Kreacher's ears flapped with excitement when Maryrose knelt beside him to whisper in his ear. 

They were standing on the deck of the yacht, tucked out of sight by the lifeboat once again. Regulus overheard some of the people asking if any of them had seen where the crown Prince and his Duchess had scurried away to, heard them discussing whether any of them knew where Dubrovnik was located. Regulus smirked over his shoulder in the direction of the people whispering loudly about them and he thought what a lark it had been, pretending to be royalty with Maryrose Jenkins.

It was the sort of story that he hoped he'd one day get to tell Sirius all about. 

If Sirius would ever take the time to listen to him.

Kreacher looked up at Regulus when Maryrose had finished whispering to him and he said, "Kreacher can only make the trip to where Master's Maryrose has said to go if Master commands Kreacher to be taking them there."

Regulus nodded, "We go wherever it is Maryrose has asked to gone, Kreacher."

"Yes Master Regulus," Kreacher said with a bit of a tremble of excitement. He took hold of the girl's hand. "Kreacher will be right back for Master!" 

Regulus waited the seconds it took for Kreacher to disapparate and return, and when he returned, Kreacher took Regulus's hand and stared up at him with an awe-filled expression. "What is it, Kreacher?" Regulus asked at the way the elf was looking at him.

"Kreacher is just thinking how much he is appreciating his Master Regulus, for all the things that Master has done to prove that Master is caring about his Kreacher," Kreacher explained. "Even Master's new friend is very caring about Master's Kreacher and Kreacher is being very grateful, Master Regulus. Of all the Masters that Kreacher might have had, it is very lucky for Kreacher to have gotten the Master which is the most kindest to House Elves, sir."

Regulus flushed and knelt, just as Maryrose had done and he held out his arms and the elf stepped into them and wrapped his arms around Regulus's torso. He didn't know what to say, nothing sounded quite appropriate, or even right, so Regulus simply hugged the old elf and whispered, "Have a Happy Christmas, Kreacher."

Kreacher's ears flapped happily.

"That's an order," Regulus added with a smile.

"Yes Master Regulus, sir," the elf said, smiling back.

With a crack, they'd disapparated away from the yacht and Regulus found himself suddenly on dark beach, a bit off balance thanks to the sand. Kreacher stayed only long enough to grip Regulus's arm and keep him from keeling over and then he was off.

The beach stretched off in both directions to the left and right. Behind him was a jagged shadowy line where the dunes covered up the world beyond like a wall, making it seem as though everything was contained to that one little gash of sand that lined the shore. His eyes scanned that line, the water filling the horizon line so far and wide he felt like he could nearly see the curve of the earth looking at it as it receded away, the water a slightly darker inky black against the blue-black of the sky, which was dotted with about a trillion dots of stars that had been impossible to see back in the city. Both left and right were bordered by jetties of rock that went off into the dark water, like a bold parenthesis on either end of the pale sand.

Maryrose was about halfway across the sand, spreading out a blanket. Regulus smiled, watching her a moment, and she looked up and waved at him, laughing, beckoning him.

He walked across the sand, his feet dipping with the give of the sand, and he was laughing, too, by the time he got to her. She'd already thrown herself onto the blanket and there were other blankets, too, a whole lot of them so that there were multiple layers on the sand and layers to pull over themselves and she'd even managed at magicking pillows and Regulus pulled off his shoes so he stepped onto the blankets in stocking feet and no sand got onto them. She'd magicked warmth into the blankets, too, so they weren't cold when he sat beside her. She pulled him close and snuggled up to his side so they sat, arms around one another, his head leaned against hers, and he kissed her forehead as she snuggled against his shoulder and made a humming sound that was a bit like a purr and Regulus smiled. Maryrose pulled a blanket over them so that it shrouded their shoulders and over their heads, cocooning them from the cold at their backs. The sea spread before them, silent, reflecting the stars in the night sky above.

Regulus could see his breath as he spoke, hanging before them in the cold air - but he was as snug as could be. "The sea?" he asked.

"I love this beach so much," Maryrose whispered. "You know how you said that the Bascule Chambers were the safest place you could think of?" Regulus nodded. "This is the safest place I can think of." 

He watched the water tremble against the shore, the white cap rolling lazily, dragging itself back out and away.

"My family's house is just over the dunes - you can't see it, but it's there," she explained. "Pandy and I used to come out to play on the beach and she always preferred the one on the other side of the dunes. There's a big bonfire pit over there and the sea's a bit safer for swimming. It's the way the rocks jetty out over here, the sea tends to rip across the shore here and it can be dangerous. It's easy to be caught in a rip tide and get pulled under."

"That's terrifying," Regulus said. He asked, "Have you ever been caught in one?"

"No," Maryrose answered, "We never swim on this side. My Dad wouldn't allow us."

"I was caught in one once, when I was little," Regulus said.

Maryrose looked up at him, "What happened?"

"Mother and Father brought Sirius and I to the sea - we only ever went once or twice that I remember. Mother hated it. She said it smelled and she was always yelling at me to stay close where she could see me... and Sirius liked to splash me a lot and push me under when I was little... Father taught us swimming. Sirius wasn't very good at it. I was excellent at swimming. But Sirius kept going under once he was past where he could touch, and Father was so frustrated with him... he said Sirius couldn't do anything right."

Regulus paused, remembering the way Sirius had floundered and sunk, remembering how Father's voice had growled the words... how Sirius's eyes had welled up.

"I'm trying, Father."

"Suddenly when I was swimming, it was like a hand grabbed hold of my ankle but it was just the water and I felt it pulling me and I couldn't get away and I shouted for Father just before it pulled me under."

"Oh my gods," Maryrose gasped. "Did your father save you?"

Regulus paused. He could still feel the terror he felt then, like an echo in his chest. He could still feel the water closed around him, still see the surface so far away... He could feel the current pulling him first further out to sea, then pushing him in toward the land, a rocking motion that sucked him down, even as he kicked... He kicked and waved his arms, his eyes open and burning as the water touched them, searching through the murk and blurry darkness... Regulus used all his strength, fighting against the water, kicking, grappling...

But he could also see the hand reaching out to grab his.

Their hands searched the water for one another's and Regulus's closed 'round Sirius's.

"My brother saved me, rather," Regulus said.

"But he couldn't swim well?" Maryrose said, surprised.

Regulus answered, "He always said afterward he learned the moment he saw the surface of the water close over my head." He stared at the surface of the sea before them.

"He loves you so much," Maryrose said quietly.

Regulus bowed his head. "I wish he still loved me."

"He does, he just doesn't know how to show it properly," Maryrose answered. She ran her hand over Regulus's under the blanket, their fingers woven together, the weight of everything shared between them and Regulus felt his breath a bit unsteady, as though threatening to fall into a sob. He closed his eyes. "He really does love you."

Regulus whispered, "I love my brother so much."

"I know you do," Maryrose whispered. "And I'll bet that, deep down, Sirius knows it, too."

Regulus closed his eyes and just concentrated on Maryrose's fingers on his own, concentrated on the weight of her cheek against his chest, on the smell of her.

"You know what I love about this beach most of all?" Maryrose asked.

"What?" Regulus asked.

"Compared to the other beach, which is so open and warm and everyone loves it... this one seems sort of empty and damp. The rocks shield it quite a lot, so the tides tend to linger, and they can fill this whole beach right up to the dunes during a storm, so there's always loads of seaweed and the smell of the sea is strongest here during the summer when the sun is on it. But I love it. I love this beach."

Regulus could hear the reverence and love for it in her voice.

"The way the tide comes in here, it's always carrying things. You can come over here in the afternoon during low tide and there are loads and loads of beautiful shells and sea glass and you never know what sort of interesting things you might find that are washed up from being thrown overboard of ships or what have you. Once, I found an old magnifying glass. You just never know what sort of treasures will wash up. I have a whole box of treasures I've found here."

"That's so cool," Regulus said. 

Maryrose nodded, "And it's also just that this part of the beach is private. Nobody ever comes over here, so it's a good place to come and be alone when you have things you need to feel that belong just to you. This beach will listen and you can confide everything in your heart to the waves. They hold your secrets dear." She stared at the water. "I've told that sea more things that were in my heart than I've told anyone else in the world."

Regulus could picture it... young Maryrose standing on the beach, talking to the wind and the waves...

He wondered what sort of things she had to say to the water.

Maryrose would tell him soon, she thought, but not yet. Right now was too precious a second to give up for something so serious and complicated and, despite Regulus's love for her, she was a little bit scared of how he'd react when she told him the truth about those secrets. She wanted to be looking in his eyes when she did.

And right now, she wanted just to hold his hand and feel the peace.

"I tell my secrets to my house elf," Regulus confessed. Then, "And sometimes I write letters... letters to no one. Usually I burn them. But I write them like I think there's somebody listening to my words. Like there's someone who cares what they say."

"Screaming into a void," Maryrose nodded, understanding. Their voids might be different - hers the sea, and his a blank page addressed to a mystery reader - but the heart was the same.

"Yeah," Regulus agreed.

"You know you can talk to me?" she supplied.

Regulus said, "Maybe I'll start writing you instead of no one."

"I'd like that."

"You can write me, too. Or scream at me, if that's what you do to the sea."

"I wouldn't want to scream at you," Maryrose said. She smiled. "I'd just want you to hold me. Like you're doing right now."

"I could hold you for eternity," Regulus whispered.

"I wish you would," Maryrose answered.

Regulus thought that if he had a choice, he would. If he could, he would spend the rest of his life right here, right on this very beach - looking out at the sea and talking to Maryrose.

They sat like that - for hours - talking about things... about memories they had, books they'd read, songs and music they'd heard. They talked about things they hoped for the future and the things they might change in the present. They spoke of Sirius and Pandora, of their parents and their friends, of Christmas and the traditions that they would partake in the next day and the things that one day they hoped to bring with them to be traditions that would be given to the next generation... 

They found themselves talking about it as though each other would be in it, as though it were a given that whatever future they saw they would see it together, and Regulus felt something deep in his soul, something he wasn't sure how to put words to... just a knowledge that somehow their futures would entwine forever... that they weren't just making idle talk... that they were making real plans.

He felt like they were betrothed.

He felt like each sentence he spoke about tomorrow was a promise to her... a promise to give her the things they were speaking of.

With all of his heart.

"There's a third thing I love about this beach," Maryrose said quietly after hours had passed by.

"What's that?" Regulus asked.

"It's the perfect seat for sunrise."

It was as though the sun had been awaiting the cue from Maryrose.

The sky was suddenly turning lavender, the dark blues mixing with a tinge of pink that seeped up from the horizon line. A way off, across the sea, like a blemish on the northeastern stretch of the sea, Regulus could see the jaggedy edge of more land, silhouetted against the rising sun. It came up in tiny increments. Rays at first, no more than great streaks of light that shot across the horizon line up into the sky. The starlight that had hung over them and made the night look so pretty and magical slowly dimmed and the world turned pink instead of blue.

Regulus was a little sad to see the starlight fade away.

But the sun was beautiful, the way it crested the hills and first only a sliver of pale yellow, like cornsilk, and then larger and deeper... the color of the petals of the sunflowers he had first found Maryrose Jenkins behind. The clouds were orange and pink, lavender and lined with silver and gold... The sand around them, damp, reflected the colors so that suddenly when Regulus looked around it was as though he were sitting in a pool of the sky that had fallen onto the ground. He held her hand, breath taken.

"The sunsets are beautiful, too," she said.

"Are they?" he asked. "I can't imagine anything more beautiful than this."

Maryrose nodded, her eyes not turning from the colors that filled the horizon.

"From here, you can see it rise like this there...and the sun travels right over head and it sets over there, on that side. If you were sitting out there on the jetty, you'd see there's the mouth of a cave over there and from those rocks you can see the most incredible sunsets. I swear, you could die completely fulfilled after seeing one of those sunsets. It's as though the entire world is there at your feet when you watch one - it all turns to gold and melts away."

Regulus looked about at the gold all around them.

None of it was as beautiful as she was.

He slid his hand up to her face, gently cupping her chin, his fingers aligned with her jaw, and he kissed her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

Slowly, they melted into each other, becoming molten as the sun engulfed them, the dawn coming and their night together coming to an end. He held her close, tucked away each of the memories into his heart, thinking he'd found a treasure on that beach, too.

This beach, he thought, would be the one place in the world where he could sit forever and feel hope even in the darkest moments. This beach was not just any place - it was her place - and he could feel her in every grain of sand.