Chapter Text
It almost was as if Regulus' fate was simply meant to be tragic. His brother had abandoned him at his home, left to go be with his happy new family, his mother and Father were angry and even more pissed that they were stuck with the spare as an heir-which of course meant that Regulus would never leave or escape their long nailed clutches-and now he was stuck glaring down his brother who had the gold chain around twirled around his fingers, Regulus' own neck sticking dangerously over the bubbling cauldron. Dark grey met molten grey and Regulus could not help but want to scream. Gripping the chain that was tugging against his neck tightly, he yanked it away from his brother, watching as if in slow motion as the turner slammed against the side of the cauldron and the dust was absorbed into the liquid before the weight of Regulus' chain, tied about his neck, caused the entire potion to spill over his robes, soaking him to the bone in a half finished Time Turner dusted potion. He gave a hurt look to his brother, upset and angry.
Regulus groaned, dropping into his seat once more and putting his head in his hand. Of course...just what he needed...his Time Turner to be out of commission. It was not exactly a legally acquired one. Regulus was not stupid. The Dark Lord knew full well that it was not legal, and Regulus did not even want to know where he had gotten it from, likely some dubious means it was better for him not to know about. There was not really any way out of this. He will be so angry as well. I was to keep it a secret. Well, not so secret now, Mr. Dark Lord, I apologize. My stupid, idiot brother got his friends to figure it out and now the dust is stuck in a potion in the hogwarts dungeons. It would not end well, not unless Regulus managed to scrounge up another turner. Of course, that was not something one just managed to do. They were rare, and getting his fingers on one would not be easy, but it would be necessary. I cannot be having the Dark Lord angry with me...not after what happened with Lestrange. He was almost certain the reason his cousin was so crazy was because the Dark Lord had tortured her too much. While yes, the Blacks have insanity running through their black blood, there was something unhindged about her that he had not witnessed before.
Seconds later felt his his legs fall from under him, the chair seemingly vanishing leaving him falling. He felt his lungs squeezed and then his chest abruptly opened, leaving him face first on the wet ground. He groaned, a headache promptly making itself known to him. He fisted grass under his fingers and coughed hazardly. The rain of wherever he was pelting down on him, and he was soaked to the bone in his robes now from rain as well, as if his half potion was not enough. He shivered, body trembling uncontrollably. Stupid brothers and their stupid idiocy. Honestly, Regulus had to wonder where Sirius got his impressionism from. Perhaps it was a family trait. Regulus knew he was impressionable enough. Sirius had only really started causing problems after he met Potter, which was obviously where this was coming from, Regulus was not stupid. The boy was brash, hoity, and arrogant. It was only made worse when Sirius had the feeling of being the good guy whilst mercilessly bullying half the school. Regulus himself never came under fire, no, but that was mostly because Sirius knew Regulus could give better than he got, and because unlike Sirius, Regulus had a good reputation with the teachers and the rest of the school. Nobody would believe Regulus had stopped to such low mettle. SIrius? Well they would not give it a seconds thought.
Sirius routinely hexed people because he was annoyed, or bored, or restless. For all his desperate attempts to shun their mother away, it would seem as though he failed miserably. After all, their mother was one who regularly hexed those who annoyed her, or because she had nothing better to do. Sirius...for all his hubris...acted so much like Walburga it was almost as though looking into a gender bent younger version of her. Not that Regulus was above such accusations, of course. He acted very much like their father. Though, Regulus supposed it made sense. Neither of their parents really doted on Regulus, but Orion was in charge of Regulus' punishments, whereas Walburga was put in charge of Sirius. Personally, Regulus had always thought that a bit odd considering Orion was the head of house, but he never dared to defy Orion so publiclly, or question his motives. Perhaps he simply thought that Walburga was better suited. Clearly, that was not the case, but they cared so much for Sirius it made Regulus sick.
Sirius always shunned their parents after he started hogwarts. It hurt him, to see him get all the good attention (and some bad) and yet have him callously disregard it for nothing. There was nothing he could do about it, of course, so he supposed it really did not matter. Sirius was always going to be the favorite, even when he got blasted off the tree and Regulus was reluctantly named the heir, it was always that he was not as good as Sirius was. Regulus had stopped caring a long time ago. His father did not raise him to be Sirius, and so he was not, and he certainly was not going to act like Sirius. At least Regulus was not sly in his hypocrisy. Nor did he lie to himself. Regulus may be a sharp tongued bully, but at the very least he gave his opponants a fair chance-not four against one-and did not ambush them when they were alone and by themselves. Regulus gave what was deserved. Who agreed on that...well Regulus did not particularly care.
But at least he did not bully people based off whether they seem lousy, sleezy, what magic they were into, or their blood status. Mulciber often commented on these things, and while Regulus did believe that purebloods were superior to most half bloods and definitely to muggleborns he was not stupid enough to fully showcase this. Furthermore, there was limited research done on the subject, but what research there was seemed to mimic the general idea, muggleborns were average most often, while purebloods were above average most often, and half bloods it depended. Some, such as the Dark Lord, were incredibly powerful, and some...well they simply put...were not.
He curled himself close to a nearby tree. He was somewhat stunned that Sirius had actually put hands on him. While it was nothing new, and Regulus was used to hands being placed on him, both by his parents, and by his brother, it was surprising for him to do it in class, with his friends around. Before, it could be considered just teasing, or light manhanlding, but it was not the case anymoree. Not that he felt that Sirius' friends would care. After all, why would a group of bullies care if one bully was cruel to their family? It just did not compute. While Regulus was also what one could consider a bully, he did not actively seek out that pleasure. No, that was Sirius and his friends' thing. Regulus would much rather hang out with his two friends, and leave the rest of the world alone...and have the rest of the world leave him alone. Alas, he was not always this lucky...or rather...he was never this lucky.
The light finally began to peak through the trees, and Regulus was shown the edge of the sun rising. He huffed. He was uncertain where he was in time, and he did not know exactly what he would do about that. He could have catastrophic effects on the future, or he could not be in his past at all, perhaps he got jumped timelines. It was confirmed that they existed...the alternate timelines...once the time turners study was being done. They had wanted to know, and well they had gotten the answer.
Not that Regulus had much hope his life in a different timeline was any better than his own. After all, Blacks were cursed, and destined for tragedy. That was what his brother always said, and while he may not agree with Sirius on much, he did agree with him on that.
A fluttering of movement caught his ears and the corner of his eyes. Jolting to his feet, he kept his back pressed cautiously to the wall. He did not want to risk anything, not with so much at stake. Honestly, he would much rather just stay here for the time being. It would seem that option was to be taken from him as he felt an arm roughly grab him and yank him forwards.
"Of all the things..." A young male voice reprimanded. Regulus furrowed his brows, irritated, and angry. A quick hex had the boy backing off. Regulus took the time to assess him, as he saw the boy doing the same to him. "You are not Orion..."
"No," Regulus did not venture further information, but the information that he had gotten unwittingly from this boy was enough for him to know that he was in his fathers' time. Wonderful. As though things could not possibly be worse. He was stuck with a young Dark Lord, and Grindelwald, and Dumbledore! As much as he did not mind the Dark Lord, he had seen what happened to those that angered him, and needless to say, it was not something he wanted to risk. The crucios always hurt, but the Dark Lord's was somehow more...painful. More painful than even his mother's. At the very least he knew his real name, sacred knowledge that Regulus was entrusted with...though he would not be surprised if the Dark Lord informed everyone of such 'sacred' information as a test.
"Who are you? I do not recognize you."
"Why should I tell you who I am?" Regulus questioned back rather than actually answering, his arms crossing over his chest. "After all I know naught what your name is, and that seems a rather large oversight on your part when you proceed to demand information from me."