(A/N) For Qoheleth's Great Malachy O'More FF Challenge. De Bona Religione (of good religion) is the ninetieth motto on the Malachy List, and is traditionally associated with Pope Innocent the Thirteenth. Everything Pyramus says is a quote; major kudos to anyone who can get all of them. Reviews are nice, too.
(Disclaimer) Still not mine.
"The time has come, the walrus said-"
"Alice in Wonderland! I know that one; Andr-someone read it to me."
"Nah-uh," Pyramus Austin said, laughing. "Alice Through the Looking Glass. She walks in Beauty, like the night."
Regulus looked rather blankly at his friend. "I don't know that one. Who is it?"
"Regulus." It was a deep, beautiful, throaty voice. It was unthinkingly sensual, intentionally seductive: the loveliest poison known to man.
Regulus swallowed nervously. "Yes, Bella?"
She settled into one of the winged armchairs, on whose footstool Regulus was sitting. She sat as a queen would sit on her undisputed throne; her heavy, dark eyes rested haughtily on her cousin. Regulus, watching her warily, saw the faint disgust in them as she looked him over. She was comparing him to Sirius again. Unfavorably, of course, as though it was his fault he wasn't brilliant and charismatic. "When are you going to present yourself to Him?"
Regulus shivered. "I-I hadn't thought…"
Long black nails dug into arms of the chair, and her eyes flashed. Before Bella could answer, Pyramus observed dreamily, "To make the taker mad; Mad in pursuit and in possession so; Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme…"
Bella turned on Pyramus with a snarl. Pyramus leaned back into the curtains and smiled at Bella in his most unfocused manner. Regulus, while grateful to his friend for the breathing space, hoped the poet would survive his intervention. "Pray thee take care, that tak'st my book in hand, To read it well; that is, to understand," Pyramus recommended, apparently unaware of his danger.
With a twisted smirk that combined irritation, disgust and a strange sort of pity, Bella turned away from Pyramus. The expression became rather more predatory as her eyes lighted again on Regulus, the fire of fanaticism simmering slightly, never entirely absent from those dark depths.
Forcing his expression to Cousin Narcissa-like blankness, Regulus said carefully, "I didn't know He would take someone my age."
"La sottise, l'erreur, le péché, la lésine, Occupent nos esprits et travaillent nos corps, Et nous alimentons nos aimables remords," Pyramus observed. Regulus glanced sharply at his friend, not recognizing the quote, but hoping Bella had forgotten most of her French. He turned quickly back to his cousin when she spoke.
"Severus Snape joined when he was sixteen." Her voice oozed disgust at the mention of Regulus's mentor. "If He accepts slime, He'll have a Black at his side."
"Of course," Regulus murmured.
"Of course," Bella agreed. "He needs everyone, Regulus." She didn't say 'Even you.' She didn't have to.
"Civility keeps them tied all daytime, but they are let loose at midnight; then they do most good or most mischief," Pyramus commented.
Both cousins ignored him this time. Bella, queenly and stunning, rose in a swift, graceful movement, and gripped Regulus's jaw, black nails biting into his cheek. "You're a Black, Regulus. Be a good boy, and I'll bring you next time."
Caught by the long, clawed fingers, and flashing, fanatic eyes, Regulus agreed. Bella let him go. Regulus watched until she was lost in the crowd, then turned to Pyramus. "So."
"So," Pyramus agreed.
"What were you trying to say to her?" Regulus asked. Meeting his friend's wide, candid eyes, he added reluctantly, "And me?"
Pyramus smiled and sighed and gestured at the family tree that dominated the room. He looked as though he were trying to reduce his notion to a quote his less erudite friend could comprehend. Finally, he settled for unaccustomed irony: "Toujours Pur. Bona religione."
(A/N) For those interested, the French quote is: "Infatuation, sadism, lust, avarice Possess our souls and drain the body's force"