Chapter Text
“VERITAS COMPULSO!” Regulus roars, casting over the bewildered class, and then hopping onto Draco and Blaise’s workstation. He yells, “WHO TOOK IT? CONFESS NOW!” Even though no one could see or hear him.
Draco clears his throat but he doesn't need to raise his voice because everyone is still waiting for him to speak. “My notebook?” He asks. “The black one that erases itself - did anyone see it? Or take it?”
There’s a chorus of nos.
Regulus looks even more furious. “Praecepta sequere! Tell me immediately if you find the book!”
Draco repeats it. “Tell me immediately if you find it, bring it to me if you can, it’s very important!” Many nodding heads. Even Professor Flitwick expresses his agreement, and Draco has a moment to wonder how powerful Regulus’s compulsion spell is, before he’s hit with a wave of dizziness. He sits back down with Blaise’s hand on his arm but Regulus is still gesturing at him. “Come on - we have to check your room, and interrogate the other students, and-”
“Excuse me, who are you?” Blaise snaps, and Regulus falls silent. That’s when Draco looks up to see Blaise staring right at Regulus.
“You can’t tell anyone, please.”
“Alright, alright,” Blaise says, looking worriedly at Draco, who is near tears. “I mean, I’ve never even heard of a ghost haunting an individual person…”
“It’s because Draco’s the last person I saw before I died,” Regulus lies, putting one hand on Draco’s hair to ruffle it. “And the book was my final gift to him, so it’s important we get it back.”
“Alright,” Blaise says. “How come I can see you now?”
“It must be because you touched me,” Draco says, tightening his grip around Blaise’s hand, likely just to emphasize his point, but he misses the way Blaise’s cheeks darken a tad. Regulus resists the urge to roll his eyes.
“Plenty of people have touched you before,” Blaise points out.
It’s because Tom’s disillusionment spell that Regulus has gotten pampered by is gone, Regulus thinks. “Go away, kid, Draco and I have a lot to talk about.”
“And remember! Don’t tell-”
“Yeah, I won’t,” Blaise says. “Bye, Draco. Bye, Draco’s weird dead cousin.”
They watched him leave and Draco made a face. “That was a close call. I’m glad Professor Flitwick didn’t ask too many questions. Are you really not telling Blaise your name?”
“He’ll just search me up and let it slip why he’s investigating your family tree,” Regulus sniffed. “I still think we should have bound him with an Unbreakable.”
“I don’t want Blaise to die,” Draco says, and finally sighs at the state of his bedroom, which he and Blaise and Regulus have torn apart methodologically with no sign of Tom Riddle’s Diary.
“I must have not noticed someone taking it out with Professor McGonagall’s lightening charm,” Draco says glumly.
“And it must be out of Hogwarts,” Regulus speculates darkly. “Tom and I have split up on campus before but the spell has never disappeared before.”
“What do we do?” Draco asks. “I don’t know who would even take it… or why…”
“Oh, everyone will take it, Draco,” Regulus scoffs. “It’s a fancy book. But if it was taken merely as an object of fascination, they would examine the book here in Hogwarts. The only reason someone would bother to send it away - and out of Hogwarts - is if they had an inkling of its nature. And that person is-”
The Dark Lord, Regulus almost says, but then Draco murmurs, “Tom himself.”
Regulus blinks in surprise. Draco continues, “It has to be him, doesn’t it? Otherwise if someone was taking him away, why wouldn’t he just come ask us for help? Bet he just decided to continue his plan to take over the wizarding world after he was reminded he’s the Heir of Slytherin…”
Regulus almost protests but considers it, and then a dark, bitter feeling curls up in his belly. “You’re right,” he says, with an undercurrent of something he refuses to acknowledge as hurt. “That bastard… motherfucking… bitch… halfblood good-for-nothing…”
Draco watches solemnly as Regulus paces and swears. “Is he long gone?” He burrows his chin into the circle his arms have made, atop his bent knees. “Bet he’s gone to look for the other Horcruxes…”
“Well, he’ll have a hard time if he’s possessed another 11 year old,” Regulus grumbles, but that wouldn’t have been the case. No one in Draco’s cohort is missing. The teachers - sans Quirrell - are all accounted for, and Regulus witnessed the fight between Potter, Weasley and Quirrell, so he knows the man is truly dead and not faking it. Voldemort’s soul dissipated quickly in the aftermath to continue his undead incorporeal existence, likely outside of Hogwarts, but Regulus doubts he has the horcrux - he wasn’t able to carry anything on him in that form.
“How did he even get out?” Draco wonders Regulus’s thoughts aloud.
“I don’t know, maybe he grew wings and sprouted away?” Regulus grumbles. Tom could pick up his own Horcrux and then it was a matter of sending himself off, like tossing the book into the floo, or -
“Owl,” he said. One of the school issued ones, perhaps. He could be anywhere by now.
Draco startles. “To where?”
“Maybe a death eater somewhere?” Regulus tears his hair out. “Whatever - good riddance! Who liked him anyway! I’m glad he’s gone!”
“Well…” Draco sighs, picking a thread on his blanket. “Maybe he’ll come back?”
Regulus presses his lips into a thin line. “Maybe.” Good riddance.
“I can’t believe we still have to take exams after Professor Quirrell died,” Pansy complains, and Draco just hums distractedly as he tries to revise. He casts lazily, not expecting it to work, but then cries out when his quill levitates out of his hand.
“Huh?” Daphne looks over. “Oh! Draco!”
Draco leaps out of his seat to try grab his quill before it floats out of reach, but it lays only a few inches away from his fingers. Greg wanders over about to help, but Draco yells, “Finite!” Without expecting it to work.
It does, landing on their desk with a splat and splattering ink everywhere.
“Woah!” Theo says. “You did that incorrectly! And wandlessly!”
“Huh?” Draco says, looking down at his hands, and that’s when Regulus appears in his periphery, looking guilty.
“Can we talk?”
Draco looks off to the side then nods, then heads up to his room. Everyone else is used to his peculiar exits and resumes their tasks, but when he looks over his shoulder, Blaise is winking at him with a finger over his lips.
“What is it?” Draco asks, the moment Regulus casts a locking and silencing charm over the room.
“Tom and I haven’t been honest with you,” Regulus says. “We’ve been using your magic.” Draco furrows his brow and opens his mouth, but Regulus shushes him. “I only figured this out recently, once we’ve come to Hogwarts and actually had the opportunity to be apart. I’ve been trying to look for a cure in the library, but I’ve not found anything yet. And now with Tom gone I think there’s a release for your magic. I’ll help but I can’t predict what happens, especially since we’ve both been around you since you were a child. You can speak now.”
“What does that mean?” Draco looks down at his hands. “So I can use magic again until we get Tom back?”
“Get Tom-” Regulus splutters. “We’re not getting him back. I don’t even know where to start-”
“We could go up to the owlery,” Draco urges. “Maybe we can find some clues.”
Regulus scowls. “You focus on your studies and I’ll go.” Draco nods, and Regulus makes to leave, but he still casts a glance back at Draco with a worried lip.
“Are you upset at me about your magical suppression?”
Draco considers it. “Yes.”
“Alright,” Regulus says, and leans over to kiss him on the hair. “You know I love you, right? And I got your back, whether or not we find Tom.”
Draco sighs. “I know. I love you too.”