Marquas awakened in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, the familiar scent of healing potions and clean linens confirming his location before he even opened his eyes. When he did, he found Albus Dumbledore seated beside his bed, looking both relieved and deeply curious.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Severus," the Headmaster said quietly. "You gave us quite a scare."
Marquas attempted to sit up, wincing as pain lanced through his shoulder and ribs. "Regulus?" he asked immediately. "Is he "
"Alive, thanks to your remarkably timely intervention," Dumbledore assured him. "Madam Pomfrey has been working tirelessly to heal his numerous injuries. He remains unconscious but stable."
Relief washed through Marquas. He'd done it, changed another fixed point in the timeline, saved someone who was supposed to die. The implications were enormous.
"And the locket?" he asked, keeping his voice low despite the privacy charms he was certain Dumbledore had already established.
Dumbledore's eyes sharpened with interest. "Secure in my office, under the strongest protections I can devise. It is, as you suspected, a Horcrux, a piece of Voldemort's fractured soul."
Rather tacky jewelry choice for immortality, but I suppose 'Dark Lord' and 'good taste' rarely go together. Marquas nodded wearily. "Regulus discovered what it was. He was trying to destroy it when the Inferi overwhelmed him."
"So I gathered from the fragments of explanation you provided before collapsing at the gates," Dumbledore said with a hint of gentle reproof. "A remarkable feat of magic, Apparating both yourself and Mr. Black in your condition, while maintaining enough presence of mind to send a Patronus message ahead."
Had he sent a Patronus? Marquas couldn't remember doing so, though the final moments after their escape were a blur of exhaustion and adrenaline crash.
"How long have I been unconscious?"
"Nearly thirty hours," Dumbledore replied. "It's now Thursday evening. Magical exhaustion, exposure, and several rather creative injuries, including what Poppy informs me appears to be an Inferius bite on your ankle."
Marquas grimaced. He had no memory of being bitten, though in the chaos of their escape, it wasn't surprising he'd missed it.
"Don't worry," Dumbledore added, seeing his expression. "While unpleasant, Inferius bites carry no dark contamination. They are, after all, merely animated corpses, not truly undead like vampires."
"Small mercies," Marquas muttered.
There was a moment of companionable silence before Dumbledore spoke again, his tone more serious. "Severus, what you've accomplished is extraordinary. Not only have you secured a piece of Voldemort's soul, a breakthrough in our fight against him but you've also saved a young man from a fate he did not deserve, despite his unfortunate choices."
Marquas nodded, uncomfortable with the praise. "Regulus made the crucial discovery. He's the one who figured out Voldemort's secret and tried to stop him. I just happened to arrive in time to help."
"Nevertheless," Dumbledore persisted, "your actions today reflect a courage and moral clarity that I confess I did not initially believe you possessed."
The original Snape had indeed been driven primarily by his obsession with Lily, his "redemption" fundamentally selfish in nature. Dumbledore was right to revise his assessment but for reasons he couldn't possibly understand.
"People can surprise you," Marquas said simply.
"Indeed they can," Dumbledore agreed with a thoughtful nod. "Now, I suggest you rest. There will be time to discuss the locket and its implications once you've recovered. Young Mr. Black will undoubtedly have valuable insights to share as well, when he awakens."
As Dumbledore rose to leave, Marquas caught his sleeve. "Headmaster. Regulus will need protection. When Voldemort discovers his betrayal..."
"Already arranged," Dumbledore assured him. "As far as the wizarding world is concerned, Regulus Black died in a tragic accident while exploring sea caves on the southern coast. His body was regrettably lost to the tide."
"And the reality?"
"Once he is well enough to travel, he will be relocated under a new identity, with the strongest protective enchantments we can provide. Perhaps abroad, where Voldemort's influence is less pervasive."
Marquas nodded, satisfied. Another life saved, another thread of fate rewoven.
After Dumbledore left, Marquas lay awake despite his exhaustion, contemplating the rapidly shifting timeline. The locket Horcrux, originally not discovered until much later, was now in Dumbledore's possession. Regulus Black, meant to die anonymously in that cave, was alive and could potentially share crucial information about Voldemort's operations.
Most importantly, they now had confirmed knowledge of Horcruxes years earlier than in the original timeline, giving them a significant head start in the hunt for Voldemort's remaining soul fragments.
"The butterfly effect in full force... Let's just hope this new timeline doesn't come with unexpected side effects." he murmured to the empty hospital wing. "Let's see how Voldemort handles a little timeline edit."
Three days later, deemed sufficiently recovered by a reluctant Madam Pomfrey, Marquas was allowed to visit Regulus in the private room that had been arranged for his convalescence. The young man was sitting up in bed, still pale but notably improved from the half-drowned state in which Marquas had found him.
"Snape," Regulus greeted him, his voice hoarse but steady. "I believe I owe you my life."
Marquas shrugged, taking the chair beside the bed. "Consider it professional courtesy. One disillusioned Death Eater to another."
A ghost of a smile touched Regulus's lips. "Is that what we are? I thought I was a dead man walking and you were... well, I'm not entirely sure what you are, Snape. Dumbledore's spy? Double agent? Secret revolutionary?"
"Let's just say I'm someone who recognized the Dark Lord's true nature before it was too late," Marquas replied carefully. "Much like yourself."
Regulus nodded, his expression darkening. "When I discovered what he'd done, splitting his soul, using Kreacher as a disposable tool, lying to all of us about his true agenda, I couldn't remain loyal. My family may support blood purity, but what he's become... it's an abomination against magic itself."
"A remarkably astute observation for someone your age," Marquas noted. "What gave him away?"
"Little things at first," Regulus said thoughtfully. "Comments about experiments, books missing from our family library on soul magic, the way he spoke about achieving immortality as if it were already accomplished. Then when he borrowed Kreacher and returned him half-dead after testing the cave defenses..." His face hardened. "He didn't think a house-elf mattered. Didn't think I'd care. But Kreacher told me everything, the cave, the potion, the locket."
"And you connected the dots to Horcruxes," Marquas finished, genuinely impressed. The original timeline had never detailed exactly how Regulus figured it out, but his deductive reasoning was clearly exceptional.
"Our family library has some very dark books," Regulus said with a grimace. "Once I knew what to look for, it wasn't difficult to identify. The real question was what to do about it."
"Most would have kept their head down and said nothing," Marquas pointed out. "Especially someone in your position."
Regulus met his gaze directly. "Would you have?"
"No," Marquas admitted. "But then, I'm not exactly a model Death Eater myself."
That earned him another faint smile from Regulus. "So I've gathered. Dumbledore mentioned you've been... selectively undermining operations for some time."
"Did he now?" Marquas raised an eyebrow, making a mental note to discuss operational security with the Headmaster. "And what else did he share about my activities?"
"Only that you and I might find we have more in common than expected," Regulus replied. "He suggested that when I'm recovered enough to relocate, you might have insights on how to... effectively disappear."
This was news to Marquas, but not unwelcome. Having Regulus as an ally could be invaluable, especially given the young man's knowledge of the Black family's dark artifacts and connections.
"I might have some thoughts on the matter," he acknowledged. "Though I expect Dumbledore already has a relocation plan in motion."
"To France, initially," Regulus confirmed. "But he mentioned you might have alternative suggestions for a more permanent arrangement."
An idea began forming in Marquas's mind, a dangerous one, certainly, but potentially game-changing if it worked.
"What would you say to remaining officially dead but unofficially very useful?" he asked slowly. "Not just hiding, but actively working against the Dark Lord from the shadows?"
Regulus's eyes lit with interest. "I'd say that sounds considerably more appealing than spending the next decade pretending to be a French expatriate with a fondness for cheese and surrender."
"Careful," Marquas warned with mock seriousness. "I'm developing a certain appreciation for their wines, if not their defensive strategies."
For the first time, Regulus laughed, a brief, rusty sound that suggested it had been some time since he'd found anything genuinely amusing. "So what did you have in mind? Some kind of secret resistance network?"
"Something like that," Marquas agreed, warming to the concept. "The Order of the Phoenix is effective but highly visible. We need a parallel operation working in the shadows, gathering intelligence, sabotaging from within, identifying and neutralizing threats before they materialize."
"Like the Horcruxes," Regulus nodded thoughtfully. "Dumbledore believes there are more of them."
"Almost certainly," Marquas confirmed. "And finding them will require skills and knowledge that most Order members don't possess."
"Dark artifacts, ancient curses, blood magic," Regulus continued, clearly following Marquas's thinking. "The kind of expertise found in old pureblood families like mine."
"Precisely."
"And what would you call this shadow operation?" Regulus asked, a spark of genuine enthusiasm in his eyes for the first time. "Every good resistance needs a proper name."
Marquas considered for a moment, then smiled. "How about 'The Reasonably Handsome Rebellion'?"
Regulus blinked, then snorted. "Please tell me you're joking."
"Only partially," Marquas admitted with a shrug. "It has a certain memorable quality, don't you think?"
"It has a certain quality of sounding like we're rebelling against fashion standards rather than the darkest wizard of our time," Regulus retorted, but there was amusement in his voice.
"Fine, we'll workshop the name," Marquas conceded. "The important part is the concept. A small, elite team operating independently but in coordination with the Order. People with the right skills and knowledge to target Voldemort's power base directly."
"And Dumbledore would approve this?" Regulus asked skeptically.
"Dumbledore doesn't need to know every detail, the man already acts omniscient enough without actual information." Marquas replied with a meaningful look. "He has his approach; we'll have ours. Sometimes parallel efforts are more effective than a single unified strategy."
Regulus studied him with newfound respect. "You're more Slytherin than I gave you credit for, Snape."
"High praise, coming from a Black," Marquas acknowledged. "So, are you interested?"
"In joining your nameless rebellion against the Dark Lord?" Regulus smiled thinly. "It beats dying in a cave full of Inferi. I'm in."
They shook hands, sealing what Marquas suspected might be one of the most consequential alliances in this rewritten timeline. Regulus Black,brilliant, resourceful, and now officially deceased, could become a powerful asset in the fight against Voldemort.
As he left the hospital wing, Marquas felt a growing sense of optimism. The timeline was changing, momentum shifting in their favor. With the locket Horcrux secured and Regulus alive and allied, they had advantages the original Order never possessed.
Of course, every change carried risks. Butterfly effects could cascade in unexpected ways. But standing still, allowing history to repeat its tragic course, was not an option.
Back in his quarters, Marquas pulled out his journal and made a new entry:
Day 78: Rescued Regulus Black from Inferi. Secured Horcrux #1. Established the foundation for a shadow resistance operation. Note to self: "The Reasonably Handsome Rebellion" needs rebranding, despite its objective accuracy.