Chapter Text
“Lily Evans!”
“Son of a bitch!” Thomas slammed his goblet down. “He wasn’t supposed to do it again!”
“Ha! Pay up, Blair.” Barty held out a hand expectantly.
Thomas reluctantly pulled out ten galleons and handed them over. “Fucking Potter.”
“Ah, the stuff of daydreams.”
“Shut up, Barty.” Regulus wasn’t in the mood for Barty’s jokes right now.
“Today marks three and a half years of our epic love story, one that will be recorded in the stars for eternity! Now, I listened to your criticisms, and I have improved. No more poems, no, now I will perform for you: a song.”
“Holy shit.” Barty grinned. “He got worse.” He looked at Evan. “You can’t tell me this isn’t the most entertaining thing you’ve ever seen.”
Evan took a sip of his drink. “He’s a Potter. Nothing surprises me about Potters.”
Potter started singing. Holy shit. Potter can sing. Regulus focused on the drink in front of him. Hot chocolate. The train ride had been cold. He’s actually good at this. The hot chocolate was good, but it needed milk. He’d tasted better. Potter finished the song, and the hall was silent. Somebody say something. Please, somebody say something.
“James, I have to say I’m impressed.”
Anybody except Evans. Regulus looked up to see Evans smiling at Potter.
“Impressed, but still not interested. You have a good voice, though. You should sing more.”
Potter looked stunned and a bit in love. “I think I can manage that.”
“Good.” Evans’ smile widened, and Potter climbed down from the table. Siri looked stunned. Rem looked proud. Pettigrew seemed pleased as well, but his smile was a bit muted.
“That went… remarkably well, considering last time.” Evan looked pleasantly surprised.
“You mean it was boring. Boo, Evans!” Barty yelled the last part across the Great Hall.
Regulus narrowed his eyes. “Evan.”
“Ow! What the hell, Ev?” Barty reached under the table to rub his shin.
Rem’s ring heated up. “Damn it, Barty, we don’t make scenes where our source can hear.” Regulus pulled out the book.
Tell Crouch to shut the hell up.
“Source says to shut the hell up.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, since when do we answer to the Gits?”
Regulus shrugged and wrote a response.
Barty says no.
Barty scoffed. “Give me the damn book.”
I don’t take orders from you, Lupin!
You’re making Sirius an enemy, Crouch. I would advise against that.
Regulus chuckled. “You know, that’s one of the first times he’s sounded like a Slytherin.”
I’m already his enemy, he doesn’t
I’ve taken the book back from Barty. Sorry about that.
What did he mean by that?
Should I be worried?
Barty gets protective. Nothing to worry about.
“Reg, I have some good news.”
Regulus closed the book, making sure the action was visible across the Great Hall. “Theo. What’s the news?”
“I am officially courting Miss Rosier.” Theo was grinning. “This merits a celebration. Evan, would you like to join us?”
Evan raised an eyebrow. “Depends. How are we celebrating?”
“I have butterbeer. Rosmerta’s a friend.”
Evan looked at Regulus, who nodded. Evan turned back to Theo. “Looks like we’re celebrating.”
Regulus swung his legs over the bench, then stood. “Barty, I expect no further scenes. I won’t have my friends compared to the Gits.” Regulus turned to see Barty nod, then followed Theo out of the Great Hall. He liked butterbeer.
–
Reg,
I want you to know that if you ever need any help taking care of Heir Black, I am at your disposal. I know I’ve made mistakes in the past, but I mean it. I have access now to enough restricted healing potions to last you a lifetime. I’ll send over any you need. Or, if you’d rather go back to wine, I can send you that too. That way your parents won’t find out.
I thought I’d let you know that I’m reading Bellatrix’s letters to you before she sends them. I won’t let her send you potions again. There are far better outlets.
-Rod
–
“Hey, Reg?”
Regulus looked up from the parchment in front of him to meet Rem’s gaze with a raised eyebrow. “Yes?”
“I… well… How was your break?”
That was certainly not what he’d been intending to say, but Regulus decided to play along. “Fairly boring. Mother and Father spent most of their time at the Ministry, I spent a lot of time reading. The Rosier gala was the most entertaining part of it, and even that was relatively dull.” Regulus gave a tight-lipped smile. Rem didn’t need to know about Lucius’ plans to recruit Siri, nor did he need to know about Rodolphus’ new protective streak. “How was yours?”
“Right, that was a load of horseshit. What actually happened?”
“Only the amount of curses I could reasonably manage, and no outright threats. Did Siri happen to change his mind about blood purity over the holidays? Mother would be thrilled if he did.”
“Reg.”
Regulus sighed. “As I told you, Mother seemed to accept Siri’s excuse of staying at Hogwarts to revise over the holidays, which we both know was a lie. She and Father did spend most of their time at the Ministry. I barely left the house. If I asked, I tended to end up regretting it. Kreacher was ordered to only prepare meals when Mother and Father were in the house, which wasn’t often. But there are plenty of books in the library, so at least I wasn’t bored.”
Rem rolled his eyes. “Right, at least you weren’t bored.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a wrapped parcel. “I did save you a present.”
“I don’t want it.” Admittedly, Regulus was a bit curious, but he didn’t need anything, and he didn’t want to owe Rem a gift in return.
“Oh, for God’s sake. Reg, will you just open it?”
Regulus folded his arms across his chest. “I didn’t get you anything.”
“That’s not what I…” Rem seemed to realize the issue, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Reg, I’m not trying to… You won’t owe me anything. You know that, right? This is a gift because we’re friends and I think everyone should get to open something for Christmas. None of this ‘Blacks don’t need gifts for Christmas’ nonsense. If you could have seen Padfoot when he woke up on Christmas morning… Just open it. Please.”
Regulus had the sudden image of Padfoot, the dog, chasing his tail and barking in sheer delight in front of a Christmas tree that didn’t bite and smiled despite himself. “Fine.” He took the package from Rem and started to open it, then stopped. “It’s not cursed, is it?”
“Why would it be cursed?”
“For fun.”
Rem’s mouth opened and closed a few times. “For… No, it’s not cursed. How the hell would that be considered fun?”
Regulus shrugged. “You’ve clearly never received a birthday gift from Bellatrix.” He ignored Rem’s dropped jaw and smirked as he opened the package. Of course, Bellatrix hadn’t cursed anything back when he’d been receiving gifts from her. She couldn’t have, she was underage. And besides that, birthdays were something that Regulus had never celebrated with anyone other than Siri. But Rem seemed to believe anything he said about growing up as a Black, and who could deny Regulus a bit of fun with that?
When the last of the paper was torn away, Regulus felt… Stunned? Touched? No, that wasn’t quite right. This was more personal. More cutting. Just a bit dangerous. Sitting in front of him was a package of sugar quills, a new copy of Dorian Gray, and what looked to be a gold signet ring. He picked up the sugar quills first and raised his eyebrow at Rem.
Rem flushed. “Crouch said you liked them. I had to sneak through the passage to get them, but hopefully he wasn’t lying.”
“He wasn’t.” Regulus remembered the collection of sugar quills Siri had stolen from the Honeydukes cellar for his birthday and smiled. “And the book?”
“Figured it was time you had your own, even if you’re still dead wrong about the entire point of the plot.”
“I still maintain that Dorian successfully achieved all of his goals.”
“And then he dies! Because he’s too stubborn to accept Basil’s help!”
“Accepting help isn’t a virtue, Rem.”
“Neither is success!”
Regulus rolled his eyes. “I didn’t say it was. I said survival is a skill, and Dorian mastered it.”
“He literally dies at the end!”
“After outliving the two supposedly ‘good’ characters!”
“They die because of him!”
“And I call that survival. What do you call it?” Regulus raised an eyebrow at Rem.
“I call it… Fuck, I don’t know, Reg. I didn’t get you the book so we could fight about it again. Can we just… will you look at the ring?”
Regulus nodded, allowing the tension to leave the room as he examined the ring. He’d been right, it was clearly modeled after a pureblood signet ring. However, where most signet rings were engraved with family mottos and emblems, this one didn’t contain any symbols he recognized. “What is this?”
“Sirius made it. One for each of us.”
For each of the Gits. A signet ring. He was claiming them as family. Regulus ignored the twisting feeling in his chest and looked at the ring more closely. A motto, yes. On the inside of the ring was written, “I solemnly swear”. And the outside, a forest, with letters for each tree. J, followed by branches. S, followed by what looked to be bark. P, followed by the rings of a tree. And R, with the final stroke moving into a straight path through the woods. It was intricate, beautiful even. And clearly not meant for Regulus. He wasn’t part of this new family that Siri had found.
He passed the ring back to Rem. “I can’t accept this.”
“Yes, you can.” Rem pushed the ring back to Regulus. “You’re supposed to have one, whether Sirius knows it or not.”
“No.” Regulus was shaking his head before Rem finished. “This isn’t meant for me. That much is obvious.”
“Well, it should be. I’m giving it to you. You have to–”
“What’s the enchantment?”
“Pardon?”
“Siri wouldn’t make a ring like this and not enchant it to do something. What does it do?”
Rem looked startled. “I dunno. He didn’t say it did anything.”
“Then he didn’t want to tell you.” Regulus set the ring down and pulled out his wand. “Let’s find out.”
“Wait, are you sure we should–”
But Regulus was already casting spells he’d learned from Theo’s books. There were ways to dissect an enchantment, or a ward as the case may be. This one was as intricate as the ring itself, and Regulus couldn’t help but be impressed. “The ability to counteract such effects is as rare as the ability to create them. Your brother has the latter ability.” Theo had been right. Of course he had. This was advanced, to say the least. “Protection spells.”
“What?”
Protection against certain curses, against a wide range of poisons, and an alert spell if the wearer was in danger… “It looks like he added every one he could think of.” How did the alert spell activate? Regulus dove a bit deeper into that one, and… “Turning the ring over activates an alert that tells the other wearers you’re in danger. He’s added protections against lacero, incendio… ” Ungues scabere… Regulus didn’t list that one. “And a wide range of poisons.” He flicked his wand, ending the analysis. He didn’t need to see any more. “It’s impressive work, really.” He swallowed and handed the ring back to Rem. “And not meant for me.”
Rem looked at the ring with wide eyes. “He didn’t tell us any of that.”
“It’s likely he hopes you’ll never have to use them.”
“I think I might be falling in love with him.”
“Pardon?”
“Or, erm, I meant, he… That’s very thoughtful of him.”
How graceful. “That’s not what you meant.”
Rem groaned and let his head drop to the desk in front of him. “No, it’s not.”
“Is this what you actually wanted to talk about?”
Rem had pulled his arms up to cover his head, so his answer was a bit muffled. “Maybe.”
“Rem.”
“I can go if you want. I doubt you want a fucking queer as a friend.”
What? “Rem.”
“It’s pathetic, actually, because he’s been going on about this stupid list and…” Rem pulled his head up and ran a hand through his hair, then shook his head to clear it. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a stupid… infatuation, I’ll get over it.”
“Rem.” Regulus reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “Slow down.”
“I’ll go, actually. I’ll just… I’ll go.” Rem stood up and started clearing the desk of papers. “Happy Christmas, anyway, and I promise you never have to talk to me again, and…”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Remus John Lupin!”
That stopped him. Rem turned around slowly.
“I’m not angry, and I’m not telling you to leave. I genuinely couldn’t care less that you’re bent, though I am a bit confused as to why you’d pick my brother, of all people. There are far better options.” Not bent. Just observant.
“... You’re not angry?”
“No.” Regulus sighed and gestured for Rem to sit back down. “To be honest, I’ve suspected you cared for Siri for a while.”
“Right, because he’s a friend, not because–”
“Don’t interrupt me.”
“Alright.”
“It actually makes you a better ally. You’re even more motivated to keep him safe.” Regulus leaned back in his chair. “And that is, in fact, my only priority. I do have a few requests, though.”
Rem looked nervous. “Go on.”
Regulus held up his fingers as he counted them off. “First. Keep your opinions about my brother to yourself. I don’t need to hear you waxing poetic about how his barely-groomed appearance is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.”
“He has a truly terrifying number of products for his hair, but go off.”
“Second.” Rem was smiling, which Regulus took to be a good sign. “If you do anything that puts him in danger, even accidentally, all bets are off. You become my enemy. Immediately. And you’ll become the Empire’s enemy, too.”
“I would never–”
“That includes making other people suspect that he might have feelings for you. Understood?”
“What, purebloods can’t be bent?”
“Pureblood heirs can’t be. Not if they value their safety, or their place in their family.”
“He’d be disowned?”
“Likely. The point is, he’s expected to marry a wealthy pureblood girl, and keeping him safe means allowing for that possibility. Third.” Regulus paused, expecting Rem to say something, but he didn’t. Regulus continued. “I don’t want to hear details. As far as I’m concerned, the most you’ll ever do is hold hands, maybe. ”
Rem laughed at that. “Right, sure, of course. No snogging, no shagging. Not a problem.”
“And finally. Rem, stop laughing.” He waited for the peals of laughter to die down, then took a deep breath. “Your only job, as far as I’m concerned, is to keep him living. Not alive, living. You hurt him, you answer to me.”
“You already said that.”
“I meant it.” Regulus looked up at Rem and waited for his nod. “Good.”
“... D’you think he might fancy me back?”
“How the hell would I know, Rem? Not like he’s telling me all of his secrets, is it?” If Siri wanted to tell Rem about his frankly obvious feelings, that was his choice. If not, that was his choice, too. Regulus wasn’t going to play matchmaker for two idiotic Gryffindor Gits.
“D’you think he’d want to study with me?”
Study. Does he think I’m an idiot? “No, Rem, I think you’d have a better chance at getting him to teach you how to speak French, or study pureblood culture and all that shite. Can we please get back to revising?”
Regulus turned back to his parchment and dutifully ignored the fact that Rem had snuck the gold ring into Regulus’ robe pocket at some point while they were discussing Siri. A few moments later, he heard a very quiet, “French?” but he ignored that too. Let Rem figure out how he wanted to flirt with Siri on his own. Regulus surely couldn’t be expected to help with that, too.
–
“Right, it’s bloody cold out here, but apparently there’s nothing for it, so here I am, back behind the bloody microphone for no reason, because someone decided that playing Quidditch in the snow is somehow a good idea.”
Reggie grinned at Rem’s summary of the situation. It certainly wasn’t an ideal time to be playing against Ravenclaw. They’d be certain to use the weather to their advantage and try to drag the game out for as long as possible. But Isaac and Reggie had prepared their team for this, so the Slytherins had warming charms, gloves, scarves, fire seeds, and the training necessary to hold their own. And if I can catch the Snitch before we all go numb from the cold, so much the better. He hadn’t trained in the snow the entire break for nothing.
“Brilliant play by Ravenclaw’s chasers, James tells me that’s called a Double Double Up Your Nose, but that doesn’t sound right and he didn’t say nose. Brilliant play all the same.”
Reggie was doing his best to spot the Snitch in between snowflakes and far too many cloaks that all looked the same at a distance. He and Siri had never played Hide The Snitch in the winter, so he was at a bit of a disadvantage. Bludger! He rolled. Bit close for comfort. The snow was making it difficult to concentrate on anything. He sat up a bit and felt the cold bite of the gold ring he’d put on a chain. The Marauders. Bloody stuck-up ponces with a stupid name. The protection spells were good, though, and he didn’t fancy the idea of getting hit by something he couldn’t see coming, so he kept it with him. Now where’s the bloody Snitch?
He decided to dive, for no reason other than trying to keep up his body temperature. Warming charms were well and good, but there was no substitute for–”What the hell, Macnair?”
“Just trying to keep our star Seeker company, nothing to worry about.”
“Fuck off, I don’t need a shadow. Go find a Bludger to hit.”
“Such animosity! One would almost think you didn’t like me!”
“I told you to fuck. Off.” Regulus shot upwards. So did Macnair.
“And it appears Slytherin has a new strategy in play, one of their Beaters seems to be assigned to following their Seeker at close range. Is that entirely legal? Don’t know, don’t care. Just get one of the Seekers to the Snitch so we can go home, thank you!”
Brilliant, thanks, Rem. Now Siri would be watching.
“I’m not going anywhere, Baby Black. That would ruin the fun.” Macnair reached out and clapped Regulus on the back.
“I said fuck off. You can do that or I can hex you.” And don’t call me Baby Black.
“Aw, is Baby Black about to cry? Such a teeny tiny baby, I didn’t mean to make you sad.” Macnair gave an exaggerated pout. “Does the baby need a hug?”
“Don’t fucking touch me!” Regulus pulled his broom away. Macnair reached out and grabbed the handle. “Back the hell up.”
“Oh, you should have asked, I would have gone away ages ago!” Macnair let go of Regulus’ broom, grinned, and sped off.
What the hell was that?
“And the strategy has fallen to pieces, just in time for Ravenclaw to score another goal against Slytherin’s Keeper, not a good look for Slytherin!”
Shut the hell up, Rem. Regulus glanced around in another vain attempt to look for the Snitch. Nothing. Brilliant. He pulled a hand up to push his hair out of his eyes. Or, tried, rather. He looked down. His hands were encased in ice. Macnair. “So, Macnair and Wilkes? Will that be a problem?” Yes! A thousand times, yes! I can’t catch the bloody Snitch if my hands are stuck! Or… maybe…
Regulus considered his options. Could try to break the ice, but he’d be more likely to hurt his hands in the process and he didn’t want that. Could try to catch the Snitch between his forearms, but that would be virtually impossible… Use his feet? Risky. Nearly impossible. He was barely coordinated enough to kick a Quaffle in the air on a good day, catching a Snitch in the snow was a far different endeavor. Heat. I need… Regulus looked at his right hand, where Remus’ ring was firmly lodged on his little finger. Heat. “If you tap the ring three times, my ring will heat up.” He needed to get Rem to tap his ring. But how? And would it even be enough to–the Snitch. Brilliant timing. Regulus practically growled as he turned for the Snitch. He needed a new plan.
“And Black has caught sight of the Snitch, Pete, you owe me five galleons. No, Professor McGonagall, I’d never bet on a Quidditch game at school, I know that’s against the rules. Thank you, Pete.”
Break the fucking ice. That was the only chance. He’d deal with the injury to his hands later. The Snitch was getting closer. Too fast. He’d never be able to break the ice soon enough. Come on. The Snitch darted away. Damn it! He was in pursuit. He was headed toward Isaac. That’ll work. “Isaac, fire seed. Now.”
“Where?” Isaac was already reaching into the pocket of his Quidditch robes.
“Hands.”
Isaac’s eyes widened as he saw the predicament. “Bloody hell. Wilkes?”
“Macnair. Seeds?”
“Yeah, got it.” And Isaac pressed the fire seed onto the ice surrounding Regulus’ right hand. “I’m coming with you.”
“Fine, just keep Davis off my back.” The fire seed was working already, Regulus could feel some give. As long as he got to the Snitch before Ravenclaw, he’d be fine.
“And we have a blockade forming around Black as he races for the Snitch, sorry, is that ice on his broom?”
Could have noticed earlier, Rem! Regulus rotated as he passed by the professors in the stands, avoiding eye contact with Rem. He could move his hand a bit. Come on, give it up! He stayed focused on the Snitch. Gold Snitch. Cold hand. Blue cloak. Blond hair. Wait, no!
“And Ravenclaw has caught the Snitch! Brilliant play by Davis, cheers all round, now let’s go and get warmed up, shall we?”
“What the hell, Isaac?” Regulus rounded on him in rage. “I told you to keep him away!”
“Not my bloody fault you let Macnair get to you, is it?”
“ Let? You think I let him get to me? How would you have stopped him?”
“I wouldn’t have let him grab onto the handle of my broom!”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You–”
“Oi!” Elwood had flown up to them while they’d been yelling. “D’you two fancy coming down to the ground with the rest of us, or are you going to sit out here in the freezing cold for the rest of the day?”
Regulus growled. “Fuck off, Elwood.”
“Or what, you’ll hex me? Heard you can barely manage to do that.”
“Oh, like a fucking m–”
“Oi! Regulus!” Isaac hit him on the arm before he could finish the sentence. “No need to do that.”
The word ‘mudblood’ hadn’t even left his mouth yet. “I didn’t say anything!”
“But you were going to. Get angry at Macnair, he deserves it. Throwing slurs at George is unnecessary, especially if you want to avoid something like this happening again.”
He had a point. He’d need George Elwood on his side if he wanted protection against Wilkes and Macnair later. “Fine.”
“I’ll speak with Macnair. As far as I’m concerned, it’s his fault we lost the match, and most likely the Cup as well. Everyone in Slytherin will already be angry. Let them take care of it.”
–
Let them take care of it, he said. It’ll be fine, he said. And yet, here he was, stuck at the top of the Astronomy Tower with Macnair and Snape blocking the only viable exit and Barty next to him, looking like he wanted to fight. “Gentlemen. How can we help you?”
Macnair pulled out his wand and twirled it between his fingers. “I’ve had a few threats lately. Half-breeds and mudbloods who think they have a right to speak to me.”
“And you wanted my help. Wise of you. I doubt Mulciber will be any help at all.”
Snape smirked, but Macnair answered. “Actually, Wulf is taking care of a few of them as we speak. He’s let us have the privilege of putting you in your place, this time at least.”
“My place? In case you needed the reminder, Macnair, I outrank you.”
“No, you don’t. Your blood traitor brother does. You? You’re nothing. Impulsum!”
Fuck. Regulus fell to his knees as the curse hit him in the ribs. Instinctively, his hand went to the point of impact, but he stopped right before Siri’s ring had the chance to hit his chest. No, I don’t need him for this. He doesn’t have to know about this.
“Flipendo!” Barty. Regulus heard Macnair hit the ground.
“Relashio!” Snape. Barty dropped his wand. “Orbis!” Barty was suddenly halfway in the ground.
Regulus grabbed his wand. “Langlock!” At least Snape wouldn’t be able to cast any more spells if he couldn’t talk.
He’d forgotten about Macnair. “Lacero!”
No! Regulus froze as he felt the curse cut into his arm..
“Exoculutus!”
He couldn’t see. He was back in the second floor classroom.
“Incendio!”
“Protego!”
Thank Merlin. Barty must have grabbed his wand.
“Depulso!” A pause. “Videre!”
Regulus could see again. Snape was scrambling to Mulciber, who’d been thrown to the wall. “Accio Snape’s wand.” He dodged the wand as it came back at him. “Levicorpus.” Snape was pulled into the air, and Regulus smirked.
“Now, Walden!”
“Relashio! Sectumsempra!”
And Regulus was on the ground again, screaming. He distantly heard Snape drop to the ground and hoped he’d landed on his head.
“Flagrate.”
Burning. Siri, stop fighting her.
“Stop moving, Black. Petrificus totalus.” Macnair. The burning stopped.
Hogwarts. Not Grimmauld. Macnair. Not Mother.
“Stop it, please, just stop it!” Barty’s voice, pleading.
“No, I don’t think I will. Flagrate.”
The burning was back. Regulus fought to keep track of his surroundings. Stone floor. Cold air. Barty was next to him. He thought he might have still been screaming. He wished Siri was there. Siri would stop them. He didn’t stop Poults and Ibex. No, he would stop them. Or Rem. Or Evan. Or anyone. Please, someone had to come.
“I think he understands, don’t you?”
Regulus had never been so grateful to hear Snape’s voice.
“Getting cold feet, Severus?”
“Weighing the chances of a prefect hearing all of… that. I’d rather not be here when that happens, would you care to join me?”
A pause, but only in the dialogue. The burning only intensified. Was he still screaming?
“Very well, enjoy detention. I’ll be in the dorm.” Footsteps. A door opened, then closed.
Relief. The burning stopped. A laugh. Bellatrix? No. Macnair. “Exoculutus.” Darkness. Footsteps. A near-whisper. “You know, Baby Black, your cousin has been telling Wulf some very interesting stories.” Footsteps. A door opened, then closed.
Silence.
“Reg? Are you… Can you talk?”
Barty. Regulus took in a deep breath. Forced the words out of his mouth. “Yeah.”
“I can’t reach my wand. Can you…”
“Petrified.”
“Right. Right. Then we’ll just…”
“Try it.”
“What?”
“Accio. Try it.” He knew the summoning charm could be accomplished without a wand, it was at least worth a try.
“Right.” A breath. “Accio wand.” A pause. “Accio wand! Damn it, come on! Accio wand!”
“Calm. Like a command, not like you’re begging.”
“What?”
“Just try it.”
“Fine. Accio wand.” A gasp. “Ha! I did it! That’s fucking brilliant, Reg, I–”
“Help now. Celebrate later.”
“Right, sorry. Er, I’m not sure how to–”
“If I could see…”
“Right. Videre!”
The ceiling of the Astronomy Tower was so unnecessarily high. A bit dizzying. Regulus looked over at Barty because he didn’t dare look down at himself, not yet. “Thank you. Now if I could move–”
Barty rolled his eyes. “Finite incantatem.”
“Thank you.” Regulus rolled over. Winced. Looked around for his bag. He’d left it by the wall. “Damn it.” That seemed very far away. “D’you mind getting my bag?”
“Accio Reg’s bag. But not his wand, because he’s a bit thick.”
“Shut up, Barty.” Regulus pulled out his kit, then paused and pulled out the book as well.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Getting Ev up here.”
“By asking Lupin for help?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Lupin will send the Gits!”
“Do you know how to reverse… that?” Regulus gestured at Barty, still half in the ground.
“No, but I–”
“Then I’ll take that chance.” Regulus started writing.
Get Evan to the Astronomy Tower. Now. I don’t care how.
Regulus tapped his ring twice. Paused. He could–He twisted Siri’s ring. Siri could be discreet. He could be Heir Black, when he needed to be. But he would also want to get revenge on Macnair, and that could turn out very badly. He tapped Rem’s ring three times. Pulled out a healing potion and drank it. Waited.
Did something happen?
Should I send Sirius?
No. Send Evan.
Wait, are you with Siri?
Ouais :)
Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’ll take care of it. Don’t let me interrupt your date.
Regulus closed the book. “Never mind, he’s busy.” And apparently studying French, because he can’t detect sarcasm to save his life.
“Busy revising?”
Not in the slightest. “Apparently.”
“Tell him to get his arse over here!”
“I told him to send Evan. He can’t very well do that if he’s in the library, now can he?” Rem’s ring heated up. He opened the book.
I’m on my way. I told Pads I’d be back soon, though.
Better bloody be worth it.
Oh. “Rem’s coming.”
“Rem?”
Fuck. “I meant Lupin. Remus. Fuck.”
“No you didn’t. Since when is he Rem?” Barty looked a bit angry about the nickname.
“Since he asked the right questions.” Regulus started applying dittany to the cut on his arm.
“Oh, is that it? Or did he suddenly become fit and now you’re in love with him like the rest of us?”
“I’m not bent.”
“Right, and I’m quiet.”
“Fuck you, Barty.”
“Anytime, anyplace, Reg.”
What the hell? Regulus paused. “I’m sorry?”
Barty shrugged. “Just saying. If you wanted.”
“I told you, I’m not bent.”
“Right, and Dawn Avery hasn’t been flirting with you every time she gets a chance.”
“She hasn’t!”
“Are you blind?!”
Regulus just looked at Barty.
“Right, sorry, bad timing. But honestly, she thinks everything you say is funny! She fancies you, Reg, you’re just ignoring it because you’re too busy admiring Lupin and Potter.”
“I’ll hex you.”
“No you won’t, I just helped you.”
“You–”
The door opened. Rem stepped in, then stopped in shock. “What the hell happened?”
“Doesn’t matter. Do you know how to reverse that?” Regulus jerked his head at Barty’s current predicament.
“Reg, you’re bleeding.” Rem had barely glanced at Barty before turning back to Regulus.
“I’m dealing with it.”
“Not well. You need to go to the hospital wing.”
“No.”
“You’re as stubborn as your brother, you know that?”
“Keep Siri out of this. Can you help or not?”
“... Yeah, I can help.” Rem pulled out his wand and made a few complicated motions in Barty’s direction while muttering under his breath. Barty rose out of the ground and landed, somewhat clumsily, on all fours. Rem turned back to Regulus. “Hospital wing. Now.”
“I said no.”
Barty brushed himself off as he spoke. “I’m with Lupin on this one, actually. Hospital wing.”
Traitor. “I’m fine, Barty.”
Rem rolled his eyes. “Right, yeah, you look fine. I’m sure it’s perfectly normal for you to be covered in blood and looking like your clothes got burnt off.”
Regulus looked down at himself fully for the first time and felt a bit of bile rise in his throat. “Scourgify.” Most of the blood disappeared. He picked the dittany back up. “Better?”
Rem turned to Barty. “What happened, Crouch?”
“Barty, don’t–”
“Lacero. Then exoculutus. Then they tried incendio, but I blocked that. Then they got rid of my wand. Then some curse I don’t know, but it looked bad. Then some sort of fire curse, flagon or flagrant or something.”
Regulus rolled his eyes. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’m fine, Rem. Go back to your date.”
“It’s not a date.” Rem refused to look at Regulus as he answered. “They used flagrate?”
Barty snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that’s the one!”
Rem turned back to Regulus. “Those are all curses. You’re telling me you were just cursed, multiple times, and I’m supposed to not tell Sirius?”
Regulus rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you that I’m fine. I have my kit.”
Barty scoffed. “He’s not fine, but telling Heir Black would only make things worse.”
“Don’t call him that.” Rem seemed to answer on instinct.
“Then what the hell am I supposed to call him? Reg said I’m not allowed to call him Sirius anymore, apparently that was a privilege with a time limit or something, and–”
“Then call him Black. Just leave off the title. That’s allowed, isn’t it?”
“... Technically.” Barty looked down at the ground.
“Good. Do that. Just don’t call him Heir Black.”
Regulus finished applying the dittany and stood up. Then he swayed a bit as his vision blurred.
“Reg!” Two voices. Two hands on his arms, holding him steady. As Regulus’ vision cleared, he saw Rem and Barty looking at each other, both a bit surprised.
Rem was the first to recover, looking at Regulus with a determined set to his jaw. “Hospital wing.”
“No.” He didn’t need to see Pomfrey, he could deal with it himself. “I don’t need it.”
“Like hell you don’t! If Sirius could see–”
“I’ve dealt with worse, alright?!” Regulus took a breath. “I’ve dealt with worse, and I’ve dealt with it on my own. So I don’t need to go to the hospital wing. Do you understand?”
“... Yeah. I understand.”
His accent was terrible, but that was only to be expected. “Good. Barty, let’s go. Rem, enjoy your date.”
“Not a date.”
Regulus rolled his eyes and started walking to the door with Barty close behind.
“Wait.”
Regulus turned back.
“Who’s ‘they’? Who did this?”
“Wrong question.” And Regulus left without another word. Rem didn’t need to know.