alt_sirius | Order Only: Private Message to Remus

It's pretty quiet for a Friday. I think the rain's keeping people home.

How are you feeling?

Drained. But ... better.

She said something. She said that it was the way Reg was treated that made her stop and think. Seeing how he was 'thrown away' made her realise that even people like her weren't safe. I told her to think bigger, that it wasn't just Voldemort or his 'Council' that created a tiered society. That it was already buggered up long before that, that it's the idea that a pureblood or a magical person can be worth more than another is what gave rise to a society where Voldemort could hold power.

I didn't want to put it too baldly or press too hard. Maybe she'll think about it.

And I dunno if it was clever or not but maybe she'll think about how perfect he wasn't.

Reg, you mean?

Or Tony Parkinson?

Reg, yeah.

She never mentioned her father. Or Malfoy, for that matter.

Which is good because I think I'd best confine myself to tearing down one hero at a time.

And glad I didn't send her to bloody Kreacher. Talk about hero worship, these youngsters have nothing on him.

Well, she's thrown in her lot with our side. Do you think she realises just how deeply she's in? Malfoy wouldn't protect her, if she were caught. Not for something like this. He couldn't, even if he wanted to.

Maybe she believes that Reg would have come to our side eventually, if he'd lived longer. Maybe she believes that he killed himself because it was the only way he could think of to leave the side he'd chosen.

She has done but for how long? I don't think she'd thought of what's wrong with the Protectorate beyond the fact that there's a lunatic in charge of it. And if she doesn't realise that the wound goes deeper than the last fifteen years, then how many others?

I don't know if she cares whether his opinions were evolving, or not. She doesn't seem to realise that he still, after everything, didn't accept that muggles or muggleborns have the same inherent rights as wizards or that wizards were not entitled to better lives by dint of their magic. I tried to be gentle about that. Mostly stories from when we were younger. A little bit here and there of the things that drove him to continually try to prove to Mother and Father that he was the good son, their true legacy, all that rot.

And as for suicide being his only means of escape from Voldemort - well, that's part of why I changed, isn't it? Because I couldn't stand to admit to her that ... that it's my fault.

The fact that you were not able to rescue your brother from the Lord Protector's clutches doesn't make what he did to Regulus your fault.

Any more than Thomas Capper's death is Alice's fault.

No. But the fact that Reg thought he had nowhere else to turn is.

Padfoot.

Do you think there is anything at all that Bill could say to Percy that would pull him out of Lucius Malfoy's...pocket? That would wake him up to what he's doing, to who he's serving, to what this world is like?

If Percy Weasley comes to a terrible and tragic end, do you think Bill and Charley Weasley ought to blame themselves for it?

You're sweet and it's late and I'm much too sober for this conversation.

I understand where you're going, puppy, but it's not the same thing. I'll grant that at the time, Reg seemed just as cocksure as Percy Weasley is now. But there were signs .... Things I could have done to win back his trust. At least not send him practically running into the Death Eaters' open arms.

And for Merlin's sake, don't go mentioning a terrible and tragic end for Percy in front of Molly. She's been fragile enough this week as it is.

Look. I'm for bed. There's a certain almost-two-year-old who shall be wanting attention irrespective of how much sleep we've all got the night before. And before you point out my 'nap' this evening I'll just say that the afternoon was about as exhausting as running all the way to Hogwarts from New London.

Perks found me to send up to you about ten minutes after I encountered Molly weeping in a quiet corner, so don't worry, I won't bring up Percy.

Things are closed up here and the dishes are nearly done. I'll be home soon.

Personally, I've stopped worrying about a terrible and tragic end for Percy.

I just hope it doesn't come at the end of one of our wands. I think that might just about kill Molly.

Cheerful, you are, too.

Might already be asleep. Wake me if I am.

Order Only: Private Message to Remus

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