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

Chapter 11

The Dark Lord does not care how he obtains his followers, as long as he ensures their loyalty. It's a good business model. Regulus and I were in charge of the younger demographic, creating small incidents to either spark excitement or fear by reminding them of the war. We travelled around the country, sometimes with others but the best trips were just us. Regulus' body being close to mine had become a welcome consistent in my life. I'd never been one to enjoy being alone. I needed someone to play with, but normally I'd get bored pretty quickly. Regulus could bore me, but I never actually became bored of him. I liked how serious he was, and how there was a constant look in his eyes fearing that the world was about to end. He kept me on my toes. I remember we had flown into a small wizarding village in the North and I began stupefying the adults. Regulus grabbed my arm and pushed me into a wall so hard that I could hardly walk the next day.

"That's not our assignment." He'd snarled at me.

"I'm getting the kids on board-" I'd hissed, trying to push his arm from my throat.

"Not that way." I enjoyed how strict he was about rules, it meant I was always trying to figure out how far the boundaries could be pushed. That evening I had explained my methodology: knocking out the parents would either scare the kids into swearing allegiance, or would give them the freedom to express their genuine interest in joining. Regulus didn't respond. I just stood there in my towel as he read his book. The night before he'd politely knocked on the bathroom door before sweetly asking to join me in the shower, and then this night he was trying to ignore me. I walked over to the little desk, dropping my towel as I went. He heard the material hit the floor, I saw him twitch slightly. As I lowered my arms around his him from behind placing my chin over his shoulder my breasts pressed against his back.

"Eloise-"

"Please don't be angry with me." I purred. "I was just trying-"

"I'm not angry." Regulus huffed, still refusing to ease into my embrace, his eyes still set down on the pages in front of him.

"Then why are you ignoring-"

"You were laughing." I felt my arms go rigid.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to sound as plain as possible. He turned his head to look at me, his dark eyes finding mine accusingly.

"While those children were watching their parents flying backwards from your wand, you were laughing." This was why I kept him around.

"No I wasn't." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Eloise I saw-"

"What did you see?" I swiftly removed my arms from around him, picking up my towel to cover my naked body shyly before turning back to him. "I don't know what you're trying to insinuate, but sometimes I feel like you're making it impossible for me to..."

"To what?" Regulus stood up. He didn't raise his voice, but I could feel the vibrations in the air between us as tensions rose and I felt giddy inside.

"To do anything right!" I shouted, with a hint of a whimper at the end for effect. Regulus looked confused and tried to take a step forward only for me to take one back.

"Eloise..." He softened his voice to that quiet musty tone that I loved. "...what on earth are you talking about?" I admired his sincerity for a moment, how tightly he clenched his jaw when he was confused. I lifted my arms in the air, turning to the dresser to pull out some pyjamas, knowing that would make him nervous as we had become rather accustomed to sleeping in the nude.

"I don't know..." He immediately ran up behind me, placing his hands on my arms gently, turning me around and removing the pyjamas from my grasp, dropping them on the floor.

"No, Eloise what do you mean?" I averted my eyes to the floor.

"It's just, at first you're worried about me being too naive and not prepared for the danger we're putting ourselves in, but then when I try to be a little it more..." I looked up as his hand moved to caress my cheek. He always looked so beautiful above me, his dark hair swooping down as he loomed. "I'm just trying to make it so you don't have to worry about me so much. I feel like a burden." Without a moment's hesitation Regulus leaned down and placed a slow, gentle kiss on my lips. Just like that, it was impossible for him to take his hands off my body, his fingers grabbing onto the towel and pulling it down.

"I'll always worry about you." He whispered, his hands running down my back before pulling my hips into him. "I just don't want to see you turn into them." I jumped, knowing that he'd catch me. My legs wrapped around him, his hands gripping under my thighs pulling my naked body tightly against his.

"Neither of us are going to end up like them." I grinned as he laid my body onto the unmade bed. I always enjoyed it when I didn't have to lie.