The Cup, like the locket, is destroyed by the Basilisk Venom Regulus had left.
"Is there more?" Dorcas asks, regarding the Horcruxes, frowning at where Hufflepuff's Cup had laid before.
"For all we know, yes," Regulus replies softly, unable to keep the frown out of his voice.
Dorcas shakes her head. "I need to get back to Marls," she murmurs. "She won't know where I've been and I certainly can't explain all of this on my own."
"I'm not coming with you," Regulus states firmly, knowing what she implied.
"Cowardly," Dorcas sighs. She eyes Regulus narrowly. "Your brother has been sick with grief lately. He won't admit it, being as stubborn as you are, but everyone can see it clear as day."
Regulus shrugs. "So let him grieve."
"For a younger brother that's, unbeknownst to him, still alive?"
"I would have grieved all the same, just like him."
"... But I don't think he knows that." Dorcas gives Regulus a disapproving look. "Make it right, Reg. Make it make sense."
"He's an idiot, he doesn't know a lot of things."
"Regulus, I swear to Merlin, I will throw a punch if you do not visit him in the next few days. He deserves better than that and you bloody well know it."
Regulus shifts on the spot uncomfortably. "But who'll take care of the factory I'm starting up while I'm away?"
"That boy, and Kreacher," Dorcas supplies, shrugging. "Besides, everyone takes a vacation."
"Charlie is just a kid! And Kreacher is unfit for the job — he's only an Oompa Loompa — and he doesn't even make for a good one."
Dorcas huffs. "You're being ridiculous. I can have Remus look after this place, if you really want it well-kept."
Regulus raises a disbelieving eyebrow. "Remus? As in Remus Lupin? Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously, your brother's chocolate-besotted boyfriend. Still with me?"
"Unfortunately."
"Come on, Reg, we need your help. I don't want to lie about things to my girlfriend either."
Regulus considers this reluctantly. "What makes you think Lupin would ever agree to looking after my factory?"
"Um, he loves chocolate?" Dorcas reasons. She grimaces and reddens at her lame attempt to provide a good reason. "Look, Remus is a great dude."
"Who is also a werewolf."
Dorcas stops short, mouth hanging open. "How... and how do you know that?"
"The traitorous rat, remember?"
"Ah, Pettigrew. Right. Well, we'll just avoid putting him on the job on the day of the full moon."
"Not that easy," Regulus argues. "He'll be ill-tempered the day before and much too broken for work the day after. Maybe a few days before and a few days after. Who knows."
Dorcas grits her teeth and stays quiet. In the end, she resorts to a confidently delivered plea. "Please, Reg. I need you. Sirius needs you. Hell, the war — everybody — needs you."
Regulus looks away. He recognises the disappointment in his chest all too well.
What about James? He can't help but wonder.
He thinks, if James Potter was the one who needed him, he would have gone without a second thought.
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Regulus & the Chocolate Factory | a crack story tbh |
FanfictionRegulus knows three things very well from the duration of his life: 1. There's no escaping the sun, which translates to there's no escaping James Potter. 2. That he's a successful failure of a son, would make a terrible escape artist, and should rea...
