Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Authors Note: This is what happens when my best friends and I go for a walk. Or rather this is what we come up with.
On another note, this took me over a year. I started it in March 2012 and then left it until yesterday... Virtual cupcakes to anyone who can tell where I picked up yesterday.

Dedication:

For Kat,

because it's your birthday, and that's what motivated me to finish this.

You're wonderful, and beautiful, and amazing.

For Lee and Lia,

because you were there when all of this started and because you helped me out from time to time when I was writing this.

The personal space is for you X3

Frenemy or Do Me A Favour

They were wandering beneath the rustling treetops of Kielder Forest Park. It had been a long time since they met anyone. For now they were glad they hadn't, because people meant trouble and the result of trouble could be worse than death itself. Getting caught by Death Eaters was definitely not on their To-Do-list.

They had been walking in silence for a while, when the girl tensed. I suppose you could also call her a young woman, but now, with her face almost as pale as snow, her eyes widening in fear at the smallest sound and on top of that standing in between her two companions, both of them a good deal taller than she was, one could not help but call her a girl. Or maybe she was a doll, a porcelain doll with her white skin and those big dark blue eyes. She seemed too perfect, too unreal in that forest and one of her companions, his sandy hair tousled and out of place and so unlike him, kept glancing at her as if to make sure she was still there. The other opted to take her hand instead.

She looked around, unsure what the strange feeling was, unsure what had happened to them. There was only one thing she was certain of, something she had to tell the men next to her.

"We're trapped," she whispered.

There was no reaction from her two… friends. I guess you could call them her friends. The two men were quite different; the one with the sandy hair had eyes the colour of ember which were soft and warm, with the sadness of one who had seen death and misery underneath, but still a constant ray of sunshine to the girl.

The other one had dark hair and aristocratic features, as had almost everyone else in his family, his eyes were cold, grey and piercing, they had a hard look to them and rarely softened. He, too, looked almost too perfect for someone walking through a forest in the twilight, miles away from any other human being apart from his two companions. But his perfection was tainted. It was nothing visible. His aura, however, had something dark and menacing about it, maybe even something crazy. And when you looked into his eyes long enough you could almost see the shadows in them. This was a man who had not only seen death and misery, but had brought it upon others.

As I said before they were quite different and as such it should not come as a surprise they weren't friends. Not at all. They couldn't even remotely get along and that they had not killed each other yet was the achievement of the tiny female between them.

"We're trapped." The girl repeated. "Can't you feel it?"

They just kept on walking in silence. And the girl, her name was Mary if you must know, Mary McDonald, gave up trying to get a reaction from the men, either they had heard her or they had not.

After a few minutes someone else spoke up, it was the sandy haired man.

"It's so quiet. Way too quiet. I can't hear any birds, or other animals. Do you?"

"Well, probably they can smell you," the male one of his companions replied, his voice might have been teasing but it also might have been an insult, one couldn't be sure.

To be honest, it wasn't that long since the fair haired man had washed himself the last time. But for the sensitive nose of the heir of one of most pure wizard families in Europe it was just disgusting.

No, you did not hallucinate. There is no use in going back to check. It really said wizard family just there. So, yes, they were wizards or rather two wizards and a witch. I probably should have mentioned that. And all of them had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn the intricate art of wielding the magic they possessed and that set them apart from the non-magicals, muggles they call them. But going in depth right now would probably take too long and I am afraid might cost us a couple of readers, so we shall refrain from doing so. Besides, it is time to continue with our story, because I believe Mary just interfered.

"Guys, I don't want to interrupt your chat. But I really think you two should be silent for now. And Regulus, just because there's no doubt about you blood status you can't insult Remus. What's he ever done to you?"

Since Mary just revealed the names of her two companions, we shall indulge into their personal history for a bit, shall we not?

Let's start with Remus as we did before. His full name was Remus John Lupin, he was a half-blood (and if you don't know what that means you should probably start wondering what you are doing here just about now… And additionally the narrator would like to add that this has nothing to do with Percy Jackson) and had been a member of Gryffindor house during his time in Hogwarts (if you don't know what this means I would like to repeat my previous statement, leaving out the part concerning Percy Jackson). Before his time at Hogwarts he had no friends; however at Hogwarts he found three really good ones. James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. They along with Remus were known throughout the school as the Marauders.

Regulus' full name was Regulus Arcturus Black, he was a member and heir to the Noble and most Ancient House of Black, since his older brother Sirius (yes, the very same Sirius Black, Remus was friends with) had been disinherited. He was a pureblood (obviously) and had been a member of Slytherin house (and that's where the trouble starts because Gryffindors and Slytherins don't get along on principle, well apart from a couple of exceptions but those are few and far between) and was generally quite popular in his house and with the Ravenclaws, too. Regulus had become a Death Eater himself in his sixth year at Hogwarts, but had just recently turned his back on them and was now on the run.

And that's where the other two come in. They had been camping together (originally, Sirius had been with them too, but he had deserted Mary and Remus as soon as he'd seen the pub in the first village they passed) and had stumbled upon Regulus. So now, they were on the run, too.

"Mary, do you really think I need any reason to insult him? I beg your pardon then. I didn't know you'd stand up for someone like him, rather than let me call him exactly what he is."

They had had no one but each other for company for three days straight and frankly Regulus was annoyed. Not with Mary. Not really, anyways. But if she chose to defend that half-blood then so it be.

The problem with that, however, was that Mary had reached the breaking point as well.

"Fine. Then I reckon you don't need our help to keep your head where it belongs to." She almost spat that sentence at him. Almost. Because Mary probably wasn't even capable of glaring in a way that could frighten a first year.

There are a lot of things that can be said about Regulus but unobservant or clueless or even slow on the uptake are none of these. So understandably he was a bit wary when Mary became snappish. But he, too, had had just about enough.

"Mary, what do you want me to say? Listen, I know I am not perfect, alright?"

"Oh, you don't have to tell me that."

Regulus stared at her. Mary had never been able to stay mad at him for more than twenty seconds. Usually the time it took her to say one sentence that might be considered mean by some whimsy Hufflepuff after that she would usually start apologizing profusely and be extra nice for a few minutes (or hours, depending on her mood).

Remus and Mary turned away and started walking again. Regulus stayed behind his eyes directed at the fog. It had actually been foggy for a while now and there was something about the fog that gave you a strange feeling of despair for no apparent reason. Have you guessed by now? The fog was where Dementors were most possibly hiding (well, more than most possibly actually).

"I knew it. They're coming for me. I can feel the cold", Regulus wasn't really talking to his companions. He was talking to himself, though he rarely did that the journey had certainly taken its toll on him.

Desperation reached out for his heart. Numbness overcame his mind in such intensity he could not tell the difference between reality and fiction. The voices of the wolf and this blood-traitor made him deaf. They were bringing him down on nearly his knees by force. Some mighty power had crept into his head. They found him. He would be dead in less than a minute. He saw his cousin standing in front of the doomed creatures. Regulus wanted to hide, to run away but there was nothing left than empty space. He was alone.

He had to kill the blood-traitor.

By now Mary and Remus had noticed that Regulus had stayed standing a few meters behind them, they did not, however, notice the change in the Black's demeanour, since they were too preoccupied with the fact that the youngest of the group was about to make his way into the fog. Running back they were able to grab his arms and pull him away from it just in time. Away from the fog. Away from Bellatrix Lestrange and her evil laughter. Though, the two older one's only noticed the fog.

Regulus took a moment to come to his senses again, but when he did, he shoved Remus away from himself roughly. "Get your filthy hands off me, werewolf!" he spat. His eyes glinting dangerously.

Mary stumbled and almost fell, as she watched her two companions. The two of them had drawn their wands and were pointing them at each other's chests. Remus' eyes were narrowed as he fixed them on Regulus' face. Regulus sneered at him.

"Take yours of me then, Black," the fairer-haired man said, threateningly.

Regulus laughed cruelly, and without even the faintest hint of humour in his voice. "I wouldn't even touch you if my life depended on it. Mary might for some reason trust you, but I don't," the Black said maliciously.

Mary perked up at the mention of her name and began paying attention to them again, instead of watching their surroundings. She hadn't caught much of their conversation, apart from Regulus' last sentence, but the female was able to tell from their stances that this was more than just a little spat. She drew her wand slowly, careful not to alert her companions to her actions.

"Shut up, Black. Or do you really want those creatures to catch us?" Remus glanced over his shoulder a little nervous.

Regulus on the other hand had a little smile on his face that suggested that he would in fact enjoy being caught, thank you very much. But despite his smile his voice was a deadly, snakelike hiss that said more about him than his facial expressions ever could as he continued, "How dare you give me orders, werewolf? Cruci-"

His wand flew from his hand, and as he looked around for the attacker, he found Mary with her own wand pointed at him. "This was getting a little out of hand," she said, suddenly not as much of a doll as before, and Regulus remembered what was so easy to forget. That Mary was indeed a powerful witch when she chose to be. Her eyes were still wide, and they seemed bluer than ever, the Black heir decided, but there was a certain steel in them. After all, the two males weren't the only ones that had seen death.

Mary turned abruptly and continued walking, Remus right beside her. Regulus watched them, for a moment or two, before he picked up his wand and followed them, keeping a safe distance between himself and the Gryffindors.

The three of them walked in silence for a while, Remus and Mary in the lead, Regulus a little behind them. Everyone's eyes were darting around nervously, trying to catch something, anything, out of the ordinary. They didn't, but Mary was once again overcome by that same constricting feeling, she had experienced earlier. She slowed down, searching for any sign of what it might be.

In front of her, Remus turned around to ask what was wrong, when he promptly collided with an invisible wall. The oldest of the group stumbled back, before reaching out a hand in an attempt to cross that patch of land again.

"Leave it, Lupin!" Regulus said, "Don't you ever listen?" His voice was far from friendly, but it wasn't quite as hostile as before.

"I told you. We're trapped," Mary added, her voice wavering a little as she inched closer to Regulus. The three of them shared a look as a sense of foreboding washed over them. This can't be good, rang through all of their heads. Then again, that much really should have been obvious.

Remus, who had been studying the barrier as far as that was possible, whirled around suddenly. "Can you hear it?" he whispered, "The laughter?"

"Well, clearly we can," Regulus replied, his eyes flickering over to the female at his side for a moment, "Mary stay close behind me." She could only nod, her face ashen and Remus gave her a concerned look. That's when he noticed that the other two were holding hands.

Mary's eyes were fixed on a figure not too far away, and she gasped, seemingly finding her voice again. "I can see her," she whispered. And then, turning to the man at her side, "Regulus?"

The Black was, for once in his life, channelling his older brother, even though this was the most inopportune time to do so that Mary could possibly think of. Sirius, though, would have been proud of him if he had had the chance to witness the encounter. "Bella, my precious cousin," Regulus said, almost teasingly, "How are you today? Did your master abandon you, so that you have a chance to play hide and seek? I must say that I am indeed surprised to find that you are such a child."

Remus eyes were darting from one cousin to another as he took a step forward and motioned for Mary not to do the same. "Stay back," he whispered. She didn't react; her eyes were glued to Bellatrix, one of her hands clutching Regulus' desperately, the other holding on to her wand for dear life.

Bellatrix ignored the fact that Regulus comment was supposed to sting with a certain maniacal ease, something that only she could pull off. In fact, she paid it just as much attention as she did Remus, which is to say none. "Then I won this game. I found you, Regulus," she seemed amused, in a twisted way. Then in a heartbeat she aimed her wand at her youngest cousin and disarmed him. It was so sudden that neither Regulus nor Remus and least of all Mary had seen it coming. The younger woman flinched.

Regulus' eyes flitted over to Remus, whose wand was pointed at Bellatrix much the same way his own had been only seconds earlier. "Give me your wand," he hissed. Remus just stared at him uncomprehendingly. "I said," Regulus added more forcefully, "Give. Me. Your. Wand."

"Why should I do that, Black?" Remus narrowed his eyes.

"I'm the only one who is equal to her," Regulus replied evenly, although he knew that he was not, he came closest out of the three of them. "Or are you foolish enough to try first?"

Remus handed over his wand slowly, while Bellatrix was watching the scene intently. As soon as the wand had fully left the werewolf's grasp and he was standing unarmed in front of the cousins, the mad woman laughed. And Remus could see why. Regulus' eyes were glazed over, his body was rigid and his face was even more unfeeling than it usually was. This time though, it wasn't just a mask.

"Do it," Bellatrix urged, and Remus could feel his throat going dry. His hands were getting sweaty and all he could think of was a possible way out of this situation. He looked at Mary, who was gazing up at Regulus fearfully. She was still standing behind him, so she couldn't see his face, but Remus could tell the younger Gryffindor knew something was wrong. Remus almost wanted to laugh. Killed by his own wand, oh the irony.

"Do it," Bellatrix said once more. And Remus could see the muscles on Regulus' neck tense. The Black was fighting his cousin. He hadn't expected that.

"Do it, Regulus," Bellatrix repeated, this time with a lot more force. And Regulus couldn't resist any longer. The muscles on his neck loosened, and his eyes lost any and all focus they had gained during the time he fought the curse. Remus resisted the urge to close his eyes. He would meet death head on, at the hands of a worthy opponent, even if said opponent was under the Imperius curse and Remus himself was unarmed.

Regulus turned away from him.

Mary's eyes filled themselves with tears as she realized that this was it. Her fingers were numb, she couldn't hold on to Regulus' hand any longer, and so it slid out of hers. She looked up to meet his eyes. "Goodbye," her voice was breaking, and it Remus hated himself for being frozen in place, rendering him unable to protect her.

Regulus' hand slowly rose to touch Mary's cheek, it took all of his will power, but he whispered a single sentence, before Bellatrix won out. "I'm sorry, Love."

Then his face was blank again, as he pressed the wand to Mary's chest and said the fatal words, "Avada Kedavra."

Mary's wand went flying as she fell. Remus caught it, still unable to comprehend the scene that had just played out in front of him. The two men were staring at Mary McDonald's lifeless body. Her empty eyes were fixed on the grey sky.

In death, Mary looked like a doll once again, and angel doll, but a doll nonetheless. Remus gripped her wand tightly as he stared at her face. "Why did you do that?" he asked his voice monotonous and quiet.

Regulus' voice was cool; he seemed calm and collected, as he replied, "Because I had to. Better than killing you in front of her eyes, don't you think?" He, too, was staring at Mary's face, more specifically her eyes that now seemed more grey than blue.

Remus whirled around and tried to disarm Regulus, suddenly, but rightfully angry. The Black didn't even look up, he simply blocked the charm with a casual wave of his wand.

"Bella," Regulus said, noticing his cousin's presence behind him. The woman put her head on his shoulder. Her eyes seemed to bulge out of her face as she stared at Remus. He shifted under her gaze, feeling sort of detached from his body.

"Well done, Regulus," Bellatrix said, her eyes never leaving Remus' face, "you got rid of that little blood-traitor for us."

Remus was looking at the cousin's nervously, his wand still pointed at Regulus. He had a sneaking suspicion that it had been Bellatrix' fault that Regulus had killed Mary, but he didn't trust either of them one bit, and actually wouldn't put it past the younger cousin to have killed the girl without any outside influence. The werewolf tried not to let it show in his face as he prepared to send a non-verbal disarming jinx at the other two. He didn't surprise Bellatrix, though, and as Regulus' wand flew from his hand, the woman lazily pointed her wand and the werewolf. Remus shrunk back from her, while Regulus picked up his wand and Bellatrix moved around her cousin to stand in front of the sandy-haired man.

"We all have to make a sacrifice," the woman said airily, she sounded detached, almost innocent, and that made her so much more scary than she already was, "Did you make yours yet, filthy half-breed?" At the last words her voice lost its airiness and became venomous.

"How about his friends?" Regulus said calmly, watching his cousin, "I bet he will sacrifice them rather quickly if he wants to," he paused, "survive." He smiled sardonically, "Don't worry, Bella." He pointed his wand at her back.

"Don't worry, Bella," he repeated in a whisper. His cousin ignored him, too focused on Remus to notice his intentions before it was too late. "Imperio."

Remus's eyes widened comically. Out of all the unexpected turns, today's events had brought, this was by far the most surprising. The cousins turning on one-another, or rather Regulus turning on Bellatrix. His head was spinning with questions, questions he couldn't find answers to. The werewolf watched the scene in front of him. Bellatrix was fighting the curse, her hands were clenching and unclenching, her eyes rolled around in the sockets uncontrollably, and Remus was sure it was only a matter of seconds before she started foaming at the mouth.

"Imperio," Regulus repeated more forcefully than before. The older cousin was still fighting, she bared her teeth shaking violently, the wand in her hand let out a shower of bright green sparks.

"Obey your master, Bella," Regulus said, "What's your new master's name?"

"The Dark Lord," Bellatrix spat almost fully breaking free. Her eyes focused on Remus once more and he could tell she was slipping from Regulus' grasp with each passing second.

The younger man turned to the werewolf. "Help me!" it could have been an order, but it also could have been a plea, the sandy-haired man wasn't sure. Maybe it actually was the latter, since Regulus' behaviour practically screamed desperation.

Yet, Remus hesitated, his eyes bore into Regulus'. "I can't think of any reason to help you," he said calmly, but the anger was just underneath, and boy, was it boiling, "not after you killed Mary. She trusted you!" and suddenly he was yelling, the anger becoming too much, too violent to control. "You're just as bad as she is!" he pointed his finger at Bellatrix, "Sirius was right about you-"

"Don't talk about things you don't understand," Regulus interrupted harshly.

"I understand better than you want me to, Siri-Black. Your brother-" Remus began, but once again Regulus interrupted.

"There is no chance of him being my brother anymore," the dark-haired male replied, his voice cold.

"Your brother," Remus continued as if the other had not said a single word, "is worried you might not be able to fulfil Voldemort's orders. He was right, huh?"

Regulus' eyes narrowed, but he replied nonetheless, "Obviously. Now would you be kind enough to help me? It's our only chance to get out of here alive and in one piece. Of course if you'd rather not do that, you can of course continue standing there."

Remus sighed, and nodded. He pointed Mary's wand at Bellatrix and together the two men repeated the curse, "Imperio."

Regulus looked at the werewolf and then at his cousin, she was still fighting, but even Bellatrix could not win against two grown wizards. Regulus took a deep breath and nodded to Remus, in a seemingly friendly gesture that was immediately ruined by his words.

"Kill him, Bella. Do it. Kill us both."

Remus dropped Mary's wand in shock. The woman turned, her face was blank. Her emotionless eyes stared him down. She raised her arm, pointed her wand at him and said the words that should end his life, "Avada Kedavra."

And as Remus Lupin's body joined Mary's on the cold, hard ground, Regulus wondered if he should regret what he had just done. He probably should, but he could not bring himself to do so. What did it matter anyways? He smiled sardonically. It was over. This was the end. For a moment he wondered if Mary would forgive him, but he pushed it aside.

He looked at his cousin. Her eyes were clear again and for once the woman did not have a twisted smile on her face. Instead she tilted her head to the side as if trying to decipher the mystery that was her cousin.

"And you, Regulus?" Bellatrix enquired, "Shall I kill you too?" She seemed genuinely curious, although her eyes still held that mad glint that was so uniquely hers.

"Do it," the younger cousin replied, "for you would only do me a favour."

A frown marred Bellatrix' beautiful face. Regulus could not deny that despite how cruel, cold-hearted, violent and deeply crazy she was, Bellatrix Lestrange was beautiful. "Why would I do that?" she asked, "Why should I do you a favour?" Her voice was soft, like silk, and Regulus knew that she was at her most dangerous now. "Why should I kill you?" the woman stared at him, she had always been able to stare him down, but Regulus held his ground. "Why," Bellatrix questioned, "do you want to die?"

Regulus didn't answer, he simply stared straight ahead. His cousin was pacing around him in slow circles, once, twice, three times. She hummed quietly, before coming to a stop behind him and taking a step forward. She was invading his personal space and Regulus found that he just couldn't stand it.

"Is it tiny little Mary?" Bellatrix pressed her wand against his cheek, and forced him to look at the young woman's dead body. She looked so fragile, and her eyes were so dull, so lifeless that it was hard to imagine how she had once been. Regulus tried to close his eyes to spare himself the sight of her corpse, but he couldn't. Even in death, Mary was beautiful. Not in the same way that Bellatrix was, obviously. His cousin spoke of danger with every fibre of her being, her wild, untameable hair, the dark eyes with the maniacal glint, and the sharp edges of her face that looked like they were made of glass, so sharp they could slice you to pieces. Mary on the other hand was innocent. Her face was pale and pure as snow, with a light dusting of freckles across the nose that made one think of the sun on a beautiful spring day, her eyes were big, and deep blue and had held a gentleness when she had been alive, now, in death they held peace.

"Did you love her?" Bellatrix breath was tickling his ear.

"You know I could never love a blood-traitor like her, Bella," Regulus replied.

"Liar," she whispered, "She had stolen your heart, cousin. Hadn't she?"

Before Regulus could reply there was a soft "Pop" behind them, as Rabastan Lestrange appeared from thin air. "Bella," he said impatiently, "why can't you just kill him? The Dark Lord will not be pleased if we don't finish this mission."

Bella turned her head towards Rabastan, but her wand remained pressed to Regulus cheek. A devilish smile made its way upon her face, "Well, Rabastan, think about it for a minute. We should let our master have the pleasure to kill the traitor himself. You know how nice he treats them…"

Rabastan laughed, and Regulus finally managed to close his eyes. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Regulus' left forearm, and he grabbed it with an agonized hiss.

"We should not let him wait," the older man said and Bellatrix nodded in agreement. She disapparated with Regulus, her hand clutching his upper arm. Rabastan stayed behind, and looked at Mary's dead body. A sadistic smile appeared on his face as he tilted a bottle, he had grabbed from one of his pockets, over and let a drop of silvery liquid fall into her mouth. "You shall do us a great service, Mary McDonald," he whispered.

The he, too, disapparated, taking the Inferius with him.

In another part of the country, Regulus had stopped walking. "Keep walking or I'll kill you right now!" the woman behind him hissed and prodded him with a wand.

"It's a pity your threats are nothing but empty words, Bella," he said.

Review please :)