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Regulus Arcturus Black knew what he was doing the moment he got the dark mark, the moment he officially became the Black family Golden Boy, the moment everything changed for the worst. he had planned to tell Sirius, and James and all of his friends about his plan, he really had but he was running out of time. The Dark Lord was sending him on his first mission and everything had already been set in motion.
So from the moment Regulus stepped into the cave he knew he wouldn't make it out. He knew he wouldn't be able to apologise to the people he had pushed away namely Sirius and James. But his relationship with Sirius had fallen apart the moment the latter left Regulus alone in a house that was never a home. He wished things could be different and that he could be happy with his friends. No, his family, so he could be happy with his family. But the odds were never in his favour, he was on his own, he always had been. The times he had were fun and they were good while they lasted but he knows they wouldn't last, they were never meant to. They were meant to be an experience.
He hoped they would understand and Kreacher would be able to get the horcrux to Pandora. Oh sweet sweet Dora, she deserved the world and he wouldn't be there to see her get it. He prayed that she would forgive him for leaving her so soon. The tattoo on his arm burned harder than it ever had before and he knew the reason why, The Dark Lord was calling him and for once he was given the ability to ignore an order no matter how much he wished he could swim to the surface and return home safe. Maybe his mother would finally be proud of him, maybe she might love him a little more, no his mother never loved anybody but herself. He wanted nothing more than to see his friends one final time, make a final goodbye to Barty and Evan and Dora. They would only have each other after all of this was over.
They would all be able to move on without him, James with the redhead muggleborn from Gryffindor, the one he was always chasing after, Lily Evans or whatever her name was, Pandora was happy with Xenophilius, Barty with Evan, Sirius with Remus. He prayed that his brother's friend group would find out about the slimy rat's betrayal but it was too late for him to spare another second thought on it.
Regulus sank further and further into the murky water, he had long since given up on trying to float back up to the surface. Cold, bony hands groped his body but he refused to react, he was content with the things he had done. And he would be for eternity if it meant that his friends lived a normal peaceful life. He would be able to die happy knowing that Voldemort would be weakened.
How had this all come to be? The question forced itself to the front of Regulus' mind and for a moment he can't quite comprehend the meaning of such a deep and personal question, then the answer hits him. He was the backup son, they knew that Sirius was going to be defective and thus he was born, he suffered greatly all because of his rebellious older brother, but he would never be able to blame him for this. No, this was inevitable and it was a miracle that he was even here. If The Dark Lord had not requested to borrow Kreacher that night, and the house elf to return half-dead and soaking wet then Regulus wasn;'t sure whether he would have discovered the dark secret that he hid. But mistakes are made and now Regulus was paying for a mistake he didn't make while Kreacher hopefully brings the locket somewhere safe, somewhere no one can find it until it is able to be destroyed.
His head was beginning to burn now, the air pushing itself from his brain, the world around him was becoming fuzzy and dark. He took a desperate gasp of air and thought about what might happen when his family find out of his demise. They would all be devastated for sure, Pandora would blame herself, Barty would go on a rampage and Evan would bottle it up until he exploded. James would break, Sirius would be in denial and Remus would be left to pick up the pieces of his broken friend group. He wasn't entirely sure if Sirius would even forgive him for the shit he's done, he hasn't apologised and he can't remember the last time they so much as smiled at each other.
And then as if time had stopped and the world had faded, Regulus Arcturus Black had died, alone and content with the thought of making the world a better place by sacrificing himself in the way that he did.