Part One
October 31st, 1981 - A Bit Later in the Evening
Regulus Black knows that there are many things are going wrong in the world but one thing that he is certain is going well is the fact that he finally can go see James and Lily. He's missed Harry so much but he knows that what he's doing is what's best for all of them he just hates that he can't see all of them whenever he wants to. The problem with going undercover is that he has to act a certain way and say certain perverse things about muggleborns, people like his sweet Lily, that simply make him disgusted wit himself.
Regulus has never liked Albus too many names Dumbledore, he finds him pompous and self inflated ego where he thinks that he can do no wrong and that the Great Album Dumbledore is always correct.What isn't common knowledge is how closely connected the old Dark Lord and Albus were. His grandfather Arcturus Black III was very much alive during that war and was connected enough to know enough about the relationship between the two to understand no matter what Albus says, him and Gellert are too much alike.
Regulus never liked that "Greater Good" nonsense that Lily and James believed but he also understands that it is very hard to change their opinion of the headmaster since, according to them, he has been extremely helpful. He is only doing this because of his belief that he can do more by trying to tie himself as close to Voldemort as he much as he can stomach. He was able to find out many things about the ego driven baboon.
Unlike the rest of his family that is connected to Voldemort he doesn't have a mark, much life his cousin Narcissa; he really did love her. It's one of the biggest points of contention between his father, mother and Voldemort but since Sirius can't take over the Lordship while his grandfather, Arcturus, is sick. This means that he has had to step up as a Regent which means it is too great of a risk to the power that Voldemort has to force Regulus into taking the Dark Mark. The only reason he is the Regent is that the rest of his family, aside from Arturus, refuses to let Sirius take up the Lordship which only leaves him as the viable option being from the main line of the family.
The only good thing about his Regency, as he personally cannot stand the politics and nuances of the other older white men who take up the Wizengamont, is that there are times he can simply not respond to anyone or need to tell them where he is. He uses those moments to go to Godric's Hollow to see his real family. It's one of the only joys that he gets in this god forsaken time during this war and he is thankful for it.
James and Lily understand that it's hard for him to see them and their son but this is all in the hopes that he can learn as much as possible about the Death Eater's plans. He's heard a rumour about how he must take up a task that Voldemort is going to be giving him as a test of his loyalty which means he will be able to learn more than before about what is happening. He just fears what the task could be as he doesn't think he can stomach whatever it is the task could be.
He ponders all of this while sitting in desk chair of the Lord's office in their family home, 12 Grimmauld Place. He reaches into his robe pocket and pulls out a photo. He carefully unfolds it and smiles at the photo of James, Lily and Harry. He knows for them and for their life he must do whatever it takes to assure a future for them and young Harry.
The only saving grace is that Severus is also undercover with him, simply on a different side of the coin, even if its with a side he doesn't necessarily trust he can at least trust that Severus has Lily's well-being in mind. Speaking of the man the fireplace roars to life indicating a Floo call, Regulus gets up and moves towards it. He notices Severus' face looking in, he glances around the room before lifting his wand out of it's holster under his robe and says a silencing spell as well as a privacy spell.
"Come through Severus, you know you're welcome with me here."
Severus Snape steps through into the room before using his arms to dust himself off of any residual powder that could have gotten onto his robes, "Hello Regent Black I have concerning news I have to tell you."
Regulus almost rolls his eyes at the formality but refrains from doing so as he knows it will simply annoy the Potions Master, "You know Severus that you could simply just call me Regulus. We have spent ample amount of time with each other to the point we are familiar enough with each other to use first names."
The other man's face almost fully relaxes before nodding his head, "You're right of course, Regulus, I just felt it would be best given the circumstances. However, you are close with Lily which makes you more familiar with me than I am with you."
The Regent lets his mouth tick up on the right in an almost smirk, "Well she is not someone who speaks very openly all the time. She simply knows I'm not one to be a stubborn prat, unlike James."
Severus rolls his eyes at this, "Yes well, Potter has always been a right prat about certain things."
Regulus lifts his arm and gestures towards the chairs that rest in front of the dark desk. Both of the men move towards their own seats, with Severus taking the one on the right in front of the desk while Regulus moves to sit in the chair behind the desk. The younger man leans back slightly in his chair before reaching forward and grabbing one of the tea cups and wordlessly offers it to the man across from him who shakes his head 'no', Regulus nods slightly before placing the other cup down and reaching for his own and taking a sip.
"Out with it now Severus, what could be so important you decided to grace me with your ever glowing flowery presence."
The older man rolls his eyes at this before letting his face go back to his normal serious reflection, "I overheard the Headmaster talking to one of his portraits about their being a prophecy about Lily's son and talked with Albus about it. However, I made a mistake when going back to report to the Dark Lord I didn't have a strong enough hold of my occlumency and he managed to gleam some of the prophecy from my mind. When I went back to talk to Albus about it the old goat brushed it off as if he already had a handle on it."
Regulus debates with himself on how he wants to approach the stoic man sitting in front of him about how he has already heard enough to put together that their is a prophecy involving at least his partners and son. He has an inkling that the original reason that his partners went to Godric's Hollow to hide out had less to do with simply keeping their son safe, which they easily could have been at Potter Manor, and was more at the insistence of the old goat.
He is thankful to at least have been able to convince them to let the Potter house elf stay with them, against the wishes of 'Greater Good' Albus Dumbledore. Regulus understands that they're hiding out to make it as safe as possible for Harry to end up out of this as unscathed as they can feasibly make it he just hates that they're not in Potter Manor which is protected by wards much better than they have there but he couldn't convince them otherwise so he graciously lost the argument.
The younger man bowed his head slightly before meeting Severus' gaze, "I know enough about the situation to have at least a bare minimum understanding of what you are talking about."
"Albus isn't understanding the severity of it properly. The Dark Lord has become obsessed with the prophecy and is now trying to find the Potters," Regulus mentally adds Potter-Blacks before nodding along for the man to continue, "From what I overheard he is trying to kill the boy."
Regulus smacks his hands on the table while getting up and loudly exclaims, "What the bloody hell are you talking about?!"
Severus solemnly nods, "The prophecy mentions how the power of the boy may vanquish the Dark Lord and that one must die at the hands of the other, that was all I managed to overhear which means that is exactly what The Dark Lord heard from my mind."
Regulus looks at the older man and notes he looks almost devastated at the thought it is his fault that Lily would feel pain. He sighs heavily, "Severus it's not your fault. I understand you were probably devastated about how Lily would feel hearing the prophecy and I thank you as I know you would have tried to tell her as soon as you could. I'm assuming the old bastard says everything is fine?"
The Potions Master nods his head and Regulus scowls, "Well we simply won't let that happen. Did the Dark Lord mention when he was going to attempt to kill Harry?"
"He seemed as if he was going to attempt this as soon as possible."
Regulus hums before moving towards the older man, "Well I was supposed to visit them in the morning. I'm sure they won't mind if we go now instead, it may be very late but this is for Harry's safety."
Severus nods his head, he doesn't question why Regulus would be visiting them as he knows it's not his place to ask. He just hopes eventually Lily, and he must admit begrudgingly so Regulus as well, trusts him more to tell him the nature of their closer than normal bond. The older man gestures towards the fireplace assuming that is where they would need to go to appear to wherever Lily and her son are, he ignores the fact that James will also most likely be there, he's doing this for them not James.
"No, we are going to apparate since they thought it would safer to not be connected to the Floo network. Grab hold of me and we can apparate into the living room."
October 31st; Godric's Hollow - A Couple Minutes Later
The distinct sound of apparation can be heard in the silent ruins of the previously inhabited house. Regulus looks around and a pit drops in his stomach as he sees a body laying near the remainders of the entry way. He feels himself run towards it and drops to his knees as he reaches forward to turn the body over, not noticing Severus placing a hand on his mouth.
He can't help but let a wail leave his lips, "James! Wake up! Please...... you can't leave me."
Severus watches on as Regulus cradles James to his chest and rocks his body while pleas leave his lips. He takes his wand out and sets wards around the house so they can freely look around without anyone coming to see what the commotion is. He finally understands the relationship Lily had with Regulus, or should he say the relationship all three of them had, as the younger man is sobbing loudly over the dead body of James. He glances around and notices how badly the house looks. He knows they're too late. He can't help but feel dread settle in his stomach in fear of what he will see as he goes upstairs.
He softly calls out, "Regulus. We have to check on Lily and Harry."
This seems to snap the man out of his grief as he wraps his arms around James' body and picks him up to carry him towards the couch. He refuses to place him back on the floor. He has to take care of him. He loves him. He can't just leave him there. He fears what has become of Lily....... and Harry. He isn't sure what he would do if it looks worse than it does right now.
Regulus looks towards Severus who seems to understand and heaves the couch into its correct position. He moves around the couch and lays James down gently before letting more tears escape as he closes his lovers eyes for the last time. He leans down and places a gentle kiss onto his cold forehead, "I love you prongs. Never forget that."
Regulus makes eye contact with Severus who nods his head and they both start making their way back towards the entryway and attempt to climb the almost completely ruined stairs. He remembers that Harry's room is at the end of the hallway. He looks towards the hallway and notices the door left wide open and sees her. He looks towards Severus and sees the man also letting tears leak from his eyes.
He takes a deep breath and they start moving again towards the nursery. They slowly enter the room and once again Regulus drops to his knees and gently grabs Lily and pulls her towards his chest cradling her close hoping that this is all a nightmare and that he'll wake up and be cuddled up with them both while sharing small moments of affection. Severus drops down next to him and places a hand on his shoulder and uses the other to brush some of the hair out of her face. They both stay there for several minutes with Severus sobbing and Regulus wailing loudly.
After that Regulus shifts so he can move Lily into Severus' waiting arms who holds her and softly starts whispering to her. He looks towards the crib and feels more tears leak down his face as he knows he won't be able to stomach seeing his son not breathing anymore. He once again takes a deep breath and gets up and slowly makes his way towards the crib. He looks in and stops.
It's empty.
Regulus starts sprinting around the houses checking every room, every nook, every possible place he could find him. He's not here. He feels a small sliver of hope that his son may still be alive but tries not to hope too much. He runs back upstairs and Severus looks up at him in confusion, "He's not here. My son. Harry. He's not here in the house. Alive or dead."
Severus looks at him in confusion because if he's not here, then where could he possibly be?
Regulus calls out to his last hope, "Mellie!"
He hears the distinct pop and the elf appears looking worse for wear, "Mr. Yappy Loverboy sirs. I didn't know what to do!"
Mellie runs towards Regulus and starts sobbing against his legs. He reaches down and runs a soothing hand over the top of the little house elf's head, "It's not your fault Mellie. Please don't blame yourself, I'm sure you did everything that you could do."
The house elf sniffs and looks up at him, "Young Master is alive. I can't find him."
Regulus lets out a cry of relief to know his son is alive but feels that damn pit of dread settle into his stomach again, "What do you mean you can't find him?"
"Young Masters magic is bound sir, Mellie haves no chance tos connects with it. Big old man came and took young Master aways! Mellie don't knows whats to do!"
Regulus drops to his knees and places his arms on her shoulders, "Which old man Mellie?"
"The big old school one sir."
Regulus lets a curse leave his lips and looks towards Severus who has a look of dawning realisation cross his face, "Do you mean Albus, Mellie?"
He sees the house elf bob her head rapidly and notes her ears are essentially smacking her head while doing so. Severus is already getting up and lifting Lily's body into his arms. All three make their way into the living room and before Severus can ask what to do Regulus casts an expanding charm on the couch leaving plenty of room next to James. Severus gently lowers Lily beside James and then moves towards the other living occupants of the room.
Regulus runs a hand through his hair as Severus comes to stand beside him, "Mellie is there no way you can track Harry? None at all?"
The house elf shakes her head, "Only ways for Mellie to tracks young Master is for young Master to perform magics."
"Bollocks," Regulus starts to pace slightly while Severus looks on in apprehension, "That means the only way for you to track Harry is if he uses accidental magic. Which will only happen in another couple of years based on the bind that they put on him."
The two men look at each other before Severus makes a realisation and rolls up his sleeve, Regulus sees as the Dark Mark on the Potion Master's forearm fully fades to a light grey colour unmoving compared to the moving and dark colouring of it before. Severus stares at it in disbelief, "He's not dead. I would have felt that but the Dark Lord isn't currently on this place of existence as of right now."
"That means we have time. I'm not gonna stand here and say that the bloody bastard won't come back but we at least have time to find Harry."
Severus nods his head and rolls his sleeve back down, "The question being is how much time do we have?"
"Not enough I'm sure of it but we can't stay here," Regulus lifts his arms and gestures to the ruins of the house. "Who knows how long we have before Albus bloody Dumbledore comes back. You'll help me right, Severus?"
The older man nods his head, "Of course. We can't just leave them here. I would never forgive myself."
Regulus starts to think before he remembers, the basement, James commissioned a portrait of them for him just in case, "Mellie. Can you please go grab the portrait that James left in the basement and bring it to the office at my place?"
The house elf nods before popping away. He takes his wand out again and points it towards the couple before muttering a spell, James and Lily's body becomes clean with a newer set of clothes.
"We can't take them to my study but I can at least take us to Potter Manor so we can plan this out."