the salt and the sea → regulus black

recovery.

"You think Teddy knows him better than Sirius?" James asks, his voice thick with disbelief and confusion.

"I think that your sister has, reportedly, been his prefect partner for the last year in Hogwarts." Moody growls out, thumping along the floor as he walks behind the chairs. It's probably some kind of stupid intimidation tactic, because when Regulus tries to turn his head to follow him with his gaze the chains holding him in place means that he loses sight of him almost immediately. "And Sirius is too emotionally compromised to vouch for him."

Too emotionally compromised. What a joke.

The relief that had hit her upon seeing Regulus alive had nearly floored her, but right on the heels of her relief is red hot anger. "You absolute arsehole, Regulus Black. I told you not to go!"

Regulus winces slightly in the face of her fury. "Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?"

"Ask? You'll have to beg for forgiveness, you utter dickhead!"

His tired eyes darken even further at that, though his gaze darts over her shoulder at the others. "Perhaps your admonishment could wait until after you assure these people that we are unlikely to murder them?" He says, his voice just barely above a croak.

Her anger is not so easily diverted, but she forces herself to take several deep breaths before turning to look over her shoulder at Moody. Their interaction is being watched most attentively by everyone in the room, though it's Moody's gaze that feels the heaviest. Dumbledore just watches them knowingly as he sips his tea, and at his side James keeps darting confused looks between everyone.

"Like I told Professor Dumbledore back in June," She says, forcing her tone to be as neutral as possible. "Regulus says he's found a weakness in You-Know-Who. Several weaknesses, in fact."

Though she can sense Regulus react behind her, she doesn't turn to check his reaction. He's obviously only realising that she had gone to Dumbledore on his behalf all that time ago, even though she'd promised she wouldn't trust anyone.

"He's a fully initiated Death Eater." Moody growls, his regular eye boring into her as his magical eye spins round the room frantically. "Are we to take his word that he just spontaneously decided to jump ship?"

Teddy's fingers clench instinctively against her thighs as she narrows her eyes at Moody. "No. I thought the reason you called me here was so I could give my word that he jumped ship."

"That's one reason." Moody grumbles. "The other reason is because he said he'd only share his information if he got to see you."

From beside Dumbledore, James is frowning and looking rather bewildered. He's clearly aware that he's missing a few essential pieces of information, but he hasn't yet made the leap of logic required to work out exactly what the relationship between Regulus and Teddy is. She prays that his obliviousness holds out a little while longer.

"I trust him." Teddy says, slow and deliberate so that her every word can be heard clearly. She can't look at James as she speaks, so she maintains heavy eye contact with Moody. "I believe he's telling the truth. He wants to help."

Silence falls as Moody eyes her up appraisingly. It's his judgement that everyone appears to be awaiting — everyone watches him to see what conclusion he reaches. The quiet is broken when Rosier leans forward, straining against the bonds tying him to the chair.

"Potter," He whispers, "Say something nice about me now."

Teddy shoots him an irritated look. "Yeah, Rosier is harmless too."