Diptych

Chapter 14

"I'll tell you the same as I told your brother, Mr. Black; standing here and gaping at him isn't going to do the boy any good." Madam Pomfrey said as she laid her hand on him, causing Regulus to all but jump out of his skin, stepping back from her and having the decency to look ashamed at having been caught sneaking around. She didn't look particularly cross with him, only wore that same stern expression she always seemed to, one accrued only after being surrounded by troublesome teenagers for as many years as she had. As he recovered from the initial shock, her words repeated in his mind and he couldn't help but ask,

"Sirius was here?"

"Yes, well... as you'd expect." As she spoke, Madam Pomfrey returned to her duties, filling empty glasses beside each of the beds in the wing, while Regulus felt obligated to follow. "The three of them were down here before the sun had even risen. Visiting time isn't until after breakfast, as they well know." He wasn't sure that her complaints actually required any response, and so he didn't give one. Regulus knew as well as anybody did, how irritating his brother and his friends could be, so he couldn't blame her for wanting to vent to the first person who allowed it. It was perhaps cruel of her to send them away, and somewhere deep inside him, he did feel a pang of sympathy towards his brother. None of his friends were as close to him as Lupin, Potter and Pettigrew were to Sirius, so he wasn't sure he could fully understand the stress and grief they must have been experiencing, but he could still feel badly. If he were still feeling guilty, the thought would have multiplied that feeling tenfold. Though he tried not to think about it, to dismiss his irrational fears of his own involvement, Regulus couldn't help but glance back at the bed where he knew Lupin lay.

"He came in here during the night, then?" He asked.

"Yes." Madam Pomfrey answered, and he could tell from the tone in her voice that she would be saying nothing more on the subject. In fact, as he followed her about the hospital wing, unsure of what he could do to help her and not really wanting to be there himself, he began to feel somewhat in the way. Some of the other students spent time there, the ones who planned to be healers after Hogwarts, but Regulus had never fallen into that category.

"Alright, I'll..." He motioned towards the doorway, fumbling in that direction before pausing when he reached the ancient brass doorknobs. A mortifying thought had occurred to him. "Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes?"

"Please don't mention to Sirius that I was here." The Matron said nothing to that, but gave him a pitying look that made him wish he hasn't asked it of her in the first place. He hoped that she wouldn't mention his presence to Sirius. He and his friends, Potter especially, would only be suspicious. They'd probably use it as an excuse to blame him for the attack.

However, Regulus had almost managed to completely convince himself of his own innocence. If he had been changed somehow by the sleeping draught and gone around attacking random students, it was feasible that he might not remember all of the details, due to how traumatic that would presumably be. But he was absolutely certain that he'd have remembered attacking Remus Lupin, one of his brother's best friends. And since he didn't remember seeing Lupin at all the previous day, let alone petrifying him, he thought that he could safely rule out the possibility. Besides, in one final attempt to convince his mind to let it go, he told himself that if he was going to petrify (thus silencing) any of Sirius' friends, it would be Potter.

But still, the feeling in Regulus' gut when he thought about Tom and the diary didn't disappear. The potion he'd gone to Madam Pomfrey for in the first place had been forgotten in his shock, and so his headache remained. He wanted to write to his friend as he usually would at that time of the day, but how could he without mentioning what had happened? In the case of the previous two attacks, he had mentioned them to Tom and not thought much of his reaction. Regulus could barely even recall how Tom had reacted to those attacks, having heard so many opinions on each from his peers, and especially from Snape. Rather than writing to Tom right away, he decided it was time to bite the bullet and follow up the only lead he actually had when it came to the boy he'd been writing to. Maybe then, he'd have more of a clue of what to say to him.

"Ah, Regulus! Come in, sit down. I was just in the middle of reading through your classmates' latest pieces." Professor Slughorn took a few moments to notice him loitering in his doorway but when he did, he immediately abandoned the parchment he'd been reading, letting his spectacles fall down the bridge of his nose as he peered fondly at 'one of his favourite students'. That wasn't his own opinion, but something the professor had said on several occasions. Regulus did as he was told, taking the seat on the opposite side of Slughorn's desk, where the man had since returned to his work, apparently happy for Regulus to speak as he marked, with only a gentle request that he not sneak a look at his classmates' work.

"Professor, can I ask you something?"

"Of course. Having trouble with the task I set?" Slughorn asked, without so much as looking up from the parchment in his hands. He dipped his quill, adding some amendment or other.

"No, it's... It's not about Potions." He toyed with his hands, sleeves pulled right down over his palms. It felt wrong to be asking, like he was going behind Tom's back. And though he was sure Tom would never know about his conversation with Slughorn unless he himself told him, it didn't do much to soothe him. Betrayal wasn't something the Black family took lightly.

"Oh." Surprised by his answer, or perhaps noticing Regulus' nerves, Slughorn's demeanour turned far more cheerful. He clapped his hands once and then lifted his hands to his head, saying, "Well then, let me adjust my cap from Potions Professor to Head of House!" It wasn't enough to make Regulus laugh, as he was sure was the intention, but he did give a small smile and finally looked back up to the professor.

"Do you remember teaching somebody called Tom?" He asked.

The name 'Tom' felt odd as he formed it with his lips, and it occurred to him that it was the first time he'd spoken it to anybody, the first time he'd said it out loud at all if he didn't count the time in his dream. As well as feeling foreign to Regulus, the name seemed to trigger something in Professor Slughorn, some sort of uncomfortable surprise. He hid it well though, and busied his hands shuffling the pieces of parchment before him.

"Mh, well, Thomas is a very popular name among the muggles, you know? Very common indeed." He said, which was obviously meant to deter Regulus. It couldn't though, not if he finally wanted to get to the truth of who Tom was, and to find out if his growing unease was at all reasonable, or only a symptom of being a terrible friend.

"You do, then?"

"Oh, a great many Toms and Thomases. Why do you ask?" His tone was sharp with the question, and Regulus wondered if he had perhaps done something to offend the professor. It seemed strange that he wouldn't want to discuss a past student of his, because it usually seemed to be his favourite hobby. Any number of names, and he'd have reached for his stacks of photographs, pointing out old Head Girls or students who went on to do really exceptional things. Why should Tom be any different? Had he been a great disappointment after school, very unsuccessful perhaps, or disappeared into the muggle world. He somehow couldn't imagine the latter based on their many conversations.

"The person I'm speaking of was a Slytherin. I think he was here at the same time as my Uncle Alphard," he offered, thinking it might help jog Slughorn's memory, if there really were that many Toms and Thomases to have roamed the halls, if that really was the reason for his lack of answers.

"Regulus, why are you asking me this? Can't you see that I'm busy?" To say he had been so eager to hear Regulus' questions just a moment ago, had welcomed him into his office so easily, Regulus couldn't understand why a simple question about somebody he'd taught would get him so flustered. Not unless he had something really bad to say about Tom. But then, why not just come out with it?

"Yes, Professor. Sorry, Professor." With all of his apologies out of the way, Regulus stood from his seat and headed for the open door. Before he could leave, the professor spoke again, softer and slightly apologetic, presumably for snapping and not for being so unforthcoming.

"No matter, no matter. Run along, Regulus. There's no sense in dwelling in the past as some are prone to do. Most unhealthy, I think you'd agree."