No one gives a fuck about the values I would die for

I realize that you are likely unable to share any details of your involvement with your mother and I, but I must know - are you being looked after? Is there someone older among them who is watching out for you, and making certain that you are safe? That you will not face anything for which you are unprepared? After what has happened to the Rosier and Wilkes families, I would like to know that there are those who are looking out for you. Surely it can be of no benefit to His cause for all of the pureblood families to die out, but it seems as if he allows their blood to be spilt so easily.

Forgive me, I am a foolish old man and I grow concerned with all that is happening around us. I'm sure you're well aware that you are our family's last hope of continuation. But I am very proud of you, Regulus. Keep yourself out of harm's way. And if you're arrested, come quietly. You're young - they may have mercy on you.

• Do not die


• Do not get arrested


• Do not under any circumstances live in, remain in, or visit Tinworth.


• I repeat: get out of Tinworth.


• Do not pick up any extreme sports, mountain or rock-climbing, or cliff-diving.


• Do not attempt any dangerous stunts.


• Do not engage in battles with aurors - I do not care if they started it.


• Do not acquire any serious illnesses.


• Do not hang around any infected individuals, or spend time in infectious disease wards.


• Do not mix plaids with stripes - not dangerous, per se, but always good advice.


• Do not begin using or continue using illegal drugs.


• Do not leave me alone with my wife.

They were only children. Perhaps they were Death Eaters and perhaps they weren't, but they were only a year older than my own son. They were 19, only young boys by any standard, and the Aurors killed them stone dead. Perhaps it was only because they fought back when they had no business doing so. They were only children, but they should have known better than to take on fully qualified aurors without backup. If they had been arrested, they could have challenged the allegations in court. They could have claimed that they were being manipulated through the use of the Imperius Curse. The story would be far more believable to many than the idea of two such young boys serving the Dark Lord willfully. Their chances certainly would have been better than their chances of prevailing in a duel.

Evan was a good boy. I wrote him a song for his birthday just last year - not wrote, exactly, so much as adapted the lyrics of Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming, but still. He was a good boy with ginger hair and freckles and a family who loved him. And now he's nothing more than a body. An empty vessel. A bag of flesh and blood and bones with no light in its eyes.

And what bothers me most of all, what shakes me, is that it could have been Regulus. It could have been my son who was killed by Aurors in a firefight. It could have been my family being taunted for harbouring a known Death Eater, whose mourning was denied them by those who looked past the humanity and sought out the scandal. The Auror Office has demonstrated no qualms about killing the young and ill-prepared when surely, capture would have been far easier. They want to see the Death Eaters decimated, regardless of their age or status. And the Dark Lord is sending them off into battle like lambs for slaughter. They are nothing more than pawns to him in a larger scheme. I thought surely his men wouldn't have been responsible for my attack last month, but he shows so little regard for those who number among his own that I hesitate to make such a basic assumption. Will he allow them all to suffer in his name? Will he allow them all to die?

I won't allow my child, my only remaining heir, to die for him. I won't.

You and I should talk, my son. It is regarding the recent death of Evan Rosier and Jeremy Wilkes. I assume you know them both during your time at Hogwarts?

I do not pretend to be a perfect person, but I have given everything for this family. My youth, my health, my happiness, my child. I realize that perhaps there was more I could have done to support the cause, but surely I have not become so much of a liability that they saw no recourse but to disgrace and dispose of me using some week little Half-blood girl. I don't know what great offense I might have committed that such pain and permanent disfigurement were seen as the only fitting punishment. No, it would make far more sense if the Order were responsible.

Perhaps I should strengthen the wards. There are far too many people who have been allowed to come and go freely in the past.

I suppose it's about time to take stock of whatever limbs I have remaining.

• Ring Finger - gone forever. The nature of the magic used to remove the finger means that it would have been impossible to reattach the finger, or regrow it with the use of potions. I may have asked the healer to write my name on the remaining ring finger so this does not happen again, but unless he wrote it on the bone, he does not appear to have followed through.
  
  
• Ring - likely also gone forever. In any case, no one has found it. Possibly exploded.
  
  
• Left Leg - still badly damaged; healers predict that the injury will be permanent.
  
  
• Right Leg - still badly damaged; outlook is uncertain.
  
  
• Chest - badly scarred, but no permanent damage to the heart. Some permanent damage to the lungs from rib fragments due to bone twisting curse.
  
  
• Ribs - fragmented and damaged, but repaired to within the realm of functionality.
  
  
• Shirt, Jacket and Trousers I was Wearing - Damaged beyond recognition. For the bin. And I liked that ensemble - it was a perfect semi-formal going out look.

Merlin, I'm going to look like Silvanus Kettleburn before this war is over if these vigilantes have their way. And a fat lot of good my blood status has done me - why weren't there purebloods watching over me the way the others are allegedly watching out for mudbloods? The DMLE has been protecting those mudblood children. Why is no one protecting me? I pay my taxes. I give generous contributions to the Ministry. All I have to show for those years of support are a missing finger and broken legs.

At least there wasn't any liver damage - I don't know what I would do if I couldn't even use alcohol to make myself feel better. Of course, they've told me not to mix it with the pain potions, but I don't think the understand the level of tolerance I've managed to build up over the years. I must remember to do something to thank Leticia Travers. For assisting me, and for doing her best to prevent Walburga from visiting. Unfortunately, there was only so much she could do. I never did get an explanation out of her for how losing my ring finger was my fault, exactly.


Odd, about the girl who did it, though. I've been going to her trial, and it's very peculiar to see her now, a shaky little slip of a girl little older than Regulus. Such a young girl shouldn't be capable of such dark magic.

I have a question for you, Rabdolphins. (Note: Rabdolphins is what I am calling you, because it is a combination of both of your names, which are very long and difficult to spell when written separately. Also, because Dolphins are mammals, and you are also mammals. But you are also different, because you cannot use echolocation.)

Is a bottle of brandy an appropriate gift for a child who is turning 18? Obviously at that age he's able to drink legally, but I hardly ever see him do so, and I'm starting to worry. It's a grand family tradition, and he simply isn't following through. So long as it's a very nice bottle of brandy, (because only hookers and mudbloods drink cheap, high-proof brandy,) it's all right for me to give that to my son for his birthday, isn't it? After all, it's about time he learned to drink like a man. There's so little time left for me to teach him to drink properly. What if he tries to order a scotch with more than three drops of spring water to activate the flavor?

Rabdolphins, if anything ever happens to me, you have to teach Regulus how to drink like a man. Don't let him order things with umbrellas - I beg you. No man from the House of Black has ever ordered a cocktail with an umbrella or a swizzle straw, and I would die a thousand deaths before I allowed it to happen to my only son. PROMISE ME!