Black Rose [Regulus Black]

29 - horrifying stepmothers & exploding onesies

"More," she insisted. "I'm getting better at this, I swear."

Alessandra was having the time of her life so far. Yes, she was in a lair of murderers led by her father who did not know of her existence, and yes, there was a good chance she could die because of her lies, but so what? At least she had perfected the art of dance.

Or so she'd thought, but Regulus' legs begged to scream otherwise.

"Yeah, you've only mildly bruised my feet so far, stepped on it only ten times last time," Regulus huffed, but it was only half-hearted because he let himself be pulled back onto the floor with Alessandra.

"Exactly," she beamed. "See, I could've made your legs fall off by now because of bad dancing, but I didn't."

"I don't think that's how it- ow!"

"Sorry!" she whispered sheepishly when she stepped on his foot for the millionth time that night. "I'll try not to let it happen again."

He grunted when she kicked his shin and his eyes watered a little as he let out a pained whimper.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," she gasped.

"No, it's fine, I don't think my bone has fully shattered yet." He shut his eyes and when they opened, she could see a light silvery film covering his grey eyes.

"Maybe we should stop."

"We definitely should," he replied, taking a step away from her although their fingers still remained tangled together.

"Your stamina is just too low for these kinds of activities," she snickered.

"I'm sure it's exactly that," he drawled.

"Maybe next time," she said, following him to where the velvety chairs were and sitting down beside him. A spike of pain shot through her, and she winced.

"We'll see."

They both knew he'd rather jump off a cliff.

"Little cousin."

Alessandra shuddered when she saw Bellatrix, who was dressed in a black (you guessed it!) gown. Bellatrix looked scarily delightful, with the luxurious dress highlighting her already gorgeous features, but her eyes still looked so...dead.

"Bellatrix," Regulus sighed, actually wishing they were back on the dance floor with his feet getting trampled every two seconds. He certainly preferred it over having a conversation with his unhinged cousin. "Wonderful party."

"Rodolphus' mother organized it," Bellatrix said dismissively, distaste visible on her features. "It's too colourful for my taste."

It was common knowledge that Bellatrix would probably design the room with swathes of black fabric, splatters of blood on the wall and the organs of her dead enemies in the food, so it made perfect sense that she said that.

"Of course," he mumbled.

"I must say," Bellatrix began, waving her wand to summon a chair and sitting down beside them. "I didn't think you'd come."

"Why is that?" Alessandra asked, leaning back casually to disguise her fear.

"I had a suspicion, let's say..." Bellatrix grinned toothily, a spine-chilling gesture. "You can't blame me, you were in a Muggle neighbourhood."

"Fair enough," Alessandra let out a relieved exhale, because that must have meant that she didn't suspect them anymore.

Wrong.

"Now that I have full confidence that you are not blood traitors, I have someone for you to meet."

Oh, that did not sound good.