Upside Down Mirror: A Grim Tale (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Irritable Mood

Regulus felt twitchy.

Of course, who wouldn't feel twitchy having walked right into the Ministry of Magic to turn themselves in knowing full well the end result would be a prison cell in Azkaban which didn't at all prevent the Dark Lord from having someone find and kill the one who betrayed him. Who wouldn't feel twitchy having to deal with someone who refused to acknowledge them as family, using the fact family didn't acknowledge them anymore as the excuse to do so.

Then there was the fact Regulus felt ever so rebellious.

"So, now that irresponsible fool is gone, can we talk?"

Regulus' eyes blinked, realizing he was still in Moody's office, his head tilting. "I'm not sure what there is to talk about."

"You don't." Moody's eye moved around the room in a manner that amused Regulus. "Something funny?"

"What?"

"You just laughed."

"Oh. Your eye. It keeps moving around the room as if in search of something, but you won't find anything. As I said, there's nothing to talk about."

"So, you can't give us any information regarding the Dark Lord and his followers which we'd find useful?"

Regulus' eyes blinked, his head tilting, still amused by the situation. "You seem to be mistaken and honestly think that I was privileged enough to have such information."

He watched Moody walk over, grabbing his left forearm which was now covered in bandages. "Then what do you call this? As marred as that Dark Mark was, it was recognizable to everyone there what you were, but there is no getting around the fact only his innermost circle gets that mark."

"That doesn't mean I was privy to the kind of information you want," Regulus pulled his arm away, hissing at the man, narrowing his eyes as well. "You've certainly some mistaken notion regarding my importance, but he wouldn't care either way if I lived or died. I mean, not beyond his usual wanting anybody who defects from his side to be made an example of, but I'm certainly not important enough for him to handle it himself, nor would he notice if I just suddenly died. Nobody would actually."

"Interesting." The man walked over to his desk and then sat down, putting his booted feet onto the desk. He folded his hands across his chest.

Eventually, Regulus lost his patience. "When are you going to put me into Azkaban? Bloody hell! I've got to be the easiest catch! What your lucky day, isn't it?" A thought crossed his mind and he swallowed. "Look, if you think it makes your day even luckier if I had information for you, but I really don't. I don't know what he's planning next. I don't know..."

Except he did know. He knew who three of the Death Eaters were, but Moody seemed to read his train of thoughts. "But you do know, don't you? I mean, you must in the very least know who got you involved with Voldemort, right?"

"What a logical conclusion, but surely you like everyone else suspects she is one, so what's the point of even bringing that up."

"Interesting. So you're saying this person did, in fact, get you involved with Voldemort, but you want me to believe they didn't oversee your initiation?"

"Initiation?" Regulus' mouth twisted slightly, his nose wrinkling. "What initiation?"

"Why, using the Unforgivable Curses. You have used the unforgivable curses, haven't you Regulus Arcturus Black?"

Regulus stiffened, his eyes narrowing. Absentmindedly he lifted a knuckle to his mouth, unsure of what to say. Eventually, he muttered, "Are you telling me to get thrown into Azkaban for being a bloody Death Eater I need to admit to using one of those? Fine. I did."

"Would you be able to admit as much under Veritaserum?"

"Shit."

"Interesting."

"Stop saying that."

Moody smirked at him, removing his boots from his desk and sitting up straight. "But don't you find it interesting Mr. Black?"

"What? What do you think I'd find interesting?"

"That Voldemort let you into his inner circle despite the fact you've just admitted to me you've never once used one of the unforgivable curses. I was under the distinct impression one needed to use at least one to join his lot, but all three to get into his inner circle. Yet, I have the funny feeling that if placed under the potion which induces truth from a person you wouldn't be able to say you've ever seen any of them being used either."

"Just because I wasn't directly involved in any of the torturing and killing doesn't mean I wasn't indirectly. I am just as guilty as any other Death Eater who willingly participated!" Regulus watched Moody's smile fall, his knuckle leaving his mouth. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Well, I do believe you just confirmed the suspicions some have had that there are those who aren't willingly participating, or at the very least there are those you suspect aren't. Thus if we were to place you under the Veritaserum you wouldn't be able to give us their names unless we asked you the right question, but then, I think I understand what you were trying to tell me."

"Oh?"

"Knowing the name isn't the same as knowing the crime, is it?" The smile returned to Moody's face and Regulus returned to worrying the knuckle of his finger absentmindedly. "After all,

"When you said you didn't know if there was anything for us to talk about, you meant you couldn't place names with crimes."

The smile returned to Moody's face and Regulus returned to worrying the knuckle of his finger, sucking on the tip slightly. Speaking to people was never his strong point, yet here he was speaking with Mad-Eye Moody almost as if it were an everyday conversation. He almost wanted to laugh, yet there was that odd feeling in the back of his head that would be inappropriate, given the serious turn the conversation was taking.

"Aren't you, after all, trying to take advantage of the fact Crouch's policy allows us to simply throw a Death Eater in Azkaban without a trial? Even knowing that, you know that we can't simply know a name, we need to know the crime." Mad-Eye Moody's eye continued to rove in a way Regulus found interesting. "So, what did you do for Voldemort? What would you tell me if you were under the truth spell?"

"Research." Regulus glanced away, finally pulling his hand away from his mouth.

"Interesting. That's not very specific, is it?" Moody clicked his tongue. "But then, that ability of yours that your older brother mentioned..."

"I'm not his brother," Regulus interrupted him rather quickly and started to worry his knuckle again. "He'll tell you that most emphatically."

"Voldemort knows about it though, doesn't he?"

"Well. Yes." It felt like quite the obvious thing, given everything he said.

"Well, I think I've heard enough to get some idea of the situation."

"I'm going to be placed in Azkaban then?" He felt relief at ending up where he belonged, not that he really felt as if he belonged anywhere. "At least in Azkaban I can pay the price for my crimes. It's what I owe everybody, or at least society as a whole."

"Well, you certainly can't return home, can you? That means Azkaban, as unfortunate as that may be, is the safest place for you for the time being."

Regulus glared at the man, his fingers tightening around the armrests in irritation, but the twitchiness he felt wouldn't stop. There was so much he wanted to say to the man, about the illogicalness of protecting a Death Eater. "Don't..." he hissed, "...underestimate me."