Regulus and Severus were leading a team of young Death Eaters to a mass murder mission in a busy Department Store located in the heart of London. The mission was one of the series of attacks that their Lord had planned for that cold Christmas Eve. They were supposed to kill as many muggles they could, collect their bodies and run away before the Ministry officials or the Order nosey members arrived. The rumour was that the Dark Lord was planning to form an Inferius Army with these bodies, and what a better place to find crowds of Muggles than inside busy stores where muggles were doing their last minute Christmas shopping? There were seven attacks happening simultaneously in London. At that particular one, Regulus was the responsible for collecting the bodies from the carnage left behind by placing them inside an extendable trunk, while Severus was there ensuring that every new recruit would be out there killing as many muggles as possible.

Regulus was really glad that he was not the one doing the carnage killing that day, as his stomach as turning over just with the sight of the whole thing. Every time he saw a woman that was about Annabelle's age, his chest would ache in pain until he confirmed that it wasn't her body that he was putting inside his trunk. He knew that she was perfectly safe inside her parents' house that evening. She had told him about her plans for her Christmas Eve during their previous night. But he could not help but wonder... what if? What if she had suddenly remembered the last minute present and decided to go out to that very same shop, or to any of the others their Lord had chosen as a target? What if?

It was when he spotted a young teenager girl hiding under the counter. Her hair was the same shade of Anna's, but much shorter. He noticed that she was with child. He looked deep inside her pleading eyes before he raised his own wand straight to her face and did cast a silent privacy spell that would make it harder for the other Death Eaters to notice her presence. However, he looked behind and saw Snape observing him with an interesting expression on his face. Severus approached him and said.

"We should pack up and leave. We've been here for more than five minutes... the Ministry officials could be coming soon..."

"I agree," Regulus nodded, "I believe we have more than enough here..." he informed his friend as he pointed to his school trunk. Both young man then ordered the Death Eaters under their command to stop the carnage and help them out to collect the bodies. They left the store in a complete success, collecting eighty-three bodies with them before any Ministry official had arrived.

Regulus had to use all his Slytherin politics training and Occlumency skills to hide his true feelings about the mission when he presented the Dark Lord with a case full of dead bodies. He felt happy that he wasn't requested to stay much longer, as were others groups who had failed in their mission as the Ministry officials had chosen to drop by on their store a little bit earlier. Regulus left the Lestrange Manor feeling extremely sick after having witnessed some Death Eaters been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse.

The heavy and cold rain was falling from the sky when Regulus apparated back to his childhood neighbourhood, but he didn't lift a single finger to protect himself from the rain. His heart was beating fast, and his mind was full of racing thoughts about Annabelle White. He looked like a wet dog, running down the pouring rain, but Regulus couldn't care less. He had to see her. He had to know if Anna was all right. If his Anna was all right.

He then started to cry ashamed of the things that he had been doing as a Death Eater. What would she say if she knew the things that he had done? Would she still be willing to stay with him if she knew about all Muggles he had helped to kill that evening? Because even though he had not done any killing that night, he still had aided the group. He was the one who shoved their lifeless bodies inside his old trunk as if they were nothing but a bunch of dead animals. And he had killed before. And he had also tortured. He had done things just because he had previously believed that wizards were superior to muggles. Oh, the irony! Now he felt dirty… contaminated, undeserving of both her love and forgiveness.

His feet took him to the doorstep of her house. And with the aid of his magic, helped himself to her bedroom once again. To his relief, she was there, safe and sound. But verifying that she still lived, did not make him feel much better. She was sitting down in an armchair reading a book that he recognised as one of those she had previously lent to him - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

She immediately noticed his arrival as well as the terrible state that he was in. Not that it was hard for anyone to notice that he looked like he had just decided to have a friendly brawl with the giant squid and lost. He left himself fall on the floor, and he covered his face in a kneeling position. She immediately let her book slip from her fingers and stood up to better aid him. Only there she noticed that he was sobbing.

"Reggie… Regulus…? Are you all right? What happened, my love?" Annabelle said kneeling next to him, stroking his hair.

There were a long few minutes where he did nothing but cry on her arms. She embraced him, harbouring him as if he was a child. It took a while until he calmed himself down enough to be able to express himself in words once again.

"I… I don't deserve you…" his hands were shaking "you are… so good, so pure, an angel… and I… I'm a monster"

"Shhhh, Regulus, you are not a monster…" She said bringing his head near to her chest. "You had a disturbed conception of the world and some strong disturbing values, but you have grown out of them now…"

"Anna… you don't know what I have done tonight. Have you heard the news? They must have reached even the muggle press by now. So many muggles died this afternoon, Anna… and I didn't do anything to stop it."

"What have you done Regulus…?" her eyes were wide open with this new revelation.

"The Dark Lord ordered us... to perform a series of attacks tonight across the city…"

"Attacks?"

"Yes… the word has that he wants to build an Inferius army, so he needs..."

"The bodies." Annabelle completed his sentence for him. She remembered reading about Inferius on the first book that Regulus had unintentionally swapped with her. "Gosh, Reggie! How many died?"

"In total, it was almost five hundred bodies. The team that I helped to lead killed eighty-three non-magical people in total," he said avoiding looking her in the eyes. She raised both of her hands to cover her mount which she had opened widely in total shock. It took her a while before she could recompose herself and ask.

"What... what does he need that for?" she asked him unsure if she really wanted to learn the answer to her question.

"I have no idea, but I'm sure it is unlikely to be a good thing." he declared as he moved away from her "I'm embarrassed to have ever believed for a second that following his footsteps was the right thing to do. I'm so... ashamed of my own actions, Anna. I am not asking for forgiveness... I don't deserve it. I just wish there was a way out of this cursed Death Eater's life!"

But for his surprise, she walked to the spot where he was now standing and hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead tenderly.

"Your actions weren't noble Regulus, that is for sure. But I'm here for you, I will help you come out of this cursed life."

"What did I do to deserve you, my Anna? I love you dearly... more than I have ever loved anything. And that is exactly why I will never be able to find a way out from my Death Eater duties..."

"There is always a way out, Reggie. We only need to find where it is..."

"No, Anna. Believe me, there is not a way out. Not for me, anyway. Can't you see it?" he said showing her his dark mark on his left wrist. "He has marked me. If I try to run away, he will know where I am hiding. If he dreams that I betrayed him, he will do worse than killing me..."

"And what can be worse than that?"

"He would find out my weakness... you. Then he would torture you, and kill you slowly in front of me... just so he could break me. I've seen this happening before. A couple of times now. He likes... to forecast what happens to those who fail him. To make an example out of it."

"Regulus... you are not a monster, he is!" she said hugging him with all her might. "

"He is... it is a shame that I only figured that out when it was too late." he brought their foreheads together. His wet clothes had completely soaked her pyjamas, making them almost transparent.

"It is never too late," she said bringing him closer and kissing him passionately.

He was taken by surprise but quickly answered her by kissing her back with the same intensity. Their hands travelled eagerly exploring each other's bodies for the very first time. Annabel started to free him from his wet cloak by removing it with hasty and throwing it somewhere on her bedroom floor. He pressed her against the wall and before Regulus realised what they were about to do, he noticed that he was already not wearing any shirt... and she was wearing nothing but her undergarments.

"Anna… this is this is escalating too quickly" he was pressing her body against her wardrobe. One of her legs was hugging his waist.

"I know…" her hands were playing with his long black hair and he left a moan escaped from his lips when she started to give small bites around his neck.

"We should stop…" he said more for himself than to her.

"Why?"

"Because if we don't I'm not going to be able to control myself…"

"I don't want you to control yourself, Black. I want you to take me to my bed and make me yours."

That was everything he needed to hear to carry her on his arms ina bridal style and start walking to her bed.

"Reggie…"

"What?" He asked, silently praying for the Gods that she had not changed her mind.

"Please, be nice? This is my first time…" she said shyly.

He answered her with a big smile.

"I promise that I will try my best to do it nicely, though… I must warn you. This is also my first time, and I'm not sure what I am doing..."

She smiled back at him.

"Well, I'm sure we can figure it out…"

Regulus did barely manage to get any sleep that night. He remained most of the time awake, guarding the rest of the muggle angel who was deeply sleeping in his arms. If someone had told him where he would be now six months ago, he would have thought that whoever insinuated that had probably been beaten by too many bludgers on their head. But now that he was there, he could not even fathom to imagine to be anywhere else, with anybody else. He had fallen hard for the White girl. That much was clear, and now he knew that there was no way that he would be able to conform himself to accept a life without his Annabelle by his side. The implications for that were tremendously huge, and he was very aware of it.

There was no way that he would be able to make his family to accept her as Black. There was no way that any he would find support to this union within his family or inside the Death Eater's group. Muggle-born was already despised by them, but a full muggle? He would be mocked by the whole crew. And even if he ignored it, the only way out to not receive any retaliation would be if Voldemort himself gave his own blessing to the union - this was the only way that he would get everyone else to be obliged to accept her as his wife. That was the only reasonable way out. He would need to gain the Dark Lord favours if he wanted to be able to fully live his love story with Anna.

He thought about what his older brother would say if he knew about the epic mess that Regulus had got himself into. Sirius would probably have a good laugh about it and give him a tap on his shoulders to congratulate him for disgracing the honour of the Black family more than he ever did. But Regulus could not understand how something as pure as the feeling he had for the muggle girl on his arms, could be something seen with so much hate by his family and peers. Nonetheless, Regulus had made up his mind about it, and he was not the kind to take this kind of action lightly. He held the silver bracelet with a hidden crest of the Black family in it - a betrothment confirmation, specially designed for his future wife.

"Are you really asking me what I think you are, Regulus?" Annabel gasped. Her eyes were wide opened, caught by surprise from the unexpected question.

She and Regulus were still laying down on her bed, where he was hugging her from behind. Regulus had casually asked her what were her thoughts on becoming Annabelle Black, instead of White.

"You have bewitched me body and soul. I love you, I love you, I love you. And wish from this day forth never to be parted from you." Regulus said bringing her face closer to his.

"You are saying…"

"I'm saying that I know that I have got a cursed soul, and I'm unworthy of your love and affection, but nothing would make me happier, than being able to call you my wife."

"Let me be the one who decides if you are worthy or not of my love, Regulus. We didn't start with the right foot… and you used to be a massive jerk. But… now... I know you better… and I do understand you better. I know where you came from. Now I can see that you were just raised with some very messed up ideas…"

"Which I was obtuse enough to follow…"

"And now you are not." she smiled "I have grown to love you with all my heart, Regulus. And now I can assure you that nothing, absolutely nothing would make me happier than become the next Mrs Black."

He smiled from ear to ear and gave her a long kiss on her forehead. He got a piece of jewellery from his pocket. A silver bracelet with diamonds that shined like little stars in a very delicate way.

"In that case, please accept this humble present as a token of my love," he said showing her the bracelet.

"This is beautiful, Regulus! It must have cost you a fortune!" she said examining the gift. "I'm not sure if I should accept this…"

"But you must. I mean, if you want to become my wife. This is not a regular piece of jewellery Anna… it is a betrothment confirmation token. Nobody but you and me will be able to remove it from your wrist. Not even if you died. For my family in particular, while you wear this bracelet they would be obliged to acknowledge you as being as good as my wife, for practical and legal reasons at least."

"Do you mean to say that we will be married if I wear this?"

"No… a marriage could not be broken by the removal of this bracelet, though the betrothment can easily be ceased."

"In that case… I shall accept the gift, Regulus," she said raising her hand to receive the bracelet.

"Merry Christmas, my love." he gave her a small kiss on the back of her hand, that now had his betrothment token on it.

"I have one condition to carry on wearing it though…"

"A condition?" he asked surprised.

"Yes. A condition" she said giving him a cheeky smile. "You must come over and join my family for our Christmas Dinner this afternoon, and ask my parents their blessing - as it should be done."

He gave her a wide smile.

"Of course I will, my love."

Mother, I'm already seventeen! I don't need to give you explanations about my whereabouts…"

"Yes, you do. While you sleep under our roof and use our gold to maintain your luxury lifestyle you do own us an explanation at least. My only son, spending Christmas morning somewhere else..." Walburga Black grumbled about the behaviour of her youngest.

In truth, it was still morning, but Walburga Black was choosing to ignore that fact. Somehow she had noticed that he hadn't slept on his bed that evening, and she was livid with that fact.

"I'm not your only son…" Regulus said in a matter of fact. "You know, Sirius…"

But she cut Regulus as soon she heard her eldest name being mentioned.

"Don't ever mention that ungrateful bloody traitor near to my hearing range! He is worse than dead to me."

"Mother, please…"

"Oh, don't you start! He chose his path! You know too well how many times I left him to get away with things that… should have been unacceptable…"

Regulus knew that was true, but he also knew that she certainly would classify what he had done that morning, a worse sin than anything else that Sirius had ever done.

"What if I also did something unacceptable, mother? Would you disown both of your heirs? Would you rather watch the Black family die than to accept us with all our imperfections and flaws?"

"I know that you would never do that to your old mother! You know that my poor heart would not be able to handle another disappointment like that…"

"Mother, please…"

"Where did you sleep this Christmas Eve, Regulus Arcturus Black?"

"I'm sorry mother, but I… rather not share this information with you..."

"Does this have anything to do with the Dark Lord?" Walburga asked raising an eyebrow.

"Partially..." Regulus answered vaguely.

"Very well, in that case... go refresh yourself. We will be leaving in two hours for the Christmas Dinner at the Malfoys..."

"Mother, about that... I don't think that I will be able to attend to the family Christmas Dinner this year..."

"But you must go! The Dark Lord himself is going to be there! He is the guest of honour! Can you imagine what people will say if you are not present? It might sound like you are affronting him..."

"Then you must give him my most sincere apologies." Regulus urged trying to think about a quick and believable excuse for his mother to give to the Dark Lord "Tell him that yesterday I decided to go to a broom ride after my mission last night, but I ended up losing control of my broom and falling over..."

"Is that true?" Walburga frowned at him as if she wasn't really believing him.

"Yes... I broke a couple of ribs and... I ended up vanishing them because it was safer to have a Skele-Gro than risking to repair them wrongly..."

"My poor Reggie!" his mother looked him, concerned for the first time since he arrived. "Why didn't you go to St Mungo's?"

"Well, you know why..." he said showing the Dark Mark on his left arm. "showing myself injured after last night attacks… could rise unwanted attention on me…"

"You could have come back home! We could have called a healer..." Walburga started to touch his face with worry.

"Mother, please..." Regulus dodged her touch brushing her off. "You know that I need to rest. Not even the Dark Lord can argue with that... if he wants me healthy and fit to fight by his side, he will have to understand it..."

"But why didn't you come back home earlier?" she insisted.

"Mother, please… I need to rest. Tell him what he needs to know… and stop asking me things that you don't really want to hear the answer!" Regulus said before he climbed up the stairs towards his bedroom.

A/N: If you, like me, have watched the movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice you probably have noticed the line that I totally copied a line from the movie. This was a little tribute, as this story was sort of inspired by it. Originally, I was going to make more mentions on the original plotline of Pride and Prejudice, but then this fanfic would be huge, and I'm trying to be as concise as possible, without damaging the story flow.