HP and the Price, part 11 (Patreon)

Reggie stared at this unfamiliar version of Severus. He was older—his face lined with worry and his body language utterly alien. Of course, if the story he’d just overheard was true, Reggie had been trapped in the Dark Lord’s net for many years. How many, Reggie didn’t know.

“Severus?” Lord Potter asked. He was young for a lord, but he carried himself well. Reggie could tell he was a man used to getting answers. At his side, the Nott heir stood possessively close. She reminded Reggie of Cissi, the same feminine ice and deceptive grace over a deep well of danger. The Notts were an old family and had, no doubt, crossed with the Black’s many times. Despite that, Reggie was surprised to see so much of the Black manners in a Nott heir.

The Carrow heir carried an even stronger stain of Black. Reggie looked at the youngest member of this assembly, and he saw Bella. He saw Sirius. He saw Blacks who rejected the tight control of their magic and threw themselves into the old and wild power. Something in the way she held her body made Reggie believe young Dinae Carrow embraced her most feral self. And yet, she stood in close alliance with a Longbottom, and one who embodied the calm, deep waters that characterized that family’s magic.

It was an insanely strange group.

Reggie was surprised when Severus offered the young Lord a small smile. “Harry, this is Regulus Arcturus Black.”

Lord Potter’s eyebrows rose. “R.A.B,” he whispered.

“Indeed.” Severus turned to Reggie. “Is it possible that you removed a locket that contained a horcrux from the cup?” He gestured to the cursed chalice.

Reggie took a deep breath and tried to order the panic that crawled through his bones. “Perhaps we can discuss that another time. I have been gone many years. I must find mother.” Before Reggie could apparate, Severus rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Reggie, Walburga has passed. When I took Harry to Gringots to take up his Lordship, the goblins revealed that he is the Black heir and the only surviving member of your immediate family is Sirius.”

Reggie blew out a breath. That was awkward. Sirius had always embraced his emotion to a dangerous degree, enough that—like Bella—the rest of the family had assumed both would lose themselves to the Black Madness sooner or later. And when Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor, he had turned that wildness against his family and their Slytherin allies. Reggie had been two years behind Sirius and Sev, but he’d seen how vicious Sirius could be. As much as Bella and Walburga frightened Reggie, Sirius terrified him more because he was not an ally. Not anymore.

To protect himself, Reggie had distanced himself from his brother and his brother’s anger, but if Sirius was now Lord Black, he had magical authority over Reggie and the ability to cut Reggie off from family magics. If the war continued, Reggie needed his magic, even that which came from the family.

“I suppose I will have to make my apologies to him for being missing so long.” Reggie dreaded it.

Even before Sirius had been sorted, they’d had a volatile relationship, and Reggie had contributed to that. He had been the younger brother—the spare. That had excused him from duties that had fallen to Sirius, but it had also left him feeling excluded from his own family. As a child, Reggie had not always handled that well. Reggie would have to temper his reactions to his brother. At least Sirius would not ask him to return to the Dark Lord’s service. After having stolen the horcrux and asking Kretcher to destroy it, the Dark Lord would make Reggie beg for death. Hopefully Sirius would allow Reggie to hide in the family home until the war was over.

“He is in Azkaban, and everyone believes you dead,” Sev said.

Reggie blinked, not sure how to respond to that. “Dead?” There were family safeguards against a member faking their own death. Those same spells and artifacts should have prevented his family from assuming he was dead.

“The inferi,” Heir Nott said softly.

Lord Potter turned to Severus. “Could the death magic have hidden him?” Perhaps Severus did not have a lordship, but he clearly had the ear of this young lord. Political careers had been made on less, but Reggie was surprised to see Severus seeking that sort of power. He was always the sort to care more for his potions and spell crafting than the world of the Wizengamot.

“Perhaps,” Severus said slowly. “Reggie’s magical core was cut off by the power of death, so the magic might have assumed he was dead.”

Reggie ran his hand through his hair as he realized what that meant. His mother had moved on to the next world believing that one son had turned on her and the other had died. His heart ached. However, grieving would come later. He had more practical concerns.

“Why is Sirius imprisoned?”

“He betrayed the Potters, allowing the False Lord inside their fidelius charm. The False Lord killed both James and Lily. When he tried to escape, the mutt then killed a dozen or so muggles on the street. The Aurors had quite the task containing the mess.”

For the second time in a short period of time, Reggie’s world was shaken down to the foundation. “He would never betray James.” Sirius loved James—he’d loved James more than his own family, in fact.

Sev nodded. “I know. But I also know that the mutt refused to learn occlumency or control his emotions. I always assumed he had lost himself to the Black madness.”

Reggie’s heart ached. As much as he sometimes hated his brother, he regretted that when Sirius came to his senses, he would know that he had betrayed his chosen family even more completely than he had his blood family. The world had gone mad. Truly mad.

“Reggie,” Severus said gently, “we need to get the horcrux. We need to destroy it.”

“It is already destroyed. I had hoped…” Reggie swallowed. Clearly his hopes meant nothing. Reggie had sacrificed his life to deny the Dark Lord immortality, and the fool Dumbledore had still failed to end the war. Inconceivable.

“Are you sure?” Before Reggie could answer, Severus continued. “How are you sure?”

“I ordered Kretcher to destroy it.” Kretcher would do anything for Reggie. He had regularly flaunted the orders of older family members and endured terrible punishments in order to protect Reggie, so he had no doubt of Kretcher’s loyalty. However, Severus traded concerned looks with the young people who stood behind him. “What?”

“The only way we have found to destroy a horcrux is sustained dragon fire, specifically a Norwegian Ridgeback’s fire, which is the hottest of all dragons. I don’t know that an elf could destroy such an object,” Severus explained.

Reggie’s eyes grew wide. No. That would mean that Kretcher and his mother would have been living in a home with a horcrux. In the time that Reggie had held the object, it had eaten at his soul in a way that matched the descriptions of a demetor’s touch. It couldn’t be that he had exposed his family to such danger. It couldn’t.

Reggie lost his balance and Lord Potter darted forward, catching Reggie a half second before Severus was there, a strong arm around Reggie’s waist. “Breathe, Reggie. It’s possible Kretcher succeeded where we did not. Elves have their own magic. Call Kretcher. Ask him.”

“I can’t from within the cave.”

Severus spoke with a gentleness Reggie had not expected from the irascible man. “The spells were fueled by the inferi. They’ve all fallen. You can call your elf.”

“Kretcher,” Reggie called. Nothing. He cleared his throat and called again. “Kretcher!”

A dirty elf with crusted sores and a filthy, torn tunic appeared. This was not the Kretcher Reggie knew. This was not the devilish companion who would always help him get revenge on Sirius. This was a broken and dying elf, and a sob escaped as Reggie realized he had done this. Kretcher must still have the horcrux. That was the only reason why his elf would be suffering so.

Reggie fell to his knees and Kretcher’s squinted eyes slowly opened to show the bright green gaze Reggie remembered from his childhood.

“Master Reggie?” Kretcher asked, his voice cracking. “Master Reggie!” He threw himself forward into Reggie’s arms, and Reggie held him, hugging him the way Kretcher had once held Reggie when he would cry as a child. “Master Reggie is back. Master Reggie!” Kretcher took a step back and Reggie released him. “Kretcher is bad elf, Kretcher is. Kretcher must punish himself for being a bad, bad elf.” Kretcher wailed the words, and Reggie knew he was one second from doing some terrible harm to himself.

“No,” Reggie said firmly. “You will not punish yourself. Absolutely not. Kretcher, do you still have the locket I gave you?”

Kretcher wailed. “That is why Kretcher must punish himself. Kretcher failed. Kretcher tried everything, but the locket would not be destroyed.”

Reggie pulled him close. “I am a bad master because I did not research enough to know you wouldn’t be able to destroy it. I am no better than Sirius, acting like a Gryffindor in the way I rushed in without ensuring I understood the task.”

“Master Reggie is far better than stupid, disloyal Master Sirius who made Mistress cry and refused his lessons and broke the house by disobeying rules about sliding down the banister. Master Reggie never got mad and kicked Kretcher when Kretcher not be doing anything or give Kretcher orders that make Kretcher punish himself when he cannot obey. Master Reggie is good master.” Kretcher patted Reggie’s hand before he looked around at the others. Then he made a distressed squeaking sound. “Kretcher is worst elf ever. Master will be wanting to have friends to the house and Kretcher has been not working. Kretcher will fix this, he will. He will do nothing except fixing. But Master Reggie,” Kretcher’s ears drooped, “you must not be bringing friends to the house now.”

Severus went to one knee beside Reggie. “The False Lord will learn of Reggie’s betrayal, and I am not sure the house will be safe. I plan to ask the lord of the keep where we have been staying to allow Regulus to remain with us. He will be safe there.”

“Good helper Severus always helps Master Reggie,” Kretcher said softly. Reggie imagined that the elf was remembering the times Severus had tutored Reggie through the more difficult subjects in school. Reggie had excelled at Defense against Dark Arts, and the Dark Arts, although Hogwarts no longer taught that subject. He had acceptable scores in Charms and Transfiguration, but Severus alone had dragged Reggie through Runes and Potions. Without him, Reggie never would have earned his NEWTS.

“Severus always has helped us, hasn’t he? And he knows how to destroy the locket, so if you go and get it, we can finish the job I should done years ago.”

With a pop, Kretcher vanished, only to reappear before Reggie could even stand. He held the garish locket cupped in his hands and held it out like an offering. Reggie lifted it by the chain, feeling the dark magic swirling around him. Reggie had to occlude to avoid being dragged into the darkness emanating from the cursed object. The Dark Lord was truly mad to split his soul in this way. His body might have achieved immortality, but it had done so at the cost of his mind. At least now Reggie understood how the Dark Lord had grown enamored of such vicious atrocities.

“I am ready to ask the lord of your keep for sanctuary,” Reggie said. He expected Severus to use side-along apparation, but Severus took a step back instead.

“They will not appear as long as Kretcher is here. If they are willing to protect you, they will then come themselves to transport us. If they are not willing to grant asylum, they will not come.”

Reggie frowned. That was a strange system—requiring the lord himself to transport anyone who wished to visit his keep. The family must use incredibly strong wards for that to be necessary; however, Reggie trusted Severus, and so he trusted Severus’s unnamed master. “Kretcher, return home. If Severus’s master accepts my request, I will not be returning. If his master rejects my request, I will call for you again.” If Kretcher had not tended the house and wards, it would not be safe for Reggie to appear in Grimmauld Place without Kretcher’s presence. The wards should recognize his Black blood, but that was far from guaranteed if the wards had gone untended. And Reggie knew the sorts of traps his parents had used to protect the home.

“Kretcher be listening for Master Reggie. Yes, he will. Kretcher be listening always.” Kretcher gave a bright smile, and Reggie hoped that the elf could recover from the torture Reggie had unintentionally inflicted on his loyal elf. “And Kretcher be cleaning. So much cleaning.” Kretcher vanished with a pop.

Severus stood. “My Lord—” Severus had not even finished his second word when a Fae shimmered into existence. Reggie stumbled away, panic crawling up his throat. The Black family always called on the Fae and their magic. Every holiday was an excuse to embrace the raw, wild magic and let it sing to their souls, but Reggie had never seen an actual Fae. The creature was beautiful, but there was something sharp and raw and deadly in the beauty that made Reggie want to escape. This was a creature that would dance in his blood and sing to the moon while doing it. This was the Black Madness personified, even if the creature had done nothing other than tilt its head to the side.

“Severus?” Reggie asked as soon as he caught his breath. They should flee. All of them. Fae were not to be trusted. Ever. Yet Severus and his four charges stood firm. That kept Reggie from retreating.

“I cast a Fae circle and asked for a boon,” Severus said softly.

Reggie stared at the man in horror. How untenable had life grown that Severus would take such drastic action? Calling the Fae. That was utterly Gryffindor.

Perhaps Severus could still read Reggie’s expression because his mouth twisted in a wry grimace that practically admitted to his foolishness. However, in the next second, Severus straightened and looked Reggie in the eye. “The Fae have helped train the children. We are committed to stopping the False Lord and Dumbledore’s foolish attacks on magic. I have put my life in their hands.” Severus moved closer. “I trust them, and our keep will provide a sanctuary that even the False Lord cannot breech. Severus held a hand out to Reggie, and Reggie knew if he took it, he was casting his lot not with Severus and his unknown and potentially unreliable allies. The Fae were unlikely to care whether Severus or these children survived the war, after all.

However, Reggie had trusted Severus longer than any other. When Orion had killed Reggie’s familiar after he had failed to score well in Runes, it had been Severus who sat with him. Severus had tutored him, even after Sirius had stolen the spending money their parents had sent him for the term. Reggie trusted Severus more than anyone else in the world now that his mother was gone.

And that was enough for him. He put his hand in Severus’s and the world shimmered away.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reggie sat on the sofa and considered the magnificence that surrounded him. The rich Fae magic made the hair on his arms stand on end from time to time, but he couldn’t deny the beauty of this keep. Reggie found it ironic that his parents had been so critical of half-bloods, claiming that they lost their true connection to the Fae through marrying muggles, and yet Severus had the strongest claim to Fae magic that Reggie had ever seen.

True, the young people had Fae wands and more raw power, but the Fae had looked first to Severus. The Fae touched the younger people as an adult would touch a child, but they maintained a respectful distance from Severus. The Fae put their faith in Severus and Reggie could see that even in the limited interaction he’d observed before the Fae had vanished and Severus had taken Lord Potter upstairs to ask their resident dragon to destroy the locket.

Reggie could not imagine how they had made an alliance with a dragon.

“So, you stole the horcrux in 1979?” Mr. Diggory asked. Miss Delacour sat close too close for decorum, which might be a tacit invitation or a suggestion that these two were not comfortable in this company.

“I did. And I assumed the Dark Lord would die shortly thereafter.”

“He got exiled from his body on Halloween of 1981, but he’s still around,” Heir Longbottom said. He had invited Reggie to use his given name, but Reggie did not want to allow such informality in his thoughts, not when he was ignorant as to the political alliances. It was clear that Longbottom, Nott, Potter, and Carrow had an unbreakable alliance, but he was not sure how Granger fit into that alliance, and Delacour and Diggory appeared to be outsiders. He understood they had only recently been brought to the keep by the Fae, but the others did not work to include them in conversation as they did with Reggie.

He had to move carefully until he understood these waters.

“It was good of you to stand up against You-Know-Who,” Delacour said. “So many refuse. They fear, and they assume they can run far enough to escape his notice, but just as Grindelwald spread beyond one country, so will he once he has solidified his hold over Great Britain.”

“If the Fae are moving against him, I doubt that will happen,” Reggie said. The Fae were a power no wixen could stand against.

“I suspect the Fae are unhappy about more than just Voldemort,” Granger said.

“Voldemort,” Delacour said with a dismissive huff. “I refuse to call him Flight of Death.” Her French accent deepened. “If one must use a name, I suggest Riddle since that is the name of his muggle father. Do not British traditions call for a child to carry the name of the sire?”

“True,” Granger said. “But I suspect the Fae are equally worried about the Light’s actions. The Fae are making more changlings because the threads connecting our two worlds are fading.”

That made Reggie’s heart race. “Fading? How?” If the connections to the Fae vanished, human magic would disappear.

Thea snorted, and the illusion that she was like Cissa vanished in that one inelegant gesture. “The fact that Hogwarts is trying to eliminate all wild magic would be the biggest problem. They won’t even allow traditional celebrations. It’s all Christmas and Halloween and Easter now. Slytherin used to have private ceremonies in our common room, but the headmaster did something to the wards to dampen the wild magics. We could say the words, but we couldn’t get Fae blessings.”

“You were at Hogwarts?” Diggory asked.

“I was a couple of years younger than you, so you probably don’t remember me,” Thea said lightly, but something in her voice made Reggie wary. She was worried.

“The only Nott I remember was a boy,” Granger said.

“Theodore Nott,” Diggory confirmed.

Thea lost much of the color out of her face, and Dinea scooted closer before catching her hand.

“Was that you?” Granger asked.

Thea raised her chin defiantly.

Diggory looked uncomfortable, but he remained silent. Granger did not. “Good for you,” Granger said in a fierce tone. “Some of the old families have such weird ideas about blood and gender and sex. And not just male-female sex. They think a man has the right to tell a woman that she can’t have sex. So old-fashioned.” Granger scoffed.

“No, they think they can tell a woman who to have sex with and when to do it,” Carrow said. “They think women are to be used, but the first pure-blooded man who tries to tell me what to do with my body is going regret his words.” Carrow pulled her long knife out and brandished it. Diggory visibly shrank back. Wise man. The Carrow family had a reputation for carrying through on threats, and while Diggory was not a pure-blood name, no doubt the young Carrow would happy castrate or eviscerate any man who tried to control her. Reggie wasn’t sure which she was threatening.

Reggie wondered if that meant that Carrow didn’t plan to marry. Sex was one of the purest forms of joy—a wild, unrestrained emotion that had the ability to generate magical attachments. Reggie’s parents had carefully warned him against having sex outside of close, magical bonds that he intended to nurture. No doubt it was that same lecture that had turned Sirius into a libertine with the reputation for bedding every attractive man or woman who crossed his path.

The spiral staircase to the dragonry whirred into motion and Severus appeared at the bottom with Lord Potter following close behind. “It is done,” Severus said. He tossed a twisted chunk of metal in Diggory’s direction. “One more horcrux destroyed. That makes three—assuming that the horcrux that tormented the school during Miss Granger’s third year was destroyed when Albus killed young Tom Riddle.”

“Let’s hope,” Lord Potter said softly. He came over and sat so close to Miss Nott that their thighs were pressed together. Reggie felt the soft strumming of magic from them as the beginnings of a magical bond hummed.

“Let’s get you situated,” Severus said as he turned in attention to Reggie.

Reggie stood. “Of course.”

“I checked our hall. No new rooms,” Granger offered.

“Family hall?” Nott suggested.

“We can check,” Severus turned and strode in the opposite direction as the greenhouse Longbottom had happily showed off.

Reggie followed, surprised that the others did not as well. A family hall suggested that only some of these people considered themselves family. Reggie wasn’t sure if he was more surprised that some combination of Carrow, Longbottom, Potter, and Nott considered themselves family or that someone was left out. Perhaps he would ask Severus later. Or not. Severus had years of life experience while Reggie was trapped under the inferi. Even though Reggie knew that technically he was in his thirties, he still felt like the eighteen-year-old kid who had panicked at the thought that he had helped someone protect a horcrux. The ministry might call the Cruciatus Curse an unforgivable, but it was a child’s spell compared to a horcrux.

“There is a new door.” Severus sounded relieved. “Right next to my room.” He opened the door and Reggie followed him into the space. The room was more than double the size of Reggie’s back at Grimmauld Place, even if it couldn’t touch the extravagance of the old family manners like the one the Malfoys owned. The smooth rock walls were shot through with precious metals, and like in the sitting room, crystals sparkled in the ceiling. However, what caught Reggie’s attention was the view.

In the sitting room, the balcony overlooked icy peaks. Here, the balcony had the same snowy vistas, but in the distance, an icy river sluggishly meandered through the valley. And along the banks, a herd of hrimfaxi grazed on the snow, their white manes long enough to skim the snow banks even though they were considerably larger than thestrals or horses. Their coats ranged from cream to white—some pure and others dotted or streaks with browns or blacks. They almost vanished into the scene, only the setting sun meant they cast long shadows and their white bodies contrasted sharply against the darkness.

“This is strange,” Severus said.

“Strange and beautiful,” Reggie said in awe.

Severus moved to his side. “The herd has returned. They avoided the keep for a while after Norbert came to live with us, but since Norbert has started hunting the ice giants, the herd has been returning more and more often.” They stood, side by side, as the beautiful creatures navigated over the river, gracefully balancing on the floating chunks of ice as the water sluggishly flowed. “Dinae was ready to declare a blood feud against the giants when she saw them hunt the hrimfaxi.”

“I might join her in that feud.”

“Do not encourage her blood-thirsty habits. Between her joy in battle and Harry’s middling occlumency, I worry that the Black madness will spread outside the Black family.” He sighed. “Given that your family’s affliction is better called a Fae madness, I should not be surprised.”

Reggie focused on his friend. “My apologies. What were you saying was strange?”

Severus gestured toward one side of the room. The balcony served as a rough divider between the two halves of the room, and Reggie could recognize the far half as belonging to Severus. The neat stack of books next to the bed reminded Reggie of the way Severus would stack books next to his chair in the library so he could focus on one book at a time. And the robe carelessly tossed in the corner paired with the vials lined up on the desk reflected Severus’s values.

“Is this your room?”

“I hadn’t thought so, but apparently the Fae intend us to share.” Severus gestured, and Reggie turned toward the curtained bed on the other side. A shirt he had thrown across his bed back home was on the bed, and his favorite chair was up against his desk. The Fae had tried to offer him some touches of home, although the empty candy wrappers on the edge of the desk did suggest that they didn’t understand how humans assigned value.

“I thought the next room over was yours.”

“It was. I wonder what it is now.” Severus strode out of the room. He always had been so dramatic. Reggie had always envied that. Severus and Sirius both had a presence that Reggie had never been able to project. He tended to vanish into the shadows during gatherings, no matter how much his mother lectured him about making the right impressions on the right people.

Severus opened the door to a smaller room that was utterly empty. “I can move over here to give you privacy,” Reggie offered.

“The Fae have put us in a room together. No doubt they have some use planned for this.” Severus sounded distant as he studied the empty space.

“I can move out if they make that need clear. You’re an adult. I’m sure you’re past the time when you wanted to share your room as if we were back in the Slytherin dorms again.” Reggie laughed although the dorms had been his fondest memories.

Severus turned and studied Reggie with such intensity that Reggie wondered if he had ever learned Legilimency. “I am the only adult in a keep full of hormonal young people. And we are friends. I have no objection to sharing a room.”

Reggie rubbed the back of his neck. “I feel like I am one of those hormonal teenagers,” Reggie confessed. “I mean, the last thing I remember, I was eighteen and stupid. You’re actually in your thirties.”

Severus scoffed. “I have spend most of my adult life in this keep, locked away from the world. I do not feel my age any more than you do. And you are far less stupid than I was. You turned away from the False Lord. I sold myself first to the False Lord and then to Albus Dumbledore. I chose the two worst men in the wizarding world, and pledged myself to their causes, one after the other.”

“You’ve always been a logical man. I’m sure you had cause.”

Severus offered his most disdainful look, the one he normally reserved for James Potter. How ironic that Severus had the ear of Lord Harry Potter. “In hindsight, my reasons were juvenile and inane.”

“So, a normal teenager?” Reggie asked with a smile. When Severus rolled his eyes, Reggie felt the thrill of accomplishment. The world had moved on without him, but he still had certain talents.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reggie put the book on the nightstand and tried to sort his thoughts. “How have you handled all this?” He asked Severus.

Severus had already changed into his dressing gown and he sat cross-legged on his bed, a text in front of him. “Handle what?”

Reggie abandoned his bed and moved to Severus’s desk chair, which he straddled backward. “All these new theories. Or old theories. But all this information that flies directly in the face of what we learned at Hogwarts.”

Severus finally looked up from his book. “The attempts to suppress dark magic predate the False Lord or even Grindelwald. Those who don’t seek power are often afraid of it, and wild, Fae magic is powerful.”

“And dangerous,” Reggie agreed as he glanced back over at his abandoned text. Human transfiguration was a topic so taboo that even the Black family library had nothing like it. Yet at some point, wixen had written about the topic in some detail. “What is the final goal here?”

Severus closed his book. “I have no idea.”

“Come on, Sev. You are the ultimate Slytherin. You always have a plan.”

Severus sighed. “Point of fact, I do not. I had gotten myself so tangled in the war that I saw no way out, so I threw myself on the mercy of the Fae.”

“Fae have no mercy.”

“I might have expected to pay with my life,” Severus admitted. Reggie’s heart ached at the idea that such a strong man had been pushed to the point that he wanted to die. Severus had endured the taunts of pure-blood Slytherins and the torments of Gryffindor bullies with equal equanimity, but whatever had come after the war had broken him.

Reggie wondered if that had anything to do with Lily Evans. Or Lily Potter, more accurately. Severus’s magic had danced with Lily’s. Reggie had always wondered if they would develop a magical bond, but then Lily had pulled away. Even with the little mage sight he’d been blessed with, Reggie could see Severus struggling as she drew away and pulled Severus’s magic with her. Someone who could offer his magic without reservation should be revered and protected, and Reggie hated that Lily had never seen what she was doing when she refused to take sides in the war between the Marauders and Slytherins.

But then so few were blessed with mage sight, so no doubt she never realized how fully Severus had loved her.

“I expected to die when I stole the locket,” Reggie admitted. “Death seemed kind compared to what the Dark Lord would do, but it makes sense that if someone had penetrated his security, he would have wanted the person disabled and contained so he could question them later.” Reggie shivered as he thought about what might have happened.

“So, we were both fools?” Severus asked.

“Clearly,” Reggie agreed. He reached out a hand, and after a second, Severus put his own hand in Reggie’s. “I am just glad we survived long enough to make different choices.”

Severus looked bewildered, but he didn’t take his hand back. Reggie could work with that. After all, he’d had a crush on Severus Snape since his third year. And now he didn’t have Slytherins or Blacks around to tell him that he couldn’t have what he wanted. If Thea had the strength to embrace her true nature, then Reggie could do no less.

“We can make any choice we want, now,” Reggie said. After a second, Severus’s confusion cleared and he looked shocked.

“Surely you can’t mean…”

“Why not?”

“We are hardly equal in status.” Severus tried to pull his hand away, but Reggie tightened his hold.

“No, you are the chosen of the Fae. The Blacks are a Noble house because we are Fae-touched. And now you, Severus Snape are Fae touched. Tell me, who has a greater claim to nobility, the one descended from a wixen brave enough to stand with the Fae in battle or the wixen who does the standing?”

“I am hardly going to battle with the Fae. In fact, they have refused me a battle wand.” Severus projected despair at those words.

Reggie shifted to sit next to Severus on the bed. “They trust you with their chosen children, Severus. They may not know the relative importance of candy wrappers versus diamond rings, but they love children. And they trust you to protect them.”

“I will be left at home while they fight,” Severus said miserably.

Reggie understood Severus’s concerns, but he suspected Severus was too close to see the actual problem. “If you were there, the others would ignore their mission to stay with you—to protect you. Those young people love you Severus. They would let the world burn if it meant they saved you. That’s why the Fae cannot trust you on the battlefield.” Reggie had seen that much during training. Even in the heat of battle, all the others knew where Severus was. If he stood, they would move out of cover, even when that meant enduring terrible curses from the Fae. Severus was the center of their family. But then, Reggie suspected that Severus had never been the center of the family before, so he didn’t recognize it.

Reggie could sympathize. Growing up, Sirius had been the focus of his parents’ attention—at least until he’d turned his back on the family. And even then Sirius’s betrayal featured heavily in every decision his parents made.

“You overestimate my importance.”

“No,” Reggie said softly. He let his magic out, let it dance across Severus’s skin in invitation. “I don’t.”

Again, Severus looked confused. Reggie leaned closer to press his lips against Severus’s. For now, he left the invitation at that. Withdrawing his magic, he returned to his bed and his text on human transfiguration.