Many a pureblood has been forced to marry for blood rather than for love. It isn't a new system, though with the Sacred 28 dying out, every child which comes of age is made to marry by their parents.
Regulus black, the new heir to the most Noble ho...
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LIBER (Latin): Noun, meaning Book
Regulus ushers the young girl down the hall towards the Head office, which contains two desks, one on each side of the room. They sit at the one to the left, the one labeled Head Girl, Mala sitting in the chair and Regulus sitting on the arm beside her. The young girl takes a seat on the other side, watching as her heads of house send each other an awkward glance.
"My brother told me that everyone hates slytherins, is that true? I'm Pansy, by the way."
"There are a lot of prejudices in the world, Pansy." Mala tells her quietly, staring at the girl with eyes filled with sympathy. She clearly doesn't want to have to tell her that this is how everything is at the school, but she knows she has to. "Many years ago, when the school was first created, Salazar Slytherin advocated for something that the other houses didn't agree with. He did it to keep us safe, to keep everyone in the school safe, but to many... to many he sounded evil for it. Salazar left the school and went on to push his idea to others, and since then, we have suffered for it. That rivalry between the other houses and us has continued, just because of something that happened hundreds of years ago. In many ways, it is ingrained in the walls of this school." She says, taking a deep breath before continuing. "And now, there are threats in this world created by former slytherins. They treat us as though we're snakes, and then they say it is part of our cunning that leads us to evil. That is why we have to be a family, have to advocate for each other."
"What do I do if my family hates me for being a slytherin?" She questions, tears gathering in her large eyes and her button nose turning a bit pink.
The question hits Regulus straight in the stomach as he remembers the way his family reacted to his brother's sorting. He isn't naive enough to believe that it can't be the same for the opposite side of the spectrum. He knows the prejudices kept against slytherins, it's something he's more than used to handling, often all on his own. He supposes that now he has someone to handle everything with. From the mark on his forearm to his secret mission to defy it. Of course, there are a few things he needs to learn about her before he can tell her everything he hopes to do to the Dark Lord. He wants to be sure he can trust her.
"You rely on your friends." He says simply, thinking of James Potter and the others his brother left them for. He remembers the feeling of watching Sirius run away, of hearing Walburga shout for her husband when she found the note he had left the next morning. He remembers his father telling her that this was the last straw, that Sirius had chosen not to be their son anymore, not to be Regulus's brother. He remembers when his parents stood with him in front of the Black Family Tree, telling him that it had to be done, that he had to blast his brother's face off of the tapestry. That it couldn't be anyone else but him, not if he wanted to be the heir.
He never wanted to become the heir.
"But you never forget the people who were always there for you no matter what." He tacks on the last part as though it isn't important at all, though it means so much to him that he feels the need to turn to look out the window to hide his teary eyes.
