United Forces

Prologue

1 9 7 9
K N O C K T U R N A L L E Y

The young man turned around a corner in Knockturn Alley, hurridely walking down the road. He was rather attractive, his hair was messy -although he usually had it perfectly coiffed, not a single hair out of its place- and of a dark, black colour. His posture was as it must be, he had managed to get it that way throughout the years and his mother's constant reminders to remain straight. His eyes were puffy from lack of sleep. He held his wand tightly as he walked, his startling gray eyes scanning all the place, from the shops to the wizards.
He, however, stopped abruptly when a loud 'CRACK!' was heard through the alleyway. In less than two seconds, the man had his wand pointed at whoever apparated behind him.
The person was a woman. Her brown eyes kept a determined glow, yet warm and welcoming, and her swarthy hair fell onto her sholder. Nobody in their right mind would imagine she was a Death Eater. Indeed, it took him a while to get that fact into his head.
"It's me, no need to do that," she assured. When he didn't lower his wand, she sighed.
"Look, Regulus, I know what you're trying to do."
Regulus' eyes widened and he almost took a step back, but he controlled himself. She would try to stop him, and last time he checked, she was an incredibly skilled wizard. She could even win against him, the best of his class during his time at Hogwarts.
He had to prevent her from stopping him; if she did, there was no way this war would end.
"Stupefy!" he yelled.
A bright red light filled the dark road, but a white light collisioned with it, making it fade.
She had her wand out, already in fighting stance.
"Regulus, look-"
"Expelliarmus!"
She deflected the spell with a wave of her wand.
"Regulus, I'll help you," she said quickly, before he interrupted her with another spell.
At that, Regulus lowered his wand a bit, and stared in shock at the lady in front of him.
"Wh-What?" he stuttered. It was barely a whisper, but the woman caught it.
"I want to stop him too," she said. "I- I don't know how you're gonna do it, but, please, let me help you."
"But it's too dangerous," objected Regulus. "Besides, you haven't killed anyone yet... I did."
If the woman noticed the sad tone in his voice, she didn't show it.
"Regulus, I can help you," she insisted. "That's what family is for."
"Family helps each other," he snorted. "That certainly isn't the motto of the Black family- Oh, wait. We are part of the Black family. You don't need to do it."
She sighed.
"But you are my little cousin, and-"
"Haven't we already got that established? We don't have to help each other," Regulus stated.
He didn't want her to die. She may be a Death Eater, but she was still part of the family, even if in the Black family that meant nothing.
"And you are only a year bigger than me," he added.
"Regulus, I can help you."
"You've already said that."
"Well, I repeat it because you don't seem to get that into your thick head," she retorted.
"You could die!" he exclaimed.
"And? You could die too, then!" she replied.
"But nobody would care!" he yelled.
"Sirius would. Your parents would. Andromeda would. I would care. There are lots of people that would miss you," she reasoned.
"They. Don't. Give. A. Damn," he answered.
"They do, trust me. And I do. Isn't enough that one person cares?"
"Sorry, I have to do it alone," he stated, leaving no room to discusion.
The woman stared at him, seeming to have an internal debate, deciding wether to accompany him or not.
Regulus felt bad for leaving her aside, but it was for her own good. What if she died? He would probably be blaming that on himself during the rest of his life- that is of he didn't die there too. But what she said left him thinking. Sirius actually cared about him? It seemed impossible, and he didn't want to give himself false hopes. All his life he'd been fighting for his big brother to be proud of him, was he already? He recalled staying all night awake studying, just to get good grades and to make him proud. At least, if he made what he was planning to do, there was a possibility to manage that.
Determination filled his features as he thought of that. He would do that, not only to stop the Dark Lord, but to protect all his loved ones, and especially Sirius, and maybe even make him proud.
"Please, tell Sirius that I love him, no matter what," he said. The woman's eyes widened, she seemed to recognize that as a farewell.
"Oh, no, you-" she started, but she was interrupted by Regulus.
"And if I don't come back.... Well, you have to decide that, Sally," he smiled saddly.
Those were the last words Sally Black heard from his little cousin, before he apparated away with the familiar 'CRACK!'; Merlin knows where. She stood there for almost whole five minutes, gaping at the empty space in front of her. He was gone. She started shaknig slightly and tears threateaned to escape her eyes, and she started blinking hard to prevent it. A sob left her lips, without her wanting it to do that.
She didn't know what Regulus was going to do, but he sounded sure that he wasn't going to make it... What if he actually didn't make it?
Sally let out a shaky breath, trying to control her feelings, but it was too much. She didn't trust herself to apparate away at the moment, she wouldn't concentrate really well, but she did it anyways.
Luckily, she didn't loose any limbs, but it wouldn't have mattered. Because that day, she lost something by far more important.

Sooo, here it is.
First part.
Sorry if it's a little crappy.
I would really appreciate it if you pointed out the grammar and spelling mistakes, or mistakes of some sorts. I've been learning English for eleven years, but it still isn't my birth language.
I hope you liked it! I'll try to improve my writong as the story keeps advancing.
Also, this is a partial AU, where the events of TLT occur during 1988, so it goes with the timeline of The Golbet of Fire. You'll see in the next chapter.
I'll try to do it the least cliché I can.
I think that's all to say... Hope you enjoyed!
¡Chau!