A/N: For the lovely Remi. Not sure where this came from, but my muse saw Andromeda and Regulus and sort of latched on. I hope you enjoy!
"You shouldn't be here," Andromeda says, looking around nervously.
Regulus gives a lazy shrug of his shoulders. He lacks his usual arrogance, and Andromeda can't help but to think that he looks defeated somehow. "Well, being blasted off the tapestry is the least of my worries, Andi," he says dryly.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it. You're a-"
She can't bring herself to say it. Even if it's common knowledge that Regulus has joined the Death Eaters, she can't imagine her cousin as that. She wants to keep him in mind as the messy haired four year old who'd once followed her around like a puppy, always asking questions and making her smile.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asks, leaning against the door frame.
She can see a bit of that child in him now. Something has broken him down, has reduced him to the boy she once knew.
"Everyone is asleep," she says, stepping back and letting him in at last. "Try not to wake them."
"I wasn't planning to."
.
"Are you in trouble, Regulus?" she asks, setting a cup of tea before him.
He offers her a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Hard not to be in trouble, isn't it?" he mutters, and she gets the feeling he's talking more to himself than to her.
"Reg?"
He looks almost startled as he peers up at her, almost as though he's forgotten that she's there. He relaxes ever so slightly, leaning back in his chair. "Do you think it's possible to be forgiven in the end, Andi?"
"Always."
He laughs, but there's no humor in the sound. His attention becomes too focused on his cup, and his expression grows distant again, like he's not really there. "I wonder."
"Reg?"
He doesn't look up. Instead, he swirls his tea within the cup, his shoulders slumping. "Can would act really wipe your slate clean? Even if you've killed? Even if you've hurt people?"
"You're scaring me," she says.
She likes this side of him far less than the arrogant boy who called her a traitor and tried to hex her husband. This man is broken. This man has peered into the depths of Hell and shaken hands with the devil. This is not her Regulus.
"Forgive me."
She doesn't know if he's asking forgiveness for scaring her or for something else, some great unspoken transgression against her. Somehow, she suspects the latter.
"You're forgiven," she says, reaching out and gripping his hands gently in hers. "Absolutely and completely forgiven, Reg."
"I should be so lucky."
.
"You're sure you have to go?" Andromeda asks, leading him to the door.
His eyes are focused in the distance. "I've stayed too long already."
He starts to leave, but she catches his shoulder. "Stay the night. Ted wouldn't mind."
"I can't."
She feels her heart break, and she doesn't know why. "Whatever it is, I can help you," she whispers. "Whatever trouble you're in, you don't have to deal with it alone. You're family!"
"I've made my choice. And I have to face it alone," he sighs, turning to face her.
He leans in, brushing her hair from her face and kissing her cheek. "Remember me as family, Andi," he says quietly, and she can hear a sort of desperation in his soft plea. "Remember me fondly. Please."
Before she can answer, he disappears into the night.
"Regulus! Regulus, get back here!" she screams.
He doesn't come back, and she doesn't really expect him to. Andromeda falls to her knees, crying until Ted appears behind her, his arms wrapping gently around her body.
"Drom, love, you'll wake the dead," he murmurs, guiding her to her feet. "What's wrong?"
"I think I just said goodbye to my cousin."
.
"Dunno what happened, really," Sirius tells them, shrugging and leaning back in his chair, his feet resting on the table. "Reckon he got cold feet about joining the Death Eaters. But he's definitely dead."
Andromeda shakes her head. She's suspected as much since Regulus' visit, but hearing the words aloud is a fresh shock of pain. "He's your brother. How can you sound so okay with this?"
"Okay? I'm not okay. But the bloody idiot made his choice and signed his own death sentence," Sirius says sharply.
I've made my choice. And I have to face it alone.
She wonders what Regulus had meant by that. What choice had he made? What had gotten to him so badly that he'd been desperate enough to end up at her door with talks of forgiveness?
"He was here just last week," Ted says, pouring his second cup of coffee. "Tore Andi up."
Sirius raises his brows, his eyes shifting to his cousin. "He was? What did he want?" he asks, curiosity and confusion lacing his questions.
"Forgiveness," Andromeda whispers. "He wanted to be forgiven."