The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

You're the One That I Want

Regulus ran without having to keep track of where the man in the portrait was, he simply moved through the corridor to the alcove where the frame of the portrait hung with the two sconces. He knew the way now like the back of his hand, he'd gone so many times to wait for the painted man's return. Regulus was standing before the simple wooden frame when the man reappeared in his blurry-muddy background and came forward as though from a great distance again.

"You've got quite the pair of legs on you, kid," the portrait said as he came to the front and leaned against the frame as he'd done last time they'd met.

Regulus shrugged.

"You play quidditch?"

"I'm not here for a chat, old man," Regulus said pointedly. "You asked me to skive out of a detention and if - when - I'm caught, I'm going to be in a good deal of trouble, so you better make this worth it." He thought of Oni and how he could've been down at the stables having a look at the kelpie eggs if it wasn't for the detentions he'd gotten already. Now he'd have even more. By the time he got down to the stables with her, the kelpies would be hatched at this rate.

The man in the portrait laughed, "Feisty little bugger, aren't you?"

Regulus's mouth remained a straight line.

"Alright, alright, calm down," the man said. "What have you found out about them since we spoke last?"

"About what?" Regulus asked pointedly.

"About the horcruxes, of course!" the man replied, then, "Don't tell me you haven't been looking for answers!"

Regulus hesitated. Then, "Well, I haven't found much, there isn't anything about them in... well, in any of the library books. I found one rudimentary mention of it in a book I stole from the restricted section, but it wasn't really informative at all."

The portrait sighed, "These bloody kids today... no idea how to learn anything... think their only resource is books..."

"And what do you suggest, then?" Regulus asked, "Shall I take a load of knowledge right out of my---"

"Ask someone," the portrait interjected.

Regulus snorted, then laughed when he saw the seriousness of the man's face. "Are you toasted, then?" he asked, shaking his head, "Who the ruddy hell do I trust in this place? I can't trust anybody... If I trust somebody with - with literally anything - I could end up dead. You understand that? Nah, nevermind. Of course you don't. You're just a bloody picture on a wall... and what am I? Mad for standing here talking to you." He shook his head, waved his palm at the painting, then started to walk away, figuring if he hurried back quickly enough, McGonagall would be never the wiser that he didn't go to the loo when he left her office.

"Wait." The portrait's voice called after him.

Regulus didn't stop, until -

"Cadmus Peverell."

Regulus halted, one hand on the corner of the wall he'd been about to turn.

"My name is Cadmus Peverell. Yes, that Cadmus Peverell."

Regulus stayed still.

"I chose you because I saw what he did to your Maryrose."

Regulus's arm gave out and he was leaning against the wall, holding onto it for support, his back still to the portrait.

The portrait's voice was gentle. "You know my story, you know why that would matter to me, why I'd choose you... because of Pavia."

Regulus turned slowly. "Pavia?"

The portrait man nodded. "She was my Maryrose."

"The one you used the Resurrection Stone to see."

"Yes."

Regulus slowly stepped closer to the portrait. "Why would you care, though?"

"Because of what he's done to the stone." 

"What he's done to the stone?" Regulus asked, "What? The Resurrection Stone? Is it real, then? You know a lot of people say that the whole story is a myth."