𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 - regulus black

- epilogue

Saying Ariel Malfoy's memory lived on would be a lie. Barely anyone could remember that name, and even less his face. Ariel Malfoy was a man of the past. Sixteen years after his death, he wasn't anything close to known despite one might think with a name like that one. There was a time he was chasing glory but he was quick to realize it wasn't for him. Ariel aspired to quiet and happiness with the man he loved. If things had been different, Regulus Black would have remembered Ariel Malfoy. But Regulus Black was also a man of the past.

When Ariel died, his memory died with him. Nobody wanted to remember him. Some because of shame, some because of pain. Rare were the times when he was on one's mind. His loved ones could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Over the year 1979, his name was on everyone's lips because a rumor said Abraxas Malfoy's younger son had passed away. The details remained unknown, even for Abraxas Malfoy himself, nobody dared mentioning him, not even his father and that was how this name became taboo.

Ariel had always loved summertime, when he could bask in the sun, it was one of his favorite activities ever. Surprisingly, this month of July had been pretty rainy. It was again the case the day Martha Malfoy was given a letter by his youngest son's fiancée. Nothing more, just this letter. The woman stayed a long moment, unmoving in silence, on the sofa of her study, her head hung low over her knees as the tears were falling from her sorrowful eyes. It was the time she needed to be able to swallow the news, though it still didn't feel real when she stood up and directed herself to her husband's study.

She walked there without knocking. The man looked up in confusion but didn't make a move.

"What it is Martha?" he wondered, starting to get worried the closer she came to him.

"It's Ariel... our son has passed away..."

Even when she said those words aloud, she couldn't believe them. Her husband didn't seem to believe her either.

"What do you mean? Where do you get that from?" he asked urgently, his face still not showing anything through.

"I received a letter. From him..." murmured the woman, collapsing to the nearest chair.

"Let me read it. Where is it? In your study?"

"No! It's mine, it was written to me!" she tried but in vain. She didn't have any strength left to follow him.

Narcissa Malfoy found her mother-in-law still sitting on that chair when she apparated in the manor about fifteen minutes later. She was sobbing in a handkerchief, seeming completely disoriented. Narcissa had lost a friend and a family member.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said, hugging her mother-in-law tightly.

It was at this moment that Abraxas made his appearance. "Narcissa."

She looked up to him. "I'm so-"

"I don't ever want to hear about him, is that clear?" he commanded, his face stoic.

Narcissa had never seen such coldness. Her father-in-law wasn't the warmest and most friendly person, but to witness such disregard to his son's death shocked her and she feared him. In response she only nodded. She had to wait sixteen years before hearing that name again.

August 1995, Malfoy Manor

Draco Malfoy was sitting at the large ebony table of his dinning-room. And he was shaking anxiously. For the occasion, the room was used for a meeting, that was how they would call it. It was his first time here, usually he would be far enough, busy in his room. But his father, Lucius, thought it was the right time to introduce him to this world. And it was unnerving.