The Hidden One

Bonus chapter

"Reggie, they're not going to let us leave, even if it's just to muggle London," Rose argued. Regulus closed the bathroom door a little harder than he had to.

"I don't care anymore," Regulus responded as he tried to tame his curly hair. "They're not in charge of me. I'm an adult who has literally died and been stuck in the afterlife for over a decade."

Rose was silent for a second before Regulus heard her open his drawers and he quickly opened the door to see her stealing a sweater that he had stolen from Remus.

"Mum and Dad will probably be napping with Peanut and Joey, and Lily and James will be easier to convince than them," Rose decided as she left his room to go change. Regulus smiled and finished getting ready before meeting Rose in the kitchen.

"But we'll both have our wands, and it's not like we can die!" Rose argued with her dad.

"Regulus, why would you put this idea in her head?" Sirius sighed when he saw his brother. He ran his hand down his face before pushing his hair out of his eyes. He looked back and forth between his brother and his daughter for a minute and saw how much they needed to get out of the house. He knew the feeling seeing as he usually could only leave the house in the form of a dog.

"I won't let anything happen to her, Siri," Regulus promised. "Plus, we'll stay away from any wizard places. And we'll wear hats."

Sirius sighed and hit his head on the table a few times, too tired to argue.

"Fine," Sirius groaned. James snorted from the corner of the room where he was apparently in time out. Rose let out a cheer and ran to give her dad a hug. "But don't let Marls or Lily know. They'd kill me."

"No promises," Regulus said at the same time as Rose promised.

"Let's go before he changes his mind!" Rose yelled, running out the door as fast as she could.

"Reggie," Sirius said darkly as he stood up, coming to stand right in front of his brother. "I swear to Merlin, if anything happens to her because you convinced her to leave, I'll kill you myself."

Regulus just nodded, and hurried to follow his niece. He had never seen Sirius like that, not even at Hogwarts when he would try to protect Regulus from joining the Death Eaters.

"Where should we go first?" Rose asked. "I only have like 20 dollars."

"I'm quite hungry," Regulus said with a shrug. As nice as it felt outside, he was already regretting his decision to include Rose, the threat from his brother not leaving his mind. His hand was wrapped around his wand and he kept looking around.

"Ooh, I remember this place!" Rose gasped after a few seconds. "Moony and I would always come here when I was younger."

Regulus wrinkled his nose as they entered the store, pulling his hat down further as he surveyed everyone in the store. He was used to more upscale places than this little shop, which wasn't even the size of his bathroom.

"We'll have the number 2, please," Rose said kindly, passing over her money. Regulus tilted her hat down a little further, causing her to frown at him but she didn't argue. They had their food in record time and Regulus ushered her out of the room quickly, even though the only looks they got were from some women staring at him and some teenage boys staring at her.

"You're acting as bad as my dad," Rose grumbled as they reached a park bench. Regulus clenched his jaw but kept walking until they reached a tree where they couldn't be seen easily.

"I guess I just didn't think this through," Regulus admitted. "What exactly is this?"

"Fish and chips," Rose answered simply. "Try it."

Regulus made a disgusted face but bit into the fish. It was one of the best things that he had ever tasted, but he wouldn't let her know that so he simply shrugged.

"It's fine," Regulus told her. Rose just snorted, knowing that he enjoyed it.

"How are you adjusting to being back?" Rose asked after a few moments of silence. "It can't be easy, especially being stuck in that house."

"I've been better," Regulus admitted with a small shrug. "I hate that fucking house and all the memories in it. And I just want to be allowed outside without having to worry about being seen or attacked every second."

"Are you glad I brought you back?" Rose asked, not meeting his eyes. She had wondered for a while whether everyone was happy being back. James and Lily were ecstatic, but even they were getting discouraged by the news from outside and how long it was taking for them to meet Harry. Cedric was still the nicest person ever, but he obviously missed his family and friends.

"I don't know," Regulus admitted softly, pulling on the grass. "I missed Sirius, and I'm glad I can meet you, Seb, and Ari....but I know I did too many unforgivable things when I was younger. The Dark Lord will never let me go if he finds me because he knows everything I know....I'm thankful, but I'm just...conflicted as fuck."

"You curse too much," Rose responded, not knowing how to help her uncle.

"Please don't tell anyone what I've told you," Regulus asked. "I want them to learn how to trust me because they actually want to, not because you told them to."

"I promise."

And for the first time in a long time, Regulus knew that he had a friend.

Hello everyone! If you haven't read the sequel, I've added some bonus chapters and I'm going to go ahead and add them to this story as well. If you have any suggestions or any characters you want to see, leave a comment and let me know! Thank you!