You Will Be Mortal Once More (Regulus Black Lives AU)

Chapter 3 ~ The Headmaster

Regulus' grey eyes moved around the walls of the office he currently found himself in. The books that lined the walls held the majority of his interest, reading over the various titles and topics. There were many trinkets lying around as well, some seeming completely useless and others seem too complicated to understand upon a first glance.  He then let his attention move to the red Pheonix by the desk. Fawkes, he believed was its name. Pheonix always were beautiful creatures to him, and he admired how they always rose from their ashes. A strong metaphor. 

It occurred to him that in all his years at Hogwarts, Regulus had never found himself in the office of the Headmaster. Unlike his older brother, Regulus tried very hard to stay out of trouble at school. All of his focus had been set of achieving good grades and really just being the best student he could. He had done this for two reasons: his parents incredibly high standards, and his own fulfillment. When it came to others' opinions of him, Regulus was very set on having people see him in a good light. In all ways, he was a people pleaser. Sure, there were certain people he valued more than others, but he still had always tried to keep most happy with him.

As Regulus stood alone in the office, he was struck with slight annoyance by the fact that he was alone. It was not as if he had randomly shown up or something like that. Dumbledore had given him a specific time to arrive. One would think that the 'host' would be there to greet his visitor, but it seemed not.

"Ah, Regulus Black." A voice spoke, pulling Regulus from his thoughts. "I will admit, I did not anticipate ever seeing you after your graduation." 

Regulus turned to see the old Headmaster entering the office, giving a small nod of his head in greeting to the man. He looked just about the same as he always did, beard and all.

It hadn't even been that long since he had last seen him. Regulus had only passed his last year a couple of months ago, which did show just how intolerant he was to a full-fledged life of a death eater.

"I don't recall ever seeing much of you, but yes, me neither," Regulus replied, keeping to a bit of honesty with the man, but also not being impolite. It was just a fact. Dumbledore had never needed to or wanted to bother with the younger Black, so he hadn't.

Dumbledore crossed the room, heading to his own desk as he looked over Regulus. His eyes did not show the mistrust Regulus would have expected, only holding a glint of curiosity. Regulus did suppose it was a curious occurrence, never having been the Black brother to be on the good side of things. "Your letter was unexpected but intriguing to me. And you mentioned that you didn't want to say what you had in the letter, so would you mind sharing now?"

Regulus nodded his head, pulling on his sleeves slightly. It was a small fighting habit that he knew his mother would have smacked him over the head for doing, but it still never quite went away. He just learned to hold back the urges around her. "Yes, of course. I do have to ask, do you know what a Horcrux is?" Regulus assumed he would, the old man seems to have an unlimited source of knowledge after all, but he thought he would still ask just in case. 

Dumbledore rose a slight brow, looking at Regulus for a moment. "I do. It comes as a surprise to me, however, that you do too." incredible dark magic it was. The kind of thing that Regulus found interesting but would never actually dare to attempt. "What makes you ask?"

"The Dark Lord. He created... well, I don't know how many exactly he created. But I do know that there is at least one." Regulus paused, slipping his hand into his pocket and pulling out the Slytherin Locket. "This one."

Dumbledore peered at it, his eyes widening just at the mere fact that Regulus happened to be holding it in his hand. "How did you manage to get it?"

Regulus did not hand over the locket, feeling far too protective over it, and instead pulled it back into himself. "He can be very proud towards those he does not see as a threat... I am not sure if he just was not expecting my house elf to tell me about it or if he didn't think I would do anything. Either way, he made a mistake, and now I have it." Regulus paused, looking over the locket. "Problem is, nothing I have done had destroyed it. I've run out of patience and I figured you might know a bit more than me about how to take care of it." 

Dumbledore gave a slow nod of his head, clearing thinking but the actual thoughts being a toss-up for Regulus. There was a moment of silence between the men, but finally, Dumbledore broke it. "I have an idea of what can be used and I think I can be of use... but-" there was always a 'but', "I might need to strike a deal with you first."

As the wheels in Dumbledore's head were turning, Regulus just looked at him incredulously. A deal? There was a Dark Lord out there killing people, and this man was trying to strike a deal. "I beg your pardon?" Regulus said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"I think it will be mutually beneficial, do not stress." Dumbledore gave a slight shake of his head. "I am under the assumption that you work for You Know Who at this time, but do not want to be. I am offering you the option of being a spy for the Order of the Pheonix." 

Regulus was stunned by his words. If all the formality was taken away, the man was just trying to force Regulus into doing what he wanted. Dumbledore needed a spy and this was his cruel way of doing that. "No. I don't want to be affiliated with the Dark Lord anymore. That was the whole point of this." He did not once raise his voice, but his tone was firm. 

"I beg you to consider. He had your trust and this way you will be able to continue on as normal, but with the knowledge that you are doing something good. I will be the only one you will have to be in contact with." He paused. "And if you do not, I am afraid I can not help you. These are troubling times..." 

Regulus narrowed his eyes at the Headmaster as he debated it in his head. Was the offer such a horrible one? The main con was that he would have to continue acting as a death eater, which had been tearing him apart. But, there was the possibility that it could be over soon. A strong possibility with the Horcrux destroyed. "I would like to first say that I do not like this one bit. But... I will accept your deal."

"And if I shall need any smaller favors, that could be mutually beneficial to you, will you go through with them? Again I will also be assisting you with the Horcrux and I will guarantee your safety should you get arrested or anything of the sort."

Regulus gave a nod of his head, begrudgingly agreeing to it all. "I accept."

"Wonderful."

~~~

With that, their partnership began. Regulus went back to the Dark Lord as if nothing had happened and began trading information in exchange for assistance with the locket. It was everything less than enjoyable, but Regulus did it. Soon enough the time came for the Dark Lord to be destroyed, in a travesty of events, and Regulus thought he was finally free. Or so he thought until he was brought into another short conversation with the Headmaster.

"This should be a time of celebration, but I do have to ask you a favor now that the war is over. The boy will be in great danger once he is brought back into the wizarding world. When that happens, I want you to be here to look out for him. Watch over him and make sure no one gets the chance to hurt him. We both know that Voldemort will return one day and we must be prepared. I am offering you a teaching job here, though it is more of a request than an offer. Do this and I will keep you out of the ministry's hands."

Well, how could Regulus possibly refuse?