Regulus got woken up by bursts of laughter. He opened his eyes, felt the sharp pain of his wounds and the nausea in the pit of his stomach that had a hard time vanishing. He tried listening to what the three others were saying. When he straightened up, he saw them sitting all together, laughing over their cup of coffee, probably having forgotten about him. Regulus couldn't remember having shared such a moment with anyone.

"Good morning," said Valentina, as her eyes fell on him and she waved her hand in his direction, making the boys turn around to look at him. "I made food for you."

"You made food for him?" asked Sirius in disbelief.

"Of course, I did. He can't eat anything after being poisoned."

"Go wash up, someone is coming to see you," ended up saying his brother.

"Who?"

"You'll see, now go!"

He left the living-room under some chuckles.

Regulus came back after a few minutes, fresh out the shower, not knowing who he was meeting. And the guest was already present. He froze when entering the living-room.

"You wanted me to meet Dumbledore?"

"I prefer Professor Dumbledore, thank you," said the old man, a smile making its way on his lips as he observed Regulus.

"I could be killed for that."

"We can provide you protection, I think you need it," replied the man.

"No, why would I need it?" snapped Regulus already on the defensive, trying to hide in his confusion as best as he could. Whatever he knew, nobody else was supposed to know.

"You put yourself in danger the other day. I don't know what happened but from what I heard you were close to die. I suspected you might have turned your back against Voldemort and maybe you were seeking for revenge because of his acts or you were looking for a way to protect yourself," said the man calmly, his keen blue eyes watching Regulus and how he visibly turned paler.

"I didn't turn my back against the Dark Lord!" exclaimed the boy. His hands started shaking and sweat started pearling on his forehead. His agitated eyes reflected the panic of his mind which seemed to confuse everyone in the place.

"Regulus are you okay?" asked Valentina as she approached him. "He's clearly not in a fit state to speak about what happened."

As she said that, she came close to him, fearing he wouldn't be able to stay on his feet for long. She grabbed his hand and passed one of hers around his waist, guiding him to the couch. He was very fragile and trembling in her hold. He sat as she gave him a glass of water.

"I didn't want to turn my back against the Dark Lord..." he finally murmured.

"Did you defect then?" asked instantly Sirius.

"No, I didn't."

"Then what?"

"It's... complicated," he murmured again, looking down at his feet, trying to find the right words but he had a hard time speaking about what happened.

"Regulus, you do understand that now that you're here, we can't let you go, anymore?" spoke Dumbledore after a while. "Considering the situation and your... mixed feelings, this could turn to be a great advantage for the Order."

Regulus looked up at him and thought about his words and what they meant. It was clear he wanted him in the Order but Regulus was a Death Eater and didn't want to be part of the Order. But he also didn't want to be a Death Eater anymore.

"But Regulus is still at school," intervened Valentina, "and clearly not in condition to do anything for the Order. Shouldn't we wait until he graduates? He'll take time to think about this."

Strangely, he felt a wave of affection for the girl, going as far as forgetting about her blood status for a second.

"I suppose this is the best option we have. Remember Regulus, I'll always be here to hear you out at Hogwarts if you need to talk about something."

The boy nodded though he couldn't trust him as he seemed to only want to use him as his advantage and nothing else. He went back to sleep afterwards, as he felt so exhausted. It was only yesterday that he almost died. He woke up after a few hours and actually felt hungry. Nobody was there or at least in the living-room, he decided to eat what Valentina made for him. What that Mudblood made could only be better than anything he or Sirius could make.

Regulus, Valentina, Remus and Sirius were now more or less living under the same roof. It was somehow cordial between them, they didn't have any real conversations together or with Regulus. Except when Valentina would ask about his state or Sirius would force him to talk about what happened to him, there would be no other word exchanged.

Valentina finally went home after a few days. Her mother owned a house in the suburbs of London. It was small and piteous but it was her home and it was always cozy for her. It also held memories. Her mother was unsurprisingly out as she was always busy working as a nurse. It was dinner time and her sister, Hannah, was finishing cooking for their younger siblings. She had taken the role of the eldest once Valentina graduated and left to study at St Mungo's.

"Valentina, you've not come home in a long time!" exclaimed Marina, as she ran up to her sister to embrace her. She was the third child after Valentina and Hannah, and currently a Hufflepuff student in third-year.

"Yeah, I've been busy..."

"Can you get Jo from her bedroom?" asked Hannah as she stirred the food with her wand.

"I'll get her."

Josephina, or more commonly called Jo, was the last child of this family. Only their mother called her Josephina. Jo could be different from other children but her sisters loved her like that. She used to go to a Muggle school but she stopped attending it as she couldn't get along with the other children. Now she would usually spend time at their grandmother's place when their mother was working and the girls were at Hogwarts.

She knocked on the door then peeked a look inside just as she turned around from her game.

"Valentina! I'm so happy to see you!" she exclaimed as she ran to her sister.

"I'm so happy to see you too! Did the girls take good care of you?"

"Yes they did."

"And Marina wasn't too annoying?"

"Yes, she was," answered the little girl, pouting.

Jo was 6 and the youngest sibling, always the target for teasing.

"So where have you been?" wondered Marina, once sat at the table.

"I'm so sorry. I've been at Sirius' place."

"Hmmmm Sirius," teased Marina as her eldest sister rolled her eyes.

"I've been healing his brother," she sighed as to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Regulus Black? What a filthy person," stated Hannah, in a disgusted manner.

"He's not that bad," tried Valentina hesitantly.

"I shared classes with him during seven years, I think I know him a little better than you," she spat in a dry tone before standing up and suddenly leaving the room.

Valentina and Marina shared a look of confusion.

"I knew she was touchy but even about Regulus Black," murmured Marina, not hiding her surprise.

Regulus had to come home every day as to prove his family he was still alive and looking as good as he could. After spending time with his family, Valentina would notice he was always bitter, irritable or angry. He had been going back and forth between his home and Sirius' for about a week when he finally exploded.

"You can't go!" exclaimed Valentina, standing a few feet away from Regulus.

"I can go if I want! They're calling me anyway, so I will go!" he replied back, as he felt his left forearm tingling and the tattoo on it was suddenly alive.

"But you shouldn't disapparate with your wounds! This is dangerous!"

"I was on the verge of dying five days ago, do you think I care about what's dangerous right now? Mind your own business you filthy Mudblood."

That was it, it was too late, he had said it. The girl felt tears welling up in her eyes but before she could let any of them fall her hand slapped his cheek. She didn't control it, she was so hurt and mad it reacted instantly. And with that, she left him.

Still in shock, he finally decided to disapparate and to attend the meeting he was supposed to go to. He couldn't help feeling anxious after what he did last Saturday. He did try to turn his back against Lord Voldemort and how long would it take for him to discover that. He would have rather died that night than having to face the Dark Lord's anger. He felt like it wouldn't be long before he would discover what betrayal Regulus did and then he would be dead, everything would be over. The boy really thought he didn't have long to live. He felt very anxious the whole time, fearing the moment Voldemort would address him, address the situation, asking for explanations from Regulus before giving the order to the other Death Eaters, Bellatrix maybe. His cousin would be able to murder him if it was on Voldemort's request. He couldn't meet anyone's gaze, scared someone could see the guilt and fear in his eyes.

When he came back later in the night, he realized some of his cuts were bleeding. Looking everywhere for Valentina in Sirius' apartment, he didn't find her. He found Sirius instead, coming out of the bathroom.

"Valentina isn't here?" he wondered with surprise.

"No, she isn't. She has a life outside you, you know. And if you'd not treated her like shit, maybe she'd be here now," spat Sirius in a dry tone, regarding him with eyes so dark, full of anger.

"She told you?"

"Of course she did! She was shocked and hurt because she thought you were nice and well-mannered. She is so naive!" And he laughed sourly at this.

"But can you get her?" asked urgently Regulus.

Not understanding the situation, Sirius simply rejoined, "Why would I? I don't think she wants to see you right now you see."

"Because I think I'm bleeding. That's why I need her."

"Oh. Okay, but you'll have to apologize to her."

Sirius left quickly while Regulus made his way back to the living-room to sit on the couch. He removed his robes and shirt to notice that indeed his bandages were stained in red. She was right about not apparating, he hated to admit it. He actually knew it from the beginning, but skipping a meeting these days was really out of the question for him.

It took a good five minutes for Sirius to come back. Regulus sighed in relief when he saw Valentina right behind him in the fire place. As his brother sent him a severe stare, the girl wouldn't even look at him. It was silent, and a heavy and tensed silence, as she cleaned his wounds and closed them again. She felt just a tiny bit guilty for not being there when he needed it. She failed as a Healer.

"If you expect me, to say something you can wait," she muttered after a while, not looking at his face. It felt strangely embarrassing forcing herself to look at his body even though she had been seeing it for a whole week.

"You just said something."

She frowned and suddenly focused on rubbing the blood off his scars, making sure she wouldn't be looking up at him.

"I think I did a mistake," he finally murmured.

"What?"

"Calling you that term."

She had no time to think, she looked up right away. It was his turn to look down now.

"I apologize."

It must have taken him a lot of strength to set aside his pride. She didn't know if Sirius had told him anything or if it was of his own will, but he did and that was a lot.

"Thank you. I only ask for your respect."

"I'll try my best. I already respect you a lot for what you did to me. And I'm also very very grateful," he sincerely told her, finally looking into her eyes.

He thought that was the first time he ever really looked in her amber eyes. He could see the hurt in them. He had hurt her and a wave of guilt took over him for all the other "Mudbloods" he must have hurt. He had never thought he would ever have to apologize for this but maybe he wasn't the same anymore. Regulus felt like it had been a while since he didn't fully align with Voldemort's beliefs.

"I knew you weren't that bad."

"Oh, I am bad."

"No, not at all. I told Sirius I found you nice and well-mannered. And I still think so."

"That's too kind of you," he answered, looking away. He found it hard repressing his smile.

"Do you think I should stay here?"

"No, absolutely not. Sirius told me you had to take care of your siblings."

"It's okay, Hannah, my sister, had already prepared dinner when I came earlier. And she's a much better cook than I am."

"I don't believe it! That porridge the other day, divine. I swear I'm not exaggerating. I don't know what you put in it..."

"Except for a healing potion, nothing special! Oh, and I usually cook with love, so that's maybe why," she told him with a chuckle to which he laughed lightly.

author's note: second chapter out, i hope you like it! thank you for reading and voting it means the world<333