Black Rose [Regulus Black]

59 - random groups & deadly realizations

Regulus and Sirius had taken on a pet project: renovating Number 12 Grimmauld Place. This meant introducing more color and light into the house, ridding the place of any creatures that occupied the corners of the house, dusting the houses, and giving the house-elf heads hanging on the pikes an honorable burial (when Sirius made that suggestion, Kreacher actually burst into tears and hugged him, which admittedly brought tears to Alessandra's eyes).

The housekeeping team was composed of the oddest group of people: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, Alessandra Rosier, Evan Rosier and Regulus Black. It wasn't the people themselves that were odd (maybe just a little), but their unity, because nobody in Hogwarts would have seen this group forming.

They'd take turns doing the chores. Evan would help Dorcas and Marlene making the potion, with the others popping in to offer suggestions. Remus and Sirius took on the cleaning of one section of the house, with Alessandra doing the other. Regulus was looking into the other Horcruxes, going through the list of Order members who could be the spy (albeit rather half-heartedly, as he still firmly believed that the mole was a certain rat whose name rhymed with Reter Rettigrew).

"They wanted me to ask you," Alessandra announced as she entered the room Regulus was sitting in, completely coated from head-to-toe in paint. "Would you be fine with painting your parents' former room a shade of pink?"

Regulus snorted. "Go for it."

She sighed, waving her hand and causing the paint to disappear off of her. "Noted."

"Why do you smell like...I don't know, what is that smell?" Regulus questioned, a soft smile on his lips as his girlfriend sat down beside him, looking utterly done with this world.

"Why? Sirius," Alessandra huffed, remembering the little room of horrors he'd just asked for help with. The yellow eyes of that creature he'd placed under his bed 'for funsies' had scared the absolute shit out of her. "What? I don't know."

"Of course it was him," he rolled his eyes fondly. "You know, I've been trying to plan the perfect prank for YEARS. The problem is, I can't think of something that would traumatize him enough, if at all. He is the trauma."

She ooh-ed. "I wanna join. What have you thought of so far?"

"I know I want it to be related to hair, because his hair is his pride and joy."

"Both of yours, actually. Sometimes, it feels like you love your hair more than me."

"Don't be silly," Regulus twirled a strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. His grey eyes were the brightest she'd seen them since they managed to escape Malfoy Manor, and it filled her with an inexplicable sense of happiness because she never thought she'd get to see him that way after all the horrors that had transpired in that castle. "It's all the time."

She swatted him and he fell back, laughing.

"Nope," Evan came out of nowhere, plopping himself down between them on the couch, effectively crushing them both in the process.

"Ouch-" Alessandra feebly attempted to shove her brother off, failing miserably and settling for smacking him upside down the head.

"Get off of me, you git," Regulus hissed, pulling his leg from under Evan. "What's wrong with us sitting on the couch?"

"You don't need to start making babies," Evan protested, sounding like a petulant child who didn't win the treat he wanted at the amusement park. "I'm not ready to be an uncle just yet."

Regulus choked, turning a deep shade of red.

"Nobody's making babies!" Alessandra spluttered, wishing that the Earth would swallow her whole that very moment. No, she wished the Earth would swallow Evan whole.