Year Two
The beginning of this year has been characteristically interesting. With a new, very eccentric Defense Against the Dark Arts professor that Regulus doesn’t quite care for, Harry reporting he’s hearing snakes in the wall, and Draco worming his way onto the Quidditch team by buying them all new brooms, it hasn’t been ideal. But as things have fallen into a better rhythm, they’ve been more tolerable.
Of course, every year always gets difficult around Halloween.
Harry spent most of the day with Regulus in his office, although he left for some ‘deathday party’ he was invited to by Nearly Headless Nick. Regulus just let him go, figuring he’s going to do whatever feels best for him. Regulus does leave his door cracked open a bit, though, in case something happens in the hallway.
He’s grateful he does, too, because all of a sudden he hears Draco’s voice yell, “No Happy Halloween from your parents today, huh?”
Before Regulus can even get up, Harry nastily shoots back at him, “You know what, Malfoy? At least my parents send me letters, all they send you is some candy to shut you up like a baby. Hell, I bet they love it when you go away and they don’t have to see you anymore, your friends too. You’re wandering the corridors all alone for a reason, Malfoy, and it’s because there’s nothing about you to like, and certainly nothing I could ever find even tolerable. Go stick a lollipop in your mouth and stop bothering people who couldn’t care less about you.”
Regulus is almost stunned for a minute, rushing over to the door and throwing it open, seeing Harry standing right up in Draco’s face, Draco almost cowering away from him. Very concerning, because normally when the two go back and forth they both very comfortably get in each other’s faces, so to see one cowering away is worrying.
“Excuse me, what is going on out here?” Regulus questions, both boys’ heads shooting over to look at him. Harry steps back, Draco looking between Regulus and Harry before turning around and bolting it down the hallway to Regulus’ left. Harry immediately looks at Regulus guiltily, knowing he did something wrong.
“He stopped me, Uncle Reg,” He weakly argues, Regulus sighing.
“I know, but you cannot say something like you just did to anyone ,” Regulus tells him, “It doesn’t matter how bad of a day you’re having, that is extremely unacceptable.”
“But what he said to me wasn’t nice, and it’s the truth! No one likes him,” Harry crosses his arms defensively.
“Stop that, Harry, you cannot say that about someone. You don’t know where he’s coming from or what he experiences at home or what circumstances he’s in, and I know he isn’t very sensitive to you but you need to be the bigger person,” Regulus tells him, “Telling someone they are unlovable is not ok, ever.”
“It doesn’t matter what he’s-”
“Yes it does,” Regulus cuts him off, “Maybe one day I’ll explain it better but it does. Come on, come in.”
Harry huffs but hangs his head, shuffling into Regulus’ classroom. Regulus stands in the doorway, Harry looking back at him with a familiar look of aggression that he needs to sort through on his own.
“Bud, do you want time to cool off? I can go on a walk and come back when you’re calmer,” Regulus offers, Harry nodding.
“Please,” He requests.
“Mhm, alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes, take deep breaths,” Regulus reminds him, Harry nodding. Regulus shuts the door and sighs, looking down the hallway where Draco ran off. He figures if he’s going to give Harry space he should find Draco because he’s really worried he took what Harry said straight to heart. He doesn’t know at all where he went, though, so Regulus tries his best to follow the hallway where he thinks a 12-year-told would have run off to.
He must know kids well, too, because after only a couple of corners he hears quiet crying coming from a side corridor. Regulus walks into it to see Draco curled up next to a pillar on the wall.
“Draco dear,” Regulus calls, letting him know he’s there. Draco looks up at him and immediately gets mad.
“Go away!” He yells, “I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t need you, go away!”
Regulus walks up closer anyway, going up and crouching down in front of the crying boy, curled up small. He looks young, something Regulus internally muses at as yet another similarity Regulus has found to him. “I want to talk to you, dear, I’m not going anywhere.”
“No, get away, get away!” Draco pitifully cries, kicking at Regulus with his foot. He doesn’t actually hit him, but Regulus is definitely taken aback by the violent gesture. Regulus changes how he’s addressing him, moving to sit next to him rather than in front of him.
“Take a deep breath, dear, I know you’re upset but you need to breathe,” Regulus tries to coach, but Draco just turns away. Regulus moves a bit closer, still not touching him. “Can I give you a hug, dear?”
Draco looks over at him, clearly trying to appear angry but failing, his face contorting into almost a desperate look. Regulus holds out his arms to him, Draco nodding but not moving. Regulus smiles and just draws the boy against him. It’s not really a hug, rather Regulus just holding Draco in front of him, but he doesn’t mind.
“You know, you’re very lovable, and I can’t speak for your parents or your friends or anyone else, but I see a lot in you that I think is very likable, and I never want you to feel like you are impossible to love because that’s simply not true,” Regulus quietly tells him, “I love you, dear, and I want you to know that I am your professor but I’m your family first, just as I am with Harry.”
Draco starts sobbing, turning around in Regulus’ arms and wrapping his arms around him, Regulus holding him nice and close and just letting him cry. Draco grips onto him in a way that makes Regulus’ heart clench. It’s so painfully clear to Regulus that Draco is never really hugged at home, and if he is it’s never with real, unconditional love. It’s very familiar for Regulus, feeling almost complete that he’s sitting on the other side of an interaction he had when he was a kid, where he was first told that he was loved. It makes him hold on just a bit tighter. He just lets Draco cry, Regulus not saying anything. He doesn’t feel like there is anything to say, if he overdoes it Draco is going to pull away.
They sit there for a while, probably the better of 5 minutes, before Draco sits back and wipes at his eyes with his robe.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” He apologizes, Regulus smiling at him.
“There is no need to be sorry, you’ve done nothing wrong,” Regulus assures him, “I know I can’t fix everything but I want you to remember that I’m always here for you.”
Draco shakes his head.
“What, dear? Why no?” Regulus prompts, Draco shaking his head. “Let me help, I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”
“I’m not allowed,” He mutters, Regulus nodding, rubbing Draco’s knee.
“I’m sorry, I know, it’s very hard because your parents don’t like me,” Regulus sympathizes, “But like I told you last year, everything you tell me and everything you do with me is confidential, I won’t let anyone else know.”
Draco nods, although he doesn’t say anything else. Regulus internally laments how little he can do right now, settling for the only comforting thing he can say.
“I’m here for you at school or at home, remember I’m always an owl away, too,” Regulus assures him, “I know how to send a letter so it’s subtle, I did it for years . Maybe we can talk about that someday, but right now isn’t the time. I’m not going anywhere, dear, I know what it feels like to be where you are.”
“Why would you know that?” Draco tries to aggressively ask, although it comes out weak.
“We’ll talk about that another day, but you’re experiencing a culture that’s been alive for thousands of years. I’m sorry that it’s impacting you too, I want you to remember you’re never alone,” Regulus reminds him, “Ok?”
Draco nods, looking down into his lap before standing up, “I’m fine, Professor. I’m going back to the dorm.”
“Ok, that’s alright,” Regulus nods, standing up. He’s a little confused as to why the switch was so quick, but he’s not shocked. He’s sure this is an extremely sensitive subject for him, so shutting down makes a lot of sense to Regulus. “I’ll see you soon, Draco, remember I’m always here for you if you ever need it.”
Draco nods, not making eye contact with Regulus. He pauses a moment before asking, “Can I go?”
“Mhm, you can, and you never have to ask me that, either, you can come and go as you please,” Regulus assures him, cringing at the familiar question of asking to be dismissed when talking to someone.
Draco nods, just walking off out of the side corridor and towards the Slytherin dungeons. Regulus closes his eyes and takes a deep, calming breath in before going back to his classroom, replaying what just happened as he walks. Under that facade is a really sensitive kid who just wants to be loved, because at the mention of Regulus loving him he crumbled. He’s very mad at Harry for saying that to him, but it’s inherently not his fault. Draco hasn’t been nice either, and just because Regulus understands and accommodates where he’s coming from doesn’t mean Harry can or has to. All Regulus can do is fix the damage, and maybe get Harry and Draco to realize that they’re not that different at all.
Although, that last part is a little bit of personal experience, because Regulus is a lot like Draco, and Harry is a lot like James. Regulus knows they’ll get along, he just doesn’t know how long that’ll take. One day, it’ll happen. And he can keep on hoping that day will be soon, but he doesn’t think either of them is there yet. And that’s alright because it’ll come in time.
They both have a lot of maturing to do before it, though.
***
The Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match went somehow worse than Regulus expected. Harry caught the snitch, which Regulus knew would happen, but he was being chased by a bludger the entire time and ended up falling and breaking his arm. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Lockheart then vanished all of the bones in his arm and he had to be rushed off to the Hospital Wing. Regulus can’t go after him, either, so he settles for second-hand information.
“Oliver dear,” Regulus calls after Oliver, who is heading after Harry to the Hospital Wing, “Come to my room and let me know how he is later, please.”
“I will, Professor,” Oliver nods, rushing off after him. Regulus goes off into the Slytherin’s Quidditch locker room, watching as the kids start to filter down from where they flew in. Dalia and Mathias, the beaters, come down the stairs first, laughing.
“You did great, Saturday, that hit was great,” Mathias elbows her.
She laughs, “Wasn’t too hard with only one actually in the field.”
Mathias waves at Regulus as they both grab a seat on a bench, “Are we going to get ripped to shreds, Professor?”
“No, not particularly, at least not by me,” He tells them, “I want to make this short and sweet but none of the team seems to want that.”
“Professor,” Rue, one of the chasers, calls as she comes down the stairs, “Flint is on fire up there, he’s tearing Malfoy up.”
Regulus sighs, setting down the clipboard of notes he has on the table next to him and going upstairs, “Thank you,” He tells her as he passes by, walking up the several flights of stairs to reach the fly-out box, hearing Flint yelling as he gets closer to the top.
“-Even with these shiny new brooms you couldn’t be faster than Potter, we were set up to win and you couldn’t even-”
“Marcus Flint!” Regulus stops him when he gets to the top of the stairs, “What have I said about yelling at your team? We’ve had this conversation before and if I see this happening again I’m going to give Dalia captain because you are proving unfit to direct a team of people younger than you. When you come to me with your practice schedule make sure you leave some time so we can have a very important conversation about proper leader conduct. Now come on, let’s go, go downstairs now. All of you, silently.”
All of the remaining players in the room quietly shuffle downstairs, Marcus trying to talk to Adrian but underestimating Regulus’ hearing.
“Adrian, Marcus, silent,” He calls down the stairs. Draco is the last in the line of kids shuffling downstairs, head hanging in shame. Regulus makes a note to hold him back after he finishes talking to the team. For now, he just follows after him, coming down into a locker room that’s completely silent. Regulus walks up to the front of the room and picks up the clipboard.
“Alright, good game everyone, I don’t have a lot of notes but I have a handful I want to share with you. I know this was abnormal, and I believe you all adapted and played very well. I have some issues with the starting formation we chose but I think you worked with what you had. Although I think we need more precision training in our practices all around, today’s game was a bit sloppy. Also, the bumping, we need to cut that out. If I see it again, we’re going to do drills to work on that and they’re not going to be enjoyable,” Regulus flips the page, “Beaters, Seeker, Keeper, I don’t have any notes, I think you all played well. Maybe a bit less talking to Dalia, Mathias.”
“Sorry! It got boring,” Mathias comments, “Saturday is fun to talk to.”
“You were making me carry beating on my back, you’re lucky I didn’t mistake you for a second bludger.”
Regulus chuckles, “Alright, alright. Chasers, we definitely need to work on precision, fumbles and hard catches all over the game. We don’t need to impress the other team, we’re here to win and play well. Doing crazy tosses over the other team’s heads isn’t going to win us the match. I don’t expect it to happen again,” Regulus eyes Adrian and Marcus, both of them rolling their eyes, “Other than that I’m all done, short and sweet today. Remember, if you need anything come find me and rest up tomorrow please.”
All the kids in the room get up, a couple of them thanking him before walking off to their lockers and grabbing their things. Draco shuffles his feet to his, slowly taking his things out. He’s not looking at Regulus, which is normally his tell that he wants Regulus to intervene. Rather, he has his eyes fixed downward, not even looking up to grab anything.
When most of the team has left, primarily including the older, meaner kids, Regulus walks up to him, “Draco dear,” Regulus says, standing next to him, although Draco doesn’t look up, “What’s wrong? You’re very quiet today.”
“Mm,” He hums, not really answering.
“You know I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what you’re thinking about, dear,” Regulus reminds him, “Do you want to walk back with me and we can talk?”
Draco finally looks up at him, eyes glossy and clearly on the brink of crying, but he just curtly answers, “No.”
Regulus glances over as the last player walks out of the locker room, waiting until the door clicks closed to continue, “Draco, I know something is bothering you, and I don’t expect you to always want to talk about what’s wrong but you’re on my team, dear, and I’m here to make sure you’re alright.”
Draco looks at him almost disgusted, whispering, “It’s not your team.”
“Mmm, you shouldn’t listen to Marcus about that, it is more my team than it is his,” Regulus corrects, “I’m sorry he’s been so harsh on you, it’s not appropriate. I don’t foresee him continuing to be captain for much longer.”
“It’s fine,” Draco shrugs, turning back to his locker, “Makes me better.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Regulus denies, “It makes you scared to be bad, that’s not an environment I want to make. You’re allowed to have bad days and struggle, as long as you know how to improve it, and he shouldn’t ever yell at you unless you put someone else or yourself in danger.”
“Mmm,” Draco dismissively hums, and although he shuts his locker he doesn’t walk away. Regulus takes that as a sign to keep pushing.
“Is what he said bothering you? Or is it something else?”
Draco shrugs, “I played a bad game.”
“No you didn’t, not at all,” Regulus shakes his head, “You played a very good game, I’m very proud of the way you kept up with Harry even though you don’t have as much experience as him. Maybe less bumping next time, but that’s a bad habit your captain is teaching you, it’s very correctable and has nothing to do with your skill.”
Draco pauses for a second before sniffling, tearfully asking Regulus, “Is my father still here?”
“I’m unsure, I didn’t see him leave but I would imagine he’s gone by now. I can walk you back to the castle, if you’d like,” Regulus offers, feeling his blood boil at Draco’s fearful mention of Lucius.
“It’s fine,” He mumbles, walking away from Regulus. Regulus trails behind him, though, walking out with him onto the path back to the castle. He’s met almost immediately with Lucius stepping in front of his son, Regulus speeding up his pace to walk up next to Draco, who is standing in front of his dad.
“Oh, hello Regulus,” Lucius greets, although it’s ingenuine.
“Hello, Lucius, apologies, I do believe guests were asked to leave right after the match, the floo should be right back there,” Regulus points behind him, back towards the pitch.
“I just required a word with my son, I’m sure they won’t mind,” Lucius tries to brush him off, “Go along, no need to worry.”
“I need to see you out, I’m sorry. I can walk you there,” Regulus offers, Lucius huffing.
“I can get there by myself just fine, Regulus, I don’t need help, and especially not yours,” He clips back, “Draco can show me, can’t you, Draco?”
“Yes father,” Draco answers, voice stone cold. Regulus’ heart drops at the sound of it, but he doesn’t say anything. He looks over at him to see the spitting image of what he and Sirius called the ‘Black family look’ when they were kids. Cold, blank, and horribly stoic.
“Good, let’s go then,” Lucius gestures, looking at Regulus, “Pleasure seeing you, Regulus, but no need to pry next time. I can handle myself.”
“I’m sure you can, Lucius, I would be a poor teacher if I didn’t offer my help,” Regulus smiles fakely, Lucius placing a hand on Draco’s shoulder and walking him away, Regulus having no choice but to admit defeat and head back to the castle. He does not like how Draco completely hardened around his father and how familiar the look on his face was. Regulus has seen that before, hell, he’s lived it before. He’s really afraid of what is going on at home with him. He hasn’t gotten it out of Draco yet, but one day he will.
And if it takes retelling some horrible old memories, so be it.
***
“Students out, come on,” Regulus yells as he tries to help filter out students from the Great Hall amidst the chaos. Although Regulus knows that Harry is a Parselmouth, this is new information for the rest of the school, and discovering it in the middle of a duel is probably not ideal. Rumors of the heir of Slytherin being back at Hogwarts and opening the Chamber of Secrets is just the nail in the coffin to this horrible afternoon. Regulus is just glad he came to this stupid event.
Snape is somehow already gone, leaving only Lockhart staring in awe at Harry.
“Wow, I cannot believe you speak Parseltongue! That is absolutely fascinating,” He marvels, Regulus rushing up onto the stage where Harry is standing, clearly shocked. When Regulus steps up into the platform Harry immediately walks over to give him a hug, not saying anything.
Regulus looks up at Lockhart, nodding towards the door, “Help filter them out please, Gilderoy,” Regulus requests, maintaining the stare when it looks like he goes to argue.
“Will do then, Regulus,” He nods, going off to make sure the kids are all leaving and not shoving one another around. Regulus returns his focus to Harry, who is gripping onto him.
“It’s alright, bud, it slipped your mind,” Regulus consoles him.
“But I was helping! I told the snake to stop, it didn’t attack him, did it?” Harry challenges, stepping back from his uncle, “Why does everyone think I was telling it to attack him?”
“We’ve talked about this before, bud, that language is very hated because a long line of bad people spoke it,” Regulus reminds him, looking over at Ron standing at the foot of the stage.
“Harry, that’s awesome that you speak that!” He smiles, Hermione coming up behind him, visibly disgruntled.
“That’s not amazing, now the whole school thinks he’s going around petrifying people!” Hermione argues, “This is not good.”
“I wasn’t trying to make him attack Justin, Hermione,” Harry quips back.
“ I know you weren’t but no one else believes that!” She argues, Regulus feeling Harry get wound up and deciding to step in.
“Ok, calm down, it’ll all be alright, things will fade in time. It’s not worth stressing about it now,” Regulus looks between the kids, “Go relax for tonight, don’t think about it too much, and if you need anything or anyone is bothering you I’m here, alright?”
“Mhm,” Harry nods, Regulus giving him another hug.
“Don’t worry, Harry, if anyone says anything about you they’re just jealous, that’s so cool,” Ron assures him, “And I’ll be sure to curse them for it, too.”
“With your broken wand?” Hermione asks.
“Alright, maybe a punch will work better,” Ron laughs, Hermione just rolling her eyes with a hint of a smile on her face.
Regulus playfully eyes Ron, “Don’t punch anyone, please, that goes for any of you. It’s a lot of paperwork.”
Ron laughs, “Ok, Professor, whatever you say. All I’m saying is having 6 siblings makes me good at not getting caught.”
“Maybe one day you’ll meet my brother and you’ll realize that I’m just as good at catching it,” Regulus jokes with him.
“Uncle Sirius would scare them,” Harry says as he pulls away, “Uncle Remus is a better introduction.”
“They’re a pair, bud, you know that,” Regulus ruffles his hair, looking up when he sees movement at the door, surprised to see Draco standing there, peeking around the door, not seemingly out of malice or anything. He just seems to be listening in, although when Regulus makes eye contact he walks off like he was never listening. Regulus shrugs it off as curiosity and goes back to talking to the kids in front of him.
“Uncle Reg,” Harry calls his attention over, “Can we eat lunch in your classroom tomorrow?”
“Mhm, of course, I have a class that period but you’re always welcome to eat in my office,” Regulus replies, “They’re my Fourth Years, I believe, they’re a quiet class, you don’t need to worry.”
“Not your Seventh Years,” Harry comments.
“No, not them at all,” Regulus laughs, patting his shoulder, “Alright, you guys should get back, the Great Hall needs to be cleaned up anyway.”
“Ok, bye Uncle Reg,” Harry gives him another quick hug before jumping down off the stage.
“Be careful,” Regulus scolds, walking down the steps right next to where Harry jumped.
Harry just laughs, waving as he walks away, “Bye!”
Ron follows after him, looking back at Regulus, “Bye Professor, I promise I won’t punch anyone.”
“You better not,” Regulus teases, looking at Hermione, “You’ll keep him in check, right?”
“Of course,” She smiles, waving, “Bye Professor, have a good day.”
“You too,” Regulus replies, watching them all walk out. He sighs, hoping that he’s right when he says this will blow over soon. In the meantime, he walks over and grabs the bag he had on a table in the back of the room, slinging it over his shoulder before reorienting himself to what he wanted to do before he figured out about this club. Tracking back through his morning, he remembers he needs to pick up a book for one of his Seventh Years who is particularly interested in a very complex area of Arithmancy he’s definitely not very caught up on, so he promised that he’d brush up on it to talk to them. He figures that’s a good start since it’s farther from his room, so he starts off that way.
Surprisingly, the hallways are pretty empty, much to Regulus’ benefit. He sees a couple of his students that he waves to, but none stop to talk to him at all. He makes it to the library largely unbothered, heading up the stairs to the more challenging books. He’s glancing into each alcove when he surprisingly finds Draco, hunched over a book, seemingly talking to himself. Regulus looks at him confused for a moment, knowing none of this is material for a 12-year-old, before calling his name.
“Draco,” He says, Draco’s head snapping up as he slams the book shut.
“Yes, Professor?” He replies, still staring at him shocked.
“What are you reading, dear? The books up here are not normally frequented by someone your age,” Regulus asks, squinting at the book cover. It has imagery of a snake on it, and Regulus is pretty sure that one of the words it says on the cover is ‘Parseltongue’.
“Nothing,” Draco dismisses him, Regulus taking a step closer and smiling at his correct reading of the cover.
“Parseltongue,” He comments, Draco insecurely crossing his arms, “Why are you reading a book on that? Plan on learning it?”
“Just- just studying it,” He stammers, Regulus chuckling and tapping the table with his fingers.
“You know, if you ever need Pareltongue lessons, Harry is quite good at it, and he’s very easily swayed by anything lemon. Lemon sugar quills, in particular, those are his favorite,” Regulus tells him, watching Draco’s normally pale face flushed deep red. All the pieces click into place, Draco Malfoy fancies Harry Potter, and that’s why he’s all over everything he does. Regulus has to force himself to not gape at it, finding it hilarious that this boy, who is just like him, has a crush on another boy, who is just like James, at the same age that James had a crush on Regulus. He has to call James about this later.
“Uh- I don’t- I’m- Thanks,” He flusteredly stutters, Regulus just smiling.
“Of course, well, good luck with your learning, dear, I’ll be around if you ever need me,” Regulus replies, Draco nodding before quickly looking away. Regulus walks away before laughing to himself. He doesn’t know how he didn’t see it sooner. It’s been so painfully clear for a year Regulus has no idea how he missed it. Everything Harry does, everywhere he goes, everything he says, Draco always involves himself. At first, Regulus thought it was just to get under Harry’s skin, but actually, it’s just because Draco wants Harry to like him. He’s definitely going about it the wrong way, but Regulus is sure that it’ll correct itself with maturity.
For now, he can just laugh at how strangely history tends to repeat itself.
***
The year has been going worse than Regulus could have ever planned for. Students have been petrified left and right, from all backgrounds, the kids have been monitored like hawks ever since they came back from Winter Break, no one seems to be getting anywhere with what is happening and why. Things seem just horribly bleak and hopeless, and with April Break quickly approaching it seems like nothing is being solved at all and all they’re doing is managing. Regulus has been doing his best to be there for all of his students, but he would be lying if he said it was easy at all.
After a particularly long day of chaos and kids freaking out over yet another petrification, Regulus has finally sat down to do some grading for his classes. Although he looks up when he hears the door creak open, seeing Draco peek in, his face all red and his eyes puffy like he had been crying.
“Draco dear, come in, what’s wrong?” Regulus urges him, setting aside what he is working on. Draco walks into the room and shuts the door behind himself, walking up to Regulus and just standing in front of his desk.
“What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?” Draco bluntly asks.
“Nothing, dear, nothing more than you do,” Regulus shrugs, “Why? Sit down, let’s-”
“No, Professor, what do you know ?” Draco questions again, much firmer this time. Regulus pauses a moment before just telling him again.
“I know that it was created by Salazar Slytherin as his last mark on the school before leaving because he disagreed about the importance of blood status with the other founders, and that’s all I know,” Regulus calmly tells him.
“But the Chamber targets mud-”
“Watch your language,” Regulus warns before he can even say it.
“Muggleborns and half bloods, right?” Draco asks, Regulus shrugging.
“I don’t know anything, dear, I’m sorry,” Regulus apologizes, “We don’t know who it attacks and why.”
“It doesn’t attack purebloods, it shouldn’t ,” Draco frantically tells him.
“Who told you it shouldn’t?” Regulus asks although he knows the answer already.
“My parents,” Draco tells him, “They promised me I was safe and my friends, if they were of the right kind, were all safe. But Blaise got petrified, what happened? Was it a mistake? Maybe Blaise doesn’t believe in the right ideas-”
“Sit, please, Draco,” Regulus requests, Draco staring at him silently for a minute before walking over and grabbing a chair, dragging it up to Regulus and plopping down in it, arms crossed. “I know you’re very worried right now, but I want to help you logically work through it, ok? Do you know what purism means, dear?”
“Of course I do,” Draco replies, clearly offended.
“Define it for me,” Regulus encourages.
“It’s- Well it’s- It’s just knowing purebloods are better because they aren’t bred with muggles,” He stammers out, clearly unsure.
“Mmm, that’s part of it, yes, but purism is more than that. Purism is the idea that purebloods should be the only magical people to exist in the wizarding world. There are lots of ways people practice purism, and they all believe the same central concept, but to different degrees,” Regulus slowly and calmly explains, “So, for example, you might go to the Ministry and meet political purists who believe it within the Ministry and maybe schools but not that they are less as people. However, what your parents believe, and what my parents believed too, is a very specific way of being purist. Our family believes that purebloods, specifically in the Black family and that smaller sacred family circle, are immune to any of the bad things that have happened in the wizarding world and they all happen to eliminate muggleborns. It happened when I was a kid, too, during the First Wizarding War.”
“But this is different,” Draco argues, “This is intentional .”
“Do you know what disillusionment means?” Regulus asks, Draco shaking his head. “It’s when someone finds out that things aren’t as good as they’re believed to be. What’s happening right now, and what happened to me around your age, is called disillusionment because the culture we grew up in taught us that anyone valuable is invincible, and you’re finding out that’s not true.”
“But- But the Chamber only targets non-purebloods-”
“No one knows that,” Regulus corrects him, “You’ve been taught that to make you believe that naturally, purebloods are better because they aren’t targeted, but they are. It’s called confirmation bias, when people, like your parents, make evidence, like non-purebloods students getting petrified, support their claim even though they have no other proof it’s true other than that.”
“But Salazar Slytherin built the Chamber,” Draco counters.
“But we don’t know what’s doing that to people, dear,” Regulus points out, “The Chamber itself was built because of purism, but we don’t know what sort of thing is petrifying people and how controlled it is by the Chamber.”
Draco stays silent a minute before quietly asking, “But why would they lie to me, Professor?”
“Because they were taught that same thing,” Regulus tells him, “Your mother and father, their mother and father, they were all taught that they were invincible. And it’s easier to ignore the fact that they aren’t and just continue believing it than admit that something bad may happen. It’s been happening for a very long time, dear, long before you or I was ever born.”
Draco furrows his brow at Regulus, “My parents would never lie to me.”
“I’m sorry, dear,” Regulus sympathizes, knowing how horrible this realization feels, “It’s very hard, I know, realizing that your parents don’t know everything and sometimes-”
“No, my parents are good! They’re not bad at all,” Draco suddenly outbursts.
“Take a deep breath, dear, I know it’s hard,” Regulus coaches him, “I did the same thing.”
“You don’t get it!” He cries, tears starting to form in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, dear, I’m sorry,” Regulus gets up and walks around the table, grabbing a chair so he can sit next to Draco instead. Regulus moves the chair a bit closer when Draco doesn’t move away, leaning down a bit to look at him when Draco hangs his head and starts hiccupping. “I know that you’re scared, and you’re struggling knowing what is true and what isn’t but I want you to remember that you’re never alone. I see so much of my younger self in you, dear, and what I wish I had known is that there were other people who had been through what I was going through. I’m here for you, dear, I always will be, for anything.”
Draco just nods, Regulus looking at him for a moment before offering.
“Would you like a hug?” He asks, Draco nodding. Regulus immediately moves closer and draws the boy into a hug, gently rubbing his back and whispering to him, “Everything will be alright, you’ll be alright, your friends will be alright.”
“I’m scared,” He barely hears Draco whisper, Regulus feeling the pang of guilt in his stomach.
“I know, but there are so many people looking out for you, even if it doesn’t feel like it,” Regulus assures him, “And I can promise that I will always be here, for everything, no matter what.”
Draco doesn’t reply, just leaning against Regulus and sobbing. Regulus simultaneously hates and adores this moment, because, on one hand, he’s finally cementing himself as someone Draco can come to for support and help without being afraid of being judged, but on the other hand, he has to sit and watch him helplessly cry after realizing the worst thing a kid his age can realize. Regulus knows he was sheltered, he knows that Draco grew up just as Regulus did, no one but his parents and a handful of other worthy pureblood friends, all spewing the same ideas at one another. He knows how horrible this shock is for him, and he knows that more important than anything else what Draco needs is his Mrs. Potter, someone to hug him, tell him things will be alright, and help explain how he’s feeling when he can’t. And as horrible as it is, it warms Regulus’ heart to think about it.
Because he finally gets his chance to repay that favor.
And he’s going to do whatever it takes to do it.