Ravens and Asphodels | Harry Potter Marauders Era (Regulus Black x OFC)

Revenge of the Blacks

7 April 1977

As March ended and April rolled in, the Easter holidays began and proved to be eventful.

Regulus wasn't sure how he got here. He was yet again sitting in a tattoo parlor with his brother and Diana, but this time they were also accompanied by two of his brother's best friends. The fourth one, Peter, was traveling again hence why he wasn't here. Regulus thought about the events that led him here.

He had opted to stay at the castle until the 6th with Diana and his brother so they could stay with Remus for the full moon on the 4th. It was a miracle that Sirius and his buddies hadn't been discovered to be illegal Animigi yet. Well, it was a miracle, or Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Pomfrey all knew about their illegal transformations and didn't mind. Bloody Gryffindors. The whole lot of them, no matter the age, were reckless.

Regulus and Sirius returned to Black Manor on the 6th. They were greeted by Kreacher, who had been moved from Grimmauld to Black Manor to service primarily Regulus but also any other member of the Black family who called him, of course aside from his cousin Bella and mother, who were no longer considered Blacks.

Sirius stiffly greeted the house-elf, still bitter about how Kreacher had treated him as per their mother's orders, but he'd been working through it in his therapy sessions. Regulus still did his best to make sure Kreacher stayed away from Sirius when they were back from school for both of their safety.

During their spring holiday, they learned that their grandfather had given Sirius and Regulus Bella's dowery vault at Gringotts as atonement after Lord Lestrange offered it back to the Blacks after Christmas Eve's events. Regulus nor Sirius had any interest in visiting the vault, who knew what Bella had stored there.

On the night of the 6th, Regulus and Sirius had been invited to Abasi Manor for Amira's 16th birthday. The Abasi Manor proudly showed off the Abasi's Persian heritage. The home's architecture was composed of domes, arches, and muqarnas vaults. Everything was adorned with tiles in radiant colors and rich patterns. Regulus and Sirius were fascinated by the foreign architecture and decorative style of the home. They had only been exposed to Western culture and the Potters until that point as their mother never spoke of her heritage or culture and pretended to be white.

They met up with the rest of their group in the Abasi's private courtyard. Amira had informed Regulus it was called a  'wast ad-dar,' and the family had it charmed to stay heated as if it were summer at all times. The group situated outside was extensive, including Amira, Diana, almost all of Diana and Amira's dorm mates, Remus, James, Barbra, Frank, Alice, Pandora, Marleen, Mary, Marley, and Dorcus.  It seemed everyone was there, aside from Belvina and Peter, who was traveling with family for a holiday.

Regulus spent most of his time in the Abasi household learning about Islamic architecture from Amira or her older brother Arslan.

The day after the party, Regulus was here sat in the same tattoo parlor he had watched Sirius get his first tattoo in watching James, Sirius, and Remus get matching tattoos.

A year ago, Regulus listened to Bella, Cissy, and his mother talk about how close his mother was to disowning Sirius and being cooed at for his obedience while smiling politely but screaming in his head. He should have voiced his objections to them. Then maybe then Sirius wouldn't have had to go through what he did in December, but he was a coward. Regulus had always known that. Granted, Sirius's bravery regularly toed the line into reckless stupidity, but at least Sirius was bold enough to voice his objections to his mother's fanaticism. Regulus had watched Sirius be tortured when he returned for Christmas during Sirius's first year after his sorting into Gryffindor and said nothing to help him. Regulus knew he'd never have the same courage Sirius had, but Regulus vowed to himself that he'd do his best to protect his family from now on.