Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Thirty Two

Regulus stared at her for a moment, just watching, before straightening himself up, "Go and check on Dirk. Find Piper too; he'll want you both there. I'll talk to Ignatius and try to find out if he knew anything. My guess is only higher up people - like the Lestranges - will have been aware or involved."

"Don't go to Ignatius yet." Esme placed a hand on his chest, "I want to be there. I'll go to Dirk and after dinner we'll find Ignatius together, deal?"
"Alright, deal."

Esme stepped closer, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of Regulus' mouth before dashing past him in search of Dirk and Piper. However, Regulus was not going to wait to confront Ignatius. He had to confront the boy now.

So just as Ignatius Avery was heading into his Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Regulus grabbed the boy by the arm and dragged him after him, down the hallway.

"Oi! What are you doing! Someone get him off me! You psycho!"

Ignatius yelled and writhed as Regulus dragged him along, one hand on his arm and the other on the scruff of his neck as the younger boy led him down towards the dungeons - where they were less likely to be seen.

"Shut up!" Regulus hissed, holding a finger up to his lips as he finally let go of the older boy. Ignatius scoffed, straightening out his robes and flattening down his hair.

"Have you lost your mind?" Ignatius grumbled, "What is wrong with you?"
Regulus jabbed a finger against his chest, "What do you know?" 

"Know about what?" Ignatius laughed, running his hand through his hair again, "Reg, mate, I think spending all that time with my sister has made you as loopy as she is."
"This is no time for joking, Avery." He warned, jabbing Ignatius in the chest again and causing him to step back up against the wall.

"Alright!" The older boy threw his hands up in surrender, "But you're going to have to explain yourself. What are you on about?"

"Have you seen the paper this morning?" Regulus asked.
"Mate, look at me." Ignatius chuckled, "Does it look like I read the news? I'm too cool for that."

"You're too something for that." The raven-haired boy mumbled under his breath, "Seriously, though. There was a Death Eater attack on the muggle town. What do you know?"

"Know?" Ignatius looked around, "I know nothing. Does it look like I know something?"

Regulus grumbled "You're an idiot."
"Hey, watch it!" Ignatius exclaimed, punching him in the shoulder.
"Ow!" He yelped as he quickly stepped away from Ignatius.

"Right, moving on." Regulus began, still rubbing his shoulder, "Two wizards died. A witch is missing. It's lucky no muggles were harmed."

"Lucky? Black, remember who you are. It's unlucky." Ignatius warned warily.

"Shut up." He snapped sharply.
The older boy scoffed and rolled his eyes, "All right, I won't talk anymore. Have fun interrogating me."

"Avery!" Regulus almost shouted. He could really see how Ignatius and Esme were siblings; they both drove him up the wall with how difficult they could act.

"Alright! Calm down." He glanced around to make sure they were still alone, "Listen, I didn't know anything about this. Seriously. I swear, nobody told me about this."
Regulus frowned, "Do you think I believe that? Last week you came to Esme and I, you gave us this... This ominous warning about something serious happening. Are you really saying there's no connection?"

"Merlin!" Ignatius exclaimed, "You just don't get it, do you? My father wrote to me a couple of weeks ago... There was an initiation of Death Eaters... Macnair... I can't remember his name - he snitched on someone. My father didn't say who, but Macnair told the Dark Lord they weren't to be trusted and... The traitor was killed. Once Esmeralda becomes a Death Eater, that'll put a magnifying glass on her. All of her actions will be under scrutiny and if she makes a mistake... There's no second chance."

"Ignatius..."
"That's what the warning was. I've got Mulciber and Rosier breathing down my necks because they don't trust you. They're too stupid to do anything but... If they dare speak to Snape... It'll get passed on through the Malfoys and Lestranges as quick as anything. I don't want to see my sister die." He explained quietly, lowering his head.

Regulus' shoulders dropped, the air being knocked out of his lungs, "This is insane. The whole world... This is too much."

"Don't-don't tell Esmerelda. It will only make her mad... Or upset... And then it'll be even harder for her to act normal. Say whatever you need to say, Reg, but you need to get her as onboard with this as possible. You'll both come to see that this is the right decision, you just need to stay alive long enough."