Black Rose [Regulus Black]

09 - meddling mothers & unknown fathers

"So what I'm hearing is that I have a unique, rare ability that you don't?" she asked slowly, grinning.

"When you put it like that..." he rolled his eyes. "But, now we have more incentive to find out who your father is. He must be a Parselmouth as it's usually hereditary."

The smile on Sandra's face was instantly wiped off. On one hand, she was curious to know who her birth father was, while on the other hand, she didn't think she wanted to know as she'd been doing perfectly fine without him. But that wasn't what truly weighed heavily on her mind.

The only reason Reg was interested in being friendly with her was because of her background. Uncovering this last detail would mean the end of the road for them, and she wasn't quite sure if she was ready for it to happen. She'd only just found out about a whole new world that she'd belonged in, and had found someone she could freely talk with and be herself around.

If not knowing the identity of her birth father meant she and Reg could continue remaining in touch, then she'd take the opportunity. Unfortunately, she didn't have that option, and didn't want to humiliate herself by asking him in case the feeling wasn't mutual.

"Yeah," she replied half-heartedly.

He gave her a strange look, surprised by her unenthusiastic response. Perhaps it was the nerves, she was probably excited yet anxious to know who her father was.

"Let's get to it. The potion is fairly easy, although it does take about six hours to brew."

⚜

Three hours later, the two of them were sitting in front of a cauldron full of bubbling potion. Sandra was untidily sprawled on the floor, her legs kicking behind her and her chin in her hand as she read a book.

Reg couldn't help but admire how dual she was. She could either be the girl who was a free spirit and did whatever she wanted, or she could be the girl who was so intellectual that she managed to outsmart one of the most terrifying wizards of all time. It was admirable how well she switched between the two personas, allowing them to overlap yet diverge at the same time.

If he was being honest with himself, however, he would prefer the Alessandra Rosier that was a free spirit. He rather liked the Alessandra who chose to wear pants and let her hair down, who liked strange Muggle music, who acted as unladylike as she wanted. She was like a rose in the middle of a field, beautiful yet resilient, with pretty petals and thorns sharp enough to draw blood.

"Reg?"

He hummed lightly, looking away from her.

"Can you tell me about this Dark Lord? What are Death Eaters?"

She didn't miss the way he stiffened slightly and flexed his arm subconsciously.

"The purebloods, as you know, are those with magical blood, they're basically descendants of very old wizards. They've been around for a long time, their families hold great power in the wizarding world. The muggleborns are wizards of Muggle descent. The stricter purebloods have always been against muggles. Occasionally, we have a few wizards who pop up and lead movements against the Muggles. The Dark Lord is one of them, and the cause has come a long way. People are scared, Sandra, that's why they don't come out on the streets. The situation has gone completely out of control, even the Ministry has given up. People are being abducted or murdered in broad daylight and nobody can do anything except look on."

"And you're one of them." Her tone was accusatory yet held disappointment.

He wanted to deny it so badly. He wanted to tell her that he'd hated Muggles only because it had been taught to him as a child. He wanted to tell her that he'd been pressured by his parents to join the cause.