For CheekySlytherinLass from the Sept. one shot exchange thing. So sorry this is so late, but better late than never ya?
It was inevitable. And honestly? He wouldn't have it any other way.
It started in a dark room, in the early hours before dawn. Weary eyes met his across the desk, and it was all over in the moment. Gray eyes were his fucking weakness.
The candle was barely holding on, flickering in and out of existence for a few seconds before it gave up the ghost and withered. The low tendrils of smoke curled in front of his face, but he ignored it.
"Do you ever wish for anything else?"
The voice shook. The broken silence startled him briefly, but he shook it off and shrugged, leaned back nonchalantly in the armchair, and threw his arm over the back of it as he crossed his leg over his knee. "Like what, Black?"
Regulus sighed and shook his head, dropping his gaze to the desk. His hair was dirty, grime and sweat making it clump together. His robe was torn at the shoulder and the top button was missing. It was this visage that made him reconsider his oldest friend, trailing his eyes up and down as the quill made a drop of heavy ink on the parchment. Regulus swore briefly, tossing the quill violently on the desk with a small clatter. "I once had a dream of owning a small house and a dog," he offered, and Reg laughed without humor.
"Ridiculous," Reg responded, and he nodded.
"It really was."
Silence settled over them once more, and through the curtains, the sun began to make itself known. The pale pink light cut through the room and rested on his face, making him blink. He shifted.
Regulus was staring at the beam, eyes red rimmed and hollow.
…
The conversation haunted him.
As the days ticked by, he found himself waiting for the break.
Peering at the letters on the page, he found himself being yanked, the book falling onto the carpet without a sound. Gasping in alarm, he whipped out his wand, but lowered it in concern when he found Regulus' crazed eyes meeting his. "Reg?"
"I know," was the answer, and he frowned.
"Know what?"
"How to get you that small house and a dog," Reg breathed, and he stared at his friend stupidly.
"What the hell?" he hissed. "Have you lost your mind, Black?"
Regulus shook his head frantically, his clumped bangs falling into his gray gray gray eyes as they grew more frantic, a light returning to them that had been missing for quite some time. A smile lingered on his face, and he found himself smiling back automatically.
…
He couldn't help it. When Regulus sealed his fate, he cried. He made no noise and let none of his tears fall until after the ceremony. When Regulus passed his hiding spot in the closet, he pulled the unsuspecting aristocrat in with him, the door locking shut. "You've lost it!" he hissed furiously, those dammed tears slipping and blurring his vision.
Regulus reached over and placed both hands on his face, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. "I think you have, actually," he corrected smoothly, revealing nothing.
He walked away, leaving him crying in a broom closet.
…
Regulus vanished that night.
…
It may never have come to fruition, but he was happy about that, anyway. He didn't think that he would bear it had Regulus died and he'd gotten a taste of what it would be like to have him.
It would have killed him, too.
He found the paper in Regulus' room, hidden in a chest that was locked up tighter than Hogwarts.
His first thought - You did it, Reg - was stifled immediately.
He knew better than that.
"Don't make people into heroes," Regulus had warned, and now, he knew what he had meant.
It broke his heart, just a little.