Do Not Go Gentle
If Regulus had seemed flustered after her attack it was nothing to how he was when she next saw him two days later. He paced her room for several minutes while she sat at her desk quietly waiting for him to calm down enough to talk. Finally he settled down on her bed and looked at her grimly.
"My parents want me to give you up," he finally said. "They said dating a halfblood girl of no known family is unacceptable."
Hermione raised her eyebrows at that. "Is this a breakup, Regulus?"
"No!" he quickly told her. "I wouldn't…I can't do that. My parents are angry, but they have given me time."
"That is an improvement on Sirius," Hermione replied. "Why so generous of them?"
"Sirius forced my mother's hand by running away," Regulus told her. "After years of ill behavior he stormed off one day to Potter's house. What were my parents to do but disown him when he clearly did not wish to be considered a part of the family?"
"And you do?" Hermione asked him.
"They are my parents," Regulus told her. "My father's health is not great and too much stress will surely only hurt him more. He was grieved over Sirius's desertion; I can tell you that." He pondered for a moment before talking again. "At the moment they are choosing to view my interest in you as a momentary diversion that cannot last."
"Has not Bellatrix spoken with them about me? She said she would."
"She did not say much," he told her. "She cannot, all things considered, tell them much about our plans." He hesitated, and Hermione seized a chance at the opening.
"Your cousin meant to take you to get marked over Easter break, didn't she?"
Regulus hesitated a moment too long. "She is busy now. Her marriage to Lestrange is a few weeks from now. It should have been earlier, but they broke it off twice due to the family fighting."
Somehow Hermione could see the temperamental Bellatrix as having a great deal of trouble keeping relationships. "What kind of man is this Lestrange?"
"Rodolphus? Oh, he is a first rate idiot. He worships the ground she walks on, though his family does not care for her. They have done their best to throw other pureblood women more malleable at him but he only has eyes for her. It will be a match at long last. I think he'd die for her, and she wouldn't notice.
"Sounds charming," Hermione replied dryly. She did not remember the male Lestranges from the ministry battle, though she knew they had both been there.
"Don't worry about them," he told her. "They don't matter here."
In spite of this the subject of Bellatrix was still on her mind a few days later as she entered the Leaky Cauldron for dinner. She spotted Regulus sitting at a table towards the back with an older gentlemen.
"Regulus," she looked at him in some surprise. "What…"
"Rose," he said, getting to his feet. "This is my uncle Alphard.
Alphard had gotten to his feet as well. He was a tall, thin man, bald except for a small amount of greying dark hair at the back and sides of his head. He wore green robes and black boots with silver buckles. He leaned in and shook her hand enthusiastically.
"I am delighted to meet you," he said cheerfully. "A pleasure to know that young Regulus has got himself a very pretty young girlfriend…now don't blush Regulus, just because I approve of your fine taste." He sat down with a large smile on his face. "I have been looking forward to meeting you and am grateful for the chance, as I was just telling my nephew. It is good for you to see that not all of the family is filled with stiff shirts, as the muggle saying goes."
"It is good to meet you sir," Hermione replied. "I have heard a little of you from your nephew. I had the pleasure of meeting your niece."
"So I have heard. I just got to meet her lovely daughter for the first time the other day," he shook his head. "She is a straightlaced girl but she turned out all right. Got herself a capital fellow, should have seen them earlier but with one thing and another." He took a generous helping of his wine before continuing. "Glad to have it done before this heart of mine finally gives out."
Regulus frowned. "If you would only take better care of yourself and cut out certain vices…" his grey eyes landed on the goblet as he spoke.
Alphard laughed heartily. "If anyone is going to go out from excessive drinking it'll be Cygnus. Never seen such a fellow for putting it away. His health is not doing so good either but when I offered him to come with me to meet his granddaughter, he refused. Stubborn man, said that Andromeda was dead to him and if I associated with blood traitors I'd be too."
"My mother has burned your name," Regulus began but his uncle cut him off.
"Yes…yes I know. She told me she was going to do it. Don't know why Walburga needs to make a big to do every time she disowns yet another family member. She probably will announce it in the Daily Prophet when it's your turn."
Regulus nearly choked on his drink. "My turn," he managed. Hermione gave him a light thump on the back.
"Oh yes," Alphard said knowingly. "My dear sister may not speak to me but Cygnus still does at times and I have heard all about your goings on." He offered Hermione another kindly smile. "Not that I blame you, mind."
"If the family wants to disown everyone they can then no one would be left to carry on the next generation?" Regulus said hotly.
"Why you can still carry it on," Alphard told him simply. "My boy, you don't need your mother's permission to do that. Has no one ever told you that your life is your very own to live?"
Hermione doubted very much if Regulus was ever told this. His life had been a sheltered one, cossetted and told about his importance as a wealthy pureblood and what was expected of him as he grew up. Never had he been given an original thought beyond those prejudices he had been raised with from the cradle.
"Of course I know that," he said with a slight air of his usual haughtiness. "There will be no one to inherit the family houses, the wealth, everything that has been passed down. First Andromeda, then Sirius and now…well now everything is going so fast and the whole family is at odds…" he trailed off a little awkwardly.
Alphard laughed. "The family at odds? But that's a regular occasion. When are they not at odds with each other and the world? Regulus, I mean to give you some advice, let them be at odds and focus on what makes you happy. Take it from an old man, who has few days left to enjoy and has spent his youth towing a line he doesn't see anymore."
"I don't intend to let anyone tell me what to do," Regulus answered.
Alphard grinned as the food arrived. "Excellent. That's the right attitude to have." He began to eat his dinner, his countenance all radiance.
Hermione observed him carefully as she ate. He was a jolly man, if a trifle odd and he had learned perhaps too late in life the value of honest living. She hoped that in spite of his blunt nature some of what he had said would be hitting its mark with Regulus. It had been one thing for him to give up friends and stand up to his older cousin but his parents were another matter entirely.
"I plan to see Andromeda again soon," Alphard said. "I think you should both come with me. We can get Sirius too." At Regulus's tensing at the mention of his brother, Alphard shook his head: "Now whatever is going on between you two needs to stop. You are brothers and a war is on, best if you make it up before long." He frowned then. "If I could only get Cygnus to agree before it is too late, Andromeda had always been his favorite…"
"You know that won't happen," Regulus told him.
"At any rate I am going to get all of you kids together, I could have you all at my place. I know I can't cook but that doesn't matter. It'll be splendid. What do you say, my dear?" he asked Hermione. "You seem like a girl of good sense."
"I will gladly come," she told him which earned her another smile.
"It'll never work," Regulus told him.
"No, well to be honest, I had thought you were on death eater road just a few years ago," Alphard stated bluntly. "And now look at you."
'Yes,' Hermione thought. 'Look at him now.'
Another Order meeting was soon held, and Hermione found herself sitting next to Alice Longbottom. She quite liked the woman, who was kind and went out of her way to make others feel at ease. Hermione hoped that she would have the ability to change things enough so that Alice and her husband would have a better fate. It haunted her knowing that so many of the Order members had few years left ahead of them of life and health.
"What we need is the name of all the people he has planted in the Ministry if we are to have even the slightest chance against him," Moody said. "It seems like every department has got someone in it working for him or passing information to those who are working for him.
"Gibbon has kept quiet under questioning," Frank Longbottom said. "Crouch had an unforgivable administered, but he was still will be given tomorrow."
"They should have used that first but Crouch is adamant to prove that he can fight fire with fire and be just as ruthless as his foe," Sirius said.
"On the other hand, we know of one new supporter," Marlene spoke up. "Rabastan Lestrange has recruited Evan Rosier. If he is one, then Barty Crouch Jr cannot be far behind."
Hermione felt an odd sensation in her chest. Rosier could not have been older than seventeen. To get marked in such a way when not even done with school was a dreadful path she couldn't contemplate without sadness, even if she disliked the person as much as she did Rosier.
"There are a lot of new death eaters fresh out of school these days." Alice looked sad when she said this. "An awful path but little we can do about it all with so little to go on."
It was true that they had little to go on. The number of death eaters was still growing, and they could hardly keep up. What's more, Hermione did not even know if Pettigrew had already joined. He could already be passing information on the meetings being held.
It was the Prewetts who invited the others out for drinks afterwards. Hermione found herself sitting next to Fabian as he showed her pictures of his nephews. The pictures included two very small red-haired babies she knew to be Fred and George. She smiled as she stared at the pictures in turn. Fred and George in the flesh had visited with her only a few weeks ago and had changed for the second time her future and the past. Hermione wondered if she would ever see them again and if so under what terms.
"My sister just had these pictures done," Fabian told her. "Can you believe they are planning more children; she wants to have a daughter."
Hermione thought of fiery, sporty Ginny Weasley and smiled. "I hope she has one before long," she said.
"The ones she has got are already a handful," Fabian said as he accepted his drink. "Five kids and the twins from what I'm told barely sleep. Already full of life and not six months old. I look forward to seeing what they turn out like." He said before taking a sip of his beer.
Hermione felt her stomach clench as she thought of the early death of the Prewett brothers. She took a sip of her drink, then glanced around the table. Gideon was chatting animatedly with Sirius and James while beside them Emmeline and Lily were conversing in a quieter manner while holding their own drinks.
"Bill is the eldest, he is almost ready to start Hogwarts, then there is Charlie, he loves animals already, I am betting on a job for him with magical creatures." He laughed. "But I am boring you with all this talk," he said. When he grinned Hermione thought he looked a little like the twins.
She shook her head. "No, I am not bored. You are really happy with your nephews. I think that is great." Another grin met this response and Fabian ordered her another drink. "On me," he told her.
Hermione listened with pleasure to him telling her about his nephews, hoping that she would see them again in some way someday. Like Alice, she knew too much of a terrible fate awaited him. He was not going to die if she could help it. If she could only make Voldemort mortal, then he and Gideon would have years with his nephews and niece and maybe even children of his own if he wanted them.
"The next round is on me," Gideon called out to cheers from his fellow Order members. Hermione planned only one more. She needed sleep and to think more on what her next step in investigating Voldemort would be.
Alphard Black was as good as his word and in August several days before Regulus's birthday found him hosting a small family party for his nephews, the Tonks's and Hermione.
Hermione wore a periwinkle blue set of dress robes with matching shoes. Regulus was dressed nattily as well, and she took his hand as they entered Alphard's small home.
The shelves in his living room were crammed with books and magical instruments and knickknacks of varying kinds. His rugs over the wooden floor changed colors as she stepped on them.
"My uncle has always had a taste for different hobbies," Regulus told her as they stepped into the room. "He develops a hobby, learns to master it and then gives it up. The books are all devoted to his interests. The rugs he probably made and enchanted himself."
"Now Regulus, I don't always give up my hobbies," he told him as he stepped forward to greet Hermione. "I keep up those of most importance. As a matter of fact," he told Hermione, "I did make the rugs. More than four years ago and they still hold up." He was dressed in green robes again, with silver lining and silver boots. "Ah, here is Andromeda," he broke off to greet his niece.
Andromeda, dressed in light purple, met Hermione with the same reserve as the last time but with perfect politeness. To Regulus there was slightly less reserve, but she still seemed slightly nervous. Dora, who had dark blue hair to match her dress robes, grinned up at Alphard who was greeting her like an old friend rather than an estranged niece. Ted came in last, his expression as cheerful and open as his daughters.
"I thank you for agreeing to help me cook," Alphard greeted him. "That was one hobby I never picked up. Never managed it I'm afraid, but I can mix a good drink," he turned agreeably to Hermione. "What can I get for you my dear?"
Hermione, however, was distracted by the entrance of Sirius. For a moment there was silence. Then Dora ran up to Sirius and hugged him.
"You came," she shrieked. "I knew you would. Now everyone is together."
Sirius let out his bark of a laugh as he pulled her into a bear hug, lifting her slightly in the process. "I wouldn't miss it," he told her. He put her down and greeted her parents and uncle before turning to Hermione and Regulus. "Perkins," he said, then he turned to Regulus and pulled something out of his dress robes.
"That's for me," Regulus said to him as he eyed a small package.
"Of course it is, got a birthday coming up don't you and your only seventeen once. See I even wrapped it in Slytherin colors just for you."
"Thank you," Regulus told him.
Sirius nodded and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "You can open it up and thank me later. Now how about those drinks?"
It was a party to remember, Dora changing her hair to different colors to match the rugs, Alphard sharing family stories and embarrassing his niece and nephews, Ted Tonks serving up party food fit for a king. Hermione fit to burst and full of laughter was happy to see Regulus so relaxed in the presence of his brother. It was the first time she could remember seeing them together since Bellatrix's visit to the school before Easter. She thought of Regulus's worry about being disowned over her but then realized he would still have family no matter what. The right kind of family and that was what mattered most.
"Ok kids, I did not forget we had a birthday coming up either," Alphard said jovially. He pulled out a package wrapped in color changing paper. Inside when opened was a book of wizarding poetry. "For the bookworm," he said. "I'm sure there is plenty here for him to read over and share. With a certain lady love." At Regulus's flush Sirius and Alphard both roared with laughter. Andromeda and Ted also had a gift for him, a simple set of robes that changed between formal setting and casual with a flick of the wand. Dora had painted him a picture of a little girl like herself on a broomstick with changing hair. "My daddy charmed the hair so it would change colors like mine," she said giggling.
"I'll have yours for you on your birthday," Hermione told him. He said nothing, just wrapped his arms around her while looking at his family and their gifts strewn on the table before him.
It was a much different looking Regulus Black that visited her later that night. He looked stricken as he told her that his uncle Cygnus was in St. Mungo's.
"I don't know what to do," he told her. "I was just talking with my cousin Narcissa and she says that it's bad. He keeps calling out for Andromeda but they would never let her come. He sank down wearily on her bed. Hermione sat beside him and took his hand.
She knew he must be thinking of his own parents and their health. He was caught in a difficult moment and it wasn't a decision she envied him.
"I think you should go see him," she told him. "You would not want to risk something happening and you didn't…" She paused in a little awkwardness.
"Yes," he said nodding. "I know…I am going." He got up then. "Thank you." She hugged him before sending him on his way.
Hermione thought of her own parents then and of how she would likely never see them again. She did not envy him the path ahead at all.
So that chapter was mostly filler but fun filler I hope. I think the Black family is pretty interesting.