belladonna | marauders imagines

Regulus | Guide to Run

"Just where do you think you're going?" Regulus asked, sounding amused and a bit too curious.

"Enjoy the party, Reg. I'm sleeping early tonight." You said to your best friend with a tired smile. The tired part was real, but you needed the lie to work.

"Okay." Regulus put off the dread from his mind. Technically, he was only there in the Halloween party because you had asked, and now that you are leaving, so could he.

But why did he feel like she was meeting up with someone? Even if she was, that's none of his business, but why was he worried?
Okay, see, she's completely fine, Reg thought, sighing.

He saw a scarf lying on the place she left. Even if it wasn't hers, he didn't care. He just needed a reason to follow her.

Regulus mentally called himself stupid at least 20 times, because not only were you sneaking out of Hogwarts, you were going inside the freaking Forbidden Forest. A part of him was hurt too, because he told you almost everything, but it seems like you have secrets.

Just last week, he was telling you about his mother and he never talks about his family to anyone. He even told you how they were pressuring him to join the Death Eaters.

Well, the war was always a tough topic. Before this, he could pretend nothing was happening in his family, that he wasn't crying in random nights because of Walburga.

Now, it wasn't so easy.

Whisper followed him through the corridors and even if he didn't say anything to Y/N, the rumors reached her first and all the lies didn't even come close to what he was actually going through.

Y/N wouldn't question anything, just hold his hand and ramble about nothings, knowing that he'd come around if he wants to.

He was so focused on his life that he hadn't noticed what was going on with Y/N's. If he thought hard enough, he could see that she was acting suspicious the entire week. Didn't she go to bed early quite a bit?

Regulus fastened his pace, determined to figure out what was happening once and for all.

You disappeared into a small clearing, and he sneaked up behind you. He was initially planning on surprising you but of course, he was the one who was surprised.

"What the hell?" He said quite audibly, and you let out a startled yelp.

There was a whole damn lot of things there, and his eyes couldn't comprehend most of them. Two bags with their zips unlocked lay to his left, and it had clothes and trinkets overpouring from it. Plastic boxes were lined up with food, and there was a suitcase just for books. A familiar photo album was on top of it and he didn't need to come closer to know it was Y/N's — the one they filled up with pictures over their years at Hogwarts.

"Why the hell did you follow me?" Y/N asked, looking like he strangled her.

"Why me?" Regulus felt annoyance building up in his chest. "I told you all about my family and the coming war, and you promised you'd be by my side — all the while packing up bags to flee the fucking country?"

"You don't understand," you said, shaking your head. "I'm a muggle born, you don't know what it means for m-"

"Of course, I bloody hell know what it means for you!" His voice echoed off the trees, and he felt ashamed to feel the angry tears running down his face. His voice cracked. "When were you going to tell me?"

"I hate it when you interrupt me." You sighed, though you were shaken yourself. This wasn't how you planned you'd explain. "You don't know what it's like for me or you."

"What?"

"Don't try to play dumb, Reg. Voldemort doesn't just go after muggle-borns. Your closest friend is me and that makes you a blood traitor."

"He doesn't know about you."

"Yet."

"He won't."

"I know." You bit down your lips. "I know exactly what's going to happen, Reg. You'll cut me off, won't you?"

"If that's what it takes to keep you safe." There was not a drop of hesitancy in his voice.

"And you know what you'll do then? You'll feel bad, hate yourself, and try to take down Voldemort all by yourself," your words were calm but Regulus felt the storm behind it. You had thought it all out. "It will end up with you doing something stupidly heroic and you'll die."

She said that so bluntly, as if she had dreams of it all every night and she couldn't care less about it now. But the way her hands were shaking told otherwise.

"Dying doing something is better than living as a death eater," he whispered.

"I won't let you," you said firmly.

"By running?"

"Yes. and dragging you with me."

His mouth slightly parted, looking at you like you went crazy. He looked at the bags again and drew in a determined breath.

"No. No. That's crazy—"

"Just hear me out—"

"No, you hear me out! I can't come anywhere, okay? It's better to infiltrate the death eaters than being the one who runs. They'll know I'm not loyal if I fucking run!"

"That's the point!" You were yelling now too, and you didn't care. "All your life you were asked to be something. You always said yes to everything even if you didn't mean it. Maybe you can't literally say no to being a death eater, but you can say yes to me. Come with me."

He looked like a sad painting, the kind a museum hangs just so someone can pass by and say, atleast I'm not going through whatever this dude is going through.

"Dumbledore is creating the Order of Phoenix," you weren't supposed to let out that piece of information, but what was out was out. And you trusted him with your entire life. "It's to take down Voldemort. You want to help? Join us, tell us what you know. And when we run, there'll be safehouses. I promise you, we won't be caught."

"If we are caught, they'll kill you first, just so they could watch me beg and cry."

"Is that a yes?"

"It's a better-don't-get-killed-because-I-love-you." He said patiently and waited, his nervousness well tucked in behind his mask of secrecy.

It was funny how even with the war and a lot of dangerous things happening in the world, Regulus's heart was hammering like a teenager's because he finally confessed.

"If any of this wasn't obvious," you smiled, gesturing to all the bags. "I love you too."

Regulus smiled. Genuinely smiled.
He's had enough of the Dark Lord and he was going to take him down, and if he dies, he'll die knowing that perhaps he wasn't so lonely like he always thought.