Promises to the stars

"You see that star, right there?" Sirius asked his little brother in a low voice, "That's Sirius. Even if I'm not here, you can talk to him, and it's like I'm right beside you. I'm never gonna leave your side. We are gonna get out here together. I promise."

"On the stars?"Regulus looked up to him with hope in his eyes.

"On the stars."

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Thinking back all Regulus can think is that Sirius is a liar. A liar and an egoist who left him in that house to rot while knowing exactly what was going on behind closed doors.

The boy spent years hoping for his big brother to come and save him. He promised it after all. With every day, he lost hope more and more until his 16 birthday came, and he realised that he was on his own and his big brother, his hero, wouldn't show up.

Right now, Walburga was standing in front of him and giving him a lecture on how to behave in front of the dark lord. Every few seconds, she mentioned that it would be a special occasion, but Regulus didn't know what she meant. Yes, it was his birthday, and yes, that should be a special occasion, but the only one who always remembered his birthday was dead. At least to him.

"Don't you dare do anything to embaras us! It's an important day for us, and you should be thankful that the dark lord gives you this opportunity." His mother said again, right before he stepped into the green flames and shouted "Malfoy Manor"

Regulus did feel a bit bad for his cousin that Voldemort chose her house to hold the meetings at. Especially because she got married not too long ago and probably needs some time to adjust to everything.

The black could hear a few voices through the wooden door, which fell silent as soon as he pushed it open. He could feel the eyes on him, but one set in particular made him shiver. The dark lord scared everyone or at least made them uncomfortable. Even the bravest wizards avoided him and his so-called Deatheaters.

"Right on time, Regulus. Take a seat. We were just starting the meeting. " his voice was cold, and he didn't let a single emotion show on his face.

Slowly, the Black made his way to the only free seat. He let his gaze wander over the faces of the people on the table. He knew nearly everyone, and he wasn't too surprised to see many of them with the dark lord, but two in particular caught his eye.

Barty Crouch Jr. and Evan Rosier were looking rather out of place. Barty, with his many piercings (which he mostly did himself or one of his friends did, because he still was way too young to get them done legally at the time, and surprisingly looked good) and his partly green hair and because he was way younger than everyone else. And Evan, also because of his young age and something Regulus couldn't make out, which made him seem misplaced.

Something was off, and Regulus knew he should get out of there as fast as possible. Still, he continued his way to the empty seat and sat down. Seconds later, Voldemort began to talk, and the boy got lost in his thoughts while looking like he was listening, interested in what the older man said.

Maybe he was worried about nothing, and he was just here because his parents wanted to show their support to the dark lord, without running in danger to get asked to get their hands dirty. If it was one of those days, Regulus would just have to sit there and pretend to be listening until it's over, but today, the universe seemed to have different plans.

"We have a special occasion today, like you all already know. We are going to welcome three new people into our ranks." Lord Voldemorts piercing voice brought the Black back to reality. "Barty, Evan, Regulus, why don't you come here?"

'What a great birthday surprise, maman.' the black thought darkly.

Even if it was asked like a question, everyone knew it was a command. Confused, Regulus made his way to Voldemort, who apparently got up during his monologue and now stood a bit away from the table. Barty and Evan looked at each other before joining the black.

"Regulus, why don't you go first?" The smile on the dark lords face was more threatening than comforting."Give me your left arm."

A bit scared, the boy followed the order and extended his arm. Cold fingers held him firmly in place, as a wand was being put uncomfortably against his forearm. He heard the wizard in front of him mumble something, and than a pain, almost comparable to a torture spell, shot through his whole arm. Trying his best to not make a sound, Regulus closed his eyes and prayed that it would be over soon.

For the rest of the meeting he was in a trace and didn't really notice anything that happened around him. Not how Evan and Barty got the dark mark, not the welcome speech from the dark lord, not how everyone told him that he can be proud.

Barty and Evan seemed to be in a similar state and before they left the three barely had enough energy to nod in goodbye with a forced smile. Quitely he mumbled "Grimmauld place 12" and stepped into the green flames of the floo.

Walburga came as soon as she heard that Regulus was back and began asking him a thousand questions, to which she just gort short half hearted replies, before her son looked himself into his room. Still not fully registering what happened he got ready for a shower. He always preferred showering to taking a bath.

The cold water seemed to wake him up a bit and as he slowly realized what had happened, he felt like he was drowning in emotions. For a short time, he considered actually drowning himself, just so he wouldn't have to be a deatheater. Something he promised himself to never become. A part of what he was working against (even if no one knew it was him) He decided to to postpone the drowning until later, and got out of the shower.

Collapsing into his bed, the last thoughts he had before falling asleep, were "This is one of the worst birthdays ever" and "Sirius is going to hate me"

Regulus decided that he hated his birthday when he was 14 and Sirius left. Now with 16, he got a reason more to hate his birthday.