The Art of Hunting Horcruxes ~ Regulus Black AU

Chapter 5

Ara laughed. "Positive." 

"But there is one slight flaw to the plan." Regulus said pointedly.

Ara tilted her head. "How so?" 

"Sooner or later, somebody will meet you." Regulus said. "And yes, you can claim to be Ara Flamel and not Adhara Black, but the point still stands that you have James Potter's black hair, Lily Evans' green eyes and Sirius Black's facial features. Not to mention, that your exact picture has appeared in the Black family tree. It will be too easy to string the pieces of the puzzle together." 

"So you're saying that I need to change my look?" 

"I'm saying that you need to change your genes." Regulus corrected. "It would be a disaster if somebody gets your blood and I don't think changing your hair or eye colour will make a difference considering you look too much like Great Aunt Dorea and my brother." He explained.

Ara laughed, more bitterly this time, but he knew that she could see his points. Time travelling had not been invented yet and even Ara had confessed that it was considered impossible to go so far back in time even in her present. It would be absolute havoc if somebody else learnt of her true identity and all the plans they had created to stop the Da- Tom Riddle would be doomed. Her being the secret daughter of the Flamel's was a brilliant cover, but they needed something more to stabilise it.

He also knew that he was asking a little too much of her and even invading a lot of her personal space with his suggestion. Altering their genes consisted of wiping clean their identity and rebuilding it, basically. By doing this, Ara would no longer be a Potter or a Black.

Not to mention, since the potion in the Potter vault was the last batch of the gene-altering potions in the whole wide world, with the original recipe long lost, it would be clear that if they were to go ahead with changing Ara's genes once more, then there would never be an Adhara Potter Black in the current future because Sirius would never be able to blood-adopt her. If they were to do this, Adhara Potter Black would cease to exist completely the second the blood-adoption potion touched Ara's lips for the second time. There would be no Adhara Potter Black in his present or future, there would only be Ara Flamel.

But, they simply couldn't risk it. With no known way of getting back to her future (which would definitely be altered due to the events she had changed in her past), she was well and truly stuck here.

Ara gave him another weary smile, knowing exactly what he was suggesting. "There is only one way to alter your genes." 

"And only one potion in the world." Regulus added on, nodding. "It's how you became a Black in the first place, and it is also going to be the cause for undoing that." 

'Both James Potter and Sirius Black became very, incredibly drunk one day and began talking about children, for some bazaar reason. I was like, a year old back then, and James was asking Sirius to have a son fast so they could set the two of us up together and James and Sirius could be actual brothers, you know. Then Sirius pointed out that they would be fathers not brothers if their respective children were to get married and besides, he didn't have any children. Then James pointed out that I was his godchild which technically made me his child as well; and Sirius emphasised the technically part and James decided to change that.' Ara explained, grinning. 'So they went to the main Potter vault at Gringotts, where the last batch of the only gene-altering potion in the entire, whole wide world was present, brought it back to my nursery and did the ritual under the influence of alcohol. They woke up to a massive hangover along with a murderous Lily being on a warpath the next morning and that was when they actually realised what they had done, and voila! That is the story of how Regulus and I became directly related!' She finished telling Regulus and Mr and Mrs Flamel the story, ending it with a giggle.