LOVE + WAR
cxxxvii || you've already lost
It's dark, not a star in the sky as the grey clouds hang over head. Deafening silence settles around her, not even nature makes a sound as Maria Potter walks up the long driveway towards Malfoy Manor with Bellatrix by her side.
"Not to be rude, but one day you're going to get yourself killed." Bellatrix shakes her head, her masses of jet black curls bouncing as she does so and Maria rolls her dark eyes. Bellatrix smirks slightly at the girl's persistence. "Granted, this time the Dark Lord wanted me to get you for him. Didn't want to knock you out this time though."
"How. . .sweet?" Maria breathes as Bellatrix waves her crooked wand and opens the gates. "I don't understand why he would want to speak to me."
"You're Maria Potter, quite popular among us death eaters you know." Bellatrix states as though gossiping with an old friend and Maria looks at her strangely. "The girl who cracked Regulus Black. The girl who the Dark Lord refuses to kill. Quite frankly, everyone's rather jealous."
Maria furrows her eyebrows, thinking only one thought: what the fuck?
"I see your bun is no longer in the oven." Bellatrix's grey eyes glance to Maria's stomach that is no longer carrying her and Regulus' daughter. "I would pay to see my brooding cousin as a father. Girl or boy?"
Maria narrows her eyes, "girl." She whispers and she sees Bellatrix's lips move into a small smile before moving into her usual sinister expression as they enter the manor.
There's two death eaters wearing the silver masks and long, dark robes stood either side of the doors with their arms folded. Maria frowns, finding that a little dramatic as Bellatrix tugs on her arm, pulling her through the disgustingly familiar manor.
Maria peers into an ajar door, seeing Evan Rosier talking quietly with Rueben Mulciber and Crucis Nott. Through another, Rodolphus and Rabastan LeStrange are drinking some sort of whiskey and talking angrily and inside another, Lucius and Narcissa speak quickly about their child's safety.
Finally, Bellatrix knocks on the very last door of the hallway before pushing Maria inside softly.
"My Lord." Bellatrix says and Tom Riddle turns away from the dancing green flames in the fireplace, looking to the two women in the doorway.
"Thank you, Bellatrix, you may go. Gather everyone, if you will." Voldemort waves his hand dismissively and she nods, giving Maria a look before exiting the room. "Maria, I see you're no longer with your child?"
Maria blinks, thinking quickly, "she died." Maria comes up with the lie almost as though it's instinct to protect her daughter's identity. "A miscarriage, it was difficult."
Regulus and Maria had spoken about their daughter, about how it might be safer to keep her a secret until the war is over. They never decided what to do, but Maria felt obliged to lie in that moment. A horrible chill had trickled down her spine when he'd asked and she's not one to ignore her gut, not anymore.
Riddle narrows his eyes but seems to buy her story, "pity." He says simply. "One of my death eaters was found dead down Knockturn Alley a couple of months ago now. . .you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, Potter?"
"Why would I?"
"Answer the question; yes or no?"
"No. I don't know anything about your dead death eater." Another lie. She knows exactly who it was and how he died. Because Regulus had killed him.
Riddle sighs, sitting down on one of the emerald armchairs before the fire, "you shouldn't lie to me, Maria." He says and her blood runs cold, her thumb twirling the serpent ring around her middle finger subconsciously as he stares at her. "It was Gasper Avery, a very loyal follower of mine. Granted he was a little too immature. But he was a good soldier."
"Soldier?" Maria scoffs, shaking her head. "Is that all they are to you? If so, Tom, then you've already lost."
A small yet wicked smile settles on Riddle's face as he gets to his feet and walks closer to Maria who feels the urge to step back yet she stands her ground, lifting her chin and glaring up at him as his eyes move over her face calculatingly.
"Follow me." He says, brushing past her and Maria lets out a breath, turning around and following behind him. "Nagini." Maria's eyes widen in fear as a huge snake slithers past her ankle, sending anxious shivers up her body as she slowly trails behind the infamous Dark Lord.
Maria can hear indistinct voices from behind the door they're head for and Riddle waves his wand, opening the door wide and revealing the circular table. It's a large, black table with identical chairs set around it, all equal distances apart and a select few death eaters are present around the table. She recognises a lot of them: Lucius Malfoy, Evan Rosier, Ruben Mulciber, Bellatrix LeStrange, Rabastan and Rodolphus LeStrange, Crucis Nott and a few others.
Maria surmises that this is Voldemort's inner circle and she repeats the names over and over in her head for when she gets back home. If.
"Good evening, friends." Riddle says, the serpent smoothly gliding across the polished wooden floors beside him. Maria blinks, her eyes meeting the dark ones of Evan Rosier who tilts his head. "As some of you know. . .this is Maria Potter."
There's a series mutters throughout the death eaters she has never met before yet they instantly go silent under Lord Voldemort's gaze. Maria bites her tongue, knowing that even her wand that's shoved down the waist of her jeans can help her now. She's completely outnumbered by dark wizards.
"Maria, I'm sure you're still wondering why I sent Bellatrix to get you this evening." Riddle turns back to her and she purses her lips. "I know that Black is not very. . .fond of us anymore. Was always rather brooding about it all, actually. However we have a preposition for you."
Maria quirks an eyebrow, "what?"
"Join us." Riddle smirks and the room is silent as everybody waits in anticipation for the Potter girl's response.
They were not expecting her to laugh. That caught them all off guard, even the Dark Lord. At first, she'd smiled before letting out an actual laugh, as though his preposition was so stupid it was actually hilarious.
"I'm sorry? Join you?" Maria laughs again before her face flattens. "You killed my best friends. Your people kidnapped, tortured and raped me. And you think I would actually want to join you? Seriously?" She laughs again. "Well, fuck you guys. Actually, go fuck each other, I'm leaving."
She turns to leave and the doors slam before her face making her let out an annoyed sigh.
"We can protect you, both of you." Bellatrix says and Maria rubs her forehead stressfully at her somewhat friend's words.
"Uh, no. You can't." Maria says with a breathy chuckle. "I have a family. I have friends. What do you have? Huh? You've got nothing. I don't want nothing." She says, looking between them. "And quite frankly you're evil. So I'm leaving." She turns to Voldemort. "Are you going to stop me?"
Riddle closes his eyes, aggravated by her response yet he doesn't say a word. She nods, swinging open the door and leaving the room with anger deep in her eyes.
For the most feared dark wizard in decades, he's not the brightest when it comes to people's feelings. What could he possibly have thought would make her want to join him? After everything his followers have put her and her friends through, after everything they've done, all the suffering that they've put people through. Their barbaric methods and manic habits. Does Voldemort think she's gone mad?
Maria Potter knows one thing, if Riddle really wants to get her on his side that means that he's desperate. Why would he be desperate? He has hundreds of followers, hundreds of people with the exact same beliefs as him. There's something more to what he's doing nowadays and she fears that it has something to do with her friends.
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"It can't be that easy." Maria mutters as Regulus fires spell after spell at the horcrux lay on the grass before them. "It's just our bloody luck."
It's been two weeks since her strange encounter with Riddle and the death eaters and she and Regulus are in the garden, trying to figure out how to destroy the horcrux they'd almost died to retrieve.
"Hey. We'll do it. We just have to think about it more." Regulus breathes, picking up the locket with a sigh. "I should give this back to Kreacher until we do."
Maria nods softly, kissing him gently on the lips as he wanders into the house to give the locket to Kreacher who then apparates back to Grimmauld Place. Maria smiles as she wanders into the living room, seeing Nova sleeping in the basket that's set on the ground beside the sofa.
Maria slides down the front of her sofa, leaning her elbow against the soft cushions and peering into the basket as Nova's nose scrunches in her sleep. Maria's eyes soften, knowing that she would do anything in the world to keep her little girl safe. She would lie, she'd kill, she'd die. Anything so that she got to grow up and see the world the way Maria had seen it before, so beautiful and not destroyed by wars and violence.
Regulus feels a smile spread across his face, seeing Maria with her legs brought to her chest as she stares down at their daughter with a soft smile.
"Kreacher will keep the locket safe." Regulus says as he settles on the comfy sofa beside where she's sat, gently nudging the back of her neck with his foot. "You okay?"
"Just thinking." Maria whispers with a small smile, reaching into the basket the softly wipe an eyelash from the baby's cheek before pushing herself up onto the sofa. "I told Voldemort that she was dead." Maria whispers as she curls into Regulus' side making him sigh and wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "I don't know why—I felt like I needed to."
"I would've done it too." Regulus says comfortingly, his thumb running gently over her knee.
Maria sighs, kissing his cheek and he looks down at her for a moment before pressing his lips to hers firmly. Maria hums against his lips, moving her hand from her lap to the back of his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss and swinging her leg slowly over his lap, her knees either side of his hips.
Regulus' hands run from her neck to her waist, flattening against her back and pulling her body against his further.
"Seems we're getting free porn, Lyss."
Maria sighs, pulling her lips away from Regulus' and sitting back against his knees, turning to give Stanley an exasperated smile.
"Sorry to interrupt, not like you invited us or anything." Stanley shrugs nonchalantly, reaching into the pram before him and lifting out Dylan Harper.
Maria smiles brightly, instantly clambering off of Regulus and hurrying over to the nearly four month old baby, holding out her hands and Stan rolls his eyes before handing his son over to the eager Potter girl.
"Oh he's so big already." Maria says sadly, feeling as though time is passing them by much to quickly.
"She's got your sleeping habits, Black." Alyssa comments, pulling Regulus into a hug and nodding down at Nova who's still sleeping in her basket beside the sofa.
"Hilarious." Regulus rolls his eyes as she grins and takes a seat on one of the beanbags by the fireplace. "I'll get coffee." He grumbles, standing up and Maria sticks her tongue out at him as he wanders past her. "Stan!"
The blonde groans yet follows after the Black, mumbling profanities. Alyssa lets out a small laugh, getting up and taking Regulus' seat on the sofa as Maria sits back down with Dylan in her arms.
"How is it having a house together now?" Alyssa says excitedly, smiling as Dylan fusses in Maria's arms making the Potter hush him softly.
"It's not that weird." Maria shrugs her shoulders, adjusting Dylan in her arms carefully. "We had the manor to ourselves for like a year. It's actually better, that house was just too big for two of us. I like it here."
"It is beautiful." Alyssa sighs, looking out of the large window to the seemingly endless fields and the horses in the field over. "How've you been since you had Nova?"
"It was a little hard at first. . .they didn't even tell me what happened properly." Maria mutters with a small shrug of her shoulders. "I just remember being scared." She smiles sadly, glancing down at the basket at her feet. "It was worth it though."
"What about Reg?"
"He's a good Dad." Maria smiles and Alyssa grins. "What about Stan?"
"I never thought I'd say it, but Stanley Harper is actually an amazing father." Alyssa lets out a laugh and Maria smiles. "He's really grown up, you know?"
Stanley and Regulus return with the mugs of coffee in their hands, Stanley kicking the back of Regulus' knee almost making him stumble to the ground.
"Never mind, I take it back." Alyssa whispers and Maria laughs softly.
Alyssa and Stanley had made Regulus and Maria the godparents of Dylan, telling them that they're the only people that they feel deserve that role in their child's life. That made Maria shed a tear at the time.
Maria smiles as the four friends laugh and talk about things that don't revolve around war. It reminds her that there's many things that they have and Voldemort doesn't, but the best one is most important.
They have something worth fighting for, something to live for. And Maria will walk through the fiery pits of hell before she dares give that up.
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hello and happy new year my loves
i literally have every chapter left of this story planned out now 😃
it's been two years now since i started to write this story and im honestly sad to have it coming to an end 🥲
but love you all sm and thank you for reading, updates should come more frequently now because i know what im doing :)
—grace xxx