Flames of Insanity (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Untitled Part 1

The book burned.

Flames licked the cover of the book while the pages inside started smoldering, turning to ash, the edges suddenly glowing. The fire crackled around the book as Walburga Black stood there, her wrist still held aloft from where she tossed the text into the flames.

And he stood there, his jaw dropped, watching as flames licked at his book before exploding into oblivion.

It was a horrifying sight, for a child who loved books so, perhaps as terrifying as the dark look in Walburga Black 's eyes when she caught him with the book—a Muggle book, albeit he'd not known at the time. He simply knew the book; he'd been drawn into the words and the world they created the moment he cracked the book open, his gray eyes widening in delight, was snatched from his hands by her.

Her words were harsh, the look in her eyes—she rarely turned that look against him, instead of reserving that look for Sirius, his older brother with the penchant for causing untold troubles. The book was filth, and the filth needed to be burned, burned to ashes so that his pureness wouldn 't be tainted.

And ...

"What was the name of that book?"

...

Regulus ' eyes opened, paper from his desk sticking to his forehead. He'd fallen asleep, his hazy mind at first thinking he was back at Grimmauld place as the sunlight came through the window, blinding him when suddenly there was—

"Vampires are gross!"

His gray eyes blinked. Vampires were definitely gross. He remembered that much from his textbooks. Long were the days he spent at Hogwarts, studying about dark creatures which Muggles and those born in Muggle families, including his daughters, thought of as fictional. He stood up, pushing himself away from the desk, wondering what the two were getting up to, though hearing Elizabeth say something was gross.

He turned the corner and saw Hermione standing there, her mouth forming a pout, her bushy brown hair in a desperate need of brushing out, something he would need to see to later, given the curl to her hair was definitely a Black trait. She stood there, her feet apart, mouth in a firm line while glaring at her younger sister while holding Dracula in one hand.

"I'm not getting the point!" Hermione said.

Elizabeth pointed at the book, stammering as she did so. "Th-that book should be burned just like vampires should be!"

"Okay. You don't burn vampires. And you definitely don't burn books. Not in this house, under my roof, you don't." Regulus touched his forehead, grimacing, the memory of his mother burning a book that he couldn't remember the name of, which given the way the Black family was, might not even have been a Muggle book. He let out a sigh. "What's going on?"

"Hermione made me read that disgusting book!" Elizabeth said. She turned to look at him, the tears in her eyes welling as if she—

"Yup. Vampires. Elizabeth is afraid of them. Wonderful." Regulus felt his mouth twitch slightly.

"I didn't make you! It was on your school reading list, and you saw it on dad's bookshelf and didn't think you'd have to go to the library to pick out a book for this summer!"

"Oh. Oh boy." Regulus turned his head. "Is that all?"

"You're the one who told me that the book was on the shelf!" Elizabeth said, still looking as if she was going to burst into tears.

"I wonder if I would have burst into tears had I read Dracula at that age?" Regulus thought. "I mean—okay, so maybe by that age, no, but when I first started picking up any book I could get my hands on. Yes, definitely. And Sirius would have so have used that against me. Siblings."

"It's not my fault it was the first book on her list that we actually had," Hermione said, now pointing at her sister. "Tell her she's not allowed to burn the book. No book burning!"

"Uh..." Regulus tilted his head. "So, I'm not sure what's going on?" He pointed at the fireplace. "See, no fire. It's summer after all."

"She wants to start a fire with the book!"

"Um!"

"Yeah, well, I bet Hermione would want to start a fire with my Princess Bride book!"

"What! No, I wouldn't!" Hermione snapped.

"Yes, you will! You don't like romance!"

"It's not romance! It's satire!"

"Well, I'm burning..."

"No burning books," Regulus sighed, bile rising in his throat. "Absolutely, never ever." Which resulted in his two oldest glaring at each other, fists at their sides while Hermione continued to hold onto the book. He folded his arms across his chest. "They're kids still, so they don't understand the meaning behind that—what burning books mean, the censorship and such."

Tug-tug.

Regulus looked down and looked at the third, tugging at his sleeve. Her cheeks were puffed out, but Jules looked so much like a Black, whereas Hermione looked like her mother and Elizabeth like Narcissa, minus the beautiful curl. "Hi. I didn't see you there."

She continued tugging and then said, "What if the book tries to eat me?"

"What if..." Regulus stared, looking into gray eyes which mirrored his own.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Elizabeth pointed her finger at Jules.

Hermione 's eye blinked. "A book that tries to eat you?"

Regulus smiled as Jules clutched onto his comfortable Muggle clothing, ruffling her hair. "You know what? If such a book exists, that would want to eat Jules. Your daddy will burn it himself."

Her gray eyes widened, and her mouth broke out into a smile before she threw her hands up into the air before running off, her hands dropping to her side. He 'd not even noticed her sneak up, which also meant he needed to figure up what Jules had been up to while her sisters were arguing.

"I don't get it," Elizabeth said. "How is that allowed."

"Because dad can't let a book eat Jules, of course," Hermione said.

"But that doesn't even exist!"

"Yeah, but Jules thinks it's possible, or she's currently thinking of books that can eat her," Hermione held up her finger, placing her hand on her hip, being a little know-it-all, which made Elizabeth stop her foot. But then, Hermione grimaced, turning to her father. "Hold on. Where'd she get the ideas of books eating her from?"

"I honestly don't know," Regulus said. "It might just be that she's super imaginative." He rubbed the back of her head. "And I think I should go and see what she's up to."