Written For:
- Flying Lessons #8: You're trying something new and your pairing should as well! This could be anything from a new food to a new sport but one of your pairing should be showing some nerves and discomfort but in the end, would try it. Whether they enjoyed it or not, is up to you. / Prompt used: (dialogue) "They haven't seen the best of us yet."
- Gringotts Prompt Bank/Poems Porn: "I'm not the type of person to give up on someone. Yes, sometimes I get really mad and upset so I need a minute to cool off, but I'll never abandon you. I don't leave people. And I Think that's why it always hurts so bad when people leave me."
Word Count: 1,609
Chapter 8
The Brightest Star in the Sky
"Are you ready?" Regulus asked, looking back at Barty and Luna. They both still looked tired and a little embarrassed about being essentially caught making out, but Regulus didn't care about that anymore. There were more important things to worry about, like getting the hell out of Scotland before Ralph Irwin could alert Walburga and Orion.
Barty nodded, hitching his bag up onto his shoulder, and Regulus pushed the door open, peering out into the corridor first. When the coast was clear, he nodded back at Barty and Luna, and the three of them proceeded to tip-toe out onto the landing as quietly as they could.
Luna had insisted that they needed to take the body of the Muggle with them, so that they could alert the authorities. Barty highly disagreed with this, convinced that the Ministry would find a way to blame the trio on the murder, but Regulus agreed with Luna. If a dead body was left in their trail, there would be much more evidence to tie the murder to them, rather than Ralph. Running away from something this big would only make things more difficult.
So they headed out of the building, beginning the steady walk across the grass towards the reception. They could see through the glass window that the desk was still empty with no one stationed, and Ralph was nowhere in sight. 'Maybe he's returned to Walburga to tell her the news,' Luna pondered to herself, hoping it to be true.
Barty entered the reception building first, his wand arm outstretched, ready to curse anyone who lunged at them. Nothing happened; there were no sounds of breathing or voices or footsteps. Regulus jabbed a thumb towards the door behind the reception, where he had just earlier discovered the body of the old woman. Barty nodded gravely, and jumped over the reception desk easily, before pushing the door ajar.
Luna held her breath in her throat as the door opened. Even though Regulus had told her what was behind the door, and she had seen more than enough death now, there still were no words to explain the tension in the room at that moment. No matter how much death she'd already seen in her life, she didn't want to see anymore.
Barty pushed the door open further, and three of them looked down onto the floor - to nothing. There was nothing—and no-one—there. Barty looked back at Regulus questioningly, and Luna walked around the desk to get a better look, leaving Regulus by the door.
"There's no-one here," Luna confirmed, once she had stuck her head inside the stock room and got a good look around, making sure that the body hadn't been stuffed behind the door. "She's gone."
"I swear she was there!" Regulus shouted, beads of sweat suddenly appearing on his forehead. "She was right the—" he was cut off as the glass window behind him suddenly shattered, sending shards of glass spraying into the reception. Barty and Luna covered their faces quickly, and once they looked back up at Regulus, they had been joined by someone else.
Ralph was standing behind Regulus, an arm around his shoulders and the other pointing his wand directly into Regulus's throat. "Come a step closer and I'll kill him," Ralph warned, as Barty started to advance. "I won't hesitate."
Barty's brown eyes flashed amber, and Luna swallowed, trying to rationalise her thoughts, in order to think of a way out of this. "You wouldn't," sneered Barty. "It isn't worth Walburga's wrath if you do."
A dark chuckle escaped Ralph's lips, and Regulus focused his eyes on Barty. "Barty," he said quietly, meeting his gaze. Ralph dug his wand harder into Regulus's neck as he spoke. "Just let him take me. It's not worth him hurting you or Luna."
"Regulus," Luna breathed, her eyes wide.
"Listen to him, Princess," Ralph interrupted, his smirk landing on her. Luna couldn't believe that they had allowed Ralph to pull the wool over their eyes. How had they failed to notice him for what he was? "Back off, and no one gets hurt."
Barty clenched his fists, looking unsure of what to do. Luna knew that he was troubled—a private battle was going on in his mind, whether he should remain back to prevent Luna from getting hurt, or lunge forward and bat Ralph's wand out of the way and get Regulus to safety.
Ralph seemed to notice the cogs whirring in Barty's brain. "You should know, Mrs. Black has given me full permission to injure or seriously maim Regulus in order to return him to her," he said, his voice full of malice. "The only drawback is that I do not kill him. So I won't fail to cause him grievous bodily harm, should you try anything."
Barty looked back at Luna, and then to Regulus. "I don't know what to do," he whispered.
"It's okay," Regulus soothed. "You know where I'll be."
Barty nodded. "I'll find you," he told him. "I promise I'll come and get you."
"I know you will." Before Barty could reply to Regulus, Ralph had apparated on the spot, sucking Regulus into thin air with him. Barty collapsed to his knees on the floor, his face in his hands, and sobbed right where Regulus had just stood.
oOo
Less than an hour later, Barty and Luna were standing in the bushes of a familiar Muggle street—Grimmauld Place. Barty was staring determinedly at numbers eleven and thirteen, knowing that there was a hidden house between them. Luna was looking at the houses too, but not at the one where Regulus was no doubt captive. Instead, her gaze was focused on one further down the street: Number Fourteen.
That house was empty. She knew so because there was a sign outside, proclaiming it to be for sale.
"I'm going in," Barty announced suddenly. "They haven't seen the best of us yet. Wait here."
"Barty, no," Luna hissed, grabbing him by the arm. He turned his eyes on her suddenly; and they suddenly looked more like cold brown earth than the warm brown that she had come to know and love. "It's not worth the risk. We need to wait until we know he's definitely in there."
"Of course he's in there," snapped Barty. "Where else would they take him."
"Walburga and Orion..." Luna started, taking a deep breath. "They're...they're dark wizards, Barty. They probably have access to so much dark magic—we could get killed if we go bursting in there unannounced. They could be expecting us, waiting for us. If we get killed or something, it's not going to help Regulus get out of there."
Barty clenched and relaxed his fists a few times, as though he was contemplating the idea. Finally, he closed his eyes and nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just...I'm not the type of person to give up on someone. Yes, sometimes I get really mad and upset so I need a minute to cool off, but I'll never abandon you. I don't leave people," he took a breath. "And I think that's why it always hurts so bad when people leave me."
Luna rested a hand on his shoulder gently. "Don't be sorry. You have every right to be irrational. Please try and trust me."
"I will," Barty paused. "Do you have an idea of what to do?"
Luna nodded, and gestured towards Number Fourteen. "We're going to hide out in there."
Thirty minutes later, and they were settled in their new temporary accommodation. Barty had cast several charms on the building to ensure that it wouldn't be stumbled upon by the passing Muggles. He hadn't been able to pull off the in-depth spell that had been cast on Number Twelve, but he managed to make it so that if a Muggle was to look in the direction of Number Fourteen, they wouldn't quite be able to focus their gaze on it. It would be like the building wasn't meant to be there.
They both knew that Walburga and Orion were far too proud to ever consider that a witch and a wizard would risk hiding out in a Muggle house right beside them, so it was the perfect guise. The house wasn't exactly comfortable; there was no furniture other than a musty old couch. But they made do with what they had by spreading out the couch cushions on the floor by the window and curling up on them.
Barty insisted that they take it in turn to watch out of the window, just in case Orion and Walburga both visibly left the house, so that they could make a move. Luna knew it wasn't worth it—she knew how Grimmauld Place worked, and if Walburga and Orion treat their house the same way as it was treat when it was in the Order's hands, they would probably apparate from their doorsteps to prevent any of their Muggle neighbours spotting them. This also meant that Barty and Luna wouldn't be able to see if Walburga and Orion did leave the house.
However, the thought seemed to make Barty content, so she didn't argue when he offered to take first watch. As she curled up on her cushion, the last thing she saw before drifting off to sleep was Barty's silhouette against the window. The stars behind him were blinking against the blanket of the night sky.
She might have just been imagining it, but she was sure that from here, she could see the brightest star in the Leo constellation, glimmering rapidly. If only it was that easy to find him.
Author's Note: For the 'new' theme, I went with the triad being demoted to a pairing, as Regulus was kidnapped. For me, this was 'new' for all three of them to deal with.