Chapter 1
“Remus!” James’s overly cheerful voice calls as he swings open the door to Remus’ room.
Well, room is an overstatement as it’s just a small classroom with a few mats laid on the floor layered with a pillow and blanket. Pushed against the wall are desks that hold piles of books and clothes, the owner of which is currently against the windowsill using the rising sun's light to read.
“Yes, James?” Replies the sarcastic yet bored tone of Remus Lupin who only glances in James’ direction before returning to his book.
After the outbreak he and Remus left together with nowhere to go, until they found shelter at an abandoned school building. That’s where they stay even now eight months later. He and Remus have been friends since primary school and James couldn’t be more happy that he still had him by his side. That being said, James still liked to annoy the shit out of him.
So ignoring Remus’ lack of enthusiasm, James simply grins back stating “I’m bored.”
Remus rolls his eyes and closes his book, clearly seeing where the conversation is leading. “And what exactly do you want me to do about that?”
James takes this reply as his invitation to further come in and he immediately jumps into the desk chair in the corner and rolls it over to the window where Remus still sits.
“I’m so glad you asked,” at this Remus rolls his eyes again but James persists, “I want you to help me convince Kingsley to let us set up a supply run, and before you say no..”
James pauses eyeing Remus, waiting for him to interrupt and when he doesn’t he continues.
“.. We need supplies badly. I know this, you know this, and Kingsley sure as hell knows this. Our last run was over a month ago and since then we’ve taken in Frank and Alice who, might I remind you, is pregnant.” James pauses and looks out the window as he mutters a quick “and I’m getting bored sitting around.”
James is honestly getting restless. He’s always had too much energy, so much so that his mother refused him any caffeine as a child, not that it made much difference. The problem with this is that he now lives in a zombie-ridden apocalyptic world which sounds awesome and badass (or at least James thought it did) until you realize most of your time consists of sitting around with nothing to do. Things like cell phones and television don’t work anymore and they have to conserve gas for supply runs, and it’s almost impossible to leave the building without attracting some kind of threat.
This is why James sits here looking up at Remus with the biggest pleading eyes he can to which Remus snorts at his friend's tendency to be both selfless and selfish. However he knows he's not wrong, they do need more supplies, and it’s for that reason that he sighs and agrees to help James.
Getting up and heading to the door, both men prepare to beg and plead their argument as Kingsley Shacklebolt is not easily reasoned with and takes his job as the leader of their group very seriously and because of this, he’s very careful about any outings they take.
James knows this much which is why he wanted Remus to come with him. For some reason, people take Remus more seriously and tend to agree if he’s already on board. This had always made little sense to James as Remus was a bit of a trouble maker back in school, just as much as himself if not more. The difference is Remus is quiet while James is, simply put, not.
Two months after the outbreak, Remus and James had been going from shelter to shelter looking for somewhere truly safe, or as safe as you can get in this world. They were walking up a road checking each car they passed for something that worked when they finally came across one with the keys in the ignition and a little bit of gas. They took the car further down the road until they saw smoke, which usually meant people coming from a school building.
The building itself was fairly hidden and hard to see if you weren’t looking for it but inside they found Kingsley alone. He was immediately wary of them and it took some convincing before he allowed the two to stay. Slowly they gathered supplies, weapons, food, and random other necessities. They made the school into a home and as the months went on they opened their home to a few other groups in need.
Now Kingsley is the designated leader of their group and is always trying to keep them alive. James doesn’t know where he’d be if he hadn’t allowed them all to stay.
Today they find Kingsley in an office at the entrance of the school, this one, in particular, is where they’ve laid out maps and typically is where they meet to plan supply runs. Perfect timing, James thinks.
He knocks on the open door to get Kingsley’s attention who turns to face them.
“James, Remus.” He looks at each of them and his eyes narrow a bit as if he can read their minds and he turns back to the map on the wall. “I suppose you wanted to try and ask me about the next supply run. Is that correct?” He turns back and raises an eyebrow at them before smirking at already knowing the answer.
“Well, you two especially know how much I hate leaving the safety of the school.” Kingsley starts again before they can reply. “But as I’m sure you're both aware, we need many things right now, so with that in mind, we should start planning as soon as possible.”
James is taken back a bit by how easy that was but just shakes it off with a wide grin at Remus who is already looking at him, just as shocked as James was that they didn’t even need to say anything.
“Well,” James begins as he walks more into the room pointing at the map. “Last time we went out we passed by a shopping plaza around two hours out from the school” he gestures vaguely around an area south of their location.
Remus steps more into the room. “We didn’t have much time to check in depth but there were at least half a dozen shops and perhaps a pharmacy. There’s a good chance we’ll find something out there.”
Kingsley considers this information while staring at the map, no doubt concerned about the distance, he turns back to the duo. By the look on his face, James knows he’s not happy with the situation.
“Two hours isn’t ideal, in fact, it’s incredibly dangerous.” He sighs most likely thinking of all the worst-case scenarios.
James can tell the internal struggle he’s facing and despite knowing the risks, he’s more focused on the reward, and also getting a little freedom, but mostly helping the other members of their little group.
With his most convincing tone James interrupts Kingsley’s thoughts, “Look, I know how risky it is, but Alice is one month to her due date which means we’ll have another child living here in addition to everyone else. We’re not prepared for that.”
James pauses and looks to Remus for help who continues, “James and I can take charge of the run, you know you can trust us and in this case, the risk is worth the reward.”
He says exactly what James was thinking and he thanks Remus’ ability to get straight to the point. It seems that was the push Kingsley needed to agree.
“Ok fine.” He nods and looks at both of them. “You two lead, you take two separate cars and you take Lily, Mary, and Marlene with you. Understood?”
His tone leaves no room for argument so Remus and he simply shake their heads in agreement.
James is thrilled, he gets to leave the shelter and do something.
He was also already planning on suggesting Lily, Mary, and Marlene for the run anyways as well. Mary and Marlene are the best in combat and Lily's intelligence is on par with Remus'.
All in all, this is going almost exactly as James had wanted and he didn’t even need to beg (yes he did beg once, no it didn’t work).
James is pulled out of his short victory when Kingsley starts talking again.
“Due to the high necessity of supplies right now, you guys can go out as soon as tomorrow, so long as you think you can get the girls caught up and prepare the vehicles with everything you need.”
He looks at them waiting a moment before James practically yells “Absolutely” at the same time as Remus says “Of course” much more calmly.
Kingsley nods once again “Right, well I’ve known you two the longest and I’m trusting you with this.” He looks at his watch. “I have to go take over watch guard for Peter and you two have preparations you need to make. I’ll meet you by the door at sunrise, the earlier you leave the better.”
And with that, he claps them both on the shoulder while leaving to go take over watch from Peter who’s been on guard since last night.
James glances at Remus who rolls his eyes at the pure look of joy on James’ face at having gotten what he wanted.
“I’ll get the weapons and supplies and prepare the cars and you can tell the girls,” Remus says before he turns and walks in the direction of the storage room where they keep the weapons.
James looks out the window at the now fully risen sun and decides to wait a bit before telling the girls. He first needs to eat and then prepare himself to face the wrath of Mary Macdonald when she’s woken up before she's ready.
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Another gunshot sounds through the Black family mansion. Regulus is getting less surprised as the days go on.
When the outbreak started Walburga and Orion shut the ground's iron gates and planned to keep Regulus and Sirius inside and away from the deadly infection that slowly took over Britain and soon the entire world.
Though despite the closed gates, those that knew the land that the mansion rested on knew that there were many secret entrances through the grounds. That's how Narcissa and Bellatrix, Regulus’ cousins, managed to get in the night after the news of the outbreak had shocked everyone. With Bellatrix however came her fiance Rudolphus Lestrange who was staying with the sisters that particular night. Bellatrix and Rudolphus were a nasty pair as they fed off each other's craziness. Narcissa was always the kinder of the two, not as much as their other sister Andromeda, though she left the family well before the outbreak. Regulus hopes she’s still alive.
Regulus’ parents had always loved their cousins because they felt they valued the Black name much more than he or Sirius ever did. So when the three came in through the floor in the mansion's entranceway, they were quickly welcomed with open arms, much to Regulus’ dismay.
Bellatrix and Rodolphus quickly became bored of sitting around the mansion and this boredom is what led to the current prison that is the Black mansion.
Despite Regulus’ usual flair for dramatics, he’s quite literal with this statement as the house is now an actual prison that his mother and father had made supposedly to calm the aforementioned couples boredom, and perhaps their own.
The mansion is now split in two, one side is the bedrooms of the current members of their group, and the other is used for meetings for supply runs as well as a place to hold everyone they take prisoner before they torture or kill them, or both. One would think the sheer size of the place would be enough to muffle the sounds of screaming and gunshots but Bellatrix likes to make it loud enough for everyone to hear, most likely to keep everyone scared.
Regulus looks outside and sees that the sun is just rising and more screaming can be heard from somewhere in the house. Great way to start the morning.
He peers over to Sirius’ bed on the other side of the room and isn’t shocked to see him still fast asleep.
Sure he and Sirius could have separate rooms, there's definitely space for it at least, but as his parents grew their power and recruited more people to do their dirty work it became more comforting to have each other close in case of emergency. While he doesn’t think his parents would kill them, one can never be too sure.
Regulus only lays in bed for a moment longer before his door is being thrown open and in the doorway is Barty and Evan.
Bartemius Crouch Jr. and Evan Rosier are Regulus’ closest friends from before the outbreak. Shortly after his cousins had shown up, Barty and Evan came through another entrance, having snuck into the house many times throughout the years. It took some convincing before his parents reluctantly allowed them to stay but now they share the bedroom adjacent to his and Sirius’.
Sirius who is still asleep despite the door being quite loudly thrown open by Evan who has Barty only a step behind him, their hands between them clasped together as they often are.
The pair have been pining for each other for years before they finally got together (with help from Regulus of course). The two are nearly inseparable and often get on Regulus’ nerves with how much they tease and bicker. Which is what brings Regulus back to his senses when he notices how neither Evan nor Barty has spoken yet, both out of breath as if they had just run here.
He looks between the two of them clearly confused before Barty finally speaks, “You need to get up, you both do.” He nods to Sirius, “Your father wants to talk.”
Regulus feels his face get even paler, his father rarely calls him to talk, even less so with Sirius. And if Evan and Barty are the ones telling them and not his father himself that most likely means he also wants to speak with them as well.
Alarms are ringing in his head as he quickly wakes a stubborn Sirius and tells him what he was told. This sets both of them to get ready as quickly as possible and in less than five minutes, the four men are standing outside of Orion Blacks office.
Sirius swots at his arm and gestures to the door.
“I’m not doing it, you do it.” He aggressively whispers back.
“Absolutely not, are you crazy?”
“You're the crazy one if you think I’m doing it, idiot.”
“Well what am I, crazy or an idiot?”
Regulus begins to open his mouth when Evan slaps them on the head and quietly yells “You're both crazy idiots now will one of you please knock on the damn door.”
The ever brave Sirius just sighs in resignation and raises his hand to knock and the second he does, the sharp reply of ‘enter’ can be heard from inside.
They each look at one another before they slowly open the door.
Inside Regulus can see his father sitting at his desk and his mother over his shoulder. Along the wall, he sees Bellatrix and Rodolphus who look absolutely thrilled with the current situation. Next to them are the newest members of his parents' followers, Amycus and Alecto Carrow, twins that are as crazy as they are smart, quite the deadly combination. In the corner are Mulciber and Avery, they both refused to give much information when they joined besides the one name, though Regulus suspects they aren’t much older than he is.
The Carrows, Mulciber, and Avery were discovered hiding in a warehouse not too far from the mansion. They were taken back as prisoners, however, were quickly recruited to be a part of his parent’s crew when they discovered how ruthless and skilled they were and they were deemed useful enough to stay alive.
The fact that they are here as well only furthers Regulus’ suspicions and seeing Sirius stiffen next to him he can tell he’s on edge too.
Regulus continues looking around the room and in the two chairs on the opposite wall sit Dorcas and Pandora who look up at the four of them with wide eyes, clearly also feeling the high intensity of the room.
Pandora is Rodophus’ cousin and fled here when he did and since then has become rather close to Regulus and his friends. Despite sharing the Lestrange name she is almost the complete opposite of her cousin, a sentiment that both he and Sirius also share.
Dorcas Meadowes on the other hand had snuck in while on the run from the dead. She nearly took out Narcissa before she was stopped and reluctantly allowed to stay. Much like the Carrows and co. her fighting skills and resolve to kill made her valuable in Orion and Walburga’s eyes. She is thankfully not nearly as insane and only agrees to help with supply runs in exchange for shelter. Dorcas had barely been here 1 month but she is already one of Regulus’ closest friends.
Regulus thinks he can guess as to why they’ve all been asked here and his stomach fills with dread as he looks back at his father.
Orion's blank face gives nothing as to what he is thinking as he simply leans back in his chair before speaking.
“Thank you for coming here so quickly, I didn’t want to delay this conversation much longer.” He pauses and looks to Walburga who nods for him to continue. “I assume it didn’t escape your notice of the growing population within our house.”
Regulus hears Barty behind him mutter “How could we not notice?” leading to his foot being stomped on by Evan, a message to shut up.
“Anyways,” his father barrels on, “I want to volunteer four of you to go out on a supply run, there's a shopping plaza a few hours out that should have some of the supplies we need.”
Regulus is suspicious, typically Bellatrix and her group go on runs together, it’s rarely him and his friends other than Dorcas, but then he thinks more and realizes.
“Wait. You said the four,” He gestures around the room at his friends, “there's six of us.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Bellatrix smirk, and the Carrow twins have a dangerous look on their faces.
He looks at his father questioningly who doesn’t seem surprised that Regulus realized his choice of words so quickly. He simply shrugs before replying.
“Yes well, I want two of you to stay to ensure you all have a reason to come back.” He now looks amused at Regulus’ shocked face, presumably all their faces at hearing that.
His mother comes up from her place behind Orion and places her hand on his shoulder before her cold voice says, “You have to understand children, this is simply a precaution. We wouldn’t want any of you getting any bright ideas, now would we?”
“I vote, Meadowes and Rosier.” comes the cynical voice of Bellatrix who has no doubt been enjoying the terror on their faces.
“I agree.”
Everyone looks back at Orion and Regulus almost can’t hear his next words with how loud his heart is beating. He almost doesn’t want to see the look on Barty's face, he guesses it's a mix of shock, horror, and most definitely anger. Pandora, still sitting next to Dorcas, grabs her hand, shaking a bit with nerves. They all know that there is no room to argue when his father says.
“Dorcas will need to stay here and help keep guard as these five will be going along with you.” He waves his hand towards the wall where they’re all practically bouncing on their toes with excitement. Mulciber is eyeing Evan with clear disdain.
From behind him, Regulus hears Barty’s voice as he breathes out a quiet “Why Evan?”
Regulus knows why, they all know why. Because if Evan stays, Barty will always come back, no matter what. He would never leave him and everyone in this room knows it. This is why Walburga only smiles, a thin smile with no humor as she says.
“Collateral.”
This is what sets Barty off, barely giving anyone a second to react before he was lunging at Regulus’ mother.
Sirius nearly tackled him clean to the ground to stop him.
At once, as if they were waiting for the opportunity, the Carrows had knives out and ready to kill. Dorcas intercepts Rodolphus in his pursuit of Barty while Evan goes to help Sirius hold him steady. Regulus is still standing still in the center of the room, holding eye contact with his father.
The air is thick with tension but Orion still only looks amused as he folds his hands on his lap.
“Now, let's not make things harder than they have to be.” He cuts in before anyone goes too far. “You leave tomorrow at sunrise, we’ll take care of all preparations so I suggest you six be on your way. After all, you all have plenty of goodbyes to do.”
Orion finishes with a faux innocent smile and Barty looks about five seconds from ripping out of Sirius’ arms and attacking again so they all make their leave quick, basically dragging Barty out. Dorcas is the last to leave as she drops Rodolphus' arm from where she interrupted him. She glares at the members of the room before turning and slamming the door.
As they go back to the safety of their rooms, Regulus only has one thing on his mind. How did they know they were planning to escape?