Chapter 2
Making his way into Grimwalds Place, Regulus brought his things to his room. It was late and dark, his parents had left a note for him telling him to go to bed and they’ll be there in the morning. Lately he knew his parents had many meetings with other pure blood families and the Dark Lord.
They would often bring Regulus with them, so the other families could see the Prophet in action and what they were doing right.
He didn't mind, he'd just sit there and listen to the adults talk, and if he was needed, then they would call upon him and he would give them the prophecies they asked for. He hated being there, knowing he was just being used, and if he didn't have this curse he would've been tossed to the side much like Sirius. Regulus began unpacking his things, he had bought many different books from Flourish and Blotts before he had come back home and was excited to start reading some of them.
He had gotten through a few chapters of a book called The History of Magic, it was an interesting read, a lot of the things he was learning he didn't know before. Soon after he became infected with this curse he began throwing himself deeply into magic history trying to figure out where it came from. It resembled nothing he had read before but he was determined to free himself from it.
Regulus sat down at his desk and opened one of the drawers, and drugged around until he found a picture. One of the ones where you captured a moment in time. the people still moving and interacting like nothing had changed.
It was a picture of him and his brother, one from before Sirius went off to Hogwarts and everything changed between the two of them. They were laughing in the photo, Regulus wiped off the dust that sat on top of it . It hadn't been touched since he was last home back in the beginning of August, But the bright memory was still the same. Sirius was chasing Regulus who was trying his best to outrun his older and taller brother. Regulus knew the picture was taken by their Alphard, Someone who he was forbidden to talk to now. oh how he longed to go back to this moment.
Before the Emotions could bubble up more than he could suppress he hid the photo away once more, Being sure that if it was ever found it would be thrown away immediately. He reached back into the drawer pulling out the journal that had a map of the black family crest. He had been studying the symbols and meanings behind them, his family was always a fan of hidden meanings, and he wanted to know if there was something else here. If maybe there was a clue, or something else that could explain why it happened.
He flipped to the page he had been looking at earlier, the one that showed the beginning of the Black family, and the very first ancestors, Licorus Black and his wife, their three children that eventually led to the rest of the black family line and half of the pureblood wizarding world. He had looked over this many times before, and each time it felt as if there was something off about it. Something Regulus couldn't put his finger on, no matter how hard he thought, and no matter how many times he read it, it just never sat right with him.
He was staring at the book when suddenly he felt a strange pain in his head, like his skull was splitting. It hurt a lot, but the more he focused on the book, the more it subsided.
It was something new.
A vision.
The vision started, he was no longer in his room, no longer in grimwalds place. He was in the middle of a large group of people, all dressed in dark cloaks, he noticed one person standing in the center.
He couldn't quite tell who it was. He didn't know what this was. He had never seen a vision, He'd always pass out, the prophet would never let him see it. So why now? Why this?
Regulus felt his body go limp, and his eyes glow a bright golden color. A voice that wasn't his own came out, he couldn't stop it, couldn't control it. He could only watch the others' reactions around him and listen.
He spoke.
"You'll walk the world in between," He said.
He could hear the words come out, he could hear the gasps from everyone around him. He was clearly talking to the person in the middle of the group while the other 7 listened.
"but death is still your final fiend,
after a long lost search for something forgotten
you’ll reveal the secrets from those who keep them.
a family betrayal that runs centuries deep,
the one you love you’ll never get to keep”
It stopped, the vision ended, and his eyes returned to normal, but he was still there in front of the hooded figures. THe one in the center took a step towards him, Reaching their arm out. Regulus could feel the fear growing in his stomach as the hand inched closer, but before he could think anything else, They took their hood off and revealed who they were.
James Potter.
"You can see him again," James said.
But before Regulus could even question what he meant, He woke up back in his room.
Alone, his head felt like it was splitting. His eyes were wet. He hadn't noticed that he had started crying, the vision had been so intense and real, Regulus thought it was happening right then. He slowly Picked up his head unaware of how long he was out considering it was dark now.
It was all running through his head again and again. What did the vision mean? The Prophet was speaking to James and it said, 'Death is still your final fiend'. Did that mean James was going to die? Was he going to die soon? He was going to find out some sort of secret and betray someone close to him? And who did he want to see? Why would he want to see Sirius again?
Sirius would be broken if James died. Sirius would feel so much pain if his brother died, especially during the war.
He got out of his seat, and walked over to his bed, his head was killing him and he just wanted to rest. but he couldn't.
No, he needed to go to Sirius and save James. Even if they were on rocky stands at the moment, He was going to save his brother from this heartache.
So he grabbed the family book, the picture of his brother and shoved them in his jacket pocket and put his shoes back on running down the stairs to the family living room, the floo was sitting unused in the qite room and he slowly walked over grabbing a handful of the powder. Nobody would know he was gone until tomorrow, he had some time. He threw the powder down and shouted without a second thought "Potter Manor!".
Regulus thought, as he stepped out of the flames and into the Potter manor. The fire was warm, and the ashes felt like small pebbles against his skin. He hadn't thought this through, he didn't know how he was going to convince them of the vision. He didn't even know where he was going.
Catching his balance as he walked in he saw James Remus and Sirius all asleep in the living room, Mugs out on the table from whatever they were drinking before they fell asleep. There were decorations for the holidays up and many pictures of the potters, Sirius, Peter Pentigrew and Remus Lupin were up on the walls as regulus scanned them. it was so lived in.
He wondered how it was for Sirius to be in a house that was decorated and happy, not cold and full of dark arts like the Grimmauld place. He was jealous of his brother. He wished he could live here with him sometimes.
As he took another step forward another pulse of a headache hit him, it felt like it was splitting his head open, and he held the sides of his head letting out a whimper. Regulus could hear some sounds around him but couldn't make it out. He thought he might have been able to see this vision again, maybe have some sense of control in this situation.
But of course his fate was never in his hands.
He yelled out "Sirius" before the Prophet took over and he went under.
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James was the first to react.
It was the middle of the night, and they had all fallen asleep after a night of drinking and games. He heard a loud bang and then yelled. His body jumped up at the noise, ready to fight anyone who dared harm his family. He was confused when he saw no intruders or threats. Only Regulus Black.
"What are you doing here, what do you want?" James shouted at him. He was so confused, he couldn't even fathom why he would show up here.
He was surprised when Sirius came up beside him.
"Is that Reggie?" Sirius asked.
"He just burst through the floo, I don't know why" James told him.
Sirius made his way closer, looking at his younger brother. He looked terrible. His clothes were disheveled and wrinkled. There were bags under his eyes, and his hair was a mess. But it was the look on his face, a look of pain.
Sirius knelt down next to him. "Regulus, are you ok?" He asked him.
But the younger boy didn't reply, only mumbled his name once, his eyes were a bright gold color, and his mouth was moving but the words weren't coming out. James looked at him and his eyes widened. "The Prophets have taken over." SIrius said, "Remus get your arse up!" he whispered and shouted at the man sleeping on the couch.
"What are we gonna do?" James asked him.
"We have to wait until he's done," Siruis said to him. "There's no way to prevent or stop it, He'll be okay after, just tired.."
"I am not leaving you alone with him," James told his friend. Sirius knew that, he wouldn't let him anyways. He didn't trust his brother enough to let him out of his sight.
"You'll walk the world from in between, but death is still your final fiend, after a long lost search for something forgotten you'll reveal the secrets from those who keep them" Sirius looked at his younger brother and hosted his body up holding him upright. Reggie never remembered what happened when the Prophet took over so he'd had to translate it to him after it was over.
"A family betrayal that runs centuries deep, the one you love you'll never get to keep" James stood there watching his best friend, it was uncanny, it was looking him in the eyes, almost like it was aware. aware who was in the room and who it was speaking to. Not an entity or curse, but a person.
The gold eyes faded away and he became limp.
"Reggie.. Reggie can you hear me" Sirius asked him.
But the boy did not respond.
"What's happening, What does it mean?" James asked him, "and why would the prophet be speaking to us? we're not a part of their circle"
"I-I don't know, it could be a trap, maybe they're trying to get close to us, get us to trust them"
"Sirius-" James tried.
"James! They took everything away from me, and they're going to pay, and now the Prophet is talking to us, warning us! It has to be a trick!"
"Sirius, I'm sorry but-"
"They took Reggie away from me, my little brother, and now they are threatening you!" Sirius shouted at him not caring if he woke the rest of the household up at this point or not. He just wanted answers and Reggie wasn't waking up to give them to him. He wasn't waking up. Sirius shook him once more, calling his name before lowering him to the floor and checking his brother's pulse.
It was there but faint.
This isn't normal.