The two brothers found themselves on a beach, right on the shore.

Not the kind of beach where little children came to play during the weekend or the ones which conducted weekly volleyball games.

Oh no, this one was deserted and desolate. The sky was grey and murky and mirrored the water. Although they were inside a memory, Sirius could feel the place to be gloomy and sinister.

"Over there," Regulus nudged his shoulder and pointed to the boat that was swiftly coming towards the shore. From his current position, Sirius could make out two figures in the boat. One was significantly smaller than the other.

When the boat reached the shore, Sirius saw a younger Kreacher levitate the boat to safety. The figure next to the house elf made Sirius gasp.

There stood Regulus, little more than a boy. But to Sirius, he looked so very young. He was probably about eighteen. His hair was longer than he had always kept it, the bags under his eyes clearly stated that he hadn't been sleeping well and he had also lost weight.

"Reggie..." He wasn't sure which one of them he was addressing.

"Master, this is a bad idea. We should get back, Master. It is not safe here. This is bad place. Very bad place. We must not be here."

"No, Kreacher. I need to do this. This is the right thing to do. You-Know-Who is wrong, Kreacher. I should have never joined him in the first place. I probably should have run away with Sirius."

Sirius and Regulus followed the duo towards the entrance of the cave.

All the while, one question was haunting Regulus' mind: What the hell was he about to do?

"Master, if the Dark Lord finds out, he will—"

"Torture me? Kill me? I don't care, Kreacher. My whole life, I've been controlled by my parents and then by You-K —Voldemort. Not anymore. I'd rather die for a good cause than lead a purposeless life under someone's thumb."

"Besides, he doesn't even know that I know. I only know because you told me."

The two brothers didn't say anything to each other, all the while focused on young Regulus and Kreacher.

They reached the entrance which was sealed. Regulus thought that his younger version would probably try and blow it up or something, but that wasn't the case.

The young man took out his wand and in one smooth motion, he slashed his wand across his left palm, making a superficial cut. He tapped his blood covered wand on the boulder that covered the cave's entrance.

With a low rumble, the huge rock gave way, revealing the interiors.

It was dark inside but young Reggie cast a Lumos immediately.

There wasn't much inside the cave. A lake occupied more than three fourths of the area. Other than that, it pretty much looked like any average cave.

But, Regulus wasn't interested in exploring the cave. He went right to the far end of the cave with Kreacher in tow.

"Is this it, Kreacher?"

"Yes, Master. Kreacher had come here with Mistress Walburga, Mistress Bella. and He Who Must Not Be Named! They made Kreacher drink that horrible drink so that they could get the locket."

They moved a rock aside and crouched down in front of the empty space. "Listen, the plan's simple. Empty the potion, grab the locket and get out of this place. Clear?"

The two brothers, who were quietly observing everything, went ahead and saw the dark liquid that had been stored inside a small tank like device.

Regulus frowned at his younger self, wondering what he was about to do now. He had made a lot of dumb choices as a child. He only hoped this wasn't one of them.

Sirius on the other hand was thinking along different lines. Please, please don't do anything stupid or dangerous, Reggie. Do that and I swear I'll personally strangle the Regulus who's standing next to me!

Kreacher conjured a goblet and moved to dunk it into the potion when Regulus grabbed his hand and yanked him back.

"What do you think you're doing, Kreacher? We talked about this. I'm the one who'll be drinking the potion. You did it the last time. I can't have you putting yourself in that position again. I'll drink it."

A horrified look crossed the elf's face. "Kreacher cannot allow Master to put him in danger! Kreacher will die before Kreacher does such a bad thing."

"You're not dying, Kreacher. And neither am I. Look, I need your help later to destroy the locket. I can't do that by myself. Besides, you're my friend. Can't have you dying on me."

The elf's eyes widened at being called a friend. He probably would have burst into tears of joy, but then he seemed to remember the current problem."Master must not drink it! It is bad, very bad! Master will be hurt and Kreacher does not want to see Master hurt."

"I'll be fine, Kreacher." The boy himself didn't look too sure of his own words.

"Promise me that you'll do as I say."

"Kreacher promises."

"Good. Now from what you've told me about this potion, it affects the mind as well as the body. It makes you weak, correct?"

Kreacher nodded.

"I might want to stop drinking halfway. It's your job to make sure that I finish the whole thing or all this will have been for nothing."

Regulus took the goblet from Kreacher and Sirius noticed that his hands were shaking.

Sirius and Regulus watched as the younger Regulus dipped the goblet into the liquid and brought it to his mouth. He closed his eyes and downed it in one go.

He again dunked the goblet in, pulled it out and drank.

Again.

And again.

And again.

At the sixth turn, he paused. "I can't... I can't drink anymore, Kreacher. It's horrible." His voice was hoarse and weak. The potion was starting to affect him.

"Master must drink. It is necessary." As Regulus observed Kreacher, he felt pity for the elf. It looked like Kreacher would rather be anywhere but here, forcing his master to willingly torture himself.

Apparently, even his mother and mental cousin had been aware of this locket. Of course that insane woman hadn't bothered to mention that when he'd paid her (portrait) a visit.

So much trouble for something so small.

"What the hell were you up to, Reggie?" This time, Regulus knew that Sirius was actually talking to him and not the past-him. He didn't have a good enough answer.

Young Regulus drank from the goblet upon Kreacher's prompting. He continued and it was breaking Sirius' heart. Regulus was so young, he shouldn't have had to go through all this. He was turning his back on the Dark side, but at what cost?

Sirius could tell that Regulus was growing weaker each time he drank that bloody potion. His hands were trembling, from starin, fear or pain, Sirius did not know.

A tear fell from Regulus' eye as he swallowed the potion yet another time. And right after that, he was crying.

"I don't want anymore, Kreacher! I can't do this anymore. It's too much. Please don't make me, Kreacher. I can't do it, I can't do it. Please..."

Regulus' begging was heart wrenching. For both of them. Sirius wanted nothing more than to hug his little brother, the one who was currently torturing himself.

He hated seeing him like this and it was agonising. But, he knew that his agony was nothing compared to what Reggie had gone through.

The potion was nearly empty and Sirius could see something shiny underneath the liquid.

"Just once more, Master. It's over after that. Remember, the locket. Master needs to take it. Take it away before He Who Must Not Be Named can touch it. It it will be very bad. Everything terrible!"

That seemed to fuse Regulus with newfound strength. He plunged the goblet in, filled it and drank it in one go. He pulled out the locket and clutched it close to his chest like his life depended on it.

Regulus' breathing was irregular and uneven. The goblet was still in his hand.

He half crawled towards the lake and dunked the goblet in. He obviously wanted water. What Sirius couldn't understand was why Regulus didn't simply summon it.

Regulus drank the water greedily and reached for some more, desperately needing it.

This time, he wasn't so lucky. The most horrible thing happened.

A gnarled, skeletal hand came out of the water, quick as a whip and grabbed Regulus' wrist, pulling him in.

"No!" But Sirius' protest was as useless a glass hammer.

"Why didn't he just use magic for the bloody water?"

"Because I couldn't. It wouldn't have worked."

Sirius turned so fast to look at the older Regulus that he nearly got a whiplash. "You... You remember?"

Regulus grimaced and nodded. "Bits and pieces. It's coming back to me now."

Judging by Regulus' tone, what was about to follow was going to be even more unpleasant.

Another skeletal hand shot out and pulled Regulus' other hand, the one clutching the locket. "No! You're not getting it!

Although skinny, the creatures were strong. There were three or four of them around Regulus and they seemed intent on dragging Regulus into the water.

"Let me go!"

Regulus wouldn't let go of the locket, not after he'd paid such a heavy price to procure it.

He thrashed violently in the water, trying to free himself.

Sirius could only watch, horror-struck as they viciously scratched his arms, in an attempt to submerge him completely. It seemed like only a few seconds ago, Regulus had simply been drinking water, and now, he was drowning.

While the older Regulus watched his past self struggle against those vile creatures, the incident back at the Auror Department made sense to him: water, drowning, blood on his arms, the shredded robes and scratches.

A powerful force came out of nowhere, knocking the skeletal monsters back into the water.

"Master! Be gone evil thing!"

Thank Merlin for Kreacher! The loyal elf ran towards the lake and pulled Regulus out. Thankfully, he'd only been half inside the water and was fine from the waist down.

Regulus' determination was commendable. Despite being attacked by those ghastly creatures, he hadn't loosened his grip on that locket.

Kreacher wasted no time in tending to Regulus' wounds.

"Inferi."

Sirius looked at Regulus. "I'm sorry?"

"That's what they're called. Inferi. It just came back to me."

"I'm so sorry, Reggie. That you had to go through all that."

"It wasn't your fault," Regulus replied immediately. "I made my choices and faced the consequences."

"Master needs to go to the hospital." The two brothers' attention returned to the scene before them.

Regulus' bleeding had stopped but the wounds still needed treatment.

"I can't go to St. Mungo's, Kreacher. They'll be looking for me and I didn't do all this just to let it fall into Death Eater hands. Let's go to some Muggle hospital in some small town."

"Muggle?"

"Yes, I said muggle. We won't be found there. Now come on, let's get out of here before those monsters come back."

The cave around them dissolved as the memory came to an end.

They found themselves in another setting immediately after.

It was a lonely road which was dimly lit by a couple of flickering street lights.

The Regulus in this memory looked older, if only by a few months. But, he looked terrible. The dark circles under his eyes and gotten worse, his hair hadn't been cut and nor had be bothered to shave.

But what bothered both watchers was the still body and that was lying on the ground, with a knife embedded in the stomach.

No, no, no, no, no, NO!

"I killed someone." It was the older Regulus who spoke. His words were barely above a whisper and shaky. Pure horror covered his face and he was losing colour rapidly.

The abject horror and the results of his poor choices and actions shook him to the very core. His legs nearly gave way and he would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Sirius who caught his arm and steadied him.

He was disgusted, revolted with himself. There was no excuses, no justification that could possibly make this okay.

Any sort of sympathy that he'd felt for his past self vanished, replaced by guilt and self-contempt.

The younger Regulus was crying. He wasn't bawling or sobbing but there were definitely tears. He sniffled pitifully, on his knees next to the dead man. He was clutching that bloody locket in his hand.

"Kreacher," his voice was hoarse and raw. He called again.

The elf appeared with a crack. If house elves were smart, Kreacher was probably one of the smartest. He seemed to understand the whole scene perfectly.

"He wanted this, Kreacher. I couldn't... I couldn't let him take it. It's... It's mine. I have to destroy it but I can't. I've tried, Kreacher but I just can't. The locket keeps talking to me."

The locket had thoroughly invaded Regulus' mind, sinking its claws deep inside.

"Master didn't me—"

"I didn't mean to kill him, Kreacher. I was walking and he came at me. He tried to snatch the locket and I... and I pushed him. The knife came out of nowhere."

A Muggle thievery gone horribly wrong. The dead man had been a small robber looking to jump an oblivious passerby. But he had been way out of his league.

"The locket kept talking to me, telling me to... to take the knife and k-kill him. I knew it was wrong and I didn't... I didn't want to do it. And then, it just happened."

More tears had leaked down Regulus' face by the time he was done.

"It wasn't Master's fault. Master didn't want to kill."

The dead man had been a petty thief, a criminal, but a human being after all. Regulus has killed him.

The boy's shoulders shook violently from the force of his tears. "I can't do this anymore, Kreacher. Take it away. Just please, take it all away."

"Master?"

"I can't live like this, Kreacher. I thought I could do this but I can't. He's too strong, Kreacher. Today, I killed one man. Tomorrow, Merlin knows what I might do."

Regulus looked at the locket and pushed it into Kreacher's palm. "Promise me that you'll try and find a way to destroy it. Please. I trust you, Kreacher and I know you'll find a way."

"Kreacher promises that he will destroy the locket. The bad locket hurt Master and so, Kreacher must destroy it."

"Thank you."

"What will Master do?"

"I'm going to find a way to get rid of this." He gestured to the horrible tattoo on his left forearm.

"Just don't tell anyone about me. As far as my family's concern, let them think I'm dead."

"And what of Master Regulus' brother?"

Regulus shook his head furiously. "I can't face him, Kreacher. Especially him. I went against everything he stood for. Sirius will never forgive me and I don't expect him to. I don't deserve it. It's just better this way."

"But Ma—"

"Please, Kreacher. Take all this away. I don't want to see or ever think of this locket ever again. Make me forget."

The elf looked extremely unhappy with the idea but nodded reluctantly. "If that's what Master wishes."

Kreacher leaned forward and placed two bony fingers against Regulus' temple.

The deed had been done.

Sirius looked at the brother next to him who had gone deathly pale. He was still supporting Regulus and keeping him upright as he wasn't sure about his legs.

Once again, the road around them, young Regulus and Kreacher faded as the memory came to an end.

Sirius and Regulus resurfaced, out of the Pensive and back in Regulus' bedroom.

Kreacher was still there, standing by the bed and looking at the duo worriedly, almost like he was afraid.

"Master Regul—"

Regulus dropped down before the elf and grabbed Kreacher in one massive hug, surprising the poor house elf.

"Ma—"

"I am so sorry, Kreacher. I put you through shit, absolute and utter shit. I had no right to thrust such a burden on you." Regulus' voice was filled with self loathing.

Kreacher's eyes widened to the size of tennis balls and he looked like he was ready to burst into tears, reminding Sirius of their other house elf Dobby.

"Master is not angry with Kreacher?"

Regulus pulled back and sat down on the floor. "Why would I be angry, Kreacher?"

"Because Kreacher could not... could not destroy Master Regulus' locket. Kreacher had to give it! Mistress Walburga found Kreacher one day and the locket. She made me give it to the Dark Lord." The elf looked down, clearly ashamed.

So that's what had happened. Kreacher had probably hidden the locket with him in Grimmauld Place so that he could destroy it when he found a way. But one unfortunate day, his dear mother, Walburga Black had come upon it. House elves couldn't disobey direct commands and so, Kreacher had been forced to hand it over.

"It was never your burden to bear! I had no right to do that." Regulus swallowed thickly before he spoke. "I was a coward, that's what I was. I wasn't brave enough to face the consequences of my actions and so I dumped them on you. You shouldn't have gone through all that."

"Kreacher is happy to serve Master Regulus till Kreacher dies."

"That's just it! You shouldn't have to!"

Sirius could see where this was going. Regulus was clearly not alright and even Kreacher was mirroring his master's distress. If this continued and Regulus even suggested that he wanted to free Kreacher, the elf would start sobbing.

Kreacher had always been attached to Regulus right from childhood.

He didn't want to think about what he'd seen in the memory. But, he firmly believed that Regulus hadn't killed the man of his own will. That locket had obviously messed up his head badly. Sure, Regulus had made poor choices. But he wasn't a murderer.

"Please leave."

Sirius looked down at Regulus who was still sitting on the floor. His words were firm.

"Reggie?"

"I'd like to be left alone. Both of you, go."

Kreacher, always obedient, disappeared with a crack.

Sirius stayed. "Regulus, I don—"

"Please, Sirius. It's late, I'm tired. I want to sleep. I suggest you do the same."

Sirius knew that Regulus was a stubborn one, had always been. He felt helpless at that moment. Nothing that he could do would soothe his brother's inner turmoil.

"I'm here if you need me, Reggie. Always." With one last glance at his little brother, Sirius left the room.

Once Sirius was gone, the door slammed shut behind him and the lock clicked. He was on the way to his room when his Animagus senses picked something up: sobs. Soft, broken crying.

It was heartbreaking and painful and both brothers could do nothing. One was desperately wrestling with past inner demons while the other was desperate to help but couldn't.

But they both shared the same thought:

If only.

How will Regulus deal with the aftermath of getting back his most traumatic memory?

R&R, darlings!

Remember how I've always talked about wanting to elaborate on Sirius' dark side? I finally put it down and it turned out to be pretty decent.

Well, the first chapter is out. The story is called Black, so I'm sure the title explains a lot. I'll write more if I get a positive response.

Check it out and let me know how it is.