A/N: This was written for the Regulus Black Competition.
Disclaimer: All of this belongs to the J.K. Rowling.
Kreacher was late. The gaunt man pacing back and forth knew that he should have been back hours ago. Regulus didn't wonder where he was he was. He already knew.
"Or do you?" said Sirius, smirking as he reclined in the leather armchair.
Sirius wasn't really there; it had been years since Regulus Black had seen his older brother.
"You'd never know though, would you?"
"Go away, Sirius," Regulus muttered.
The older man laughed, "Make me then, why don't you? You never had much of a backbone, did you, Regulus?"
Ignoring the other man's jeers, Regulus continued to pace. He didn't think about Kreacher. He didn't think about the Dark Lord. He tried not to think about the brother that had left him all those years ago.
"That's a fine way of putting it, isn't it Reggie? Making me out to be the villain?"
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
It would have looked odd, to anyone who didn't know Regulus, to see a grown man screaming at an empty armchair. But anyone who did wouldn't have been surprised. For ever since fourth year, when Sirius had run away, Regulus had been in the constant presence of the boy who was no longer his brother. In fourth year, Regulus Black had gone mad.
Sirius smiled bitterly, "That's not going to work, you know. I'll always be with you. You're paying your penance."
"And what exactly was my sin?"
"Oh nothing much, just joining a genocidal organization, serving an evil lord of evilness, being a prejudiced git, not even trying to contact your only brother…"
"The Dark Lord isn't evil," he said quietly, ignoring the other accusations, but he wondered if he was trying to convince himself or his brother.
"That's what you don't get, Reggie. Why don't you get it? You don't know exactly what he's doing to Kreacher, but take a wild guess! You and Mum and Dad, blood is all you care about. You don't care how many House Elves have to die, how many names have to get burnt off that family tree, how many Squibs have to "disappear"; you just care about your precious pure blood, even though we all know that there are Muggles somewhere in every family tree!"
"Th-that's not true." And it wasn't; Regulus was certain. The Black's blood was pure. Pristine and untainted by the filth that was the blood of Muggles.
"Then how do you explain that?"
Regulus walked to the tapestry that Sirius pointed at. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.
"Isla. Phineas. Marius." Sirius said the names slowly, each one sounding just as important as the last, "Cedrella. Alphard. Andromeda. And, and," the man closed his eyes, unable to say the last name.
"Sirius," Regulus breathed. Seven burnt holes in the family tree. Seven imperfections. Seven skeletons in the closet. And the scorch marks didn't get rid of them. They just made the whole mess even more obvious. "The Dark Lord will be back with Kreacher soon," he said suddenly, painfully aware that he was trying to distract himself. He sat down in a chair, an uncomfortable wooden one and eyed the empty armchair jealously while trying to keep his expression neutral.
"Focus, Reggie. Admit you're wrong. You've always been wrong and you know it."
"No, I'm not," his voice was wavering and it infuriated him. He wasn't wrong.
"Where's Kreacher, Reggie?"
"He'll be back soon."
"Where's Kreacher?"
"He's with the Dark Lord."
"Where is he?"
"He's needed for an important task."
"Where is-"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Regulus was sobbing now, sobbing over a House Elf. He wondered vaguely what Mother would think. "He should be back by now! He should be here! He's not coming back and I know it!"
Sirius regarded his brother carefully, "And whose fault is that?"
"M-mine. It's my fault. It's all my fault. Kreacher's gone and he's not coming back and it's all my fault.
"You're wrong."
Regulus looked at his brother, "What?"
Sirius got out of the armchair to stand next to his little brother. "It's not your fault, Reggie. You only did what was asked of you. You had to volunteer Kreacher. And whose fault is that?"
Regulus stared at Sirius blankly.
"It's You-Know-Who's fault. He's the one who made you do this," Sirius looked solemnly at the young Death Eater. "So you can't blame yourself. Blame Voldemort."
Regulus flinched at the sound of his master's name but said nothing, his gaze fixated across the room, at the burnt tapestry.
"You can get Kreacher to come back," Sirius said softly, "All you have to do is tell him to. You can order him to come back and he'll have to. You can find out what he and Voldemort were doing. Reggie, you can end this."
Regulus stared at the tapestry blankly. He took a deep breath. "KREACHER! KREACHER COME BACK!"
There was the loud crack of the House Elf Apparating and Regulus looked at his brother for approval. But he was gone.