- For the first few years of his life, Regulus was convinced his big brother could do no wrong and had probably hung the moon itself in the sky
- Too soon, he learned that neither was true
- His heart was broken and hardened just as quickly, and he made himself a promise
- He’d never make his mother cry, he’d never make his father shout, and he’d follow the path that had been set out for him because surely it was best
- He hid in the background and watched Sirius ruin himself (at least that was what his parents called it) and breathed thanks to Merlin that he’d learned from his brother’s mistakes
- He pretended the shouting into the night and slamming doors and Sirius’s bedroom standing empty next door didn’t shake him to the core
- He didn’t question why his obedience and earning his parents’ good graces left him feeling so strange and hollow because he didn’t want to know the answer
- When he saw the pained look on Sirius’s face at the brand new dark mark standing out against his pale skin, he pretended to turn away in righteous pride instead of to hide the stubborn tears that welled up in his eyes
- Despite it all his brother’s opinion was still more important to him than some things
- “You’re not like them, Regulus”
- He was surprised to find that he wished his brother was right, but resigned himself to the fact that he was wrong
- He never had been brave enough to be anything but what his parents expected of him or to believe anything but what was fed to him as the truth
- He was exactly like them, but perhaps that was to his advantage
- The plan was so ridiculous and foolhardy that it couldn’t possibly work, but perhaps that was why it did
- In the end he didn’t know whether he’d made a difference, but he had done the thing he knew his brother would have, and that made all the difference in the world to him