[Chapter Four] Reckless Endangerment

Pushing her way through the obnoxious buffoons at the humble muggle bar, Lena cursed the man she was to meet. Of all the places he could have chosen to meet, he chose some rinky-dink bar in the middle of ghetto London; the cherry on top was that it was almost midnight on a Friday.

Stabbing her elbow into a particularly intoxicated man howling at a T.V., Lena tried to search over the tall heads, the sturdy shoulders for Black. She gave another vicious stab and plowed her way to him. Giving a small wave, he gestured her to the small circular table in the corner which he sat at.

Pushing through the musky smoke, and odorous sweat, she felt a slight chill from airflow as she reached him. Dropping into the booth, she greeted the man, "Regulus."

"Rosalena."

"Just Lena now. The Dark Lord has been searching for you."

Regulus dropped his eyes, scanning the room discreetly for anyone that looked suspicious. The girl saw a noticeable gulp and a quiver run through the man. A long silence passed between the two of them, Lena ordered the most expensive muggle wine, hoping that it would taste decent.

"Lena," He said suddenly as the waitress walked away. "You're the only person I can trust."

Nodding, and waiting for an explanation, the girl quickly reminisced about growing up with Regulus. He had been like a brother to her, different from Draco. But when she was fourteen, he never returned from a top-secret mission, and was never seen again. The Dark Lord had sworn he was a traitor, and that if anyone was to hear anything of Regulus A. Black, it was to be reported immediately back to him.

"You are the only person that is close enough to the Dark Lord and has control of your Occlemency-"

"Your apparent exploit to weigh this conversation on me has now makes it so that I cannot see the Dark Lord until I find a way to cover this up," Lena snapped. "There's a meeting this weekend."

"Please, Lena-"
"Absolutely not, Regulus." Lena's expression was very grim, she eyed the man's reaction carefully, her voice deadly calm. "He would kill me in a heartbeat. I can give you a few days, but I cannot keep any secrets for you."

Regulus' eyes dropped to the grimy table for just a second. He nodded to Lena after his moment of thought, then instantly stood and left the bar.

When Lena's glass of wine arrived, she called for the check and took a small sip, glancing up at the T.V. What secrets could Regulus be keeping? He has been missing for two years, since the Dark Lord made his reappearance. What was so horrible that the Dark Lord could not forgive him? What had he done?

Though she had only seen it once, with Lucius, the Dark Lord would forgive if you explained with pure honesty. The girl raked her mind for a way to cover this. What place in her mind would the Dark Lord never look?

Every time his piercing gaze stabbed her, she could feel him prodding through her brain. She felt the familiar prodding often, even when she was hundred's of miles away from the Dark Lord. There was no place in her mind she could keep this, he did rigorous checks on all his Death Eater's, especially now. His growing paranoia caused him to call his Death Eater's to him multiple times a week. How could Regulus be so careless with her life and his own? Did he put so much trust in her? He knew the Dark Lord would stop at nothing to find him, just as with any of his other enemies.

Lena knew that it would be impossible to hide with so little time...

Unless she altered it, and confessed to the Dark Lord.

Damn it, Regulus.

The chill overcame her, and the shiver riveted through her bones; Lena gasped as the chill turned to fire, and she appearated to the called location.

No. Not yet, I'm not ready yet, A voice inside of her mind cooed. She pushed the thought aside, into her plans after Hogwarts, plans that would never happen, because she was hiding other precious thoughts there, an invented thought and made a prayer that the Dark Lord would not check there. I cannot let Regulus die too, she whispered to herself desperately as she was sucked from the muggle bar in a cloud of Stygian black smoke.