Not Our World (Harry Potter Fanfic)

In Plain Sight

As Regulus pulled his trunk along, students would stop and say hello to him, and he'd cheerfully say hello back, sometimes asking how their summer went regardless of whether they were in his house or not. Yet, the one child not smiling was, in fact, his godson, Draco, and the lack of smile on Draco's face bothered him.

Eventually, they found a compartment, and Regulus levitated their trunks up before sitting down across from Draco and letting Crookshanks out into the closed-off room. "So..."

"Were you a Death Eater?"

Regulus flinched, his gray eyes focused on his furry companion as he began stroking the orange fur. "Isn't Crookshanks such orange fluffy goodness?"

"You're avoiding the question," Draco said.

"I was finishing the train of thought in my head when you asked me that. Is that why you weren't happy to see me today?" Regulus asked. "I mean, normally you are. Or is it, as Cissy says, that you're upset that I didn't show up to my birthday dinner?"

"That doesn't answer my question," Draco said.

"I'm not sure this is a conversation your mother would like us to be having," Regulus said, looking up at Draco. "And while your Aunt Walburga can be scary when she starts yelling, your mother's silence is far more chilling."

"I won't tell her."

"Yes, but she'll know that you got it from somewhere, right?"

"I'll say it was Sirius then."

"That.." Regulus titled his head, finding himself slightly amused. "That would actually be more believable than me telling you, but so in character with him. But I don't like getting him in trouble."

"It's a yes or no question."

"And from the fact I'm evading will clue you into the fact, yes, I was a Death Eater. Never have been good at lying, so I guess we'll cut to the point."

Draco stared. "You just said that mother would be angry at you for telling me."

"Well, sort of. It's complicated, I guess? I can at least tell her I tried evading the answer, right?"

"Except you didn't."

"No. I guess I didn't." Regulus sighed. "I'm not good at this kind of conversation, and I don't like talking about that."

"Oh."

"Though..." Regulus looked up at Draco. "Given how Lu-Lu is, I should..."

"Lu-Lu?"

"You know. Your father."

"You call him Lu-Lu?"

"He hates it."

"Yeah, then why do you do it?"

"Because he hates it."

"Okay. Didn't expect that one. Do you not like my dad then?"

"No. I mean, I don't like him either. He's kind of blah, but Cissy likes him. And the look when I first gave him that nickname was hysterical. One of the few..." Regulus sighed. "So, back to what I wanted to say. That being a Death Eater isn't anything to brag about."

"How did you go from..."

"Because it was one of the few good memories I have of that time of my life, but then..." Regulus looked out the window. "Before Siri was in charge of my affairs, I really didn't have many good memories. They should be there, but coming to the realizations I did when I did."

He fell silent.

"Why aren't you in Azkaban?"

Regulus flinched, turning to look at Draco in horror. "Why..."