Valentina straightened up from her crouched position over the washbasin. She could swear the next time she would have to drink that potion, she won't be able to swallow it. She quickly rinse her mouth to wash away the awful taste that left Polyjuice potion and then took a look at her reflection which was actually her friend's reflection. Her eyes scanned her hollow tan face and the way her completely straight jet-black hair framed it and fell down her shoulders. And then she looked into Daisy's black prideful eyes and thought about how her appearance didn't actually reflect her personality. Her beautiful haughty face could easily fool people into thinking she was vile and detestable which was why it was a good opportunity for Valentina to spy under her appearance. The hardest part was now to act like her. She had been practicing for weeks with Daisy's family as to conform into her role so she would be ready for the night. So far Mr and Mrs Parkinson had only found their daughter's behavior odd on rare occasions. She seemed to be doing well. But she felt extremely nervous. She couldn't eat all day and she didn't think her anxiety would decrease once at the party the Notts had planned. The girl wished she didn't have to do this but she was chosen by the members of the Order of the Phoenix, including Albus Dumbledore, and Daisy herself. Daisy wasn't a member of the Order and couldn't do this, she was only an ally, helping from afar. Truth was that she was dating Gideon Prewett, an actual member of the Order. Dumbledore didn't want her for this mission, people there barely even trusted her and Daisy really didn't like the idea of spying on her family and friends. Only Valentina did trust her. They had not always been friends, but they were the same age, had shared classes at school and were getting along better than before so yes she did trust her. Many of her peers from the Order couldn't understand that unfortunately, even if she did trust her more than some of them. Daisy was actually grateful for that.

There was a knock on the door, followed by Mrs Parkinson's voice, "Daisy, darling, are you ready? We're about to leave."

"Y-yes," croaked the girl. She coughed, cleared her voice and replied more clearly. "Yes, Mother. I'm coming right away."

She was already wearing one of Daisy's dress, a long straight silky black bustier dress, with a black cardigan to cover her arms. People in her world could think she was attending funerals but she was invited to a fancy party. She then got out of the bathroom and tried to gain confidence in her appearance. She was supposed to look like herself not like she was somebody else. She reminded herself to not jump from surprise when seeing her reflection in a mirror and to answer to the names "Daisy" or "Miss Parkinson". She still couldn't get used to that. She wasn't Valentina Kerr tonight, she was Daisy Parkinson.

She arrived with her temporary family at the Notts' mansion. The knot she had in her stomach the whole day only seemed to tighten once they stepped foot inside. The place was so big and the ceiling so high it made her head spin. She wasn't used to such luxury as she had always lived in a small Muggle house in London's suburbia, with her mother and siblings. When she thought about all their wealth and what they used it for, it made her sick. Nonetheless, she still stood straight and walked, trying not to let her uneasiness show. They arrived in a large ballroom filled with over fifty people. She tensed up, realizing all of them wanted her dead and would be torturing her right now if she didn't look like one of them. Recognizing old classmates, she felt like vomiting. It had been one year since she graduated but she still felt traumatized by the bullying she received from them during those seven years.

"Daisy? Daisy!" called out Mrs Parkinson, not too loud as to not draw attention to her.

The girl got startled and turned her head in her direction, discreetly wiping off her sweaty palms on her dress. Was she just lost in thought or had she really forget to answer to that name?

"Yes, Mother?"

"Take a discreet look behind your shoulder, Regulus Black has been staring at you ever since we've entered the room..."

She had not even finished her sentence that the girl had turned around in a swift movement at the mention of Regulus' name.

"What? Regulus? Where?" she asked without thinking as her eyes scanned the room.

Her heart stopped beating the moment her stare landed on him. When they made eye contact, her breath got caught in her throat. He had indeed been watching her and he didn't look away once she caught his stare. They looked into each other's eyes for what felt like an infinite amount of time, before he finally averted his gaze to have a chat with his mother.

"What was that Daisy? Firstly, I told you to be discreet, and then I think he looked rather strange. Should I know something?" she inquired, not hiding her curiosity.

"Absolutely not. Nothing. I thought you knew who I liked Mother," answered the girl, turning around and looking into her eyes as to support her point. No smile, no expression actually, only determination in her dark eyes as she tried persuading her.

"Well, yes, true, but it's been years, so I thought something had changed."

She was right, something did change about her daughter. While she was indeed interested in an older Slytherin in fifth year, a proper young man – now a Death Eater – things changed when meeting Gideon Prewett and so when falling in love with him.

"No. Whatever. Do you mind if I take a look around? I might as well find someone I know."

As she spoke, Valentina left Mrs Parkinson's side, not forgetting her role for the night. When finding old classmates, that were also Daisy's former housemates, she forced herself to greet them and take part in conversations even though she had not much to say. She congratulated a few of her former classmates who were expecting children or just got engaged. It surprised her how in this community, people had such a different lifestyle. From what she knew, Daisy got along well with the people she used to go to class with, so she put her anxiety aside and tried getting close to them, especially the ones who were Death Eaters.

"Daisy! I thought you'd never come say hello!" exclaimed Austin Wilkes, a former classmate of hers. He was by Silas Flint's side, a former classmate as well. She recognized them particularly because they were infamous Slytherins.

"Was busy, and it's not like you're my biggest interest so..." she teased though reminded expressionless.

That was one of Daisy's big trait. She was cynical and could make the smartest and most cutting jokes. Obviously it made the boys laugh. From what she told Valentina, these two weren't the best, in fact they were Death Eaters, but she still got along with them. Valentina, on the contrary couldn't feel at ease with them, she couldn't even understand how Daisy could be somehow close to these people. They used to be bullies and now they were killers. But sometimes she couldn't understand Daisy either, they had lived such different lives after all.

"Anyway, what have you been up to?" asked Silas.

"You know the usual, I hang out when I'm not invited to such parties, I try to date and find my match. But what about you? Are you busy these days?" she tried not to sound too curious as she didn't want them to suspect anything. She had to be subtle when trying to get information from them.

"Haven't you heard of that massive explosion at the north of Bristol? Well it was us," answered Wilkes, with a proud smile on his lips.

It made Valentina want to punch him in the face.

"What are you planning next? Which city are you gonna make explode?"

"Since when were you interested in our business? You want to join maybe? We don't have a lot of girls there... except for Bellatrix of course." Both boys chuckled at this.

"No thanks, Silas, I'm just curious," she answered with a shrug and took a glance at Wilkes and the glass of champagne he had in his hand. It was definitely not his first and certainly not his last either.

"Last time I came to a meeting they were naming the Ministry employees we should put under the Impero curse. Nothing special, and nothing new," he said casually. "And except for that, just torturing one or two Muggles and capturing a member of that fucking Order if we can."

The feelings of disgust and fear Valentina felt only lasted a short time as his last words kept her attention. "What?"

"Hey! You've said too much Austin! Our meetings and projects are supposed to be confidential!" muttered Flint, seeming not pleased by this.

"It's okay, she's one of us!"

"And what member were you thinking of exactly?"

"Dunno a half-breed or one of those Mudbloods like Evans or Kerr."

As a devilish smirk placed itself onto his face, she felt her blood run cold. Her instincts told her to run away but she knew she couldn't, it was impossible, she couldn't escape. But the more she stayed in their presence, the more she felt like a prey. She felt so ill.

"Excuse me," murmured a calm voice from behind that sent chills down her spine. "May I take Daisy from you?"

A gentle hand placed itself on her shoulder and a sudden feeling of peace flew through her and all tension seemed to leave.

"Black, sure, you may," replied Austin Wilkes, an amused glint in his brown eyes.

And with that, he walked away, leading the girl by the hand he had on her. Once far enough, she let out a sigh of relief.

"You saved me there, thank you..." she whispered, looking down as a small smile placed itself onto her lips.

"Always there when needed, don't worry."

"Same here," she told him, finally looking up at him, and sending him her most genuine smile of the night as she remembered the times they saved each other's life which was the beginning for them and their relationship.

As she thought Regulus would send her a smile in return, she was surprised to see his expression turn confused and disturbed, which made her feel uneasy.

"What?" she wondered, almost sadly. She had expected something else from him as they hadn't met in so long.

"Nothing, let's just dance, shall we?" we wondered, taking her hand but looking away from her face.

She did as told, placing one hand on his shoulder while the other was in his hold. They got closer but he tensed up. She looked down to her feet as they started swaying around in slow movements. His attitude made her heart wrench but she could understand he didn't want to be seen close to her in such a place. But it had been so long and Valentina just couldn't help leaning her head on his chest as her hand grabbed at his robe. What was the point of being with him if she couldn't be close to him? Especially after so long! It was almost September already and the last time they met was at the beginning of July, when the Order last fought Voldemort's army. And they barely interacted except when he intervened as best as he could to prevent her from dying. Otherwise, their real last interaction, their real last conversation, the last time they touched was on January 3rd when he had to go back to school and promised her he would be thinking about her.

"I'm sorry, in this situation, it's just complicated," he finally said. He leaned his head forward, just closer to hers, inhaled deeply before letting out a shaking breathe. In appearance it was not her but her scent was just the same. And he had missed her so much.

As they kept on dancing, the music suddenly stopped and murmurs could be heard everywhere. People started leaving the center of the room quickly.

"He's coming, just move away! Make space for your Lord!" started shouting some Death Eaters.

Valentina looked up at Regulus and he could read the fear in those black eyes that weren't hers. Grabbing her hand, he lead her outside the room as discreetly as possible. They ran upstairs and decided to hide here for a while.

Regulus had been told nothing about this mission, he only knew Valentina would come and he had no role to play. The only thing he had been told, by Dumbledore himself, was to keep her safe and to bring her away if Lord Voldemort was to make his appearance and that they could fool this whole lot of wizards and witches but not Voldemort.

"We're finally alone," she sighed, throwing herself in his arms.

He hold her tightly in return, but her body was so foreign he couldn't feel at ease.

"I've been waiting too," said the boy, finally smiling at her.

Not resisting one more second, she took a hold of his face and kissed him softly. He kissed back though the lips felt foreign too, but not the way she kissed and not the way her hands got lost in his silky raven curls and it brought him back some months ago when she first kissed him, on his brother's old couch, late at night when he was sleeping. Smiling at the memory, he detached himself, "You should go now. I'll cover for you with your parents."

Nodding and preparing herself to leave she suddenly told him, "I live at 29 Lindley Street. The password is scarlet satellites. I'll probably come home late but if you want you can wait for me."

Sending him one last smile, she disapparated and finally left this damned place.