T/W: Emotional abuse
Chapter Ten: The Pensive
Regulus Black let the silence spiral between them, Ron was sure he was doing it on purpose. He fought back the urge to punch Regulus himself. James pushed past Lupin, his wand level with Regulus's face. As much as Ron disliked Regulus in that moment, he had to admire the nerve it took him to remain casual.
"You're lying," James said. "What do you expect us to do? Put on the thing and suddenly we'll have the wisdom to kill him?"
"No," Regulus blinked, as if it were the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. "I—Annie, is Dora planning on coming over tonight?"
"No," she said.
"What about Draco?"
"At school."
"And Cissy's asleep?"
"It was a bad day for her," Andromeda sighed. "She scarcely got two words out and made a mess of her nightshirt." Regulus looked back to the rest of them.
"The Dark Lord has pushed the boundaries of magic beyond mortal comprehension. But he's sloppy, thinks himself clever for leaving little clues to follow because he thinks no one will notice." Regulus's eyes gleamed with manic excitement. "But I do. Why else would he leave such a priceless artifact to collect dust in some room? Why immediately panic and send every one of his most trusted followers to get it back?"
Regulus poured himself a drink. He looked mad.
"He's violated the very laws of nature to keep himself alive. He's corrupted his own soul, prying pieces of it away to create something called a horcrux. They'll keep him alive, not even the killing curse can stop him now." Regulus's eyes lingered on Ron. "If you don't believe me, ask the boy."
Ron felt the eyes of everyone in the room lock in on him like he were a lab specimen. His face burned, was that it then? Was that how you-know-who was able to stay alive and get his body back?
"It's true," Ron said. "He nearly died trying to kill your family, Mr. Potter, but he got his body back last summer." Ron didn't want to elaborate further.
"Do you have any proof?" Lupin asked Regulus. Regulus took a deep breath in and gestured for them to follow him upstairs. Regulus led them into a small office on the house's second floor. There was a magnificent mahogany desk in the middle of the room, and a matching bureau against the wall. The back wall of the office was crammed entirely with books. Ron thought wistfully about Hermione again.
"James, would you mind opening the bureau?" Regulus asked, poking around in the desk. James begrudgingly obliged, opening the top drawer. Ron realized his mistake a second after it happened. Two bodies dropped dead to the floor, Lily and Harry were deathly white, their faces frozen in a mixture of shock and terror. James screamed and jumped back, Ron couldn't help but notice a small flicker of triumph in Regulus's face.
"Whoops, my bad, Ridikulus," Regulus said, and the boggart disappeared with a snap. James remained frozen, shaking as he looked at where his family's dead bodies had been not a moment before. "Here's what I was looking for."
Regulus thew down a massive golden locket on the desk. Inside it gleamed with emeralds, a golden snake twisted into a massive 'S'
"The locket of Salazar Slytherin, I stole it from directly under the Dark Lord's nose a month ago," he said. "Pick it up."
Sirius snatched the locket from the table, holding it by the jewel. A look of revulsion crossed his face. He dropped it back to the table, wiping his hand on his pantleg as if he'd touched something foul.
"It's beating," he said.
"Precisely," Regulus said, pulling down a heavily annotated notebook. "I believe he's made several now, he's always been big on numerology, thirteen departments, seven members of the inner circle—ergo likely six horcruxes and one piece to the original soul. I can't find any other records of someone pushing their soul that far. The locket and diadem are both from Hogwarts founders, so its likely he has something from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor as well. Bellatrix won't shut up about some cup he asked her to put in her Gringott's vault so there's a good chance that's one of them. But the rest I believe are personal items—"
"This is mad," James gritted his teeth, "you've gone mad, Reg." Regulus raised an eyebrow.
"Evidence would point to the contrary," he said, smiling wolfishly. "Do you want to save your son, or not?"
"I—this isn't going to help Harry! He's ill, he needs to see a healer or something—" James stammered.
"Oh no," Regulus chuckled. "No, he's doing exactly what he needs to do to make it through the day. He's got much better survival instincts than either of his sisters. The Dark Lord's favor is hard won, but it is much easier to lose …"
James opened his mouth to ask a question. Regulus flicked his wand and a silvery bowl floated down from a shelf. He placed his wand against his temple, for a moment, Ron thought Regulus had yanked out several gray hairs. The strands flicked and moved like snakes as he dipped them into the bowl, and images started to appear.
"Would you like to see?" Regulus asked, knowing already what the answer was. He dipped his head into the bowl. Ron jumped back in shock, thinking Regulus had drowned himself. But his body remained calm. James walked up to the bowl and stuck his own head in, followed by Sirius. Lupin stayed back.
"You can go instead if you want," Lupin looked like he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep. "I'll keep watch over you." Ron summoned all the courage he had, he felt slightly mental as he walked over to the bowl and stuck his head in.
Ron felt his body flip upside down, or was it just in his mind? He was standing in a beautiful parlor room, outside he could see that it was a hot summer day overlooking a meticulously manicured English manor lawn. Far beyond the house, he could see a small village. There appeared to be some sort of party going on inside, about thirty witches and wizards were milling about, chatting with each other. Ron saw two versions of Regulus, the one from the present day standing next to James and Sirius, and a younger Regulus. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, he wore a stiff black shirt, despite how hot it looked outside. Next to the younger Regulus was Severus Snape, Ron felt a pit form in his stomach, he hadn't missed seeing the potions master.
On the far side of the room, Ron saw the wandmaker Ollivander conversing with Tom Riddle. Ron felt his stomach curl, it felt odd to see him doing something so … normal. Especially after what Ron had seen just hours before. The wandmaker held a long black case in his hands.
"In the most elite wizarding families, children receive their wand on their seventh birthday instead of the eleventh," the present-day Regulus explained. It looked like only James, Sirius, and Ron could see him.
They were all standing in the middle of one of Regulus's memories. But it didn't look like a child's birthday party, in fact almost all of the people in the room were adults, the only children in the room were—
Ron followed James's gaze to a scrawny seven-year-old Harry near the dessert table. Someone'd obviously made an attempt to make his hair lie flat for the day, but it still stuck up messy as always. He grabbed some treacle-tart from the table, and walked straight through Ron as if he'd been a ghost. Harry went to stand next to a young teenage girl with black hair that Ron didn't recognize. It struck him that if he didn't know any better, he'd have assumed the two were related. Further back, Bellatrix held a toddler while she chatted with another wizard.
Ron looked back at James, who was resisting every instinct to go up to his son and give him a hug. Ron's stomach twisted with guilt, both his parents insisted on being there when he got his new wand after his second year. It was a special moment, and it'd been taken away from James. James walked, quite literally, through the crowd to see Harry, Ron followed. The further away they got from young Regulus, the memory started to fade, tuning in and out. The two children were talking but Ron couldn't hear what they were saying.
"Let's skip ahead a little," the present-day Regulus said, and the people in the room began to move faster.
Ron'd seen them do that on muggle televisions when he'd been in London with his dad. Finally, Regulus got to the moment he wanted to show them. The crowd formed a semi-circle, their attention towards Riddle and Ollivander. Harry was waiting next to Bellatrix; Ron noticed his hands were shaking slightly from nerves. There were murmurs of excitement from some of the Death Eaters.
"The day a young wizard receives his wand is a sacred occasion," Ollivander said to the crowd. "The past few months may have felt dire," Riddle's eyes flashed dangerously at the wandmaker. "But it gives me great pleasure," the wandmaker cleared his throat, "to present this wand today, holly wood and phoenix tail feather, eleven inches. The phoenix who donated the core only gave one other feather." Riddle smiled. "Young Mr. Riddle, please step forward." Ollivander opened the box to reveal the wand, several people in the crowd nodded, it was a powerful combination.
Harry seemed so small, making his way forward in front of the crowd. Ron saw he was trying to keep his hands steady as he reached forward to take the wand from the box. For a moment, he looked reflexively towards his father for assurance, but Riddle remained emotionless. The moment Harry touched the wand, he stopped shaking, he looked up excitedly.
"It spoke to me!" he said, and Riddle smiled.
"Go on and try it then," Riddle's voice was gentle but firm. Ron felt his stomach churn, did they really expect a seven-year-old to complete a spell on his first try? Riddle flicked his own wand and summoned a motionless dummy to the center of the room.
Harry turned around to face it, a look of determination etched in his face. He hissed something in a language Ron knew to be parseltongue, a jet of white lightning emanated from the wand. The dummy exploded upon impact and several people from the crowd applauded. James's eyes darkened as he watched the spell.
"It's not easy to hold onto power among the elites," present day Regulus said, "the presentation of the wand acts as a way for parents to show how powerful their children can be, but it doesn't always work out the way people hope …"
The memory shifted, they were in the same parlor on a winter evening. The crowd had already formed a semi-circle, as they had years prior. There were significantly less people in the room, each had a dower expression on their face like they were attending a funeral. This time both Tom Riddle and Bellatrix Lestrange stood beside the wandmaker. Bellatrix paced nervously, and Ollivander was so pale Ron thought he might have been stabbed. Harry was around twelve, and standing next to the same girl from earlier. She looked like an adult now. The two were whispering argumentatively in parseltongue, a hiss from their father quieted them. A young girl with platinum blonde hair stood at the front of the crowd.
"The day … a young witch r-recieves her wand … is a sacred occasion," Ollivander repeated the same speech from years prior, sweat pouring down his face. Riddle stood expressionless beside Bellatrix. "This wand is maple and unicorn tail, ten inches. Young Ms. Riddle, please step forward." Several members of the crowd looked confused, it was not a very strong combination … The girl did not move, she looked like she was about to cry. She looked back at her siblings for reassurance. But neither seemed to return her gaze.
"Delphi," Bellatrix said, that must've been the girl's name. She obeyed her mother, taking small steps forward.
Ron thought that Delphi was going to drop the wand, she was shaking so badly. Whereas Harry just seemed to have nerves, she was actively afraid nothing would happen. Tears streamed down Delphi's face, she looked to her parents for support. But there was none. Beside him, Ron saw Sirius's hand shoot out to stop James from moving forward.
"It's only a memory," he said. "There's nothing we can do for her now."
"W-what do I—" Delphi held out the wand in front of her like she thought it was going to explode. "Erm—I don't know—" She stammered, and flicked the wand. There was a beat, and nothing happened. Delphi shook the wand again, more violently now, tears streamed down her face. She was desperate … A look of panic crossed Bellatrix's face as well.
"N-no, I am a witch," Delphi gulped through her tears, "I am, please. Nagini … Harry please … t-tell them." She begged her siblings to help her, but the two older children remained motionless. They did not acknowledge that they could hear her, they had already proven themselves gifted enough to survive. Delphi began to scream, she threw herself on the ground at her father's feet.
"P-please, I can do it, father please…" He stepped around her.
"It is clear that you have been unfaithful, Bella," Riddle said quietly. "My two elder children have already proven themselves worthy of their wands. Perhaps it is more merciful that I prune the dead branches from your family tree?"
Delphi screamed so loudly, Ron thought her throat would tear. The wandmaker Ollivander jumped in front of the girl just moments before a bolt of green light hit him in the chest. He was dead.
"That's enough," Regulus's voice was hoarse. Ron felt himself get pulled back into his body. He fell to the floor of Regulus's office. "She died a few minutes after that … they … gave her body to the department, wanted me to find what was wrong with her, if there was a reason she was a squib, and do you know what James? There was nothing there! She was just seven, and that was enough to condemn her."
James was quiet, a look of seething hatred etched on every inch of his face as he watched Tom Riddle's swirling figure in the memory.
"Where do we start?"
A/N: Thanks for reading! I know I messed with Nagini and Delphi's ages, but I wanted to have more character foils lol. Let me know if any questions come up with the AU.