Chapter Text
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Slughorn looks up from his desk and smiles cheerfully at Sirius.
"Mr. Black. Come in, come in!" he says. "Well, this is new for you. How can I help you?"
"Er," Sirius says, shrugging lightly. "I was wondering if you could tell me how Regulus managed spilling the potion on himself. I...I was curious, because. Um. Well, Regulus is rather careful about things like these - "
"Of course!" Slughorn seems to take it as simple concern. "I was quite shocked, too! And naturally, if I'm making a class brew a potion, I usually have the antidote ready should a student use it accidentally!"
"...but?" Sirius prompts.
"But there was none in my store," Slughorn sighs, swirling the drink in his glass. "I could have sworn I made some, specifically for this class, but none of the vials were there. I suppose I remember wrong about making them. Old age does that!" he adds, with a laugh.
Oh. Oh, wait -
"And Regulus?" Sirius asks, "Regulus just...dropped his potion? On himself? Er. Accidentally?"
"Well, I suppose so, my boy," Slughorn says, "I was inside my office, just using my fireplace - barely gone a second - and when I came back, Regulus had..."
"Your fireplace?" Sirius asks, distractedly, just to keep the conversation going, his thoughts already racing,
why would Regulus suddenly-
Slughorn smiles, widely, like Sirius has asked a question he wanted to answer.
"Oh, yes," he says, nodding. "I was talking to an old student of mine. Why, your cousin, Mr. Black!"
Sirius's thoughts screech to a stop.
"What?" he asks, gaping. "My cousin? Which cousin? Why did she call you in the middle of - "
"Oh, she just wanted permission to meet Regulus," Slughorn waves a dismissive hand. "It wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend, that day, you see, but she must have had some family business to talk about with him."
Sirius feels his stomach drop.
"Merlin," he swears, sitting down opposite to Slughorn.
"Shit.
Shit."
"No need to worry, Mr. Black," Slughorn shoots him a bemused look. "I gave permission immediately! I asked Mr. Black and once he'd agreed, I went back inside to tell Miss Bella that she could come and take Regulus outside for a day."
Miss Bella. Fucking Bellatrix -
"And when you came back outside," Sirius finishes, already knowing the answer, "Regulus was five."
"Yes," Slughorn agrees. "Would you like a small drink, my boy? You don't look so well."
"Nah, it's-it's alright. Thanks."
I'm not saying anything. But if I was, I would say it's your fault.
You left him alone.
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Sirius doesn't realise when he's walked to the dungeons, doesn't realise his grip on his wand is white. Doesn't realise he's almost shaking as he thinks and thinks -
Sirius pins the first Slytherin he comes across, who happens, very luckily, to be Snape.
"Are you fucking
mental,
Bla- " Snape snarls, as Sirius presses his wand against his throat.
"Send Crouch out," Sirius says.
"I'm not your errand boy - " Snape bristles. Sirius digs his wand in.
"Call Barty Crouch," Sirius manages.
"Please."
Snape blinks, surprised, before gives him another look of sheer hatred, and stalking off down the corridor.
Sirius is sure Crouch wouldn't come.
He's planning on going down the same corridor that Snape went through, but then,
"Figured it out, have you?" Barty Crouch asks, idly, walking up the passageway.
"Not completely," Sirius says, eyes narrowed.
"Where are the vials of the antidote? I know someone helped Regulus steal them."
"No," Crouch shrugs. "He did it himself."
Sirius nods, frowning. "But. Why?"
There's a pause.
"Initiation," Crouch says, finally. "Bellatrix wanted Regulus to meet the Dark Lord."
"Oh," Sirius says. "So - "
"So Regulus didn't want to get caught up in it," he shrugs. "He panicked the second Slughorn told him that Bellatrix wants to meet him. Just accioed
the vials of antidote from the potion store, and dumped his potion on himself."
"Oh," Sirius feels incapable of saying anything else.
"Regulus would have been the Dark Lord's youngest," Crouch says. "Bellatrix always used to tell him he has the potential for it."
Sirius's stomach churns.
"Give me the antidote vials," he says. Crouch looks at him, grimacing.
"Regulus didn't - "
"He's my brother," Sirius says. "I won't send him off to fucking
Bella,
Crouch, just give me the vials."
"Look, I don't know about - " Crouch halts, and nods. "Alright. Wait here, I'll get them."
He starts to walk away.
"Crouch?" Sirius calls after him. He stops and turns back, expression quizzical.
"What?"
"
Bellatrix doesn't know, obviously,
" Sirius says. "About Regulus."
"Snape does," Crouch shrugs. "Nobody told him, though. He figures out things like that himself."
Oh, Sirius knows all about Snape
figuring things out.
"You didn't tell Bellatrix," Sirius prompts. "Or anyone else. Why not?"
Crouch's expression turns hard.
"I know you think gryffindors have some sort of monopoly on friendship or something," he says. "But Regulus
is my friend.
I wouldn't ever give him up."
Sirius isn't fazed. He just squints at Crouch. There's silence for a moment.
"I'll get the vials," Crouch says, stiffly, and Sirius is sure he's flushing a little.
Interesting.
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"Sir'us!" Regulus grins, when he comes back inside the Hospital Wing, two vials of anti de-aging potion clutched in his hand. "Sir'us, d'you know that - "
"I got an antidote," Sirius says, to James. "It's-it's a long a story. I'll explain later."
"I like stories," Regulus agrees.
Sirius feels sick.
"Regulus," he says, and takes a deep breath. "Come over to the dormitory with me."
"Sirius, will you be fine doing this alone - "
"Yeah," Sirius tells James. "Yeah. Come on, Reggie."
Probably the last time I call him that,
Sirius thinks.
They reach the dormitory too quickly, and Sirius
places a charm on Regulus's robes, to adjust accordingly when he grows.
Finally, he
hands him the vial, and Reg sniffs it suspiciously.
"Yuck," Regulus decides, finally.
"Just drink it," Sirius croaks out.
"But I- " Regulus looks at him, and down at the vial. "Okay."
And he drinks it, fumbles with the cork, puts it to his mouth, and drinks.
For a lack of better words, Regulus
shoots
up, hair lengthening, shoulders broadening, legs growing, the baby fat on his face hollowing out.
"Disgusting," Regulus mutters, pulling a face and dropping the vial.
It's
his
voice, low careful, haughty vowels, sharp t's, still not fully cracked.
Then, he notices Sirius, who's probably looking horrified.
Regulus blinks, and blinks again, his face mirroring Sirius's horror too, as he covers it with his hands.
The look on Regulus's face says that he
remembers it all.
He looks terribly embarrassed, cheeks red.
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