Black Rose [Regulus Black]

52 - peculiar manors & unknown diets

"I wonder, little cousin," Bellatrix whispered, circling Regulus like an animal stalking its prey. "After all the hope every one of us had in you after your disappointment of a brother, how did you turn out like this?"

He didn't answer. It wasn't that he didn't have an answer, but he simply couldn't. His throat was parched and everything hurt.

"Answer me!" she snarled. For some reason, she'd taken his betrayal very personally. It could have something to do with the fact that he left her to die while a house collapsed in on itself, but in his defense, she was trying to kill him and she was the one who set the fire. "You fools were constantly favored over us in the family simply because you were men, but in reality, we deserved more than you ever did. We all followed traditions and excelled at everything we did-"

"Really?" he couldn't help but snap back. "Even Andromeda?"

He winced when he saw the way her expression changed. Anybody who knew Bellatrix Lestrange knew that Andromeda Tonks, her sister, was the one subject you were never supposed to broach.

"Cru-"

"Bella," Narcissa interrupted Bellatrix, entering the room. Regulus noticed her son was nowhere in sight, which he found a little odd, because Lucius and Narcissa took their baby with them everywhere. He wondered if it was because they were very fond of their son, Draco, or if they just wanted to make sure he was in their line of sight at all times because their manor had become overrun with lunatics. "The Dark Lord has summoned you."

"Saved by the Dark Lord," Bellatrix sneered. "Be thankful." She disappeared with a flourish of her black robes, bloody footsteps following her out the door.

He expected Narcissa to have left along with her sister, but she just stood there, watching him. There was a flash of something imperceptible in her eyes and she swallowed, before kneeling and rolling a small vial over to him. Regulus recognized the color; it was a potion Kreacher used to make for pain after either of the brothers had been hit particularly hard. Before he could say anything to his cousin, she left without a word.

Strange. Even to Reg, who was as different from his brother as he could possibly be, the sheer contrast between all the Black sisters was a mystery. Andromeda had chosen to go down the unforgivable path, marrying a Muggle, while Bellatrix had chosen the Unforgivable path, doing unspeakable, horrendous things to Muggles. Narcissa, in the meantime... while her husband had declared allegiance to the Dark Lord, she seemed to be more of a wild card. Make no mistake, she held contempt for Muggles, but Regulus had always believed that she never wanted to see anybody harmed.

He uncorked the vial with his bloody fingers and downed the potion in one go, sighing in relief as he felt the rejuvenating effects of the potion. The agony he'd been feeling eased, feeling returned in the finger that had turned numb, and the black spots that had been constantly dancing across his eyes for the past few days slowly disappeared. The Death Eaters tortured him with such fervor, a gleam in their eyes when they saw him gasping for air. His primary concern was Alessandra though. If they were so eager to torture him, a pureblood of respectable descent, what were they doing to Alessandra, who'd had a Muggle upbringing?

Where was Alessandra?

⚜ 

Alessandra hummed to herself as she meandered about in Malfoy Manor, not a thing to do. She didn't have much to keep herself occupied at the moment, as her father had left on a Death Eater mission a few weeks ago and she didn't feel like interacting with anybody else. They were all far beneath her station. 

She tripped over her gown as she approached the landing of the stairs, clutching the railing for support while she steadied herself, and then continued on, ignoring the light pain in her ankle. No, she had other things to think about. Ever since her father had left, certain things had been disturbing her.