Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.
Dedication: To Angela, who helped me come up with the best storyline ever.

And now, Sakai Michiba presents:
The Secrets and Lies of Regulus Black
Chapter One

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A young boy perched on his great-grandfather’s lap and threw his arms around the elderly man’s neck, burying his small face against his shoulder. “Grandpa?” he asked quietly, his blue eyes almost doe-like as he looked up to the man who had raised him for as long as he could remember. “Where are my mommy and daddy?” He had asked this question as many times as he could remember, but his grandfather never gave him an answer, instead swearing that he would tell him when he was a little older. Aged blue eyes gazed down at the child of ten years, the child that never should have happened, and the old man heaved a world-weary sigh before patting the child’s head. “I’m old enough, I swear!”

“You’re old enough, are you?” the man laughed, and he hesitated before giving a nod. “Fetch me the brown photo album under the clock, and I will tell you.” He smiled as the boy enthusiastically leapt from his lap and rummaged in the oak cabinet beneath the wizarding clock, which presented only two faces, both arrows pointing to “Home.” When the boy found it, he rushed back and hopped onto the chair beside the old man, flipping open the album to find two very different pictures greeting him from the first page.

The first photograph was a large group of people smiling, their arms thrown around each other. They were all different ages, ranging from teenagers to a very, very old man. The second photograph beneath was a man in dark robes, hood being drawn over his head, and his eyes shifted back and forth before he blew a kiss to the photographer and hid his handsome face behind a white mask. The grandfather saw the boy staring at that picture with wide eyes, and he frowned slightly. “That was your father,” he said quietly, and he turned the page to reveal a second picture of the man, though this time he was reading a book in a chair near a stone fireplace. He pushed back a lock of black hair, tucking it behind his ear before he glanced up and, looking surprised, acquired a mischievous grin and beckoned the photographer.

On the opposite page was a snapshot of a pretty blonde girl no older than eighteen, a pretty smile on her face as she reached beyond the boundaries of the portrait to tug the boy from the previous pictures in with her. He gave her a sarcastic scowl then rested an arm about her waist, kissing her hair with obvious adoration, though the scowl never disappeared. “There they are together…Your Grandma took this picture a few days before the accident. Your father didn’t like his picture taken, as you can see.”

“Accident?” the boy inquired, and he continued to go through the pages, finding picture after picture of his parents. Sometimes they were together, sometimes they were apart, but he noticed that they looked very young. “What happened?”

“They were on different sides of the war, you see, and they knew they couldn’t keep it up forever. They loved each other, enough to ignore the fact that they were in danger because of it, and so when your mother finally convinced your father to change, they and your grandmas and my son were killed. They knew that they never should have been together in the first place…”

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“Excuse me.”

Regulus cocked an eyebrow at the girl sitting in his seat in the library. She did not acknowledge his statement, and he was not entirely positive that she had even heard him. Crossing his arms indignantly, he heaved a weighty sigh and tapped the table leg with his boot. “Hey, you’re sitting in my seat.” The pretty face that lifted to greet him left him unfazed, and his expression remained stern. “I always sit there, so please move.”

Marlene McKinnon gave a start when the table jerked, her eyes glancing up to see a thin, pale boy with black hair hanging to his chin and striking blue eyes that were all too familiar. “Your seat?” she snorted, and she turned partially to inspect the back of the chair. “Your name isn’t on it anywhere. Besides, I was here first! What gives you any right to—”

“My name is on it!” Regulus proclaimed, pushing the blonde girl’s books aside to point out his initials carved meticulously into the wooden table. “There.”

“Your name is Rab?” she giggled, resting her chin in her hand with a soft, teasing smile tweaking the corners of her mouth. “Seems like a pretty stupid name to me. Were your parents drunk?”

He felt his cheeks flush as he shook his head, trying his best not to become angry. “Those are my initials, damn it. Regulus Black.” He thumped his bag onto the table and peered almost nastily at her. “So, are you going to move, or…?”

Regulus Black—Marlene knew that name well. He looked similar to his older brother, though Sirius Black had a very sharp, etched look about him, whereas the boy standing before her then looked softer, his hair curlier, but his blue eyes infinitely harsher and more piercing than Sirius’s has ever been. When with Sirius, she always felt like laughing and joking around, but around his little brother with his soul-stabbing gaze, she rather felt like backing up. However, the way he was described by Sirius, she had always expected Regulus Black to be on the verge of sprouting horns and a tail, but his angry scowl aside, she thought the he was a bit…well, certainly not demon-esque, that was for sure. “Okay,” she stated, her grin still present, “but I’m not changing tables.” She slid her belongings to the next seat over and settled in the chair, rearranging her books before she buried herself in them again. She noticed that he rolled his eyes as he flopped into his chair, and she could not help winking at him playfully. “You seem disappointed.” There was a distinct hint of mischief in the light of her eyes.

“I am,” he snapped, spreading his materials as widely as possible in an obvious attempt to shove her out. “I enjoy studying alone, thanks, and you certainly aren’t helping.” He flipped his book open violently to a random page and began to quietly read, his eyes glancing up every few moments to stare briefly at his intruder before fixing again on his book.

She felt as though a vein would pop in her head from the strain of not laughing at him. He was trying so hard to be tough and menacing, but he came off as, in her opinion, just silly. “Drop the act,” she sighed, and she leaned over to gaze at the contents of his book, which had a blank cover that revealed nothing of its contents. “What are you reading?” It may have seemed rude, but she was not so concerned with pageantry when he had just shoved her out of her comfortable seat.

Regulus grinned to himself—this was his perfect opportunity to frighten her away. He turned the book toward her, revealing gruesome drawings representing effects of spells that certainly would never have been taught at Hogwarts. The girl’s eyes widened as they took in the sight of a woman screeching as she was turned inside-out from her nose, and Regulus was certain that was going to retain his table of solitude when Marlene looked into his eyes and softly asked, “That’s pretty interesting; can you do it?”

He stared blankly at her. “Huh?”

“I asked if you could perform spells like that. It looks like pretty advanced magic—if you can do that, I’ll bet you do great in classes,” she exclaimed with a small smile, amused at the shocked expression painted on his face. He clearly had not expected her to be interested, but she found that, as she grew older, any magic different from what was drilled into their heads was rather fascinating.

He switched his gaze to the book, reading through the spell that was far beyond his expertise save for the defence, which he had been studying. “No, I can’t do that yet,” he finally admitted after a long moment’s hesitation, and he hated himself for the light flush that coloured his cheeks. “I’m learning how to defend against it though. I, er, knew someone that fell victim to it, and he survived, but he can’t really talk about it, so…” He trailed off. He had no idea why he was pulling such a story out of his arse; he never felt like showing off. He cleared his throat and began to flip through the pages, glancing over drawing after drawing, and he noticed that the girl’s eyes never left the book. “What was your name again?” he inquired, one eyebrow cocked high. He had never met a woman interested in this sort of thing who was not in his immediate family.

She tore her eyes away from the pages to smile softly at him. “I never told you my name in the first place,” she stated almost defiantly, but as Regulus attempted to cover up his disappointment, she felt her heart warm up to him. “My name’s Marlene. I’m in Ravenclaw.” When she tucked a lock of straight blonde hair behind her ear, his eyes followed the movement of her hand, and she could not help but give him her best smile. “So you know someone that was hit by this spell? Was it a close friend?”

Her name rang a bell in his head, but he was not sure where he recognised it from. Whether he knew it or not, he thought the name suited her fine, and when she touched her hair, it shone in such a manner that he wanted to run his fingers through it. He settled for pushing his own hair behind his ears and gave pause to make up an answer before he claimed, “Not a close friend, no, and I wasn’t there when it happened. Father told me about it…It was a big to-do.” He sounded less menacing by the moment, and as he realised his mistake, he quickly scowled at her. “Why?”

She had to hold her breath to keep from laughing again at his sudden snarl, and she closed the book to hold it against her chest. “I want to borrow this, Mr. Black. I will meet you here tomorrow night to return it, okay?” She did not answer his question, nor did she give him time to process her request. He nodded before he realised what he was doing, and she shoved the book in her bag. “See you at eight. Good night.”

Marlene was gone when he realised exactly what had happened. His eyes widened as he remembered the highly-confidential letter that was folded in the book, and a jolt of panic forced him to his feet to chase after her. “Marlene!” he yelped as he juped into the corridor, and he called her name several times before his shoulders sagged. “Damn it!” He stamped his foot and stalked back into the library, ignoring the librarian’s dirty looks as he slumped into his chair at the table which felt rather empty.

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Marlene settled into bed early that evening, drawing her draped around the mattress and lighting the end of her wand. From her bag, she pulled the forbidden book and opened it to begin shuffling through the pages when a piece of parchment slipped from between the leaves and alighted in her lap. “Mysterious Regulus Black,” she muttered to no one, and though she considered respecting his privacy, curiousity got the best of her and she unfolded the letter to eagerly read:

Mr. Black,

Our Lord has been considering your proposal and, for reasons unknown to anyone else, is prepared to match your price. He does wish for me to relate to you that he is not one to purchase loyalty in a normal situation, but he feels that the inforation you can provide for him is worth it.

Our lord also wishes to remind you that if you, obviously money-driven, were to sell information to the other side, you would be unable to hise. Do not take this contract lightly. The next Marking ceremony will be held on Christmas Eve. Your participation is required as a “signature” for your contract.

Best wishes,
Lucius Malfoy

Marlene quickly folded the letter and held it to her chest, her heart hammering against her ribcage. Sirius has always sworn that Regulus would be receiving his Dark Mark before he graduated, but she had just written it off as typical sibling hatred. Regulus, though odd, had seemed nice enough; however, she supposed that the book should have been a dead giveaway. Placing the book aside, she let her feet hit the floor, and she hurried to the common room.

“Hestia, can we talk?” Her best friend turned to her and smiled, but the smile quickly subsuded as she noticed the panicked look on Marlene’s face. The blonde sat down with Hestia and looked around nervously to make sure no one was watching, then whispered, “I met someone today, Hestia. He’s a little strange but he’s kind of nice and very smart…but I think he has ties with Voldemort.” She said it all very quickly and, when she finished, blushed heavily and looked away. “I don’t have a crush on him or anything, but should I tell someone?”

“Yes! Tell Dumbledore!” Hestia urgently whispered a little loudly, drawing he attention of a few second-years. She cleared her throat in embarassment before leaning in close. “Who is he?” There was a moment’s hesitation before she breathed, “Is he cute?”

Marlene took her bottom lip between her teeth. “I can’t tell you who it is…but he is kind of cute.” She giggled before taking a deep breath and looking out the window. “I guess I’ll tell Dumbledore tomorrow.”

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Regulus hurried to breakfast the next morning, sitting in such a way that he could keep an eye on the Ravenclaw table. Marlene had not shown up yet; he could hardly eat from being so nervous. Just as he was finishing his breakfast, he saw a flash of blonde hair, and he started to get to his feet, but she held up a hand in his direction and excused herself from her friends before slipping over to the Slytherin table. Regulus leaned forward as she came over, his eyes narrowed. “I suppose you found my letter? Did you go squeal to Dumbledore?” His voice was shot with hatred and terror, and he reached out to grab her wrist firmly in an attempt to convey the intensity of his situation.

She looked, frightened, down at his hand grasping her, and she shook her head. “No…I was going to, but…” She pushed back his robe sleeve. “You’re not a Death Eater yet. You’ve done nothing wrong,” she whispered, and she sighed with relief as his grip slackened on her wrist. “Anyone else would have gone straight to Dumbledore, you know. This means…This means you still have to meet me in the library tonight, okay? I read your book, and I want another one.”

Regulus felt his heart skip a beat, and he realised how very soft her wrist was under his fingers. He released her and, to his utter shock, he felt his mouth twitch upward in a gentle but awkward smile. “Yeah…Okay.” He nodded a little and watched as she turned and hurried back to her table, his eyes focusing on her hair. It swung back and forth with her gait, the light catching it, and he knew it must be the prettiest hair he had ever seen.