Chapter 3
Regulus had started to get more glimpses of the hands and the water. He was standing on a rock, in a cave. He didn’t look much older than he did now. He was screaming and the hands, or bodies now, dragged him to the watery grave below. At this point, Regulus could guess that he was going to die at a young age because of the path that had been chosen for him. He was going to die and it became more and more obvious as his dreams kept happening.
The only thing, hilariously enough, that made the dreams stop for a bit was doing things that his parents or the Dark Lord would despise. He came across it one night when he was called to a meeting with the Death Eaters and he had decided to not show up. He had seen what they had done to the muggle family the night before and couldn’t stomach the thought of it. So, he locked himself in his room and complained of sickness.
His mother sent several stinging hexes his way after finally breaking down the door. She forbid him or Kreacher to heal him in any way and locked him in his room for three days with no food or water. The days without dreams were blissful.
He started doing smaller things, showing up to dinner late, not tucking in his shirt, having an opinion.
Eventually, those stopped working so he had to resort to things that would disappoint his parents even more. He recalled hearing once that Sirius had gotten a tattoo with James Potter. At the time he thought it was stupid, but now he wanted something on his opposite arm. A tattoo that would be his own. His choice. He even went to a muggle shop to get it, just to rub it in his parents faces even more. It took several sessions and lots of muggle money, but eventually he had a full arm of tattoos.
He hid them from his parents with a spell, but when they were gone he would uncover them and feel a weight come off his chest. They were his choice and his alone. No one else knew about his act of defiance but it made him proud.
That helped the dreams too. He started to see less of what would happen. It went back to the feeling of hands and breathing in water.
Regulus waited on the platform for the train to Hogwarts. He had a prefect meeting about halfway through the trip, and he knew his friends would be dying to see it. The disgusting thing on his arm. He knew he would have to be on better behavior now. It was easy to defy his parents when they spent most of the summer out serving the Dark Lord. Now, he had eyes on him. Eyes of future Death Eaters, and pureblood students who would no doubt go running to their parents at the first sign of Regulus acting different.
At Hogwarts, he had to put on a facade. Pretend to be the Slytherin Prince. Act, talk, and think like a pureblood. He had to keep the mask on to protect himself and Sirius. He was Regulus Black, Pureblood High Society, Snooty, Off-putting, Cocky.
He looked at his arms, covered by the long shirt he was wearing. The Dark Mark would not take to a glamour. It demanded to be seen. His other tattoos, perfectly hidden beneath a facade of porcelain skin. Fake, just like him.
He sighed, and got on the train, looking through the compartments trying to find his people.
“Oi Black!”
Regulus turned towards the voice of his friend, Evan Rosier, and sat down in the compartment. “Rosier, Crouch, Pandora”. He greeted his friends with an air of coolness, never daring to get too close to any of them.
The train started to move and Crouch closed the door to let others know they would not be allowed to sit with them. As he was closing the door, Sirius and his friends happened to walk by, talking loudly. “Fucking Death Eaters. No Slytherins should have been allowed to come back this year with everything going on.”
At that, Regulus scoffed, of course his brother would be that closed minded.
At the sound, however, Sirius turned towards him. His face turned up into a sneer. “Well Prongs, if it isn’t the head of the Jr. Death Eater committee himself. Kill anyone this summer, Reggie?”
Regulus glared at his brother. How dare he. He would never know what Regulus had given up for him. That this was all his fault for leaving.
“Don’t answer him, Regulus.” Pandora said lowly.
“He can’t even deny it, James. Fucking sick. Let’s go.”
James seemed to give one last glance towards Regulus, but then follower his friend to a different part of the train. Crouch locked the door and pulled the curtains down so no one would bother them.
“Alright then Black, let’s see it.”
Regulus knew what he was talking about. He was careful to roll up his sleeve and showed his friends the mark. It looked strange against his skin. It made him almost look translucent. Regulus hated it. And it itched. Constantly.
“Wow..” Pandora reached out to touch it, but Regulus pulled his arm away from her.
“Fucking rich ass, heir to the house of Black, first in our year, and now youngest Death Eater. Fuck you, you’ve got it all.” Rosier’s words had a bite to them, but Regulus knew he was just messing around. If only Evan knew that he was not proud of any of the things that had just been listed about himself.
“Don’t forget prefect,” Crouch added.
“Speaking of, I have a meeting about prefect duties.” Regulus left without saying goodbye.
He wandered to the back of the train where the prefect meeting was being held. Some people he expected to see, like Lilly Evans, and the Ravenclaw girl who was always second to him in class, though he didn’t know her name. What he did not expect was to see James Potter as a Head Boy. “What the fuck is he doing here?” He blurted out. James met his eyes and smirked at him. Regulus never realized how tall James was until he was towering over him.
“Now, now Reggie. Is that any way to talk to your partner?”
Now Regulus was seething. Between his brother, Rosier's stupid comment, and James using that stupid nickname, he thought he might explode. “Don’t call me that! And what the fuck are you talking about. Partner?”
Lilly Evans cleared her throat. “Ah yes, We will be assigning partners for patrols. Professor McGonnagall encouraged us to pair people from different houses to reinstate interhouse unity. As I was saying Black and Potter, you will take Wednesday nights and one Saturday each month.”
After that bomb dropped, Regulus had a hard time listening to the rest of the meeting. James fucking Potter kept looking at him, and Regulus really wanted - no needed - a drink.
He really hated Potter. He couldn’t hate Sirius. Not when he was still protecting him so furiously, but he could hate Potter.
After the meeting was over, Regulus attempted a quick escape, but James grabbed his wrist. The one with the mark, in an attempt to stop him. Regulus ripped his arm away, feeling his flesh sear at the touch. “Don't fucking touch me!”
“Hey, listen here. I don’t want to be your partner either. But get the fuck over yourself. I’m not going to get in trouble because you cant look past your stupid little prejudices.”
Regulus would do anything to escape this conversation. “Potter, didn't know you had that high of a vocabulary. Very impressive. Even considering how your prejudices get you into trouble all the time!”
“My prejudices?!” Potter looked bewildered. Which just irritated Regulus more.
“Yes! Only pranking Slytherin house? Severus Snape? Jr. Death Eaters?”
“It’s not prejudice if it’s true!” James countered.
“Oh, so if you believe you are correct, then you are not prejudice? Interesting.”
“I mean, that’s not what I mean. You are fucking racist! All Slytherin’s are.”
“I’ll be sure to let Slughorn know your thoughts on his racism.”
James sputtered. He was getting red in the face. Regulus wasn’t sure this would lead him out of the conversation, but could lead him to getting punched in the face. “Yeah well Slughorn can think for himself. You can’t. You and your bloody prejudices are killing people and you don’t even care.”
“History will decide which side is right.”
“Obviously the maniac killing innocents is in the wrong!”
Regulus couldn’t help but give him a sad smile. “If he wins, thats not the way it will be written.” With that, he walked away.
James was very confused. No way you-know-who could win. No fucking way.