"I do not believe Dumbledore did not explain the danger of that thing to you," Sirius said calmly. "Did you not also take a little something from me? That locket?"
"Yes, and then your house-elf destroyed it," Draco reminded him. "I did not try to trick or coax anyone. In this matter, I am more honest than you, Sirius Black!"
"What, are you here to avenge your mother?" Sirius raised an eyebrow, his tone threatening. "My dear cousin Narcissa... does she know what you are doing?"
Draco stared at him, a sudden tightness gripping his heart.
"I suspect she did not know, otherwise she would not have given away Hufflepuff's cup so easily," Sirius said calmly. "Oh, but I know what is in that cup, just like that locket... it is not simple either. They are not just Dark Magic items, nor are they just keepsakes given by the Dark Lord to his followers. Dumbledore tried to be vague with me, but he cannot fool a Black."
Draco was struck dumb.
He gripped the glass of sparkling water tightly, took a sip as a cover, and, with a slight stimulation on his tongue, peered through the glass at the unpredictable man opposite him.
He was waiting for the other party to speak up and expose Draco Malfoy's carefully carried-out secret activities, thus hindering the work that Draco Malfoy had painstakingly built up throughout his life.
Draco had foreseen this day long before he knew what Regulus was doing.
The Black family had a long and distinguished history. Families with such a rich heritage often possessed numerous books and had extensive knowledge of the Dark Arts.
Regulus was willing to risk his life to retrieve the locket, and had even considered defecting at the last minute, risking becoming a "traitor to the pure-blood family" in order to destroy it. He had probably already known that this thing was a Horcrux.
If he could figure it out, there was no reason why his brother, Sirius Black, could not.
It was only a matter of time before Sirius Black touched upon these truths.
"That is a Horcrux, is it not?" Sirius stared intently at him.
As expected. Draco's heart pounded, though his face remained expressionless.
"Does it matter whether it is or not?" Draco's voice was like an iceberg floating on the sea, with a huge unease hidden beneath its calm surface.
"You have been investigating Horcruxes in secret, have you not? You did not tell your parents, did you?" Sirius's grey eyes stared at him for a long time. "You intend to bear all of this alone, like foolish Regulus, do you not?"
His words were like sharp arrows, hitting the bullseye.
"What is it to you?" Draco said coldly after a pause. "And what makes you think Regulus is stupid?"
"Is he not stupid?" Sirius took a large gulp of Firewhisky, his eyes seemingly red. "He is a complete idiot! He knows my stance! If he wanted to oppose Voldemort, he could have come to me, we could have worked together..."
"Do not call that name!" Draco said with disgust.
"You coward!" Sirius sneered. "You are just like Regulus! You are doing things against Voldemort, but you do not dare call him by his name? I really do not understand what you Slytherins are thinking!"
"That is right. You do not understand Regulus's thoughts, nor do you understand Slytherins," Draco said coldly, a sudden pang of sadness gripping his heart.
"You do not understand what he was carrying. You do not understand what he was afraid of. You do not understand the heart of a Slytherin protecting his family."
"Draco Malfoy, do not put on this mature-for-his-years act. Just because you are a Slytherin does not mean you can understand my brother!" Sirius gave him a disdainful look. "How much do you understand Regulus? You have not even... have you ever met him in person?"
"I have not actually met him. But that does not mean I cannot empathise with him. You are saying he was being stupid by not coming to you?"
Draco retorted angrily. "If he had come to you and openly stood on your side, do you know what that would have meant? It would have meant that the Black family would be directly opposed to the Dark Lord. Would the Black family still have had a chance to survive?"
"That is all nonsense," Sirius said dismissively. "We should oppose it openly..."
Draco interrupted him.
"Why do you think great-aunt Walburga died peacefully in her bed at Grimmauld Place, instead of dying a gruesome death under Azkaban or the Dark Lord's wand?"
Draco, speaking from Regulus's perspective, imagined what he might have done. "Under those circumstances, if the Black family, as staunch supporters of the Dark Lord, were to switch sides, they would surely face his purge; continuing to openly support the old pure-blood ideology would be safer.
It was the optimal choice after weighing the pros and cons. He chose to silently sacrifice himself, secretly completing what he insisted on; at the same time, he did not want to burden the family, but instead did his utmost to preserve it."
Sirius said somewhat sullenly, "Preserve the family? That sounds very fine! If it were you, you might not be so sure..."
Draco's throat was dry from talking. He took a sip of water and finally calmly gave his conclusion. "If I were in his shoes, I would have done the same thing."
"You...!" Sirius stared at him in astonishment, as if he had just met him. "You are just a teenager, yet you dare to say such things! Do you even understand the meaning behind these words?"
"Is it hard to understand? He was willing to face all the dangers and bear all the responsibilities himself to protect his family, regardless of whether they disagreed with his beliefs or were stubborn and conservative.
He would rather drink the poison himself than let the house-elf drink it; he considered Kreacher as part of the family."
Draco said scathingly, with a mocking smile.
"Sirius Black, could you do that? What were you doing whilst he was taking on all of this? You were busy chasing freedom and upholding justice with your Gryffindor friends; you did not consider whether he could bear it all... the expectations of his family, the shattering of his faith, the fear of learning the Dark Lord's secret..."
As he spoke, Draco felt a pang of sadness.
He sympathised with Regulus, with that frail eighteen-year-old boy who had carried the weight of everything.
In some ways, he empathised with Regulus.
That feeling of loneliness... carrying a huge secret, feeling terrified, and having no one to turn to for help.
Nobody could understand him more than him.... Nobody.
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