You lie wrapped in Regulus’s arms, your head resting against his bare chest. One of his hands is in your hair, the other lazily tracing your spine.

"You’re different, you know," he says, his voice soft. "Not just... powerful. Something else. Something you never talk about."

You stiffen slightly, and his hand stills.

"It’s because I have to be," you murmur. "There’s a reason I never lose people. A reason why I’m never... devastated when someone d!es."

He shifts to face you, his eyes searching yours. "What do you mean?"

You inhale deeply. "My magic," you whisper. "I can bring people back. But every time I do, I lose a piece of myself. Emotions, memories, warmth. I’m not the same person I was five years ago... and I won’t be the same five years from now if I keep using it."

Regulus is silent for a long moment. His hand cups your face, his thumb brushing your cheek. "How many people?"

You close your eyes. "Enough."

The silence returns, heavier now.

Then he says, "I want to destroy a h0rcrux."

Your eyes snap open. "Regulus—"

"I know it’s dangerous," he cuts in. "But V0Idemort can’t be defeated unless we start breaking him apart."

"You don’t know what you're getting into," you hiss. "Those things are protected by the darkest magic. They’re designed to k/II anyone who gets close."

"And I’d rather d!e fighting him than live in a world where he wins."

You look at him. "Don’t say that."

He leans forward and kisses your forehead, softly, reverently. "I’m not afraid," he says. "And I trust you to survive — no matter what happens."

You don’t answer. You can’t. Because you know what his de4th would cost you... and what saving him would cost more.

---

The cave is silent, save for the slow drip of water echoing off stone. The lake is still, black and bottomless. The basin on the pedestal is empty now.

Draco stands near the water’s edge, his wand drawn but trembling. Mattheo paces restlessly, unable to look. Theodore stares into the shadows, his jaw clenched. Tom stands just behind you, his eyes never leave the basin.

You’re all too late.

Regulus lies crumpled on the cold stone floor. The basin that once held the potion guarding the h0rcrux is empty. He drank it. All of it. Alone.

He gasps, writhing weakly, his skin already turning pale. His eyes flutter open just long enough to find yours.

"I had to do it," he rasps. "It had to be me."

You fall to your knees beside him, gathering him into your arms. Your fingers brush his soaked shirt, feel the cold sweat, the tremble in his limbs. He’s slipping away, fast.

"You were supposed to wait for me!" you cry, your voice cracking. "We were supposed to do this together!"

He manages the ghost of a smile. "I couldn’t let you risk..."

You shake your head violently, tears spilling down your cheeks. "Don’t say that. Don’t— Regulus, please—"

"I love you, {{user}}... I will always-," he whispers.

Draco takes a step forward. "Is he—?"

"No," you whisper. "He’s not."

But then his body goes still in your arms.

Your scream tears from your chest like something alive. It slashes through the air, a sound so broken it shakes the stone walls of the cave.

It’s not just pain.

It’s devastation.

A sound torn from the deepest part of your soul — the place where love used to live.

No spell can silence it.

No magic can soothe it.

It is the sound of something sacred being ripped away.

Mattheo turns away, his jaw tight. Theodore lowers his head. Draco’s knuckles whiten around his wand. Even Tom looks at you with a strange stillness — as though seeing something terrifying begin to rise.

Because it is rising.

The magic in you awakens — black, ancient, bound by bl00d and soul. You feel it reach for Regulus’s lifeless form.

You don’t have to lose him. Not yet. Just say the words. Pay the price.

You could bring him back.

You could have him again.

But you know what it will cost.

Not just your magic.

Not just your soul.

But everything that makes you, you.

Draco steps closer. "What are you going to do?"

Do you let him go?

Or do you save him... and become something else.