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Barty had this manic glint in his eye. A promise that he could snap if only you found his limit. It flared now as Sirius stared defiantly back at him. There was something else, too. Anger. And a need to protect that rivalled the rage that Evan exuded. Perhaps it said something that Sirius noticed their anger more than he noticed Regulus' pain, but hadn't that always been the way with him? He focused on his parents' anger so he wouldn't notice the pain the cruciatus curse brought.
That blonde ravenclaw (Sirius wasn't sure of her name) supported Regulus. She seemed not to notice his weight, too distracted with staring pleadingly somewhere to Sirius' right. James' eyes flit back and forth between Padfoot and the drenched seventeen-year-old currently ruining his mother's carpets. The boy had yet to look up.
Finally, Dorcas' resolve broke. She must have been the one who stood somewhere behind Sirius and to his right as her voice came from there.
"Reggie? What's going on?"
Many heads swivelled in her direction. She stepped forward, crouching when she got to the young boy as Pandora sat down with him. Barty and Evan let her pass without so much as a look at her.
"Cass? I don't understand..." The unsure voice of Lily rang out. Since when had Dorcas been friends with Slytherins? Especially Sirius' own brother. But Dorcas just waved a hand in her general direction without looking back.
"Regulus?" Her voice had taken on a gentle nurturing tone. She was only one year older than Pandora and the boys, but that distance seemed much greater now.
To hear her talk like that when just mere minutes before she had been exchanging 'your mum' jokes with Remus and Marlene: it gave Sirius whiplash. He still refused to look at Regulus. Whatever he was complaining about now, he didn't know how good he had it.
But Regulus wasn't complaining. He wasn't talking. He wasn't even looking up. His breath came laboured. His friends grew more worried as the seconds crept by. They had argued against going to the Potters' in the the first place and now they could do nothing but stand ground against the glares of judgement and will Dorcas and Pandora to be able to convince Regulus to just fucking move.
"Regulus, please look at me," Dorcas was practically begging now.
Sirius had been about to ask her how long she'd been talking to his brother behind his back for when a sharp knock sounded on the door.
Peering out the window, James said, "It's Minnie and Dumbledore. I'll go and let them in."
He seemed more than glad to leave the tension in the room behind him, forgetting his wand on the windowsill in his haste. Remus literally facepalmed.
"Hurts..." a weak voice muttered. Had the noise in the hall been a tiny bit louder, you wouldn't have heard it.
All heads snapped towards Regulus' crumpled form once more. If Sirius didn't know better, he'd feel sorry for him. But Regulus Arcturus Black III had never needed pity.
James came back with Minnie and Dumbledore in tow. The crowd, aside from Sirius, parted to let them through. It was then that Regulus raised his head.
"Hello, Regulus. How are you?" Dumbledore spoke, blue eyes looking down at him over the top of those stupid spectacles.
Regulus laughed. At least he tried to. His throat was too scratchy, and his mouth stuck in a fixed position due to his own drying blood. He looked as crazy as Barty often seemed, and he felt it, too.
"Happy seventeenth to me, huh Albus?" Regulus chided as tears began to leave his eyes.
Evan fidgeted. He desperately wanted to help comfort his friend, but on the other hand, Sirius was still looking at him like he was something disgusting found on the underside of a shoe. He still had not once looked at Regulus.
"Was that a gift?" Asked Dumbledore, referring to the locket that weighed heavily around Regulus' neck. He knew, of course, that it wasn't.
"Something like that."
Remus interrupted, "Hey, er— where's Pete?"
James opened his mouth. Probably to offer some pitiful excuse. But he was cut off by Evan's harsh bark of laughter. When people turned to look at him, though, there was no change in his rigid posture or furious eyes.
"Wormtail?" He asked maliciously, and Remus nodded. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that little rat."
Before anyone could question what he meant, Regulus spoke again, effectively silencing them all.
"Since you're so interested in my birthday gift, would you like to know what I got for Christmas, Albus?"
Carefully, slowly, he stood up. Everyone's eyes followed his movements. When he reached his right hand over to his left sleeve, he heard the collective intake of breath. In any other circumstance, it might have been funny.
Sirius still wouldn't look at him.
Regulus slid the sleeve of his coat up. It burned to touch, but he didn't flinch.
"Do you like it?" He whispered, presenting Dumbledore with his new tattoo. "I don't."
James' motherly instincts flared. For a second, he forgot this was Regulus Black; he forgot how much that family had hurt his best friend. All he saw was a terrified young boy desperately seeking someone who could hold him and tell him it was all gonna be alright.
But Lily's hand on his shoulder grounded him; and he stayed still.
"Why did you come here, Regulus?" Albus asked. He hadn't moved since he first spoke to the boy, oblivious of the conversations around him.
Regulus covered his left forearm again before answering. "I didn't want to."
"Yeah, well, you'd have died if he hadn't done something!" Barty's dam finally broke as he abandoned his stoic demeanour. "You'd have died, Reggie..."
Regulus' facial expression did not change.
"You have to destroy this," he said instead, handing Dumbledore the locket. "And any others he makes."
Dumbledore asked, "Any others?"
But Regulus was gone. His eyes rolled back, and his body went limp, causing him to go crashing to the floor. His friends reached for him, but they were not quick enough. They cradled his body as they sat on the floor.
Sirius' eyes found his brother's collapsed form at long last. He couldn't help but notice how relaxed he was. In seven years, Sirius had rarely ever seen Regulus relaxed. He winced as he finally understood. It wasn't that Sirius got hurt. It wasn't that Regulus got hurt. It was that Regulus got hurt, too. And Sirius had neglected to realise it.