Regulus Arcturus Black was a silent hero. But what really happened all those year ago? What had lead a timid, pure-blood boy to sacrifice his life for the greater good? Was it for a girl or was Regulus at heart a good person? His brother had always...
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Sirius Black
1977
I woke up to the sound of ticking on the window, the culprit a beautiful white owl. I opened the window annoyed that it had disrupted my sleep, but when I saw the letter I realised who the owl belonged to. I quickly pet the owl while he gave me the letter. After practically ripping open the envelope I began to read.
Dear Eira,
I have been counting the days till I could finally send you this letter. I had the most awful Christmas you could imagine. For Christmas dinner my aunt and uncle joined us with their two daughters and their husbands.
My oldest cousin is Bellatrix Lestrange, you might have read about her in the daily paper, quite a reputation that one. Her husband, Rodolphus, is an interesting character to say the least. Their marriage, like most pure blood unions, is based on anything but love. Seemingly the only thing they share is an admiration for Voldemort.
My other cousin Narcissa is married to Lucius Malfoy, he once was a Slytherin prefect. It always amazes me how the most vile people end up in charge. Narcissa is very different from Bellatrix, whereas Bellatrix would do anything for the cause, Narcissa would never get her hands dirty. But don't be mistaken, Narcissa believes just as much that magic should be reserved for only the purest of blood.
They seem like the perfect pureblood family, but that is far from the truth. I have another cousin, Andromeda. As kids Bellatrix and Andromeda were inseparable, with Narcissa always following them around. At Hogwarts, the sisters sorted into Slytherin, had a bright future ahead of them.
That all changed when Andromeda fell pregnant in her last year of Hogwarts. This could have been easily solved with a quick pureblood wedding, the only problem the baby was not pureblood. Andromeda had committed the highest act of treason by getting herself knocked up by a mudblood. Their words, not mine. So she was given two options, get rid of the baby and marry a pureblood, who was probably a distant cousin or be disowned and never spoken to again by her family. Much to her parents dismay Andromeda chose the latter. She married the muggleborn and gave birth to the child, who I believe is a girl. Now all that's left of her is a bad memory. I sometimes wonder if Bellatrix would be this crazy if she had chosen to stay. But I know that this evil that's inside her is not something Andromeda caused, it's always been there, just waiting for the perfect moment to come out.
The reason that I wonder is because I'm scared I'll turn out just like her. When Sirius left home I was so angry at him, how could he just leave me there, with them. I felt this rage, like never before, and if I could I would have cursed him right there and then. It scares me to think back to that night, what if that was the moment I started turning into Bellatrix? But now when I see Sirius, all I feel is sadness, not for him but myself. I pity myself, because he did what I'll never be brave enough to do, he got away. And now he has the life he always wanted, loving parents and a brother he can be proud of. And I'm stuck having dinners with pure bloods talking about the war and potential engagements. Luckily my parents are having a hard time matching me up with someone, probably has something to do with Sirius tainting the precious Black name.
Eira, I know you think I don't know you, but I know enough to know I like you. You're intelligent and witty, but most importantly you're kind. When you found me in that classroom all those months ago, I was so embarrassed, but without questions you comforted me. From that day on you caught my eye and I knew that I needed to know you, so when Slughorn told me about the essay I made sure we had to work together. And through those few moments that we shared I got to know you, even if it was just for a little while, I got to see that you were more than just kind. So please write back, just to let me know that there's someone who cares.
Regulus Black
P.S. Please use Polaris if you decide to write back, she can be quite nice after some treats.
I closed the letter, and started processing what I had just read. It felt strange seeing Regulus share all his feelings, normally he seemed quite guarded. It hurt my heart to see him write about Sirius leaving him, I had never thought about how that might have affected him. Polaris chirped at me, so I decided to get dressed and bring her to the owlery where the Mckinnon owls stayed. There she would be safe and I wouldn't have to answer any of Marlene's questions. I knew I would share whatever it is Regulus and I had one day, but I wanted to keep it to myself just a while longer.
'You're up early.' startled I turned around to Sirius on the porch, he was smoking a cigarette. 'What are you doing here?' I asked, the party wasn't for a couple of days. 'Came to get away from Lily and James, you know how they are.' 'I can imagine.'
We stood there for a couple minutes in silence, the only sound coming from Sirius inhaling the cigarette. 'Want one?' he offered, I shook my head. 'So, when did you get a snow owl?' 'Oh it's not mine, it's my dad's.' I lied, hoping he wouldn't notice. 'And you expect me to believe that?' Confused, I looked at him 'I was there the day Regulus bought that owl, and don't even try to convince me that it's not Polaris.' 'And what if it is, since when do you care about what your brother does?.'
He lets his cigarette fall to the ground and puts it out with his shoe, 'He's bad news, Eira, so best to stay away from him.' Mad I turned to him 'What gives you the right to tell me who I can and can't talk to?' 'Because I'm your friend and I care about you.' I huffed, 'Just because you like screwing my best friend does not make us friends.'
'Can't you see Eira, he's a death eater in the making, I'm just looking out for you.' 'Sirius, must I remind you that until a year ago you were in the same position as him.' 'But I left, he will never break free from our parents, and their idiotic ideals.' 'You forget not everyone has a James Potter that they can run away to.' 'Oh so you want to be his saviour? Be my guest, but don't come crying to me when you realise he's just as bad as the lot of them.'
I gave him a menacing look 'You're an ass.' entered the house and slammed the doors. Marlene hurried out of the kitchen, 'What was that all about?' Seething through my teeth I answered, 'Nothing. Just your boyfriend putting his nose where he shouldn't.'Then I ran upstairs to start writing a reply to Regulus' letter.
Dear Regulus,
You can be whatever you want to be, no matter what anyone says. So be brave or not, the choice is yours. And if there's one thing I can assure you of it's that you will never be as evil as Bellatrix, no matter how much you think of cursing your brother. If that were the case I would be the most wicked witch of England, heck maybe even the world.
