metanoia

Chapter Eighty-one

"Since when do you smoke, Reg?"

Regulus Black looked up from his book, finding Alex Worth standing behind the open seat across from him, "I’ve accepted my fate."

She set her coffee cup on the table, seating herself across from the youngest Black, "Why exactly did you ask to meet me? I'm not exactly on your Side's Top Ten Favorite People."

"You don't owe me anything, I know that. And I know that you will do anything to save the ones you love. To do what's right. And lucky for me the one person I love is also loved by you. So I'm here, begging you, I need you to protect him."

"Of course-"

Regulus cut her off, trying to convey to her what he really meant, "No, I mean it. He's, you're all, in danger. I know you two have already fought Lucius, broke your leg, denying the Dark Lord. And he's not pleased, he wants your heads. The Dark Lord, he's growing more paranoid as your numbers grow, seeking to find a way to make himself immortal. And I think, I think he's trying to make-"

"A Horcrux," Alex finished, having known about Voldemort making horcruxes for months now. Regulus stared at her in shock, surprised that she knew what he was trying to tell her. "Yeah, I know the magic. To split one's soul, you must murder someone."

"I believe he's already made one. A locket."

He knew about the locket, the horcrux from her visions. The locket he will steal from Voldemort. The locket he will die trying to destroy. "Wait, Regulus, should you be telling me any of this right now? Aren't you going to get in a lot of trouble for this? He will kill you if he knows you told me."

"He'll kill me anyway, sooner or later. You'll be in trouble if I don't. He grows stronger by the day. And you need to know about him."

Regulus put extra emphasis on the word him, trying to convey that the man he was referring to wasn't the same one that they had already been talking about. Alex realizes this, remembering her vision about Peter joining the Death Eaters' ranks, "You mean, Wormtail?"

He nodded at first, about to continue telling her what he came to tell her but then realized that she knew who he was talking about, "Wait a second, you know? Does he know you know?"

The cool October breeze sent a shiver down her spine, she nodded as she took a sip of her coffee, "I've known for a long time and no he doesn't, he wouldn't believe how I discovered it. And trust me, I've been keeping my eyes on him. Making sure he gets nothing that could harm Sirius."

"Thank you. For being there for him. Ever since he ran away, I haven't known if he'd still want me to be his brother. He asked me to come with him, you know?"

"He mentioned it. You know he loves you right. He never stopped. He feels guilty that he ran away because he thinks it's his fault you're in this position, he wishes your parents never made you join His ranks. He believes you can be redeemed."

He scoffed, taking a drag from his cigarette, "I'm glad someone does."

"I do. Come with me, leave Him. Fight with us."

He hesitated, wanting to go with her, denounce the Dark Lord and be with his brother. But he knew he couldn't. "I can't. The moment He branded me with this damn thing, I signed my life away. He could find me. I can't risk putting you all in danger."

"Then we'll fight him when he comes. You're family, Regulus. And we fight for family."

He let out a loud, throaty laugh, bringing a smile to his face for the first time in a long time, "You are undeniably a Gryffindor, you know that? You're willing to fight and risk your life for me, someone you barely know."

She reached across the small cafe table, putting her hand on top of his, "Regulus, if I had the chance to be with my brother again, I'd do it. I want you to get the chance I'll never have."

His forearm began to burn, bringing him to his feet, "I need to get back."

"Are you sure there isn't anything I can say to convince you to come with me instead?" She knew that asking was a futile task, but she couldn't help but think about Sirius. "Sirius would kill me if I didn't try one last time."

"I'm sure. And please don't tell him I asked you to meet me."

She caught him by the wrist, preventing him from walking away from her, "Then, can I give you a piece of free advice? Don't trust anyone, if you know about the Horcrux you cannot let them know as much. And please, stay alive. For Sirius' sake."

Regulus let her pull him into an embrace, silently crying because he knew that once Voldemort discovered what he knows and what he's going to do he will be dead, "You too."

Alex Apparated back into Headquarters, finding that Sirius, Letti, Fabian and Gideon were sitting at the long table where they had their meetings playing Monopoly. Sirius looked up from the game, seeing the blonde standing at the head of the table, "Where have you been?"

"Out," she shrugged off her coat, hanging it on the coat rack before taking the seat beside Sirius. "I had an errand I needed to take care of."

"You smell like cigarettes."

She didn't know how she could explain how she smelled like cigarettes, everyone knew she hated them and convinced Sirius to quit two years ago. She watched Fabian move his piece ten spaces, landing on Boardwalk, as she lied, "It's London, what do you expect? Where is everyone?"

"Lily and Charlie are training to become Healers with Madam Pomfrey. Rem is visiting his mum. Alice, Frank, Kingsley, Eddie and James are training with Mad-Eye to become Aurors."

The blonde furrowed her brows at her best friend's answer, confused that her cousin was among those Lisette listed that was taking part in Auror training, "Since when does James want to become an Auror? And I thought that Frank wanted to be a Healer."

Gideon nodded, collecting the Free Parking money, "Since the training will help him with the War and he wants to feel useful. And he did, but he changed his mind."

"I know the feeling. Dumbledore keeps giving me Occlumency lessons as though  keeping people out of my head is more important than training me to fight."

"Why is he giving you Occlumency lessons?" Lisette hummed, meeting Alex's tired eyes over the top of her glass.

Alex laughed, repeating Dumbledore's exact words to her from that morning, "My mind is too important for Death Eaters or Riddle to try and look into. They can't know what I know, Dumbledore says if they know about me or what I know then me and everyone I love will be in danger."

"What are you talking about? What do you know?"

Sirius turned to the blonde, realizing that he was the only one that knew about Alex being a Seer, "Wait, you haven't told them?"

Alex scoffed, taking a drink from his cup, "Of course not, Dumbledore told me I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. I had to beg him to let me tell James."

Fabian looked between Alex and Sirius,  then to his girlfriend and brother, confused as to what they were talking about, "Tell us what, Xander?"

"I'm a Seer. I see glimpses of the future, give prophecies. And Dumbledore records them, stores them. And he believes that if Riddle found out, then he'd try to kill me and all of you."