The Chain|Regulus Black

Promise me Reggie

Delilah dreamt of running.

She dreamt of the ground against her feet, her heart hammering as she ran as far as she could.

It was as much for her as it was for them.

She ran away for them, she ran away from them.

Maybe they didn't see it. But she felt it. This coil, twisting around her heart like a snake, like how Regulus' hand fit so perfectly-

And there-

That simple remembrance of him. The simple thought of something he said. Enough to bring her back to life, back to the thing tightened around her heart.

Because it was him.

The nights she would twirl Death Eater wands between her fingers, feel the wood bend and curve to her allegiance. Felt the arc changing, felt every splinter whisper its apology.

It was him. In her secret worship, it was him on every thought, every breath. Every time she cried Gideon's name, it would only remind her of

Him.

Because that's how this story started didn't it? With him.

With a simple promise of being friends. A stupid little handshake that forged them on this path, the path that makes her fingers curl and her mind wander to him.

The fleeting memories of him. The shards of love she feels.

This love is not the kind Gideon promises her, it's not the kind that she thirsts for. Not the same taste of Regulus.

"Everything okay?" Sirius somehow calmly asks amidst the battle they find themselves in. Amongst the Order's bodies scattered across the floor, all she can think is that she'd kill because of him

But she'd kill for him.

She'd do this all over again if it meant she could just breathe the same air. Share the same atmosphere. That's all she wanted, to exist in the time he was in.

"Of course. Just figuring out an escape route." The ones we think we love, cloud our minds like a drink. Like a paralytic and once it takes over we realise we can barely move our arms, let alone our hearts.

Would she move her heart for the Order? Would she finally align herself with them and stop thinking what if

She wasn't born to be a villain, but she could certainly be made into one.

"Not like you to conceive an exit strategy," James announced, leaping over the rubble, shouts behind him as he casts protego. "Peter's with Remus so it's just us over this quarter."

Delilah rolls her neck, feeling the bones click, that dread setting in her bones.

"I'll go find them."

"I think Peter can handle it." Sirius scoffs, ducking James' head as bricks go flying overhead.

I will handle him.

"Pete can't tie his shoes without a helping hand. I'm sure Remus will be pleased to be relieved of babysitting duties." She grins, and without another word, she's sprinting off in the other direction.

It confused her, as their numbers dwindled, the Death Eaters numbers grew, they swelled like an infected wound and for those split seconds her mind wasn't really her own, she wondered if perhaps there was a reason their numbers were growing.

If their discontent was not as horrific as Dumbledore made them believe. After all, what really was the difference between Dumbledore and Tom? If they were not both power-hungry men, doing anything for an army, who were they?