Black Rose [Regulus Black]

60 - grotesque killings & tense households

"Track him down," Marlene barked, eyes wild with terror. "We need to track that bastard down right fucking now."

"I'll go," Remus said roughly, light brown hair messy because of the way he'd been holding his head in his hands for the past few minutes. He ran his hands over his face before pulling himself up.

"I'll come with you," Regulus announced. "Evan will come with us. We can bait him together." He was not eager at the prospect of meeting more Death Eaters, but it was the need of the hour now. So far, by Salazar's grace, Lily and James appeared to be alive, but the only thing keeping them that way was Peter. There was no way of contacting the Potters immediately, so their best shot now was to hunt Peter down before he decided to go spill the secret to Voldemort.

Evan nodded, his face the most serious anybody had ever seen it. He left the house with Remus and Regulus. They apparated, leaving a deafening silence in their wake.

"Anything I can do?" Dorcas asked. "I would try to find a way to contact them, but it's next to impossible. Even Dumbledore can't do anything."

"We can do nothing," Marlene said hollowly. "Just sit on our arses, lie in wait in case that little bitch boy decides to come back, and pray for the best. Oh, I hope they aren't dead." Her voice cracked at the end.

"It's okay," Dorcas whispered. "I think if they were dead, there would be news about it."

"Or maybe there is no news because there's so many people dying that the Daily Prophet just didn't have the space to include their names," Marlene said glumly.

An idea dawned on Alessandra, who hadn't been paying attention to their gloomy words. "Hear me out," she said slowly. Everyone turned to look at her, except Sirius, who remained frozen in his corner of the room. He was apparently still in shock. "We thought that the cup of Hufflepuff could be with someone who Voldemort decided was trustworthy and was unpredictable to us. Who ticks those boxes better than the mole?"

"Has Peter really reached such a position of trust with He Who Must Not Be Named?" Dorcas asked, astonished. How could mousy Peter Pettigrew, the one who shared his Licorice Wands with her in the second year when she spilled hers, be a traitor? She was also still in shock over it.

"Think about it," Alessandra urged. "He's been reporting on the Order's missions for a year, and all his information has been accurate, gaining Voldemort's trust. He even gave information that led to the capture of a traitor and- and me." She nearly slipped up and said 'his daughter', and thank God she didn't, because that would've been a disaster. "Plus, he did his job so well nobody in the Order suspected him. Nobody would go knocking on Peter's door asking him for the cup of Hufflepuff. I don't think there's a better candidate to hide Hufflepuff's cup with."

"That traitor," Sirius finally spoke, causing the rest of them to jump. He'd sort of melted into a corner while they were speaking, probably ashamed of what he'd done and not wanting to draw attention to himself. In an odd way, that gave Alessandra grim satisfaction. Good. He should be ashamed. "That motherfucker. After everything we did for him, after the way we treated him... how could he do this to us?"

She couldn't help but feel a little mad at him. Yes, his position was understandable: if someone called her childhood best friend a traitor, she wouldn't have believed them instantly. But she also definitely wouldn't have put said best friend in charge of an entire family's lives after the accusation had been thrown. Sirius truly fucked up: after a year of being warned about Peter, who was acting notably suspicious to boot, this was what he decided to do? She wanted to yell at him, but abstained.

That was Regulus' battle to fight.

"Not our priority right now," she told him. "Let's look for the Horcrux while Evan, Remus and Regulus hopefully get their hands on that traitor. It's either that or we wallow in our fear and misery."