Side 7- [Regulus]
As a member of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, there were certain rules Regulus grew up adhering as law.
Our blood must remain pure, we do not tolerate Mudblood scum, we do not sully the Family's name, and we do not adhere to the oppressive and disillusioned Light.
Family comes first was the most important of them all, he had been told when he sat on his grandfather's knee growing up, the man staring seriously down at him as Sirius jumped around on his opposite side. Regulus remembered nodding seriously to that, looking at his brother who was smiling so brightly in contrast to the gloomy surroundings of their home.
And he had been a strong believer in that and still was if he was being honest with himself.
But, as he watched his mother descend further into madness, his father filling with apathy, and as his brother slowly pulled away from them all in rebellion, from Regulus, he had become disillusioned with the notion.
Regulus had done the only thing he could have done in such a tense situation, seeing his mother spiral further and further every day. He had joined the Emperor's Harem at the second Selection when he was eighteen to make his family proud, and to draw attention away from his wayward brother, who he still found himself protecting despite the differences between them.
That was the only reason his older brother remained heir, and eventually took over the Lordship, protests be damned.
Regulus was grateful that his brother hadn't spat in their faces further, and actually took up the mantle once it passed to him. Their relationship even today was still rather tense, and they hadn't actually spoken in years, but Regulus still, deep down, cared for the older brother who had done his best to protect him when they were young.
And so, Regulus, in turn, would protect the boy who had become his nephew, despite their many differences, despite the fact that the boy went against many of the other family rules just by existing.
Harry was a Black, even if he was foremost a Potter.
The first time Regulus had held his tiny daughter in his arms, all he could feel was happiness and warmth, love spreading from his heart and circulating throughout his body. He had never felt so much devotion for one being in his life, not as intense as that.
And after that, the warmth quickly became burning, all-consuming flames that swallowed him whole and dragged him under, paralysing his body with pain. He had screamed, deaf to his own cries, writhing on the bed as if under the cruciatus. It was torture.
When he'd awoken finally from the nightmare, a week had passed.
A week which Regulus had spent bound to his bed, sweating out a lethal fever, delirious and so near death funeral preparations had already commenced.
The next time he saw his daughter, all he could feel was coldness.
Despite her adorable cooes, heart-wrenchingly sweet yawns and the breathtaking, grey eyes that stared up at him with so much contentedness, Regulus didn't feel anything towards the being tucked into his arms by the maids.
He had gone through the motions, not neglecting the baby physically, but so far within his own mind that he was apathetic to everything.
It had lasted weeks, the impassiveness sucking the happiness out of what should have been a time of celebration.
Then, one day, something just clicked inside of him, and the next thing Regulus knew, he was being restrained by the Emperor's magic, pressed gently onto the sofa. The man was whispering into his ear, calming, soothing words which meant nothing to him at that moment.
That was the last time he saw Carina, the name the Emperor had chosen for their child, for weeks after. No one would inform him of what he had done, or tried to do, and as he could not remember, Regulus simply ceased his questions after a while, too despondent to care further.
He healed in that time apart, the mind healer assigned to him working day and night to fix whatever had happened. They had worked through the trauma he had experienced, not only from the disastrous childbirth but also from as far back as Regulus could remember.
Long hours spent huddling under his bed, barely a toddler, as his older brother's screams rang through the room.
Days spent locked in a dark, cold cellar, fingertips bloody and his voice hoarse from strain.
Weeks spent trailing after Sirius in his first year at Hogwarts, only to be taunted and teased, or worse, ignored.
The long, long years he had spent trying, trying to live up to his mother's expectations, break through his father's apathy and receive anything but derision from his once adoring older brother.
For conforming, for not conforming, for being too perfect, for not being good enough-
The next time he held his little baby within his arms, Regulus had wept and named her Dorea after the aunt he barely knew but admired so much.
Looking upon his daughter now, much had changed. She no longer looked so frail or wailed in fear within his arms. Instead, she sat opposite him, a confident smirk on her lips.
Regulus tilted his head. "What has you so amused?"
"Nothing, Dad." She chirped, a glint in her grey eyes that were identical to his own and almost every other Black, a feature passed down for generations.
He huffed, taking a sip of his tea. He tried to ignore that voice in his head, telling him to reprimand her for her posture, tell her to fix her rumpled collar and tame her messy curls-
"There is never 'nothing' happening with you."
"Well..." Carina trailed off in a sing-song tone. "I was thinking... Do you think Father would let us go to the Zoo?"
"He'd let you go anywhere, Sweetheart."
She rolled her eyes in true teenager fashion. "I mean us, as in me and you, Dad."
His Mother would have struck his face if Regulus had ever used such an informal address-
He huffed. "You know that His Majesty forbids his Harem from leaving the Court outside of official business."
She repeated his huff. "Can't you just ask him? Surely if we take enough guards with us, it'll all be fine."
Regulus didn't know how to tell her he lacked that sort of sway over the man. Once, perhaps he had, but the Emperor's interest in him, in his family name and the benefits he had brought with him, had long since waned. To remind her that Harry, her cousin, was perhaps the only member of the Harem who could convince the Emperor of the world to allow such an inane thing as a trip to a Zoo.
He simply sighed. "I will try my best, Sweetheart, but I cannot promise anything."
The Emperor agreed, strangely enough.
Harry had given him a sweet, knowing smile the next time they had met, his belly swollen with his next child.