The months passed by to February. The little gnomes became little flying cupid. They didnt shoot arrows at couples as much as they tripped some couples until they were banned from doing by the staff. Now they just throw food but again the staff didn't let them waste the food, so they had to their food in the owls' mouths or students' plates. Dumbeldroe loved the gnomes. The gnomes would come from straight from the greenhouse garden into the Great Hall, dressed as tiny Cupids for February. Rupe was excited for when they would dress as little leprechauns, next month. They could stop by the Room of Requirements for extra things. Rupe was gonna make them fake gold coins.
Ruperti sat in the Great Hall, Starlinge was across from her. Ruperti was going to intern at Hogs Head Inn as an Event Coordinator Assistant. She had a letter in her hand. She could move further up by promotion in the future. She was very happy about it. She got an excited reply from Narcissa, a wedding plannerz who coordinate with her/the company she works for in the future. Narcissa told her not to panic, and take it one day at a time. That as life after all, it has been like for centuries. There was nothing to panic about.
Regulus had some good news too. He was accepted to intern at the Quibbler as a magical photo maintainer, by using potions or charms. He was also secretly Lord Black. But Regulus would've take ln that intern as Regalus, but he was able to take it as Sterlinge.
Ruperti got a feel of Hoggshead Inn during the Hogsmeade weekend. Regulus told her not to stay too long in Hogsmeade during war time. She might be Lady Red by Proxy but as Narcissa told her she wasn't safe from an attack, even from a happy Bellatrix. Regulus even admitted hearing her truth was unexpected from him even though he was open minded. He thought she would have problems as Lady Red-Black By Proxy because of her status.
Ruperti was going to give him extra amounts of whatever Hogshead Inn was promoting, when she started working. But now that Regulus was poking her for being a Weasley and a Lady Black by proxy, she was going to balckmail Regulus first. The fued was still there, Rup didn't know why she expected it to die down, the Weasley curse wasn't broken yet. Regulus might be inherently kind and sincere no matter what he grew up around, but he was still born and bred a Black. He warned her not to let Bella get a whiff of her status. Rup didn't want to be a rude, gutless brute in public but she wasn't feeling as upbeat and tolerant as her Hoggs Head Inn boss expected her to be to the problematic patrons.
Tomorrow she was officially became Lady Black By Proxy. It was also the anniversary of the day it was discovered a daughter was about to be born and the Weasley curse was broken. She had to make the party count.
Rup was found with her back against the table, facing away toward the Great Hall table, in a surprising long conversation with Sterlinge. Rup was mixing Regulus' actual cute looks but hisstrawberry blond hair, turquoise eyes, slightly sharp feature glamor wasn't too bad either. He was awkward at first because of what she told him, but he surprised her by opening up to her. He told her he was looking for a sensitive, sincere, and poised girl for a betrothal contact. She said she was looking for loyal, quirky, caring, easy going and free spirit in a guy for a betrothal contract.
They talked a bit more he told her he's been to Belgum, Norway, Sweden, France, and Italy. He also told her he lived in Belgum the most and he could be a tour guide there. Rup said he could join her at Hogs Head Inn. That made him warn her again to switch locations. Hoggs Head Inn had good security during the war but it was generally a bad idea to work in public while a war was raging on outside. Regulus suggested to work from home through mail order or a floo call system or for a Black franchise.
Rup remembered when they went to Hogshead Inn during the ten minute Hogsmeade trip. They were given a ten minute Hogsmeade trips every other month, and students were warned to leave with a Hogwarts house elf accompanying them if anything felt off. The elves were on look out for suspicious activity during Hogsmeade activity, especially any signs of an incoming terrorist attack.
Most muggle born students and partial breed were advised not to go to Hogsmeade trips, so they didn't. Most of them didn't, but proxy Lady Red did go to Hogsmeade to see Hogs Head Inn, the her work place in the summer. Sterlinge came with her, at a risk to himself even of no one besides the Dumbledore and Sirius knew he was Regulus.
Hoggs Head wasn't busy at the afternoon time in the middle of wartime, but the crowd was varied. Rup wasn't too fond of working with all the patrons who were as unpredictable as Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans, as much as she was about what she had to do. Luckily she didn't have to interact with the crowd besides a few phrases. Which suited her just fine.
Aberforth was there and greeted her in passing. When he finished his job he gave her a brief overview and what she would do. And said she could advance positions and be her own boss as a lead Coordinator in the future. Rup liked the idea.
Regulus was happy for her but he was impatient to get back to Hogwarts. He stood by the window of Hoggs Head Inn, keeping an eye on outside as if he was expecting an attack any second.
It was pure irony that when he turned around to engage in a lively conversation with the other two, that something happened. All the lights in the Inn went out. It was daytime but some areas like Hogshead Inn needed extra lighting in the inner areas, unless the sky light window was uncovered.
Regardless the Inn's magic for lights went out without warning. The was a particularly cloudy day so it was visible that all the magic for lights went out in Hogsmeade, if one looked out the window into the street of shops. Panic could be heard outside. Aberforth cursed and gave orders to his other employees, who were casually moving to carry out tasks behind the main seating area of the tavern bar. "I swear I'm done with these turds," Aberforth ranted, quietly. "First they do illicit business in my tavern. And now they're causing big attack again. I'm going to move to a remote, hard to get in waitlist area that money can't buy. With mail order. Damed dearh eaters!"
Regulus gave Rupertin a look that said 'see he agrees with me'. Rupertin shook her head in shock, but she would prefer if Aberforth switched to that system.
Aberforth glanced at her and the nearest employee on the other side of the tavern bar. "We deserve to work in a safe place, right? I don't want my employees serving people in a warzone. We're serving soldiers and criminals. Mostly criminals, degenrates, poltergeists- Peeves comes a lot, questionalw leaders, and quirky folk."
"For sure," Ruperta agreed. Aberforth ushered them around the tavern bar to a revolving rack that had circular stairs. Once inside, they went down the tower to a cellar. If they looked up thet could see the top of the tower The tower wasn't visible outside.
A house elf told made them wait as he disappeared to check if it was safe to apparate back to the edge of Hogwarts gate. The ground shook beneath them and tons of glass shattering was heard outside. They sat in the cellar and everytime they tried lumous, the light didn't appear. A big blue flame that was in the cellar was visible, yet some dark material was in it, dimming it.
A house elf appeared a few minutes later. "It's safe, Gulajam sees lots of darkness causing stuff in Hogsmeade." Before anyone could ask questions, Gulajam reached for both their hands and apparated them back to Hogwarts' gate. Aberforth said he'd look into a floo call environment for them before they left.
At the gate, they saw all of Hogsmeade was covered in a thin haze of black smoke. And screams were heard as unseen forces attacked everyone.
The house elf quickly swung open the gate and they quickly piled in a, with other students who were also brought over. Hogwarts was heavily reinforced as that attack went on.
They learned an hour late that the learned the death eaters tried to black out Hogsmeade in honor of the new Lady Black By Proxy. They were planning to kidnap someone.
Regulus and Ruperti were both shaken up. That was yesterday. Since then Reg kept telling Ruperti to avoid busy places that death eaters knew about. Rup reminded him of Aberforth's remote work. She switched the topic to impersonating Umbridge during one attack. Regulus nad her deeply thought about how that would play out.
Ruperti turned to Regulus. Caring for another person who was her friend, in a very outstanding way, that went beyond what friends do, was a new feeling.
"Are you gonna intern as a photo editor by potions or charms through a floo marketing system?" She looked around and cast a silencing charm at their empy side of the table. "You're the real Lord Black but you're better off not being in public. No one is gonna serve you with an attack named after your title, in your honor. Maybe they won't even do so to Sirius. But you're still not in the best position to run around in public either. Your cousin is thrle scariest thing during Halloween and April Fool's Daym I'm not itching to be in the center of a Bertie Botts every flavored characters during this war."
Regulus glanced at her, a bit more silent but still worried for her
"Yeah it's not safe for either of us out there, it isn't safe for anybody who has a shop out there," Regulus replied. "RIP shops. Bella is on a shopping spree, give her a discount or else."
"Please do but how am I gonna work through floo call? Is he gonna have us help organize promotional events for people we're 99% sure won't try to Avada Kedevra us through floo? Is Bella on every shop that exists' black list yet? Are we gonna mail order people who aren't suspicious? What if someone attacks the person we floo call? Is the company's general sales pitch going to be: 'You can imperious muggleborns, half bloods, partial breeds, beings, and creatures? Or even give them the robe off your back. But you can't limperious or listen to a mandrake without Earing Ear covers.'"
Regulus laughed, a musical laugh. "That was good, do write ads Bella and you-know-who won't ever see. Where do you want to work during wartime?"
"Thanks, his billboard name is you-know-when, his add has a big picture of the dark mark that looks real enough for people to wonder if he got to certain shops he didn't like." Ruperti smiled. Regulus laughed.
"I'd work behind the scenes with people who I can clearly tel are death eater sympathetizers or death eaters," Rupertina said. "Or nuetral, or on the light side. If prefer to not anger, upset, or draw attention to myself to potential death eaters. I'd prefer to be out of their reach, even if they need to reach us. Thank God for owl post."
Regulus chucked. "Yeah i would too, lots of crazies who would kidnap you for being a traitor. They will judge if you for being against the dark lord if you don't give them a good product." Rupertin laughed.
"What are you doing for a celebration tomorrow?" Sterlinge asked her. "What kind of cake and party do you like?