Disclaimer: I'm too young to be Rowling so there is sadly no way Harry Potter is mine…

Placing: Throughout the story and at the time of the Marauders.

Challenge: 'Prompt of the day'. Prompt: (song) "Wind beneath my wings" by Gary Morris. 2000 words. Gryffindor, Hogwarts.

Just an idea I had, nothing more.

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sSsSsSsSs

REGULUS'S CHOICE

sSs

To the Dark Lord

Today was the day.

I know I will be dead long before you read this

The day he had planned for.

But I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.

The one day he had worked for.

I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.

The one day he had waited for all his life.

I face death in the hope that when you meet your match,

His last day.

You will be mortal once more.

The last thing he did was smile while drowning in the cursed water of the cave.

R.A.B.

sSs

When he had been young, he had been to good son, the beloved son, the perfect son.

He did everything his parents asked of him, never questioned, always believed.

"You've done well today, Reggie," his brother said smiling. "Mother and Father were so proud of you."

And he answered the bloody smile of his brother with one of his own.

"But you're the brave one," he said. "You're the strong one. It should be you, not I who was admired."

His brother just smiled and he reached out to touch the other's familiar face.

"It should be you," he repeated, snapping his mouth shut before he could say more, because telling more just meant to endanger his beloved older brother further.

"It should be you," he thought fiercely. "Because whatever I choose, you are the one who will never change his path."

It was a soothing thought, it was a horrifying thought – and Regulus would do everything he could to ensure that his brother lived; even if it meant to be the perfect son, the one son his parents could be proud of so that his older brother lived.

"It should be you," he thought again, "because I am the coward who chose the easy way out."

Regretfully his brother would never know, could never know.

sSs

"You ran away from home?"

"When I was about sixteen," said Sirius. "I'd had enough."

"Where did you go?" asked Harry, staring at him.

"Your dad's place."

sSs

The hardest he ever had to fight had been shortly before his brother had turned sixteen.

Year after year he had laboured over that one day, the one day that would kill his brother.

He had turned it over in his head, over and over again, looking for a way around it, looking for a way to prevent it – but his brother was a constant, never changing his path, never following through no matter what Regulus tried to change to prevent his misery.

Regulus could change everything, saw everything, but his brother.

But it was his brother he needed to change to prevent his brother's death.

"Tell me, Sirius," he said one evening. "What would someone have to do to make you run away from home?"

"Eager to get rid of me so that you can be the perfect heir?" his brother asked darkly and he turned his head away so that his brother wouldn't be able to see the tears in his eyes.

"No," he said. "Not at all. Just curious, nothing more."

His brother's eyes narrowed at that, then the older boy shrugged.

"As long as you're here, as long as you're my little brother, I won't go," the older one said. "You might hate me, but as long as there's good in you, I will stay to ensure that you won't follow the path of our parents."

And Regulus closed his eyes and concentrated on the new idea for his potential future. He might not be able to change his brother, but he would be able to change his own path and ensure that his brother would leave before it was too late – before his mother would make room for Regulus to take up his older brother's mantle…

sSs

"But… why did you…?"

"Leave?" Sirius smiled bitterly and ran his fingers through his long, unkempt hair. "Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal… my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them…"

sSs

"Are you nuts? Regulus!" his brother cried agitated. "The Death Eaters? The Death Eaters! Don't you know what they do? Don't you know what they are? Murderers, the lot of them!"

"I will join them the moment I turn seventeen," Regulus replied without emotion. "Mother and Father are proud of my decision. I don't need your mudblood-loving traitorous thoughts on that matter."

His brother's eyes narrowed at that.

"Fine," he said. "Seems like you have finally managed to change into the bigoted asshole our parents wanted you to become since we were little."

"No," Regulus answered sneering. "You have managed to be corrupted by the blood-traitors you're hanging out with. If you were truly a Black, if you were truly my brother, you would have stood up to them with a true Black's ideals."

"I'm not a Black," his brother replied. "And I'm definitely not your brother. I hate you, Regulus! I hope you die by the hands of the monster you support!"

When their mother crucioed his brother three days later, his brother ran away from home. There was nothing that kept him from running anymore, nothing that would have caused his death if he stayed.

That night, Regulus cried himself to sleep with relief and loneliness.

The day after, it was Regulus who was punished for his disobedience. He lost the sight in his left eye that day, but it didn't matter. His brother had not paid the ultimate price for something Regulus couldn't prevent himself from doing.

It was worth it in Regulus's eyes.

sSs

"He was younger than me," said Sirius, "and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded."

"But he died," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Sirius. "Stupid idiot… he joined the Death Eaters."

"You're kidding!"

sSs

The day he turned seventeen, he did what he had told his brother all those years ago: He joined the Death Eaters.

He didn't join because he believed in them, he didn't join because he thought the same. The only reason he joined was the knowledge that if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to prevent half of the things he could compared to when he joined.

"You're too soft-hearted, Regulus," his cousin Bellatrix told him. "They're muggles. You don't have to kill them behind closed doors just because they are children."

"I like to see their faces when they find out they're trapped in their own rooms, unable to get out, while watching how I kill their younger siblings in front of them slowly," he replied.

"That's still quite soft-hearted," Bellatrix said, "but if it takes your fancy."

"It does," Regulus said, never speaking about the port-keys and hidey-holes he used to safe at least the children.

He couldn't prevent everything, he couldn't prevent a lot – but he could do more as a Death Eater as he could have done as part of the Order. At least, the other Death Eaters trusted him. With Sirius in the Order, the Order would have never trusted him at all.

But that was alright with Regulus.

It had been his choice, and as bad as his life was, he had chosen well.

sSs

"Was he killed by an Auror?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Oh, no," said Sirius. "No, he was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders, more likely; I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don't just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It's a lifetime of service or death."

sSs

Then came the day.

The one day he had known would come since he had chosen his path.

His final day.

To the Dark Lord

Today was the day.

"Regulus," the Dark Lord said. "Lend me your house-elf. I need him to do something for me."

"Of course, my lord," he said and like a good little Death Eater gave over the only creature that had ever stood by him since his brother left home – the only creature that knew about the scars he had received at the hands of his parents, that knew about his inability to see anything with his left eye; his best and only friend.

"I'm sorry, Kreacher," he thought. "So sorry for the misery I will bring you in your future."

I know I will be dead long before you read this

The day he had planned for.

"Kreacher," demanded he. "Bring me to the cave the Dark Lord brought you to."

"Master?" the creature asked hesitatingly and Regulus held out the locket he had chosen years ago just for that one day.

"I need to do something there," he said. "Don't worry. The moment you have the other locket in your hands, I demand that you will return here, leaving me where I am."

"But master!"

"That's a command."

"Yes, master."

But I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.

The one day he had worked for.

The moment just before he swallowed the first drop of the potion was the worst.

He wanted to cry, to back out, to run to his brother and hide.

But his brother could never know. If he told, he would not only kill his brother but the world as well. The Dark Lord wouldn't leave anything alive if he'd ever find out about Regulus's successful betrayal.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Regulus said, speaking to an unborn child. "But this is the only way. Everything else will get you all killed years before you're strong enough to end him."

He swallowed the potion and finally, finally once in his life the future was quiet instead of screaming in his head.

I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.

The one day he had waited for all his life.

"Kreacher," demanded he. "Take the locket, leave and destroy it."

It was an impossible order – and he knew it.

He had always known it.

But it was the only order he could give, the only order that would prevent the world from burning at the Dark Lord's hands.

"I'm sorry, Kreacher," he thought. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm so sorry, Sirius."

But some things couldn't be prevented – and Regulus was a coward who had chosen the coward's way out.

I face death in the hope that when you meet your match,

His last day.

The last thing he Saw while drowning in the lake was Kreacher's first try to fulfil his last order.

The locket remained unblemished, but something cracked in it anyway.

You will be mortal once more.

Miles away, a mediocre seer met with the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…"

Miles away from that, an old house-elf tried a second time to destroy the locket.

Again, the locket remained unblemished, but cracked as well.

Further away, a little boy started to exist in his mother's stomach.

"Lily, take Harry and run! He is it! Hurry! I'll stop him –"

"Stand aside, girl, stand aside and I won't kill you!"

"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please! I'll do everything!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The mother died, but the curse rebounded from the baby, destroying the monster, because he wasn't anchored enough to prevent his body from dying. The crack in the enchantment of the locket might have been minuscule, but it was enough to ensure ten years of peace anyway.

sSs

Today was the day.

His final day.

sSs

"Sirius's brother?" she whispered.

"He was a Death Eater," said Harry, "Sirius told me about him, he joined up when he was really young and then got cold feet and tried to leave – so they killed him."

"That fits!" gasped Hermione. "If he was a Death Eater, he had access to Voldemort, and if he became disenchanted then he would have wanted to bring Voldemort down!"

sSs

Today was the day he would enter history as a coward.

Today he would take the coward's way out.

"To be brave you don't have to be fearless," his brother once told him.

"I'm not brave," he replied. "I will never be."

Yet, he was drowning with a smile on his lips and the knowledge that the Dark Lord would be gone for ten years thanks to him.

sSs

"Hermione," Harry said. "Come back up here."

"What's the matter?"

"R.A.B. I think I've found him."

sSs

Ten years of peace – his only legacy to the world; a world that would never know of his sacrifice.

"I'm sorry, Harry," he thought just before he died. "I did everything I could. Now it's your turn."

Then his vision blackened.

sSs

I face death in the hope that when you meet your match,

You will be mortal once more.

R.A.B.

sSs

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sSs

Well, that's it. Not sure how that turned out, but I was inspired and then couldn't get rid of that story, exactly like with "Lily's choice", "Severus' Choice" and "Peter's Choice", so here it is.

Hope you liked it.

Ebenbild