After months of careful preparation, Regulus finally executed his plan to betray the Dark Lord. It hadn’t been easy, so much could have gone wrong, and some things did. After securing Slytherin’s locket, he went to the cave and destroyed it. If only it had been that simple. The moment the locket was gone, the Inferi dragged him beneath the lake. Their icy fingers clawed at his body, holding him underwater until everything went black.

He should have died. Instead, Kreacher saved him. Regulus barely remembered being brought to the Order. They were reluctant to take him in, and he understood why. He was a traitor, a former Death Eater, a disgrace to the pureblood ideals his family cherished. But what was left for him? His parents would never accept him now. If he returned, death would be a mercy.

Despite everything, he knew he’d made the right choice. He had to escape the life forced upon him. He wished Sirius had taken him when he left all those years ago. He understood now why his brother had run, but that didn’t mean he forgave him. He wasn’t sure he ever would. The only person he truly missed was Evan Rosier, his best friend, but reaching out was too dangerous. Evan likely thought he was dead. Maybe it was better that way.

Now, he was stuck in a countryside safe house with her. At Hogwarts, she was a friend of Sirius and the insufferable Marauders. Always outspoken, always opinionated. It was both admirable and irritating. Shame she was so insufferable, she wasn’t half bad to look at. Dumbledore had forced her to take him in, and to say things were tense was an understatement. Admittedly, he’d been rude at first, but who wouldn’t be after everything he had endured? Being trapped here with her was just another layer of misery on top of the nightmares, the distrust, and his newfound fear of deep water.

Regulus sat stiffly at the kitchen table, munching on the toast she had given him. She sat across from him quietly. Neither one of them dared to speak.