Regulus & Alecto ;; Threads - Blog Posts

Reg's shoulders tensed at Alecto's expression, almost curling in on himself to prepare for the agony that he felt was incoming. It wouldn't be the first time someone he liked and trusted had used the cruciatus on him, nor would it be the last. The pain didn't come though, and slowly the tension left his muscles. Nodding at her word of caution, Reg shot her a small grin - one of fondness, not of teasing. "Lesson learned. Don't poke the bear."

"I think if you were to turn me into some sort of other creature that might please my parents more than the person I am currently," he muttered, bitterness seeping into his tone. "I wouldn't mind tea if the elves can prepare a pot."

Her eyes narrow at him when he starts to mimic knitting, tempted to send a wave of pain throughout his body in warning, letting the thought fade when he lifted his hands up in surrender. He was family in a sense and wished to keep the little of the Black's that were left, close. "I am going to let you speak, be wise what you say." Her hand waves to remove the spell.

"I am not in the mood for trying my patience. Let's have a visit that won't have you turned into a vile creature." That was pregnant Alecto being nice. "Did you wish for something to drink?"

There was a saying that Regulus perhaps should have remembered upon entry to the Lestrange household, and that was 'don't poke the bear'. Upon seeing Alecto's eyes, it was fairly clear to him that his humour and general wit was not welcome here presently, and he shot her a wide grin. It would intimidate him if not for the fact he knew he held a soft spot in her dark heart, and his parents had trained him to be able to take a beating. He mimed as if he was knitting to her, before holding his hands up in surrender. 'Sorry,' he mouthed, trying to school his features to look somewhat sheepish.

Despite being a little shit, Regulus didn't want to truly piss off one of the few people that was still in his corner.

An owl had been sent earlier to warn her of his appearance. She was inclined to send one back refusing his visit, but with being home from Hogwarts for the weekend, and no use of her needed for the cause at the moment, his presence wasn't entirely horrid.

Each word that uttered from his incompetent mouth ignited a fire inside of her, her fingers itching to wring his neck for being so insolent. Eyes narrowed like daggers at the young Black wizard, her wand in a close hand, where she pointed it at him. "Silencio" A single word held him tight lip. Alecto turns to face him. "It appears Regulus Black, you have forgotten your manners and who I am." A coldness to her tone, not unusual for her. "Do not make me regret allowing you over." She warns, taking a deep breath. "If I let you speak, will you behave? I will not hold back from torturing you if you try me."

"I hear you've been put on bed rest...or, I suppose, the Death Eater equivalent," Reg called through the halls of Rabastan's townhouse, trying to locate his friend. "Does the Dark Lord offer maternity leave too?" his voice was tinged with amusement, but there was an undercurrent of curiosity. He wasn't sure how it all worked - not that Regulus was likely to be getting anyone pregnant anytime soon, but seeing his cousin with Nymphadora recently had raised some questions about how children would be raised in service of the Dark Lord. He supposed it wasn't too different to his own very strict upbringing, but he wondered how long the children would get to grow before they had to pledge themselves.

Rounding the corner to the sitting room, Reg set eyes on Alecto and shot her a grin before flopping onto her couch. "I can get Kreacher to knit a lovely little sweater for the kids." @alectocarrowx

Taking Alecto’s lack of argument as her acceptance of his lie, Regulus turned his attention back to the food. Rather than manually plating the food up, Regulus waved his wand and made the utensils do the work for him. “I know, I’ve come to expect silence from you…and yet, you always show up,” he teased, a small smile on his lips. He levitated the two bowls over to the dining table, before grabbing a bottle of pumpkin juice from the fridge. “Mixed…we’re trying to strengthen my ability to use unforgivable. I can’t hold them particularly long. My other magical skill is up to scratch, I feel. I wanted your opinion actually after dinner, I’ve brought two artefacts home from the ministry. I want to know if they perhaps might be of use for our cause. I can duplicate them if so, send the false ones back to the department with a faked magical signature.”

Alecto studied Regulus, taking a moment to see if he was speaking the truth. There was the worry that he would follow after his brother and she would not allow that to happen. "If you say so." The witch had no interest in debating with the young wizard, or simply using her magic to learn the truth. Silent steps moved around the kitchen effortlessly, the pad of her finger running across the surface of the island counter. The thought of cooking herself was insanity, and she was one that danced on that fine line repeatedly. "When have I ever sent an owl back, hmmm?" Both palms splayed across the counter top on the other side. "How is your mentoring going?"

If it were anyone other than Alecto, the silence in return to his owl may have irritated Regulus. He was nothing if not meticulous with his life and his plans - he liked to have every minute of his day planned down to the second, and being left guessing whether his friend would appear at all didn't slot in with a well planned evening, yet Regulus could never truly be annoyed by Alecto. If he'd timed it better, he might've been able to get food on the table before Alecto appeared so she would have no reason to suspect it was made by anyone other than an elf. For now, all he could do was back track slightly. There were a few people who knew of Regulus' preference for muggle cooking, and he wasn't sure that Alecto wouldn't take that knowledge straight to his parents...or worse. Any hint of muggle sympathy was a risk these days, even if it was merely cooking. "Kreacher was here, he made the dinner but had to return to Grimmauld to prepare food for my parents...I'm only getting it out of the oven," he shrugged, grateful that he had cleaned up the rest of the dishes as he went along. "I'm glad I don't have to replace my owl. I was afraid that he was losing letters halfway along his journey."

Alecto had received an owl from Regulus, contemplating whether she should attend or not. No message would be returned, leaving the wizard in a state of guessing on if she would attend or not. It was with Rabastan busy with work that would keep him later than expected, that she decided that she would make the visit over to the youngest Black. Growing up together, he had been one that she was rather fond of, even more so with the departure of Sirius and Andromeda, knowing that it was important to keep him with on the right side of the cause. She would never admit her soft spot for him. Her nose wrinkled when he mentioned the kitchen, making her inside to witness his muggle ways. "Regulus," biting back a remark. "You did not have to do this for me." She would be more pleased to see the house elf doing the work.

The owl that he had sent to Alecto earlier in the day had returned without a reply, but Regulus had taken the silence as a yes rather than a no and had prepared enough dinner for two. If Alecto didn't show up then he would simply have enough leftovers to take for lunch to work, but it was rare that Alecto didn't answer a summons from him. At least this time he was offering dinner, rather than an ongoing crisis. If his mother could see him, she would look down her nose at Regulus cooking the 'muggle' way rather than using a house elf, but he found that the methodical nature of it soothed his mind. Two of the artefacts that Regulus had been experimenting on at work were on the sideboard, surrounded by protective enchantments. Alcott had been sniffing around his work too much, and Regulus didn't trust that these artefacts wouldn't go missing if they were left at work. His wards alerted him to Alecto's presence just as Regulus was removing dinner from the oven, and with a small grin, he shouted "I'm in the kitchen." @alectocarrowx