Black Rose [Regulus Black]

When Alessandra opened the door, for once, she kind of expected to see Sirius there. It had been just over a month since he'd dropped by that day on his birthday. He had been too quiet, but maybe it was because his relationship with his brother was doing well. She knew because she could see it in Regulus' face everytime Sirius was brought up — there wasn't complete acceptance or even love, but there wasn't vehement dislike either.

Progress.

She wondered what prompted Sirius to knock on her door on a random Saturday, even worrying that something may have happened between the brothers and he ran to her to get it fixed.

"Yes?" she asked hesitantly.

He smiled at her. It wasn't a full-blown grin like the one he always wore, or even a cocky smirk. It was a small, genuine albeit awkward smile that reminded her so much of Regulus that she felt like she'd been knocked over.

It was concerning how much she missed Regulus when they'd seen each other just two days ago.

"Dumbledore asked me to give you this," he pulled out a note and a glove from within his pocket and placed it within her hands, and she eyed them warily. The note wasn't written on paper, but a slightly rougher material, and she could see traces of ink on it. The glove was old and frayed along the edges, and something (she was afraid of asking) had bitten half of the middle finger off.

"What's this?"

"Note has instructions, glove is a Portkey."

"Yeah, I totally know what that is."

"Reggie hasn't told you what a portkey is yet?" Astonishment crossed his face.

She made a choking sound that was a cross between a laugh and a gasp. "Reggie?"

"Yes, your boyfriend."

"He's not my- you know what, just come in, don't want you to freeze your arse out there."

Sirius grinned as she ushered him in, and she raised an eyebrow in question. "This is the first time you've willingly let me into your house."

"Hmm, I wonder why."

"Me too," Sirius flopped onto her couch ungracefully. "You should've done this earlier. Look, even the Sun's coming out because I'm here!"

Surely enough, there were sunrays peeking out from behind the grey winter clouds.

"Probably to incinerate us all because you arrived."

"One could even say that... he turned hot to impress me?"

"Oh, spare me," she rolled her eyes. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Yeah, biscuits. They were so good the last time..." his voice faltered as he remembered.

"The time you broke into my house and ate nearly all my food?"

He had the balls to nod, no stutter or shame on his face. "Yes."

She rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist, and the biscuit tin appeared on the table. She made a mental note to ask Reg for some more because she was running low.

When she snapped out of her grocery reverie, she noticed Sirius gaping at her.

"What?"

"You can do wandless magic?"

Shit. She forgot it was supposed to be a secret. "You will not tell anybody about this."

He stared at her for a long, hard moment, and then nodded.

"Really, Sirius." The worst-case scenarios were popping into her mind, all of which were starting with Sirius telling someone and ending with either her or Regulus dead. "Do not tell anybody about it."

He zipped his lips and pretended to toss the imaginary key. "Tell anybody about what?"

She allowed a smile to cross her lips as she sat down beside him, and then leaned forward, her hands clasped together. "So, tell me. How's things going between you and him?"

There was a beat of silence and her heart nearly sank because silence probably meant that it was bad.

And suddenly, a breathtaking smile bloomed on his face, his lips turned upwards and eyes filled with happiness, and she couldn't help but grin herself, because that definitely meant things were going very well, and she was so happy for them. It was clear that part of their damaged dynamic was caused due to their upbringing, and it made her glad to see that their relationship was on its way to getting better.

No wonder Regulus had been so cheerful for the past few days.

"They're going well," Sirius grinned. "We watched a movie together and then went to McDonald's last week."

"You went to McDonald's? How was it?"

"It's insanely good, I can tell why it's popular in America. It's not just the food, it has this whole atmosphere to it. Have you not gone there before?"

"No," she admitted. "I've heard good things about it before."

"But why not?" he sounded genuinely outraged on her behalf.

"The thing is, I've never been to the area it's located in."

"You can just Apparate there."

"I don't know how to Apparate..." she looked down at her hands while saying it, feeling a little stupid for not knowing how to Apparate. She could do basic stuff but that was the extent of her knowledge, and she hated it.

Surprisingly, Sirius didn't interrogate her or make her feel bad about not knowing it. "Well, now we know where Regulus can take you for your next date."

"We are not dating," Alessandra said defensively. It was better to deny that they were dating for both their safety so as to not draw attention to each other — attention was the last thing they needed.

He nodded, smirking. "I'm sure you aren't. Matching rings and tattoos and constantly swooning over each other just means good friendship."

That just killed every argument she had. Were they really that obvious? "No, really!"

"Right. So, tell me, how did you meet?"

"We... just did."

He narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't look suspicious, just curious.  "Interesting."

"How did you and him meet?" She wiggled her eyebrows ridiculously.

His expression turned somber. "It was a tale of a lifetime. We were both undeveloped souls, trapped in a dark place, looking for escape, but a monster was keeping us in there. One day, some beings found their way into the monster and breathed life into us-"

She gagged with disgust when she realised what he was talking about. "Sirius!"

He continued, undeterred. "-and because of them, hope was swimming within us-"

"Jesus Christ, Sirius!"

"-I hammered my way out of there first, but to this day I'm haunted by the memory of pin-"

She chucked the lid of the box at him, burying her face into the pillow as her body was wracked with tremors and giggles. "Ew. There is something serio- really wrong with you."

"It's one of my best qualities."

⚜

Later that evening, Alessandra hummed a tune as she reached the landing, a bright smile on her face despite the ache in her legs from climbing so many stairs and the numbness in her cheeks from the cold. She was in a good mood because everything seemed to be going well. Sirius and Regulus were getting closer. She was dating Regulus, which she didn't think was possible. She had a stable job and was working her way up the ladder.

It was all going well.

Her hands shook because of the cold, frigid wind blowing over her fingers and rendering them brittle. She fiddled with the key, her hands slipping over the cool metal, and it took her multiple attempts to get it into the lock and twist. She let out a sigh of satisfaction when there was finally a clicking sound and stepped over the threshold into her house, shutting the door behind her.

When she turned around, there was a silhouette sitting there in the dark, with white light only illuminating his sharp features, and she let out an ear-splitting shriek.

"What are you doing there sitting in the dark?!" Alessandra gasped. "I swear to God, my entire life just flashed before my eyes."

"The lights aren't turning on," Regulus replied. "I tried all the switches."

She swore under her breath, flipping the switch closest to her, and just like he said, the light didn't turn on. She repeated the same with a few other switches, but to no avail.

"What happened?"

"A powercut," she mumbled, leaning her head against the wall. "Expected, because it's winter."

"A powercut," he repeated thoughtfully. "What's that?"

"Lights, fans and appliances are driven by electricity. Sometimes, due to the weather, the electricity goes out so then they don't work."

"So when does the eclecticity come back?"

"Electricity."

"Eclectrity."

"Electricity."

"Eclectricity."

"Eclec- shit, electricity."

"Electricity."

"Yes!" He looked pleased with himself at that, and she couldn't help but kiss him lightly on the cheek.

"So when does it come back?"

"I don't know. A few hours, probably. Sometimes it goes on for days but let's hope it doesn't come down to that."

"Does the electricity go out often? What do you do when the electricity goes out?" He was now definitely trying to show off that he knew this fancy word.

"It does in the winter, but this is the first time in weeks, which is surprising. I just light candles when it goes out."

"No magic?"

"Occasionally."

He hummed. "So what are you gonna do now?"

"It's alright, hopefully by the time we get back the power'll come back on." She fiddled in her drawer for candles, pulling them out and lighting them with a wave of her hand.

"Get back from where?"

She smacked her forehead. "I forgot to tell you! Sirius swung by today in the morning and gave us a note and a glove from Dumbledore. We have to go to meet him at night today."

She reached behind the sofa and pulled the note and the glove out, handing them over to Regulus, who read the note with a bemused expression.

"Sirius said the glove is a port...something..."

"A Portkey."

"Yes, something like that. What is it anyways?"

"Basically, in a certain period of time, if you grab onto it, it'll transport you to where the owner wants you to be.

"That's so cool," she mumbled, eyes wide.

A smile passed over his face briefly before he looked back down at what was in his hand. "We should probably burn the parchment."

"What's that?"

He looked astonished. "I haven't told you what parchment is?"

"I mean, I know what parchment paper is, but I don't think they're the same."

"Parchment is what we write on, kind of like your paper. Never heard of parchment paper though."

"It's used in baking. We line cake pans and trays with it so the food doesn't stick to the edges."

Confusion crossed his face. "But the food doesn't stick to the edges in regular plates."

"That's- that's different. Okay, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but have you ever cooked anything? Like made your own food?"

"...no."

"This will definitely sound rude but have you ever set foot in a kitchen?"

"I mean... I've set foot in yours."

Her jaw dropped so wide that her cheeks hurt, and she clearly wasn't hiding her shock very well, because Regulus added defensively. "My parents didn't let me, Mother would've punished Kreacher if I did."

Alessandra didn't have parents so she wouldn't know, but shouldn't parents encourage their children picking up necessary skills like cooking? What if they had to live somewhere by themselves or they had to eat during an emergency? Then what?

"Have you ever rode a bicycle?" she prodded.

"What's that?"

Between her jaw dropping and her eyes widening, her skin was stretched a little too tightly, and she relaxed a little. "Have you ever gone swimming?"

His entire face was bathed in faint orange light from the flame of the candle so she wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but his face seemed to have turned a little pale. "No... I mean, the first time I did I nearly died and you had to pull me from the brink of consciousness, so I don't think that counts?" He huffed out a laugh, but she could tell from the firm set of his shoulders that something was very wrong... and she wondered what the full story was.

"Right... one day, I'll buy you a cycle and teach you how to ride it."

"But why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

"Because... it's the most wonderful feeling. It's like your quidditch, but on land, and you're just pedalling and pedalling and the most wonderful scenery is passing you by and the wind is in your hair and you feel like you're on the top of the world and-"

"No, I meant why would you do that?"

She stared at him for a long moment. His eyes were downcast, dark lashes just sweeping his high cheekbones and hair falling into his face because he hadn't cut it in a while, and she felt sorry for him. She leaned forward to wrap her arms around him because that was all she could muster then, for pity and sadness and frustration for him were ripping through her heart.

Sometimes, she forgot that their backgrounds were so very different.

She hated Regulus' family. Truly, she did. She'd seen the impact they'd had on Sirius and Regulus and their relationships, and it was so sad. In the orphanage, family seemed like such a grand concept. Chelsea's family was so kind and welcoming and warm. In the old classics she'd grown up reading at the orphanage, mothers combed their daughters' hair and fathers played catch with their sons and the family was always a unit, always sticking together. People who'd occasionally volunteer at or donate to the orphanage would usually come by on holidays with their supportive family members, spreading cheer. Even the people at the orphanage were family to her - the older kids taught her board games and how to do her hair and makeup.

Regulus' family was not family.

"God, this is sad," she snorted, trying to relieve the atmosphere. "We're two young adults on a Saturday night, and instead of partying we're going out to meet an old man who barely cares about us."

"I'd prefer the old man over the parties I'm used to," he scoffed.

"No, no, you don't get to call those things parties."

"That's the point."

She laughed lightly. "It's alright. It's not like we have a choice."

"I mean, we could always just not show up..." he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek, and then another one a little lower, and tucked her hair back, and she nearly fell over from the armrest onto his lap, goosebumps rising on her skin. Her eyes fluttered shut and stayed that way as he ducked his head and peppered kisses up her neck.

"Reg..." she said slowly, her eyes barely open.

He hummed, not stopping.

"Regulus," she hissed, and he drew away in suprise. "Is it supposed to do that?"

"Is what?"

She pointed at the table, where the glove was glowing, and he internally cursed. Even when Dumbledore wasn't there, he was making life miserable.

The glove was glowing a little too brightly now and Alessandra's eyes widened in alarm. "Regulus?"

He got off the couch and lunged for the glove, sending Alessandra tumbling down onto the ground with a yelp as their hands were enclasped. She never got to hit the floor though because they were suddenly spinning and spinning and her head felt like it had detached from her body and the rest of her body was being squeezed into a minuscule box.

She hit the ground with a grunt, and it only registered that this wasn't her home when she realised the ceiling was a deep blue and the floor wasn't hard but soft. She couldn't move her limbs, they all felt like jelly, and she felt like she'd lost her stomach...somewhere.

Then, a shadow loomed over her and she squinted up to see Regulus standing over her, a grin on his face. She had no idea what part of this was funny or how he was standing or where even they were, and she scowled at him.

"My, how the tables have turned," he snickered.

It took her a moment to realise that he was referring back to their first encounter, and she would have laughed if she didn't feel like her organs had been rearranged within her. "How are you so cheerful right now?" she groaned, trying to get up but falling back down almost instantly. "Hell, how are you standing?"

He extended an arm and she took it, and it was almost embarrassing how easily he pulled her up. "Practice. You'll get there eventually."

"I'd rather never do this again," she clutched onto his shoulders, the world was still spinning.

"We haven't even done the worst part yet."

"It gets worse?" she gasped out.

"Yes," he pointed at something in the distance and it took a great deal of focusing to realise it was a house...she thought. "I'm pretty sure they're waiting for us there."

"I think my eyes have permanently been ruined. I can't see properly."

He slipped her hands off his shoulders and held them, rubbing circles into them. "Shut your eyes," he commanded. "And focus only on what you can feel and hear. Maybe not smell - it's a little rancid here."

Surely enough, a moment or two later, the spinning had stopped and she opened her eyes and rubbed them. The splitting headache she was experiencing had reduced to a dull throbbing.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

"Better," she nodded. "Let's get going after a minute? I think I'll fall over now if I do."

A few minutes later, they walked to the house, which seemed empty. Regulus reached for his wand when he peeked through the window and saw nothing, and signalled at Alessandra to be careful. They stepped over the threshold, and when nothing happened, they opened the door.

Nobody was there.

Or so they thought.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE," the lights flickered on and someone yelled, and Alessandra screamed, waving her hands about and sending something crashing into the figure opposite them with a thump. The lights snapped on with a click, only to reveal Moody glaring at them.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Alessandra yelled, a palm over her heart.

"Do you think the Death Eaters will give you a moment to react when they jump you?" Moody barked. "Your friend here should know."

Regulus ignored the dig. He may not have yelled but he was sure as hell startled, given by the way his heart was hammering. He knew Alastor Moody was known for his stubbornness and occasional streaks of madness so there was no point in arguing with him, and he chose to divert his attention to Alessandra, who was glaring back at Moody.

"Alright, let's get started."

"Get started on what?" Regulus asked.

"Patronuses, of course. What, you planned on walking into Azkaban?"

Regulus had never killed anybody before but he was willing to do so now. "You plan on teaching us how to cast a Patronus by tonight?" he asked skeptically. Given that he had spent years trying to cast one and failed, he didn't see how Moody would be able to teach them within a few hours, even though the man was a skilled Auror.

"Of course not," Moody snorted. "We'll be meeting every three days at different, undisclosed locations to practice."

Alessandra's stomach and mind finally caught up to the situation and she stood up straight, scratching the back of her head. "I don't have my wand on me."

Regulus frowned, trying to remember when she got a wand, and then remembered that he was there when buying a wand for her.

"Are you looking to get killed?" Moody asked bluntly. "Only an idiot would not carry their wand along with them. What if I was a Death Eater? How would you defend yourself? I've seen wizards greater than yourself get killed because they forgot their wand."

Regulus could see that she was a few seconds away from snapping, and held his breath when she opened his mouth.

"Technically," Alessandra said with a disturbing calm. "If you were a Death Eater, the first thing you would have done is send a Killing Curse at me and my wand wouldn't have done me much good then, would it have?"

"Good point," Moody conceded, much to Reg's surprise. "Alright, so let's get started. A Patronus Charm is a charm used to ward off Dementors. It's the only spell effective against Dementors which is why you must be able to perform it. To perform a Patronus charm, you have to channel one of your happiest memories and incant, 'Expecto Patronum'. Repeat after me, Expecto Patronum."

"Expecto Patronum," they both muttered. "Expecto Patronum."

After a few moments of learning the incantation, Moody moved on to demonstrating it. "So there isn't really a particular motion you need to use to bring out the Patronus, just a general swish. The hardest part is calling on your happiest memory to actually form a corporeal Patronus. This may seem easy when I say it but it takes a lot of practice, not to mention that in front of Dementors it's incredibly difficult because when you're around them, your happiness is waning. Watch, now."

Moody brandished his wand, causing Alessandra to involuntarily take a step back, and cleared his throat. "Expecto Patronum!"

Regulus held his breath as a giant, silvery fox exploded from the tip of Moody's wand. It was his first time actually seeing a Patronus, he'd only ever seen them in books before.

It looked splendid. He wanted one.

"Now, you try." Moody looked at Regulus expectantly, before his eyes flicked over to Alessandra. "You can sit down. Doing it wandlessly is next to impossible. People can hardly summon a teacup wandlessly, much less cast a Patronus."

Alessandra and Regulus both withheld their laughter. If only he knew.

⚜

Alessandra hated this. She hated using a wand.

She'd never gotten the hang of it, it was always so stiff in her hand. Her magic felt trapped within it, so Regulus and her had given up on using it a long time ago. He just told her to carry it about and pretend so that people didn't ask questions.

But now, she had to actually use it? And she hated it.

"Is that how you hold your wand?" Moody barked and she held back her snarl. "Wizards greater than you have held it like that and lost their limbs and even their lives! Do you really want to experiment with your life?"

Regulus was worried that if Moody kept goading her, Alessandra would take him to meet the wizards greater than her that he idolised so much. He wouldn't mind Moody's absence, he'd just mind having to cover it up.

It had been three days since they'd met last, and even then, as expected, Regulus had failed to produce a Patronus. Surprisingly, Moody didn't taunt him about his lack of capability - he'd just gruffly said it takes time.

Alessandra cleared her throat and casually flicked her wand, drawing a powerful blast of wind out of the tip that sent Moody flying into the wall with a sickening thump. Her eyes widened in alarm. "Oops. Um."

Moody staggered to his feet, an irritable look on his face, and she backed away a little.

"Constant...vigilance?" she mumbled.

Regulus choked on air.

⚜

It had been two weeks of constant practice and Regulus still hadn't gotten it.

Alessandra hadn't either but even with the wand she hated so much, she was able to get a few wisps of smoke out.

"Expecto Patronum!" he yelled, swishing his wand. Nothing.

"You'll get it eventually," Moody said, but the words didn't bring him reassurance. He was always saying that. "Alessandra?"

Alessandra took a deep breath and drew back her wand, closing her eyes and summoning memories of herself baking cakes with Chelsea and dancing in lawns with Regulus. "Expecto Patronum!"

Again, a few wisps of smoke came out and she grinned, apparently happy with her progress.

Regulus was happy for her too, but it made him feel depressed. What did this say about his life? Was it really that unfulfilling?

"You're almost getting there," Moody said gruffly. "But you're not holding the wand properly. The way you're doing it, you're likely to kill somebody."

"I think I want to try it without a wand," she blurted out.

Moody barked out a laugh and the two of them jumped in surprise. "You want to do this wandlessly? When you can't even do it with a wand?"

"Yeah..."

He bent over laughing. "Wizards greater than you haven't been able to-"

That was her breaking point and she slammed the wand down on the windowsill near her, causing his laughter to evaporate immediately. Regulus felt an alarming sense of pride and a little concern for her.

"How do you know they're greater than me?" she demanded, irritation visible on her face. Surprisingly, Moody didn't say anything, just sighed at her.

"Fine, give it a try. Don't come crying to me when you blast someone's brain out by accident."

Even she was surprised by that, and she widened her stance. "So, what exactly am I supposed to do? Just move my hand like that?"

Moody shrugged, plopping down on a chair near the dusty table against the wall. "I don't know. Nobody's ever been stupid enough to try because anybody with half a brain knows that-"

"Yeah, just move your hand like that," Regulus interrupted.

"Okay," Alessandra took a deep breath, ignoring the presence of Moody in the room and envisioning everything good in her life. She found that while she was a happy person with a lot of things to look forward to, thinking of just one memory didn't do it. She had to be extremely elated to be able to do this, and to do that she had to think of lots of happy memories. When she and Regulus shared their first kiss, the little getaways she had with Lily now and then, cake tasting with Chelsea...

"Expecto Patronum!" she chanted, feeling something within her build up. She moved her hand through the air, not like it was a knife slicing through it but as though she was skimming waves, and she could feel it coming. It was like hiking or making a new recipe, where you know you're a few steps away from where you want to be. She just knew. Judging by the way Moody stood up, he could tell too. "Expecto Patronum!"

She nearly fell over in shock when a bright, silvery dolphin erupted out of nowhere, and she felt like she was on top of the world. "Yes!" she yelled in euphoria as the silvery dolphin danced around her. She turned to make eye contact with Regulus, who, much to her surprise, did not look happy at all. His face looked like it had been cemented in stone, his expression surprisingly blank. He tilted his head at her, mustered something that looked like a grimace (was that supposed to be a smile?) and slowly backed away.

"I'm going out to get some air," Regulus said casually, and she stared at him. "Er, congrats."

The door softly shut with a click behind him.

She stared after him in astonishment, wondering what the hell had just happened. One minute she'd felt so ecstatic because she'd finally done it and the next it felt like she'd been hit in the gut so hard she wanted to double over.

"Don't worry lass," Mad-Eye drawled. "It's just the Black insanity."

That was not reassuring at all.

⚜