Regimentum ⪼ Sirius Black/OC

Fac ut sciam

Chapter Seven | Fac ut sciam

[Make me aware]

As Regulus drags her into a small alley between a small teashop and the used broomstick store, the first thing that crosses her mind is that Regulus's fingers are as cold as ice. The second, as he comes to a complete stop and turns around to face her, is that he looks strangely frantic in a way she's never seen before. His usual calm, collected demeanor seems irretrievably lost, and as he scans her face, she finds herself shuffling back. Her fingers tighten around the wand in her pocket, which she had reached for the moment Regulus had grabbed her wrist to stop her from apparating. Distrust unfurls within her, almost surprising in its strength.

The last time she had spoken to him had been in the Slytherin common room before she had graduated with the rest of her class. They had sat together in front of the emerald fire and he had said –

"I wish things had gone differently..."

At the time, she had agreed with him. After all, she knew in her heart that Regulus Black had good inside him. She could see it in his dealings with her, in his quiet words and scarce smiles. It had a way of softening the grey of his eyes just so, turning the iron back to silver. But that was before. They belong to two different worlds now, and the chasm between them is even more unbroachable than ever before.

"Well?" Vivian demands, eyeing him distrustfully. "What do you want – and how did you know I was in Diagon Alley today?" That last question is a hasty addition that rolls off her tongue before she can think it through entirely, but she's glad to have asked it. After all, the only way he would have known that she was here is if he was following her, which is not a pleasant thing to consider for a variety of reasons. If it's this easy to locate her, she can't help but wonder how she's managed to stay under the radar at all for the last few weeks.

Regulus purses his mouth and doesn't meet her eye. He looks uncomfortable, though whether this is because of her disgruntled tone or because of her final question, she doesn't know. Perhaps it's because they haven't seen each other since that final feast at Hogwarts, when they had briefly caught each other's eyes from across the Great Hall before Vivian had turned away. Perhaps it's only because of the fact that Vivian is clutching onto her wand as if she's seconds away from drawing it forth and hexing him. The distrust in her expression is palpable and foreign. He's seen it there before, of course, but never directed at him with quite so much vengeance.

"There's been a development," he says after a painful beat of silence. "And I had Kreacher find you for me."

That last part is hastily added too, as if he's trying to justify his efforts. It doesn't make her feel any better though.

Vivian stares at him. She studies the familiar lines of his face for several long moments before scoffing, "Okay. Let's ignore for a minute that you sent your creepy house-elf after me and get to the reason why you needed to talk to me. What do you want, Regulus?"

Finally, at the sound of his name, he lifts his eyes to hers, and for a split second it feels as though they are back in the Slytherin common room after classes, sitting together by the fireplace as they tackle their respective homework. She'd like to think that the world was as it ought to have been, back then, but she knows that isn't true. So many things were out of order, swept beneath the oppressive curtain that she was trying to hold back for as long as she could. Her attempts had been unsuccessful until she'd caved and stopped trying to hold back that darkness by herself. It hadn't been Regulus who had helped her, though, nor indeed who she had turned to for that assistance.

The energy between them changes just so, becoming inexplicably tenser and more urgent. He takes a step towards her and says, "The Dark Lord is furious. He's been lauding your spell since you finished it, but – Vivian, there's something wrong with it. The power sort of...fades after a while. The Inferi become weaker...it's like your spell wears off and they become common Inferi again."