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Chapter Text

Luna

Four-year old Luna Lovegood looks around, blinking into the sunlight as the dust clears around her.

“Oh,” she says.

Just moments ago, she’d been sitting in the laboratory with her Mummy, watching contentedly as Mummy had set up another experiment. Then, her Daddy had come in, and her Mummy had shouted something, and both her Daddy and Mummy had turned to her and pointed their wands at her and their lights had rushed at her and then- she can’t remember.

But now the house is really broken, her parents are nowhere to be found, and it looks like it might be up to Luna to find out what happened.

That’s alright- Luna has done hard things before, done things on her own. All she needs to do is follow the lights.

Luna’s whole entire life, she’s seen lights- shining and swirling and floating and falling, all sorts of colors and shapes and feelings.

Some she sees more often than others, like the ones that follow her Daddy (light blue and green, swirling around Daddy like ribbons) or the ones around Mummy (purple and blue, and sparking like little fireworks).

Some she doesn’t see very often at all- one time, her Mummy had pointed out a wandering unicorn to Luna, and she’d almost cried because the lights had been so bright.

She’d thought everyone else saw them too, but when she talks to Ginny about them, the other girl doesn’t seem to know what Luna is talking about. She is more than happy to let Luna tell her about them, though. Luna likes Ginny, she’s nice.

Maybe instead of following the lights, she should go find Ginny.

Luna considers it for a moment, then shakes her head. She needs to find her Mummy and Daddy. That’s the priority.

(That had been her Daddy’s word-of-the-day for her a long time ago, and it’s one of her favorites.)

“Pri-or-i-ty,” Luna repeats to herself, picking through the dust and rubble carefully, keeping an eye out for ribbons, or sparklers.

Out of the corner of her eye, Luna sees something spark, then disappear. She promptly turns to face the little light, picking her way towards it instead.

It’s not sparking like her Mummy’s magic- it’s more like a little static shock, but it is something, and so follow it she does.

Luna gets to where it’s hovering, and blinks.

There, coming out from under a particularly big chunk of house, is a hand. It’s not moving. There's a wand lying there, too- it's her Mummy's.

Luna picks up the wand, slips it into the front pocket of her overalls, and then looks down at the hand for a second. Then she turns back to the little white light.

She’s seen a light like this before- one time, at Ginny’s house, she’d seen a miniature version of it sparking around a doxie that had been torn apart by a cat.

The light is still sparking, but less so. Luna can’t be sure, but she thinks it might be fading- sparking away.

Luna reaches a hand out towards it. She doesn’t really know what she’s doing, but sometimes when she tries to touch the lights, they do something.

Sometimes they even do what she wants them to do.

Her hand closes around it and she frowns at the tingling feeling- it really is like a shock. Regardless, Luna pushes through.

It’s sparking even less now, fading fast. But- it’s not fading into nothing. Instead it feels like it’s… slipping off, somewhere else.

“Take me with you,” she decides, clenching her hand around it and holding fast.

The light gives her one last little shock- and then the world slips through a very small tunnel, and Luna is somewhere else.

Harry

Harry Potter is five years old. He’s also hungry, tired, covered in dirt, and really very confused.

“Hello,” he says, since he doesn’t know what else there is to say.

“Hello,” responds the girl- or is she a fairy? Harry’s heard about those, but he’d thought they were smaller. And had wings. And didn’t normally wear overalls.

The girl is also dirty, but it seems to be of the dusty variety. She’s got short wispy blonde hair that is sticking every which way. It’s the sort of hair that would have Petunia fainting right away- although it’s nowhere near as wild as Harry’s hair.

In comparison to Harry’s own dark skin, hers is so pale it looks actually white (although that might be the dust). Paler than the Dursleys’, even- if the girl isn’t a fairy, she might be a ghost instead. Her eyes are big and blue. Really big, and really blue. Maybe she’s an alien?

Regardless, she’s probably not a normal little girl. Harry hasn’t met many of those (or any), but he’s pretty sure they don’t usually appear out of thin air and land on top of you while you’re trying to pull weeds.

“Hello,” Harry says again. “Would you mind it very much if you got off of me?”

“You’ve got a lot of lights,” the girl says, not moving.

“Oh,” Harry says.

“I don’t suppose you can see them?” the girl asks hopefully.

Harry shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”

The girl lets out a loud sigh, then finally pushes herself off of Harry.

“Have you seen my Mummy? I think she might be dead,” the girl says, matter-of-factly.

“Mine too,” Harry says reflexively, then furrows his brow. “And no. I’ve been in the garden all day.”

“Oh,” the girl says, looking a bit put-out.

“I’m Harry,” Harry says, a little proudly. He’d only just figured that out a couple days ago, after all.

“I’m Luna,” Luna responds, then sits back on her heels, looking a little lost.

“I’m sorry about your- your mummy,” Harry hazards.

Luna blinks at him for a moment. Then her face twists up and her eyes fill with tears. Harry watches in mild fascination as the tears spill from her huge eyes and pour down her face. This is nothing like how Dudley cries- she’s hardly making a sound at all!

Then he shakes his head. Harry isn’t sure, but he thinks you aren’t supposed to just sit and watch while people cry.

“Do you want to see something cool?” Harry asks, hoping that will do the trick.

Luna sniffles, but then she rubs at her eyes and nods.

Harry grins, then fishes around in his pocket. His hand wraps around his prize, and he pulls it up and out, presenting it to Luna.

“Oh,” Luna breathes, looking at the little green grass snake.

They sit in silence for a moment, just looking.

Then the snake asks very politely to be put down, and they watch as it slithers off.

“Do you want to be best friends?” Harry asks Luna, looking up at the girl.

Luna seems to consider for a moment.

“Okay,” she decides.

Chapter Text

Regulus Black opens his eyes, blinks once, then manages just barely to roll over in time to throw up the contents of his stomach, lungs, and what feels like an entire fucking ocean.

“Merlin’s saggy tits on a fucking stick,” Regulus gasps, then reflexively cringes as he thinks about what his mother would say about his language.

Probably not much- probably all she’d have to say is the word ‘crucio’. A couple times.

Although- to be completely fair to him, he thinks he might have been more eloquent if, say, he hadn’t just been fucking dead.

At least, that’s what he thinks he was. Had to be, right? The inferi had just latched onto him, pulled him under- there’s no way he survived that. But then- well, if he’d been dead then how is he alive?

As he continues to struggle with this concept, Regulus begins slowly to register the fact that he is not alone.

“You’re funny,” says a dreamy voice- a really young sounding voice. “That was a funny thing you said.”

Regulus looks up from where he’d been staring sightlessly at the spreading pool of brackish water and bile he’d just thrown up. Then he blinks.

And then he throws himself backwards, splashing into the shallows of the freezing cold lake he’d just emerged from. At this, Regulus flails a bit- but no inferi come to drag him back down, so he forces himself to stop and look around.

As he’d thought, he is still in the cave. It’s dim, but there is enough light from the open cave wall (wait, what) to see that the still lake, which had previously held an army of inferi and Regulus himself, is empty. Completely and totally empty. In the center of the lake is the all-too-familiar pedestal containing the potion and fake horcrux.

Most pressing of all, though, are the children. Two of them, a boy and a girl- and they can’t be older than four or five.

One of them is incredibly pale, with wispy white hair to match. Her wide blue eyes are far too big for her head- she almost looks Elf-like. Or, she would, if she weren’t also covered head-to-toe in an ashy soot like substance, and wasn’t wearing a pair of muggle overalls embroidered with a little cartoon bear.

The other is equally sooty, but that’s where the similarities end.

In contrast to the girl, the boy is dark skinned, and has a crop of wild dark hair. For some reason, something about him is familiar- but Regulus can’t place it right now.

The boy is wearing a t-shirt and trousers that look to be six-sizes too big for him- Regulus isn’t sure how the trousers are staying up at all. The boy has big eyes as well, and although they don’t look as disproportionate as the girl’s, his eyes are so green they nearly glow in the dimness of the cave.

Worryingly enough, the boy’s face is also absolutely covered in what looks to be dried blood, and he’s leaning heavily on the girl.

“Are you-” Regulus croaks, then coughs. “Are you alright? Where are your parents?”

“Dead,” says the boy, looking completely and totally unbothered at the idea.

“Dead,” says the girl, looking considerably more bothered by the idea.

Regulus frowns, then goes to stand up.

He manages it for all of thirty seconds, before he topples over again. Or, he would’ve- if the boy hadn’t been there grabbing at his wrist and keeping him as steady as a five-year old can. It’s not much, but it’s enough to keep him upright.

The girl watches them impassively all the while.

By the time Regulus regains enough balance to stand on his own, he sees that sweat is pouring down the boy’s face, leaving tracks in the blood and ash.

“Are you- are you alright?”

“His leg is broken,” the girl says in that same flat, dreamy tone as she looks out over the water. “It’s really been rather a pain to manage.”

Regulus thinks this girl might be a bit of a genius- she’s very well-spoken for a four-year old. And then what she said sinks in, and he looks back down at the boy.

“Sorry,” the boy gasps out.

Regulus blinks, then lifts a reflexive hand to- to do what? Push the boy away? Try to lift him up? He shouldn’t be walking, right? Not if his leg is broken-

The boy flinches, full-bodied, and Regulus withholds a huge groan.

“Okay,” Regulus says, slowly lowering his hand.

The girl is still just watching Regulus with those huge eyes, and the boy is shaking.

“Okay,” Regulus says again, mind racing.

He’s been alive again for all of two minutes and already this is the longest day of his life.

Regulus reaches a slow hand up to his sodden robes, then grimaces. His wand is, of course, gone. Probably at the bottom of the lake.

“I don’t suppose either of you have a wand?” he asks weakly.

The boy gets a baffled look on his face, but the girl wordlessly withdraws a wand from her pocket. She hands it to Regulus, who then gives it a little wave. It burns his hand a little, but Regulus manages to keep a grip on it. Wands have had worse reactions to him in the past.

“It's my mummy's. I don't think it likes you,” the girl says.

Regulus decides not to ask how she knows that. “Most wands don’t. Will it listen to me at all?”

The girl shrugs. She’s not meeting his eyes as she speaks- hasn’t once this whole time. Instead, she seems to be looking either into the air around Regulus, or at his shoulder.

Regulus nods, then lifts his drenched hair up and uses the wand to tie it back in a little knot. Not the best place to keep a wand, but at least it’s handy.

“Right,” Regulus says. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” The girl asks.

“Away from here,” Regulus decides. Then he pauses. “To a healer, maybe. Is-”

The idea of facing the world outside has Regulus suddenly reeling with the magnitude of everything that has happened.

Regulus crouches down, head in his hands. The boy lets out a surprised little gasp at the sudden movement.

Regulus sits like that for a moment, just trying to get his breathing under control.

The war- the horcrux- Kreacher- Sirius- he doesn’t- how long has Regulus even been dead?

Regulus feels a warm little hand gently grabbing at his own hand and he looks up.

“It’s okay,” the boy says, peering at Regulus with those bright green eyes- the same shade as the killing curse, Regulus thinks. The same shade as-

Regulus realizes abruptly why the boy looks familiar.

“Why do you look like James Potter,” Regulus asks shakily. “With Lily Evans's eyes?”

The boy blinks, then smiles. “I think Potter is my last name!”

Regulus has been dead for five years, then. Five years at least.

Regulus feels his breathing start to quicken again and he clamps down hard on the feeling of panic threatening to overtake his rational thinking.

If he panics, he can’t get these children back to their home. Or homes, if they aren’t related. Or anywhere other than here, really.

This cave can’t be safe- Regulus isn’t sure what these children did to the wards on the place, wouldn’t know unless he checked. But he does know that the door into the cave is open and hasn’t shut behind them, so it must have been big. Like, punching a massive hole in the wards big.

Regulus also doesn’t know what’s happened in the last five years, but he can’t assume it was good- especially judging by the presence of these blood and soot-covered orphans.

Regulus can’t risk waiting around to see if the Dark Lord shows up- and with that much of a disruption to the wards, the Dark Lord would undoubtedly have felt it. If they stay here, and the Dark Lord shows up, then-

Well, a painless death would be a mercy, at that point. The only thing is that Regulus isn’t sure he’s capable of casting an unforgivable on a couple of children (much less with this wand) and he doesn’t especially want to find out.

“We’re leaving,” Regulus announces, then looks over at Potter. “Can I pick you up?”

Potter looks at him like he’s just grown a second head. Regulus just raises an eyebrow.

“Why?” The boy finally asks.

“Because your leg is broken,” Regulus explains.

“I can walk!” Potter protests, twisting his oversized shirt in his hands.

“You’ll slow us down,” Regulus says.

It’s true- but the real, bigger truth is that Regulus would not prefer to force anyone to walk with a broken leg, much less a five year old (apparent son of James Potter notwithstanding).

The boy scrunches his eyes together and screws his face up, but nods. Regulus, slowly and gently as he can, gathers Potter up in his arms and stands up, grunting slightly. Potter weighs just about nothing (worryingly so- Regulus can feel Potter’s ribs through his shirt), but Regulus isn’t exactly in top shape after the lake.

Potter is as stiff as a board, which doesn’t help, but Regulus isn’t about to ask the child to relax- judging by his general flinchy-ness and state of being, Potter hasn’t had too many good experiences with adults. Stiff-as-a-board is likely the best case scenario here.

Regulus feels his other free hand suddenly being grasped in a different tiny hand. He looks down at the girl, who has come to stand by him.

“Let’s go, then,” Regulus says, then takes a step towards the light of the sun.

Chapter Text

It takes a half hour to get up the cliffside, and another hour to follow a road and find any sort of civilization at all, much less another person.

Fortunately, between the sweating and cursing and feeling like he’s about to fall off of a cliffside to his (second) death, taking two five-year olds with him, Regulus manages to glean some information from the children.

Harry is five, and he lived with his aunt and uncle in some muggle place called Little Whinging. Regulus says lived because Harry is going back to that place over his dead body. Maybe not even then.

Apparently, Harry did all of the household work, was routinely starved and beaten, and slept in a cupboard. He doesn’t know his parents’ names, and had in fact only learned his own name a few weeks ago.

All of this information is relayed to Regulus in a no-nonsense, matter-of-fact tone. Clearly Harry thinks this is just how things are- and why shouldn’t he? He’s five. The only other child he’s known his whole life is his cousin, ‘Dudley’- the one who broke his leg, apparently.

Regulus does a pretty good job of not reacting, he thinks- he maybe holds on to the boy slightly tighter than strictly necessary. (Although Harry’s words has made it occur to Regulus that his own childhood may have also been- well, really fucking bad.)

Regulus knows next-to-nothing about children, but he thinks reacting with any sort of horror or revulsion would have Harry clamming right up. That’s the last thing Regulus needs- right now, these kids are his only source of information for what has happened in the last six years.

Luna is the one that had known the year- she’s four, a genius, and quite possibly the most powerful person to have ever walked the earth, alive or dead.

Come to find out, Luna’s been able to ‘see lights’ her whole life. (Magic. She can see magic.) Not only that, but she can physically manipulate those ‘lights’.

Which is why, after both of her parents died in a magical explosion earlier that day (no wonder the idea of her parents being dead had been such a sore subject), she grabbed on to one of the ‘lights’ and ‘followed’ (apparated) right on top of Harry, hoping it would take her to wherever her parents had gone instead.

Regulus has no idea why a random particle of magic took her to Harry. When he asks if she knows why, she just shrugs and says that the lights had matched.

Luna and Harry had proceeded to have a minor disagreement with Harry’s cousin, who’d wanted to play a game of chase with them. (If a minor disagreement results in a broken leg, Regulus doesn’t want to hear about what a major disagreement constitutes of.)

Luna had agreed to the game after hearing the rules, and then had apparated Harry and herself away, following yet another light.

Then, they’d found themselves in a nearby shack that Luna had accidentally turned into a mountain of ash after taking a quick nap. Apparently the shack had held a nasty curse, which Luna had then inflicted on the shack itself instead of letting it hurt her or Harry.

(As the children take turns talking about the shack, Regulus notices Harry fidgeting with something in his pocket- but he doesn't think much of it.)

After that, they’d decided to follow more ‘lights’, only this time via walking. Apparently a cave that’s full of inferi and warded to hell and back is really, really bright.

Luna had had to carry Harry most of the way, but they’d eventually made their way into the cave. The two of them proceeded to ‘clear away’ (blast a hole into) some of the ‘shining lights’ (the ward schema that Regulus himself had designed, and should therefore have been impenetrable).

Then they’d come into the cave and ‘gotten rid’ of the inferi.

Regulus had asked how. They didn't know.

“I don’t remember,” Harry had said.

“It went really gold,” Luna decided, tugging gently at a lock of Regulus’s hair.

Harry had seen that there was one inferius left- Regulus himself. Then, although Luna and Harry once again aren’t sure how to explain how, Regulus had been lifted from the water and brought back to life.

If the Dark Lord isn’t dead (and Regulus has it on good authority that he isn't), Luna is without a doubt going to be able to permanently take him out. With a sneeze.

Although, from what the children know, the Dark Lord is dead- or at least defeated for the time being. Well- Harry doesn’t know anything, since he’s lived with muggles his whole life.

Luna, on the other hand, says that the Dark Lord was defeated for good only four years prior- when she was seven months old. Luna’s mother says he was defeated by a powerful witch, and Luna’s father says he was defeated by a baby.

“Do you know the name of that witch?” Regulus had asked, deciding that Luna’s father is very probably where Luna got the odder parts of her personality from.

“Lily,” Luna says after a moment. “I remember because it sorta sounds like my name.”

“Oh,” Regulus says, looking over at where Harry is now resting his head on Regulus’s shoulder, asleep.

Some of the dried blood on Harry’s face has flaked away revealing a huge branching scar. It covers half of his forehead, and some of the bridge of his nose- it looks like someone plastered a flash of lightning to a five-year-old's face and called it a job well done.

“Do you-” Regulus starts, then stops.

No, he’s being ridiculous. But… Luna had said Lily, and Harry’s eyes…

“Do you know the name of the baby?”

“Harry Potter,” Luna says, matter-of-factly. Then- “Ah! Is that him?”

“Oh,” Regulus says again, feeling a little light-headed. “Yes, I rather think it might be. Let’s- let’s maybe keep that to ourselves for now, though, alright?”

Harry has had a stressful enough day. They all have.

The first person they come across- a muggle, likely- takes one look at the trio and hurries to the other side of the street, avoiding eye-contact.

Regulus might have, in another life (his previous one, to be exact), been indignant about this. How dare a muggle think themselves better than Regulus and these (mostly, probably) pure wixen children, etcetera etcetera.

However, right now, he’s much more concerned with the fact that had it not been for Luna’s suddenly ironclad grip on his own hand, he would’ve been halfway through tearing into the muggle’s still-beating heart with his teeth before he could consider things like ethics, or morality, or food poisoning.

“New plan,” Regulus announces, heart racing in his chest. “We’re going to catch a bird, or a squirrel, or something otherwise small and non sapient, and then I am going to eat its heart.”

“Do you have to?” Luna asks.

Regulus looks down at her, feeling quite a bit like he’s about to fall over. The events of the day are starting to catch up to him, and seeing the muggle had awoken a deep and gnawing hunger within him.

His stomach takes the opportunity to growl, loudly.

“Yes,” Regulus says, in a tone that brokers no argument.

It’s a damn good thing that Luna and Harry seem to be immune to whatever side-effects come with being an inferius and then getting better, because otherwise the two little children would have been turned into a really gruesome lunch.

That, or Luna would have simply poked at some magic and he would’ve instantaneously been blasted to smithereens.

Yeah, Regulus thinks as he watches Luna grab at nothing and a rabbit fly out of nowhere and land directly into her outstretched hands, it probably would have been that second scenario.

Regulus does put Harry down for the part where he messily rips into a live rabbit to consume its heart, lungs, liver, muscles, fat, brain, and some of its stomach.

He also insists that Harry and Luna be several feet away, and safely out of sight behind two trees and a dense bush- Regulus knows children can be morbid, and can delight in horrible things, but something tells him Luna and Harry aren’t those kinds of children.

Well, Luna might be- at least out of pure academic curiosity. Harry though? No way. Plus, he’s still half asleep.

Hunger mostly sated (for now), Regulus manages to coax a scourgify out of the wand to clean most of the blood off of his face and hands and clothes. Then he tucks the wand safely back in his (now dry and extremely filthy) hair and goes to find the children.

A part of him worries that they might have apparated off again. Fortunately, instead he sees that Luna has fallen asleep as well, snoring softly and snuggling up to Harry.

Regulus smiles at the sight despite himself, feeling a rush of warmth for these two extremely weird and inexplicable orphans. Then, his smile falters as he thinks about what he’s going to do next.

He’s not sure he’s capable of apparating, not with this wand. And he doesn’t know if Luna would be able to apparate them to a specific destination. From the way she was describing it, it sounds like she just goes where the lights take her.

Although that might be better than nothing, since it's not as if Regulus knows where to go, either.

Grimmauld is not an option, since his mother is very likely still alive, and Regulus would rather die again than let Walburga Black anywhere near these children. Or any children, come to think of it.

Severus, Barty, Narcissa, Bella- not an option, since they’re all probably in prison or dead (assuming the Dark Lord was defeated). Even if they aren’t, none of them are likely to take kindly to Regulus anymore. Or Harry.

Regulus thinks about Harry’s scar, about Luna’s father’s belief about who actually defeated the Dark Lord and cringes- yeah. Definitely not.

The Ministry is out, because of various reasons- the biggest one being the brand on Regulus’s left arm that very loudly and efficiently tells every ministry worker everything they need to know about Regulus’s decision making abilities. That would likely be a very good way to get arrested, and then where would the kids go? Regulus isn’t about to risk Harry being sent back, not for anything.

Sirius isn’t an option either, since he’s absolutely dead- otherwise he would’ve raised Harry himself. (Regulus is trying very, very hard not to think about Sirius.)

None of Sirius’s horrible friends are going to work either, for the same reason- Regulus couldn’t stand the bastards, but none of them would have left Harry to his horrible relatives. Hell, even if they weren’t dead, Regulus still wouldn’t know the first place to look for them.

Hogwarts- Regulus closes his eyes, keeping his breathing measured. It’s got to be Hogwarts. If there’s anyone in the world that Regulus can trust with the horcrux information he has, it’s Albus Dumbledore. Unfortunately.

Even if Dumbledore is no help, or has died, or something- at the very, very least, there’s an infirmary at Hogwarts, for Harry.

The only thing is that Hogwarts is in Scotland. Which means Regulus is likely about to spend the next several weeks walking.

Wonderful.

Chapter Text

It had occurred to Regulus that he could try calling for Kreacher, since Sirius is dead and Regulus might be the heir now, but that hadn’t worked- which means that the family magics thinks someone else (although Regulus has no idea who) has an even better claim to the title of heir than he does.

Regulus decides to blame that on the inferius thing, since the alternative is that the family magics just hate Regulus. That’s not a confirmation that Regulus thinks he can cope with right now, so inferius it is.

He lets the children sleep for another half-hour or so before he has to wake them. They’re losing light faster than Regulus is comfortable with, and Regulus doesn’t want to be traveling in the dark.

Harry wakes with a start after Regulus whispers his name, but Regulus has to shake Luna awake.

“We need to get going,” Regulus says.

Luna doesn’t argue, just nods her head as she rubs at her eyes.

It takes another twenty minutes, but Regulus manages to cobble together a splint for Harry’s leg with some roughly transfigured sticks and leaves, and a good chunk of his robes. It’s not pretty, but it’s something.

Harry watches Regulus work, not saying a thing. When Regulus actually splints the leg, Harry doesn’t so much as cry out. And then Harry tries to stand.

“Woah,” Regulus says, holding out a forestalling hand.

Harry flinches, but at least he stops trying to get up. He looks confused.

“I thought you said we had to go?” Harry asks.

“Yes,” Regulus agrees. “But you have a broken leg, Harry. I’m carrying you.”

“You fixed it!” Harry protests. He’s twisting his shirt again.

“Not all the way. I’m sorry,” Regulus says. “If I could let you walk, I would- but I can’t. I don’t want you to hurt.”

“Oh,” Harry says.

Regulus isn’t sure that Harry gets it, not really, but the boy does let Regulus pick him up.

The bright side of eating a live rabbit is that Regulus feels considerably stronger. The downside is every other part of eating a live rabbit.

They walk for a while, sticking to the road. Some automobiles slow as they pass the trio, but none stop. Regulus isn’t sure whether to feel grateful or incensed over this, so he mostly tries not to feel anything at all about it.

Regulus manages to confund some food and drinks for the children and a map of the area out of a muggle shopkeeper (he’d had to breathe in through his mouth while he’d browsed since the smell of fresh human flesh was almost unbearable, which Regulus adds to the list of things to have a panic-attack about later).

Regulus is able to read the map with little difficulty, and leads the kids onwards, towards fucking Scotland.

It’s slow going. It’s really slow going. By Regulus’s estimates, they’ll only get about a twentieth of the way there by nightfall, and he’s already to the point where he’s carrying both children.

“Reg,” Luna whispers into his ear.

“Yes?” Regulus says. He sounds surprisingly not out of breath, considering how out of breath he is.

“I’m tired,” she says.

“You can sleep,” Regulus says. “I’ll keep carrying you.”

Luna sighs sadly, then says, “Reg?”

“Yes?” Regulus says, feeling like he should perhaps be given a medal for how patient he’s being. He hates that damn nickname. Not that he’s going to tell Luna that, of course.

“I miss my mummy and daddy. Do you know where they went?”

“They died, Luna,” Regulus says, feeling his heart pang and regretting instantly every impatient thought he’s ever had towards the girl. “Do you know what that means?”

“Yes, but you did that too,” Luna points out. “You got better.”

How the hell is Regulus supposed to respond to that?

“I think that was a one-time thing,” Regulus says finally. “I’m sorry.”

“I wish it had been my mummy instead,” Luna says, head sinking onto Regulus’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Regulus says again.

Regulus feels a gentle kiss on his other shoulder.

“I don’t,” Harry says, squeezing Regulus’s neck just a bit too tightly. “I like Reg.”

“I like you too, Harry,” Regulus says, feeling all sorts of ways and no ways at all. "I like you both."

And they walk on.

Night falls, and Regulus wakes Luna up just long enough for her to summon another rabbit. He eats as quickly as he can, then cleans himself off and refreshes the transfigurations on Harry’s splint.

Then, with lack of a better option, he picks the two children up again and continues to walk.

The rabbit revitalizes him in the same way a nice meal would- namely, everything still hurts and he’s fucking exhausted. He just wants to lie down and sleep the next ten hours away- but he can’t. He needs to get these children to safety.

Regulus thinks it’s about two in the morning when he finds he can’t walk any more. So, he wobbles over to a little tree that’s a couple hundred meters off the road, clears a spot underneath it, sets Luna and Harry down, manages a warming charm and a weak softening charm, sets up an incredibly rudimentary ward schema, and then collapses.

Regulus wakes up with the sunrise all of three hours later, and thinks that he might actually miss the lake.

“Reg,” Luna says from where she’s crouched over him like a horrible little gargoyle. “I caught you breakfast already.”

“Thank you, Luna.”

“Harry named it, though.”

“Okay,” Regulus says.

“His name is Regulus Two,” Harry says, proudly holding up the terrified looking squirrel.

“Okay,” Regulus says again, closing his eyes.

They release Regulus Two so he can go back to his family (that’s the only way Regulus could get Harry to relinquish the thing), and Regulus picks Harry up once more.

“More walking?” Luna asks.

Regulus bites the inside of his cheek.

“Yes.”

Luna sits down with a huff. “No,” she says.

Regulus bites the inside of his cheek harder.

“I’ll carry you,” Regulus says.

“No!” Luna shrieks. A startled bird flies suddenly from the tree they’re sitting under. Luna looks close to tears. “It’s boring!”

“No it isn’t,” Harry says, eyes darting nervously from Regulus and back to Luna. “It’s fun!”

“I’ll tell you a story,” Regulus suggests. “A lot of stories.”

Luna huffs again, but allows for Regulus to lean down and pick her up. Harry kisses Regulus’s shoulder again as he does.

Regulus is trying very hard not to have a favorite child, but right now there is no contest.

“Once upon a time,” Regulus starts, “there were four wixen…”

Regulus then proceeds to retell Hogwarts a History to two absolutely enraptured five year olds.

That takes them all the way up to lunchtime, which is when they take a break. Regulus gives the last of the food he’d gotten from the shop to the children, who are hungry enough to eat the stale food without complaint.

While Harry is distracted by his food, Luna hands Regulus a flailing fox.

Regulus sighs, then takes it into the forest.

Another two hours of walking later, and Harry is asleep again. Regulus has just finished another section of his latest ‘story’- although he’s really just been going down the Black family tree, and giving the history of the star or constellation each person is named after as he does.

“Can I tell you a story now?” Luna asks.

“Sure,” Regulus croaks.

Fox blood is not, come to find out, as hydrating as rabbit blood- which is not very conducive to talking for hours upon hours.

“Once upon a time,” Luna starts, “there was a woman.

“She was the prettiest woman in the whole world. One day, she came across a crying little girl. ‘Oh what is wrong, little girl?’ She said. ‘Oh I have lost my favorite spider! I have so many spiders, but this one was my favorite in the whole world!’ says the little girl.”

Luna pauses, taking a big breath. Regulus nods so that she knows he's listening.

“‘I will help you find your spider,’ says the prettiest woman in the world. ‘What did she look like?’ the little girl starts crying harder. ‘I don’t remember,’ she cries.”

Luna stops. Regulus looks over at her, feeling a bit bemused.

“And then what?” Regulus asks, when Luna still says nothing.

“The end,” Luna says.

“Oh,” Regulus says. “Not a very happy story, then.”

“That’s okay,” Luna says. She kisses Regulus’s shoulder. “I won’t mind if you cry.”

Regulus does feel like crying then, a bit.

“I’ll cry later,” Regulus says, blinking away the tears that have rushed to his eyes. “Right now I need to walk.”

“Everyone needs to cry,” Luna says. “That’s what daddy says.”

“Your daddy sounds like a smart man,” Regulus says.

“Yes,” Luna says.

They walk on.

Chapter Text

“Hey, are you alright?”

Regulus starts, although not badly enough to wake the two sleeping kids in his arms. Regulus doesn’t know how an entire car managed to sneak up on him, but it did.

Then again, he’s essentially been walking for three days straight while simultaneously carrying two small children that are struggling as much if not more than he is with their current circumstances- so maybe it’s not a surprise at all that his situational awareness is currently shit.

Regulus slowly turns his head to look over at the muggle, who is driving besides Regulus. Regulus is so fucking exhausted that he feels as though he’s trying to move through molasses.

The muggle is in a nicer automobile, from what little Regulus knows about cars, and he’s smiling warmly despite the concern evident on his face.

The man looks to be in his early forties- he’s got short curly black hair, dark skin, and thick-rimmed glasses that make his warm brown eyes look much bigger than they are. He’s wearing a yellow sweater that’s got little honeybees embroidered on the neckline.

He looks like a nice enough man- but Regulus is currently trying very, very hard not to pull him out of his car and violently eat his heart and brain right here on the side of the road.

Harry sighs and presses his face into Regulus’s shoulder, little hands holding tightly to Regulus’s neck. At this, the haze of hunger lifts enough for Regulus to refocus on what the man is saying.

“... don’t mean to pry, but your boy’s leg looks like it’s in rough shape.”

Regulus blinks and swallows.

“I’m okay,” Harry whispers tiredly into Regulus’s shoulder.

Regulus winces- so much for the kids not waking up. Although, Luna is still totally out- she’s a much heavier sleeper than Harry. And droolier. Regulus’s shoulder is soaked.

“Yes-” Regulus tries to say- although it comes out as more of a croak. He clears his throat and tries again. “Yes. It’s broken. I did what I could, but there’s not much- we’re on the run, you see, and-”

Regulus hates this. Hates that he’s about to beg this muggle for help.

Hates even more that this muggle man is very likely going to be able to help Harry much more than Regulus has been- just by virtue of being able to get Harry to a muggle healer.

“I understand,” the man is saying. “Look, I know this is monumentally stupid of me to do, but I’m on my way home- do you and your kids want to come with? I can take a look at that leg, give you the chance to clean up, get you three a good meal…”

“They’re not my children,” Regulus says reflexively.

The man lets out a little laugh.

“Ah, I did think you looked a little young for that. Siblings, then?” The man asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Regulus says after a moment.

Harry kisses his shoulder again, but Regulus is kicking himself internally. He doesn’t know what he was thinking- he should’ve just let the man assume they were his children.

Then the other thing the man has said registers, and Regulus is shaking his head. “Also we shouldn’t-”

“I get it,” the man says, smiling widely. “Strange man offering you a ride to his house- super suspicious. And if you’d prefer, I could just take you three to a hospital, or a police station, or wherever you need to go. But I’m a pediatrician, so I could look at that leg and get it fixed right up.” The man pauses, then adds, “and something tells me you three are coming out of a bad situation and could use a lucky break.”

Regulus thinks back to what he knows about latin, and narrows his eyes. Healer of children- Regulus could certainly use that right now.

Harry’s leg is broken, yes- but he’s also undoubtedly malnourished, and who knows what else. Even a muggle’s opinion on what Regulus should do about Harry’s health is better than nothing.

Assuming, that is, that the man is telling the truth.

“I have some old clothes that would probably fit you- and I actually have a kid of my own. She’s twelve, but I’ll bet we could find some of her clothes from when she was younger for the little ones,” the man muses.

It’s the prospect of a shower and clean clothes that makes Regulus’s mind up.

Besides, Regulus isn’t actually all that concerned about this man being a murderer. Luna would make quick work of him if he tries anything. The trick would be not eating him after that- murderer or not, Regulus would prefer not to add cannibalism to his growing list of things to deal with.

Regulus nods and the man grins again, then stops the car fully.

“Hop in! Sorry, I don’t have any carseats- but it’s a short drive, and I’ll go slow.”

“Reg,” Luna whispers sleepily into his ear. “What’s going on?”

“We’re going with this man to his home, where we’ll get cleaned up and eat some food,” Regulus says, coming up to the door of the automobile. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Luna says, then yawns. “Just so long as we’re done walking.”

Regulus smiles thinly at her, then turns to look at the car door. That looks like a handle, maybe if he-

He pulls at it, and the door swings open. Regulus lets out a little relieved sigh. He’s so, so out of his depth here.

He puts Harry down on the furthest side of the odd little bench first, who then reaches up and draws a little band across his chest and lap, clicking a little metal bit into an odd little box.

“Safety first,” the muggle man agrees, sending a smile Harry’s way.

Harry looks at him, confused, but the man’s warm smile doesn’t waver.

Regulus climbs in after, sitting beside Harry and putting Luna down on the bench on his other side. He reaches over Luna and swings the car door closed, then turns his attention to the bands. It takes some (hopefully not-too-obvious) trial-and-error, but he manages to secure a band around Luna (who begins pulling gently at it), and then one around himself.

The man smiles again, and then the car begins to move.

Luna is staring out the window in wide-eyed fascination at the landscape that’s rushing by outside, Harry is fidgeting with his shirt, and Regulus is trying not to worry about being stuck in a metal box moving at high speeds.

From what Regulus has heard about cars, they’re capable of bursting into flames at any moment, because muggles are insane.

The man reaches up and adjusts a little mirror.

“Do you three have something I can call each of you?” he asks.

Regulus opens his mouth to give the man some fake names, but then the car jostles a bit and he reflexively squeezes his eyes shut instead, sure that everything is about to explode into fiery death.

“I’m Luna,” Luna says in that dreamy tone of hers. “That’s Reg.”

A moment of silence.

Then, Luna gives out a little sigh. “And that’s Harry. I don’t think he likes grown-ups very much.”

“That’s alright, Harry,” the man says. “You don’t need to talk to me if you don’t want to- grown-ups can be scary and mean sometimes, and you don’t know me.”

Regulus cracks his eyes open, looking down at Harry. Harry is looking out the window now, having shrunk in on himself. Regulus takes his hand from where it had been gripping the bench and slowly offers it to Harry.

Harry grabs onto it tightly, and lets out a little shaky sigh. Regulus forces his own muscles to relax- he needs to show Harry that there’s nothing to fear here. Well. Besides being trapped in a horrible muggle death machine.

Harry does seem to relax minutely, though, so Regulus counts it as a win.

“I’ve only met nice grown-ups,” Luna says, frowning.

Regulus feels a swell of warmth for the girl, and resolve harden in his chest. If Regulus has anything to say about that, it’ll stay that way. Luna has been through enough as it is.

The man laughs. “I’m glad to hear that, Luna. I wish that’s how it was for everyone else.”

There’s a long moment of silence.

“Oh! I’m sorry,” the man says suddenly. “I completely forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Ted.”

Chapter Text

The man- Ted- catches Regulus’s eyes in the mirror. “So, Reg, is it?”

Regulus winces. Ted’s eyes go a bit crinkly around the edges, and he says, “maybe not, then.”

Regulus clears his throat. “Reg is fine,” he gets out.

Better that then his real name, anyways.

“Whatever you say,” Ted says.

His eyes go back to the road, which is where Regulus personally thinks they should stay. Fortunately, it’s not long after that when Ted maneuvers the car into a drive-way and brings it to a stop.

Regulus cranes his neck to get a good look at the house- it’s nothing much, just a two-story building with a nicely manicured front yard and big windows. It’s very… muggle. Regulus manages to keep from sneering, but only just. He can’t really afford to be snobby about this right now- if not for his sake, then for the kids.

“I have some groceries in the boot,” Ted says, pocketing the key and releasing his own band with a click. “Why don’t you gather up the kids, and we’ll meet at the door? I’d tell you to let yourself in, but my wife is home and she- well. She doesn’t just love my habit of taking in strays. I’ll have some explaining to do.”

Regulus nods, unlatching his own band before turning to release Luna. Harry has already released his, and has opened the door to the car.

Harry goes to slide out, but Regulus was ready for that. “I don’t want you to hurt, Harry, do you remember that?”

Harry pauses.

“It hurts to walk on your leg,” Regulus elaborates.

“Okay, Reg,” Harry says.

Regulus scoops Luna up (who has loudly proclaimed that she’s never walking again and if Harry doesn’t have to walk neither should she), slides out of the car, closes the door behind him, then comes around and picks Harry up as well.

Sitting, even for just the few minutes he had, did not do his aching muscles any favors. He’s starting to cramp up- every movement is another burst of agony. The hunger is back in full force, too. It’s been hours since Regulus’s last meal.

Despite this, he limps his way over to the front door- before stopping in his tracks, just shy of the porch. The hair on his arms are sticking straight up.

Luna is squinting. “Oh. It’s really bright,” she says.

Regulus can feel his heart racing. Fuck.

They shouldn’t have gone with the man. This has to be a trap. Why else would there be wards on this man’s house?

Regulus turns to look at Ted, who’s still gathering up the bags of food.

“Let me down,” Luna says, wriggling. “I can move them out of the way.”

Regulus tightens his hold on the girl.

“Did Ted have any lights?” he whispers.

“No,” Luna says, momentarily pausing her flailing. “His clothes do, though.”

Ted is definitely a muggle then, or a squib. A muggle or a squib with magical clothes and wards around his house that feel nearly as strong as the wards on the cave. Or- on Grimmauld.

Regulus can’t be sure, not without opening the schema, but he’s ninety percent sure these are Black family wards- which isn’t surprising, since most wards are; but these ones. Oh, these ones are the sort that only the richest of the rich can afford.

“Let me down,” Luna says again, pushing against Regulus in earnest.

“I think we need to go,” Regulus says, still reeling a bit. Everything hurts, and Regulus can feel his brain not working as it should.

It’s horrible- like his thoughts are there, right there, but just out of reach behind a wall of utter exhaustion and pain that is impenetrable to Regulus. Something about the name Ted- it’s ringing a bell, but Regulus can’t make the connection he knows he should be able to make.

“No!” Luna shouts.

“Luna, please,” Regulus says.

Luna has had a couple of big meltdowns over the last few days- not that Regulus can blame her- where she either shuts down completely or lashes out. It’s usually over seemingly innocuous things, like how something feels, or how loud something is, and it always takes her a while to calm down again. This is shaping up to be another one of those, and this is really bad timing.

Ted comes up from behind them, and the smell of flesh and blood is suddenly overwhelming. With lack of a better option, Regulus starts to breathe in through his mouth.

“Everything alright?”

“Thank you,” Regulus says. Luna hits him in the face, hard, but he doesn’t even look over at her- he has other things to worry about right now. “We really need to be off, actually. I remembered… something that… that I need to take care of.”

Ted gets a worried look on his face. “Are you sure? I’d really like to look at that leg-”

“I’m sure,” Regulus says, taking a step back from the wardline.

His stomach growls loudly. Luna is scratching his neck. Harry is clutching tightly to Regulus, looking worriedly between Regulus, Luna, and Ted.

“Thank you-” Regulus starts again.

“NO!” Luna shrieks, then reaches a tiny hand out towards the ward line and grabs at nothing.

“Luna-” Regulus says, but it’s too late.

He can feel it- Luna’s completely pulled the wards down.

Luna stops flailing, looking instead at where Regulus assumes the lights used to be with her wide blue eyes. Oh good- it was a shorter meltdown.

Not that that helps anything now.

Seconds later, the front door slams open. Regulus can only stare at the woman standing in the doorway with a wand leveled right at Regulus and the kids.

She's got light brown skin, an aquiline nose, high cheekbones, hard gray eyes, and her hair is black and curly- in other words, she looks very much like Regulus does.

Ted, the man had said his name was. Right. Regulus remembers where he’s heard the name Ted before. Shit.

“Ted! Are you alright? What happened- Regulus.”

“Andromeda,” Regulus says, his own voice sounding a million miles away. “It’s been a while. I don’t suppose you have any red meat? I fear I’m about to eat your husband.”

“Regulus? The cousin?” Ted asks, looking confused. “Hang on, didn’t he die?”

“Here you go,” Luna says softly from where she’s now sitting calmly in Regulus’s arms. She pushes a disgruntled looking squirrel at Regulus. “Please don’t eat Ted.”

Regulus looks down at the squirrel. It stares back with wide eyes.

“I’m calling that one Regulus Three,” Harry decides.

Ted laughs and Regulus very distantly thinks that Ted should maybe be a little more fazed by all of this.

“In,” Andromeda snaps. “Leave the squirrel.”

Luna drops the squirrel, which scampers off. Regulus watches it go, feeling its loss like a gaping wound. Then Regulus limps in after his cousin- because what else is he supposed to do?

Ted closes the door behind them, then walks past Regulus. Regulus closes his eyes and holds his breath. He feels a headache coming on- and the hunger is growing with every second, pulsing like a second heart deep in his chest.

“I’m going to stick these groceries in the kitchen,” Ted says, “and then I’ll grab what I need for Harry’s leg.”

Regulus nods, eyes still closed. Once he thinks Ted is gone, he opens his eyes… only to see Andromeda staring at him with a hard-as-steel gaze.

Ah fuck. Andromeda. He’s in Andromeda’s house.

How long has it been since Regulus has even thought of her? Thought about his wayward cousin, who turned her back on the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, gave up everything- just to run off with some muggle?

It’s been years.

How long has it been since Regulus has had a kind thought about her?

He doesn’t remember.

Regulus doesn’t know what to do. Hopefully she just kicks them out. He really doesn’t know if he can fight right now- and he isn’t sure Luna will know to get them out of here, not before it’s too late.

His stomach rumbles, and Andromeda’s eyes narrow further.

Regulus braces himself for yelling, or cursing, or-

With a flick of her wand, a packet of frozen meat is suddenly sailing towards Regulus. Harry reaches up and catches it, which is good because it would have otherwise hit Regulus in the face.

Regulus doesn’t bother with feeling surprised or grateful, or putting the children down, or finding somewhere to sit- he just sinks to the ground in the middle of the entry hall (mindful of Harry’s leg all the while), and releases the two children in favor of snatching the meat from Harry.

Less than a minute later and the meat is gone. Regulus doesn’t even remember opening the paper package- by the looks of it, he’d torn into it with his teeth. His mouth is cold, and he’s got a bit of a brain-freeze.

As he comes back to himself he registers a couple things: Luna, staring at the empty paper wrapping with morbid fascination in her eyes; Harry, patting his arm commiseratingly; and Andromeda, looking at him with an expression of- is that concern?

“Better?” Harry asks.

“Yes,” Regulus says.

He doesn’t get up off the ground, though. His muscles have sort of seized- he doesn’t think he could get up if he wanted to.

“You need to explain yourself right now,” Andromeda says, folding her arms. The concerned expression is gone- assuming it had even been there at all.

Regulus blinks up at her.

He has no idea what to say- he can barely remember his own name right now. He doesn’t think he’s slept more than four hours in the last three days, and now that he’s stopped walking, that fact is catching up to him in a major way.

At least it doesn’t sound like she’s kicking them out- not yet, anyways.

“Reg,” Harry whispers, tugging at his sleeve.

“Yes, Harry?” Regulus says, turning to look at the little boy. Regulus might feel seconds from passing out, but this is Harry- Regulus can muster up the strength for this, at least.

Andromeda is still standing there in the hall, probably- but Regulus really has no idea. Right now, he is solely focused on the children.

“Is she bad?” Harry asks, green eyes wide and wary.

“No,” Regulus says, trying to think back to the days before Andromeda had run away. This is difficult, because the world has started spinning very fast. “She is very nice,” Regulus decides. “Be good for her, alright? Do what she says.”

Harry suddenly looks terrified- his hand is gripping tightly to Regulus’s shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Luna asks. Her face is blank, like it usually is, but she sounds uncharacteristically nervous.

“Do you know what fainting is?” Regulus asks.

He’s slurring his words, he knows he is- but he can’t believe his tongue is listening to what his brain is telling it to do at all, and he isn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Yes,” Luna says slowly. Harry nods.

“I’m just going to do that,” Regulus decides. The blackness is closing in. “For a second.”

“Oh,” Luna says.

“Be good, Luna- don’t follow any lights without me, okay? And keep Harry safe. Don’t let them take him back.”

Luna taps her fingers on Regulus’s arm. Regulus thinks that’s probably her way of saying that she’ll do that. Hopefully.

The blackness takes him away.

Chapter Text

Andromeda watches her littlest cousin slump to the ground. Then, she watches his two… children? Kidnapping victims? Tagalongs? Turn to face her as one.

They’re watching her warily. Or, the green-eyed boy- Harry, apparently- is, anyhow.

The girl- Luna, Regulus had called her- is staring just over Andromeda’s shoulder with wide blue eyes and not much of an expression at all.

Andromeda takes the opportunity to look at them, really look.

It’s no surprise that Ted had picked them up- Andromeda loves her husband, but he is much softer than she is. Although- even Andromeda would have had a hard time not stopping for these three, dead cousin notwithstanding.

Regulus looks like shit- with dark circles under his eyes, dried blood and chunks of raw meat all down his chin and the front of his torn and rotting clothes. He looks very much like a dead man walking- which may well be the case, for all Andromeda knows.

The children are also covered in dirt, and the boy is obviously injured- his leg is splinted (badly) and there are spots of dried blood on his face.

Not only that, but Harry’s cheeks are hollow and he looks tiny- worryingly so. Ted’s a pediatrician, and Andromeda is a Black- she knows what victims of child abuse look like, and this is textbook.

The girl looks not only better off than the boy, but also completely different- likely they didn’t come from the same place at all. But how? And why?

Andromeda’s eyes slide back over to the boy, feeling like she’s missed something obvious. Her gaze falls on his face once more and-

Oh.

“Regulus, what have you done?” Andromeda asks, not taking her eyes off of the scar.

Regulus is still laying in a heap on the ground, so he doesn’t respond.

“Are you going to help him?” Luna asks.

Harry’s eyes dart over to her, then back at Andromeda. He looks terrified.

Well, he likely doesn’t have very many good experiences with adults. Andromeda needs to be careful here- something about the way Regulus was talking to the girl makes her think these children might not be as powerless as two five-year-olds normally would be.

Keeping those facts in mind, Andromeda slowly crouches to the ground, getting down on their level.

“Hello, I’m Andromeda. I’m Regulus’s cousin,” she says.

Harry’s hand is suddenly clenched tightly to Regulus’s shoulder. Hm. Andromeda has no idea why that set him off, but there’s nothing for it now.

“I want to move you three somewhere more comfortable than the floor,” Andromeda continues. “Is that alright?”

Harry’s gone so still that he’s hardly breathing. Luna looks over at Regulus, then back at Andromeda’s shoulder.

“I don’t think so,” she says.

Andromeda sighs, then nods. “Okay. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

Harry doesn’t look like he believes her one bit, but he does resume breathing.

“Can I cast a cleaning spell at you?” Andromeda asks.

Harry looks momentarily confused, but Luna shrugs.

“If you must,” Luna decides. Andromeda thinks she’s a very smart little girl- well spoken, anyways.

Andromeda nods again, and then slowly- telegraphing her movement- waves her wand at the three.

As the spell rushes over them, Luna sneezes, Regulus doesn’t do anything at all, and Harry stares in amazement down at his now clean hands and arms.

“Magic?” Harry whispers, then looks suddenly even more terrified than before.

Andromeda blinks. Does- how does Harry Potter not know what magic is?

“Lights,” Luna says, inexplicably.

Harry’s face clears up, and he nods knowingly. “I didn’t know other people could use those too,” he says.

“Oh yes,” Luna says. “Most people can.”

“Oh,” Harry says.

“Actually,” Andromeda cuts in, making a couple quick assumptions, “very few people can use magic- it’s just you’ve probably lived with magical people your whole life, Luna.”

“Okay,” Luna says, expression not changing.

At her use of the word ‘magic’, Harry shrinks in on himself once more.

“Harry,” Andromeda says softly. “Magic isn’t a bad word, not here.”

Harry nods jerkily, and Andromeda sighs internally. Where is Ted? He’s much better with children than she is.

“Andy?” Ted calls, once again demonstrating his uncanny skill of good timing. “Where are you?”

“Hall,” Andromeda calls back. “Regulus passed out, and the children aren’t going to leave him any time soon.”

Ted walks into the hall. He’s carrying the bag that holds some of his medical supplies.

“Hm,” he says, taking in the scene. “I don’t suppose you’ll let us move you three to a comfier spot?”

“It might help Regulus wake up sooner,” Andromeda adds.

The children look at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation.

“Okay,” Harry says. He scoots to be closer to Regulus. “You can move us.”

Andromeda lets out a little sigh of relief, and stands up slowly. She holds her wand out, casting a levitation charm on the two of them. Harry holds his breath as the soft blue light encases him, and then his green eyes go huge as he’s lifted up off the ground.

“Wow,” he whispers.

“Me too,” Luna says, reaching her little hands up.

Andromeda opens her mouth to tell the girl that she’s going to have to walk with Ted- but then to her absolute astonishment, the blue glow bleeds towards Luna as well, and the girl is floated up beside Harry and Regulus. Luna sighs contentedly, although she’s now squinting.

Ted gets a perplexed look on his face and glances over at Andromeda, who shakes her head.

No, that is not normal, not in the least, but- later. They’ll talk about it later- preferably after Regulus has woken up and can explain himself.

Andromeda moves the trio into the nearby guest bedroom, placing them gently onto the bed. Luna lies back, shuffling into Regulus and closing her eyes. Andromeda wonders how long they’ve been on the road- Luna is asleep in seconds.

“Andromeda,” Ted asks, looking over the three. “Can you wake Regulus up? I think Harry would be more comfortable if he was conscious.”

Andromeda hesitates. “I can try, but I don’t know if it’ll keep him up,” she says.

“Even still,” Ted says.

Andromeda sighs, and nods. “Do you have a pain potion in that bag?”

Ted nods. “A couple. I’ll have him drink one right off the bat.” True to his word, he’s already pulling the vials out of his bag.

“Okay,” Andromeda says. “But Ted- be careful. He might-”

She pauses. Might what? Might try to take a bite out of Ted? Andromeda is trying very hard to fight the surreality of the situation, but that’s getting harder and harder to do with every passing second.

Ted nods, and Andromeda shoots a rennervate at her cousin.

Regulus’s eyes snap open, and he groans.

“Here,” Ted says, holding the vial to his lips.

“For pain,” Andromeda clarifies.

Members of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black aren’t the most trusting sort- Regulus likely isn’t going to drink a random unidentified potion, even half-dead.

She’s honestly anticipating more of a fight, but Regulus opens his mouth and lets Ted pour the vial in, which is worrying in and of itself.

“Do you want a pepper-up potion as well?” Andromeda asks.

Regulus blinks, then shakes his head. “No- ‘m awake.”

“Reg,” Harry whispers, pressing into his side.

“Harry,” Regulus says, turning to look at him.

It looks like he’s having a hard time focusing his eyes. Andromeda presses down the guilty feeling rising in her chest. Pureblood arsehole Death Eater or not, Regulus clearly really needs to sleep- she’s regretting waking him up at all.

“I wanted to look at Harry’s leg, but I thought it would be better for him if you were awake,” Ted explains. “At least to help him feel more comfortable.”

Regulus blinks, obviously having a hard time registering Ted’s words.

“Harry,” he says at last. “Ted is really nice- he’s even nicer than me. Andromeda too.”

Andromeda very abruptly wants to laugh, or cry, or something.

From what she remembers of Regulus, he was a stuck-up pureblood brat. Last she’d heard, he was a Death Eater. Hell, she can see the Dark Mark on his arm through his tattered sleeves. What happened?

Harry blinks rapidly, and nods. Regulus closes his eyes and sighs.

“He’s going to make your leg better, okay? Can you let him do that? For me? I want you to not hurt anymore.”

“Yes,” Harry whispers.

“Okay,” Regulus says. He’s drifting off again, Andromeda can tell. His eyes snap open again. “Harry,” he says.

“Reg?”

“Be brave,” Regulus says.

“Okay,” Harry says. “Love you,” he adds so quietly that Andromeda has to strain her ears to hear it at all.

“I love you too,” Regulus sighs. “Both of you.”

And then he’s asleep again, and Andromeda feels a little bit like throwing up.

Harry turns to look at Ted and Andromeda, little face hardening with resolve.

Ted smiles warmly. “Are you ready to feel better?”

“Yes,” Harry says, in a shaky voice.

“I-” Andromeda says, then clears her throat.

She can’t tear her eyes off of Regulus, for some reason. Has he always been that small? Why is he so young? Jesus Christ, that’s her cousin. That’s Regulus. She hadn’t cried when she’d heard he died. Why does she want to cry now?

“I’m going to see if I can find them new clothes,” Andromeda gets out.

“Okay,” Ted says, looking at her with that stupid face full of love and compassion and openness.

“Okay,” Andromeda repeats, then hurries out of the room.

Chapter Text

Regulus wakes with a start, hands shooting out on either side of him.

When he doesn’t immediately feel the children, he rockets up and out of the bed- falling flat on his face.

He also manages to get himself tangled up in- in a cord of some kind? Something is taped to his hand, in any case. It seems to be leading up to a pole with a bag of clear liquid attached to it.

“Relax,” Andromeda says dryly. “They’re with Ted- he has them working on some coloring pages.”

“They’re okay,” Regulus gasps. “They’re okay?”

“They’re perfectly fine,” Andromeda says. “And now that you’re awake, you can tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Okay,” Regulus says, trying to calm his racing heart. He squeezes his eyes shut. He’s still on the floor, but he’ll remedy that in a second. “They’re safe, really? You haven’t sent- you haven’t sent Harry back?”

Regulus feels himself levitate off the ground and be placed back into bed, bizarre cord untangling around him as he is. He cracks an eye open.

“Regulus,” Andromeda says, tucking her wand away. “Even if I’d been that cruel, Ted would have divorced me and ran off with them himself before he let me do that.”

Regulus clenches his hands into fists, then relaxes them. The… thing taped on to his hand twinges.

“Okay,” he says. He’d like to say that he believes her, but really it’s the sudden sound of delighted laughter coming from the other room that has him truly relaxing.

“Explain,” Andromeda says again.

Regulus lets out a long breath, repressing the urge to pull the thing off his hand. It’s there for a reason, he’s sure of it- Andromeda wouldn’t let him bother it even if he wanted to.

“I died six years ago,” Regulus says, deciding that’s probably the best place to start.

“How,” Andromeda asks.

Regulus blinks. He was expecting a little more disbelief, but apparently Andromeda is going to be taking that in stride.

“Inferi,” Regulus says. “I was-”

Regulus stops. He isn’t sure that he can tell Andromeda what he was doing- sure, she’d effectively disowned herself by electing to run off with a muggle man, but that doesn’t mean she’s trustworthy in the fight against Voldemort. Not with this.

Andromeda raises an eyebrow, and Regulus closes his eyes.

“I realized the Dark Lord is a massive fucking mad-man who needed to be stopped, and so I tried to stop him. And then died trying.”

Regulus opens his eyes again, gauging her reaction. Andromeda’s eyes are narrowed.

“I’m supposed to believe you turned around on everything, just like that? The Death Eater thing, all that pureblood shit-”

“I didn’t say that,” Regulus cuts in, feeling a spike of indignation.

Then he hesitates, thinking back on everything that’s happened since he’s been resurrected.

Even if Ted hadn’t stopped for them, Regulus would still be an inferius- and he can’t be certain, but he thinks inferi might be held in a lesser regard than muggles as far as pureblood ideals go.

Regulus is many things, and he’s not eager to add ‘hypocrite’ to the list.

“I still- I still have work, there. Overcoming those… prejudices. But these last few days have been a bit of an- an education.”

Andromeda hums, but if Regulus had to guess, he’d say she looks less suspicious, at least.

“How are you alive now?”

Regulus lets out a bitter laugh. “If I knew that, I’d tell you.”

“Does it have something to do with the girl?”

Regulus looks over at Andromeda. She stares back, gaze unwavering.

“How long have I been out?” Regulus asks instead of answering her question.

“Two days,” Andromeda replies.

Regulus furrows his brow. Knowing Luna, she’s already given away the fact that she’s massively powerful- why else would Andromeda think it had anything to do with Luna?

Something else occurs to Regulus.

“Why aren’t I thirsty?” Regulus asks.

“Muggle medical science,” Andromeda says, gesturing at the pole. “It puts the water right into your body via your veins.”

Regulus stops his lip from curling just in time. It might seem primitive and barbaric, but it’s obviously worked- his mouth isn’t dry at all.

“Why aren’t I hungry, then?” Regulus asks.

“We’ve woken you up periodically to give you meat,” Andromeda says. “I’m not surprised you don’t remember. You were- well, Harry had to be the one to give it to you. I tried once and-”

She lifts up her hand. It’s heavily bandaged.

“Ah,” Regulus says, feeling a bit sick.

“You haven’t finished explaining,” Andromeda says, folding her arms again.

Regulus shrugs. “There’s not much left to explain- I woke up to the sight of these two children, and we’ve been walking ever since.”

“Where were you hoping to go?” Andromeda asks.

“Hogwarts,” Regulus says.

“Not Grimmauld?”

Regulus laughs bitterly. “No, not Grimmauld- you’ve met Walburga, haven't you? I’m not subjecting these children to her.”

Andromeda is curiously quiet for a long moment, and Regulus narrows his eyes at her.

“She’s dead,” he surmises.

Andromeda just nods.

Regulus doesn’t know how to feel about that, so he decides not to.

“Who’s Lord Black?” Regulus asks instead.

When Andromeda doesn’t immediately answer, Regulus gets a horrible sense of foreboding.

“Tell me it isn’t Bellatrix,” Regulus says.

“No,” Andromeda says.

Regulus takes a second to let himself feel relieved.

Then, he says, “I’ll find out one way or another, so you may as well tell me.”

“It’s Sirius,” Andromeda says.

Regulus’s mind goes blank. Then his thoughts start up again, and he snorts.

“No,” he says. “Sirius is dead.”

Andromeda looks at him, confusion evident on her face. “Why do you say that?”

“Harry,” Regulus says, as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Because it is. He doesn’t know how, but Andromeda has it wrong.

“Sirius wouldn’t have let him stay at his Aunt’s. Not in a million years.”

Andromeda gets a look on her face that makes Regulus’s heart lurch into his throat. He swallows. Andromeda isn’t one to look that heartbroken- not when she was younger, not now, not ever. Something really bad has happened- and it has to do with Regulus’s older brother.

Sirius had always been Andromeda’s favorite.

“Andromeda- tell me,” Regulus starts, even though he doesn’t really want to know. “What happened to Sirius?”

“Regulus,” Andromeda says, “Sirius was a traitor.”

Regulus can’t help it- he bursts into laughter.

Andromeda just looks at him, eyes sad.

“No he wasn’t,” Regulus says, shaking his head.

“He was the Potters’ secret keeper,” Andromeda says. “And he led the Dark Lord right to them.”

Regulus sobers up, then looks at Andromeda. Andromeda meets his gaze unwaveringly.

“No,” Regulus says again.

He swings his legs over the side of the bed and tears the thing off of his hand. Andromeda doesn’t say anything about it- just watches. He stands up, albeit a bit unsteadily. At some point they’d changed him out of his old clothes and into a muggle t-shirt and sweats.

“Where is he? Where has he been the last five years?”

He knows what Andromeda is going to say before she says it. It echoes in his head anyways, even despite the ringing in his ears.

“Azkaban.”

“Andromeda,” Regulus says, turning to look at his cousin. “You need to listen to me. Sirius is not a traitor. I don’t know how everyone convinced themselves that he is, but I can guarantee to you that he’s not the one that caused the Potters’ deaths.”

“I know you don’t want to believe it-”

“Andromeda.”

“Regulus,” Andromeda says, eyes hard. “I’m sorry, but the sooner you accept it the sooner-”

“He made an unbreakable vow with James that ensured that they’d never intentionally directly or indirectly cause the other’s death.”

Andromeda stops, mouth open. Then she closes her mouth with a click and shakes her head. “I don’t know how you think you know that, but-”

“He showed me,” Regulus says flatly. He feels a bit numb. “In the last fight we ever had, he pulled up the vow schema and showed me.”

It was the cruelest thing Sirius has ever done to Regulus, and he tries very hard not to think about it.

Andromeda stares, then puts her bandaged hand up to her mouth. Her other arm is clutching at her stomach. Her face is completely bloodless.

“The article- the news article said that he killed Pettigrew that night too,” she whispers, eyes wide. “Said he chased after him and blew him and the street up.”

“They switched, then,” Regulus says, nodding. His stomach is roiling. “Without telling anyone. Fucking morons.”

He goes to push past Andromeda, but she puts up a hand to stop him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Azkaban,” Regulus says matter-of-factly.

Of course he is- Sirius is innocent. And an idiot. Regulus needs to get him out of there, so he can kill him.

Andromeda just looks at him, and he closes his eyes, trying to breathe through the sudden rush of complicated feelings threatening to overwhelm him.

Regulus hates Sirius.

Has every right to, he thinks. The last time he’d talked to his older brother, Sirius had said that as far as he was concerned, Sirius has one brother and his name is James Potter.

Great. Fine by Regulus. Sirius has the one brother, and it isn’t him. Whatever.

Thing is- the thing is, Sirius is still Regulus’s brother.

And Azkaban is- it’s- Regulus has heard the stories, and- five years is a long, long time.

Regulus feels a bit light headed, and then Andromeda’s hand is on his arm, steadying him.

“I think you need to sit down again,” she says.

“I want to see the kids,” Regulus hears himself say. “Let me-”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Regulus says, pushing down the panicky feeling clawing up his chest. “Yes.”

Chapter Text

Andromeda gives Regulus a considering look, and then she nods.

“Harry, Luna? Regulus is awake,” she calls.

There’s a muffled sound of crashing, and then the door to the guest room flies open and Regulus is very suddenly holding an armful of children. Ted walks in after them, shaking his head and laughing.

Regulus has to sink to the ground, because the alternative is falling over. Luna and Harry are holding on so tight he’s having trouble breathing, but he can’t bring himself to care.

Luna is rapid-fire babbling into Regulus’s ear about all the cool lights she’d seen and how she’d helped ‘Cousin Andy’ with setting up the wards again, and Harry is just pressing his face into Regulus’s shoulder and planting a couple kisses on his shoulder. His leg looks better- it’s not even splint at all, and he’d come running in with Luna.

Regulus closes his eyes, feeling the panic and other feelings start to recede as he holds the kids close.

They’re here, and safe, and clean, and fed, and healthy- or healthier, anyhow. Regulus could kiss Ted and Andromeda- he’s regretting every terrible thought he’s ever had towards his cousin, cousin-in-law, and muggles in general.

Andromeda walks over to Ted, who stops laughing at the expression on her face.

“Is everything-”

“Sirius is innocent,” Andromeda says. Then she buries her face into Ted’s shoulder and hugs him tightly. “He’s innocent and he’s been in Azkaban for five years, Ted.”

“What’s that?” Luna asks, looking up at Regulus. “Who’s that?”

“It’s-” Regulus says, swallowing. “It’s a prison. A place for bad people. And Sirius is- he’s my older brother. He’s there, even though he- even though he isn’t bad.”

Regulus wishes it was that simplistic.

Luna’s expression goes stormy. “That’s not fair,” she says, usual dreamy tone nowhere to be found. Her voice is all iron.

Luna is very concerned about fairness, Regulus has found- most four-year-olds probably are, he thinks, but especially Luna.

“It isn’t,” Regulus agrees.

“Well, let's bring him here,” Luna decides, then pauses. “But no walking.”

Regulus lets out a bitter little laugh. It’s not like he can blame her for her reasoning, though- hadn’t he just tried to do the same thing?

“No,” he says. “We can’t. Not yet.”

Luna doesn’t respond. She just pushes up off of Regulus and goes up to Andromeda instead.

Regulus watches, bemused and a little worried, as she grabs onto nothing, and then totters over to Harry and Regulus. What is she- surely she isn’t-

Luna grabs onto another strand of nothing, floating next to Regulus, and then turns to Harry.

“This is going to tug,” she says, turning to Harry.

“Okay,” Harry says, closing his eyes.

“Luna, wait- stop,” Regulus says, feeling abruptly panicky.

She does not stop. She doesn’t even look over at him. Luna just reaches out with both hands, grabs at nothing for a third time, and then scrunches her eyes closed and makes a little pulling movement with her hands.

Harry tenses up from where he’s still sitting on Regulus’s lap.

Then there’s a popping sound, and a ragged man in ragged clothes is slumped on the ground. Luna sits down heavily, looking a little dazed.

“Oh,” Sirius says, looking up at Regulus. “Suppose I’ve died, then. Alright.”

Then he falls to the ground again, out cold.

“Luna,” Andromeda says, voice quite a bit higher-pitched than it usually is. She’s clutching to a wide-eyed Ted. “What did you just do?”

“I grabbed some of your light, some of Reg’s, and then a lot of Harry’s- they all matched,” Luna explains, wobbling slightly. “Then I followed where there was the most of that and pulled it here. There was another nearby, but those lights didn’t look as close to Reg’s, so I didn’t pull on that one. Should I?”

“Bellatrix,” Andromeda whispers. “Oh my god. No, don’t- don’t pull on that one.”

“I didn’t know I could do that,” Luna muses. Then she smiles- a rare occurrence for Luna. “And now I do. Come here, Harry- I bet I can find my mummy and daddy the same way.”

“Hold on,” Regulus cuts in. He doesn’t think he’s breathing very well. “Just wait.”

Luna’s face screws up in a way that lets Regulus know she’s on the brink of another meltdown. Before that can happen, though, her eyes roll up into the back of her head and she falls to the ground.

Regulus is already there, catching her before she can hit her head on the floor.

“Ted,” Regulus says, heart racing.

“She does that sometimes,” Harry pipes up. “I think… magic, makes her tired sometimes.”

“She’s just asleep,” Ted confirms.

Regulus closes his eyes and pulls Luna close, feeling his heart slow at Ted's words- not a lot, but it does slow.

Regulus gathers Luna up in his arms and goes to place her on the bed, limping only slightly- he’s much less sore than he thought he’d be after three days of walking and another two of sleeping, but he’s not going to complain.

Sirius groans from where he’s laying on the floor, and Regulus’s attention is brought abruptly back to the other thing they have to deal with now.

“Okay,” Andromeda says, looking pale but otherwise level-headed. She looks up from Sirius and over to Regulus. “If you lied about any of this, about his innocence, and brought an active Death Eater into my home where my family lives, I will kill you.”

Regulus swallows, then nods. He knows his cousin- she’s not as unhinged as her older sister, but they are still sisters. Andromeda is not bluffing.

“Can I-” Ted starts, looking like he wants to rush over to Sirius and start making sure he’s alright.

Andromeda flicks her wand and a blue light encompasses Sirius’s prone form. He floats gently into the air.

“Keep the children in here,” Andromeda says, still talking to Regulus. “I’m taking Sirius to our room to get him cleaned up.”

“And I want to take a look at him,” Ted agrees. “He doesn’t- he doesn’t look like he’s in very good shape.”

Regulus wouldn’t know, because he’s decided to not look at Sirius. If he doesn’t look, then Sirius doesn’t have to actually be there.

“It… it might be better for you to stay in here,” Andromeda says, looking a bit hesitant. “I’m not sure-”

“Yes,” Regulus says, then clears his throat. “Yes. I’ll stay here, with the children.”

And quite possibly take them and run very far away. Grimmauld doesn’t have Walburga, apparently- how hard could it be to get to London from here?

Can’t be as hard as seeing Sirius again, that’s for damn sure.

“Don’t leave,” Andromeda warns, reading his mind. “The wards are set to you specifically, and I made them tricky. I’ll know if you try anything.”

Regulus nods and sits down on the bed. He has no doubt that he could figure the wards out, given enough time- but he’s not sure he could do it while simultaneously keeping an eye on Harry and Luna, or in time to get out before Andromeda and Ted are done with Sirius.

“Okay,” Andromeda says, then sighs. “Okay. Meat is in the freezer if you get really hungry- Harry knows where it is.”

Harry nods hurriedly, wide eyes looking anxiously between Regulus and Sirius.

“Try and stay put, though.”

“Yes,” Regulus says.

Sirius groans again, and Andromeda and Ted exchange a worried look before hurrying away, letting the door close softly behind them.

There’s a long moment of silence. Then-

“Will you tell us another story, Reg?”

Regulus lets out a shaky breath. “Sure,” he says. “I’d love to, Harry.”

Chapter Text

Sirius wakes up, which he isn’t entirely sure how to feel about. He doesn’t open his eyes, since he thinks that might knock him out again- everything hurts. Badly. His eyelids feel like someone made sandpaper out of pain and then taped that to his eyeballs.

“Being dead hurts,” he croaks.

“No,” says a voice. “What hurts is being torn through however many wards and assorted spells they have on Azkaban keeping convicts in, and then coming in through the wards on my house.”

“Sorry, Andy,” Sirius hears himself say, entirely reflexively. Then his eyes snap open, sandpaper be damned.

“Andy? When did you die?”

“Drink,” says another voice.

Sirius’s eyes roll over to where he’d heard it coming from- he can’t see very well, is the thing. Everything is blurry.

His mouth shuts tight, though- he’s not about to take a drink from a stranger. Or a family member. Especially not a family member. Walburga doesn’t usually sound like a man, but she’s sneaky.

“It’s for pain,” Andromeda sighs. “Ted is a doctor.”

“Can you see?” ‘Ted’ asks.

Sirius squints, and an image of a concerned looking man in a nerdy turtleneck and huge glasses comes into focus. Sirius blinks slowly, then nods, lips still pressed tightly together.

Ted smiles warmly, then holds the vial up to his own lips and very clearly takes a sip.

“See?” he asks.

“Ted!” Andromeda says, smacking his arm. Ted doesn’t look over at her, just watches for Sirius’s reaction.

Well, if Ted wanted Sirius to trust the potion, it worked- Sirius opens his mouth and lets the man pour the potion in. It tastes like a pain potion- namely, bad. But the pain does retreat.

“Feel better?” Ted asks, smiling.

Ted is a very smiley person, Sirius thinks. Far too smiley to be Walburga in disguise.

The man is clearly looking for a response; so Sirius nods, not sure what else to do. He’s feeling a bit lost, to be honest.

“Good,” Ted says, then abruptly runs over to the window, opens it, and starts throwing up outside.

Sirius sits up straight despite his still protesting muscles, feeling a spike of alarm. Damn- he really shouldn’t have let them give him that potion. If a single sip did that, then what is a whole bottle going to do to him?

“Relax- he’s a muggle,” Andromeda says, glaring over at the man. “That’s what happens when a muggle drinks a potion.”

“Could be worse,” Ted says, then retches again.

“Yes,” Andromeda agrees without a hint of pity in her tone. “You could have died instead.”

Ted waves her off, which means either he is extremely confident that Andromeda loves him very much, or he’s suicidal. The throwing up sound slows, and then stops. The man stands up and shuts the window.

“On the bright side,” Ted says, wiping his mouth and coming back over to where Sirius is now sitting back against several pillows. “My hip was really bothering me, and now it’s not doing that, so-”

“Ted,” Andromeda says sweetly, “you could have asked me to show Sirius it was safe.”

“Oh,” Ted says, blinking. “Whoops.”

“Ted,” Andromeda says again, just as sweet. “I’m going to kill you.”

Ted looks at her, a sheepish grin on his face. “Sorry. I love you?”

Andromeda pinches the bridge of her nose.

Sirius looks down at himself. He’s out of his prison rags, and instead in a huge sweater (huge on him, anyways. He hasn’t had a whole lot to eat for- for a while, now.) and some sweats. He feels clean- but the sort of clean a charm gives you, not the sort a shower does. Sirius should know- he’s had lots of cleaning charms cast on him over the last five years.

Sirius lifts a shaky hand up to his hair, and immediately regrets it. He looks up at Andromeda pleadingly.

“Fix it?” he whispers hoarsely.

Andromeda snorts. “I can cut it off. I don’t think there’s anything else for it.”

Sirius closes his eyes, breathing in through his nose.

Well, looks like he’s in hell, then. That’s too bad- but not entirely unexpected. Although, he’s not sure what Andromeda did to get here. Ah well- might as well ask. It’s not like he has anything to lose.

Sirius opens his eyes, looks at the woman, and does just that: “why are you in hell?”

“Sirius,” Andromeda says, then purses her lips.

Ted puts a hand on Andromeda’s shoulder, and she reaches her own hand up to grab it. It’s bandaged, for some reason.

“You are not dead. But I need to know, right now- were you the Potters’ secret keeper?”

Sirius stops breathing. He can’t hear over the ringing in his ears, and couldn't give her a verbal answer if he tried. So instead he just shakes his head, blinking rapidly.

Andromeda’s face crumples, but she recovers quickly.

“I’m so, so sorry,” she starts, hand tightening on Ted’s.

“No, no-” Sirius says, clearing his throat. “It was my fault, I deserved it, I suggested the switch and-”

“Shut up,” Andromeda says angrily, furtively wiping her eyes.

She says it in a tone Sirius knows well- so he does what any sane (or sort-of sane) person would do and shuts up.

There’s a long moment of silence.

“Why,” Sirius starts, then coughs.

Ted hands him a previously unnoticed water bottle- unopened. Sirius opens it and takes a couple of sips. Then he tries again.

“If I’m not dead, then why am I here?” Sirius asks. “And not in Azkaban?”

Andromeda and Ted exchange a look.

“That’s,” Ted starts.

“It’s a long story,” Andromeda cuts in.

Sirius narrows his eyes, and then lets out a laugh as he remembers something else. Oh, they think they’re so smart- but they messed up.

“No, I’m definitely dead. Nice try, though.”

“You’re not-”

“No, no. I saw Reggie,” Sirius says, pushing himself further up off of the pillows. This bed is too soft- it’s pulling him in, suffocating him. “I know I did, I know I saw him.”

Andromeda and Ted share another look.

“Yes,” Andromeda says. “You did.”

“Well, case closed, then.” Sirius says, grinning despite the undercurrent of fear that’s threatening to become an overcurrent any second now. “Now what? When does the fire and brimstone shit kick in?”

“Sirius- Regulus is alive,” Ted says softly. His brown eyes are big and sad, and Sirius doesn’t like it one bit.

Sirius’s grin falls, and his eyes narrow. “I think I prefer the fire and brimstone,” he says, voice cold.

This psychological torture is bullshit- as if he hasn’t had enough of that in the last half a decade. The powers that be shouldn’t have changed it up, should’ve just slipped him seamlessly into an Azkaban-shaped hell. They’re putting too much effort into this one- and Sirius is not impressed.

There’s the sound of a crash outside, and then a childish shriek.

Andromeda stands up in one fluid motion.

“I’d better check on that,” she says. “Ted, fix him.”

“I’ll do my best,” Ted says, grimacing.

Andromeda hurries away, closing the door behind her. Ted takes a hesitant step towards the bed.

“I don’t suppose you like stickers? I’m afraid I’m not used to older patients, so if my bedside manner reflects that-”

“Stay away from me,” Sirius warns, holding out a hand towards the man. “I bite.”

“You and your brother both,” Ted says, scratching the back of his neck.

“Stop talking about him,” Sirius snaps, white hot anger suddenly pulsing in his chest. “Just stop. Send me back to Azkaban, I don’t care. Don’t bring Reggie into this.”

The door opens again, and Andromeda reappears. Her face is curiously blank.

“Luna seems to have summoned two of the three Deathly Hallows, and is now throwing a fit because they aren’t her dead parents.”

Ted gets a baffled look on his face. “Deathly- like the wixen fairy tale?”

Sirius doesn't know what the fuck they’re talking about, but he has other things to figure out right now- Sirius’s eyes dart between Ted and Andromeda, and the door. The open door. If he times it right, he might just be able to…

“Yes, Ted,” Andromeda says. She rubs a tired hand down her face. “Like the fairy tale.”

“Huh,” he says. “Is she doing anything with them?”

Sirius slowly lifts the blankets off of his legs, watching the two carefully. They don’t seem to take any notice of him, but Andy is smart enough to pretend. He needs to be sure.

“No,” Andromeda says, looking up at the ceiling. “She gave them to Harry, and then started crying.”

Sirius sees his chance- he goes Padfoot in a blink and bolts out the open door, pushing past a startled Andromeda.

Padfoot scrabbles a bit, trying to get purchase on the hardwood floor. He slams into a wall, but recovers quickly. He hears the sound of Ted and Andromeda rushing out after him, but he’s already off.

He careens into a few more walls, and then very nearly crashes directly into a little boy. A very familiar little boy. Padfoot’s tail gives a wag, and he automatically falls into a play-bow.

The boy- Harry, that’s Harry, trips backwards, expression of unbridled terror on his face.

Padfoot cocks his head, feeling confused. Why is Harry scared? There’s nothing to be afraid of.

Hang on, why is Harry here at all? What?

Suddenly, someone is there, scooping the boy up and standing up, twisting around so that he’s in between Padfoot and Harry.

Padfoot can feel his snout wrinkle and he lets a growl rumble out of his chest. That’s the smell of death.

“Stop that,” says the man, glaring down at Padfoot.

Padfoot’s ear twitches, and then he throws himself backwards.

“Either Andromeda has a dog she didn’t tell me about, or you’re a bigger idiot than I thought, Sirius,” Regulus says, still holding Harry up and out of the way.

Harry is clutching tight to Regulus’s neck, looking down at Padfoot with wide eyes and a scared look on his face.

Distantly, Padfoot hears Andromeda and Ted running into the room behind him- but that’s not what he’s worried about right now.

“Why is my godson in hell?” Sirius asks, turning from Padfoot and back into himself.

“He isn’t,” Regulus snaps. “I feel as though I might be, though.”

“You’re dead,” Sirius says, pointing.

The feelings that were muffled as Padfoot are threatening to now hit Sirius full-force.

“You smell dead- and you’re too young. And you have my godson.”

Regulus narrows his eyes. “You lost godfather privileges when you up and got yourself thrown in Azkaban,” he hisses. Then he blinks, and shakes his head. “I don’t have time for this- Harry, do you know where Luna went?”

Harry whispers something into Regulus's ear, and Regulus uses his free hand to pinch his nose. Then, he turns back to Sirius.

“Turn back into that overgrown mutt and see if you can smell out my- Luna.”

“Your Luna?” Sirius asks, feeling incredibly confused.

“Luna,” Regulus amends. “She’s four, she’s more powerful than Merlin and the Dark Lord combined, and she’s crying under an invisibility cloak somewhere. Sorry- the invisibility cloak. Apparently.”

Sirius stares at his younger (too young) brother for a long moment. Then, due to the fact that he can’t think of anything better to do, he turns into Padfoot and puts his nose to the ground.

Chapter Text

The dog finds Luna, which has Regulus nearly fainting with relief.

“Luna,” Regulus says softly, crouching down where the dog is pointing with his snout.

He hears a sniffling sound.

“Luna,” Regulus says again. “I’m sorry.”

More sniffling.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Regulus asks.

Nothing.

“Do you want to cry for a little while longer?”

Still nothing.

“Do you want a hug?”

His arms are suddenly full of an invisible child that’s shaking with quiet sobs. Regulus presses his face into the top of where he knows her head to be and kisses it.

“I miss my mummy,” Luna cries. “I miss my daddy.”

“I know,” Regulus says, closing his eyes and feeling his heart break a little. “It’s not very fair, is it?”

“No!” Luna wails, then dissolves into more tears. After a moment of that, she says, “it’s not fair. Why can’t I find them? I keep trying and I just never find them!”

Regulus lets out a long sigh. “I know, Luna. And it’s okay to feel sad about that.”

Luna sniffles again, and then Regulus feels her push out from his arms. To Regulus’s relief, she pulls the cloak off. Her blue eyes are red and puffy, and her face is streaked with tears and snot.

“I think,” Luna starts, then rubs her face angrily. “I think they’re gone forever.”

Regulus doesn’t say anything- there’s nothing to say. He just opens his arms again, and she sinks back into them, pressing her little face into his shoulder.

Regulus stands up, then turns to where Harry is standing with Andromeda and Ted. Behind him, he registers the dog picking up the cloak between his teeth, tail wagging. Yeah, because that’s exactly what they need right now- an invisible dog with human intelligence running around the place.

“That’s Harry’s,” Luna says wetly, looking down at the dog.

The dog lets out a muffled bark and carries the cloak proudly over to Harry. Regulus watches with narrowed eyes, but the dog stops well before he gets to the tense little boy. He drops the cloak, then steps back.

Harry watches all of this with wide eyes, not moving. Then, his gaze darts to Regulus, who nods. Harry’s eyes go back to the dog, and then down to the cloak. Quick as a whip, Harry steps forward and snatches the cloak, which he then bundles up and clutches to his chest.

“That belonged to your father,” Sirius says softly, from where he’s suddenly turned back into Regulus’s brother.

Harry’s eyes go even wider, and then they go back down to the cloak.

Sirius smiles sadly. “I always thought it was sturdier than your average cloak- can’t say it ever occurred to me to think it might have been a gift from Death, though.”

“You- back to bed,” Andromeda snaps. “You look like shit.”

Regulus has to agree- from what little he’s let himself look at Sirius, he looks awful. Like a skeleton that’s wearing his brother’s skin. Poorly.

Sirius lets out a weak chuckle from where he’s still sitting on the floor. “Feel it, too.”

“You’re not bad?” Harry asks, hesitant. He’s not looking at Sirius though- he’s looking at Regulus.

Sirius’s face falls, but before he can do something idiotic like try and get into a discussion on morality and ethics with a five-year old, Regulus says, “no, Harry. Sirius isn’t bad, and he loves you very much. He’s just silly, and a little bit stupid.”

“And a dog?” Harry asks, looking back at Sirius, who’s looking up at Regulus with a horrible hopeful expression on his emaciated face.

Regulus tears his eyes away from his brother, pushes down all of the feelings of rage and pain and sadness and emptiness that he associates with Sirius, and nods to Harry.

“Sometimes. But he’ll stop being a dog around you if it scares you,” Regulus says.

“Dogs bite,” Harry says, frowning.

Regulus looks up at Ted, who winces and nods, eyes flickering to Harry’s legs meaningfully. Andromeda’s expression goes even stormier than before, and Regulus thinks his expression would mirror hers if he wasn’t trying to remain impassive for Harry’s sake.

One day Regulus will find out where Harry’s muggle relatives live, and then he’ll kill them.

Regulus swallows, bringing his attention back to the situation at hand.

“Not this one,” Regulus says.

“You used to love Padfoot,” Sirius whispers to Harry, a bit brokenly.

Regulus glares at Sirius- it is not the time to reminisce.

Harry’s brow is scrunched up suddenly- in confusion? Or-

“Padfoot,” Harry whispers. “Moony?”

Sirius goes very pale, and Regulus feels a pang of sympathy for his brother despite himself.

“Bed,” Andromeda snaps again, waving her wand and covering Sirius in that blue light.

“Yes,” Sirius says, nodding as he’s lifted into the air. “Padfoot and… Moony and- and Prongs.”

“Prongs,” Harry whispers distantly.

Regulus walks over to Harry, still holding onto Luna- who’s been watching this go down with her wide-eyed gaze, although she’s still a little sniffly. He crouches down and Harry clambers up into his arms, holding tight. He’s shaking a bit, but Regulus thinks that’s simply the last vestiges of adrenaline leaving his little body.

Ted follows Andromeda and Sirius out, heading back from where they’d come from.

Regulus blinks, then blinks again. He feels lost, all of a sudden.

“It’s okay to cry,” Luna whispers into his ear, absently tugging at a lock of his curly hair.

“Later,” Regulus says.

With lack of a better option, Regulus turns and walks back to the guest bedroom. He sits down on the bed, a bit heavily.

The kids are watching him.

“Where is the wand?” Regulus asks, turning to Harry. Then, his eyes narrow. “And the cloak?”

Harry shrugs. “I put them away,” he says. “I don’t think I need them right now.”

Regulus looks at the boy for a long moment, then decides he doesn’t want to worry about it. Either two of the most powerful magical objects in the world will show up, or they won’t.

“It’s odd,” Luna says, yawning. “These ones weren’t bleeding.”

Regulus pauses. Then he decides he can’t actually let that one slide.

“Bleeding?”

“Yes,” Luna says, leaning back on the bed and closing her eyes. “Like the ring is.”

“Ring,” Regulus repeats.

“Here you go,” Harry says, withdrawing a horcrux from his pocket and handing it to Regulus.

Regulus looks down at the ring in his hand. It’s hissing at him.

"Hm," he says.

Luna cracks an eye open. “I can get rid of the bleeding, if you want? I did it with Harry’s scar.”

“Hm,” Regulus says again. Distantly, he thinks he might be hyperventilating. Just a bit.

“Yeah,” Harry decides, looking up at Regulus. “I think you’d better.”

Luna lets out a world-weary sigh, then shuffles over to where Regulus is sitting with a piece of the literal Dark Lord’s soul in his hands.

All Regulus can think of is the fact that apparently Voldemort made more than one. Regulus’s left forearm is stinging.

Luna places a little hand on the ring, and it takes a lot for Regulus not to jerk it away from the four-year-old- but whatever it is that Luna is doing, he doesn’t want to interrupt it.

Then she lets out a long sigh and slumps over. The hissing stops, and Regulus is no longer holding a horcrux. Instead, he’s just holding-

“Hm,” Regulus says for a third time, taking a closer look at the stone.

“That’s mine, sorry Reg,” Harry says, snatching the ring back and pocketing it once more. “Sorry.”

Regulus blinks down at his empty hand, then looks over at Harry. Who is now, according to the legend, Master of Death.

Or- or maybe he always was? That would sure as hell explain a couple of things.

“There was bleeding magic in your scar?” Regulus asks, deciding he has more pressing things to worry about. Somehow.

“Luna says so,” Harry shrugs, looking over at the sleeping girl. “But she also said that she got rid of it.”

Regulus thinks about how Harry’d looked when he’d first seen him- the blood drying on his face, on his scar.

Then he thinks about the locket, the ring- how they’d made him feel for even just the few moments he’d interacted with them. He thinks about the Dark Lord grinning as he tortured people, children. About the Potters dying. About Voldemort raising his wand and pressing it into the forehead of a little green-eyed baby boy-

“Excuse me,” Regulus says, standing up in one motion. “I’m just-”

He makes it over to the window and opens it just in time to throw up.

Chapter Text

“Horcruxes,” Sirius croaks.

Regulus gets the urge to itch his forearm. He’d just finished explaining the whole thing to Sirius- the locket, his death, what he’d just found out- everything.

If there's one person in the whole world Regulus can trust with this knowledge aside from Dumbledore, it's Sirius. Whether Regulus likes it or not.

“Yes,” Regulus says, ignoring the twinging. “And there are probably more. Which is why I need you to call Kreacher. Luna should be able to follow the magic, and we can make sure the Dark Lord doesn’t come back ever.”

“And Harry was one?” Sirius continues.

Regulus doesn’t think Sirius heard him at all.

He sighs. Andromeda and Ted aren't here- Andromeda is watching the children, and Ted is in his office. They think Regulus is sleeping. He is not. He really wishes that he was, though.

They think Sirius is sleeping, too- and he had been, until Regulus woke him up. Sirius can sleep when the Dark Lord is dead for good. They all can.

“Call Kreacher,” Regulus says again.

Sirius licks his lips, then says, “Kreacher-”

It takes all of two seconds for the Elf to show up, and another ten for Regulus to pry him off of his legs. “Yes, I’m alive again, it’s grand- look, we need that locket. Will you-”

The Elf is gone again, and then for the second time in as many hours, Regulus is suddenly holding a horcrux. It’s hissing. Regulus thinks they might all hiss.

Kreacher is gone, still- but if Regulus knows the old thing as well as he thinks he does, the Elf just needs some time to himself to come to grips with Regulus’s resurrection, on his own terms. And Regulus doesn’t blame Kreacher one bit.

Regulus tucks the unfortunately familiar piece of jewelry into his pocket, then nods to Sirius. “Thank you. I’ll take care of-”

“No,” Sirius says, sitting up straighter in his bed. “No way.”

Regulus stops, then laughs- the sound ringing hollow in his ears. “What? You can’t honestly think I’m still-”

“I don’t know what to think, Reggie!” Sirius shouts, hitting his fists into the soft mattress besides him.

Regulus stamps down hard on the rush of cold rage that fills his chest. Now is not the time to blow up at Sirius.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Sorry,” Sirius says, burying his face into his hands. “I’m sorry. Regulus.”

Regulus blinks, rage receding just as quickly as it had come on. “S-sorry? You’re sorry?”

“Yes,” Sirius says, then lets out a huff of laughter. “I- it’s been a long six years. And- I regretted a lot of things, in there. In Azkaban. You were a big one. What I, what I said to you.”

Sirius has drawn his legs up into his chest and is now blinking rapidly. He isn’t looking at Regulus.

“You-” Regulus starts, then stops.

Damn, damn it all.

He doesn’t know how to handle this. Regulus was so ready for a Sirius that hates him, hates him as much as he had the last time they’d talked. Regulus isn’t ready for- for this. A broken version of his older brother that he hardly recognizes at all.

Five years is a long time, but Regulus hadn’t thought it long enough for Sirius to change into someone who missed Regulus. Hadn’t thought Sirius could ever be that person, not like he had been when they were younger.

“I don’t know if you’ve changed, not really,” Sirius says, still not looking up. “You might still be an asshole Death Eater. God- you might want me dead. But I still miss you. What kind of a person does that make me?”

Regulus feels like he needs to sit down, so he does.

“Anyways,” Sirius says, then clears his throat. “It’s not that I don’t trust you- I just don’t want you to do this alone. That’s what killed you last time, right?”

Regulus nods- he doesn’t know what else to do.

“Yeah. That’s not- we’re not doing that again.”

“Oh,” Regulus whispers. “Okay.”

“Regulus, are you in there?” Andromeda asks through the door, knocking softly. “The kids wanted to take a nap with you, and then you were gone.”

“He’s in here,” Sirius says when Regulus can’t bring himself to say anything at all.

Andromeda opens the door a crack, which is wide enough for the kids to come tumbling in. They come over and crawl into Regulus’s lap.

“Oh,” Luna says, wrinkling her nose as she looks at where the locket is burning a hole in Regulus’s pocket. “Another one? Already?”

She reaches her little hand up to it, but Regulus says, “hang on, Luna.”

Luna’s hand stops.

“We need to see if there are more,” Regulus explains. “Because if there are, we need to destroy them.”

“Oh,” Luna says.

Andromeda is looking at Regulus with narrowed eyes. “Destroy what? What is Luna talking about?”

Oh well, Andromeda may as well know. She deserves that much.

Regulus opens his mouth to tell her, then shuts it again. Shit. Andromeda is going to be pissed.

“Horcrux,” Sirius says, apparently not concerned at all with the idea of Regulus being killed by their cousin.

Andromeda hisses out through her teeth. “In my house?”

“What’s a hor-crux?” Harry asks, brow furrowed.

“And you knew about this?” Andromeda asks suddenly, rounding on Regulus.

Regulus closes his eyes. “Yes. It’s what I died for. I thought- I thought he’d just made one, that it would be enough to stop him for good if I could get Kreacher to destroy it.”

“He made more than one?” Andromeda asks, leaning against the doorframe. She looks faint. “Oh my god.”

“You want me to pull them here,” Luna surmises, lifting her hand up again.

“You don’t need to do it now,” Regulus says hurriedly.

It’s too late- with a soft popping sound, three objects fall to the ground around Regulus- a cup, a book, and a crown. The hissing sound magnifies, making the hair on the back of Regulus’s neck stand up.

“Oh my god,” Andromeda says again.

Luna wavers slightly, but stays blessedly awake.

“Do you have the energy to get rid of all of the bleeding?” Regulus asks quickly.

The hissing sound is starting to make him feel sick, and the others don’t look that much better off. It’s an insidious sound- the hissing is soft but constant, and Regulus can almost see the sound sinking into the floorboards and drifting into the walls.

Grimmauld’s wards are probably rotted to hell, if the locket has had this sort of effect on it for the last six years.

Luna blinks slowly, but then holds her hand out and squeezes her eyes shut. She grits her teeth, and for one moment the hissing gets much, much louder. Then it stops, and Luna slumps over once more. Regulus is ready, though- he catches her before she can hit the ground.

There’s silence for a long, long moment.

Then, Sirius says, “well- that was anticlimactic. Good work, everyone. Way to be.”

Regulus lets Andromeda herd the three of them out of Sirius’s room and into their own without protest.

He wordlessly sinks onto the bed, letting Andromeda pull the blanket over him and the two children. Luna is already asleep, and curls naturally into Regulus’s side. On his other side, Harry does the same- sighing contentedly and closing his eyes.

Regulus stares up at the ceiling for a moment, before closing his eyes as well- and resolutely ignoring the feeling of the Dark Mark pulsing angrily on his arm. He knows he said that they could sleep once the Dark Lord was dead for good, but he's changed his mind. That is a problem for tomorrow.

Chapter Text

“Hey Sirius,” Regulus calls, waving the newspaper he’s holding in his hand as he walks into the dining room. “Did you hear that you escaped from Azkaban?”

“Good on me,” Sirius says, not looking up from the coloring he’s doing with the children.

Luna and Harry giggle, and Sirius shoots them both an impish grin. Regulus pushes down an inappropriate burst of jealousy- it’s a good thing that the kids like Sirius. A good thing.

“Has Remus responded yet?” Andromeda asks, poking her head from the kitchen.

She’s working on the dishes- for some reason, she likes doing it the muggle way. (When he’d asked, Andromeda had said that it felt like she was sticking it to her parents every time.)

Sirius gets a guilty look on his face.

Regulus smacks the back of Sirius’s head, who glares up at him. Regulus raises an eyebrow, and Sirius sits back with a huff.

Regulus hates Lupin- but that doesn’t mean Sirius does, and Regulus is trying to give both his brother and his brother’s partner (ex-partner?) the benefit of the doubt. For now. It’s- it’ll be better for the children that way.

But by god had Lupin better have a good reason for not being there for Harry for these last five years.

“You haven’t written to him?” Andromeda asks, coming out from the kitchen fully. “Sirius, I cannot believe you.”

“He’s going to hear the news from the paper,” Regulus says, smacking Sirius again. “You bastard.”

“He hates me,” Sirius mutters, rubbing the back of his head.

“Um, yeah? Right now he does. Not once he hears you’re innocent! Jesus Christ!”

“You pick up on muggle cursing fast,” Sirius says.

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m floo calling him right now,” Andromeda says, walking into the other room. “You’re better than this, Sirius.”

Sirius splutters, then pushes his chair back and limps after Andromeda. It’s only been a couple days since he’s gotten out of prison, and apparently it takes longer than that to heal ‘transporting through Azkaban wards’ injuries. Regulus still has to do a double-take when he sees his brother- Sirius just looks so different, and the shaved head doesn't help.

Regulus’s forearm twinges again, and he winces.

“Reg. Come look,” Luna says, waving him over.

Regulus sticks a smile onto his face and walks over to the table, where Luna proudly points out the drawing she’s been working on.

It looks like a kaleidoscope of colors- which Regulus thinks is a very nice way to think of a page full of scribbles.

“Beautiful,” Regulus says. “What are you calling it?”

“The Prettiest Woman in the Whole World,” Luna decides, looking at the picture with pride shining in her eyes.

“I love it,” Regulus says seriously.

“Look at mine!” Harry says, pushing the paper up into Regulus.

He gently takes it, then looks down at the picture- which is just a twisty green line.

“Oh,” he says, letting out a little gasp. “Stunning. What is it called?”

“Snake,” Harry says- although he’s already pulled another paper out and is working fervently on drawing another one. By the looks of it, he’s done a good fourteen already.

“Wow,” Regulus says, trying to sound sincere. “You two are so talented.”

“Reg,” Luna says, “you should do one.”

“I’m not creative like you are,” Regulus says, setting the pages down on the table.

Probably Andromeda wouldn’t be opposed to putting them up on the fridge- that’s what you do with kids’ drawings, right?

“Do one anyways,” Luna says.

Regulus snorts, then sits down and pulls a blank page towards him. The two kids clamber over to him, peering over his shoulder. He feels tugging on his hair, but that’s normal for Luna- she’s fascinated by his curls, even more so now that his hair is actually clean.

Regulus thinks for a moment, and then draws a very simple, very wobbly cat.

“Wow,” Harry says, eyes wide. “You’re so good.”

Regulus doesn’t laugh, but it’s a close thing. “Thank you, Harry,” he says instead.

“My mummy was better,” Luna says.

“I don’t doubt it,” Regulus agrees.

“Do you have a mummy, Reg?” Harry asks.

“No,” Regulus says.

He had Walburga, but she was such a poor substitute that she’d been almost the opposite of a mother.

No, wait, that’s just a father, isn’t it.

Regulus shakes his head, bringing himself back to the conversation at hand. He’s been distracted lately, on edge- which is rather fair, he thinks. Now that they’re not on the run, Regulus can afford the energy to panic about… everything.

Hence the distractibility.

“Me either,” Harry says. “I just have a Reg.”

“Me too,” Luna sighs.

“You also have each other,” Regulus says, blinking fast.

These kids. Regulus doesn’t know what the hell he did to deserve them, what he did to deserve their high opinion of them- but Regulus would do anything to keep them safe, and happy, and healthy. Anything.

The only thing is- well, the Dark Mark hasn’t stopped twinging, and Regulus is little more than a glorified zombie. He can’t have these kids being reliant on him. He- Regulus can’t shake the feeling that he’s running off of borrowed time- running out of borrowed time.

Which is why Sirius and Lupin need to get their fucking shit together.

Speaking of, there’s a crashing sound in the other room, and Regulus narrows his eyes.

Andromeda had said she was going to floo Lupin- surely she didn’t mean she was going to let him come through? Lupin is a werewolf.

Regulus is trying, really trying to get over his biases, but he thinks being wary of an emotionally vulnerable werewolf is less a prejudice and more a rational thought- although...

Regulus looks down at where Luna is now scribbling around Regulus’s cat. If anyone could stop a rampaging wolf, it’s this kid. And Harry has all three hallows, so even if she managed to get herself killed, Harry would probably just bring her right back.

Regulus sighs. He should really get around to figuring out the implications of that.

But it hasn’t really come up, and Harry isn’t bothered by it, so- well, maybe it’s just one of those inexplicable kid things. Some kids are really good at math, some kids are well-spoken, and some children are masters of the personification of the one true constant in an ever-changing universe.

Or- hang on, okay, not really constant, not for Regulus anyways.

His arm twinges again and Regulus winces.

“Does that hurt?” Luna asks.

Regulus looks down at her. She’s staring at his arm.

“Sometimes,” Regulus says carefully. “What does it look like?”

Luna purses her lips, carefully considering. “Like if lights were mosquitos. A whole pile of them.”

“Oh,” Regulus says. Well, that’s an image he’s not going to be able to get out of his mind anytime soon.

“Want me to get rid of them?” Luna asks, looking up at Regulus with her typical blank expression.

Regulus stares down at the girl, heart racing suddenly.

He doesn’t dare to hope, not really- but what if Luna can get rid of the Dark Mark? It’s not even that big of a leap- Luna can get rid of Horcruxes, which was thought of as impossible. What would that mean for Regulus?

Is that something he even wants? What if- he doesn’t know if he should be able to just erase something like that. It feels… No, why is he even conflicted about this? Of course he wants it off.

“I might have you do it later,” Regulus decides.

“Okay,” Luna says, going back to her coloring.

Chapter Text

Another crash has the three looking up and over towards the living room.

“Regulus,” Andromeda calls. Her voice sounds strained. “We could use you here!”

Regulus is already up and out of his seat.

“Stay here,” he says to the kids, then pauses. “Make lots of drawings for me, alright? That would be a big help.”

Harry gets a determined look on his face and pulls the pile of paper closer to him. Luna’s expression is blank as ever but she grabs a new piece of paper as well, so Regulus decides to assume that she’s taking his instructions to heart.

Regulus half-runs, half-walks into the other room, where he sees none other than Remus Lupin, pressing his back against the wall. He looks terrified- and his eyes are completely amber.

Contrary to what Regulus had expected, though, Lupin doesn’t seem to be the problem. Instead, Andromeda and Sirius are sitting cross-legged in front of each other, the ward schema open in front of them in shimmery golden runes.

Sweat is pouring down both Andromeda’s and Sirius’s faces. They’re working fast, but judging by the state of those runes, it doesn’t look like they’re working fast enough.

Another crash has Regulus and Lupin flinching, and the schema shuddering.

Regulus sinks to the floor beside the two of them.

“What’s happening?”

“Think of it like this,” Sirius grunts. “Infamous Death Eater successfully escapes from Azkaban, apparently by tearing a hole through the wards. All seventy-two of them. Without a wand. And then Harry Potter is discovered missing.”

“Sorry,” Lupin says shakily. “If I’d known they were monitoring me-”

Another crash.

“The Ministry isn’t pulling any punches,” Andromeda adds, ignoring the werewolf for now. “So if you could help, that would be just-”

The loudest crash yet, and the house literally shakes.

“Great,” Andromeda finishes.

Regulus doesn’t bother with a wand. With the exception of his own lost wand, they don’t really like him- and the only one he has access to is Luna’s late mother’s wand anyhow.

Instead, Regulus just plunges his hand right into the schema, letting out a hiss of pain as the raw magic burns at the skin on his hand.

He’s pretty sure ‘don’t touch an active ward schema’ is one of the very first things you learn during Ancient Runes, but what’s the point of knowing the rules if you don’t break them every so often?

“Reg,” Sirius starts.

“Shut up,” Regulus snaps, then lets himself get lost in the schema.

The schema is a masterpiece, made impenetrable in the way only a member of the Black family could.

It is, at first glance, perfect. There’s not a single bit of magic out of place. Anyone looking at it would dismiss it as watertight as it could possibly be- Sirius and Andromeda (namely, two of the best warders in the family) included.

At this point, they’re not working on improving it so much as they are repairing it as quickly as whichever warders the Ministry have on staff tear it apart- using their own magical energy to keep it running while the Ministry tries to brute-force their way in.

The Ministry is clearly feeling confident- and why shouldn’t they? What Sirius and Andromeda are doing to the wards is obvious, and not sustainable. It’s just a matter of time before they run out of energy- and the Ministry no doubt has dozens of warders on standby.

But Sirius and Andromeda have something the Ministry don’t:

Sirius and Andromeda have Regulus.

As he scans back-and-forth through the schema, Regulus snags all of the loose ends of magic (some already there, some created by the tears) he finds and ties them off with each other, weaving the magic tighter and tighter- so tight it’s liable to snap at any moment.

At least, it is until he pulls in some of the redundant magic floating around the schema and adds it to the main body, letting the schema breathe. (Andromeda is good, but she is prone to overcompensating on padding- not that Regulus is complaining right now.)

In the meanwhile, Regulus draws on his own energy, just a bit, and throws a little decoy schema up to keep the Ministry warders busy.

Regulus narrows his eyes- that’s going to buy them some time, but not a lot. He needs to figure something out, something permanent. Something…

“Is Ted home?” Regulus asks, momentarily surfacing.

“No,” Andromeda says, gritting her teeth. The house is still shaking- it sounds like they’re literally trying to punch their way in as well. “But he has places to stay if he can’t get in.”

“That’s not what I was asking,” Regulus says. “But that’s good to know.”

Andromeda furrows her brow, but Regulus is done paying his cousin any mind.

Regulus squeezes his eyes closed then dives back into the schema. What Regulus is about to do is inadvisable, but theoretically possible.

He just wishes there’d been a chance to test it out before now, is all.

A couple strings there, a braid there- it’s hard to weave muggles into wards, but not impossible if you know where to attach the magic, and Andromeda has already factored Ted into the base wards.

Regulus loops the tangle of magic around Ted’s ward signature, then flexes his fingers, tightening the whole lot around it- snapping the tangle into a tapestry in the blink of an eye.

The shaking stops, and Regulus sits back, breathing hard.

“Jesus Christ, Reggie,” Sirius says. “Regulus, I mean.”

Regulus distantly appreciates the correction, but right now he’s a bit too preoccupied with not falling over to do anything more than that.

Andromeda dismisses the schema with a flick of her wand, and turns to Regulus. Her expression is stormy.

“I saw you in there- what were you doing with Ted’s signature?”

“Secret Keeper,” Regulus says, leaning back against a couch.

There’s a moment of silence.

“Did you- Regulus, did you just manually put my house under a Fidelius?”

“Made it unplottable, too,” Regulus says. “Both the house and Ted- hopefully no one needs to find him anytime before he gets back for me to fix that. Sorry, it was the only way to make sure Ted could remember his address to find his way home.”

“He’s a doctor,” Andromeda says, disbelief bleeding into her voice. “Everyone is always looking for him.”

“I’ll be sure to be very gracious when he thanks me for the break,” Regulus says.

“I’m still,” Sirius says, then clears his throat. “Sorry, I’m still stuck on the Secret Keeper thing. I thought Ted was a muggle?”

“Uh huh,” Regulus says, closing his eyes. The world is spinning a bit.

“That’s impossible,” Lupin cuts in.

Oh right- Lupin is here. Whoops.

“Obviously not,” Regulus says, rolling his eyes under his eyelids. “Also I hope you weren’t planning on leaving any time soon. I’d apologize, but I’m not actually sorry.”

“No, no- it is impossible, though,” Sirius says. “What did you do?”

“Hm,” Regulus says. He thinks he might be falling asleep. “It’s less that I made him Secret Keeper and more I made his ward signature Secret Keeper- but since he’s a muggle, there’s not-”

“There wouldn’t really be a difference,” Sirius breathes. “Holy shit. You substituted a ward signature for a magical signature. Holy shit,” (it seems like Sirius is getting really excited now- he sounds like he’s gotten up and started to pace around the room) “and you wouldn’t need to ask him, either- he probably didn’t even notice.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about you magically experimenting on my husband without his consent,” Andromeda says, voice sounding cold.

“His ward signature,” Regulus corrects. “Not him. Ted was never in any danger- worst-case, I accidentally locked him out of your house.”

“What about my daughter?”

“I could’ve used her,” Regulus agrees. “Should I have? There would’ve been considerably more risk-”

“I meant,” Andromeda says, “does she know where she lives?”

“Oh,” Regulus says. His thoughts feel sluggish. “No.”

“Okay,” Andromeda says, closing her eyes. “Okay.”

“Well,” Sirius says. “Now what?”

“Goodnight,” Regulus decides.

And then he’s asleep.

Chapter Text

Ted was having a normal day, all things considered. And then, around three-thirty, people stopped talking to him.

Ted briefly considered using his newfound free time to take a nap, but then thought that maybe he should head home instead. Call it a day, that sort of thing.

He thinks that is a reasonable course of action, considering the fact that he is currently hosting a zombie, a little girl with apparent godlike power, a five-year-old chosen one, and an escaped convict. Plus his wife, whom he loves and wants to see.

Although as Sirius tells it, he’s not a convict at all- they hadn’t given him a trial. Andy had been miserable about that for a while, convinced she should have realized and pushed for one- but Sirius and Ted had managed to convince her not to beat herself up over it.

Regulus was no help, though- Ted thinks maybe the boy wants Andromeda to feel bad, at least a bit. Wants to blame her for not seeing what Regulus had, not getting Sirius out sooner, that sort of thing.

It strikes Ted as a very ‘younger sibling’ thing to do. He hopes Regulus and Sirius can get over themselves- they clearly love each other very much.

Of course, they have made progress over the last few days. It’s making Andromeda both happy and a bit sad to watch- reminds her of her own sisters.

Andy’s been without any family (on her side) for years now, though, so Ted knows that deep down? She’s elated to have her cousins back at all.

Ted whistles to himself as he drives home, noting that people seem to be instinctively getting out of his way- which at least confirms that this is a weird magic thing and not an ‘everyone in the hospital giving him the silent treatment for some reason’ thing.

There seems to be several people milling around Ted’s house. He slows his car and then stops before entering the driveway, unsure of what he should do. He feels a spike of uncharacteristic anxiety (Ted isn’t usually one to dwell on his own nerves).

They’re obviously magical folk- the clothing style choices they’ve elected to make immediately makes that more than obvious. But none of them are looking at his house.

Instead, they’re looking around it- seeming either confused, or irritated, or straight-up enraged.

Ted decides to take that as a good sign. Andy is smart, and beautiful, and knows what she’s doing.

The only problem is that now Ted has to figure out what to do without accidentally breaking whatever it is Andromeda has worked out.

Ted sees a man hanging on the outskirts of the group- he’s balding, ginger, and looks considerably more normal than every other person here. Either he’s more familiar with muggle culture, or he’s just a curious bystander.

Ted finds a place to park his car that isn’t the driveway, and hops out. He wanders over to the man- who doesn’t look over at him at all.

Ted takes a deep breath, and then says, “excuse me?”

The man starts, then turns to look at Ted. His blue eyes are oddly unfocused, like they can’t quite keep from sliding off of Ted, but his face is open and warm- despite the bags under his eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry- I didn’t see you there. How can I help you?”

“I was just wondering- do you know what’s going on?”

Maybe the man has seen something- or is seeing something that Ted can’t.

The man’s smile fades. “I’m afraid I don’t know- not really, anyhow.”

“Oh,” Ted says, turning to look at his house.

One of the wizards throws a clipboard at it, which bounces harmlessly off the wall.

“They seem mighty frustrated,” Ted remarks.

“That they do,” the man agrees.

The man turns back to Ted and sticks a hand out- slightly off to the side, but Ted grabs it anyways and shakes firmly.

“Arthur Weasley. It’s nice to meet you. I don’t suppose you live around here?”

“Ted,” Ted says, grinning. That’s a wixen name- he’d bet money on it. “Tonks. And yes, I do.”

The man’s eyes light up. “Tonks?”

Whoops- apparently this Arthur fellow has heard of him. That, or they know the name of the family that owns the house. Which they would, of course. Damn. Maybe he should have just pulled into the garage after all.

Andromeda is definitely going to yell at him later for being too personable. Again.

“Er,” Ted says. “Yes?”

“No wonder you’re so concerned,” Arthur laughs.

His easy attitude has Ted relaxing a bit. The man has made no move to call in for reinforcements, so maybe everything is going to be fine?

“Don’t worry, your house is still there- or, it should be. We think it is,” Arthur continues.

Ted’s eyes dart over to where his house is, very obviously, still there.

“Oh,” he says. “That’s. Good?”

Arthur’s jovial expression goes somber again. “I don’t suppose- well, you seem like you’ve just gotten off work, so I guess you wouldn’t, but- well.”

Ted’s stomach flips. “Is everything alright?”

“It’s just,” Arthur says, then sighs. “We have good reason to believe that Sirius Black has taken your wife hostage. I’m sorry. Do you need to sit down?”

Ted stares at the man, and then laughs. Then he snaps his mouth closed, cutting off mid-laugh.

Arthur is just looking at him sadly.

“Sirius Black,” Ted repeats, mind racing.

Wait, what does he do here? He should tell them Sirius is innocent, right? Explain to them what’s going on? Right. Yes. That’s- that would be best.

The question is whether or not they’re going to believe a muggle.

“I see you’ve heard of him,” Arthur says gravely.

“He’s my wife’s cousin,” Ted says.

Arthur nods. “I wasn’t sure what your wife had told you-”

“Everything,” Ted interrupts.

“Everything?” Arthur confirms, eyes narrowing.

“Yes- and I know what’s going on in that house, too. I’ll tell you, but first I think I’d like to get a quick rundown on my rights here- as a muggle, I mean.”

Arthur’s eyes narrow, and then- then he smiles widely. Damn. Ted is starting to like this guy.

“Good man. As you should. Here- let's take a quick walk, I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

“Hang on,” Ted says. “Who are you, exactly? What’s your job here?”

Arthur's grin grows wider. “Muggle representative. You, sir, managed to run into the perfect person. Congratulations.”

“I do that a lot,” Ted says, laughing.

They take a short walk around the block while Arthur tells Ted the protections he gets as a muggle.

(There are more than he'd thought there would be. According to Arthur, muggles aren’t usually involved in this sort of thing besides the stray unlucky witness that usually gets obliviated. Arthur is the one that gets to decide exactly what sorts of rights those other special cases are afforded- and he’s done a damn good job at making sure there’s plenty.)

Ted, on the other hand, lets Arthur know what’s going on inside that house. Or, the Sirius part, anyways.

“Innocent,” Arthur says hoarsely.

He’s stopped in the middle of the road, and he looks even paler than he already does.

“Yes,” Ted confirms. “It’s been really rough on my wife, too- did you know Sirius?”

“We- yes. We fought together in the war,” Arthur confirms. He clears his throat and quickly wipes his eyes. “Sorry. I- it shouldn’t be hitting me this hard, but my neighbors and their little girl just died in an accident a couple of days ago, so I’m pretty raw right now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ted says, feeling his heart go out for this tired man that’s just doing his best.

“It’s alright- I don’t know why I’m even telling you this,” Arthur laughs a bit wetly.

“I just have that sort of face,” Ted says. “And I don’t mind- everyone needs to talk.”

“You’re a good man, Ted.”

“You are too, Arthur.”

Arthur lets out a little sigh. “My own little girl- she’s taking it especially hard. She and Luna were close-”

“Luna?” Ted cuts in, feeling his heart skip a beat. “Luna? Little girl, blonde hair, blue eyes-”

Arthur’s head whips up, looking at Ted with wide, hopeful eyes. “Yes- Luna Lovegood, that’s-”

“She’s in my home!” Ted says excitedly. Then he falters. “Her parents are definitely gone, though- I’m sorry-”

Arthur isn’t listening- instead he’s gripping Ted’s shoulders tightly.

“How?” Arthur gasps out. “Is she okay?”

Ted lets out a loud, delighted laugh. As a doctor, it’s not very often he gets to give out truly good news, not like this- and it never gets old.

“Yes, she’s- I think- look, do you want to just come into my house? I can still see it, and it’ll help if the others are there to explain some of this stuff. I’m not so good with the magic-y side of things-”

Arthur nods fervently. “Yes- yes. Yes.”

Ted smiles widely, and the two start walking- considerably faster this time.

“Er,” Arthur says, stopping again, just shy of the house. “This is going to sound odd, but I don’t suppose you remember your address?”

Ted looks at Arthur, feeling a bit bemused, but nods.

“Right,” Arthur says, then hesitates. “Uh. Don’t suppose you could tell me?”

Ted laughs again, then tells him.

“Ah,” Arthur says, eyes widening. If Ted had to guess, the house is very suddenly visible to him. “Well. Another thing for the others to explain, I suppose.”

“Weasley,” barks out a gruff looking man from a fair distance away. “Where are you- what are you doing over there?”

Arthur waves. “Nothing to worry about, Moody! Just popping in for a bit of a chat,” he calls over. “Won’t be a minute!”

“Weasley!”

But it’s too late- the two men have already walked inside.

Chapter Text

Regulus wakes up, feeling… well, not great, but he’s woken up feeling worse before. The outside world is dark and the children are asleep curled up next to him in the all-too familiar guest room bed.

There’s the sound of muffled voices outside, and light is bleeding in under the door. Quietly as he can, Regulus slips out from the pile comprised of Luna and Harry (how two kids less than forty pounds each manage to turn themselves into a pile is beyond Regulus, but that is nonetheless what they have done).

Luna stays out cold, as she is prone to doing, but Harry cracks an eye open. When he sees Regulus is leaving, he sits up and goes to slide out from under the covers as well.

“Stay with Luna,” Regulus whispers. “I’ll be right back- I’m just going to talk with the grown-ups right now.”

Harry blinks tiredly at him, then nods and snuggles up right besides Luna. He’s asleep again in seconds.

Regulus smiles at them, then goes to leave. He opens the door smoothly, then closes it softly behind him. The voices are coming from the dining room, which is a pain- Regulus had been hoping to snag a quick bite before interacting with anyone he might want to eat. And he will want to eat them, if the gnawing hunger in his stomach is any indication.

With no better option, Regulus walks quickly into the room, sights set on the kitchen.

“Regulus! You’re up- oh,” Sirius says, watching Regulus walk past, hand held up to keep Sirius from talking.

Regulus has pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth, and is breathing through his mouth as he hurries past the table where everyone is sitting. Something is picking at his brain, but he can’t bother to dwell on it right now- he has more important things to worry about.

Regulus opens the freezer, and things go a bit hazy, as they tend to do when he’s confronted with meat while this hungry.

“Hello. It’s nice to see you again, young Mister Black,” says a genial voice, pulling him out of his frenzy.

Regulus freezes, halfway through tearing the pack of meat apart with his teeth and hands. He looks up and over the counter, right into the sparkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore.

Regulus snaps his gaze back down to the meat and out of legilimency range, considers saying something to try and salvage whatever this is shaping up to be, and then gives up and goes back to his meal. It’s not like the damage hasn’t already been done.

The others sit in slightly awkward silence, just watching as Regulus finishes up. He throws the bloody paper away and rinses off his hands and face, then walks over to the table and pulls himself up a chair. He’s decided not to feel embarrassed about the ‘eating a pound of raw meat in front of one of the most politically powerful men in Great Britain’ thing.

At least- not right now. Maybe he’ll panic over it later.

“So-” he starts, ready for an explanation on how someone managed to bypass his wards.

Regulus should maybe be more concerned about the fact that that person was Albus Dumbledore and now the very man is sitting in the room, but right now he just wants to make sure it wasn’t something to do with his wardwork.

Before anyone can say anything, a silver bird patronus coalesces in the air- Regulus could be wrong, but it looks like a phoenix.

“Pettigrew in custody,” it says in a man’s voice. Regulus doesn’t recognize it, but the others clearly do. The patronus continues saying, “thank you Sirius- you’ve helped keep my family safe. Molly and I won’t forget this any time soon.”

The bird disappears and Sirius slumps to the table, burying his face into his shaking hands. An amber-eyed Remus puts an equally shaky hand on his shoulder.

Pettigrew? The dead, traitor one?

“Okay, really,” Regulus says. “What’s going on?”

“Actually,” Albus says, turning to Regulus. “Now that you’re awake, I was wondering if we could possibly check in on the children? I just want to see that Harry is alright- you understand, I’m sure.”

“No,” Regulus says, keeping his tone light. “Now, will someone please explain?”

“My boy,” Albus says, twinkle in his eyes dimming slightly. “You aren’t really in the position to refuse-”

Regulus almost laughs in the old man’s face. But he doesn’t. Instead, he narrows his eyes and points at Albus, cutting him off.

“If you can give me one time,” Regulus says, feeling a vicious smile harden on his face, “one time where you checked on Harry in the last five years, then you can check on him now. Otherwise, I think maybe you’re the one who doesn’t get any say in the matter. Sir.”

Regulus stands up, pushing his chair back. He can hardly hear anything over the sound of rage rushing in his ears. Maybe taking the kids to Dumbledore had been the plan at first, at the very beginning- but Regulus has heard about the end of the war now, and he knows for a fact that someone dropped the ball on Harry’s placement. He doesn’t know who, but he’s not taking any chances- and Albus asking after Harry specifically isn’t a good sign.

Andromeda, Ted, Sirius, and Lupin are all staring at him wide-eyed- although (and he could be completely mistaken) at least Sirius looks a little proud.

“I’m going back to bed,” Regulus announces. “I’m sure I’ll figure out what’s going on later. Make sure to tell him about the horcruxes if you haven’t already.”

Regulus is suddenly exhausted. The events of the day are catching up to him again, and he could really use a good night's rest.

Besides, he doesn’t want Harry out of his sight right now. He doesn’t trust Dumbledore, not one bit. It could be a remnant of his Death Eater days, but Regulus’s gut says that Dumbledore doesn’t have Harry’s best interests in mind.

Regulus tries to enter the room as quietly as he’d left it, but he thinks he might have closed the door a tiny bit harder than necessary. Hopefully it doesn’t wake-

“Reg?” Harry asks, lifting his head up off the pillow.

Regulus doesn’t know why he even tries.

Harry’s wild hair is completely flattened on one side, and there are lines left in his cheek from where he’d been pressing his face into the pillow.

“Is everythin’ okay?” Harry asks. He looks- and sounds- half-asleep still.

“Yes,” Regulus says, smiling. He crawls back into the bed. “I just wanted to talk to the grown ups for a second, remember? I’m back now.”

“Okay,” Harry says, before pressing his face into Regulus’s side.

Luna lets out a loud snore- and she’s somehow managing to take up three fourths of the whole bed. Regulus tries not to feel too bad about having to bodily push her out of the way- which is made considerably easier when she doesn’t even stir.

“Goodnight,” Regulus whispers into the darkness of the room.

Neither of them answer- which is, in hindsight, the preferred outcome.

Regulus closes his eyes, letting sleep claim him once more, the now familiar twinging in his arm barely registering to him at all.

Chapter Text

Regulus isn’t sure how his brother and cousin did it, but the next morning everything is more-or-less figured out. Even the wards are back to their usual state- which means the house is at the very least visible, now.

“Run it by me one more time,” Regulus decides, still reeling a bit. “Pettigrew was alive?”

“And living at the Weasley’s as their pet rat,” Andromeda confirms absently, not looking up from the crossword she’s working on.

Sirius and Lupin haven’t come out of their room for the day yet, which, after hearing the story he’s just heard, Regulus can’t really fault.

Although he had run into an exhausted looking Lupin earlier, who’d been on the way back to their room from the bathroom. They’d talked briefly- Regulus wanted to know why Lupin hadn’t taken Harry in, and figured that was as good a time as any to ask.

Lupin had apologized, then explained that he had been told by Albus that Harry was safe and happy, and that Albus had insisted on Lupin staying away from Harry. He’d apparently told Lupin that it was too risky to subject Harry to a werewolf anyhow.

Regulus is still annoyed with the man- but at least he’d tried to be there for Harry. And by the sounds of it, would also like to continue being there for Harry. For Harry, and for Sirius.

Regulus isn’t sure how he feels about that, to be honest.

At least his gut feelings about Albus weren’t unfounded. Yeah- if Regulus has any say in the matter, Albus won’t have a single thing to do with Harry ever again.

Regulus sits and thinks for a moment, and then decides that he still needs a couple things re-spelled out for him.

“And Sirius mentioned that Pettigrew could…”

“Could turn into a rat, and Arthur put two-and-two together, and ran off. But not before getting Dumbledore in here.”

“And Dumbledore then-”

“Then heard us out, and promised to get Sirius’s name cleared. And yours.”

“And we trust him to do that?” Regulus asks.

Andromeda purses her lips, looking up from the newspaper at last. “At the very least, I trust Arthur to hold him accountable. I’ve met Arthur- he’s the good sort. Reminds me a bit of Ted.”

Regulus nods, then pokes at the lump of slowly thawing meat on his plate- trying not to miss breakfast food. Unfortunately, the aforementioned breakfast food is laid out on the table right in front of him. Mocking him.

Regulus sighs, pushing his plate of meat away. He’s not hungry after all. “And how confident are we that I won’t be shipped off to Azkaban?”

“Sirius is Lord Black,” Andromeda says, instead of answering his question.

“That doesn’t-”

“One-hundred-percent,” Andromeda says flatly. “Once his name is cleared, yours will be too. Sirius will make sure of it.”

Regulus is quiet for a long moment.

“And the children?”

As if on cue, the kids come running in, being chased by a grinning Ted. They’re shrieking with laughter, and keep doubling back to try and jump on Ted.

Regulus looks down at the table, smiling to himself. Harry’s come a long way, and in such a short time- he doesn’t know how he’ll ever be able to repay Ted and Andromeda for this.

“Reg, Ted is going to take us to the park,” Luna says, coming up to Regulus and latching onto his arm.

“Oh,” Regulus says. “Is he?”

“If that’s alright with you,” Ted amends.

Regulus sits back, thinking. On the one hand, that feels like a stupid and unnecessary risk.

On the other hand, Luna.

“I’ll come too,” Regulus decides.

Ted shoots him a big smile and the kids tear off again, Luna rapid-fire telling Harry all about parks and how wonderful they are and how she’s going to show him the slides and the swings and etcetera etcetera. Ted laughs and shakes his head, then goes to follow them.

“I’ll see if I can rustle up some of Nymphadora’s old clothes- jackets, shoes, that sort of thing,” he says.

“Thank you,” Regulus says, giving the man a tired smile.

Ted shoots him a thumbs-up and jogs off.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Regulus says after a moment, looking up at Andromeda, who’s staring after Ted with an impossibly fond look on her face.

“Hm? Oh,” Andromeda says, looking back at Regulus. “Right. Well, once Sirius gets his name cleared, he’ll be able to take official custody of Harry.”

Regulus’s heart sinks, and he hates himself for it.

“And Luna won’t want to be where Harry isn’t,” he finishes, pushing his thoughts and feelings on the matter down as far as they’ll go.

Andromeda nods, and lets out a little laugh. “I pity whoever thinks they’re going to be able to keep Luna from you two.”

Regulus looks up. “I won’t-”

Andromeda raises an eyebrow. “Won’t you? I suspect they’ll be moving into Grimmauld- I heard them talking about it last night. You aren’t really going to let them go without you, are you?”

“They’ll mess everything up,” Regulus says, giving himself a second to feel horrified. Then he takes in a deep breath and pushes his feelings down once more.

“Doesn’t matter,” he says. “Sirius is Lord Black- if he doesn’t want me there, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Good morning everyone,” Sirius announces, crashing into the kitchen chair beside Regulus and displaying his uncanny (and annoying) skill of popping up the second someone mentions him by name.

Regulus bites his cheek, trying not to snap at Sirius. It’s not his fault Regulus is a selfish bastard that has always wanted and worked for everything that Sirius has ever gotten served up to him on a silver platter.

Regulus bites his cheek harder, willing himself to relax. Now is not the time.

Andromeda opens her mouth to say something, but before she can there’s the sound of a massive crash coming from upstairs. She closes her mouth, then pushes her chair back.

“Good morning, Sirius- I’m going to save Ted from our attic. Talk to you two boys in a bit.” With that, she walks off.

“Mmm mm,” Sirius says, looking at Regulus’s plate of soggy meat. “Delicious and nutritious, yeah?”

“Fuck off,” Regulus mutters.

Sirius reaches over the table and pulls the plate of toast over to him. “Sorry- just excited, ready to face the day ahead, that sort of thing. You know how it is.”

“Uh huh,” Regulus says.

“You heard the news?”

“Yes,” Regulus says. “Congratulations.”

“Yeah, whatever- anyways, I think I’m going to head over to Grimmauld later today.”

“Do you,” Regulus says, trying not to let the despair color his tone.

“Yep,” Sirius says, popping the ‘p’.

Sirius takes a bite of dry toast, chewing fast. His leg is bouncing. Regulus grimaces- Sirius was really messed up by the Pettigrew thing, then. He’s not usually this jittery.

“Well, have fun,” Regulus says. “I’m going to help Ted get the kids ready to go to the park.”

Sirius nods enthusiastically, chewing faster still. Regulus pushes his chair back and goes to cover his plate and then put it in the fridge.

When Regulus finds the children, Ted is trying with little to no success to keep them focused enough to get shoes on. Harry is almost buzzing with excitement, and Luna isn’t helping- she keeps remembering a new favorite thing about the park, and then promptly telling Harry all about it.

Finally, they manage to get the kids into shoes and light jackets, and then follow Ted outside.

“Park isn’t too far from here,” Ted says, squinting in the morning sun. “Let’s walk, it’s a beautiful day.”

It really is, Regulus decides. The birds are chirping, the kids are laughing, the sun is shining- it’s not too hot, not too cold… ultimately it is truly a really very good day to visit the park.

When they do get there, Regulus has only a second to feel worried about the height of some of the structures that these kids are apparently going to be climbing over before Luna and Harry are pulling him with them to help them with slides, or ‘monkey bars’, or ‘merry-go-rounds’.

There are loads of other families at the park- evidently here to take advantage of the lovely weather as well. Fortunately, they mostly stay away from where Regulus, Harry, and Luna are playing- Regulus likes Ted fine, but he’s not sure he’s ready to interact with other muggles just yet.

On second thought, the muggle thing isn’t even the issue: Regulus just doesn’t want to interact with anyone else, period.

“Hey Regulus,” Ted says, walking up from where he’d been chatting with an older couple.

“Yes?” Regulus asks, from where he’s at the top of the slide with Harry sitting carefully in his lap and Luna standing not so carefully behind him, arms clenched around Regulus’s neck.

“I’m going to take the kids on the swings,” Ted says, smiling widely. “You take a breather, yeah?”

Luna kisses the top of Regulus’s head, simultaneously squeezing her arms tightly around Regulus’s neck.

“Fine by me,” Regulus chokes out.

Ted laughs as Regulus and the kids slide down, then holds out his hands for Luna and Harry to take. Regulus sits at the bottom of the slide for a moment as he watches as they walk away, and then gets up and walks over to a nearby park bench.

The park is so crowded that Regulus is surprised he managed to find a whole bench for himself- but he’s certainly not going to complain. He wonders idly if it would be worth breaking the statute to erect a quick ward schema to keep anyone from noticing him or the bench. Probably not.

Regulus leans back and basks in the morning sun for a moment, just breathing in the fresh spring air.

It’s not too long after that before Regulus suddenly feels a shadow falling over him. He withholds a sigh. Looks like the empty bench had been too good to last, after all. Maybe he should have done the ward.

“Hello, do you mind if I join you?”

Regulus’s eyes snap open, blood turning to ice in his veins. He really, really, really should have done the ward.

“Because I think we need to have a bit of a discussion,” Voldemort continues, red eyes flashing. “Wouldn’t you say so, Regulus?”

Chapter Text

Regulus lets out a slow breath through his nose, feeling frozen as he watches the Dark Lord sit down beside him on the bench, smile tugging on the corner of Voldemort’s lips as he does.

Regulus takes in another slow breath, feeling like his racing heart is going to give out at any moment. His left forearm twinges, then starts to sting underneath the sleeve of the jacket he’s borrowed from Ted.

At this point, Voldemort is casually leaning back. His legs are stretched out and his arms are resting on the back of the bench behind him. He’s not looking over at Regulus, though- instead he’s just… watching. Over where the kids and Ted are playing on the swings, specifically.

“How sweet,” Voldemort sighs, smiling.

He looks like how he did back at the height of his power- same red eyes, dark hair, pale skin, sharp cheekbones. Only even more, somehow.

…Almost as if he’s been operating off of less than a fraction of a soul this whole time, and now he’s all the way back together again. Regulus maybe should have found a way to verify that Luna had actually destroyed the soul pieces, and not just freed them.

Regulus doesn’t say anything to his former Lord. He’s sitting straight up- straight as a board. A line of cold sweat drips down his back.

“Children really are the future, don’t you think, Regulus?”

Regulus nods stiffly- because what else is he supposed to do here? His left arm is no longer just stinging- now, it’s burning.

“Maybe not…” the Dark Lord laughs. “Well, maybe not your future, since I wouldn’t personally say you have much of one, but certainly mine. That girl- she sure is something, isn’t she?”

“Don’t,” Regulus says, then bites his tongue, hard. He tastes blood- hears it too, since it’s rushing very loudly in his ears.

“Ohhh,” Voldemort says, turning to look at Regulus. He’s smiling- but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Oh, I don’t think you get any say on this one, my friend.”

Regulus clenches his hands into fists, then relaxes them again.

“Now,” Voldemort continues, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees. “How this goes is going to be up to you. The girl lives regardless- I’ll tell you that much. I saw more than enough of her abilities while fractured to decide on that.”

The Dark Lord’s eyes flash, and his easy grin turns into more of a vicious slash across his face. “That power- with the proper direction, she and I will go far. And from what little I remember, she’s going to go much easier with you there, at least at first.”

The Dark Lord pauses, then chuckles. “Although- I’ll bet she doesn’t think so highly of you after she watches what happens when I stick you and your brother in a room together after you’ve gone a couple days without food, eh?”

Regulus thinks maybe he’s accidentally stopped breathing over the last few minutes, so he forces himself to take in a measured lungful. His left arm is no longer merely burning: now it feels like it’s on fire, and it’s definitely not stopping anytime soon. In fact, it’s getting considerably worse with every passing moment.

The Dark Lord is doing it on purpose, Regulus knows he is- Voldemort knows Regulus can’t cry out, not without putting everyone at this park in danger.

“And the other little… tyke,” Voldemort says, gritting his teeth. “Well, he has been something of a thorn in my side in the past. Even still, I’d love to let him live, Regulus. Love to. He and his- sister, let's call her? Well, I think they really have the potential to flourish in my new empire.

“Maybe they’ll even get over their fear and revulsion of you, someday- delight in watching you tear people limb-from-limb, as I will. Oh, I do so wonder if a recovered inferius feels pain, don’t you? I just can’t wait to find out. Repeatedly. In all sorts of ways.”

Regulus closes his eyes. He feels faint- every word the Dark Lord says is another nail in his coffin. Only, no- because it doesn’t sound like the Dark Lord is planning on letting him die, does it?

If there’s anything Regulus knows about Lord Voldemort, it’s that he hates a traitor. Death is a mercy- and not one Regulus is likely to see for a long, long time.

“Call them over, Regulus,” Voldemort says softly. “Just the children, if you please- ah, look at that. Looks like- Ted, was it? Well, he’s gone and gotten distracted by another muggle. What wonderful timing.”

Ted has indeed struck up a conversation with another person. He’s laughing with them.

Regulus- Regulus doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t have a wand, not on him, and even then there’s no schema he could possibly get up in time to keep Voldemort from incapacitating him and then very violently taking the children and Regulus far away from here.

His only hope is that a four-year-old girl manages to catch on to the fact that something is wrong, and then doing something about it before the fully grown adult wizard manages to knock her out.

“Go on,” Voldemort says, soft as ever. His tone isn’t cajoling, it’s gentle- and it makes everything so, so much worse. “And if you’re good, I’ll let the boy live.”

Regulus clears his throat, then says, “Luna, Harry- come here for a second, please!”

Ted looks over at Regulus, concern evident in his face even from a distance. Regulus holds up a (slightly trembling) hand, waving him off and trying very hard to radiate ‘everything is fine, don’t come over here’.

It must have worked, because Ted smiles brightly and turns back to his conversation.

Luna and Harry, meanwhile, are coming closer and closer to where Regulus and Voldemort are.

Regulus doesn’t think it’s possible to fail a child more than he’s about to fail these ones. He swallows hard.

“Don’t cry,” Voldemort says. Ah- that is cajoling. “There will be plenty of time for that later. Ah! Children, hello.”

Harry and Luna have stopped just shy of the bench- just out of arm's reach. They’re holding each other’s hands, and are absolutely covered in dirt and grass stains.

“Who are you?” Luna asks, in her floaty sort of way.

“I’m an old friend of Regulus’s,” Voldemort says, smiling. “You may call me Tom. For now.”

Luna’s gaze flickers to Regulus, who plasters a smile on his face and nods.

If they go with Voldemort, Luna and Harry won’t grow up to be good people, and they will no doubt bring the world to its knees- but Regulus doesn’t give a damn. He just wants them to live.

Regulus’s heart is pounding in his head, his arm feels like it’s been dipped into lava and is being held there, and he thinks he might fall over if he tries to stand up- but he holds that smile like a fucking champion. Walburga would be proud.

“Okay,” Luna decides.

Regulus’s gaze flickers over to Harry, who is looking at Voldemort with his head cocked, green eyes wide and considering.

“Hello,” Voldemort says softly. “Harry, isn’t it? I’ve heard so much about you. You like snakes, don’t you?”

Harry nods, hesitant.

A delighted smile spreads across Voldemort’s face that has Regulus feeling like he’s going to throw up. Regulus closes his eyes.

In, then out. Focus on the breathing.

Regulus opens his eyes just in time to see Harry reach out with his little hand and clasp Voldemort’s own outstretched hand. Harry takes a couple steps forward, and then climbs up into Voldemort’s lap and rests his head on the man’s shoulder, giving him a hug.

Regulus can only watch in horror as Voldemort reaches his own arms around the boy’s little frame and hugs him back.

“Oh, would you look at that,” Voldemort says, looking at Regulus with a cruel gleam in his red eyes. Regulus’s arm hurts so badly he’s surprised he can still see. “He already has a new favorite.”

Harry pushes himself up, looking Voldemort right in the eyes.

“Nuh uh,” he says, frowning.

Regulus tenses up- sure that Voldemort is about to do something to Harry. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do if Voldemort tries, but Regulus sure as hell isn’t going to just sit there.

To his relief (or as much relief as one can have in a situation like this), Voldemort just chuckles. “Well, give it time,” Voldemort says lightly.

Harry heaves a great big sigh, in the world-weary way only a five-year old can manage, and shakes his head. He cups his hand on a bemused Voldemort’s cheek- although it hardly covers even a fourth of the man’s face.

"I'm sorry," Harry says, green eyes full of tired sadness. “But you don’t have any of that left."

Voldemort's eyes widen.

And then the world goes golden.

When Regulus comes to, he’s lying flat on his back on the soft grassy ground and he’s covered in children. Two of them, to be exact. Voldemort is nowhere to be seen.

“Oh,” Regulus says.

“Reg!” Harry says, burying his face into Regulus’s shoulder. “Are you done hurting?”

Regulus blinks up at him. “How d-did y-you-”

Regulus doesn’t know why he’s having a hard time talking, but then he realizes his teeth are chattering.

“I saw,” Luna says, exasperated. “The mosquitos were buzzing really bad and I saw.”

“Y-You-”

“And then Harry made things go golden again, and now the mosquitos are gone,” Luna continues.

“And the bad man. Oh! He was bad, wasn’t he, Reg?” Harry asks, sounding a bit worried.

“Y-Yes,” Regulus says- because what else does he say?

“I woulda had to make him end anyways,” Harry says, eyes going a bit distant. He furrows his brow. “He was too broken inside. I’m glad he was bad.”

Regulus just closes his eyes. Contrary to what Luna is saying about the ‘mosquitos’, his arm still very much hurts- but it’s not something he wants to worry about right now, so he pushes it to the back of his mind.

He doesn’t try and get up- instead, he gathers the children close and just breathes. In, then out.

“It’s okay to cry,” Luna reminds him.

“L-later,” Regulus says, closing his eyes and focusing on not hyperventilating. In, then out.

Luna tugs at his hair gently, and it feels like Harry has started pulling grass up and sprinkling it on Regulus's face.

“Regulus!” Ted calls.

Regulus opens his eyes again just in time to see Ted hurrying over.

“I’m so sorry, I got distracted and then I saw you were on the ground and- are you alright?”

“I n-need,” Regulus says, resolutely pushing the panic down and down and down. He feels eight years old again, like he’s just gone three rounds under Walburga’s wand.

“What?” Ted asks, hands held up and over Regulus like he wants to check him over but is holding back.

“To see S-Sirius,” Regulus says. “I just- p-please.”

The kids are still clinging tight to him, which is good. Regulus doesn’t think he could stand to lose their twin presence, not even for a second.

Ted falls to the ground beside him. “Can you stand?”

Regulus squeezes his eyes shut. He hadn’t realized it, but he’s shaking. He’s shaking a lot. His arm is getting harder to ignore.

“N-no,” he says.

“I’ll take us!” Luna says, reaching out and grabbing Ted’s arm from where she’s still laying on top of and pressed next to Regulus and Harry.

Regulus doesn’t even have time to think about protesting before the world is spinning away.

Chapter Text

Ted, to his credit, manages to make it to a nearby trash can before throwing up. Regulus would also maybe like to throw up, but he has more important things to focus on right now- namely, that Sirius is suddenly crouched over him.

If anyone can fix this, it’s Sirius.

“Regulus- are you-”

Regulus shoots up from where he’s still on the ground and launches himself into his brother's arms, which close around him almost automatically. Regulus closes his eyes and presses his face into Sirius’s shoulder.

“You- why are you shaking, are you alright? Regulus, are you-”

“We saw a bad man,” Luna says, trying and failing to wriggle her way into the embrace. She ends up contenting herself with sitting on Regulus’s legs. “Harry took care of it, though.”

Regulus blows a breath out through his mouth, willing his muscles to relax. They do not. His arm still feels like it's on fire- he doesn’t think the aftershocks of that ordeal are going to wear off anytime soon.

“Ted, he’s shaking,” Lupin says, sounding nervous. “Do you think-”

“Nerve regeneration potion, I got one,” Ted says, standing shakily from where he’d been hunched over the trash can. “Better get Andy in here, Remus-”

“On it,” Lupin says, hurrying off with one last worried look at Regulus and Sirius.

“So,” Regulus starts, because if he doesn’t start talking he’s going to cry and he doesn’t especially want to do that, “d-do you r-remember how H-Harry is th-the Master of D-Death?”

Sirius pauses, then shifts so that he’s in a more comfortable position. It occurs to Regulus then that Sirius has yet to push him away.

“Uh huh,” Sirius says.

“But w-we weren’t g-going to w-worry about it b-because it wasn’t r-relevant?”

“Right,” Sirius agrees.

Sirius is trying to sound cavalier, Regulus knows he is, but the tiniest amount of panic is bleeding into his tone.

“Well. It b-became relevant,” Regulus says.

He takes in a breath, then lets it out again. Regulus can feel himself start to relax, his breathing evening out as Sirius continues to hold him tightly.

Then the events of the last few minutes crash into him again and he’s back to hyperventilating.

“Calming potion too,” Sirius calls, sounding well and truly panicked now.

“F-for m-me or f-for you?” Regulus asks.

“You, you idiot,” Sirius snaps, readjusting his hold on Regulus.

Regulus huffs out a short laugh- there’s the Sirius he knows.

“What the fuck happened?” Sirius continues.

“Don’t be mean to Reg,” Harry cuts in, frowning. There’s no room for him in the hug either, so he’s perched himself on Regulus’s legs besides Luna.

“Sorry,” Sirius says, although Regulus can’t be sure if he’s apologizing to Harry or to Regulus.

“V-Voldemort,” Regulus says, then lets out another laugh, although this one is considerably higher and more strained.

Sirius goes very, very still, and Regulus continues:

“It w-was V-Voldemort and he w-was going t-to make me kill y-you and he was g-going to hurt H-Harry and L-Luna-”

Sirius doesn’t say anything- he just wraps his arms tighter around Regulus. As he does, his arm presses into Regulus’s forearm and Regulus’s vision whites out in pain. He blinks the fuzziness away- later. That is something to worry about later.

“Woah, hey- it’s alright,” Sirius says.

Regulus isn’t sure if Sirius is trying to convince Regulus or himself.

“It is now,” Luna agrees in that same even, dreamy tone she nearly always has.

“I made him end,” Harry repeats. “He was bad.”

Sirius lets out a long, slow breath, then mutters, “okay. Master of Death. As if having one four-year-old deity running around the place wasn’t already enough of a headache. Thank you for nothing, James.”

Regulus finds that, for the first time in his life, he agrees with Sirius on a sentiment to do with James Potter.

Andromeda is suddenly there, an anxious and fidgety Lupin behind her.

“Oh no,” she says, crouching down next to Regulus. “Kids, maybe-”

“No,” Regulus gasps out, suddenly frantic. In his panic, he tries to push out of Sirius’s arms. “No, they stay.”

“Okay,” Andromeda says. “Sorry, okay.”

Regulus relaxes again once he realizes that she really isn’t going to take them away.

“Do you know what happened?” Andromeda asks Sirius.

“Later,” Sirius says hoarsely, then clears his throat. “Later.”

“Calming potion, nerve regeneration potion, and a couple of tabs of pepto,” Ted says, running back into the room. “The last bit is for me. Where does it hurt?”

The last question is directed at Regulus. All at once, the pain he’s been resolutely ignoring comes crashing down and he only just barely manages to free his arm from Siruis’s embrace and sort of wave it at Ted.

“Okay,” Ted says, all business. “I’m going to roll up the sleeve- is that alright?”

Regulus nods, then closes his eyes. He’s so shaky that he can’t keep it still enough for Ted to do it without the man having to grab the whole arm, which has Regulus hissing in pain.

“Sorry, sorry,” Ted mutters.

Finally, Regulus feels the cool air on his exposed forearm- and nearly faints from the sudden rush of a whole new round of pain.

Sirius is suddenly holding on to Regulus’s shoulder and other arm so tightly that Regulus thinks he might be cutting off circulation.

Andromeda lets out a hiss through her teeth, not unlike the one Regulus had let out just seconds ago.

At the same time, Regulus feels a disillusionment spell trickle over his arm. It doesn’t hurt, but it is a really confusing sensation, and the world is already spinning around and around.

“Fuck,” Ted says.

“Kids,” Lupin says suddenly, voice sounding urgent. “Come over here for now-”

Regulus tries to protest, but an ashen-faced Andrea is whispering, “trust us Regulus, trust us they don’t want to see-”

“I want to see,” Luna is saying at the same time.

“Not me,” Harry says quickly.

“You can tell me what my lights look like,” Lupin says quickly.

That does the trick- Regulus feels the weight of the children leave his legs, and despite the rush of panic he feels at their departure, he also feels just a tiny bit less suffocated.

“Can you save it?” Andromeda is saying.

Regulus feels the disillusionment spell break- Andromeda must have cast it to keep the children from seeing anything.

“Can you save it?” Ted snaps back. “Sorry, no- I’m sorry, this is just- fuck. Sirius, do you-”

“No! I don’t have any healing-”

The world is spinning faster and faster.

Regulus needs someone to do something, and no one is doing anything, so he says, “Kreacher.”

“What?” Andromeda asks.

“Kreacher,” Regulus repeats, trying to keep his breathing level. “Call-”

“What the fuck is Kreacher going to do?” Sirius cuts in, sounding well and truly panicky now.

Apparently, Sirius saying his name was enough.

“Move,” says the voice of the old Elf.

Regulus almost faints from relief. Or- well, to be honest, he might faint anyways.

Regulus feels rather than hears Ted and Andromeda moving away. Sirius somehow tightens his hold on Regulus even more, but Regulus doesn’t have time for that right now.

Instead, Regulus blindly pushes Sirius away and manages to sit up, although he doesn’t really know how. He tries not to look down at his arm as he does, but it’s hard not to stare once he’s caught a glimpse of it.

Regulus blinks down at it. Not nerve damage after all, then. Wonderful.

The flesh (if you can call it that) is burnt down to the bone. Regulus thinks the only reason it hadn’t been bleeding is because the blood was burning away before it could do anything else. Hell, even the bone itself is looking a little charred. Now that his sleeve isn't covering it and he’s seen it, the smell of burning flesh is overwhelming.

Regulus isn’t sure how he manages not to throw up- that’s a sight that’s going to be seared into his head forever. He’s really, really glad that the children didn’t see any of this. He’ll need to thank Lupin and Andromeda later for their quick thinking.

Kreacher just sighs as he sees the damage.

“Regulus is a stupid boy,” Kreacher mutters angrily.

“Sorry,” Regulus gasps out, staring down at his arm. “I know.”

“Does Regulus want it gone, or fixed?”

“Price for a fix?” Regulus hears himself ask.

It’ll probably be too high to pay, but he wants to know.

“Locket,” Kreacher says, narrowing his eyes. “Diadem.”

Regulus takes a moment to mourn his left arm.

He doesn’t think his arm is worth two priceless and thought-to-be lost artifacts. He doesn’t think it’s worth one. They just got these ones back, too.

“Done,” Sirius says, cutting in before Regulus can even open his mouth to refuse. “Done.”

Kreacher snaps his fingers.

Regulus can feel the magic snapping into place alongside it. There’s another searing feeling, like pain in reverse, and then his arm has stopped hurting. Regulus slumps to the floor, Sirius catching him again as he does.

“Regulus is a stupid, stupid boy,” Kreacher mutters. “Getting into so many troubles every day.”

Then he disappears without a sound. There’s a long moment of utter silence.

“What the fuck just happened?” Andromeda asks, looking furious.

“Shoulda let me ask the price of removal,” Regulus whispers.

“Oh fuck you,” Sirius says, eyes bright. “Fuck right off.”

“I’m telling Lupin on you, and he’s going to be ma-ad,” Regulus says in a sing-song voice.

Regulus thinks distantly that he might be delirious, but can’t bring himself to care all that much. What’s the point in being delirious if you spend the whole time worried about how delirious you are?

There’s not one, is what.

“Yeah,” Sirius says, still sounding rather angry. “Yeah. I think he’ll get over it, though.”

Regulus looks up at Sirius, realizing very abruptly that he is about to pass out.

“I'm just,” Regulus says. "Going to-"

Regulus must be really out of it, because he thinks he sees Sirius’s face crumple just before blackness overtakes his vision.

Chapter Text

Regulus wakes up in the guest room bed, covered in two sleeping kids and one dog. He feels like shit- his mouth is dry and he feels achy all over. He's done this altogether far too many times in the last week- Regulus is worried it's becoming something of a habit.

Regulus looks over at the windows, trying to gauge what time it is. There’s a good amount of yellow sunshine filtering in through the blinds, so he hopefully hasn’t been out for too long.

“Um,” Regulus says, looking back down at the dog.

Padfoot shoots up, looking guilty in the way only a dog can look.

Regulus just stares, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Why is his brother here? Shouldn’t he be- Regulus doesn’t know; out there kissing a werewolf, or something?

After a second, the big black dog stands up, slides off the bed, then shakes off.

“Noo,” Harry says sleepily, making grabby hands towards the dog. “Soft.”

“Noo,” Luna echoes, then turns over and lets out a snore.

“Sorry,” Sirius says, turning back into himself and looking uncharacteristically nervous. “I didn’t want to- sorry.”

Regulus doesn’t know what to say, so he just nods. Sirius nods back, then walks out of the room.

Regulus looks down at his left arm, then feels his heart skip a beat as the events of… however long ago come rushing back to him.

Regulus pulls his sleeve up, almost tearing the fabric in his haste. Then, he just looks.

It's healed; but more importantly, it’s blank. The skin on his forearm- it’s completely blank.

Regulus feels abruptly lightheaded, and thinks that maybe he should go back to sleep. So, he does.

When Regulus wakes up next, he doesn’t immediately feel the kids next to him. He shoots up in bed, heart stuttering in fear.

Light is still coming in through the window, but it’s redder than it was last time he woke up. Either he’s slept all the way through into the next day, or it’s only been a couple hours.

“Harry?” Regulus calls, voice sounding a bit high-pitched to his ears. “Luna?”

There’s a knock at the door, and then the door swings open to reveal Andromeda. The sound of talking and laughing drifts in through the open door as well, and Regulus feels his heart calm considerably as he recognizes the kids.

“They’re okay,” Andromeda says. “Just eating some dinner. Ted is going to put on a movie for them after that, so that you can keep resting. Are you hungry?”

Before Regulus can respond, his stomach growls loudly. Andromeda smiles softly at him.

“I’ll get you something to eat,” she says, then closes the door.

Regulus sits back, trying and failing not to think about the events leading up to his current circumstances. He has to close his eyes and breathe through his nose to stay calm as he thinks back to what Voldemort had said, how close they’d all been to losing everything.

The door swings open again, breaking Regulus from his growing spiral.

“Are you good?”

Regulus opens his eyes to see his older brother walking into the room, looking a bit wary. He’s holding a plate- looks like Regulus’s leftovers from breakfast.

“I’m fine,” Regulus says, a tad stiffly.

“Okay, but if you bite me, I’m biting you back,” Sirius warns.

“I’m not going to bite you,” Regulus says, barely managing to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

“Well then,” Sirius says, walking over and handing the plate to Regulus. “There you have it. Bon appetit, I guess.”

Regulus is already tearing into the meat. He really wasn’t in any danger of biting Sirius, but he is ravenous.

Sirius watches for a moment, then clears his throat. Regulus looks up at him, feeling suddenly apprehensive.

“Me and Moony are gonna head over to Grimmauld tomorrow,” Sirius says. “Get the wards cleared up a bit- childproof it, try and prep Kreacher, that sort of thing.”

Regulus puts the now empty plate onto the nearby nightstand, a little confused as to the point of Sirius’s non-sequitur.

“Okay, and?” Regulus asks, when Sirius doesn’t elaborate.

“And,” Sirius says, furrowing his brow, “I thought you might want to come too? If you’re up to it, I mean.”

Regulus stares for a moment, wrestling with himself. Then he shrugs.

“I’m sure you have it handled,” he mutters.

It’s Sirius’s turn to stare.

“Um,” he says. “I don’t think that’s true at all. The childproofing alone- you really want to let us handle that? Me? And not you?”

Regulus holds his breath for a moment, hoping to suffocate the rising tide of bitterness.

“No, I can help,” Regulus finally says. “Although I don’t know why you think I’ll be able to childproof any better than you two- Luna alone is going to tear through those measures like a comet through a cloud.”

Sirius laughs. “Maybe,” he allows. “But I’ve heard these kids talk about you, and I heard all about what you’ve done for them. They think you hung the moon. Childproofing measures or not, these kids listen to you- and you’ll keep them safe, I know you will.”

Regulus sits back into the pillows, feeling his heart suddenly lodge itself into his throat. Why does it- why does it sound like this is a long-term thing? What?

Sirius, utterly oblivious to the effect his words are having on Regulus, idly picks up Regulus’s discarded plate.

“So- so I’m coming too?” Regulus finally gets out. “To Grimmauld?”

He immediately regrets it- he sounds so vulnerable. Walburga is rolling in her grave, Regulus is sure of it- but he needs the clarification.

“I should hope so,” Sirius says. “We wouldn’t get anything done without you- and Kreacher would throw a fit. Oh my god.

“Besides, Grimmauld is basically your house anyways- things listen to you, in there. Hell, we should maybe be asking you if we can live there.”

Sirius pauses, expression suddenly nervous. “Er, hang on- we really should be asking. Is it alright? I understand if- if you don’t want us near the kids, or- or whatever, but I’d really like to be a part of Harry’s life, and Luna’s a sweetheart and-”

Regulus stares at his brother, feeling completely off-balanced. It’s already been a long day, and now- no. Regulus can’t take it any more.

“What are you talking about?” Regulus bursts out.

Sirius stops, looking taken aback. “What?”

“They’re your kids,” Regulus says, feeling equally bewildered. “In the eyes of the law, they are yours, or they will be. I don’t- I was a Death Eater! You hate me!”

Sirius gets a crestfallen look on his face. “So you don’t want us there, then.”

“I- I didn’t say that,” Regulus says, faltering.

“No, it’s okay- I just, can we visit the kids sometimes? It’s okay if-”

“Sirius, stop,” Regulus says.

He feels light-headed. Is he breathing too fast? Why is everything spinning?

“Regulus, are you-”

“Just stop,” Regulus gasps out.

He pushes the blanket off of him and swings his legs off the side of the bed. From there he stands up, bracing himself on the wall. He takes in a couple gulping breaths, trying to slow his racing heart.

“You hate me,” Regulus says again once he’s calmed himself down enough.

“No,” Sirius says. “No, I wouldn’t say- we’ve had our disagreements, but-”

“I hate you,” Regulus says, whirling on Sirius.

He stops. Sirius looks very still, and very small, and very sad. Old, too- older than Regulus remembers. But not- but he still looks young, too. Younger, somehow.

“I- I should hate you,” Regulus amends.

“Yeah,” Sirius whispers, then clears his throat. “Yeah, I failed you big-time. You should definitely hate me.”

“But I don’t,” Regulus whispers, slumping back down in the bed. He feels empty, numb. “I never could. I tried, but. I couldn’t do it. What kind of person does that make me?”

“Well,” Sirius starts, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. “My brother, for one.”

Regulus looks up at his big brother. And then he bursts into tears.

Chapter Text

“Okay. You have your toothbrush?”

“Yes,” Harry says, exasperated.

“And you’re positive you don’t want to be homeschooled,” Regulus confirms, narrowing his eyes.

Behind them, the scarlet train lets out a loud whistle.

Sirius and Remus have already left, needing to get back to Hogwarts. Andromeda, Ted, and Tonks have all said their goodbyes already, at Harry’s ‘going away to school’ party.

“It’s a bit late to be asking that one, don’t you think, Reg?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Regulus sniffs. “It’s never too late to ditch a formal education. Don’t quote me on that-”

His arms are suddenly full of eleven-year-old boy.

“I’m going to miss you,” Harry says, pressing his face into Regulus’s shoulder.

Regulus closes his eyes and presses a kiss to the top of Harry’s curly haired head. Harry's hair is really long now- almost down to the middle of his back.

“Don’t fight any monsters,” Regulus whispers. “Please.”

“I haven’t gone a whole year without fighting one yet,” Harry laughs, a bit wetly. “I don’t think that’s going to change just because I’m off at school.”

Regulus loves Harry and Luna with his whole heart and wants nothing more for them to be safe and happy- but what with them being ‘Master of Death’ and ‘Master of Magic’ respectively, the universe just isn’t content to let them be.

Regulus has met more eldritch horrors than he cares to remember. Or think about at all. Ever.

“Just find Remus,” Regulus insists.

Just because the kids have yet to face a foe that’s any sort of match for them yet doesn’t mean that Regulus wants them to keep fighting.

“He’ll be there,” Regulus continues. “Remus can fight the monster! Or, or Sirius, he’s there- or call your sister, she’ll come get you and take you away-”

“Regulus,” Luna says patiently from behind them. “It’s my turn.”

“Luna,” Harry says, pushing back from Regulus’s arms. “You’ve been apparating into Hogwarts to say hello to Remus at least once a week ever since he’s started working there. You’re practically a student already.”

Luna’s eyes are tracking something over Harry’s shoulder. “If you didn’t want to hug me you could have just said so,” she says dreamily.

Harry gets an offended look on his face. “I didn’t say that-”

Regulus cuts off the impending argument by simply pulling the girl into the embrace as well. They stand like that for a long moment.

“Would you fight the monsters for me?” Harry asks quietly. “If I asked?”

Regulus opens his mouth to answer, when-

“You don’t need to ask,” Luna says, patient as ever. “He’s Reg.”