"You're just like him, Reg."
It wasn't a compliment.
Her lip was curled and her wand was pointed at his chest. She'd disarmed him moments before. Mother was out, flirting with high society. Father tagged along.
Regulus recognized his disadvantage.
"You have to choose," she threatened, her voice quiet. She appeared electrified, her eyes wide, pupils dilated. Her hair stood on edge, skin particularly pale.
It did not surprise-- or scare-- Regulus in the least. He had seen Bellatrix at her worst. She was far from her breaking point.
It was simply mild annoyance. Yet Regulus knew she wouldn't hesitate to torture him, would gladly inflict the pain. If he answered incorrectly, she would be tempted to kill him. She would hesitate only in the knowledge that Mother would blast her off the tree.
If he simply said what she wanted to hear, he would be in the clear. Bellatrix would not test his mind. She was working toward superior Legilimency skills, but unexperienced as she was, it tired her.
She could not afford to be weakened.
But she had never been weak, Regulus thought, nearly grinning as she pushed the wand harder against him, her eyes flashing.
No, she was strong-willed. She knew what she wanted. And she always got it.
"What will it be, Regulus?"
She made it appear as though he had a choice.
The reality was that she knew his decision. It was expected of him. His parents assumed he would join. There was no option but to join. The only way out had left, run away.
Regulus had no one left. No family. No options.
His brother deserted him.
His brother, so against blood, ran to one of the purest lines in all Wizarding Britain.
Sirius insisted they-- the Potters-- were different. Did not place value on blood and other shite. Sirius raved about the Potters the summer after Regulus' first year.
Regulus fought with Sirius for hours.
The quarrel ended when Regulus declared that the Potters could not have been that different if their blood was still pure. Sirius argued a coincidence, not a priority. Regulus countered that they attended the same social events as the Blacks and the Malfoys and the Crouches. They appeared just as prestigious, artisocratic, superior, as the other pure families.
Sirius hesitated before muttering about appearances.
It did not matter. Regulus had won the argument.
Regulus wondered if that was the moment he lost his brother.
He wondered if that moment was the reason he was trapped with his back against the wall, wandless, at his cousin's mercy.
"Do you have an answer?"
She was getting impatient.
Voiding his face of emotion, Regulus glared at her, fiercely. She glared back.
Strong. As always.
Finally, Regulus gave one curt nod, pushing off the wall. His cousin did not relax her wand.
"I'm in, Bella."
She looked-- simply looked-- at him intensely before slowly lowering her arm. A small smile graced her features.
"Good."
Bellatrix left the room.
Regulus felt as though he was falling. His brother had deserted him and now...
Now, he deserted himself.
Author's Note: To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this. It was on my mind, one of those pieces I had to write. If someone reads this and wants to PM or email me or contact me in some way about BETAing, please do so. I really need someone to bounce ideas off of (especially for my other stories like Road to Hell and A Life So Changed) and look at little random things I write.