Chapter Three

Hermione fiddled with the pleats on her borrowed dress as she sat out on the patio of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, watching the young families, couples, and a handful of single witches and wizards make their way past as they went about their day.

While everyone appeared to be in a hurry, no one seemed to be especially fearful. Not one soul appeared terrified to be out in public and out of the safety of their homes.

It was a welcome change and one, Hermione knew, that wouldn't last for much longer.

She sadly shook her head.

While it was depressing to realise that many witches and wizards wouldn't make it through the First Wizarding War, she knew she wouldn't be able to save everyone. It was a fact that both Narcissa and Andromeda had told her that she needed to accept, or her mission would be guaranteed to fail.

She gave Sirius a tight grin through the window of the shop as he grabbed a couple of spoons and napkins before making his way out onto the patio with their ice cream treats.

Walburga had begrudgingly allowed her and Sirius to spend the remainder of the day together in Diagon Alley after Sirius had spent the rest of Hermione's fitting arguing with his mother that he should get to know who his betrothed was outside of their time spent together at Grimmauld Place.

"Strawberry for the little lion," Sirius cheerfully stated as he set Hermione's bowl down on the table in front of her and handed her a spoon and napkin. He plopped down on the chair across from her and gave her a grin as he jabbed his spoon into his own ice cream.

"Thank you," Hermione murmured as she took in the large serving of dessert. "This is massive." She shook her head as she placed the napkin on her lap. She didn't want to spill anything on Walburga's old dress. "I'm quite certain I asked for a small size, not this monstrosity."

Sirius chuckled as he took a spoonful of his chocolate ice cream. "Nonsense. Smalls are for kids," he told her after swallowing the cold treat.

Hermione hummed noncommittally as she had a taste of her ice cream. It was delicious, just like she remembered.

"I'm sorry about earlier at the fitting," Sirius began apologising. "I didn't realise mother was going to insist on something like that until it was too late."

Hermione held up a hand, halting his apology. "It's alright. I was just caught off guard, that's all." She swallowed before sighing. "I naively thought that she wouldn't insist on something so traditional during my fitting. I didn't even know such a thing existed." She gave Sirius a hesitant smile.

There was plenty, Hermione realised, that she was unfamiliar with when it came to the Wizarding World.

"She didn't need to do it though." Sirius shook his head adamantly. "That's old rubbish, stripping down like that for the betrothed to see."

Hermione shrugged. "I think it'll be something that I'll need to learn before heading back to Hogwarts."

Sirius nodded in agreement, but remained silent. He cleared his throat after a moment. "I suppose if we are going to be doing this and doing it well enough to pass scrutiny, we should probably try to get to know one another." He frowned. "I mean, you obviously know me already, but…" he trailed off.

"We should," Hermione agreed. "And I don't really know you. I promise."

"Did you want us to ask each other questions about ourselves?" Sirius asked her quietly. He sighed in relief when Hermione nodded eagerly. "Okay… uh… do you have any siblings?" He frowned at his first question.

Hermione shook her head. "Nope. I'm an only child." She paused. "I wasn't very close to any of my extended family either. Are you close to any of your cousins?"

Humming, Sirius shrugged. "I am with a few. Andromeda is probably my favourite cousin, but she's a bit older than me. We've not spoken much since she was disowned though. I've got an uncle as well that I get along with."

"Are you close with Andromeda's family? Her sister, I mean." Hermione was curious at what his answer would be.

"Which one?" Sirius raised a brow at her question.

"Narcissa. I wouldn't even think to ask about Bellatrix."

Sirius frowned as he munched on his ice cream. "We're alright, I guess. We're not close or anything, but… she's civil enough." He paused for a moment, obviously thinking. "She's very good at being the perfect pure-blood witch. The best, really. I think she's had to be since Andy was disowned. Bella is too much of a wild card. I mean… she obviously married who she was supposed to and lives like she's supposed to, but… she's a nutter in every sense of the word." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Have you met her? Bellatrix?"

"I have… once." She grimaced as she thought back to the Department of Mysteries. "Once was enough."

Humming in agreement, Sirius gave her a grin as he had more of his dessert. "Yeah… she definitely has that effect on people." He narrowed his eyes at Hermione. "Boyfriend?"

"Do I have one? Or have I ever had one?" Hermione enjoyed another spoonful of her ice cream.

"Have you ever," he clarified for her.

Hermione shrugged as she narrowed her eyes in thought. "Not really. There was one boy, but it wasn't all that serious. I was more focused on my studies and other things."

"Who'd you sort of court?"

"A quidditch player," Hermione told him. "A professional quidditch player, named Viktor Krum. In my fourth year, we had a Yule Ball and he asked me if I wanted to go with him." She shrugged shyly. "We kept in touch afterwards. I went to visit him over the summer once. He was really nice."

"Why'd you have a Yule Ball?" Sirius' confusion was evident. "We have dances occasionally at school, but nothing as extravagant as a Yule Ball."

"The Triwizard Tournament was held at Hogwarts."

"No shit." Sirius peered at her with wide eyes. "It's been a couple hundred years since the last one."

Hermione sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Sirius shook his head. "Blimey. Was that when Voldemort…" he let the question taper off.

"Yep." Hermione had another spoonful of her ice cream and refused to comment further. "Do I want to know who you've courted?"

"Just the four witches," Sirius reassured her, grimacing slightly. "And courting is probably stretching it a bit for three of them."

Hermione nodded slowly, but remained silent as she waited for Sirius' next question.

"Who're your mates at school?" he asked her after a moment. "Is that too spoilery?"

Chuckling, Hermione shrugged. "It is, but I spent most of my time with a handful of Weasleys, a Lovegood, a Finnigan and a Thomas, as well as a few others."

"Who are the others?"

"I don't know if I should." Hermione shook her head sadly.

"Granger… I've got a pretty good idea already. Please humour me." He looked at her pointedly. "I promise not to overreact or tell anyone else."

Hermione searched his eyes, making certain she could trust him. "Potter and Longbottom," she murmured quietly.

She watched as Sirius closed his eyes upon hearing the names. He exhaled shakily. "Fuck," he said after a few minutes of silence. His grey eyes met hers once again. This time they were sad. Pained. "Can you ask me?"

"Who are your friends?" Hermione gave him a small smile that she hoped was comforting. She understood his need to keep the conversation moving. Now wasn't the time or place for any in-depth discussion regarding his potential godson.

Clearing his throat, Sirius answered her. "Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew were the best friends one could ask for before I went and fucked that up. Longbottom's someone I'm also somewhat friendly with, but I don't think I've ever been in detention with the bloke."

Hermione raised a brow. "Is that the measure of a friendship? Whether or not you've spent time in detention with someone?"

Sirius nodded. "In my mind, yes." He chuckled sadly. He took another few minutes to get his emotions under control. "Enemies?"

"One. A witch – an adult if you can believe it – that's had it out for me since my fourth year." Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "But, hopefully this time around she leaves me alone." She thought of Rita Skeeter, wondering if she had yet to become an unregistered animagus.

"An adult," Sirius muttered in amusement. "Interesting."

"Have you got any enemies?" Hermione wondered what Sirius would tell her.

"Snivellus Snape."

Hermione frowned at the nickname. "Why?"

He sighed tiredly, shrugging. "He just… he's bad. He always has been."

"That's hardly an answer," Hermione criticised. She needed to know if they'd be able to make amends. Snape was one of the people that Remus asked her to save. One of the people he begged her to try to prevent from choosing to join Voldemort. According to both him and Dumbledore, Snape was the reason Lily and James were killed by Voldemort; he had been the one to overhear part of the prophecy that had set the events in motion which led to Harry losing not only his mother and father, but his godfather and the life he should've had growing up.

"Do you really want to know?" Sirius asked her. At Hermione's nod he continued, "I hate the greasy git. He bathes in Dark Magic… he reeks of it, but he was never raised in it. He chooses to practise it. He sticks his head where it doesn't belong and tries to manipulate people into doing things they don't want to. He's a tosser, plain and simple." He frowned, shaking his head. "I'll never understand why Lily was ever friends with him. Thank Merlin she cut that friendship right off after he called her a you-know-what."

"But, if I'd been asked by someone to help him what would you say?"

"I'd say you're barking mad," he snapped at her, before crossing his arms across his chest and peering at her in confusion. "Who asked that of you?" he questioned her quietly after a moment.

"Remus," Hermione told him. "He practically begged me, as a matter of fact."

"Why?"

"It's complicated," she admitted. "I don't feel comfortable telling you here out in the open."

"Shit, Granger." Sirius shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "You're asking a lot."

"I'm well aware." She had a small spoonful of her ice cream and thought to herself for a few moments as she enjoyed her treat. "Maybe that's something we can slowly work towards later on. I don't think it needs to happen right away." She paused. "Ask me something else. Nothing too serious."

Sirius nodded as he had a few more spoonfuls of his ice cream. "Do you have a favourite lesson?"

"It's a toss up between Ancient Runes and Charms for me." She gave him a grin. "What about you?"

"Transfiguration is hands down my favourite." He pursed his lips in thought. "Second for me would probably be Charms as well."

"Not Defence?"

Sirius snorted. "Nope. Too many awful professors. Haven't learned much that I didn't already know." He swallowed another spoonful of dessert. "Did you have good Defence professors?"

Hermione grimaced, shaking her head. "No, unfortunately. Most of them were rubbish. Third year was the only year I had a good professor."

Sirius' eyebrows raised in interest. "Spoilers?"

"Good spoilers," Hermione reassured him. "I think you'd approve."

He hummed in response before narrowing his eyes at her. "Have you ever been in detention?"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione nodded. "I have… but it was usually my friends who wound up scrubbing cauldrons or polishing trophies without magic." She paused. "I was usually able to either talk my way out of it, or just never got caught. I was a Prefect, you know."

"What's the most troublebreaking thing you've done then?" Sirius asked her with a grin. "Something that you didn't get caught doing."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him as she stirred her slowly melting ice cream. She thought about her time at Hogwarts. "I jinxed a sign-up sheet to a secret Defence club in my fifth year which caused the student who spread our secret to break out in spots," she told him with a grin, remembering her time in Dumbledore's Army. "I also set a professor on fire in my first year. Although, that isn't really a prank, is it? Neither of them are really."

Sirius regarded her with heated eyes and gave her a roguish grin as he leaned forward in his chair. "Did the professor deserve it?" he asked darkly, watching her intently.

Hermione tried, and failed, to hide her shiver at his tone of voice. He obviously approved of her actions, as ruthless and cunning as they were.

She cleared her throat, ignoring her body's response and peered at Sirius, who had a knowing smirk plastered on his face. "I thought so," she told him quietly. "But, I found out later on that they were trying to protect a student. I thought at the time that they were trying to harm them." She paused. "I never hurt the professor, thankfully. Just set their robes on fire."

"What about the student… did they deserve it?"

Hermione nodded slowly. "Most definitely. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Sirius' grin widened at her response. "Remind me to never piss you off then."

Hermione leaned forward in her chair, both hands pressed flat on the table and stared pointedly at the young man sitting across from her. "Sirius Black, don't even think about pissing me off. It will be the worst thing you could do."

He barked in laughter, and just like that, the spell was broken.

Hermione popped another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth as she leaned back in her seat and narrowed her eyes in thought. "How're you and Regulus? Are you two close?"

Sirius frowned at her question and shrugged. "We used to be. But, since I've been sorted into Gryffindor we've begun to slowly grow apart." He hesitated for a moment. "We're alright, honestly. We just try to avoid each other as much as possible while at school. There's far too much rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin with everything that's going on. But… he's my brother. I love him."

"No matter what?"

"No matter what," Sirius confirmed with a curt nod of his head.

The pair enjoyed their food for a few minutes in silence, before Sirius blurted out another question that had obviously been on his mind for a while. "Did you want to talk about the wounds on your body?"

Hermione looked down at the table and shook her head before meeting his gaze once again. "I don't really. Not today."

Sirius sighed in disappointment. "One day?" He gave her a concerned look.

Hermione nodded. "One day. I promise."

The pair sat for a few more minutes in comfortable silence as they finished up their ice cream treats.

Setting her spoon in her now empty bowl, Hermione clasped her hands together and peered thoughtfully at Sirius. He raised an eyebrow at her in question. Her eyes darted around the pair of them, making certain no one was close enough to listen in. "How do betrothals work?" she asked him as she leaned forward in her chair a bit. She should've asked Andromeda or Narcissa for more information prior to arriving here.

"It depends," Sirius told her. "We'll find out more at home about how ours will work. I'm sure mum and dad are fine tuning the details right now as we speak. But, before I give you the basics, can you tell me what you do know of them?"

"Not much," Hermione admitted quietly. "Andromeda mentioned that she had one, but she married Ted Tonks instead of her betrothed and ended up getting disowned as a result." At Sirius' slow nod, she continued, "Narcissa told me basically the same thing your father did. That they are a way to keep the bloodline as pure as possible and are often used for political purposes."

Hermione frowned, thinking back to her late night talks with Andromeda and Narcissa the week prior to her arriving at Grimmauld Place. They had been trying to subtly enlighten her about what to possibly expect, but she had been grieving the loss of Remus too much to really listen to their warnings. "Um… I don't really know how they work in the Wizarding World, to be honest with you."

"That's alright," Sirius tried reassuring her. "They aren't really practised anymore by anyone other than those in the more traditional pure-blood families."

"Like the Sacred Twenty-Eight?" Hermione questioned him.

Sirius nodded. "Some other pure-blood families as well, not only them. But, it'll usually depend if they're marrying into the Sacred Twenty-Eight or not, if that makes sense. Take the Potter Family, for example. They're a pure-blood family that's married into the House of Black at one point, and you can bet all the gold in Gringotts that that marriage was a betrothal arrangement between the two families. It was a political move, not one born out of love."

He sighed as he tiredly rubbed his face before leaning forward in his seat and propping his elbows on the table. "There are certain traditions that take place in betrothals, but I'm quite sure we wouldn't have to follow most of them." He paused for a moment, thinking carefully. "Usually, when the betrothal arrangement is accepted, there's a party of sorts to celebrate the coming together of the two families."

"But, considering I don't really have a family," Hermione followed his train of thought, "it's likely that won't happen."

"Exactly." Sirius gave her a grin. "Lucky for you, the House of Black is paranoid and exceptionally private. There won't be a stuffy ball celebrating our engagement. Even if it is fake."

Hermione nodded in understanding. She was relieved that she wouldn't have to face any of the traditional pure-blood families just yet. She wasn't certain she'd be able to pass the scrutiny that she knew she'd be put under.

"In today's day and age, the couple would have to wait to be married until after they finished their magical education. There's a law in place to protect children from being married off to adults," Sirius grimaced as he spoke. "I know of a few relatives of mine that were married in their early teens to an older spouse."

"You mean like a recently graduated witch or wizard?"

Sirius snorted, shaking his head. "Nope. I'm talking about a thirteen year old being married to a forty year old." He shuddered in disgust. "That hasn't happened in awhile though." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Traditionally, once they get married, the couple would have to produce an heir of their own as soon as possible in order to guarantee the furthering of the family line, but the House of Black has had difficulty with that due to the significant inbreeding that's gone on in the family."

Hermione nodded slowly, remembering a fact Andromeda had told her of her family. "Your parents are cousins, aren't they? Second cousins, was what Andy had said." She couldn't help but crinkle her nose in disgust. "That explains a few things though, I suppose."

Sirius hummed knowingly. "My charming personality, you mean?" he smirked. "Or are you talking about my third nipple?"

Hermione snickered. "Don't lie. I know you don't have a third nipple." She started laughing a bit harder.

Sirius had a large smile on his face as Hermione eventually got herself back under control.

"I meant your cousin Bellatrix's obvious insanity in my time, or your rashness perhaps," she told him quietly, watching as his smile melted slightly. "I don't mean it disrespectfully at all." She frowned at her choice in words. "I just meant… in the Muggle world, marriage between closely related individuals is almost always frowned upon. Obviously siblings are a no-go nowadays, but I remember reading in a book about various royal families throughout history and in different cultures, where marriage between brother and sister was often encouraged before they realised that it was causing issues. Mainly genetic deformities and psychological issues." She took a short breath before plowing on, "I believe marriage between cousins was the response to that… in order to keep royal blood royal. But, still… it's not necessarily a good thing to be so related, especially if your spouse is a closely related cousin. There isn't a lot of variance–"

Sirius reached out to grab both of Hermione's hands and gave them a squeeze, causing her to stop her ramblings. "I agree," he told her quietly. "But… my rashness, as you say, is most likely due to my temper that I have a difficult time controlling sometimes." He frowned. "My temper is what got me into this mess with Snape in June. He knew exactly what to say to piss me off enough to no longer see reason." He clenched his jaw tightly and shook his head. "He's a manipulative prick, and, if you do succeed in getting sorted into Slytherin to help Reggie you're going to need to understand that."

Hermione swallowed and gave him a jerky nod of her head.

"You'll also need to be very careful with what you say about stuffy pure-bloods, especially since you're supposedly marrying into a family that practises marriage between cousins." Sirius looked at her pointedly with an understanding grin on his face. He gave her hands another squeeze before releasing them.

It was a gentle chastising, but one that she needed to hear. "What else should I know about betrothals?" Hermione asked him nervously after a moment. She didn't like not having all the answers.

"Well… courting for me is officially finished," Sirius informed her dryly. "For you as well. No one will court you now that you're officially tied to the House of Black." He frowned, narrowing his eyes at Hermione. "I wonder if that's why father set you and I up."

"I'm sorry," she apologised softly to him. "I didn't realise."

"It's no matter." Sirius waved off her concern, but Hermione could see that it bothered him more than he'd likely ever admit.

"Are we supposed to act like a couple while at Hogwarts?"

Humming, Sirius gave her a half shrug, half nod. "If you wanted to, I'd be more than happy to spend time with you outside of class time. We can study with one another and go to Hogsmeade together, that sort of thing." He paused. "It doesn't have to be really showy, if that's what you're worried about."

Hermione sighed in relief. She was worried that she'd have to act like Pansy Parkinson did as she simpered after Draco Malfoy day-in and day-out.

"You're relieved. Ouch," Sirius jokingly chided. He patted his chest over his heart.

Hermione shook her head at him. "It's not that. I just… there was a girl in my year who was clinging onto a boy since… since first year, I think. I was just worried that I'd have to act like her."

"Oh… this I've got to hear." Sirius leaned back in his chair and gestured for Hermione to explain. "Who are you talking about?"

"A pure-blood witch by the name of Pansy Parkinson. She used to talk in this sort of baby voice to a boy. It made me cringe when I was unfortunate enough to overhear it sometimes." Hermione snickered quietly. "He's a relative of yours actually, the boy she was clinging onto."

Sirius barked in laughter. "What's his name?"

"Draco… Draco Malfoy."

Sirius' shoulders were shaking in amusement as he laughed at the reveal. "Draco… named after the constellation of the same name, a favourite of Narcissa's." He comically tapped his chin in thought. "If I'm remembering my tutoring that I received as a child correctly, Draco can also be derived from the Latin term draconem, which means 'huge serpent'." He gave her a sly smirk as he raised a brow at her. "He's a Slytherin, undoubtedly."

Hermione nodded. "Of course."

"Yeesh." Sirius shook his head before chuckling once again. "I promise you don't have to talk to me like that or hang off my every word like some sort of tart. Poor bloke."

"Don't feel too bad for him… I'm quite certain he liked the attention."

Sirius shook his head in amusement as he stood up from the table. "Probably." He grinned down at her as he offered her his hand. "Come, little lion. Let's get you and Reg something to read."

...

...

"Thank you for the… uh… the book, Miss Granger," a hesitant voice broke the otherwise silent drawing room.

Hermione looked up from her new copy of Hogwarts: A History, and spotted Regulus standing off to the side of the large sofa. He appeared uncertain, but was trying to hide it as much as possible.

She grinned at him as she closed her book and placed it on the coffee table. "There's no need to call me Miss Granger, Regulus, Hermione is more than alright." She paused. "Sirius was the one who bought you Quidditch Through the Ages, though. He said you were the reserve seeker on the Slytherin team last year. Will you be trying out for the team again?"

Regulus frowned as he sat down next to her on the sofa. "Sirius said that you recommended it."

Hermione nodded. "Sort of. I asked him what your interests were and he listed off a bunch of things as we made our way through Flourish and Blotts. One of the topics he mentioned was quidditch, so I suggested he buy you a book about the sport." She gave him a grin. "It's a gift from your brother, Regulus. Not me."

"Oh." Regulus appeared to be at a loss for words. "I-I didn't realise."

"He cares a lot about you," Hermione told him softly. "You know that, right?"

Regulus shook his head. "He doesn't. I'm Slytherin. He hates snakes, he's told me so countless times."

"For someone so incredibly clever, you are also ridiculously foolish," Hermione huffed quietly, ignoring Regulus' look of indignation. "The world isn't split into good people and Slytherins. There are snakes outside of Slytherin, you know." She gave him a pointed look as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Plenty of snakes. Some are even hiding out in other houses as we speak, waiting to strike the unsuspecting person when the time is right."

Regulus had a look of confusion on his face as she spoke.

"I'm quite certain what Sirius meant when he said that he hates snakes is that he just really despises people who backstab others. He meant that he doesn't like people who are two-faced." Hermione watched him as he slowly began to comprehend her words. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with being ambitious or cunning when the time calls for it. There's nothing bad about being resourceful or looking out for one's self."

Regulus opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to argue with her. "I didn't realise," he said quietly after a moment.

"Now you do." Hermione gave him a cautious grin. "But, you still haven't answered my question. Will you be trying out for the quidditch team this year? Or is the spot still filled?"

Regulus looked at her with interest. "I'd like to. Rosier was our seeker until the end of this past school year. But, he's graduated now."

Hermione's grin slowly faded from her face. "Evan Rosier?" She already knew the answer to her question.

Regulus nodded. "Yeah. Strange bloke, but… he's from a good family." He shrugged. "Do you know him?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. I've never met him, actually. I've just heard a story or two about him." She remembered the tale Mad-Eye told her, Harry, and Ron during the summer before their fifth year. Rosier was the Death Eater who had taken a chunk of his nose off in a duel when he and four other Aurors had tried to arrest him. Rosier was killed by Moody, but not until after he had killed the other Aurors. "What makes him strange?"

"He was one of the few seventh years who had no idea what they wanted to do after graduation." Regulus frowned. "Even I'll have to come up with a career choice of some sort, and I'm a Black. Rosier wouldn't even commit to taking his rightful seat on the Wizengamot and actually refused all offers from professional quidditch teams." He shrugged. "He's just really… odd."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the information. "Interesting. Were you two friends?"

Regulus shrugged. "Not really."

"Who are your friends, Regulus?" Hermione asked him quietly. "Who would you trust with your life?"

"No one," Regulus answered quickly. He peered at her cautiously, shaking his head. "I don't trust any Slytherin in my year with my life, that's for certain."

"What about older Slytherin students? Those in my year?"

"I don't… I don't really trust them either. Not really." Regulus paused. "There is this one person that I have most of my classes with. We get along fine enough. I would even go as far to say we're friends. But, he's in Ravenclaw."

Hermione raised a brow. "Oh?"

"Barty Crouch Junior," Regulus muttered quietly as he looked around the otherwise empty drawing room for anyone potentially listening in. "His father's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry," he rushed out. He peered anxiously at Hermione. "D-Do you know him?"

Hermione's stomach sank to the floor. She gave him a little nod. "He hates his father."

"Well… yes, but…" Regulus frowned. Uncertain.

"He hates all that his father stands for." Hermione peered at him with concern. She believed that she was beginning to understand why the Regulus of her past had become a Death Eater.

She'd just assumed that Bellatrix or Walburga had sunk their claws into the youngest Black and that he had fully believed in the cause until shortly before his death. But now she wasn't entirely confident with that assumption.

Hermione cleared her throat, choosing her words carefully. "What I've come to learn by listening to the people who have survived this First Wizarding War, is that we often turn a blind eye to the actions that our friends may carry out. We don't want to see them. We don't want to listen to their questionable political views, or their thoughts on blood status." She sighed, shaking her head. "We don't want to see the worst in them, when we know what their best looks like."

She sadly peered at Regulus. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" she asked him quietly just as the front door to Grimmauld Place loudly creaked open. Lord and Lady Black had just returned from their meeting at Gringotts.

Regulus' wide eyes met hers and he gave her a shaky nod of his head.

He had understood her loud and clear.