A/N: Hi everyone! didn't think i would, but i've managed to write one last chapter before Christmas, so here it is! i think it's the longest chapter i've written in ages to be honest. yay! hope you like it, & thanks for all the reviews and new reviewers i've had lately, great to hear from you lot!

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything cool. :(

Chapter Thirty – Six

"On Saturday, we lost a very special witch. She will be sorely missed by us all, as will her baby, whose chance of life was torn away by the very people who bring us together to fight. But we must not let this discourage us. We should take from it the strength and the drive to keep fighting, and bring Lord Voldemort and his followers down. I urge every single one of you to be vigilant. We are now being targeted as individuals. Jane was at home, cooking, spending time with her friends and family. She was not fighting. Her murder was in cold blood. From here on, we fight for Janie, her son or daughter, every single person that Voldemort has hurt or killed, and for the world as we know it." – Dumbledore.

I jolted awake. The room was dark, Sirius' arm was curled round my waist. I felt something. There was a gentle pressure on my finger. It came again, and my eyes adjusted to the darkness to see a figure standing next to the bed. I reached for my wand on the bedside table.

"It's me." Regulus whispered, "Put this on."

Sighing in relief, I gently slid Sirius' arm off me and got out of bed, careful not to disturb him. I put on my tracksuit bottoms and hoody Reg held out for me, and followed him out of the bedroom silently.

"Sorry." He whispered, taking my hand. We Apparated to a small village lane. Leaved crunched under our feet in the silence of the night as he led me into a little country pub, and straight to a table at the back.

"Sorry. It's the only way I could think of." Regulus smiled apologetically.

"It's okay." I smiled, wiping sleep from my eyes.

"I didn't want to disturb you, you look so beautiful when you sleep." He said, leaning his elbows on the table. It was good to see him in normal clothes instead of those awful Death Eater robes.

"But you pinched my finger anyway?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Well… I didn't want to startle you. You might've woken Sirius."

"Fair enough." I shrugged.

"So. I heard about your friend, Janie." Regulus said, reaching across the table to hold my hand. I took a breath, the familiar lump returning to my throat.

"I'm very sorry. She was a good person." Regulus said softly. I held tight to his hand. The feeling of his hand in mine brought more comfort than I would have ever expected.

"She was." I managed to say.

"Remus must be devastated… his girlfriend and his child… gone." He shook his head, his eyes taking on a faraway look.

"He is. We all are." I whispered. Regulus squeezed my hand gently.

"Can I ask… who was it?" he asked carefully.

"Rosier… and Avery." I said. Regulus nodded, his expression never changing, but his eyes darkening.

"Can I get you a drink, my dears?" a woman with a kind smile and rosy cheeks stopped by our table.

"Um, sure." I looked pointedly at Regulus.

"Yes, what do you recommend?" he asked smoothly. I imagined he'd never been in a muggle pub before, but he certainly didn't give it away.

"Well, we certainly do a lovely beer here, and I rather like the white wine myself." She laughed, showing a set of wonky teeth.

"Okay, well I'll have one beer and a wine, please." Regulus smiled, and the old woman hummed cheerfully to herself as she returned to the bar for our drinks.

"Charmer." I remarked. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"I saw you flash her your best smile." I teased.

"I certainly don't know what you're talking about." He said, returning my gaze without faltering. The low light of the bar cast shadows across his face. In some ways, he hadn't changed. Yet in the light I could see faint scars on his face, the slight swelling above his eyebrow, the hint of a previous break to his aristocratic nose.

Regulus leant closer across the table, sweeping a stray strand of hair from my face.

"I - shit." Regulus' face dropped in horror as his eyes fixed on the door behind me, and his hand shot across the table to grab mine.

The sudden Apparation made my stomach lurch, and I stumbled as we landed in an unfamiliar street.

"They found us. I'm sorry, I had to act quickly. Are you okay?" Regulus looked worried as he put an arm round my waist to steady me.

"I'm fine, fine. Who? Who found us?" I asked worriedly.

"Lestrange… Shit, shit…" Regulus muttered, squeezing his eyes shut like he was thinking hard.

"It's okay, we got away?"

"No I know… but they saw you. I've just put you in so much more danger." Regulus pulled me in close and rested my head on his chest.

"Shit… I should take you home." He groaned.

"Please don't, not yet." I said quietly. Neither of us spoke for a moment.

"I don't want to take you home, believe me. I want to take you away, somewhere we can be safe. I want you with me every second for the rest of my life."

"I want that too."

"But it's too dangerous. There's nowhere safe for us. Not while Voldemort lives."

"I don't care about being safe!" I grabbed his jacket and reached up on tiptoes to kiss him.

"Well I do." He replied breathlessly. "Right now, my brother – I hate to say it of course I do – but he is the only person who can keep you safe right now."

"I don't want to be safe, I want to be with you." I insisted.

"I want you with me too! But what about the Order? If you're with me, we'd constantly be hiding. In the Order, they can help keep you safe, and you can help fight. And what about Sirius?"

"I don't care. It doesn't matter." I said stubbornly, but I knew he was right.

"Don't lie to me Roe, I know you have feelings for him." Regulus said, his jaw set.

"I… I love you." I breathed, my stomach rolling over.

"I know you love me, that's not what I'm saying."

"I love him too…" I said, as if I was realizing it for the first time. "But not like this. Not like you."

"That's what I thought. I suppose I should be glad." Regulus half-smiled. "He always got in the way."

"He's been good to me." I told him.

"Yes. And things are going to stay that way until this war is over."

"I can't pretend Reg…"

"You don't need to pretend." He reasoned. His arms were still around me, but I shivered from the cold. He was right, completely.

"Why do you know everything?" I grumbled.

"I don't. I just know you." He said, stroking a thumb across my cheek gently.

"Doesn't it hurt?" I asked.

"What hurt?"

"Seeing your brother with me?" I knew the answer of course, but I needed to hear it from him.

"It hurts a lot more than you being with any other man on the planet. But then again, I couldn't trust anyone else more than I trust him." Regulus said quietly.

"How can you be so trusting?"

"Well, you're not serious, are you?" Regulus asked, slightly worriedly.

"Er…"

"Sorry, don't answer that." Regulus looked away.

"No, it's okay. We're not serious. We've been together a while, we live together, but… we haven't…"

"Really?" Regulus asked incredulously. "Sorry, sorry…"

"No, we haven't." I said, my cheeks heating up.

"Well, uh, good." Regulus said, and I was surprised to see a light blush on his usually pale face. We stood there in the middle of the street, blushing like schoolchildren in each others arms.

"It's past your bedtime." Regulus softly changed the subject.

"It is." I smiled sadly.

"Let's get you home then…"

"Not yet!" I protested.

"It's cold! And Sirius'll wake up soon, and you're a bad enough liar as it is." Regulus said, and I stuck out my tongue.

"Hold on…" he whispered, and we Disapparated.

"Oops!" I suppressed a giggle as we appeared in my own sitting room and I stepped backwards and bumped into the armchair.

"Sssh!" Regulus pressed a finger to my lips. In the dark, I felt my way back to the bedroom door.

"Come back for me soon." I whispered, my lips close to his ear.

"Before you know it." He promised, and I felt his lips touch mine briefly, before he disappeared with a crack.

Silently, I edged the door open and slipped through, taking off my clothes and throwing them on the chair. Tiptoeing across the carpet, I pulled back the duvet and climbed back into bed. Sirius grunted in his sleep and turned over, his arm draping back over me like I'd never been away. However I didn't fall back asleep, and in the arms of the brother of the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, I watched the light of dawn slowly creep into the room.

A/N: i've got to say, i would to wake up and find Reg under my tree in the morning ;) but i guess not. i'm getting a camera instead. :P

Merry Christmas everyone! i'll update in a few days or maybe sooner, i can't seem to leave this story alone at the moment!

-DaizeeG

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