Diptych

Chapter 39

The haste with which it happened didn't seem to match with the memory of it. He hadn't time to think, and yet looking back on it after the fact every minuscule detail was so clear, enhanced by the adrenaline coursing through his veins or else the fact that he knew the moment would be a defining one in his life, one he'd remember for the rest of his days.

The two shapes moved towards them, out into the light, and it became clear immediately that he and Potter hadn't been set upon by trolls at all. Instead, they had been followed or tracked down by Rodolphus Lestrange and another man Regulus only vaguely recognised. He had been there, at the meetings with Voldemort, but had never been introduced to him by name. And though they had been connected so vaguely, though to his knowledge Potter had never come into contact with the man at all, the sneer on his face told Regulus that he was just as pleased to have finally caught up with them (or at least to have revealed their own concealed presence) as his cousin's husband was.

He didn't remember moving from Potter's side, didn't feel an ounce of relief as he once might've when faced with Rodolphus. In the last moments he remembered thinking at all, he wondered if it would still be possible for Potter to apparate them somewhere, anywhere else. Would they make it? Or were their attackers so close that they might reach out and cause them to splinch? Was splinching worse that what they were in for?

There wasn't much they could see of the sky, obscured by the canopy of leaves above, but snow had since turned to sleet and their only saving grace from the downpour was said overhanging branches and the feeble remains of Potter's earlier attempts at wards, Sirius' having vanished with him. It didn't seem like the two men had bothered with such trivial distractions, both of their black hair plastered to pale faces. Rodolphus' eyes were dark, and Regulus would be lying if he said he'd never seen such a menacing facade come over him, but he never remembered it being directed at him before.

"Gone to fetch some water, has he?" Rodolphus asked of Sirius, corner of his mouth upturned. Regulus swallowed, said nothing. No matter how much he told himself he despised Sirius in that moment, he wouldn't betray him to their perceived enemy. He had spent the last hours trying to convince himself that he hated his brother; that his repeated abandonment was the final straw and that he no longer considered him to be a brother at all. And yet the thought of him being placed in any danger once again brought Regulus closer to the precipice of panic he was currently avoiding stepping off.

"He's not with us! You're not going to find him!" Potter shouted, nudging Regulus by the shoulder to get in front. He clearly had none of the same hesitance to speak that Regulus did.

"Won't you calm your little friend, Black?" Rodolphus asked, amusement turning to irritation. "I have no interest in finding your brother."

"Not unless he's got—" the other man began, but was cut short by a sharp look from Lestrange.

"Come back with us now, Regulus, and He may be forgiving. Or hand it to us, and we'll be on our way. There's no need to spill pure blood over a little gift." He stretched out an open hand, and if Regulus had been braver, he might've struck him down right then. Did Rodolphus know about the diary? Did the other man? He had suspected at times that Bellatrix must have, that if Lucius was going to be allowed in on the secret, then she would have been as well; she had always seemed to be held in higher regard by the man than Lucius. But the idea that both of these men knew as well seemed somewhat careless to him; especially when Tom had always been so adamant that the diary housed a piece of his soul, was a treasure to him. Regulus had always felt special when he thought about being let in on the secret, as though fate itself had divined their 'meeting'.

"He's not going anywhere." Potter said, and mere days ago that would have been enough to send Regulus trotting on his way after them, but now he said nothing.