A.N. Not much happens in this chapter, but it does some more of the Black Family history, stuff I made up for the story, there is a reason I did this, and it will connect to something. I hope you enjoy
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry or Marvel
Chapter 60: Secrets Among Family Members
"I'm never going to learn this," Harry groaned, as he closed the book Regulus had lent him; he scowled at the gold letters of the title spelling out: The Art Of Occlumancy.
"Nonsense," Regulus said, "If you can clear your head to meditate, you can clear it to block out intruders."
A few days ago, Regulus had dragged Harry into his bedroom and with Harry's reluctantly permission used something called Legilimency while staring into Harry's scar; then concluded that Harry was a Horcrux, and made him follow Regulus to the Black family library, where they spent the rest of the day looking for a way to remove a soul piece from a Hocrux, unfortunately, they were unable to find any books on Hocruxes until Harry remembered the one Loki loaned the Avengers, but Bruce Banner had taken it to New York with him, fortunately for them, Kreacher was willing to follow Regulus' orders even though he doesn't have a bond with him anymore, and went to New York and stole the book from Banner, but of course that would be the end of their luck, because the book had nothing in it about removing a soul piece from a Horcrux the following day Regulus came into Harry's room with the Occlumancy book saying it would be a good idea if Harry were to learn it, so if Voldemort had discovered the link between the two, he might break through Loki's block and spy on them through Harry.
"If you're so worried about Voldemort reading my mind and discovering I'm a Horcrux, why did you tell me?" Harry demanded.
Regulus sighed and ran his hand through his short hair. Harry hadn't spent a lot of time with his uncle or even paid that much attention to him until now, and as they both sat in the middle of the library floor across from each other, Harry just realized how much Regulus did look like Sirius, and was also able to see there were a lot of differences between the two also, Regulus' hair wasn't as wavy. His eyes were a darker grey, nearly black, though he did have Sirius' upturned nose; his eyes were a little more round than his brother's, and now that Regulus had gained more weight and no longer resembled a skeleton, his face had filled out, and Regulus had more of a baby face, while Sirius had more of a rugged look, it's weird how they could have so many differences, but yet still look so much alike.
"You have a right to know," Regulus said, "And it wasn't until that night I remembered Voldemort can do Legilimency; we don't know how this link works or what he can do with it if Voldemort was to discover It, he might be able to use Legilimency from afar, and discover things we don't want him to know."
Regulus pulled the Occlumancy book towards him and opened it and started tapping his leg with his wand, a member of St. Mungo's cleaning staff found his wand under a cabinet and had given it to the nurse's station who had given it to Ted to return to Regulus, the hospital wanted Regulus to come in for bi-weekly visits to keep an eye on his healing progress, but Ted told them, he'd give Regulus his checkups at home, Sirius didn't want Regulus anywhere near St. Mungo's while Voldemort had a spy placed there.
"Bullshit." Harry spat. "I doubt you give a damn about rather or not I have a right to know; you have some other reason. What is it?"
Harry's outburst surprised Regulus a little, and he stopped tapping his leg with his wand and gave Harry a startled look that quickly melted into annoyance.
"Why don't you tell me?" Regulus said, "Since your fifteen-year-old brain knows all the answers." Harry narrowed his eyes at Regulus, and for a moment, Regulus almost saw his teenage self sitting across from him.
"I don't know, but you don't care about me, so why would you care if I have a right to know certain information when others don't?" Harry replied.
"I don't know you enough to know if I like you or not, Harry," Regulus said, "you won't have anything to do with me, and you're the one who doesn't like me."
"Bullshit," Harry said again, and Regulus had a sudden urge to go lecture Sirius on the language he allows Harry to use; the kid needed to learn some manners.
"You shouldn't use language like that, kid," Regulus replied.
"I'm not a kid."
Regulus tilted his head and looked Harry's face over. He realized Harry's mistrust in his reasoning wasn't only because of his dislike of Regulus; it was because he mistrusted most adults. Regulus couldn't blame the kid; Sirius had suffered from the same thing when they were younger, for the same reason Harry had. He had been neglected and mistreated by the adults who were supposed to love and protect him, but with Harry, you have to add how the adults who acted as if they cared for him, such as Molly Weasley, treated him like a toddler and wanted to keep important information from him, the poor kid didn't know who was telling the truth or who was hiding secrets. Regulus decided he wouldn't stay on the list of adults Harry didn't trust. Loki and Sirius gained Harry's trust, and Regulus was determined to do the same.
"You do have a right to know, Harry, that is true," Regulus said, "but it is also true that is not the reason I told you my suspicions. The truth, I do not know; I was angry at Sirius for snapping at me, ran out of the kitchen, and headed up to my old room because I had temporarily forgotten it wasn't mine anymore. I saw you coming out of the parlor and decided at that moment to tell you."
"So you did it out of spite To my dad?" Harry demanded. "I should have figured you didn't care about me; you are a Death Eater. Why would you?"
Regulus flinched as if Harry had hit him and tightened his hold on his wand as if he was itching to curse Harry, but instead, he rubbed his left forearm as if the mere mention of him being a Death Eater had caused the mark forever branded on his skin to burn.
"Alright, I believe I know why this isn't working," Regulus said. "You can't clear your mind and emotions because you have resentment and anger towards me. You have to let it go, or you will never be able to close off your mind and learn Occlumancy, so go ahead, let it out; let me have it."
"What?"
"For you to let go of your resentment towards me, you have to let out that anger," Regulus explained, "So, go ahead, yell at me, shout, whatever you have to do, let me know why you hate me so much when I have done nothing to you."
"Done nothing to me?" Harry demanded. "You took my dad from me."
"I did what?" Regulus asked; out of everything, he thought Harry's reasons for hating him were Regulus hadn't expected that.
"You took my dad," Harry repeated, "I spent thirteen years living with the Dursleys, hoping I had some long-lost relative who would take me away from there. I finally got my wish, then in a few short years, you turn up alive, and now all Sirius cares for is you; he's even had a big fight with Loki."
Regulus stared at Harry unbelievably; it was true; after waking from the magic sleep Loki had put him in, and after Regulus gave Sirius a potion for the massive hanger he had when the potion worked, and Sirius' head cleared, he realized Loki used magic to put him to sleep, and they had a massive fight, Sirius yelled so loud you could hear him in the basement kitchen, which caused Loki to yell back just as loud. After ten minutes of shouting, everything went quiet, and the two spent the rest of the day in their room. When Sirius finally emerged hours later, he was cheerful, had showered, shaved, changed his clothes, and looked much better. He also apologized to everyone for how he had acted and cooked dinner, but occasionally, Sirius' eyes would glance at the cabinet with the bottle of Fire Whiskey in it.
"You can't blame me for Loki and Siri's fight," Regulus said, "That was Loki's fault; he should have never used magic on Siri."
"You still took him." Harry accused, and at that moment, something dawned on Regulus.
"You're jealous," Regulus said, "You think I barged into your life and stole all Siri's attention from you, and that has made you jealous of me? Merlin, you're an idiot."
"Hey"
"My brother was there for me because I was in the hospital, I was in bad condition, I could have died, I needed someone, and Siri was there for me because I had no one else-"
"That's not true, " Harry argued. "You had Andromeda and Tonks."
"Annie and Dora are great, but they didn't understand what I had been through; Siri had a similar experience; he could relate-"
"Sirius has never been trapped in a cave." Harry interrupted; Regulus rolled his eyes and sighed.
"I'm talking about Azkaban, idiot," Regulus said.
"Stop-"
"Harry, I'm better now," Regulus interrupted, "yes, I still have to take the potions a couple of times a day, and Ted thinks I can afford to gain a few more pounds, and bright lights bother my eyes still, but most of my strength has returned, and my magic has gotten stronger, I can do things without getting tired and out of breath now."
"You don't even remember your age half the time," Harry bloated out, then had the good sense to look ashamed. "I shouldn't have said-"
"No, you're right," Regulus said, "My mind still has trouble comprehending time, and sometimes, I forget my age, but physically I am fine. Siri doesn't need to give me so much attention anymore. I'm out of the hospital, home, and doing a lot better; in less than a week, Siri will be going back to Hogwarts with you, I will be staying behind, and you'll get your dad back to yourself."
"But-"
"Harry," Regulus said. "Siri did not stop caring for you just because his little brother came back from the dead; your father still loves you very much-"
"But-"
"Harry, if Voldemort were to capture us both and give Siri the choice of who lived and who died, who do you think Siri would choose?" Regulus asked. Harry gave Regulus a surprised look.
"My dad wouldn't let Voldemort kill you," Harry said, trying to defend Sirius.
"Of course, he wouldn't, but a parent is supposed to love their child above all others, something your grandparents never understood, but Siri does, I'm glad, and I am not mad at the fact if it came down to it, Siri would save your life over mine," Regulus said. "Harry, just because a parent might spend time caring for another family member does not mean they suddenly don't love their child anymore."
Harry looked at the floor for a long moment; his expression made it clear he was having a private battle with himself, but then he looked at Regulus and smiled slightly.
"I think Dad would figure out a way to save us both," Harry said, and Regulus grinned.
"For my shake, I hope so," Regulus replied, and Harry laughed at that; then his laughter died down, and he looked thoughtfully at his uncle.
"That's why you want to get the Horcrux out of me to destroy it." Harry realized, "It's not that you care if I live; you just don't want my dad to lose me."
"I care if you live, but yes, I don't want Siri to lose his son. I see how much he cares for you, and I've seen how Sirius handled almost losing Loki; I don't want to witness how far he will fall if something happens to you. I don't think he's gotten over Potter's death; that's why he's never asked if you want to change your last name; he thinks it would be dishonoring his fallen friend," Regulus explained.
"Did you…no..never mind, that's personal," Harry said, then started chewing on his bottom lip and Regulus knew what he was about to ask.
"The answer to the question you are forcing yourself not to voice is yes," Regulus said, "I did find myself jealous of Potter whenever I saw them together at Hogwarts, and even more so when Siri went to live with him and ignored his family, but Siri cutting me off was partly my fault."
"How?"
"Because I let my anger at him for leaving stop me from even trying to stay in my brother's life, that and the fact I stood by and didn't do anything or even say anything when my Mother cursed him or when father belittled him, I was too afraid to stand up to our parents for Siri, I don't blame him for cutting me off too when he ran away," Regulus said.
"I don't think Sirius blames you for that," Harry said. "When we found that box of yours, the one that had the locket hidden in it, Sirius saw the picture you got from his graduation; knowing you were there, it broke him that he never tried to fix your relationship. Sirius stayed depressed for a week, then went out and had the constellation with your star added to the tattoo on his back; he said the tattoo was to honor his two brothers he couldn't save, then sat down and cried for a good hour."
"Two brothers?" Regulus asked, "You mean Potter?"
"The stag represents him." Harry explained, "James was an animagus and could turn into-"
"A stag," Regulus said.
"My dad felt bad for not reaching out to you after running away; he blamed himself for your death," Harry explained.
"Damn, I never knew it would affect him that bad," Regulus said; no wonder Sirius was so protective of him now; maybe he should apologize to Sirius for faking his death.
"You're right; Dad can't handle losing people he cares about," Harry replied. "I think it's because he cares about so few, and we are the only ones to ever care about him."
"We will get that Hocrux out of you; you are not dying, so Voldemort can be killed." Regulus said, "And not only for Sirius, you are a family of which I have very little and want to keep the ones I have."
"I think we have enough," Harry said, "We don't need a lot of people to feel loved; a small family is better than nothing."
"True." Regulus agreed, "Now that we have cleared the air and got all our feelings out in the open, do you want to try Occlumancy again?"
Harry signed and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't think I can do it."
"You can; you just have to shut down your emotions," Regulus said. "You already know how to clear your mind of thought; you should be able to clear your emotions. Try it now, clear all thoughts and emotions, and look me in the eyes."
Harry took a few deep breaths, then stared into Regulus' eyes. Regulus pointed his wand at Harry and whispered Legilimency; at first, Regulus saw nothing, but as he dug deeper, Harry's most recent memories started to surface, but then Regulus was quickly thrown out of Harry's mind.
"Excellent, Harry." Regulus praised, "You got me out before I saw anything too private, but you still have to stop me from getting in."
"How?"
"You are close to doing it; your mind is clear when I enter, but you have no block between your thoughts and my intrusion so I can bring forth your memories; you need to block me from getting into your mind."
"But how?"
"Instead of thinking of nothing, think of a wall or door, something that can stand between me and your mind; picture it, and concentrate on only it," Regulus said. "Picturing it? Good, now look me in the eyes again."
Regulus raised his wand and pointed it at Harry. Regulus saw Harry's memories stir, but then a giant wall of blue ice appeared and blocked Regulus' path; he pulled out of Harry's mind, laughing a little.
"Well done, kid; almost felt cold there for a moment; that was a pretty realistic wall of ice," Regulus said, "You're starting to get the gasps of Occlumency, but you still have a way to go if you want to keep Voldemort out of your head."
Harry was doing pretty good for someone who just started learning a few days ago when they first started. Harry couldn't keep Regulus out of his mind at all. Regulus, unfortunately, saw just about every memory Harry had and was a bit surprised and angry at how Harry's former family had treated him.
"Regulus," Harry said, "I have less than a week before I return to Hogwarts. I don't think I'll learn it before then."
"That is why you are taking the book to Hogwarts with you and practicing on your own; I'll come up during Hogsmeade weekends and see how far you've gotten, and then we'll continue the lessons over the summer."
"But I'm already going to be busy with schoolwork, studying for my OWLs and Quidditch; I'm not going to have time for that," Harry complained.
"Make time," Regulus replied, "Now, clear your mind and emotions-"
"We've been at this all day," Harry said, "Can't we stop for the day?"
"It hasn't been all day, it's only been." Regulus checked his watch. "Oh, we have been doing this for a while; alright, we'll stop for now." He began to tap his leg with his wand again.
"You were in Slytherin, right?" Harry asked. Regulus nodded, "Were you and Snape friends?"
"No," Regulus answered. "Siri and Snape have hated each other since their first year, and Siri had a habit of bullying Snape, and being his brother made Snape dislike me as well; the moment I stepped foot into Slytherin, he was hostile and rude to me, but since we were in different years, and did not share classes he was easy to avoid."
"Sounds like Snape," Harry scowled. "Always takes out on innocent people what others did to him. Dudley Dursley and his friends bullied me; I never took it out on anyone else."
"People handle certain situations differently," Regulus replied.
"Can I ask your opinion on something?" Harry asked. "I wouldn't ask you, but-"
"You have no one else to ask because it's about the Horcrux?" Regulus said. Regulus and Harry had decided not to tell Sirius or Loki about Harry being a Horcrux until they removed Voldemort's soul piece from Harry and destroyed it.
"Kind of, I have a girlfriend-"
"Cho, yes, Siri has mentioned her," Regulus replied.
"Should I break up with her?" Harry asked. Regulus raised his eyebrows, "Because of the Horcrux, if we don't get it out of me, then I'm going to have to die; it's not fair to Cho, to hurt her like that."
"Do you wish to end things with her?" Regulus asked.
"No,"
"Then don't," Regulus said, "If she truly cares for you, it's not going to matter if you are together; your death will hurt her the same. Besides, it'll be useless because I will find a way to transfer that thing in you into something else, then destroy it."
"What if there isn't a way to get Voldemort's soul out of me?" Harry asked. "I don't know if I'll be able to let Voldemort kill me."
"Then don't," Regulus said, "Harry, it is your life Voldemort will be taken; only you have a right to decide whether you are willing to die. No one has a right to expect you to willingly walk to your death, especially since most of the wizarding world would be unwilling to do the same."
"But, if the Horcrux isn't destroyed -"
"Voldemort can't fully die," Regulus said, "So, what? Though it's preferable, we don't need to kill him to beat him; we can destroy all his other Horcruxes, then kill his body, and trap whatever the hell it is Voldemort turns into when he has no body, and lock it up in, I don't know a safe or something, cast all kinds of enchantments around it, so he can't get out and have Thor drop it in the middle of space where it can float around for all eternity ."
"But…if Voldemort doesn't die, Schmidt can't ." Harry pointed out.
"Then we'll do the same to her," Regulus replied. "The point is, only you can decide, but if I have my say, you won't have to."
"And if we can get the soul piece out of me, how and where will we do it?" Harry asked, "It has to be dangerous. What if it tries to latch onto someone else?"
"Yes, it will be dangerous." Regulus frowned, "You and I can be the only ones in the room; it's probably best to transfer it to another living creature. I'll have to find some protection wards I can put around myself. It'll likely be painful. I'll have to research a lot over the next few months, and hopefully, I can remove it this summer."
"This summer?" Harry asked.
"Hopefully, yes," Regulus replied.
"Where at, in here?" Harry asked. Regulus shook his head.
"No, the safest place to remove the soul piece will be the ritual room," Regulus said, "Where no one can walk in on us while I'm removing it."
"The what room?" Harry asked.
"The ritual room, that room in the back of the library," Regulus replied, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. Harry wondered if Regulus was having a go on him because there was no room at the back of the library; it was nothing but a long bookcase full of books lining the back wall.
"There is no other room in this library," Harry said, and Regulus grinned, amused by Harry's confusion, and tapped his foot before standing.
"Follow me, kid; I'm going to show you something Siri has never discovered," Regulus reached down to help Harry stand. Harry grabbed ahold of Regulus' hand and allowed his uncle to pull him to his feet. Regulus turned toward the back of the room to the long bookcase and stood in front of a small bronze statue that sat on the middle shelf, eye level with Regulus; it was a little over twelve inches tall and was of a female warrior holding an apple in her hand, the statue looked old and out of place being the only thing on the whole bookcase that wasn't a book.
"It's a bookcase," Harry said.
"Correction, it is two bookcases," Regulus replied, "Well, at least sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Harry said, looking at Regulus as if he were crazy; his uncle just grinned at him, stepped forward, grabbed hold of the top of the statue, pulled it toward him, and then let go of it. Harry heard a click, and the bookcase shook as it broke in two, then slid down the wall in the opposite direction, revealing behind it a door with the Black family crest engraved in the middle, with two crossed swords behind the crest.
"May I see your dagger?" Regulus asked.
Harry bent down and pulled his dagger out of the holder strapped to his leg, flipped it, then held it out to Regulus, who took it, pressed the tip of the blade to his finger until it began to bleed, then handed the dagger back to Harry, and held his finger over the family crest, dripping two drops of blood in it, the crest glowed, and the door shook a second, then stopped. Harry heard a click, and then the door slid into the wall, revealing an old, dusty, dark room.
"Only a Black family member can open the door. That's why you have to give it blood, so it can test it and make sure you are a true Black," Regulus explained as he stepped into the room.
Harry entered the room and looked around, but it was too dark to see correctly, so Regulus tapped a torch hanging on the wall with his wand. It lit up, and then all along the room, more torches did the same, giving enough light so that Harry could see. It was a decent size circular room with shelves that lined the walls, full of various items: ancient-looking books, scrolls, candles of different colors and all shapes and sizes, old potions bottles, weird knick-knacks, cloth dolls, candle holders, what looked like jars of herbs, and vials of what looked like blood; some even had labels that had names written on them. A large cauldron sat in the corner, and the floor was covered in candle wax and what looked suspiciously like blood stains.
"As a child, I would hide in the library trying to escape our family fights, arguments between either Sirius and one of my parents, or fights between my mother and father, as either argument would usually turn violent, at least from my Mother's end; one day during a nasty fight between her and my father, I was hiding in here crying, covering my ears trying to block it out, when Kreacher showed me this room, and it became my little escape and I would hide in here away from everyone."
"My dad doesn't know about this room?" Harry asked.
"Nope," Regulus replied, "Neither did my parents, maybe not even my grandparents."
"You called this a ritual room?" Harry asked, glancing at an old faded tapestry that hung on the wall; at the top was the Black family crest, with the two swords crossed behind it, and underneath was a bunch of names, along with birth and death dates. It looked like a family tree, but no names were recognizable, and the last date of death at the bottom was in the 1700s.
"Yeah, generations back, our family used to use this room to do rituals and curse their enemies," Regulus answered, "You think the family library has some dark books? You should look at the ones here; some make the books in the library look like children's stories."
"Damn," Harry said, pulling a book off the shelve and flipping through it, it was one of the very few written in English, and after reading about some of the curses in it, Harry understood what Regulus meant; this book had everything from bonding someone's soul to yours to force them into marriage to cursing someone to become infertile, and much worse. Harry closed the book and returned it to the shelf; he felt sick just reading it.
"Come over here a moment," Regulus said. Harry stepped over to the tapestry where Regulus was standing. "Hiding in this room as a kid, I learned more about our family history than I ever did from my parents or grandparents. The family tree hanging in the drawing room was a copy of the original created by Cygnus Black, not Annie's father, but the first Cygnus Black; he would be your great-great-grandfather, I believe. The tapestry doesn't show passed Cygnus' grandparents, but our ancestry can be traced back further than that. This tapestry has everyone who was left off of the official family tree. Our line Starts here."
Regulus pointed at the name Sigird, who had a question mark for a birth year; her death year was 1525, and there was a line from her that led to the name Canis Blackheart; his birth and death read 1470-1560; from there a line led to three names Gemini 1507-1532, Covris 1510-1545, and Leo 1514-1520. Gemini had a line leading from his name to Isabella, from there led to the name Libra, who had been born in 1530 and died in 1567.
"From what Kreacher told me, Sigrid was from Norway, Canis was from England, but when they married, they settled down in France, where they had three sons, Gemini, Covris, and Leo; Gemini only had one daughter, who never married or had any children, Leo the youngest died when he was still a small child, and Covris had one son Aquarius, who married and had one son, Rigel, and you can trace our line from him," Regulus explained.
"Why is there no date of birth for Sigrid?" Harry asked.
"I'm guessing she never volunteered that information, and no one ever asked," Regulus said.
"Why?"
Regulus chuckled, "A gentleman never asks a lady her age; remember that, Harry."
"Okay," Harry rolled his eyes. "Why would this be hidden in here and not added as a part of the family tree?"
"Because of the curse," Regulus said, and Harry frowned.
"What curse?" Harry demanded.
"According to Kreacher, some former disgruntled lover of Sigrid had placed a curse on Canis and his decedents when Sigrid chose to marry Canis and not him; several generations later, Phineas Blackheart, desperate to escape the curse after his first son had died an infant, brought his family to England, changed his last name to Black, built this house, and had a few more children and our family has lived here ever since," Regulus explained.
"How would Kreacher know this?" Harry asked.
"I don't know; he likely heard it from older family elves before they all got their heads hung on the wall." Regulus guessed. "Kreacher is pretty old himself. If Mother were still around, she likely would have had his head on the wall by now."
"That's horrible," Harry said.
"Mother was a horrible person," Regulus replied. "Do you notice something about the people on this tree?"
"Most of them died young." Harry guessed he looked at Canis' name again and frowned; the poor guy outlived his wife, children, grandchildren, and even some of his great-grandchildren.
"That and most had only one kid or no kids," Regulus said, "Until Phineas changed his last name, and it seems as if it worked to end the family curse since many more people have been added to our family tree."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Harry said,
"What do you mean?" Regulus asked.
"Look at our family members now," Harry said, "There are only eight of us alive; one half hates the other, one is beyond crazy, which seems to run in the family, and then there is you, me, and Dad, I have an evil psycho that's been trying to kill me since I was born. Dad spent twelve years In Azkaban for something he didn't do, and you spent nearly two decades trapped in a cave."
"Damn," Regulus replied, "I really hope you are wrong, and we just have terrible luck."
Harry snorted as he turned from the tapestry and looked around the room, "Yeah, well, we'll find out if it's bad luck or a curse if we can successfully remove the piece of Voldemort's soul from my forehead."
Harry stepped over to a shelf and looked at its various items when he saw an old book written in a language he didn't recognize. Harry picked it up and started looking through it; he stopped at a picture of a beautiful blonde-haired woman dressed in battle armor, holding a sword in one hand and a shield In the other. Harry turned the page to see the same woman on horseback, in battle against what looked like the Dokkalfar Loki once taught about in History of Magic class.
"There is a chance it was just one of Kreacher's tall tales," Regulus said, "or the curse died out; one couldn't last for centuries; no wizard or witch is that powerful."
"Probably just a family myth." Harry agreed, and turned the page to see a picture of a man resembling Regulus. "The bloke in this book looks like you,"
"I haven't looked at that book since I was twelve," Regulus said, looking at it over Harry's shoulder. "He does look a bit like me, likely an ancestor; the book is written in Norwegian, so I've never been able to read it; it's probably full of made-up tales."
"Why are you showing me this room? What's the point?" Harry asked, closing the book and turning to Regulus, who shrugged.
"We have to use this room to remove the part of Voldemort's soul that resides in you," Regulus said.
"Is that the real reason?" Harry asked, lying the book on the shelf.
"No," Regulus admitted. "I want to like you, Harry, and I want you to like me. I showed you this room because you can't learn Occlumancy until you let go of your resentment of me, and what better way to achieve that than for us to bond over something? So, I am sharing with you a piece of my childhood because I witnessed some of yours."
"And the family history lesson?" Harry asked.
"I thought you'd like to learn a part of your heritage that isn't full of dark wizards, even if it is a bit depressing," Regulus said.
"So, the Black family wasn't always dark wizards?" Harry asked.
"Well, that depends on what you defined as dark," Regulus replied, "Our family has always been into the dark arts, but back in the day, it wasn't as frowned upon as it is now or even considered dark."
"It wasn't?" Harry asked.
"No," Regulus replied, "Not until after the Statue of Secrecy was in place, after that, the Ministry started dimming certain things too dark to be legal, and the term the dark arts was coined, though a lot of spells and rituals should be considered Dark, there are some that are, that isn't that bad."
"So our family wasn't always evil gits?" Harry said, looking around again; he picked up a book of ancient runes and started looking through it.
"Those are Nordic runes," Regulus said, "A bit different from what Hogwarts teaches, also different from what our parents taught Siri and me. I have Kreacher searching for a translation book; it's not likely, but I'm hoping I find something about removing souls from Horcruxes in here."
"Loki might be able to read the runes," Harry said, "He can speak and read every language because of the Allspeak."
"I'd rather keep this room a secret between you and me, at least until we have gotten rid of that." Regulus pointed at Harry's scar. "In the meantime, you can ask Loki if he has a book on translating Nordic runes; just don't tell him why you need it. Kreacher hasn't been successful in finding one and I can't sneak out of the house and look for one until Siri returns to Hogwarts."
Harry frowned at Regulus a moment, at first not liking keeping a secret from his parents, then he thought about how they kept a huge secret from him for a whole school year, and not showing Loki and Sirius the hidden ritual room wasn't as big as a secret as not telling Harry they were his parents, he didn't see any harm of not telling them right away, and he was already not telling them about him being a Horcrux, what was one more secret?
AN: I thought I'd have a Harry and Regulus moment and the family History in this chapter will come up again, I've kind of made a history repeating itself sort of situation, for what will happen in a few chapters, I hope it all makes sense, I thought with the way the Black family is, even in canon, how they hate each other, are crazy or died young, and seem to have a lot of bad luck, especially in my fanfic, a curse on the family would explain that.
I know Regulus can't use Legilimency to read Voldenort's mind through Harry's scar, but i figured he might be able to sense something alive in it using it, hope that make sense.
The next chapter Will either have a time jump or be the Avengers finding the cup Horcrux, depending on which I can write with out getting stuck with it. I'm already stuck on where the cup should be, i don't want to put it in Bellatrix's bank vault, but i might end up having to do that.
Thanks to anyone still reading my fic, I appreciate you sticking around for this long.