A/N: Thank you for your lovely comments about the last few chapters! You're all awesome! :D

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Without looking back, Regina turned and stalked along the corridor in the direction of the Professor's Wing. She wanted to get back to Henry and make sure that he was alright. She severely doubted that he would have woken in her absence, but it didn't make the brunette any less anxious to check on him.

She had barely rounded the corner and disappeared from sight when the sound of footsteps from behind Aurora made her whirl round to see who was approaching. The bright smile on Emma's face fell a little as she saw the momentary fear flicker through her friend's eyes.

"Rory?" She asked slowly. "Where did you disappear off to? Are you OK?"

"Fine, Em, thank you." The red-head nodded quickly, fixing a cheerful smile on her face. "I just wanted to…"

"What?"

Aurora shook her head and smiled. She had decided to heed Regina's advice, guessing that the older woman probably knew what her mother was capable of far better than she did, so didn't want to give anything away; even to Emma. "Nothing. There's a meteor shower tonight and I wanted to–"

"Yawn." Emma laughed, waving away what she expected to be a long and complicated speech about astronomy. "Have you seen Regina?"

"What?" Aurora blinked rapidly. "Why?"

"Because of that weird stuff in the Great Hall and how she got Henry to deliver those notes…" She reached into the pocket of her robes and held out a sealed piece of parchment to her friend. "This is for you, by the way." When Aurora looked at it for a moment and then pushed it into her own pocket she frowned. "Aren't you going to read it?"

"I know what it says."

Emma's eyes narrowed. "How? What's going on, Aurora?"

She shook her head. "You should speak to Regina."

"I would if I could find her."

"Try her chambers." Aurora suggested quietly. "She'll probably be back there by the time you get there."

Emma looked along the corridor for a moment, before turning back to her friend, ready to demand an explanation of what was going on. By the time she returned her gaze to where Aurora had been standing, the Astronomy Professor had vanished.

Furrowing her eyebrows in total bewilderment, the blonde decided to do as Aurora had suggested and try Regina's chambers. It would be the third time she'd knocked on the door that evening, but it was worth a try. The corridors seemed oddly deserted, even more so than usual. It made Emma uneasy and caused her to speed up to reach her destination quicker.

Raising her hand, she knocked lightly on the door and waited, wondering whether there was going to be an answer this time. It took a couple of moments, but then the handle turned and it began to open. Regina's face, exhausted and care-worn, appeared in the tiny gap that was created by the movement. For a moment Emma was sure the brunette was going to tell her to go away and shut the door in her face. Then Regina sighed and stood aside.

"Regina, what–?" Emma started, but the older woman shook her head and pulled her through the darkened sitting room and through the door that led off it. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you so eager to get me in your bedroom?"

"Henry's sleeping in there." Regina informed her, ignoring the blonde's joke. She began to pace, causing Emma's eyes to follow her around the room.

"So what's going on?"

"As I explained in my message–"

"That note said barely anything, Regina." Emma retorted quickly. "All it told me was that you were going to sort something out and that that woman was your aunt."

"Well, then, you know what I was doing."

"What does that have to do with Aurora?"

Regina frowned. She opened her mouth and closed it again several times. "I… I don't…"

"Just tell me the fucking truth, Regina." Emma snarled, her temper bursting from nowhere; her concern for the brunette masquerading as anger.

"It's none of your business, Professor Swan." Regina snapped back, her eyes flashing dangerously. "What happens between my family and me… it's not your concern. I would thank you for remembering that."

Emma could feel the situation escalating rapidly. The air between them crackled with the tension, although the blonde wasn't entirely sure what that tension was. Silence fell between them, but still the tension built. Regina's gaze flickered between her eyes and her lips and Emma took her chance. She surged forward, pulling the brunette flush against her body and pressed their lips together hard.

Regina pushed her away, her chest heaving and her breath ragged as she stared, open-mouthed at the younger woman. For a second Emma thought the brunette was about to punch her. Letting out an almost animalistic growl that sent jolt of desire through the blonde, Regina pulled Emma into her roughly as she crashed their lips together once more and pushed her backwards towards the bed.


In Regina's mind there was no going back from the events of that evening; either in her relationship with Emma or in her relationship with her mother. Cora would be furious when she realised that Regina had interfered with her carefully laid plans and there was no way the brunette could stay away from Emma now. Every time they so much as passed in the corridors and their eyes met Regina felt an overwhelming longing towards the blonde.

She was not, however, a fan of Emma's inability to act with a certain amount of propriety in public. More than once they had been caught in what, without the reasonable explanations that Regina concocted off the top of her head while Emma blinked like a startled puppy, would have been extremely compromising positions. Two of the most memorable which Regina would probably never forget, or stop being embarrassed about, were being caught in a broom cupboard by Filch and almost choking on her dinner when Emma's hand slid up her thigh, under her skirt, during dinner in the Great Hall. Regina had glared furiously at her lover, catching the eye of Professor Dumbledore, who grinned almost knowingly and made a comment about how wonderful the carrots were. The brunette had not been able to look at anyone for the remainder of the meal.

It had taken a couple of days until Regina had forgiven Emma for that last move, but the blonde was nothing if not persistent. Finally the brunette had agreed to let the other woman back into her rooms but only, she stressed with a defiant glare, to keep her company while she waded through third year essays.

"There's a meeting of the Order tonight." Emma said casually, glancing at Regina through her hair. She saw the older woman stiffen slightly as she gathered up the parchments on her table and put them in a neat pile. "I was thinking maybe you should come with us?"

"I don't think so, dear."

"Why?" Emma demanded, sitting up straight in the armchair and almost glaring at Regina.

"I doubt I'd be welcome."

The blonde sighed. "Don't be ridiculous. You're a Hogwarts Professor, Dumbledore trusts you and–"

"I used to be a Death Eater!" Regina told her angrily, wrenching up the arm of her jumper and exposing the mark on her left forearm. She ground her teeth and glared at the design tattooed onto her skin bitterly. "I used to be a Death Eater, Emma. Dumbledore might trust me, you may even do so, but I know what people think of Severus and his intentions. How will it be any different for me? My mother… my sisters…"

To her immense surprise, confusion and slight anger, Emma began to chuckle softly. "Everyone knows, Gina."

"What?"

"I've seen every little bit of you, remember, so I knew that was there; I just didn't want to ask you about it if you weren't ready to tell me. And Dumbledore knew, of course he did. He informed the Order of his intention to ask you to work here and told us about your past." Sliding out of the chair she moved towards the brunette, reaching for her hips and using them to pull Regina towards her. "It caused a few disagreements, but when Severus explained how it had happened and enlightened us about a few things, everyone decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. Dumbledore trusts you and that's good enough for the rest of us."

"What did Severus tell you?" Regina demanded with a frown, trying to pull away.

"Just that you never wanted to become a Death Eater, but your mother made you. That you did your best to stay out of the way and that you did what you could to help those the Death Eaters left behind."

Regina pursed her lips. "I still don't think it's a good idea for me to come with you to the meeting. Even if the members of the Order were willing to trust me not to betray them, I wouldn't trust myself."

"You wouldn't willingly give us away, Gina. I know you wouldn't."

"Not willingly, no." The brunette agreed, putting space between them. "But my mother… she is an incredibly skilled Legilimens."

"And Severus says that you are just as gifted at Occlumency as he is." Emma countered, arching an eyebrow.

"I can't…"

Taking a couple of steps towards her, the blonde pulled Regina into her arms and hugged her close. She waited for the other woman to relax into her embrace before shifting so that she could look into the wide, fearful brown eyes. As Regina attempted to duck away so that she would not have to make eye contact with the younger woman, Emma grasped her chin and forced her to stay still.

"We trust you, Gina. You need to start trusting yourself."

"The last time I trusted myself Daniel was killed." Regina told her quietly. "I won't allow anyone else to die because of me."

"Just come to one meeting, Regina, please." Emma almost begged. "I wasn't going to tell you this, but Dumbledore asked me to ask you. He believes that your insight might prove useful. The Headmaster has decided that Cora and Bellatrix would never believe that you would join the opposite side and so you will prove to be a valuable asset to the Order."

"An asset?"

Emma groaned as the brown eyes darkened and flashed warningly. "I didn't mean…"

"No, dear, I'm sure you didn't." The brunette snapped. "But that doesn't–"

"Mom!" Henry's voice interrupted their argument as the door to Regina's chambers burst open and the boy raced inside, banging the door loudly behind him. "Guess what I–" He stopped abruptly at the sight of the two women in front of him. Quickly taking in Emma's pleading expression, Regina's watery eyes and their proximity to each other, he frowned. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." They answered together.

Emma folded her arms and leant against the fireplace as Regina moved to stand in front of her son. She schooled her features into a reassuring smile and smoothed his hair back from his face gently. "What did you do, dear?"

"I got top marks in my Potions homework."

His mother beamed at him. "That's fantastic, sweetheart."

"Why's Professor Swan here? Why are you upset?"

"Henry…" Regina breathed in a warning tone.

But Emma had decided on a new, potentially life-threatening, course of action. "I'm trying to convince your mother to trust herself and believe that she is a good person."

"Professor Swan!" Regina snapped furiously, rounding on her. "My son–"

"I'm not a baby, Mom." Henry told her indignantly. "I'll be fourteen next month. I want to know what's going on."

"Regina believes that for… certain reasons… people will not believe that she can truly be trusted."

"Because Grandmother forced her to be a Death Eater, you mean?" Henry asked, looking steadily at the blonde. Seeing the shock on her face, he grinned. "Me and Mom don't keep secrets from each other."

"Right…" Emma nodded slowly, wondering whether Regina's honesty extended to their fledgling relationship. She turned to the other woman to continue her attempts to persuade her to attend the meeting. "Regina, please just one meeting and then–"

"Meeting?" Henry rounded on her curiously.

"The Order of the Phoenix. It's a sort of Anti-Dark Lord–"

"I know what it is." The boy informed her, rolling his eyes and causing both women to stare at him in confusion. "I overheard Uncle Sev talking to Mom about it."

"Henry!" Regina frowned. "You have to stop eavesdropping on private conversations."

"Yeah, yeah… so are you going to go, Mom?"

"I can't, Henry. Even if the members of the Order decide to trust me, which is doubtful in many cases, I can't trust that–"

Emma sighed loudly. "We've been through this."

"I think you should, Mom, then you'll be like a superhero." He grinned at her, anticipating the eye roll she sent in his direction. "Like Wonder Woman."

"You know about Wonder Woman, kid?"

"Uh-huh… Mom let me read Muggle comics as long as Grandmother didn't find out."

"And you gave him DC over Marvel? What is wrong with you, woman?" Emma demanded, raising her eyebrows at Regina who had absolutely no idea what she was talking about; something she was quick to inform the other woman.

"Fine, Professor Swan." The brunette said after informing her that she neither knew, nor cared, why Emma was so indignant over Henry reading a certain type of comic. She was keen to finish the conversation quickly, unwilling to allow Henry to hear any more on this subject. "Fine, I'll attend the meeting."

Emma grinned triumphantly. "Awesome. I've got a couple of things to do before then, so I'll come by and collect you later. If you want I can lend you some Marvel comics, Henry, so you can see the error of your ways."

As the pair left her chambers, chattering excitedly about comic books, Regina shook her head and attempted to distract herself from her nerves over that evening's meeting.


Regina hummed softly as she brushed her hair slowly, her mind on other things. It had been less than two months since she'd left Hogwarts and so far she had managed to resist her mother's attempts to marry her off to Finnegan Jones. The young woman had absolutely no intention of marrying the man who was so diligently and boringly trying to date her. She was loathed to admit it, but Regina would much prefer to be pursued by Killian than his older brother. And that was saying something.

As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, her thoughts turned to Daniel. Regina had never been the type of girl to lose her head over a handsome face, but Daniel was different. With Daniel it was more than just about his good-looks and gentle affections. It was love; Regina was sure of that. The sort of love she'd read about in the books she was forced to keep hidden under her mattress; Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters and Elizabeth Gaskell.

"REGINA!"

The teenager flinched as she realised her mother was in her bedroom, standing a couple of feet behind her and glaring at her in the mirror.

"Put on your best dress, my darling, we're going out."

"Where?" Regina asked, rising from the stool at her dressing table and moving to the wardrobe.

"I'm going to introduce you to your master."

"My…"

"The Dark Lord, you stupid child." Cora said with a deep sigh. "He's been gracious enough to honour you with his presence, so hurry up. Bellatrix and Rodolphus are downstairs waiting, as are Narcissa and Lucius."

"Mother… I don't…"

Cora had closed the space between them in a second, her hand coming to rest on Regina's cheek. To anyone else it would have looked like a sign of affection, but the teenager knew better. She swallowed thickly and met her mother's eyes, knowing that avoiding them would anger the woman further.

"You will not disobey me, Regina. You will not disappoint me further." Cora warned in a low voice, sliding her grip round so that she was clutching her daughter's chin painfully tightly. "You will do as you are told. You will serve the Dark Lord in whatever way he requests."

"Please…"

"Crucio."

Cora's curse was uttered completely calmly. She watched with absolutely no emotion on her face as her daughter dropped to the ground and began writhing in agony. Her eyes screwed tightly shut and her hands clawed desperately, as though she could pull the pain out of her body. In the eleven years Cora had been using the Cruciatus Curse as a form of punishment on her daughter, Regina had never been able to form any kind of resistance to the pain. It was, if anything, growing steadily worse the more times Cora used it.

With a flick of her wand, the older woman ended the pain coursing round her daughter's body. Regina struggled to her feet, knowing that it would annoy Cora further if she stayed on the ground. Placing a hand on her abdomen, she struggled to fill her lungs, forcing herself to appear calm and collected.

"Now, my darling, get changed and we'll meet you downstairs." Cora said with a smile, touching the teenager's cheek gently before turning and leaving the room.

Regina scrubbed angrily at the tears that fell down her cheeks and ripped a dress from the wardrobe. It was green, but such a dark shade that it appeared black in most lights. She put it on quickly, not wanting to get into more trouble for being late. With a final glance in the mirror, to make sure there was no evidence of her tears, she left her room.

Her older sisters and their husbands were waiting in the large parlour. As soon as Regina walked in, her mother sighed and glanced at the grandfather clock. The teenager lowered her gaze contritely, trying not to flinch as Cora's fingers tightened around her arm and the familiar ripping sensation in her stomach accompanied the side-along Apparation.

She stayed silent, her gaze lowered, as they arrived at their destination and several hushed conversations took place. Then Cora pulled on her arm, dragging her into a large room. It felt soulless and cold. Dozens of pairs of eyes watched Regina as she followed her mother to the other end of the room where Lord Voldemort himself sat in a large wooden seat, almost like a throne.

"My Lord…" Cora bowed deferentially, her eyes averted for a moment. "I brought my youngest daughter, Regina, as you requested."

Regina's eyes snapped up at her words. The Dark Lord had requested her personally? Why?

"Very good, Cora." He nodded, rising from his chair and approaching the teenager. There was something incredibly serpentine about his tone and his movements and Regina had to fight not to shudder as he approached her. "Regina is Latin for 'queen' I believe?"

"Yes, my Lord." Regina agreed quietly, unable to bring herself to meet his eyes.

"Your mother has been one of my most devoted, most loyal followers since our school days…" He informed her in such a low voice that the girl was sure she was the only one who could hear him. A sneaky glance in her mother's direction confirmed her thoughts, as she noticed Cora straining to hear what was being said. "Bellatrix is following closely in her footsteps. Could you be even more… devoted?"

Regina forced herself not to shudder. "I… yes, my Lord."

"Excellent."

He stood back and motioned two men forward. Regina looked between them fearfully as they approached, wondering what was about to happen. Her eyes flickered desperately between her mother and sisters. Cora was looking at her fiercely, silently ordering her not to embarrass her. Bellatrix was grinning manically. Narcissa looked vaguely green, turning away as the Death Eaters approached her baby sister.

One of the men grabbed her firmly as the other pushed up the sleeve of her dress, revealing her left forearm. Regina tried to struggle, but the men were far stronger than she could ever hope to be. Pulling out his wand, the Death Eater who had exposed her arm held it to her skin and began muttering. There was a sharp, white-hot pain under her flesh and something began to take shape, staining her skin and growing darker by the second. When he pulled back, Regina was disgusted to see that she had been branded with the same mark as her mother and sisters.

"There." Voldemort smiled at her. It was enough to make the teenager's stomach churn. "You are one of us, now."

The words echoed in Regina's head as she took a seat at the long table between Narcissa and their mother, trying not to make eye contact with anyone else. Beneath the table, the older sister gripped the teenager's hand tightly. Narcissa didn't look at Regina, or make any other sign that there was any contact between them, but just the reassuring squeeze of her fingers was enough to ground the eighteen-year-old until they were able to leave.

To Regina's immense relief, when the meeting concluded the Dark Lord asked several of the assembled Death Eaters to stay behind; Cora, Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Lucius amongst them. Narcissa rose, nodding at their mother as she ordered her to take Regina home, before gently grasping the teenager's elbow and leading her from the room.

As soon as they had returned to the Black Mansion, the older woman placed her hands on her sister's face and peered into her eyes. "Are you alright, Gina?"

"I didn't want… I don't want…"

"Neither did I, but you don't say no to Mother." Narcissa reminded her bitterly. As Regina let out a reluctant sob, her older sister wrapped her tightly in her arms and held her close, soothing her as best she could. "It'll be OK, sweetheart, I'll look after you."