Part 1

"Reg?" A voice called into the darkness of his room. Regulus considered not answering it, and pretending that he was asleep. He was tired enough. It had been a long night of arguments, between his brother and his parents. They wanted him to act more respectable and one day join the Dark Lord, Voldemort's, inner circle and bring their family honour. Sirius didn't think that it was very honourable to bow down to a Dark wizard and kiss his robes.

"Yes, Siri?" He said finally, seeing no real reason to ignore his only brother. Sirius crept into the room, and sat down at the end of the bed. Regulus sat up, and could just barely make out his brothers form, and his eyes that looked strange and silver. "What do you want?" He sounded harsher than he meant to.

A shadow hand reached out, but withdrew abruptly. Regulus was mildly worried now, and frowned. What on Earth was wrong with his brother? "I've been thinking," Sirius took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you want to kill people?"

Regulus recoiled. "What—"

"Just answer the question, Reg. No Slytherin politics, no mind games, just tell me the truth and I'll do the same. This is important."

He could tell that it was important, Sirius very rarely sounded so… serious. Regulus felt his stomach drop in dread. This conversation would change things; it would determine a huge decision—or sacrifice—for Sirius. Regulus wanted to be on the winning end of this conversation, but he didn't know the stakes. He was at a distinct disadvantage. All he could do was be honest, and do as Sirius asked; drop his Slytherin side.

"No. No, I don't want to kill people."

"Do you want to torture people? Use the torture curse on them?"

"No."

"Would you enjoy raping women, just for amusement?"

"No!"

"Are you aware that that is exactly what Voldemort would ask you to do?"

"No—what! No, mother said that what he was doing was for the good of the wizarding world. To make it pure and wash away all the filth."

"The half-bloods, half-breeds, and muggleborns; the blood-traitors too?" Sirius asked delicately, as if laying a trap. Regulus started feeling unsure.

He hesitated a moment. "Yes…"

"Is the Dark Lord a pureblood then?"

"Of course he is! How could he not be?"

"Why then, does he go under a false name, and hide behind others? Why does he hide behind the names of Malfoy, Nott, Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and Lestrange?" Sirius had gotten progressively louder, but when he spoke next, his voice was a vicious whisper, and his eyes glittered in the moonlight filtering through the single window. Regulus wondered how in the world his brother hadn't made it into Slytherin, when he could make Regulus feel so stuck in a trap he had unknowingly helped create. "I asked Dumbledore who he really is, and the name I was given was Tom Riddle. The name Riddle is not of a pureblood, so he is either a muggleborn or a half-blood. In the end he is always a hypocrite."

Regulus was speechless, and he would have accused Sirius of lying, but his older brother never lied to him; was only ever brutally honest. There was really nothing that he could do though; Regulus didn't want to disappoint his parents the way Sirius had. He didn't want to be held under the Cruciatus Curse by mother while father stood by impassively as his child screamed. Regulus wasn't sure how Sirius could be so strong and stupid, but he supposed it had something to do with why he had been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin like Regulus. He obviously didn't have any self-preservation.

"What do you expect me to do? Mother and father will not accept it if both of her sons are blood-traitors." Regulus sneered, mostly to hide his fear, but also to get some sense of normalcy. It wasn't meant to be though, because unlike all of the other times Regulus had called his brother this, Sirius didn't break into a rant about how just because he wasn't a 'Pureblood bigot' like their whole family didn't make him a blood-traitor. Sirius just took a deep breath, as if restraining himself, and proceeded to tell his brother exactly the plan that he had come up with for the two of them.

It was brilliant, and devious, and foolish. It was a combination of Gryffindor and Slytherin at its finest.

"It'll be just the two of us. Just us and no one else… That all we'll need. It's the ultimate prank." Sirius said reassuringly when Regulus looked nervous.

Though Sirius didn't know it that was what swayed Regulus to his side completely. Sirius had said it would only be the two of them, which meant that his friends wouldn't be included. That was something that Regulus had missed, because before Hogwarts and before the Dark Lord the two of them had been best friends; practically twins. Regulus wanted that back, and hated James Potter—though he knew it wasn't really his fault that he and Sirius were so alike—for taking his place. Now he had a second chance.

All he had to do was go into a life endangering situation that could potentially last for years to come.