For a foolish moment, he had thought he had won.
He had let out a heavy sigh of relief because, finally, he would get the admiration and love from the people that mattered.
As though in front of him, a picture appeared - of him and Sirius in a tight embrace, his older brother's hands wrapped up in his shirt, a strained voice whispering in his ear "I thought I lost you, Reggie."
Regulus should have known by now what a foolish thing it is to hope.
He barely registered Kreacher's cries, a dull ringing in his ear.
Apparently, his mouth worked quicker than his frazzled brain because moments before he was submerged, Kreacher vanished - locket in hand.
Funnily enough, when his head was fully under the water, he felt a great sense of relief - the ringing finally stopping.
He closed his eyes, letting himself feel the water surging past him as the Inferi dragged him further down.
He was calm. As though his mind had finally been put at rest.
If this is how dying feels like - he would have done this much sooner.
His feet touched the bottom. Thick chains wrapped around his ankles, keeping him from swimming upwards. It didn't matter anyways. Regulus can't swim.
Yet he still felt unnervingly calm.
If only poor little Reggie - the one stuck in his room crying for his bloodied brother, knew how good it felt to die.
Regulus let his mind wander. He let himself feel.
He wanted to relive all those moments that made life worth living.
Evan, chasing Barty around the Common Room after learning that Crouch ate his last Chocolate frog.
Dorcas laughing her ass off as Barty's attempts to flirt with Slughorn go unnoticed by the professor.
Pandora giving a bewildered Dorcas a box filled with nargles.
James stroking his hair --
James.
Suddenly it's the only thing his mind can think of.
James.
James.
On a loop. Never-ending.
James.
James.
James with his warm smile. That smile, complete with the dimple on his left cheek.
James.
James.
James catching his lips in a searing kiss.
James.
James.
James' hands traveling from his neck downwards to his back and finding home on his hips.
James.
James' hands, wandering further toward where Regulus desperately needs them to be.
Regulus is suddenly very aware of his surroundings. His eyes snap open. He claws at his throat desperately with the need for air.
Because he can't bare James last memory, being that of Regulus turning his back on him, leaving him.
Three words were left unsaid in that conversation. Three words - both of them know which. Yet Regulus desperately needs to say them.
Because Regulus desperately needs James to hear them.
His eyes frantically snap from one seaweed to another in desperate search for his sun.
Then it hits him.
Maybe James doesn't care to hear those words anymore. Not from Regulus at least.
He has a beautiful wife, the love of his life, the first choice, if you will. She probably makes sure he knows he's loved.
He tries to envy their relationship, yet he can feel nothing but relief.
He can at least die knowing James is happy and loved and in love.
Regulus feels the water filling his lungs, his vision going dark around the edges.
He relaxes. He knows better than to fight the inevitable.
He closes his eyes, a fulfilled smile playing on his lips. His last memory being of a certain messy-haired Gryffindor.