~Play to your strengths. If you aren't great at something, do more of what you're great at -Jason Lemkin~
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again, imagine a gif right here, please -.-
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There was a short silence as the Black brother's grinned at each other. But then Remus finally decided to break it and muttered "What the fuck?"
James pointed at Regulus with his eyes wide open and his mouth agape "The last time I checked, you were dead."
"Hell was quite boring, so I decided to come back as a crow" Regulus stated in a bored tone and grabbed an apple, before leaning onto the kitchen counter, next to his brother.
"Really?" Peter asked flabbergasted.
Talea chuckled and shook her head "No, he has never been dead, we have planned this... all of this."
"Even that the death eaters would snatch you?" asked Lily as if not believing her, her face covered in shock.
"Even that the death eaters would snatch me" Talea repeated, her eyes fixed on the ground, her voice distant.
Remus brushed a hand through his hair as if he had copied James habit "I think you guys have some explaining to do."
And so they explained everything.
Talea repeated the story of what had happend as they searched for the Slytherin locket, she repeated it sentence by sentence, word by word. It was as if she had memorized the story, like she had been told what to say.
The truth is, she did. The three of them had planned what she should tell Dumbledore, well the first part was true but at some point, they started to change the reality of what had truly happened that night.
The boat hit the surface and Sirius was quick to jump out "Get out now!" He held out a hand for Talea as she followed his movements. Regulus stepped out of the boat quickly and watched as it vanished into the water once again. He let out an exhausted sigh and turned towards the others "We did it-"
And that was it. There was no Inferni that pulled Regulus into the water, there were no screams that followed, only a few cheers. Just a simple "We did it." After they arrived safely on land, they walked back into the cave where they had started and they said their goodbyes.
But the others wanted to know more "How and why?" was what they've asked. It was a simple plan and yet no one had found out, only Dumbledore at the end of his days. And that was exactly what they had wanted, they couldn't risk to let anyone know, instead they would put Regulus in even more danger.
Regulus wanted Voldemort's end, he helped them find the Horcrux and he even helped them destroy it. But he wanted more, even though Sirius and Talea were convinced that he was already in great danger, he had wanted more.
Talea was connected to Voldemort, she was able to get bits and pieces out of his life and sometimes, she could even feel strong emotions but it wasn't enough to know his plans. The only thing there were missing, was a spy.
Regulus could have told them what they said in death eater meetings, he could have told them a few of Voldemort's plans. But it wasn't enough, it wasn't enough to time to react. And maybe Voldeomort would have gotten suspicious at some point, he would have checked his ranks for traitors and he would have found one.
But when Regulus learned what his Patronous was, it was just perfectly fitting into their plan.
Who would notice a black crow sitting on a windowsill if you don't look for it? Who would suspect that a crow is listening to every word Voldemort said? And even if Voldemort would have gotten suspicious and checked his ranks, there was no traitor, there was no one that spilled his plans.
And while Regulus taught her the art of protecting her mind, Sirius and her showed him how to be an Animagi.
After time, they were able to spot him between a hundred of crows, they were able to see his true form while no one else did because no one else looked for him, no one else suspected it.
Talea remembered the time after she had told Dumbledore, the tears weren't fake, she was scared for the black haired boy, she had learned to love like a brother. She was scared that something would go wrong, she felt horrible for putting him into more danger.
And she knew that Sirius tears weren't fake either, her mind went back to the memory.
She stepped onto the Astronomy tower and looked for the boy. His back was leaning onto the wall as he watched the stars. Talea sat down next to him, he intertwined their hands as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
He raised the other hand and pointed at the sky; his voice was barely a whisper "That's Regulus." Talea watched a crow that was slowly vanishing into the darkness of the night.
Who would have thought that Sirius wasn't talking about the constellation, no one knew but them knew that he was pointing at the crow.
They had to be careful about how much they said, they had to make sacrifices, even though it was hard. But if they hadn't, not only the Order would have been suspicious but someone that was definitely much worse, Voldemort.
That's how they knew Voldemort's plans and when she told Dumbledore the names of the death eaters or about attacks that would happen soon, he thought it was because of her ability. Well, until his very end.
"I'm not saying that I do not trust you Talea, but I can't help but question what you've been hiding and how you get your information."
Talea didn't felt bad for lying to him, he had done it so many times before, so why wouldn't she do the same?
Like she had said, she had planned on getting snatched by death eaters. She had to admit that she didn't knew that Ivar was a spy but she knew that there would be an attack on the Ministry that day.
She knew that it wouldn't be pleasant trip but everyone had to make some sacrifices at some point. "But why would you let them snatch you?" James had asked her.
The first reason was because Voldemort would turn his attention towards her and wasn't able to make as many plans as he would normally do but the main reason was because she wanted him to find out about the prophecy.
She knew that she wouldn't die there, she had Regulus watching over her. He was the one that tended her wounds in a perfect balance between not letting her bleed out and not making the others suspicious of why her wound had healed so fast.
And everything was based on another lie from Dumbledore. He had told her about the prophecy but he had skipped the most important part. Had he really thought she wouldn't find out?
As she worked in the Hall of Prophecies, she had stumbled upon her own. Curious as she was, she had gazed into it, expecting to know every part.
A girl, born when the fifth month starts is given a power, to bring what her name implies.
A gift, that let's her see what will happen,
bound to evil when she reaches her sixteenth year.
To defeat the dark Lord,
so that the good may reign.
And she did, until another part that followed. A part that would change her plans and basically everything. She had seen the day coming where Voldemort would force her to tell him the prophecy, so she told Regulus and he knew what had to be done.
Talea had seen that he would put her under pressure with a person she loves. She didn't know how exactly he had done it but Regulus had put Sirius in the death eaters reach. Even though Talea didn't liked this, it was the best option. Sirius knew of their plan, he knew that they would escape with Regulus help. If it was someone else, they wouldn't know if they would destroy their plans.
So Talea told Voldemort the prophecy till the part, she didn't wanted him to hear. She gave Regulus a sign and then they had escaped. Just like they had planned.
She was glad. If Regulus hadn't worked perfectly in time, she would have told Voldemort the whole Prophecy because of the Veritaserum.
"Why did you wanted to tell him the prophecy?" was what Peter asked.
It was simple. She was now his biggest threat. Now, that she was free and he knew that she had already destroyed a few Horcuxes, he was under pressure. He was angry. Anger and pressure leads to mistakes and carelessness. He was now at one of his most vulnerable states and that was exactly when Talea planned to strike.
Yes, he wanted to kill her and yes, she knew that she wasn't as strong as him. But her death seemed to be inevitable anyways.
But was her future really written in the stars? She always thought the hero's of the story won't die. But maybe she wasn't the hero of her own story, in her eyes it was someone else.
No, not only one but quite a few. People that sacrificed so much for not only her but everyone else. Her friends.
And even if she didn't knew if she could change her own fate, she would do anything to protect her own heroes.
But for that, she would have to survive until the very end, until everything is safe again.
That means, she has to find a way to survive at least until it's over.
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A/N: a big applause for our favourite crow, Regulus Black, please.
Oh, and do you guys feel at least a little bit dissapointed in yourself for not noticing the hints I gave you?
I feel so omniscient right now, it is unbelivable.