Fraternal
July 31st, 1980
The journal was probably the worst horcrux to hold onto. Something about that diary seemed to make anyone around it more aggressive and not to mention, when someone held it too long, a desire would grow in them to write in it. Regulus had been curious what would happen if he were to try and write something in its blank pages, but he refrained, leaving the diary in a locked drawer in his father’s old study. He checked on it often and wanted nothing more than to just destroy it, but once again, he was asked to wait.
Regulus was quick to tell Sirius that he had managed to get it and he was insistent that he wanted to be there when he destroyed it. Pandora was no better, she had gone this far to help him and she wanted to see their plan through, fully. Neither of the two would back down from wanting to help and at this point, Regulus didn’t see a point in even trying to argue it with them. Instead, he warned them of the risks and without going into too much detail, told them what they could expect.
Neither Pandora nor Sirius seemed too concerned about what risks may come with trying to destroy a horcrux, they both seemed equally as eager to witness the ordeal. Regulus wasn’t sure how anyone could be so excited to help with something like this, but then again, he was once excited to do it too.
Sirius was adamant that they shouldn’t try to destroy the horcrux at Grimmauld Place and tried to convince Regulus that it would be better to do it in his little, one bedroom flat. Regulus had the slightest feeling that this would be a horrible idea… so naturally, he agreed to it. Sirius wasn’t the only one who enjoyed just a little bit of bedlam here and there.
Pandora had never been to Sirius’ flat before and as far as Regulus knew, the last time she saw him was right around the time he would have graduated from Hogwarts. So, needless to say, it had been a while since they had met, if even. Regulus was sure they at least knew of each other and Pandora definitely knew Sirius, but whether Sirius knew her or not, he still agreed to let her come after a lot of arguing with Regulus on the safety of the matter.
“May I remind you that you still thought I was a Death Eater when you pulled me out of the cave?” Regulus had argued.
“That’s different, you’re my brother!” Sirius had fought back.
“Who you hadn’t spoken to in two years! She’s my friend and she risked her life to help me get this damn diary! I want her with us!”
“I barely know her!”
“I trust her!”
Just those three words alone had seemed to convince Sirius on the spot. For all the time that Sirius had known his brother, Regulus had never been a very trusting person. He had a few people he cared about and those who he looked up to, but never had he actually admitted to trusting anyone. At least, not to Sirius, he hadn’t. He couldn’t even trust most of his own family, so how do you trust someone you really only became friends with a few months ago. Sometimes, you just know you can. It’s not something a person could really explain, sometimes you just know. And in that moment, after those three words were said, Sirius knew.
“Fine.” Sirius finally said.
“Thank you.” Regulus said back.
Pandora showed up at Regulus’ door a few minutes earlier than he was expecting her and recently with her often showing up, she had started letting herself in, making herself at home whenever she was waiting around for Regulus. The first time she had done it, she had scared Regulus as he was not expecting to see a blonde woman in his kitchen, grabbing a glass of water. Even though he had jumped and let out a small scream, Pandora had seemed completely unbothered as she greeted him, holding one of his glasses.
After that, it didn’t bother him much anymore, in fact it started to feel a little weird when she wasn’t around, she might as well have become his roommate with how often she came by.
With her hair braided up in its usual half-do and a smile across her face, she once again let herself into the house, calling out for Regulus.
“Regulus! I’m here!” He could hear her yell echo throughout the house from the bottom of the stairs.
He jogged out of his room to the bannister beside the stairs and leaned over it, his shirt still unbuttoned as he looked down to her.
“You’re early!” He yelled back down.
“Or maybe you’re just slow!”
He scoffed at her.
“I am always right on time,” he said, trying to do up the buttons of his shirt. “I’ll be down in five!”
He went back to his room again and finished getting dressed, then checked himself in the mirror, running his fingers through his hair a couple of times and ruffling it a little. He never used to do that with his hair, but recently he found himself doing it more and more. It wasn’t so proper and pristine, but there was no one to yell at him that he looked a mess and if he was being honest, he liked that his hair looked a little messy. He felt that it made him look a little more his age - a 19 year old kid instead of a 30-something adult.
Checking that the basilisk’s fang was in his dark, leather satchel, he left his room again, stopping into his father’s old study and retrieving the diary.
He really hated carrying that diary around. Sometimes he could swear he heard it whispering to him and with how some of the other horcruxes went, he wouldn’t have been surprised in the least bit if it really was. Some days he thought it was beckoning to him when he’d walk through the hallway and past the office, trying to coerce him into opening it and writing something, anything, in it. It seemed as though the diary was desperate for someone to use it, like it was a sentient being - like it was the serpent trying to persuade him to eat the fruit from the Garden of Eden. He had held onto it for so long and it was slowly becoming more and more enticing to just try writing something in it. Something as simple as just “Hello” or “My name is Regulus” but he resisted and he did his damn best not to let it get to anyone else.
“Ready to go then?” He asked as he finally reached the last step where Pandora was waiting.
“I’ve been ready for three weeks,” Pandora said. “Could I see the diary? You haven’t let me have a look at it at all.”
“I think it’s better that I hold onto it for now.” Regulus replied, not wanting to disappoint her. “But you’ll see it soon enough.”
She just shrugged, looking a little disappointed, but that didn’t stop her smile from forming quickly again as they left Grimmauld Place, arm in arm as Regulus apparated them to the little London flat. Landing in the alleyway, Pandora used Regulus to steady herself as she glanced around at the rundown buildings around her and the loud, muggle cars that never seemed to stop honking.
“This way,” Regulus said, guiding her towards the door of the building where he saw Remus leaned against the wall, a cigarette nearly finished in his hand.
“Morning,” Remus greeted as the two approached him. “Your brother forced me to come wait for you because he woke up late… again.”
“I would expect nothing less from him.” Regulus sighed.
Remus pulled the door open and gestured for them to enter the building first. Regulus walked in with Pandora close behind him, looking around at everything her eyes could catch - the faded posters plastered over each other on a bulletin board, the flickering light just down the hallway of the first floor, or the long flights of narrow, wooden stairs that they now faced. She seemed to be entranced by it all.
When they reached the flat’s front door, Remus went ahead again and let them in where the smell of coffee wafted through the air.
“Good morning!” Sirius greeted rather cheerfully with a cup of coffee in his hand. “A lovely morning to destroy a horcrux, don’t you think!”
Regulus stared at him for a second, furrowing his brow at his brother.
“Can we please just get this over with?” Regulus begged. “I’m so sick of this thing.”
He pulled the diary out of his satchel, holding it out for them all to look at. Remus and Pandora stared at it in awe, but Sirius looked a little disappointed at it.
“Is that it?” Sirius asked. “That thing’s the horcrux?”
“Well, what were you expecting? The Book of the Damned or something?” Regulus said sarcastically.
Sirius scoffed at him.
“It’s just so small. This thing can’t possibly be that dangerous.” Sirius said confidently.
“Wanna bet?”
Regulus pushed past Sirius and stood in front of the coffee table in their small living room, placing the book down on the table and opening its pages. He flattened it out as best as he could then stood back and dug through his satchel again, pulling out the wrapped basilisk’s fang. Sirius stood by him, his arms crossed as he watched Regulus. Regulus turned to him and held out the fang.
“Do the honours for us, will you?” Regulus demanded, feeling that cold tone being brought back out again.
“Fine. I will.”
Sirius forcefully grabbed the fang from Regulus’ hand as Pandora and Remus stood back, but both watched eagerly. Sirius didn’t seem as confident as he did a moment ago, giving Remus a look to which he shrugged and gestured to the diary as if to say “you asked for this.” Sirius looked back to the diary again and held the fang up in the air, then quickly swung his arm down at its pages, but before he could hit the page, the worst shriek Regulus had heard so far, came blasting out of the pages as a sharp font of words quickly scratched themself into the pages, filling it with ink on its own that was not there just a few minutes ago. The words that filled the pages seemed to direct themselves right at Sirius as it continued to shriek, saying awful things about the people Regulus could only assume meant the most to him.
It listed off name after name, James first, then Lily, then Mary, Peter, Marlene, and the list went on, finally ending on Remus’ name, saying things not even their own mother had ever said to them. It was vicious, no, it was worse than vicious - it was murderous.
Sirius dropped the fang to cover his ears, watching every word that filled the pages, looking more distraught then Regulus had thought he’d ever seen him. Remus was quick to rush in, pulling Sirius away from the view and as he did, the words on the pages seemed to latch onto him instead and began to furiously change. The diary didn’t seem to go after people he cared about though, it went directly for his throat, tearing him apart with each word it scratched into the paper, but Remus ignored it, only focusing on Sirius as he pulled him away from the book.
Regulus was quick to jump up then, racing over to the diary and using all of his strength to close its pages. He thought he saw something about werewolves in there and maybe something about a family member, but he tried not to look as he forced it closed. As soon as he slammed it shut, the shrieking stopped and everything fell completely silent. He looked back to see the horror on Sirius’ face and the utter shock on Remus and Pandora’s faces. They all stood in stunned silence at the sheer amount of violence that had come from such a small object, one that looked so unassuming.
“That’s what you’ve been hunting!?” Sirius finally asked in shock. Regulus nodded.
“I warned you this was going to be awful.” Regulus said.
“I didn’t think it would be like that!” Sirius said, raising his voice. “I’ve fought plenty of Death Eaters and I’ve faced some pretty horrible things, but that, that was…”
“Horrible? Awful? Traumatizing? Take your pick.” Regulus said, collapsing into the armchair.
Sirius pushed Remus’ arms off of him as he stood back up, marching towards Regulus.
“You can’t go after these things anymore!” Sirius demanded, standing over Regulus who had slumped back in his chair. “This is completely insane! You’re going to get yourself killed!”
“I’ve made it this far.” Regulus responded calmly.
“Only because I saved you!” Sirius shouted back. “I won’t let you keep doing this! Dumbledore can find himself a new spy or the damn old man can do it himself! But I won’t let you go any further!”
Regulus suddenly felt a surge of frustration intensify throughout him, a frustration he had not felt so thoroughly in a long time - the type of frustration only a sibling could cause. He quickly jumped up from the chair, bringing himself to eye level with his brother.
“Who the hell died and made you the king?” Regulus shot back. “I am more than capable of deciding what I can and can’t do!”
“Well, last I checked, I’m your older brother and our dear old parents both died, so that puts me in charge!” Sirius yelled.
“Well, last I checked, you were disowned and I was made the heir!” Regulus shouted back. Sirius glared at him, anger boiling at the surface as he balled his hands into fists at his side. “Not to mention that little scene you caused back in school where you said, what was it again? Oh right, I DON’T HAVE A BROTHER!”
Then, in less than a second, Sirius’ fist had collided with the side of Regulus’ face, knocking him to the ground. Pandora let out a gasp as he fell to the ground and was quickly at his side to help him. Sirius looked as though he was ready to jump at him again, but Remus was quick to jump in front of him and keep him back as he glared at his brother.
Sirius was still seething with anger, but looked down at his shaking hand that had quickly turned red. He started to shake it out as it was clearly in pain from the swing as he turned away from Regulus who had propped himself up enough to sit back up. The entire left side of his face was in searing pain and he was sure he was going to have a black eye or at least a nasty bruise. That had been one hell of a punch, he had to give him that.
“Are you alright!” Pandora asked, checking over his now red face. She poked a few spots, making him wince.
“It’ll probably bruise, but I don’t think anything’s broken…” He answered, now holding his face. “We need to destroy that diary. Now.”
Pandora nodded at him, grabbing the fang off of the floor and making her way over to the diary as Remus tended to Sirius’s hand with a cross look on his face.
“I just… stab it?” She asked, sounding a little unsure.
Regulus nodded. “Mhm. Just stab it. You can do this, Panda.”
She took a deep breath and raised her hand in the air, hovering the fang over the centre of the book and as she swung her arm down, it began to shriek again, but she refused to stop, fully committing to her swing. With all of the strength she had, she jammed the fang into the leather front of the diary, twisting it back and forth as she pushed it further down. A black, inky liquid began to spill out of the book, like blood from a wound and it continued to pour out as she stabbed it one more time. The shrieking was brutal for another moment or two until it died down and everything went silent again. And as the room fell silent, the immeasurable amount of rage Regulus had felt only moments ago seemed to die down with the sounds of the shrieks.
He glanced over at Sirius, who also looked a little less angry, but was now avoiding eye contact with him.
“Did I do it? Is it… dead?” Pandora asked.
Regulus pulled himself back up and joined her at her side, looking at the mess of a book in front of them. He picked it up as the ink smeared on his hands and flipped it around to examine it. The piercing she had made had gone all the way through, completely demolishing the pages and its cover.
“Yeah, I think you did, Panda.” He said.
She looked pleased with herself again, almost proud of what she had done as she grasped the basilisk’s fang in her hand that was now also covered in black ink. Regulus turned away from her, still holding the diary and looked back at Sirius again who was still holding his fist. Regulus calmly walked over to him and held out the diary, smacking it to his one good hand.
“Another delivery for Professor Dumbledore.” Regulus said as Sirius let go of his hand and took the diary between two fingers.
The two of them stared at each other for a second and Regulus could see it in his face that while Sirius may have meant what he said, he was sorry. Neither of them needed to say anything and they didn’t. Regulus nodded at him just once and Sirius nodded back and he knew they were okay, even if things still felt a little tense.
Then, there was a tapping at the window where Remus often perched himself and outside was an owl with a folded note in its beak. Remus walked over, opening the window and grabbing the letter from the owl that sat patiently and watched them. Remus opened the letter, reading it over silently for himself and as he read the last few words, his eyes widened and he quickly looked up at Sirius.
“She’s had the baby!” Remus exclaimed. “Lily’s had the baby and James is on his way over for us… Right now.”
At first, Sirius looked over the moon, in a matter of seconds he had switched from angry to calm to ecstatic to panicked, as he looked back to his brother who was not supposed to be in his flat.
“Shit! Panda, we need to leave now!” Regulus exclaimed quickly running towards her and trying to push her towards the door. “Sirius, hide that diary!”
Sirius quickly looked around in a panic, trying to find a place to hide the diary, settling on a drawer in the end table beside the couch which he slammed shut as Remus quickly cleaned up the ink smeared all over their coffee table.
“Scourgify!” Remus said, waving his wand at the table making the ink instantly disappear.
Just then, as Regulus and Pandora were rushing to leave in time, green flames flashed in their fireplace and the silhouette of James Potter appeared in it. With no time to think, Regulus grabbed Pandora and pulled them both into the kitchen next to him and they both ducked down behind the counter, hoping that it would be a quick visit.
Kreacher, who happened to be in the kitchen as they both tried to quietly hide, looked pleased to see Regulus again, but somehow unaware of the fact that they were trying not to be caught.
“Master Regulus?” He said, “What are you doing here?”
Regulus immediately shushed him, his heart beating out of his chest again.
“You didn’t see us, Kreacher.” He whispered to the house elf. He looked a little confused, but nodded and went back to cleaning some dishes to keep himself busy.
Wanting to hear when the coast was clear, Regulus leaned a little closer towards the doorway, listening in to their conversation. It wasn’t too hard to hear though considering James and Sirius were basically yelling.
“She’s had the baby! A boy! I’m a father, lads! Can you believe it!” James cheered. He sounded so happy. James Potter, Mr. Sunshine, new father and happiest man in the world.
“Have you named him yet?” Remus asked.
“Harry.” James replied. “Harry James Potter. Oh and he’s got Lily’s eyes, I’m sure of it.”
“Well? What are we standing around here for gentlemen? Let’s go meet my new godson!” Sirius said and a moment later, Regulus heard the sound of the fireplace woosh three times.
They waited a moment before Regulus peeked his head around the corner to check they were gone and when he saw no one, he stood back up. Pandora followed behind him and they made their way back to the front door and let themselves out, but not before Pandora said goodbye to Kreacher and Regulus quickly waved goodbye too, just wanting to get out.
How many times was he going to have to hide from James?