“Lily Evans has a different case to my own.” Regulus commented lightly, turning his head to glance at her. Regulus was not shy to admit that he liked Lily, in a way that a bigoted Pureblood could like a Muggleborn anyway. They didn’t speak too often, which was absolutely fine by him, but they did converse due to their prefect duties occasionally coincide with each other. It also helped that it had seemed, although he hadn’t asked her lately, that the redhead wasn’t too fond of the Marauders, a dislike he truly shared. And while there were times when Regulus would argue her statement, saying that a Muggleborn couldn’t possibly be smarter than him, a member of the Black family, he found it hard to disagree. “Evans does not belong to a prestigious house. She may be in danger in the streets, but at least she is safer in her own home, hm?”
And it was true enough. It made him wonder how much Sirius had told his friends. That Marlene would see it as so easy to go against the normality that was the House of Black. Had Sirius landed differently, had Orion pushed a little harder, he would not only be disowned but deceased too. Not that Regulus wanted to change his mind. He still believed in the world Lord Voldemort was suggesting. Walburga and Orion had assured him it was the only way to keep wizard preservation. He supposed it made sense. If they kept mating with Muggles, eventually the magic would die out. At least, that must have been the main reason, right?
“That’s funny coming from you.” Regulus stated with a small eye roll. “Telling me off because you still have the delusion that I support You Know Who.” It was foolish at this point to pretend he didn’t, but he’d never say it out loud in such a public place. He did like being free and not bothered. So far, only Marlene knew about his interest, not counting the Slytherins of course, and he was perfectly content to keep it that way. “It’s ironic, because you are an expert at pretending that your feelings don’t exist. I don’t know what happened to you last summer, McKinnon, and forgive me, but I don’t really care. But you’re not that hard to read, it was something unpleasant. You place yourself in other peoples affairs to ignore your own misfortune. So don’t speak to me of emotions.”
Regulus chose to not comment on the fact that ‘everyone was equal’ merely because he disagreed. But that didn’t mean he thought killing was the answer. It didn’t mean he didn’t see that everyone had value, even if it was something mundane. But that was how the world worked as it was. The Minister of Magic was above other Ministry workers – and eventually, Purebloods would be above Muggleborns. So he just hummed, keeping his face impassive. Another bonus of being a member of the Black family. Unreadable expressions. As it was, he was usually able to mask everything except from two people. His brother and Antonin Dolohov.
But his expression immediately changed when she mentioned that he could pass on his surname. It was almost an insult, a spit in the face, and his features soured almost immediately, his eyebrows knitting together in frustration. “No. I can’t.” It came down to the same thing again. Even if Regulus didn’t want the responsibility, even if he wanted to follow the same path of his estranged sibling, it would certainly result in his death. He doubted it before, not thinking Orion was capable of such a thing. But now, he didn’t even think twice. If he was an embarrassment too, his end was certain. “I don’t have that luxury. What is it with everyone and thinking I can just follow that idiot into the unknown without fatal consequences?”
He had not meant for the last part to spill out. While everyone who was aware of the events of Grimmauld place would know the outcome of him abandoning his responsibility as heir, most did not. Did they think it so easy? The Black family were not so typical. That was easy to tell merely from their offspring. But if Sirius had not told Marlene that he could have easily been murdered that night, he wouldn’t either. It wasn’t his business to share. So he simply continued, acting as if his last statement never happened.
“What is there left? I have as much freedom as I shall ever achieve now.” Regulus told her, returning his facial features to one of a neutral standing. “But do not think I have a luxury. I still have a target on my back, and I assure you, more dangerous eyes are on me than either of your friends.” After all, if he were to slip up, everyone would know. And what future would that assure for the family?
But were they really that different, Marlene wondered. Lily and Regulus were extremely alike in her opinion. Both bright, both dedicated, both caught up in a war that neither of them had asked for; both the youngest sibling, both saddled with the burdens that came with being the youngest (and prodigal) sibling. "She might not be a Black," she said, trying to choose her words carefully, "but she's in just as much danger at home, should anyone ever find her. If her family is found, they'll all be killed. So not only is she in danger by the sheer nature of her circumstances, her very presence puts her family in danger too. Your parents might be batshit crazy, but I highly doubt they'd murder you and themselves."
"Perhaps if you hadn't given me so much evidence to believe in that particular delusion I'd be quicker to think you didn't," she replied coolly, trying to remind him that their entire predicament was due to the fact that he'd left a book filled with more than enough to convince anyone that he was definitely on You Know Who's side. Even the daftest person Marlene knew would be likely to draw that conclusion from the evidence provided. "As it is, all I have to go on is the notebook I was physically able to hold in my hand and your word. You could see how that could be a bit incriminating, yes?"
But then he commented on her previous summer, and everything else completely vanished from her brain. He knew. He had to know. Marlene knew that her parents paid the Healer that had dealt with her situation a pretty hefty amount of gold to ensure her silence on the matter, but money was no guarantee. Why would he say something like that if he didn't know? And if Regulus knew, how many other people knew? The Hogwarts gossip chain was as fast as it was ruthless. "My summer was perfectly boring last year," she told him in a tone much too stiff to match her words. "Forgive me for trying to be a decent person and make sure my friends aren't, you know, tortured and murdered just because they were born to muggles. Something they didn't even ask for." She'd barely had time to panic about his inevitable discovery of her own indiscretion before he threw another bombshell on her.
"Fatal consequences?" she asked curiously, her head falling to the side as she regarded him. "Your parents may be insane and a bit on the cruel side, sure, but I'm sure they wouldn't murder their own child. After all, with one son dead and the other disinherited, they'd lose the line forever, wouldn't they? And that's the most important thing to pureblood parents these days. They'd be furious with you, I'm sure, but enough to kill you?"
"Besides," Marlene continued, taking a step closer to him so that she could lower her voice. The conversation had shifted and she didn't particularly feel like broadcasting it out to the shop. "I highly doubt Dumbledore would stand aside and let them kill you. You would have protection. But I have to disagree with you on one point. The same eyes are on my friends that are on you. There's no doubt in my mind that every muggleborn at Hogwarts is being watched. It's the easiest place to separate the masses, isn't it? Everybody knows everything about everyone, include blood status. It's much easier to target those exiting Hogwarts than trying to weed out the adults."
