INFERI (REGULUS BLACK)

61

"So, till now we're at the cruxes? How did he make them again?" Aoife was sprawled on the sofa, contentedly scribbling in her notebook. Wintry sunshine flooded the room, coupled with the stinging cold breeze. It was beautiful, in Regulus's opinion.

But Adelaide hadn't answered yet.

"Hey Reg?" Aoife's voice shaking him out of his mind. "The cruxes?"

She was still scribbling.

"They're not cruxes, they're horcruxes. A piece of a person's soul encased in a container," he said listlessly. "What are you scribbling on about? It's been hours."

"Your exaggerating," she said. "It's not been hours, just-" she checked the clock, "30 minutes."

"What're you thinking about?" she asked quietly after a long stretch of silence.

Regulus started. "Oh, it's nothing really."

She raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed.

"So why have you been pacing for the last 15 minutes, mumbling to yourself about some letter?"

"I sent a letter to my cousin, and she hasn't replied till yet. Normally, I get her answer in a week, but it's been 8 days, and nothing!"

Just then, Regulus's owl flew in from the window, deposited a letter on his lap, and swooped away to perch on the Sycamore tree. Aoife smothered a chuckle at his stunned yet relieved face.

"I'll go and catch up with Sirius," she said, not wanting to make Regulus uncomfortable. "It's been long since we've talked."

He gave her a vague nod, too busy opening the scroll. Aoife dashed out to irritate Sirius a bit.

Sadly, she couldn't find him anywhere, so after an hour's search (the Manor was too big for its own good) Aoife decided to meet up with Regulus again, and directed herself towards the library.

"Hey, Reg," she called out merrily, making a beeline for her sofa. Sadly, there was somebody already on it.

Witch.

Regulus was hovering awkwardly near the table, while Witch surveyed him with a cold glare. Aoife smiled softly at Regulus, which he returned.

Witch was now focusing her cold glare on Aoife. Shooing Regulus away (he looked glad to do so) she gestured for Aoife to sit, not uttering a word. Her glare grew colder when she sat down.

"I just want to make one thing clear," she said abruptly, sitting like a carved ice statue. She even seemed to radiate coldness. Aoife shrunk back a bit. "I am not your mother, you are not my daughter. There will be no need to treat me as such, and we will co-exist. You will be dropping the ridiculous nickname for me, and call me Aletheia from now on. No need for mum and other such nonsense."

"What do you mean you're not my mum?" she asked tentatively. "Who is then?"

"My sister is," she said quietly. "Sylvia left after you were born. Ronan-your father-was devastated by it. We didn't know where she went, if she was alive or not. Being Godmother, I decided to live up to the title," she gave a humourless laugh.

"So you're my aunt?"

"In a way, yes."

Aoife mulled over this for a few minutes. A sudden thought caused her to gasp.

"You said my sister is," she said, eyes twinkling in excitement. "Does that mean she's alive?"

"I thought you didn't have a mother," she raised an eyebrow. "What's with the sudden curiousity?"

"I don't think you'll understand it, but ..." she trailed off a bit sheepishly. Witc - Aletheia gestured for her to continue. "I admit it, I was livid when you said you were my mum, but ... it's been over 10 years and I thought, wouldn't it be nice to meet her, find out why she left, and maybe, just maybe, she might want to rebuild our relationship. It's taking a lot of courage to spill this, honestly," she exhaled shakily. "When I thought you were my mum, I used to dodge out of the limited encounters we had, just because I was too scared to face you. It feels like my heart's going to explode, honestly. It's taking too much courage to say this and I'm really not able to stop. It feels awful, spilling out my guts, but it would be nice if I just get over it. If you could act just a little bit nicer and make my mum meet me, it'll be grea-hey," she said suddenly. "That day in the library, you said that you gave birth to me. Why?"

"I'd always wanted a daughter," was the subdued response. "I think that's why I took you in in the first place, and why I said that. I loved you, I really did, but that day in London was ... messy. You don't know how badly I wanted to hug you that day," she swallowed harshly, her voice breaking.

Then all of a sudden, it seemed as if her mask had cracked. A few tears escaped as she clutched the armrest harshly.

"Are-are you okay?" Aoife felt a bit stupid asking this - she was clearly not okay - but seeing stone cold woman lose her composure was quite disconcerting, and the heart-to-heart conversation they'd just had softened her anger a bit.

"This meeting shouldn't have happened, Aoife," Aletheia said crisply, her face smoothening. All traces of tears were gone. She looked ... alienated. "Your mother is here and if she finds out, she'll kill us both. Leave, now."

"But, won't you explain?" Aoife asked desperately. "My mum's here? Who is she? Aletheia?"

But the woman wasn't listening. With a burst of magic, Aoife found herself outside the library. Regulus was standing there, looking quite troubled.

"I heard," he said. His face was empathetic, even though Aoife could tell it took him quite some effort to not bombard her with questions. She sighed gratefully, slinging an arm around his shoulder. Regulus stiffened a bit, but relaxed soon after. He slung his arm around her shoulder too, his fingers playing slightly with her hair. Together, they walked down to the garden, both of them thinking about what they'd just heard. There was no need to talk, not yet, because they understood each other perfectly; there was no need for words.

Sirius smirked, watching the two from  the highest brach of the Sycamore tree.