high adventure! → regulus black ✓

[10] the magic mirror

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REGULUS WAS TERRIFIED. He wasn't terrified for himself, of course—even if they did decide to curse him, he could handle it—but for Stella. She was innocent, and up until less than a week ago, she had had no idea that magic even existed, yet there she was, getting tortured and tortured because of him. All because she had decided to sit with him on that train. He loved her more than anything (not that he knew it yet), but if it meant sparing her the pain, he would have been perfectly content with having never met her in the first place.

They were sat in the cellar, approximately one day after they had been taken from the abandoned farmhouse. Their arms were still tied together in front of them, and the two sat on opposite sides of the small, dark room, leaning against the wall, not saying a word. They had just been fed a weak breakfast, and knew it was only a matter of time before their tormentors returned. Regulus could sense Stella's fear, he could see it in her eyes, and that alone was enough to make his heart hurt.

He stole a glance at the cellar door, and when he was certain no one was coming just yet, he spoke.

"I'm sure Sirius and the Order are making a plan, they'll be here soon."

"Soon as in hours, or soon as in days?" she asked quietly, not meeting his gaze.
"I-I don't have a high pain tolerance, Reg, I'm not sure how much longer I can take this..." Without a second thought, he sprang to his feet and crossed the room, planting himself on the floor beside her. Gently as to not frighten her, he took her hands in his, and slowly, she looked at him.

"We'll make it through this, all right? Both of us. You're stronger than you think, Stel, you are."

"I'm not sure about that," she whispered back.

"You are. Anyone else would have let me suffer and go back into their ranks, but do you remember what you told me?" The ghost of a smile appeared across her features.

"That you'd be mad to go back and ruin so many lives, including your own, just to keep me from some pain."

"Precisely. And need I remind you that you stood up to Voldemort himself? Not many people can do that, you know." She didn't answer, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"You can do this, love, all right? We'll get out of here, I promise." To his surprise, she chuckled.
"What?"

"I wonder what Sirius or any of the others would say if they saw you like this."

"They'd die from shock, I'm sure."

"They told me what you were like back then, and how different you are now."

"I never thought people could change like that until I did myself," murmured Regulus, staring down at their hands.
"But seeing what he did that night...I know it sounds silly with what all I did to people, but seeing him cast my elf aside like he was nothing, it made me snap into reality. I-I don't know how, and it still took me a bit to come to my senses fully, but at that point I was already on the run, so that might've helped—"

"My father used to say that only the good at heart can change for the better," interrupted Stella, and he looked up to see she was looking right back at him.

"I think you helped with that, really," he confessed quietly.
"Bringing me to my senses, I mean. Had they found me before I met you, he might have convinced me to come back, but I met you, and you were that final push, you know? You showed me what I was rebelling against, and fighting for."