December crashed in like a lion. Winds howled and froze, snow fell in heavy flurries… and Daxia Lestrange tried her best to avoid Sirius Black at all cost.

Which was, of course, why she was waking up, yet again, to his fingers creeping up her pyjama top "You're terrible," she whispered, arching her back with his touch as she smiled against his grinning lips.

"Not what you were saying last night Lestrange," he breathed, his lips brushing hers with each word he spoke. Sliding calloused hands up her back he fiddled with the strap of her bra. His eyebrows wriggled as she reached up to bury her fingers in his hair.

"Padfoot! Vix! We're gunna be late for Transfiguration!" James called from outside Sirius's drawn curtains. Daxia had been hanging around the boys' dorm a few nights a week since her attack and, though it was really due to the sudden development within her relationship with Sirius (something which they still hadn't discussed), each of the fellow dorm occupants assumed it was simply where she felt safe.

"Just a-" he hid his slight intake of breath with an over exaggerated yawn as a smirking Daxia placed her lips on his weak spot just beneath his ear "-minute! Won't be long!"

They listened out as James left the room, Sirius pulling Daxia up to face-level as the door slammed shut behind their best friend "Look who's terrible now eh?" he teased as he rubbed her nose with his, fingertips tracing patterns down her spine.

"Time to get up Black," she winked, pressing a short, hard kiss against his mouth before rolling away from him "Wouldn't want to miss Transfiguration now would we?"

She had squealed a laugh as he dove out of the sheets after her pouting "Little bit longer?" as he caught her sound the waist and placed a kiss on her neck.

"Well," she replied, a smirk lazily crossing her lips as she turned in his hold and looped her arms around his neck "I could use a shower."

A bark of a laugh left his lips as he dropped his hands to her backside and threw her over his shoulder. They practically fell into the small bathroom, Daxia giggling as he set her back in her feet and she pulled his tank top with her.

He looked down at her, impressed "How did..." his sentence trailed off when he noticed the soft expression now gracing her pretty face "Dax," he sighed with slight disappointment, watching as her sad eyes glanced over his bare torso. He hadn't allowed her to properly see him shirtless since they were fourteen years old, usually hurrying to get dressed before she saw or keeping their night time antics in the dark where she couldn't quite make him out, and he wasn't as mouthy around his family.

"Sirius," she breathed as her small hands traced the paling scars scattered across his bare chest and stomach "They did this to you?" she asked as she looked up to him, spotting a few more scars stretching over his shoulders and wondering what state his back was in. James had always dealt with the deeper injuries, pulling Sirius into the bathroom to clean him up while Daxia hid the alcohol and made the tea.

His hair fell over his face as his head bowed, his eyes trained on a spot of floor by her feet.

"You don't have to talk about it," she said quickly, stepping closer into his embrace as she wrapped her arms around him. He had never spoken of what had happened during his time in the Black family home but she had never expected to see anything like this.

They showered quickly and separately; Sirius seeming almost ashamed of the marks scarring his body as he turned away from her. They dressed just as quickly, Daxia into the spare uniform she kept in his spare bedside drawer, and without a word.

She slipped her hand into his with a supporting smile as they crossed the deserted common room but he simply stared ahead. The cold and distant Sirius Black who would hole himself up in the Potter's spare room (now, finally and officially, named as his) seemed to have moved in on her warm, smiling Sirius she had been cuddling only a half hour previously.

They drifted apart as they reached the Great Hall, Daxia squeezing his fingers supportively before retracting her hand "I'm sorry," she mouthed to him as she headed toward Lily, Adiya and Mary sat on the right side of the Gryffindor table while he turned toward the Marauders and Benji on the left.

"Something wrong?" Adiya questioned as she took a bite out of her bacon sandwich.

Daxia put on a grin as, across the table, Sirius let out a roar of a laugh at something James had greeted him with "Course not!" she answered, reaching for the scrambled eggs "Still smarting from that intense Quidditch practise the other night!"

Adiya chuckled as she also complained loudly about the exercises James had put them through; the captain himself soon caught onto the conversation and jumped in to defend himself and his methods. They had laughed and teased as they ate, the boys commenting excitedly on the previous night's snowfall (James remaining permanently on the fence; was snow good for Quidditch?), until they had to move before they were late for McGonagall.

"Hey," Lily mumbled, pulling on Daxia's arm as the rest of the seventh years headed back out of the hall.

"You okay?" she asked her friend as she held back. Whereas Daxia herself dealt with being attacked by latching onto her friends and never being on her own Lily had seemed to go in the opposite direction. She threw herself into her studies, spending most of her time in the library either tutoring anyone who needed her or practically buried beneath a pile of books.

"Course," she waved her friend off as they both began to slowly follow their friends "I want to know if you're okay; are you and Sirius fighting again?"

"No," Daxia replied quickly, technically telling her friend the truth. It wasn't because they were fighting that she and Sirius seemed to be not speaking. It was because she had uncovered and pointed out one of the secrets Sirius had been determined to protect her from "Just something silly, we'll sort ourselves out."

Lily didn't look convinced.

By the time lessons were done for the day the Marauders were so desperate to be out in the snow they had rushed up to their dorm at top speed and without speaking to anyone they passed to change out of their uniforms.

"Are you really making me do this," Lily complained as she sat on her bed, watching the other girls wrap up.

"Yes," Adiya cut across her with a wide grin as she threw Lily her coat "You need some fun in your life Lil!"

"But I could be-"

"Having fun!" Mary cut across her with a wide grin as she threw Lily her coat "There's plenty of time to be in the library, who knows how long this snow will last!"

Safe in the knowledge Lily was being bullied into being definitely committed to join them outside Daxia tugged her hat onto her head "I'll go and check if the boys are ready," she offered getting to her feet as she reached for her own coat.

Chewing on her bottom lip in the hope James had managed to pull Sirius out of his mood she jogged up the stairs to the boys' dorm.

Her mood was lifted and hopes confirmed as she pushed the seventh year door open. Wrapped up as warm as possible the five inhabitants of the room (she was pretty sure James had barely stepped foot in the separate head-dorm) were standing on their respective beds sword fighting with their wands.

She smirked as she leaned against the door frame, shoving her hands into her pockets "I'm sorry how old are you guys?"

The sparkling grin was back on Sirius's face as he turned to face her, his eyes apologetic as he gestured for her to join him "James reminded us, again, of the great fight of third year," he replied as though his words served as the perfect explanation.

"I still say I'm the reigning champion," the messy haired boy on the next bed grinned, full of youthful innocence as he pushed his glasses further up his nose "Nothing you can say will convince me otherwise!"

Daxia rolled her eyes as James jumped to the floor, a laugh alive on his face as Benji grabbed him into a headlock "You guys are such dorks," she giggled with a shake of her head "Now are you coming out in the snow or not?"

Their childlike excitement seemed to overflow as they raced toward the door, war cries leaving each one of them.

"Hey," Sirius spoke quietly as he grasped onto her wrist before she went to leave "I'm sorry; about this morning."

She nodded as she glanced up to him "I know I u-"

He cut her off with a shake of his head "Don't give me excuses Dax," he sighed as he shifted his hand around until his fingers laced through hers "I overreacted and I'm apologising for it. I just…I don't like you seeing me that way. Weak."

She was shaking her head slowly when he finally looked back to her "You," she began, pointing into his chest "Are anything but weak Sirius Black," she smiled allowing him to pull her closer "Unless, of course, you're talking about snowball fights?"

He laughed as he placed a kiss on her lips, cheekily pinching her bum as he pulled away "Oh you're going down Lestrange."

The boys were still sulking.

Daxia grinned as she skipped down the stairs to the common room. The four Marauders were sat in one of the darkest, most hidden away corners; heads bent together and conversations whispered. They had been like it ever since Daxia, Lily, Adiya, Mary, Marlene and Hestia had beaten them in their epic snow battle a week previous.

"You ready?" Lily greeted her with a smile. The past few nights had seen Daxia spend more time in the girls' dorm with her friends and it was clear to see that, beneath her cover, Lily Evans was struggling.

Determined not to be bested again her studying had become about more than good grades. She had been barely sleeping, eating only when completely necessary and the girls were all determined to keep an eye on her and to help control her obsessive nature.

"Readier than I'll ever be," she replied with a grin, grabbing hold of half of Lily's book load "You've caught me on a good day Evans," she added with a wink and an elbow nudge.

Lily smiled across to her best friend fondly, listening as the slight brunette rambled about the upcoming Christmas holidays. Lily knew of their little plans to distract her and couldn't help but feel quietly grateful "Hey," she began as the duo took their seats at a spare table in the library "Do you know what the boys are up to?"

Shrugging Daxia replied "Figured they were sulking." as she pulled her potions book and a piece of parchment from her bag.

"So, what, they're plotting something you aren't in on?"

Heads all rose from their studies as Lily Evans spoke, confused gazes turning on Daxia as Edgar Bones, a Hufflepuff in their year she recognised from muggle studies, spoke up from the next table "The Marauders are up to something Daxia Lestrange isn't in on?"

Her eyes rolled as her shoulders rose and fell with a sigh "They're sulking!" she insisted trying to ignore the looks of disbelief being shared around her. Don't get her wrong, she understood their issue; the last time they had kept her out of their plans hadn't turned out well for anyone but she couldn't help sticking up for her best friends "There's no plot only a childish dent in the male ego!"

Nobody seemed to believe her and, by the time she and Lily had retreated back to the common room, the word spread like wildfire.

"Have you heard the news?" James greeted them with a grin; him and the others seemingly back to their usual seating arrangement for the night "Sirius, Remus, Peter and I are getting together an army of elves,"

"While planning on riding giant reindeer into the Great Hall at breakfast," Sirius continued.

Remus glanced up from his book as the two girls sat with them (Daxia having to shove Sirius over to make room for herself on her armchair) "As we charm, every living creature to spout Christmas carols every time they open their mouths."

Sirius raised his hand innocently "I'm actually up for that one."

Beside him Daxia was tutting to herself "And here was me thinking you were simply sulking! I'm disappointed in myself for not seeing this coming."

"I don't suppose we can blame you," James answered "We are geniuses after all."

Adiya groaned loudly as both her and Mary took their seats, arriving back from where they had been holding a second year tutoring session "I knew I was going to regret calling you that."

"Oh," Mary began "Did you boys know there's a rumour going around that you've trained a bunch of bowtruckles to pose as the Great Hall's Christmas tree? Better get a move on if you're planning on pulling that off."

The boys remained in their tight huddle for the rest of the week. Every now and then one would be missing (or they would gain a Benji) or they would laugh loudly and hi-five. They'd ignore the girls, dodge their suspicious gaze and hurry off 'to bed' earlier than normal.

None of these new character traits helped with their fellow students' anxiety.

"So once I've added the powdered newt I…?"

"-stir the contents twelve times anti-clockwise," Lily completed for Adiya, barely looking up from the charms essay she was scribbling.

"Buuut!" Daxia began from where she was lounging in her armchair, reading a muggle studies book propped in her lap "If you throw in a clockwise turn after the first six it gives it that extra thickness. Right Lil?"

"I never proved that to Slughorn properly Dax, don't add that…" Lily slowly glanced up as a shadow fell over her parchment "Hello," she said slowly, a frown creasing her forehead.

James was grinning down to her, the sleeves of his muggle shirt rolled up to his elbows with his hand resting on his hips "I'm going to need you to come with me," was all he said, sounding out of breath.

Lily rolled her eyes "It's the last night before we head home for the holidays Potter. I'm busy."

Eyebrows raised James let out a low whistle as he rocked back in his heels "I'm afraid I'm unable to take that answer Evans," he answered with a glance over his shoulder as the remaining Marauders wandered into the common room with a sheepish looking Benji "Lads; the girls are too busy to join us."

"Ooo," Sirius replied with a low whistle of his own as he folded his arms "Well that's too bad."

Remus shrugged "I guess all our planning has been for nothing boys."

"And to think," Peter continued looking down to his feet "It was our best one yet."

Benji looked toward the girls helplessly "They actually gave me acting lessons for this please humour them."

But Daxia was already frowning as she slowly closed her book, swinging her legs from over the arm of her chair she turned to face her friends, testing them "Better than-?"

"Yep," Sirius nodded.

"What?" Lily asked suspiciously "Better than what?"

James bounced on the balls of his feet, grin still in place "I guess you'll have to come with us to find out!"

It took further ten minutes before the girls would budge. They had questioned, glared and threatened until they were satisfied they weren't wandering into a trap before they would even get to their feet.

"Will you just trust us?!" James exclaimed once they had finally herded the Gryffindor girls out of the portrait hole.

Daxia narrowed her eyes "There is no way we're letting you lot lead us anywhere blind," was her stubborn reply. Their suspicions of the boys motives had only accelerated when they had announced they were covering their eyes on the way to the 'surprise'.

"Oh stop being a baby!" Sirius tutted from behind her, pulling her back into his chest before placing his palms over her eyes "Well," he whispered as he leant down to her ear "This could be fun."

Ignoring the tingles running down her neck Daxia threw out her elbow as she stomped forward, folding her arms tightly around herself she made sure to stand on his toes a few times as he guided the way.

It felt like forever before they came to a stop. She had stumbled up stairs, fallen over her own feet and complained loudly about Sirius bumping into her, convinced he was doing it on purpose to throw her off balance.

"Ready ladies?" James asked.

Daxia huffed "If I get my vision back just as a bowtruckle attacks me James Potter you won't live to see Christmas."

"Have a little faith Lestrange!" Sirius grinned as he exchanged a glance with James, Remus and Benji. Sharing nods they dropped their hands from Daxia, Lily, Adiya and Mary's eyes to reveal;

"A wall?" Adiya asked, her nose scrunching as she looked up to the boys "You dragged us all over the castle for a wall?"

James and Sirius exchanged exaggerated eye rolls "I thought you knew us Tink," James sighed as he slowly shook his head while Sirius tutted loudly.

"Have you learnt nothing from us over the years?"

As Adiya scowled across to the smirking, over confident James and Sirius Daxia tilted her head slightly. Pacing along the wall, eyes closed and mumbling to himself was Peter Pettigrew.

"Wait," she spoke slowly, the boys watched on like expect parents waiting to see if she was going to do them proud "Are we on the seventh floor?"

As though it were answering her question a door appeared before their very eyes. Large and impressive, holding a much greater secret, they had stumbled upon the door in their first year. They, the Marauders and Daxia, had been out on one of their earliest adventures together around the castle when they had found themselves lost and in need of somewhere to sleep.

The room had presented itself to them as James paced along the corridor trying to come up with a plan. Fully equipped with beds and a house elf to point them in the right direction when they awoke the next morning it had been the perfect accessory to their mischief making.

"Why are we here?" Mary asked with a frown. Daxia had introduced the girls to the Room of Requirement in their fifth year before their dorm-mate, Sophie, had been pulled out of Hogwarts. They had known Sophie's parents were thinking of homeschooling her (both being muggleborns and hearing of the rising of the new dark wizard) and wanted a night away from the fresh panic. The room had provided them with music, magazines and face masks, giving them the perfect girls' night before Sophie was whisked into hiding the very next day.

Remus smiled as he leant across to swing open the door "Surprise girls," he grinned stepping back to reveal a full room. Music blared and decorations sparkled as the boys pushed the girls into the room gently.

"Merry Christmas!" Sirius smiled widely as he handed Daxia a drink.

She smiled back up to him, the rest of the group enthusiastically joining the party and greeting friends from fellow houses "You organised all this for us?'

He shrugged "And to put the rest of the school into a state of unnecessary panic," he smirked before adding "I guess you lot did look like you needed a break for something fun."

"Oh stop downplaying it and pretending you're cool," she scolded with a smirk of her own "Thank you."

"No problem," he smiled as his arm landed over her shoulders "Now! Let's get hammered!"

A laugh left her lips as she allowed him to pull her away from the door. They hadn't been able to throw a typical Marauder party properly since the beginning of their sixth year when they were busted by the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher of the moment (some useless Ministry wizard who believed reading would save them from the clutches of You-Know-Who) and there had been nothing Daxia had missed more. She had tasted her first alcohol-without-needing-to-throw-up-immediately-after at a Marauder party, she had experienced her first kiss (Remus though neither spoke of it no matter how much James enjoyed bringing it up on the 'anniversary') and ran away from her first creep (Amos Diggory when she was in fifth and he seventh).

Every single person in their year had a memory from a Marauder party and she knew she wasn't the only one who had missed them as she glanced around the room, noting the familiar faces sending her grins of welcome.

Then Sirius handed her another drink.

It didn't seem to take long before, 'hoster of the century' (his words), Sirius had disappeared from her side. She had been expecting it so, wondering if anyone on the earth (apart from Euphemia Potter) had ever been able to control him, she had set out to mingle herself. She'd dodged Ludo (wondering how and why he was even there in the first place), giggled with Hestia and downed shots with her newly acquainted Marlene (though she had to let the blonde off to some degree; technically she hadn't even known Daxia was annoyed with her) before she set eyes on him again.

He was in the corner of the room, sloppy smirk on his lips telling her he had had more than enough to drink, slouching against the wall. His hand ran through his hair a few times as he nodded along to something a blonde girl was telling him. The blonde girl with her hand on his chest.

Daxia felt her throat go dry as she watched on, her eyebrows furrowing together as she gripped onto her cup. Watched as Greta Catchlove, a sixth year Hufflepuff who was a regular in marauder fan club circles, twirled a strand of her golden hair around her finger as she spoke, as Sirius hung onto every word she said with that look on his face. Her stomach lurched as he placed a hand on Greta's arm, sliding it down to her elbow as he spoke with a smile on his lips.

They may have not properly spoken about their relationship and the development they had found themselves struggling through but she had assumed…

Greta had kissed him.

Feeling both a surge of heat and a freezing chill run through her veins, Daxia's hand flew to her chest, her eyebrows shooting into raised arches. She watched for barely a second as Sirius's hand slid from Greta's arm to her back.

Turning on her heel she stormed from the Room of Requirement. Her hair flew around her face as she stomped a path through parting Hogwarts students. She ignored shouts of her name, even when they came from recognisable sources, and didn't even turn back as a hand lay on her shoulder.

She just wanted to get to bed. Just wanted to sleep until it was time to get the train to see her family the next day, her proper family who had taken her in when she needed them the most; the Potters. But, she thought with a scowl, of course Sirius would be there this year. Sirius who had told her she was too important, who had cuddled her earlier on that day, who she had woken up beside many a time over the past few weeks, who had just been kissing Greta Catchlove…

"Oof!"

She wondered why it even shocked her when she bumped into people anymore. Picking herself up off the ground she dusted off her jeans huffing "I'm sorry, bad night y'know? You bored of the party too?"

"T-there's a party?"

The voice brought back the mixture of heat and chill as soon as it registered in her brain. It was a voice she knew almost as well as one of her friends', a voice she had heard many times during her friendship with Sirius "Regulus?" her tone was questioning as she glanced up; Sirius's younger brother stared back to her with a wide eyed gaze.

Effortlessly handsome, though in a different and less obvious manner to his elder brother, Regulus was the apple of Walburga Black's eye. Sorted into Slytherin and too much of a mummy's boy to go against any of his parents' wishes and beliefs he was the perfect son in their eyes and the worst brother in the world to Sirius.

"You're looking pale," Daxia observed, speaking without thinking and immediately regretting it. In the early years of her and Sirius's friendship Regulus was still at an age that found the concept of being sorted into Gryffindor a thing which didn't matter. He'd worshipped his elder brother, watching on as Sirius went about his business. Sneaking him food when their mother decided he didn't deserve any, sitting outside his elder brother's bedroom door wishing things were different…

All the things Sirius had found weird and irritating about his younger brother Daxia had found both heartbreaking and adorable.

Regulus was smiling down to her awkwardly "You sound like my…" he coughed, itching the back of his neck as they both began to walk "Never mind."

She pursed her lips as a sigh filled her lungs, her hands linking behind her back as she glanced up to the younger yet taller boy "How are your family Regulus?" she asked with a straight back and, what only could be described as, her pureblood arrogance echoing in her tone.

Regulus looked amused as he glanced down to her, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Daxia take on her full Lestrange persona. He had seen it when they were younger and both she and Sirius still had their pureblood upbringing at the forefront of their minds but everything had changed since then "They're fine," he answered shortly knowing he was unable to reciprocate the question to her; she probably couldn't care less about what was going on with her family.

"And you're keeping well?'

With her nose in the air, eyelashes fluttering and hair swishing she looked just like her mother "Okay Dax, you're freaking me out now."

A laugh burst from her lips as she leant across to shove his shoulder playfully "I'm only teasing," she assured him.

When he had first started at Hogwarts Sirius, Daxia and their friends had been entering their third year. His brother had been lashing out at home more frequently to pass the time until he had the opportunity to escape to the Potters' place and had received more than enough punishments to care about how nervous his younger brother was on his first day.

That was where Daxia had come in. She was there, secretly, when he needed her. A friendly face in the crowd, a whispered direction or a quick thumbs up in passing. They would meet at night, just before she would go off to see Rodolphus and Rabastan, to talk about any troubles he was having. She'd give him advice or make a joke and everything would be better again. He knew his brother would go mental if he knew what his best friend was doing but remained grateful nonetheless.

"How's things anyway?" she asked looking up to him with watery eyes and a hopeful smile. He wondered if she was thinking back to the old days too "Keeping yourself out of trouble?"

He could have told her there and then. Could have got the weight laying heavy on his chest lifted, sure she hadn't given him advice since the very beginning of his third year (on the train as a matter of fact) but he knew she would be there for him if she could. He knew she would find a way to help him if he just reached out and asked.

Instead he grinned, handsome and reassuring just like his brother and father "Of course Dax."

She grinned back as she reached over and patted him on the arm "I knew you could do it little bro."

He felt sick. If she knew what he had been doing up by the Room of Requirement she would never have called him that, never have looked up to him with that look of sisterly love in her eyes "So, um, are you okay?" he asked pushing Snape's orders, which had been thrust upon him earlier on in the day, to the back of his mind "I've never known you be bored of a party before."

She shrugged her shoulders as she pushed her hands into her pockets, her eyes rolling fiercely as she stared ahead "I just didn't want to stay there any longer."

He eyed her suspiciously as he followed her towards the Gryffindor common room "You can talk to me y'know," he smiled nudging her with his upper arm "We may have not spoken for over a year but that doesn't mean I've forgotten how much you would help me."

She took in a deep breath, not even wondering what Regulus was doing in that part of the castle. Sirius and James would have had questions, they would have frowned towards the younger Black and taken each of his words with double meaning. They would have snapped at him, told him to leave them alone.

She knew this yet still glanced to up him with yet another smile, her head rolling onto her shoulder "Probably not something I should be talking to you about Reg. No offence."

His eyebrows arched as his eyes became wide "Oh… oh," he mumbled quietly, a rose coloured blush scattering along Daxia's cheekbones "You and he finally….then?"

She threw a teasing glare toward him and he held his hands up innocently "You always said we'd end up together."

"I was, what, ten?"

Shrugging once more she grinned "This school will make a seer out of you yet Regulus Black!" she laughed as she leant into him, her arm running the length of his as her elbow nudged into his side before she remembered what had happened to drive her out of the party "Then again maybe not," she huffed.

Regulus looked concerned "What did he do?'

But they were already at the Gryffindor common room, The Fat Lady staring down to the unlikely partnership in confusion "Something I will get him back for don't you worry Reg."

He took in a deep breath as he nodded. You didn't have to be related to one of them to know a rowing Daxia and Sirius was never a good thing "Just try to not burn the school down or anything okay? I kinda like it here."

She laughed as she nodded "I'll do my best!"

He took a step back as she turned to the portrait, whispering the password to The Fat Lady so he was unable to hear. He watched as she went to step into the common room, calling for him to have a Merry Christmas as his hand twitched by his jeans pocket. His brain urged for him to just do it, to grab onto his wand…"Dax wait!"

"Hm?" she breathed turning on her heel to face him once again. Her face was full of innocence, her eyes still watery as she regarded him in concern "Are you sure you're okay?"

His hand fell away from his wand in his pocket, his heart winning this time as he looked toward his old Hogwarts mentor, the big sister he'd never had "I'm fine," he reassured her linking his hands behind his back "I just wanted to wish you Merry Christmas."

Her smile lit up her entire face as she nodded a reply "Thanks Reg, you too."

He waited until she was safely inside before he turned his back on the closing portrait, his fingers gripping into his hair as his eyes screwed shut.

"You said you could do it."

He gulped as Severus Snape appeared out of the darkened corridors, gripping onto his upper arm the elder Slytherin pulled him back in the direction of their own common room "I…I…"

Snape groaned loudly, pulling Regulus around to face him "There is a reason you have been chosen Black and I need to know if you're dedicated to this or not. If you want to make your family proud or go against every plan they have ever had for you."

Regulus clenched his jaw, remembering the proud letter he had received from his mother after she had found out from Lucius he had been chosen to join the Dark Lord "I can do this."

"Even if it means going after your own brother and Daxia Lestrange?"

Regulus pulled his arm from Snape's grasp "I can do this."