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Chapter Text

Regulus was having the worst day of his life, and that’s really saying something. The moment he woke up, he knew something was wrong. It was only when he went down for breakfast that he figured out exactly what was wrong. His brother had run away again last night.

Ever since his first year at Hogwarts, Sirius had a habit of running to his friend’s house whenever he’d get into a bad fight with their mother, so he honestly wasn’t that surprised when he didn’t see him at breakfast. He heard Sirius arguing with their mother last night, but Regulus was too tired and went back to sleep.

His mother was still upset, muttering about how ‘useless and dramatic’ Sirius was.

“Stupid boy. Completely useless. How on Earth did we get a son like him.”

His father put his fork down, “There’s no use complaining about it now, Walburga. The most we can do is just continue with the plan. Actually, Sirius not being here will make this easier for us.”

Regulus just stared at them. He didn’t understand what they were talking about. What plan? Why would it be easier without Sirius? His questions were answered a week before school starts.

When Sirius would run away, he’d always come back a few days before term, so he and Regulus could get their stuff together. But when Sirius hasn’t returned home a week before the start of term, Regulus knew that he wasn’t coming back. But that didn’t stop him hoping he would.

Regulus would stay up late, the light in the stairway left on, while he sat on the stairs waiting for Sirius to return. A few times Regulus fell asleep on the stairs, leaving Kreacher to be the one to take him back to bed.

The plan was, apparently, to join a cult. His mother and father were leading him to an abandoned mansion at the top of a hill. When they walked inside, Regulus saw many other pureblood families. They were all pretending to enjoy each other’s company. He truly hates social gatherings like this.

He can see the Rosiers talking to the Gaunts, but he couldn’t see Evan anywhere. He was already dreading how bored he’s going to be.

It took a few minutes of mingling with the other families for something to happen. They were all gathered in the entrance by the large staircase. All the noise died down when someone tapped on a glass. Everyone’s attention was drawn to the top of the staircase, where a man walked to the railing slowly.

He had neatly styled short, dark hair. The dark suit he wore looked like it came straight from one of those muggle fashion magazines he’d seen before. The thing that caught Regulus’ attention, though, was the raw power he exuded. They didn’t get quiet out of respect, but out of fear. Fear for the power that man has.

“I am so glad that you could all make it. There are some very important things I wish to discuss with all of you.” The man looks at all of them, some longer than others. When he gets to Regulus, he stops looking around. “For those of you who don’t know who I am, you may call me Lord Voldemort.”

There were rumours going around, even at Hogwarts, that a powerful dark wizard had surfaced and was gathering followers. Was this who they were talking about? He certainly felt powerful, even from the distance between them.

“I have big plans for the future,” the man continued, walking down the stairs, taking each step slowly. “the future of our world, and the future of the muggle world. And everyone in this room,” the man reaches the bottom of the stairs and walks through the crowd. He stops once again when he reaches Regulus. “will play a part in it.”

They make eye contact. Regulus tries to keep his breathing slow and calm, hoping he doesn’t flinch. The man is the first to break eye contact, continuing to walk through the crowd. The look his mother sends Regulus doesn’t go unnoticed by him.

“There are people out there who wish to stop my plans. So, I’m gathering those who aren’t opposed to join me.” The man walks back to the top of the stairs and turns to face them. “Now. Is there anyone here today who does not want to be included?”

The questions sounds innocent, but even Regulus can sense the threat they carry. If anyone doesn’t want to be included, they’d probably die. “No one?” the smiles. “Good. I want the world to be ruled by magic. Why should we have to be suppressed to keep the muggles happy? Why must we hide who we truly are, in fear of the muggles? They wouldn’t be able to hurt us either way, so why is the Ministry of Magic so strict about hiding the existence of magic?

“I want to put a stop to all of the hiding, to all of those who say that we can’t be who we truly are and act how we truly should. We shall not be suppressed any longer.” He pauses, let’s his words sink in. Now, Regulus understands why the government doesn’t want the muggles to know about magic, but he couldn’t care less about muggles so he doesn’t care about Voldemort’s plans.

“That’s not the only problem. Wizards and witches keep having children with muggles, people with no magical abilities. Their tainting our blood. That’s the other thing that has to stop. Only the pure of blood should be allowed to learn and practice magic. All of those with the tainted blood should be sent to stay with the muggles, learn like muggles and live like muggles.”

Sounds of agreement rang around the room. Blood supremacy has always existed within the magical world, but no one has acted on it yet. So, all of those who believe in blood supremacy are willing to follow someone powerful that has the same ideals as them.

“I will tell you all the specifics of my plan at our next meeting. I’d hate to take up your time. From now on, the last night of each month, we will meet here. Don’t worry, the Ministry doesn’t know this place exists, and they won’t be able to find it. I wish you all the best.”

Voldemort apparates away, leaving the room in silence for a few moments. The silence is interrupted by his cousin, Bellatrix, walking up to his mother and father. “The Dark Lord is asking you to meet him upstairs.”

Regulus was quite happy to stay in the entrance while his parents spoke to Voldemort, but that didn’t matter as his mother grabbed his arm and dragged him upstairs with her, following Bellatrix.

They walk up another flight of stairs. At the end of the hallway was a large door that’s slightly open. Bellatrix opens the door wide and walks in first, his father and mother following her, while Regulus hesitates a single second before walking in, too.

The man, Voldemort, is looking out large windows. The room is pretty dark, the only light being the green light from the fireplace. There were other people in the room, too. Bellatrix’ parents and sister, Narcissa, were there. They stood around the couches in the middle of the room and by the fireplace. They joined them. No one said anything, waiting for Voldemort to say the first words.

“Out of every pureblood family here tonight, your family is the only one I feel I can trust. For my plan to succeed, we’ll need to infiltrate the government first. If I’m correct, next week they’ll announce the new Minister of Magic. He happens to be one of my spies. Once we have control of the Ministry, we’ll have more freedom to do what we want.”
Voldemort walks up and down next to the window, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Right now, the Ministry doesn’t have the power to stop me. The Aurors may be a problem, but I’ve sent one of my spies to infiltrate them, too. The only person that poses an actual threat is Dumbledore. He’s the only one that can stop me. For now, at least.”

Regulus knew Dumbledore was powerful. There was a reason Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the world. So, Dumbledore does pose a big threat to Voldemort and his followers.

Voldemort turns away from them again. “However, I believe I have discovered a way to become unstoppable. And your family will play an important role in it.” Voldemort turns his back to the window, facing them. He looks Regulus in the eyes as he says, “Especially you, Regulus.”

Regulus’ breathe catches in his throat. He doesn’t say anything, just keeps looking at Voldemort. He sees his mother stiffen next to him. Probably in pride, knowing her.

“You, Regulus, will be playing a different role than the rest of your family, so I’ll tell you all your roles separately. But I can tell you all this: Regulus will be our spy inside of Hogwarts.”

Voldemort walks towards Regulus, standing next to him. He puts his hand on Regulus’ shoulder. “One of your jobs is to keep watch on Dumbledore. I’ll give you a way to communicate with me. You must give me updates on Dumbledore’s movements. Whether he’s left the castle for whatever reason or he didn’t show up for dinner. Anything that seems at least slightly odd, I want to know. Understood?”

“Yes, my Lord.” Regulus is shocked and surprised by how steady his voice was.

“Now, I’m not going to tell you to not tell anyone. It will be pretty difficult to watch his movements by yourself. But I will tell you to be careful about who you tell.” That was another veiled threat.

“Of course, my Lord.”

He turns to the rest of Regulus’ family. “I will tell you what your jobs will be soon. I want a few moments alone with Regulus. I will call for you in a few hours. In the meantime, please, enjoy yourselves at the party downstairs.”

His family nod and they walk out, leaving Regulus alone with one of the most powerful wizards of their time. Voldemort walks towards the couches and sits, gesturing for Regulus to do the same. “Please, make yourself comfortable. Don’t be nervous, little one.”

Regulus sits down on the couch, a respectable distance between them. Voldemort reaches to the table in front of the couch and pours two cups of wine. He hands Regulus one, who looks at it warily. “Have you had wine before, Regulus?”

“No, sir. I am not old enough to drink alcohol.”

“Not to worry. One cup won’t hurt you.” Regulus doesn’t drink from it yet, still a bit wary. “It’s not poisoned, rest assured.”

“Of course, my Lord.” He takes a tentative sip. It tastes sweet. Voldemort drinks from his own glass.

“I have a very important, and secret, job for you Regulus. It will be difficult, but I believe you’ll be able to complete it.” Voldemort stops.

At his continued silence, Regulus gets the courage to ask, “What is it?”

Voldemort hums, “Are you aware of some of Hogwarts secrets? What the castle holds?”

He is. He remembers Sirius talking to him about some secret passageways he and his friends discovered. He even used some himself. He nods in response.

“When I went to Hogwarts, I discovered one of these secrets. But it can only be found using a special ability. A special ability that I believe you possess.”

“My Lord?”

Voldemort smiled at him, “Have you ever spoken to snakes, Regulus?”

So, he knows, then. Regulus discovered that he was a parselmouth when he accidentally spoke to a snake when he was 12 years old. He was exploring the edges of the forbidden forest when he heard a voice speak to him. Thinking it was Barty, who was with him, he responds. It was only at the look that Barty gave him that he realised Barty hadn’t said anything.

But Regulus was absolutely sure that he hadn’t told anyone but his friends about it, so how does Voldemort know? Regulus stays quiet, not sure what to say.

“Your mother told me you could.”

But how does his mother know? Oh, right. His mother was skilled in Legilimens. Sometimes, she’d use it on him and Sirius. She must have seen him speak to a snake in his memories.

“I can, my Lord.”

“Good. Then do you know of the abandoned girl’s bathroom at Hogwarts?”

Regulus nods again.

“In that bathroom, one of the sinks is the entrance to a hidden passageway. It can only be opened using parseltongue. Your job will be to discover the secrets of this passage and report back to me. Like I said, I have come up with a way for us to be able to secretly communicate with each other. Do you understand what you have to do?”

“I do, my Lord.”

“Then I will set up our communication now.”

Regulus didn’t have to ask what he will do since he felt him. A sudden sharp pain in his head. Voldemort has used a Legilimens spell of some kind on him. It took just a few minutes more for him to be able to hear Voldemort’s voice again. This time it was in his head.

“We’ll be able to communicate like this. You’ll know how to activate it, and you’ll feel me activate it. So don’t worry about me hearing your thoughts constantly. And if I want to, I can share my other senses with you, and you can do the same with me. A handy little trick, isn’t it?” Voldemort smiles at him.

Regulus can do nothing but stare. That’s really freaky.

Voldemort lets out a small laugh, “It’s still activated.”

Shit. Regulus looks away from him. Luckily Voldemort didn’t seem to mind. He feels his mind go fuzzy for a second and assumes it’s deactivated now. Regulus continues to sip on his wine, avoiding eye contact.

“Now that business is over, let’s talk a bit more, shall we?” Regulus finally looks at him again at those words. “I’ve heard you’re fond of potions. I myself was interested in potions when I was about your age.”

Regulus grew up with parties with other purebloods, so he knows how to have a conversation. Even if it is with someone like Voldemort. “Potions has always been my favourite subject in school. Spells are cool and all, but there’s more you can do with potions than you can do with spells.”

“That’s true. But my interests lie in magical artifacts.”

“You mentioned being at Hogwarts. I didn’t know you were a student there.” Voldemort takes his now empty glass and refills it.

“I attended for all 7 years. I was a Slytherin, like you. I even took potions with Horace Slughorn as my teacher. Does he still have that little club of his?”

“The ‘Slug Club’?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Unfortunately.”

Voldemort laughs, “He’s always been quite eccentric. But if you stay in his good books you’ll learn about things you’re not allowed to know. He’s unknowingly helped me quite a bit.”

They talk for a few hours more about anything and everything. Some of the books they’ve both read, their time at Hogwarts, all sorts of things. Voldemort’s obviously trying to gain his trust. He even says that this will happen again when Regulus is able to attend one of the meetings in person.

It was past midnight when Regulus was sent downstairs to call his family to go speak with Voldemort. It was nearing sunrise when he finally returned home. Exhausted, he collapsed in his bed, falling asleep almost immediately, Voldemort’s jobs for him in the front of his mind.

Chapter Text

Regulus had been on the train for nearly ten minutes when one of his friends had finally entered his carriage. Barty was mumbling about something. By the tone of his voice and the look on his face he was clearly frustrated.

“What’s got you in a mood?” he asked once Barty had sat down.

“The bloody first years wouldn’t move out of my way.”

“Really? That’s what you’re mad about?” Evan was leaning against the carriage’s open door.

“Shut it, Rosier. My dad was all up my ass this whole Summer.” Evan sat down next to Regulus, not wanting to sit next to Barty in case he gets on the opposite end of Barty’s anger.

“Yeah, tell me about it. My parents were stricter than usual this Summer. Saying I must be on my best behaviour, and follow their every order, and all of that crap.” Evan said.

“What about you, Reggie? Your parents been a pain?” Barty looks at him.

Regulus was about to respond to him when he saw something out the corner of his eye that reminded him about something else that happened over the Summer. Sirius walked past his carriage, his best friend James right behind him. He makes eye contact with James for a split second.

“Reg?” Evan looks concerned. They all had shit parents, but Regulus’ were the worst of them.

“Yeah, I have a lot to tell you.” Regulus casts a charm that will make their carriage soundproof. “Everything I’m about to tell you cannot leave this group. You can’t even tell Pandora or Dorcas. Got it?”

Pandora and Dorcas were their friends, too. But Regulus knows them. They absolutely cannot know.

“Yeah, got it.”

“Yes, sir.” Barty gives a fake solute, earning a glare from Evan.

It took half of the train ride for Regulus to finish telling them about his Summer. By the end of it, neither of them say anything.

“Well. Your Summer sounds eventful.”

Evan glares at him again, “That’s what you say?”

“What am I supposed to say?”

They don’t get to have a full-blown argument as someone opens their carriage door, breaking his silencing charm. It was another one of Sirius’ friends, the most tolerable one in Regulus’ opinion. Remus looks at him. “You missed the prefects meeting.”

“You’re a prefect?” Barty asks.

“No, I’m not. I’ve sent word to Professor Dumbledore that I don’t want to be a prefect.”

All three of them look at him in shock. “Oh, um, alright. I’ll uh, I’ll let the others know.” Remus leaves without another word.

It’s silent in their carriage for a few moments. “You turned down being a prefect?”

“It will take up too much of my time. My mother said that I must not get distracted.”

They all knew that Regulus had wanted to be a prefect since his first year. He even wanted to be head boy. He knew there would be more people with questions, but he really didn’t know what to tell them. With Barty and Evan, it’s easy, since they now know the truth. With, say Pandora, it’ll be harder.

A part of him still wants to be a prefect, still wants to be head boy, but he doesn’t really have a chance now. Barty and Evan are still looking at him. He turns to look out the window. A few minutes later, they start up a conversation with each other about the Quidditch World Cup coming up.

“Absolutely not. The Chudley Cannons will sweep house.” Barty said.

“But the Holyhead Harpies have had a pretty good season this time.” Evan said around a mouth full of Every Flavour Beans. He decided their second year that the flavours wouldn’t be bad if he eats multiple at the same time.

“Yeah, but-“

“Excuse me.” A new voice interrupted Barty.

It was one of the Gryffindor sixth year girls that hung around Sirius’ lot. Mckinnon? Regulus wasn’t sure. “Do any of you know where Dorcas is?”

“Why?” Evan looks suspicious.

“Do you want to fight her?” Of course, Barty would assume that. “It’s a bit too early for a fight, don’t you think, Ev?”

“Yeah, we’re not even off the train yet.” Evan joins Barty.

Barty turns to Mckinnon, “Yeah, can’t you wait a bit longer?” he asks.

“No-“ she gets out in her semi-shocked state.

Barty carries on before she could finish her sentence, “Alright, then. I’ll go call her. You better get your wand ready.”

“There’s no point,” Regulus decides to join in as well, never wanting to miss an opportunity to annoy a Gryffindor, especially one of his brother’s friends. “Dorcas would win anyway.”

“Yeah, she would.” Evan said.

“I don’t want to fight Dorcas!” Mckinnon looks stressed. “Jeez, what’s with you guys?” She walks away, probably realising that she won’t get any answers out of them. Regulus doesn’t even know where Dorcas is, so he couldn’t tell her even if he wanted to.

“Well, that was fun.” Barty’s in a better mood than he was when he got on the train.

++++

The sorting ceremony was as boring as ever. The hat sang his song and the first years got their houses. Regulus was zoned out for all of it, not really thinking about anything. He was brought back to himself when Barty next to him nudged him. He thought it was time to eat, but the tables were still empty. Dumbledore was in the middle of giving the speech he always gives at the start of term.

“What?” he asks Barty.

“Look,” Barty nods his head towards Sirius and his friends. When Regulus looked over, he immediately made eye contact with his brother. Regulus had a lot on his mind all summer, so he’s barely thought about Sirius at all. He doesn’t know how to feel about him leaving.

Some part of him is relieved that Sirius got out, that’s he’s okay. Another part of him is upset that Sirius left him alone, without even a word. He’s distracted from his staring contest with Sirius by food appearing on the tables.

“Reg?” It was Evan calling him this time. “You need to eat.”

“Yeah, he’s right.” Barty already has his plate full of food, immediately digging in. “You look like you’ve lost weight.”

“I’m fine, not really hungry.”

“Just have a bit, alright?” Evan was always the one focusing on their health. He’s like the mother of their group.

“Fine,” Regulus fills half of his plate. He doesn’t even finish his food before he’s full.

He talks about the newest broom to come out, how Uncle Alfard is planning to get him one for his birthday. Barty talks about the muggle movies he watched over the summer, one of them was about a giant ape that ran rampant. Evan talks about the week he spent at his cousin’s house and the cat that she got recently.

For a few moments, Regulus forgot all about the jobs Voldemort had given him. He felt like he was a normal kid again. He felt his age. He felt calm for once after the stressful months he’s had. All of the calmness he had flew out the window the second he walked out of the Great Hall.

Sirius was there with his friends, waiting by the door. “Reg?” Regulus turns at the sound of his name, making eye contact once again.

“Can we talk?” He looks at Barty and Evan, standing being Regulus protectively. “In private?”

Regulus thinks it over, then faces Barty and Evan, “Go on ahead. I’ll meet you in our room.”

They reluctantly and slowly walk away, glancing back at Regulus. Sirius motions to his friends and they also walk away, James patting Sirius on the back as he passed. Sirius leads him to an empty hallway. Regulus leans against the wall while Sirius stands in front of him. Neither of them know what to say.

Regulus breaks the ice first, “So, have you left for good?”

Sirius looks like he’s about to cry. His words come out choked, “Yeah.”

“Right,” a part of Regulus already knew the answer, but Sirius confirming it hurt. A lot.

Sirius gains a spark in his eye, like he ha an idea. “You could come with me! I’m at James’ house. His parents wouldn’t mind, and I know James wants you there, too. You could come live with-“

“You left me.” Now it’s Regulus’ turn to cry. “You left me alone in that house. You didn’t even tell me.” The last part comes out in a whisper.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t stay there anymore.”

“You could’ve taken me with you,” he would have gone with. They’d spoken about it, the two of them. Ever since they were kids they’ve spoken about leaving Grimauld Place and living together somewhere else, somewhere away from their parents.

“I wanted to, really, I did, but I had to leave. Mother was mad an-and I could barely walk. I wasn’t thinking straight-“

“You left me all alone! How could you do that?!” Regulus was crying. He was both sad and angry that his brother left him. If Regulus had left with Sirius that night, he wouldn’t be doing something for one of the most dangerous people in the world right now. He wouldn’t be looking over his shoulder constantly, like there’s a threat right there that’s going to hurt him.

“I’m so sorry, Reggie. But you can leave now. You don’t have to go back,” Sirius walks towards Regulus. He puts his hands on Regulus’ arms. Regulus finally noticed that he’s wrapped his arms around himself, like he’s trying to comfort himself. In a way he is.

Regulus shrugs Sirius’ hands off of him. “I can’t,” he barely manages to choke those words out. A few weeks ago, he could have. But now, now Voldemort is constantly monitoring him. He even has away to know where Regulus is. And Regulus doesn’t know how to stop it.

He doesn’t know where he stands in this war. He doesn’t believe in that blood supremacy stuff, but he also doesn’t want to die, so he has no choice.

“What?” Sirius looks hurt. “Why not?”

“I-I can’t tell you.”

“Reg? Come with me. You don’t have to live there anymore. They- They can’t hurt you if you’re not with them. Reg, please?”

“I can’t.” Regulus is still crying. He’s struggling to breathe properly, like he can’t get enough air in.

“Why?”

Regulus shakes his head frantically, “I can’t tell you.”

“What’s going on, Regulus?”

Regulus, still shaking his head, slowly walks backwards away from Sirius. Sirius walks towards him. “Regulus?”

Regulus’ back hits something. He knows it’s not a wall because it’s soft. He looks behind him and finds it’s Evan he’s backed into. Barty walks in front of him. “What’s going on here?”

“We were just talking.” Sirius stops walking towards Regulus, glaring at Barty.

“’Just talking’? If you were just talking then why is he crying?” Even Evan sounds pissed.

“It’s none of your business, Rosier.”

“Right. We’ll be going then.” Barty grabs Regulus’ arm gently, leading him to their dorm. He vaguely hears Evan following behind them. He doesn’t feel completely present, like he’s out of his body and watching it happen. They’re in their dorm when Regulus eventually comes back to himself. He’s sitting on his bed, Evan next to him and Barty in front of them on the floor.

“You with us?” Barty asks, noticing when his eyes weren’t as glazed over as before.

He nods his head, not trusting his words to come out nicely.

“Did he say something? Or do something?” Evan asks, concern clear in his voice.

Regulus doesn’t respond for a bit. “He left me,” is all he says. He doesn’t need to say anything for them to understand. Barty stands up and sits on his other side, taking his hand in his.

It didn’t take long for them to fall asleep. All on the same bed, like they were 11-year-old kids with shitty parents again.

Chapter Text

Regulus doesn’t remember falling asleep. Luckily, he didn’t have a nightmare like he did the last few nights. So, when he woke up, he was in a pretty good mood. Barty was in the bed next to him, still sound asleep. Evan has already woken up and started getting ready for the day, even though the suns has just started rising. Evan’s relationship with sleep has never been great. The dark circles under his eyes are proof.

Regulus hears the shower in their bathroom, assuming Evan has gone to shower. Hopefully he won’t take too long. Having to wake up Barty is on his list of things not to do. The last time he made the mistake of waking up Barty, he got punched in the face. He vowed to never do it again.

He decided to pack his bags while waiting for the shower. He managed to pack his bag completely by the time Evan came out of the shower. “Morning Reg.” He says, hair still wet. “Left me the pleasure of waking Barty, have you?”

“Yep. I already told you that I’m not going to do it again.” Regulus grabbed his clothes and headed to the bathroom. He’s about to close the door when he hears Evan grunt in pain. He turns around. Barty had punched Evan for waking him up, just not in the face this time.

“You deserve that,” Barty said around a yawn.

“Bitch,” was Evan’s winded response.

++++

Breakfast was just as loud as always. Eager first years yelling too loud for 7 in the morning, the rest of the students discussing their class schedules, and the so-called ‘Marauders’ laughing loudly about some joke that was said.

Regulus refused to look at Sirius, worried that they’d make eye contact again. He still doesn’t know how to feel about Sirius leaving for good. He wants to be angry, but he just can’t bring himself to.

“You see this, Reggie?” Barty said while eating toast. “We’ve got a free period first thing in the morning.”

Regulus looked at their schedule. Muggle Studies was first, which none of them took. Actually, only a handful of Slytherins took Muggle Studies. Evan and Regulus weren’t allowed to, and Barty wasn’t interested in it.

“What should we do?” Evan asked.

“I’m going to go to the library,” Regulus said. He hasn’t eaten much. A single slice of jam on toast. It doesn’t go unnoticed, judging by the way Evan was looking at him and his plate.

“The library? Oh, come on Reg, you’ll have all term to go there. Let’s do something more fun.” Barty had to put his toast down for that.

“There’s something I need to investigate first.”

“Is it about the ‘You-Know-What’?” Evan hits him as soon as Barty finished.

Regulus startled, “I told you not to talk about it.” He said in a low voice.

“I didn’t say anything!”

“Yeah, but you were close.”

“Morning boys!” a cheery voice says from behind Regulus. He stops glaring at Barty and turns to see Pandora and Dorcas have finally joined them.

“What are we being so secretive about?” Dorcas examines them carefully, trying to see if she’ll find anything out by their expressions.

“Well, it wouldn’t be so secretive if we told you, would it?” Barty’s ability to deflect has always been one of his strong points.

“Whatever. Keep your secrets.” Dorcas sits down next to Barty and Pandora sits down next to Regulus.

“If we’re talking about secrets, let’s talk about you and that Gryffindor girl, Cas.” Evan said. Regulus remembered what happened on the train. He’s not well versed in love, but even he could tell that something was brewing between Dorcas and Mckinnon.

Dorcas poured all of her attention on dishing her breakfast, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“So how was everyone’s summer?” Pandora asked in hopes to change the subject.

“Shit,”

“One part was good,”

“Eventful,”

Regulus, Barty and Evan tried not to talk about there summers around the girls. Pandora ad Dorcas both have pretty good families, so they usually have nice stories to tell about their summers. If the three of them were to talk about theirs, the mood would do a full 180.

Dorcas and Pandora look at each other. “Um, alright then.”

They eat in silence for a few minutes. When they were all done eating, they said goodbye to Pandora, who was off to her first lesson, and started roaming the halls for a bit. Dorcas cuts off the argument Barty and Evan were having, “So, what are we doing for the next 40 minutes?”

“Well, our dear Reggie wants to go to the library, for some reason. I was planning on going back to the dorm and taking a nap.”

“You were asleep not even an hour ago, Barty.”

“And I would still be asleep if someone,” he glares at Evan, “hadn’t woken me up.”

“Wonder who,” Evan avoided looking at Barty, but he has a sly smirk on his face.

“Yeah, big mystery.”

“I wouldn’t go back to the dorms for a while if I were you,” Dorcas said, a slightly annoyed look on her face.

“And why’s that Meadowes?” Barty leaves Evan alone for now, turning his attention to Dorcas. They’ve stopped walking, standing off to the side of the hallway so people can pass them.

“Let’s just say a little birdy told me that ‘certain someones’ have something planned as a ‘welcome gift’ for the Slytherins.” Dorcas doesn’t have to say anyone’s name. It’s pretty obvious that Sirius and his friends are playing a prank in the Slytherin dorms, and she knows because Mckinnon told her.

“Well, that’s just great,” Barty said, words dripping with sarcasm.

“You can come with me to the library if you want.”

“I suppose I have no choice,”

“Maybe if you read you would be at least a little smart,”

“I am a genius, I’ll have you know, dear Evan.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, and I’ll prove it. Come on, Reg, let’s go to the library.”

++++

Regulus had been looking through the bookshelves in the library for nearly their whole free period but found nothing on any of Hogwarts’ secrets. Although he knew about that passageway that Voldemort had told him about, but he wanted to be a bit more prepared for whatever he might find in it. And he was told to discover the secret of it.

“Reg, we have to go. We have DADA now.” Evan walks up to the desk Regulus is sitting at, pushing a pile of books to the side to look him in the eye. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“No, nothing. They mention Hogwarts having secrets, but they don’t say what those secrets are.”

“There’s no use worrying about it now-“

“I have to.”

“Regulus,” he picks up his head from where it’s buried in a book. “We have class now. Let’s go.”

“Fine. But you’re waking up Barty.”

“What, again? I already did today, and I’m not in the mood to get punched again.”

“Too late.” Regulus stood up and put all of their books back in their places. He hears Evan groan and Madam Pince shushing them. “Stop doing that Evan and maybe I won’t punch you so often.”

“We have to go to class now.” Evan grunts out. “Can’t you at least punch somewhere else?” Regulus rolls his eyes. He hears Barty say that it’s Evan’s fault. “I thought we were going now.”

“We are.” Barty lets out a loud groan and gets slapped on the back of his head for that.

++++

They were the last to arrive to the Potions classroom, luckily before class started. They sat down, Regulus with Barty and Evan with Dorcas, right as Professor Slughorn walked in. “Good morning class, I trust you all had nice summers.”

That make Regulus and Barty look at each other. “Today’s lesson will be more of a revision than anything else. I want you to partner up with the person next to you to make a ‘Draught of Peace’. Whoever makes the best potion will get a reward.”

“That sounds easy.” Barty whispers to Regulus.

“I don’t think I want to know what that ‘prize’ is,”

Barty laughs, earning a look from one of the Ravenclaws at the table next to them.

Making the ‘Draught of Peace’ was easy, so easy Regulus and Barty have been done for ten minutes. Everyone else was still busy. The two of them were throwing random ingredients into a cauldron to see what they could make.

“Uh, Professor? I think we did something wrong.” One student called out from the back of the classroom. Professor Slughorn got up from his desk and walked over to the student.

“What if we add some Fwooper Feathers?” Barty asked Regulus while stirring the cauldron.

“Mm, maybe. But I don’t have any with me.”

“Yeah, neither do I.” Barty stops stirring and instead looks towards Slughorn’s office. He smiled at Regulus.

Regulus, knowing Barty well enough to know that that smile didn’t mean anything good, immediately disagreed. “No. No way. Do you know how much trouble we’d get in if we’re caught?”

“Then don’t get caught.”

“It’s not happening. I’m not doing it.”

“Come on! Live a little.”

“You do it then.”

“Only you know how to get into his office.”

That was true. Most of the teachers had a special spell to lock their offices since they taught the ‘Alohamora’ spell their first year. Regulus spent nearly an entire night figuring out how to unlock Slughorn’s office so he’d get some Horklump juice for a potion to help with sleep.

“Why should I?”

“Please? I’ll pay you back!”

Regulus sighs. He looks at Slughorn, who was busy helping a student. Since he looks busy, Regulus believes he’ll have enough time to get in and out without being seen. He looks back at Barty, who has a pleading look in his eyes.

He sighs again and rolls his eyes, “Fine. Fine!” Barty smiles at him.

Regulus sneaks to the office door, making sure no one sees him. Except for Evan and Dorcas, who wave at him when he passed them. He undoes the spell for the lock and quietly walks into the office. The Fwooper Feather was easy to find. It wasn’t the only thing he found, though.

While in the office, an idea occurred to him. Felix Felices, Liquid Luck. That should help him with the ‘tasks’ he was given. Once he had the Fwooper Feather and the ingredients for Liquid Luck, he returned to Barty, locking the door behind him with that same spell.

“You got it?”

“Yeah, but this is all on you if it goes wrong.” He gives the feather to Barty. His timing was great since at that moment, Slughorn had finished helping the student and is back at his desk in the front of the classroom.

It was a few minutes before it went south. Barty had already added the Fwooper Feather, but the other things he’s added caused some sort of reaction. “Um, Reg?”

“Yeah?”

“Should it be sparking?”

Regulus walks over from where he was talking with Evan and looks into the cauldron. “Probably not.”

He and Barty back away from the cauldron. They did it just in time for the cauldron to create an explosion of fireworks, distracting the whole class with the loud noise. Everyone, including Slughorn, watched as their cauldron blew up with colourful firework explosions.

Once the fireworks stopped Professor Slughorn walks up to the two of them. “Mr Black, Mr Crouch,” he started, “care to explain what happened here?”

“Well, um, Professor, you see, we may have mixed something with something it shouldn’t be mixed with and it didn’t go well.” Barty answered.

“Well, if I know potions, and I think I do, I would say that this is the work of a Fwooper Feather.”

“You would not be entirely wrong, professor.”

“Right. So how is it that you and Mr Black got your hands on one?”

“Through legal means, if that’s what you’re asking, sir.”

“Shut up, Crouch.” Regulus whisper-yelled to Barty. He gets a glare in return.

Slughorn sighs, “Detention for a week, both of you.”

Chapter Text

There were many days when Regulus wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and never be bothered again. Those were one of those days. This was his first time getting detention. And it just has to be from a teacher that favoured him heavily. He could practically hear his mother yelling at him already.

The rest of the day went by without anything else happening. By the time dinner came around, Regulus still hasn’t said a word to Barty since Potions. Was he being a bit childish, possibly, but that doesn’t matter since his plan to sneak into the Restricted part of the library tonight is ruined. He couldn’t find anything in the normal books, so the books in the Restricted Section had to have something.

Regulus hasn’t said a word during dinner. Surprisingly, neither has Barty, who was known for talking so much he’d forget to eat. Evan and Dorcas weren’t stopped by their silence, talking about their lessons earlier and the upcoming Quidditch trials. Evan would be trying out for Chaser again and Dorcas has been thinking about trying out for Beater, for no specific reason.

His peaceful dinner was interrupted by Barty leaning over to him. “Are you mad at me?” he asks lowly.

“Yes, I am!” Regulus doesn’t bother keeping quiet.

“Okay.” Barty leans back, going back to eating his food quietly.

++++

“Your detention for today will be to reorganise my shelves. I meant to do it before term started, but I had, um, other things to do.” Slughorn walks towards the classroom’s door. “If you’re not done today then you will carry on tomorrow night.”

He walks out the door but comes back in almost immediately, “I must say that I am very disappointed in you, Mr Black.”

Regulus glares at Barty at those words, but Barty refuses to make eye contact. “Barty.”

“I’m sorry.” He sounds defeated.

“Barty.”

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Regulus sighs, “Let’s start. We still have two hours of this.”

It was an hour in when Regulus felt it. A fuzzy feeling spread in his head, all of his senses cutting off. Almost as soon as it happens it’s gone. But he knows something did happen when he heard a voice speak in his mind.

“Detention, huh?” Voldemort asked. Regulus can practically hear his smile.

“Word travels fast, does it?”

“Your mother got the letter and immediately told me. You know, in all my years of attending Hogwarts I never once got detention.”

“You never broke the rules?”

“I never got caught breaking the rules.” That makes more sense. “A word of advice, little one. Try to stay on Slughorn’s good side. He’s very knowledgeable in subjects you wouldn’t think he knows.”

“Of course, my Lord. I’ll try make up with him as soon as I can.”

“Maybe you could try attending one of those parties of his? I know that was how I gained his trust.” Regulus grimaces. Those Slug Club parties were awful. He’d rather go to one of his parent’s.

Voldemort laughs, “I can feel your displeasure. Let me know when you’re on his good side again.”

“Yes, sir.”

“On another note, anything to report about Dumbledore?”

“I have some of my friends also keeping an eye on him. So far, nothing seems out of the ordinary. He made his regular old speech yesterday and was at dinner tonight. I’m working on a way to be able to spy on him in his office, but obviously that’s going to be pretty difficult.”

“Good job. Keep reporting in.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“And these friends of yours, do you trust them?”

That makes Regulus pause. He looks over to Barty, who’s grumbling about some of the ingredients. Does he trust them? That’s a dumb question. Of course he does. Barty and Evan were there for him after every time he went back home. They sat with him when he cried and the were there for him when he’d have a nightmare. How could he not trust them after everything they’d done for him.

“Of course, my Lord. I trust them with my life.”

“That’s good. You must keep them close. It’s hard to trust anyone these days.” And with those final words, his mind goes fuzzy again and the voice in his head disappears.

++++

Their first two hours of detention were up. They walked back to their dorms in silence. Barty was still sorry while Regulus’ anger disappeared after his talk with Voldemort. They opened the door to the Slytherin common room and was met with a bunch of screaming. They ran inside, wondering what happened while they were gone.

They only had to walk down the staircase at the entrance to see what was wrong. There were a bunch of snakes on the floor. Some people were too afraid to walk through them, so they decided to climb on top of the furniture.

“What in Merlin’s name?” Regulus dis not have the energy to deal with something like that.

Barty was back to being his usual, angry self. “Those bloody Gryffindors.” Regulus had forgotten all about the Gryffindor’s ‘welcome gift’ that Dorcas mentioned earlier.

“Come on. Let’s just go.” He wasn’t scared of snakes, and he knew his brother and his friends wouldn’t pull a prank if people got seriously injured, so there’s a high chance these snakes were completely harmless.

Their dorm room wasn’t far from the common area, so it shouldn’t have had to take 10 minutes to reach their dorm. By the time they did, both Regulus and Barty weren’t in the best of moods. Evan was on his bed, doing homework for one of his subjects. “Enjoy our welcome gift?” he asked, not looking up from his work.

“Those Gryffindor’s are gonna pay. I say we should prank them back.” Barty lies himself down on Evan’s bed. “They need to be taken down a notch.”

“At least they didn’t put snakes in our dorm. I think I heard Mulciber and his lot yelling about a snake in his bed.” Regulus leans against his bed, a small smirk on his face. The three of them never got along well with Mulciber and his gang. They were too obnoxious, believing themselves to be the absolute best.

Things really hit the fan between their two groups when Regulus cursed all of them to only be able to make animal sounds for an entire month because he woke up in a bad mood. Barty and Evan had a good laugh about it and even owned up to it so Regulus wouldn’t get in trouble and be in an even worse mood.

“Do you have a lot of homework, Ev?” Regulus doesn’t want to let detention stop him from doing his research.

“I’m almost done. Why?”

“Barty’s going to make it up to me by joining me in the Restricted section. I was wondering if you wanted to join.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you are.”

Evan closed his textbook and put his homework away. “When do we go?”

“We’ll leave just after curfew. Don’t want to be caught and get into even more trouble.”

“What about the prefects?”

“They’re the least of my worries right now.”

“Um, excuse me?” They turn to Barty. “I have other plans tonight, so I can’t go.”

“Oh, yeah? And what are those plans, Crouch? Have you got a date?” Evan teased, knowing damn well people are too intimidated by Barty to actually ask him out themselves.

“Yeah, with my bed.”

“You said you’ll make it up to me. This is how. Sleep can wait.”

Barty lets out a loud groan, looking like he regrets all of his life decisions. Sleep was one of Barty’s favourite things. To have it be taken away from his is like taking away a toddler’s favourite toy.

Chapter Text

Sneaking into the Restricted section of the library was easy. Finding what Regulus was looking for was the hard part. Some of the books were enchanted. One book Barty opened started screaming uncontrollably. He got a smack at the back of his head by Evan for that. A few minutes later, Evan opened a book that let out a horrific smell. Their eyes were tearing up from it. This earned him a hit on his shoulder from Barty.

"So what, exactly, are we looking for, Reggie?" Barty said, inspecting some artifact that was glowing in the middle.

"Don't touch anything," Evan reprimanded.

"We're looking for anything that talks about Hogwarts' secrets."

"That's awfully vague, don't you think? If you already know where it is, why don't we just skip the 'research' part and go straight to it?" Barty was getting impatient. They've been in the Restricted section for two hours and have found nothing.

"This castle's bloody mad. Who knows what that place is hiding?" Evan said.

"Exactly. I want to be more prepared. And I also want to look for something that will help my other 'job'."

"Ah, right. How could I forget?" Barty said, sarcastically. "How will a bunch of teenagers spy on one of the best wizards of our time?"

"Not sure," Regulus was getting impatient himself, just with Barty. "it would surely be a whole lot easier if I wasn't spending the next week in detention."

"Okay, you cannot keep bringing that up."

"Yes, I can."

"Guys. Come see this." Evan called to them, stopping an argument from breaking out. Evan was standing in front of a suspiciously empty wall. The wall has a brick that stuck out slightly.

"Why don't you push it, Rosier?"

"Why don't you, Crouch?"

Regulus was the one to step forward. Slowly, he put his and to the brick and pushed. It gave out easily. As soon as the brick was pushed back as far as it could be, the wall started shifting, a lot like that one entrance in Diagon Ally. Once the wall stopped shifting, the three of them were stood in front of a tunnel.

"Just how many tunnels does this bloody castle have?" Barty walked in front of Regulus, looking into the tunnel. He cast 'Lumos' to be able to see. The tunnel was empty.

"Well, looks like you won't be getting any sleep now, Crouch." Evan pats his shoulder.

"Fucking fantastic." They stepped into the tunnel, Evan first and Regulus last. All of them had their wands out.

++++

The tunnel was long. They'd been walking for close to an hour when they finally found something. The tunnel comes to a stop, a metal door being the only thing in the long tunnel. The door leads to a room. The room was surrounded by rock. A few lanterns being the only light source. The room wasn't particularly big. It could probably hold only about fifty people. The room was empty aside from the centre. What looks like a basin of sorts standing in the middle. Evan walked up to it. "Is this a Pensieve?"

Pensieves weren't common. They were well known, but with how expensive they are, not many have one. Regulus walked to it, "It looks like it has a memory in it already."

They were all standing around the Pensieve. One look at each other and they put their heads in. The world disappears for a second, then it fades into a large room. It was Professor Dumbledore's office. Regulus had been there, once, in his third year. But he didn't know the people in the room. There were four of them, two boys and two girls. All of them had greying hair.

"You cannot be serious, Salazar. That goes against the reason we created this school; to teach magic." one guy said. Salazar? Like Salazar Slytherin? Were these the founders?

"Muggleborns and half-bloods aren't truly magical. Their blood is tainted. We should only be teaching the pure, Godric."

One of the woman stood up, "That's absurd. If they can do magic then they have the right to learn how to use it."

"Oh, come on, Rowena! You're smarter than this. If witches and wizards keep mingling with muggles then magic will eventually die out."

Godric spoke up again, "Hogwarts will teach anyone who can do magic, pureblood or not." Salazar scoffs and walks out of the room. The rest look at each other. The world starts to fade again. That must be the end of the memory. "Well," Barty starts from beside Regulus, "that was helpful."

Everyone at Hogwarts already knew that Salazar Slytherin only wanted to teach purebloods. The memory didn't tell them anything useful. But if that's the case, why is that the only memory in this secret room? They were missing something. Regulus was interrupted from his thoughts by Evan placing a hand on his shoulder, "It's getting late. Let's head back and we'll figure something out tomorrow."