three_broomsticks | Marauders AU

"But he didn't, did he?" Regulus' fingers are too tight around it now, the chain pulled taut against the back of his neck as he glares up at the placid face. He can feel his pulse in his hand. The edges may have cut into his fingers again. "He joined Gryffindor and he had all the excuses he needed to leave me behind."

Then he pauses as his mind catches up with his words, and he frowns a little uncertainly. He's thought that on occasion, but he'd never really voiced it, not like that. He isn't even certain it's really true, considering how often Sirius had chased him down, how often they'd fought over Regulus' friends as bad influences and how he shouldn't simply take everything his parents fed him in stride like that.

Remus knows about all that, you know. Sirius doesn't have that many filters and it all came out in their shared dorm room. They'd hear the howlers he got from home. They'd see him come back seething and angry after one of those talks with Regulus. They'd hear those fights at times too, stand guard as they were being had.

Remus studies Regulus and the way he clutches the locket. It's a cursed object most likely, isn't it? He'll might have to wrestle it out of Regulus' hold.

"We'll talk about it once you've put the locket inside here. Do it," Remus snaps and this time the command isn't veiled at all.

The tone of voice snaps him out of the creeping fugue of anger and despair threatening to pull him under. Regulus stares up at Remus, and he looks as though he's moving underwater as he lifts the chain—it's heavier now, isn't it, it's gotten heavier, it doesn't want to lift off the back of his neck—but he still can't open his fingers, even as he holds it out over the box.

"I can't," he whispers, dry and raw around the edges, fingers cramping with the effort to unfold. "It won't let me."

"It better," Remus says with narrowing eyes and taps the box with his wand. It floats between them as he reaches over to grab Regulus' arms and pulls his hands rather forcibly until the chain comes off around his neck. "If you don't let go, I'm going to grab it and force you to release it."

Regulus reacted so harsly to the idea that he would touch the locket that he probably doesn't want Remus' fingers anywhere near it. Remus is not ashamed at all for pulling every trick in the book.

"I have my wand, I will knock you out and pry it out of your unconscious fingers."

His eyes narrow, staring steadily into the stormy eyes that are so very similar to Sirius'.

"I'm perfectly serious. That thing is going inside the box. It's your call how it will happen."

It's whispering to him, little hissing fragments of sentences that he can't shut out, but Remus' voice is whip-sharp, Regulus has never heard him sound quite like that before, it's enough to get his attention and make him look up to meet steady, chilly eyes. He can't move for a few moments without quite knowing why. Some small instinct in the back of his mind is screaming at him not to move, not to attract attention.

But then, slowly and almost mechanically, his hands reach out and his fingers uncurl, and although it looks like the necklace tries to cling to his hand, there is finally the heavy thud of it landing in the box. When he loses contact with it, Regulus gasps, mind clearing as if he's just woken up from a sluggish dream.

"I believe you," he says, unnecessarily, sounding stunned.

Remus gives a small smile when Regulus finally releases the locket, the box snaps shut and flies itself onto a nearby dresser. Remus still holds Regulus' hands, rubbing some warmth into them.

"Feel any better?" His voice is softer now, sweeter even. When he said he would help, he meant it. If that means prying a locket out of Regulus' fingers, he will do that. He's not going to use him as a buffer for whatever dark magic Voldemort stored in that awful thing.

"I think you shouldn't touch it again. Not without us having a firm plan for how to destroy it."

Then he reaches behind himself, grabbing a tea cup from midair and a potion vial beside it, dunking it all in before bringing the cup between them, replacing it with his hands on Regulus'. "Tea, with a pepper-up. Bottoms up, Mr. Black."

It happens so quickly, the locket shut away and the whispers silenced except for their echoes in his ears, already fading out as the influence of the necklace is cut off. It takes Regulus a moment to even register the warmth of the cup filtering into his ragged hands. He takes a sip automatically and gasps as the heat from the potion sweeps through him, driving out the lingering chill from the Cave.

He doesn't speak again until the cup is empty and he can hold it out again. He does feel better, he feels warm, he never thought he'd feel warm again, and while he's still thirsty, even that is beginning to lessen. "Thank you," he whispers, then, stronger, "Thank you. I don't...I don't think I should either. Neither of us should. Please don't, Remus. Promise me you won't try to touch it."

Remus is much smarter than that, Regulus knows he is, but the idea of Remus having to listen to whatever poisonous things that necklace would whisper to him, he can't stand it.

"No, I don't think I'll be touching it," Remus says as he pushes the cup onto a table and places the empty vial beside it. Then he unceremoniously parks his ass on the edge of it and leans his elbows to his knees, studying Regulus' face for a long moment perfectly quietly.

He still doesn't trust the littlest Black. But he knows there's something afoot here and he better get to the bottom of it. He always thought that it was unfortunate how Sirius and Regulus drifted apart during school years. Regulus is a bright young man and it seems that he's been bring enough to cross the Dark Lord.

"What is a horcrux?" he finally asks. They better start somewhere. See where this will lead them.

"It's..." He has to pause and collect his thoughts. He doesn't want to just recite some half-explanation, not for Remus, who will actually listen and understand. "It's a piece of his soul. Sliced off, and embedded into an object. It will keep him alive, as long as the object survives."

He looks at the box on the table, still relieved to hear nothing but silence and his own thoughts in his head. "I stole it. I found out where it was, and I stole it. I don't know how to kill it yet." But he doesn't have it anymore, and the heady thrill of that thought prompts him to add, "I left a decoy behind. He doesn't know."

Remus has never heard of it. But that doesn't mean anything. Voldemort must have a lot of dark magic under his wand that Remus has never heard about. The idea that Voldemort might have these little pieces of his soul all over the place terrifies him, though. How the bloody hell are they going to get rid of him?

"Is... Is this the only one?" he asks quietly, a frown building on his brows. He doubts that Regulus' treachery will go unnoticed for a long time and then he'll be in mortal peril every second, even more so than the members of the Order of Phoenix.

"Why did you do that?" This is it, isn't it? "And would you swear that on veritaserum?" Because this is not something Remus can just listen to his gut. He has other lives to think about. Other people to consider. While he can let Regulus into his home based on his instincts, he can't let him affect the order without confirming his story.

He wants to believe it, though. Every word of it.

"I don't know. ...I don't think so. He wouldn't take the risk of just one. I don't know what they would be, but—"

He goes silent abruptly as Remus asks him why. He won't understand, he thinks, glancing down and away, he won't understand why Regulus had acted out once Kreacher had been hurt. No one does, no one in the wizarding world thinks about house-elves beyond noticing when they're not there, and he doesn't want to try to explain and fall short.

But then he looks up and meets Remus' eyes again, steadier now. That, at least, he can answer without hesitation. "I would. I don't have any secrets left."

Remus' wand flicks towards the kitchen again, this time it'll be two cups of tea and another potion vial. He watches Regulus quietly while he slips a few drops of the veritaserum into Regulus' tea cup, gauging his reactions, waiting to see if he'll refuse to go through it after all.

"Seems like a thing he would do as many times as he can," Remus agrees, putting away the potion vial and placing the tea cup to the side as well to wait for the rest of the drinks.

It might be a little ruthless to make him take the potion and possibly spill some other secrets as well, but Remus refuses to feel bad about it. Regulus came to him for help and this is part of it. It'll be easier for him to convince others about his intentions if Remus can trust in what he says 100%.

Regulus swallows against his dry throat, but he reaches for the cup without hesitation. It's the only way, he knows it, and it's the least he can do. He owes them this. He needs to do this to prove himself to them. To Remus.

He's only heard stories of veritaserum, he's never experienced it, and he shudders as a wave of cold rolls through him, making his limbs heavy and his thoughts slow. Any lingering wariness or fear shivers into stillness and he closes his eyes, fingers curving around the empty teacup as his head tips backward and he takes a long breath. And smiles, the signal that the subject is fully under the sway of the potion.

Remus floats the tea from the kitchen while Regulus gulps down the potion, watching him with calm eyes. There's no need to feel afraid. He's not going to take an advantage of the situation personally, just to verify a few facts and then put Regulus to sleep until the effect is gone.

The tea is prepared quickly and efficiently and he shoots out his hand to Regulus to get his cup as well to be refilled, this time with sweet bergamon scented Earl Grey.

"Alright," he says and reaches over to place the cup in Regulus' hands. "You betrayed the Dark Lord, isn't that right?"

"Yes," he whispers, slow and drawn out, and the tea in the teacup trembles and almost spills before his hands steady again under the calming influence of the potion. "Yes, I betrayed him. I. Stole...from him. He'll kill me when he knows it's gone. But he doesn't know."

Regulus' eyes blink open, glazed over, and focus somewhere in the middle distance. "I'm going to die destroying it."

"Why you would say so? Is there something you didn't tell me about the Horcruxes earlier?"

Remus almost reaches over when the tea cup trembles in his hand but doesn't at the very last moment. They'll just have to get through this and then he can tug Regulus to bed and start contacting people he needs to sold this story to.

He's so relieved to hear that at least the main part of the story is true. He'll get to the details in a moment. It's hard to punch down the hope that rears its head inside him, cold fingers wrapping around his heart. If Regulus is honest and truly this is where they're going, it's going to be a long road to redemption but it'll happen, eventually.

"A Horcrux is...forgotten magic," he whispers, fragments of sentences from old books drifting back through his mind, the few scraps of information he'd remembered that had sparked his suspicions. "Created through death...so destroyed through death, they must be, I'm certain. It's all right," he adds, suddenly sharply zeroed in on Remus. Remus, who had never been a friend, but had always treated him kindly. Something Regulus had rarely done in return.

He's certain he should have died in the cave. He's living on borrowed time now, spared to complete the task of destroying the horcrux and stealing away one piece of the Dark Lord's soul. "It's fine. Remus. I'm ready."

"Don't be ridiculous," Remus snaps back, greens eyes flashing with a rarely displayed temper. "You're going to live and you will do so happily. That is my price on helping you. So get over it."

He isn't going to sell Regulus' story to Sirius, to Dumbledore, to everyone and then have him die on them and hurt their feelings again. This is not happening.

"So, it's a piece of old magic. I will look into it. Dumbledore will look into it. You won't do anything stupid before that."

He's going to have to hide that Horcrux. He'll take it to Dumbledore tonight. When Regulus is sleeping, take it away from him. Regulus might hate him for it but it's for his own good.

"No one told you to do this, did they? You aren't working under any kind of orders or suggestions? It was your own inspiration to go against your Dark Lord, right? The Death Eaters don't know about this either, am I right?"

Regulus narrows his eyes in confusion, the potion slowing him down and making it difficult to follow Remus in his anger, but after a few moments he shakes his head slowly. "No one told me. My own idea. No, no one else knows. No one else even knows about the horcruxes. The Dark Lord doesn't trust any of the Following with his secrets."

He pauses, then adds regretfully, "I don't think a horcrux can be destroyed without dying, and I have to do it. I'm sorry. I always liked you the best."

"How did you come to know about it then?" Remus asks, following this line of thought as quickly as a blood hound, trying to find a weak spot in the story that will allow him to exploit any possible foul play.

He gives Regulus a slow, reassessing look. "You know or you just think you know?" he asks, then wonders what Regulus meant by liking him the best. Out of who?

But that'll have to wait too.

"It might be true, but you're not going to be the one dying for it."

"The Black family library." The answer comes quick and easy. "I spent the whole year in there after Sirius became a Gryffindor. They were so angry." He blinks and looks away, drifting into memories. "I read through books...I shouldn't have seen, but I was studying to become a Slytherin, I thought if I knew enough of the Dark Arts there would be no choice. I read about horcruxes."

He takes another long, shuddering breath. He'd still been ten when he'd read about them, along with a host of other dark magics, but until Kreacher had told him what had happened, he hadn't remembered.

"I know. They whisper about it. The secrets he keeps. No one knows everything. He ordered me to bring him Kreacher to kill, so no one would be missing from the following and raise questions. But now I'll be missing. ...I'm supposed to be dead."

Remus watches him quietly, studying. Of course, Regulus had been at home with his parents when Sirius was at school for the first year. Must have been hard. But hard things happened to a lot of people.

He wasn't Sirius, though, and so he could see how Sirius' decisions and his way of living would affect Regulus' as well.

"You know or you think you know about Horcruxes being destroyed by dying?" Remus repeats his question because it sounds that Regulus is talking about something else. About the Death Eaters, perhaps.

He doesn't really need much more under the influence of Veritaserum. He's confirmed the facts and the rest is about Regulus.

And they know where to go for more information. The Black library.

"You said you left a fake one. So, currently nothing has happened yet, as far as Voldemort knows. We'll figure it out tomorrow."

"...I don't know. I think." The weight in his limbs is oppressive now and he shifts, slumping in the chair, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling and closes his eyes.

"Tomorrow," he repeats faintly. "I'll...I don't know where I'll be tomorrow." The potion is shifting, he thinks, beginning to roll out of his mind, leaving only exhaustion behind, and the creeping thirst beginning to return. It takes him a few moments to open his eyes again, and straighten slowly as if he aches, and take a sip of the tea Remus has left him, then a longer drink.

"That's enough," Remus says surprisingly gently when he thinks he's gotten everything he really needs to get an affirmation for. He waits for Regulus to finish his tea and then stands up, crouching beside him to pull him up by his arm. An arm he pulls around his shoulders and wraps his own arm around Regulus' waist.

"Tomorrow you'll be right here with me," he says softly and starts to help Regulus towards the bedroom. "But right now you need to sleep. I'll give you something for it. Don't worry. The Veritaserum will be out of your system when you wake up."

Remus only has one bedroom, so Regulus is going to be sleeping in his bed. He also has only one pair of sheets, so they're not going to be changed either. But he will spill Regulus into the bed and then bow over to help him out of his shoes at first.

By the time he finishes the cup of tea, he's feeling steadier. The Veritaserum might already be working its way out of his system. Either way, he doesn't resist when he's urged to stand, and he leans into the support as Remus walks him toward the bedroom.

"I came here because I didn't know who else would listen to me," he says as he sits at the edge of the bed, and automatically leans over to untie and kick off his shoes, but Remus is already there, so he straightens again and sits quietly. "I thought even if you didn't agree with me, you'd at least let me talk. And you did. Thank you, Remus." There's a smile, unexpected in the exhausted face, a glimmer of the brilliant smile he'd once had, and then he shifts to lie back.

Marauders AU

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