Ink in Paper - Regulus Black

Chapter Thirteen

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For the next few days, until around the 10th of October, Luna Lupin thought deeply on how to verbalise the awfully good idea that she had plotted in her mind during the early hours of the morning to the detail.

If Regulus was the most hated person by the group of people which two of those people she wished to hurt, even if lightly, then he ought to make part of the plan, of course. The closest she held someone like him as a weapon against them, the safest she would feel, it was clear.

After the fight that humiliated Sirius so much, for her to be to be seen close to Regulus was a punch to his ego, however he wouldn't be able to say anything about that to anyone (besides James, who had already made clear that he had nothing to do with his friend's meanness) and his feelings of shame, anger and any sort of possessiveness that he might feel over Luna might seem out of place – if she was lucky enough, Sirius would give himself away to Remus without her needing to say anything. Besides, Remus also seemed quite angry with Regulus, always glaring at him, seemingly worried about Luna after he asked Pandora about why Regulus and Luna were talking when the girl was walking alone (naively, Pandora answered, though she was smart enough to go and tell Luna as soon as she saw her again).

Luna, logically, knew that the idea was childish and petty, but there was a part of her that had stopped caring about it after Regulus shoved the bloody book into her hand, teeth stained red with his brother's blood. It was at that very moment that so much made sense in her mind and the idea of keeping him close lightened up the dark place her mind was becoming, but it was only during Evan's worried ranting that she had actually put a name to the plan.

Dating.

Luna wasn't one to date, as it was already mentioned, but she could be under the right circumstances. Especially if said circumstances happened to be making Sirius lose his sanity with his own guilt. Sure, perhaps the copy of The Scarlet Letter that her grandmother gave her on bedside table helped her put the plan together (after all, there was much to be said over Minister Arthur losing his mind, health and soul over his own guilt – it was a rather favourite thought of her when she couldn't sleep to decide if he had carved the red 'A' on his chest as self-punishment or if the 'A' had appeared on his chest in some supernatural punishment from God, or the witch in the woods, or perhaps even from the Devil himself). Sirius was no Arthur, but he was a sensitive man, and she was counting on his own guilt (and some feelings that he might have harboured for her, even if they were only friendly) to make him suffer.

No matter how much she said that she didn't care, if she wanted him to suffer so much, she knew that she had cared far too much.

Sure, there was also her brother. Though she didn't necessarily wanted to hurt Remus – no matter what he did, he was her brother after all and she loved him dearly, no matter how much she denied so in front of him – but she truly wanted him to look at her with some seriousness; wanted him to see her as a woman, not some fragile little girl that couldn't do anything on her own or that depended entirely on him and his image. A relationship with Regulus (a Black Heir in all its splendour and danger) would prove him that she could do anything she wanted without him underfoot. He was an afterthought in the plan, that much was clear, no matter how much she felt guilty over it. But she wanted him to worry, she wanted him to grovel and understand... something... If she was honest, she wasn't sure what would be Remus' reaction to something like this; perhaps he wouldn't even take it seriously, but she wanted him to know that she was there. That she existed outside of his illness, outside of her sickness; they were people outside of their Hospital Wing personas.