ARSONIST'S LULLABY ━━ r. black¹

𝖝𝖎𝖎𝖎. claws in your back

彡 chapter thirteen
( claws in your back )

SOMETIMES, REGULUS FELT like he was playing god, toying with his own fate and the childish notion that he could break free from a cycle of decay and tradition. The House of Black was a snake eating it's own tail as it veered dangerously close to collapse and Regulus was tearing a knife straight through its soft underbelly. Dumbledore was kind and generous with him, even with his transgression.

"Have you ever heard of a Horcrux?"

Regulus sat with Caroline Parkinson, his hand enveloping hers on the train ride back to Kings Cross for a long-dreaded summer he planned to spend with Morgana. He was planning to break off this engagement as soon as he set foot back inside of his house. Just a few hours and he would be free to return to secrecy, free to return to breathless nights spent tangled in the sheets, lips trailing down his neck.

He was seventeen now. The sixteenth of June had passed in a hushed sort of quiet secrecy as exams were thrust upon them, and the celebration had been small. Morgana, Romulus, Margot, and himself in the room of requirement with a cake and candles. It was a perfect night, drunk off of expensive wine and good conversation.

This summer was to be his ruination, the downfall of his perfect illusion. Carmine blood was already snaking its way around Regulus, the air heavy with the scent of powerful dark magic. Caroline traced a finger softly down the side of his jaw and he nearly flinched as she touched that sensitive spot just beneath his ear. "Stop that," he hissed.

"No? A horcrux is a small piece of a soul concealed within an object. It is the darkest form of magic possible."

She laughed airily. Caroline was vapid and insufferable, easy on the eyes but poisonous under the skin. She dug her claws into skin until the object of her affection bled. Regulus just happened to be her newest target and she was endorsed by his parents. "I can't wait to marry you," she whispered breathily, her voice mellifluous yet venomous.

That could not be further from the truth. She wanted to marry him for his name and for his prestige, to stand at the forefront of one of the most influential families in magical history. She didn't care about the decay under the gilded facade nor the scars he would bear for her. If Morgana was his way out, Caroline was the shackles tying him to the very cycle he was trying to leave behind.

"Tom Riddle has seven horcruxes. Through my research I have found that one of them is Salazar Slytherin's locket. The Black family estate possesses a remarkable replica gifted to one of your ancestors."

Regulus exhaled through his nose sharply, throwing Caroline's arm off of him as he stood up. "I have prefect duties."

He ended up pacing up and down the narrow hallway between the compartments, making sure the younger students weren't being too rowdy and that the older students weren't being particularly nasty by the loo.

Morgana's eye caught his teasingly from her compartment as he passed by, legs kicked up in Kiaan's lap, the Shafiq boy in the middle of what was an obviously engrossing story. She was a creature of the sun, golden warmth spilling from every inch of her skin and her brilliant laugh, the way her eyes sparkled and cheeks flushed a berry hue nothing short of enchanting.

Her mouth curled up at the edges in a smile, fingers outstretched to wave at him in a subtle, careless manner. He returned the wave before returning to his leisurely pace up and down the train's carpeted path. Sirius spotted him and sneered, Regulus gave him a tight-lipped smile in return.