The school year had ended and both Regulus and Amaryllis were back at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. While both of them were glad to be back in the townhouse they were also a little upset that they could no longer spend time together as easily.

Walburga had been on both their cases about maintaining a proper image. She had been keeping a close eye on Amaryllis making sure that the girl wasn't doing anything that could be perceived as improper for a girl of her age.

Amaryllis had been acting exactly as she had been told. There was none of the small drops of character than she sometimes had while at Hogwarts. While at Grimmauld Place she was the perfect pureblood girl.

After informing Evan of their wish to join the Dark Lord Regulus and Amaryllis were directed to speak to Rabastan.

Rabastan was not surprised when he saw Amaryllis beside Regulus. After suspecting something between the two months earlier he had guessed that Regulus would consult Amaryllis about his decision and Amaryllis being the person she was would stand beside him.

Rabastan had been the one to inform the Dark Lord of their interest in his cause. While Regulus had obviously been on the Dark Lord's watchlist he'd been curious about Amaryllis having only heard of her in passing comments. The fact that they were both prepared to join him made him curious as to what there was with this mysterious girl.

They were a few days in to the summer break when both Regulus and Amaryllis received letters requesting their presence at a meeting. Upon seeing her letter Amaryllis went straight to Regulus' room to see if he got one two. They met in the hallway having both had the same idea. Upon seeing the piece of parchment clutched in the other's hand neither said anything. They just looked at one another knowingly.

It was later that day that they decided they needed to inform both of Regulus' parents about what they had done and what was expected of them.

That night at dinner they each sat in their seats. Regulus had long ago assumed Sirius' seat when he began to disgrace the Black name and Sirius had been placed in Regulus' old seat. When Sirius had up and left the previous summer Amaryllis had been told to take the seat Sirius had been in, Regulus' original seat. She had, up until then, been sitting in another empty seat at the table which was not part of an assumed position in the house.

As they ate in silence they Amaryllis and Regulus attempted to have a silent conversation with one another using only their expressions. Eventually Regulus decided it was time to speak up.

"Mother, Father, both Amaryllis and I would like to inform you that we have been invited to a meeting with the Dark Lord." Regulus said having fallen back into the proper way of speaking upon seeing his mother's tight lipped expression at the station.

"Oh, that's wonderful." Walburga said smiling at the two.

It was the first real emotion Amaryllis had seen from the woman, aside from the anger directed at Sirius that was. She was surprised by the smile she was receiving. She didn't realise the support she was going to receive for this leaving her rather shocked.

"When is this meeting?" Orion Black asked.

This was the first time Amaryllis had ever been involved in a conversation with Regulus' father. There had never been anything for her to converse with him about last break and now that she had the chance to she felt rather nervous. Regulus gave her an encouraging look urging her to tell his parents about their letters.

"The meeting is on Tuesday." Amaryllis said.

Regulus smiled at her. He could tell she was nervous about speaking to his parents together.

"Bellatrix and Rodolphus are coming to collect us as neither of us can apparate as of yet and we have also not been informed of the location." Regulus explained.

He thought it best to tell his parents of the expected guests. That way it wouldn't come as a shock when they arrived on Tuesday. Although, Amaryllis was fairly certain that Walburga would know why those two specifically had come to the house.

Walburga remained smiling throughout the rest of the meal although the conversation died after that. Orion seemed mildly happier than he had been at the start of the meal although his happiness wasn't as evident as his wife's.

It was the middle of the day when Bellatrix and Rodolphus arrived at Grimmauld Place to collect Amaryllis and Regulus. The two sixteen-year-olds were nervous. They didn't know what to expect.

Amaryllis had taken to ranking her apparation trips. Currently Narcissa was the best. She was so soft and it wasn't too terrible to travel with her. After this trip she would place Bellatrix in the middle. While it was rather rough it still wasn't the worst. Travelling with Walburga was awful. The whole experience made her feel sick. Even thinking about it made her fear she might lose her last meal.

When they arrived at the location Regulus and Rodolphus were already there waiting out the front. Regulus sent her a small smile of encouragement. They knew they needed to be strong to stand in front of this man.

The door to the giant manor in front of them opened. They weren't sure as to where they were. It seemed strange. The manor was nothing like the Malfoy Manor that Amaryllis remember from the Christmas Ball. It had some sort of normalcy that Amaryllis remembered from her old life.

They entered a large room. Regulus knew it much be the Drawing Room. Amaryllis had no such knowledge.

At the front of the room stood a man who looked one part handsome and four parts terrifying. He stood in front of everyone towering over the group, which he would have done even if he wasn't standing on a small raised section at the front of the room.

His skin was pale, paler than anyone Amaryllis had ever seen before, making the contrast between his skin and his dark hair even greater. His eyes, which stared into everyone who stood before him, appeared bloodshot. There was no deny that this was the Dark Lord.

"Welcome." He said in loud smooth voice.

Any small conversations that had been occurring between the small groups ceased immediately. No one dared say anything.

Amaryllis and Regulus were on the edge of the group. They weren't sure where they were meant to stand and therefore had taken to following Bellatrix and Rodolphus although, not to the inner circle.

"My Lord, we have brought with us Regulus Black, heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and his betrothed, Amaryllis Merrin." Bellatrix told the Dark Lord.

Upon hearing this Regulus turned to glare at Amaryllis who tried her hardest to avoid his gaze. He was mad and she knew it. She really didn't want to talk about this here.

"Come forward." He said to the teenagers.

Regulus pushed aside the fact that she had in fact lied to him, the two of them stepped forward. As they reached the spot in front of him where he willed them to stand they bowed knowing that it was probably the best thing for them to do in that situation.

"You wish you join us." He stated.

"Yes, My Lord." They both said.

The Dark Lord looked over the teenagers. The boy was of a noble house. The would one day be joined to him. They could provide an heir for the House of Black. It would be useful to have them on his side. He looked over at one of his followers who walked out of the room and came back dragging a girl after him.

When Amaryllis noticed who it was she tried her hardest not to gasp. She knew who the girl was. Of course she would recoginse her. After nearly a year of being in a place you begin to recoginse the people who reside there. The girl who was thrown on the floor before was a Hufflepuff girl in their year, Lindy Wilson.

Regulus took a hold of Amaryllis' hand knowing she hadn't expect this. He felt bad now for not informing her of what they would actually be getting themselves into.

"You know this girl?" The Dark Lord asked them, even though he knew they did. As he spoke he glanced down at Lindy in disgust.

"She is in our year at Hogwarts." Amaryllis said knowing that if there was anyone she shouldn't lie to it was this man in front of her. "Although she is in Hufflepuff."

Knowing how she was expected to act she had added the girl's house with a tone that showed her disapproval. The Dark Lord looked approvingly at her showing his approval of her tone.

"This Mudblood, along with many others, is polluting the Wizarding population." He told the teenagers.

They both watched waiting for them to be told to speak. After watching them for a moment it seemed to Amaryllis that he was waiting for something.

"Where I'm from the Mudbloods are not part of the community." She told him firmly. "However we did have one mistake. We let them live freely. They destroyed my family. I hold all Mudbloods accountable."

A strange smile appeared on the Dark Lord's face. He was looking at Amaryllis. What she didn't know was that he was searching mind looking for any shred of doubt in her words. After a moment he stopped searching. A teenage girl's mind was not a place he found very pleasant to be in.

He watched both Amaryllis and Regulus for a while. They stood in front of him not saying anything. She had said all she felt she needed to say.

Amaryllis watched as he turned away from them and sent a curse towards Lindy who by this point was whimpering on the floor. Even Amaryllis, who had been a compassionate person, was starting to become irritated at the noise. The curse silenced the girl. Amaryllis watched in horror as her body slumped over without any more sound or movement. She knew then that the Lindy Wilson was dead.

After that both Regulus and Amaryllis were intrusted to move closer to the Dark Lord one at a time. Amaryllis was called forward first. When she stepped up she was asked to present her left arm. She loosened the cuff of her shirt and pushed the sleeve up past her elbow extending her arm out to the man in front of her.

He took hold of it and pressed his wand to her arm. A burning pain seared through her arm. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth in an attempt to not cry out in pain. Eventually it stopped leaving only a light burning in her arm.

As she looked down at it, her eyes watering slightly from the intense pain, she saw a vivid red mark. The mark on her arm was a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. She found it intricate design and detailing of the mark strangely beautiful. She stepped back when she was told however her gaze didn't lift from her arm.

Regulus stepped forward following after Amaryllis. As he was marked he struggled to control his reaction to the pain the way she had. He let out a small cry of pain causing Amaryllis to look up from her arm at him. Although she wished to run forward to help him she knew better and stayed back in her place.

When he was sent back to stand beside her once again she reached over and grabbed his hand giving it a small squeeze of support. He gave her a glance and a small smile.

They stepped back into the small crowd and listened throughout the rest of the meeting, their hands still joined, without saying another word. After the meeting was over Bellatrix and Rodolphus took them back to Grimmauld Place where, unfortunately for Amaryllis, all hell broke loose.

"You lied to me." Regulus yelled at Amaryllis having dragged her to her room and slammed the door closed.

Amaryllis didn't know it but he had gotten Kreacher to silence the room and stay on guard to warn him if his mother was coming.

"I didn't lie." She defended. "I just manipulated the facts to keep you from figuring it out."

"You lied to me." He said. "When I asked if the boy you were betrothed to knew about it you said you didn't know when you obviously knew that I was oblivious. That's not manipulating the facts. That's called lying Amaryllis."

"I couldn't have you figuring it out or assuming anything." She explained. "If your mother had found out I didn't follow her instructions then what would have happened?"

"You would have said I figured it out on my own." He told her through gritted teeth. "Or that the one person who you had confided in had told me."

"I was unaware of the fact that you were supposed to be informed about everything." She explained. "Why can't you just accept that I made a mistake with this? Let's just move on. It's not going to do us any good to be fighting."

Regulus looked her over. Amaryllis was obviously feeling guilty. She hadn't wanted to lie to him.

"Are you sure it wasn't just some ploy to try to get out of it?" He asked her.

"Is that what you think?" She responded. "If I wanted out I would have told you."

The two glared at one another. It was clear that neither of them had actually decided what they wanted, not that they had much choice in the overall matter.

"Maybe we should try to find other people." He suggested.

"What?" She asked.

"We should try to date other purebloods." He said.

Amaryllis just stared in shock. Regulus didn't want to marry her.

"If that's what you really want." She said. "I'll give it a go. Perhaps then you'll get your wish and we won't have to marry. Wouldn't want to force you to be stuck with me when you didn't want to."

"You know I don't mean it like that Amy." He said.

"Sometimes I don't know what you mean at all." She told him. "Now leave. I need some time alone."

Regulus didn't say anything. It was clear to him that she was mad. He didn't want to do anything else to cross her. He knew it was the worst thing he could do at that moment and there was no way he was risking her anger.

After leaving her room he headed back to his room. He wondered if he'd made the right choice. She did lie to him. He was only thinking rationally. He didn't want to marry someone who could lie with such ease and would use it against him.

Then thinking over it again, he didn't know if he wanted to marry anyone else. But he was doing this for her. There were better options for her than him. She would find someone who actually loved her because he knew that was what she wanted.