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[blackdogstar]

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[blackdogstar]

[Sirius sighs, his own shoulders sagging. He's better now about knowing when to stop, so stop he does.]

Allright well, we were both bloody stupid and now we're somehow both alive, so... I guess it could be much worse.

[He pulls a crooked smile.]

Thanks, for telling me.

[pawntakesking]

[Regulus actually does smile back, although it speaks more of weariness than of any actual happiness or humour.]

Thank you for listening. [Even with his flares of anger at some of Sirius' responses, this has honestly gone much better than he'd expected.]

Bellatrix has it now. The Horcrux. Or... well, something that looks like it, at any rate. I didn't entirely manage to control myself when I saw that.

In any case, she knows a little more than I was hoping she would, by now.

[blackdogstar]

[Regulus gets one last squeeze to the shoulder in acknowledgement of that thanks. His brotherly smile doesn't last long at that mention of Bellatrix, though. He looks, frankly, horrified.]

You don't think... the thing still has a piece of Voldemort in it, do you?

[Please Merlin, no. The last fucking thing they need.]

[pawntakesking]

No. No, I think...

I think it might have a piece of her in it, actually. Have you met any liches here?

[blackdogstar]

[... Is that worse? That might be worse.]

Can't say that I have, no.

[pawntakesking]

Well, they have phylacteries. Not unlike a Horcrux, though by all accounts easier to destroy.

Unless I'm much mistaken, Salazar's locket is hers.

[He's not entirely sure why he's sharing this information. Definitely not in subconscious hope that Sirius or someone else can use it against her. Definitely not. He's loyal to family.]

[blackdogstar]

[Sirius blanches just a little bit.]

Okay. Right, phylacteries. I think I read about that somewhere- it's like an external heart or something? And hers is Salazar Slytherin's locket.

[pawntakesking]

Yes. That's more or less the shape of things.

On the bright side, it no longer actually has Him in it. On the less bright side...

[...It might as well, for how it feels to look at it.]

...she's definitely not going to let blood be a barrier to getting some kind of revenge if she finds out what I originally planned for it.

[blackdogstar]

[Sirius' face is wrinkled with disgust, when all at once it forms into a snarl much like the lion of Gryffindor house, bared pointed teeth and all.]

If she thinks she's going to lay a finger on you, she has to get through me first.

[pawntakesking]

[Regulus flinches a little at that look - it's just a little too Black, just a little too furious, to be comfortable, and he's still not exactly on an even keel anyway - but, at the same time, it's almost... nice? Yes. Nice, to have Sirius defensive over him. It feels like it's been a long time since that was the case.]

Don't be ridiculous. I'm stronger than you are.

[blackdogstar]

[Regulus flinching is more than enough to get Sirius to calm down, relaxing his lips so he isn't snarling at the least, though his eyes are still cold as ice.]

You're not. But LaStrange is certainly weaker than both of us combined.

[pawntakesking]

[Regulus is very tempted to retort that actually, yes, he is. Maybe not in their own world, maybe not in the place where Sirius is so well-liked and talented, but here? Where he's spent years getting to know his new - and complete - monster form, and where he has powers through the Fog that most monsters do not? He is, objectively, stronger than Sirius.]

[But he's self-aware enough to know that saying so would just be picking a fight. And, really, it's not the point. His smile is genuine.]

It's been a while since that was an option, hasn't it?

[blackdogstar]

[His eyes are still chilly, but they warm slightly with something bittersweet and nostalgic.]

It has.

[Longer, in fact, than Sirius is even aware of. It's hard to track the passage of time in Azkaban, practically impossible.]

I'm going to have your back this time, Reg.

[pawntakesking]

[It's an impulse, one he wouldn't usually give credence to. Right now, though - right now, for once in either of his lives, he actually does feel the need to offer a hug. It's clumsy and awkward and brief, but it's still a hug.]

Thanks. And I...

I'm sorry I didn't have yours.

[blackdogstar]

[Sirius has no verbal response to that, because he fears anything he says will either take them down a road of arguing about who let whom down more, or ruin the moment. He just returns the hug with a tight squeeze, far less awkward about it than Regulus.]