Chapter 34 - Books, avoiding loved ones, more books

OoO

The following morning, Izzie woke up around five. She was curled into Regulus side, who looked to be sleeping peacefully. She carefully rolled out of bed, not wanting to wake him and wrote down a quick message for him, leaving it on his nightstand. She changed into her baggy clothes and headed to the library. The castle was quiet and empty but that made it easier for her to break into the library. It was Saturday, so nobody was going to wake up that early. She quickly unlocked the library doors before she slipped in. An hour later she had gathered over thirty books on marriage, runes, blood rituals and Purebloods rituals, she even grabbed a few from the restricted section to be sure. She let the books hover behind her as she quickly made her way back to their private quarters. Happy to note, she didn't bump into Madam Pince or anyone else.

She sat down in front of the couch, four piles of books in front of her as she scribbled vigorously on a parchment with one of the books open in her lap. Two hours later and three books in, Regulus came shuffling out the bedroom, rubbing his eyes.

"Isabelle?" His eyes widened as he saw her hidden behind the piles of books. "How long are you awake?"

"Since five." She said, not looking up. "I decided to head to the library early and get the books I thought we needed."

"Five? The library isn't open at five." He said walking closer.

"I think the library is the easiest place to get into in the castle." She shrugged, sipping her tea as she wrote. "Did you sleep alright?" She finally looked up as he sat down next to her, their magic settled down immediately.

"Why didn't you wake me? I could've helped." He scowled.

"You need your sleep too, Reg." She regarded him for a moment. "I can feel that your magic is still drained."

"I can feel yours too." He eyed the books. "Probably something to do with the ceremony." They sat in silence for a while, their shoulders touching as they looked over at the books. "Alright, where do I start?" He asked gesturing to the books.

She leaned forward and tossed him the first rune book. As they worked the hours ticked by, and breakfast appeared between their books. Izzie had felt the warmth of messages go through her as the day passed on, but she didn't look. Lunch and dinner appeared before them too. Regulus tried to get her out of the room, to the great hall but her nose rarely left the books.

Sunday was much of the same, she even got more books from the restricted section that night. They figured out a lot of the runes they spotted in the basement, and Izzie was sure how they got Reggie to marry her. Regulus grew really worried when Izzie barely moved from her spot in front of the couch. Her hair was in a messy bun and her she had bags under her eyes, while her eyes were red from the lack of sleep. How smart the both of them were, he knew they needed help. And classes would start tomorrow, and their absence would be rather obvious by now.

"Isabelle?" She hummed. "I'm going to stretch my legs, be right back." She hummed again, not looking up. She had ink stains on her chin from tapping her quill against it absentmindedly. With one last worried look at her, he slipped out of their room. Now he just needed to find his brother and Remus. But how? At normal days they would be outside enjoying the sun, but he knew they were too worried to enjoy themselves. Lunch was almost over, but maybe they would still be there. He certainly hoped so, because he couldn't get into the Gryffindor tower.

For once luck was on his side, Sirius, Remus and Lily were sitting at the Gryffindor tower. He quickly made his way to them, and the moment Sirius spotted him, he shot up. Remus and Lily followed right after and oh, how much Reg wanted to pull his boyfriend in a hug and never let him go. But there were more present matters.

"Reg, where-" Sirius started but was interrupted when a loud crack was heard. They all turned to the Slytherin table and behind it was a large banner with confetti falling around it. On the banner stood: Congratulations, Mr & Mrs Black. A bulky seventh year Slytherin, grinned wide and yelled over. "Congrats, Regulus. So, where is the missus?"

Regulus felt rage course through him and set the banner on fire without using his wand. The Slytherin boy quickly jumped away from the burning paper. When he turned his head back, three stunned Gryffindors were looking at him.

"Not here, come on." He grumbled and walked out of the great hall. Ignoring the other students as the three Gryffindors followed him.

OoO

Once they found an empty classroom, he put every privacy spell on the room he could think off. When he turned, satisfied with the privacy, Remus nearly tackled him in hug. And that was all that was needed, Regulus knees trembled and gave out under him as he started to cry. Remus lowered him to the ground and held him close. Lily and Sirius exchanged panicked expressions before they sat down in front of them. They let him cry into Remus's chest, nobody spoke.

After a while, Regulus wiped his tears away and took in a deep breath as he turned to the others. "Isabelle is going to be so mad that I told you this... you were right." He looked to Sirius. "They did more than just take our wands away."

"Reg, what did they do?" Sirius asked nervously.

"They pretended to like her from the start, her father already warned them about her. They were planning everything the moment she walked in. When they caught us in the park, they found an excuse to move forward." A deep breath. "They had seen us, they know about you and her. They didn't say anything about you, Remus. But they know I'm gay, they said they've known for ages." Sirius clenched his fists but didn't interrupt. "When we got back home, they bounded us within seconds. They started ranting about being a disgrace to the family, they hit me and her. They told me they found a way to bypass the fact that I wasn't of age yet and if I didn't marry her, they would - they would kill her." They all gasped at the same time. "They started to torture her, they – they used the Cruciatus on her, I couldn't let that happen. Her screams still wake me up at night." He shuddered. "So, I agreed, then they threatened me and you for her to agree. They hurt us some more before they did something to make us black out. When we woke again, we were still bound, but in the basement. I was bleeding from my wrist." He showed them the scar. "I think they needed it for me to be able to marry her. Then her father and uncle walked in before our parents." Remus stiffened next to him. "They married us that night, they used our blood, and the walls were covered in Runes. Whatever they did, it drained our magic. Isabelle tried to heal our wounds, but she was already so weak and without a wand. She was unconscious for two days." It was silent for a long time as they all tried to absorb the information. "I'm so sorry. But I had to, I couldn't let her be killed."

"Reggie." Sirius breathed before wrapping him in a tight hug. "We all would have done the same thing. You tried to keep her safe, try to keep yourself safe. It's okay." He patted his hair. "We'll find a way."

"Why didn't you two tell us?" Lily asked carefully as Regulus pulled away.

"Isabelle wanted to do research first. She's still very weak and our parents demanded that since we are married, we needed to have our own room. So, it was easy for us to dodge you. But she hasn't been sleeping, she constantly with her nose in the books, barely eating. I'm really worried."

"Where is she now?"

"I'll take you to her, but she isn't going to be happy." He said pushing himself up from the ground. Sirius took the spot next to him as they walked outside the classroom.

"How come she's still weak? It's been days." Remus asked, wringing his hands as they started walking through the corridors.

"I don't know. I feel it too, but it seems that it is worse for her, but I don't know why." Regulus said worriedly.

"We'll figure it out." Sirius said, wrapping his arm around his shoulder.

Regulus glanced to his brother. He was staring in front of him, his jaw was set, and his back was stiff. "I think she loves you too, you know."

The tension eased away in an instant before he looked at him. "What? Did she say anything?"

"No, but she lights up every time you wrote to her, or you could see how nervous and excited she was to see you again. She may not realise it herself yet or maybe she isn't ready to accept it with everything that happened the past year, but I'm sure of it."

"Reg's right." Remus said quietly. "I know her for ages, she has never felt what she feels for you."

"I hope you're right." He said so softly they barely missed it.

A few minutes later, they stopped in front of the fruit tree. Regulus saw Sirius and Remus share a surprised glance as he tapped the fruits. When he stepped in the room with the others, they all stopped as the portrait closed behind them. The room looked worse than before. It looked like she had thrown books around the room as she paced from one side to the other muttering to herself as a quill and parchment followed her around the room.

"Isabelle." Regulus started tentatively.

"I figured out what they did to make you able to marry me. I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner, it was so simple and right in front of me." She said not stopping her pacing or looking up. "Doesn't really matter." She shook her head. "It just means you are off age; your parents don't control you anymore, you don't ever have to get back there, you could come live with me." She looked up beaming, but her face fell when she saw the others, she stopped in her tracks.

"Izzie." Sirius stepped forward but she stepped back.

"I told you I needed time!" She growled not just to Regulus but also to the others. "I said I'll tell them later."

Regulus could see and feel her magic spark dangerously. He could literally see sparks coming out of her fingertips.

"Sirius, don't." Regulus tried to stop his brother from coming closer to her, but he shrugged him off.

"Get out." She snapped and Sirius flew back a few feet. Izzie started to wobble before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground.

"Izzie!"

"Isabelle!"

They all shouted as they rushed forward. Remus, with his long legs, arrived first and kneeled down next to her. "Izzie." He whispered, brushing a few strands of hair from her face. He picked her up, one arm snaked behind her back while the other went under her legs. "Where is the bedroom?"

Regulus pointed to the door, and they all followed Remus in. He gently placed her on the bed. Sirius was standing in the doorway looking at Izzie, Remus and Reggie as they placed a few diagnostic charms over her. She looked so pale, the tan she had from the two weeks in Spain was completely gone.

"Let's let her sleep for now." Remus stood up. "Why don't you show us what you two found out." He reached over for Reggie's hand, but he stepped back just like Izzie did with Sirius. Remus looked hurt for a second but shook it off as he stepped out of the room. Regulus followed the others, looking over his shoulder to his sleeping wife. He softly closed the door behind him.

"Those are the notes she did so far, and the books we read." He pointed to one pile. "I don't know about the others." He said as he glanced to the books that were seemingly thrown around.

"Alright, let's get started." Lily nodded as she dropped down on the floor and handed out the notes. Sirius was sitting in front of the fire, his fingers grazing over her leather twin book before he came out of it to help the others.