speak now | regulus black

26

AN: y'all know I HAD to use this song. I actually have an extended curated playlist for this story, I'll leave the Spotify code thingy here in case you want to listen.

♡

work song — hozier

"no grave can hold my body down

i'll crawl home to her."

♡

It was late by the time all three of them agreed on a game plan. Regulus had felt slightly awkward in his brother's flat, and Sirius hadn't been exactly welcoming, although he hadn't seemed too surprised at seeing Sofia and Regulus together.

Sofia had explained to Sirius in broad terms what Regulus was planning to do, and then Sirius had gone quiet for a few seconds before taking a step towards his brother and then holding out his hand for Regulus to shake. Regulus took it cautiously and much to his surprise, Sirius had pulled him into a man-hug, slapped him on the back. "Knew you'd come around," Sirius whispered.

Regulus had glanced at Sofia then, the first genuine smile he'd seen from her all evening on her face. It made the big possibility of dying that day seem worth it.

Then they'd sat down in the cramped living room and told Sirius about the locket and their half-formed plans. Sirius had suggested going to Order with all this information but had been quickly shut down by Regulus. Neither he nor Sofia had the same blind trust in Dumbledore Sirius and his friends did.

Regulus looked over at the clock from his spot on the sofa. It was almost ten already. But he didn't want to put this off any longer.

"Are you sure about all this?" Regulus asked his brother. "You don't have to—"

"I thought you were working on accepting people's help," Sirius interrupted. "Merlin knows you've rejected mine enough times."

Regulus nodded, relenting. "Alright."

Sofia wrung her hands from her spot beside Regulus. They were sitting close to each other, but not touching. Regulus wished so bad he could just pull her into his arms, reassure her everything would be alright—even if it wasn't true.

Sirius went into another room, saying he had to get some things together before leaving and let Sofia and Regulus have a moment alone.

Sofia looked a little ill. Her face was pale and she stared off into space. Regulus took her hand in his.

"Tell me it'll be okay. That you'll both come back," she said in a small voice.

Regulus took a breath. "Sofia..."

"I'm sorry," she looked down at the floor. "I'm not gonna make you say that. I'm just... I don't want you to die."

Regulus lifted a hand to her cheek and softly turned her head so she would look him in the eye. "I can't promise you I'll come back, Sofia, but I can promise I'll try my best. For you."

Sofia inhaled heavily and nodded, her eyes glistening with tears. Then she leaned forward and placed a nice, soft kiss on his lips. Just in case it would be the last. She would never forgive herself if she let him go without doing that.

Then Sirius came back into the room and they pulled away.

All three of them stood in the doorway and Sofia reached up to give Regulus one last hug. Then she turned to Sirius and hugged him as if she was trying to transfer some of her life force into him. Sirius wrapped his arms around her just as fiercely. She whispered something in his ear that made him smile and he planted two kisses on top of her head.