The Black Lion

The Black Lion 

Chapter 6

Sirius groans loudly as he wakes up his head pounding. All he remembered was the tapestry glowing and passing out. Jumping up quickly he almost fell as he held his head. The dark, musty room felt suffocating as Sirius stood, the heavy curtains drawn tight, casting shadows across the ancient, cracked walls. The ever-present tapestry loomed behind him, its glowing threads pulsing as if waiting to reveal more secrets. His head spinning he looks around the room searching for Hermione hoping she is okay. Seeing her he sighed softly she was still passed out on the couch.

Walking out the room he hears three voices arguing with each other. He recognized two of the voices but not the other one, he could place that voice but not remember who it belonged to. Walking towards the voices he rubs the back of his head hoping to relieve some of the pain. As he walks into the room sneaking up on the four occupants he groans loudly.

“Why the bloody hell are you three in my house arguing with a random man?” Sirius’s voice rasped, raw from thirst and disorientation. His head still pounding, the air around him thick and oppressive, as if the house itself weighed him down. The dark corners seemed to pulse in time with the tapestry’s glowing threads, and Sirius struggled to clear the fog in his mind.

Narcissa looks at her cousin with an irritated look on her face. He would come in at the worst time. She wasn’t arguing with the mysterious man more like she was arguing with Severus who kept important details from her. Ignoring Sirius she turns to Severus with a raised eyebrow. He needed to explain himself now. Not only to her but to her cousin as well.

Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He never knows why he kept dealing with the Black family and their drama. Gritting his teeth trying to hold some type of formality.

“Well mutt, we came because Kreacher asked us to. Did you even look at your family tapestry before just walking here?” Severus drawls out not hiding the sarcasm in his voice. Merlin, he didn’t want to talk to Black but it seemed as though he had no choice.

Narrowing his eyes at Snape’s voice he looked at the little Malfoy in the room. He could be intimidating if he wanted to. As he kept staring at the kid he smirked slightly as he watched him squirm under his scrutiny. He didn’t feel like dealing with his cousin and Snape today.

Narcissa scowls hearing Severus and Sirius argue.

‘Some people never grow up and get over grudges.’ she thinks to herself. As silence looms over the room she begins to stare at the man who was sitting in the chair chained up. Before she could speak the man does.

“You guys still hate each other. Huh, I guess some things never change” he says looking at Sirius and Severus with amusement in his eyes.

Sirius tore his gaze from Draco and fixed it on the stranger. The voice was familiar, yet different. He couldn't place it. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded, his body instinctively tensing.

Happy that Sirius has stopped glaring at him Draco finally speaks up, coughing slightly to get everyone's attention. Yes, his nerves are wrecked but he still upheld the training his mother gave him.

“Lord Black, it seems as though you just woke up. You see the family tapestry..” he pauses taking a deep breath before continuing. “The tapestry has gone haywire and says Regulus Black your brother is alive. That’s why we are here and that man.” he points to the chained man grimacing slightly “Claims to be him” he finished 

The room was filled with silence no one said anything at Draco's confession of current events. Honestly, it sounded insane but it also sounded such a Black thing to happen as well.

“Bring him to the tapestry room now!” grunts Sirius after a couple of minutes. When he woke up he didn’t think about looking at the tapestry even though it knocked him and Hermione out he just wanted out of the room. 

Shocked everyone else in the room stood still as he walked away from them in a hurry.  Grabbing his wand quickly Draco casts Mobilicorpus on the man before following Lord Black into the tapestry room. The man could be heard swearing as he floats in the air following behind everyone.

Once in the room Draco undo the spell and puts his wand up. His eyes flickered between Lord Black and the unknown figure.

Sirius froze, the breath caught in his throat as he stared at the tapestry. The name. Regulus Black. It was there, not faded, not marked as dead. His heart hammered wildly in his chest. No. It couldn’t be. His eyes darted back to the man in chains, then back to the tapestry as if the answers lay somewhere between the two. His vision blurred, not from exhaustion but from the sheer disbelief threatening to drown him. widened at the information. Then his eyes finally settled on a past-out Hermione. 

‘No, that can’t be’ Sirius thinks as he looks at the slightly glowing tapestry.

Severus sighs he knows that he needs to speak up about the things he knew. He honestly thought the younger Black had passed.

“The tapestry is correct, Regulus and Dorcas had a hidden relationship before they went into hiding. Well, he hid while she went out slightly. I was there for their wedding. I thought they were crazy they should have never been together but I couldn’t talk him out of it. The Dark Lord wanted her on our side and he sent your brother to convince her but it seemed as though they fell in love instead. I knew about the child but I thought they all died that night when the Dark Lord killed her and her family.” Severus confesses eyeing the man who claimed to be his best friend.

Feeling Severus eyes on him Regulus smiles slightly. 

Regulus chuckled softly. “Yes, you were bloody pissed we dragged you into it with us. Another lie for you to hold,” he said, almost fondly. His smile widened, eyes gleaming with mischief. “I think you nearly hexed us when we asked you to be Hermione's godfather.”

Severus stiffened but said nothing, his eyes narrowing as he glanced at the unconscious Hermione. Sirius, noticing the exchange, felt a growing unease gnaw at his insides.

Draco shifted uncomfortably, the weight of the silence pressing down harder than before.

Draco felt his stomach drop. ‘Surely, it couldn't be... Granger. Not her, of all people.’ His gaze darted between the man claiming to be Regulus and the unconscious figure on the couch. Panic flickered behind his carefully schooled expression.

Narcissa scowls at Severus and the unknown figure. That detail could mean he was telling the truth about being her favorite cousin. However, there was one way to be sure. She would deal with her close friend later. With a sharp glare at Severus not being able to hide her frustrations.

“Sirius, call for Kreacher he would know if this man is an imposter or not. He was only ever loyal to Regulus anyways,” she tells her cousin looking at him in the eyes a slightly pleading look in her eyes.

Nodding in shock Sirius calls for Kreacher who pops up with a grunt. Kreacher looks around the room hoping he wasn’t in trouble for bringing Lady Malfoy and her friends here. His eyes stop at the man in the chair before anyone can ask him anything he bursts into tears.

“Master Regulus you returned to me! They said you were dead but I knew you weren’t” he cries out.

Regulus smiles slightly before nodding his head. He did miss that crazy house elf. “Yes, Kreacher I’m alive. That’s all we needed. You can go now.” he tells the elf. Kreacher hesitated not wanting to leave his true master's side, oh how Kreached missed his true master. Not wanting to argue with his master Kreacher nods before bowing deeply and disappearing.

Everyone in the room mouths open wide as they look at the scene played out in front of them. Kreacher never would have reacted to an imposter like that. With a grin and slight chuckle, he looks at them eyebrows raised. 

“Can I be released now?” Regulus asked his voice light but carrying an undercurrent of fatigue. Though he tried to mask it with humor, there was a tiredness in his eyes that Sirius hadn’t seen before a man who had spent years hidden in the shadows, waiting for a moment like this.

With a quick snap using a wordless Relashio, Sirius releases Regulus from his chains. Sirius couldn’t believe this man was his brother. He thought he lost his brother forever and here he was standing before him. He wanted to hug him but instead, he nodded slightly at Regulus. Regulus nods back at his brother before standing and looking around the room. He knew he had a lot to explain but first, he needed more information. Maybe they knew where his daughter was.

“Before I answer questions do you guys know anyone by the name Hermione? She would be around the same age as mini Malfoy over there,” he asks them nodding his head towards Draco. If he calculated right his daughter would be around his age.

A voice groans slightly from behind everyone. They had forgotten someone else was in the room.

“My name is Hermione and I’m around his age.” the voice responded softly with a slight croak. Everyone turned to look at the voice who was still lying on the couch. Hermione looks at the man with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes slightly flicked over to Malfoy. She only caught the end of everything but for some reason, this man was looking for her or someone who was her age and had her name.

The man’s eyes widened, and the intensity of his gaze made her uneasy. He took a step closer, and instinctively, Hermione pressed herself deeper into the couch, her heart beginning to race.

‘He needed to see her eyes,’  flashed through Regulus' mind.

Silence looms over the two of them as everyone holds their breath. Hermione finally giving into the tension of the room looks up at him their eyes connecting.

Regulus froze. His breath hitched as he gazed into Hermione's eyes no longer the cautious young woman, but someone he knew, someone from his past. "She has Dory's eyes," he whispered, the words barely audible but heavy enough to halt the room's air. Sirius, unable to move, stared at his brother, processing the revelation like a blow. The room seemed to hold its breath with him. Sirius’s eyes flickered between his brother and Hermione, barely able to process what he was seeing. Regulus, however, couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. This young woman, this stranger… his daughter. The connection was undeniable, and it hit him with all the force of a stunning spell.

Hermione, for her part, stared back, confusion and a strange sense of familiarity dancing in her eyes. She didn’t understand what was happening, but the intensity of the man’s reaction to her left her feeling raw, and exposed….