Anything
"Bring her back." Said Annabelle. Dumbledore took the sack of disembodied eyes she had retrieved for him.
"Who, Annie?"
"Olivia. You, could, you could do it couldn't you? I mean most powerful warlock in the world and all?" There was a tremor in her voice, and she could not seem to stand still. Her weight shifting from one foot to the other, and her hands touching nearly every knick knack on Dumbledore's desk.
"I cannot revive a corpse." He said calmly, he lifted one eye from the sack. "He had a seer with him?"
"Aye. a proper one. The eyes were in the palms." Said Annabelle. Dumbledore nodded and set it aside.
"Moody will take this one." He said, setting the eye in a box and closing the lid. He set a small potion beside it.
"Sir, I- I- I asked for one thing, when I," Annabelle could hardly get through it. She could not look him in the eye. Her eyes flickered to all the other head masters of Hogwarts passed on the wall. Her eyes were stinging.
She did not know how Regulus went about feeling everything all the time. It was horrid.
The portraits were all asleep due to the late hour. There was one portrait awake. She could not quite make out the name of it.
"Lemon drop, Annie?" asked Dumbledore, Annabelle was picking at her nails, still rimmed with blood, he glanced at the runes she drew on her wrists. Dumbledore was acutely aware of how much she needed him. He had convinced her of it.
Annabelle shook her head.
"Would you like to sit down?" He asked. Annabelle's hands were shaking.
"I've killed a lot of people for you- for the greater good I mean." She said, tucking her hands behind her back so he could not see her cast a small warming charm on them.
"You have. And I am proud of you."
Her breath caught in her throat, and Annabelle furrowed her eyebrows wondering if she could press this any further.
"Sometimes I look at you and I forget you're all grown up. I keep expecting to see the ten year old girl from Plockton who was very taken with my plum coloured suit." He continued. Annabelle twisted one of the rings around her finger.
"It was a grand suit, sir." She whispered. "I just-"
"What is it?"
"I want my sister back."
A cold silence hung between them.
"There is a price to war." He said calmly. Annabelle did not like the answer. He watched her eyes harden and flame of the candle on his desk grew.
"I know that." Said Annabelle. "It's just, when I-" Annabelle's voice broke and she wondered how she was meant to get through this. "You said you would protect her."
"Annabelle there is a whole wizarding world to protect. No one person can be a priority." Said Dumbledore. Annabelle's eyes clenched shut as she nodded. "I am sorry you lost your sister. This is your family now."
"A year ago, when you asked me to join the order- you said you would keep her safe." Said Annabelle. It was barely there. Every bone in her body rejected the idea of defying him.
"I made no such promise." Said Dumbledore.
"You did. You said you would protect her. Did I not do enough to make, to make you want to keep it?" She asked. Annabelle had never refused Dumbledore. Not once. He had brought her into the magical world, he could kick her back out. "Couldn't- why can't-"
"Nothing can live forever." Said Dumbledore.
"Jellyfish." She said. Dumbledore laughed, covering his smile with his hand at her offhand comment.
"Miss Aelin, it may disappoint you to know, that we are humans. Not jellyfish." Said Dumbledore.
"What if, what if Olivia's animagous, hypothetically-"
"Your sister was not a witch. Immortality is unnatural."
"The elves in lord of the rings. Olivia looked like Aowen."
"Not everything in lord of the rings exists in real life." Said Dumbledore, Annabelle narrowed her eyes on his Gandalf looking ass face as he denied her her one request.
She turned the symbol of the deathly hallows which hung around her neck over between her fingers, thumbing the circle several times.
"For instance," Started Dumbledore. "Our elves are not nearly as attractive."
"You read it?"
"For you, Annie." Said Dumbledore, "Bring the eye to Moody now,"
"Yes, sir."
-*-
Belle,
I would like you to send me a howler. Or a letter would do. If you are going to be cross with me, I would prefer your anger not your indifference.
- R. A. B.
-*-
"Aelin is mine." Said Regulus, eyes flashing dangerously to Mrs Claire Dolohov standing across the dark mahogany table in a silk blue dress.
She held an oil lamp, pale skin illuminated in the dark. Regulus thought she resembled a ghost. A ghost of Claire DuPont. Of the witch she used to be.
Claire set the lamp on the table.
"Antonin could find-"
"I don't want anyone else touching her. Or killing her." Said Regulus. "If anyone strikes her down before I have the chance— I will slit their throats before a mirror so they may bear witness to their own death."
His voice was low and horse. Eyes bloodshot. He queried if his face remained tear stained and whether Claire could see the glimmer on his cheek.
Regulus hardly recognized her.
Regulus wondered if he had joined Claire DuPont in the afterlife. He felt raw. His insides torn from him piece by piece until he was nothing but an empty shell.
Without his Belle— Regulus blinked as his eyes prickled. Without his Belle— Regulus could not allow Claire Dolohov to see him cry over Annabelle.
His tired eyes flickered down to the map of wizarding Britain once more. 'X's marked the spot of each kill he was certain Annabelle had performed. She wanted him to know. Know it was her, romantically and pathetically Regulus found reassurance in them.
The killings were the only proof he had she was still alive.
The image of her in the background of Moody's shot as the new head auror from the prophet was tucked into the pocket of Regulus' robes. Annabelle's hair was shorter. She was an auror. Annabelle had never wanted to be an auror.
The notion Annabelle Aelin was not allowed to do precisely what she wanted in life still pricked at his sides and irritated him.
"Then why haven't you mentioned what you know to the dark lord?" Asked Claire. "That it's her."
"Why haven't you?" He challenged.
Claire shifted on her feet, looking down at the diamond twinkling on her finger.
"My husband won't allow it." Said Claire. "I was a Gryffindor. He thinks it unsafe."
"It is for the best then." Said Regulus. He was in Dolohov manor aiding Antonin in new runes.
However he was incapable of refraining from his newest obsession for an evening, searching for his wife to comfort himself with her very existence.
Regulus had forgotten Claire DuPont had become Claire Dolohov during their final year. Being welcomed into Dolohov manor by her the day prior had shocked him.
Her skin looked too smooth. Like she had scrubbed it raw and the red had only just faded from her skin.
Regulus used to be so envious of Claire DuPont. A pureblood in Gryffindor who kept her house and name.
He used to imagine himself in the Gryffindor common room. Running into Annabelle frequently. When Annabelle had been the sweetest soul Regulus had ever known. In subjective terms she still was. Just calloused and flawed.
"I was shocked when I heard about Anthony. About how they found him." Said Claire, blue eyes sweeping down to Regulus' work. "I would have strung him up myself if I'm honest. He irritated me. So much. But I was so shocked it was Annie. I mean no one knows for certain- but I remember what Lila looked like strung up."
"He killed her sister. Her mother." Said Regulus.
Regulus shut his eyes for a moment as a shadow moved behind Claire.
Annabelle used to protect him from the visions of his Boggart. The inferi haunting his existence. Now he had lost her, the inferi had found him again. Taunting him. Even his search for his bride was a selfish excuse to abstain from sleep for just an hour longer.
"No. I was shocked because it would hurt you." Said Claire she let out a cold mocking sort of laugh. "I remember in sixth year when you lot killed her cat—"
Regulus' lungs filled with stone as he recalled it. Annabelle had set every single Slytherin broom on fire except his. Her cold shoulder now was even frostier.
She knew Regulus was a jealous person. And that it did not matter if he hated her. Annabelle Aelin had taken to sending gift baskets to the other witches and warlocks who worked at Gringgotts. All of Regulus' favourite things.
Green ink. Knit scarves. Blank sheet music. Quills with strong silver tips. Tickets to the film Star Wars. Ocean scented candles. Liquorice wands. Date planners. Bouquets of Forgetmenots.
Regulus' nose wrinkled in disgust as he recalled when Mai Sayre arrived to aid the curse breakers with a potion and was greeted by French onion soup at lunch.
"— she wouldn't- well I pointed out she could break your hand. Make it impossible to seek." Claire looked up like she was telling a story at a campfire. "And Justin," Her smile faltered, "said she should well find someone and make you jealous. But Annie said no."
"I think Avery just took something a little more important than a cat." Said Regulus.
"Yeah but- I do not know. You know her dad was in the military and she used to tell me about him." Said Claire. "I mean, he was fucked up in the head. But she talked about fishing boats and throwing nets, and guns, and harpoon guns, and, and,"
Claire's words spilled out in an over excited ramble. Like she had been waiting to speak with anyone about anything for a lifetime.
At the height of his hubris; Regulus hated her.
"He hit her." Said Regulus.
"Everyone's father hits them. Your mother is famous for torturing her offspring. And you're still hopping up to hunt down Annie for killing her."
Regulus had hardly thought of his mother. His mudblood wife had killed her. His wife.
"Why are you smiling?" Asked Claire. Regulus schooled his features and concentrated on finding Annabelle.
He would find her and then- Regulus was unsure of what would happen next.
"I am not."
-*-
Belle,
Come be angry with me at a nearer distance.
- R. A. B
-*-
Annabelle ran her fingers over all the galleons. She spread them across the table. Eyes alight at the possibilities.
Rent. Food. Utilities. Security. A really really nice pair of rollerskates. A statue for her sister's grave (As agreed upon at age 15- if Olivia died first Annie was to avenge her and commission a statue of James Dean in his prime so Olivia could look at his well endowed physique for eternity).
"You can double this, pet." Started Moody, her uniform was still stained red from the blood of the battle. Three death eaters lay dead on the floor of Moody's flat. She had brought them to him like a cat drops a mouse at its owner's feet. "If-"
"If?"
Moody sat down next to her, his arm propped up behind her on the sofa. He set an envelope in her grasp. Her nails were painted dark pink. Emmeline was watching her intently from across the room.
"She's not gonna do it." Said Emmeline, her eyes were narrowed on Annabelle, glaring at the Auror pin the girl had on her uniform smattered with blood.
"This is the biggest bounty we've seen, Vance," Said Moody, twirling Annabelle's hair idly behind her neck. "Don't be jealous."
Emmeline rolled her eyes and scoffed, walking over the butchered bodies of three fully grown men. Dead at the manicured hands of a mudblood mad with grief. She crouched beside the table and admired the bounties the girl had collected from the ministry. She slid her cut into her hand and pocketed it.
"She wins, we win, Alastor. I would never be jealous." Said Emmeline. "Open it, Annie."
Annabelle touched the ministry ceal. It was familiar, the unspeakables all wrote the same way in uniform handwriting. She pulled the familiar yellowed parchment from the envelope and opened it- her hands turned cold.
"Is this a joke?" Asked Annabelle.
Regulus Arcturus Black
Annabelle looked at Moody. The auror shrugged and touched her cheek fleetingly.
"He makes you soft." Said Emmeline.
"I am not soft." Said Annabelle. Alastor set a cigarette between her lips and lit it.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore sent this warrant through the ministry." Said Moody, Annabelle's eyes immediately flickered to his to check for truth. "Imagine how disappointed he would be if you said no."
Annabelle exhaled the smoke and looked at the bodies which lay on the floor, imagining Regulus' lying there instead. The last time she had faced a boggart- She shut her eyes immediately, terror gripping her, how could she allow such a thing.
David Meowie did not like it here. In Moody's home. She spent many of her nights here because she was welcomed here. And she did not like living alone.
"Imagine how disappointed I would be." Added Moody.
Annabelle nodded slowly as she reread his name. Regulus had taken to requesting howlers, anything, everything from her. So inconsiderately. She had spent the better part of her life taking care of him. It felt selfish to her that he sought so recklessly and believed she ought to be thinking of him right now. As her sister lay cold in the ground.
-*-
"Forgive me father for I have sinned." Annabelle breathed, wondering why in her drunken state she had thought this would be a good idea.
"What ails you, my child?" Asked the priest on the other side of the divide. Annabelle rested her head on the wooden wall of the little booth. Her cheeks were tear stained and her breathing uneven.
She sat for the first time in years in a confessional.
Priests were just like earth Jedi.
Yeah. She could live with that.
More like Sith in her experience. Wouldn't exist without the corruption of innocent faith in an almighty force.
Annabelle said nothing.
"I'm sorry?"
"You should be." Annabelle felt tears build behind her eyes.
Maybe if religion hadn't fucked her so badly she would be normal. Hell, if Catholicism had never broken her mother so horribly and become a hot iron rod Alice Aelin had used to brand Annabelle wicked at birth maybe Annabelle could have been good.
Maybe she could have been good, and loved, and cherished, and valued. Not someone to be hidden shamefully away. Not someone whose cats got killed because of boys who claimed to love them. Not someone whose lover joined a death cult dedicated to exterminating them. Not someone whose 'soulmate' didn't care her sister was dead.
Maybe Annabelle wouldn't be so wretched. She knew it wasn't normal. How little she felt. How cold her hands became when she felt too much. How easy it had always been to watch men who deserved it die.
The irony of it was when she had voted for the first time she had voted against capital punishment. Because of the corrupt system. You understand.
"My whole life your religion has been fucking me up the arse." She said.
"Then why are you here?" The question was spoken calmly. Annabelle had killed a priest once. She could do it again.
"I've got nowhere else."
Moody would try to convince her to have Regulus obliviated from her memory. She wasn't sure she had it in her to refuse Moody if he asked again. He was cross she belonged so entirely to Regulus.
It had been a wretched thing Regulus had done to her.
Make her fall maddeningly in love with him while treating her like the shite at the bottom of his shiny boots.
Regulus had been so ashamed of her. Regulus had allowed his friends to belittle her and torment her for years and he got to play victim just because Annabelle had a fucking back bone?
"Funny thing that." Said the priest. He didn't sound like father Clemence from Plockton.
"Hmm." Hummed Annabelle.
"When was your last confession?" Asked the priest. It was a small church in Edinburgh. Annabelle had lived here briefly during her time in foster care. She had lived lots of places briefly.
"Eight or so years ago." She said. "I was ten. It was the day I got excommunicated."
"Ha!"
He didn't believe her.
"And how did you go about that?" Asked the priest. Humour evident in his tone. Annabelle wasn't being hyperbolic.
"I killed a priest." Said Annabelle. "Burned him living. His name was Clemence."
"A ten year old? Did he tell you the truth about Santa Claus?"
Father Clemence had been abusing his position of power and Annabelle's big sister.
"Father, can I ask you something?"
"Yes."
"When you become a priest does your mother have to call you father?" Asked Annabelle.
"No."
"Oh. That's disappointing."
"Have I disrupted your career plans?"
"Nae. Just any of the sense of whimsy I had left." Said Annabelle.
"What are you here to confess?" Asked the priest.
"I miss my-" what did she even call him anymore?
Husband was the legal term. Boyfriend was an insult. Love was all she had felt for him for years but- now she felt an overwhelming shame in his name.
"It's complicated."
"Nothing ever is as complicated as it seems."
"What about a rubics cube?"
"Paint the sides. Don't bother with the puzzle."
Who else did Annie miss? She fiddled with the cross still stained with Anthony's blood. Her sister's old rosary. Who else did she feel guilty for missing?
"I miss my mum." Said Annabelle.
"That's normal."
"She was a shite mum."
"It's still normal."
"No. Really. She thought I was the antichrist. Da had to talk her out of an exorcism. And then just when she apologizes and I forgive her she dies on me."
"How did she pass?" Asked the priest.
"Home invasion. Skin heads." Said Annabelle, Muggle versions of what the Death eaters were on a fundamental level. "She was, she was Roma. Sinthi I think. She never talked about it- her parents hid her in a nunnery to save her from nazis when she was wee. She was raised Catholic. Turned wicked. Way to go... Jesus."
The priest didn't pay attention to her ramblings. She could barely make out his outline from the divider.
"Why did you forgive her?" He asked her.
"She apologized." Said Annabelle.
"And?"
"That's it. Why should I need more?" Asked Annabelle. He sounded like Regulus.
"Even god requires penance."
"God is a twat." Said Annabelle.
He was reminding her of Regulus. Regulus who thought Annabelle owed him forgiveness was so quick to chastise her for being forgiving.
"Why the fuck would I waste time being cross with her when she's trying to make it better? If she knows it was wrong. Why would I punish her? You only get one mum. And I wasn't ready to give up on mine."
Annabelle was crying.
"And you know and my- I don't know what to call him but I love him- he didn't even care." Said Annabelle.
"You love him?"
"Pathetically." Muttered Annabelle.
"He sounds like an arse."
Annabelle laughed. "Aye. He is."
"Why do you love him?"
"I met him when I was young- and blimey you've never seen anything so beautiful. I would've done anything for him. For him to talk to me, to want me." Said Annabelle. "He is everything. Everything except in love with me."
"How can you be sure?"
"What sort of love is that, mate? He lied to me. He kept me like a filthy secret. Like you priests and the playboys I know you've got stashed somewhere." She accused, "I was so guilty for causing him shame for years. He got me kicked out of the best home I'd been in. Ever. Made me move in with him into his family home with all his family who hated me. And took off every other moment to be with his secret society shite who well hated anyone without blue blood and a stick shoved so far up their arse they can taste it."
A beat of silence.
"I'm tired." She said. The admission emerging like the confession of a death row inmate. Her shoulders sank and she slumped in her half of the confession booth.
"If he apologized?"
"He won't."
"If he did?"
"I'd forgive him." Said Annabelle. "Pathetic."
"Not pathetic. Naive maybe-"
"You're entire career is based on Jesus' forgiveness."
"Are you comparing yourself to Jesus?"
"Nae. Of course not. I can do way better magic tricks than that bloke." Said Annie. She made the priest laugh.
"What are you here to confess?"
"I am gonna kill my husband, father."
-*-
"Don't do anything stupid." Said Annabelle, stepping past Regulus and into Grimmauld place holding a bottle of Champagne, she walked through the narrow hall and entered the first room she came across, setting the champagne on the table and setting about opening it.
She was in the dining room. His dining room.
"I have never seen you all in black." Commented Regulus. Annabelle was wearing a long black dress. It was flowy and ethereal.
"I am dressed for the occasion." Said Annabelle, opening the champagne with a pop of the cork of the bottle. "Do you have cups?"
"I do not know where the champagne glasses are." Said Regulus, fetching tea cups from the armoire he had never been allowed to touch as a child. The glass panes of it creaked open as the ornate china was pulled from its decorative storage for the first time since his parents were wed.
He turned in time to watch Annabelle tuck his wand somewhere in the confines of her skirt.
"No, no this is perfect." She said. He set the tea cups on the table. She filled his and pushed it towards him. "Are you scared?"
"No." He replied, a smile tugged at Annabelle's lips. Regulus' breath caught in his throat. He hesitated for a moment in reaching for his cup.
He looked at her again. She was within his reach, Regulus could not resist reaching out for a mere moment. He moved slowly, wondering if he was about to lose a hand. He set his hand on the familiar curve of her cheek tenderly.
He could feel her face begin to heat. Annabelle was recklessly beautiful. His hand moved slowly down to the curve of her neck.
"I had your necklace repaired." He mentioned, touching faint tan lines from it. She had seldom taken it off. Annabelle leant away from him.
"Are you going to apologize to me?" She asked.
"No." said Regulus. "Are you going to apologize to me?" Annabelle shook her head. Her eyes flickered to the tea cup still resting on the table. Regulus stepped away from her walking to a distance where she was just out of reach. "I need your help with something."
"Yeah? Why don't you drink your champagne."
"I like your dress." He said. "The black suits you." Anything suited her.
"I am about to be in mourning."
"I'm sorry to hear that." He said.
"You know I'm here to kill you, your majesty." Said Annabelle, taking a sip from her own tea cup.
"I know."
"You know?"
"It was my idea." Breathed Regulus, Annabelle's eyes locked on his and he felt her attack his mind with a ferociousness only his betrayal was capable of pulling from her. "I needed to see you-"
"No." She breathed.
"I- You are not safe,"
Annabelle shook her head.
"How?"
"My I bribed an unspeakable." Said Regulus. Annabelle's eyes were wide. "I understand you are cross with me, and I with you. But I- I miss you. I thought we might be cross and alone together, or at least at a nearer distance-"
"You hired me?"
He turned his wedding band on his finger. He never had taken it off.
"I need your help, I needed to see you-"
"So you hired me to kill you? That is so incredibly idiotic-"
"Belle-"
"Don't." She said. "What if I dropped a piano on you? What if I torched gringgotts-"
"You wouldn't-" He cut her off. She could laugh. Still such a romantic wasn't he? He was still wearing her ring. On the same finger it had always been on. She wondered if he had ever taken it off.
"I wouldn't?" Asked Annabelle, her head tilted to the side at the challenge. A chair withdrew from the dining room table. Annabelle pulled a small vile from her pocket, dropping three drops of an unknown substance in his cup. "Drink, your majesty."
Regulus saw her engagement ring. A spark of joy beyond reason filled him with confidence.
Regulus obeyed.
He drank it all in one go.
Annabelle gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands.
"Regulus, why would you do that?" She asked, her tone panicked. Dread filled him. "I didn't think you would actually-" He rushed to the kitchen, hovering over the sink as he attempted to throw up the poison. "Get it out," She had followed him.
"Get it-" Annabelle began to laugh. Regulus coughed and cursed himself. He had missed her laugh.
Annabelle did not have the most beautiful laugh by any means but Regulus thought of it without rest. He had longed to hear it again.
"I wouldn't kill you with poison, majesty." She chided. He felt her hand on his back, rising slowly to hold his hair back as he leant under the tap to drink. "Far too British."
"You are such an arse." Said Regulus. "What are you- are you going to duel me?"
"No. I'm not Italian." Said Annabelle, one hand on his back, the other near the nape of his neck still holding back his beautiful hair. The sink begun to fill with water, Regulus wanted to reach to unplug it when he realized his hands were bound magically behind his back. "How did you hire me?"
"It was easy."
"How? You are not wanted by the ministry. I checked." Said Annabelle. She was holding his head down.
"I entered myself into the Unspeakable-"
"But you're a death eater-"
"The ministry is corrupt."
"But Dumbledore gives me all my-"
Regulus had to shut his eyes as the water rose.
"You think Dumbledore wouldn't want me dead?"
"You've done nothing wrong. To him." Said Annabelle.
"You love me, Belle, and love is a weakness." Said Regulus, the water filled the sink basin faster. "I just, I need your help, I need you-" Regulus had to hold his breath as the water covered his nose and mouth.
His confidence wavered as Annabelle's hold remained strong on his neck and his arms remained bound. He supposed to die by her hand was better than to die without her at his side. He relaxed into it.
Annabelle pulled him from the water harshly he gasped for breath and turned, Annabelle's hands were soft on his cheeks.
"The fuck were you doin' your majesty?" She asked, "Thought you had better lung capacity, seeker and all that classical music."
He did so loathe jazz. It was thoughtful of her to remember.
Regulus held her hand to his cheek on instinct. Annabelle pulled her hand away on purpose.
"Why didn't you fight back?" Asked Annabelle. He was physically stronger than her. Her parrallel magically.
"I need you." Reprised Regulus. Annabelle stepped away from him and returned his wand. She would have snapped it if she were here to kill him. "Thank you, my l- Thank you, Aelin."
She nodded once and sat at his kitchen table. Annabelle's posture had not changed since school, she still sat so carelessly leaning back in her seat. She looked at the ceiling.
"All the money in the world." She muttered.
"Is Grimmauld place not up to your standards, Aelin?"
"It just doesn't make sense."
"You burnt Black manor to a crisp. My father was second born, this is where he lived."
Annabelle nodded idly.
Regulus begun preparing tea for her wordlessly. Her hands had been very cold on his face.
"Where is Kreacher?" Asked Annabelle.
"He is with Trix. They are between house elves at the moment." Said Regulus. "I miss him terribly but I make do."
"Are you eating?"
"I can take care of myself." Chided Regulus. "I do not mean to stroke your ego but there are death eaters tasked with finding you,"
"I got his attention?" Said Annabelle.
"Annabelle, there is not an ounce of subtlety in you." Sighed Regulus. "They used to have a collection of all the muggleborns enrolled at Hogwarts, unfortunately your information was burnt some years ago. So they do not even know to look for you."
"Thank you."
Regulus set the kettle on the stove and heated it magically.
"Dolohov is one of the death eaters." Said Regulus. Annabelle stilled. "Fortunately he never listens to his wife."
"Have you seen her?"
"I stayed in the Dolohov manor for an evening." said Regulus. "I do not know how much longer you have before the dark lord learns your name." He admitted it softly. Admitting failure. Once he had her name, her picture, Voldemort would find her.
Voldemort would find her and tear her mind in two and find Regulus. Voldemort would kill Annabelle and make him watch.
Regulus could not allow it to happen.
He poured the boiling water into two mugs and added tea bags.
"I would like to kill him." Said Regulus idly.
"Who?"
"The dark lord, Belle, I would like to kill him." Said Regulus simply. "I do not know what will come of it. Or if he will be replaced with a greater evil. But I am under the impression Dumbledore is preparing himself to send you after him."
"What? Why? It makes no sense why wouldn't he just-"
"Dumbledore groomed you for something." Said Regulus. "I was never sure what. I've accepted I cannot shake your loyalty to him," Anymore, "however angry with you I am, I cannot seem to stomach the notion of you... of you- of the end of your- before mine."
Regulus stirred seven sugars into her tea before walking towards the table and setting it in front of her.
"Wretched as always." He said. "But I do try." He ran a hand through his still damp hair and tried to gage her reaction.
Annabelle took a sip and tried not to make a face.
"Is it horrendous?"
"...no."
"Tell the truth."
"Funny story, true story-" She cut herself off when she witnessed his smile. Regulus had the most beautiful smile even when it was sad. Regulus sat down next to her as opposed to across from her.
"Tell me the funny story which is true as well," He requested, his hand rested next to hers on the table. Annabelle shook her head. "Please."
"You won't believe it but-" Regulus was looking at her, his head tilted slightly. "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
Annabelle nodded. Nothing.
"Have you- have you ever heard of a horcrux, Belle?"
"It can't bring anyone back. Bit pointless if you ask me." Said Annabelle. "All there is really is the stone which is a bit tricky to sort out. To find I mean. It's hard to know where to start. Dumbledore's been after it for years. Not that I've ever come close, but, but I saw it in a picture once." She rambled.
"The deathly hallows?" Annabelle nodded. "Do not tell me Dumbledore has sent you-"
"He doesn't know." said Annabelle. "He doesn't know I'm looking. He would take the stone from me the minute I found it."
"Belle, if you found the stone it would curse you. You recall the tale-"
"Yeah, he hung himself. But he got to see her again and that's-" Regulus cut her off before she could worry him further.
"You mentioned once in the library, a locket, a Hufflepuff, and cliffs." Said Regulus. "I think-"
"Do you remember everything I say?" Interrupted Annabelle.
"Yes. Of course." Said Regulus. "I used to write things down-"
"Are you serious?" Annabelle immediately covered her mmouth. She had slipped up. Regulus started to smile. "Don't you-"
"Actually I'm-"
"I will murder you."
"I'm-" Annabelle threw her tea plate at him. He caught it easily. "I was a seeker, Belle." He said with a scoff, the corners of his lips tugging upwards. "And my name is Regulus."
"I hate you." She said, and illconcealed smile on her face. Her nose scrunched and she had to look away.
"I love you too," Said Regulus out of habit, summoning her a new cup of tea and setting it back on the plate she had thrown at him. "Now please enjoy your tea. I like the dress."
Annabelle did not say anything. Her hands shook slightly.
"It is one of my family's colours." Said Regulus. "I would be lying if I told you I had never imagined it." He took a sip of his tea. "You in a black dress. Not necessarily about to murder me. However many Black marriages did come to that."
"Do you reckon ours will?" She asked, the spoon in her tea spinning without her touching it.
"Do not ask questions you already know the answer to." He said.
"I could've killed you. I've wanted to." She admitted. "I've been so-" She looked away her eyebrows knitted together. All her life she had been living for other people. For Olivia. For Regulus.
"I am sorry," Said Regulus, Annabelle's eyes flashed to his. "For your loss." Disappointment flickered over her beautiful perfect face. "How was the funeral?"
"Melancholic."
"Word of the day calendar?" Annabelle nodded. "I wish I could've been there for you."
"It wouldn't have been that grand if you were." Said Annabelle. "I mean, if I didn't kill you da would've."
"Was it in a cemetary?"
"...yes."
"Well I hear people are dying to get in there anyways." Said Regulus simply.
Annabelle had missed him so much.
"It was horrible." Said Annabelle. "It just-" She exhaled, eyes going wide before she blinked repeatedly. "It wouldn't end. It won't end really. Feel like wherever I am I should be there, because she's there. And there's this bloke who's there every fucking day putting a show on at a new grave and, and-" Annabelle's voice threatened to break so she stopped talking.
"Where do you live now?"
"I've got a new flat but I don't like living alone." Said Annabelle. "I spend most nights at Moody's, but my cats don't like him so I can't live there."
Jealousy filled Regulus completely. He did not know what Annabelle meant when she said spend most nights. His jaw tensed and he took her hand on the table, holding it too tight for her to pull away.
"I don't mind your cat."
"Cats."
"Cats?"
"I've got two more." Said Annabelle. "I adopted them recently. Freed them from captivity."
Regulus losened his grip on her hand, hoping it would stay in his but she pulled hers away.
"By captivity you mean,"
"Cat-tivity if you will." Said Annabelle. By merlin, Regulus loved her. "They were in glass cages being forced to live out their lives in front of thousands of tourists, no respect for their privacy-"
"Ha! By merlin, Belle, did you steal from a zoo?" Asked Regulus. Annabelle scoffed. Nodding,
"Merlin jar, majesty." Said Annabelle. "It's a funny story,"
"True as well, I'll wager."
"Aye." She said, Annabelle was smiling. It faltered when he attempted to share it.
"What sort of cat? Lions, Tigers.... bears?"
"Oh my." She muttered unable to help herself. "I don't know actually. Odd mix. They're such sweethearts though, look," Said Annabelle, she pulled a picture from her pocket and turned it towards him. The two wildcats were on their backs with David Meowie the Cat-sith between them snuggled in their fur. "Doesn't Meowie look so happy to be a big brother?"
Annabelle's nose scrunched as she looked at the image again. Tucking it back in her pocket.
"What are their names?"
"August and Aurora. Ozzie and Rory for short." Said Annabelle. "They don't take nicely to the English. And they love Abba. I remember when I first put it on- have to have it on whenever I clean the blood from their fur."
"Must not be protestant." Said Regulus, a smile tugged at Annabelle's lips. Regulus thought of kissing her but it was foolish. She was sweet. As sweet as he remembered her. "Why those names?"
"Wasn't gonna use them for anything else anymore." Said Annabelle. "Couldn't let them go to waste." Annabelle was turning her engagement ring over on her finger. "I should give this back,"
"No,"
"I-"
"Please, no." Said Regulus. "You know, I wouldn't mind living with your cats."
"I'm not gonna come back this time, Regulus, it's too, it's too much."
"You killed Anthony."
"He killed my sister."
"It was an order."
"The dark lord does not know my identity, Regulus." Said Annabelle, eyes narrowed on him. "Why would he order him to kill Olivia of all the muggles in the world. No. Anthony was ordered to make his bones with the death eaters and he picked my sister and my mother to do it. He killed someone innocent to get to me. And it worked. He got to me. So I got to him."
"So you would not have killed him if he had killed some other innocent?" Asked Regulus.
"Eventually." Said Annabelle.
Regulus' hand was a fist. He could hear the clock from the hall ticking.
"Are you going to hit me?" She asked quietly. "Do you think I deserve it? Do you think I deserved any of it?"
His heart was in his throat. He could hear it pounding in his ears.
"From the moment I learnt I was a witch I was hated. Did I deserve it then? Did I deserve to have all my homework set on fire, my cat killed, to be left unconscious on the ground at school, to be called slurs almost every day of my magical life?" She asked him. "I learnt to stand up for myself. You are mad that I am not like you."
"But you are-"
"I chose not to be a victim of my circumstance." Said Annabelle. "Have you ever been able to say the same?"
"It was different. You would have been killed." Said Regulus. "I-" He took a deep breath and met her eyes. "I would have been killed. I was in Slytherin, I would have been smothered in my sleep. I could not spend every night on the floor of your dorm. You would have tired of me quickly. I would have no more friends, and been ousted from the Quidditch team. And both Sirius and myself would have been under constant threat of being kidnapped by our parents."
Regulus wondered if he would feel her hand on his cheek. Whether he would turn his face to kiss her palm, or if she would pull him into a hug and allow him to hold her in his arms for just a moment. Or three. Or a solid thirty minutes.
"You could have run off alone. Don't blame me." Said Annabelle. "The moment we graduated. You should have run."
"And leave you-"
"I would have gone with you." Said Annabelle.
"I did not know that-"
"You should have-"
"You never made it clear-"
"I never fucking left you-"
"One day at a time- I thought you were scared of the future-"
"Not if it was with yo-"
"Then why didn't you ask me to run-"
"I thought I would lose!" Said Annabelle, she never shouted. "I knew if I gave you an ultimatum I would lose. Why the fuck do you think I stayed with a bloody death eater Regulus? Maybe you kept me like some fucked up secret but I kept you like an oath or some corny shite like that."
A beat of silence passed between them. Annabelle took another sip of her tea. She made a face.
"It's not that horrible."
"Oh it is." Said Annabelle, nodding and taking another sip.
"Will you help me?" Asked Regulus quietly.
Annabelle nodded.
She would do anything for Regulus.