after the betrayal
regulus quite literally didn’t know what to feel, it felt like his legs were walking him back to his dorm, he felt absolutely nothing. and in his opinion, that was way worse than feeling pain.
just thinking about what his brother and his friends were going through at the moment, made him feel physically ill. it was good he told them, who knows what could have happened if he didn’t, but he still felt guilty for telling them.
instead of heading to bed, he sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace in the common room, grabbed some parchment and started writing.
dear Sirius, and Remus and James too,
im so sorry i had to be the one to tell you about it, but i don’t want to think about the things that could have happened if i hadn’t. for now, the smartest thing for you guys is to distance yourself from him; in a slow way, so its not too obvious. don’t tell him about the meetings anymore and make sure he doesn’t get any information on whoever’s whereabouts. as for me, i will try to become closer to him, when there’s meetings in real life again, or i’ll just find a way to do it from here; i need to know what he’s up to. Pettigrew still thinks im a spy for Voldemort, who’s just in the order to spy on you guys; id like to keep if that way. once again, im so so sorry and im wishing you all the best,
regulus black
that plan did seem the smartest, having peter think Regulus was on Voldemort’s side would be a good idea. he sealed it with a spell, so that others, who weren’t meant to read it, couldn’t read it. Regulus got up to go to the owlery when he realized it was already way past curfew, and going to the owlery would be impossible.
“well hello, Black.” a voice suddenly, said coming from behind him. he turned around; Mulciber. Regulus sighed, he didn’t even want to associate with someone as dumb as Mulciber, let alone be near him, let alone talk to him. Mulciber was, just like Regulus, a seventh year slytherin. he used to be in the same year as Sirius, but apparently his grades were too low to graduate, so he had to redo him seventh year.
“Mulciber.” Regulus said as he turned back, towards the exit of the common room; he would just going to have to find a way not to be seen. Mulciber grabbed his shoulder, making him drop the letter. fuck.
Mulciber was an actual death eater, probably not an as important one as Regulus, because he never actually attended the meetings; but his dad did, and if he would find out Regulus was still in contact with Sirius, or even worse, find out he was actually just a spy; he’d be dead in less then three days.
“oh!” mulciber said, as he grabbed the letter. “who is this for?” Regulus quickly snatched the letter back. “no one,” he said “even if it were addressed to someone, it would be none of your business.” he attempted to turn away once again.
“you’re hiding something, Black. Who’s that letter for and why are you so desperate to hide it?” Mulciber said. Regulus didn’t know what to say, but he didn’t want to look panicked either.
“its for my girlfriend.” Regulus then said with confidence, making Mulciber raise his eyebrows and smirk. “well, well, well. so the lucky girl is outside of the school, right? otherwise you wouldn’t need an owl, would you?” Mulciber said, Regulus felt deeply uncomfortable, but he put on a fake smile and laughed. “yup… you figured that out.”
it was awkwardly silent for a good minute, until Regulus started speaking. “i uh… i better go now?” Mulciber laughed awkwardly, “sure mate, and hey, if you ever need girl advice; im always here.” He said as he walked back up the stairs, towards the dorms.
Regulus raised his eyebrows, ew.
later, when Regulus had successfully returned to the dorms, without being seen, he walked into his room and was met with the familiar snores of Barty and Evan, he laid down in his own bed and almost instantly fell asleep.
he spend the first actual day at Hogwarts with Barty and Evan, like always. Sunday’s were always amazing, especially since you could pretty much sleep in until whenever you wanted to; therefore the three of them woke up at eleven, getting ready and eating ‘breakfast’ in the kitchens.
“when are we going to hogsmeade again, i mean, when are the trips planned?” Barty asked, “i wanna get some new candy, and a couple of new books.”
Evan sighed. “i bought you like seven new books for your birthday, which took place during summer break, you can’t possibly tell me you finished them already.” Barty gave him an elbow as they continued to walk to the black lake.
Regulus sometimes thought about how much they reminded him of Remus and Sirius, he couldn’t explain it; both were so different, but he could recognize so much of the one couple in the best friends. he sometimes also wondered if Barty and Evan were even ‘best friends’, and not something more; but he kept that thought to himself.
when they arrived at the black lake, there were only a couple of people there, so they could pretty much do whatever. Regulus grabbed his book again, and he started reading; he was almost done with the book, luckily Remus had given him multiple books.
Barty grabbed his bowtruckle from his pocket, he bought it over the summer and Regulus had to admit it was awfully cute.
“Godric, for a minute there i thought you were about to do something different-” Evan said, while Barty slapped him. “that hurt!” Evan said. “that was the intention.” Barty murmured.
“Evan you are absolutely disgusting, did you know that?” Regulus said without looking up from his book, from the corner of his eye he saw Barty turn his head and lift his shoulders. “thank you!” Evan sighed deeply and pretended to be hurt, while Barty played with ‘Garn’, his bowtruckle.
Regulus deeply adored his friends, and that made the feeling of guilt, involving the marauders, even worse. he couldn’t even imagine betraying any of his friends, and that made his disgust for Peter grow. because he did; because peter betrayed those who should be the most important in your life.