Welcome to the Black Parade My Chemical Romance
Sometimes I get the feelin'
She's watchin' over me
And other times I feel like I should go
And through it all, the rise and fall
The bodies in the streets
And when you're gone, we want you all to know
We'll carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on
April 12th, 1979
The Lestrange home reminded Regulus a great deal of 12 Grimmauld Place. It was likely as old as his parents' residency and made him equally as uncomfortable. Paintings on the walls of their dining room depicted gruesome scenes such as magical beheadings and grotesque torture, making him wonder if the illustrations somehow increased Bellatrix and Rodolphus's appetites.
There was also the matter of the polished wooden mantelpiece above the lit fireplace. It supported the weight of roughly a dozen fancy jars, which had been stacked in a neat pyramid. Living, twitching human eyes bobbed within, amidst some manner of brown, murky substance.
"I see you're a fan of the eyes," Rodolphus said from across the table to Regulus, as the surrounding Death Eaters took their sweet time seating themselves for the meeting. "They were a wedding gift from myself to Bellatrix."
"Oh?" He forced a polite smile.
"They're trophies," Bellatrix interjected from beside her husband. "Most were plucked from the heads of Muggles, but the second row is dedicated to Mudbloods and halfbreeds. The jar at the top is for blood traitors and other anomalies."
"It's what they deserve," Regulus said coldly, though he avoided making eye contact with the jars.
"Our hope," Bellatrix smiled. "Is that one day, we might add one of your brother's eyes to the collection."
Despite not having liked Sirius since childhood, an icy indignance curled into his belly. The wanker that his brother was and personal issues aside, he was still worth the lives of nearly everyone in the room, especially those of the Lestranges.
"I believe Regulus was hoping for that kill to be his own." Ivy took a seat on his right, resting her hand atop his beneath the long oak table.
"We'll call it a competition then," Rodolphus grinned. "Whoever loses must prepare the eye for pickling."
Regulus and Ivy shared a hollow laugh.
Bellatrix, apparently done with the chit-chat, got to her feet and gave a sharp clap. "Take your seats!" She shouted, voice echoing off the walls. "We've matters to discuss!"
Scanning the room, Regulus spotted Severus at the other end of the table, engaged in conversation with Evan Rosier and Ezra Wilkes. Or, rather, Severus stood in stoic silence, as their former classmates yammered on about something that he suspected was infuriatingly dull.
Before he could catch Severus's eye, however, the scent of jasmine perfume reached his nose. His body instinctively went tight, and he was ripped out of the room, only to be dropped into Ariadne's Dormitory bed. Her hands were posessively, painfully roaming him, forcing him to feel a pleasure that didn't belong to him. She was naked, smothering him with sickly sweet words that made something deep inside of him flinch away in revulsion. He could hear his own voice moaning an I love you that he'd only ever meant for someone else.
Then, like a shock through his body, he was thrown back into his chair at the Lestranges' table, leaving his back rigid and his heart pounding as he fought to stay there. Ears filled with nauseating words that Ariadne had previously said to him, he could hear nothing else.
Body numb, he could hardly feel Ivy's hand in his as he watched Ariadne from the corner of his eye. She had seated herself beside Regulus and was staring at him blatantly, wearing the same leering, unnatural smile he saw in most every nightmare. Her jasmine perfume surrounded him, suffocating him at the throat and writhing up his spine to whisper in his ear: I will have you again.
He could hear her saying it, repeating it like a twisted chant, despite her lips not moving.
Trying to distract himself, his awareness was drawn to Ivy's hand in his. She had begun squeezing his fingers very tightly, then easing the tension in a steady rhythm, as though trying to draw his attention.
Regulus forced his breathing to match the pressure and releases of her hand.
Slowly, his heart calmed, until his only emotion was seething wrath.
"…Pettigrew was initiated," Bellatrix was saying. "And received his Dark Mark as of two weeks ago. Thanks to his intel on the Order, we now know the details of every meeting he's allowed to attend."
Down the table, Pettigrew ducked his head of mousy brown hair as though he wasn't loving the attention. The Death Eaters pounded their fists approvingly on the table and Regulus quickly dropped Ivy's hand to join in, hatred for Ariadne fuelling every slam of his fist.
"Which is why," Bellatrix went on. "We know the time and place of the Order's next recruitment initiation ceremony: July 22nd at the Prewett home. The Dark Lord has bestowed upon us the honour of performing an ambush, where we will slaughter as many of them as we can."
The dining room erupted into a raucous of cheers and applause. Ivy whistled wildly with her fingers and Regulus clapped with a genuine smirk of anticipation, though the initiation ceremony wasn't what he was looking forward to.
"That," Bellatrix shouted over the noise. "Is the time and place of our next gathering. More detailed orders will reach you before our ambush, but until then…"
"Ne perdas oculos tuos!" The room chanted as a collective.
The Death Eaters hollered in rabid excitement for several long moments until eventually the sound died down. Chairs started scraping against the floor and the room began to dissipate, leaving a few black-robed individuals behind to chat.
Regulus turned to Ariadne with a viscous smile as she made a move to leave.
"Felix Felicis, right?" He said loudly, drawing the attention of some lingering Death Eaters. "I was wondering how you made it to this table. Or does it have something to do with Mulciber?"
Mulciber, who was opposite to Ariadne, narrowed his blue eyes.
"What are you insinuating?" Ariadne asked, looking warily taken aback.
"He's calling you a slag," Ivy said smoothly. "Or are you too thick to know when you're being insulted?"
Those listening to the discussion seemed to lean in, as though sensing the blood in the water.
"I am calling you a slag," Regulus told Ariadne patronisingly, getting to his feet and stepping around the back of his chair. "You fucked Mulciber to snatch a spot at this table, yeah? Unsurprising. He's a spineless cunt too - though, to your credit, you didn't have to shag your cousin to get here."
Death Eaters nearby erupted into heinous laughter, even going so far as to cast out a few jeers, as Mulciber's face tore into outrage.
Regulus raised a challenging brow at him.
"I didn't sleep my way to the top," Ariadne said through gritted teeth, knuckles white in her lap.
"Ah, so it was the Felix Felicis," Regulus sighed in mock disappointment as Ivy got to her feet at his side. "I should've known, you always were a talentless hag, after all."
The few listening in roared with laughter. It was loud enough to draw the attention of the remainder of the room, and drown out whatever indignant, bumbling responses Ariadne and Mulciber attempted.
Regulus offered his arm to Ivy, who took it with a smirk in Ariadne's direction, before they set off for the Floo at a most leisurely pace.
"That was brilliant!" Ivy shrieked as they stepped out of the fireplace.
Reentering the Greengrass's small library, Regulus collapsed into the wide maroon armchair stationed amidst the books, unable to control his cackling.
"I've never-" She choked, leaning against the bookcase for support. " Never seen that look on her face."
Theya poked her head into the doorway. "What's all the fuss about?"
When they merely laughed harder, she rolled her eyes and stepped into the room.
Before they could calm themselves enough to reply, emerald green fire burst to life in the Floo. A moment later, Severus stepped out, wearing a look of excitement that seemed unnatural on his typically sullen face.
"What did you do?" He asked in awe.
Theya scowled at Ivy. "Don't tell me you put Biting Jinxes on those psychopaths' chairs again."
"It wasn't her," Severus smirked.
Regulus covered his mouth with a hand, though this hardly stifled his uncontrollable, insatiable laughter. His face burned hot and his eyes began welling up.
"Oh, come on," Theya turned to him and sighed. "You're definitely smarter than that."
Ivy stopped giggling to give her a dirty look.
"No Biting Jinxes," Regulus grinned. "I just said a few things to Ariadne."
"She was livid," Severus interjected. "Mulciber too, they started screaming at each other in front of everyone. Or, everyone who was still there, anyhow. They were having it out about his cousin, it sounded like, I'm pretty sure they split up."
Regulus and Ivy continued their crazed laughter as Theya looked on with sudden rapt interest.
"What did you say?" Severus demanded of Regulus.
"Just some stuff about-" He gasped for breath and wiped his eyes. "How they're a pair of spineless cunts."
"He called Ariadne a talentless hag!" Ivy squeaked.
"And I might've mentioned that Mulciber fucked his cousin," Regulus added between laughs.
Within moments, all four of them were hunched over, trying to remember how to breathe. All attempts at speaking went unfulfilled as they emitted truly disgraceful snorts and guttural cackles. Only when Regulus's head grew dizzy from lack of air did he force himself to calm down.
"I don't think I've ever laughed that hard," he panted.
"I don't think I've ever been so proud," Theya giggled.
Red in the face from laughter, Severus took a long breath. "Mulciber shagged his cousin?"
"Yeah." Regulus matched his deep intake of air. "She told me herself back when Ariadne and I were together. I've never seen someone so hammered; I doubt she even remembers the conversation."
"Who's his cousin?" Severus raised a brow.
"Vivienne Parkinson," Theya said immediately.
Ivy's jaw dropped open.
"Ugh," Severus looked rightfully disturbed. "But she's not even a Death Eater, how'd she swing an introduction?"
"Her uncle Sebastian is one," Regulus explained. "He's a slimy git in the lower ranks. He could be inner circle if he wanted to, but he's petrified of being caught by the Ministry. Anyhow, Mulciber didn't have enough grit to ascend on his own, so he and Vivienne made some kind of buggered up deal and Sebastian got him an in."
"Well, I'm thoroughly nauseated," Ivy shuddered. "Let's move on before I hurl, shall we?"
"Dinner, anyone?" Theya made for the door. "Mum and Dad are probably ready."
"Not sure that helps with the whole not wanting to hurl thing," Ivy grumbled, but followed her into the hallway nonetheless.
"Don't think I can eat after that," Severus murmured to Regulus.
"Long as it takes my mind off Mulciber and Vivienne," he cringed. "I'm happy."
The pond in Theya's backyard was still under the stars. Occasionally, when a small ripple set across the surface, the water glistened from lights Sere had lavished around a spindly, newly implanted ash tree.
"You've really got a grindylow in there?" Regulus asked sceptically, staring at the nearby pond.
"My parents always wanted me to fulfil a New Years resolution," Theya yanked a chunk of grass out of the soil and sent it flying across the lily pads.
He scootched further away from the water, despite there already being two metres of space between himself and the pond.
"Sere isn't happy about it," Ivy said from where she lay in the grass.
"When are you going to start calling them Mum and Dad?" Theya eyed her. "You're just humanising them when you call them by their names, you realise."
"Humanising them?" Regulus echoed. "You do know they're not another species, right?"
"She's just grossed out," his girlfriend smirked. "Because they have a sex life."
"Ugh," Theya shivered. "Don't say stuff like that."
Ivy rolled her eyes, turning back to Regulus. "Reginald demanded that the grindylow stay. He says it's because Theya finally committed to a resolution, but I think he's taken a liking to Henry."
"Henry?"
"My grindylow," Theya confirmed.
"Your family is all sorts of strange," Regulus told her.
"You wish your family was like mine."
"I don't like it when you say things that are true," he drawled. "Though, I am sick of seeing severed house elf heads. They still make me jump."
"You and me both," Ivy muttered. "But I'll take them over the Lestranges' eye collection."
"Their what?" Theya blinked.
"Well," Regulus grimaced. "You know how I told you we sometimes finish meetings with ne perdas oculos tuos? Meaning, don't lose your eyes?"
"Bloody hell." Theya ripped another fistful of grass out of the ground, then slung it into the water. "They don't have a shred of dignity, do they?"
"Not one," he agreed.
Regulus wondered whether the Lestranges would indeed succeed in taking one of Sirius's eyes. A few years ago, the idea might've given him a sense of savage gratification, but now it just made him divisive.
"Marlene!" Ivy said suddenly, sitting bolt upright.
Regulus jumped, looking around in bemusement for McKinnon, though he didn't see anyone.
"At the meeting," his girlfriend looked meaningfully at Theya. "They said we're going to ambush the next Order initiation ceremony - Marlene is being initiated."
"Fuck," she breathed. "Do you think she'll keep quiet?"
"I don't know," Ivy sounded panicked. "We didn't leave things on very good terms and-"
"Does someone want to clue me in?" Regulus raised his voice resentfully.
They jumped, clearly having forgotten he was there.
He scowled and waited for one of them to elaborate in impatient, fed-up silence. It was just like them to have bizarre, disjointed discussions in front of him without ever actually involving him in the conversation. It drove him mad.
"It's a long story," Ivy stared at an unfixed point over his shoulder and sounded as though she was talking to herself. "But I did swear to tell the truth… And I don't know where else might be secure enough…" She took an uneven breath and crossed her legs, turning to face him fully.
Theya matched her posture, making him feel like he was being confronted.
"Hazel was a Squib," Ivy said steadily.
"And she was killed for it," Regulus finished for her with a nod. "I read The Secrets of Darkness."
"You did?" She looked both surprised and mildly irked.
"I told you I would," he puffed his chest out a little. "I'm a man of my word."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I told him not to," Theya said. "Since it wasn't safe in the castle."
Ivy groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I mean," Theya chewed her lip. "How was he supposed to tell you without saying Hazel or Squib?"
"He could've said I read the book."
"Oh," Regulus and Theya deflated.
His girlfriend shook her head tiredly.
"Well," Theya said after a moment. "It's not like he knows everything; he doesn't know-"
"I want to hear it from Ivy," Regulus cut her off.
She gave him a decidedly nasty look. "As you wish, your majesty."
"Back to what I was saying then," Ivy ignored the tension, seemingly gathering her thoughts. "You know about Hazel… What you don't know, is that my parents had the Lestranges murder her in the cellar. I guess, technically, Bellatrix cast the Killing Curse, but Rodolphus was apart of the torture. They carved the word SQUIB into her arm. I witnessed the end of it."
"Are you serious?" The words popped out before he could think them through.
"What do you think?" She sighed.
"Sorry," Regulus winced. "I just can't fathom seeing something like that."
As difficult as it was to comprehend that his cousin murdered Ivy's sister, he was a smidge grateful to have already known the prerequisite information. He was certain he would've passed out if he'd heard all at once that not only was Hazel a Squib, but she was also tortured and murdered by Bellatrix and Rodolphus.
Bellatrix and Rodolphus.
He leapt to his feet in a panic. "What happened to her body after?"
"I don't know," Ivy looked up at him, startled.
"You didn't see her body after?" He began to pace, feeling sweat gather on the back of his neck. "You don't know what it looked like?"
"That's a seriously fucked up thing to ask," Theya barked.
"Yeah," Ivy shakily got to her feet, staring at him like she had an inkling about what was running through his mind. "Why are you asking?"
"Bellatrix," Regulus said feverishly. "You heard her, right? Blood traitors and other anomalies."
She began to tremble and promptly bolted to the pond, hurling into it.
"Regulus!" Theya hissed, rushing over to hold Ivy's hair back. "Tell me what's going on!"
"The Lestranges," his voice cracked. "Have Hazel's eye in a jar."
Lying on Ivy's bed atop her quilt, Regulus held her against his chest in the dark. She had cried herself into a deep slumber an hour ago and his leg was solidly asleep, but he hadn't stopped stroking her tangled mess of hair. Although he knew he would need to leave soon for the sake of his tingling limb, he couldn't find the willpower to let her go.
He wanted to flay the Lestranges alive for what they'd done. He'd never felt such a strong desire to torture other people before, and although some minor part of him worried that it made him like other Death Eaters, he was still determined to one day satisfy the urge.
The door to Ivy's room cracked open.
Theya locked eyes with him and jerked her head in the direction of the hallway.
Regulus frowned and held Ivy tighter as she let out a cute little snore.
Theya gave him a look and jerked her head again.
Holding in a sigh, he gently rolled his girlfriend onto the bed. When his feet landed on the ground, pain shot down his leg and he breathed in sharply through his teeth. Clenching his jaw against the unpleasant sensation, he managed to get the quilt out from beneath Ivy and covered her with it, pressing a kiss to her temple before he joined Theya in the hallway.
Following her to the sitting room with a distinct limp, he flopped onto the sofa beside her, bouncing his leg to get the blood flowing again.
"I hope you're planning to wait til tomorrow," she said tentatively. "To get the rest of the story."
"What do you think I'm gonna do?" He gestured testily to the wall that Ivy was on the other side of. "Harass my distraught girlfriend? Bully her into giving me answers when she just found out her dead sister's eye is in a jar on my cousin's mantelpiece?"
"Just making sure," Theya raised her hands in defence. "I'm worried about her."
"And you think I'm not?" He huffed.
"I just…" She ran a hand through her hair. "I just don't know how much more she can take. I feel like any small thing might break her. I don't know how she hasn't snapped by now."
"She's snapped alright." He rubbed his eyes. "She's probably snapped more times than you, me, and Severus combined."
"But how does she keep coming back? She's like a ruddy cockroach."
"Well," he said thoughtfully, still bouncing his painfully tingling leg. "I think she's fuelled by revenge. What I worry about is what'll happen to her when she gets it. What is she going to live off of after? Love?"
Theya snorted. "What do you think I'm fuelled by?"
"Social status," Regulus teased, locking his hands behind his neck and tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling.
"Am I really so insipid?" She let out a short laugh.
"Nah. You just want people to adore you."
"And that's not bad?"
"It's not like you're drugging people to get them to like you," Regulus made a face. "You just are who you are and people love you for it."
"Do I detect jealousy?" She smirked.
He shrugged. "I am who I am and people hate me for it, so you tell me."
"People don't hate you," Theya looked surprised.
"Feels like it," he glanced at her sidelong. "Am I wrong?"
"You're wrong. The general public hates Severus and Ivy because they're, well, you know. But people think you're just quiet and scary. And so fit," she mocked. "Apparently."
"Yeah?" Regulus grinned.
"The number of girls," she rubbed her temples. "That befriend me to get to you is absurd. Every other week it's Theya, can you introduce me? Or Theya, he seems really dark and brooding, is that true?"
"You're taking the piss," he scoffed.
"I'm really not. It's a nightmare. Last year, this one Ravenclaw pretended to faint during a Quidditch match because she was convinced you were gallant and would try to save her. She broke her arm."
Regulus laughed.
"I think," she said contemplatively. "They assume you're this gentle soul because you got Ivy to like you. As though you tamed the beast or something so that makes you sensitive. 'Course, they back off whenever she's around, and she always is, so I'm not surprised you haven't noticed."
"Why'd you never tell me this?"
"I wanted you and Ivy to get together," Theya shrugged. "I figured if there weren't so many pretty little things running around trying to distract you, it might help you two along."
"I've never been very distractible," he pointed out.
"That's true; you're almost as obsessive as Ivy."
"Come on, she's not that bad. Sure, she's pretty stuck on the Divination stuff, but I probably would be too if I was seeing death everywhere."
"Just wait until you hear the rest of her story," she snorted. "You'll agree with me when I say that she dedicates her life to the things she wants. It's definitely obsessive."
Regulus stared at her as something clicked in his brain.
The idea was unthinkable, and yet…
"Why're you looking at me like that?" She cocked her head.
"Well," his mind spun with the notion that his girlfriend may be far more cunning than he'd realised. "Ivy is fueled by revenge and I'm sure she wants revenge for her sister. You're not saying that she dedicated her life to it, are you?"
She blanched.
It was all the response he needed for his mind to be tossed into dazed confusion. Standing up, Regulus gazed out the window with his eyes unfocused, trying to sort his racing thoughts enough to focus on one.
Theya put her hands over her face with a loud groan and stomped her feet on the ground. "This is not the way she wanted you to find out."
"If you're taking the mickey," he turned to her with a grave expression. "It's not funny. It's very not funny, Theya."
"I'm not," she peeked at him from between her fingers. "I swear."
Taking a deep breath against a wave of dizziness that crashed over him, he could hardly grasp that his Ivy had come up with and successfully enacted such a drawn-out scheme. It was incomprehensible that she could conjure up such a plan for revenge at the age of twelve.
And yet, here they were.
"That's it, isn't it?" He clapped a hand to his forehead. "That's why she was so adamant about becoming a Death Eater, why she switched overnight from being Ivy to behaving like a proper pureblood - she used her advantage to get closer to the Lestranges and enact some kind of revenge. I'm right, aren't I?"
"There's more to it than that," Theya groaned again, collapsing over the armrest of the couch and hiding her face, causing her voice to become muffled. "This needs to be coming from Ivy. You need to ask her about it all tomorrow."
Although he was sorely tempted to argue with her, he knew she was right. More than that, he didn't think he could process any more information that night. His brain was imploding, so overloaded that he felt like he was being thrashed about in a hurricane.
"Just tell me one thing," Regulus sat back down beside her. " I wasn't a part of her plan, right?"
"You," Theya straightened with a relieved laugh. "Me, and Severus were some of the few things that weren't in her plan. We were the things she should have disposed of, but couldn't bear to live without."
"You're sure?" He asked quietly.
"Absolutely," she said seriously. "I think that we're the only pleasures she's allowed herself this entire time."
Regulus let her words wash a sense of calm over him. In all actuality, he hadn't thought himself merely a chess piece, but he'd needed reassurance. "And you're certain she'll answer all my questions tomorrow?"
"I'd make an Unbreakable Vow over it."
He closed his eyes and nodded solemnly. "She's waited this long, I can wait too."
April 13th, 1979
Regulus managed far more sleep than he'd anticipated. Having slept on the Greengrass's sofa, he'd only woken up when Sere and Reginald closed the front door behind themselves as they departed for Diagon Alley. He'd thrown an arm over his eyes, effectively blocking out the sunlight, and was asleep until the grandfather clock chimed to indicate noontime, at which point he'd been startled enough to roll right off the settee.
Sitting on the floor with his legs tangled up in the blanket, he slowly unravelled himself with a yawn, rubbing his bleary eyes. Leaning his head against the side of the sofa, he was tempted to climb back up and get in another few hours.
That was, until the events of the previous night came flooding back to mind.
He was on his feet in an instant.
Leaving the sitting room in favour of the hallway, he found Ivy's door already open and her messy bed empty. Continuing further down, he reached Theya's room. He knocked and pushed the door open, though it only took him a moment to discern that the room was vacant.
Heading back to the sitting room, he passed through the kitchen into the sunny dining room, where Ivy and Theya were seated. Still in their sleep clothes, they were giggling about something around a pile of sandwiches while the record player in the bay window played jazz music.
"Morning," he kissed Ivy on the cheek and took a seat in front of the empty place setting, stealing three coronation chicken sandwiches for himself.
"Morning," they echoed merilly around their mouthfuls of food.
"You two seem awfully cheerful," he observed.
"It helps that we've had some Elderflower wine," Ivy raised her glass.
"Planning to share?"
"Certainly," Theya went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.
"Are you alright?" Regulus asked his girlfriend lowly.
"I will be," Ivy said softly. "I don't really want to talk about it, honestly, but thanks."
Theya returned with a bottle in hand and poured him a drink, before retaking her seat and folding her legs.
"Is it too early for me to ask for the rest of the story?" Regulus stuffed a sandwich into his mouth and followed it up immediately with another.
"It's noon," Theya rolled her eyes.
"Early for you," Ivy laughed. "Is midday for us. We've been up for hours."
"Why didn't you wake me?" He asked around his food.
"The drool running down your chin was too cute to interrupt."
"I took a picture," Theya snickered.
"Why would you let her do that?" Regulus shook his head at his girlfriend.
"She's not keeping it," Ivy shrugged. "It's in my room. And, anyway, we need more pictures of all of us. We've got next to none."
"I'll agree to more pictures if you finish telling me the story."
"Right," Ivy dusted her hands. "Where to begin… Well, I heard Theya gave you some more insight after I passed out last night."
She ducked her head guiltily.
"I suppose," she went on. "I should just walk you through the timeline -fill you in on what you don't know about- so it makes the most sense? Answer questions you have along the way?"
"This is sounding an awful lot like class," Theya remarked.
"Not sure how else to go about it," Ivy said.
"Me neither," Regulus finished his third sandwich and loaded more onto his plate. "Go ahead then, I'm listening."
"Let's see," his girlfriend was quiet for a moment, evidently thinking of a good way to start. "My first day back after Hazel was murdered -you know, when Sirius put Tripping Jinxes on us- McGonagall brought me to her office and told me she knew my sister was a Squib. She also insinuated that Hazel was killed and offered help. I didn't trust her, though, so I didn't say anything."
"You never told me that," Theya blinked.
"Honestly," Ivy chewed her lip. "I'd forgotten until just now."
"How do you forget something like that?" She raised a brow.
"Not a clue, but I did. Questions, Regulus?"
"Not yet."
"Alright. After that… Spring of second year, I went to a Squib Rights march disguised as Lily Evans. I nearly got blasted to bits and Marlene McKinnon found me when the Polyjuice was wearing off. I was caught, so I ended up telling her why I was there."
"Ohhhh," Regulus said slowly. "That's why you were talking about McKinnon last night. Because she knows about your sister and you were worried about what'll happen when we ambush her initiation?"
"Right. So when I told Marlene about my sister, we decided to figure out a way to get revenge. We thought I could do the most damage by working out a way to bugger up the system from the inside."
"Hold on," he held up a hand in disbelief. "Everything that you're doing, it's about destroying pureblood society as a whole?"
"That's what I meant," Theya finished her glass of Elderflower wine. "When I said that there was more to it; it's never been just about the Lestranges."
"Fuck me," Regulus leaned back in his chair. "Iv, you really decided to take on an age old culture, and in association, the Dark Lord, when you were twelve?"
"Well," Ivy tilted her head. "By then I think I was thirteen."
Letting out a high-pitched laugh, he shook his head.
The ridiculousness of it was not lost on him. But then again, at that age he'd been convinced that he was going to become the most skilled and sought after Quidditch player in the world. Ivy, however, had managed to actually put herself in a position that could lead to achieving her insane goal.
"Merlin," he shook his head and grabbed another sandwich. "Might take me a while to fully comprehend that one, but go on."
"Flash forward to third year, to the night of my birthday when Avdima was trying to auction me off. You remember, right? We were outside the party talking about who I'd have to marry and I accidentally called you a last resort?"
"I don't know if I recall my first heartbreak," he said dryly. "Please, go into more detail."
Theya laughed and refilled their drinks, sunlight catching one of the glasses and momentarily blinding him.
"Not my finest moment," Ivy cringed. "Then or now. I bring it up because that night made me realise that I was more comfortable around you than anyone else. And in being so, I was risking slipping up and giving myself away. Much as I cared for you, I was putting myself in danger."
"Doesn't sting quite as bad when you put it that way," he said grudgingly.
"Good," his girlfriend smiled. "Then, of course, there was Grimmauld Place over the summer between third and fourth year."
"Now that," Regulus checked her out blatantly. "I'm happy to recount."
"If you're planning to walk us through it," Theya said. "Warn me now so I can leave."
"What?" He smirked, nabbing another coronation chicken sandwich. "I wasn't referring to the exceptional snog, I was talking about Ivy kneeing Sirius in the balls."
Theya snorted into her glass.
"That night," Ivy went on, running a hand through her loose white hair. "Your family mentioned that you'd officially joined the Dark Lord's ranks."
"And you thought me undateable," he nodded in understanding. "Which is why you said you weren't ready for a relationship during fourth year."
"Precisely. Then you told me you were getting your Dark Mark. Marlene and I had spent two years at that point coming up with nothing but dead end ideas on how to progress, so I decided to become a Death Eater myself. I figured I could find out sensitive information that way and mitigate casualties."
"You decided," Regulus said. "I assume that means Marlene didn't."
"She didn't know at the time," Ivy looked suddenly crestfallen. "I knew she wouldn't look at me the same and I wanted to delay that a little longer. She was as much my friend as you two have always been and I-" She stopped and swallowed, looking lost in the past.
Deciding to give her a moment, he reached for another sandwich, only to find that there were none left. "All the sandwiches are gone."
"Astute observation," Theya said playfully. "Did you also notice that you were the one who ate them all?"
"I might've."
"I'll make more," she scooted her chair out from the table. "But you're getting cheese and pickles, we're out of chicken."
As Theya went into the kitchen and began opening cabinets, Regulus watched Ivy dab her eyes.
"I got us off track," she shook herself. "Later that year, I walked in on Mulciber torturing Mary MacDonald in an abandoned classroom. He had her paralyzed and gagged - it was awful. Basically all you need to know is that Lily Evans and I helped her get away. Mulciber is still none the wiser, MacDonald thankfully never said anything, and Evans… I'll come back to her in a bit."
"Evans is a trip!" Theya shouted from the kitchen.
He thought to inquire further, but trusted that he would be filled in eventually.
"Now, I have a question for you," Ivy surprised him by saying. "The summer between fourth and fifth year -that time we were in the gardens after Rhaen's funeral- you asked how Hazel really died. What did you think happened?"
"Dunno," he said honestly. "I wondered if maybe she fell down the stairs. Figured it was some sort of accident or that there were peculiar circumstances, but I never suspected she'd been murdered."
"That's good to know," she replied seriously. "Oh - I forgot to mention that Benjy Fenwick was at the Squib Rights march in second year. He didn't know he was talking to me since I was Polyjuice'd, but he mentioned that rumours had gone around about my family producing a Squib when Hazel died. Glad to hear none of that reached pureblood ears."
Theya returned from the kitchen and slid Regulus's plate aside to put a stack of cheese and pickle sandwiches in front of him. Making a move to devour them, he gestured for Ivy to continue.
"Fall of fifth year," she went on. "I thought it was time to tell Marlene that I was going to become a Death Eater. She accused me of being secretly interested in the Dark Arts and we had it out. Of course, she had to make it about Sirius and-"
"Sirius?" He raised his brows.
"A little context is probably good," Theya nudged Ivy.
"Yeah," she nodded. "So I don't think Marlene realised what she was doing, but over the years, she started backing out of our plan. Going on about how, instead, I should be like Sirius and leave the pureblood world behind. After we had it out, all she ever did was scold me for wanting to become a Death Eater and talk about how I should be like your brother."
Mulling over this information in silence, Regulus found himself relieved, as he'd been mildly worried that Sirius had been drawn into her scheme before himself.
"Midway through fifth year," Ivy finished off her glass. "When you and I were shagging-"
Theya made a gagging sound.
"-and we got caught by Ariadne and someone who has no room to talk, I told you we didn't have the same beliefs. You thought I meant that you weren't pureblood enough for me. I let you believe it because I couldn't think of another lie that would convince you we couldn't be together."
"But really," he chuckled darkly, thinking that he was finally grasping where the rest of her story -at least the parts that involved him- was headed. "It was because I was still an arrogant pureblood shite, right?"
"Noticing a pattern yet?" Theya laughed as she stared out the bay window.
"That pattern," Ivy said. "Is the reason for all my back and forth; I knew I couldn't trust you yet with a secret like this. Granted, when I told you I was breaking things off between us because of Ariadne, that was the truth. At least, it was half the truth."
"It's starting to make more sense," he admitted.
"I'm glad," she smiled. "Let's see, what came next? Oh! Maybe a month after that, I was teaching Severus Occlumency. He breached my mind and saw how Hazel died. But it was brief and he didn't have much of a reaction, so I doubt he ever made the connection."
Regulus nodded along, as he'd been wondering if Severus was a part of her tale.
"At the end of fifth year, Marlene saw my Dark Mark and let me have it. This was when you and Theya wouldn't speak to me and I was sloshed all the time, so you can imagine the kind of mouth I had with her. She pointed out that I had no actual plan, clocked me, then hit me with some spell that knocked me unconscious near the Black Lake."
"Good friend," Regulus said resentfully.
"She was, actually," Ivy sighed. "She just got rather bullheaded towards the end."
"That's how Ivy ended up in the Hospital Wing," Theya added.
"Right," she confirmed. "But not before James Potter stumbled upon me in the dead of night. Bloke threw me over his shoulder and brought me to the Gryffindor Dormitory."
"What?" He stared at her.
"It was a mess," she grimaced. "He was surprisingly nice, though; laid me on the Common Room sofa and started the fire to warm me up."
Although he was grateful she'd been treated well, any mention of Potter always put him in a foul mood; betrayal and the knowledge that he'd been replaced as Sirius's brother were his daily companions.
"Sirius got involved, then Lupin and Evans. I was sobbing the whole time, it was horrid. Eventually, they ended up taking me to the Hospital Wing, where I had a pretty unpleasant conversation with Dumbledore."
"Unpleasant," he echoed.
"Very," she blew out a long breath. "I found out that he performed Legilimency on me when I was younger and came to know about Hazel that way. He also congratulated me on being a Death Eater."
"Tosser," he rolled his eyes. "I assume he didn't do much about it, since you're sitting here instead of in Azkaban. Did he do anything?"
"Nope. Never mentioned any of it again until two months ago. I'll come back around to that as well… Is this all making sense so far? Do you have any questions?"
"Well," Regulus went for another cheese and pickle sandwich, which was decidedly his last. "Is it safe to assume that Severus never found out about your sister? Otherwise, he'd be here for this conversation, wouldn't he?"
"He doesn't know about any of this," Theya interjected. "We want to involve him at some point, but he's so ruddy hard to read. I can never decipher where his loyalties lie."
"A few months ago," Ivy said slowly. "He told me that he regretted getting his Mark."
"That's something, right?" He asked hopefully.
"It is," Theya pursed her lips. "But you told Ivy back in fourth year that you regretted it and it still took ages for you to come around. Out of the four of us, Severus has always been my biggest concern. He's a good liar, a skilled Occlumens, and power hungry."
"All of us are," Regulus pointed out.
"He's different," Theya rubbed her forehead. "He wasn't raised to admire You-Know-Who like the pair of you. He became a Death Eater because he was sick of feeling helpless and unwelcomed; he couldn't stand being treated like filth by his family and the Marauders."
"It's a problem for another day," Ivy smiled sadly. "We'll keep working on him and eventually he'll come to the same conclusion we all did."
"I hope so," she shook herself. "Go on, Iv."
"Where were we?"
"You were in the Hospital Wing," Regulus said. "With Dumbledore."
"Ah. That brings us to the last day of fifth year when I told you I'd lost faith in the Dark Lord. While we were in the Dormitory, Theya found a list I'd written right after Hazel died. It was a list of things my parents could have done instead of having my sister murdered. Theya didn't bring it up to me until autumn of sixth year and we didn't discuss it at length until Christmas Eve."
"That was when I got the whole story," Theya said. "Since then, we've been working on her plans together."
"You've known about this for over a year?" Regulus folded his arms, thoroughly offended.
"It's your own fault you didn't find out sooner," she shot back. "Ivy tried to tell you, tried to ease you in with The Secrets of Darkness, then at the Dormitory, but you decided to be a pratt and ignore us the whole summer."
"Whatever," he grumbled, slouching in his chair. "She could've tried again after I got out from under Ariadne's love potion."
"I could've," Ivy conceded. "But seeing how you reacted the first time, I didn't think you could handle it yet. Plus, if I had decided to trust you, that would've made things complicated with Frederick."
"You mean the bloke who tried to steal our marriage contract?" Regulus scowled.
"You told him?" Ivy raised a brow at Theya.
"Didn't think you'd mind at this point," she shrugged.
"You have me there," she waved a hand. "Anyhow, we're almost all caught up. This year, Theya and I were trying to figure out how to progress beyond just sitting at Death Eater meetings. Turns out the sensitive information I was hoping for isn't very useful, unless I want to get myself caught, so we decided to ask around about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"Desperate move," he winced.
"We took precautions," Theya leaned forward to rest her chin on her hand. "Death Eaters were off the table and we planned to Obliviate everyone we talked to. Binns was unhelpful to the point that we didn't even need to erase his memory, then we tried Dungbeetle-"
"Dunbittle," Ivy corrected.
"-And she told us that You-Know-Who was taught by Dumbledore and Slughorn."
"I see," he said thoughtfully. "So the night of the Valentine's Day party when you said Ivy was slipping Slughorn Veritaserum, she was doing it to get information."
"Yeah," Theya said. "I still don't know what happened that night, though. All she told me was that it was a mess, but she wasn't in trouble, and that we should wait to talk about it 'til Spring Holidays."
Regulus and Theya turned to Ivy.
"It was a mess," Ivy sighed and rubbed her eyes. "At the end of the party, I was waiting for the other guests to leave and Evans came up to me. Apparently, Marlene told her about me."
"She did what?" Theya gasped.
"Marlene and Evans took Veritaserum together," she explained. "I don't know the details but I guess it came out that way. Evans gave me her word that neither of them have told anyone else and that they never will."
The situation set his teeth on edge. Her secret -their secret, now- was getting too close to the Marauders, who would only present them with a world of trouble. If a single one of them found out, it would get back to Pettigrew. And if that happened, they were all done for.
Regulus clenched his jaw. "Did you make her take an Unbreakable Vow?"
"I probably should've," Ivy admitted. "But, strangely, I trust her. And I trust Marlene."
"Not very wise," Theya said evenly.
"I thought," she rubbed her lips together. "Maybe if I gave her something in return, she'd be more inclined to keep her mouth shut. I was going to tell her that Pettigrew is a spy, but decided better of it at the last moment. I said she could owl me if she wants to know who the traitor is."
"Pretty risky," Regulus pointed out.
"I know, but it's too late to do anything about it now." She took a deep breath. "After Evans and I talked, I slipped Slughorn the Veritaserum. He knew right away, but I got out of him that he told the Dark Lord how to make Horcruxes. That You-Know-Who wanted to make seven."
Scouring his memory, he didn't think he'd heard the term before.
"What are Horcruxes?" Theya squinted.
"I don't know exactly," Ivy shook her head listlessly. "I came across the word in Ancient Divination, but all it said was that Horcruxes fall under the realm of Death Magic… Anyhow, Slughorn dragged me to the Headmaster's office, and I managed to Obliviate him at the top of the Tower. 'Course, I wound up in Dumbledore's office anyway, but guess what I found? That Which Is Natural and That Which Is Not!"
"Really?" Regulus's brows shot up.
"You're taking the piss," Theya squeaked.
"He agreed to let me read it," she grinned madly. "If I let him see three of my memories; the night of Hazel's death, my Dark Mark initiation, and what happened with Slughorn that night. I agreed. So before the year is up, I'll get to read That Which Is Natural and That Which Is Not!"
Theya groaned. "You're really throwing all the rules out the window, huh?"
"She's lost her mind," Regulus put his head on the table.
"It's not that bad," Ivy insisted cheerfully. "He already knew about Hazel, and me being a Death Eater, remember? Really, all he got from it was what happened with Slughorn. And I couldn't think of a way to get around explaining anyway."
He didn't feel good about the situation, by any means, but she had been right before; it was too late to do anything about it now.
"Also," Ivy turned solemn. "Dumbledore asked me to join the Order of the Phoenix once I graduate."
A strangled, throaty sound crawled out of him. Getting to his feet since a rush of adrenaline begged him to move, he stood around the back of his chair, watching Theya's jaw open and close like a fish.
"I had the same reaction," his girlfriend looked between them. "He told me you two might also be allowed to join, if he could question you under the influence of Veritaserum first."
"Absolutely not," Regulus said instantly.
"I think we should do it," Theya said firmly.
"You can't really think that's a good idea," he laughed humorlessly and began to pace along the bay window. "Us taking truth serum? That's a good way to expose ourselves as Dark Arts practitioners - and me as a murderer. For all we know, he could be trying to get us thrown in Azkaban."
"I don't think that's his intention," Ivy said. "But I'm just as disinclined to accept."
"Why?" Theya got to her feet, as though she too had an excessive amount of energy building up. "This could be just what we've been looking for - a way to help. The Order and us, we want the same things, we have the same goals."
"But very different methods," Regulus countered. "Let's say we took the Veritaserum and for some reason Dumbledore decided to let us join. How do you think the rest of the Order would react to two Death Eaters and a known Dark Arts associate in their midst? Even if Evans and McKinnon vouched for us, we wouldn't be trusted. Plus, we'd have to rely on people who despise us to keep our secret."
Theya started rubbing her temples.
"Then there's Pettigrew," Ivy's voice was heavy. "We'd have to out him, and while I intend to do so the first chance I get, we run the risk of being exposed ourselves."
"But we only have one lead," Theya huffed angrily. "And it's not even a good one. I'll remind you that the only mention of Horcruxes you've found is in a rare book that we barely managed to find. It took us nearly a year to get a hold of it and the sodding thing didn't even tell us what Horcruxes are!"
"It's the biggest lead that I've found in the past five years," Ivy growled. "This is information directly about the Dark Lord! Whatever Horcruxes are, they're important enough that both Slughorn and You-Know-Who have been keeping them secret. I'm telling you, this is something worth finding out about."
"And there's Severus to consider," Regulus ceased his pacing to sit beside the record player in the window, letting the sun warm his back. "Are you willing to alter and possibly end your relationship with him, Theya? Because the Order might make all of us do that. Not to mention, our every move would be dictated by them - likely by Dumbledore himself. Can any of us say that we have the restraint to do what we're told?"
"I can," Theya snapped. "You two are the reckless ones, not me."
"Let me ask you this," Regulus narrowed his eyes. "Are you willing to join the Order without us? Because I'm not doing it and it doesn't seem like Ivy is either."
"I won't do it," Ivy agreed evenly. "I don't think it's a smart move right now."
"You were perfectly fine," Theya said through gritted teeth. "Bending every single one of your rules on Valentine's Day."
"Yes, I was," Ivy said calmly. "Because I thought the benefits outweighed the risks. I don't think that about joining the Order. Believe me, I wouldn't be opposed if the circumstances were different, but right now, it'd put us in an extremely dangerous and precarious position."
Theya sputtered out incomprehensible words, evidently fuming.
"Look," Ivy spoke over her attempts at speech. "We're going to decline, but I'll make Dumbledore keep the offer open. I don't know how yet, but I promise I'll make sure the offer stands. That way, if our circumstances change, we can reevaluate in the future. How's that?"
Theya glared at the wine bottle on the table.
The room fell into silence and Regulus restarted the jazz record that had stopped sometime during the discussion.
"I can live with that," Theya eventually said moodily.
"Then we're in agreement," Ivy gave a decisive nod.
Regulus walked back to the table to finish the small amount of lukewarm Elderflower wine in his glass. Grabbing the bottle, he popped off the cork and downed the remaining contents in three gulps.
Wiping his mouth, he broke the tense silence that had formed amongst their trio. "Any other secrets that I should know about, Iv?"
"Well," she cracked a smile, eyeing Theya. "I murdered Avdima."
Theya released a high pitched laugh, then covered her mouth and scowled, as though she was committed to wallowing.
"I fucking love you," Regulus bent over to kiss Ivy hard on the mouth, before sitting beside her with an enamoured grin. "I thought you might've had something to do with that, considering how often you talked about killing your parents. Did you do in your father as well?"
"Nah," Ivy smirked. "That was pure luck."
Theya snickered, her shoulders loosening a bit.
"I'll tell you the story," his girlfriend looked at Theya with mischievously twinkling eyes. "If you're ready to play nice again."
She pursed her lips and frowned, as though debating whether she was through being angry.
"It's as juicy as what we went over with Regulus," Ivy added in a sing-song voice, squeezing his hand under the table.
Theya sat down and leaned in eagerly.
Regulus laughed.
"Alright," Ivy smiled happily. "Remember last year when I kept ambushing Ariadne to steal her wand's allegiance? Well…"