And they were safe, they truly were. They could be sure of that, for, soon after they’d all settled back into their own bedrooms, after they’d had dinner as a family, after that horrible scare with the Boggart-Muggle, Kreacher was ordered to search the house and not leave any corner of any room untouched. And Kreacher searched the house from the basement to the attic, and he found a ghoul, some spiders, and ten Biting Fairies. That was all. He had been sent to search the house because Boggarts were known to come in pairs, and when one was banished, another often took its place. They were quite opportunistic creatures. But the cloakroom was empty and the rest of the house was empty also, and so Kreacher was allowed to stop. They were safe. All in all, this search had taken him two weeks. Two weeks in which he could do little else – though he did continue his cooking, of course. Two weeks in which Regulus and Sirius were left with freedom just as great as that afternoon after they’d gone to Uncle Alphard’s for Easter. This because Mother and Father left every day with the rising of the Sun, only to return when the world was all dark again and they were fast asleep. And every day for these two weeks, Regulus and Sirius broke more rules. Because it had been thrilling. And fun. And they were safe. So they took out their brooms more often to fly through the house. They found their old crayons upstairs in the attic and decorated Sirius’ bedroom further. Then Regulus asked him to decorate his bedroom, too, and they stripped his walls of the red wallpaper that was on them. They took down the magical creatures that had been with him for all his childhood; he was no longer a child. Together they decorated his now bare walls, with drawings of themselves and their parents and all their family. Then they grew bored of drawing, and of flying, and Kreacher was back to minding them instead of searching the house, and Mother and Father still hadn’t returned. There was something funny about this situation, something the boys initially put down to a bout of great luck: they hadn’t been punished. Not for their escapades on broomsticks that Easter, nor for any of their rule-breaking since. And it was quite obvious their parents knew of it, since many of the doors in the house were locked. The drawing room, for example. Locked. The dining room. The parlour. Mother and Father’s bedrooms. The guest rooms. All were locked. They ate their breakfast every morning in the kitchen, and the kitchen no longer had Floo powder sitting atop the mantle-shelf, nor anywhere else insofar they could see. They had searched. Because they had wanted answers. They still wanted answers. Lunch and dinner were served down there as well. And after every meal, Kreacher chased them back upstairs. They could only go to their own bedrooms, the basement – meaning the kitchen – and the attic, with all its disused items. And Father’s study, they could go there as well. In fact, that’s where they were supposed to be. That much was obvious from the little notes that lay on the desks in there, with questions such as “What are the nouns in this sentence?” and similar. Mother and Father leaving them to do their exercises alone wouldn’t have mattered too much if he was still on “A for Apparition” stuff, but this? It was all very hard, and very new. Regulus could barely do it with help, and there was no way Sirius was going to play for teacher. And so they wreaked more havoc. Truthfully, Regulus didn’t agree with all of it, but there was little he could do about that. He could tattle and tell Mother and Father, yes. He’d considered it several times, but for some reason he never did. Of course, this had a lot to do with the fact that they weren’t home, so there really wasn’t even an opportunity for him to tell on his brother, but another part of him simply thought it deeply unfair that Mother and Father left and wouldn’t say why. Because what could possibly be so important for Mother and Father to essentially abandon them? Perhaps acting out would make them tell. But they were grownups, and sadly, he was not, and so they had the privilege of not having to give answers, and he had the privilege of following their orders. And as the weeks progressed and his educational work lay abandoned for longer and longer, Regulus grew more and more tired of going along with Sirius’ games (because Sirius often decided what it was they were going to do, and he always came up with silly excuses for why he should be the one to come up with it, ranging from him being the eldest to him wearing a certain colour). It was on one morning, around a month after the Easter visit to Uncle Alphard, that Regulus had really had enough of it. He’d gone straight to Father’s study after waking up, hoping to make some sense of the exercises, when Sirius had come barging into the room, dragging him from his seat, forcing him to play another one of his silly games. And so he found himself running through the halls in an attempt to escape his brother for the fiftieth time that week. He ran up the stairs and into his own bedroom, and he barricaded the door with all he could find (which wasn’t much: his chair, a nightstand, and his broomsticks... the desk was unfortunately too heavy to move). He sat down on his bed. He hadn’t noticed the pain in his chest until now, nor the sweat on his forehead. He was panting. It just wasn’t fair, being chased by someone almost two years older. He was faster. Taller. But at least Sirius had to leave him alone now. This had to work. When, after a few moments of rest, Sirius hadn’t yet appeared at the door, he let himself fall back on his bed. Another day would be wasted this way. Another day and he was no closer to figuring out what his parents were up to, nor to knowing what nouns were and how to find them. He took a moment to consider his life last year, but it was difficult to picture anything. What he knew, though, was that it had been very different to what it was now. Last year Mother and Father had been home every day, and he had been playing freely, unbothered about nouns. He really hated nouns. And he really hated his parents’ absence. But there was just something about it that had him think it all was rather serious. Of course there had been Bellatrix’s words that it wasn’t meant for children’s ears, but also the way they’d looked at each other at Easter. It didn’t sit right with him. Something was happening. Something big. What he didn’t understand was what this big thing was, or why everyone seemed to have lost their minds about it. There was a rattle at the door. Sirius, too, had lost his mind. Their getting away with breaking the rules every day just seemed to encourage him to go further. To play more dumb games instead of focus on their exercises. The door rattled again, and the knob turned, and Regulus jumped up from the bed, looking for a place to hide. But his room had no places to hide. Why couldn’t Sirius just go for another sleepover at Uncle Alphard’s as he had used to do when they were very little? Then he’d be done with him, and he could finally work on what he was expected to work on. (Because, a little nagging voice in the back of his mind told him, the grownups don’t want either of you anywhere near them.) He groaned. All this made his head hurt. The door rattled again, more forcefully this time. ‘Please don't open it,’ he whispered, ‘I’m not in here, please... please...’ But it was no use. The chair and nightstand slowly moved as the door opened, and Sirius stepped into the room. He yelped and once more looked for somewhere to hide, but he was too slow; Sirius cleared the way so that he could reach him, and all he could do was dart across the room. Sirius came closer and closer, and he’d shut the door behind him – the only door to the room, his only escape. He’d never be able to reach it. Sirius sprang at him, arms outstretched to grab him; Regulus cowered by the nightstand and the chair, which lay toppled over by the door. ‘KREACHER!!’ There was a loud crack, and the house-elf appeared, standing between Regulus and Sirius. Sirius tried to go around him but Regulus was faster, yelling at Kreacher to take him away. The house-elf grabbed hold of him and disappeared, leaving Sirius stranded. They landed in the kitchen. ‘Thank you,’ he breathed, taking a few steps back from the elf. That was a close one. Too close. Sirius always wanted to play this stupid game, which always ended in him catching Regulus and tickling him almost to death. It was horrible. He sat down at the kitchen table. He was relatively safe here. Sirius didn’t like coming down here. Not unless Kreacher was upstairs, at least. If Kreacher went upstairs, this room, too, was all lost. Then it quickly became Sirius’ favourite place to be. And Kreacher did just that, he Disapparated only moments after they’d landed. But Sirius didn’t come. Perhaps he didn’t know Kreacher was gone. Regulus didn’t mind, as long as he stayed away. He sat at the kitchen table by himself for what felt hours, the only sound being the soft ticking of the mantle-clock, tracing the patterns of the wooden surface with his fingertips, wondering what he was supposed to do now. Sirius would surely want to play another game soon. And he still wanted to figure out those exercises. Because maybe if he managed those, Mother and Father would tell him where they’d been. Maybe … Maybe that was the kind of maturity they were looking for. He folded his arms on the table and rested his head against them, sighing. The longer he thought about it, the more it felt as though Sirius and he were just … waiting. Waiting for their parents to come home. Waiting for things to go back to how they were before. But how long were they supposed to wait? His stomach rumbled. He hadn’t had breakfast and lunch wouldn’t be for hours. But now he’d noticed the emptiness in his stomach, he couldn’t ignore it any more. Should he call Kreacher again? But the elf still wasn’t really all that happy to be around him. Not after that conversation they’d had a few months ago. And although Kreacher probably also wouldn’t like it if he went poking around in the pantry … Well, what other options did he have? He got up and went for the pantry. It was rather dark but he knew his way around well enough. He had to climb up to reach the top shelves. That’s where Kreacher kept the good stuff. By some miracle none of the jars he clinked aside fell and broke, and he reached the tin with biscuits. He let them tumble down onto the hard floor, and then he climbed back down after them. He sat back at the table, nibbling at the first (broken) biscuit. It was sweet yet dry, sticking to the roof of his mouth. He wished there was milk, but Kreacher would definitely notice if he poured himself a glass, and he wasn’t sure if he could even get some down from the shelf. The glass would surely break and the milk would spill all over. He picked at the edge of the second biscuit, breaking off tiny crumbs and rolling them between his fingers. He was completely lost in eating his biscuits and filling his stomach, so lost that he wasn’t sure when he first heard the footsteps on the stairs, but as soon as he did, he knew it was Sirius. He stuffed the last of the biscuit into his mouth and swallowed quickly, brushing the crumbs off his lap. He put the tin onto his lap, hoping to cover it with his hands and that the table would take care of the rest. He had no time to hide it more fully; the door creaked open. Regulus didn’t dare look in his direction and stared straight at the table. He heard Sirius step closer, then the scrape of a chair against the floor. He sat down opposite him. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Sirius started drumming his fingers against the wood. Then he asked, ‘Why’d you call Kreacher?’ Regulus didn’t answer. ‘I wasn’t even gonna do anything.’ Regulus looked up then. ‘You were chasing me.’ Sirius shrugged. ‘Yeah, but it’s not like I was gonna hurt you or anything.’ ‘It wasn’t fun.’ ‘You’re no fun.’ Regulus bit his lip. He wished Sirius would just leave him alone for once. ‘You’ve been acting weird.’ ‘No, I haven’t.’ ‘Yes, you have,’ Sirius shot back. ‘You’re always running away. You barely want to do anything anymore. You just sit around—’ ‘I’m trying to do my exercises,’ Regulus interrupted. ‘I’m supposed to be learning things, Sirius, not running around playing games all day.’ Sirius rolled his eyes. ‘Mother and Father aren’t even here. Who cares about exercises?’ ‘I care!’ Regulus snapped. He hadn’t meant to yell, but it came out anyway. He was just so fed up with Sirius and his childish behaviours. Sirius looked at him with an expression Regulus couldn’t quite place. ‘I care,’ he repeated, softer this time. ‘I want to know things.’ ‘Do you really think they’ll come back and check?’ Regulus opened his mouth, then shut it. Because no, he wasn’t sure they would. They hadn’t been spoken to at all. It was as if their parents had completely forgotten about them. For all he knew, Kreacher was the one setting those exercises. Sirius leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. ‘You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, you know.’ ‘That’s not how it works.’ Sirius sighed, then reached for the tin of biscuits on his lap. Regulus pulled away. ‘Can I have one?’ Sirius asked, pouting. Regulus sighed and handed him two halves of a biscuit. Sirius raised an eyebrow. ‘Why is it broken?’ ‘It was on the top shelf,’ he said, by way of explanation. ‘You climbed up and threw it down?’ He nodded, cheeks glowing with heat as he admitted to his little athletic stunt. Sirius just laughed. He never tried to force him to play a game again after that. He didn’t go as far as to help him with his exercises, and he definitely didn’t do his own, but at least he finally left Regulus alone. And before he knew it, Summer had arrived, and the birds sung outside of his window early in the morning, waking him up at three or four o’clock, and the sky stayed bright until long past his bedtime. The house was hot, heated by the Sun, and nothing he did could cool him down. And still Mother and Father wouldn’t talk. And still they were barely at home. And still they were left to their own devices – and to Kreacher, of course. Until, one hot morning in early July, they were awoken by Mother, and she told them to ready themselves to leave the house and visit their grandparents, where they would be staying for the rest of the month. ‘The month!?’ Regulus exclaimed in shock. A month was a long time. A very long time. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to spend the month with his grandparents. ‘That is what I said, yes,’ said Mother sternly. ‘Your cousins will be there also.’ ‘All of them?’ She smiled. ‘yes, Regulus. Your beloved Narcissa will be there.’ And that changed things. Because if Narcissa was there, maybe they could go back to her house sometime, and take Sirius, and see the burial chamber. Just the three of them. It’d be great, and Sirius would feel so stupid seeing it had been real all along. So he readied himself, taking his robes from his wardrobe and stuffing them into the bag Mother had brought him, dressing himself and going downstairs for breakfast. Sirius was already there, looking grumpy and arguing with Father, who had the newspaper spread out in front of him and didn’t argue back much beyond the occasional grunt. Still, it was a longer conversation than he’d seen them have since the Boggart incident, just as the conversation he had just had with Mother was the longest he’d had with either of his parents since that fateful day. After breakfast they were Apparated to the cottage, which stood along the coastline somewhere. The water was visible from the sitting room windows, that’s how close they were to the shore. The cottage and the surrounding land was under magical protection from Muggles, so they could do whatever they wanted out here. Mother and Father left after they’d been shown where they’d be sleeping. They’d stayed here before but never with the five of them together. That was why they’d have to sleep in the sitting room on the sofas: the spare bedroom was reserved for the girls, because they were older and therefore deserved more. As always. The only good thing about it was that, one day, he’d be older as well. Then he’d get the good stuff. For now, he had to make do with a sofa. That day they spent on their own, unpacking their things and exploring the land outside the cottage until Grandmother Irma called them in for dinner. And after dinner, they went out again, splashing away in the water until the Sun went down and the world became too dark to see in. They lay on the sofas that night, and Regulus found he didn’t mind it too much. It wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t terrible either. The real problem turned out to be Sirius. He wouldn’t stop sighing and shifting and making all sorts of exaggerated complaints about how unfair it was that they had to sleep on the sofas, and how they had been much better off at home, which he was only saying because he could get away with anything at home, with Mother and Father gone, and that would be impossible here with their grandparents, of course. ‘You’re being a baby,’ Regulus muttered, turning on his side to face the back of the sofa. ‘Am not,’ Sirius protested, but he didn’t comment on the sofas again, and Regulus fell asleep listening to the faint sloshing of the waters outside. Back and forth, back and forth, it was almost music... He woke to the sound of voices. Girls’ voices. He sat up groggily and tried to place where he was and to whom the voices belonged. The room was dim with only faint light filtering in through the curtains, but it didn’t take too long for last night to come back to him, and for him to recognise where he was. There was a laugh from another room. He knew that laugh. It was Bellatrix’s. He climbed off the sofa and padded towards the voices, Sirius still sleeping behind him. He found them in the dining hall, gathered around the long wooden table. Andromeda stood pouring everyone some tea, Narcissa sat with her hands folded in her lap, and Bellatrix lounged with her legs kicked up on an extra chair, twirling her wand between her fingers. She grinned when she saw him. ‘Well, well. Look who finally decided to wake up.’ Regulus ignored her and slipped into the seat beside Narcissa, trying not to seem too thrilled at the sight of her. ‘How long have you been here?’ ‘Not long,’ said Narcissa. ‘We arrived just after dawn. You were still asleep.’ Bellatrix snorted. ‘Snoring like a little piglet.’ Regulus flushed. He didn’t snore ... Probably. He quickly changed the topic. ‘Are we doing anything today?’ ‘We’re going to Diagon Alley after breakfast. We all need new robes, you and Sirius especially.’ ‘Why us especially?’ She smiled. ‘Have you seen the state of your wardrobe?’ He flushed again. True, he was quite a bit taller than he’d been when he’d just turned seven, and most of his wardrobe was still filled with his childhood robes, but … No, there was no but. He was old enough to go shopping. Bellatrix groaned. Andromeda rolled her eyes. ‘You don’t have to come.’ ‘Yes, she does, actually,’ said Narcissa with a smirk. ‘Grandmother insists.’ Bellatrix made a face and opened her mouth to argue, and Regulus hurried off as fast as he could before she could start. He was back in the sitting room. Sirius lay sprawled on the sofa, his limbs dangling off the edge. He was drooling slightly. Regulus hesitated, then nudged his shoulder. ‘Wake up,’ he whispered, against the backdrop of arguments coming from the dining hall. Judging by the sound of it, Grandfather Pollux and Grandmother Irma had arrived. ‘Wake up,’ he tried again, shaking him once more. Sirius grumbled and swatted at him. ‘Go ‘way.’ ‘We’re going to Diagon Alley,’ he said, knowing Sirius loved to go – or so he’d said. Uncle Alphard had taken him when he was younger and still did sleepovers there. He’d even taken Regulus once, but he hadn’t liked it too much. Except for the Butterbeer, he liked that. And the ice-cream. Oh, he hoped they’d stop for ice-cream... Sirius cracked one eye open. ‘Why?’ ‘We need robes.’ Sirius sighed and closed his eyes again. ‘Maybe we can get ice-cream as well, if we behave,’ Regulus said hopefully. Sirius sat up at that, rubbing his face. ‘Fine, but I’m not trying on anything ridiculous.’ That wasn’t Regulus’ intention either. After a quick breakfast, the five of them gathered by the fireplace, waiting for Grandmother Irma and Grandfather Pollux. They arrived a few minutes later. ‘Ready, then?’ Grandmother asked, eyeing them all one by one, then sighed deeply. ‘Honestly, look at you all. Your parents let you outgrow everything. No standards any more.’ Bellatrix nudged Andromeda, and he caught her whisper: ‘If only we won the Draw...’ He frowned but decided not to mind it. Grandfather went around the girls, handing them all a handful of Floo powder. First Narcissa, then Andromeda, and lastly, Bellatrix. ‘You’re up first. And don’t make a scene,’ he warned. ‘I never make scenes,’ Bellatrix said with a smirk, tossing the powder into the flames and stepping through before either Grandfather or Grandmother could correct her. Andromeda went next. She stepped into the green fire, called out “Diagon Alley!” and disappeared. Narcissa followed. Then Grandmother left, and she took Sirius with her, and lastly he was to go with Grandfather. He took a deep breath as he stepped with him into the fire. He closed his eyes and held onto his grandfather’s robes. He barely had time to prepare before the spinning started, and then, just as suddenly, it stopped. He stumbled out into The Leaky Cauldron, where Bellatrix and Andromeda were already bickering about what they’d buy from their father’s money. Narcissa stood by the window, staring out into the Muggle streets beyond, and Sirius was held tightly in one place by Grandmother. Grandmother had her wand out and swiftly cleaned the soot off all of them, then took them to the back of the pub and through the wall that kept the Leaky Cauldron separated from the bustling street it lay attached to – and bustling it was, even though Hogwarts letters had not yet been sent out. More people must have had the idea to do their shopping early, or perhaps the hot weather had drawn everyone out of their homes. They went straight to Madam Malkin’s Robes For All Occasions. Madam Malkin, a witch in the most flamboyant robes he’d ever seen, greeted them stiffly as they entered. ‘We’re here to get new robes for the grandchildren,’ Grandfather explained, gesturing to them. ‘I see.’ She nodded at them, then clapped her hands. ‘Well then, up on the stools, let’s have a look.’ The process was slow. Regulus stood still whilst pins and measuring tape circled around him, checking how much he’d grown and what his new length would be. Sirius stood on the stool beside him and kept fidgeting, much to Madam Malkin’s annoyance. The girls were browsing in the back, along with Grandmother and Grandfather. He could hear them even where he stood. ‘You’ll need something finer than that,’ Grandmother said. ‘All the time you’ve been spending at the Malfoys, not even in proper robes...’ ‘And she’ll need something for special occasions, of course,’ Grandfather added. ‘Best go to Twilfitt and Tattings for that.’ ‘But—’ ‘No. No arguments. You don’t want to stand out, do you? Don’t want dear Lucius to forget about you or think less of you because of the way you dress? You need to look the part if you want to enter those kinds of circles.’ ‘Fine,’ she resigned. The rest of the conversation was nothing interesting, just comparing colours for Andromeda. Bellatrix was already done, draping her new black robes over her arm as she wandered about, looking bored. She came to a halt by Sirius. ‘Stand still, dear,’ Madam Malkin just told him as he kept fidgeting. Sirius groaned. ‘This is going to take forever.’ Bellatrix smirked. ‘It will if you don’t stand still.’ Sirius stuck out his tongue. Madam Malkin paid them no mind and turned over to Regulus, summoning rolls of fabric. She held them up next to him, and they were shades of deep blue, bright green, and canary yellow. He chose the blue, but only because he wasn’t sure which to choose, because he couldn’t really tell how the robes would look done from a piece of fabric, and he supposed blue was a safe enough colour. Sirius picked the yellow. After what felt an eternity, their robes were fitted and paid for, and, where possible, packaged. Regulus and Sirius’ robes would be done in a few days and sent out by owl. And back they were on the bustling street. Regulus immediately grabbed Narcissa’s hand. ‘May we go to the bookshop?’ he asked, looking to Grandmother and Grandfather. Sirius groaned. ‘Boooring,’ he drawled before either of them could answer. ‘Then you go somewhere else,’ said Narcissa. ‘Oh! May I go to Gambol and Japes?’ Grandfather raised an eyebrow. ‘Absolutely not. We still need to pay a visit to Twilfitt and Tattings, anyway.’ ‘Just for Narcissa,’ Sirius argued. ‘Please, may we go elsewhere on our own?’ ‘We’ll be on our best behaviour,’ Andromeda added. Grandmother Irma and Grandfather Pollux shared a look, then agreed. ‘But no Gambol and Japes.’ Sirius did not need telling twice. He darted off toward Quality Quidditch Supplies, Andromeda following at a more leisurely pace. That left him and Bellatrix. ‘Where will you be going?’ asked Grandfather Pollux. The bookshop?’ he asked hopefully. ‘Flourish and Blotts is all right,’ Grandmother said. ‘But stick with Bellatrix. Bellatrix...’ ‘I’ll keep an eye on him. You needn’t worry; he’s in good hands.’ Regulus wasn’t entirely sure about that, but still he nodded in agreement with her. If it meant he could go to the bookshop, he would take his chances with Bellatrix. As long as she was happy there was nothing to fear. And so Grandfather and Grandmother set off with Narcissa, and Regulus and Bellatrix went down the street to Flourish and Blotts. ‘Make it quick,’ Bellatrix said when they entered the bookshop. ‘I have no interest in standing about whilst you compare dictionaries.’ Regulus frowned. ‘I don’t read dictionaries.’ ‘Picture books, then. All the same.’ ‘I don’t read picture books either,’ he said defiantly, but Bellatrix paid him no mind. She wandered towards a display near the front, flipping through a book on hexes. He stared around the shop. It was huge and the walls were lined with shelves that reached the ceiling. Bookcases stood everywhere, filled with books of all kinds. His fingers skimmed the spines of the books he passed as he walked to the back of the shop. He paused in front of a book bound in deep green leather. The Most Ancient Houses of Britain: A Genealogical History. It was enormous, and when he pulled it from the shelf, the weight of it nearly made him drop it. He stumbled backwards with it yet managed to carry it to a nearby table. He struggled to open it, but when he did, he saw the most beautiful, most elegant script he had ever seen. The ink was gold and the names that were written in it sprawled across the pages. They were family trees, he noted. Pages filled with nothing but who married whom and their children and their children’s children... ‘Find anything interesting?’ Bellatrix’s voice cut through his focus. ‘I think so,’ he murmured, scanning the page for his own name – he had found a family tree named Black. ‘Huh. Haven’t seen this version before. What’s that mark?’ Bellatrix said, peering over his shoulder and pointing at a small symbol which stood beside many of the names on the tree. ‘I don’t know.’ ‘Let’s find out, then.’ She flipped to the front of the book, looking for an index. Regulus wasn’t sure if she was genuinely interested or just humouring him, but he didn’t mind. For now, at least, she wasn’t rushing him out the door, and that was already worth a lot. Bellatrix found the index, ran her finger down the page, searching for the symbol, then smirked. ‘What? What is it?’ he asked, trying to see for himself, but she had turned the book so that he couldn’t easily decipher what it said. ‘It marks those who are rumoured to have dabbled in the Dark Arts.’ She tilted her head, studying him. ‘Only “rumoured”, though. There’s nothing in here about if they actually did dabble in the Dark Arts.’ She had flipped back to their family, and Regulus gaped at the marked names with renewed curiosity. ‘There are loads of them.’ ‘Well, of course there are,’ said Bellatrix, shutting the book with a decisive thud. ‘Come on, let’s go somewhere more interesting.’ Regulus frowned. ‘But I wanted to look at—’ ‘You can read about this stuff anytime,’ she interrupted. ‘But wouldn’t you rather see it for yourself? Now’s your chance.’ He hesitated. ‘See what?’ ‘I could take you to Knockturn Alley.’ He looked around. ‘But we aren’t allowed—’ ‘Oh, come on, Regulus, there’s no-one here to stop you from coming with me. Live a little,’ she said, and though her voice was kind it sounded somewhat threatening… or was he imagining things? She was right in that no-one here would stop them from leaving together and going wherever they wanted. No-one here even knew who they were... And if they did, they wouldn’t dare stop them for other reasons. They were Blacks, after all. They practically ruled the world. Bellatrix smiled warmly down at him and offered him her arm, and a feeling of unease grew in his stomach. Were they really doing this? The unease was somewhat similar to excitement, but there was also fear, and a mixture of other things, and he couldn’t quite place those. He looked uncertainly at her yet took her arm – so as to not cause a scene, or have her cause a scene – and she led him out of the shop. The wall of warmth from outside hit him hard and it did nothing to calm his nerves, which rose higher and higher the further they walked. They passed cafés and shops and took a sudden sharp turn just after TerrorTours Travel Agency. Next to the travel agency was a dark, greasy backstreet with a dirty wooden sign that read: Knockturn Alley. His heart shot up and he tried to back away – it definitely was more fear than excitement that was twisting in his stomach – but Bellatrix only smirked. She let go of him and spread her arms wide, walking a few steps towards the Alley before turning on her heel and proclaiming loudly, ‘Welcome to Knockturn Alley! The beating heart of the true wizarding world, where the unshackled minds of the greatest of our kind come to learn the magic that matters – away from the prying eyes of meddling fools!’ She was so theatrical about it he couldn’t help but smile. Bellatrix grinned widely and marched back to him, taking him by the arm again. ‘Come on. Stay close to me, all right? Then this’ll be the best day of your life.’ And they passed the sign, and entered Knockturn Alley together, and as they did so, Bellatrix rambled on about the place. ‘Every self-respecting pure-blood witch and wizard in history has walked these streets. Diagon Alley is for the soft-hearted, the weak-willed, the ones who believe in Ministry propaganda. But here? Oh no, you’ll find no Ministry lapdogs here, and Mudbloods rightly avoid the place. This’ — she gestured at the crooked shops that stood on either side of the street — ‘is ours. Sure, it’s not for the faint-hearted, but you’re not faint-hearted, are you?’ He opened his mouth to answer (though he wasn’t sure what to say – he wasn’t faint-hearted, he wasn’t, but something about this place made the hairs on the back of his neck stand upright) but she cut him off, letting go of his arm and twirling away again. ‘Regulus Arcturus Black, you stand where generations of wizards have stood. You stand where they bartered for knowledge, fought for their rights, and tested their strength. Here they carved their names into stone. Here they made history. And now—here we are. You and I, we stand on the same cobblestones, we breathe in the same air...’ She took a deep breath, throwing her head back and relishing in the moment. Regulus, too, took a breath, but he couldn’t figure out anything great about it. The smell here was disgusting and it made him sick. He still felt the oppressive heat from the Sun above, but the world seemed to have grown a little colder all the same. ‘Tell me you can feel it. Tell me you understand,’ Bellatrix whispered fervently, now at his side again. Regulus just stared. He didn’t know what to say. Bellatrix just laughed. Regulus wasn’t sure if she did it despite his growing fear, or because of it, but she patted his shoulder and exclaimed loudly, ‘Ah, I forget myself! There’s so much to show you, so much to teach you. Come along, little cousin. I’ll take you on the grand tour this place deserves.’ She plucked his hand from where it had curled into a fist, and held it tightly in her own. Instinctively, he moved closer to her. ‘You’re a little scared, aren’t you?’ she said, wrapping him under her arm. ‘That’s all right. It’s only natural. But don’t worry, little cousin. I’ll keep you safe.’ ‘You will?’ he asked, straining his neck to look at her ‘Of course,’ she said, giving him a little squeeze. ‘Now, look to your left. You might recognise it, it’s Potage’s Cauldron Shop – you’ll find cauldrons the Ministry hasn’t approved there, nothing too interesting – and that there is Mulpepper’s.’ ‘What, the potions shop?’ he asked, interest growing at the familiar names. ‘The backdoor to the potions shop,’ Bellatrix corrected. ‘They sell things that aren’t exactly illegal, but they definitely aren’t legal either. Bit of a grey area. Want to see?’ Regulus hesitated, but Bellatrix was already pushing open the narrow, iron-bound door. A sharp, bitter smell hit him immediately and he had to push down the bile that came up in response to it. His throat burnt as he looked around the dark shop – if it could be called that much. It was tiny. Bundles of dried plants that gave off the overwhelming mix of scents hung from the ceiling and there was barely place to walk between the many shelves crammed full of vials and jars. Some of the jars had things floating in them. He inched closer to see what it was they held – then recoiled. The floating things were pulsating organs that looked suspiciously human. He pressed himself flat against the door and looked at Bellatrix, hoping she’d leave, that she’d take him back outside – the shop was somehow worse than Knockturn Alley itself. But Bellatrix leisurely ran a finger along a shelf, inspecting a row of dark bottles. ‘Your mother wouldn’t let you near half of these,’ she mused. ‘Too dangerous, she’d say.’ ‘Maybe we shouldn’t be near them, then,’ Regulus muttered, ‘if Mother thinks they’re dangerous...’ She ignored him and picked up a jar filled with something thick and black, turning it in the dim light. ‘What do you think this does?’ ‘I don’t know. Just ... Please, can we go?’ Bellatrix rolled her eyes but sighed. ‘Fine. I’ll just have to come back some other time. Without you.’ He did not mind that. Her going back without him felt much preferable to her being there with him. But it didn’t seem to have deterred her that he had wanted to leave. Now they were back outside, she was back to pointing out different shops, and she still spoke with much glee as she explained what all they could buy in them. ‘See that tiny shop with the red curtain? Atop those stairs? That’s Merrythought’s,’ she said. ‘You won’t see it on their sign – I don’t think they even have one – but everyone knows what they sell: love potions.’ ‘Love potions?’ ‘Not the ones they sell down in Diagon Alley. These are stronger.’ She leaned in and whispered, ‘Some say old Merrythought even stocks a type of Amortentia that never wears off.’ Regulus frowned. ‘That’s awful, isn’t it? What if you use it on the wrong person?’ ‘Just don’t use it on the wrong person,’ Bellatrix said with a shrug. ‘But it’s all right, we won’t go up there, then. Let’s go this way,’ she said, and she pulled him along a curve that led to a half-circle area lined with shops. They walked along the half-circle, passing first a shop named Cobb & Webb’s, and then one named Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, and then – and Bellatrix seemed especially delighted about this one – Borgin and Burkes, a shop that had a large display in front of the window of all sorts of artefacts he didn’t recognise. But, to his disappointment, they did not go inside. Instead she just passed on to the shop next to it, saying, ‘I bet Sirius would love to spend some time in there – I should take him sometime.’ ‘Why? What’s in there?’ he asked, because the sign just read McHavelock’s Wizarding Headgear, and he strongly doubted Bellatrix would want to take Sirius shopping for a new hat. Bellatrix laughed. ‘It’s a joke-shop. They sell fake hats of all kinds. Come on, best not to linger,’ she said, pulling him along again, past a display of shrunken heads that stood by the next shop. They had leathery faces twisted into sneers and their eyes seemed to follow them with every step. He craned his neck to get a better look at them and Bellatrix must’ve noticed this because she came to a halt in front of them. ‘Beautiful, aren’t they?’ she asked him, picking one up with her free hand, turning it over and studying it with great interest. ‘Excellent quality, too... I wonder who they were.’ ‘Who they were?’ Regulus echoed. Bellatrix smirked. ‘Well, they were people once, weren’t they? And this one must’ve been a very pretty one.’ Regulus felt the colour drain from his face, and he averted his gaze at once. The shrunken heads with their sneering faces and creepy eyes suddenly made him feel very ill. ‘What’s down there, then?’ he asked, trying to steer Bellatrix – who was still holding one of the heads in her hand – away from the monstrosity in front of them by pointing to a narrow alley that seemed to lead away from the shops altogether. ‘Ah, that leads to the black market.’ Regulus stiffened. ‘I thought this was the black market.’ She laughed and set down the shrunken head. ‘Not quite,’ she said. ‘You won’t find what’s down there in any shop.’ Regulus peered down the alleyway. It twisted out of sight, and the air around him seemed to freeze by him just looking in the general direction of that place. His heart was pounding now. He could hardly help it. Part of him wanted to turn around and run – just run. But another part... He swallowed. ‘We aren’t going down there, are we?’ Bellatrix turned to him, eyes gleaming. ‘Scared?’ Regulus opened his mouth to answer, to say he wasn’t, he could handle it, he was old enough— —and a hand grabbed his shoulder. He let out a high-pitched scream at once, jumped into Bellatrix, and caused her to laugh loudly. Because, looking at the person the hand had belonged to, he saw it wasn’t some dark figure come to drag him away. It was Andromeda. Date: 6 April 1969–20 April 1969 in passing. Event: Kreacher searches the house, Sirius and rab roam around and play. Date: 20 April–around 6 May, in passing. Event: more playing, doors locked, Regulus grows tired, exercises are laid out. Date: around 6 May. Event: Regulus runs from Sirius, steaks biscuits, they talk. Date: 6 May–early July. Event: things improve. Regulus does his exercises. Date: early July. Event: they go to Grandmother Irma and Grandfather Pollux, settle in, explore. Date: day after. Event: they go to Diagon Alley for robes. Regulus gets dragged into Knockturn Alley by Bellatrix. Andromeda finds them there. Characters: Black Family: Walburga Sopdet Black Orion Sirius Black Sirius Pollux Black Regulus Arcturus Black Andromeda Black Bellatrix Black Irma Crabbe Pollux Rigel Black Cygnus Nigellus Black mentioned. Other: Madam Malkin. Unnamed background characters.