HP Midnight Light

- 1978 June 12 - 16 Grimmauld Place

Regulus raised the candlestick and walked through the corridor on the fifth floor as silently as possible.He didn't want to wake up his parents and cause unnecessary trouble.

"Kreacher." Regulus came to the kitchen, the wooden tabletop was shining with light, and he placed the candlestick on it to illuminate the dim kitchen.

The old house-elf came out of its den with a hoarse voice: "Master Regulus."

"Kreacher," Regulus pulled out his chair and sat down, "I ask you to tell me everything about that day—where the Dark Lord took you and what you did."

"Yes, Master Regulus." Kreacher said respectfully, "The Dark Lord didn't tell Kreacher what to do, he just took Kreacher to a cliff with nothing but sea water and rocks around. One of the There is a crack in the rock, and the Dark Lord has magically turned it into an arch..." Suddenly, its body shook slightly.

"Go on, Kreacher," Regulus ordered.

The elf's voice became hoarse and depressing: "...The Dark Lord cut Kreacher's arm with his wand, the blood sprayed on the stone wall, and the door opened... Inside was a black lake, and in the center of the lake was a tree that emitted A small island of green light... the Dark Lord summoned a small boat with magic..." It gasped for breath, its eyes widened.

"Go on, Kreacher, you must tell me everything in detail."

"There is a stone basin full of medicines and potions on the island... the Dark Lord told, told Kreacher to drink it." Kreacher was shaking from head to toe, "Kreacher did, because Master Regulus Asked Kreacher to obey the Dark Lord's words. Kreacher drank, and saw terrible things while drinking... Kreacher's body seemed to be on fire... Kreacher cried and asked Master Regulus to save it , Kreacher cried Mistress's name, but the Dark Lord just laughed... He made Kreacher drink up all the potions... Then he put a box in the empty basin... He used more potions Filled it up... and the Dark Lord rowed away, leaving Kreacher on the island..."

The voice of the elf seemed to come from the bottom of the deepest lake, and a string of goosebumps sprang up on Regulus' arms, and he was able to draw the picture——

"Kreacher needed water...so Kreacher crawled to the edge of the island to drink from the black lake...Many hands, dead men's hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher underwater..."

Under the candlelight, Regulus' face was pale, and what Kreacher described was beyond his cognition, Regulus tightly clutched his robe, and the expensive satin became wrinkled: "Don't be afraid, Kreacher , you are safe now...but how did you get back?"

Kreacher slowly stopped trembling, it raised its head and looked at Regulus: "Master Regulus asked Kreacher to come back."

"I know, but—" Regulus' words stopped abruptly, he heard his heart beating violently, "I know, Kreacher," he recovered, and now he was trembling, "This You don't leave the house for a while and don't tell anyone about it, okay?"

"Kreacher understands."

Regulus grabbed the candlestick, and a drop of hot candle tears fell on the back of his hand, but Regulus didn't care: "Good night, Kreacher."

He hurried out of the kitchen, not paying attention to the elf's unfinished salute, nor the clear sound of footsteps in the dark night.The candlelight flickered dangerously because of his actions, Regulus stumbled back to the fifth floor, and he stood in front of Sirius' room door.

"Is your choice right?" He asked softly, Sirius' name on the nameplate flashed in the dim candlelight, and Regulus felt that he was going crazy.There were a lot of wild and crazy ideas in his head, even though he knew very well that he shouldn't be speculating about the Dark Lord that way.

Sirius would not answer.Ever since he had been sorted into Gryffindor many years ago, he had been drifting away from everyone in his family, including Regulus.In fact, Sirius had already made his decision long before he jumped out of the window and left home.

Regulus wouldn't admit it, but his feelings for Sirius were complex: a mixture of envy, repulsion, pride, jealousy and a little admiration.

He admitted that Sirius was better than him, even though everyone in the Black family said he was the best.

Regulus' nails dug into the wooden door, and rough sawdust pricked his hand.Countless thoughts flashed through Regulus's head like fireworks exploding, he might be going crazy.Kreacher's story aroused ideas he hadn't thought of before.He knows what a corpse is, but he doesn't know what makes a corpse obey people's orders, and, who were they before they were alive——

"Regu."

Regulus turned around abruptly.Walburga stood in the shadows in her silk dressing gown, and she watched him for an indefinitely long time.

"Mother." Regulus breathed out lightly, and he moved away from the door of Sirius' room trying to cover up, trying to cover up his gaffe just now.

"What are you doing?" Walburga stepped forward, the warm candlelight couldn't soften her cold expression, and there was strong suspicion in her eyes, "It's already early morning."

"I know, Mother." Regulus lied, "I couldn't sleep, so I went downstairs and asked Kreacher to prepare some hot drinks."

"You have been standing in front of his room for a long time." Walburga approached again, staring at her younger son, "Regu, what are you thinking?"

"there is nothing--"

Walburga reached out to touch Regu's cold cheek, and she gently stroked his face, just like she would do when he was a child: "You are my pride, Regu. Don't start with some pretentious words. Question yourself."

"Mother?" Regulus was dully aware that she seemed to have a different understanding of his abnormality.

"He joined the Order of the Phoenix and seriously injured two Death Eaters two months ago. You must have heard the news." Walburga said coldly, she refused to call the eldest son by his name directly, "There is Some ignorant people insist on making a big fuss about this, but don’t worry, Regu, sooner or later you will prove to them that you are the pride of the Black family. As for that rebellious son—” Walburga made a choice The corner of the lips, did not continue to speak.

Regulus was stunned, he couldn't help looking back at the nameplate on Sirius' door again.He suddenly realized that Sirius' pace had actually outstripped him, that in a short time he had grown into a warrior, and he still seemed like a... kid.

"Rest earlier, Regu." Walburga withdrew his hand, "Bella and Sissy will be back tomorrow, you have to cheer up."

"You should wake up, Regulus!" The next day, in the living room of Black's house, Bella almost growled and said to Regulus, "Bost has played you around, don't you still plan to be him all the time?" Can’t you see that Bostrode is using his sister to manipulate you and make you obey him—he delays the marriage time and time again, using this as a bait to control you step by step!”

"I'm not Bulstrode's puppet, Bella!" Regulus was exhausted from what happened the night before, and Bella's words made him even more exhausted.

"You are." Bella looked at this stupid cousin bitterly, "Think about it, what have you done and learned in all these years? Except for some black magic fur and joining the Death Eaters Outside of the meeting, did Boster give you any real help? If he sincerely wanted to help you, Rozier would not be sitting on the top seat at Hogwarts now!"

Regulus felt a little suffocated, and he tried his best to justify: "Cornelia's father was among the first batch of Death Eaters, and it is inevitable that the Dark Lord trusted her—"

"You can't even convince yourself with these words." Bella sneered and interrupted Regulus's pale rebuttal. She looked down at him condescendingly and domineeringly, "Admit it, maybe you realize this yourself. You are right For Berster, it is just a tool, just like his wife is a bargaining chip for him to add weight! You also know that Berster has found another mistress outside, and he even dared to play tricks under Watson's nose, you Think he's afraid to make further use of you?—a young, ignorant Blake obsessed with his sister! What a lackey!"

"Shut up!" These words angered Regulus, he knew that Bella's words hit a weakness he didn't want to admit, Lucius quickly pressed his shoulder, Narcissa frowned:

"Bella, don't talk too much!"

"Calm down, Regulus." Lucius said in Regulus' ear, "Bella's words are not completely right, but they are not completely wrong. You probably... know this very well in your heart."

"He didn't dare to face the reality, because it would be too cruel for him." Bella sneered madly, "Give it up, Lucius, he's just a softie, a poor guy who will be held back by women, Can you count on him to pull himself together?"

"Bella!" Narcissa yelled.

"Shut up!" Regulus' eyes were almost breathing fire, and he almost broke away from Lucius' grasp.Regulus stared at Bella's beautiful and proud face with disgust, "Talk as if you are so great yourself, your husband and his brother have no relationship, and your master only treats you as A sharp weapon—has he ever responded to your love? He doesn't even bother to give you a position as a mistress!"

Bella's face changed suddenly, and she pulled out her wand without thinking——

"Armor protection!" Lucius yelled.

Even though the Iron Armor Curse was between them, Regulus felt a scorching and terrifying force slapping his cheek, and he put his hand into his robe without thinking.

Lucius raised his wand aloft: "Enough, Bella!"

Bellatrix screamed furiously, "How dare you, how dare you—"

"Bella!" Narcissa stood up in a hurry, her body swayed because of this hasty movement, Lucius reacted quickly, he withdrew his protection from Regulus without hesitation, stepped forward and stretched out his arms Hold Narcissa's waist and make her sit on the sofa again:

"Are you okay?" He knelt down beside her nervously, muttering a spell to check her body.

"I'm fine." Narcissa's face lost some color, and she panted slightly and held her husband's hand tightly.

"Sissy?" Bella temporarily let Regu go, she hesitated and walked to Narcissa's side.Regulus also let go of his wand in his pocket: "Lucius, what's wrong with her?"

"Cissy is pregnant." Lucius withdrew his wand and put his hand on her belly, this arrogant Death Eater had a rare tenderness on his face, "We wanted to announce the good news at lunch .”

Bella and Regu, who had been tense just now, looked at each other, and the latter retreated a step faster. He apologized in a low voice in shame: "I'm sorry, Sissy——"

The madness in Bella's eyes gradually disappeared, and she shook her head dejectedly: "Okay, Regu, we don't need to fight among ourselves. You should know that neither I, Sissy, or Lucius will harm you."

Regulus was silent.

"If you don't believe me, you might as well wait for a while longer, and after Burst's wife attacks him, you can see if he will change his mind and agree to advance the wedding date."

"Are you so sure that Watson will know about Bulstrode's mistress?"

Bella and Lucius exchanged glances, and she smiled slightly: "Catherine Shafik is pregnant, and Burst can't hide it for long. Regu, maybe you are not familiar with Margaret Watson, but I can tell You, she is definitely not the kind of person who will endure. Even if she is, her father, Francis, is not. Francis' love for daughters is enough to send Berster to the [-]th floor of hell."

"But Sissy and I don't think we should tell Margaret that directly." Lucius said, and he paused, "Or we shouldn't tell... Margaret will think that we are talking to Perth cheating on her together with Germany." He glanced at his wife uneasily, "We should have told her in the first place."

"Bosted can also choose not to carry out this plan. If you don't report it, it's a real deception." Bella smiled maliciously, "Regu, you might as well wait to see what happened to Bosted What's the next move?"

The living room was extremely quiet.Some thoughts flashed intermittently in Regulus' mind, and he looked at Bella and Lucius in turn:

"Wait a minute, I have a question... Do you think the Source of Life plan is reasonable?"

Before Lucius could speak, Bella answered first: "Of course. Those children will be trained to be top dark wizards since they were young, and when they grow up, they will become capable under the command of the Dark Lord. What's more, this It's not an enforced plan."

"So," Regulus held his breath, "Bella, do you think that as Death Eaters we really have to do whatever it takes to win?"

Narcissa stared at him without blinking, Bella nodded without hesitation: "That's right."

"Even if we have to sacrifice the lives of other... magical creatures? For example, the werewolves we are recruiting now," Regulus added eagerly, "maybe in the future we will also use banshees, veela, house elves, and even Does it matter if the mermaids and centaurs are used as weapons against the White Wizard?"

"Why do you ask that?" Bella raised her eyebrows suspiciously, "Don't tell me you're going to sacrifice Kreacher?"

"No." Regulus heard his own voice speak, "I just want to know if I'm a qualified Death Eater."

"You don't count." Bella gave the answer sharply, "You are too gentle, Regu. Don't rush to refute or ask, just imagine—if you meet Sirius one day, you will kill him ?"

The taboo name made Narcissa make a weak, protesting noise, and Lucius squeezed her hand tightly.

Regulus' ears were buzzing, and he struggled to ask back, "You will?"

"I will," Bellatrix said firmly.

- March 1978, 12 - Greenwich

"Hyase, do you see the snow outside?" When Sirius opened his eyes and found that a thick layer of snow had accumulated outside the window, he froze for a moment, then jumped out of bed screaming like a little girl Down and into the living room.

"Don't be so excited. Let's open the presents first." Hyacinth knelt on the carpet, and there were already several open boxes around her, "Ann sent me a pair of gloves, and Mrs. Figg sent homemade snacks. Ah—Lily sent me a lipstick." She dabbed a little on the back of her hand.

"Purple?" Sirius mocked unscrupulously, "She must have been misled by James."

"What do you know, this is a popular color now." Hyacinth glared at him.

"You don't know how to paint, can you?" Sirius sat down beside her, picking hers from his pile of presents, "What did you give me?"

"you will like it."

"A pair of earplugs?" Sirius held up the pair of earplugs suspiciously and looked at them repeatedly.

"It's a pair of magic earplugs. I asked James to deform them to fit the dog's ears better." Hyacinth explained, "If you wear them, you will be more comfortable in the Animagus state. Easy to fall asleep. By the way, it only filters noise without disturbing your alertness."

"A thoughtful and creative gift," Sirius stared at the pair of earplugs, "but under what circumstances would I turn into a dog and go to sleep?"

"The inspiration was given to me by Remus." Hyacinth quickly shirked the responsibility, "He said that if any one of us goes bankrupt one day, he can turn you into a dog and sell it to a pet store, and you can escape by yourself. come out……"

"Remus never speaks kindly. He looks well-dressed, but he is a hooligan in essence. You should stay away from him in the future." Sirius said viciously, while taking advantage of Hyacinth's inattention, he took Remus's attention away. The gift kicked under the sofa.

"Remus is fine," Hyacinth protested. "Look, he sent me a book."

Sirius had already seen the title of the book, he snorted, "Look what it is."

——The Twelve Ways to Bewitch a Wizard

"He sent it just in time," Hyacinth happily turned to the catalog page, "There are so many boys out there, I can't waste my youth!"

"There are many breeds? Do you think you are picking pets? I am not good enough?" Sirius accused aggrievedly, he suddenly transformed into a black dog, lying on the carpet looking at her with watery eyes, whining Woo hoo.

"Ah, you look much cuter like this." Hyacinth smiled and scratched the black dog's ears, while swiftly grabbing the dog chain that James gave Sirius as a birthday present from the coffee table , "Don't move, boy—"

After a symbolic struggle, Sirius turned over and asked Hyacinth to adjust the collar.

"Come and see James' gift?"

James is obviously a man who knows how to match. His Christmas present to Sirius is a dog tag, and the worst thing is that it has Sirius' name on it.

"Be good," Hyacinth coaxed, "let me put it on for you, and then we'll go downstairs and play."

"Woof!" The big dog immediately changed his mind and raised his head to rub her face.

"Let's go." Hyacinth put the dog tag on the collar, grabbed the scarf and coat, "Let's go."

During the Christmas period, all the shops are closed and there are very few pedestrians on the road.Hyacinth let go of the rope and let Sirius play by himself. The black dog barked happily to drive away a group of sparrows, and was still chasing his tail around in place.Hyacinth couldn't help laughing.Sirius seemed intent on pleasing her, and turned to chase a hapless stray cat.

"Don't bully the cat, Sirius," Hyacinth called. "We should go back."

But Sirius pawed at the flower beds by the side of the road for a while, and then ran back with something in his mouth.

"What is this?" Before Hyacinth could see that the black dog stood upright like a human and put its front paws on her shoulders, she found that the big dog was holding a frozen bush branch with condensation on it. A beautiful ice flower.

The black dog wagged its tail earnestly, and Hyacinth immediately understood what it meant: "You are really flattering." She knelt down and rubbed the black dog's head, letting it rest on her lap, " But I wouldn't kiss a dog."

The big dog barked in dissatisfaction, and looked down at the collar around his neck.

Hyacinth guessed that the collar would prevent the Animagus from transforming.Sure enough, the moment she untied the collar, the person with her shoulders turned from a black dog into a human.

"You said it's Christmas." Sirius held her in his arms, "Would you like to buy a tongue kiss for one Galleon, miss?"

"I'll give you ten Galleons." Hyacinth enthusiastically cooperated with Sirius' actions, "Merry Christmas."

It's a pity that none of them noticed Edmund's cold eyes in the gap between the two buildings not far away.

- October 1978, 12 - Malfoy Manor

Severus heard Lucius' voice as soon as he entered the door. He was not interested in gossip and privacy, but the content of their conversation could not help but catch his attention.

"I personally think that this kind of thing should be left to chance," Margaret replied, "not to mention that we are still too young."

Severus took another step closer in a mysterious way, Lucius turned his head, he was taken aback: "Ah - Severus, when did you come back? I was talking to Maggie - —”

His words paused when they met Severus' eyes, and Severus felt that he was not quite normal today.Back at Hogwarts he had conversely tried to keep Margaret as far away from him as possible, and he was genuinely relieved when she stopped pestering him.But he didn't want to see her being lied to by Signus, and he couldn't even say why.

"Why didn't you just tell her?" Severus said without hesitation, and Lucius' face changed slightly.

"Tell me what?" Margaret glanced at Lucius uneasily.

Lucius looked at him nervously: "I think—"

Severus was well aware of the risks he would be running if he spoke out, and there was no doubt that Signus would hate him, but...he continued bluntly: "Signus has a mistress."

Margaret seemed to be taken aback for a moment, and she asked again as if she didn't understand: "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Her name is Catherine Shafik. And she's…" Severus looked away, "is pregnant."

The living room was extremely quiet.

"Lucius?" Margaret whispered, she turned to look at Lucius, the latter's face was mixed with guilt and embarrassment:

"Maggie—"

"I see." Margaret said very calmly, Severus thought she would cry for a moment, but Margaret just mechanically grasped her robe, "You two should have something to talk about, then I will Let's go first, see you - take care of Sissy." She said calmly, but the moment the words landed, she suddenly accelerated, and walked straight around Severus towards the door.

"Maggie!" Lucius called.

"I'll take care of it." Margaret didn't look back.

"Severus—"

"She'll know sooner or later, Lucius," Severus said in his usual drawl, "it's better for her to end it sooner rather than humiliate her after giving birth to her mistress. .At least the latter can preserve dignity."

"Signus can't come to trouble you." Lucius collected himself, "he will soon be out of control."

"You'd better go find Francis Watson. If you have to do it, do it cleanly. It's always good to have an extra helper."

Lucius couldn't help but cast a deep glance at Snape.

The author has something to say:

Note:

1. The missing date of Regulus is 1980 instead of 1979.

2. Narcissa's pregnancy is not a bug

3. The adultery of the Lestrange brothers is an accidental imagination.

4. According to "Night of Dawn", Margaret will go to France in a few months, but the time will be delayed here.

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1979