Cast The Little Prince

Prologue
Regulus
1. The brightest star in Leo

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Regulus Arcturus Black lived for a very short amount of time when he was compared to wizards such as Albus Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel. Very short indeed, only just making it past his eighteenth birthday before he kicked the bucket.

Not by choice, that was to say. Well, that point could be argued.

It hadn't been necessary for him to be the one to die in that cave, it hadn't been necessary for it to be him to retrieve the Dark Lord's Horcrux.

He could have passed the information on to the Order of the Phoenix, wiped his hands free of the entire situation and fled for safer waters. Left England to self destruct under its own failing political climate. Just taken Kreacher and disappeared from the face of the wizarding world. Lived out the rest of his life in one of the heavily warded Black properties.

He wouldn't have had the freedom he'd always believed was owed to him while growing up, but he'd have been safe, content even.

And yet, he'd refused to run.

He'd always suspected his name would eventually rub off on him. Mother had been asking for trouble, naming her son after a lion.

Regulus. The brightest star in the Leo constellation. The little prince of the lion.

Sirius should have been given his name, a name relating to a lion would have suited Sirius better than it suited him. Sirius lived brightly, Sirius lived as bold as a lion should.

Not Regulus, who'd always stuck to the shadows, always worked better from behind the scenes, twisting and manipulating his way through life as best he could.

Only ever putting himself on the line when there was a fifth ace up his sleeve, a sixth hidden in his pocket. Never truly painting a target on his head until he held all the cards and then some. He never risked everything.

Until that day in the cave.

Where he'd looked Kreacher in the eye and ordered the house elf to keep feeding him the potion, to keep going until it was all gone. To prioritise fleeing with the Horcrux above all else.

This had been his moment, where he was to be as brave as the lion he was named after.

With no one watching, no one there to witness this bout of Gryffindor bravery. As if it had never happened.

Sirius would have been proud.

That had been in his thought as he cupped water between his palms, pressing his lips to the cool surface and already aware in the back of his mind that it was already too late, that a skeletal hand was enclosing around his ankle, decomposed matter holding strong against the sturdy leather of his dragon-hide boots.

The water had enclosed all around him, dragging him down, and the last thing that Regulus Arcturus Black saw was Kreacher's wide, terrified eyes, his spidery fingers clutching at the wand Regulus had dropped.

He'd loved that wand, taken brilliant care of it since it'd chosen him at the tender age of eleven. Phoenix core and Laurel handle and Silver Lime wood body, perfect for the mind arts. Something Regulus had always been exceptionally talented at. It was how he'd managed to keep his wondering thoughts from being brought to the Dark Lord's attention.

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Looking back on it was the murder of Bernard Vance that had Regulus standing back and looking at the Death Eaters with new eyes, wiser eyes.

This was not what his mother had preached about. He had stood and watched as Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape murdered a man, a pureblood man, in cold blood. For standing on the opposing side.

This was not what he'd been told.

All pure blood was precious. That's what his father had always taught them. With so much muggle influence, it was important to keep blood as pure as possible, but for that, they needed as many pureblood as possible.

Killing them off for political views just meant inbreeding would ruin the purebloods forever.

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It was the cave, the episode with Kreacher, that had solidified his change though.

Kreacher was his friend, when Sirius left the house elf had been his only friend during that year long wait for Hogwarts. Kreacher had kept him sane, and ever since then Regulus was unafraid to admit to himself that he held the family's servant close to his chest, as his dearest friend.

It saddened him, that Kreacher had been forced to witness his death.

But the house elf was still alive. He would finish the task that Regulus had set to him, and the Dark Lord would lose his Horcrux.

That was what mattered here.

Out of all the people to stand against Voldemort, it was he, Regulus Black, the second son, the spare, that would strike the worst blow. That hardest.

The one who had always been looked over, despite his outstanding grades, despite the spells he created, the boundaries he pushed. They had all underestimated him.

Even he himself.

Never had he believe he would be putting his life on the line, throwing it all away to strike one blow he couldn't even fully complete on his own.

And yet, it felt right. He had done something important, had been more than just another clog in the machine.

Regulus Black died with a smile on his face and undead hands wrapped around his body.

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Nine months later, Harry James Potter opened his eyes, a smile on his face and Regulus' reborn soul in his chest.

So, I was flicking through Savya398's profile as saw this prompt below, and I just had to write it up.

'Regulus Arcturus Black dies a tragic death in the cave trying to stop Voldemort. The Fates decide he deserves another chance for his heroic efforts. He is reincarnated... as Harry Potter. Now armed with the memories of his past life and mistakes he sets out to stop Voldemort and change the wizarding world. Not sure exactly sure if the times would work out but I think they're close enough for the details to be shifted a little. I know Regulus Black dies in 1979 (I'm not sure which month) and Harry is born in July of 1980 so it could work.'

I read somewhere on tumblr 'Regulus is the Slytherin Harry Potter that we portray in fanfiction' and that is kind that inspiration that will motivated me to ask for this prompt.

I'm hoping chapters will be as long as my fanfiction Weight of the World (for anyone who's read that, you'll know they're my longest chapter length) so you're looking at somewhere between 10,000 words to 15,000 per chapter, expect a bit of time before the next/first chapter of this is churned out as a result.

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All my love,

Tsume
xxx