A knock at the door, urgent and nervous, made Justinian stir from the book he drowsed over. “Who is it?” he called.
“Regulus.”
Justinian tossed the book aside and unlocked the door with his wand. “Come on in, then.”
Regulus burst in, slamming the door shut behind him and leaning on it. Justinian replaced the spells that kept his lair safe. “Hi,” Regulus breathed.
“Hello, Regulus, and what problem have you brought me on this fine evening?” Justinian gestured toward the liquor cabinet. “Wine, or firewhiskey?”
“See, Justinian? That’s why I came to you. You always keep a cool head. Wine.” Regulus strode to the fireplace and took his usual aristocratic fall to the hearthrug. “I need to learn to be as unnoticeable as you are.”
“Are you in a hurry?”
“Rather.”
Justinian held up a bottle in each hand. “Good wine, or cheap?”
“Don’t waste your good stuff on me. This is just a wake. Cheap is fine.”
Regulus had always had a talent for making all the right friends, then upsetting them to the greatest possible degree. These days his friends were “ “You’re on the wrong side of my brother, aren’t you?”
“Among others. And I thought, well, he’s overlooked you all these years…” Regulus grinned up with that appealing little twinkle that never worked on anyone.
Justinian poured two glasses of red wine and crouched to give one to his friend. He then settled back into the chair from which Regulus had roused him. “All right, you covered step one: be the second-born son of a rich and powerful Wizarding family.”
“Our situations don’t parallel. My brother was disowned; yours married the right sort and looks to be getting the whole pie.”
Justinian curled his lip. “Thank you so much for noticing. Yours probably wouldn’t kill you over it, either.”
Regulus cocked his head in thought. “Probably not.”
“That’s why you’re not naturally invisible. If your older brother were more like Lucius, you, too, could fade into the woodwork.”
Regulus tipped himself onto his right side, hefted his glass with his left hand, and downed his wine in one pull. “You know, I’ve wished a lot of things about Sirius, but that isn’t one of them. Strange, really. Until a few days ago, Lucius was my friend, or I thought he was, but I never wished Sirius would be more like him.”
Justinian turned up the corners of his mouth. “That proves that under your callow, heedless exterior, you actually do have one little iota of sense. What did you do?”
“I…” Regulus bit his lip. “I quit the Death Eaters.”
Justinian stared at his friend, several thoughts colliding into incoherence. “I cannot say whether that shows a lot of sense, or too little too late.”
“The second, of course. I followed the people who seemed thrilling and it all seemed a lark at first. You obey one order, and then another, and then all of a sudden you’ve done something horrible and you’re tied to them.” Regulus shook his head hard. “Not ‘you,’ of course. I’ve done something horrible. Several times. Now, at least, I’ve done something right, and have another something that might almost atone for the rest.”
Justinian fetched the bottle of wine, refilled his own glass “ which he did not remember emptying “ and placed the remainder by Regulus, who no doubt needed it more than he did. “But first, some wine and a lesson in practical invisibility?”
“And a little support. You know I can barely pick a pair of socks in the morning without someone to approve them.”
Sipping, Justinian considered this trait in his friend. Regulus was ambitious, clever, and talented, and folded before more forceful personalities. The last trait probably put him in more hot water than the others combined, including the current mess. “You have a way to hurt the Death Eaters badly?”
“Very quick of you. Yes, I think I do. The Dark Lord in particular." Regulus went through one of his complex folds of self to settle in a cross-legged sit. “Shall I?”
“You should. You shall. You will.” Justinian couldn’t resist a teasing. “And, since you might have to make a decision somewhere in the process, I volunteer my services.”
Regulus lifted his eyebrows and tossed back his shaggy hair. “Really? Without the least bit more information?”
“If you choose to give me more, I won’t complain.”
Grey eyes intense, Regulus asked, “Have you talked with your family lately? Any of them?”
“My father, a while ago. He’s the only decent one of the lot. Mum’s always approved of Lucius, and, well, you know Lucius.”
“Good. That’s what I thought. You could walk away from the lot of them? Forever?”
“If need be, yes. And everyone else, for that matter. I might miss my girl a little.”
“Your girl?” Regulus grinned, his old merry distractible self. “I’m surprised she noticed you.”
Justinian grinned back. “She didn’t, until it was too late. What does this have to do with your pack of Dark wizards?”
Regulus shook himself. “Dark wizards. Right. Who wouldn’t rather talk about your girl?”
“She’s a Dark witch,” Justinian lied. “Get on with it.”
“Well. Some of it was Snape. You know I hate him, but… Your brother brought him into the fold, somehow. I don’t know how, and I don’t want to. But “ if someone as stubborn and proud as Snape knelt like that, I had to ask myself how much I was grovelling, and I didn’t like the answer. And then…”
Justinian waited a moment. Regulus wouldn’t look at him. “And then?”
“I don’t want to say. Ever. But it woke me up, and I started paying more attention, just when I was in so deeply they trusted me. And I figured out what the Dark Lord “ No! I’m not obeying anymore! Voldemort! -- was doing. We’re secure here, right?”
“Quite.”
“He was making a Horcrux. He’s made it. And I know where it is.” Regulus leaned forward eagerly. “I’m going to take it. What do you think?”
Justinian found himself sipping at a glass of air. It was a good thing Regulus had suggested the cheap wine; it would be a shame to disrespect the good this way. “Regulus. My dear, dear friend. I have no idea what to think. For a start, what is a Horcrux?”
Regulus rocked back again. “Right. I forgot your family, brother excepted, isn’t quite so Dark as mine. If you crave immortality, you can put a bit of your soul into an object for safekeeping. Of course, the recipe calls for murdering someone, or everyone would want one.”
“Pretty Dark, then?”
“Put it this way. Even my mum doesn’t have one, and she was pretty mad at Sirius, there for a while.”
“Ah. So how do we get it?”
“It’s still ‘we,’ then?” Regulus smiled gravely. “Good. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have with me than Artful Justinian.”
Justinian levitated the bottle back to himself and poured the few remaining drops short of the dregs. “That’s ‘Dodger Malfoy’ to you, if you’re asking favours, especially dangerous ones. If you know where it is, do you also know what lies between it and us?”
With a shrug, Regulus recited, “A cove with lots of jagged rocks, a cave, a blood sacrifice, an army of undead, and a couple of insoluble riddles. In other words, the usual sorts of clichés.”
Feigning a yawn, Justinian hid his nerves with a jest. “For such a brilliant wizard, the bloke isn’t terribly original.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Regulus tipped onto his back, unfolded his legs, and flipped to his feet, knocking his empty glass. “Sorry. Should we go, then?”
Justinian rose from his chair and went to the window overlooking the street. “It’s black as ink out there tonight, and I was dozing off when you knocked. I say we get a good night’s sleep and tackle this little project of yours in the dead of day, unless you have a better idea.”
“The dead of day?” Regulus said from behind him. “You know, that’s a rather good thought. I’ve been hiding out at home for the last few days, which was safe but far from restful. My reflexes could be better. I knew Mum wouldn’t hand me over, because she thinks the Death Eaters are terribly gauche and overdone, but it still meant living with her.”
Mrs. Black was the sort of woman who would make anyone choose death eventually. Justinian flicked a smile at his dark reflection and turned back to the warmth and light of his sitting room. “Stay here for tonight, then, and tomorrow we’ll go Horcruxing. I’ll fetch you a pillow and blanket.”
“No hurry. Let’s stay up and talk just a bit longer, for old times’ sake.”
Justinian took down a second, better bottle of wine. “As you are the guest, then, you may choose. Ethics, metaphysics, or politics? Or shall we simply solve all the world’s problems by midnight?”
Regulus picked up his toppled glass and examined its rim. “You keep your floors clean, right?”
“Don’t worry; the wine will rinse off any dirt on its way by.”
“That’s ni”Oh, thanks ever so.” Regulus made a face. “Remember what a lark it always was, sneaking about the dormitories and stealing something from our fellow Slytherins?”
“Always. This might be a little trickier than stealing Aubrey’s old class notes, however.”
“More like stealing Snape’s.” After a considering moment of holding his glass to the light, Regulus flicked some imagined large dirt with his finger and held it out for his refill.
Justinian obliged. “Let’s see. Attempts: four. Hospital visits: three. Successes: zero. I hope the Horcrux is easier, or at least less of a fool’s errand.”
“That wasn’t foolish!” Regulus protested. “It was OWL year, and he took the best notes. We would have done much better with them.”
“And that matters ever so much now. You took the brunt of it. Even he never noticed me much.”
“You liked it that way, believe me. I think this is drifting toward ethics, to answer your earlier question. Stealing is wrong, and Dark wizards are wrong “ so is stealing something from a Dark wizard wrong, or do they negate each other?”
Justinian offered up his glass in a toast. “To long profound nights and busy days. May we have many more of them.” Regulus nodded agreement and toasted back.
Younger Brothers by Vindictus Viridian
Chapter Notes: For ElectronicQuillster, who thought I needed to write more Regulus.