CHAPTER SEVEN | CARDINAL

"In all the wild world, there is no more desperate a creature, than a human being on the verge of losing love."

- atticus

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Regulus A. Black adored his twin brother. The two have always been thicker than thieves especially when Sirius left their home. They could practically read each other's minds. They could feel the other's emotions. They were willing to do whatever it took to keep the other one safe. Regulus remembers when Rigel would fight other people because they would make fun of him before his back. He remembers everything Rigel let him cheat on the tests and homework. The two would stick together at home, knowing they were safer together than they were apart. They both would sneak off to feed the house elves when their parents were too busy to pay attention to them. They would watch the other children from the living room window, wishing desperately that they could have joined in. The two are thicker than thieves. Regulus has tried his best to stand besides Rigel throughout all their hardships they faced and obstacles they had to overcome despite their differing opinions because they are brothers.

He is not quite sure how he could help Rigel overcome this hardship.

"You're going to kill her, tonight?" Regulus asks in slight shock while staring at the older death-eater. Wilkes nods his head quietly with a slight guilty look in his eyes.

"The Dark Lord has demanded for her death. It will mark the new era of death-eaters in Hogwarts. It will teach them and the staff to fear us." He explains as he rubs his hands together. Regulus in unsure if it's due to Wilkes being nervous or excited.

"Unless they put us into Azkaban first." Regulus scoffs. "This is insane to do this at school, can it not wait?" He desperately is trying to buy more time for the poor chosen targets and for his brother.

"No, it cannot. Tonight at the Halloween feast, there will be less mudbloods in this school. The others will be at her home, killing the rest of her family." Wilkes states. Regulus picks up on the plural term and immediately remembers that she has a little sister — a little sister that Rigel has been adamant on protecting since she was sorted.

"What about her little sister that goes here?" Regulus questions, desperately praying that he misheard and they would not actually be murdering a young child.

"She will be dead after tonight as well. The whole family is to be wiped out. Is there a problem?" Wilkes suspiciously eyes the Black twin as if suddenly realizing that he may be a future deserter or spy. Regulus has been surprised by how willing Wilkes became a death eater and he followed every order given to him to a T. Regulus thought that out of anyone they know, Wilkes would be more like them — hesitate, guilty, and regretting their choices in life — and yet, it was the opposite. Wilkes seems to enjoy hurting other people and watching them squirm in pain. Regulus has so much more to say and protest about this plan yet he swallows those emotions. In order to survive in this world, he has to be someone he is not.

"No, there is not a problem. I just was not expecting such a public display of our power." Regulus comments as his thoughts drift off to Rigel. Rigel will be crushed.

"Wilkes, you ready?" Another death-eater that Regulus does not know the name of appears.

"Tonight the Macdonald's die."

Regulus watches in despair as the two death eaters leave his side.

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"It's so intriguing." Mary Macdonald's huddles closer to Rigel as they sit underneath the giant tree by the Black Lake. He had enchanted little fairy lights to float in the tree and a picnic with all of her favorite foods. She watches in amazement at the apple that is slowly disappearing in Rigel's hands. "What do thestrals look like?" She curiously asks. She remembers briefly learning about the strange creatures in Care of Magical Creatures in her third year. One important detail about them stands out to her the most — you have to witness someone dying to be able to see them.

"Like black bony horses with wings." Rigel informs her as he feeds the young thestral. "It's rare for them to be so far out of the Forbidden Forest. Maybe they are getting ready to migrate to somewhere else for the winter." He muses. (Or maybe they sense the lingering feeling of death surrounding a certain person.)

After she confronted Rigel on their first day back, he quickly broke down and explained everything to her. She understood where he was coming from and she already had an idea of what happened since she overheard the conversation between him and the other Slytherin as they were going home for Christmas. Secretly, she wonders if Rigel does hold a hatred for muggle born and that's why he didn't try escaping his destiny. Yet as she watched him cry and fall to his knees in shame of what he has done, she threw that out of her head.

Rigel Black is merely a boy too loyal to his family.

"Do they do that?" Mary gets out of her thoughts and asks him. She does not ask how he can see thestrals, knowing it would be a very touchy subject. She assumes killing someone was apart of the tasks Voldemort forced him to do. He never went into too much detail on what he did. She was only awarded with very brief descriptions. He probably believes that if he told her every little detail, she would view him as a monster and run for the hills. She likes to think that if he did something truly heinous that she would leave him, but honestly, she does not know if she could ever bring herself to do that.

"No one knows for certain since most people cannot see them. There's not too much known about them." He states.

"How sad, they sound like such misunderstood creatures." She frowns. "Maybe you should research them more and educate us about them."

"If only I wanted to be a magical creature expert." He chuckles.

"I think you would be a wonderful magical creature expert. You are always so willing to learn everything about something and you do not make quick judgements on things." She smiles at him gently and reaches out to cup his face. He places his hand over hers. "Take me for example. You were open to accepting me into your life despite all the pureblood mania teachings from your family. You listened and learned about the muggle world and did not judge any of the muggle items I brought to you. I remember when I first handed you a telephone. The look on your face because of the size of it." She giggles. "It truly amazes me that you are the way you are." He smiles at her words, enjoying the happiness clear on her face as she expresses her feelings. "Are you excited for the Halloween feast?"

"I would be more excited, but since Sirius and the rest of them left, there's not going to be any cool pranks done this year." The two of them laugh as they think back to all the Halloween pranks they have witnessed.

"True, I didn't even think of that. Hopefully some random group decides to take the mantle and step up to fill the shoes of the Marauders." She comments cheerfully while laying back down in his lap.

"I don't think anyone is ever going to live up to the Marauders." He states, watching the few threstals walk away from them and back into the forest. As he watches them disappear, a thought appears in his head. "Mary, maybe we should run away."

"What?" Mary sits up and stares at him in slight disbelief at his suggestion. "Run away?"

"The world is becoming a dark place. Maybe it'll be safer if we take Cindy and run far away from here. We can go to Australia and hide there for a while. We can wait for things to cool off here before coming back home." He explains to her as he gently takes her hands in his.

"We can't run away from the things that scare us, Rigel. I know this place is becoming more dangerous for my family and I, but that's why I need to stay here and fight. I need to help protect the future of muggle borns." She strongly asserts. "Plus," she taps his left sleeve, "you can never truly escape with that on you." Rigel sighs and shakes his head, knowing she is right.

"I have a bad feeling about today. It feels like death is looming over us." He softly whispers to her.

"I have that feeling too." She whispers back. "But we can't let those feelings control our actions."

"Mary, I love you."

"I love you too, Rigel." The two share a gentle kiss as they try to desperately ignore the death feeling surrounding them.

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"Hello," Rigel is relaxing in the common room when Cindy walks up to him with a sheepish look on her face. "I need help." Cindy has declared Rigel to be her unofficial tutor for every class. Rigel honestly does not mind it, it is soothing to be focusing on something so trivial as school compared to what else he has to focus on.

"Sit down," he chuckles and gestures towards the seat next to him. She eagerly takes it. "What do you need help with?" She hands over her essay prompt for Herbology. "Ah, the incendio dou spell. I remember learning this. Regulus accidentally caught me on fire during class because he was aiming at a slug that was behind me, but missed. The look on Professor Sprout's face was hilarious." Cindy giggles as she imagines the situation in her head.

"So you use it kill slugs?" She asks.

"Yes and no. It's a conjuration charm that produces flames. You can light anything on fire with it, but it is used to kill slugs mostly." He hands the paper back to her and watches as she begins to write her essay. "You made a spelling mistake right here," he leans over and points to a word. He leans back, rubbing his face tiredly when he feels a pair of eyes watching him. He turns to see a group of Slytherins glaring at him. He furrows his eyebrows after seeing Regulus within the group and he looks quite panicked. Rigel briefly considers heading over there to find out what's going on, but is distracted by Cindy handing her paper to him once more. He skims the essay and smiles. "Nice job, Cindy. Professor Sprout should give you an O for this essay." He hands it back to her and laughs at the happy expression on her face.

"Thank you for helping me, I know it might annoy you." She nervously says, glancing at the floor.

"Cindy, I don't mind helping you. I've always wanted a little sister and you've given me that." He shrugs.

"Really?" She locks eyes with hun as a goofy smile crosses her face. "You view me as a little sister?"

"Of course I do," Cindy hugs him tightly. He smiles down at her form and hugs her back.

"Bye, Rigel!" She releases and waves while rushing over to Monty who just entered the common room. Rigel leans back in the chair with a wistful expression on his face as he watches the two children. He remembers when he saw them as mockingbirds waiting to be corrupted and killed in Hogwarts yet it seems that they have kept some their innocence throughout the years. He hopes it's because he's been here helping and protecting them when he has the chance.

Regulus observes his brother from across the room and the guilty feeling in his stomach only worsens. His brother may never forgive him after tonight.

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The Halloween feast was in full swing. Rigel immediately could tell something is wrong as he makes his way over got his table. He furrows his eyebrows at the obvious tension lingering around a few certain people. He sits down next to Regulus and stares at him. "You look guilty, what did you do?" He asks.

"Nothing...yet." Regulus sighs and rubs his face while worryingly glancing at the young girl further down the table. Rigel follows his line of sight.

"Why are you looking at Cindy?" Rigel practically spits out in anger and protectiveness over the little girl. "You better not be pranking her, she's had it rough enough being a muggle born in our house."

"Rigel, whatever happens tonight, I want you to know I'm sorry and I wanted to stop it." Regulus mumbles, tears building up in his eyes as he fully realizes how deep he and his brother are in the Dark Lord's grip.

"Regulus, stop being vague." Rigel leans closer to his brother. "Tell me what's going on." Regulus stares at the worried eyes of Rigel. He always knew that Rigel and him were different from one another. Rigel has better morals and sense of judgement on things. He was the one people went to when they needed someone to confide in. He was the angel in their family that lost its way because of the corruptness in Regulus.

"I can't because I know what you will do afterwards." Regulus lowers his face towards the table, he cannot bring himself to look at Rigel.

"Regulus," Rigel practically snarls with his lips pulled back to show his teeth as he roughly grabs Regulus's arm. "You will tell me what's going on." Regulus blinks in slight surprise at how aggressive his brother is being. "I have had a bad feeling all day and I bet it's because of whatever you're planning." Regulus eyes flicker over to the dining hall doors and Rigel quickly looks over as well to see Cindy and Mary leaving the hall with a few friends. Closely behind them is a group of Slytherins, the same ones who were glaring at hun earlier. "What are you idiots doing?" Rigel quickly gets up from the table and begins to follow after them when suddenly, he is pulled backwards. Regulus stands in front of him with a concerned expression.

"I don't think you will be able to handle what is going to happen." Regulus explains. Mulciber, Evan and Wilkes notices the brewing tension between the twins and head over to the duo.

"Is everything alright?" Wilkes questions, warily eyeing the scary expression on Rigel's face.

"I don't know. Are you three in on what is happening tonight that Regulus is so scared to tell me?" Rigel stares at his friends and notes the shocked look in their eyes as they look at Regulus.

"Why are you keeping him from that? It will look bad to the Dark Lord if he isn't a part of it." Wilkes whispers, glancing around to ensure no one is listening in on their conversation.

"Rigel," Evan looks quite nervous because he had somewhat of an idea on why Regulus did not tell his brother, "we were given a task to complete tonight." He looks away, unable to continue the sentence. Evan always had his suspicions about Rigel and MacDonald, but he wishes they were not true. He would sometimes catch the younger male sneaking out of the common room late at night and sneaking back in early in the morning before anyone else would wake up. He never thought that Rigel was seeing a Gryffindor until he came back one day with red and yellow paint of his cheeks — something the Gryffindors did at all of their house parties.

"And this task involves Mary and Cindy?" Rigel questions as his eyes widen in realization. "They're going to torture them."

"Worse," Mulciber places a gentle hand on Rigel's shoulder, "they're going to kill them." Rigel feels his entire world swirl around him. All he can feel is fear and hot, burning anger at the man he calls his twin.

"And you didn't want to tell me," Rigel snarls at Regulus and shoves him. Regulus stumbles back, wincing at the harshness of the shove. "Where?"

"The Room of Requirements." Wilkes answers. The group watches as Rigel practically runs from them and to where the task is being completed. "Why does he care so much?"

"Mary and Rigel have been in a relationship the past few years," Evan replies before Regulus can. They turn to look at him in surprise. "What? I'm not an idiot. Anyone can see how those two looked at each other and it doesn't help that they were always in the library studying together. I just wish my suspicions were wrong." Evan sighs and closes his eyes in slight guilt over what is going to happen.

"That explains why he looked like he wanted to murder me anytime I talked to Mary," Mulciber muses. "Did you know?" He asks Regulus.

"I did," Regulus whispers, "and I'm sure the Dark Lord found out about it and that's why we were given this task."

"And why Rigel is now engaged to that Euphemia girl," Wilkes says as they all glance towards the said twelve-year-old girl sitting with her friends.

"He probably wants to break Rigel to the point where he can be molded into the perfect soldier," Mulciber states, "and to sever his attachments to the muggle world." The group begins to quickly follow after Rigel. "I may not agree with his love life, but we have to be there for him."

"Hopefully we aren't too late."

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Rigel wishes Mary listened to him earlier today. They could be in Australia with Cindy right now, not fighting for their lives. He cannot believe Regulus would keep this from him. Rigel has never felt so betrayed in his life — not even when Sirius got into Gryffindor and left them. Rigel finally makes it to the wall on the seventh floor. He paces three times while thinking, 'show me Mary and Cindy.' The door appears and he does not wait for another moment to enter. He freezes, seeing the two girls on the floor with a large group of death eaters surrounding them. Some of the death eaters were people who already graduated from school. How did they get back on school grounds?

"Please," he hears Cindy sob, "I'm scared." Those two words absolutely break his heart. He whips out his wand without a second thought and points it at the closest death eater. Before he could say anything (he was going for either the killing or torture curse because that is what these people deserve), his wand is knocked out of his hand. He turns angrily to see his friends and brother standing there. Wilkes has his wand in his hand.

"Give it back." Rigel reaches for his wand only for Wilkes to throw it to Mulciber. As Rigel tries to get it, the wand is then thrown to Evan and then to Regulus and back to Wilkes. It seems they are playing a game if keep away with his wand in an attempt to stop him from doing what he wants to do. Rigel sighs in annoyance as he decides to forget his wand. Maybe the anger and fear in his soul will be enough to fuel his magic.

"Why are you doing this?" The fearful and pleading voice of Mary is what causes him to finally snap.

"Get away from them!" Rigel yells, pushing people out of his way as he walks towards his girls. The death eaters all give him confused looks at his behavior. He stares at the girls with horror written across his face. Mary and Cindy are on the floor, the former putting her body protectively across the latter as a last line of defense. Mary looks sad at the sight of Rigel while Cindy looks relieved. "Who ordered this?" He snarls.

"The Dark Lord," Nott steps forward with a raised eyebrow at the Black's actions. "He specifically wanted these mudbloods to be dealt with." He stresses the word, 'specifically.' "Crucio," Nott causally says while pointing his wand at Mary. Mary squirms on the floor, scream emitting from her throat as her face turns red and her veins become more prominent. Rigel goes to tackle Nott when arms wrap around him and yank him back. "I never would have expected a Black to hold a soft spot for a mud blood." Nott cackles, "the Dark Lord will love to hear about this." Rigel feels his veins become ice cold at that comment. The Dark Lord will have his head and possibly his entire family's if he believes that Rigel is a traitor. "Ava-"

"Nott, I am begging you," Rigel interrupts the spell as he struggles in the arms of Regulus. He is desperately trying to get to the crying girls on the floor. "Please don't let them die crying, please!" Nott watches the emotional and mental breakdown of Rigel Black. He was poking fun earlier, but now, he is realizing that Rigel does have a soft spot for these girls. He taps his wand to his lips as he thinks about how wonderful it would be to show the Dark Lord this memory—his most trusted soldier weeping over the bodies of two mudbloods. It would certainly gain the Nott family more favor. He glances at the MacDonald sisters laying on the floor with terrified sobs emitting from their throats. He glances back at Regulus and briefly nods his head at Rigel. Regulus releases his twin brother, watching in sadness as he collapses next to Mary.

"Oh Merlin, no no no." Rigel whispers in horror as he gently strokes Mary's bloody hair. "I didn't know." He chokes out. "I didn't know this was going to happen."

"I should have taken you up on your offer of running away." Mary croaks as blood drips from her lips. She releases a soft sob and tries to move her body closer to him. He immediately wraps her body up in his arms and places her on his lap. "Cindy, take away her pain please. She shouldn't suffer like this." Rigel gazes at the twelve year old girl who is fearfully sobbing while struggling in the ropes wrapped around her. The girl that Rigel saw as a little sister could not stop looking at him in hope.

It hurt. It hurt so badly knowing that he could not save them — not with so many death-eaters around. It was already bad enough that he was breaking down in front them. One of them was sure to tell the Dark Lord about this public display of emotion for two muggle borns. "Ad Somnum," Rigel whispers and waves his fingers towards Cindy. Cindy's eyes flutter for a second before closing completely and everyone can hear the slight snores emitting from her mouth. "She will have no knowledge on what is about to happen. She will go peacefully." Mary nods her head in thanks as more sobs escape her throat. She reaches her hand out and gently traces Rigel's face. "Let me put you to sleep."

"No," she croaks out, "seeing your face takes away the pain. I want it to be the last thing I ever see." The tears swelling in Rigel's eyes begin to slide down his cheeks. "Thank you for allowing me to be apart of your life. It has truly been an adventure," she tries to grin but she coughs up some blood— a side effect from the multiple rounds of the Crucio curse being used on her among other curses. "I think I would've named our future kids Felix if it was a boy and Ada if it was a girl." Rigel laughs and shakes his head at the fact she is trying to lighten the situation even while facing death.

"I think Alaia for a girl and Axel for a boy would be better." He mumbles to her.

"They would've had your eyes and cheeks but my hair and face." She cups his face with her hands. "And they would've been the perfect mixture of our personalities. One would get in Hufflepuff and the other in Gryffindor." He grabs her hand and gently placed a kiss on it. The two stare at each other, memorizing the way the other looked while all of their memories flash rapidly in their minds. "I love you."

"I love you too." He whispers, more tears falling down his face as he realizes their time together is coming to an end.

"I hope you escape this cage surrounding you soon." She mumbles as Nott raises his wand once more.

"Avada Kedavra!" A bolt of green light changes Rigel's life forever.

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Sirius sighs after a familiar looking owl appears once more at his apartment window. Remus looks up from his book, frowning at the expression on Sirius's face. The owl chirps and angrily starts pecking the glass as Sirius makes no move to open it. "Sirius," he glances at Remus, "let it in, just this once. I understand you don't get along with your brother—"

"It's not just that!" Sirius shouts. "They are on the wrong side of this war. They are brainwashed and believe every twisted comment that comes out of our parents' mouths. They are no longer the little brothers I knew and loved. They are strangers and now, they are my enemies." He turns to face the owl, anger glowering in his heart.

"Once upon a time, you also believed them." Remus softly points out. "You were lucky enough to be surrounded by people that disproved everything they said. The twins didn't get that. They are surrounded by people who think the same way your parents do. How do we expect them to change when the environment they are in doesn't?" Sirius rolls his eyes. He never understands why Remus is always so hellbent on him connecting with the twins again. He goes to shout more negative things about the twins until he sees wet stains on the envelope. He furrows his eyebrows and warily opens the window. Remus perks up, smiling a bit as he thinks that Sirius will finally actually return a written letter to Rigel instead of sending the unopened envelopes back. Sirius grabs the letter and eyes the wet stains before slowly opening the envelope. He quickly glances over it to see other wet stains littering the letter and he comes to a quick conclusion — Rigel was sobbing while writing this. Rigel, his cool and collected younger brother who never cried in front of others because he did not want to be seen as weak or vulnerable, willingly sent a letter to Sirius that  has evidence of him crying on it.

"What does it say?" Remus questions, his fingers drumming on his book in an attempt to contain his excitement at this new development. Sirius skims the letter and his frown deepens.

'Dear Ori,

You hold so much contempt towards us for the actions of our mother— something we had nothing to do with. I remember how hateful your eyes were whenever you looked at me at school. You hated me for being a Slytherin, something I had little control over. It reminded me of how mother would look at me when I would make a mistake. You share more qualities with our mother than you would care to admit.

I miss the old days where it would be just us, running around the roads while pranking the muggle children. Father would get so mad at us for 'almost exposing the wizarding world' and we would laugh. I miss the simple days where the only thing I had to worry about was whether or not you were going to beat me in quidditch. Now, look at us. Brothers on opposite sides of a brewing war. Brothers who chose different people to stand by. I chose my family, you chose your friends. Did we really choose our sides based on our own morals or based on the people we love? I wish my love for my friends was stronger than my love for our family.

You left us for your friends. You left us in a house with no love, no happiness, and no morals. We wanted to leave, we wanted to join you yet you ignored our pleads for help because of your contempt. We even tried Dumbledore but apparently our parents have much deeper claws in people than what we thought because he refused. We are stuck, Ori, with no way out and with no help yet people expect us to figure it out. By now, it will be too late for us to figure it out. The claws within us grow deeper and deeper every passing second and we risk death if we do leave.

I fear that we will never see each other again as the brothers we once were. From now on, we will merely see the other as an enemy that needs to be taken out. I do not know if I have the heart to do it— to take you out. We share too many fond memories for me to bore any real hatred towards you. Remember when you got your wand and you let me hold it? I accidentally turned your entire body green. Mother was livid at us for that.

Something absolutely horrible happened tonight, Ori. I wish I had my older brother to confide in, to get the comfort I most desperately need that I cannot get from my twin yet you are gone. Will you be gone forever? Or will we eventually find our way back to each other as brothers once more?

I hope we do.

~ R.A.B."

Sirius finishes reading the letter aloud and the two sit in silence. He wonders what horrible thing happens and why Rigel would need his comfort over Regulus's. Slight tears swell in Sirius's eyes as he gazes at the owl waiting patiently by the window. Rigel is right, Sirius did leave them in a cold, broken house. Remus is also right. Sirius left the twins in a negative environment and did not try to help them change their environment when they reached out to do so. "Are you going to write him back?" The voice of Remus snaps Sirius out of his thoughts.

"No." Sirius whispers as he places the letter back into the envelope and hands it to the owl. "Send it back to him." The two watch the owl fly away in tense silence.

A few moments later, a boy breaks down even more after receiving his letter back.

[ "Our love knows no bounds for we will find each other in our next lives." ]