The Prophecy
It was no more than an hour after Alexander had arrived at the Hospital Wing. Everyone was sitting outside. Tension could be cut with a dull spoon.
Regulus paced.
James fidgeted.
Sirius somehow managed to pace and fidget at the same time.
Mary, Lily, Dorcas and Marlene were sat in the wall across from the door. Barty and Evan were whispering among themselves.
Remus and Peter were standing in a solemn silence by the others. Remus' eyes kept going to Sirius and away.
Then Pandora arrived. Well. Pandora's body paced itself in the middle of everyone, a light blue mist was sort of gathered around her. And her eyes were without pupils.
Her mouth opened. And stayed open. It didn't move.
"Just a prophecy people," Evan closed up to her. "Don't pay it much mind."
Still, the words came out of her:
The stone in the shadow of the waves.
He who would not survive the depth.
For moons shall wane, with blood and rain.
After the Black sheep breaks the ancient chains and the whispered one wakes.
From the hallowed halls, to the future's call.
A bond that must transcend beyond the great castle's walls.
The Gryffindor flame passed from the old.
The fight once again fought.
Mirrors show faces, the old and the new.
Beware the serpent, with the silver tongue's art.
For betrayal's kiss may tear the world apart.
Heed the whispers, find the key.
"What a mouthful." Pandora broke out of her trance, coughing a little, "Sorry, my mouth keeping open dries it up."
They looked at each other, everyone, anyone. They didn't know what to make of it. Lily wrote it down, and so had Regulus. The moment he saw her take out a quill he knew he wouldn't allow being left behind her.
No one wanted to speak. No one knew what to say. Because you always heed the prophecies of Pandora Rosier. One way or another, they always came true. Even if you didn't get the symbolism and the fate wasn't clear. Her prophecies were nice and accurate. But it was odd.
"Panda?" Regulus approached her, she was still a little pale, but then again, so were the rest.
"Yeah?"
"You only ever tell prophecies to the people concerned in them." Regulus looked directly in her eyes. A question. One he knew he wasn't going to want the answer to.
"... well, I did miss Alexander, but the prophecy wanted to come out as soon as I approached here."
"Tell me it doesn't mean that." Everyone caught up to it now, but they were all hoping to be wrong.
"Pandora, tell me it's not true." Sirius was almost shaking. Because this was not just a prophecy, it was a sentence.
"Everyone here is meant to have heard the prophecy." Pandora called it as she saw it. She would never lie about her prophecies. "And so it Alexander."
"At least that means he'll make it out of there fine." James was brilliant, now wasn't him? There was a silence again.
"Regulus." Lily approached him, parchment and quill in hand, her handwriting had charm, shame it was almost illegible. Regulus' was perfect, smooth and swift and stylish. But this was a peace offering from the redhead wasn't it.
"Yes?" He would at least hear her out, there wasn't much of a way out of a prophecy anyways.
"Do you want to try to decode it? We could make use of the time until Madame Pomfrey fixes him up." Anything that would keep him from thinking of Alexander was welcome right now. His legs still wanted to pace. But this could keep him busy, nothing in the prophecy really indicated a prominent death, right? Perhaps that betrayal's kiss thing, but if anyone betrayed him he would make sure the dead one was the traitor.
"Alright." Regulus needed the distraction urgently. He shouldn't have thought about death right now. Peter and Mary offered their assistance as well. Evan was enlisted by Regulus, he had the most experience with Pandora's prophecy, that had to account for something.
After about an hour, they pinned down a couple of things: the black sheep was probably referring to either himself or Sirius (no luck on the other parts of that sentence about the chains), they figured the whispered one was the Dark Lord, no one seemed happy at that realization (they couldn't understand what wakes entailed either), the silver tongued serpent had to be a Slytherin but that was about all they could figure out, agents in the prophecy. Some at least.
Then Madame Pomfrey opened the door and stared at the crowd gathered outside. She let out a sigh below a pained look, "I'm letting you all in just to see he's still alive, but he won't take visitors until morning."
"Not a problem, because I'll be staying the night." Sirius said out loud. It disgusted Regulus, how he cared about everyone more than him. Even if it was Alexander. No, especially because it was Alexander, what claim did Sirius have over him? They were the same age? That's dumb, he had as much right to stay here as Sirius did.
"So will I. I can't trust him to be alone with an unconscious Slytherin." Perhaps it wasn't the best solution, but it was what his mouth went with before he could think about it. The medi-witch considered it. Looked at the two of them, didn't trust them to stay together probably, it wasn't a secret him and his brother had a rocky relationship at best.
"You both may stay, but if I hear a single peep." She raised her wand to them, "I'm willing to go back on my medical oath never to hurt anyone. You two hear clearly?"
Both Regulus and Sirius gulped and nodded, they'd never seen Madame Pomfrey like this. Even Remus was a little thrown off. But at the end of the day she was nothing but kind. And she seemed relived now, tired, but safe with the knowledge that her student was going to be alright.
Sirius and Regulus were escorted to Alexander's bed. He was knocked out. His arm was bandaged, fully. Thick layers upon layers. There was still a little drops of blood on his bed, must have been little enough compared to his robes for Madame Pomfrey to not pay it any mind.
She had vanished his clothes or something, he was in some sort of medical robe with an arm cut off.
And he was pale.
His face was pale.
His neck was pale.
His face, his face that was always blushing from laughter or awkwardness or being too long in the sun, that face was pale. Regulus didn't like it one bit. Still, he couldn't get his eyes to stop looking at it.
"He will be quite alright. No touching the bandages and no disturbing his sleep. I mean it." Madame Pomfrey said, about to turn tail and head back to her office, she probably needed the rest.
"Please don't tell his family." Sirius spoke. Regulus had been too immersed in Alexander's face to get there yet.
"It is my duty to notify my patient's family Mr. Black." Madame Pomfrey said, she didn't know what they did.
"You can't tell them what happened." Regulus hadn't agreed with Sirius in years, but for once, he was being reasonable. If his family was told he cut of his Dark Mark... the Wilde family was a lot like the Black family, but much less kinder, they didn't like correcting problems, they would much rather just get rid of problems.
And while Regulus and Sirius endured being raised by Walburga Black, they were punished for their mistakes, painfully punished, but they were the heirs of the main line, pain may have come their way but never any harm that would risk the family line. Alexander was the second line, his cousins were the first line. Any faux pas of this magnitude and well... he was expendable.
"They have to know their child was hurt."
"Lie about where then, say he got hurt in his leg or something." Regulus argued, he wouldn't let him get hurt, and he couldn't, wouldn't, win an argument with the Wilde family, he wouldn't even be able to enter the fight, Walburga and Orion are friends with his parents, they would do the same for slashing off the Dark Mark.
"I understand your preoccupation," Madame Pomfrey said, she did, Regulus' last remarks were outlining the elephant in the room with perfect clarity, "I'll talk to Minerva. I'll do what I can." She was torn, but she did want her students to be safe after all, "You've nothing to worry about tonight."
Regulus was back to Alexander. His eyelids were dark and the bags below his eyes were deep. He had been biting his lips, he did that a lot, always had scars around his lips, but these ones looked fresh. A lot of them as well. Right by the middle as well, he was probably trying to keep himself from screaming.
Sirius drew a chair to his left side. The one with the mark. The one bandaged up, like he had any right to be closer to him. The audacity.
Regulus drew himself a chair to the opposite side.
Sirius was uncharacteristically silent. And what's worse, Regulus didn't know what to make of that.
"You do know it's just a matter of time right?" Sirius said, as if to the air. Regulus knew, the moment he showed up with bandages on his left forearm, it would just be a matter of time before it reached his parents.
And everyone else.
On top of everything, Regulus was off his game, he took too long to get here, since when was he slower than Sirius?
Alexander had just become a blood traitor. Publicly. They would have to cut ties with him now that he called his side. No. Regulus wouldn't bare the thought now.
He was the only bridge between the brothers.
He was Regulus' friend.
He was Regulus'.
"No." Regulus wouldn't let it happen.
"No what?" Sirius was angry, he could tell, it was the same tone with which he answered their mother. What that how he saw him? Surely it was. An extension of them, it would explain a lot after all. Why he left him there. Why he gave him the could shoulder. How he never tried to approach him. It made sense.
"You're the one with the plans. And you're the one that left his family. Surely he will have to associate with your lot now. Exclusively." Alexander had them though. He was one of the oddest characters Hogwarts had seen, the one Slytherin beloved by all four houses. Soon to be exiled and stoned by his own house. Especially those loyal to the Dark Lord, he was not just an enemy now, but a traitor, he put a target in his back.
Sirius laughed. Not amused, not from something funny, no. It was a sad laugh, defeated, something he knew well, "Giving up on him, classic Regulus." It was a stab at his jugular.
"Well what the fuck do you want me to do Sirius?" Regulus snapped. He didn't raise his voice, but the crack was there. "I couldn't keep you, so how ever in the seven bloody fucks am I supposed to keep him from anything?"
"Enough chatting!" Madame Pomfrey snapped form her office as well. And they kept quiet. For the rest of the night. Neither dared look at each other. Not at Alexander either. But at the empty bed across the room. Until they fell asleep.
"Merlin. You two look worse than I do, I'm supposed to be the knackered one." Alexander's voice woke Regulus up.
"Alexander." He couldn't find any other word to say. He still hadn't sorted through everything that this implicated and how he was going to deal with it. It was unfair, he needed more time. But on the other hand, he was awake now. Knackered surely, he could've been a banshee from the pale skin, but he was blushing again. The contrast was dreadful against the pale skin around his neck and the edges of his face but his cheeks were back to their rightful blushing state.
Sirius woke up. He knew what to say, always had something to say, or do... "You bloody fucking wanker!" Sirius threw himself on Alexander, he did dodge the damaged arm quite skilfully, but still took the air out of Alexander. The clingy fucker hugged him like he almost died. That was fair. Regulus wished his body would've done the same.
"Hey, hey, hey," Alexander pushed him off just a little, so that he fell next to him on the bed, between himself and Regulus. Always between everyone and Regulus, "If you keep calling me those pretty names I'll fall in love with you."
"Don't every fucking do that again." Sirius looked at him with urgency in his eyes, he was dying to say it all night probably.
"I don't think I'm getting another Mark soon, so nothing to worry about." Alexander joked. He always joked. But this was too many, too close, too witty, too whippy. He was deflecting. Until he went silent, "I'm sorry." He looked at the empty bed like they had before, "To the both of you..." he wasn't done, surely, he was looking for words, "My legilimancy acted up while I was in and out during the night and you both were thinking too loud." They had their guard down all night, rookie mistake. "I will deal with whatever I have to deal with myself and I can look after myself, to both of you. You both have awfully similar thoughts."
Miraculously, Pandora broke inside. It was one second way from being a rooster fight between the Black brothers and Alexander because not only did he read their minds, which neither took well after that being one of Walburgas' preferred methods for discipline, but he also revealed they were both caring people in front of the other. Which right now might be worse.
Then again, The prophecy. "They didn't tell you." She said, and she was right, there were more pressing matters, "It'll be quicker if you take a look at the memory," she meant it, she didn't mind him going in her mind anyways, it was an odd enough place as it was, "If you're feeling up to it."
He asked Regulus to hand him his wand. He always liked it, it was elegant, a carved white marble handle and a long birch wood delicate spiral. He put it on his temple and closed his eyes for a second, taking a walk inside someones mind was different from overhearing their thoughts, even if Legilimency while horrible and invasive, it was intriguing.
"I get one night off in the hospital and everyone gets wrapped up in a prophecy?" Alexander looked up at the ceiling, laughing as if he found something ironic in it.
"You call this a night off?" Mary and the rest were there, it had to be morning then, morning enough, Regulus figured, because even Barty and Evan were there, and in five years of school they hadn't been to one single morning class in time.
Regulus braced himself for what was to come. The headache was ready to start kicking in.