Chaos downstairs
Regulus POV
Regulus had assumed that the ‘guests’ who were coming, would be his cousins, aunt, uncle, and maybe grandparents, because, what else was he supposed to think?
Well, they weren’t.
They were lord fucking Voldemort and his death eaters. Why Walburga couldn’t just say that is a mystery to him.
Now regulus, who is mentally and physically unprepared, is supposed to sit in on a meeting that doesn’t go quite as expected.
Regulus is supposed to work for ‘the cause‘ as soon as he finishes school, he knows that, so it’s not like he’s been entirely uninvolved. He’s been to a few meetings and sometimes even comes on raids with to 'watch and learn‘, or so the dark lord says. He doesn‘t like it, going on raids. They make him feel out of control whenever he just stands there, watching innocent families get killed. He doesn’t particularly care for those families, not like he used to when he was younger. But it still stings.
The meeting starts and nothing seems out of the ordinary so far. Evan is there aswell, which Regulus is very grateful for. He’s a rosier and the dark lord insists on training the pureblood children young, so they can be the perfect little death eater by the time they leave Hogwarts.
About halfway through the meeting, Regulus starts to get a terrible headache, probably the aftereffects of yesterday’s punishment. Merlin, he hopes this meeting ends soon, it’s getting late, and everything still hurts.
“Orion, Winston,” the dark lord begins. Winston Rosier is Evan’s father, and he actually cares about his children, unlike some pureblood parents. He tries to spend time with Evan and pandora whenever he can, and he’s never laid a finger on either of them.
„as we’ve discussed in the past,“ the dark lord goes on. „I have been considering making exceptions for who is permitted to carry the dark mark and serve me.“ he paused for a moment, eyes flickering over to Evan and Regulus, then back at Orion and Winston. Whispers break out among the table and confused glances go back and forth. However, the two men Voldemort is talking to seem to know what this it about.
„I believe, that Evan and Regulus could earn the dark mark and a place in my ranks by Christmas if they work hard enough. I have seen their talent and i must say it is extraordinary.“
Regulus‘ heart speeds up. The dark mark? No, that can‘t be. It can’t. He‘s not ready for that. He doesn’t want that.
Regulus does his best to keep calm on the outside, even though he’s panicking on the inside. It seems to work, nobody notices him panicking. Well, except for Evan. Evan is looking over at him, slight worry showing on his face which Regulus ignores. He may look calm, but his head is a mess right now, and Evan can see right into it.
Mr Rosier speaks up and all eyes go over to him. „My lord, I am grateful that you give my son this opportunity, but might it not be better to wait until he finishes his studies? I mean, he‘ll only be 15 by the time he receives the mark-“ he nervously explains when Voldemort interrupts him.
„Are you saying I’m wrong? Tell me, Winston, are you not confident in your son‘s ability to handle himself? Do you believe I am unable to determine when one is ready to serve me?“
„Of course not, my Lord, I just find that he is-„
„I don’t quite care what you think, you-„
Mr Rosier is visually upset. „I will not allow him receiving the mark before he finishes his studies! This whole thing is ridiculous. My son will not bear the mark before he finishes Hogwarts.“ By the end of his statement, he’s already shouting. And after that it’s a moment of silence.
He just shouted at Voldemort.
When Mr Rosier realized what he did, his eyes widen and he opens his mouth to say something, but a green flash hits him from the opposite of the table and his body goes limp.
All eyes move over to the body, then to the dark lord, and finally to Evan. Evan is staring at the chair that his father‘s body was just sitting in. He looks horrified.
Regulus wants to be upset about seeing his best friend‘s dad get murdered, because, well, he just witnessed murder. But he won‘t let himself because that would be selfish. What does he have to be upset about? He’s fine. He’s fine and Evan is not.
Voldemort starts speaking again as if he hadn’t just murdered someone.„Now, Orion, do you disagree with me as well, or are you confident in my abilities?“
„Of course I am confident in you, and your abilities, my lord. If you say Regulus will be ready, then he will be.“ Orion shoots a pointed look at Regulus. Regulus however is too busy looking over at Evan to notice.
“Very well,” The dark lord pauses. He looks around the table and his gaze falls upon Evan.
“Mr Rosier, didn’t your father teach you any manners? Never slouch, especially not at the dining table.“ He shoots a quick wordless spell at Evan which makes him sit up straight. Evan seems distant in thought. Evan is his friend. His best friend. Regulus has to help him.
Regulus takes a deep breath, but before he can speak, Voldemort opens his mouth.
“Regulus, Evan, you two may leave. What I am about to discuss, is only for the closest ones in my rank.
Regulus internally sighs in relief. He quickly grabs Evan and walks up the creaky old wooden stairs. Evan is silent.
Regulus intends to go to his room, but Evan takes a sudden turn right over to the bathroom.
Regulus looks at him confused, and inhales sharply. Evan is incredibly pale. They get to the bathroom. It looks like Evan is about to be-
Sick. He barely makes it to the sink.
Minutes pass, and now he’s hanging over the porcelain sink, coughing and choking on tears. Regulus had already locked the door and rushed over to Evan. He doesn’t really know what to say, or do. Evan just watched his own father get murdered.
Sirius would probably know what to do.
Evan’s legs seem to just give out and regulus sits down right next to him. Regulus only holds Evan because he has no idea how to comfort him, but it seems to do the trick.
He doesn’t want to risk making any noise trying to get to Sirius‘ mirror, and he also doesn’t want to leave his best friend alone, but he doesn’t know what else to do.
He had recently learned that a patronus can also be used as a form of communication. He‘s never been able to cast one before, but he gets his wand out of his pocket anyway. Before he can try to cast it though, he hears loud noises coming from downstairs. There’s shouting, then a loud scream, and a thump as if something heavy fell onto wooden floor. There’s a moment of silence before the shouting starts again.
Someone else just got killed.
Evan’s crying had turned to sniffles. Regulus needs to get them out of here, somehow.
He points his wand again, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath while thinking of a happy memory.
„Expecto patronum“
Nothing. Evan looks at him through his tears, clearly confused.
He tries 2 more times. On his third attempt, something happens.
Maybe the desperation to get away is enough, because before him appeared a silver little cat. Regulus wasn’t expecting this to work but he doesn’t have time to obsess over finally casting his patronus, so he begins his message, his voice thick with tears that he’s been holding back.
„Sirius, something’s happened-“
Another thump from downstairs. Evan flinches. Regulus keeps speaking.
“I don’t know how to help Evan, it’s all going wrong, there was a meeting-“
More shouting. Regulus takes a deep breath. He holds Evan a bit tighter.
“well, it’s still going on, and- and Mr Rosier is dead, and i think Voldemort is killing even more-“
Another thump from downstairs.
“please Sirius, what do I do?”
He sends the patronus away with a flick of his wand. He does his best to regulate his breathing and keep calm. If every thump meant that someone was just killed, it would mean that 4 people are now dead. Winston Rosier and 3 other death eaters.
What is Sirius even supposed to do? Maybe he will send a patronus back, telling Regulus how to help Evan. Can Sirius even cast a patronus? Probably. He has a bunch of happy memories with James.
He looks over at Evan, who seems to be fiddling around with the golden bracelet that Barty got him last year for his birthday. Barty has a matching one as well. The little green gem on it seems to shine brighter all of a sudden. Maybe regulus just imagined that.
“Regulus?”
Evan looks over at him with glassy eyes.
“Yeah?”
“How will I tell pandora?”
“I-“
Regulus hadn’t thought about that. For now, they are hiding from whatever is going on downstairs.
———————————————————
Sirius POV
Hearing his little brother’s voice in distress was certainly enough to wake him up. And what was that in the background? Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good.
The moment the patronus disappears, Sirius is up and out of bed. He throws on one of Remus’ jumpers and ties up his hair with his wand.
Peter yawns and sits up on the bed, he barely heard what the patronus had said, since he was still half asleep. James and Remus, who had also woken up when the message was delivered, look at eachother, and then over at Sirius.
“Padfoot, mate, what are you doing?” James asks.
“Well what does it look like? I’m getting regulus out of there.”
James looks over at Remus who then speaks.
“Getting Regulus? You can’t just leave in the middle of the night by yourself.”
Remus tried.
“Yes, getting regulus. And that rosier kid, I suppose.”
“Sirius-“
“Technically it’s not night, just very very early in the morning. I’m sorry Moony but I’m going to leave right now whether you like it or not.”
“You don’t really expect-“
“Look, If you try to stop me-“
“Sirius! Merlin. I mean that you’re not going out by yourself. If you go, we’ll go with you.”
“I- oh”
“Yeah pads, you’d probably get lost without us.” James added.
“Okay that’s rude prongs, my sense of direction is immaculate.” Sirius says.
“Well come on, what are we waiting for?”
“How will we even get there?” Peter asks.
“We’re wizards. We can use the knight bus or something.”
“Oh yeah good point.”
“Well, hurry up everyone, get dressed and let’s meet downstairs.”
Everyone runs around the room and in and out of the bathroom, trying to be as quiet as possible. James leaves a note on his nightstand, so his parents don’t worry.
‘Mum and Dad,
we’re going to get regulus, he sent a patronus and it’s an emergency. Sorry. Lots of love, your sons Sirius and James.’
The moment everyone gets downstairs, they hurry, because they have someone to rescue, and they don’t know how much time they have to spare.
James calls the knight bus once they get to the side of the street and pays for everyone.
„Where to?“ the tall sketchy man who took their money asks.
„11 Grimmauld place, London.“ Sirius says.
„Don’t you live at number 12?“ James’ brows furrow.
„Well, yeah, but there are protection spells and all that stuff around it, so if I just say number 12 then chances are they won’t find it.“
„Ohh that makes sense.“
It’s not a smooth ride to Grimmauld. The boys have to hold on to each other to prevent one of them tumbling to the floor. There are literal beds rolling around on wheels inside the bus, only one of them being used by an old lady.. or- man? Well, the person sleeping doesn’t look very alive.
Remus’ stomach growls. “Hey Wormy, did you bring any sweets by any chance? I could really go for a- Wormy?”
Turns out peter gets motion sickness.
“Has anyone got water? I don’t feel so well.” The pale boy says.
James, who’s almost always prepared, gets out a water bottle.
“Take small sips, that should help” he says.
The bus comes to a halt.
“We surely can’t be there yet” Sirius says confused.
“Maybe someone else is getting on?”
And Remus is right.
And it’s-
What?
“Crouch?” James says before anyone else can.
Barty completely ignores James while telling the tall man his destination, and handing over the money.
“Crouch, what the fuck are you doing here?” Sirius asks.
“I could ask you the same fucking question, Black. Aren’t you supposed to be locked up at grimmauld with Regulus, or have they finally kicked you out?” he retorts.
Sirius gets angry at this. “Look crouch, if you don’t shut your-“
Remus jumps in before anything can escalate. “Alright, calm down everyone. Barty, we’re getting Regulus whether you like it or not.”
For a second you can see shock on Barty’s face, but that goes as soon as it came.
“Just regulus?”
“I- well I mean I supposed we’re also getting Evan, but-“
“Evan? How do you know he’s there? Is he okay?”
“Uhm, regulus sent a patronus that something has happened. Evan was there too. I didn’t hear him though, there were only some kind of loud noises in the background, some shouting. Maybe crying? Something happened to Evan’s dad he said.”
“Oh I’ll fucking kill them.”
Remus looks down at Barty’s bracelet. The gem on it seems to be- glowing?
“What’s that?” he asks before anyone else comments on Barty’s little outburst.
Barty looks down at his bracelet and seems even more stressed. “None of your business.” He mumbles while looking away.
Finally the bus comes to another stop. In front of them is Sirius’ old home. James, Remus, Peter who hasn’t gotten any less pale, Sirius and Barty all get off.
“Well then, shall we?”