Chapter 8
Time skip to November of 1979, brought to you by Padfoot chewing on Dumbledore's robes
For once it was a quiet morning for just the two of them, no raids to plan, no guests to entertain and best of all, no obligations until noon. Both Regulus and Tom were enjoying the quiet breakfast. Everything has been smooth for the pair since Regulus’ graduation, they have filled their days with spending time together, planning how to overthrow the government, get rid of Dumbledore.
Suddenly interrupting their quiet breakfast, the mail arrived, ruining the peaceful atmosphere. Regulus only glanced at the post for a second before he turned back to eating his breakfast, assuming that the letters weren’t for him.
But mid-bite he noticed how three out of the five owls came to him and were stretching their legs with letters on them towards him. Lowering his utensils, he glanced at Tom but saw the other looking just as intrigued as he was. Looking at the post he saw that Tom had received the Daily Prophet and a letter from the ministry.
Looking down at his own mail he decided to check it for traces of magic before opening them. He wasn’t surprised to find that two of his three letters had curses on them. Removing the curses off of one of them was hard as they were very well done but he figured it out as the curses used were all somewhat familiar to him thanks to the Black Family library.
After removing the curses from his letters he started opening them, he started with the one that wasn’t cursed. Much to his surprise he discovered that the letter was from his father who was informing him of his mothers death who had passed the previous day at St Mungos due to lasting effects of her magical core fracturing during the torture she endured almost a year ago. At the end of the letter his father included an invitation to the funeral that Regulus was unsure if he would attend.
He was happy to hear the news of his mothers death and was grinning by the time he finished that letter. Tom looked at him curiously but didn’t ask knowing if it was important he would be told. Regulus couldn't believe that the hag was finally dead, he thought he might have felt a bit bad as it was his mother after all but much to his own surprise he felt nothing except happiness and relief.
Realising that he has more letters to open he put the letter from his father down and reached for the one that was covered in truth potion. Inspecting the letter more he discovered that it was from the goblins at Gringotts bank. The letter informed him that he was to go to the bank to claim his lordship and go over his bank statements. This was a bit concerning as his grandfather was Lord Black, who to the last of his knowledge was alright and the heir should have been his father, whose letter he was just reading and who hadn’t even mentioned his grandfather.
Having a bad feeling about where this was going but being pretty sure of who the last letter was from, he decided to open it. He put the letter from the goblins down and picked up the last one.The last letter that before removing the curses, was spelled to almost kill him and permanently damage his magic.
Opening it, he was not surprised to find his grandfather’s neat handwriting;
‘Dear grandson,
If you have survived then you are worthy, if not then, oh well nobody else could read this anyway. You see the curses were a test to see if you have enough cunning, wits and ambition to be the next Lord Black. If you weren’t worthy then you would be dead right now due to the curses I put on this letter. Haha
If you are reading this letter then I’m dead and you are the next Lord Black, I named you my heir after your ninth birthday. Your father doesn’t have the confidence nor the magical power to take over as Lord Black, spineless fool that one marrying his first cousin, you are the only one capable of taking the position as Sirius is a little too Gryffindor to lead our family. The day I named you my heir was the day after your ninth birthday, I saw you silently cursing your mother after she hit Sirius and you at nine held no fear or hesitation for protecting your family. At that moment I knew that if at nine years old you have enough will in you to curse adults and not get caught, you would do great things in the future and lead our House to greatness.
Ok, back to the topic, as I said before I’m dead as this letter is spelled to be sent the moment I die. If I was killed then I would suspect it is Dumbledore as he has never liked our House, much less me, so be careful with that man, my grandson. If I wasn’t murdered (which I don’t believe) then it simply was my time to leave this realm and discover what is beyond the veil.
I don’t have much time to write this as I have a meeting to attend, but in my study you will find the secret compartments in my desk, I trust you remember how to find them, in them are a few pointers to helm you, and some diaries of past lords of our family, including mine. I hope they are going to be as useful to you as they were to me.
I’m running out of time now but remember never tell anyone our family secrets, family always comes first, always be cunning, and one of the most important things to remember Regulus, Blacks never lose, we have never lost and we will never lose, it’s now your responsibility to make sure of that.
My grandson may Lady Magic bless you and your. I wish you the best of luck in the future.
Toujours Pur
Arcturus Black III
Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Black’
Regulus didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His only support while growing up was his grandfather, who is apparently dead now. But even after death that man knew how to test him and managed to show his chaotic personality through a letter as if he wrote letters to send after his death every day. Arcturus Black was always in a rush, everything was done fast, efficiently but with his own twist, exactly like that letter.
Tom was looking worriedly over at Regulus. He was smiling a little to himself but at the same time trying to hold back tears. Feeling his gaze on him Regulus looked up from the letter and at Tom with only one sentence coming to mind “I’m Lord Black now”.
Quickly understanding what had his soulmate in such a state, Tom reached over towards the other and squeezed one of his hands comfortingly. Regulus smiled softly at him before the tears won and started dripping down his face. Through the tears he didn’t he didn’t notice when Tom stood up until he was pulled up as well and into a strong embrace.
It took a while for the tears to stop but when they did, he looked up into Tom’s ruby eyes and stepped away before saying “I have to go to Gringotts, fast. If anyone else hears of grandfather’s death they can contest me for the lordship as long as I haven’t claimed it. The house of Black has too few members to banish from the family if someone were to lose a duel, we can not afford to lose anyone after Sirius and Andromeda”. Regulus finished, with a confidence he didn’t know he had.
Tom smirked at Regulus “Spoken like a true head of a noble and ancient house, we shall go after the breakfast, I will come with as I have a few things to discuss with the goblins as well”