- Chapter Twenty-Two -
"Run away, Regulus! You're just a boy."

Regulus Arcturus Black.

Elladora had never really spoken to the boy. She always saw him around, at meals, in the Slytherin common room. But her being her, she never went out of her way to converse with him. Sirius hadn't ever brought him up either considering their relationship, so the note she got was rather startling. It read:

Common Room. 1am
-RAB

It was so vague, yet she caught herself reading it over and over. Why did he want to meet her? Surely he'd seen her around with Sirius and the others, not once had Elladora seen him talking to James, Remus or Peter. So why her? It shouldn't be clouding her mind as much as it was, but nevertheless, her inquisitive nature got the best of her. Normally she's straight to the point if she wants to know something, except for the fact that she hadn't seen Regulus for the rest of the day. Up until then.

"Sirius?" Elladora spoke into the silence, they were currently eating lunch and she had untouched turkey sandwiches placed on her golden plate with a still full goblet on her right.

"Yes, my lady?" Sirius replied, chewing on his ham sandwich. She gave him a pointed look, to which he quickly swallowed the food in his mouth and asked her again. "Yes, my lady?"

"Your brother-"

"-is a foul git, yes I know, but carry on." He said. Elladora stayed quiet for a moment, she knew she could trust them, but Sirius doesn't have a good relationship with Regulus and what if this ruins theirs. She'd probably be miserable without his witty comments.

"He slipped me this note." She confessed after a moment, taking the paper out of her pocket and sliding it into the middle of the group.

The four boys peered over each other to read the messy scrawl, muttering the words under their breath in unison. Sirius pulled back first with a grimace on his face as he went back to his sandwich. Then James who didn't really know what to say. Remus had his eyebrows furrowed slightly and Peter looked confused.

"Don't." Sirius warned. "He's probably going to try and get you to succumb to his evil ways." He scrunched up his nose.

"Sirius, that's your brother." Remus shut his eyes whilst rubbing his forehead, like they'd had this discussion too many times to count.

"Could've fooled me."

"I don't know, Dora. Maybe you should." James shrugged whilst his friend sent him a hard look.

"James!" Sirius scolded, taking the note and scrunching it up whilst shaking his head. "He's not worth it, Ellie, seriously."

Elladora nodded slowly and picked up her sandwich, biting into it whilst her eyes drifted to the Slytherin table, where Regulus was sat with Severus Snape. Severus looked like he was speaking harshly to the boy and Regulus looked like he could either burst into tears or punch him in the face. He glanced up to meet her eyes, there were a flurry of emotion in his grey irises.

He looked like a younger version of Sirius, same curly black hair, same athletic build, same height and the same good looks. Elladora was the first to look away, she was conflicted. Regulus was obviously starting to hang out with the wrong crowd, with Snape, Mulciber and Avery.

"Dora!" Peter's voice snapped her out of her trance as she looked to him, wide-eyed. "Bell rang, its time for Potions." He told her, looking quite concerned.

She nodded absentmindedly and got up from her chair, walking next to Peter as James led the group to the dungeons for their next potion lesson. Once again, she let her gaze move to Regulus, who was also going out of the Great Hall, he had his held down with his curls hiding his eyes slightly.

This is what she wanted...she thinks, she wanted to save people from going to the wrong side of the war, but she didn't really know how. This want fair, she's just a girl. A 17-year-old girl who could run away if she wanted but she'd still be on the run for most of her life. That's not what she wanted.

She wanted to be normal, she wanted to be happy. She wished that she had friends since first-year, she wished that her biggest problem was failing the next test. She wished that her life wasn't so complicated.

She didn't deserve this, deep down she knew that she didn't. But when you're constantly ridiculed from not being able to resist the torture curse when only 16, it gets hard to think that you don't deserve it. It was like a virus and it was spreading every day, it spread so far that she was about to end it all.

If it wasn't Remus Lupin. Remus Lupin, what an idiot, he didn't know what he'd gotten himself into when saving her. Maybe he didn't even want to be her friend and just wanted to save her, but then got dragged into something he didn't want to be involved with.

These are the thoughts that circled around Elladora's head every single day, what if this is all a dream? What if they'll ditch her as soon as she smiles once? What if...what if...what if.

It just wasn't fair.

It's not fair that she had these things weighing her down almost every day of her life. It's not fair that she's expected to do great things when she's only a teenager. It's not fair that she'll be leaving Hogwarts next year, yet she only made friends in her sixth.

It's not fair.

Not just on her, on everyone who is expected of great things they wouldn't accomplish in even their wildest dreams. It's not fair on Severus. Its not fair on Regulus. Dare she say, it's not fair on Mulciber and Avery. It's not fair on her brother, a boy who died too early, a boy who had a good and kind heart. A boy who was ripped away from his only source of comfort too soon.

Maybe it wasn't fair on Sirius that Elladora decided that she was going to meet Regulus tonight. But you can't make everyone happy.

•*•*•*•*•

12:55 pm

That's what the clock said as Elladora ventured down the stairs and into the common room. She had swapped her thin, silky pyjamas for a vintage white cotton nightgown that had a thick piece of ribbon tied around her stomach, it made her body more defined and it was one of the only night wear that her mother had made her pack.

"What would a boy say if he saw you in a black hoodie and shorts? You would never get a suitable husband dressed like that."

That's what her mother said. Elladora was rather anxious with meeting a boy like this, she hated how it defined her body, highlighting the curves which she did or didn't have. She would give anything to be flat. She hated how this dress outlined her hips, bringing attention to where the ribbon was wrapped around her thin stomach, but she had nothing else to wear.

So she would have to put up with it and Regulus would have to keep his eyes trained to her face, otherwise they were going to have some problems.

Footsteps descending from the other staircase drew her attention as Regulus Black came trotting down in a black shirt with black sweatpants. He was nervous, she could tell by the way he kept fiddling with his fingers. When he got down there, he gulped and looked up to meet her eyes.

She gave him a nod whilst he made his way over to the armchair that sat next to the sofa. Elladora was sat on the sofa, her arms resting on the arm of it, though she took them off and placed them in her lap when the boy sat down.

"What did-"

"Hello-"

They both spoke in unison after a couple of moments of silence. Regulus nervously chuckled before gesturing for her to speak first.

"What did you want to meet me for?" She asked bluntly. The boy seemed taken aback for a moment at how quickly she had shot into the conversation, but he decided to take it slow.

"I wanted to talk to you about...Easter." He said slowly and she tensed up almost immediately. She forgot about that, she forgot about what was going to happen in the Easter holidays next year, it had blanked out of her mind completely.

"How do you know about that?" She asked him, turning her head slowly. He was already looking at her with scared eyes, his curls still dropped over them, but he ran a hand through his hair and stammered over his words slightly.

"I'm...I'm going to be there."

He was what? No. No, he was just a boy. He was 15 years old and he was expected to become a follower of the Dark Lord already? This wasn't fair. Regulus watched as she sat in a stunned silence for a moment, staring at the unlit fireplace.

"No, you're not." She shook her head slowly.

"I am and I came to you for advice."

"Alright, I'll give you some advice." Elladora sighed and he straightened up almost immediately, he needed to know what to do. "You run. You run away, far from here and you don't stop. Don't stop running, just leave."

"I'm not leaving," Regulus protested. "I'm asking for advice, you seem so calm and I want that, I'm freaking out."

"I'm giving you advice!" She raised her voice slightly, not loud enough for it to echo up into the dorms, but loud enough for the boy to know she was pleading with him. "Run away, Regulus! You're just a boy."

"And you're just a girl." He retorted.

"I'm of age."

"And I'm not! That's why I'm asking you." He argued.

"I don't even know what to do myself." She shook her head. "God, I'm not letting you get yourself into this."

"It's too late." His voice turned to a whisper, a solemn whisper. "I'm already in this, I always have been. My mother...she won't take no for an answer and I can't run away." He croaked and actually looked like he was about to cry. "I'm scared."

"I know you are, Regulus." Elladora soothed. "I'm scared too, but people like us, like me. We don't have a choice. I'm telling you now that if you run away then you will have a choice, you're still young and you can do whatever the hell you want if you just get out of here."

"And where would I go?"

"With Sirius."

"He hates me." A stray tear slipped out of his cheeks as he buried his face in his hands. "God, he hates me so much and it's all my fault."

"He doesn't hate you." Elladora protested as more tears started to spill down his cheeks. She felt responsible for him, he had come to her asking for help. He had been seeking out her help.

"He does." Regulus cried. "God, now I'm crying, when did I get so weak." He gripped his hair and started to pull frustratedly.

The girl felt her eyes sting at the sight of him like this, it reminded her or her own mind. She constantly felt like tearing her hair out or just breaking down, nearly all the time. Except she could hide her emotions, for some people, it wasn't that easy.

"You're not weak." She said and stood up from her place on the sofa, gingerly approach him and hesitantly taking his hands from his hair and cupping them in hers. "Do you hear me? You are not weak. You're scared, and that's okay, it's okay to be scared. I'm scared. God, I'm losing my mind I'm that terrified."

It was her turn to let a tear slip whilst she let herself be vulnerable. She had no idea what it was but she seems to have a weakness when it comes to the Black brothers, they knew what kind of pressure they were under and while Sirius was lucky enough to escape, Regulus was still stuck in his own head.

"You don't look terrified." He sniffed, looking up to meet her eyes as they both cried silently with each other.

"Because no matter what, I know that I'm good, I know that I'm a good person and this conflict that you're having just proves that you are too, okay? You're not alone, you know why?" Her voice was shaky as she spoke.

"Why?"

"Because when Easter comes around, I'm going to be right there with you."

"Promise?"

"I promise. If you decided to run away then I won't mind, at least you'll be safe."

•*•*•*•*•
A/N: REGULUS AND ELLADORA SNDKDKXJ