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Chapter Text

The day that Sirius had left, Regulus had had his worst nightmare. He dreamed of a glowing locket in a basin of water. He dreamed of drowning in water, skeletal hands ripping him apart. He had assumed it to be another side effect of growing up in Grimmauld Place. After all, a house that has seen as many horrors as it has is bound to influence you somehow.

The only person who knew of his nightmares was Pandora, getting a drunken confession out of him of his fear of water. She had been quite worried after, claiming that it might have been a vision of the future. But Regulus waved her off every time. What could possibly lead to him dying such a gruesome death? After he received the dark mark, it moved to the back of his mind, much like everything else. But after Evan’s murder, all the pieces fell into place and he realised with finality that he would not live past 18. He walked to the cave as a dead man, and as he was finally pulled down by the inferni, he shouted out his last words to Kreacher, “GO! DESTROY IT AND KILL HIM!”

The pain registered as soon as he hit the water. Father had once told them that death was merciful, quicker than falling asleep, but he supposed that was another lie told to him by his parents. In his final moments, he saw all those that he had let down, mocking him of his failures. Sirius lying on the floor, bloody and broken, Barty laughing maniacally while setting a muggle orphanage on fire, Evan lying motionless, eyes wide open, Dorcas calling him a coward, Pandora sobbing, apologizing, saying that she thought she could change his fate.

He let out a garbled sob, the water choking him. Slowly, he stopped fighting, the pain dulled and as Sirius’ laughter rang in his head, he finally shut his eyes. ‘I hope you’ll finally be happy, brother.’ He felt himself lose consciousness, the pain becoming number and number…. And then, he opened his eyes to darkness.

Confusion and panic flooded his brain. Had the Dark Lord discovered his plan? Had he taken him from the lake to torture him? But then the panic seems to recede. He feels a cold burn in his veins and shivers. As if he’s under an Imperius curse, Regulus begins to walk down the rose-lined path.

In the distance, he sees a lady, dressed in black, seemingly waiting for him. He feels himself stop before her and when she turns, the cold burn in his veins becomes almost unbearable. He lets out a choked gasp at the pain and she waves a gloved hand over him. The burn lessens and he pants at the relief.

“Apologies. I forget that humans are such fragile creatures.” Regulus finally gets a good look at her. She looks like a shadow, with long flowing hair wearing a veiled hat, long black dress and lace gloves. “Welcome, Regulus Arcturus Black.”

Regulus feels his hands shake, “Who are you?”

The lady tilts her head, “I do not have a mortal name, but I believe you would call me Lady Death.”

His heart pounds in his chest, each beat echoing the waves of fear coursing through him, “What? Am I dead? I don’t feel dead.”

Lady Death hums and turns away disinterestedly, “Well, you aren’t dead yet.” Regulus grits his teeth at the vague response and takes a deep breath. ‘A Black never trembles in fear.’

“If I’m not dead, then why am I here? What do you want from me?” His glare doesn’t waver as she sharply turns back to him.

“Ah, perfect. I worried that you had lost that anger.” She moves closer to him and Regulus can hear the smile in her voice as she speaks, “You’re smart for a mortal.” His eyes narrow in suspicion.

“What do you want from me?” He asks through gritted teeth.

“Oh, you and I can help each other, Regulus. I can give you a second chance at living.”

He falters and his voice comes out weak, “What?” 

Lady Death sighs and mutters, “I forgot how long this took.” She looks back at him, “I can send you back in time, I can give you the power to fulfill your greatest desire.”

“My greatest desire?”

Lady Death chuckles, “Look within yourself Regulus, if you could do anything in the world, if you had that power, what would your biggest goal, your greatest desire be?”

A myriad of images flashed through his brain, but the ones that burned him the most gave him his answer, “Revenge.”

Lady Death seemed to smile, “Exactly. I can give you the power to gain your revenge. My power.”

A whirlwind of questions swirls within his mind, each one jostling for attention, but most important of all, “Why? Why me? And why would you help me?”

Lady Death hums, “So many questions…I’m helping you because Tom Riddle, the one you seek revenge against, is a thorn in my side.”

Before Regulus can say that he doesn’t know of anyone by that name, Lady Death interrupts, “Though, I believe you may know him as Voldemort.”

Regulus sucks in a breath at the name. Lady Death doesn’t let him recover, “And I chose you because your soul burns with a great desire for revenge and perhaps if you can defeat him…” She lowers her head, “…my favourite will never have to suffer. Poor Harry.”

Her words spin around his head and his breath picks up. Lady Death notices and waves her hand over him again. That cold burn comes back, stifling his panic. He sneers, “What did you just do? Why-”

Lady Death huffs, “I do not have enough time to explain, child. All you must know is that it will help you.”

She holds her hand between them, “Now, do you accept the deal?”

Regulus may not understand everything that is happening at the moment, but what he does know is that he would give anything to go back, to go back and get his revenge and if Lady Death can grant him that wish… He shakes her hand, “I accept.”

Lady Death nods and suddenly, the roses around him burst into flames. Regulus startles but Lady Death brings back his focus, “Wise choice, young star.”

His hand falls out of her grip as everything around him turns into ash. He backs away in confusion but something holds him in place. Lady Death closes the distance, “I shall do what I can to assist you, young star, but it will ultimately be you who will have to fight.”

She stares in a way that freezes Regulus on the spot. “For now, my only advice to you is to find your partner in time, though they will not know the knowledge I will give you.” She shoved him and Regulus felt himself fall into the void, voices ringing in his head as flashes of his miserable life assaulted his vision.

“I’m your older brother, Reg, I’ll always protect you”

“You brother sullies the name of Black, you shall be the heir now Regulus.”

“Damn it, just come with me Regulus!”

“My name is Evan, this is Barty.”

“You seem like a person who needs help. I’m Pandora.”

“You left me Sirius! And I can’t let you come back because it’s my turn to protect you.”

“Stand Regulus Black, and pledge yourself to the Dark Lord”

“NO! Evan, wake up!”

“I require your house elf, Regulus”

“Sirius, you’re bright today. I’m going to stop him Siri, please be proud of me”

A closet?

“Wretched boy!”

A boy with a lightning scar

“You’re Harry Potter!”

These weren’t his memories.

The philosopher’s stone

The chamber of secrets has been opened

A diary destroyed with the fang of a basilisk

Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban

“Your defense against the dark arts teacher, Professor R.J Lupin”

“I did my waiting! Twelve years of it! In Azkaban!”

“Peter Pettigrew!”

HURRY CHILD, YOUR MIND WEAKENS

The locket

A ring, a family heirloom

The Ravenclaw Diadem

Helga Hufflepuff’s cup

The diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle

A snake, at Voldemort’s side

A young baby, crying, with a lightning scar

Hoot. An owl? His eyes opened, was he alive? He gently patted his own body, feeling the familiar contours and reassuring his senses, breaths shaking his body. He was alive. He was lying in a bed, his bed in Hogwarts. ‘Did it work?’

Letting out a breath, Regulus pulled the curtains back from the bed and felt his feet graze the cold floor of his old dorm room. Tears filled his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He stood up unsteadily, staggering his way to the two other beds in the dorm. He pulled the curtain back to see Barty, asleep, his hair a mess, drool staining the pillow. He felt his heart crack in his chest as he immediately opened the other bed’s curtain to reveal Evan, also asleep and safe.

“Oh, Merlin...” His tears fell freely as he made his way back to his bed. “Oh Merlin, I’m back” And as the realisation set in, Regulus felt in his bones a magic that felt both foreign and familiar. A magic that felt more powerful. His tears slowed down as his grief gave way to rage. "I'm back."

Chapter Text

Regulus was a person who always had a plan for everything. He was different from his brother in that respect. Regulus was the son that never stepped out of line, that never rebelled and that never protested the loss of his childhood. He had only ever acted impulsive two times in his life. The first time had cost him his brother and the second, his life. His fits of anger had proven to be useless, time and time again. 

However, being given the gift of life again, this time, Regulus would make sure that he would be the one to watch the life drain from Tom Riddle. But first, he needed a plan.

Plans were easy to write on paper, and there was the added benefit that there would be no unwanted criticism or unnecessary distractions. 

The sound of his quill on paper filled the quiet dorm as he pondered his next move. He needs to ensure the locations of the horcruxes and also find a way to destroy them. He doubts the sword of Gryffindor would present itself to him and the other option…Regulus shivers as he thinks of the basilisk that, in another timeline, Harry Potter had been forced to fight. He’s not quite sure if he’s capable of extracting venom from the creature without dying a tragic death once more, but he decides to shelve that problem for now.

The more pressing matter for Regulus is to figure out what Lady Death had meant by ‘his partner’. He hasn’t a clue who it could be. And if he’s interpreted her words correctly, they will not have the knowledge of the future that Regulus has been given. He wonders what would happen if he failed to find his partner. He can’t very well spend his entire time searching for someone who might be on the other end of the globe. But, that doesn’t feel right. Regulus places the quill down and flexes his hand. 

He is no expert on how magic works, but he assumes that the dark power he feels within him is the doing of Lady Death. He feels more aware of the magic running through his veins than he did his own magic. Narrowing his eyes, Regulus focuses on conjuring a small blue fire. He had never become completely proficient at wand less magic, a fact that his parents continually expressed their disappointment over. The fire erupts from his hand. He stares at it for a while before taking it a step further. He starts making shapes out of the fire, a snitch, a broom, a dog. He stares at the shapes, unnerved at how natural it feels to use wand less magic. 

A snort from Barty’s bed snaps him out of his mind. Regulus looks over to see his friend, shuffling on the bed, mumbling in his sleep. Unwillingly, a smile tugs at his mouth. It had been a long time since he had seen Barty so…calm. His smile slips from his face as he observes his friends. 

It’s wishful thinking that Barty or Evan would be the partner Lady Death had mentioned. He doesn’t think either of them would be sleeping peacefully if they had any memories of their future. It leads him to wonder who it could be. Regulus shudders at the thought of Sirius or one of his Marauder friends being his partner. 

He turns back to the journal in his hand, but finds himself unable to think of anything else, his mind too occupied with thoughts of a future that doesn’t exist. He sighs, throwing the journal into his bag. He needs to regain his bearings, the library should work. 

He goes through his routine as quickly as he can and checks the time. A few hours until breakfast. He can easily sneak around the school until then. He had done so before, quite a number of times. 

He takes one last look at his slumbering friends before leaving. He would make sure they would be happy this time. This time, Evan wouldn’t die. This time, Barty wouldn’t be driven to insanity. He would protect them all. 

It’s almost laughably easy to sneak around the school. Regulus remains cautious though. Even though he has put a Notice-me-not charm on himself, it seems coming back from the dead has put him on constant edge. 

But then he hears a voice that stops him in his tracks. “-just overthinking it, Wormy.” In a span of two seconds, Sirius’ voice breaks the composure Regulus has faked since coming back. 

His brother’s voice loud and pitched, almost makes Regulus keel over. He almost whines when the rush in his head grows louder and louder. He stumbles into a dark alcove as the voices near. Even in his panicked state, he knows he can’t face his brother. 

“-attacked me Sirius!” He hears Pettigrew’s squeaky voice and it’s enough to bring him above the waves for just a second of clarity. 

His hands shake as he imagines what he could do to the traitorous rat, but he restrains himself. For now, Pettigrew hasn’t done anything wrong. Sirius wouldn’t ever forgive him if he hurt the rat. He’ll need to be more discreet about disposing of him.

He tunes back into the conversation as Sirius’ voice picks up. “I don’t know, Peter! But I’m starting to think you must have done something! Moony would never attack you without a reason!” 

Regulus stills. The rush in his head subsides. Lupin has attacked Pettigrew, for seemingly no reason. Merlin’s bollocks, please don’t be true. Pettigrew squeaks, “I didn’t do anything Sirius! I would-I would never do anything that puts us in danger!” 

Regulus notes the guilty tone in Pettigrew’s voice and recalls that around this time, the rat had started spending time with Severus Snape. He hasn’t done anything drastic yet, but he has started to lose faith in Dumbeldore. If Regulus remembers correctly, which he always does, Pettigrew will lose his half-blood girlfriend a few months from now and create quite the scene in the Hall by screaming at Dumbledore. It had been the only time Regulus had felt something similar to respect for him. Apparently, Dumbeldore had failed to protect her or something along that line. 

“Yeah, sure mate. Look, let’s just wait for Moony to wake up, then he can explain it himself, alright?  I’m tired.” He hears Pettigrew huff out a quiet ‘fine’ before he stomps off somewhere. 

A few seconds of silence later, Regulus peaks out the alcove to make sure his brother isn’t there. He lets himself sigh as he sinks down to the floor. His nose burns and he can feel his vision blurring. It brings him back to cold water and skeletal hands.

He doesn’t realize when his breaths start coming in short breaths or when he starts scratching his arms till they bleed. He’s lost in his panic when he sees shadows gathering around him, covering his bleeding arm. A voice croons and echoes in his head, ‘Breathe child’

He shuts his eyes and forces his breaths out. He is Regulus Black. He refuses to be defeated by fear.  “Aquila-Altair, Auriga-Capella and Epsilon Aurigae, Boötes-Arcturus, Cancer-Praesepe,Canes Venatici-” He mutters the names of the stars taught to him on dark nights by his brother and later, in dark rooms by his mother.

He brings his hand to the necklace gifted to him by his brother. The Leo constellation because Sirius had always praised him for being the heart of the lion. Sirius was always gentle, never loud or rowdy. That was his brother. The one that was taken away from him. The one that had always been braver than him and the one that had paid for it. Not the gryffindor persona Regulus sees him parading around.

The shadows run over his body as if they are an extension of himself and when Regulus blinks they’re gone. Perhaps the Black family madness has finally caught up to him. He turns to stare at his shadow, feeling a burn in his veins. ‘I told you I would aid you in your quest’ 

He feels himself shiver as the voice continues to speak, ‘You cannot waste time, child. Go, you know who to find.’

Regulus feels the floor slip out from under him and for a second feels himself become one with the shadows. They whisper revenge in his ears in a booming hymn and Regulus shivers with the cold burn of the touch.  

But all of a sudden, he finds himself stumbling in front of a door. His head spins as he takes in his new location. He blinks slowly. The closed doors to the infirmary mock him of his dwindling sanity. 

But he refuses to be controlled. He breathes a few times and attempts to regain his bearings. He had panicked after hearing his brother’s voice and somehow, Lady Death had contacted him, telling him to hurry and had confirmed his unfortunate theory. Remus Lupin was his partner in time. 

He flexes his hand and stares at the pale canvas. There’s no more burning and when he looks around, he can’t see any shadows, only the light of the sun slowly filtering to every corner of the castle. A beam of sunlight shines right at him and Regulus closes his eyes just for a second, remembering games with Sirius, walks with Pandora, talks with Evan and studying with Barty and Dorcas. 

The sun warms him and there is nothing more that Regulus would like than to stay here, lost in his memories, no confusing powers, no complicated relationship with his brother, no secrets, no Voldemort. 

But when he opens his eyes, he can only see Harry Potter, a child similar to himself, a child who was fated to die. A child who will have to bear the burden of Voldemort if Regulus fails. 

He’s not sure how he doesn’t feel more fear of his mysterious power, he knows he should but he can’t find it within him to panic. He lets himself sigh before running a hand through his hair and ensures his Occumelency shields are high before opening the infirmary doors. 

There’s only one occupied bed, in the corner with the curtains drawn. As Regulus walks closer, he sees Lupin through a small opening in the curtain. He’s hunched over a book, scribbling away madly and Regulus notes their similarities in using writing as a way to cope. 

He opens the curtains and is faced with a wand in his face held by a crazed looking Lupin. Even still, Regulus does not feel fear. He raises an eyebrow, “Well, I’m not exactly thrilled about working with you either.” 

Lupin falters, a quiet ‘What?’ falling from his lips before his eyes narrow, “You’re who she told me about.” 

Regulus hums before sitting on the bed opposite the scarred boy. “And you are who she told me about. Unfortunate, but you might prove to be useful.” 

Lupin glares at him, “Why are you here?” Regulus raises an eyebrow, “Well, I heard you attacked a rat and it made me curious. For now, you have no reason to attack Pettigrew.” 

Lupin’s glare doesn’t falter and if Regulus hadn’t been raised by Walburga herself, he might’ve been intimidated. “What do you want then? To hurt Sirius? To help Voldemort-” 

Regulus stiffens at the name reflexively, and for a second, Lupin can see the hesitancy and fear in the lines of his posture and it’s enough to confuse him into silence. 

Regulus knows that as unfortunate as it is, he needs help from someone, someone that he won’t feel fear for, someone who doesn’t shake him. But in order to get Lupin to trust him, Regulus needs to give him something, a secret that has never left his mind or mouth. 

He grips the sheets under his hands and swallows before focusing on the chair behind Lupin, “I’d known Sirius was going to run weeks before he did. He wasn't exactly subtle, at least not to me. I knew Mother knew it too, or at the very least was suspicious. So I...I made a deal with her and Father. I would become the next heir, I would do whatever they asked without hesitation but they had to completely leave Sirius alone. They wouldn't talk to him, or try to get him back. If I refused to do their bidding, they would...go after Sirius.” 

Lupin stares at him, confused.

Regulus shifts his gaze to Lupin’s eyes, “I don't care if you believe me or not, Lupin but I am doing this for the people I failed, something I'm sure you can relate to.” 

Remus regards the boy in front of him, eyes shining with pity. For a second, he sees Regulus without his mask and finally sees the brother Sirius loves. “Okay, I believe you.” 

Regulus lets out a barely audible sigh of relief, “So when are you from? And what do you remember?” 

Remus purses his lips, “I-I don't know. One night I was in my bed and then this dark lady is showing me Peter-” He spits out the name like acid “-and then next thing I know I'm out in the forest-” Remus abruptly pauses and glances at him.

Regulus rolls his eyes, “Oh please Lupin, I figured out your furry secret a while ago, I have no interest in that.” It was true. Even without his gifted knowledge, with how much time he spent observing Sirius from afar, it wasn’t that hard to figure out the secret.

Remus looks at him in a way that makes him squirm, as if he’s being approved of. “I-” He scoffs as if he can’t believe what he’s going to say, “You’re-You’re very different than I expected you to be.”

Regulus lets out a hoarse chuckle, “Disappointed?”

“Not at all.”

Quiet envelops the room for a second as the two boys take in the other, similar in some ways, different in others. 

Remus clears his throat, “Um, so when I woke up, the first thing I saw was Peter’s face and I-I guess I lost it.” He lets out a borderline hysterical laugh “Peter fucking Pettigrew, the one who destroyed the Marauders in one single blow.” 

The werewolf’s eyes glaze over as he gazes in the distance, seemingly lost in memories. Regulus shifts in his seat, unsure of whether he should offer comfort or not. Thankfully for both of their sakes, Remus snaps out of his daze. 

“Anyway, I attacked him, and then someone was pulling me back and then I woke up in the infirmary and realized that I was in the past.” 

“This dark lady you mentioned before, you do not know who she was?” Regulus asks after a beat of silence 

“No she was just really fucking cryptic. I-I didn’t really ask her either. I was a bit…preoccupied with what she had shown me.” 

Regulus frowns, “What did she show you?” 

Remus clasps his hands together, “I first saw a memory of Peter getting the dark mark, and then I saw the night that he murdered Marlene and her family. And then I saw S-Sirius’ memory of..that night. After that, I was in a void, where she spoke to me saying to fix my regrets and-” Remus pauses

“And what?”

The boy hesitates, “She said something. Something that sounded like- like a prophecy. It’s been repeating in my head ever since I came back.” Lupin hands him the book he’d been scribbling in. Regulus raises his eyebrows in question. “It stopped when you came.” 

Carefully, Regulus takes the notebook and reads the line that have been written repeatedly on every inch of the page:

‘Return to the past of yours

A new magic to open new doors

A star with the aid of a moon

The end of an immortal is soon

But remain wary on your path

When needed, your knowledge shall fail you 

And turn stars to ash

Before you’re born anew’

Regulus feels the burn in his veins once again and shivers in fear that he’ll fall into a shadow once more but when he looks around, it’s all still bright and sunny. Lupin looks at him, concerned so he quickly shakes off the nerves and quietly returns the notebook. 

“We need to-”

“I’m just-”

They both pause before Remus quietly speaks, “We need to talk about this, but not here.” 

Regulus furrows his eyebrows, “There’s no one here though.” 

Lupin bites his lips, contemplating, “Not yet, but I have a feeling that…Sirius will be back here pretty soon.” 

Regulus stills. 

“Do you want to-”

“No.” Regulus says with a firm tone, hoping to fool Lupin into believing that the mere mention of his brother does not shake him to the core. He knows he isn’t successful but he lets himself believe he is anyway. 

“I’ll-I will be in the library after dinner. Sneak there if you can. There’s a lot to discuss.” 

Regulus almost flings himself off of the bed in his haste and fails to heed Lupin’s warning before he crashes into a broad chest. The smell of broom polish and grass fill his senses before he quickly backs up to see the bespectacled face of James Potter. His attention doesn’t hang on the idiot for long however. 

“Reggie? What are you doing here?”

Regulus almost keels over but sparring with Sirius is so engraved in his bones that it doesn’t take much effort to hide what he truly feels and bring up his wall of defence, “Do not call me that. I was waiting for Madam Pomfrey but since she is not present, I will take my leave. Now move.”  

‘Don’t break yet, just one more minute, just one more minute’ He repeats in his head

Sirius glares, never one to respond kindly to orders, “What? What is your problem Regulus? I- Why are you acting like- like those insufferable blood purists you live with?” 

He scoffs bitterly, “For Merlin’s sake-” He moves his hand just a bit too quickly for Regulus to track and Regulus flinches. It’s then that he knows that he’s made a mistake again. 

Sirius quiets, horror lining his body. Regulus’ eyes water, wide in irrational fear of Sirius finding out about all his secrets with a single look. He squeezes his eyes shut and shoulders his way past his brother, out of the infirmary ignoring Remus calling him back. He hears Sirius before he leaves 

“-why did- He looked at me like- like he looks at Mother.” 

Regulus lets out a strangled sob once the doors finally shut behind him and he falters in his steps, shaking before he urges himself to move and find a quieter place. Before he can though, he hears the insufferable voice of Potter.

“Reg, he-” 

“Don’t call me that.” Regulus snaps, unwilling to face the golden boy in such a weakened state. 

“Regulus. Just let Sirius help you. My parents can protect-”

Regulus can’t help it, he laughs, a bitter and acidic laugh which burns him. If only his problems were just his own. If only he was a person like Sirius, worthy of being saved by James Potter.

He quietly turns his head to Potter to whisper, “Some people can’t be saved, James.” 

He walks away not knowing the change he’s triggered in the timeline. Because even though Regulus didn't realize it at the time, he had just lit a fire within James. A fire to protect the sad-looking boy who had just told him he couldn't be saved. After all, James Potter was never one to back out of a challenge.

“Another apprentice Lady?”

“He intrigued me.” 

“What will you do if he fails?” 

“He won’t fail.”

“And what if succeeds?” 

“I will grant him the same offer I gave you.”