The Other Side

4. Regulus Black- Duty

When Regulus Black had been born, he had been completely unimportant. He was of no consequence to his parents, who already had an heir to the Black fortune and name in the form of Sirius, Regulus's older brother.

The first person or, rather, creature to show him attention had been Kreacher, the house elf. Kreacher had liked that Regulus treated him well, unlike Sirius, who was cruel to Kreacher.

Sirius had a rebellious streak that their parents had attempted to tame for eleven years, until Sirius went off to Hogwarts and became a Gryffindor.

Regulus would never have admitted it, but he admired his brother's courage. He loved Sirius because, despite all other unimportant factors, Sirius was his brother. Sirius had, albeit reluctantly, played with Regulus when he had been a child, bestowed on him a certain amount of attention, something he had only received from the house elf, and had even bandaged up his scraped knee when their mother couldn't have been bothered to heal it with magic and Kreacher was busy.

Despite all of the jealousy he had hidden away in the deepest corners of his heart, Regulus loved Sirius and had even idolized him.

But, he couldn't deny that Sirius' character was tainted with the smallest of dashes of cruelty.

It could be observed, for instance, in the way he treated Kreacher. He treated the house elf as even less than a slave, as though he had no feelings, no conscience and no thoughts.

Then again, that had probably been because Kreacher was a permanent reminder of their mother and Sirius had hated their mother.

But, the one thing that Regulus had hated him for, was that, when he had saved himself, he hadn't bothered to save Regulus, as well.

So, when Sirius ran away to his friend's house, the burden of carrying the Black family name and its numerous traditions and beliefs fell onto Regulus's own shoulders. And, even though it felt heavier than all the world, Regulus would later learn that that wasn't the heaviest burden he would carry.

Later, the Dark Lord would rise and, as the official heir to Black family name, Regulus would have to be the one to take on the responsibility of being the one to represent the family that was most loyal to the Dark Lord.

At this point, Regulus had felt nothing. He didn't know what to feel, he didn't know what he was supposed to feel.

So, he had believed.

Despite all of his doubts and all of his questions, he forced himself into unswerving, undying belief in the Dark Lord's cause.

Because that was his duty.

From the time he had been born, Regulus had been taught one thing and one thing only by his mother. That had been complete and utter loyalty to the family and those associated with the family. It was the Slytherin way-- to swear fealty to the House and to their own needs.

Yes, at first Regulus had definitely been a fanatic. He had been blinded by his attempts at proving himself, at making sure his mother knew that he was better than his brother. He had always been in need of maternal affection and was willing to one up his brother for it, despite his brother having shown him small bouts of kindness in the past.

When his mother had hugged him for the first time, he had felt nothing but contentment. Her embrace, although far from warm and loving, had been the attention he had been seeking from childhood.

Sirius, although loved in a deep part of Regulus's heart, was soon pushed away and relegated to the far corners of his mind and was almost forgotten. His parents' words had become law and religion and he wished to follow them until the day he died.

His parents had been such master manipulators that they had manipulated him without even intending to do so.

After having been unimportant for so long, they had made him feel wanted. And, for that, he had followed them to the ends of the earth.

His loyalty, his beliefs and his duty were to his family. The family came before all else, all else except the Dark Lord and Regulus accepted that. He had become desperate to join the ranks of the Dark Lord the moment he left school and that had been what he had done.

When he first joined, he had noticed a few discrepancies, a few mistakes and immoral acts that he had turned a blind eye to-- one couldn't change the world without taking a few lives.

His blind faith, his duty to the Dark Lord was going to be his downfall. He had been a foolish boy who had believed that the Dark Lord would change the world because his mother had told him so.

Even after Regulus had realized how wrong the Dark Lord was, he hadn't immediately switched his loyalty. He had waited, not believing in what the monster he had served preached, he had waited for the opportunity to strike, to strike without it leading back to him.

After all, his loyalties had switched and made his family foremost and his only worry was for them. He had a duty, a duty to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. He was now the torch-bearer and he would have to lead the family into a new era, whomsoever the era belonged to.

Then, Kreacher, Kreacher who had all but reared him, had been hurt. That had changed everything. That had put everything, his entire life, into perspective.

His duty was to the Light.

The Dark Lord and his Horcruxes had to be destroyed. After much fruitles planning, he decided that saving himself did not matter anymore. He had to die doing his duty.

So, he went. He was ready to destroy the Dark Lord. He was ready to avenge everyone else. He would not have the glory, someone else in a different time would, probably some Gryffindor brave enough to outwardly defy the Dark Lord.

Regulus Arcturus Black didn't know what would happen to his family. He would not receive any glory. He would die a lonely death.

But, he would die doing his duty and that was the most important thing in all the world, his duty.