FicWad

Most parts about 12 Grimmauld Place remained the same throughout the years, but some things changed. The house had already been hidden from Muggles, however, the rising tensions in the world around meant that the house was getting more and better protections every day. This all because of rumours going around, rumours that these Pureblood riots were only the beginning of something bigger.

There were also changes on the inside. The boys were no longer infants and the nursery had been transformed into a playroom, with the brothers finding their new bedrooms on the topmost landing, where they both lay now, sound asleep.

But that was about to change.

A familiar voice stirred Regulus from his sleep. "Master Regulus?"

He slowly opened his eyes, blinking hard to get a clear picture. He stared right into the bloodshot eyes of his house elf.

"Mistress is waiting for Master Regulus in the drawing room," Kreacher croaked.

Regulus groaned as he sat up in bed. "I'm coming, tell her I'm coming."

Kreacher disappeared and Regulus rubbed his eyes, yawning as he woke up more properly. He got up, got dressed, and made his way down to the drawing room.

He knocked on the door and his mother answered from the other side. "Come in."

He straightened his back and opened the door, entering the room. Most of the time, he stayed out of this room, because his father worked in here. The family tapestry covered the entire left wall and in front of this tapestry stood his mother, who greeted him. "Ah, Regulus, dear. I hope you had a good night's sleep."

Regulus nodded in response. "Good morning, Mother. I hope you did, too."

She nodded. Pleasantries out of the way, she got straight to the point. "Tomorrow you will turn seven years old. This is an important, exciting milestone, as you know. You will then be of age to begin your proper education in the ways of our noble heritage."

Regulus nodded, eager to finally be seven years old, to finally be old enough to have a say in things, to no longer be the baby of the family. At the age of seven, you were considered to be your own self, no longer an infant, but a little person ready to learn and to grow. And he already knew he would study long and hard to be the best he could be, to be even better than Sirius.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Sirous ran into the room, panting heavily as he steadied himself next to Regulus. "I'm late, I-"

"Silence, Sirius. What have I told you about notifying people before you barge in on them? Are you too thick to learn? Even Regulus has mastered the art of knocking," his mother interjected, staring at Sirius with her piercing glare.

Regulus held in a smile, pride welling up inside him as he watched his mother reprimand Sirius. It made him feel better about himself to hear that he was better at something than Sirius. Age wasn't everything.

"I'm sorry, Mother," Sirius said.

Their mother ignored Sirius' apology, instead gesturing behind her to the enormous family tapestry.

"Our bloodline stretches back centuries, and it is filled with some of history's greatest witches and wizards who have fought hard to uphold the purity of magical blood. As I've said before: we have been blessed with immense power, and it is our duty to preserve it, to protect it, to pass it on to the next generation."

Regulus nodded, listening to everything she said, soaking up every single word, his gaze fixed on the tapestry as she pointed to some especially important people on it.

"This is your great-great-grandfather, Phineas Nigellus Black. He was a formidable wizard and a wonderful Headmaster of Hogwarts—the best headmaster Hogwarts has ever had, if you ask me, though certain witches and wizards may disagree," she said with a sneer, and she looked around the tapestry for someone else.

"This is my cousin Araminta Meliflua, a noble woman who fought to maintain the purity of our bloodline and the continuation of our noble heritage. She died shortly before you were born, Sirius. You both would have loved her, she truly was special."

"What do you mean?" Sirius' voice broke Regulus' focus, and he looked at his brother, who had crossed his arms, staring at the tapestry with what could only be described as an arrogant face.

His gaze shifted to his mother, whose lips curled into a proud smile as she thought back to her cousin. "She fought so hard to make muggle hunting legal, it truly is a shame the bill never managed to get through..."

Regulus looked out of one of the windows, the houses of their neighbours were all off-limits to Regulus and his brother because Muggles lived in them. Real-life Muggles, Muggles who could get any sort of funny ideas into their heads when they found out you could do magic.

"To rid the world of those wretched beasts!" Regulus flinched at his mother's unexpected answer breaking his line of thought.

A deadly silence followed. He looked at his mother, who was still fuming with anger. He looked at his brother, who seemed to be avoiding his gaze as he stared at the ceiling, then a wall, before finally choosing to stare at the floor.

Regulus was the one to break this silence. Over the years, he had often heard his mother mentioning purity, but he hadn't ever asked about it. He preferred to stay silent, letting his brother do the asking. But this time, it seemed like his brother wasn't interested in asking the question that had been burning inside of Regulus for ages.

So he asked. "Purity, Mother? What kind of purity? What's important about it?"

"Regulus, dear, don't you know? Look at the tapestry, full of wonderful witches and wizards. True witches and wizards with pure, uncontaminated blood. You won't find Muggles, Mudbloods, or half-bloods in our bloodline, oh no! Our blood must remain uncontaminated and pure. Purity is what ensures our strength, you see. We are the pure bloods, the chosen ones, the true keepers of all magical power. It is our duty to safeguard our heritage, to preserve our magical bloodline from dilution and to keep our magic from weakening. Toujours Pur. Do you understand that?"

Regulus thought deeply, trying to piece all of it together as he silently repeated his mother's words in his head.

"Power is not meant for everyone, Regulus," his mother continued to explain, now taking a few steps towards him, crouching down to his level.

"Magical power is a privilege that was bestowed upon those who are born with the right blood, the right lineage. People born from true wizards and witches, people who aren't related to Muggles and their ilk—they cannot comprehend the true nature of magic, so to mingle with them is to weaken our strength, to get rid of our power..."

She put her hands on both Regulus' and Sirius' shoulders as she looked at both of them intently. "Our bloodline is sacred, boys, and therefore it is our duty to uphold it."

"Mother," came Sirius again, his voice barely above a whisper, "what about the others, then? Those who aren't pure blood?"

His mother's eyes hardened, her tone turning cold. "Sirius, mudbloods and Muggles possess no magical lineage. They are like wild animals compared to us! To even think of having relations with them..." she visibly shuddered at the thought, but it didn't stop Sirius.

"But... can't they still be powerful?"

"Sirius," his mother's anger was obvious now. "Us purebloods have repeatedly demonstrated that our power surpasses that of anyone else. It is our heritage, our lineage, that grants us our greatness. Those without pure blood cannot even begin to comprehend the depths of true magical strength! Those who claim to, they are fakes, frauds, shame to the lot of them!"

"But Mother... there must be talented witches and wizards who aren't purebloods. What about them? Isn't it unfair?"

Regulus couldn't believe his brother. Was he truly that thick? Didn't he understand anything Mother was saying? If great power came from having a pure bloodline, then it was simply impossible for those without pure blood to have great power!

He was grateful his mother also had no patience answering Sirius' question over and over again, though he flinched slightly as she yelled. "Silence, Sirius! These impure thoughts have no place in this household! You are a Black, and you better start acting like it!"

He looked at his brother, who was glaring angrily at the floor now, as if trying to kill the floor with his eyes. His mother turned her attention to Regulus, her voice softening just slightly.

"Regulus, my dearer son, do not let your brother's rebelliousness get to you," she said. "Both of you must remember your duty to the Black family and the entire pureblood community."

"I understand," Regulus said, a sense of pride, belonging, and purpose filling him inside. He wanted to make his mother proud of him, he wanted to make the entire wizarding world proud of him.

"Good boy," his mother said, and Regulus beamed. "I expected nothing less of you."

Sirius remained silent.

"Ready yourselves for the big day tomorrow, and make sure you are both on your best behaviour."

And with that, they were dismissed. Regulus slowly walked out of the room, his brother next to him as they left. Once outside, Sirius grabbed his arm. "Come with me."

Regulus was almost dragged into the playroom, and his brother put some toy boxes in front of the door once they got in, to barricade the entrance.

"What are you doing that for? What's going on?"

But Sirius was too busy barricading the door to listen to him, so he sank to the floor, waiting for his brother to finish.

Once he was finished, he leaned against the wall. Regulus was looking up at him, wondering what was going on as he studied his brother's thoughtful expression.

"Reg," Sirius eventually broke the silence, "what Mother said... It's not right, you know? It's unfair to judge someone just because of their blood."

He approached Regulus, and sat down beside him on the floor, putting a hand on his shoulder in a way that was likely meant to be comforting and reassuring, but made Regulus feel threatened in a way.

"It's not about where you come from, but what you make of the magic inside you," his brother said after carefully thinking it through, as if he had been rehearsing this for days. "Mother's view of the world is narrow-minded. It's like she's stuck in the past, she's holding onto these ancient beliefs. But we don't have to be like her, you know. We can go our own way."

Regulus looked up at his brother, his head hurting from his brother's words which he barely understood. "What do you mean? Why are you telling me this? What's going on!"

His mind was racing, question after question popping up. Did his brother think Mother was lying? That everyone was lying? Where was he getting these ideas from, anyway?

"Reg, I won't lie to you. Standing up for what we believe in may come with some consequences. But I'd rather face those consequences than live a life of prejudice and hatred. We have got to be true to ourselves, no matter the cost," Surius continued his speech, seemingly not noticing that his target audience was panicking slightly.

Regulus chewed on his lower lip as Sirius' words echoed through his mind. Consequences? What consequences? Was Sirius planning on leaving him behind, on defying Mother and Father because of these ideas? And worst of all, he expected him to go along with it?

"I don't want to lose our family, Sirius. I don't want to lose you," was the only reply he could muster, fearing he would break down if he said anything more than that.

Sirius tightened his grip on Regulus's shoulder, which hurt a little, though he would never show it. "We will face challenges, Reg, but remember this: I will always be by your side, no matter what. We are brothers, this means our bond can't be broken. I promise."

Regulus looked up at his big brother, who looked back at him in determination. He couldn't hold it any longer and leaned into Sirius, hugging him tightly.

Part of him seemed to know this promise wouldn't last long—after all, if he couldn't change Sirius' mind, and Sirius was going to keep thinking these things, he would lose his brother forever. For the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, there was no turning back after you left the family.