Chapter 4
He came to with a thud as his head fell to the floor. He tried to stretch his leg out but it met hard wood with another thud. He was in the cupboard. Fuck.
How the hell was he awake?
Shuffling for comfort, he leaned on the door, expecting it to be locked, and it pushed open. Shocked, he scrambled and fell out, rolling onto the floor of his fathers office, groaning as he tried to pick himself up. He blinked, adjusting to the light.
He looked around but instead of his father, he saw a crowd of… ginger children? What the fuck? Squinting he looked at each one until he caught a pair of eyes that stopped him dead.
“What the salazar fuck are you doing here?!” His brother couldn’t be here. He couldn’t. Was he trying to get himself killed?
“Reggie?” his brother said, a whisp of a word that could almost be missed if not for the bone dry silence that enveloped the surprisingly dirty room.
“Go away, do you want to get killed? You need to leave now before father gets back, ” He frantically turned to look at the door, like the man would appear any second, he was not there. Instead in his search he was reminded of the several random people scattered around the room, his eyes landing on the nearest, an old ginger man, “and who the fuck are you?”
The man’s eyes nervously glanced around, presumably from person to person. Regulus followed his gaze to find a familiar face. Remus Lupin stood closest to him, white as a sheet and looking like he’d just seen a ghost. Regulus was about to say something to the scarred man before a shaky voice cut him off.
“Is it a boggart?”
Regulus flicked his eyes back to his brother and found a look of pure fear on his face.
“I BEG YOUR PARDON?” Regulus exclaimed. He’d never been so insulted before. A boggart? A fucking boggart?
“No, that’s Regulus alright,” Lupin said, sliding his eyes from Regulus to Sirius, the two having a silent conversation which seemed to relieve Sirius momentarily, before he was flooded with a wave of panic.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I would still like to know what the fuck is going on here, if you would be so kind,” Regulus snapped, looking at the two.
Sirius looked taken aback and started to stutter out a reply when Lupin interrupted him, grabbing Sirius’ wrist to steady him.
“Regulus,” he spoke softly, “what year do you think it is?”
“1978?” He replied, confused.
Lupin nods his head, the cogs visibly turning in his head as he processes Regulus’ reply. Sirius looks like he’s trying not to throw up.
“It’s-“ Sirius pauses, clearing his throat before he continues, voice steadier this time, “It’s 1993, Regulus.”
“What, don’t be stupid Sirius it’s not 19- it’s 1978, July 1978 i’m seventeen and you're nineteen-“ he stops. Sirius isn’t nineteen, in front of him is an old man, and Lupin just the same, gray hairs littering his tawny curls. But fifteen years? No it couldn’t be poss-
As he scanned the faces in the crowd, a bespeckled boy stopped him short, “-is that?” But it’s not, it can’t be. Because this boy is impossibly younger than James had been in years since Regulus last saw him.
“Harry,” Sirius said, following his eyeline, “that’s Harry, James’ son”
Regulus felt like he had been punched in the gut- James’ son? He didn’t need to ask who the mother was, green eyes as bright as those could only be from her, the beautiful, fiery, red haired woman who’d haunted Regulus’ dreams.
“Regulus?“
He didn’t. He couldn’t. He had to get out of here. He struggled to pick himself up from the floor, ribs broken and perhaps an ankle too, but he barely felt it. Ignoring his brother as he dragged himself up and made his way swiftly to his room.
He locked his bedroom door and checked the wards, still perfectly in tact. He looked around the room, it was disgusting. He didn’t think. He just got to work cleaning his room. He didn’t think. He ached and eventually he had no choice but to lie down in bed, the sheets smelled like Sirius.
He was exhausted and would have fallen asleep in the middle of the day if not for the discomfort he felt, well, everywhere. Who would have thought someone could last fifteen years under stasis? Fifteen years.
Regulus had been in pain for fifteen years.
Who was he kidding? Regulus had been in pain his entire life.