Chapter 1
Growing up, Regulus knew he wasn’t considered ‘normal’; he’d always been an oddity of sorts. Now, he certainly wasn’t the black sheep in the family, or should he say the white sheep? After all, this was The Most Ancient and Nobel House of Black, but no, that’s besides the point, that spot had already belonged to Sirius, especially after his first year of Hogwarts. It’s normal to be curious about the world, to want to ask questions, you just needed to learn who to ask, but Sirius was never able to grasp that like Regulus did. And after Hogwarts, where Sirius had already besmirched the family legacy by being sorted into Gryffindor of all places, seemed to throw all of their families teachings out the window, just to return home unrecognisable to Regulus. Sirius who was tall standing and proud of his bloodline came back more loud and consuming, always wanting to challenge their mother and to stubborn to quit while he was ahead, could never and would never again abide to the unspoken rules within the family; yes, he was the white sheep of the family, growing up to be a true Gryffindor, full of this self righteous ‘I’m better than you’ attitude. Gone was the brother he knew and loved, and here was the doom of Regulus’ livelihood.
Meanwhile Regulus? He was simply one of those few children who fell victim to an early dose of Black madness. An oddity.
(”Your behaviour is inexcusable Sirius Orion Black!” Her voice was grating, like claws dragging across chalkboards. A splatter of mixed blood and spit hit the polished would, it sounded like a slap to the face.
”Feel’s like…ha- like you’re losing edge..” He broke off with a wet cough, “you ratty old hag!-“)
Regulus always wondered if this where some sort of wandless, wordless magic, this out of body buzzing relief, it felt as though he was under water-
(“Crusio” The word slipped out so seamlessly, like a measly sigh, if only the gut wrenching, stomach curling scream that came after could adopt that same soft tone. The body tweaked and spasmed, turning and arching into unnatural positions that no human body should be able take.)
It felt like the water was encompassing him into a gentle embrace, so much like how Siri-
(“I’m so-sorry…please-!” The voice was choked with pure agony, each breath sounded as though there was a hole in his chest, wheezing and whistling.
”Tsk, pathetic, I thought you would never beg, but now look at you, a blubbering mess” She spoke with a voice of pure unfiltered disdain, “Regulus-“)
Suddenly the calm waters turned to urgent rampant wave, crashing along cliff sides, pulling him and tugging him to deepest part the water had to offer, his ears began to burst from the pressure, it felt as though a needle was trying to embed itself into his head, and only way was through his ear-
“Regulus!” It was a clap of thunder, and he awoke again. Regulus lifted his head and stared directly into his mothers eyes, sometimes it felt like looking into a mirror, Regulus always felt proud to share his mothers eyes, she was the most powerful witch he had ever seen, he felt his lips tick up at the corners, he has her attention, this was new.
”Sorry Maman, I…didn’t get that?” His voice sounded small, he had the strangest feeling, like millions of of spiders where swarming him, he needed to scratch, he needed to pick and pull at his skin it was to tight-tightitghttight,
She gave him a look over once before turning around again, “I’m sure you have plenty off study to be doing, to ensure you do not fall behind next year, so off with you, to your room.” And suddenly the spiders were gone.
He straightened up, preparing to leave when suddenly he remembered. It was Sirius, the screams, the begging, the bloody coughs, it was his bro- Sirius, it was Sirius, the shaking pile on the floor, all swollen, red, blue and purple, and it was still Sirius. Ripples began in his stomach, it’s uncomfortable, it must be hunger, he hadn’t had supper yet, to busy with hearing out his mother, she always had important things to say, its such a shame that it takes Sirius being a screwup for her to share her teachings. She always seemed more firm then, he didn’t understand why. “To your room Regulus, I shouldn’t need to repeat myself to you” Her voice was clipped, he should listen to her and go. And so he did, without a second look.
The food didn’t help.
He left….?
Just like that?
”Why can’t you be more like Regulus?” Her voice was sweet, soft and so very wrong, “I don’t like hurting you, I swear it, you are my child, my flesh and blood who I’ve carried for nine months inside me! So please,” Her hand cupped his face, cradling him like she did care, as if she were telling the Merlin and Morgana truth, “stop resisting me, stop pushing away your family.” Her eyes looked like crystals washed over with unshed tears.
It made his blood boil.
”Liar.” One word. No cracks. No wet coughs. No wheezing.
Crack.
His head flew to the side.
The door slammed shut. Again.
Everything felt electrified, his nerves felt as though they were flaring, and his skin felt like it would melt off of his bones, and then his bones would disintegrate. His body wouldn’t stop twitching, his head kept rapping the floor with each jerk. No, he can’t pity himself, not yet, he needs to leave, now.
He pushed himself up to his elbows, head already swimming, he felt half blind as is, yet he could tell he wasn’t far off from a migraine. Each time he dragged himself forwards he had to clamp down on his tongue or else he’d be howling from the pain. But he made it, and he’ll keep making it.
At least that’s what he keeps telling himself as he clenches the floo powder, he continues to tell himself intentionally as he stutters the words “Potter Manor”, and he tells himself again before he can cry about how no green flames came to envelope him and pull him from this nightmare,
But he did make it,
St. Mungo’s Hospital.
Mary had been working at St. Mungo’s Hospital for only two years now, she still felt as though she were just a student, she was definitely being treated like one. She had yet to be trusted to take charge on a patient, even now she had been sent off to ‘organise’ the potion supply closet. There was nothing to be done, this was literally the most organised and tidy area she had ever seen, in fact she felt as though she’d do more harm than good here. Sliding down the door until she was sitting on the floor, Mary could do nothing but scream her frustration into her medical gown.
Whosh.
The roar of the chimney echoed from outside the closet. Someone had come in from the floo, and if that was a crash she heard that came after, this person was definitely injured. Mary quickly pushed herself up off the floor and fumbled with the door knob trying to get to this person as soon as possible. Just as well, she could barely hold in a gasp of horror by the bloodied sight in front of her.
She ran forwards and knelt by the man- no this was a boy, a teenager, dear Morgana, who would be so cruel. She tried to turn the boy onto his back except the boy let out a yowl, the injuries looked so horrific and animalistic it makes sense that the boy’s agony would sound just like an animals cry for help. “I know, I do, I’m going to help okay don’t worry” It was the only bit of comfort she could offer this child while trying to asses the injuries.
”Help! I’m going to ned help out here!” Mary shouted with pure urgency, it wasn’t long before more healers came rushing to the aid.
Everything was buzzing, like pins and needles. It felt like there was cotton stuffed in his ears.
”-oy mean?..take him…..let him res-“ Sirius felt as though he was clawing his way to consciousness, hanging on desperately to that familiar voice. Euphemia Potter. Opening his eyes was like prying open a hippogriffs jaws, eyes sight bleary and out of focus, he tried to take in the fuzzy figures by his bedside. A groan slipped its way out his mouth alerting everyone he was awake. “Oh Sirius! You’re awake” Euphemia’s voice was shaky but so soft and caring, a voice of a mother.
Pushing himself further up the bed so that he could be up right, Sirius tried to ask, “Wha- haa…what is going on..?” Except his throat felt like it was on fire as if he had been screaming for hours.
(The spell struck him abruptly, and the pain was all consuming, his blood felt as though it turned to acid, bubbling up, tearing his veins apart. His bones felt like they were scraping against each other and his muscles felt like they were turning into shredded meat. He wants it to stop, he begged it to stopstopstop-)
Oh, right, that’s because he had. And now he was at St. Mungo’s, because his mother tried to kill him. Sirius couldn’t seem to catch his breath, each inhale felt as though his ribs would shatter, while every exhale felt like flames dancing in his lungs.
A gentle hand ran through his hair bringing him back to the present. He was safe now. “Drink some water Sirius, take it slow oaky? We’re not going anywhere, were right here with you” Euphemia spoke slowly, her voice more stable, reassuring, as she urged him to take a drink from he cup in her hand. They all sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting for Sirius to calm down, and get his bearings. Now that he’s had a chance to properly come to, he realised that James was also here, rubbing circles on his back soothingly, “Okay, I’m okay now.” He spoke slowly, his voice raspy as he leant into the comforting presence of his friend.
”You don't have to be mate,” Came James’ voice, “Merlin, I can’t believe that they actually did this, I swear I’ll kill those twats!-“
”James! This is not the time-“ Before she could finish her sentence the doors into Sirius’ hospital room swung open. Two men walked in, one was short and stocky, age fraying the edges of the mans eyes, while the other man was tall and looked to only be a few years older than Sirius himself, in fact he looked vaguely familiar-
“Gideon..is that you?” Sirius couldn’t keep the shock out of his voice, and judging from James’ face, he was just as shocked. The man gave them both a friendly smile.
”That’s right Black, I'm surprised you guessed right, usually everyone gets me and Fabian mixed up” Gideon said, lacing humour into his voice, skilfully easing the previously growing tension.
James began to crack a smile before replying, matching his tone to Gideon’s, “That’s because Fabian wouldn't shut up about moving to Italy for the entirety of seventh year, Merlin he was a yapper!”
”Ha, dead right Potter, I thought I was going to throttle him before the end of the year, but, he made it in the end I’ll give him that much.” Gideon said whilst dragging a chair to Sirius’ bedside. Before any further nostalgic stories could be shared between the three, the shorter man cut in with a rather severe tone.
”Enough chit-chat Gideon,” The man reprimanded before turning back to Sirius and the Potter’s “Good evening, my name is Alastor Moody, and I shall be the head auror on this case, and Prewett shall be assisting me, we are here to ask a few routine on the night of your…attack.” The man, Moody, said.
Sirius couldn’t help but grimace at the phrasing of what happened. Thankfully Euphemia recognised his discomfort and cut in, “Thank you very much for coming but, ah- I'm not sure now is the best time for questioning” Her voice sounding as uncertain as she looked while glancing at Sirius.
”I understand the apprehension, but I need you to understand the importance of answering these questions, with the medical report we have of your injuries, paired with a statement form you, Sirius, we’d be able to gain a warrant for your parents arrest giving us time to gather enough evidence to send your parents to Azkaban due to their use of..” Moody’s face grew shadowed with disgust as he spat the word “unforgivable’s”
Both Euphemia and James stiffened by the reveal of the use of unforgivable’s. “How?-“
”The use of unforgivable’s is an extremely serious crime mister Black, meaning the side effects have been studied extensively by healers so that they can be identified in victims, and your report is covered in all the tells.” Moody’s words were nothing but facts, undeniable facts. Sirius couldn’t lie to himself, he was feeling convinced to give a statement, the idea of such telling evidence right there was certainly motivating, except that fear from the horrific night was still managing to hold him back, and Gideon could definitely tell as he was the next to speak.
”Listen Black, if you do agree to give a statement and to later follow through in pressing charges for child abuse, which would be a separate case to the one me and Moody are currently overlooking, you would absolutely be gaining top notch protection from the auror’s and ministry of magic due t the severity of the situation.” Sirius bit the inside of his cheek, mulling over what both Moody and Gideon have told him. A bronzed yet comforting hand reached ou and took hold of his own shaky hand.
It was James, “Mate, whatever you decide, we’ll stand with you. Right mum?” Sirius looked over to where Euphemia was sitting. She looked back at him with soft eyes and a warm smile. ”That’s right, both of us, and Monty will support you in whatever decision you make” Euphemia agreed without any hesitation.
”Okay, I’ll do it, whatever it is you need, I’ll do it.” Sirius’ voice was filled with determination, he would do this. He would make it.
And so the process began. It was long, and honestly? Scary. Sirius was asked a bunch of questions ranging from what he remembered leading up to the attack to anything that may have happened after the attack. Both Euphemia and James stuck by him throughout. Later when the question on taking memories for evidence came up Sirius felt confident enough to give them up freely. He was going to make sure those bastards were sent Azkaban for as long as possible.
It had been a two weeks since Sirius had runaway and there had been no news. It’s as if Sirius had never existed, neither mother nor father have said a word about the incident. Regulus figured that if they weren’t going to say anything about it then there was nothing to be said, except Regulus couldn’t help but feel miffed? Is that the right word? He didn’t understand why Sirius left, sure mother was far more extreme than normal, but Sirius was the one who kept pushing her buttons. Why does he always do that?
Regulus always found his brother to be a rather curious person, he stood out from the rest of the family even before Hogwarts. His personality had always clashed with the family image. Really curious. Regulus sat on the cushioned windowsill staring out onto the street, his finger tapping on his ’History of Magic’ school book. The glass continued to fog up with each breath he released, like the only evidence that he was alive.
Watching as the condensation shrank into a nonexistent spot on the window Regulus spotted a group of cloaked wizards and witch’s approached Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Interesting. Putting down the book, Regulus moved out to the hallway and sat at the top of the stairs directly across from the front door, he sat, he watched and he waited. A knock at the door.
The click-clack of his mother’s heels rang out, like a countdown, 3, 2, 1. The door was opened.
A tall woman stood at the forefront of the group, shoulders straight and head held high. The woman moved to show an identification card before announcing the reason for their arrival, “Mrs. Black, we have come with a warrant from the ministry of magic for the arrests of yourself and your husband, Orion Black, we ask for your cooperation and peacefully follow us the the ministry for questioning.” The silence that followed was thick with tension, only worsening at the new presence of Orion himself.
Then all chaos broke loose.
His mother tried to quickly slam the door but the auror’s already had there wands out and blasted the door off its hinges, slamming into his mothers shoulder as it flew back. His father was quick to whip out his own wand from his sleeve firing of a quick arrange of hex’s, leaving enough time for his mother to regain her barring and join the vicious dual.
The sound of spells and hex’s along with grunts of pain were all that could be heard, Regulus remained seated at the top of the stairs, wrapping his arms around the support beam of the railing, hugging it into his side. He could feel the water rising again, up, up, up, until the water reached his ears muffling all sounds of conflicts. He was floating again, allowing the current to carry him away, drifting, drifting and driftin-
“Kid!” A hand gripped his shoulder and roughly shook him out of his daze. Blinking up the the person whom the hand belonged too, he realised that it was the woman that confronted his mother, now that she was in front of him without the cloak he could see her properly, her skin was almost a dark as the night sky, even darker than Meadows from his quidditch team, her eyes stood out as emerald green, while her hair was shoulder lengthened box braids. Her lips were perused into a straight line, tense around the edges and blood trickling down from the corners- she must have been hit by a spell.
Regulus squeezed his eyes shut, trying to bring moisture back to them before opening them again, he must of forgotten to blink. He untangled himself from the banister and stood up to face the woman and voiced his confusion, “Why…are you here?” The woman gave him a look over, her eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed before her face relaxed again. Regulus didn’t understand what she was looking for, did she think he was going to fight?
Regulus took her momentary assessment of him to take in his surroundings. It was a mess. There where scorch marks everywhere from stray spells, along with damaged furniture overturned and smoking from dying fires, Regulus had to force his eyes away from the mess of it all, and instead watched as his parents where physically dragged out by the auror’s, “Where are you taking them!” Regulus couldn’t keep the indignant tone in his voice, none of this makes sense, his parents where strong, powerful, why where they being taken?
An uncomfortable feeling began to rise in his chest, it felt as though he was suffocating, he just didn’t understand, none of this made sense, he didn’t understand! “Kid, hey- hey, I need you to look at me okay?” Another hand rose up to grip his upper arm, the firm grip helped to clear his mind of the haze. “Okay, good you’re coming back me. My name is Rowena, an auror that was sent by the ministry of magic, all of your questions will be answered once you come with me to ministry, can you do that?” Her voice was deep and firm, something about it compelled him to nod along to her words.
The woman, Rowena, kept a steady grip on the crux of his elbow walking him down the steps and to his father’s study where the floo system would be. “Right then, take a handful of floo powder and head to the ministry, I’ll be right behind you okay?”
Once again he gave her a curt nod, unable to bring forth words, as though his throat had closed up, tongue swollen and lips glued together. He forced the words ‘Ministry of Magic’ past his lips feeling like a knife had slit down his tongue, and up came the green flames pulling him away.Within a blink of an eye Regulus was at the Ministry of Magic headquarters along with Rowena by his side. Before Regulus could gain his bearings he was hit with a spell from behind, and down he went into the black void of unconsciousness.