Symphony || Remus Lupin

XLIX

Myra gave Regulus and small side hug. "I bet that if you spoke to him, if you explained everything, he would love you just as before."

Regulus shook his head, a steely glint in his eye. "No. Not yet. I don't want anyone to know my true feelings. I want to fight for your side, but I don't want anyone to know. I want to work on the inside."

Myra was hesitant. She wasn't sure if someone as young as Regulus should be doing anything in the war. She wanted to help as well, but she knew that she was young. If anything, she would get in the way of professionals. The best she could do was work hard and become a fighter after she leaves Hogwarts.

But Regulus was in a peculiar position. He was already able to help. He was young, but it was because of his age and it was because of his house and it was because of his family alliance that he could help more than some Aurors. It was a position that a fourteen-year-old should never find themselves in.

"I don't know..." She said slowly. "You're young. Even if you manage to convince the other Death Eaters, I have a feeling that You-Know-Who is a Legilimens. If you decide to be a Death Eater who works for our side on the inside, he's probably going to make sure you truly are on his side. He's going to read your mind."

"I'll train to become an Occulemens! I'll train myself to block him. Or I'll just make him think that there's nothing there."

"If you're sure. I can't help you with that. I'm not an Occulemens. But I will help however I can." Regulus nodded. "And if I am going to help you, we should have a code. For when we meet up." They thought for a minute before Regulus snapped his fingers.

"How about when we see each other, we either write or say a number, and that will be the time we meet up here? Preferably in the night."

"That's good! If you distance yourself from me, act cold, and just ignore me, no one would suspect anything so they wouldn't have a reason to believe that there is anything that we're hiding."

Regulus smiled before it fell. "But what if they do suspect something? They could use Polyjuice and transform into you. I want to make sure that if we meet alone, I don't want to tell you the number and you don't turn up, and they have a chance of figuring it out."

"What if we have a code topic as well? None of the other Death Eaters would ever think to bring up your brother. They know he hates you and they think you hate him. They know he's a 'disgrace' to your family and would only ever speak of him like that. They'd never think to compliment him. For example, if I go up to you when we are alone, I'll say that 'Sirius is a good man' or something along those lines, and then you would know that it was me."

Regulus nodded, smiling.

It wasn't the best of codes, but for now, when there was no suspicion around them, they could come up with a simple code. If something arises and they must think of something else, so be it.

"Regulus, you are brave too." He gave her a bigger smile and Myra felt her heart tug. He's so young.

"Really?" She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. You're brave for knowing what you want. You're brave for deciding to work on the inside. You're brave for wanting to help us. You're brave for going against your family." She felt a few tears build up in her eyes and tried to blink them away. "I'm proud of you."

Regulus hugged her. "I look up to you too. You're so smart and nice. You're understanding and I want to be like you."

"You already are."