Finally presenting Chapter Nine! My apologies for the delay; real life reared its ugly head and sent the Ravenhill family into crisis mode for a little while. Luckily things seemed to have worked out to a happy ending, and finally I feel a bit back to normal (and have my writing spirit back – it disappeared for a while there). I had to do some more edits than normal to this chapter, which is another reason it took a while. But we're winding down in the story now. There's still a few chapters left, and some major developments to come, but we're reaching the home stretch here.

Before we get to the story, please indulge my author's notes. First, I'd like to thank everyone who's left a review to this story. I know I'm really not the greatest at responding to feedback (Peanut gallery: "Understatement!"), but please be assured that I appreciate and cherish every single word. So here I'd like to say thanks to all the reviewers: Nemainofthewater, Spacehead3, Lamia/so_kiss_me_goodbye, surxi25, paradancer, BeshterAngelus, sacredpools, Lyo, Mel, and the anonymous commenter. Thank you for sticking with me. :)

Second, to answer a couple of questions that have popped up in the reviews – this is NOT an unfinished fic. I'm still in the process of editing, and I'm not the fastest updater in the world, but the story is written to the point where I feel more than comfortable putting the 'complete' label on it. :)

Lyo, to answer your question if we're going to see more people from HP or XF – who says we haven't seen them already? Stick around for chapter ten and it'll become clearer. As for the Anchoress, she's kinda sorta in 'Good Omens', but not really. Let's call her a public domain character that I put my own twist on. For more details, see part two of the prequel story, 'The Consequences of Bloody Manchester'.

Okay, on with the show. Just a slight word of warning, this chapter may get a little more romantic than the rest. Let me know if I should change the tag to romance, 'kay?

Chapter Nine: Unintended Plans

Regulus sat in the bed, watching Samantha sleep soundly next to him. They'd received one more piece of the puzzle, and the picture was almost complete. Now, thanks to stubbornness and an almost perverse will to live they had a road map and a potential vehicle with which to get back to Earth. The only problem now was that Regulus wasn't quite sure he wanted to go.

Samantha's memories of her childhood back home differed greatly from his. She spoke of a time when she had felt loved and cared for, and even though things were bad at the end, the hope that someone would be there to welcome her back never seemed to die. Regulus wasn't sure what was back on Earth for him. Yes, there was that mysterious father figure lurking out there, but was finding an answer as to why his eyes went funny sometimes a good reason to make the hard journey back? If he found any of his old 'friends' they'd probably kill him again for turning traitor, and the Black family wasn't exactly known for their depth of kind emotions toward their kin…or their sanity, really. And if his biological father was a real demon, that didn't exactly bode well either. A rock and a hard place, truly.

There was the chance for even more power here, offered by the well-dressed demon. Slytherins gravitated to power like nifflers to gold, and the thought of being able to make a whole world exactly as he'd wanted could satisfy one of those yawning holes inside him. But he promised himself that he'd think long and hard over the Anchoress's warnings. He may be ambitious, but he wasn't stupid. And that dapper man always made him feel like something was crawling inside his stomach. Would he be able to live with his afterlife if he made that deal?

Samantha shifted a little, sighing deeply. She curled into his leg, a hand falling on his bare knee. A little smile spread across his face. Maybe that was why going back wasn't such a bad idea. If they both went, at least they would be in the whole thing together. Even if he had that power to remake the wasteland as he wanted no amount of magic would be able to make Samantha want to stay in the City. And Regulus certainly didn't like the idea of Samantha being on her own out there. They were always stronger together.

He reached down and moved some hair off of her face. Her eyes flew open, rolling for a moment until they focused on Regulus. His smile just grew wider as he kept brushing back her hair. "What is it?" she mumbled, pushing herself upright.

"Let's go to the water," Regulus said.

Samantha bit her lip, but he could clearly see the anticipation and hope in her eyes. She never was good at hiding her emotions. "All right," she replied. "Let's do it. But can I get some coffee first?"

"Get dressed and I'll do up a pot."

"Okay," Regulus said, staring down the road framed by the dull skyscrapers. This was the way. Any lingering doubts had faded fast. He held his hand out behind him and Samantha grasped it tightly, trusting him to guide them.

Slowly, steadily they walked down the street, ignoring the slightly odd looks they got from the occasional beings they passed. Soon enough Regulus spotted the sights from his last trip that way; the buildings morphing into the rundown shacks with their swinging doors. Samantha kicked at some stray pebbles in the street, watching them as they skittered into the cracks. With her free hand she pulled her coat tighter around her (Reg had warned her that the weather was a little more…lively out this way) and turned her nose into the wind. "I've missed that smell," she sighed happily.

"The smell of dead fish you mean? Ow!"

"That's what happens when you make fun of me, you stub your toe." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I meant the smell of the sea, you dork. I remember I grew up by the ocean, on a small island actually. And then for summer we had a house by the beach too. Feels like home again."

"This city boy died on the beach. First time in my life I had ever been to water like that, and I knew as soon as I set foot on those rocks that I was going to die there." Regulus slowed down a bit as he spoke, his fingers trailing along the peeling paint of a railing.

"I'm sorry," Samantha said, stopping and wrapping herself around his arm.

Regulus shrugged and smiled suddenly and brightly, as if someone flipped a switch and made the sun come out. "It's all in the past." He took her hands in his and tugged. "Come on, it's this way!" Samantha just giggled and followed, feeling inexplicably giddy.

When the sea came into view she gasped. The waves were soft and grey, lapping languidly along the shoreline. On the horizon a few storm clouds gathered and waited, twisting around each other in a roiling mass. "It's beautiful," she sighed, feeling Regulus come up behind her.

"Dangerous, but beautiful." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, feeling her pressed against him. "In order to get back, I think we've got to go over that, through the storm, and past the horizon."

"Do you think we'll be able to?" Samantha leant her head back against his shoulder. "It looks like it's going to be awfully difficult to get there."

"No one said it was going to be easy," Regulus whispered, rubbing his face gently against her to try and relieve some of the tension that was suddenly racing through her body. "But has that ever stopped us before?"

Samantha quirked her lips, the ghost of a grin. "Nope. So we're going home, aren't we?"

"We're going home."

This time, she kissed him, moving her head just a fraction to the left and pressing her lips to his. Regulus tightened his arms, not wanting to let go. It was all soft and warm, and so alive. It had been far too long since he had experienced something like this, made all the better because it was her. And really, it was about damn time.

"Um, Reg?" she mumbled against his lips, twisting in his arms to fully face him.

"Huh?"

"How are we going to get over the water?" she asked, not letting go of him.

He shook his head briefly, but then got a bit of a demonic (but strangely enough, not in a bad way) look in his eyes. He freed up a hand and dug his wand out from where it had been shoved in his belt. "Before you woke up this morning, I was taking a look at the book the Anchoress gave us. One bit describes all the parts of a boat and how it all fits together." He flicked the wand at a piece of driftwood, transfiguring it into the rather rough approximation of the hull of a ship.

"Huh," Samantha said, clearly impressed (or maybe a little kiss dazed. The verdict was still out).

"It'll take us some time, but I figure between the two of us, we can have a cracking boat by the end of it."

"That is the best idea I've heard in a very long time."

The breeze kicked up again, sending sea spray soaking into their trousers. "Okay, unless we want to get stuck in another weird apparition thing, we need to leave now," Regulus said, taking a few quick steps back and bringing Samantha with him.

"Whaaa?"

There seemed to be something different in the air of the flat that night. It was something shimmery and effervescent, like Samantha had decided to go swimming in a pool full of champagne. She wasn't all that experienced with champagne, but her imagination had a fun time filling in the blanks. There was determination as well, Samantha thought, stealing a quick glance at Reg sitting on the other side of the couch. Now, she continued thinking, just maybe I can have it all. I can go home, and I can have Reg by my side as well. Not that he wasn't going to go with her, but it felt like what had happened on the beach was a true promise of things to come.

And then she felt like she was eight years old again. This whole relationship thing was such a new concept to her. Being abducted by the walk-ins at the age of fourteen left little time for learning how to handle the intricacies of the dating scene. Were they even really dating? They'd already known each other for what was probably decades, and dating seemed like something that high school kids on those stupid TV shows that the Wasteland always seemed to feature on the idiot box. Because frankly, she didn't have a clue where to go next. The box may have been enlightening on so many things, including some odd sexual practices she wouldn't even dare to try, but realism wasn't its strongest feature.

Oh, maybe honesty would just be the easiest option. She could do honesty.

"Reg?"

He looked up from the 'Boating for Dummies' guide. "Yeah?"

"Okay, this is gonna sound really weird." Samantha trailed off and stalled, seeming to have a bit of trouble with the words.

Regulus chucked the book onto the coffee table, then stretched forward to take her hand, grinning all the while. "What is it?"

Deep breath, Sammie girl, you can do this. "Can I…can I kiss you again?"

His grin softened and became even more affectionate, if that was even possible. "I'd like that," he said, leaning back into the corner of the couch and pulling her forward at the same time.

Samantha crawled over until their knees were practically touching. From this angle she was just slightly taller than he was. There was a strange sense of power right then, she thought, and realized that she felt more alive than she could ever remember being.

The first touch was soft and delicate, lips just barely brushing against each other. Samantha could feel one of Regulus' hands begin to creep into her hair, and his other arms was making its way around her waist. 'Okay, should do something with my hands,' she thought, eventually settling them on the back of his neck. She gasped a shaky, shuddering breath when she felt Regulus' tongue briefly glide across her lower lip. That had to have been a good sign.

Then, he pulled away. "What?" Samantha asked, opening her eyes blearily.

Regulus smiled up at her, and ran his hand through her long hair again. "Sam, love," he said, "stop over-thinking it."

"Okay…"

"Just feel," he whispered, pulling her down once more.

Within a month, they packed up the flat and moved into the ruins of the old church, feeling it would be a far better spot to try and craft a boat in. Both felt a few pangs of emotion due to leaving behind the place they had dwelled in for so long, but they were pushed aside with thoughts of moving onto someplace safer, and something better.

Over time, a boat began to form from the bits of detritus they'd collected. The hull was sturdy golden wood, and large enough to fit several small but comfortable rooms inside. Regulus's project for the day was creating those inner walls, while Samantha attempted to catalogue supplies.

"I managed to get a bunch of canned soups," she said, dumping them in one of the side chapels they had declared their storeroom. "I'll have to make a few more trips back though. D' you think there's a chance we could maybe get chickens or a goat for the trip?" Regulus just grunted in reply, too preoccupied by the plank that had just fallen on his thumb.

Samantha wandered over to what had been the Anchoress's room. By the time they had returned to the ruins the Anchoress had vanished, leaving behind a note telling them to avail themselves of the entertainment and supplies there. Samantha ventured in through the door that had suddenly appeared in the bars, picked her way over to the music collection, and pulled the beanbag over. She flipped through the myriad jewel cases, searching through them.

"Whatcha doing?" Regulus asked as he walked in and slumped over ungracefully on the beanbag.

She shoved him, wrinkling her nose. "Ooh, you reek! Go take a shower, will you?"

"Evanesco."

"That doesn't count!"

"Oi, yes it does!"

"You've still got a bit of that eau de sweat about you, so no, it doesn't count."

"Fussy."

"You love it."

Regulus wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and ignoring the smirk on her face. "So what are you looking for?"

"That album I told you about a while ago. Didn't think I'd get my hands on some real music so soon, but there you have it." Samantha shuffled through some more cases then tossed them onto the rapidly growing stack on the floor.

"I thought you said you didn't remember the name of it."

"True, but even with the holes in my memory it's really hard to forget a cover involving four men pissing on a concrete block." She sighed heavily and tossed some more down. "Doesn't look like she had a copy of it."

"It's all right." He pecked her quickly on the cheek. "We can find it when we get back home."

"I hope so."

Regulus looked down at Samantha, who had given up the hunt and was flipping on the stereo to whatever radio station would come through the static. "So I was looking through that book again, and they had something called a powerboat in there…" he mentioned casually.

Samantha quirked an eyebrow in his direction. "Why does the thought of you with a super-powered boat engine make me slightly nervous?" She shrugged. "Still, I'd bet we'd have better luck getting across an ocean with a motor than just sails. I think you'll have to change the design a bit though."

Regulus twirled his wand around his fingertips. "Leave that to me. You know, you'd be surprised at what's in there."

"Considering who gave us that book, I don't think I would be."

They lay there for a few minutes, drifting in a haze of exhaustion and music. Even with the proper spells, building a ship was an arduous task. There was a low noise, so far in the distance that Regulus could barely hear the sound over the blaring radio. But still, he sat up and turned his gaze outside. "I could have sworn I just heard thunder," he said.

Samantha leaned her head back, squishing the beanbag in enough so that she could see outside the cell without moving too far. "Are you sure? It could have just been static." The radio kept wavering between bursts of eerie, old-fashioned music and staticky electric noises that were unsettling at the best of times.

He shook his head and got to his feet, going to the doorway. With a wave of his wand the radio shut off, leaving them in silence. "No, that was definitely thunder. And the wind's picking up too." Regulus brushed some suddenly ruffled hair out of his face. Something was coming, and faster than they had anticipated. "You know, we've still got a few hours of light left. I think I'm going to try and make some headway on that engine."

"Good idea," Samantha agreed. She went back to the stocked up goods and began to pack them away in boxes for the trip.

So, thoughts, comments, questions? Let me know!

Thanks for reading!