A/N: Written for August 2018's Romance Awareness. Other prompts and challenges are listed below so as not to give anything away.
Word Count: 1,257
if we die, we die together
Rabastan was shaking as he apparated to Regulus. The cavern he was in he didn't recognise and he stumbled, falling to his knees on a dark, stony beach by a still water lake. They were in some sort of cave.
"Rab? Rab, Merlin what are you doing here?!" Regulus' voice was shrill with panic and surprise and he ran over to his soulmate who was bleeding from several large gashes on his chest.
"They saw," Rab gasped out, clutching at Regulus' wrists. "They saw what you are going to do today."
"Shh, it's okay. It'll be okay. Let me heal you," Regulus murmured. Dimly Rabastan thought to himself that his boyfriend wasn't Head Boy for no reason, as he silently and wandlessly cast several strong healing spells which effectively put Rabastan back together and took away the pain until it was a dull ache he could try to ignore.
"They saw," Rabastan said, his voice echoing around the cave walls. "There were words on my hands, on my arms. What are you doing? You're about to betray the Dark Lord and they know!"
He couldn't breathe for the panic that built up inside of him. Regulus didn't say anything at first and Rab wanted to shake him. Their soulmate bond had made both of their lives difficult - first with each other's names being clearly visible on one another's skin, effectively outing them to the world as gay from birth. Then when they'd met, the markings had changed to reflect important events in each other's lives.
The last time Rabastan had had thick black words coil around his forearms, it was when Regulus had discovered he was Head Boy. Then today, after months of uneventful days, words that had said things Rabastan couldn't even believe were possible had appeared, in plain view for the other Death Eaters to see.
That was another problem. They seemed to glow through any sort of clothing. Once his sister - in - law had taken in what it said, Rabastan had felt lucky to make it out with his life.
Still, Regulus knelt by him in silence, not even offering an explanation or apology.
"What are you doing?" Rabastan repeated hoarsely.
"You said it yourself. I'm about to betray the Dark Lord. I know something he's done and I am going to try and stop him."
"Why?"
Neither of them had wanted to be Death Eaters, but both had known that there was no other choice. It was either join the cause or death and so without even discussing it, they had both asked to be marked. They were the youngest in the Inner Circle and yet knowing that Regulus would be there with him had helped Rabastan quell some of his nerves. They hadn't even really been on a mission or raid yet, both of them just finishing school.
Slowly, without meeting his eyes, Regulus told Rabastan of how the Dark Lord had asked to use his house elf Kreacher, and then what had ensued. Rabastan listened in horror, realising before Regulus had even said the word that their Lord had made Horcruxes.
He had been willing to ride the wave of all of the hysteria, assured in the belief that he and Regulus would at least be survivors. But now the thought of the Dark Lord becoming something other than human, using dark magic not even whispered about made Rabastan's skin crawl. It wasn't what he wanted nor believed in.
"You're going to have to accept the fact that sometimes we can't save everyone," he said finally, hoping against hope that Regulus would listen to him. "Let's just go. If Bellatrix or Rodolphus don't kill me, the Dark Lord will certainly kill us both so let's go, Reggie. We can work out how to hide, what to do later but we haven't got time."
"Exactly," Regulus said and his grey eyes were alight with a determined, vengeful passion that Rabastan had never seen before. "There isn't any time. You can come with me, or you can go but I'm doing this Rab."
He got to his feet, Rabastan scrambling up beside him. Any attempts he made to stop his partner were futile until somehow Rabastan found himself sat in a small rowing boat which Regulus steered carefully with magic.
"There are inferi, in the water," Rabastan said faintly. "Regulus, I don't think this is worth dying for."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because… you're the only thing worth anything to me. If we are going to die, I want to know I stayed by your side."
He hoped the sound of the lapping water against the rowboat's hull covered up his mumbled words.
"We're going to do this. It can be penance, revenge, we can decide later when we get out of this hellish lake," Regulus said as the boat docked against a small, rocky island in the centre of the water. There was only one thing on it, mounted in the middle. When they both stood, peering inside Rabastan could see a gold chalice.
"Is that it?"
Regulus nodded.
"Well then, I can tell you that you can't drink it, at least not without help," Rabastan said, his mind whirring. It seemed that they were doing it and he would be damned if he let his partner or himself walk into the Death's embrace with their arms wide open. He pulled out his wand, casting several spells which were ineffective.
Regulus said nothing as Rabastan started to help. Both of them knew it was hopeless but in the dim green glowing light, he will stand by your side appeared on the inside of his left palm. Fate solidified their decisions as Rabastan shook with nerves. Regulus was stoic by his side and silently conjured a glass.
"We're going to do this," he said softly. "Help me do this, Rab."
They both looked at the words, first the ones on Regulus' skin and then the ones which appeared on Rabastans.
Near death experience.
"Near death," Rabastan breathed, sounding a little hysterical. "Don't you dare leave me, not here of all places. Wherever you go, I will be by your side."
He kept repeating it, even when Regulus started screaming after the sixth cup. By the time they'd reached the dregs of the bowl, he had had to take his partner's wand away, had burnt several inferi who had crawled out of the water and helplessly put a shield around them to try and deter the others.
"Just one more drop. It's going to be okay. You're not going to die. Nearly there, it's going to be okay, I'm here," Rabastan babbled. It was he who forced the final mouthful down Regulus throat. He cast a replica, grabbing the Dark Lord's Horcrux and putting it in a deep pocket in his robes. Then he was casting every spell he could think of, Regulus thrown over his shoulders as he ran to the boat.
How he got them to the beach and then outside the cove, Rabastan was not sure. He apparated, once, twice, then a third time as Regulus moaned weakly and begged for help. By the gates of Hogwarts, Rabastan fell to his knees, shooting red sparks in the air to ask for help. Regulus was pale. Rabastan could feel the Horcrux in his pocket and he felt weak, incapable of thought as he held Regulus, waiting for someone to come and help them.
They had betrayed the Dark Lord.
Now all they needed to do was find a way to survive.
A/N:
Romance Awareness: Day 18 - Soulmate prompts where things go wrong a whole bunch.
Character Appreciation: 13. Title: Head Boy
Amber's Attic: S1. Write a fic set in/on the water.
Lyric Alley: 11. I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
Em's Emporium: 14. Write about an absolute boss.
Angel's Arcade: 14. (emotion) vengeful (word) strong, (color) gold
Lo's Lowdown: D5. "You're going to have to accept the fact that sometimes we can't save everyone."
Days of the Year: World Ocean Day: Write a story that takes place in, on, or under the water.
Summer Prompts: 5. (word) Blaze
Shay's Musical Challenge; 45. Hairspray - write about not letting anything stand in your way.