Chapter Text
And he looked
up at Death
as his time dawned
please he said…
just one more life
I promise I'll be quick.
-Atticus
His hand was burning, he felt like drowning, his head was pounding and his eyesight began to blur.
Had his glasses fallen from his face?
He let out a choked sob, it was no longer only his hand where the Basilisk had bitten him that burnt, all his body felt as if it was being burned alive. He had to get out somehow, he had to ask Dumbeldore for help, tell him about the diary.
As the venom entered his body the pain kept getting worse, Harry had to do something but he could only fall to his knees silently.
Was this it? Was he going to die down here?
Tears ran down his cheeks silently, it was too painful and he was tired. He had hoped for a normal year after having to fight Quirrel last year but he should have guessed he never got what he wanted.
He wished someone, anyone, would help him, it was cold in the chamber, and quiet. Too quiet.
Giving a last attempt at survival he concentrated on his magic power, somehow easier to feel at death's door.
With all the strength he had left he made a wish. His eyes closed, he was so tired.
As his mind, falling into unconsciousness, registered the cry of a bird something on his body snapped.
But Harry was no longer awake to realise.
Harry woke up in the hospital wing, he was beginning to get used to this. They might end up giving him a personal bed seeing how often he ended up here.
He was not dead, his mind supplied helpfully. He really believed his body would rot forever in that chamber.
He was lucky, he shouldn’t have been so stupid as to bring Lockhart, even Snape would have been a better option compared to him.
What was with defense teachers trying to kill him?
Finally he tried opening his eyes, they felt way too heavy to move and he was beginning to feel his throat burn.
Hunger and thirst came to him as one but all he could do was groan in annoyance.
“Morning sleepy head” A voice he didn’t recognise called him, it was a man’s voice, it sounded a bit mocking but there was a hint of worry on it. Harry was just glad someone would get him a glass of water.
As if seeing his distress the man muttered an incantation and the light in the room dimmed, finally Harry opened his eyes, it took him some effort but he managed to do it in the end.
The man now sat next to him, with a floating glass of water on his side, seeing Harry didn’t have the strength to hold it the man made it float next to his face.
Harry drank slowly and finally looked at the man in the eyes, they were a silvery grey, similar to Malfoy’s, but his hair was dark and curly, giving him a youthful look. Harry guessed he couldn't be older than twenty.
“Back to the living Potter?” His tone was softer than intended, Harry realised, this man was worried “Now care to explain what the fuck did you do?”
His confusion must be obvious because the man extended his hand, when Harry reached out to him his hand passed through the man’s.
Harry couldn’t help but scream.
What the hell was that?
Next to him the man kept laughing out loud, Harry could only stare at him in shock, he had never met a ghost that wasn’t translucent, the man in front of him looked normal.
“Are you a ghost?” Harry gulped, that was a stupid question “And what do you mean ‘what did I do’?
The man looked at him and started laughing again, Harry was so close to throwing him a pillow even if it wouldn’t work but he was too afraid of making noise again, Madam Pomfrey might notice he was awake then and he would be forced to answer questions, again.
He really wasn’t in the mood to explain why he was in Salazar Slytherin’s bloody chamber.
Finally the man calmed down and sat in one of the armchairs, Harry couldn’t help but admire how pretty the man looked, his hair looked so soft, even if Harry tried to comb it he would never achieve that result. He might be a bit envious too.
“You are telling me you successfully summoned a ghost familiar, something only geniuses well versed into necromancy can do, without knowing what you were doing?”
Harry observed the man’s smug expression, as if him doing necromancy was a personal win. Yet Harry couldn’t get his thoughts out of the word, necromancy, the art of the Death.
It was Dark Magic.
He had used Dark Magic.
Was he going to the jail equivalent for Wizards? No one had arrested or tied him to his hospital bed yet, so probably no one knew. He was not stupid, that much was obvious, but what would happen if someone found out?
“A ghost familiar? Can everyone else see you too?” He asked instead, he needed all the information he could get. He also probably needed to know the pretty man’s name, he couldn’t stay as pretty man for much longer without it beginning to sound ridiculous.
“No Potter spawn, others can not see me” Pretty man sighed, as if just talking to Harry took all his energy “And a ghost familiar is one of the hardest parts of necromancy, a soul that accepts being your familiar will help you for as long as the contractor remains in with the living, this is, my soul is tied to yours now kid”
Harry really didn’t like the sound of that, he couldn’t be caught doing Dark Magic, it was wrong. But what pretty man had explained didn’t sound too bad, more like a symbiotic relationship than anything.
But he couldn’t be convinced, there must be something wrong for it to be Dark Magic really.
“How do I get rid of it?”
Pretty man sighed, again, he seemed to do that a lot. His grey eyes fixed in him with a pitying look, Harry knew he wouldn’t like what would be said.
“You can’t, you offered the deal and as you were dying I took it and helped you stay alive until the phoenix arrived, me accepting sealed the deal, is permanent” Seeing Harry’s distraught face the man gave him a reassuring smile “I’ll teach you all there is to know about necromancy so nothing like this happens again, for now rest, using such strong magic like necromancy has drained you completely”
Harry was feeling a bit tired, but he didn’t want to sleep, he wanted answers. Who was this man and why did he accept the deal to save him? Was there really no way to get rid of this?
Would he be a freak again?
Instead, before he fell back into morpheus arms, he asked something a bit stupid.
“Hey, What's your name?”
The man smiled fondly and got up from the armchair, walking over to his bed.
“Regulus, the name's Regulus kiddo”
Harry humned, too tired to manage a full response, as he fell sleep he would have swore Regulus caressed his hair softly, muttering something suspiciously similar to ‘good night Harry’.
The second time Harry woke up Regulus was still there, all previous hope of it being a nightmare was crushed as Hermione hugged him sobbing. He tried patting her head awkwardly, he had never been hugged before Hermione started doing it, he had seen Dudley being hugged by Petunia several times but never like this. Hermione was crushing him a bit, but he was sure this was much better than any hug Petunia would be able to ever give him.
Ron beside him was worried too and Madam Pomfrey was looking at him with disapproval. It was not his fault that there was a kid murder snake at the school, a blood purist kid murder snake at that.
This was his life now he guessed, ignoring the looks Regulus was sending him Harry smiled sweetly with his best facade of innocence.
“How long was I out?”
Hermione sobbed a bit harder on his arms and Ron looked a bit spooked, Was it that bad? Luckily he didn’t have to wait long because Dumbledore walked in at that moment, for some reason the weird twinkle his eyes usually made sent chills down his spine.
Beside him Regulus sat up and positioned himself closer to Harry, his pose was protective, almost what Harry would imagine his dad would behave like.
“Harry my boy” Dumbledore smiled beginly “I can not thank you enough for the bravery you have shown”
Harry did not feel brave at all, he felt tired and a bit stupid. He had wanted to save his friend's sister, yes, but right now he never wanted to do something like that again. Going back to sleep to not deal with this sounded good.
Promfrey seemed to share his view of the situation because she grabbed Ron and Hermione and glared at Dumbledore.
“Five minutes headmaster, the kid needs to rest” Then she looked at his friends, a bit more softly “He’ll be alright for the closing ceremony, you both can talk to him later”
His friends tried to complain but Madam Promfey stood her ground, leaving him alone with Dumbledore at his office, his body tensed instinctively. Regulus beside him passed his hands through his hair, not that it did much other than soothe him.
"You have been wondering, perhaps, why I have not come to visit you. It was because I have been buried in inquiries into the recent events" The old man sighed softly “But Harry, you must have shown me great loyalty for nothing else could have summoned Fawkes”
Harry expected to feel reassured, as he had in first year, but something inside him kept screaming something was wrong, that the man in front of him was lying.
Fearing letting something slip up Harry smiled as best as he could and said nothing, Dumbledore took that as a sign to continue talking.
"You can speak Parseltongue, Harry, because Lord Voldemort, who is the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin, can speak Parseltongue. Unless I am much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you that night he gave you that scar”
Dumbledore’s eyes kept twinkling and it was beginning to make Harry’s head hurt, he had to look away from the man's eyes before he groaned in annoyance, Regulus beside him snorted.
“But Harry, worry not, you and Lord Voldemort are nothing alike, after all it is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities” Without letting Harry say anything he kept with his monologue, Harry almost rolled his eyes “The sword you used to slay the Basilisk is Godrick Gryffindor's sword Harry, only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat."
He knew this was supposed to be reassuring, but for some reason Harry just found it stupid. This man was telling him how he did a brave thing, as if risking his life was something to be encouraged.
Shouldn’t he be told to never do it again? To let the adults handle it? Harry had seen his cousin get into stupid things, Petunia would always tell him to let adults deal with the problems, how kids shouldn’t have to bother with ‘grown up stuff’.
Of course Harry would then get blamed for his cousin's doings but that was neither here nor there.
Before Harry could think of anything to say Regulus moved a bit, he was glaring at Dumbledore and wasn’t even trying to hide his hatred.
“Kid, agree with him and don’t look at his eyes, I’ll explain later”
So Harry did, he was already not looking at his eyes anyway, smiling politely he thanked Dumbledore for his guidance and soon after Pomfrey appeared to kick the old man out.
Left only with Regulus in the room Harry curiously kept sending glances at him. Taking pity on him Regulus began talking.
“He’s a legilimens, he can read your mind if your occlumency shields are weak, I don’t believe he would take kindly the apparition of another necromancer”
Harry snorted, why would anyone take kindly to the usage of Dark Arts? He himself wanted this situation to end, maybe like that next year would be normal.
“Because it's Dark Magic, right?”
Harry expected the man to agree, or maybe to turn out to be some crazy dark mage who knew with his luck, but instead Regulus laughed.
“Is the killing curse Green Magic then?”
Harry could only gape at him, what was this guy talking about?
“Why would it be Green Magic?”
Regulus shrugged.
“The spell is green, wouldn’t that make it Green Magic by your logic?”
Harry frowned, that didn’t make any sense, he couldn’t understand why Regulus was looking at him as if he were the crazy one.
“No? It’s obviously Dark Magic! Is the killing curse, it kills people”
But instead of backing down Regulus smiled wickedly.
“And necromancy can bring back the death, the complete opposite, is it Light Magic then?”
Harry frowned, using his logic it did make sense for necromancy to be Light Magic, but it wasn’t, it was always marked as Dark Magic.
Regulus sighed and ruffled his hair, using magic so it would actually get messy, Harry scowled.
“You see Harry” He started, this time with a soft smile “Wixen go putting flowery names to their spells, giving them an alliance, ‘oh thats Dark Magic’ ‘oh that's Light Magic’, they seem to forget that all magic comes from the same place”
Harry nodded, it made sense but at the same time he assumed there must be something that actually differentiated the spells from each other. Someone couldn’t just decide what was wrong and what not. Yet Regulus just patted his head and didn’t say anything.
“But Why?” Harry asked, whined, like a child. It didn’t make sense to him.
“Humans have always feared the unknown, necromancy is a gift not many people posses, a gift of that caliber is a danger to their power balance” Regulus looked pensive, only from so close did Harry realise his hair seemed to be permanently wet, it moved as if he was underwater, it left Harry staring in awe “You should not share the fact that you have this gift even with people you trust, especially with so many legilimens’ around”
As Harry stared into the man’s eyes he only saw truth, Regulus wasn’t lying, he had said to have accepted the deal to save him. For some reason he couldn’t help but want to trust him, there was just something so familiar about him.
He would decide what to do later, he was still a patient after all, he could be cut some slack.
Gryffindor won the cup, Harry felt happy as Ron and Hermione sat beside him and hugged him. Some people were sending him looks filled with guilt while others still seemed angry at him. Harry couldn’t care less and observed Regulus staring awkwardly between the Slytherin table and Harry.
Harry couldn’t ask him now, everyone would believe he had lost his marbles if he began talking to the air. He thanked Ron when the boy changed the conversation to quidditch, even if he hadn’t been able to participate in the last match.
Slowly the voices began to quiet and to get muddled into the background. As he walked back to the Gryffindor common room to sleep his last night at Hogwarts he wished he could stay over in summer.
He had already asked Dumbledore last year, and believed the man meant good when he mentioned his family would miss him. But now he wouldn’t try talking to the headmaster unless strictly necessary, if Dumbledore could read his mind he would know everything Harry had been thinking. He knew why Harry didn’t want to return.
Maybe he was just acting out because of anger, it was probably impossible for Dumbledore to be reading his mind all the time after all. Even after this Harry couldn’t really trust the man, it had begun when he got bitten by the Basilisk, and it all just went downhill after that.
Regulus, as if reading his mind, helped him organise his suitcase silently, Ron already fast sleep didn’t even feel the movement.
Tomorrow he would have to return to the Dursleys, spend his summer in his new room, preferably without bars on his window this time. Maybe he would be allowed to communicate with his friends this summer.
Before going to sleep he looked at Regulus, it felt rude to not be able to offer him a bed, even if he was a ghost he must at least need some rest right?
“Uhm, Regulus?” Harry awkwardly whispered, not wanting to wake up anyone, only because Ron could sleep through the noise it didn’t mean everyone would “Do you need sleep?”
Clearly not expecting the question Regulus blinked in confusion, one of his eyebrows went up.
“I’m dead” He said simply, but seeing Harry still look at him he added “I can rest if I want to but I don’t need it, I can only use a small portion of my magic, I’m your familiar but the best way to explain what you did is a family bond that only goes one way”
Harry did not know what a family bond was, and it seemed that his face made it obvious because Regulus frowned in annoyance and exasperation.
“Aren’t you an Heir? How do you not know this?”
He shrugged, he didn’t know he was a wizard until he was eleven, his aunt and uncle hated him and they were muggles. It was obvious he wouldn’t know most things, of course Regulus couldn't know that.
“Wait, Heir? What do you mean?” Harry asked in confusion, that was new.
Regulus groaned in frustration, then his expression became more severe.
“You know about family magic at least, right?”
But Harry could only shake his head, he didn’t know what Regulus was talking about, at all. It must have been the wrong answer because Regulus was now pacing around the room in what looked like badly contained anger.
“That fucking manipulative old goat, of course Pandora was right about him” He kept throwing insults up and down while Harry observed with marvel “But of course I didn’t listen, How would good nice Dumbledore do that I said! Never doubt a Rosier when they speak I tell you!”
Harry didn’t know what a ‘Rosier’ was but it sounded like a last name, unsure of the context of the situation he simply waited for Regulus to calm down. It was amusing to see him curse the shit out of Dumbledore, especially because Harry might still be a bit angry with the man.
Finally Regulus stopped and sighed, sitting unceremoniously on the floor, Harry simply finished packing his last T-shirt and waited for him to talk.
“Family magics, if not taught correctly, have the possibility of hurting the Wixen. You not even knowing about their existence is similar to an attempt on your life”
That definitely explained the man's anger, thought Harry, he didn’t know how Regulus was connected to him but guessing by his reaction he must be friends with one of his parents.
“Am I going to die then?” He really didn’t like the sound of that “Is there a way to learn my family magics?”
Regulus pondered for a second before his cheeks suddenly flushed bright red. Well, that was weird.
“I don’t have much knowledge on the Potter’s family magics, but your father once mentioned they keep a book about them in one of their vaults in Gringotts” He waited for some seconds before continuing “I can teach you the basics about the Black’s family magics too, as I’m your familiar you should be able to use them”
So a friend of his father then, or maybe both, he couldn’t help but smile, this man had given up eternal rest to save Harry, it felt nice. Maybe he should thank him later.
“Okay, when do we start? I won’t be able to practice magic outside of school after all”
It was true, Petunia would make sure to lock him in the cupboard again if she even shaw a hint of Harry doing magic. How was he going to explain that to Regulus? Would the ghost follow him to Privet Drive?
“We can use my house, they can’t detect magic in family houses. The house wards block the trace” Before Harry could explain how there might be a little problem with the fact that his family might as well just lock him up Regulus continued “I’ll make you the owner of the wards, the house might be a bit old fashioned but I’m sure Kreacher kept it in good condition in the meantime”
Harry nodded, once they arrived at his uncle’s and aunt’s he would have to explain, but for now he would pretend that going to Regulus' house was an option, he agreed and muttered a tired goodnight.
Tomorrow he would ask what a family bond was, what family magics did and why did Regulus say he was an Heir, but today he would enjoy the caring gaze Regulus gave him and the soft way Regulus tucket him on his bed when he thought Harry was already sleep.
Yes, everything could wait until tomorrow.
As Harry woke up he saw an elf crying in front of him, only then did he realise he had forgotten about Dobby. Oh Merlin, what was he going to do?! Dobby had to return to the Malfoy’s!
“Hi Dobby” He greeted, soft, wrapping his arms around the elf. It only made him sob louder. If this kept going the whole dorm would wake up and Harry would have a lot of explanations to give.
After Dobby calmed down a bit he showed Harry a glove, looking extremely proud of it. Harry didn’t understand.
“Master Draco gave Dobby a glove, Dobby is a free elf!” His voice was more high pitched than usual, and the way he spoke of Malfoy was almost fond, it made Harry both happy for the elf and extremely confused about Malfoy.
Why did the person to free Dobby have to be fucking Malfoy of all people? Now he felt thankful for the bastard.
“I’m so happy for you Dobby! That’s great! How did that happen?” He asked, trying not to sound as confused as he was.
Dobby began jumping up and down in delight, his ears flopping a bit, Harry didn’t know he could move them.
“Master Draco overheard his father speak with the headmaster about the book! Then he questioned Dobby but Dobby couldn’t speak so master Draco freed Dobby and asked again!”
Harry shouldn’t have expected more from Malfoy, of course it was because he wanted gossip, the arse. But this was good, even if the intentions weren’t, what mattered was that Dobby was free and he wouldn’t have to return to Malfoy Manor.
So he hugged Dobby and wished him the best, it seemed he was now going to work for Hogwarts, Dumbledore having offered once he caught him overhearing and if Harry found that slightly creepy he wasn’t going to make a comment.
Regulus smiled at Dobby even though the elf couldn’t see him and ruffled Harry’s hair, smiling he walked to the station, slowly, wanting to make the most of what was left of Hogwarts.
“Harry! Come on, the train might leave without us if we don't hurry up!” Hermione yelled, Ron beside her rolled his eyes but yelled too.
“Hurry up mate!”
Giving a last look at Hogwarts Harry smiled, Hogwarts looked as imposing as always, but today Harry really felt its magic wrap around him, as if not wanting to let him go.
He stepped onto the train, beside him Regulus stayed silent, Harry felt, not for the first time, that the man understood him a bit.
Small art for the fic:
