle-loving old cod. You must be very proud of Regulus."

"Yes," said Walburga stiffly, the hand she had laid on her son's shoulder tightened a bit uncomfortably and Regulus suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. That feeling was becoming more and more familiar to him.

"We are very proud. He's the youngest so far to have sworn his allegiance to The Dark Lord's cause."

"A wise decision," Mr. Borgin smiled eerily at him and Regulus suppressed the urge to shudder. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his cousin Narcissa and her fiance Lucius Malfoy along with Bellatrix, the Lestrange brothers, and their usual crowd eyeing him expectantly. Normally not overly excited by their company, Regulus felt somewhat relieved to see them in comparison.

"Thank you, sir," he said, nodding politely to Mr. Borgin before addressing both the man and his mother. "If you'll just excuse me." His mother gave his shoulder another slightly painful squeeze which he pulled away from hastily to meet his cousins and housemates.

His irritation must have shown on his face because Narcissa greeted him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you're looking awfully unenthused to be here." She smirked a little. "Forgive the pun, but why the 'Sirius' face?"

Some of the others gave an amused snort and Bellatrix groaned.

Regulus rolled his eyes. "You know better than to use that name in this house, Cissa. The walls may just come crumbling down if Mother hears you."

"They may as well crumble if she finds out that another young heir is doubting their place in this family," Lucius commented lightly, giving Regulus a significant look that made his chest feel tight. He shook the feeling off and stood a little straighter, throwing his shoulders back and lifting his chin confidently.

"No one's doubting anything, Lucius, I assure you. I'm just not one for all of-" he gestured around the room at all of the guests, "this."

"Well, get used to it," Narcissa drawled, inspecting her perfectly manicured nails. "Especially once The Dark Lord rises to power, I expect we will be having more and more of these gatherings. As the head of one of the oldest, purest families in the Wizarding World, I'm sure you'll be appointed to hold them. We must maintain what our ancestors have built… and keep the filth out."

"And speaking of filth." Rosier's eyes narrowed, looking across the large ballroom where Severus Snape had just entered, looking awkward and out of place in his shabbier robes. "You have to wonder what someone like him is doing here."

"Now Evan," Narcissa tutted softly. "He may not be up to par, but he's quite the talent. I heard he sliced Potter's face up pretty badly with a spell he made himself. He holds the same ideals that we do. We must welcome all of the support we can to help The Dark Lord's plans. He's loyal enough."

Bellatrix let out a high, sharp laugh. "Is he though? He followed that disgusting little mudblood around for years."

"Keep your enemies closer, Bella," Narcissa said simply.

Regulus bit his lip, watching Severus stand alone in the corner seeming lost.

"Excuse me for a moment," he muttered. He didn't wait for a response before leaving the group in the direction of the other boy.

—-

Severus had made a significant effort throughout his years at Hogwarts to hide his blood status. Surrounded by the elite of pureblood families and expected to join forces to rid their world of impurities, he didn't need anyone to know that he himself had a muggle father.

Although he never spoke of it out loud, in fact, he rarely spoke much to his classmates at all, he knew that they still thought of him as beneath them all. He wasn't as wealthy as the rest, his robes were shabby and he was skinny and frail looking. He didn't fit in with his comrades, and that meant he had much more to prove. That was fine. He knew he had enough talent and power to fool them into accepting him.

However, the ancient house of Grimmauld Place did not seem as easily fooled. The air itself seemed to be thick with purity, and dark magic lined the walls, and although Severus found it fascinating and enthralling, the house didn't seem to reciprocate the welcomed feelings towards a halfblood like himself. Upon his arrival, the door knob nearly bit off his fingers, and the carpet in the entrance hall tried to trip him as he slowly walked through, distracted by the angrily staring eyes of the disembodied house elf heads that were mounted on the walls.

Some portraits sneered and turned their noses up at him when he passed, others rushed into other frames to whisper to each other, eyeing him suspiciously. He paid them no mind and kept his eyes straight ahead until he made it to the large double mahogany doors.

Never much of the socializing type, Severus' immediate thought was how much he didn't want to be here, to begin with, but it didn't matter. The others of his age all knew of his friendship with Lily Evans, and he knew that made them weary of his intentions. He had to prove where his loyalty lay. That didn't mean he had to be the center of attention though, and he settled for taking a station in an empty corner of the room to watch and listen.

"What are you doing here?"

Severus slowly turned to face Regulus Black. The younger boy was frowning at him, and though it was not the same glaring look of disdain his older brother normally regarded him with, Severus couldn't help but notice how very similar the two looked. They had the exact same piercing grey eyes and the same pitch-black hair, although Regulus wore his short and his brother let his grow past his shoulders, no doubt trying to mimic some muggle rock star. However, Regulus' face was rounder and still more boyish than Sirius', even though they were only a year apart.

Severus shrugged at the question. "I'm here to show my support for the Dark Lord's cause, same as everyone else."

Regulus rolled his eyes. "I know that. I meant, what are you doing here, sulking around in a corner on your own?"

Severus' eyes narrowed. "Why do you care? As I said, I'm here to support He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, not to pretend I actually enjoy being around the likes of…" he trailed off, letting his eyes settle on the small huddle of his classmates.

"I don't care what you do, personally," Regulus said. "Only it does cause suspicion. You're known for sneaking about - gathering information on things that have nothing to do with you. Since you were friends with that Evans girl, no one is too sure where you stand."

Severus sighed and nodded once. "Duly noted. Rest assured that regardless of whoever I have associated with, I'm fully committed to the cause. Besides, everyone knows I haven't been so much as acquaintances with Evans in well over a year," he added bitterly.

Regulus gave him a skeptical look as if he wanted to say something, but then he seemed to think the better of it. "If you say so. I'm only letting you know what's being said about you."

"Well, what about you?" Severus spat back.

Regulus faltered for a moment, blinking at him with his mouth agape. "W-what about me?"

"Shouldn't you be making your rounds being flaunted about by mummy and daddy?"

Regulus sighed and leaned against the wall beside Severus. "I'm really not into parties and… people."

Severus nodded. "Me neither."

—-

The night, like most of these ridiculous events his parents threw, seemed to drag on for hours and hours and Regulus found himself in one of those rare moments where he sincerely missed Sirius. Sirius would have slipped fizzing whizbees into the mulled wine and laughed as it exploded in their father's friends' faces. He would have taken one of the ancient swords off the wall and chopped the head off the grotesque roasted boar that was presented at dinner and replaced it with one of their mother's creepy old House Elf heads when no one was looking. He would have snuck Regulus out of this hellish gathering before Bellatrix approached later that night with the Lestrange brothers, Mulciber, Avery, and Nott, smiling wickedly.

"Come on, Regulus, let's go," his cousin grabbed him by the arm, looking like the cat that caught the canary. She looked over her shoulder and regarded Severus. "You too, Snape."

Severus and Regulus exchanged confused looks.

"Go? Go where?" Regulus asked, yanking his arm away from the girl.

Bellatrix pouted at him. "Aw, ickle Reggie. Don't you trust your big cousin Bella?"

"Not particularly." Regulus frowned, taking a step back.

"We're bored." Mulciber cut in before Bellatrix could whine any further. "The gathering is starting to wind down anyway. Even Narcissa and Lucius have gone home.."

"So? Then leave, no one's keeping you here," Regulus said, still not understanding.

"Reggie," Bellatrix's too-sweet voice sang close to his ear. "Tonight was supposed to be to prove our loyalties to The Dark Lord, wasn't it?"

"Yes…" Regulus said slowly. "And we all showed our faces. We all attended-"

"And what have we got to show for that?" Said Avery. "Nothing the Dark Lord would be proud of, that's for sure."

"...I don't understand…" Regulus said, barely more than a whisper. He didn't understand, but something was making the hairs on his arms stand on end.

"We're going out, Regulus," Bellatrix announced giddily, taking him once again by the arm and leading him out of the ballroom. "To London…" she giggled. "Muggle London."

Regulus pulled away again and glared at his cousin. "Are you mad? To do what?"

Bellatrix shrugged, toying with her wand idly. "Oh, nothing detrimental… We only want to go and look around… get an idea of what we will be dealing with…"

Regulus shook his head. "No way. I'm not going. What if we get caught?"

"I'll go," Severus spoke up suddenly.

Regulus stared at him in shock and the other boy gave an uncommitted shrug. Bellatrix squealed at Severus' sudden willingness to participate. Then all eyes were on Regulus.

Looking around the room, he saw both of his parents were deep in conversation with the types of people that used to give him nightmares as a child, aided by Sirius' insistence that these eerily sinister old men were vampires that would hide beneath Regulus' bed in the middle of the night. With his cousin and classmates gone, he would probably be forced to mingle with far worse than just Bellatrix and the others. He sighed.

"Fine," he conceded finally, much to his cousin's delight. "But if we get into any sort of trouble, Bella-"

"Lighten up, Black," Mulciber said, waving him off impatiently. "Keep acting like a coward and you'll never survive what's coming."

The older boy pushed roughly past Regulus and headed for the door, followed by the rest of the group with Severus and Regulus taking up the tail end and both feeling uneasy.

Sorry for the late chapter. I was insanely busy last week but here we are. Hope you enjoy ;D

You can find me on Instagram and Gmail at Via889fanfction and my Podcast The Marauders(Olivias' Version) on Spotify and on Instagram at themaraudersoliviasversion.