For the barest moment, Remus' resolve wavers. There's something about the look on Regulus' face, the broken sound that he makes and the defeated angle of his narrow shoulders that almost makes Remus want to believe... Because who could fake that tone? Who could so seamlessly create an image of someone so... someone so...
Shaking again, his hand tightens on his wand and he takes a step forward, banishing the seeds of doubt that he knows better now than to entertain. Regulus had described to Remus himself the ways in which he spun his lies – had explained the art of deceit and subterfuge that made him so perfect for the role of the spy while granting him the greatest chance at safety so long as he stayed put.
Right where the Dark Lord had the most use for him.
"Stop it..." It's all he can do to get the words out, because the things Regulus is saying are confusing him, tearing at his heart even though he knows that his automatic reaction is so very, very wrong. He can't want to comfort this creature – can't still love someone who used him so heartlessly and left his own brother for dead.
And that helps, thinking of Sirius, who's lying behind him on the brink of death, possibly never to wake up again. "I said stop it! I don't want to hear it!" (He can't hear it.) "You left him for dead! He may never wake up again and the last thing he may ever say to anyone is that you did this to him!"
no subject
Shaking again, his hand tightens on his wand and he takes a step forward, banishing the seeds of doubt that he knows better now than to entertain. Regulus had described to Remus himself the ways in which he spun his lies – had explained the art of deceit and subterfuge that made him so perfect for the role of the spy while granting him the greatest chance at safety so long as he stayed put.
Right where the Dark Lord had the most use for him.
"Stop it..." It's all he can do to get the words out, because the things Regulus is saying are confusing him, tearing at his heart even though he knows that his automatic reaction is so very, very wrong. He can't want to comfort this creature – can't still love someone who used him so heartlessly and left his own brother for dead.
And that helps, thinking of Sirius, who's lying behind him on the brink of death, possibly never to wake up again. "I said stop it! I don't want to hear it!" (He can't hear it.) "You left him for dead! He may never wake up again and the last thing he may ever say to anyone is that you did this to him!"