The Marauders: Year Six Part 2 #Wattys2017

One Hour

"Mother?" Regulus asked, concern in his voice.

"Yes, Master's mother, Kreacher's Mistress!" Kreacher repeated, and he looked up, reaching out for Regulus's hand. "Kreacher is to bring Master to the Dark Lord!"

Regulus looked at a loss. For that matter, so did the others in the little vessel. Lily Evans stared, wide-eyed at the house elf, her face going paler and paler as he'd spoken his desperate pleas. She looked up at Regulus. Sirius was shaking his head slowly.

Regulus took a deep breath, then, eyes meeting Sirius's, "If you land the ship just over there and you take the corridor to the right there, you'll come to a hall. Cross the hall you'll go up a spiraling stairwell ---"

"The fuck do you think you're doing?" Sirius demanded.

"Giving you directions to the library," Regulus answered, "So you can get there without me. Now listen - at the top of the stairwell you're going to turn left and ---"

"You're fucking mad you think I'm going to let you leave!" Sirius declared.

Regulus shook his head, "Sirius, I have to go."

"No!" Maryrose said, her voice sharp. Even through the dark of the cave, they could all see the protectiveness flashing in her eyes. "Sirius is right. You can't just go to him!"

"I have to," Regulus answered, "Or else he'll come here and then we're all in trouble! If I go to him, I have the upper hand at least a bit in that I can distract him. I can - I can tell him I wasn't able to come because... I don't know, I'll think of something. But if I put off, he's going to kill Mother and then come after me anyway and I may not have a chance to try and talk myself out of it if that happens."

"You can't go, I won't let you!" Sirius started to stand up, but the boat rocked violently and Remus clutched the sides of it weakly to keep from spilling over and Sirius quickly sat back down again. "We need your help to find and rescue James."

Regulus said, "I've just told you how to get to the library, you can get the map of Durmstrang there and then my usefulness is ended anyway and ---"

"YOU CAN'T BLOODY GO RUNNING OFF AND GETTING KILLED!" Sirius bellowed, "I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO AND GET YOURSELF KILLED! IT IS NOT AN OPTION!" His face was red.

"Listen to you." Regulus stared at him. "As though you give a damn."

Sirius stared back. "What sort of big brother would I be if I let you go off like that and get yourself killed?"

"The worst sort," Regulus answered, his voice heavy and full of meaning.

Sirius felt his heart break at the weight of the words. They weren't just words, it wasn't just an answer to a question. It was an admission of feeling.

You already are the worst sort of brother, the words were saying.

Sirius felt his throat grow very tight and his breath went rather shallow and he whispered, "Reg, please. Don't go to him. Don't go to Voldemort. Stay here. Stay here with me."

And Sirius's words weren't just a plea for now, either. It was the same plea Sirius had had for Regulus since he'd gone to Hogwarts for the first time, years ago, when he'd come down the stairs from his bedroom that first summer, when he was 12, when Regulus was 10, and he'd begged Regulus to reconsider his way of thinking, to see that the muggles weren't so bad, that the darkness that had infested itself in the Black house was the badness... if Regulus had only listened to him then...

As though accentuating the moment, Regulus's Dark Mark burned hot against his skin again and he bit his lip to keep from yelling out with the pain of it. He winced, squeezing his eyes shut tight.