January 2nd - Undiscolsed Location 

Regulus Black had just sat through yet another Death Eater meeting, trying to divulge as much information as possible about what Voldemort was planning. This feat was easier said than done, Tom Riddle was a smart man, he kept information on a need to know basis, making it very hard to extract such things. 

The young Slytherin also had no luck in trying to find out what it was that he wanted with the artefacts from the Hogwarts founders, Helga's cup and Ravenclaw's diadem were never mentioned once, a fact that only intrigued the boy further. 

Then, there was the issue of Nott's task. He would be given something to hide at Hogwarts, something he was forbidden from talking about, even to his friends. 

Regulus could sense that something big was brewing in the shadows, something none of them were prepared for. So, when Riddle instricted all the Death Eaters to leave, but Nott, he remained behind, lingering in the corridor outside the room, hoping to hear something. 

The words were muffled, a silencing charm was placed but with some effort from the boy's part he had managed to half-break through it, allowing him to catch broken phrases. 

'It needs to be well hidden,' 

'No one can know about this,' 

'Utter secrecy,' 

'Beware of Dumbledore and Winchester,' 

Suddenly, the door yanked open, sending Regulus staggering back a few steps, and his blood ran cold when he realized that they had caught him eveasdropping. 

"Leave us, Nott," ordered the Dark wizard 

The other teenager shuffled out of the room, making brief eye contact with his friend, silently asking him what he was doing. Regulus only shook his head in response, tensing when he heard the doors close behind him. 

It was now Regulus and Voldemort, locked in a room, together. 

"My Lord," said the boy, strengthening his occlumency, "My apologies, I merely wanted to-" 

"Spy?" asked the older wizard, raising an eyebrow, "Why won't you let me into your mind, Regulus? Unless you are hiding something from me, of course," 

"No, My Lord, I would never," replied the boy, "I merely wanted to learn more, I feel like I could be of more use to you," 

"We'll see," 

The youngest Black knew what must be done, he had to let Voldemort in, for it would look too suspicious if he didn't. Breaking the walls around his mind, only enough to display certain memories, enough to trick him. 

He felt Riddle shiffle through them. 

Him arguing with Sirius. 

Him hexing muggleborns. 

Him discussing their orders with the other Death Eaters, plotting to kill Nephera. 

Voldemort lowered his wand, seemingly pleased with what he saw and assured that Regulus's alliances hadn't changed. 

Nephera was right, thought the boy, it did feel nice to deceive him. 

"So," he spoke, "You wanted to play a bigger role? To know more, to help in our efforts to cleanse the wizarding world?" 

"Yes, my Lord. I want to honor my parents, my lineage, I want to be of use," 

Tom hummed, "I'm sure that can be arranged. Tell me, what did you hear?" 

"Not much, your silencing charm was strong-" 

"And yet," interrupted the wizard, "You managed to break through it slightly. You are strong, Regulus, particularly for your age," 

"Thank you, my Lord. I have the same goal as you, I desire more power just like any other noble man," 

"Indeed, indeed. And you thought to do so through eveasdropping?" 

The Slytherin knew he had to tread carefully, for it was not only his life hanging in the center, but also the fact that he was Nephera's only Ally on this side, "Forgive me, my Lord," he muttered, playing the part of the remorsfull follower

Tom paused for a second. The ambition present by the young boy in front of him was admirable, and Regulus had always been a powerful wizard, it was part of the reason why he had been recruited at such a young age, "Well, Mr. Black, I suppose your ambition could be useful for me and the cause," he thought for another second, "You may have access to more information, if you wish, but I must take my precautions first," 

He looked at the boy for any sign of stress, any indication that he had been lying before, but found none, "Does your ambition reach far enough for you to sign an unbreakable vow?" 

It wasn't a question, for Regulus knew that he couldn't deny. He'd simply have to find a way out of it, so, he extended his hand, "I vow that my allegiance lies with the right side," he said, hoping that it was enough 

But it wasn't. Riddle had learned the hard way to ask for clarifications when it came to unbreakable vows, "And what is the right side?" he asked, not breaking the handshake 

The Slytherin's heart started beating faster, but he forced himself to calm down. Plastering an arrogant smirk in his face, he answered the question, "The side that hates Dumbledore, of course," 

Riddle seemed plased with that answer, for the vow was sealed and the two wizards dropped their hands back to their sides, "But you must understand, Regulus, I cannot let the eavesdropping go unpunished," continued Riddle, a wicked glint in his eyes

The Gryffindor girls had left earlier that morning, and the house was finally clean from all evidence of the party that had occurred, a job much easier said than done. 

Now, the three teenagers were eating lunch that James had prepared, waiting for the Potter parent's return, hoping that they had done a good job at cleaning the house. 

"Where did they go, again?" asked Nephera, pouring some more water for herself and the two boys 

"My grandparents'," answered James, "But they should be back tonight, no doubt mum wants to inspect the house and make sure it's still standing," 

"Do we tell them about how big the party got? Monty's probably going to be proud or something- Prongs pass me the bread," said Sirius, "Mia, on the other hand..." 

"Let's just uh, keep it vague," replied the bespectacled boy, picking up the Prophet that was on the table close to him, "More attacks on muggles..." 

The Slytherin sighed, shaking her head, "At least they're in the dark, they don't know what's happening," 

"Suppose so," shrugged Sirius, "Any sightings on Voldemort?" 

The Potter boy quickly flicked through the pages of the newspaper but shook his head, "None. What's DUmbledore saying?" 

"No clue," scoffed the girl, "After everything that happened at the Ministry, he's been keeping me out of the loop," 

"Merlin, what an idiot, can't he see he needs you?" 

Sirius didn't say anything as a response to James's words. In reality, he was slightly happy with the fact that Nephera had been kept out of the loop, not that they knew anything either, but at least it meant that she wouldn't be going on any missions of the sort. 

For the moment, she was safe. Voldemort wouldn't dare attack the Potter Estate, not when he promised immunity to Fleamont, Euphemia, him and James, and most Death Eaters at Hogwarts had fled after the last full moon. 

What he was worried about was what would happen after graduation, when they'd be out in the real world, going on missions and training to be Aurors. 

'Sirius, Nephera,' came a voice inside both they're heads, 'I- uh, I need some help,'

They ignored the questioning glance sent their way by James, more focused on why Regulus needed help and whether or not he was hurt. 

'Reg,' said Sirius after tapping the rune three times, 'Where are you, what happened?'

Nephera, who was much better at keeping a level head, placed a hand on Sirius's knee, 'We're at the Potter's, but James is here. You can come here and we can explain everything, or we can come to find you somewhere else,'

The answer they got was in the form of the sound of someone apparating on the front door, and Sirius shot up to run outside while Nephera started explaining things to James, who was still in the dark about where the boy's loyalties stood. 

"Prongs," she started, "I don't have much time to explain, but Regulus is here-" 

"Regulus?" yelled James, grabbing his wand, "He's a-" 

"No, he's not," asserted the Slytherin, "He's on our side, a spy for me. No one else but Sirius knows," 

The curly-haired boy didn't have the time to ask for any sort of clarifications, for Sirius barged in the room seconds later, covered in blood that obviously wasn't his, "He's bleeding badly," he said, the worry and shock evident in his eyes, "He passed out," 

The other two followed after him in the living room, only to be greeted by the sight of a very pale Regulus Black passed out on the couch, "Sirius, run upstairs, bring me the small chest that's in my closet. James, I'm going to need your help to hold him down," 

She could've easily accioed the chest to her, but the girl knew that she had to give Sirius something to do, something to make him feel useful. 

"I still don't understand," said James, eyeing the boy on the couch apprehensively and not lessening the grip on his wand

Nephera, who was busying herself with cutting open the boy's shirt, paused her actions and turned to look at him, "I know it's confusing," she said, "But do you trust me and Padfoot?" 

Without missing a beat, the curly-haired boy replied, "With my life," he stated, fully believing his words 

"Good, we'll explain everything later, for now, help me hold him," 

James obeyed, placing two hands on Regulus's chest and pushing him down on the couch just as Sirius came running back to the room holding the chest Nephera had instructed him to bring. 

The Slytherin picked up two different vials from it, mixing them together, "Why are you doing that?" asked the raven-haired boy 

Normally, the brunette would be annoyed by the constant questioning, especially when she was trying to focus, but she knew that Sirius was worried. He had just gotten his brother back, he didn't want to lose him right in front of his eyes. And so, she answered, "It's Alchemy," she replied, giving him the potion, "Put it in his mouth," 

Siriusdid as he was told, while the witch picked up a yellow crystal from the chest, looking up at James, "This is going to hurt, he'll scream and thrash around," she warned, and James knew what she meant and tightened his hold on the unconscious boy 

Running the tip of the crystal over the open wounds, Regulus's body tensed before a pained cry etched its' way out of his throat and he began thrashing violently. Slowly, slower than anyone would've liked, the wounds on his chest began to close up and heal over themselves, as the crystal turned from yellow to brown. 

Eventually, there were no more open wounds, and Regulus's body fell limp on the couch, his breathing slow but even. All three teenagers let out a sigh of relief at that, happy that they hadn't just seen someone die in front of them. 

"Now can someone tell me what the bloody hell's going on?" 

Nephera took point in explaining, seeing as Sirius had his gaze fixed on Regulus and a hand tightly holding hers. It was a confusing story, and it was made even harder by James's constant questioning, but in the end, she managed to explain everything. 

The Potter boy was apprehensive in trusting the youngest of the Black brothers. Regulus had hurt Sirius over the years, and in school he run with a less-than-favorable crowd, but after learning that he was the reason why Nephera had managed to avoid some of the poisoning and cursing attempts, he was more lenient. 

"So he's a spy?" 

The girl nodded, "Yes, but Prongs, no one can know about this. It's a matter of life and death," 

"I know, I mean, I understand," he took in a deep breath, "It's just a lot to take in... And Dumbledore has no clue? Neither does Voldemort?" 

"None. I don't trust either of them, and after what happened at the Ministry, well, I was right not to," she replied, leaning her head on Sirius's shoulder and tracing her thumb over the back of his hand, that tightly held hers

James sighed gravely, running a hand over his face, "So, there's a third side to this war, then?" 

"Pretty much," she replied, "Although I don't know what happened today," 

Sirius's eye shot up with alarm at that. It always unsettled all of them whenever Nephera didn't have an answer to a question, and the fact that this particular question concerned his little brother made him awfully uncomfortable, "You don't think he was discovered, do you?" 

The girl quickly shook her head, "No, no way. If Tom knew he was a spy, Reg would've been dead, not just injured," she said, and noticed the boy relax slightly, "We'll just have to wait for him to wake-" 

"Thankfully, you're not going to have to wait very long," came a groan from the couch, and the three older teens turned their attention to the younger one, "Sorry for crashing, Potter, but I didn't really have a choice," 

James cleared his throat before answering, "It's fine," he nodded curtly, "So, uh, not a Death Eater then?" 

"Not exactly," replied the younger boy, sitting up slightly, "I'm assuming Nephera's the one that patched me up?" 

"Why did you need patching up in the first place?" asked the girl

Regulus laughed, the sound almost emitting a hint of pride, "You're not the only one good with unbreakable vows, you know," 

And so, after three questioning looks sent his way, he started retelling the story of that morning, leaving no detail out of it. By the time he was finished, he was met with a shocked James Potter, a smirking Sirius Black and a proud Nephera Winchester. 

"You'd think he would've learned his lesson after last time," commented the curly-haired boy with a breathy laugh 

"He underestimates people, it's his one biggest flaw. He doesn't think anyone can best him," replied the girl 

Sirius leaned back against the armchair, pulling Nephera's legs over his lap and tracing gentle circles there, "You did, though," 

"Not in front of me, please," groaned the younger boy, "And perhaps that's why. Nephera's proven herself to be stronger and smarter than most, I suppose he doesn't think there's a second version of her," 

"Well, luckily for all of us, I've trained you well over these past months," replied the girl, "So, we have the artefacts of the founders, that's apparently rather important since he hasn't spoken a word of it to his boy scouts, and then whatever Nott has to do, which apparently is also very important," 

"Yes but," started James, "Why would he need to hide something at Hogwarts?" 

"It was his first real home, wasn't it?" countered Sirius, "He grew up at an orphanage where he was abused, Hogwarts was the first place he felt welcomed in," 

Everyone in the room knew that Sirius wasn't only talking about Riddle in that instance. 

"So it must be something of importance then," continued Regulus, "But what?" 

They discussed for a long time, until the sun had set before the younger boy had to return to Grimmauld Place. Regulus really didn't want to leave, but he knew he had to before Fleamont and Euphemia returned. What was even worse, was that none of them managed to reach any possible theories, either about the cup, the diadem, or Nott's mission. 

There was something they were missing, and neither of the four could figure out what. 

A/N

2.7k words 

shorter than i would've liked but oh well 

also, no, there won't be any jegulus in this book because i am not a fan of that ship

don't forget to comment and vote!

xx