A/N: Another update already? I know right? I'm having a bit of writers block with From Darkness to Light, I know where I want to take it in the next chapter but how to get to it is my problem. We'll get there, but for now here is another chapter to Rebirth.
This chapter is a sort of filler, I think in the next chapter or two we will get to some true excitement!
Please read and review, I love to hear what you all think!
-oOo-
"Hermione, please say something," Regulus pleaded after Hermione was silent for longer than he could take. It had only been a minute, but he wasn't used to Hermione being silent, without opinion.
"Why, Reggie? Why can't you refuse?" asked Hermione clutching at his arm tightly, she didn't want her best friend to go down that path. He would either be killed by the aurors, or for disobeying an order, or he would follow orders and lose himself, fracturing his own soul and humanity.
"Look what happened to Sirius!" cried out Regulus, tears flowing down his cheeks. His brother had refused, and their own parents had turned on him, sliced him open, and left him to bleed out. Left him to die.
"He's here though, he's safe and away from them!" hissed Hermione, she didn't understand. She didn't understand he was trapped. He had no safety.
"Because of me!" Regulus growled, "He would not be alive if I had not gotten Kreacher to obey my orders and drop him off at Potter Manor and not to be seen. Sirius was unconscious and would not recall that his brother protected him, he only remembers the mask I wear at home to protect myself. There is no one to save me if I turn on them Mione, there is no brother that would send me to a home for protection.
"Even if there was, where would he send me? Barty's? Where his father would immediately cart me off to be interrogated or paraded in the media where I would become a target? Or to your house? Where your own parents hate you? Or the Leaky Cauldron where I would be easily found and exterminated for turning against the very honour I was being offered. The Potters will protect Sirius and give him a happy home, I will protect him in the only way I know how. Being the perfect pureblood son of the Ancient and Noble House of Black," Regulus explained. His eyes were broken and pleading with Hermione to accept his hand in life, he had to protect his brother.
"What about me and Barty, Reggie?" asked Hermione quietly. She hated appearing vulnerable, she hated being selfish when Regulus was dealing with everything he was. How could she ask such a selfish question.
"Barty understands, I hope you do too. I must protect you both too, if I am seen spending time with you then attention is on you. I do not want them hurting you because you are Muggleborn, and I do not want them targeting Barty because he is son of an Auror. I never thought their eyes would be on me before, I foolishly thought with their eyes on Sirius they would never look to me. You are already in danger from our past friendship, I need to degrade you and make you both seem like waste of attention. Please understand Mione," Regulus asked her, his eyes conveying the truth of his words and the sadness he felt over them.
"I understand, Reggie. I don't like it, but I understand," Hermione replied, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
"I don't like it either," chuckled Regulus sadly, "Thank you for understanding, Mione. A war is coming, Mione, I feel it and I do not want you anywhere near it. Please, please keep your head down."
"I can't promise you that, Reggie. You know I would never stand back and let others fight my battles," replied Hermione, frowning at her friend for asking such a thing.
"I understand, what I mean is please keep your power hidden. They cannot know how powerful you are with magic, how easily it comes to you," said Regulus.
"Oh. Okay, Reggie, I promise to not tell anyone," whispered Hermione sadly, "I will miss you."
"I will miss you too, Mione. When this is over, we will be friends again," he pulled her in for a hug, chuckling darkly, "If I'm not dead or in Azkaban." Hermione gasped and pushed against his chest so she could look up into his eyes, his black hair falling over them. She reached up and pushed the hair behind his ear, her hand cupping his cheek.
"Never, you will not die in this war, and I will find a way to protect you from Azkaban," Hermione spoke with conviction, "I promise that you will see the other side of this war Regulus, if it is the last thing I do."
Regulus closed his eyes tight, leaning his head into her hand. If anyone was to come across them, they would look like lovers professing their love, but their love was like siblings. Regulus couldn't help but feel hope build in his chest at her words, she would protect him. She may not be able to protect him in Grimmauld Place from his parents, but she would protect him in other ways. If she had a loving home, she would have opened it to him, it wasn't her fault her parents were as cruel as his were.
"I believe you, Mione. If anyone could manage it, it would be you," smiled Regulus.
They hugged one more time and slowly Regulus stood up and left the library, leaving Hermione alone in her warded space. An hour later she finally got up from where Regulus left her, she was now committed to finding a way to protect Regulus. Even if he performed unspeakable acts, tortured, and killed anyone, she would find a way to ensure he was not imprisoned for following orders at the expense of his own life.
If he kept in contact with her, in secret, then evidence of his forced obedience should help. It would also provide her the ability to know he wasn't losing himself in the darkness. Then when the war was over, she would have proof that he never believed in what he was being forced to do. She felt a fire stoke inside her at the research ahead, the lawyer in her ecstatic to investigate wizarding laws. She recalled researching World War II in the muggle world and how the German soldiers committed despicable acts on the Jewish in internment camps, all under orders, and had been deemed not responsible. Their punishment was the guilt they were left with. And she knew Regulus would feel that same guilt, multiplied by thousands, if he was forced to harm another person. Sending him to Azkaban with that guilt would drive him insane, and Hermione could not allow that future to come.
That night, in Ravenclaw tower, Hermione explained to Barty her afternoon with Regulus. He admitted to understanding exactly what had been happening but unable to find the right way to explain it to Hermione. Together they decided to research ways to help Regulus.
The weeks flew by, and it was the week before Yule holidays when Barty let out an excited cry in the library. Madame Pince had looked up and angrily shushed them before looking back down at her book. Hermione smiled sheepishly at her, and mouthed an apology, and looked back at her friend expectantly.
"What did you find?" asked Hermione.
"This!" he laughed happily, pushing the book forward and pointing at a paragraph. It was a Protean charm, a charm that would cause copies to change based on the original, Hermione frowned, wondering how this would help them.
Then it clicked.
"Barty, you genius!" laughed Hermione.
"A journal would be perfect, have him write in his and his messages would be relayed to us," explained Barty thoughtfully. Hermione always beamed when Barty showed his intelligence, he always doubted belonging in Ravenclaw. Moments like these proved otherwise, he was able to flow from idea to idea and find ways to make them work. Hermione happily sat back while her best friend figured it out, she would no doubt perform the magic. In the past she may have wanted to prove she was smartest in all aspects of magic, the research, the theory, and the casting, but now at sixteen she was happy to allow her friends to take the lead.
Barty had started flicking through the pages of the book searching for something he hadn't spoken aloud to Hermione. His eyes darted across the pages he would glance at quickly before continuing searching. Finally, after picking up a different book he left out a relieved laugh.
"I knew it!" he sighed, he looked up at Hermione and passed her the book, "Here, it explains that if you cast the Protean Charm on both books, making both the master, we can write back and forth. You could potentially cast it on mirrors so we could see each other, but I don't think that's a good idea here."
"No, no mirrors aren't good for this. This is brilliant, Barty! We should go and do this right away," Hermione said excitedly. Both started tidying up their books, keeping only the one that provided the Protean charm, and got up to leave the table. However, when Hermione turned around and took a step, she walked into a solid mass.
Hermione stumbled back and into the chair she had previously sat in and looked up into the molten silver eyes of Sirius Black.
"Black, what can I do for you?" Hermione spoke coolly, crossing her arms over her chest.
Sirius smirked, glancing down at her chest that she unknowingly drew attention to by placing her arms under them. He gave her an obvious once over, looking down her legs, to her feet, and back up to her eyes, that were now angry slits glaring at him. He always loved riling this Muggleborn up when he came across her on her own, but she was always with Regulus. He never wanted to look at his brother and see the pureblood Slytherin scion of House Black, his brother spewed the most disgusting rhetoric about Muggleborns and magical beings. He was curious about the girl, intrigued by her since their first meeting on the train and he saw those caramel brown eyes. However, he didn't understand her friendship with his brother, and he didn't want to watch the train wreck that was their future friendship.
Now that time was here, he had split from them. Had called her those horrible names in front of everyone and caused her to run off and hide, he couldn't even find her on the Map, for Merlin's sake! Regulus no longer sat with her in the Great Hall so he could watch her and the more he watched the more he was intrigued by her.
She had no friends in her house, except Barty Crouch Jr., a boy who was now gaining female attention that he was completely oblivious about. Their friendship was close, but it didn't seem romantic, although he had seen them have some affectionate hugs and they spent a lot of time sitting together in Ravenclaw Tower, away from all the other Ravenclaws.
He was unsure if she was dating Barty or if they were just friends.
Not that it mattered, he didn't want to date her. He just wanted to indulge his curiosity, maybe in a broom cupboard?
"McCallister, couldn't help but overhear an intriguing and curious idea from over here," Sirius spoke in his low, roguish voice.
"Don't know what we could possibly have that interests you, Black," responded Hermione. Barty stood to the side, watching the interaction play out curiously. On the other side, Remus Lupin was also standing to the side watching his friend interact with the younger Ravenclaw.
"Oh, I'm sure there's plenty of things you can show me to interest me, McCallister," he winked, "However, there is something you said to your friend here that caught my attention. Communicating mirrors?"
"In my nightmares, Black," scoffed Hermione, "Regarding your question, however, yes communicating mirrors were discussed. Doubt you could perform such a charm, the Protean charm."
"That's NEWT level," piped up Remus, finally drawing attention to himself. Hermione, startled by the second voice, jumped, and scrambled to Barty's side.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at the boy, quickly looking him over, before adopting his nonchalant attitude again.
"Yes, it is," replied Hermione, not giving away anything further. She had promised Regulus that no one would ever know about her magic. Not that he knew what had been happening to her this year. She still only felt that familiar feeling when she performed defensive and offensive magic, curriculum-based magic, or healing. When it came to magic outside of that, she would struggle a few times before being successful. Barty reassured her that she still succeeded faster than anyone else could think possible, but she missed the warm feeling that would engulf her when it was familiar.
"What makes you think you can go and make it right away then, you seem quite confident for a fifth year, Princess," said Sirius.
Hermione kept her face blank as she thought about her answer. As she thought, she saw some of her fellow housemates in the stacks behind Sirius and Remus, they were sending her hateful glares for even daring to speak to the Sirius Black. Hermione rolled her eyes, replying to Sirius as she grabbed Barty's arm and stormed past both boys.
"You seem awfully concerned about me, Black. Perhaps, pay attention to the ones that want it," she nodded her head at the girls staring at them, each quickly looking down at the books in their hands, pretending they hadn't been staring openly.
Hermione and Barty quickly left the library, the former dragging the latter from the room. She didn't let go of him until they were back at Ravenclaw tower, and she was providing the password riddle.
"What was that Mione?" Barty finally asked.
"What was what?" Hermione asked innocently.
"Don't play dumb, that is most definitely not you," Barty frowned at her. Hermione sighed and dropped down on an armchair in front of the fire, placing the book with the charm on her lap.
"I told you in Diagon Alley, I don't know what Black's problem is," Hermione huffed.
"No, you're flirting with him!" accused Barty, pointing his finger at her.
"What?!" screeched Hermione, jumping up from her armchair, "Are you out of your bloody mind?! Flirting? With him? Don't make me laugh!"
"Mione, you were literally eyeing him up like you would eat him!" Barty laughed.
"No, I was looking at him like I hate him. Which I do. I hate that egotistical bastard!" spat Hermione, "He doesn't even realize what his brother is doing for him. He is just living his carefree life while Reggie suffers in his place."
Barty's smile dropped off his face as he pushed his friend too far. He shouldn't have teased her over Sirius Black, not with Reggie being such a recent dilemma.
"I'm sorry, you're right," apologized Barty, "Here, let's make this journal."
Hermione wiped her eyes, preventing the tears from falling, and sniffled before leaning forward in her seat and preparing to perform some magic. Barty had a journal that his mother had given to him that summer, it was a simple brown leather journal with parchment pages, it did not draw attention to itself and was small enough to fit in a robe pocket. Barty performed a duplication charm that Hermione had helped him perfect, and then she performed the Protean charm. The warm, familiar feeling returned, and she revelled in the sensation, a smile overtaking her face. She performed the charm on both journals, twice, causing both to be master journals. With their journals successfully writing back and forth to one another they determined it was complete. They considered adding a charm to advise a message came in, like the journal warming or glowing, but decided that would be dangerous for Reggie, just like the mirrors.
Before going to bed, they came up with the plan to send it to Reggie for Yule without a written note. Inside would simply be a card signed with the picture of two eagles with a snake in the middle.
--oOo-
Yule holidays came and went, Hermione stayed at the castle while Barty returned home to his parents. Reggie's present had been sent and no reply had come, not that Hermione truly expected one, it would have been nice though, to know he was safe.
She worried for him, she knew he was being Marked this break and hope he survived whatever they requested of him. Hermione was sure there was some form of initiation rite, she had read enough about cults in the muggle world.
She spent her Yule holidays staring out the windows watching the snow and thinking about her connections in this world. This year was her career counselling meeting, Professor Flitwick would be speaking to her about it after everyone returned. However, she was fearful of her future.
A war was coming. One her friend was right in the middle of, and on the wrong side, and she was one of the enemies of that side. Simply for having the parents she had. The parents she herself hated. Not that she hated them for being muggles, she just hated them for being close-minded muggles. She had listened to Lily Evans in the library, talking to her friends, telling them about how proud her parents were. She knew it was possible for muggles to embrace magic, but it also sounded like Lily's sister and sister's fiancé were like Hermione's parents.
Hermione was also disliked by most of her house for being smart, in the house of smart people. How could she create a future in a society of people she went to school with that hated her, or people that looked down on her for her blood? It seemed like an impossible task.
In the muggle world she was willing to stand up and fight for her place, there were other women there doing it too. But here in the wizarding world? If she stood up to make her place, she could easily be killed for it. Who would be standing with her? Who is fighting against these Death Eaters?
Sure, the Aurors were, but that was their job, just like the muggle police. But who were those in government, the everyday civilians that stood up against the Death Eaters? It couldn't be possible that people just allowed this to happen. There had to be someone out there trying to fight these people outside the law. She would need these people on her side when it came to Reggie, if it was just her talking to the Wizengamot, would they even take her seriously? Would Barty Crouch Sr. listen to his son and his best friend when it came to the heir Black and his Dark Mark?
Hermione could only hope that such a group could be out there, standing up for those that can't protect themselves.
-oOo-
The students returned to the castle following the Yule holiday, greeting their friends they had not seen for a few weeks. Barty hugged Hermione, squeezing her tightly in the courtyard.
"Missed you, Mione!" he laughed, lifting her up a few inches from the ground.
"You're suffocating me, Barty!" Hermione squeaked. Barty put her back down and ruffled her hair affectionally, "Barty!" Hermione swatted his hands away from her, laughing at her friends' antics.
"Sorry I couldn't send this for Yule, Mione. Father wouldn't let me use his precious owl. Apparently, he heard of some awful catastrophe that was to befall all of wizarding Britain and there was no possible way our owl could be spared for even a day," Barty said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his father's attitude. He pulled out a small box wrapped in blue paper.
"Oh, Barty, you didn't need to," Hermione smiled shyly. She was never good at receiving presents; however, she would never admit she was disappointed when no presents were there from her friends on Yule morning.
"Reggie and I get you one every year, Mione," said Barty sadly, he and Regulus picked their charms out every year. Either her birthday or Yule she would receive a new charm for the bracelet they gave her in first year. Since Reggie could not join him this year, he purchased one in thought of him. He hoped she liked it.
"Oh Barty," Hermione smiled sadly. It was technically a best friend charm, a heart split in two.
"I know Reggie isn't here, Mione," he whispered, making sure no one was listening to them, "but he will always be your best friend. Right now, there's a fracture, it's broken, but look how easily it goes back together again. We'll get him back," Barty promised. Hermione jumped into his arms, hugging him tight. She had the best friends in the world.
Unbeknownst to them, two sets of silver eyes watched them.
One in jealousy.
One in longing.
-oOo-
The morning after the students returned, Hermione received the Daily Prophet and sucked in a breath at the headline news. A well-known wizarding town in Ireland had been attacked on Hogmanay, many of the half blood and Muggleborn witches and wizards murdered. The article didn't go into much detail, but from the descriptions that were included, the witches and wizards were murdered brutally. Witnesses reported seeing black robes and silver masks and a Dark Mark in the sky, however the Aurors would not confirm these sightings.
Hermione glanced over at her old friend at the Slytherin table. She hoped he had nothing to do with it. However, the sight of Regulus did not settle her nerves.
Regulus was pale, dark circles were under his eyes, and his hair was looking like the Snape boy's hair. His uniform wasn't wrinkled, however it was put together without care, when Reggie was always perfectly dressed. The top buttons weren't done up, his tie was loosely around his neck, his robes were hanging off his shoulders, and his shirt was untucked in places. He looked like he dressed himself in the dark. He wasn't eating, simply pushing the food around his plate as he stared at it without seeing.
As if he could feel eyes on him, though, he looked up, made eye contact with Hermione briefly and quickly looked away. However, in that moment, Hermione saw the torture he was feeling, she saw the loneliness and the fear, the self loathing.
Regulus had been Marked and he was most likely at that village, forced to participate. A tear fell from her eye onto the paper, she quickly wiped it away and closed the paper, stashing it away. She would send a message to him in the journal tonight, tell him she doesn't hate him, and she understands.
Across the Great Hall, while she was watching Regulus, a set of silver eyes watched her. Sirius Black watched her read the paper and gasp at the horrible murders of innocent Muggleborns and half bloods.
He watched her eyes look up and over at the Slytherin table, right at Regulus. His brother was not looking well, he looked like he was taking self-care advise from Snivellus and if his parents saw his uniform, they would be embarrassed that he was not looking like the perfect pureblood heir.
He watched as Regulus looked up from his plate and made eye contact with McCallister, and quickly look away. Guilt clouding his face, refusing to look up at the girl he used to be best friends with.
He watched McCallister wiped at her eye, as if wiping away a tear, and threw the paper aside, refusing to look at it. Glancing up at Regulus throughout the rest of her meal.
He watched as Regulus squirmed in his seat uncomfortably, knowing the eyes of his old best friend watched him.
He watched as Regulus's right hand moved over his left forearm and quickly pulled his hand away after his fingers brushed it and he flinched.
He watched as Regulus jumped up and stormed out of the Great Hall, McCallister eyes following him, her shoulders slumping further when he was gone.
Sirius Black would get to the bottom of this.
-oOo-
Sirius Black held true to his promise, he started harassing Hermione every chance he got. He didn't always approach her, but he was always there.
When she went to the library, he found a table near hers.
If she was sitting in the courtyard, he was there with his groupies following him.
Even in the hallways, on her way to class, that he should have no business being near, he was there, bumping into her or greeting her with a wink and roguish smile.
Hermione was going batty, she tried to talk to Barty about it, but he just laughed and teased her. She would huff and storm off, frustrated at her friend's lack of help, but she couldn't stay mad at Barty for long.
It had been two weeks since the holidays had ended, and she had not gone a single day without seeing Sirius Black somewhere near her. She had also not received a single reply from Regulus. She had tried writing to him every day, but nothing came back from him. Every day she came back to it, and it was blank, indicating that it had been read and removed.
Barty had forced her to leave the journal without any of the modifications she found. She had wanted to add a charm that forced the writing to remain permanent so they could show everything to the right people after the war, however, he had argued that it was up to them if they wanted something to be permanent. Not every conversation was for everyone's eyes.
Hermione reluctantly agreed, but not it was backfiring on her as Regulus deleted her attempts at communication. It hurt more that he was seeing them and deliberately ignoring them.
That day Barty said he had something he had to do on his own, while Hermione was a bit suspicious of what he was up to, she decided to just have a day to herself outside, hoping Sirius Black would not find her.
Though it was a wasted hope.
Sirius Black found her not long after she sat herself at the side of the lake. How he found her every single time was frustrating her to no end.
"McCallister," he greeted, strolling up in his dragonhide boots and winter cloak. Behind him were his Marauder friends, James Potter running his hands through his messy hair, Remus looking at her with that curious look he always had as if he was trying to decipher her, and Peter Pettigrew, a boy she didn't understand how he fit in. He wasn't like any of the other Marauder boys, very unsure of himself, and often looked like he would rather be anywhere else than what the Marauders were doing that day.
Today it was bothering her.
"Black," replied Hermione looking back at the lake, "Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew. What are you bothering me for now?"
"I am anything but a bother, Princess," smirked Sirius, "Many would say that I am an absolute delight."
"Do those people have ears?" retorted Hermione.
"Noticed you didn't say eyes, like what you see Princess?" Hermione rolled her eyes at his cockiness, could she hex him yet?
"Get to it, Black. I would rather be doing anything but spending time in your presence," Hermione looked over at him finally, giving him a level stare.
"Fine, McCallister, let's drop the pleasantries."
"Oh, this was supposed to be pleasant?"
"Shut it, Princess, what is going on with Reggie?" Sirius demanded, his voice losing that playful tone.
"You can't call him that!" Hermione glared at Sirius with fire in her eyes, how dare he call him that affectionate nickname!
"He is my brother, I'm the one that called him Reggie first!" snarled Sirius. Hermione laughed a cruel, cold laugh.
"You haven't been his brother since he came here! I was with him all that summer before school started. We met before school! He came to see me every chance he could. He was my best friend for four years and then you! You had fun and rebelled and got to live this happy carefree life and guess what? Regulus, as the spare, could have us as his friends. But then you left, and he couldn't anymore. What you refused, he had to take!" Hermione yelled at him; she was so angry she didn't realize what she said until it was too late. She slapped her hand over her mouth and turned from the older boy in front of her. A darkness spread over Sirius' face at her words.
"He had to take what I refused?" he growled, "Are you telling me he is a Death Eater?"
"You left him! You left him all alone! Who would protect him?" cried Hermione, she was shaking at having admitted Regulus' secret to the worst possible person. With his friends right behind him, all looking shocked and disgusted.
"He could have said no! Just like me!" Sirius yelled back at her, turning from her and storming to the castle.
"You abandoned him the moment he was a Slytherin, Sirius," Hermione called after him.
-oOo-
Running back to the castle, Hermione searched for Barty. When she couldn't find him to admit what happened, she ran back to the tower and wrote a message to Reggie. She had to warn him that Sirius knew.
At dinner she found Barty in the Great Hall and told him everything that happened. He told her not to worry, Sirius would likely have come to that conclusion on his own anyways, especially with Reggie being in Slytherin. And it wasn't like she had confirmation that he had received it and taken part in anything bad, he had only told her he was getting it.
Hermione had a strange feeling about Barty's response and even noticed he was acting a little strange over dinner. He was quiet, not laughing as much, and seemed deep in thought. When she tried to ask him where he was that day, he skirted around the question and changed the subject. A bad feeling was growing in Hermione's stomach, and she wasn't sure why.
It was following dinner that the consequences to Hermione's big mouth came to be. Sirius marched into the Great Hall and straight up to his brother, drawing his fist back and punching him in the face before he could react. Slytherins jumped up and started going for Sirius, who was too busy beating his brother. The Marauders jumped in to protect Sirius and other Gryffindors ran over to help the four Gryffindors in the crowd of Slytherins.
Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Slughorn all ran forward, shooting sparks in the air trying to gain order and put a stop to the brawl. Dumbledore turned his wand on himself, using the Sonorous charm to blast his voice around the Hall.
"Enough! Mr. Black, Mr. Black, my office now!" he ordered the two boys in the middle, "As for the rest of you, go to your head of house for your punishment! Every single one of you!" Dumbledore moved his wand away from his throat and glided his way from the room, Sirius and Regulus Black trailing behind him. Sirius was limping, had a black eye, and his shirt was ripped, while Regulus had a blood, probably broken, nose, a split lip, and a black and blue face.
McGonagall and Slughorn directed every student that was involved to their respective offices. They weren't sure how to even proceed, if they took points from every student, neither house would have anything left. In the end, every student involved received detention for two months for participating in an outrageous behaviour that inflicted harm on multiple students, whether it was self defence or not.
Regulus and Sirius were led to Dumbledore's office where he listened to Sirius' reasoning for attacking his brother.
"He's a Death Eater! Couldn't wait to take that Mark after I was kicked out for saying no, could you?" Sirius sneered at Regulus, who refused to look up from his folded hands.
"That is a serious accusation, Mr. Black," Dumbledore spoke solemnly.
"Lift his sleeve and that will be all the proof you need. I know you went to that village Regulus; I know you had to take part in something!"
"I think that is enough Mr. Black. That will be one hundred points from Gryffindor and two month's detention for that display in the Great Hall. Now please return to your common room, Professor McGonagall will let you know what your detentions will involve," Dumbledore dismissed Sirius, ignoring Sirius' grumbling as he left, "As for you, Mr. Black. You did not retaliate in any way; may I ask why you did not defend yourself to such an attack?"
"No less than I deserve," muttered Regulus. Dumbledore looked down his half-moon spectacles at the young boy before him, he knew what he was going through. He wished he could protect the young members of the families on the wrong side, but he couldn't just take them away. They had to come to decisions on their own, ask for help, reach out for assistance.
"The world is not black and white, Regulus. We can make the right decisions for the wrong reasons, or we could make the wrong decision for the right reasons," Regulus glanced up at the headmaster, seeing his pointed stare, and looked back down at his hands, "We just have to ask ourselves, in the end can we live with the decisions we made?"
"If it protects what is important to you, then yes," Regulus looked the headmaster in the eyes as he said this. He felt a penetration in his mind, but quickly pushed the intruder out, "I will always protect that which is important to me. Are we done here headmaster?"
The perfect, pureblood heir Black was now standing in front of the headmaster, no longer the scared vulnerable boy that was beaten by his brother. Reluctantly, Dumbledore dismissed Regulus, sighing as he watched another student descend into darkness.
He had high hopes for Regulus Black when he saw him befriend the troubled Muggleborn. Even more delighted when Barty Crouch's son was also part of their group. He believed both would be a good influence on the Black scion, unfortunately that was not meant to be.
-oOo-
The weeks after the brawl, Hermione found herself on her own a lot. Barty was always off on his own, doing who knows what. She guessed it was a girl, he was getting a lot of female attention that he usually ignored when he was with her. Maybe that was why he wasn't with her, so he didn't have to ignore them?
She was walking towards the library, alone, again, when she heard laughing ahead. She continued her path to the library and unfortunately came across the cause of laughter.
There, were the four Marauders, pointing and laughing at a group of Slytherin's caught upside down with their underwear showing. In the group of Slytherin's was Regulus and Severus Snape.
"Let me down!" demanded Regulus, his face red from either embarrassment or the blood rushing to his face.
"Not until you admit that you're a mummy's boy, are you going to follow the incestuous Black tradition, Reggie?" mocked Sirius. Hermione saw red as the boys laughed at the cruel form of torture.
It seemed Hermione was not the only one angry with the Marauders, Lily Evans was descending on them as well.
"Let him go!" the redhead yelled at them.
"Awh, Lily-flower, we're just having some fun," laughed James Potter.
"She said, let them down!" Hermione stomped over to Lily's side, who looked surprised that Hermione was agreeing with her. Lily knew she had never been particularly kind to the girl considered the smartest Muggleborn in the school, a title she had wanted for herself. She was jealous of the girl, although she did notice the girl didn't have many friends, bar the two boys, one of which was not speaking to her and trapped with her best friend, Severus Snape.
"McCallister, why would you want to help him?" asked Sirius, twirling his wand in his fingers.
"What have they done to you?" she demanded, her hands on her hips, her hair sparking.
"More like they were existing," laughed James Potter.
"I will give you one more chance, Potter," warned Lily.
"Evans don't make me hex you," James replied, the smile slipping from his face. Remus and Peter were standing back, looking like they regretted the decision to engage the Slytherins.
"I'd like to see you try," Hermione growled, her wand holding steady in her hand as she pointed it at Sirius, while Lily pointed hers at James.
Letting out a dejected sigh James released the spell on the Slytherins, letting them fall to the ground.
"You're lucky McCallister and Evans are here," Sirius said to the boys on the floor, smirking as the stumbled over each other to stand up.
"We don't need help from filthy Mudbloods," spat Snape, his eyes widening when he realized what he had said. Lily Evans' eyes widened and began watering, tears flowing down her cheeks. Her eyes quickly hardened as she glared down at the boy that was supposed to be her best friend.
"How dare you call her that!" James Potter screamed at them; his wand pointed directly at Snape again. Hermione internally sighed, Gryffindors and their brashness.
"Don't you dare Potter, you're just as bad as he is!" Lily turned on her housemate, who sputtered in denial that he would ever call her such a word, "You may not call me that disgusting word, but you strut around here like you own the place! Pranking and hexing whoever you think is below you, embarrassing them, and laughing at them. Catching that stupid snitch and messing up your hair like you just got off your broomstick! You make me sick, Potter! Grow up and leave me alone! And you!" she turned to Snape, "Don't ever speak to me again!"
Lily Evans stormed off, leaving Hermione alone against the Marauders.
"Going to defend them now Princess?" sneered Sirius.
"Evans is right, grow up," Hermione shook her head and walked off, not even looking at the Slytherin's behind her. She felt Regulus' eyes on her, but she ignored it. He still hadn't reached out to her in the journal. Barty was distancing himself for whatever reason. She was growing up and away from her friends, and it made her sick with jealousy seeing the Marauders still bonded so tightly and acting like carefree teenagers.
How could Sirius not realize the troubles others could have? He had literally lost his family and been abused by them, yet here he was acting like a child. There was a war outside, they were almost legal adults in the wizarding world, expected to take part in the wizarding society, and they were playing pranks on potential Death Eaters?
What would that accomplish?
It would embarrass them, cause them to hate the Marauders and Gryffindors more, push them further into the dark, further into the arms of the enemies. It would make potential Death Eaters hate them and in the real world that hate could be lethal.
Hermione missed the days she laughed in Diagon Alley with her two best friends, now she was sitting alone in the library again. She couldn't help but argue with the Marauders, she had promised Reggie she would keep her head down when it came to magic. She told him she understood his place in this war and how they had to pretend not to be friends. She knew he was deliberately ignoring her messages for some reason, likely for distance, or her protection as he explained to her.
However, she could not stand by and watch the Marauders, especially Sirius Black, torturing Regulus Black for being forced to take the responsibility Sirius placed on his shoulders. It may bring attention to herself, as the Marauders always had everyone watching them, but if Sirius Black went after Regulus, she would be there to stand toe-to-toe with him.
A/N: One of my shorter chapters. I think the next chapter will be where things get truly rolling into this story! I'm so excited for you to read it!