origami. . . REGULUS BLACK

four.

CHAPTER FOUR
New Mission
January 24th, 1979

It had been five days now, Regulus had spent most of his days in the gardens or the orchard. He had exchanged a few letters with his Mother, all of them checked by Mallory. His relationship with Mallory hadn't changed, it was not mediocre but not the best either. She would tease him endlessly, well until he would get too mad and would leave to be in his bedroom. To his surprise, he had stumbled upon Mallory a few times when he was in the library. Because despite the house being a safe house, it was awfully luxurious. It seemed as though he had developed a kind of friendship with Edgar Bones and Gideon Prewett, though he still despised them so. Samira Lestrange, well Bones, was the most sufferable one. It felt like she understood him on deeper levels and he liked it, besides she did feel like one of his cousin, the ones he used to look up to like Narcissa or Andromeda.

"Black," Mallory's voice echoed through the house as she walked around, hoping to find him. Finally, she reached his door's bedroom and knocked. "Black? Are you in there?"

"What?" He shouted.

"Samira and I cooked. Do you want to come downstairs and have dinner with us?" She asked.

Another thing that he had quite grown fond of—the dinners. Of course, he used to eat with his family around the table too but it was never that cheerful. His Mother would go on and on about the Ministry, Sirius or his acquaintances while his Father would sometimes join and do the same. While, here, they laughed, joked, reminisced their pasts at Hogwarts. Sometimes Regulus found himself wanting to reminisce his past, but his would be simply chaos and tears. So, he listened closely.

He rose to his feet, opening the door and locking eyes with her. She did look beautiful, "Sure."

"Good," she gave him a small smile. "Has your mother returned any of your letters?" She asked, once he was out of the bedroom and trailing behind her.

Regulus cleared his throat, "She did. All of them were just wishing me to spend a good time," he admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh, fancy," she chuckled. "Is she nice? Your mother?" She queried, knowing well that Sirius never liked her but what did he think?

"She is...different," he told her with a suppressed smile. "I am sure that somewhere, deep inside her, she is a good mother but she seems to harsh on the surface. For example, I know she would take my brother back in a heartbeat. We are her sons, not just the heirs of the Black house. She gave birth to us. Isn't it how it is supposed to work? A mother giving birth to her child, and not being able to loath him?"

Mallory thought a second, then shrugged, "I presume," she whispered. "It is how it is supposed to go."

None of them spoke another word as they reached the kitchen. Gideon, Fabian, Edgar and Samira were already around the table laughing loudly. Regulus took a seat as Mallory sat beside him. He could smell her lilacs perfume, and their knees were almost touching. Such a soft skin. He closed his eyes for a second, breathing in deeply. Since when Mallory Abbott had this effect on him? Was he going insane locked in the flat then the house? Perhaps, he was because Regulus Black would have never felt attracted to her.

"Bloody hell, do you remember the one time we caught Mallory with Em?" Samira laughed loudly as everyone joined, and Mallory bit her lower lip to stop herself from laughing. "They were in this tiny cupboard, near the Slytherin common room. One of the funniest day of my life."

Mallory and Emmeline Vance? Cerci, he was learning a lot here.

"Then, they ran half naked through the castle with Mrs. Norris following them," Edgar added. "It was hilarious," he mumbled.