arcane | regulus black

r i b b o n

Walburga arrived at home with Lyra and led her down to the basement of the Manor. The house was grand with elaborate cravings and black marble floors.

Walburga lit a the torchs on the walls of the dungeon area and led Lyra into the first cell. She lit the torches on the insides of the cell revealing the single bed lined with white sheets. There was a stack of folded clothes on the bed. "This will be where you stay." She took a pause, looking around. "For now." She added before locking the metal bars shut. "I shall come back tomorrow morning. Your food will be given by the houselves. You can ask them if there's anything you need."

Walburga walked away, her pointed heels clicking on the hard stone floors. Lyra hadn't quite processed what had happened. Within a day, she had gone from Hogwarts and her dorm there with a comfortable room, to being a hostage in a dungeon of her boyfriend's house.

She changed into the clean clothes left on her bed which seemed to fit perfectly. There was nothing to do so she simply walked around her little prison. She didn't bother coming up with an escape plan.

She didn't doubt Voldemort's words when he said that if Lyra escaped, Regulus would die. She didn't care if being in a locked cage was what it took to keep Regulus alive.

Maybe her thoughts were slightly messed up, but she had hopes of seeing Regulus. Maybe it was stupid, but they were in the same house. Big as it may be, if he knew she was there, he could come see her.

Her meal arrived in the hands of a house elf who simply left her food on the table beside her bed and left without another word.

Lyra had to admit that the food was really wonderful. She had been given two plates of food to eat, and she ate it all. A wide range of food was in front of her, all colourful and elegantly decorated.

She wondered if Regulus was eating the same food in that moment- just a few floors above her.

She went to sleep unsure about what to think of, rolling in bed for a few hours with an inability to fall asleep. A creaking noise made her jolt awake. She turned to the entrance of her cell and saw him.

There Regulus stood with his hair disheveled and pants hanging low on his naked torso. "Lyra." He breathed, as he looked at her with a small smile playing on his lips. He struggled to open the lock, the tiny key in his large hands. When he finally managed to open it, she ran into his open arms.

They hugged each other with such intensity and a strong feeling of never wanting to let go. "I missed you so much, my love." He spoke as he rested his forehead against hers.

She held his face in her hands, leaning upwards to kiss him. He held her as close as he could, kissing her back with passion level with hers.

It had been almost a month since they seen each other. They hadn't even gotten to speak or write to each other for an entire month. It didn't matter to them in that moment that they were in the dungeons of his house. It only matter that they were together, didn't matter where or what the circumstance.

He held her in his arms as she lay on his bare chest on the bed, talking in low voices for hours. Eventually Lyra fell asleep on top of him, and he didn't have a choice but to find a way to leave without waking her up.

They couldn't risk getting caught like this and as much as it broke his heart to leave her, he had to go.

An hour later, Walburga sat with her husband at their long dining table eating breakfast as they waited for their son to eat with them. After realising that as usual, he wouldn't come and eat with them, she served herself something to eat. Orion had already eaten, finding it ridiculous to wait for his son.

"I shall be away till next week. The Dark Lord has assigned a mission. Do not lose the prisoner." He spoke, getting up and leaving without saying another word to her.

The house elves came to clear the food. "Send a plate down to the girl." She told them, before filling up a plate on her own and taking it up to her son.

She knocked on the door, opening it slowly. "Regulus?" She called out.

"Yes, mother?" He replied, looking up at her as he sat up rubbing his eyes awake.

"I bought you breakfast." She said, trying for a smile. She went to the study table of his room and set down the plate. As she did that, she saw a hair ribbon on the edge of the table. She picked it up, wondering why her hair ribbon would've been there. It was black silk, with green tinged dark lace lining it.

As she looked at it, she realised that she didn't have a ribbon like that. Nor had she ever used one. She put it back down, ignoring it for the moment and walked across the room back to the door.

"Are you alright, mother?" He asked, running a hand through his hair as she opened the room door to leave.

"I will be." She replied, not giving any time for follow ups as she walked out.

She went down to the dungeons to visit their hostage. As she walked there, all she could think about was how Lyra was her son's age, and that poor girl was being held a hostage for no fault of her own. Walburga felt guilt creeping onto her as she realised that she was letting another child get involved in a terrible situation.

Orion would be away for a week. Perhaps she could let Lyra stay in an actual room of their house while he was away. The poor girl didn't deserve to be in that state.

Lyra was eating her breakfast when Walburga walked into her cell. "How are you?"

"Alright." Lyra replied, putting her plate down and looking up at Walburga.

Walburga's eyes landed on a hair ribbon lying on the bed side table. It was black silk, with green tinged dark lace lining it.

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a/n: hellllooo im sure you guys figured out the thing already but imgogmgkgm anyway nothing interesting in this chapter but kind of important-ish not really