Written for the Quidditch League (Season 9, Round 3) as the Falcons' captain.
Prompt: Write about an action or event that has major consequences.
Word count: 1631
Many thanks to Piper and PT for beta'ing super last minute!
Warnings: Character Deaths!
ooo
(shouldn't) Lose, Lost, Lost
- act i: the bond -
He'd expected Regulus to bring the offer to him, but in the end, it is Rabastan Lestrange who talks to him in an alcove one night.
It sounds exciting, and dangerous, and exactly the sort of thing his father wouldn't want him doing. When Rabastan asks if he would want to join the Dark Lord, Barty says yes.
o
"I'm going to join the Dark Lord," he says, keeping his tone even.
Regulus sits up from where he has been working on his Potions essay. They are in a secluded corner of the library, and Barty has already cast the nifty Muffliato hex he picked up from Snape, a boy a year above them.
He stays silent for almost too long, then says, "My cousin is one, you know."
Bellatrix. Of course he knows. She is married to the older Lestrange brother.
"Yeah?"
"She's crazy," Regulus whispers. Barty isn't looking, but he knows the other boy is frowning. Barty reaches forward to grab the other's wrist, and Regulus lets out a sharp breath. "I'm not sure I want to go that way."
Barty should have seen this coming. Regulus is too good, sometimes, to walk the hard way. He needs to realise that this is the safe way, too. War is approaching, and he wants, needs, the other man to come out the other side unscathed.
He spends the entirety of their sixth year making Regulus realise this, and when the other boy stands with him, the day they are to be marked, Barty feels a sense of triumph.
ooo
- act ii: the breach -
Barty is unable to understand why Regulus is making a big deal about it. Sure, the Dark Lord fed his elf some potion, but the creature is still alive and, Barty guesses, well. Besides, even if it had died, what is one lost house-elf in service of their master?
"The Dark Lord has made a Horcrux, Barty," Regulus whispers. "I wouldn't put it past him if he had more than one—he gave Bella something the other day."
"What's a Horcrux?"
Regulus explains, and Barty pauses. It is a sick thing, and Barty knows it's not something he can do.
Then Regulus is speaking again, about how they should go and destroy the relic, that this is not right, and Barty is shaking his head. No, he cannot let Regulus go and get himself killed.
"The Dark Lord will lead us to greatness," he finds himself saying, "and if this is what it takes, then so be it." As he says them, he hears how hollow his words sound. Looking at Regulus, the other man seems to have heard it too. But Barty cannot let him be this stupid, he cannot lose Regulus over this meaningless war that they are now both a part of. At least on this side they are safe. He finds himself speaking again: "I can't let you betray the Dark Lord."
And then Regulus is shooting a spell at him and they are duelling. They've duelled in the past, but this is different. This time, they are aiming to stop each other.
Barty cannot, cannot let Regulus win now, lest he should lose him.
Of all the curses and hexes they are shooting at each other, it is a stupid stunner that takes him down.
…
When he comes to, Regulus is holding a wand to his head.
"Obliviate!"
ooo
- act iii: the end -
He scoops more potion from the basin, then thrusts it at the Muggle man they brought with them. The Dark Lord had asked if Barty could call his elf—he isn't entirely sure why he didn't try. He knows Winky would have responded despite having been freed.
"Drink," he says.
The man's fingers twitch as they reach for the goblet as if trying to fight off the Imperius, but he is, after all, just a weak Muggle. Still, Barty keeps his fingers on the utensil, not wanting any potion to spill due to the Muggle's unsteady grip.
"Drink," he repeats, but the man is already tipping the goblet, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of the green liquid as if it's the Draught of Ecstacy.
The whimper that leaves the man contradicts his actions, his gaze wild, eyes darting from side to side despite being glazed with the curse he is under as if he isn't sure where he is. Barty finds him pathetic, even as a part of him aches like his own father's Imperius curse has left a chronic pain in his head.
Barty shakes off his thoughts when the Muggle sits back, his breath coming out in heavy pants. He fills the goblet, the Muggle already reaching for it. Two, three more repetitions, and then he will have his Lord's treasure, thinks Barty, and he grins widely at the Muggle. The other man doesn't notice.
A few minutes later, Barty passes the last goblet of potion. The Muggle seems to hesitate, his whimpers louder now, but he drinks it anyway. The goblet crashes onto the ground, and with that, it seems as if the Imperius curse is broken.
The man clutches at his throat, legs thrashing for a moment, and croaks: "Water. Water, please."
Barty leers at him, then points to the lake. The Muggle's eyes struggle to focus, but then he is pitching forward in the direction of the lake, unaware of the hundreds of inferi waiting for him just under the surface.
He pays no heed to the screams that ring through the cave the next moment, his back turned to the man who is being dragged into the depths of the lake.
Barty picks up the locket that the basin holds, expecting to feel the magic of the artefact, then frowns. The locket feels too light, too empty of magic. Casting a Lumos, he brings it closer to his face, and seeing the latch, presses it open. The shell of the locket splits into two parts, and inside is a folded-up piece of parchment. Something is wrong.
He knows he shouldn't, but Barty cannot resist opening up the parchment. He knows his master is waiting on the other side, along with Nagini and Pettigrew, but he cannot go back until the lake has settled after swallowing up his companion, and his form is mostly shrouded in darkness with the shimmery-green potion gone.
The handwriting… Barty stills. It has been over a decade, but he recognizes the formation of these g's and o's better than the back of his own hand. And if he had any doubts, the note is signed.
Regulus Arcturus Black.
What, in the name of Merlin, did Regulus do?
His eyes skim the note twice under the small light of his wand, coming to rest on one word.
Horcrux.
He knows what it means, of course, he does. The Dark Lord needed someone to study up the ritual that will bring him back, and Pettigrew would never be his first choice. Barty is the most loyal servant of his Lord. The entire reason Barty is here is that they need the Horcrux for the ritual.
In Regulus' handwriting, that word seems to hold so much more meaning, as if there's something Barty is forgetting.
It is then that Barty realises the graveness of the note and the situation. Regulus, his Regulus, swapped out the locket with the intention of destroying it. What does that mean?
A splash behind him makes Barty turn, bringing him back to where he is. The lake. The inferi. Barty turns on his feet, taking in the entirety of the cavern, the water of the lake rippling every so often when one of the undead move underneath the surface. At that moment, a realisation settles within him. He doesn't want to believe it, but he knows. Regulus never made it out of here.
He lets out a bitter chuckle, uncaring that his master might hear him on the other end. A sob tears from his throat, his head full of mixed emotions. He reads the note again.
If this is what Regulus wanted, then so be it.
o
He gets off the little boat.
"Avada Kedavra!" The heavy form of Peter Pettigrew falls to the ground before anyone has realised what happened.
Then the Dark Lord is turning from where he is sitting up in a bundle of blankets, wand held high in too-tiny hands. He is too slow, though, and too weak in this form. Barty's second curse takes him out, and he laughs bitterly at the spirit that leaves the decaying body of the homunculus. Of course there are more Horcruxes.
The spirit dives next to him, startling Barty. Then, the snake's eyes glow red, its fangs sinking into Barty's leg before he can move.
A well-placed, strong severing curse takes care of the snake, but the damage is done, Barty knows, even before he looks down.
The venom is already spreading, his skin turning black. He knows Nagini had been magically enhanced.
He doesn't care, though. Barty never intended to make it out alive.
He lets out a crazed laugh and reads the note again. He doesn't know how much his actions have helped, or if they aligned with Regulus' dying wishes, but he has tried.
Folding up the parchment, Barty shoves it inside the shells of the locket, then clutches it in his palm, the chain falling off his wrists. He presses hard on it, knuckles turning white, then brings it up and kisses the cool metal. He lets go, the ornament falling to the ground with a clank, but Barty has already turned.
The inferi grip his legs in a vice as he walks further into the waters, their pull strong, but to Barty, it feels like a welcoming embrace.
ooo