"Erumpent Horn." 

He uttered the password and the stone walls parted, letting him enter the Slytherin Common Room. Just a few hours were left until dawn so the common room was empty with all the students retired to their dorms.

He silently crossed the way to the boys dormitories but stopped, spotting a familiar figure fast asleep on the couch in the corner. His eyes flickered towards the ancient clock by the couch ticking the hours by as he approached to confirm whether it was really his best friend or not.

And true enough, it was Eleanor Troy, her dark hair spread out on the soft cushion and her marble green eyes obscured from view as she slept peacefully. He didn't know why she was not in her dorm but gently nudged her to wake her up, "Eleanor?"

She stirred but her eyes didn't flutter open, voice slightly slurred as she mumbled, "what?"

"Hey, you're sleeping in the common room."

"Am I?" Her hand had closed on to his wrist as she sat up, eyes still shut as she pulled him down on the couch beside her so that she could rest her head upon his shoulder.

A soft smile broke out on his face to see her like that, drifting off to sleep again. He thought of not waking her up as she looked so peaceful but he also knew that if the other students woke up, especially the rest of their friends, the two wouldn't hear the end of it.

"Elle, you should go to your dorm."

"Too tired... I was waiting for you out here and didn't notice when I fell asleep. Now... I don't wanna wake up."

"Waiting for me?"

"You disappeared after dinner," she replied, letting him carry her to the dorms, "where were you?"

He didn't reply because he knew he would have to lie to her if he did.

Her hand reached up to his neck, finger tracing the jugular as her voice trailed off, "Reggie..."

"I was in the library," he mumbled, trying to ignore the spark her light touch had sent racing down his spine, "forgot the time."

"You haven't forgotten that it's Hogsmeade weekend too or have you?" They had reached the door to her dorm so he placed her down on her feet and her eyes fluttered open, sleepy irises looking into his clear blue eyes.

"No. I remember."

"Good. See you at breakfast then." 

She smiled, leaning closer to brush her lips delicately on his cheek, just for a fleeting second before she pulled apart and stepped inside her dorm. She waved lightly and closed the door, not noticing that his cheeks had turned a faint pink, just like it always happened whenever she got too close. 

They had been friends since first year and had gotten much closer over time, they were currently in year sixth at Hogwarts and though five years had passed since Reg and Elle had known each other, neither of them had taken the first step to confess their feelings.

Their friends teased them about it nonstop, the evident attraction they had towards one another was not hidden from them. But despite all their teasing and lectures to either confess or let go, Regulus and Eleanor were still just friends.

Though he had begun to notice that ever since the start of that year, Eleanor had turned much more affectionate towards him, making him even more flustered around her at times. They had hugged and cuddled often before as well and it was a quite a normal thing between their friends but by then he had started to notice the slight differences.

She complimented him sometimes to the point that it could be deemed as flirtatious, she loved to play with his hair each time the two were together and she had started holding his hand much more often. Not that he minded either of those affectionate gestures, in fact he felt a strangely comforting warmth creep into his heart each time she did either of those things, but he was slightly confused at the same time.

He didn't want to ruin their friendship, that's why he hadn't confessed to her that he liked her a lot as more than just a good friend. But when she got that affectionate, he felt his control tip upside down, almost making him voice out the words he had never said to her before.

Perhaps that was what she was waiting for as she tempted him and teased him by all her little bursts of affection but then he couldn't really be certain since she was very unpredictable.

His dorm was silent as he creaked open the door and tiptoed to his bed, dropping his robe off at the side as he laid his head on the pillow, blue eyes staring up at the ceiling. There was just an hour left till it would be time for breakfast so there was little chance of him getting a proper sleep.

He closed his eyes nevertheless but not for long because the second his eyelids fell shut, the scene of the Dark Lord's base began to play out in front of her.

Would you ever betray me, Regulus? The words echoed in his head and he could still hear the snark in his tone, the slight feeling that he had expected him to betray him.

Why would he think that about him was still a mystery.

It was almost as if he already knew him from someone or some time that he couldn't recall himself. And the way he was so eager to meet him that Bellatrix had to sneak him out from school after curious was also quite alarming.

True, he had willingly joined the Death Eaters but he had not wanted to be given so much attention by the Dark Lord himself. He just wanted to fade into the background but he felt as if Voldemort had dragged him out into the spotlight intentionally by offering him position among his trusted Death Eaters even though he was just a sixteen year old and a young undergraduate recruit.

He didn't know whether his interest in him was a good or bad thing but it surely was quite unnerving.

Such that even if he wanted to, he couldn't banish the dreadful feeling of anxiety that had dug its roots in his heart, warning him that there was much more to Lord Voldemort than he was letting show at the moment.

Regulus felt both intimidated and unnerved by the inhuman wizard yet still he had chosen to become his follower.

And no matter how hard he tried not to think about it, right then it felt like the biggest mistake he had made in his life was to get the Dark Mark engraved upon his left arm as a sign of loyalty to Lord Voldemort.

***