"Shut up," he says, and this part he's genuinely angry about. "You think I would rather you die? You think I would have been able to live with myself if you threw yourself away like a big hero just to get me out? Be realistic. This is how things had to be for a while. We can fix them now."

He doesn't say that he was bitter for so long and that Remus had made him realize the problem in that--it's not a good time for it, in any case.

Regulus is bright. He always has been. Bright enough to realize in a moment's clarity that it's probably not just the moment. His heart plummets into his stomach but he doesn't let on. Can't let on. Doesn't think about what it means.

"Don't say you're not smart." It's this he focuses on instead, softer. "Only someone smart could protect me for as long as you did. Just let's do what we have to, now."