𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 || 𝘳.𝘢.𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

084. st mungos hospital

As Maria showers, Regulus takes the time to read over some notes they'd made the night before on the horcruxes; they had nothing else to do as everyone else had drunkenly crashed on the sofas. He sighs, rubbing his forehead as he looks at Maria's writing and she walks out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body.

"Ria. . .you don't think that someone in the order could be spying for Voldemort, do you?" Regulus mumbles, his eyes not looking up from the paper and she frowns as she puts on a bra.

"I don't believe anyone would betray us." Maria says, slipping on some underwear and walking over to the bed, sitting down and looking over the notes with him. "Why do you ask?"

"It just seems so impossible for death eaters to be able to jump order members that often to not know that they would be there beforehand." Regulus says, deep in thought and Maria considers this. "There's just so many things it could be."

Maria purses her lips and walks over to her wardrobe, shrugging on some baggy jeans with a shirt and brown sweater vest making Regulus raise his eyebrows at her as she sprays some perfume, leaving the top button of the shirt undone.

"Lupin's rubbing off on you." Regulus laughs and she sticks her tongue out at him, braiding her hair loosely down her head, some wispy pieces of hair framing her face as they escape the plait.

Regulus finally decided to shower and get dressed into some jeans and a black 'Fleetwood Mac' top, with a black jacket.

"Come on then, Potter." Regulus grins, watching her as she shrugs on a coat and hurried out the room after him.

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Arriving at St Mungos, Maria feels rather sick as she sits beside Regulus in the waiting room, her leg bouncing anxiously as they wait. Regulus sighs and grips her knee gently, causing her to stop her jittering and she sighs, placing her hand over his and squeezing it.

"Potter?" Maria practically jumps out of her seat when the nurse comes from one of the wards, pulling Regulus with her as the nurse leads them down the hall. Maria swallows, remembering her last visit to the wizard hospital. Regulus can see why she's discomforted by the hospital, it's got a sort of eerie feeling to it. Maria looks down at the floor when they walk past some people coughing blood into tissues and Regulus squeezes her hand.

"Visiting hours end at five, no smoking or shouting." The nurse says, clearly bored and Maria sighs as the nurse leaves, opening the curtain and seeing her mother and father in beds beside each other.

"Maria?" Euphemia smiles, her voice hoarse and Maria rushes over to wrap her arms around her mother who laughs breathily into her daughter's shoulder. "Oh, Regulus." The woman smiles at the sight of him and opens her arms from where she's propped on pillows in the bed and he hugs her like he would a mother.

"Dad." Maria breathes, wrapping her arms around her father who smiles, hugging his daughter back.

"Are you okay?" Euphemia says breathlessly, her eyes teary at the sight of them. "We've asked for every copy of the daily prophet to make sure nothing happened to any of you—is everyone at home okay? James said that everyone was fine but I thought he was just trying to calm us do—"

"Everyone's fine, Mum." Maria says, sitting on the chair between the two beds as Regulus sits beside Euphemia's bed and she sighs in relief. "Everyone misses you both though."

"Oh Mari, I'm so sorry this happened." Euphemia sniffles, holding her daughter's hand tightly in her own.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for, Mum." Maria whispers, shaking her head and Regulus watches as the girl he loves talks to her parents about everything that's gone on recently, including the part when she'd gotten into a fight with a bitchy Slytherin girl — Fleamont had been extremely proud. He notes the tears glazing her eyes the whole time whether she's smiling or frowning.

"Regulus." Fleamont says, nodding him over and the Black boy walks over and sits on the chair beside Fleamont's bed as Maria and Euphemia have some 'girl talk'.

"So. . .you and Regulus are very serious now." Maria groans slightly at her mother's suggestive tone.

"Mum, it is much too late for the safe sex talk." Maria says and Euphemia weakly slaps her forearm with a grin. "You knew we had anyway!"

"I know, I know." Euphemia says, remembering the night when she'd felt the need to tell her mother about Regulus, whom she had previously lost her virginity to, and Euphemia had been excited to find out who it was that her disgusted had given herself to. Then it had gone to chaos when Fleamont had heard Regulus Black's name and gone all brooding on her, Maria ended up storming off and sobbing in her brothers arms. "I just. . .if you get married—"

"Mum!"

"No, listen." Euphemia rolls her eyes. "In mine and your father's bedroom, there's a necklace. It was your Nana's, she wanted you to wear it."

"Yeah, of course." Maria nods, Euphemia smiling sadly and cupping her daughter's cheek.

"I'm so proud of the woman you've become, Maria. I really am." The dark haired woman says with tears in her eyes. "I love you, my dear."

"I love you too, Mum." Maria's voice trembles slightly but she swallows down the lump in her throat and pushes herself to smile.

"My daughter has always been confusing to me." Fleamont says with a sigh as he speaks to Regulus who smiles. "The most confusing thing she's ever done was fall for you, I used to think that anyway. But she loves you and you make her the happiest I've ever seen her so I wanted to thank you."

"Uh—she, she's always been confusing to me too." Regulus clears his throat and Fleamont smiles this time. "Until I—I saw what she was really like. She still confuses me sometimes but. . .she's much easier to deal with now."

Fleamont chuckles, "if you get the chance Regulus, marry her."

"What?"

Regulus had obviously thought of marrying the Potter girl in the future, it's been his one and only goal in life for a while now but having her father tell him to made it seem more real.

"You heard." He smiles knowingly as a nurse comes to collect them as visiting hours end.

[][][]

"Did you have fun?" Regulus asks as they stroll down the muggle street, now with cardboard cups of tea clutched in their gloves hands and she nods with a small smile.

"I'm just happy I got to see them." Maria smiles as they reach the lane leading to the Potter Manor, Regulus grabbing her hand between them and she chuckles. "You and my Dad seemed to be getting along."

"I think he tolerates me now." Regulus smirks and she rolls her eyes, waving her wand to unlock the gates and they walk through, locking them again.

"Now, this permanent bandage has been itching me for days—can I please see this tattoo?" Maria pleads as they reach her bedroom and he sighs, rolling his eyes and unbuttoning her jeans, pulling them down and she grins excitedly, shrugging off her coat and sitting on the bed.

"You're the most impatient person I've ever met." He mumbles, kneeling between her legs and waving his wand before unwrapping the bandage and smiling. Maria pushes him out of the way and looks, seeing the ink on the upper part of her inner thigh.

'R.A.B'

In cursive, written beautifully by Regulus Arcturus Black himself. She smiles and runs her thumb over the ink that's still got slightly pink skin surrounding it.

"In it forever now." Maria whispers and he nods.

"I wasn't planning on leaving." Regulus mumbles, sliding his hand up her bare thigh. "Were you?"

"Never."

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