Hey everyone. This story was brought to you by Quidditch Training Camp, Beauty Therapy Assignment, and Insane Prompt Challenge on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For Quidditch Training Camp I wrote for Side Planks and the task was to make a pairing using two of the following characters - Peter Pettigrew, Alice Longbottom, Marlene McKinnon, and Regulus Black. I used the pairing of Regulus/Marlene. For the Beauty Therapy Intro to Makeup assignment I wrote for task 4 which was to write about an illusion of some sort. For the Insane Prompt Challenge I wrote for prompt 209. Moresomes: Barty/Regulus/? and for the question mark I used Marlene McKinnon. Warning for fade to black sex. Word count without the Author's Note is 1,222 words. I hope you all enjoyed The Second Spy.
Marlene McKinnon took mental notes as she sat at the table the Order of the Phoenix met around to share later with her boyfriends, Regulus Black and Barty Crouch Jr. She doesn't know when she started to give them information. Or if if was a conscious decision on her part. But she knows that she must keep up the illusion that she's loyal member of the group.
"Does anyone have anything else they want to add?" asks Dumbledore as he stands at the head of the table. This usually bring with a cacophony of murmuring voices all trying to talk over each other.
But it doesn't this time and she feel almost every eye on her. It isn't until Dumbledore nods at her that she realizes that she's got her hand up. She stand not knowing what she's going to tell the group at large. She doesn't want to give them any of conversation that Barty, Regulus, and her have as pillow talk. They'll know she was the one to say something to the Order. But she can't not give them anything. So she decides to give them an old trail that's gone cold.
"I heard from Regulus Black that He Who Must Not Be Named is trying to parley with the giants again," she hears her own voice say but the feeling of guilt at the lie is diminished by the thought that Barty and Regulus would be proud of her. "Also that a few people in the Auror department have been asked to join his forces as well." Which in itself was a truth. This kind of allayed her guilt. She had told a truth to the Order. Not the biggest truth but a little one.
"Thank you, Miss McKinnon," Dumbledore told her, "for your valuable information." The look he turned on made her think that he could see to her very soul and the lies that she'd been telling them all for months now too. "I will have Auror Moody looking into your allegation and I will send Hagrid to the giants again to parley with them. But I believe this information to be out of date."
"I only told you what I heard Barty and Regulus discussing after dinner last night," she said praying that no one else could see the fear in her eyes. That her illusion would hold out until the end of the meeting when she could Floo home and let the guilt take over.
She doesn't hear what the other members whisper behind her back as she quickly jumps up and walks to fireplace to Floo to the home, Barty, Regulus, and her share. She knows some of them are questioning her loyalty. She also knows that some of them believe she is spy for them which brings another pang of guilt to her. Before anyone can see her guilt she reaches the fireplace and Floos home to find them there waiting for her.
"Did you get us any more useful information, my love?" Barty coos in a voice that makes her knees weak. He takes her arm as Regulus takes the other and leads them all over to dinner table. "Anything else that the our Dark Lord can use to our advantage?"
Marlene watches as Regulus pulls the chair at the head of the table out for Barty and then moves to pull one out for her. Regulus smiles at her disarming her instantly and she knows that she should be guilty about what she's about to do. She really should but can't feel guilty about helping him. Sitting down she unfolds her napkin replaying the information in her head.
"I'm not sure if Severus is going to tell him this or not," she begins nervous that the other spy in the Order will beat her out for the information, "but the Potters are going to make Peter Pettigrew their Secret Keeper instead of Sirius Black."
"Are you absolutely sure, Lene?" Regulus asks using his nickname for her. The one he'd given her before they were both in league with the devil in a way. "You have to be sure. We don't want another episode like when you first started giving us information."
She shudders as she remembers the torture her family had been put through because the information Barty, and Regulus had been fed had been fake. She can still hear her siblings screams for mercy. The fact that none of them made it out except for her attested to the fact that both Barty and Regulus cared more for her than they did for their own safety. Or maybe they were more convinced that she could provide useful information and had convinced He Must Not Be Named that she was useful too. Either way she'd lived through the night and started giving useful information from then on.
"I'm 100 percent sure, Reg," Marlene told the younger man. "They said it right there in front of everyone. They're all so sure that everyone in the Order is with them. They didn't even think twice about it."
"You did good, Mar," Barty tells her using her childhood nickname which still somewhat stings because her older brother was the one who'd given her the nickname.
They lapse into silence as they eat. Each them thinking about what was happening. Thought of what was going to happen once Peter Pettigrew was coerced into joining the ranks of Death Eaters. A smile stretched Barty's face as he looked longingly at both Regulus and Marlene. Marlene downed her glass of wine and poured another one. If she drank enough the guilt would go away.
Regulus, who has never had an alcohol tolerance, leans over and kisses her sloppily and dinner is left unfinished on the table. Because both Regulus, and Barty would rather the other sort of entertainment. The kind that makes her feel good and takes even more the edge off her.
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Marlene wakes up the next morning in a tangle of arms and legs to the beginning of a new day. Looking at her arm and the big glaring symbol of her betrayal of her friends she wonders if today will be the day the illusion ends. If today would be the day all her friends and the people she cares or once cared about would find out who she truly was.
She disentangles herself from the midst of the pile and begins to dress. Going for comfort over fashion which was something that Regulus had loved about her. She's so distracted that she doesn't notice Regulus is watching her in the mirror and can read the guilt on her face.
"Do they know?" he asks his voice sounding so much like her ex, his brother Sirius, that's it not even funny. "About you that is?"
She shakes her knowing it's more thank likely the truth of the matter. "I don't think so," she tells him. "I hope not at least. I don't think I can take the looks they'd give if they did."
"Don't worry," Barty drawls as watches walk out the door, "you are and always have been the master of illusions."
I hope you all enjoyed The Second Spy.