CHAPTER TWO
Regulus Black
January 14th, 1979

Mallory didn't know when she got home or how she even did. Months had passed, she had become an Auror with outstanding scores and she found herself loving to go on missions for the Order; killing was never fun but she did it anyways. It felt like she ought to. That night, she had been summoned by Moody with a few others: Sirius, Dorcas, Frank and others she hadn't quite see. Or maybe her brain was just fuzzy from the fight. Hexes, jinxes and unforgivable curses had been blasted off everyone's wand.

To her dismay, blood had been spilled. The Death Eater was young, probably the same age as the twins and Mallory had killed him. He must had felt clearly enraged to see she had killed him with blades and not her wand. The last thing she remembered was the surprised face he had when his body fell on the floor in front of her—the wide eyes and the pale face. Frank had been slightly injured but nothing a good Healer could heal in no time.

Mallory was so knackered that she didn't realise her lights were still home and Pen, her kneazle, wasn't waiting for her at the large living room window. Walking through the door, she released a shaky breath as she closed her eyes taking her time to realise she was home. Home and alive. The blood on her hands and face wasn't hers, it was someone else's. Sometimes, she had to remind herself that she was doing this for the good side, to protect the ones she loved and to help whoever she could to return to their family. Mallory didn't know if she would find sleep tonight, she probably wouldn't...Ah, yes. The nightmares.

One of the few things she had grown to hate because of the missions for the Order was the recurring nightmares. Most of them were black, nothing to see but everything to hear. Screams filled her mind, they were coming from everywhere; there was begging from people she had killed before, cries from friends when someone got hit and they were unable to hold their tears in any longer. It was a true nightmare.

"Mallory," a soft voice made her open her eyes as she felt a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Mal, hey," Was it Gideon? Or Fabian? She really couldn't tell.

"Fab?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's me," his voice grew closer and she felt herself being pulled back entirely. Finally, she could see his freckles and red-hair. Mallory had to reach for his cheek to make sure he was real. "Hey, are you alright?"

Mallory tried to smile, "Tough mission, that's it," she replied nonchalantly. "What are you doing still up?" She frowned.

Fabian nor Gideon were still awake when she returned from the night missions. They were usually too worn out from their own day to even try to stay awake to see her, she didn't mind though. They needed all the rest. And so did she.

"Moody came through the floo," he explained, wincing. "You should come in the living room," he finished saying as she hummed. "Gid, pass me a towel, please," his voice echoed as she followed blindly.

Gideon cupped her face, frowning, "Are you hurt? Whose blood is this?"

"Not mine," she whispered. "Killed someone today," she confessed, loud enough for Moody to hear. The Auror hummed satisfied. "He was a Death Eater. Not so aged, he must had been your age."

"Have you identified him?" Moody queried, watching her closely.

Mallory sighed, shaking her head, "Nope. Sirius did, I think...I'm not very sure, though."

"Who was he?" An unknown voice reverberated through the living room, though she had heard a few times. Moody shushed him, still focusing on Mallory who seemed more than awake now. "No, I have the rights to know who it was!"

Mallory knew this voice. Was it...? No. He surely wouldn't bring a Death Eater in her living room. Rising on her feet, despite Fabian's attempts to pull her back down on the sofa, she approached the Auror and the familiar voice. Regulus Black was there, sitting on her favourite armchair as he clenched his jaw. Mallory didn't think twice, actually she didn't think at all. She grabbed Regulus by the collar and hit him against the wall, her blade pressed tightly on his neck as she breathed heavily.

"Moody, you have one minute to explain yourself or I'm skinning him alive," she muttered.

Regulus simply snorted, "You wouldn't."

"Don't underestimate her," Gideon cut him off firmly as he smirked at Fabian, who seemed to enjoy the little show as well. This was definitely worth to be awake for. "Mallory is quite a blade lover, you know...We did try to make her throw them away but she adores them."

Fabian hummed, "Pretty sure she killed your Death Eater friend with them," he said, making Regulus groan. "Don't be so pouty, Black. Mallory is nice."

"Moody, thirty seconds!"

Alastar Moody took a step closer, "We captured him and thought we could bring him here," he explained. "Your place is the only one who has enough wards to hold a whole army at least," he told her. "He could be a great asset to us."

"Could he?" She whispered, putting a little more pressure on his neck. Regulus groaned lowly as he gulped. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Albus has a plan."

Mallory snorted, though she kept her eyes on Regulus, "Albus Dumbledore at our rescue, yeah? Is he going to put all of us in terrible danger with one of his terrific plans again?"

Moody sighed, reaching for her shoulder, "Mallory, let him go," he told her. "I told the twins all they needed to know, they will tell you. Black is staying. I've already altered the wards so he is not allowed to leave, but if he tries, use one of your Muggle weapon."

"Yeah, alright," she murmured, slightly backing away. "I'm too sober for this, anyway."

...

Regulus released a breath as Mallory Abbott's blade left his throat, it was different type of scare. He already had a wand pointed at him, and most of the time, it felt like he could die at any moment. But, having a Muggle weapon at his throat frightened a bit, especially when he noticed the person in front of him would not hesitate to push it a little harder. A blade was sharp and seemed to cut deep, real deep. He never knew Mallory could be so aggressive, but she didn't like him much so it was understandable.

Regulus hadn't meant to be 'kidnapped', he had decided for the first time in months to actually leave Grimmauld Place for a few hours. Ever since he had given up on Hogwarts, he had stayed home with his parents and had been the good boy they wanted him to be. Though, the inside of the house was getting suffocating and Regulus couldn't bear the sight of it anymore. It was always the same emerald walls in his bedroom, the black ones outside his room and the cracking stairs. It was getting too much. So he had gone out.

How could he know that Alastar Moody had been waiting for him all along?

Funny, really. Regulus should feel flattered to know that the Order, the good side, his brother's side had been trying to capture him for months now. Despite being on the wrong side, he felt highly superior knowing he was probably on the top of everyone's list.

"Is she always like this?" Regulus finally asked to one of the twin. He couldn't tell them apart, yet. "Abbott."

"Ah," the strongest one clicked his tongue. "It has been a few tough months for her. It's not really easy, Black. You, of all people, should know that," he mumbled.

Regulus shrugged, "I'm pretty well," he replied. "Why is she using Muggle weapons? Isn't that controversy to her true nature?"

Regulus knew Mallory Abbot was a pure-blood, his Mother had told him a list before going to school of who to talk to and not talk to. To his surprise, the Abbott woman was on there, despite having a Mother who had given up magic. But, her Father was an Auror and a known one. Regulus figured his Mother wanted to have a close relationship with high placed people.

"Mallory's mum gave up on magic," he explained. "So, she grew up around Muggle stuffs," he told Regulus. "But trust me, she knows everything of everything." The red-hair man was nicer to him than he thought he would have been. "Are you hungry?"

"Am I—Sorry, what?"

"Are you hungry?" He repeated as though Regulus was a fool. "I could always do something o..."

"Gideon," the other one said as he walked in the kitchen. "Mallory is in bed but I think she might have nightmares tonight, she looked pretty shaken up," he muttered under his breath and Gideon nodded. "Black, exhausted?"

He shrugged, "I wouldn't know," he replied honestly. "And, I'm not hungry. Thank you," he said to Gideon as the twin hummed.

Gideon cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention again, "It's late. We should all go to sleep," he stated as his brother nodded, agreeing. "Black, you can take my room. I'll just bunk in with Fab or Mal," he added, pointing at the door in the middle.

Regulus nodded with a little sigh, rising on his feet as he walked to the room without turning around. He could feel their eyes burning on his back, and he wasn't sure he was a fan of all attention they were giving him. He pushed the door, and to his surprise, the room was neat. Neater than his at Grimmauld Place. The bed was perfectly made, the few books were organised by alphabetical order though Regulus preferred to organise them by size. He walked to the drawer and grabbed the first thing he saw, because sure thing Regulus wasn't going to sleep in his clothes. For some reasons, they had let him keep his wand meaning he would be able to transfigure the clothes so they could fit him.

Once he was done, he put his wand under the pillow and closed his eyes. Regulus always had trouble falling asleep but weirdly this time, he found sleep instantly. Maybe he was knackered and hadn't realised before? Regulus woke up the next morning to the smell of toasts and pancakes. He adored pancakes. Kreacher used to do them all the time whenever he sensed that Regulus was feeling down, which he appreciated. Always.

He opened the door and listened closely. Mallory was humming to a song, and from what he could hear, the twins weren't there. He stepped quietly in the kitchen and looked at her, she was wearing clothes way too big for her but it didn't make her look stupid, on the contrary...she looked pretty. Regulus shook his head, horrified by his thoughts and decided to clear his throat.

"Black," she greeted without turning around.

"Abbott," he answered. "Quite the big breakfast, isn't it?"

Mallory shrugged, "I found comfort in food when I come back from a tiring mission," she confessed. "Are you hungry?"

Regulus considering lying but it would be stupid to starve himself, "Yeah. Moody captured me before I had something to eat," he explained and she snorted. "What?"

"Nothing," she said. "It's just that I find it ridiculous that he managed to find you, out of all the names that we have," she added. "Dumbledore might really need you, then."

"Do you like him? The Headmaster?"

She scoffed, "Please don't call him headmaster, it's rubbish. I don't like him because he keeps putting us in dangerous positions," she told Regulus. "Your bother and half of the Order would follow him blindly, it is quite stupid if you ask me."

"So, you wouldn't follow him blindly like the others?" Regulus asked, sitting on the chair as she handed him a plate.

She sat in front of him and shook her head, "Bloody hell, I would never. I'm not stupid," she said softly. "I only answer to Moody, he has been my mentor for a year or so. Him, I trust," she explained.

Mallory had come to the realisation that openly hating Regulus Black wouldn't help, so she decided that since he was living with them until Moody worked things out, she would be...nice. Well, she would try. Besides, they weren't having a so bad conversation right now. It was pleasant and civilised.

"My Mother would like you for not trusting a man she never trusted once in her life," Regulus spoke up. "In our family, we don't think he is particularly good because we support the Dark Lo—"

Mallory cut him off, "Don't call him Lord here, please," she pleaded gently and he nodded.

"Voldemort," he corrected, sinking in his chair a little. "Voldemort thinks Dumbledore is a foolish old man, and my Mother thinks he is selfish and self-centred," he admitted.

She hummed, chewing on her pancakes, "That is one thing I can agree with," she replied. "What did Moody tell you?"

"That I was captured and if I didn't cooperate, then I'd be sent to Azkaban," he mumbled. "Cooperate seemed like the better choice," he added, running a hand through his hair.

Seeing she wasn't answering, Regulus started eating his breakfast and stopped himself from blurting out the pancakes were better than Kreacher's. It would give her satisfaction to know that he loved her pancakes. Instead, he ate in silence and sometimes glanced at her to see what she was staring at. He thought of trying Legilimency on her, just to see what was on her mind but gave up knowing she would probably skin him alive with her blades.

"My mum would hate you," she said suddenly, earning a frown from him. "She would hate how straight you sit, how neat your hair looks, how elegant you look when you're standing up," she listed as he listened closely. "My dad would probably like you because you are all about pure-blood things and all that."

"What is wrong in that?" He queried.

She shrugged, "I just don't appreciate it," she replied. "I think pure-blood traditions aren't worth anything these days," Mallory explained, her lips forming a thin line. "I feel like we should be allowed to be with whoever with want without feeling judged by our parents."

Regulus hummed, not entirely convinced by her way of thinking but he couldn't do much about it. After all, he was half agreeing with her. Some traditions were rubbish and not necessary, for example...betrothal is way past their days, yet parents still insist. Thankfully, his Mother had never talked about it but he was sure that she would soon enough.

Mallory stood up brutally, cleaned her plate and left to her bedroom. The last thing Regulus heard from her was the door. She didn't come out once, and if she did he hadn't heard a thing. Merlin, this was going to be long.

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authors note, omg CALM DOWN it's happening 😮‍💨😮‍💨 regulus and mallory are finally HERE HEHEHEHEHEH