Truce

-Break-

May 2, 2000

Gene had paused multiple times throughout his story but this time he allowed himself to truly think. He looked down at his silver ring. It was the last thing Jacob would ever give to him. Before he...

Gene looked up at the three people staring back at him. A familiar pair of eyes piercing into his. God, Harry looked so much like his uncle, it was almost uncanny. Gene looked back down at his ring. They all had one, it was their way of knowing that they were a team. An impenetrable team. He sighed and pulled out a cigarette. If there was one thing he could never beat, it was his need for nicotine. From the corner of his eye, Gene watched as the Golden Trio whispered amongst themselves, obviously worried as to the reason why Gene had stopped. Gene was never one to feel old, however he couldn't ignore the fact that he was indeed an elder compared to these three. How had twenty-nine years sneaked up on him so quickly?

"Are you okay?" It was Ron's voice that snapped Gene out of focus. With a short cough, Gene let out the smoke that rotted his teeth before smiling softly.

"M'fine. Quite dandy if I'm being honest." Gene pursed his lips before inhaling again. "I don't like the rest of the story. It's bleak, childish, and downright depressing." He glanced up at the trio. "I don't want none of you to pity me. This is my story, my trauma, my sadness. Any glances of sympathy and I stop it there."

The trio remained quiet, a detail that irked Gene. "Are we clear?"

The trio immediately nodded. Gene's smile widened. "I'm going to skip forward a bit, skip to the fun part." Gene stretched out his legs in front of him, patting out his cigarette as he continued. "It was the year where everything went from terrible to demented, shit to diarrhea, you know the deal." Gene waved his hands and the trio nodded. "1979, January. A little before you were born, Harry."

Harry smiled at Gene's comment, his eyes obviously asking questions he didn't dare speak. "Sev was in a dark fucking place, annoying twat that he was. Your father was finally fucking gone with his stupid little clique. I was with your uncle, Pandora was with Xenophilius, married as well, and Regulus," Gene's hands fidgeted for another cigarette. "Regulus, well..." fuck it. Another cigarette was promptly stuffed into Gene's mouth, the smoke filling his system again.

"He was evil." Ron cut in. Gene's eyebrows rose in disbelief. "At least, that's what Sirius said. But then we saw a letter that said he had tried to fight Vold- You-Know-Who and-,"

"You can say his full name, he's dead now." Gene bit back a laugh. "Your generation is free from him."

Ron nodded slowly. "He fought V-Voldemort."

Gene nodded. "He did."

"Did you help him?"

Gene thought for a moment. "In a way."

Ron nodded and Gene decided to take it as a means of understanding. "But he was never evil." Gene continued, twirling his cigarette in his hand. "Regulus has never had an evil bone in his body. Sirius? Sure, that man was as eviler than the devil himself. But Regulus? Reg was the sweetest man that ever lived. He was just born in a shitty fucking situation." Gene decided to ignore the sour expression on Harry's face. "It was 1979. With Panda married to Xeno, the only thing we focused on was taking down Voldemort from the inside. Regulus had the information, Panda and Xeno had the brains, Jacob and I had the fucking willpower." Gene's mind clouded with memories, memories he wished he could forget.

"1979 marked the start of something legendary. Something we would call: 'The Plan'."