𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

25. What goes around...

"I don't understand. Maeve is just a girl." Charles said in a cautious tone, not wanting to offend him.

"Just a girl? I know your history with monsters, but you have to face the facts. Your daughter is a werecoyote, think of all that she could do for this cause." Orion laughed flatly at the small mindedness of his colleague.
"You offered him both your daughters, are you backing out on your word?"

"No, no, no. I just—"

"Good, then the plan is set.
Maeve, Jane and Clara will kill those pesky boys—the marauders—and that will make quite the tear in the old man's heart.
It'll send a message."

"What message is that?" Evelyn asked, swallowing hard.

"Stand down or die."

♡

Regulus laid in his messy bed, his face turned away, his hands tucked up under one of the ruffled pillows he was using.

"Hey," I said, coming toward him. A small test of sorts to gauge his mood. If he wanted to be left alone, I'd turn and go without a second's hesitation.
Instead, his shoulders, then the rest of his body, visibly relaxed.
I sat down on the free space
at the edge of the bed, my legs dangling over the bed thanks to the night of its wooden frame.
His hand automatically moved to my hand I was leaning on.

"Hey yourself," Regulus mumbled. He didn't sound sleepy, but he did sound wrung-out.
"Time for 'dinner'?"

Dinner was the word we used to replace our meetings with Voldemort's Slytherins.

"Not yet. How's the plan looking?"

"Getting there. There's quite a few holes in it but it has a beginning, middle and end. That's an improvement, right?" he said, finally lifting his head and turning
toward me.

I nodded, still not fond of the idea.

"You could help with the plan if you wanted, I know your busy spying on your old friends the past two or three months, but I think I could use your help."

"How did you know?" I whispered, a slight guilt clutching onto my heart.

"You kept leaving all of us for at least an hour everyday, then I saw you eavesdropping on Lilly, Marlene and Dorcas's conversation at lunch a few times." He sighed, rolling on his side to face me better. "It's not that hard to put two and two together."

I looked away from him.

"Please... please be careful. The thought them catching you... the things I know they'll do and say to you since they think you're a death eater... just makes me want to kill him."

I knew he was referring to his brother by his use of him.
"I know I have some personal reasons for prying—But I have to know what their situation is, what they're planing.."

"And you couldn't ask Amara or Jane? It's there task after all."

I felt myself heat up.
"Are you implying something?"
I didn't want to explain this to him. I shouldn't have to explain. It had nothing to do with him. I started to pull back, but his hand reached out again and caught mine.

"No, of course not. I'm sorry. That's not the reason." He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Sorry. I've got a real knot in my tail today," he said, turning those loving eyes up on me again. "No pun intended." I felt frustration retract its claws from my stomach.
"And I know you can take care of yourself, but
it still drives me crazy to think about it. I guess I'm being a hypocrite, considering how much I used to basically stalk you. I practically harassed you for most of third year, even though it was less frequent in later years... I never really improved."