It felt good to be close to her again, to be able to touch her and not have her sneer and call him a traitor, a filthy thing like his brother. Bellatrix’s immediate rejection of him had been anticipated and to an extent, welcomed with open arms. Her opinion of him didn’t matter and it never had in the past. She had been older than them all and her place of honor with the Dark Lord had been discussed and bragged about by his mother. Regulus had pretended to listen to the drawl of her voice and he had feigned his interest in what she said. He’d never cared enough to not pretend.
She’d come to Grimmauld Place and being young and intimidated by her, Regulus had scampered and hid behind his brother, seeking shelter and concealment from her penetrating eyes. Narcissa and Andromeda hadn’t gotten the same reaction out of him. Regulus had never feared them. It was hard to shake and cower when one was so mild and sympathetic, and the other so pretty, prettier than the other two combined in his opinion.
He grinned at her compliment, a real grin replacing the faux one that Walburga and his father and most everybody else saw when he felt the need to show it. It dwindled rapidly and he looked down at her, more concerned for her than for himself.
“I’m sorry I had to do it. I wouldn’t have left you with all of them if I hadn’t felt like it was the only way.” He’d loved his mother, had loved her as much as he could despite her flaws, but besides that, Narcissa had been the only one close by who he cared about. Sirius was gone by that time, gone and not speaking to him on account of thinking him to be a lost cause.