Author: Wings

Story: Heart of Gold

Rating: Teens

Setting: Pre-DH

Status: WIP

Reviews: 4

Words: 121,987

He saw Kate lean out the kitchen window out of the corner of his eye and turned to face his mother.

"Well aren’t you a fright," she said as she looked him over.

Liam glanced down and saw that his clothes were spotted with tar stains from some of the old lines.  His shoes were caked in mud from the mushy streets, soaked from a mid-autumn rain, and his hands were filthy from the work of the day.

He shrugged.  "I suppose I do.  Hard work is good for a young man.  It builds character."

"Yes, and hungry stomachs.  I hope that you've brought home an appetite for Yorkshire pudding," she said.  "Apparently Clare has taken to it, so Alana is bringing some over for everyone.  Go on and wash up."

He nodded and set the bag down just inside the garden shed, stretching his shoulders before walking into the back door and toward his room.  Silas and Alana had started eating more often with Michael, Kate, and Liam since his return, and he had noticed Aislinn turning up at the house more frequently, too.  He felt it refreshing to interact with them on an adult level since he had not lived at home for an extended period of time since the age of eleven.  Yet at the same time he felt like part of his life was missing, the part that had to do with his very nature.  As much as he wanted to stay here forever, he knew that he would have to face that other reality at some point.

Another typical family dinner came and went with him feeling quite satisfied in body, and mostly satisfied in mind and spirit, but not totally whole.  Clare had completely warmed up to him again after being around him constantly for a month and a half and always wanted to him to play with her when her parents brought her to the house.  Liam was beginning to discover just how busy a two-year-old can keep a person and was exhausted by the time the little girl started to yawn and her mother decided to take her home and put her to bed.  Soon, the only other person in the kitchen was Kate, who was measuring the dry ingredients to make scones for the next morning’s breakfast.  Michael had gone to bed early and Liam was considering the same, but he liked watching his mother bake.

“You never stop, do you?” he teased lightly.

Kate stirred in a cup of buttermilk as she answered, “Of course not.  I have mouths to feed and a household to run.  Who needs sleep?”

“Apparently I do,” Liam said with a yawn.  “Silas has really been putting me to work.”

“Yes, but that was to be expected, wasn’t it?” Kate replied.  “His work is never done, you know.  There’s always something more that he can think of to make that fleet better.  You’ll never get to the point where there is nothing to do.”

Liam agreed, “Yeah, that’s true.  I guess I just never figured it would make me so tired.”

Kate stepped back from the dough for a moment and leaned against the countertop, brushing away a piece of wispy hair that had fallen out of her loose bun.

“Liam, you know I love having you here.  I love that we all have a chance to live together and really be a family, though I wish Tara could be here and not at university so she could celebrate with us, too.  We’ve not been able to do this in a very long time,” she said sincerely.

“But I’m concerned that you’re only here because you’re running away from something.  I’m concerned that you’re not facing the problems waiting for you back in England and that they’re just going to get worse the longer you let them sit.”

“I didn’t choose for Regulus to do what he did, Ma,” Liam said defensively.  “I didn’t want my best mate to join an organisation that is probably going to get him killed.  I tried to tell him what the true nature of the Death Eaters was and he wouldn’t listen.”

Kate folded her arms and stared at him.  “Yes, and no one else would listen to you either.  I know you’re just trying to correct a perceived evil, but what if you’re wrong?”

“You don’t believe me either?  It’s totally clear to me.  Voldemort is the one behind all of the attacks, including the one that hurt Aislinn.  He’s the one who is deceiving the entire wizarding population.  He’s trying to take over and drive out everyone counter to his agenda,” Liam insisted, voice raising in volume.  “I know that the wizarding world isn’t perfect, far from it, but Voldemort isn’t the one to change it.”

“Do you think you are?” Kate asked.  “Because that seemed to be what you wanted to do, and then you showed up on that doorstep bitter.  Why are you running?”

Liam shook his head.  “There’s no other option.  If I’m going to preserve myself, I have to stay away from there.”

“But couldn’t you be doing more to help if you were there?”

“Probably, but then I’d be risking my life.  I’m telling you, he finds anyone who opposes him.  I started connecting the dots earlier this year, tracing the murder patterns,” he tried to explain.  “They were usually Muggleborns, or half-blood, or just Muggles.  More recently they started using this disgusting symbol over their victims, a skull with a snake.  They’re related, I know it, and I know others in the wizarding world agree with me.  But I also know that he’ll eliminate anyone who stands up to him.”

“Haven’t we always taught you to face your fears?” Kate pushed.  “Haven’t we taught you that when there’s something you believe in, you should fight for it?”

“Of course, and I would, but this means too much to me,” Liam said, gesturing around the room.  “I’d rather live away from all of that and still have a full life than die for a cause that really means almost nothing to the people I care about the most.  I mean, if I were killed, how would you explain that to the neighbours?”

Kate sighed in exasperation.  “I don’t know, Liam, and I don’t ever want to have to, but it still worries me that you’ve given up so quickly on something you believed in for so long.  This is part of you, and I know you enough to know that you’re not really happy here.”

“Of course I’m happy here,” he insisted.

“Yes, I knew you were going to say that, but you have to know that you won’t be able to live a full life here, not after having lived there for so long,” Kate replied.  “That world is part of who you are now.  You have a gift in you that you’ll never be able to show fully to those you most care about.”

“Why are you pushing me?” he questioned.  “There has to be more of a reason than you just don’t want me to give up on my dreams.  Why is it that you want me to go back there?”

She shook her head slowly.  “Because I don’t want you to be alone and unhappy.  If you stay here, you might find a girl to marry.  You might have a job with your father and brother, and you might get to watch Clare grow up and we could really be a family again.  But you would always feel distanced from the rest of us because of what you can do.”

“Do you feel distant from me because you know what I can do?  Do you wish I was just normal like the rest of you?” Liam asked, stung.

“I feel like you’re hiding who you are because you feel like you would scare us if you didn’t,” she said.  “I want you to have the best; every parent wants that for their child.  I just want you to be absolutely sure that this is the life that you want.”

She walked over to the kitchen table, sat next to him, and lowered her voice as she continued.

“I should have told you this a long time ago, I know, but I want you to know something now,” she said softly.

“What is it?” he asked, curious.

“My father was a wizard, just like you,” she said simply.  “I never knew until the day that you nearly fell off the cliffs, but he finally told me.  He never told my mother.”

Liam was speechless.  His grandfather, a wizard?  The one who was always alone, the one who preferred wandering the cliffs to wandering through town?  The one who always seemed to appear whenever the boys got into too much mischief to keep them from harm?  It was because of magic?

“Did he, did he go to Hogwarts?  Is he related to anyone in the wizarding world?” Liam asked, wondering if his grandfather had really been from a Pureblood family.

“Not that I know of.  He was always very quiet about his family, I never met my grandparents nor knew if he had any brothers or sisters,” Kate said, voice tinged with regret.  “He just explained to me what had happened and what you had done.  He said not to worry and told me that someday you would probably get invited to a school that would teach you how to use what you could do.”

“And that was it?”

She nodded.  “That was it.  Believe me, I wanted to ask him a million more questions, but that was all he would tell me.  I don’t know what happened to him, but I do know that he was running from something when he came to Doolin, and I don’t want that for you.  I don’t want you to spend your life running away from another life.”

“But I’ve come back to where I came from before,” he insisted.  “I may not be in the wizarding world anymore, but I’ve come home to where I grew up.”

“Indeed, you have,” Kate agreed, giving one his large hands a squeeze with one of her small ones.  “And I’m so thankful that I get to see you every morning and say goodnight to you when you go to bed.  But my father, for all of his excitement and energy, always seemed to live a life of seclusion and sadness, a sadness that ran so deep none of us could penetrate it.  I don’t want that for you.”

“I understand that, I really do,” Liam said, squeezing her hand in return.  “But I want to have a life to live.  I don’t want to die before knowing what that means.  I just need time to decide what to do.  This isn’t something I can solve with a simple answer.”

She nodded.  “I know.  I’m here to help if you need me, but I can’t do anything if you won’t explain to me what’s going on.”

“There’s something I need to learn from this,” Liam replied.  “I’ll know what it is eventually, and I will go back.  I need to make things right with Regulus, though it may already be too late for that and I have no idea how.”

“One day at a time, I think,” Kate encouraged.  “And I think it’s about time that you get some rest.  Silas said that there was a shipment coming in tomorrow, and you need to be in top form to haul that into the warehouse.”

He nodded.  “Good night, and don’t worry.  I’ll figure out what to do and it will all be fine.  No matter what, I want to keep you safe.”

“We’ve been safe thus far, I think we’ll be all right,” she assured him.  “Sweet dreams.”

~~~~~~

Regulus felt the skull and snake tattoo burn at six o’clock and waited.  An image appeared in his head a minute later of somewhere he had never seen and he knew he would have to concentrate very hard on all of the details if he was meant to Apparate to that location.  In his mind’s eye, he saw a small brick house set back from the road in a grove of trees.  The windows of the house shone from interior light and he could almost smell embers burning in the fireplace.

This seems a bit too cozy, he thought to himself.  But to each his own.

He concentrated very hard on the thought of the house, the trees, and the road, thinking about every detail and distance so that he would end up in a location clear of trees and especially the brick walls of the house.  He felt the familiar whooshing sensation and a few seconds later he landed, just to the side of the house in the shadows created by the overhanging roof and the trees, which he now realized were very large and very old.  Their branches covered the whole area of the yard, and he felt that it would still be totally shaded even if it were not evening and the sun completely gone from the sky.

Regulus had followed where his mind had told him to go, but what was he supposed to do now?  Was he supposed to approach the house?  What if he was supposed to meet up with Severus and the others at a location nearby, and not in the house at all?  What if it was just a convenient place to Apparate to?  One question after another started to plague his mind as he decided to retreat further into the thick trees and get his bearings.

A few minutes later, he noticed a figure exit out the back of the house and head toward his position.  By now, the only light came from the windows and the stars above.  Regulus noted that the figure was a bit taller than him and slight.  He was wearing a hood and gazed downward, but seemed to know exactly where Regulus was despite the fact that he was hidden in the undergrowth.

“Regulus?” called a voice softly from the hood.  Regulus recognized it as Severus.

“Severus?” he called back.  “Is that you?”

“What are you doing?  Where are you?” Severus asked indignantly as Regulus climbed out of his hiding spot and made himself visible.

“Well, er, I wasn’t sure if I should go to the door of the house.  I figured that there was a possibility that we were meeting somewhere near here and that the house might, in fact, not belong to one of us,” Regulus explained hastily.

“Come on, we’re all inside,” Severus said and walked back toward the house.  Regulus followed him.

“I really can’t have been expected to know that I should enter the house, you know.  I haven’t been asked to meet with anyone but you since mid-July and even before that, I was only called to a real meeting once,” Regulus blurted, following close behind Severus so he could keep a low voice.  It felt good to voice what had been annoying him for quite some time.  “So really, I don’t think I should be blamed for making little mistakes like that.  You’re always lecturing me to be secretive; well, I was.  I didn’t want to endanger the mission by approaching a strange house and asking if any Death Eaters had walked by.”

Severus turned around suddenly, causing Regulus to skid so as not to bowl him over.  “Would you stop apologizing for everything?  I mean, just be who you are.  I know I should have explained to you to come to the house, and I’m sorry for not doing that.  Stop second guessing yourself.  What people like is someone who is confident, both in themselves and in their work.”

He was standing so close that Regulus had to take a step back

“I have faith that you can do that, Regulus, and that’s why I wanted to include you on this mission.  I’ve seen you do it in front of Liam.  Now please, do not prove me wrong here.  Be firm in your convictions and don’t back down at this meeting."

"Yeah, okay," Regulus replied lamely, stung by Severus' comments.

"I'm serious.  They'll walk all over you if you show the least bit of hesitation, and I want you in on this because I think you're smarter than they are," Severus explained sincerely.  "Come on, they're waiting."

He turned back toward the house and Regulus followed, staying a few steps behind just in case the older man whipped around again.  Severus knocked on the door three times and then waited.  The door opened slightly, casting a sliver of light onto the stone walkway.  Regulus tried to crane around Severus' frame to see who was at the door, but was unsuccessful in doing so.

"Password?" a voice said.

"Fawkes," Severus said confidently.  The door swung open just enough to let both men inside.

Regulus looked around at his counterparts.  He did not recognize the sandy-haired young man who opened the door, but he did recognize Nicolai Baddock from Slytherin and Lucius Malfoy.

"Regulus.  Pleasant to see you," Lucius said, rising to extend a hand to his soon-to-be relative.

Regulus shook his hand firmly.  “The pleasure is all mine.  I hear things are going well with the wedding planning.”

“Yes, well, Narcissa is minding all of that.  I don’t do much besides sign the checks,” Lucius said bluntly.  “It’s good to be here and get my mind off of it.  I’ll be glad after the wedding.”

The other men laughed and Regulus joined in hesitantly, embarrassed at his brass.  He was sure that he did not want to think about his cousin that way, but he did not want to appear prudish in front of his colleagues.  Even if Severus was a competitor, what he had said was true.  If Regulus made one false move, he was finished.

“Gentlemen, shall we?” Severus said in a bored tone of voice.  “As much as I’d love to discuss Lucius and Narcissa’s wedding night, we have more important matters on our hands.”

“Of course, Severus.  She did want me to make sure you came, though.  Seems you haven’t sent back your response card,” Lucius responded.

Severus nodded impatiently.  “Yes, I’ll be there, but let’s get to business.  It’s because of your wedding that we have to get these plans done.”

“When is it?” Regulus asked.

“Next weekend, followed by a week-long trip to Malta,” Lucius told him.  “I’m surprised your mother hasn’t told you.”

“Knowing her, I’ll get an owl about it on Wednesday informing me that I had better be there or I’ll lose part of my inheritance,” Regulus joked.  “You know how they can be.”

“That week in Malta is exactly why we’re here.  Lucius will be out of commission, and then he’ll get back and it will be all about Sissy, Sissy, Sissy for at least another two,” the sandy-haired man said.

He turned to Regulus for the first time.  “By the way, I’m Barty.  Barty Crouch.”

Regulus nodded his acknowledgment.  “Crouch.  Seems your father is a piece of work as well.  Isn’t he on the Wizengamot?  You’ve got some nerve going against someone that powerful.”

“My father is nothing,” Barty said confidently.  “He doesn’t know what’s right for our society.  I hear you have a mate of a similar calibre.”

Regulus felt a knot form in his stomach.  “Yes, well, Liam can’t do much against us.  He’s holed away in Ireland.  Your father, however…” his voice trailed off.

“It’s been discussed, we’re well aware,” Severus interjected.  “Enough of this chatter.  We’ve only got this house to ourselves for so long because Nicolai’s parents will be back by nine, correct?”

Nicolai nodded.

“Okay, let’s get to work.  The five of us are charged with back-up operations for the Fawkes plan.  Lucius, would you mind filling Regulus in on the plans that have been developed?” Severus said.  Lucius nodded.

“Basically, we want to create havoc.  There have been rumours for months now that the Dark Lord is going to strike and strike hard.  Well, we want to prove those rumours.  We want to give people something to be frightened about,” Lucius explained.

“Why should they be frightened?” Regulus asked.

“Because they’re not standing up to our corrupt government and they need to pay for it,” Barty added smoothly.  “The Dark Lord wants everyone to realize that the Ministry of Magic cannot keep them safe.  No one is free from harm, no matter who they are.”

“Of course, those on our side will be fine,” Lucius assured him.  “We don’t have to worry about our families or whomever, but we need to strike key players and if we face resistance, even if those resisting were not the original targets, well, we’ll have to respond.”

“Meaning, if Sirius and his little band rise up against us…” Severus stopped mid-sentence.

“Nothing to worry about,” Regulus said quickly.  “Sirius isn’t my brother anymore.  I don’t owe him anything.”

“Exactly what we wanted to hear,” Barty replied.  “I’m glad you’ve got your head on straight.”

“Where are the targets?” Nicolai asked.  “We’ve talked about this before, but never really about where we’ll be hitting.”

“Various neighbourhoods, another Diagon Alley blast, possibility of a Hogsmeade strike,” Barty rattled the locations like a shopping list.

Lucius nodded and broke in, “Maybe a Ministry strike, but that’s a big maybe.  That would require a lot of planning, and it would put agents at risk.”

“It’s also something they might expect after the first few large-scale attacks,” Regulus pointed out.  “But if we started with that … and if we pulled it off?  That could be a great way to start the night off with a bang, so to say.”

Severus laughed.  “That’s a really bad joke, Regulus, but a good point.”

“We definitely want to make this look deliberate, though, right?” Regulus asked.  “Because we could easily pass off attacks as Guy Fawkes parties that get out of hand.”

“No, we want them to know it was us,” Lucius insisted.  “The five of us are on a lesser aspect of the mission, we won’t be involved with any of the big strikes, but we’re still an important part of it.”

“How many other teams are involved?” Regulus asked.

“There are three teams covering the major strikes,” Barty explained.  “Personally, I think the Ministry’s a bad idea.  There is way too much security around the place.”

“But if the Dark Lord wills it, it must be done,” Lucius pointed out and Barty nodded a hesitant concession.

“And how many doing what we’re doing?” Nicolai cut in.

“About five, maybe six,” Severus answered.  “We’re using everyone here, except people involved in key reconnaissance positions.  Our specific team has to decide where we want to be that night from a few options.  Firstly, the question of whether we want to be in London or elsewhere.”

Lucius reasoned, “The key assignments will be London, to be sure, but most of us can’t afford to be revealed as followers of the Dark Lord.”

Regulus considered the five men in the room.  Lucius and Barty both had key jobs with the Ministry and family legacies.  Barty especially had a great deal to lose if he were to be revealed as a Death Eater, even if he insisted that his father mattered nothing to him.  The three of them were from strong, Pureblood lines, and their usefulness was limited to what they could offer the Dark Lord in terms of their ties through lineage and occupation.  He had little idea about the backgrounds of either Nicolai or Severus.  It seemed that Nicolai was in the same position as him in terms of how long he had served Lord Voldemort, but why had they included him in this mission?

“Lucius is right,” Regulus affirmed.  “It would be brilliant to be in on the action, but neither he, nor I, nor Barty can be revealed as followers of the Dark Lord.  We’re no good to him if we are.”

“None of us are any good to him revealed as his followers,” Nicolai argued.  “A pile of gold in Gringotts doesn’t make you any more important to the Dark Lord than Severus or me.”

“Yeah, Baddock, but you don’t have that pile of gold to lose either, do you?” Lucius drawled.  “This is something that we have to consider.”

“It is a fair point,” Severus conceded.  “Besides, your gold is financing a good deal of what we’re doing here.  So where do you think we should be on fifth November?”

“My vote is somewhere in the country that we’re familiar with,” Regulus offered.  “That way we’ll know where to go if things go wrong and we’re not in a position to Apparate.”

“Baddock can’t Apparate,” Barty said with a snigger.  “He hasn’t been able to get his license yet.”

“Really?” Regulus wondered incredulously.

“Shut your mouth,” Nicolai growled.  “I’ll get it soon.”

Severus broke in.  “So somewhere we are familiar with is a good idea.  We do need to make sure that we’re somewhere we can’t be recognized, though.”

“My family has a house in Stratford-Upon-Avon,” Barty said.  “We rarely go there; I don’t even think I’d be recognized as the owner of the house if I walked down the street.  My father has an important business meeting out of the country that he’ll be attending on the fifth November, and my mother always stays in London when my father is away.  It’ll be completely empty.”

Lucius nodded.  “That’s not bad.  Narcissa and I are in Wiltshire, of course, at the mansion.  Anyone else have West Country roots”

Regulus nodded.  “There’s a house in Devon.  Hardly anyone ever uses it, but it’s there.”

“I’m from Manchester,” Severus said apologetically.

“And I’m from, well, here,” Nicolai noted.

“Where is here?” Regulus wondered aloud.

“Somerset,” Lucius said simply.  “The West Country it is, then, not Somerset, though, because as much as we take the mickey out of Nicolai, we don’t want him to be spotted.  Up by Stratford, then?”

“Probably the best idea,” Barty agreed.  “We’ll still be close enough to Wiltshire that way if we need to split up.”

“Okay, I’m glad that we were able to get that straightened out,” Severus said admirably.  “I thought it would take a lot longer.  Barty, can we plan on meeting at your Stratford house at nine?”

Barty nodded.  “Certainly, but will that give us enough time?  I mean, shouldn’t we be starting earlier?”

“No, the Dark Lord wants all of the strikes to happen under the cover of darkness,” Severus explained.  “That way we can look more sinister, and secretive.”

We’re really going to do this, Regulus thought to himself.  He was going to be involved in a mission that meant something, that the Dark Lord had a hand in creating, and he was going to do it with others the same age as him who were letting him in on their jokes and including him as their own.  Granted, they had known him at school, but such a meeting between the five of them would never have taken place in the walls of Hogwarts.  Severus had never expressed interest in being close to anyone, Lucius had been the most popular boy in Slytherin, and he rarely crossed paths with Nicolai even though they lived in the same dormitory.  Barty was a few years older, but Regulus thought he had been a Ravenclaw.

“Regulus?  What do you think?”

He suddenly registered that Barty was addressing him.  He shook himself mentally and entered the conversation again.

“Yeah, that sounds good.  Are we wearing black robes and masks, the whole deal?” he asked.

“Yes,” Lucius affirmed.  “Come ready for action.  We’re not going to be there for a long while, just enough to do some maximum damage.  Are we all clear on everything, then?  I’m supposed to meet Narcissa to go over some last minute details.”

“I believe so, good work, gentlemen,” Severus said.  “We’ll have specific details on strike targets the night of the action.  Be punctual, and be ready.”

They said their good-byes and Lucius reminded Severus and Regulus again about the wedding.  Barty and Lucius Apparated home immediately, leaving Severus and Regulus with Nicolai.

“Thanks for letting us use your parents’ house,” Severus said.  “We couldn’t very well meet at Regulus’ flat because that would be too many people descending on an area, there’s the same problem with my flat, and Lucius and Barty are too prominent.”

Nicolai laughed shortly.  “Well, I’m glad my insignificance can be used to serve the cause.”

“Don’t think on it.  Prove yourself in this mission, and no one else will ever think on it either,” Severus said simply.  “Anyway, have a good night.  We’ll be in touch.”

Regulus nodded to Nicolai and followed Severus out the door into the cool, autumn air.

“Well done being assertive,” Severus complimented.  “I was very pleased.  We’ll still need to work on Baddock.”

“So we’re really going to do this?”

Severus nodded.  “Yes.  This is going to change everything, you know.”

“I know.”

They were silent for a moment, staring at the trees overhead.

“Well,” Regulus said.  “For a better future?”

“For a better future.”

~~~~~~

Regulus was sitting in one of the staff lounges at the Department later that week, trying to think of a way to improve upon Oliver Prewett’s shielding charm.  It seemed foolproof, except for the fact that he was not sure if it would work.

The charm called for the use of the Protego spell by multiple people, who would then combine their shield strength to cast one around a larger area.  The spell was complex in itself, and he had only known very strong wizards who could cast it around themselves and another person, and then only if the other person was right next to them.  The idea of getting two people to cast the spell simultaneously and then use their combined powers seemed like it would never work.

“It seems impossible, doesn’t it?” Lily said.  Regulus looked up and saw her leaning against the wall right by the door, arms full of loose parchment and the bound copy Oliver had provided them with.

“Yeah, just a bit,” he admitted.  “How in the world do they expect to combine the shields?  The spell is meant to be cast over a short range, only over one’s own self.”

“That’s why it’s an experiment,” she said shortly as she put her load on the table and sat down across from him.  “We don’t know if it will work, but wouldn’t it be amazing if it did?”

He nodded.  “I think it would take people who knew a lot about one another, though.  I don’t think this would be something that two people who’ve never met before could cast.”

She crossed her arms and leaned forward.  “Why do you say that?”

“I think you’d have to know a lot about another person’s magical ability and the way that they relate to magic to be able to combine your own magic with theirs,” Regulus explained.  “It’s what I’ve been thinking about all morning.  I mean, we each have our own strengths, right?  We’re all better at different forms of magic than others.  Presumably, two people who know each other well would know what types of magic the other is better or weaker at, and would be able to compensate for those differences.”

“That’s brilliant, I hadn’t thought of that,” Lily encouraged.  “That really changes my way of thinking about it.  I had just been trying to come up with the right words to say.  You know, something that would indicate combination.”

“That’s important, too,” he assured her.  “But I think we have to get a better idea of what we want our end result to be before we can assign words to the action.  I think the action is supposed to come before the words.”

She nodded.  “That makes absolute sense, I just never thought about it that way.  I learned the words and thought about the intended result afterwards.”

“Just different ways of looking at the same thing, really,” he offered.  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell everyone else that I’m smarter than you are.”

She laughed and said sarcastically, “Oh, well, that’s a relief.  I wouldn’t want the entire team to think me incompetent.”

He laughed with her and thought about how comfortable he was.  She made him feel like he could say anything, do anything, and he knew that he was mad for thinking so.  Regulus could only get so close to Lily because he had to remember that she was his mission.  He had to report on her actions because the Dark Lord was interested in what she was involved with.  He could not let her become a conflict of interest, and surely she would not allow such a friendship because she was married, and James Potter was a powerful man.

“How are things with James and finding a house?” he asked abruptly.

“Oh, um, they’re coming along,” she replied hesitantly.  “We’re leaning toward the suburbs right around London.  It would be easier to come in to work that way.”

“You can always Apparate,” he pointed out.

She nodded.  “We know, but we’d be more comfortable if we could take regular transportation if necessary.  You never know what kind of situation you might be in.”

“Does he know what you’re involved in here?” Regulus asked curiously.  “Jacks and Thomas had asked us to keep our work private.”

Lily looked down and sighed.  “James has some idea, because he’s a trainee Auror so he can know more than others can.  He works with Frank often, so Frank and I have been getting input from him as well.  But he doesn’t know who I’m working with.

She paused, and then continued, “He doesn’t really know that we’re friends at all.”

“I can’t say that’s a shock,” Regulus admitted.  “It might look odd if you were to admit that you were becoming mates with his best mate’s younger brother.”

“Not to mention Sirius’ relationship with your family,” Lily added.  “I haven’t thought of a way to tell him delicately.  Maybe I won’t at all.”

“It’s not like we’re doing anything wrong here,” Regulus observed.  “We’re just two co-workers learning about one another’s lives and working on solutions to problems.”

Lily agreed, “Yes, I know, but Sirius has this idea in his head that you’re one of them.”

Regulus swallowed.  “Them?”

“The Death Eaters, Voldemort’s followers.”

“Why ever would he think that?” Regulus questioned.

“They approached him, you know,” she admitted cautiously.  “A few months ago.  Your cousin, Bellatrix, she asked him if he would be interested in joining their cause because of your family background.  Sirius is concerned that she did the same with you.”

Regulus shook his head.  “Bellatrix did no such thing.  I’ve hardly seen her at all in recent months.”

Both true statements.  He hadn’t known Bellatrix and Rodolphus were Death Eaters for sure until the night that he had pledged his loyalty.  Of course, he had suspected that they were, but neither had contacted him in advance.  He received a note inviting him to be Death Eater in late April; no single person had ever approached him to talk about it.

Lily appeared relieved.  “Well, that’s good.  I don’t know much about her, I’ve never met her, but I’ve seen pictures and I’ve heard enough stories.  She sends chills up my spine.”

Regulus laughed.  “Yes, she’s a bit cold.  Not to worry, Lily.  I’m just trying to live my life and do my work.  How was your pub visit with the boys?”

“All fun and games as usual,” she said.  “Sirius tried to goad Remus into picking up girls, who of course refused because he has too big of a heart for that.  Then Peter offered to show his brass and get girls for both Sirius and himself, but he had had a bit too much to drink.”

“Yeah, sounds like the good old boys to me,” Regulus replied.  “I’m glad that you all get on so well.  It’s nice to have friends like that.”

“It really is,” she agreed.  “It’s due to those boys that I was able to loosen up a bit, and they never let me forget it.  I’ve really been blessed with all the experiences we have had, and with knowing James, of course.”

Regulus nodded.  “Well, good.  Listen, it’s been great chatting with you, but I’m going to work on this for a little while longer.  I’ll see you at the meeting next week?”

“Yes, you will,” Lily affirmed.  “I’ll keep thinking about these ideas.”

“Brilliant,” Regulus said.  “I’ll catch you later then.”

~~~~~~

Regulus examined his reflection in the mirror on Saturday morning. His mother finally told him about Lucius and Narcissa’s wedding and insisted that he make an appearance, to which he agreed. He aired out his dress robes the night before while going over his notes one more time. He found it exhilarating to be involved in work that was new and had never been done before and thought of how he would be remembered for being a part of such an important spell team.

He was almost disappointed that he had to share the credit with everyone else. It could not be disputed that Oliver had the original idea, but Regulus was taking it to new heights and thinking it through. He had the initiative to refine the concept and create something that was workable, comparing the different elements to spells he already had knowledge of.  He was sure that he would have the most influence over the final product, and that was very uplifting for his spirits.

It did bother Regulus that Lily was so silent about their friendship.  On the one hand, it made his job for the Dark Lord easier because James and Sirius, and even Remus, would not be looking out for her welfare around him.  But on the other, that meant that Lily thought any interaction with him would set them off.  She was not sure how to reveal that they were even on the same working team.  To him, that signaled that tensions were higher than ever before between Sirius and his parents, or that they really suspected that he was a Death Eater.  Such suspicions surely compromised his position.

It would not do to change his tactics now, he realized.  He had to keep continuing his normal routine.  Lily would surely notice any change in his attitude and manner toward her.  At the same time, he had to remember that she was his mission.  His success in the eyes of the Dark Lord depended on how well he could relay information about Lily Potter.  That, combined with success in the impending November action, would determine how close he would be able to get, and who he would be able to elbow out of the way on his path to glory.  He hoped that he would be able to surpass even Severus, Lucius, and Barty.

The wedding was supposed to start at eleven o’clock, but his mother wanted him to be at the Malfoy mansion in Wiltshire by ten thirty.  He checked his clock and saw that he had very little time left to get ready.  He finished a cup of tea he had made to wake himself up and checked himself in the mirror again.  Satisfied, he washed the cup in the sink and Apparated to the West Country.

~~~~~~

Author’s Note: Many thanks to Arnel and Cygnus for their beta skills, even in the midst of busy schedules and late nights!  You both make writing so much more fun with your comments and suggestions and I look forward to receiving your comments first every single time.

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