Emma sighed as she drew her legs away from under the clean white sheets and sat up on the bed. She crossed her legs, uncrossed them, and tapped a familiar beat on her thighs with her fingers. The second-year was bored out of her mind. She undid the tie around her neck and fiddled with the ending. Madame Pomfrey refused to let her out of the Hospital Wing until Professor Snape came back with more of that weird potion that smelled like old boots but tasted like mint chocolate chip ice cream.
"Emma?"
The blonde perked up immediately, she turned towards the end of the hall to find the speaker. She looked past the petrified bodies of her schoolmates and Gryffindor house ghost to find a hesitant Regina Mills stepping in through the great wooden doors. Much like Emma, the Ravenclaw was still wearing her wind-swept school uniform even though classes had ended hours ago.
Emma waved to the older girl and cheerfully greeted her. Regina visibly relaxed, her pace quickened and when she got closer, Emma could see the familiar burgundy tint of her red Oak wand in Regina's hand. "You brought my wand! I was wondering where it went." Emma was careful not to let their fingers brush when Regina handed over her wand; the last time it happened she blushed for an hour. That might be an exaggeration, though, Emma was beginning to realize that this teenage crush of hers made everything that happened around Regina seem more vivid.
Regina took the seat beside Emma's bed. "Yes, you dropped it when you..." Emma waited and watched as the seventh year scrunched up her face, like she did whenever she couldn't find the proper word to express herself. Regina looked out the window, down at her pristine black leather boots, and then up at the ceiling. Emma thought about putting her hand on Regina's shoulder -purely for comfort- but even the idea of doing that made her cheeks warm. "I'm really sorry Emma." Regina finished.
The Gryffindor gave the older teen a confused look, "Why? You didn't know I was allergic to peanuts. Sometimes even I forget about it!"
Regina ran a hand through her long dark hair. For all the time Emma had known Regina, her hair was almost always in a neat french braid. Today it fell in waves down Regina's back and over her shoulders. Emma idly wondered if Regina's hair felt as soft as it looked. "I've ruined your birthday." The Ravenclaw stated apologetically.
Earlier during a break in their one-on-one Quidditch skirmish -Emma had tried out this year but didn't get on the team so Regina offered to give her some pointers on the sport- The Chaser had surprised Emma with a biscuit tin for her thirteenth birthday. The results were less than desirable.
Emma clasped her hands behind her head and rested them on the headboard of the hospital bed as she remembered the elation she'd felt when Regina remembered her birthday. Lately Regina's mind and free time was spent with her secret boyfriend, Daniel, a Hufflepuff born to non-magical parents. The worst part of it all was that Daniel turned out to be unfailingly kindhearted and he adored Regina. Emma wanted to hate him but he made Regina's whole face light up.
Emma took a long unobstructed breath, the minty boot potion had definitely worked. "Don't worry about my birthday, I'll have others."
"I should warn you though." Regina said ominously, "Our parents are in Dumbledores office right now."
Emma sat forward and her hands fell to her sides, "What? Why? I had an allergic reaction, but I'm fine now!"
"Yes, but it was my biscuits you were eating." Regina explained. "A Mills gave a White something to eat, then bad things happened."
Emma giggled, Regina didn't. "Oh. They're serious about this? They think you did this because of our families?"
The seventh-year nodded, "Some people do, but not the ones that matter. Dumbledore believes me but given our family history and you know how fast rumors spread around campus. Especially right now with everyone paranoid about the Heir of Slytherin."
"What does the Heir of Slytherin have to do with us?" Emma asked, she put it together before Regina could answer, "Do they think you're the Heir?" Emma eyed the petrified body of Colin Creevey two beds away then back at the older girl. The look Regina gave her was answer enough. "That's- no!" Emma's ponytail of blonde locks flew left and right as she shook her head, "You're not even in Slytherin! I'll talk to them, tell 'em it's not you!"
Regina smiled weakly, "They might not believe you. You're too-"
"-Don't say I'm too young, that's rubbish. I'm twe- I'm thirteen!" Emma still wasn't used to saying that yet.
Regina just gave Emma the same smile that every adult used on her; The 'you'll understand when you're older'. Emma found this condescending and hypocritical because honestly Regina wasn't that much older than her; just four years and eight months. "Don't pout, you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I got it." Emma hated being reminded how much Regina thought of her as a kid.
Regina took one of Emma's hands and held it between her own."Look, thank you for your concern but I'm not worried. I was before, but I'm sure the Headmaster will sort this all out." Emma stared down at their hands and prayed hers wasn't too sweaty. "I'm glad you're okay Emma and not simply because it clears my name." Emma blinked, she couldn't think of a response. This was the most contact she'd ever had with her crush. "I'd better leave, they're bound to come visit you soon and I have to meet my mother in Professor Flitwick's office. I don't want to keep her waiting." Regina let go of Emma to stand up, she seemed to tense up again.
Emma had never met Cora Mills, but she knew enough to recognize that the relationship Regina had with her mother had been strained for some time. The blonde mischievously grinned up at the Chaser. "Oh I see, you don't want to be caught with me. Are you afraid my mother will ban me from ever seeing you again?"
Regina chuckled low in her throat, "You are so weird." She tossed a pillow from a nearby empty bed at Emma, it hit the blonde square on the chest.
"Normal is boring." Emma blew a kiss at Regina's retreating form. "Farewell, Juliet!"
'Why do I feel like every time I go in there to question her, I'm the one being interrogated?' Regina pondered this in the middle of a clearing, shrouded in darkness and alone with her musings for the time being. She hadn't seen Emma in days and didn't plan to any time soon. It was all too much; balancing her identity as a Death Eater and an Informant was enough. Adding to that a constant blonde reminder of the naïve girl she used to be was frustrating beyond comprehension. Memories of her time at Hogwarts with Emma were linked with Daniel so she'd buried them with him, metaphorically, and she was fine with that. She didn't need to dwell on her past to get revenge on the people that ruined her future.
Now though, with Emma here, memories that she'd locked away years ago were at the forefront of her mind. They'd both changed so much and Regina was slowly beginning to realize just how different this older version of Emma was. Regina idly acknowledged that the Gryffindor had grown into an attractive young woman, a part of her regretted that they hadn't kept in touch after she graduated. Up until Emma had been captured Regina had had, under the guise of her identity as Madame Regal, more contact with Emma's parents and best friend Ruby Lucas than Emma herself. Even then those sparse letters were all business and hidden meanings behind coded words, nothing to do with the lioness she had caged.
An owl hooting in the distance jarred the informant from her brooding, Regina stood and flipped her hair from her face. She held her leather clad arm up as her eagle owl, Bernard, swiftly circled her and landed on Regina, talons gripping the protective barrier.
"Hello, dear." Regina purred as she stroked his horned brow and conjured a strip of raw meat for him with her wand. The night was quiet but clouds in the sky parted to allow moonlight to filter through. She gingerly touched Bernard's left leg, he had a gash there, the owl flapped it's wings in protest then glowered up at the stars above. Regina followed his gaze and saw the silhouette of a hawk. Regina sighed, "I had a feeling you were being followed." The brunette adjusted the hood of her cloak around her, pointed her wand at the approaching bird of prey and expertly transfigured it into a stuffed version of itself.
The Death Eater sauntered the short distance to pick up the fallen plush toy. Bernard squawked and restlessly catapulted himself off of her arm and flew back towards his perch in her office several miles east of these woods. He was too proud to be healed with magic right now, Regina guessed, she'd have to wait until the stubborn fowl was asleep. Pets have a way of mirroring their owners personalities, she smirked.
Hours later found Regina in Dolohovs old office quill in hand and a small parchment in front of her. In the few weeks that she had taken over as Warden she hadn't personalized it much. It was just neater, the odor was gone and it was much brighter now that Regina had taken up the habit of opening the large curtains. The early morning light streamed through tall glass windows and Regina stroked her chin with the tip of her feathered quill.
Two letters. Regina had to write two letters within one letter that would be read by at least three different people. One of these people had sent a hawk after Bernard to intercept the letter and Regina didn't want to disappoint that person. The problem was that whomever it was had to be convinced that the contents of the letter completely absconded Regina from suspicion of espionage and consequently would be delivered to Ruby Lucas, it's original intended. Ruby needed to read it and get it to Emma's parents, that was a given. If this person was smart then they'd reseal the letter and send it to Lucas, Regina wasn't about to underestimate a threat.
The Whites needed to know that their daughter was safe, Regina understood that, but that information was not pertinent to her mission up until now.
There had been a meeting, Voldemort had summoned his inner circle and Regina had been lucky enough to attend. She stayed silent, for the most of it, at the far end of the long table in Malfoy's Manor. The former Ravenclaw played her part well. She enthusiastically congratulated Greyback for turning a young Asian orphan into a werewolf and she pointedly agreed with everything her mother, seated beside her, had said. When they asked about Emma and Madame Regal she lied smoothly, all too aware of the irony.
Voldemort was after something; an artifact rumored to be in Tibet, he didn't say what it did or why but The Order would want to know and Madame Regal had to warn them about it. Warn them through a coded letter that would be intercepted by a hawk and then sent to Ruby.
The Warden's temple began to throb, she pressed two fingers to her head and massaged it, eyes closed. "Nonnie." Her voice was curt, authoritative.
A loud crack sounded through her office and a grungy, gnarled House Elf appeared in front of her. "What's it want now?" The servant squeaked disdainfully. Nonnie was loyal the Dolohov family but when Antonin left Regina in charge he'd given the near belligerent house elf orders to obey the new Warden. It had just occurred to Regina that she wasn't entirely sure what gender the elf was. Nonnie was ambiguous that way.
Regina's eyes were still closed but she could almost feel the elf's disapproving frown. "Breakfast. Something edible this time, made for humans." She had to be specific after the last few times she'd ordered her meals. Nonnie liked to find loop holes in her commands. Another crack and she correctly assumed the elf was gone.
When the house elf returned to set the food next to the Warden on the desk the parchment in front of her was still tauntingly bare of words. "Shelves, Nonnie." Regina said as she sniffed the tomato soup and deemed it acceptable. Regina ate while the elf set about it's chores mumbling all the while. She was used to Nonnie's mindless grumbling so she tuned it out, ignored it successfully until a certain phrase caught up with her.
"Filthy birdie eats the prison food."
Regina scrunched up her face, "Excuse me?" Nonnie snickered but kept dusting, "Come here, elf."
The poor creature hobbled over to the desk, "What's the eagle pretending to be a snake, what's it want?" Nonnie asked petulantly.
Regina peered down at the house elf, "Did you just call this prison food? Is this the food that was delivered to all the prisoners?" She asked sternly. Nonnie trembled in fear and, not for the first time, Regina wondered exactly what the Dolohovs would do to the elf whenever it would mess up. She was loathe to appear weak but softened her voice and said, "You won't be punished."
The house elf looked up at her with wide round eyes and admitted it's folly. "Yes, Warden, it is."
Regina shot up from her desk as if it were on fire, she slipped her wand from the sleeve in her boot and apparated to her chambers. Once the nausea that accompanied Apparating had subsided, she dashed to her trunk, heart racing as she frantically lifted the lid to reveal a smaller box within the trunk. Regina pulled the box of assorted potions out and dumped it onto the bed, crystal and glass vials spilled out the short distance and clinked against each other. Regina quickly scanned the small bottles and located the potion she was looking for with a relieved sigh. The tomato soup had peanuts in it but Regina had the antidote, everything was going to be alright.
Nothing could have prepared Regina for what she saw when she arrived in Emma's cell.