Following the events of the same universe where Juliet Potter and Remus Lupin fell in love, the insouciance has faded into misery as all parties prepare for the war, willing to pull any card to win a war from which none will truly come out victoriou...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
December 1977
"How are you feeling?"
He didn't answer, he couldn't. Juliet couldn't blame him. She simply resorted to imagining that he would have said something like "bizarre" had he felt better.
Kreacher had taken them outside the cave before being ordered to take them to the Forest of Dean. So he obeyed Juliet, he took them to the deepest part of the forest and watched as her first move was to ask the house elf to conjure a cup that she filled thanks to the water-making spell, quickly handing it to a dehydrated Regulus.
It was silent.
Even as she was putting up protective barriers and invisible charms all around them. Even when Kreacher conjured a tent that seemed small but was gigantic on the inside. Even when they both pulled Regulus inside and started treating him. They gave him a lot of water and some healing potion before he drifted off to sleep.
Kreacher nervously paced around, occasionally glancing at his Master while Juliet was sat on a chair, the locket in hand.
"Will you stop that?" She suddenly snapped at the house elf that flinched. The girl sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry."
"No, no, Mistress! Kreacher apologizes for irritating Mistress Potter." He bowed his head.
"It's okay, Kreacher, we're both on edge." She reassured, putting the locket down.
"Will Master be alright, Mistress?" He looked between the two.
Juliet took a moment before she nodded her head yes. "You should go to sleep Kreacher."
"Oh, Kreacher can't stay Mistress. The young Master Regulus has given Kreacher a mission to accomplish."
"What mission?"
"Kreacher can't say."
Juliet raised an eyebrow at the house elf that sheepishly looked away. She sighed, nodding, allowing him to leave. Though he seemed hesitant.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of him."
The next day, Regulus couldn't recognize his surroundings when he woke up. He could tell he was in a tent -a rather big one, but he was alone and there was not a single sound.
"This better not be a fucked up afterlife." He groaned, rising from the bed slowly, still hurting.
The boy took slow and shaky steps towards the exit of the tent, supporting his weight on every nearby object on his path.
Once outside, the first thing he noticed was the weather.
"Yeah, this must be hell." He said to himself, cursing the cold weather under his breath, looking around.
Then he shrieked.
"Jesus. Good morning to you too." Juliet scowled, getting startled by the boy and almost dropping the twigs she was holding.
"I take that back." He mumbled to himself. Definitely not hell.
"Mate, you okay?" The girl raised an eyebrow.
"Am I dead? Are you dead? I told you to go. Is this heaven?" He asked, his eyes glued to the woods surrounding them.
"What the fuck are you talking about, what nutjob would think this is heaven?" She gave him a weird look before getting inside the tent, followed by him.
"Where's Kreacher?"
"He left. Said you gave him a mission. Wouldn't tell me what." He watched as she seemed to be setting up a cauldron. "Are you cold? Hungry? Alright in general?"
"Yes, yes, and no."
Juliet gave him a small encouraging smile, taking a vial from the table and handing it to him. As he drank it without even questioning her on what it could possibly be, she wrapped a blanket around him and retrieved the porridge Kreacher made before he left from the "kitchen" area of their tent.
He started eating, obviously starving and she went back to work on her cauldron.
It was quiet for some time. He was just eating and warming up peacefully, and she had starting throwing random ingredients in the cauldron, the fire beneath it warming her feet up.
"You saved my life." Regulus said, causing Juliet to look at him.
"You were brave." She replied.
"You should've left me there. Ensured yours and Kreacher's safety."
"Would you have left me behind if the roles were reversed?"
"No, of course not, I couldn't."
"Exactly. You're fucking welcome. Now shut up and eat your porridge or I'm pushing you in the nearby lake, since you're apparently in dire need of swimming lessons."
Her words seemed aggressive but she had said it so light-heartedly and with such a lovely smile, he couldn't even retort.
Regulus Black was very grateful to have Juliet as his best friend. He stared at her for a long moment, wondering how he could've felt so lonely for so long when she's always been around?
Hell, she could've saved herself, ran off with the key to end the war, left him to die. But she stayed, she saved his life, and she took care of him while he was out. And she didn't even want recognition or whatever for it.
Maybe that's just what friends are like and he didn't know because he went down the wrong path.
She was there even when he became a Death Eater. She believed in him when he had long given up. And her faith in him restored some sort of hope and sentiment in his heart, that he held onto during the tough times. Quite literally though, he'd hold onto the letter she had written him and find comfort in her clumsy but honest words.
"Are you done eating?" He nodded. "Then get to work instead of staring at me, you creep." She teased.
"What do you need me to do?" He asked, now feeling better.
"We need to get rid of that locket."
It was the calm before the storm.
* * *
yall getting it or am I still too subtle wake up, I'm dropping hints everywhere
