Messr Prongs and His King|| Jegulus

Ch. 4: Searching for Secrets

Regulus had just finished changing when he heard a knock on his door. He grabbed the clothes he wore as Diana and stuffed them in the trunk he kept in the bottom of his closet. It might ruin them but he was in a rush. The person at the door knocked again.
"Coming!", he called and grabbed a hair tie. As he headed to the door he pulled his hair up into a quick ponytail and straightened his button up shirt. Regulus reached the front door of his flat and opened it.

On the other side was a man with a big build. One of Lucius' men if he remembered correctly, likely Goyle. With him was a crying woman with blonde hair, someone Regulus knew very well.
"Cissa?", he asked softly, taking in her sobbing state.
"Lucius is dead", she replied shakily, "He went to step out but he never came back. When i went to go check on him he- he", she broke down crying.
Probably-Goyle patted her shoulder awkwardly, "Poisoned. We think a hitman was posing as one of the guests last night and slipped something into his drink."
Regulus made himself look sympathetic, "Oh Cissa", he pulled her into a hug and let her cry into his shoulder.
"I am so sorry", he lied easily, then turned his attention to probably-Goyle, "You can go"
Probably-Goyle frowned, "But- I'm her bodyguard"
"I'll look after her. Besides, it's not like your boss can yell at you"
The bodyguard paused, "I'll be waiting for you outside, Mrs. Malfoy", and left the cousins alone.

Regulus led Narcissa to the couch and sat down next to her. He carefully let go of her and made his way to the door and locked it. Pressing an ear to the door, he hears as probably-Goyle's footsteps get softer and softer until he couldn't hear them anymore.
"He's gone", he said.
The crying abruptly stopped, "Finally"
***

Nothing. Three hours of searching through every police report, news article, and gossip column he could find, and he's found nothing. James rubbed his irritated eyes. Whoever she was, she was good. Diana has killed a dozen men, each one more important than the last, and none of them had made the news. It seems Malfoy had them all covered up himself, the deaths of his lieutenants would make him look weak. But Malfoy was a member of parliament and one of the wealthiest men in England, there's no way his death will be covered up. Does this mean that Diana's done now that her deeds will be exposed at last? James, selfishly, hoped not. If she's still out there, it means there's a chance he might see her again.
'Besides', he thought, 'I took the credit. If anyone's gonna suffer any backlash, it's-'
James sat up straighter as the realization struck him. "Me", he said the last part out loud.

Was that it? Did Diana, King, let him take the credit because she knew it would come back to bite him in the arse? If people think he killed Malfoy, who's to say they won't blame the Marauders for the other murders as well. Diana played him, making him take the consequences for her actions. She played him, and he fell right for it, because he's a soft idiot who's weak for pretty girls.

James, frightened for his friends and angry at Diana (he was a bit impressed too, but mostly angry), picked up his phone and called Remus.
***

Regulus reentered the living room with two cups of tea in his hands. He sat down next to Narcissa and gave her one.
"Thank you", she said, looking much more beautiful now that she has wiped her tears away.
"You're welcome", Regulus replied and took a sip of his tea, "Allow me to offer my condolences to the newly made weeping widow"
Narcissa shook her head, "The day I truly weep for Lucius is the day Hell freezes over"

He chuckled, "You did great, by the way. I never knew you could cry on demand. Do you think you could give me some pointers?"
"I have to keep some secrets. Don't want you to get too good at acting or else you'll start lying to me and getting away with it"
"Never. You know me too well. Besides, I would never lie to you", he never was able to, never wanted to. When the idea of King first appeared in his head, she was the first one he told and she's been helping him ever since.

"Think about it, Cissa", he told her, "The ways things currently are, nothing will change. Father won't listen, so it falls down to me to make it better", Better than murdering innocents or purposely creating addicts and violence to profit off of the drugs and weapons. He knew no one in his family was good, not even himself, but there's a difference between a villain and a monster. He had to put a stop to this, but he couldn't do it as Regulus Black.

So he had to be someone else.

Narcissa, his ever so loyal cousin, agreed to help him on one condition.
"Fix my family first", she demanded and how could he refuse?
***

"If people find out the Marauders were behind Malfoy's death they might start thinking we killed his men too", James explained to Remus over the phone, "It creates a huge target on our back, way bigger than the one we usually have"
Remus cursed, "I didn't think of that. Good thing you poisoned him then. It's not your signature move, like you said, so no one should suspect you killed him"
'Because I didn't kill him', James thought, not exactly sure why he's not telling Remus. With his help they'd surely find something about Diana. And, hell, it's Remus. If anyone can keep a secret it's Mooney. But James promised to not tell anyone and he's a man of his word, even to people who have used him.

"Just make sure our names stay out of it", was what he told Remus. Remus agreed to do so and hung up. James sighed and put his face in his hands. A few moments passed before he looked up and came face to face with his computer. Diana's name was in the search tab and on the webpage read the words "Your search- Diana Delacour- did not match any documents"

James stared at the screen, "Who are you?", he muttered. 'And why can't I forget you?"
***
"So why did you save that mysterious guest at Lucius' party?", Narcissa asked.
"He was attractive", Regulus said, which was technically the truth.
"Really? You saved him because you thought he was cute?"
Regulus nodded. He wasn't lying, but he also wasn't telling her that the only reason why Anthony/Prongs didn't kill her prat-of-a-husband was because Regulus killed him first. And he never will tell her that and it confuses him as to why that is. He owes Anthony nothing, if anything he should be angry the hitman attempted to steal a kill he worked so hard for. But every time he thought to tell Cissa a stronger thought protested quite strongly. Keeping promises was not something Blacks did, but this was one promise Regulus couldn't even think to break. How strange.

Regulus shook his head, "There's more pressing matters at hand. As much as I would love telling you all about the mysterious man I'm pining for, we need a plan", he stood up and started pacing- an annoying habit he inherited from his father, "Lucius Malfoy is now dead, leaving his empire in the hands of his dear wife", he gestured to his cousin, who gave him a knowing smile. "With the kingpin dead, this usually would be the perfect time for anyone with power to stage a coup except-"
"Except due to a stream of killings by King", Narcissa continued, "All the main threats have been taken out. Which means I should have no problem taking over my late husband's crime ring. And of course making some changes as well", she shook her head, "Those poor girls".

Regulus stopped pacing and looked at her, "So our test run was a success?"
"Most definitely", Narcissa agreed, taking a sip of her tea, "Which means it's time for the real deal"
"The Blacks"
She nodded, frowning, "You know you don't have to do this"
"Don't be ridiculous, Cissa, of course I do. My father's reign must end and we've already come this far. I have to follow this through".
'But I'm going to need help', Regulus thought, 'More than Cissa. I need to find Barty'. Time to get that ungrateful bastard to come out of hiding.
***

Remus knew James was hiding something. Out of their entire group of friends James was the worst liar and Remus was the most observant. There was something his friend wasn't telling him about Malfoy's party and it all came back to how James killed him. Did James even kill him? Remus didn't know and were he Sirius he would just confront James and demand answers. But he was not Sirus, he was Remus, and he wanted to respect his friend's privacy. Did it sting a bit that James wasn't planning to tell the Marauders, his closest friends, what happened? Definitely. But he was allowed some space and even a few secrets. They all had them.

Remus just hoped that whatever James' secret was, it won't blow up in his face and get them all killed. That would just suck.