Rabbits and Rattlesnakes [Regulus Black/OC/Tom Riddle ]

Chapter 6

That was the last normal Summer. Regulus wrote to me every day. He was more comfortable writing than speaking, and his words grew and expanded into beautiful maps of his mind. I actually felt honoured. A man wanting you is one thing, but a person showing another person the most intricate, personal aspects of themselves and their life is another entirely. I lived through those letters. As I saw friends around the country to avoid spending time at home I continued the the facade of the character I had perfected, but each evening when his owl arrived and I slipped off I felt that Eloise fall and slip off my shoulders and this Eloise was able to breathe. However, with each letter I was becoming more and more aware of what he wasn't telling me. I knew about his family and their beliefs, but I started to wonder how deep those roots ran within him.

His house was dark, just like him. Dark wallpaper decorated with dark oak and the fluttering light of candles. He told me his mother was old-fashioned, which was clearly an understatement but I also understood what he was telling me. I noticed that despite no one being home he felt deeply uncomfortable with my presence.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. How did he read my mind? "I'm not used to... I never..." I turned to him, placing a hand on his warming cheek. I didn't care about his weird family. I hadn't seen him in months. I wanted him to kiss me.

"You keep things separate Regulus. We all do." The warmth of his lips on mine tingled down my throat. He pulled my waist into his while one of his hands grabbed mine.

"We never got to dance at the ball." He slowly began swaying, and I felt breathless. Looking up at him, surrounded by his childhood, by all his fears and comforts while his hips pressed into my stomach was overwhelming.

"Well... I did." I smiled up, making his eyes widen for a second before his fingers gripped me tighter. I slowly laid my head on his chest, feeling his heart pumping under his lean frame. As he breathed down the side of my neck I inhaled his scent. He smelled different here. There was a  sudden creak, but if anyone saw us it would have looked like a firework had been set off in that living room. I looked up to see those rabbit eyes and instinctively grabbed his hand, pulling him to the window. The last thing I needed was a condescending conversation with an overprotective mother. He clearly agreed, lifting me gently to aide my escape. Once he was out we made our way down the streets of Islington, almost looking like two normal teenagers basking in the heat of summer romance. I say almost because I couldn't imagine anyone ever perceiving Regulus as "normal", he was too ethereal, too ghostly. When I made him laugh I felt as if we were putting the dead at ease. Under the shade of large tree we found our spot in Regent's Park.

"You can ask, you know." I spoke softly, my fingers picking through the grass. I felt his body turn rigid next to me.

"It isn't relevant." He said, trying to sound confident in his words.

"Of course it is, don't pretend it's not."

"My family-"

"It's not just your family Regulus." I turned to meet his shocked gaze, making me bring his hands into my lap to comfort him. "I know what you believe. You explained it perfectly within the lines of your writing. You buried it hoping I'd dig, and I did." His thumb began brushing back and forth over my palms. "I'm not pureblood, but I think you guessed that." Regulus went to talk but I gave him a stern look, instructing him to wait. "But, I would like to tell you about my parents, and therefore about what I believe." Regulus leaned down over me, laying a soft kiss on my forehead. He knew no one had ever heard this story before. He felt special, like I had reading his letters. Although I think we may have had very different intentions behind our confessions.

"My dad is pureblood and he raised me, that's why I know how to act like a snob." I grinned before taking a deep breath in. "But, my mother was a muggle. She is a muggle. She didn't know what my father was until she had me and he had to explain that I was going to be a little different. She didn't even try to understand it, to understand me. She ran away with me, took me to a convent, said I needed to be cleansed of the devil and all of that. So suddenly a man who had never really wanted to be a father had to become one full time, and a woman who'd always wanted to be a mother abandoned her child." I felt Regulus's hands tighten around mine. I flickered my eyes to meet his, his cheeks flushing with empathy.

"I believe what you believe." I whispered. "My father has his issues, but he'd never leave me. Wizards understand the meaning of family, muggles do not. If you can't trust your family then that leads to a pretty harsh world of liars and cheats, don't you think?" Regulus nodded slowly, his arms gently pulling me into him, littering my cheeks and nose with delicate kisses. I knew he'd be happy with this answer. It was true, mostly. Now he didn't have to worry so much about what he said in front of me, and maybe I'd start to learn a bit more about what takes up so much real-estate in his mind the past year. I had him.