Black Rose [Regulus Black]

"Regulus!" Alessandra gasped out, green eyes wide with a little happiness and a lot more horror. "What a surprise!"

"I made plans with you for today at this time," Regulus pointed out.

"Yes!" she squeaked, "Yes, yes, you did, Regulus!" She enunciated his name so that Sirius and his friends would hear and get out, but then remembered that it was Sirius and his friends so there was no point having hope.

"What happened to you?" he demanded. "Why are you acting so strange?"

From the other room, she heard Chelsea laugh and her breath hitched. This was a terrible situation, to say the least. Her best friend, who didn't know about the magic world or even the people in her friend's company, was sitting in the room with a bunch of wizards, who the person in front of her absolutely loathed (and he was also a tad bit clueless around Muggles, which was the cherry on top).

What was next? Voldemort walking through the door? Maybe even with Bellatrix and the rest of his cronies in tow?

"No, it's fine, I'm fine," she laughed. "Should we go out or something? Get some fresh air?"

Chelsea laughed once again, and she heard one of the men chuckle. In front of her, Reg tried to take a peek over her shoulder, his eyebrows were knitted perplexedly and she hoped that he didn't see the pink on her cheeks.

"I... don't think that's a good idea, you should stay indoors for a few days," he replied absent-mindedly. "Is this a bad time? Do you have guests over?"

"Yeah," she breathed out in relief, "Maybe tomorrow?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but whatever he was about to say was drowned out by the laughter of a woman and multiple men. Multiple familiar-sounding men, to him.

"What was that?" he questioned, jaw flexing because he already had his suspicions.

"Nothing, Regulus!" she shrilled, trying to get their attention yet again.

However, it was a futile attempt because Sirius' voice rang out clear as day, "-and of course, because I'm not an idiot, I told him to bring out the fox!"

She shut her eyes for ten seconds when Reg charged past her into the room where the laughing guests sat.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, glaring at all of the people that sat frozen in her living room and then rounding on her as she slowly approached the scene of the upcoming disaster. "Alessandra, what are they doing here?"

"I- just one second," she said, turning to her friend, who sat there with wide eyes. "Chels, I'm sorry but I think you need to leave, I'd really rather you not get caught up in this. I'll fill you in later, I promise."

Chelsea looked like she wanted to say something, but thankfully just pursed her lips and began picking up her stuff. Alessandra could practically hear the seconds ticking by as Chelsea left, and guilt rose up in her for dismissing her friend like that. She didn't know how she was going to explain all this, it was actual insanity. Half the time, even she didn't know what was happening.

Now was one of those times.

"Why. Are. They. Here?" Regulus hissed.

"I don't know either," she admitted. "They just came strolling in, and because my friend was in here, I couldn't kick them out without revealing too much."

Sirius threw a wounded look in her direction. "You opened the door for us."

"What are you doing here?" Reg cut in.

Sirius grinned at his brother sheepishly. "It was raining and this was the closest place we could find-"

"Why not apparate? Why not use magic to conjure an umbrella or put on a rain-repelling charm?"

Alessandra knew it was the wrong time, but she felt pride surge through her when she remembered the incantation of a rain-repelling charm. At least she knew something!

"We...didn't think of that."

"Bullshit," Reg scoffed. "You were planning on coming here and talking to her friend so you could find incriminating evidence against her, were you not? And maybe you could search the house while you were at it in the hopes of arresting her."

"Okay, that's not true," Lupin spoke up. "We just happened to forget."

"You just happened to forget," Alessandra repeated slowly, narrowing her eyes at him skeptically.

"Yeah. Chocolate?"

"Don't take that, it's probably spiked with Veritaserum," Regulus sneered.

And she knew what Veritaserum was! This day wasn't shaping up to be that disastrous, after all.

No, it definitely was, who was she trying to fool?

"Again, that's not true. We come in peace." Remus raised his hands, and then awkwardly fumbled for the bar of chocolate as it fell from his hands onto the sofa.

"And you expect me to believe you?" Regulus laughed scornfully. "After you've accused her of being a Death Eater literally every time you've met her?"

"Yes!" Sirius sat up straighter. "We're on the same side now, so-"

"After you broke a promise you made that could potentially cost us our lives?"

"Yeah, but it's fine because they swore not to-"

"After you broke into Alessandra's house and robbed her?"

"It was just food, and that was Wor-"

"Stop talking."

"Got it." Sirius slumped back onto the couch.

"Why are you here exactly?" Alessandra probed tentatively.

"Isn't it obvious? They wanted to spy on you, uncover some information so that they could prove you're a Death Eater, despite you telling them multiple times."

"Okay, that's not true," James said. "We just wanted to apologize."

Reg appeared to calm down a little at that, shoulders slumping a little as he casually wrapped his arm around her. "For what, exactly?"

His tone remained the same but she could tell from the subtle shift in his demeanor that he was enjoying it. She was idly aware of the fact that her heartbeat had quickened a little and prayed that he couldn't hear it or that nobody could see the way her cheeks were flushing.

"For...breaking into your house," Remus supplied.

"And?"

"Accusing you of being Death Eaters," James added.

"And?"

There was a silence. Then —

"For breaking your favourite telescope or sabotaging Slytherin Quidditch practice or telling Evangeline Selwyn that you used an Engorgio charm on your dick?" Sirius questioned, without any apparent malice in his tone.

Remus face-palmed at that, and Alessandra turned around and buried her face in Reg's shoulder to stop the laughter (or the tears, she wasn't sure which) from coming.

"Maybe we should let Moony do the talking," James suggested, tossing a warning glance at Sirius, who looked blissfully ignorant as ever. "I don't want to be kicked out into the rain, Lily will kill me for getting a cold."

"Maybe we should kick them out," Regulus mused once she stopped laughing. "I wonder if Evans knows that you broke into someone's house."

They all turned pale at that and scrambled to their feed, eyes wild and mouths agape. "No, you can not do that," James pleaded. "This could just stay between us! It could be our dirty little secret-"

Remus winced. "Mate, no-"

Remus was probably the most sensible out of all of them, in her opinion.

"You get what I'm saying."

"I don't," she muttered.

"Neither do I. We should tell Evans, perhaps they will stop dropping by."

"But we apologized!" Sirius yelled.

"And I'm supposed to believe that you'll now stop haranguing us about being Death Eaters?"

"Yes!"

"You are the dumbest person I have ever met," Regulus deadpanned.

"I try," the older brother tossed his head back gallantly.

"It's not something to be proud of."

"I know."

"Then why-"

Alessandra screamed when there was an explosion of feathers and instinctively used her magic to levitate the table up in front of her as a shield, sending everything on the table crashing to the floor.

Nobody paid attention to the shattered china or the scattered biscuits because they were too busy staring at the pigeon that sat in the place of James Potter.

"Shit!" Sirius yelled. "That was the wrong biscuit Prongs."

"Wrong biscuit?!" Alessandra shrieked. "Wrong biscuit?!"

"It's just an experiment we were trying out," he laughed shamelessly, "We've been trying to come up with- well, it's not important, but at least it works-"

"At least it works! Oh, goody! That completely makes up for the fact that my friend who's strolling down the streets now may see her hands replaced with some shit feathers and her feet replaced with stubs! No, your fucking biscuit working has made my day, screw the fact that my friend may get killed as a fucking pigeon or stuck forever as one-"

"I don't think that will happen," he commented doubtfully. "We may not have given her the biscuit. Besides, there's a 54% chance of her being stuck forever, but it's not that much."

"Not that much- oh! Unbelievable," she muttered, moving to sit down on the couch because she felt like she'd faint if she didn't. She got up within less than two seconds when the pigeon let out an indignant squawk. "You do realise that you've quite broken quite a few laws, right?"

"Breaking in, maybe attempted assault, attempted robbery, trespassing, breaking the Statute of Secrecy..." Reg counted on his fingers, having too much fun.

"The attempted robbery was not us," Sirius snapped obstinately.

"No, I suppose it was just your friend joining you on your mission to prove yourself wrongfully right."

"I fail to see how that's relevant."

Reg snorted, taking out his wand to clean up the mess on the floor. "So, how did you think this was going to work? Did breaking in not do it for you? Were you planning on sauntering in, causing a distraction with those ridiculous pigeon crackers you've got and searching her house?"

"Of course not! They're pigeon biscuits, not pigeon crackers."

"Sirius, let me do the talking," Lupin instructed, stepping forward. "We... came here to apologize."

"You're doing a fantastic job at it so far. A pigeon on a couch, spilt tea and biscuits on the floor, a Muggle potentially exposed to magic in one of the most idiotic ways possible... this seems to be going splendidly."

"We realize that we were unreasonable in assuming that you were Death Eaters without any evidence, and it was wrong of us to break in to your house-"

"-and steal-"

"-and steal from you." He hissed out the last words as he directed a warning glare towards Sirius, who had opened his mouth at that. "And for that, we are sorry."

Behind him, the pigeon squawked in agreement.

The house was a mess. There was a pigeon sitting on her couch. Her friend was probably roaming the streets several feet shorter. Said friend could be walking right past an evil woman who hated Muggles. She was an evil murderous tyrant's daughter. She belonged to another world. Her friend needed an explanation about all of this, and she didn't even know what she was explaining. Her other friend was in danger, and she was possibly in danger too. Not to mention, his mother absolutely despised her and was probably conspiring against her.

It was too much for her, and she began laughing. It started off with soft, muffled giggles and then escalated into full-blown hysterical laughter, sounding deafening and mad and...

Insane.

She felt like she was going insane.

She didn't even flinch when there was another explosion and a frazzled-looking James appeared on the couch with grey feathers in his hear, or when the repaired teacups came crashing back onto the floor because Regulus was too stunned to pay attention to what he was doing.

"Yes, I suppose you are," she snickered, sides aching with laughter as she placed a hand against the wall to steady herself.

"But we are," Sirius protested.

"Shut up Sirius," Regulus scowled at his brother before glancing at her in concern. "What happened?"

"There's just so much-" she wheezed. "This is so nonsensical, it's right out of a messy story."

Poor Remus, bless his soul, looked genuinely guilty at that. "We are so sorry."

"It's not you, it's fine," she waved it off, leaning against the wall to catch her breath now that she'd stopped laughing. It was funny how laughing at her problems made them so much lighter, even if it were only temporary.

"So does that mean that you accept our apology?"

"You're joking," Remus stated in disbelief, rolling his eyes at his friend.

"No, I'm very much Sirius."

"For fuck's sake," Regulus hissed, hands fumbling as he tried to figure out what to do. "Do you not- why are you like this?!"

"I was dropped on my head as a child," Sirius informed him smugly.

"Evidently," Alessandra sighed. "Why don't you guys figure this out quickly so I go and take care of my friend, who's probably a pigeon thanks to your carelessness."

"What's there to figure out?" Regulus bit out.

A silence fell over the room.

"Well," Sirius began, and everyone braced themselves. "We get what we did was wrong, but at the same time, it was justified because- obviously, it wasn't justified because we broke into your house. But, our thought process was reasonable because... you know, you can never be too careful. As for telling Moony and Prongs, they're my friends! I couldn't not tell them. Besides, they're extremely trustworthy, they're on our side, they won't do anything wrong. I swear my life on it, I'll even make an Unbreakable Vow if you want, they won't say a thing."

Alessandra noted that he didn't tell the other one who was with them, the one with the mousy hair who had shamelessly eaten her food. "What about your other friend?"

"Who, Peter?"

"Did you tell him?"

Sirius' face tightened. "No, he was busy the day I was telling James and Remus. He's been out a lot lately, his mother has been sick, poor guy. I won't tell him if you want me not to."

Sympathy rose up in her for Peter, but she still didn't think it was a good idea to tell more people than necessary. What if he was out one day and Death Eaters caught hold of him and...

She shuddered to even think of it. No, it had to be done. The less the widespread the information was, the better.

"Don't tell him. Is that all?" Regulus asked coolly, face hard, and she felt bad for Sirius, whose face had fallen at that.

"Reg, could we talk for a second?"

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his hand and tugged him off to the kitchen.

"What?"

"What are you doing?" she sighed.

"What am I doing?"

"Come on, he's trying so hard."

Regulus stared at her for five long seconds before speaking. "Alessandra, they broke into your house."

"I know, but there was no harm done and they apologized. Let's be honest, their intentions were noble, although misguided. They do have a point, you are a-"

"Even then, it was a violation of your privacy and our trust."

"Yes, and I get that. You can hold it over their heads for centuries if you want... but don't push your brother away. At one point, he'll stop trying and you will probably regret not taking the chance."

Regulus scowled, and she couldn't help but notice how stubborn the brothers were. They were more alike than they realised, not just in terms of their appearance. "Just so you know, if he even tries to do something, I will actually-"

"Yeah, yeah, agreed, I will fully be on your side. I still am, don't worry, I just think it'd be nice for you to have contact with a family member who wasn't into all this Death Eater stuff. It would be less stressful for you, trust me."

He sighed in resignation. "Fine."

A grin erupted on her face at that, and she rolled her eyes fondly when he huffed and stomped out of the kitchen. Following him into the living room, she eyed the three men warily because they looked far too still... an unusual sight.

"So?" James asked eagerly, clasping his hands.

"I suppose... you were somewhat reasonable in your thought process, although your actions were far from agreeable," Regulus forced out.

A devastating smile blossomed across Sirius' face, making Alessandra infinitely happy because it was so sweet seeing the two siblings finally reconcile, because it was an opportunity she knew she would never have.

"Yes!" Sirius jumped up and spread his arms, looking like he was about to pull Regulus into a hug. Unfortunately, his hand slammed against the shelf, causing a gifted vase to fall and shatter into a thousand pieces, at which Alessandra let out a high-pitched squeak. "Shit, I'm so sorry!"

"Get out."

⚜

Alessandra's finger came to a stop one inch in front of Chelsea's doorbell, because she wanted a minute to consider what were the possibilities and how she would react.

A >> Chelsea was perfectly fine, and Alessandra had to come up with a normal-sounding explanation for all the craziness that had gone down that day.

B >> Chelsea wasn't home and she was roaming around as a pigeon, in which case Alessandra would have to scour the streets whilst clapping her hands and calling out her friend's name in the hope that her friend would recognize her.

C >> Chelsea wasn't home and she'd been blown to smithereens by Bellatrix. Grim, but possible.

They all sucked but Alessandra prayed to God that it was the first option.

She took a deep breath and rang the bell, taking the time to admire the home. It was simple but perfect — spacious but not so big that it would feel lonely, well-decorated but not gaudy, well-maintained but not so much that it felt too artificial.

Alessandra was definitely jealous of it, because her apartment looked like a joke compared to the house. Of course, she held no ill or malicious feelings towards her childhood best friend for it, it's not like it was Chelsea's fault that God had dealt her that rotten set of cards. Still, she couldn't help but envy her friend for the amazing life she had.

Alessandra startled a little when the door swung open, revealing the brunette.

"Oh thank God," she breathed out in relief and giving her friend a bone-crushing hug.

"Is- is everything fine?" Chelsea asked tentatively once Alessandra had pulled back.

"Perfect!" Alessandra beamed, overjoyed that her friend was safe. "Never better, oh, I'm so glad to see you."

"I'm so glad to see you too!" Chelsea grinned back, reciprocating the enthusiasm. "Come in, come in."

"How have you been in the one day that I haven't seen you?" Alessandra asked, collapsing on the sofa and inhaling deeply.

Ah, the feeling of not having anything catastrophic going on in your life.

"Amazing," Chelsea gushed. "I spoke to Doug yesterday about mother-in-law dearest, and he finally put his foot down and told her to stop."

"Ooh, how'd she react?"

"She was pissed. Went on an entire tirade about how she was his mother and he owed her and everything."

"Seriously?!" Alessandra exclaimed, having vivid flashbacks of a certain dark-haired vulture.

"Yep. It was so weird to watch, like she genuinely believed that her son owed her for doing something a mother ought to be doing. It wasn't even about owing her anything, it's common courtesy not to constantly degrade someone unnecessarily."

She winced. "And to think you have to put up with her for life."

"Eh," Chelsea rolled her eyes. "That old bat doesn't bother me. Although, I do think she hates me now, but hey, when did she not?"

Alessandra shrugged, admiring the way her friend brushed it off so casually. If only she could be that unbothered.

"What about you?"

"Me?" Alessandra tensed at that, sitting up straight.

"Yeah, what was that about? What happened yesterday?"

She clasped her hands together and leaned back. "Just some drama with friends I met at the restaurant. They're all great, just a little hot-headed."

"I could tell they were a little... angry," Chelsea laughed. "But you're fine now, right?"

"Yeah, it's all fixed."

"Oh, yay. You know, for a few hours, I thought you'd gotten tangled with a criminal organization or something like that."

"God, no!" Alessandra gasped. "I would never, that's too terrifying."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. Besides, in the unlikely event that I did become part of one, you would be the first one to know."

⚜

The house was overflowing with an eerie silence that demanded darkness, yet was submerged in the most dazzling lights one could ever see. Random accessories were strewn across the house — a pair of heels tossed carelessly beside the coffee table and jewelry haphazardly hanging off of the strangest locations — and the entire house smelled of airy perfume.

Alessandra couldn't help the little giggle that escaped her lips when she saw the gorgeous diamonds adorn the pale skin of her neck. She tilted her head a little and the grin on her lips grew even wider when the delicate gems twinkled under the light.

It may have seemed a little stupid to anyone else because she was about to walk into the Devil's lair and it could be potentially be her last day on Earth, but it was so much more to her than just looking pretty. As a child, she would wistfully watch others - girls, usually - her age chattering eagerly with their parents about something or the other and wearing wonderful clothes. She remembered being extremely jealous that she was one of the only ones who never got to have the opportunity to play dress-up with her mother's ridiculous overly large clothes. This was like a silly rite-of-passage to her, one she never got to have, one she'd never properly have.

But also, she looked good. She was a fairly confident person, but her self-esteem had never been this high. There, standing in her apartment in front of a dusty mirror whilst dressed to the nines, she felt like actual royalty. In fact, she certainly looked the part. She was decked in a mesmerizing black one-shoulder full-length dress that melted into silver towards the end, her hair was styled in neat waves that made her look like a movie starlet and her make-up sharpened and brought out the best of her features. All she was missing was one of those pretty silver tiaras and she was set.

Except, she had no idea where to find a tiara. The dress (and the necklace) didn't even belong to her: Regulus had given it to her, insistent that she wear it once he noticed her discreetly sneaking glances at it days ago. It was absolutely insane and she felt so guilty because she realised she would probably never be able to pay him back. She told himself too and he completely brushed it off, saying he didn't care about the money.

He was far too kind and she was definitely not as deserving of it, although she was extremely grateful for him. Not for the money, of course, that would be horrendous. He was just a soothing person to be around, which was ironic, because he was the catalyst of the chaos in her life. He just had this aura about him, or a set of qualities, that drew her to him.

Her heart briefly sped up the moment the doorbell rang, and she giddily ran to the door, nearly tripping because of her high-heels snagging in the carpet. She didn't bother with cleaning the house because it didn't really matter to either of them, they'd both seen how messy her house could get. She threw open the door to see him confusedly blinking at her enthusiasm.

"So, what do you think?" she beamed, making an exaggerated pose before leaning back a little.

Her smile faded a little when she saw his jaw slacken. She noticed that his posture had straightened at that, as though he was preparing to run or fight. Instantly, she felt a wave of self-consciousness crash over her as she took in his agape expression and her mood soured a little. Surely she didn't look that horrendous?

She waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention, a little upset at his reaction. She hadn't expected him to engulf her with a barrage of compliments, but she sure as hell didn't expect him to gawk at her as though she were a species of bug he'd never seen before.

"Shit, sorry," he wheezed, eyes still roaming over every inch of her being. "My brain just stopped working for a second."

Seeing her slight frown, he hurried to elaborate. "Obviously, there's nothing wrong with you, it was just a little surprising, you look really good- not that you always look ugly, you just- look different, but it's a good thing. It's always a good thing even when you don't look different." The words were pouring out of him now and her anxiety was replaced by crippling amusement at the way he was fumbling over himself. "You just- you just look beautiful, alright? No negative connotations to it."

She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. "Alright."

"Yeah... yeah," he mumbled distractedly, settling for leaning against the doorframe even though she'd stepped aside to let her in.

"Aren't we supposed to be there in five minutes?" she prodded, a little uncertain as to why he was gaping at her as though he'd never seen her before. She discreetly turned her head sideways to check in the mirror whether her makeup was smudged or if there was something in her teeth, but everything seemed fine.

"Yes," he stated dumbly, before realizing what he was doing and straightening himself a little. "Yes. We should probably go."

"Just give me a moment," she mumbled, running around the house to turn off the lights and fans. Of course, she could have done it with her magic but she was trying to buy herself time, no matter how less it was, because now that he had arrived, she was feeling much more nervous. It wasn't the kind of anxiety one had before doing extreme sports or going on a wild rollercoaster ride — this one was tenser and more charged and more overwhelming. It was like her gut was telling her that something big was going to happen, and she had to watch.

Whether it was good or bad was yet to be seen.

"Yep, let's go."

Her breath hitched when he reached forward and grabbed her wrist, but she relaxed when she saw him run the tip of his wand over her tattoo and murmur an incantation.

"What was that for?"

"Concealing the tattoo, of course. People would have questions if they saw us have tattoos, that too Muggle ones."

Her heart sank as she remembered the interaction with Bellatrix. "Do you think your cousin saw them that day?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so, the bags we were carrying probably hid them."

"What if she did see them and is just biding her time?"

"Unlikely, she would have confronted us then and blown us to bits," he replied cheerfully. "She's more... impulsive. Straightforward."

She noticed the shadow that came over his face at that, and decided not to ask, because she didn't want to upset him and because she was already scared enough and didn't need to know any more.

"Anyways," he began after a few short moments. "We should probably go now. Are you ready?"

She ran her hands over the skirt of her dress, as though to smooth out imaginary wrinkles. Now that she was ready and had her fun, the fear was starting to set in. "Yeah."

He must have seen her nervousness because he took a step closer and took hold of her hand. "Remember, you don't have to go. We could just say you were sick... and it's contagious. She wouldn't understand, but I think she'd prefer it over being sick."

She wanted to say yes so badly. But, she knew that it was inevitable, and at least if she went today, it would show that she had nothing to hide. Putting it off would mean that Bellatrix would poke around and find out way too much, getting both of them killed.

"It's fine," she reassured him, although it sounded more like she was telling herself that. "At least this way, Bellatrix won't doubt whether I'm... well, one of you. Not going would mean she'd ask once again eventually, and she'll have many more questions then, so... it's fine."

His face fell a little because he wanted her to say no but he knew she had a point, and he squeezed her hand a little. "Shall we?"

She stepped over the threshold of her house and shut the door, which was where Reg's anti-apparition wards ended. "Yes, we shall," she grinned a little, although they both could detect the underlying nervousness.

Wearing high-heels when apparating was not ideal. She found this when he apparated them onto the lawn of Lestrange Manor and she stumbled, nearly falling flat on her face if it weren't for Regulus grabbing her waist and supporting her.

"Ouch," she hissed, seeing the way the heel of her right shoe had snapped. She clutched his shoulder and lifted her leg, hovering her fingers over the broken heel to fix it.

"Did you twist your ankle or something?"

"I don't think so," she murmured doubtfully. "I think I would have felt the pain."

"We can still go home."

She grit her teeth and let go of his shoulder, taking a precautionary step back as she looked into the distance. "Nope, that option is closed now."

He turned to see his cousin strolling towards him. Actually, strolling wasn't the right word. Her teeth were bared and she was twirling her wand in her hand, and the speed and ferocity at which she was walking resembled a lion catching its prey.

Except she wasn't a lion, she absolutely hated Gryffindors.

"Hello, little cousin," she leered when she reached them, and then her eyes slid over to Alessandra and widened a little. It was almost like she hadn't expected the blonde to come. "Alessandra."

"Bella," Reg murmured tiredly, even though it had only just begun.

Bellatrix spun around on her heel (Alessandra envied how smooth the motion was, because she knew she would never achieve that in heels), which was a cue for them to follow her. The closer they got to the big, open door of the Manor, the more Alessandra's anxiety increased, although she tried not to let it show.

And when they entered the Devil's lair, the door swung shut behind them.

⚜