Change the Prophecy

Summer is drawing to a close. James Potter can feel it in the chill in the air, can tell by the way the dim evening light casts shadows on the planes of Regulus’ face when only a few short weeks ago his features had been bathed in warm sunlight. He looks pale in this light, washed out. It unsettles James.

“What are you thinking about?” James murmurs as he turns to look at Regulus properly from where they’re lying in the grass at the bottom of his garden. It’s secluded here, a copse of trees hiding them from the view of the house. Peaceful too, the small river that runs through James’ garden is loudest in this spot, the ebb and flow of the water a steady, comforting sound.

Regulus doesn’t turn to face him, his gaze fixed upon the darkening sky above them. James knows what he’s looking for, the stars are just starting to become visible, tiny pinpricks in a rose coloured sky.

When he doesn’t respond, James lifts himself up to rest on an elbow so he can better look at Regulus. This seems to get his attention because Regulus’ brow furrows as he turns to face James, his gaze troubled.

“Things are going to be different this year.” He admits.

“In what way?” James asks quietly, brushing an errant curl off of Regulus’ forehead, he softens under James’ touch, blowing out an unsteady breath before closing his eyes.

“Last year the war felt so far away but now we’re about to go into our final year and I’m running out of time.”

Regulus has visited James nearly every week of the summer holidays since he was eleven, barring one week in the summer after their fifth year at Hogwarts. In those early years, he’d been dragged along by his twin, Sirius, James’ best friend from the day that they were both sorted into Gryffindor, though he soon started coming of his own accord. Things were simple back then, they would play quidditch, drink fresh lemonade, and lay in the grass, much like they are now, soaking up the sun. It didn’t matter that Regulus was a Slytherin or that as time went on, he started to keep questionable company, all that mattered at that moment in time was that Regulus was Sirius’ brother and James’ friend.

Things had naturally grown more complicated as they got older.

Regulus and Sirius Black are two halves of one whole, as similar as they are dissimilar, as complicated as they are uncomplicated. James remembers what they were like when he met them on the Hogwarts Express for the first time six years ago, before they were divided by familial expectations, placed in different houses and pitted against one another. They were just two boys, excited for their next adventure. They weren’t to know it would be their last one together, the catalyst that would set them on different paths.

Their visits are different now, have been ever since Regulus didn’t turn up the one time he really needed to and Sirius came to stay at the Potters indefinitely.

Their relationship had been tense up until that point, Sirius openly rejecting the vitriol their parents spewed about blood purity and Regulus choosing to remain indifferent to it. Sirius disliked Regulus for not standing up to them, Regulus disliked Sirius for complicating things but they still loved one another.

Until Sirius had arrived on the Potter’s doorstep one warm summer evening, bloody and beaten, tortured by the same parents who were meant to protect him. Regulus was due to show up the next day but he never came. James still isn’t sure if it was because he didn’t want to or because he was forbidden to. Regardless, that decision changed things between the brothers, a chasm opening up that couldn’t be filled and that neither were willing to bridge.

A lot has changed since then and at the same time, not much at all. James’ parents couldn’t stand the thought of Regulus being stuck in that house and encouraged James to keep extending the summer invitations, more than willing to open their home up to him too. James, who was fiercely loyal to Sirius, wasn’t keen on spending time with the twin who had all but abandoned him but he did as his parents told him to and to his surprise, Regulus kept coming. Although he never took the Potters up on their offer.

“You think they’ll let me go?” He’d laughed when James had asked him but it lacked humour and warmth. “In their eyes, I’m the last heir to the House of Black, they’d rather kill me then let me leave.” Regulus shook his head, grey eyes defeated. “I have to wait this out, James, things will be different when I’m eighteen.”

Only things weren’t different because now they were on the precipice of war, one side hellbent on keeping magical blood pure and the other refusing to allow such oppression. It’s no secret that Regulus’ parents would do everything in their power to make sure their son was on the wrong side of it.

James finds himself at a loss on how to respond to Regulus feeling like he’s out of time because he’s right, he nearly is. Any day now he’ll need to make a decision and neither of them have been able to come up with a way for him to escape his fate that doesn’t include him running away and inevitably being killed for it. James needs Regulus to make the right choice but he doesn’t have a clue how he’ll go about doing it.

“We’ll think of something. You’re just going to have to be brave, Regulus.”

“It’s not in my nature.” He responds wryly, tapping the silver snake ring that adorns his index finger, a ring that he shares with his two Slytherin best friends.

“You were brave the minute you decided to stick it out in that house rather than running and paying the price.”

Regulus shakes his head. “Bravery would have been leaving the same time Sirius did.”

James doesn’t miss the admiration and longing in his voice when he talks about his brother, he thinks the only two people who refuse to hear it are Regulus and Sirius themselves.

It’s quiet for a moment, neither of them saying what they’re both thinking, that they know what the Blacks would have done if both brothers had left at the same time. They’d have killed Sirius, the more vocal and antagonistic of the two, and dragged Regulus back just to prove a point rather than be disgraced by both of their sons.

“Bravery isn’t always about taking action, you know. Sometimes it’s brave to wait something out, especially when you know what’s at stake,” James says, looking at the darkening sky above them more intently now, the stars are brighter and he finds Sirius’ constellation with a practised ease, drawing comfort from it. “But Regulus, that was then and this is now. The time is coming to make that decision.”

“I know.” Regulus says and he sounds tired.

“Being courageous is something you have to make the conscious choice to do and do you know what, Regulus? Making that decision is never going to be easy but we do it because you could have the best plan, the best ideas and the best of intentions but if you never have the courage to put them into action then it doesn’t mean anything,” James pauses, meeting Regulus’ gaze. “You have to make it all mean something.”

Something that James said seems to resonate with Regulus because he appears deep in thought for a short while after that. James takes the opportunity to drink him in, those dark curls, his clever grey eyes and the sharp line of his jaw, it’s a sight James will never tire of.

He’s missed this, in the short week that they’ve been apart, he’s missed being able to stop and take the time to appreciate every one of Regulus’ features, to try and commit him to memory. He lifts a hand to Regulus’ chin, tilting his head so that they’re facing one another, so that their eyes can meet. Regulus’ grey eyes are clever and perceptive in a way that suggests he’s always one step ahead of you, that he can see right through you. Looking into Regulus’ eyes is like having every single one of your thoughts, feelings and deepest desires reflected back at you and it scares James as much as it thrills him.

Regulus allows James to manhandle him good-naturedly, rolling his eyes with a smile on his face as James lets go of his chin to trace his face. Regulus’ good looks are considerably more aristocratic than his brothers, his features sharper in every aspect, his jaw, his cheekbones (with an even sharper tongue to match, James would know, he’s often on the other end of it). Whereas Sirius is roguishly handsome (not that James would ever admit that to his face, he spends enough time hogging the mirror in the morning as it is), Regulus looks like someone that people would’ve fought over to paint during the renaissance. Someone whose face would’ve been immortalised in soft tones and striking lines before being hung in a fine art museum.

Eventually Regulus has had enough, almost like he can hear James’ thoughts out loud and is exasperated by them. He bats James’ hand away with a huff but he’s still smiling as he does so.

“You’re going to be insufferable as head boy.” The change in topic is a surprise but not an unwelcome one, the tension that had been hanging between them dissolving almost immediately.

James grins. “I can’t wait to abuse my power.”

“You better use that power to get Barty and Evan out of trouble when they inevitably land themselves in it.”

Regulus has been friends with Evan and Barty longer than he’s known James. The three of them are as thick as thieves and though you would never think that the three of them would go together, they fit surprisingly well.

“How are Barty and Evan?”

Regulus pulls a face and James can’t help but laugh. “Sorry, that was a stupid question when I already know the answer. Let me guess, they’ve terrorised you all summer?”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Regulus mutters but he seems pleased that James has asked about them.

Although he doesn’t have much to do with them aside from the occasional interaction because of Regulus, James likes the two of them well enough. If you’d have asked him that three years ago though, it would’ve been a different story and James would have probably cursed their names.

Barty Crouch Junior and Evan Rosier for a long time, had been the Slytherin poster boys for trouble and not the good kind. The Rosiers, much like the Blacks, have been staunch believers in blood supremacy for a very long time and in recent years, have become some of Voldemort’s most loyal supporters. Although Regulus and Evan have never openly supported their parents beliefs, their surname and lineage is enough to cast doubt in most people’s minds.

Barty’s circumstances however, were vastly different to that of his friends. Barty’s dad, his namesake, has held an influential position in the Ministry of Magical ever since James can remember and he knows through Regulus, and gossip from people in their year, that Barty and his dad are practically estranged. Bartemius senior, at every opportunity, has condemned Voldemort and his Death Eaters and it seems that Barty, hellbent on spiting his dad the only way he knew how, started spending more time with the sons and daughters of the families that were the strongest supporters of the Dark Lord to piss off his dad.

It took a long time for James to make any progress when it came to Regulus (and subsequently Barty and Evan). Although Regulus and Evan had never directly supported Voldemort they hadn’t exactly shut the rumours surrounding their involvement down either. Barty, who wasn’t particularly interested in Voldemort and was more interested in pissing off his dad, eventually stopped adding fuel to the fire when his feud with his dad came to a head and Barty moved out and started staying with the Rosiers.

Things had quietened down after that but James couldn’t, and wouldn’t, let it go. He’d eventually snapped at Regulus one evening in the astronomy tower, telling him that his apathy was nearly as bad as him directly supporting Voldemort and had walked away when Regulus had tried to argue with him. They didn’t speak for weeks after that, until James started to see a change in Regulus, in his friends.

First, there was a disapproving remark from Evan when someone commented on Mary Macdonald’s blood status. Then James overheard Barty arguing that Lily Evans was one of the best witches in their year, and betting five galleons that she’d smash her O.W.Ls (this was high praise from Barty considering he’d tell anyone who’d listen that his results would be some of the best Hogwarts had ever seen, annoyingly enough, he was right). James was then pleased to hear that Regulus had jinxed Avery after he heard how he was talking about some of their classmates. They were discreet in their defiance but it was a start.

The most trouble Barty and Evan get into these days is going out of their way to piss off the Gryffindors yet the general consensus is that they’ll be Death Eaters before the year is out. James is waiting for them to prove everyone wrong because he has no doubt that when Regulus finds a way to escape the future his parents have mapped out for him, Evan and Barty will follow suit, they just need a plan that’s infallible. He wishes Sirius would have a little more faith in Regulus so they could discuss this together, Sirius can put a plan together like no other.

“Sirius will be back soon.” James says gently, it’s an offer or a warning, whichever one Regulus decides it will be tonight.

Regulus stretches, not reacting to the mention of his brother’s name. “I better head home then.”

James tries to hide his disappointment. “Not going to say goodbye to mum?”

Regulus shakes his head, pushing himself up so he’s resting on his elbows. When he faces James again, he looks apologetic. “Tell her and Monty it was nice to see them.”

James leans down, cupping Regulus’ face and catching his mouth with his own. “Will do.” James murmurs against his lips. He savours the contact for a moment before pulling away, standing up and holding a hand out to Regulus, who for the second time this evening, bats it away.

Regulus takes his time getting up, stretching and showing off a pale slither of his waist as he does so. James watches as it disappears under his shirt before pulling him in for another kiss, this one much deeper. He brings one hand down to his hip, pushing Regulus’ top to one side so he can stroke the exposed skin there. This is James’ favourite part, exchanging kisses that whisper all the things they don’t want to, ‘goodbye’ and ‘I’ll see you soon’ and ‘until then, remember this, remember me’.

They break apart at the sound of Sirius’ voice in the distance, calling for James.

“Maybe give it a minute.” Regulus says amused as he surveys him. He starts to tidy James up the best he can, fixing his hair (impossible), his shirt (too late, it’s white and covered in grass stains) and then his glasses (pointless, they never seem to stay in place). “There, he won’t suspect a thing.”

James smiles but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. The fact that Sirius is in the dark when it comes to this, to them makes James feel uneasy. He feels like he’s betraying Sirius every time he asks about his brother and James doesn’t tell him. Every time he contemplates telling Sirius he feels like he’s betraying Regulus. He wishes Sirius would suspect that there’s something between them so the decision could be taken out of his hands. It would make things so much easier.

—

Barty has spent his last three summers with the Rosiers at their countryside manor. The Rosier estate is vast with grounds that sprawl for miles, formal gardens with topiary hedges and an extravagant maze. It’s a bit stuffy for Barty’s taste, he’s never been one for excessive displays of wealth but it’s the closest thing he has to a home these days.

If he’s honest with himself, home is wherever Evan is.

He’s sat on Evan’s balcony, legs hooked through the palisades with a can of beer beside him, watching the sun set in the horizon when his friend finds him. Barty had chosen this spot purposefully, because he knows Evan would look for him here and he wanted to be found.

“Crouch,” Evan says warmly, lowering himself down beside Barty, knocking their shoulders together. “Thought I’d find you here.”

“You got a smoke?” Barty says, offering his can of beer to Evan. He takes it with a quiet, ‘cheers’ as he swings his legs so that they’re dangling beside Barty’s, checking the pockets of his jeans until he finds a crumpled box. He hands it to Barty who takes it gratefully, lighting up and immediately taking a long drag.

“What you doing out here?” Evan asks, gazing down at the grounds he’ll one day inherit with a dispassionate look. Like Barty, Evan doesn’t care much for the Rosier estate, he’s often told Barty how he’d rather buy a flat somewhere by the sea and spend his time there. He’ll probably give this place to his twin sister, Pandora, when the time comes.

Barty blows out a mouth full of smoke and hands Evan back his cigarettes, letting their hands brush against one another as he does so. “Waiting for you to find me.”

Evan huffs out a laugh, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He turns to smile at Barty, the last few rays of the setting sun catching his blonde hair and setting it on fire.

“And why did you want me to find you?”

Barty knows that this is probably the last summer they’ll sit on the balcony like this and mourns the loss of it already. They’ll both be eighteen soon, Evan the heir apparent to the Rosier fortune and Barty forever the disgraced, outcast son with no choice but to make his own way in the world. He doesn’t know what the future holds for them, he doesn’t care, as long as it means they’re together.

He lets his gaze drop to Evan’s lips. “So I could kiss you?” Barty murmurs, stubbing the cigarette out on the ground next to them, he’ll come back to that later, he has more important things to focus on at this particular moment in time.

“You going to say it means nothing again?” Comes Evan’s response, playful, with a sharp edge to it.

Barty sighs, rolling his eyes. “If you only came out here to be annoying then piss off, if you couldn’t tell, I’m trying to enjoy the view.”

“You hate the view.” Evan says mildly, closing the distance between them. Barty feels their arms brush together from the close proximity, feels the way Evan is leaning towards him, bridging the gap between them and tries his hardest to not look smug.

“Don’t pull that face, it looks awful on you.”

“Liar.” Barty murmurs, grabbing Evan by the chin. They stay like that for a minute, savouring the moment, the calm before the storm and then Barty is dragging his thumb down Evan’s bottom lip, watching the way Evan’s eyes become lidded and the breath punches out of him.

He doesn’t know who initiatives it, only that they’re suddenly kissing, all teeth and tongue and Barty’s debating pushing Evan down against the floor and biting a trail down his neck when they’re rudely interrupted.

“Can you two stop that? Honestly, the things I have to see in my own home!” Pandora Rosier exclaims as she pushes open the french doors with one hand and pulls a chair from her brother’s bedroom out with the other. Barty groans, pulling away from Evan to pick up the closest thing he can find, his balled up hoodie, which he throws at her. She catches it, unperturbed, throwing it back at his head before sitting down and looking at them expectantly.

“Pandora, can you go away?” Barty says, chucking his hoodie to one side, distracted by the way Evan’s looking at him, like he’s starving, like Barty’s the only one that can fix that.

“We were kind of in the middle of something.” Evan adds though he doesn’t take his eyes off Barty.

“Mum and dad told me to tell you both that the Dark Lord has called a meeting at nine, they want you both there.”

That snaps them out of it, Evan tenses as he turns to face his sister, Barty throwing his head back as he groans. They both know what this means, it’s something they’ve both been trying to outrun all summer. A tattoo that neither of them wants but that they’re cursed to bear.

“What are we going to do?” Barty asks, as he unhooks his legs from where they were dangling over the ledge, turning to give Pandora all of his attention. Evan does the same and for a moment the three of them just look at one another, clueless and in so far over their heads that they don’t know how they’ll ever get out of this mess.

“Regulus told us to do whatever we could to delay it,” Evan says tentatively, he seems to sense that Barty is going to object because he turns to him, looking resigned, “I know, I know. We’ve been doing it all summer but we’re going to have to do it one last time. Regulus told us he’d have a plan by the time we get back to Hogwarts.”

“Evan, we’re fucked and it’s time we all start accepting it.”

Pandora shakes her head at Barty’s words, she’s looking at Evan’s bare arm, the patch of skin that in time, the dark mark will undoubtedly occupy. “I don’t think you’re fucked. I don’t think any of us are just yet, I have a feeling…” she trails off, meeting her brother’s eyes. They share something unspoken between them, Evan relaxing at whatever he sees in her face.

Twins, in the magical world, are considered to be inherently more powerful and sometimes, even gifted, Pandora and Evan certainly are. Pandora often gets feelings and visions about things that might happen, things that could happen. They’re not foolproof but she’s never led them astray so far, if Evan trusts her judgement, Barty will do the same.

“Okay,” Barty says blowing out a breath, “So we try and buy ourselves more time?”

Evan nods, leaning around Pandora to look at the clock visible on his wall even from where they’re sitting on the balcony, “Fuck, I need to shower,” he turns to Barty, “Meet you downstairs in twenty?”

“Course,” Barty says as they both stand up, Evan picking up the beer can that had been left forgotten between them and tipping his head back to drink the dregs. Barty picks his hoodie up, throwing it over his shoulder and tucks his half-smoked cigarette behind his ear as he goes to follow Evan inside but Pandora holds out a hand to stop him.

“I can’t believe Regulus and James got their shit together before you two did.”

“What?” Barty asks and he can’t help the irritation that creeps into his tone, he doesn’t have time for this. “Why are you bringing them into this?”

Pandora looks at him like he’s stupid. “You can’t be serious.” She lets out an exasperated laugh when he doesn’t saying anything. “Wow, you actually are that clueless.”

Barty grits his teeth and goes to push past her but Pandora grabs his wrist, her nails digging in as she pulls him closer. When she speaks, her voice is low and vicious.

“I catch you with your tongue down my brother’s throat, not for the first time, might I add and you try and act like there isn’t something more going on between the two of you.”

Barty sends her a flat look, tugging his wrist free. “Just like the rest of the people I’ve slept with, Pandora, it meant nothing and Evan knows that.”

She looks at him and doesn’t bother to hide the disappointment on her face. “He deserves better than you.”

Barty laughs, as he walks away but it sounds hollow, even to him. He knows that, of course he does. How could he not?

—

James expected their first week back at Hogwarts to be slow and easy. He expected it to consist of warm evenings sat by the lake with his friends, late nights laughing in their dorm room and to be busy planning their annual welcome back party for what would be their last time.

What James didn’t expect, but probably should have seen coming, was the open hostility between the different houses, the distrust between people who were once friends and the fear that was palpable the minute they stepped foot on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. It seems that not even Hogwarts, which was once a sanctuary from the conflict, was safe from the war.

The four of them had stood there, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, shoulder to shoulder, lost for words and grappling with the realisation that they’d been so incredibly naive. Foolishly they’d hoped that the war would wait for them to finish their last year at Hogwarts before it got its claws into them, instead the threat of it had been there all along, a game of cat and mouse that they were doomed to lose.

They’d been waiting for Lily, Marlene and Mary when Regulus had walked past them, his expression indifferent but there was arrogance in the way he held himself, in the tilt of his chin and the cool, calculated look in his eyes. As always, Barty and Evan flanked him, the former laughing at something that the latter had said. The pair of them were carefree and flippant, a stark difference to the tense atmosphere on the platform. James found it disconcerting, it was like all the progress they’d made had been undone, like they were back to playing the roles they’d portrayed three years ago when they’d been seen as the haughty heirs, the Slytherin poster boys.

The trio were quick to join Pandora and Dorcas who were waiting by the entrance to one of the carriages. Dorcas was the only one who paid them any mind, only briefly glancing over at them in the hopes of catching a glimpse of her girlfriend, Marlene. She had turned her back on them when she realised she wasn’t there yet, turning to bow her head to whisper something to Regulus.

James had watched them board the train and had heard the hushed, intimidated whispers that followed them. What was Regulus playing at? His excitement at being back had been quickly dampened by an uneasy sense of foreboding.

He’d been right to feel that way, it had been a premonition of all the bad things that were to come.

“I’m going to kill him.” Sirius says, eyes wild as he paces the length of their doom room.

It’s their first day back and already the rumours are rampant about which students over the summer were graced with personal visits from Voldemort.

Peter sighs from where he’s lying on his bed, head hanging over the edge. He looks fed up, James isn’t surprised, Sirius has been at this for the past thirty minutes. “Sirius you don’t even know if he’s done anything yet!”

“No, I know him. This is exactly the sort of stunt he’d pull!” Sirius exclaims, stopping to point a finger at James. “You were the last person to speak to him, did he say anything to you?”

James sends him an incredulous look but wisely chooses not to mention that in this room, he’s the only one that’s spoken to his brother recently. “Don’t you think I might have mentioned it sooner if I knew your brother was exchanging pleasantries with Voldemort?” He was confused by the news too if he’s honest, doesn’t understand why Regulus is involved or what his rationale was but he’s waiting for a chance to ask him in private. There has to be a reason, there always is with Regulus.

James sighs, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. “You’re jumping the gun a bit, mate. If he was there, maybe he didn’t have a choice?”

Sirius looks at him with pity in his eyes, like James is defending someone irredeemable, maybe because Regulus is in his eyes. “You always get a choice, James, and my brother constantly picks the wrong one. It took me a long time to realise that.“

James turns away from him, disappointed that this is what is left of the Black brothers, doubt and bitterness and years and years worth of hard feelings. He wants so badly to fix them, doesn’t know the first place to start.

He seeks out Remus, who is watching the scene unfold from where he’s sat on the window seat, a worn book forgotten on his lap. Their eyes meet and Remus, as always, seems to understand what his friends need.

“Sirius,” Remus cuts in gently, putting his book to one side, he makes his way over to Sirius. “We don’t know for sure that Regulus was there, why don’t we let James speak to him first? Find out all the facts before we let you go find him and start shouting your head off. You two are a fucking nightmare when you get going.” He’s smiling and not even trying to hide it as he steers Sirius towards his bed. He’s not wrong, James has watched Sirius and Regulus clash enough over the years to know that they’ll fight like cats and dogs when given half the chance.

“Dorcas was the one who told Marlene about Regulus meeting with You-Know-Who,” Peter interjects matter-of-factly, “She wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

Remus sends him a pained look as if to say ‘you’re really not helping’ before turning back to Sirius, kneeling beside him at the foot of his bed. “Look, there’s nothing we can do right now. It’s Saturday tomorrow, let James go and find him and then you’ll finally have your answer and then we’ll figure it out, together.”

Sirius doesn’t say anything for a long moment, staring at his hands, at the silver ring of his constellation that sits on his little finger. He twists it, almost like he’s about to take it off before he sighs, leaving it where it is and raising his face to look at Remus instead.

“You’re right, you’re always right.”

Remus huffs out a laugh, pushing himself to his feet. “Remember that next time when I try and tell you something you don’t want to hear.”

“Now that, that matters sorted…temporarily, what are we going to do?” Peter asks, he’s sat up now, brow creased as he looks at them all. “About the war?”

It’s silent for a moment, the four of them sharing blank looks. They’d spoken at length about the war, about Dumbledore and the Order but never really contemplated what came after that.

Sirius is the one who eventually speaks. “Well we’ll join the Order, help Dumbledore stop Voldemort.”

Peter doesn’t seem to be satisfied with that answer, his mouth an unhappy line. “And then?”

Sirius sends him a puzzled look. “What do you mean, and then?”

“Well what comes after that? When we join, how will we actually help stop You-Know-Who?”

James listens as Remus and Peter go back and forth, Sirius occasionally chipping in as he flicks through one of the motorbike magazines Marlene had given him on the train, debating what kind of missions they’ll be sent on in the Order, what information they’ll be privy to and what Dumbledore will need from each of them. It’s not the first time he’s realised how uncertain their future is, how unclear it all is but it’s the first time the gravity of the situation hits him. This is his life, the lives of his friends that are on the line and they haven’t got a plan that goes beyond joining the Order and working for Dumbledore. James looks at his friends with a sense of dread, the realisation that in a year’s time, all of this could be gone.

Maybe Regulus isn’t the only one that needs a plan.

—

“We’re running out of time.” Evan says from where he’s sat by the fireplace in their dorm room, he sounds frustrated, Regulus knows how he feels.

“Correction, we’ve run out of time,” Barty interjects from beside Evan. When he turns to face Regulus, who is pacing behind them, the light from the fire only catches half of his face leaving the rest in darkness. “Come on then, what’s your brilliant plan? How are we surviving this year?”

Regulus stops pacing. “You’re not going to like what I have to say.”

“Regulus, don’t take this to heart but a lot of the time I don’t like what you have to say.”

“Barty, really? Is now the time?“

“Come on Ev-”

“Both of you shut up.” Regulus says coming to sit on the edge of the table in front of them, he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his interlocked fingers. They’re both paying attention now, eyeing him warily.

Regulus takes a deep breath in before blowing it out, scrubbing his face with his hands like he can physically scrub his irritation away. “I’ve thought about all the ways we could do this, all the ways we could try and get out of it, what we could say, what we could do, where we could go.” He pauses, dropping his head in his hands. He’s tired, the kind of tired that goes beyond getting a good nights sleep. “And then I spoke to James and he said something that stuck with me.”

Barty tilts his head in interest at the mention of James, Evan on the other hand looks resigned, like he’s been expecting this.

“Okay, so you’re going to join Sirius at the Potters right? They’ll keep you safe there.” There’s no anger in Evan’s tone, no disappointment, instead he seems to have anticipated this outcome, prepared himself for it. “Barty and I can go on the run, if I start withdrawing a little each month from-“

Regulus is quick to interrupt him. “My parents would kill me if I went to the Potters seeing as they’ve already promised me to the Dark Lord and if you disappeared what would happen to Pandora? Even if you brought her with you, they’d find someone else that you cared about and would torture them until you came back. It’s not an option and even if it was, it’s one I wouldn’t consider,” Regulus lifts his head to look at Evan, his gaze unwavering in its intensity. “I’m never going to leave you behind.”

It’s true, Regulus cares about James, loves Sirius despite their history and knows Effie and Monty would make him feel at home in their house and for all those reasons, he could never lead the Dark Lord to their door. The main reason though, is Regulus’ loyalty first and foremost will always be to Barty, to Evan. They’ve been there for him when no one else was, stood by him through everything. He would never leave them behind, not willingly. It’s why he did what he could to protect them, to give them more time.

He meets Evan’s eyes first, then Barty’s, as he rolls up the sleeve of his left arm, he doesn’t regret it, not when he did it for them. “I managed to buy you both until the end of the year.” Regulus says watching as their eyes fall to his forearm where the dark mark is stark against his pale skin.

Evan physically recoils from it, eyes wide and mouth parted in surprise but Barty leans forward, like he wants to touch it, like he can’t quite believe it’s real. His hand hovers, mere centimetres from Regulus’ arm before he pulls it away, shaking his head. Barty turns to look at Evan, tension evident in his shoulders, in his face, in his jaw.

Evan doesn’t look at him though, he’s pale and he can’t take his eyes off of Regulus’ arm. “What have you done?” He asks quietly.

Barty doesn’t give Regulus a chance to answer. “Regulus, you haven’t bought us more time. By deciding to do that, without talking to us first, you’ve damned us to the exact same fate.” Barty’s voice is cold but his eyes are even colder. He stands, getting in Regulus’ space and forcing him to look up at him from where he’s still sat on the table. Regulus knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of Barty’s anger, has been many times in the past and refuses to let it deter him now. “Thanks to you, we’re all going to have to get his shit tattoo now!”

“I get it, you’re angry-“

“Angry Reg? I’m furious! Furious that you didn’t talk to us first! Furious because we’re meant to be a team. Furious that you thought you getting that mark meant we wouldn’t have to. Did you really think we’d just leave you to get on with it?”

“He was asking questions, Barty, about why we were avoiding it. I told him that Dumbledore was becoming suspicious, that by marking so many of us now he might be putting us on the Order’s radar later on. As a gesture of good will, I told him I’d take it now and that by marking me, he was marking all of us.” Regulus tugs his sleeve down, hiding the mark from sight. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but I haven’t had a chance, this only happened last night.”

“He was at yours? Last night?” Evan asks, unlike Barty, there’s no anger in his tone, only grim resignation.

“He’s going to be staying there from now on. Wants to use it as his base of operations.”

Evan covers his face. “Fuck.” Comes his muttered reply.

“You’re not the type of person to do something without a reason so go on,” Barty says, moving away from Regulus to place a hand on Evan’s shoulder. Evan lifts his head out of his hands and leans into the touch, pulling Barty back down beside him. “Fill us in, what’s the plan genius?”

“James told me that when I made my choice, I had to make it mean something.” He pauses, looking at them. They annoy him most of the time, there’s not a day that goes by where they don’t get on his last nerve but he will always protect them, fight their corner, whatever they need from him, he’ll give them and they needed this, to be given back their ability to make a choice. Regulus will always make the worst choices if it means that they actually get one.

“Talking of James, have you told him yet?” When Regulus doesn’t respond Barty starts laughing, loud in the quiet room.

James.

Regulus trusts him. Wants James to trust him back. He would never admit it but he cares about James’ opinion and hates the fact that he might hate him for this. Regardless, he deserves to know and Regulus will tell him.

“I will soon. But I wanted to tell you both first.”

That catches Barty’s interest. “So you do actually have a plan?”

Regulus nods. “James told me to make my choice mean something, so I’m going to.” He taps the place on his arm where the dark mark sits beneath his sleeve. “This means that the Dark Lord has the capacity to trust me and I’m going to earn that trust and when the time comes, I’m going to make him regret it.”

Barty’s face breaks out into a grin. The ghost of a smile appears on Evan’s face, his eyes are bright. “You’re going to double cross him?”

“I’m going to double cross him.”

Barty nods in approval. “Well Ev, it seems like we won’t be running away after all.”

“I’m not expecting you to do this with me,” Regulus says and he doesn’t. The whole point of this was to give them a choice, to put the power back in their hands when time and time again it had been taken from them. If they come up with something in the next year that guarantees their safety and their freedom, Regulus will watch them go, secure in the knowledge that he helped keep them safe.

“But we’re going to.” Comes Barty’s response, no hesitation, only unwavering support.

Evan laughs, throwing one arm around Barty and pulling Regulus in with the other. “It’s a fucking crazy plan. I’m in.”

They stay there for a moment, together and stronger for it and Regulus finds solace in the fact that these two people will never, ever let him down.

“You really think that we can do this? Take him down?” Evan asks as they pull away from one another. There’s no doubt in his voice, only a quiet wonder.

“Take away the arrogance, the self-imposed title and the fact that the majority of his power derives from having a large following and what is he?” Regulus asks.

Barty sends him a knowing smile. “A man. He’s just a man.”

Regulus huffs out a laugh. ”And when the time comes, he’ll die like one.”