Black Rose [Regulus Black]

That didn't sound good.

That did not sound good at all.

Alessandra risked a peak to her left to gauge what Regulus was thinking and instantly regretted it, because he looked shit scared.

However, he did mask his expression into one of cool indifference and turn around to face the person behind them, and she followed his lead.

It felt like ants were crawling up her spine when she assessed the people standing in front of her. They looked ordinary (apart from their eccentric clothing, it was like they weren't even trying to blend in), nothing about them looked particularly gruesome... there was just a certain lethality in their eyes that made her instantly wary of them. The woman was obviously Regulus' cousin: they looked similar in all but personality. Where Reg's features were smoother, calmer, hers were rougher and more jagged, like the difference between a whole mirror and a broken one.

The man, Alessandra presumed, was the woman's husband, not because there was any sign of romantic attraction between them, but because of the rings on their hands and the fact that they bore nearly no physical similarities other than the colour of their hair and the malice in their eyes.

Whether they were married or not, she was wary of both of them.

"Bellatrix."

"Who's this?" Bellatrix tilted her chin towards Alessandra, who refused to let anything show on her face.

"That's Alessandra."

"Is she a Muggle?"

Again, what was it with these purebloods acting like the person in front of them wasn't even in the room?

"Of course not!" Regulus denied vehemently.

"Pureblood?"

"Yes."

"Bloodtraitor?"

"You know I wouldn't be hanging out with a bloodtraitor," Reg scoffed. He said it so convincingly that she almost believed it; he was a fantastic liar.

"Do I?" the dark-haired woman in front of them chuckled, reaching out a hand and cupping Reg's cheek. It would almost have looked like an affectionate gesture, if it weren't for the way the tips of her fingers were nearly splayed around his throat as though she was preparing to choke the life out of him. "We can't tell anymore with our family, can we? First that blood-traitor running off to marry that Mudblood, and then Sirius dearest..."

Alessandra almost stopped breathing when Bellatrix's fingers wrapped around his neck menacingly, even though she'd seen it coming.

"...but you don't intend to disappoint us, do you, little Reggie?"

Regulus shoved his cousin away forcefully, looking angrier than Alessandra had ever seen him. "What do you want?"

"Merely wanted to see while you're in a Muggle store."

"Why are you?" he countered.

"The Dark Lord has ordered us to come here and stake out this location."

This time, Alessandra wasn't able to hide the shiver that went through her.

And naturally, luck wasn't on her side, so both the people in front of her caught her reaction.

"Who are you?" Bellatrix demanded.

"I'm Alessandra."

"What's your last name?"

Was it Vuitton or Cartier?

"Vuitton."

"Haven't heard of you before, why is that?"

"I'm not from here."

"Interesting," Bellatrix murmured, taking a bold step forward. "Have you heard of the Dark Lord?"

"Who hasn't?"

"Only the most ignorant," she hummed, taking another step forward. It took every molecule in Alessandra's being to not recoil or shove her away. "What are you doing in a Muggle neighbourhood?"

"I needed to use the bathroom and this was the only convenient place?"

"Then why are your arms full of bags?"

Alessandra blinked repeatedly, hoping to clear the fog that had taken over her mind. She had absolutely no idea what to say. "I... saw stuff? And I wanted it, so I took it. I do love shopping, so it was hard for me to restrain myself once I entered, even though they are mug- mudbloods."

"I bet those bags must be very heavy." A smile spread across Bellatrix's face, dripping with a nauseating concoction of sugar and venom. "Why don't you use magic to levitate them?"

Alessandra obliged, letting the bags slip free but stopping them from touching the ground with her magic. Beside her, she felt Reg tense up, probably due to her casual display of wandless magic, but it couldn't be that bad, right? He did mention that children in pureblood households were taught certain skills from a very young age, and wandless magic was probably one of them.

"A wandless magic user," the man behind Bellatrix noted. It was strange to hear his voice because he looked like a mere statue behind Bellatrix's commanding presence, someone that was meant to be seen and not heard, someone just there for decorative purposes. "That skill would be valuable to the Dark Lord."

"Don't bother yourself with that," Regulus snapped, his voice fairly level but holding a certain edge to it. "Alessandra has already met the Dark Lord. It's not your business to be involved in."

"A little defensive, are we?" the man opposite them chuckled, but his eyes still remained cold and dead. "Say, aren't you betrothed to Cressida Greengrass right now?"

"Yes, and?"

"I don't think she'd be very pleased to see her betrothed with-"

"Alessandra and Cressida have also met and they get along perfectly," Reg shot back, sounding almost smug. "You're a little behind the times here, Rodolphus."

Alessandra almost choked at that, because an image of the man (Rodolphus, apparently) with antlers and a red nose popped up in her head. Really, who named their child that? Rudolph was one thing, but Rodolphus? It was like his parents wanted him to be miserable.

Then again, that did seem like a staple in pureblood households according to what she'd heard from Reg, so maybe she wasn't too far off.

Bellatrix hummed, seeming undeterred by the tense atmosphere around her. "We're hosting a ball this Friday. You should come."

Alessandra nodded, not sure if she could manage a reply to that. It didn't take a genius to understand Bellatrix had something up her sleeve, but it would definitely take a genius to understand what it was, because there were just so many ways this could go wrong.

"Excellent," Rodolphus leered.

She almost expected them to break out into evil laughter at that, but they didn't.

"What are you doing?" Reg asked, visibly panicked when he saw his cousin and her husband turn around and cast spells around the supermarket. She thought that the spells had no effect until she saw tiny ripples on the perimeter of the supermarket.

She didn't have time to figure out why they'd put up a shield because the truck near the entrance blew up into flames, and she let out a muffled shriek and let the bags drop with a light thud.

"Oh, relax. At least I didn't blow up the shop," Bellatrix giggled, face bathed in orange light that almost softened her features but didn't do much for the cruelty in her grey eyes.

It was strange how eyes with the same colour and shape could look so different.

⚜

She was so glad that there was nobody near the truck. Apparently, thanks to Regulus' suspicious behaviour, the security guard had gone in to check if there was anything untoward, and people in charge of the truck were inside too. It was like a pre-Christmas miracle of sorts.

But God, she'd felt stuck to her spot during that time. A strange feeling of helplessness had come over her in that moment. She couldn't help but wonder if this is what it was like for Regulus — clearly, he wanted no part in the war, but he had no choice because of his family. If she had to see her family members killing people for no valid reason, she would have lost a portion of her sanity a long time ago.

Well, to be fair, a relative of hers was killing people for no valid reason, but it was different because he'd been raised alongside these people, he'd been dependent on them from when he was a toddler. His mother was manipulative that way — she knew what buttons to push, what triggers to use and what reactions to evoke for him to behave in an 'ideal' manner.

She was brought back to Earth when someone waved a hand in front of her face.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" Chelsea asked, frowning at her. "You've been kind of lost today."

"Perfectly fine, never better," she nodded, to which her friend eyed her skeptically.

"Then what was I talking about before this?"

She opened her mouth and then closed it, smiling sheepishly at her friend. "Um, the cake for the wedding?"

"That was decided a week ago, we're now discussing invitations."

"Close enough, same difference."

Chelsea sighed. "Am I boring you with this? Do you have something else on your mind? I'm okay with you opting out if you think this is too stressful, I get it, it's honestly completely fine by me."

"No!" she exclaimed, except it came out more like a shriek. "No, I'm just a bit out of it today, my bad."

"You wanna take a break?"

She was given intense flashbacks to the previous day, when she and Regulus had taken a break from all the learning. That hadn't ended well.

"I mean, if you want to..." she shrugged, feeling bad that she'd done it to Regulus and now Chelsea. They were both so invested in what they were doing, and she was just disrupting their plans by appearing disinterested.

It wasn't that she didn't care, she truly did and she didn't want to hurt their feelings because she absolutely adored them both. She'd just been feeling exhausted lately, and distracted too.

"Let's just take a break," Chelsea suggested, setting down her notepad. "I need to buy some groceries, wanna come with?"

"No!" she blurted, incidents from the previous day flashing through her mind. "We could just... stay inside... enjoy the indoors and stuff, you know?"

"What?"

"I think it's going to rain, it's not a good idea to go out now," she mumbled, ducking her head to allow her blonde hair to cover her face like a curtain.

"There isn't a cloud in the sky," Chelsea pointed out. "Besides, we can just carry an umbrella if it pours."

"But what if there's a thunderstorm?"

"Again, the sky is clear Al."

Goosebumps rose on Alessandra's skin as she examined her hands nervously, hoping that by some miracle, clouds would appear overhead in the sky and halt their plans. She did want to go out and take a break, but she wasn't sure if Bellatrix was in the area — it was far too big of a risk to take because it would put both Chels and Reg in danger.

As if on cue, a loud clap of thunder echoed through the house and the house darkened due to the Sun being blocked by the black clouds. Moments later, raindrops were slamming against her window like bullets.

"What. Was. That?" Chelsea began slowly, a few moments later.

"Thunder?" Alessandra offered, her voice a tad bit high-pitched.

"That's so weird..." Chelsea muttered. "That was so... I don't know anymore... did something happen? Is something wrong? You're being so weird right now."

Thankfully, Alessandra was spared the trouble of answering that because the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it."

Alessandra shot to her feet, gently pushing her friend down back onto the couch by the shoulders. "Don't bother, it's fine, take some rest!"

"Wh-"

Thousands of contingency plans were forming in her head as she slowly approached the door, as she evaluated all the possible scenarios that would play out when she opened the door. Best case scenario was that it was Regulus, although introducing him to Chelsea would be a little difficult. Worst case scenario, it was Bellatrix and Rodolphus, and they'd come to interrogate her.

That, or they'd found out about their lies, and Regulus was lying in a ditch somewhere with her about to follow him to the grave.

Of all the possibilities she'd thought of, however, seeing his brother along with his two goons was not one of them.

"Surprise!" Sirius beamed, hair drenched due to the rain. "Here, I brought you flowers."

Alessandra stared at the little, crumpled bouquet he handed her, of which the flowers had been bent in odd, painful-looking directions, and then looked back up at them in shock. She honestly did not know if this was better or worse than having Bellatrix over as a guest.

It was her turn to utter a little 'what', which went completely unacknowledged as he swaggered into her house (although, mercifully, he did take off his shoes). The bespectacled boy (she forgot his name) followed, stumbling a little and turning his head away from her to wave at the...vase? Upon further inspection, she realised that he had taken off his glasses due to the rain, and was therefore as blind as a bat. After him came the sandy-haired one (she forgot his name too), who bashfully tipped his head at her and hesitantly walked in. She noticed that the fourth one (the short mousy-haired guy) wasn't with them, which then prompted her to wonder why he wasn't with them. She'd met the lot of them as a group about thrice, and each time, she'd noticed that he either wasn't with them or wasn't in on what was going on, which made her wonder what the relationship between them was.

She slowly shut the door behind her, eyes on the bouquet of pink roses in her hand. Her right hand absent-mindedly brushed against the tattoo at the base of her left one, and she grinned a little at the memory of when the other Black brother had gotten her roses, except those ones were black and these were pink.

"Alessandra? Who are these people?"

She stumbled as she scurried to the living room, trying to assess the best way to introduce them without giving away too much. Unfortunately, she was at a bit of a disadvantage because she didn't even remember two of the newcomers' names.

"Er... that one is-"

"I'm Sirius." Sirius smiled at Chelsea charmingly, and then gestured towards his friends. "And they're James and Remus."

Alessandra bought the bouquet up to cover her growing smile at Chelsea's unimpressed expression, but it did nothing to conceal her giggles. Beside him, James and Remus' shoulders were shaking with poorly suppressed laughter.

"How do you know them?" Chelsea questioned, eyes squinted as though she was working through a very complex calculus problem.

"You see-" Sirius began cheerfully, but thankfully, Remus cut him off.

"We met her at a concert."

Alessandra let out a small sigh of relief. Thank goodness, one bullet dodged.

If only she knew that she had an entire missile coming her way.

"Cool," Chelsea nodded. "So which area are you guys from..."

Much to Alessandra's surprise, they got along very well, once they moved past the small talk. Despite being wizards, the three men seemed fairly well-versed in the workings of the Muggle world, which wasn't really surprising considered they seemed very Muggle oriented to anyone who saw them — they wore Muggle clothes, had good awareness of how objects in the Muggle world worked (strange, considering Sirius' apparent social obliviousness) and went to Muggle locations. In fact, if she hadn't known who they were and they were walking down the streets, she wouldn't have realised they were wizards. It was pretty interesting how well-adapted they seemed to both worlds, and she felt a little jealous of them, because her mind had basically collapsed the moment she'd become aware of the magic world's existence.

About two hours (not an exaggeration) passed while they all chatted away, with Alessandra enjoying the conversation but not actively engaging in it because she was exhausted. The situation in front of her was still a little surreal but she was only hazily aware of it. She had absolutely no idea what was going on or why she had even let them into her house in the first place, but she was too tired to think about it. It just happened and she let it.

She clambered to her feet when she heard the doorbell ring, muttering that she'd get the doorbell. She hadn't noticed it before, but there were now 5 cups of coffee on the table instead of just 2, and a platter of chocolate biscuits had been placed. It was then that she realised that everything had been going in a sort of slow-motion for her, or rather, her brain had been processing everything much slower than usual.

That was why when she opened the door, she dazedly smiled at the person through heavy-lidded eyes.

And then she realised who it was, and her eyes flew open and it felt like she'd been resurrected and her blood had been infused with a concoction of joy and horror.

⚜