Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter One Hundred and Three

So, things had progressed.

Yet again, Regulus found himself dragged into one of Esme's perilous plans. There wasn't really much more of an explanation for it than that.
That was why they found themselves outside Godric's Hollow on Hallowe'en night.

"You know when we went into the Forbidden Forest on the night of the full moon?" Regulus hissed into her ear, "This has the same kind of feeling to it. I don't like it."

"That's good. If you were onboard with this plan, I'd know I was doing something wrong." Esme replied.

He frowned slightly, "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean don't let your guard down." She explained, "If Pettigrew really did betray the Potters, then the Dark Lord himself could be on his way."

"So you essentially want me to be cautious for the both of us?"
"Love you very much." She cheekily responded, not taking her eyes off the house down the street.
He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"When I said we needed one of your plans," He whispered to himself, "I was perhaps a bit optimistic of the level of danger this would entail."

The cold night air continued to sweep down the street, loudly rustling the trees and whipping at their faces as they waited in the shadows.

"Remind me again why we aren't going straight in there to warn James and Lily?" Regulus asked, pulling the collar of his coat up higher to shield more from the oncoming storm.

"Because..." Esme inhaled slowly, "There might be Death Eaters watching the house. If we go storming in, we alert them and that could set a whole fight off. I've sent my Patronus to Dumbledore, so he should be getting our message any minute now."

He shook his head with unease, "Sirius should be here."
"You think that's a good idea? He would be freaking out and risking our cover right now. That's if he even believed us." She muttered.

"And what happens if he turns up?" Regulus asked.
"I don't know. I haven't had time to plan for all the things that could possibly go wrong." She replied.
He hummed and nodded, "Of course, yes. That would be impossible."

They continued watching the Potter's home in Godric's Hollow for a while longer, occasionally stopping in order to sit down behind the wall to give their legs a rest from crouching.

Then something happened.

"I should have brought some biscuits." Esme muttered to herself as she zipped up her coat - the night had now fully set it and the temperature had quickly fallen.

"Well, well, well... Look who we have here."

Before either of them even got the nerve to turn around, a chill like no other had rattled through both of their bodies.

"And to think, I never thought I'd see my daughter again."

Tears were already pooling in Esme's eyes at the sheer memory of the last time she had seen her father. The image of him pointing his wand at her, uttering the killing curse, flashed over and over in her mind.

But she was dragged out of her spiralling as Regulus set his hand on her arm, and the two of them slowly turned around to see a small group of Death Eaters before them.