Promise of the second war
16 October 1983
The air felt thick as he stood at the fireplace. They would arrive soon and it had been a few years since he last saw them. The last train ride, even Dorcas had come to sit with them. Together for one final ride before the storm. They had slipped back into their familiar banters. Laughter filled the air and for the entire train ride Regulus let himself forget about the war he was about to step into. Evan and Pandora both left that year and Barty had one more year like Regulus. Regulus did not return to Hogwarts. Instead he jumped straight into the war with the rest of them. Barty went back to score all 12 N.E.W.T.S before vanishing into thin air, following after the Rosier twins. Writing the letters had felt conflicting. Hope for having part of his family back together and fear of rejection battled deep inside. Barty, Evan and Pandora had been sent away for their own good. Pan refused to fight and death eaters had little regard for the grey fraction. If you weren’t with them you had to be against them. It had been difficult to convince Evan and Barty to go with her. If he hadn’t told them he would have someone with him to help him, keep him alive and out of azkaban; they definitely would have stayed and fought by his side. They agreed to go, eventually.
Now the three of them would come tumbling through the floo to visit the summer manor and to meet the twins. He had left them with Remus in the playroom. He wanted the chance to say hi without the pressure of also introducing the kids right away. Regulus did not like to admit defeat often but the twins did deserve more in life. Kreacher, and the walls of Grimmauld would not hold them forever. If anything, the meetings with his Grandfather and Remus had proven the children would need more socialising. Harry had been mostly happy to see Remus and was still tense around grandfather. Aurora was quiet when Arcturus was around and sometimes broke down crying, sobbing over the werewolf when Remus was in the room. It was getting better, slowly.
¬8 August 1983¬
“Moony!”
Regulus could feel his heart beating in his chest. This had been a lot today and so far it was going better than he expected. He assumed there would be a lot more shouting or for Remus to just walk out when he saw Regulus sitting there. Now, watching the way Harry's face lights up with the realisation of who is finally standing in front of him. It was the right choice. Bringing Remus in is the right choice. He had kept out a photo of Remus and Harry that had been in the bundle originally sent over in that first package from Lupin. During Christmas, or on their birthday he would point to the photo and tell them which presents came from uncle Remus. He never used the nickname Moony, even though some of the photos had the name signed on the back. He didn’t think Harry would remember it after this long either. A small fist tightens its hold on his shirt. He lets out a small huff of air and turns to the young girl beside him.
“Mon petite Etoile, it is okay. Come let me introduce you to Remus Lupin.”
He picked Aurora up and walked towards where Remus and Harry are. She rests her head against his shoulder and lets out a small huff of annoyance. As they approach Lupin moves to stand and has to pick up Harry as he does. The small toddler refused to let go.
“Hello Aurora. My name is Remus. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Mon Etoile.” He whispered into her hair when she didn’t come out of her hiding spot on his shoulder. She pulled away from him and turned towards Lupin. Their eyes meet and suddenly Aurora bursts out crying.
“Le loup est triste et continue de se faire du mal.”
At the time the words had sent a chill down his back. They still do. There is no explanation for how she knows that and it made for an awkward conversation when Lupin had asked what she said. Regulus could not lie to him and Lupin in turn could not lie to him. It was a tense conversation and the only reason wands or hands didn’t go flying was because of the children in their arms. Lupin did not come back for two weeks and slammed the door to the nursery so hard that Harry started crying too. Either way their social skills are lacking and he was setting them up to fail if he kept their world small as it was. Pandora had written back telling him that she also had important in person news for him as well. When the fireplace lit up in a brilliant bright green, Barty came through first and Evan was right behind him. Their hands holding onto each other as they step into the room. Pandora followed behind them and his jaw dropped of its own accord when he saw a small toddler sized girl in her arms.
"Holy shit. He lives." Barty whispered. In the years apart he had grown more into himself. His eyebrow was pierced and his hair was now blue instead of the black it once sported. Regulus rolled his eyes at Barty.
"Barty. Language. I have Luna with me.” Pandora scolds from where she still stands. Her long blonde hair is pulled back into a bun. Piercing blue eyes turn to meet his “Regulus, This is Luna. Your goddaughter. I’m so happy you finally let us be here."
"My goddaughter?" He steps forward with a smile creeping onto his face. She laughs moving to meet him.
"Yes, of course you share with Barty. But if we had to choose only one it would be you. Evan is her uncle so he lost by default."
"Rude." Even mutters from where he stands.
"No, she's right Evan." Barty sighs, his head nodding in agreement. “It would be the same for us if we had kids. Regulus would be our first pick for godparent.”
“No, you idiot. Rude that I wasn’t allowed to be a godfather just because I’m her stinking blood relative uncle. Like you two won’t be considered her uncles as well. Uncle is going to be a shared title. Don’t know why I couldn’t also be a godfather.” Evan muttered glaring daggers at Pandora who ignored him in return.
Luna looks to be about a year younger than the twins. Everything about her screams Pandora. She clearly favours her mothers looks. The difference comes in the form of straight blonde hair instead of a curly mess that is often Pandoras. Luna's blue eyes have a gentleness to them that Pandoras have never had. They don’t hold the same slightly manic gleam. He let out a small huff of air at the conversation about to take place.
“Come on. Let’s go to the garden. We can talk about the last few years over a cup of tea and biscuits.”
He had set up a little area by the doors that were gated. Made it easier to enjoy some time outside if the twins had limited space to explore. For the moment though both of them are in the playroom with Kreacher and Lupin. Waiting for word from him. Pandora took Luna to a soft patch of grass where the young toddler sat in the grass and just watched the garden.
“I have a daughter. Her name is Aurora and she turned three back in July.” He spoke fast. Not wanting them to interrupt him. “Her mother is dead. I had no romantic feelings for her mother. This was not planned, it just sort of happened and it was alright and semi chaotic when it was just her, Kreacher and myself. Until I got this message one day. Before I know it I’m coming home with a baby boy as well. Who also turned three in July by the way. Which is well, I don’t really know how to explain that part in all this.” A soft hand grasped one of his and he looked up to meet Pandora's encouraging eyes. “James Potter was the one helping me during the war. Him and Lily had this secret hidden clause in their will and now I am raising their son.”
Silence fills the space for a moment before it's broken.
“You remember the hard time Evan and I were giving you over joining the death eaters alone? We didn’t just magically change our mind. James managed to get all of us, yes, even Dorcas together and told us all the truth.” Barty produced a cigarette from somewhere and flicked open some type of muggle liter. “Normally we wouldn’t agree to something just because Potter thinks he knows best. I only changed my mind because Pandora will. You know she doesn’t like to get involved unless it’s something super important. We backed out and Dorcas stayed with Marlene. We all knew.”
“He told you?”Barty gave a small nod. “Dorcas knew the truth?”
“She did. She was right mad and cursed pretty boy with all kinds of awful things. Wanted to call the whole thing off and pull you out. Was threatening to go to Dumbledore.” Evan was watching Luna while he spoke.“I thought for sure after that B and I were going to follow after you. Cas didn’t like that idea but we told her if Dumbledore couldn’t help you, we weren’t about to leave you behind either. It wasn’t till Pandora spoke that we changed our minds. She didn't get involved and she did.”
“What did you see?” The air felt heavier and his heartbeat slowed dangerously. There was a cost, a price was always paid when someone with such a gift stepped in the way of fate. Changing things, free will, sharing the burden of knowledge not meant for the likes of men.
“I saw a very different future. One that was dark, and almost everybody died in the first war. Sweet, precious things would be left alone in a devastated world with no love but what they had with each other. A second war would come. The one named for the sky and the one marked with a lightning bolt would face the darkness alone and would fail in their quest to end the second war. That was the path we stepped towards if Barty and Evan went with you. If James had not come to speak to us. Had I not spoken and sided with James.” Pandora's eyes are slightly glazed, that distant look of being somewhere else. The air felt chillier and the shadows looked darker. “A second war is coming. It can not be stopped. For us to win, for the next generation to succeed where we failed. They’ll need us.” Pandora's eyes pulled back into focus and her eyes went to where Luna was still sitting. “ For those who come after us we had to have things play out differently. I did this for all those meant to come after us.”
“There's going to be a second war?” His voice broke softly at the news. Suddenly he wished Lupin was here because he did not want to repeat this story later.
“Yes, Regulus. All roads point to the same future. It’s all so hazy though. There is still so much I can’t see. So much I am not allowed to see because I stepped in and told them the truth.” Those words did nothing to reassure him in his panic. “You didn’t need Barty and Evan in the first war but they are needed in the one to come.”
“How do I prepare for a second war? Do you know the implications of what that could mean?”
“The second war will not be ours to start, nor is it ours to end. Our children will be the ones at the center of it all. Some things we can not stop but we can be here to give them as much good things as possible. They’ll need those good things for the second war. They need to know what they are fighting for is worth it, that they don’t have to do it all alone. They’ll need us.”
Regulus buried his head into his hands. First Arcturus showed up out of the blue demanding things from him. Wanting to send the twins to a private school meant for squibs and other half muggle creatures. The kind of place death eaters would have loved to destroy during the war. Except now here was the news of a second war to come years from now. That the toddlers in his care would be at the center of it all.
“So, we still have a fighting chance, is what you are trying to say?”
“They are going to need all the help they can get when the time comes.”
“Don’t be too upset, Reg. We only found out about the second war after we got your letter asking us to come over.”Regulus smiled softly at Evan.
“It’s not going to be just us. I’ve also dragged Remus Lupin into the fold as well and he is going to need to hear this for himself.”
¬22 August 1983¬
Regulus and Kreacher had been working hard the last couple of days sorting out how much of the back patio area to fence in. He wanted them to enjoy the space but it was not practical to let two toddlers lose in such a wide open space. Regulus was only one wizard after all and even he had his limits on how much he could handle.There would need to be enough space that both the twins could zip around easier on their toddler brooms.
“Regulus.”
“Finally done throwing a tantrum, Lupin?” He turned to meet the wizard that had stormed out only two weeks ago.
“Yes.” Remus grimmiced slightly at the forced truth of his words. Yea, the unbreakable vow really made things interesting for them. “Look, I’m not happy you know my secret. I’m even less happy that somehow Aurora knows and yes I know you are telling the truth when you said you never told her.” Remus dropped a couple of bags onto the floor. “I left here and picked up a bottle as soon as I got back to my flat, you know. I haven’t been taking very good care of myself since everything happened. There was no one left. All my mates were gone. Except now there's you.” Lupin drops onto a patio chair, his head turned upwards. “You show up out of the blue. With this whole story and all these letters and this proof that you aren’t a complete knob. You managed to figure out I’m Harry’s muggle godfather. You offer me this job. I haven’t been very nice to myself because I thought I lost everything. Now here you are offering me things. I had a right to throw a tantrum. Arcturus would have to know, wouldn’t he?”
“It won’t be an issue for him.”
“How can you be sure of that?” Remus turned to finally look at him again
“Come along, Lupin. In order to properly answer that question I need to show you something.” Regulus turned and walked into the manor. They headed towards a room that was almost completely empty. The only thing that sat in it was the full family tree. Arcturus had left it for Regulus to study and learn from. “The most ancient and most noble house of Black has a complicated history. We are huge supporters in the old ways, the old laws. Some of us have prejudiced thoughts, others say nothing and some run away from the name. I have come to learn recently it is a house full of secrets. Arcturus Black, the head of my family, helps to protect a school that has no records of existing.”
“How does that make you sure Arcturus won’t say anything about me being a dark creature?”
“Hawkins Private School for squibs and other muggle half creatures has been a secret from the world since it was first founded. There are many involved in keeping the school on this content and the one in North America secret. The house of Black is one of those names.” Regulus reaches towards the branches that connect him to Aurora. “If Arcturus did not pick me to be his heir these secrets and the contribution our family does would have died with him. Aurora will be mine. Both Harry and Aurora are expected to attend this school. He wants them to be the change in the world. To make things better. To start moving things along or to help hide this secret for longer if need be.”
“What do you want for them, Regulus?”
“I just want them to live and find happiness.”
They stood in silence staring at the tree. It grew taller and took up more space in the empty room. It was easier to follow different family branches this way.
“Where are the kids?”
“It’s nap time Lupin.”
Regulus turned his gaze back towards the others. “There's something else I need to ask. I’m hoping that both of you, Pandora and Barty, are willing to be Aurora's godparents.”
“”WHAT!” Evan screamed.
“YES. Take that Evan!” Pandora jumped up from her chair in excitement.
“Regulus, this cuts deep.”
“Alright, calm your dramatics Evan. I was actually hoping you would be Harry's other wizarding godfather.” Regulus pulled at the collar of his shirt slightly. “Sirius,” The name came out filled with venom. ”is the only other named godparent. Well Lupin is his muggle appointed godfather by the will of Lily Evans. Alice Longbottom is the other muggle appointed godmother just so you know.” Cutting Barty off before he could interrupt. “James wanted me to be his other godfather but I’m his legal guardian now making the choice mine to make and I want you to be his godfather.”
“You want me to be Harry's godfather?”
“Yes, Evan. I want you to be Harry’s godfather.”