Delirium
Regulus rushed Remus into his arms and inhaled the crook of his neck. That was nice.
“Let’s go back upstairs.” He said
"Mhm." Remus only made as an agreeing noise, willing to do quite a lot right now if it meant staying close to Regulus.
Regulus gave the two of them a thankful look before dragging Remus up to their bedroom. Barty and Sirius perked up at that, Barty speaking; “Hey, Reg, you guys okay?!”
“We’re fine, Barty. Going upstairs for a while.”
Barty smiled slyly, “Gotcha.” and Evan hit his leg softly.
“Leave them alone.”
With a huff of a laugh, Regulus and Remus entered their room again.
“Hello mon amour,” Regulus said. “You with me?”
Remus glanced at Regulus through hazy eyes full of love, his eyes finding those of his boyfriend. "Mhm" he smiled a little bit, seeming perfectly happy in Regulus' presence.
“I’m really hungry, so I need to drink from you. Is that okay with you?”
Remus nodded, looking so pure in the moment.
Regulus could have most likely asked him for anything and he would have agreed.
Regulus found himself hesitant, he wanted to drink from Remus, and he knew he had to, but at the same time it felt wrong.
“Okay, I’m just going go. Un, deux, trois.”
He leaned in and sunk his teeth into Remus’ jugular and groaned. It was captivating to drink from his mate. He had tasted it last night but he didn’t let himself enjoy it last night either. Enjoying it was the easiest thing Regulus had done in his entire 19 years of life.
Remus closed his eyes and whimpered - in pain at first but it turned quickly.
Regulus moved away after a while and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He was satisfied and licked his lips.
“How are you feeling, mon amour?”
"...better...I can think again...it's kinda like...being drunk now"
Remus was getting clearer by the minute now and he smiled up at Regulus with eyes filled with love.
Regulus smiled, “I had been wanting to do that, I was just scared that I wasn’t supposed to react like that. Scabior told me it’s normal, and I have to drink from you now. If I don’t, you get like how you did and that’s dangerous.”
“Mon amour, you taste like nothing I’ve ever had before. It’s lovely.”
Remus blushed at the last part and as he spoke, he slowly sat up.
"Fenrir told me as well, don't worry. I don't mind, not at all" he smiled and leaned forward, kissing Regulus softly
Regulus kissed him back but pulled away, “I still have your blood in my mouth. Does that not taste strange to you?”
"It does but I really really just need to kiss you" Remus whispered, catching Regulus' lips again
Regulus giggled into the kiss and wrapped his arms around the back of Remus’ neck. He could melt at Remus’ touch, at all times.
“What does blood taste like to you?” He asked after pulling away again.
"Metallic...kind of like licking a sword. I can't say I like it at all but it's easy to ignore while kissing you." Remus chuckled.
He tilted his head a bit "What does it taste like for you?"
Regulus pondered, “Well, it depends on whose blood it is and where it came from, I think. I know that technically blood should taste metallic, but it doesn’t.”
“My mother tasted awful, even though she smelled good from all of her perfume. The blood in the glasses Scabior gave me were bland, like they were unseasoned or stale. You, however, taste even better than you smell. It’s not exactly spicy? But it’s warm and smoky, almost. It’s also kind of sweet.”
Remus just nodded, listening, holding Regulus close. He loved the moment, just sitting with Regulus, talking, being close. It was beautiful.
It had to be way past an hour or so later when there was a knock on their door and Scabior's voice rung through the door.
"You two okay in there? We're about to eat lunch, just wanted to tell you that and check on you" He waited for an answer.
Regulus groaned lightly and lifted himself from admiring Remus.
“Yes, we’re okay. You can open the door if you want to.” he looked down at Remus
“You need to eat too, I’m quite full still.”
Scabior carefully opened the door and chuckled as he saw them all cuddled up
"You two look happy, that's nice. We're actually planning on eating in the tavern, celebrating being back a little" Scabior explained with a smile
Remus wasn't all too displeased with the idea, looking at Regulus.
The last time Regulus had been in the tavern he was taken, and none of them had expected it. He couldn’t even remember it. The thought of staying in there again for an extended period of time made him uneasy.
He nodded at Remus, trying to hide his hesitation. “If you want to we can, I just want to stay close to you.”
"You'll probably like it, don't worry" Scabior said ominously before leaving
Remus looked a little confused but got out of bed "Okay now I want to see"
Regulus couldn’t deny that he was also curious and got up too.
“Let’s go see, I guess.”
It became very apparent when they entered the tavern what Scabior had meant.
Minnie and Poppy were sitting at the regular table, talking to Fenrir. Regulus felt his heart drop and his eyes widened as he stopped in the doorway of the tavern.
He was just thinking about Poppy and Minnie, and now they’re both here. His mother figures. He hadn’t seen them in months.
He must have made a noise because Poppy immediately looked up and smiled at him, which made Minerva look up and give him a small smile too. All he wanted to do was listen to his inner child and embrace them, but he tried to contain himself.
Poppy got up and opened her arms for Regulus to hug her, it was evident in her eyes how much she had been worrying about him.
Remus sat down next to - who he then realized - was Snatcher posing as Fenrir.
"I can tell, you know?" Remus chuckled quietly, not looking at him when he tried to keep the act up.
Snatcher looked away from Regulus and Poppy with his eyes and grinned at Remus before moving his eyes back to them. Regulus was obviously holding back tears as he hugged Poppy back.
“I’m a little more observant than Fenrir and none of us want a repeat of the last time we were all together in here. Good eye, kid.”
Remus nodded. Evan was sitting close by and was eyeing the book he had brought.
"I'll never understand this stuff, ever" he chuckled and Remus looked up
"It's really not as hard as you might think, see?" He opened a page and showed it to Evan, starting to explain.
Scabior joined them, putting an arm around Snatcher, smiling. "The children are all doing very well, it is nice to see, isn't it?"
Snatcher smiled at Scabior, “Yeah, it is. They deserve a break.”
Remus talked for a while and mindlessly reached for Snatcher's cup that one of the barmaids had just set down, not having gotten his own drink yet. He quickly set it back down with a disgusted face though while Evan laughed at him.
Scabior raised an eyebrow, looking from Remus to the drink and then Snatcher "What are you drinking?"
Snatcher frowned and sniffed the cup, “It’s just water—“ and then he smelled it for longer and pushed it away. “Silver. There’s silver.”
Snatcher stood up to find the barmaid that had given him the water while panic from those that had heard ensued. Someone was trying to poison him.
She was nowhere to be found, but Remus, not having heard being as deep in his discussion with Evan as he was, looked up, blinking confused
...
blinking more
...
everything was a little blurry.
Regulus snapped his head over to Remus, he somehow felt something was wrong and Scabior and Evan were sitting close to Remus who looked out of it.
He immediately rushed over to his mate.
“What happened??” He asked with barely contained fear, lifting Remus’ chin and looking into his eyes. They looked faded.
Snatcher came back into the cavern with a frustrated growl. “She’s gone.”
Evan also looked at Regulus with a questioning look "I don't know? I mean the water tasted kinda weird but..." he shrugged
Scabior put this hands on Snatcher's shoulders, trying to calm himself and indirectly speaking to Regulus as well "It's okay, Remus is with us, not alone. He won't get hurt. We maybe shouldn't leave him in the loud tavern with all the noise and lights but who ever did this was clearly not doing their homework."
“What did they do?” Regulus demanded.
Snatcher spoke up, “Someone spiked my water with silver, and Remus drank from it. Can you guys get him out of here? Take him to the common room or a bedroom. I’m going to try to find her again.”
Regulus shook his head in disbelief and anger but gestured at Evan to help him get Remus up,
“Are you with me, mon amour?”
"Yeah, yeah sure" Remus nodded.
Suddenly, Xeno spoke up "Do you mean that black haired girl with the skeleton face? She looked kind of crazy and then I blinked and she was gone so either she is outside or she vanished"
Regulus hissed at that, “Putain de merde, I know who she is. Bellatrix. My cousin. She worked with Riddle.”
A bunch of faces looked at him as they all connected the dots.
Scabior clenched his jaw and looked out the window, forcing himself to take deep breaths.
"If anyone goes looking, it's Regulus, Sirius, Marlene and me. I have a really bad feeling about it" he hissed.
Snatcher fidgeted at that, “Alright. I’ll watch over everyone here then and make sure Remus doesn’t hurt himself. He’s probably going to hallucinate with how little silver was put into it.”
Regulus was affronted at that, he didn’t want to leave Remus at all but he didn’t want to not obey Scabior either. “Alright,” He said reluctantly, “but if anything happens to Remus while I’m gone, be prepared to be scalped or skinned by me.”
Scabior waited for Marlene and Sirius to be ready as well before quickly kissing Snatcher and leaving in a hurry
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Poppy watched Remus for a moment, worried, before turning to Snatcher "Dear, Minnie and I can take care of the tavern, you go take Remus somewhere quiet"
Snatcher frowned at being called ‘dear’ but nodded. “Thank you,” he said and carried Remus to his office. He was already shivering.
Remus was leaning against Snatcher as he carried him, feeling cold and seeking out his warmth, trying to stop the shivering.
Snatcher set Remus down in the chair, and closed the curtains since cold air could be bouncing off of it. He then started a fire in the fireplace of the office hoping it would help.
Luckily Fenrir kept some blankets in the desk for emergencies, so Snatcher wrapped Remus in it and watched just in case Remus started hallucinating. He didn’t feel the need to speak.
Remus just watched Snatcher do all that, not moving much himself, more focusing on how everything was kind of turning into shapes and colors. It was disorienting, really, but it happened where ever he looked and so there wasn't really any escaping the dizzy making visual.
“Close your eyes.”
Remus did so immediately and while his head was still spinning, the colors went away ...however they returned in front of his closed eyelids just a short while later and Remus was damn near crying when he couldn't find relief.
Snatcher looked at Remus in concern, but there was nothing much he could do about it. He was here to stop Remus from harming himself, other than that they both would have to sit here.
Evan came in with the bucket and Snatcher nodded in thanks to him,
“You can stay outside the door.”
“Remus, I have a bucket here if you feel sick.”
When he heard Snatcher's voice, he blindly reached out for him, somehow managing to grab his hand, in need of comfort.
Snatcher held Remus’ hand tight,
“It’s okay pup, it will be over eventually.”
Remus whimpered and leaned against Snatcher, unaware that the wolf was kind of helpless when it came to comfort like that
Snatcher made him feel safe just by being there, really, just like Fenrir. And him being around made it slightly more bearable.
Finally, Remus gathered to courage and energy to speak up "Hey can you...hold me? I'm still...cold...and scared...this is terrifying"
Snatcher made a noise of acknowledgment and immediately got up to hold Remus, but there wasn’t much room on the chair so he moved them to the ground. He also tightened the blanket around Remus’ shoulders and hugged him from behind.
He knew that was how Remus would get the most heat because Snatcher was burning up in the hot office, so he was probably a radiator himself.
Remus immediatly seemed so much more relaxed, breathing calmer and leaning his head against Snatcher's chest. They would sit together like this until Scabior and the others came back, or until Remus changed his mind.
"...Thank you" Remus whispered after a while with no intention to move. He was simply grateful that Snatcher was there, taking care of him.
Snatcher nodded, “You’re welcome, I’m here.”
Remus seemed almost asleep in Snatcher's arms which he took as a good sign.
------------
Regulus followed Scabior closely, and Marlene and Sirius weren’t far behind them either. They searched the other direction.
Sirius and Regulus knew what Bellatrix looked like and smelled like the best, and Marlene having been in Tom’s coven knew her a little too. Sirius was with Scabior since Scabior didn’t know her at all.
They had followed her scent out of the tavern but it disappeared after a few feet. So they decided to check miles around the tavern into the mountains to see if it picked up again. So far, it had not.
"She can't just...disappear?!" Marlene exclaimed, frustrated.
Regulus shared Marlene’s sentiment, where could Bella have gone?
“Do you think she used some kind of magic?”
"Likely, she lived with Tom after all" Marlene grumbled "Didn't think I could hate her even much but here we are"
Regulus nodded, “She wasn’t always so bad, but something changed.”
"That she did, lying snake" Marlene muttered to herself, still searching just like everyone else.
Regulus frowned feeling that Marlene had some history with Bella but he didn’t want to ask now, though the curiosity was there.
"It's okay, you can ask. We can share how much of a cunt she is" Marlene sighed
"She slept with Tom, while we were dating and then they tried to tell me it never happened"
"Do you have that telepathy thing too?”
He asked after a moment of shocked silence.
Wasn’t Bella way younger than Tom? That’s a lot of audacity that Regulus knew Bella had but he couldn’t help but feel like a shocked cat.
Marlene shook her head, but didn't get to say anything as Scabior and Sirius came walking over.
“Did you find anything?” Regulus asked.
Both men shook her head "If she really is using magic, it is my job to prepare you three for when they attack again"
Scabior seemed dead set on teaching them magic.
Regulus just nodded, he wanted to learn magic. There’s a lot he should know, and he can better defend himself and others with it.
"We should practice every day at first to get you started with the basic. I don't want to see any of you trying this alone" Scabior's eyes mainly rested on Sirius.
“Sounds good to me,” Regulus said with a shrug.
He looked at Sirius to see what was wrong.
Sirius rolled his eyes "That was once and like...three years ago, but yes, I'll listen this time"
"Let's go back, see how everyone else is doing, yes?"
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Snatcher looked towards the door, hearing a knock, “Do you want me to get up and grab that or just tell them to come in? I’m betting that’s Scabior and Regulus.” he used his hands to gesture for Remus to take for the options he gave, in case Remus couldn’t talk.
Remus took a moment to process before taking the hand Snatcher had held out for just telling them to come in. He didn't want to move or for Snatcher to move, he still wanted the comfort.
“You can come in!” Snatcher yelled.
Scabior opened the door and Regulus walked in slowly, though all he wanted to do was run to Remus. He knew that wouldn’t be a good idea if Remus was still hallucinating.
He walked over and kneeled by Snatcher and Remus with a small smile. He would let Scabior do the debriefing, he only had eyes for Remus.
Scabior sat down as well, a bit worried but relaxed when Remus reached out for Regulus and pulled him closer. Scabior kissed the top of Snatcher's head
"You did very well in taking care of him, pup. He is much more stable than I had hoped him to see. He must have felt incredibly safe around you"
Snatcher smiled, and if he was in his physical form his tail would certainly we wagging but he turned away hiding that smile. He did have an image to uphold.
“I know.” he said.
He was actually very happy about that, Remus and Moony really were like his sons.
Regulus was planting a kiss on Remus’ jaw before resting his head under Remus’ chin.
"Wouldn't hurt you to be a bit humble sometimes and just take the compliments" Remus mumbled, still sleepy, having heard the exchange.
Scabior looked and him and did his best to hide his laugh, but mostly failed.
Snatcher dropped his jaw in mock offense, “How dare you, I know how to be humble. And I can take a compliment!”
It was a lie, and he knew it.
Regulus huffed a laugh and hid his face in the crook of Remus’ neck to stop from laughing more.
“I hate you all,” Snatcher said with a grin.
"No you love us" Remus mumbled with a tired laugh,the noticeable atmosphere shift doing wonders for his mental state.
Regulus smiled up at Remus’ face, happy to have felt him laugh. He kissed his jaw again. Snatcher hummed, “Yeah, I guess I do.” he said with fake indifference.
“You’re all a pain in my ass though.” he replied to his own comment fondly.
Scabior at this point really deserved a medal for how well he was holding it together as he out an arm around Snatcher, pressing his face again hus shoulder to stifle the laughing
"I love you" Remus whispered as Regulus kissed his jaw
“I love you too, mon amour.” Regulus whispered back.
Remus yawned, leaning more against Regulus now and Scabior caught on immediately
"Why don't you two go to bed? It was a really really long day for the both of you"
Regulus hid a yawn and groaned, hiding himself in Remus’ chest. He nodded but didn’t want to get up either. Snatcher laughed and lifted the two of them up since Regulus and Remus had practically glued themselves together. He held them up until they both planted their feet.
Regulus walked Remus to the door but turned back at Scabior and Snatcher with a small but genuine smile, “Thank you.” he said.
"Of course, good night you two, make sure to rest enough, yes"
Remus only nodded, if he had been able to he would have probably fallen asleep standing.
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