"regulus, please" and his tone sounds like he's begging. "its me asking you not to do this. its not james, its not sirius, its not evan, its me. please." and regulus wants to listen, so badly does she want to stop. to forget this thought even crossed her mind. because its barty. its their barty. the barty that stayed with her when they couldnt get out of bed, couldnt even stand up. the barty who gave them a place to stay when she finally worked up the courage to leave. the barty who was nothing but her rock for years, who helped them heal, who held her after every therapy session, who told them it would all be ok when it felt like everything was falling apart. her barty
but she cant - she cant let the dark lord get away with this, they need to do SOMETHING. even if barty is begging her not to. even if barty looks like shes 10 seconds away from crying, and barty never cries.
she needs to. "im sorry, im so sorry i- i cant let him ... i cant let him get away this. please understand." regulus says, voice choked and sounding like shes about to burst into tears. "let me go with you." barty says, and regulus knows this is the one thing they wont let happen; if this was anything else she would say yes immediately. but they cant put him in danger.
"no. i couldn't live with myself if you- if you died, barty, i wouldnt know what to do."
"how do you think i feel?"
"please, barty, please i need to do this. you have so much ahead of you, i need to do this for me."
"atleast wait a few weeks, please? see if after that time you still want to? for me?"
and regulus cant deny him. so, they go to bed that night - knowing that in a few weeks; regulus will be gone and possibly not coming home. as barty kisses their forehead when she leaves, hugs them as he gets home, makes her their favorite tea - he does it all with the knowledge he may never do this again.