The months between the end of the school year and the start of the next one were much more productive for Regulus than the last few years.
Finally, the Horcruxes were destroyed, yes there was a new one, one that was still intact but it was also inside a child. As much as he had offered to kill Potter when he found out the kid had a Horcrux inside him, part of him was glad to have an option.
He'd already killed people, you couldn't become a Death Eater without getting blood on his hands, it didn't get any easier to take someone's life. It was part of the reason for his defection so many years before.
Even though killing Harry would make it easier to solve the other problems linked to Voldemort, just the thought of killing a child was frightening enough. But they had a plan, Dumbledore may have hesitated to accept the idea of taking the horcrux out of Harry and giving it back to Voldemort, but he agreed in the end.
Regulus' summer was full of work, which gave him less time to try and figure out how to get a Horcrux out of a living creature without killing it. Most of his time was spent transforming the century-old serpent of Slytherin that lived in a secret chamber inside the castle, created by Salazar during the construction of Hogwarts.
Children were petrified, many were traumatized but in the end, no one died, and Regulus was sticking to the positive this time. The destruction of the Horcruxes with the tusk of a basilisk only served to ease the weight and worries on his shoulders.
Harry Potter had been invited to stay at the castle during the vacations to help Regulus, actually to destroy the Horcruxes himself, but that would be an explanation for someone older than twelve.
Taking the boy to Grimmauld Place hadn't been in June's plans, but the boy seemed so unhappy at the thought of returning to his aunt and uncle's house. An unhappiness that Regulus knew all too well, no matter how often he returned home at every opportunity, being close to his own family was not a pleasant thing. And even though the boy's aunt and uncle don't have the magic to throw something like a crucius at a child-like Walburga did to him and his older brother, Regulus knows that adults can be creative when it comes to punishment.
The fact that not for the first time, Madam Pomfrey had commented that Potter was undernourished and short for his age on the two occasions he had spent time in the infirmary, Regulus began to suspect that something very wrong might be going on in the house.
He had already noticed how different Harry's personality was compared to James'. He had more than just Lily's eyes, his personality was also very similar to that of his mother.
The boy didn't have much knowledge of the wizarding world, which Regulus discovered was because of the muggle uncles he lived with.
During their work in the chamber turning basilisk into potion ingredients, Regulus and Harry talked a lot, and the boy, who clearly has problems asking adults for help, commented on how he only discovered he was a wizard when Hagrid came to fetch him before his first year.
Why the boy's aunt and uncle never commented on the magical world or the truth about the boy was beyond their knowledge, but Regulus had his theories. Considering the boy's reaction to the possibility of not having to return home, Regulus began to believe that the theories about trying to protect the child and his childhood might be wrong.
In addition to Harry and his worries about how to remove the Horcrux without killing the boy, Regulus also had to worry about keeping up with the lunar calendar now that Dumbledore had hired Lupin as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and Regulus would have to make the wolfbane potion for the man.
Regulus might be a little put off by the whole werewolf-as-teacher situation, whether or not he was aware of the calming effects of the wolfbane potion, but meeting the older man again and talking to him, Regulus had to admit that Lupin would be a good teacher, or at least better than the last two. Perhaps it was an unfair comparison and competition, but it was Black who had put up with a man possessed by Voldemort and another who was so stupid that he had accidentally erased his mind.
Finally having someone minimally competent for such an important subject left Regulus hopeful for a good school year, one calmer than the last one at least. After all, what could be worse than a basilisk?
[...]
There was a teachers' meeting on July 31st first thing in the morning, earlier than usual, as in previous years the meetings were scheduled for mid-afternoon, but Regulus didn't complain, he might not have had much time for breakfast, or to read the newspaper, but that was okay.
Regulus met up with the rest of his colleagues shortly after breakfast in the teachers' lounge. He arrived a little late this time, as he was dropping Harry off at the Burrow, but Dumbledore was never really punctual. When Regulus finally entered the room, the air suddenly seemed to stop, the conversation ended and everyone was now staring at him. All except Lupin, who was still focused on the newspaper in his hand.
That's the only thing in common between all the other teachers who were looking at a newspaper, some were even sharing so that everyone could read.
A chill ran down Regulus' spine, he had been so happy over the last few days, maybe he had let his guard down too much.
Everyone was staring at him with expressions that ranged from pity to concern, but everyone remained silent.
"Regulus?" Stevens was the first to say something, her voice worried.
He looked at her, she hadn't changed much in the last few months. They hadn't spoken or seen each other since the beginning of the vacations, she taking care of her niece and he dealing with Potter and the other things.
"Haven't you seen?" she approached.
Newspaper in hand, he denied it. She held out the paper to him.
A shiver ran down his body as the feeling that something very wrong had happened lurked in everyone's eyes. It was as if he was the last to know something extremely important, fundamental for everyone. And he hated being the last to know.
His eyes went down to the paper in his hand and his heart stopped beating.
"What the fuck?" he said out loud.
Regulus stared at the paper, he hadn't been able to read the paper this morning, and now there he was, caught off guard, in front of all the men and women he worked with, discovering the news that threw into the wind any chance of having a good, peaceful, quiet school year.
THE IMPOSSIBLE HAS HAPPENED: THE TERRIBLE SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPED
It was supposed to be a good year, damn it, Sirius. Regulus thinks as he reads Skeeter's article about the escape, which so far is unheard of, since Azkaban is a prison from which no one has ever escaped.
But of course Sirius Black had to be the first to do it.
[...]
"This 'safer' stuff is proving to be increasingly flawed conjecture," Persie commented as she sat on the sofa in her living room.
She came to visit him at Grimmauld Place after he had to give a sworn statement that he had no connection with his stupid brother's escape.
"What do you mean?" he said, handing her a cup of coffee.
He particularly never understood how she always preferred coffee to tea, even during tea meetings she only drank the brown liquid with lots of sugar. And the time they were wandering around Witch London, looking for presents for her newborn niece, the woman chose to drink coffee with caramel.
"Well, Gringotts is impenetrable, but it was almost robbed in '91," she says, sipping her drink. "Hogwarts, the safest place, had a fucking giant snake for centuries and now Azkaban, the prison from which no one has ever escaped, has had a very famous wizard escape."
"All the previous occasions have something in common," he says, looking up at her.
"You-know-who," she nods, "but I don't know, it was Sirius' fault that he... "She makes a slashing motion across her neck with her hand "If he wanted some old ally, wouldn't it be easier to get one who's already out of jail, like Quirrell?"
"Well, everyone who's escaped arrest has either disowned him non-publicly or snitched on others."
"Right, you're right," she looked out of the window, "but why Sirius, my previous point stands, why not that crazy cousin of yours? From what I've heard of her, it almost sounds like she had a romantic crush on him."
"Oh, she did," he said with a grimace, "Bellatrix would do anything for him."
They were silent for a moment. Ever since he had sent Harry to the Weasley house two days ago for the boy's birthday, the house had been even quieter. And now, with the danger of his brother looming over his head, Regulus doesn't know whether to bring the boy back or leave him there.
Harry probably already knew about the escape, it's been in every newspaper since the discovery, and even the Muggles have been informed. But Regulus wasn't sure if the boy knew the whole story, about the betrayal, or worse, that the man who gave Voldemort his parents was also his godfather.
"Do you think he did it?" Persie breaks the silence.
"Why are you asking me that?"
"First of all, don't answer questions with other questions, it's suspicious," she said, leaning back in her armchair, "and then, I don't know, I've always found this story very badly told. Sirius, after everything that happened while we were studying, suddenly decided to ally himself with family beliefs. Admit it, that's always been a loose end in this story."
"Sirius and I," Regulus had to clear his throat before continuing, "haven't been in contact with each other since well before 1981, I don't know what was going through his mind back then."
"I know, I remember you screaming at each other in the corridors during our fourth year," she said, staring at him, "that doesn't change my mind. He never confessed. Bellatrix and the others at least bragged about what they did."
"He never had a trial."
"Wait," she said, focusing on him, her eyebrows furrowed, "he didn't have a trial. What? They just threw him into Azkaban like a dog in a kennel?"
"Yes," he agreed, "everyone knew he was the Potter's secret keeper, and then they died. And then there was that attack where he killed Pettigrew and some Muggles. He went to Azkaban that very night, and was never heard from again.
"That," she paused, thinking about what she was going to say next, "I don't know, it still seems like a very badly told story to me."
"It was in the Daily Prophet, Dumbledore backed it up as fact."
"Spare me, ekeínos o gerontikós géros *" she muttered in her mixture of Greek and English, which she does when she gets angry "I only have one thing to say about Dumbledore and his knowledge of facts."
He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to finish her coffee before saying what he wanted.
"Basilisk."
He didn't answer her, Regulus hadn't decided who he agreed with in this crazy story yet. On the one hand, the creature was put in a chamber that only a few have access to, and that was at the time of the founders, around 1000 AD, 943 years before it was opened, and died for the first time.
Of course, the investigation into that student's death was very poorly carried out, considering that some adults only went to ask her, a ghost who has been wandering around Hogwarts ever since, how she died only fifty years later. On the other hand, how would anyone know that the Secret Chamber wasn't just a legend, nor did the Slytherins believe it was real until last year? But Dumbledore is called the most powerful wizard alive, so there aren't many points in favor of the man who has been working in that castle since decades before the death of that first student.
Hogwarts was never really safe, it's strange that it took him so many years to realize this. It's probably because the school stayed out of external trouble, being largely neutral ground during the First Witching War. But who could have imagined that the greatest dangers would come from within the walls, whether with the giant snake or the students themselves?
All he could hope for was that they would manage to arrest Sirius before he did anything else stupid or put the children in danger. Regulus didn't want his brother dead or imprisoned, but he didn't trust Sirius either.