3Broomsticks, a mingle meme

[madam_rosmerta]

THREE BROOMSTICKS: A MINGLE MEME After a long day, you find yourself tired, achey, in desperate need of a drink, and maybe even a pillow to rest your head on. Three Broomsticks is a warm refuge from the freezing cold snow gusting outside. "Welcome to the Three Broomsticks, luv! What can I get for you?" Madam Rosmerta is bright and cheery, heralding the bar where a number of wizards are already seated, wetting their whistles with ale or butterbeer. INSTRUCTIONS 1. Post with your character, noting their name/canon in the subject, and any preferences. 2. Roll a number and tag out to others. 3. Profit. TIMELINE a) NORMAL. It's just another day in your character's life. Nothing to see here. b) TIME HAS NO MEANING. Obligatory option to allow the different generations to interact. Is your character part of the younger crowd, and you always wanted an opportunity to thread with their parents? Maybe now, with the aid of a Time-Turner, you can make it happen! c) MISC. Make something up. It could be an AU universe where anyone from anywhere can be dragged into the Three Broomsticks. Parents or children can be your character's classmate or colleague, instead. The dead never died. Those from other worlds can have an established life, here. OPTIONS 01. PARTY ANIMAL. You're drunk, rowdy, and ready to have a good time. Did you receive good news? Crashing someone's get-together? Meeting up at the Three Broomsticks after work with your crew? Stopping by after watching the Quidditch World Cup? Who cares, let's shake things up (just be sure to give Rosmerta a good tip before you go.) 02. GOSSIP AND RUMORS. Drunks are always easy to coax into sharing the latest gossip in the wizarding world. The warm setting makes it even easier to get someone to open up to you, or for you to blab to someone else. 03. SCHEMING. There's a war going on, don't you know? Careful what you say during a meeting, you don't know who might be eavesdropping. Are you undercover? Trying to stay under the radar, whether it's the Ministry's, Order's, or a Voldemort-sympathizer on your tail? 04. LONER. There's no such thing as being alone here. Your character might not want the company, but company's coming anyway, pal. 05. THE DATING LIFE. Why would you think bringing your date here is a good idea? It's loud and rowdy, and you're sure to have someone crash into your intimate moment. Maybe that's a good thing, depending on who you're here with. Are you the crasher, or the crashee? 06. FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT. Here we go. It's inevitable for some drunk to get a little too rowdy. Are you that drunk? The one on the receiving end? Are you giving poor Rosmerta a hand by breaking up the debacle? Or you could be the one who is helping the poor soul who got clobbered. Yikes, that'll leave a shiner. 07. FRISKY. When the booze is flowing, there's always a chance for someone to get hot and bothered. Did someone catch your eye at the bar? Flirting up a storm with your date? With a little liquid courage, you too can admit your eternal feelings for that one person... even if they're a sworn enemy. Take it upstairs, you crazy kids. 08. SPIKED DRINK. Didn't your mama ever tell you to keep an eye on your drink? Now look what's happened, you drank something you weren't supposed to! Are you the poor sap who got hit with a love potion, some luck, or are you suddenly sporting some rainbow-colored hair? Go crazy with the results! 09. FIRST MEETING. Everyone's got to meet for the first time at some point. Maybe you get along asap. Or it could take you some time to warm up to each other. Are you coworkers, and this is your way of extending the olive branch after a job gone good or bad? Maybe you need something from this person. 10. WILDCARD. Choose any option above, or make up your own scenario.

Comments

[thedogfather]

[ in contrast to sirius' hot, bubbling fury regulus is cold and controlled, and it drives him absolutely mad, reminds him so much of their father that it's like needles under his skin. how he can behave this way after all this, after what he's done is a bloody mystery to sirius.

nevertheless, regulus is complying, sass or not, so that's something of a win.

his hand drops down to regulus' arm, gripping at his skinny bicep and tugging him roughly. he's got the wherewithal at least not to drag him through the crowd to the front door - regulus is presumed dead, and he's skulking in this dark corner, chances are revealing him might be a bad idea, one way or the other, so until he gets an explanation he's going to be careful. sirius is reckless, but he isn't stupid, and during wartime you can never be too careful.

so out the back door they go, and into the snowy, dim alleyway behind the pub. sirius whirls immediately, his expression tight with ire, and there are a hundred thoughts thundering through his mind, words on the tip of his tongue that he's struggling to put together.

but in the end he's seizing his brother and yanking him into a tight, trembling hug. hot tears prick his eyes that he doesn't let fall, and his jaw is clenched, fists so tight in regulus' robes that his knuckles are white. his voice is a rough rasp. ]

You - you damned idiot --

[grayblack]

[Regulus was already tense, keeping his face turned away from anyone near them, trying to look as inconspicuous as a man being dragged by his arm out the back of a pub could possibly look. He can spare a moment's appreciation for it being the back of the pub. He spots it for what it is, the strategic lower-visibility retreat Regulus himself would have used.

They're both soldiers now, aren't they.

Once they're alone, he braces himself, measuring his brother up, expecting a spell or a blow, and when Sirius crushes him into a hug, he just freezes. This isn't what he'd expected, not at all, he'd expected yelling, he'd expected to be punched and he'd been ready to fight back, but he can't fight back against this.]

Stop it. [It comes out in a hiss, but there's no move to disengage or try to get Sirius off him.] You've no idea, no idea, Sirius, so just, don't call me that.

[...which is as far as he can get before his arms are up and around Sirius' back, wrapped just as tightly, almost before he realizes it's happening, but he's never hated Sirius. No matter what he might think. He's never hated him, and seeing him now isn't at all what he'd needed, because if anyone can crack through the walls Regulus has been building, it's his stupid big brother.]

[thedogfather]

[ of course he's an idiot, and sirius is going to go on thinking it. because he's angry, angry and hurt that regulus wasn't able to think for himself, that he bought into all that disgusting, horrible venom that their parents were always spewing. it makes him feel better, thinking that regulus is a fool for it, because the alternative is thinking that he's evil.

and sirius can't believe that. reggie was a good kid. scared, and easily influenced, and so damned desperate to prove himself, to earn their parents' approval. sirius can't believe that he'd really be so sick inside that he would have really believed that awful shit, so - so idiot it is. he doesn't argue it now, though, only squeezes regulus tighter, all but crushing him, and there's an impossible relief that's flooding through him, warm and fierce, once he feels those arms around him in return. ]

No, I don't.

[ sirius says, sharply, and he pulls back at last, both hands grasping at regulus' upper arms to hold him, sirius' head ducked to look into his face. his grey eyes are stormy and intense, looking right into regulus', fearless and forward. ]

I don't know, because you haven't talked to me. I can't know, because you turned your bloody back on me. You let me - [ his voice cracks. ] - let me think you were dead --

[grayblack]

I thought it would be easier. [He can't stop his words sometimes, sometimes he thinks the Mark on his arm goes deeper than anyone realizes, into his blood to chase the hurts and dig at them, to flay them open, because suddenly the next words are on his tongue and escaping:] You were rid of me.

[Maybe it isn't the Mark. Maybe it's just the black poisons he's been chasing down. They've tainted him, ever since that first potion, and he's still moving and breathing but is he really still alive?

His ribs still ache from how tightly Sirius had held him. He must be alive, to be able to feel that. And if he's alive, then he should explain. He wants to explain. Now that Sirius is here, he wants to explain what had happened, tell him everything, the discovery of the cave, drinking the potion, saved by Kreacher when the house-elf had already been weakened by casual cruelty.

But Sirius had never liked Kreacher. Never once understood him. Wouldn't understand why that, of all things, had snapped Regulus' head around and made him realize his brother had been right all along. And he'd needed to get the necklace. He needs to get the others, he needs to find them and kill them, whatever they are, wherever the Dark Lord has scattered himself, Regulus needs to find him.] I'm. I couldn't.

[thedogfather]

[ you were rid of me, regulus says, and it smarts like a whip against his heart. anger surges under his skin for a moment at the simple thought that regulus could ever think that.

.. but then it turns around on itself to guilt instead. how had things gotten this bad? if regulus thought that, it could only be because sirius had behaved in a way that made him believe it, made him think that he could somehow be happier with regulus dead, out of the way, not being a problem anymore. that's on him, on sirius himself. he's been an awful big brother, couldn't protect reggie when he needed to, was too proud and angry. sirius releases his grip at last, exhales hard, and draws a hand over his face, eyes stinging and red. ]

Well, you can now.

[ he'd failed before, and he'll be damned if he fails again. he's got another chance to make things right, and sirius will die before he lets it slip through his fingers. ]

I'm listening.

[grayblack]

What? No, I...I can't just.

[It's the understanding, the slightest glimmer of understanding from Sirius that does it. Whatever cold and collected former Death Eater had been standing there, he dissolves into a rictus of a smile and starts laughing. Softly too, that only makes it sound worse, a hopeless, hollow sound.]

I can't just tell you, Sirius, not even you, he'll know, he'll hear it, he doesn't know yet that I know but he'll find out and he'll kill me and I don't care about that but he can't kill me yet, I'm not finished. Sirius, I'm not finished, I haven't found them all.

[He's dimly aware that he's babbling, and that somehow he's wrapped his hands tightly around his upper arms and cringed into himself, trying to make himself smaller, less noticeable, harmless. He only needs long enough to find all of the horcruxes. To destroy them all. And he's going to. Then he can die. Then it will be fine to die. But not until then. It can't happen until then.

And quite a lot of that has been whispered aloud, including 'horcruxes' and 'then it will be fine to die,' but Regulus hasn't realized yet that he's slipped into mumbling to himself.]

[thedogfather]

[ regulus has always been a bit more fragile than sirius, in a lot of ways. it's what made him so easy to influence, so desperate to prove himself to their parents, to be that model son that they'd hoped to find in sirius, and been disappointed by. regulus was the good boy, the obedient one, far less stubbornly willful than his incorrigible big brother.

still, it's difficult to see him dissolve like this, to drop the cold calmness that he usually used to keep himself together. whatever's happened.. it's bad, regulus is terrified, and it makes sirius' heart twist and ache with grief, a fury surging in his breast born from protectiveness. ]

Hey. [ he says, as softly as he can, and his hands are right back, grasping regulus' shoulders, then up to clasp at his jaw, trying to steady him, to force him to look up. sirius' eyes are dark and fierce and fixed on his face. ]

It's all right. Relax. I won't let anyone hurt you, do you understand me?

[ a big promise, he knows, but sirius feels it fiercely anyway; if he can't protect those who are important to him, what use is he? breaking his gaze, sirius glances up and down the alley. it seems deserted, but you never know who's around, who might be listening, and these things that regulus is muttering.. they're dark, incredibly serious things, things that shouldn't be spoken about in open daylight in the middle of a bustling wizarding village. ]

Come on, let's go home. We'll figure this out there.

[grayblack]

[Somewhere in there, buried beyond everything that's happened since, there's a frightened seven-year-old listening to his older brother tell him he won't let anyone hurt them, and trusting in that certainty with every fiber of his tiny being. It's enough to get Regulus to stop. Look up. Meet Sirius' eyes for the first time since he'd seen him again.]

Home.

[The word sounds strange, and it's a little inquisitive. Of course Regulus hasn't been back to the house. That's too risky. No one is supposed to know he's alive. Regulus doesn't have anywhere he's been able to call home since then, he hasn't seen the need for it, he hasn't really known how (or why) to find a new one.

But he's listening to the distant little voice inside him that's telling him, across the years, that Sirius won't let anything bad happen. He's too tired to do anything else. He swallows, and nods.]

Home. Yes. Don't tell anyone.

[thedogfather]

[ the look on regulus' face, the wide, almost frightened eyes sets off a pang of nostalgia that squeezes sirius' heart like an icy fist. all at once they're children again, and their mother is shrieking, and sirius is entertaining his brother with silly wand tricks to distract him from the fear and the noise. there's a dull ache in the pit of his belly, and a rush of protectiveness just after, steeling his resolve. ]

Right. Good.

[ there's a complicated history still between them, but sirius feels a sweeping relief nonetheless that settles his nerves. he hates grimmauld place, but aside from hogwarts, there are fewer places safer than their childhood home, he thinks, thanks to their father's tireless efforts to safeguard the place. it's more than likely that none but voldemort himself would be able to break in, and chances are, if anyone's after regulus, they would have checked there already - not to mention, it seems so obvious a hiding place that it might very well be the last place anyone would look.

they don't need to stay there for any length of time, only need somewhere to.. decompress, to figure out what on earth is going on, for sirius to get a bloody explanation.

so he nods, exhales hard, and clasps both hands tightly onto regulus' shoulders, apparating them both to the back gardens of their family manor, beneath the shady shelter of a withering willow tree. immediately he's freeing his hand to snatch up his wand, to listen hard, but the place looks, feels, and sounds entirely deserted. ]

[grayblack]

[In contrast, Regulus doesn't spare a glance for the gardens, looking up at the house itself rising above them into the sky. Home. Right. Yes.

Grimmauld Place was never the same after a Gryffindor began living there. The house just seemed to know. It had still been home to Regulus, but it had been a chillier home. A more expectant home. A home that looked at him and thought, you'll have to do. Would it hate him now too, now that he'd turned his back on everything his parents had stood for? Does he mind? Should he mind?

Kreacher won't hate him. That gives him enough peace of mind to finally let go of Sirius, although Sirius still has hold of him.]

Do you still live here?

[thedogfather]

[ contrarily, this place has never been a home to sirius. even when he was too young to really question his family's ideals, he had always felt uncomfortable here, suffocated in a way he hadn't really understood until he'd gotten a little older.

after that it became a prison. it's hateful, this house, everything about it dark and treacherous and wrong. even being here now makes his heart uneasy. at regulus' question he gives a derisive snort. ]

No.

[ the coast seems clear enough, so sirius lowers his wand, and with his free hand, snags regulus gently above the elbow and begins to guide him forward, moving quickly and quietly across the abandoned gardens and to the back door. ]

[grayblack]

[Regulus takes that in stride, surprised but also not at all. He doesn't shake his brother off, but he does step forward when they reach the door, and enters the house first. Kreacher is still here, at least he should be, and any defensive enchantments that still simmer around the door won't react to either of them, no matter what Kreacher mutters about Sirius.

The house seems to sigh when they walk into it, and Regulus smiles when he hears the whipcrack of Apparition and the house-elf appears an instant later and bows low.]

...ears have not deceived him, Kreacher sees Master Regulus returns and he brings his brother with him and Kreacher will make them both welcome though it pains him to see, nasty blood traitor that he is...

[Regulus knows he shouldn't laugh, but he has a hand out to hold Sirius back before crouching down and catching Kreacher's attention, staring at him for a few seconds to ensure he really has Kreacher's attention. It's more difficult when they grow so old, but this is Kreacher, Regulus is more than willing to be gentler with him.]

Don't speak about Master Sirius like that again, Kreacher. [And he stands again, because the discussion is over.] Fires, please, in the parlor and the bedrooms.

[thedogfather]

[ regulus seems to decompress a great deal once they're inside the manor proper, and sirius is grateful for it if only because it's less likely that his brother will bolt on him.

for sirius, it feels like being thrust underwater - cold and suffocating and heavy from all sides. he's never loved these halls, and the painful, angry nostalgia creeps back in like a poisonous fog. echoes of memories that all bounce around in his skull, clear as if they'd happened yesterday. he'd been unhappy here, dreadfully unhappy, and once he'd left he'd hoped to never return.

yet here he is. and bloody hell, he'd nearly forgotten about kreacher, the nasty, twisted little imp that he is, and regulus is right to hold up that hand because sirius is surging forward, mouth open to fling a scathing rebuke, but he bites it back. he hardly needs regulus to protect him, whatever that little monster says means nothing, but he has tact enough at least for the moment to give in and glower at the elf instead, until he's moving off to complete his tasks, muttering quietly as he goes.

pocketing his wand, sirius snorts derisively, but lets it go. ]

You hungry?

[ he's got a thousand questions, yeah, but they've got time. ]

[grayblack]

[His mind is more settled when it's hemmed in by these walls he remembers so well. He can focus on one thing at a time now. He focuses on Kreacher leaving, listens to his muttering, but there isn't anything more about Sirius in particular. It's a start.

Then he focuses on Sirius, and it's obvious he's uncomfortable in his own skin in this house, and it makes Regulus frown a little, but Sirius had brought them here. It's safe to talk here, for now. The house is even more secure with Blacks inside it.]

I should eat.

[Said as a polite acknowledgement that food is often a good idea. Now that they're home, he unfolds himself from his traveling cloak, absently smoothing down the edges of the white cloth that neatly wraps both his forearms, and hops up to sit on a marble countertop. This had occasionally been allowed, and he's been through horrors since they were boys, but there's still a delicious sense of disobeying the rules.]

[thedogfather]

[ sirius might not be comfortable here, no, but this isn't about him. it's about regulus. and much as sirius might seem like a self-absorbed prick much of the time, when it comes to those who are important to him, those he loves.. he'd do anything. give anything. they're here because regulus is safe here, and it's becoming more and more apparent that it was the right choice. his brother seems far, far more at ease here than he'd been in hogsmeade, like something inside of him is coming alive again, one little candle flame at a time. ]

Yeah, you should.

[ sirius has no idea what they even have. though it hasn't been long at all since their parents passed, sirius still doubts that the kitchen is stocked - anything perishable would have long since soured, but he'll dig something up.

he's eyeing those wraps as he opens the pantry doors, however, and he snags regulus' wrist for a moment, eyeballing what he presumes are bandages, before he's digging around on the shelves. there are still a few dusty cans he can work with. ]

You get hurt?

[grayblack]

What? Oh.

[The wraps. Regulus raises his arms to look at them as if seeing them for the first time. It was a coincidence that he'd used white instead of black, the sheet he'd torn apart the moment he couldn't bear to look at the Mark anymore had been white, but Sirius doesn't know about that, does he? They must look alarming.]

No. I just didn't want to look at...at my arms anymore. I'm fine.

[Suddenly restless, he hops down and pulls out his wand, casting a few wordless cleaning spells to rid the kitchen of the dust that's collected since anyone had lived here, working around Sirius, giving him space. He'd be facing awkward questions soon enough, and he knows his brother's temper well enough to know it might not be far behind, but for now, they can work together at something quiet and practical.]

[thedogfather]

[ right away, sirius' senses sharpen and his eyes narrow; there's far more to it than what regulus is telling him, and immediately sirius feels a clutching in his gut, something cold and misgiving squeezing at his insides. it's a terrible feeling.

he'll push. but not right now. food first, and a bit more time for regulus to decompress before sirius is railroading him with questions. reckless and wild and forward as he is, sirius has grown at least a little bit of patience since they were younger, and it has its limits, but he'll let it go for now.

.. just for a little while.

sirius glances over his shoulder at regulus once or twice as he works, but more or less he leaves his brother to his work, and works on putting together something of a stew from the canned meats and vegetables and broths he's recovered from the pantry. it's not going to be anything gourmet, but it'll be edible, at least. might be better with some rice or pasta to pour over it, but they're fresh out of that for the moment; if reggie's going to be living here a bit more permanently, he supposes they'll need to get him stocked up.. ]

Order up.

[grayblack]

[Good timing, just as Regulus has finished cleaning the table to a polished shine and the last of the dust is off the benches. Meals are few and far between, he makes do with what he can find and he'd been planning on eating at the Three Broomsticks but hadn't got round to it yet, so the scent of whatever Sirius has found to put into the stew is making him almost a little lightheaded.

It's also a good excuse to put off talking a little longer. They are neither of them strangers to silence during dinners, either because there was nothing they were allowed to discuss or because neither of them bothered to try getting a word in edgewise over their parents, but this silence doesn't have that same icy blanket to it. It's almost comfortable. Half of Regulus' first bowl disappears within a minute before he makes himself slow down and savor. It's more than just edible, considering Sirius had patched it together from what he'd found.

Once he's halfway through his second bowl, he sets his spoon down and props his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them, and looks over at Sirius.]

I'm sorry I didn't tell you.

[thedogfather]

[ sirius cocks a brow at regulus as he eats, at how quick he is to scarf it down and go for seconds, and he doesn't say anything, but he's wondering what that means, how long he's been hiding, running. it's worrisome.

he's eating now though, at least, so there's that. and sirius will keep stuffing him full of food as long as he needs to. he only eats one bowl himself, doesn't need more than that, but he takes his time with it, so they're more or less finished around the same time. sirius wipes his mouth on the back of his knuckles because he's a well-bred, aristocratic boy of course, then pushes the bowl aside and crosses his arms casually over the tabletop, leaning his weight onto them.

he doesn't get the chance to even ask anything however, before regulus is apologizing, and sirius is silent, for a moment, his gaze dropping to the table while he tries to gather his thoughts. ]

Me too.

[ he says, finally, and normally it might sound scathing, but sirius' voice is soft and low. he is sorry. sorry he didn't know sooner. he could have helped. sorry he didn't try harder, work harder. he's sorry about a great deal of things.

rubbing a hand over his face, sirius exhales then lifts his eyes to regulus' face again, and they're sharp, intense, focused. ]

But you'll tell me now. What are we up against, here?

[grayblack]

[It's still difficult to even think about for too long, he's seen the Dark Lord pull thoughts from the heads of people who aren't even there. His fingers twist around each other, find a loose thread on the edge of the arm wraps and worry at it, and he looks at that instead of at Sirius.]

I-I don't know how to start. I don't know how...I don't know if you'll believe me and you need to believe me, Sirius.

[There's a lot in his eyes when he looks up again, a hunted expression of mistrust, because what reason would Sirius have to believe him? They've been on opposite sides since Regulus was eleven. But this is still Sirius, still his brother who stormed through a crowded pub to drag him home, a place he hates, because he'd known it was where Regulus needed to be.

He takes a breath and folds his hands tightly.]

I did almost die. Everyone...they all think I'm dead. Everyone else. They don't know what I've done. He doesn't know that I know, not yet. I'm sorry, I haven't needed to talk very much since the cave. [He can tell his words are running all over the place, and his hands would be flying with gestures too if he wasn't keeping them still.] He can make horcruxes. He has. I learned about one.

[thedogfather]

[ sirius knows quite well that he's a bit of a prat when it comes to listening. he usually needs time, time to process and cool off before he's really ready to absorb things he doesn't want to hear. but he'd processed it all long ago, when he first began to realize he was losing his brother to his parents, that regulus was slipping away and there wasn't a single damned thing he could do about it. he's raged already, they've fought, rowed, screamed, and it's over, it's in the past.

grieving regulus' presumed death - it sort of put things in perspective, when you feel like you've gotten a second chance. sirius is ready to listen, open-eared and waiting. ]

So you were -

[ - really one of them, he means to say, but doesn't finish. it was a presumption, really, assuming that regulus had really become a fully fledged death eater, not simply a supporter of the cause. he'd known it, they'd both known he knew it, but still somehow knowing it for certain hurts. sirius can't help but feel like he'd failed. he'd been too damned self-absorbed, too defiant and willful. he'd given up too soon, should have tried harder to pull his brother out of the fire.

sixteen. he was sixteen. a bloody child.

sighing hard, sirius scrubs his hands over his face, and keeps his thoughts behind his teeth. there are more important things to discuss. ]

Horcrux?

[grayblack]

I—oh. [Regulus pauses, thrown for a moment by the question, horcruxes are all he's been thinking about since the moment Kreacher had said the word and Regulus had realized the awful depth of truth behind it. He forgets sometimes that it's a secretive branch of Dark magic, even from most Dark wizards. And Sirius has always gone out of his way to avoid any trace of darkness on him.

He's still shining with that now, almost glowing with his determination to do right. He thinks he's imagining the burn of the Mark on his arm, the sinuous movement, the way it twines through him inside. He imagines a lot of things.]

He's cut off a part of his soul and put it into an object. He can't die.

[Then he reaches up to his neck and tugs on a silver chain, and pulls a green and silver necklace out from beneath his shirt.]

If I don't kill this, he won't die. He doesn't know I have it. No one knows except Kreacher, no one.

[thedogfather]

[ sirius is quizzical, but the moment regulus starts to explain he feels a heavy stone drop into his gut.

it's.. it's barbaric in a way that sirius doesn't have words for. he's seen a lot of terrible things since voldemort began to rise, he's heard stories, seen deaths, tortures, watched the wizarding world break apart in ways he never could have imagined. voldemort is unclean, he's disgusting, abhorrent, and yet somehow this seems too far even for him.

he's severed his own soul? is there anything more.. more base than that? more wrong? just the thought of it is enough to make sirius tense up, and his hands resting on his own forearms bunch in his sleeves, like he's hearing nails on a chalkboard. it's a crime against the natural world, it is, and when regulus pulls the chain from under his robes sirius is staring at it like it's the most repulsive thing he's ever seen. ]

That's..

[ merlin's beard, even the implication of a horcrux aside, the idea that it somehow makes voldemort invulnerable is even more terrifying. sirius drags a hand over his mouth, thumb rubbing against the scruff on his jaw. ]

.. is that the only one?

[grayblack]

I don't know.

[He stares at the locket, turning it over in his fingers. It's heavier than it should be. When it hangs around his neck (and it always hangs around his neck) the world is darker and more full of shadows than he knows it is. He avoids people at the best of times, and that's only been made easier with this. People avoid him now.

He lets the locket fall against his chest, against his heart, and laces his fingers again, twists them, picks at the loose thread along the wraps, watching as he pulls slowly and it unravels stitch by stitch by stitch.]

I don't think so. He doesn't do things that way. He's. Careful.

[And yes, it's said with the quiet confidence of someone who's watched him do things.]

[thedogfather]

Okay. [ he says, not feeling okay at all, but trying to keep it together, because like it or not, this is the truth of it. ] Okay.

[ he'd asked for this, he knows. like ripping off a bandaid, he'd needed to know, needed to hear the worst of it, to know exactly what they're up against because sirius had never really been the sort to hide from the things that intimidate him. better to know exactly what they're facing, in all of its ugliness.

he hadn't tried hard enough to protect regulus before, he's not going to blow this second chance. ]

Guessing you don't know how to get rid of it?

[ if he did, he might not still be carrying it around, right? ]