𝙿𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 - 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦 | ✔︎

Chapter 32

Natasha left as soon as Kreacher had started to explain why her mother was in the hands of the Dark Lord. No one moved to stop her, so she ran all the way to the attic, stopping only when she was right in front of her uncle's portrait.

"Natasha, what's wrong?" he asked, his brows furrowing under the canvas.

"My mother is alive, and my house elf sold her out," she stated simply, tracing her fingers over an old scab on her hand.

"Aurelia is alive?" he asked, and Natasha raised her head, her glistening eyes looking murderous in the light.

"Yep," she said, her teeth gritted. She hadn't felt anger like this before, and it was taking every inch of control she had to not go back downstairs and throttle Kreacher. She grasped her bracelet and fiddled with it, as observed by her uncle.

"Why aren't you happy then Natasha?" Regulus asked and she huffed, lying down.

"Because she's in the hands of him according to Dumbledore, and we have no clue where they are." Regulus tensed at the tone Natasha used to say 'him', and immediately guessed who she was talking about.

"I might know." Those three simple words were all it took for Natasha's eyes to snap open, and her body to come upright.

"I forgot you were a Death Eater once Uncle Reg," she whispered quietly, almost as if treading on thin ice. Regulus gave her a pointed look before clearing his throat.

"I wasn't just a Death Eater darling, I was a Pure-Blooded Death Eater, and one of his most trusted members. I knew all the hiding spots and cells when I was alive, just in case I had to escape," he said, looking down.

"I have to tell dad," Natasha said, and Regulus nodded, looking his niece in the eyes.

"Bring my portrait down Natasha, that way, your father will have to listen. I know it's been years, but I really did break his heart," Regulus admitted. Natasha shot him a pitied smile before casting 'wingardium leviosa', successfully levitating the portrait.

Regulus held on to the border encasing his portrait so that he did not slide off of the canvas, carefully watching his old home as Natasha brought his painting downstairs. He passed faces that were not familiar at all but smirked as he saw that his mother's portrait had been taken down.

"Who's that Tash?" Harry asked, and Regulus almost took a double take at the sight of James and Lily's son, his jet-black hair and glasses mimicking his fathers. He tried not to frown, but memories of what James and the rest of the Marauders had done during school resurfaced, and a thin line graced his lips.

"This is my Uncle Reggie, and yes Harry, he hates you," she said, levitating the portrait down to the bottom floor. Harry looked gobsmacked at Natasha's bluntness, and didn't miss Regulus flipping him off.

"Well, he seems pleasant," Hermione noted sarcastically, and the twins laughed.

"Just wait till you meet Walburga and Orion Black. Their portraits are interesting, to say the least," said Fred, and George chuckled.

"Oh yes, I remember Walburga clearly. She called me an orangutan at least 12 times. What a bitch."

~.~

Sirius was baffled to say the least when his headstrong child walked into the kitchen a mere few minutes after leaving, levitating a portrait of his dead brother. His jaw was slack open, and Tonks shut it for him, looking at her cousin in the portrait.

There was no doubt that Sirius and Regulus had been blessed with good genes; the number of girls that had flocked around them at Hogwarts was proof enough. But they were complete opposites in every way once you got past their grey eyes and luscious black curls.