2
-----"It is my fault he is here after all."-----
==Sirius==
After Regulus went unconcious, Fleamont carried him into a Guestroom where Euphemia heales the bleeding wounds with a bit of Dittany. When the wounds closed up, she looks at James and Sirius, who are standing there waiting for something to do, and said: „He is going to slip in and out of conciousness for awhile now so dont worry about that. I would appreciate if one of you could stay with him for the rest of the night in case of an emergency, or if he needs anything.“ In an instant, Sirius runs to the younger Blacks side, sitting in the armchair next to the bed .“ I´m going to do it, it is my fault he is here after all.“
He still feels incredibly guilty for not being there for his brother. He could at least have asked him to move in with the Potters when he ran away almost exactly 2 years earlier. When they saw eachother again at Hogwarts , Sirius wanted to apologise but Regulus only sneered at him and went back to his Slytherin friends, if you could even call them his friends.
Sirius could swear he was only acquintanced with them because they were all wannabe death eaters, only waiting for their time to come so they could get the dark mark and join Lord Voldemorts Followers. He always thought Regulus would be one of them one day, his Family all got the dark mark, well exept for Andromeda who got disowned for running away with a muggle and got burned from the family tree, and now Sirius, the ex—heir oft he most noble and ancient house of black, disowned for being a Gryffindor, hanging around blood traitors and muggleborns, and finally for running away. His Parents and his Cousin Bellatrix are even considered in the inner circle of Voldemorts followers and his other Cousin Narcissa married a Malfoy, who are also close to the Dark Lord.
When everyone else left , Sirius looking after Reggie, he starts thinking.
Why would Regulus come to Potter Manor, he hates them! In his eyes they are blood traitors! He knows that he said that he could not think of anywhere else to go but he could have went to Andromeda or one of his idiotic friends,that creep Barty Crouch Junior for example, he always sees those 2 make fun of first years or hex them, he surely could have went tot hem. On the other hand, they might snitch on him and tell their parents of his whereabouts. And Andromeda? Regulus never had a close relationship with her, they were close of course but not as close as Sirius and Andromeda or Regulus and Narcissa. When they were younger , they would often visit Andie, as they called her. Of course they didnt tell their parents , they told them they were in Diagon Alley with their House elf Kreacher, who had to solemnly swear he wouldnt tell their parents but one day, when they came back, Walburga stood infront of them and used Legilimency on them. She punished them both but Sirius more as he was the eldest and responsible for them. They didnt get food for a week and had to stay in their room, the only way of getting something to eat was asking Kreacher, who used to love them both dearly so he brought them something.
Their relationship changed the moment Sirius got sorted into Gryffindor. Their Parents forbid Reg to write letters to his Brother and when Sirius came home for Christmas break, Regulus was very distant and didnt talk to his Brother,only when neccesary. At first Sirius tried to live on like before and be friends with Regulus but it never really worked. They talked again but it was never the same. Now, 4 years later, here they were. At Potter Manor, Regulus unconcious and Sirius taking care of his Brother.
The next morning, James comes in to wake him up and bring him something to eat.. Sirius had not get a wink of sleep the night before but was even more hungry now so He gratefully accepted the pancakes ,the scrambled egg and the toast .
==Regulus==
Regulus slowly blinks and tries to focus his eyes at the bright light sorrunding him. He tries to sit up but groans when his head feels like someone stabbed it ten times with a knife. He lays back and tries to recall anything that had happened the night before. He remembers being at home at a family gathering , everyone was toasting to the dark lord, everyone exept for him. He kept his head down trying to avoid eye contact with everyone. But of course, his son of a bitch cousin had other plans, she saw him not doing anything and snitched to his parents. The next thing he remembers is being dragged into his fathers studys and then his mind goes blank.
He moves his head to look around the unfamiliar room. It looks nothing like Grimmauld place.Where as Grimmauld place was dark and creepy, this place was light, bright and very welcoming. The walls were painted a creme white and the furniture was light yellow. There was an armchair next to his bed and a sofa in one corner. Through the window you were able to see a large garden, some trees and a beet with flowers.
There was a small knock on the door before a smiling woman pops her head inside. „ Oh hello dear I didnt know if you were awake yet, I´m just here to bring you some medicine. The boys will be with you very soon, the are currently having lunch. While they are gone , just shout if you need anything at all.“
Regulus didnt know who that woman was but she seemed very friendly,too friendly for his liking. Still, he was raised to be polite , so he put on his politest smile and asked her : „Thank you ma´am. If you dont mind me asking, what was your name again?“
„Oh no how rude of me, I´m terribly sorry dear, my name is Euphemia Potter but you can call me Effie, only if you are comfortable with it though.“ Potter? Potter?! Oh no, no ,no,no,no. With a crash the events from last night flood Regulus´ brain.
He was being called inside of his fathers studys. It was in the middle of the gathering when his father called for him. What could he have done? Slowly, he makes his way into the room, his father sitting in a chair, smoking a pipe. His mother was standing next to him, her pitch black hair pulled back in a strict bun. Her eyes narrowed at Regulus. On the other side of his Father was Bellatrix crackling like a maniac. „Fils, sais-tu pourquoi je t’ai appelé ici?“ (= Son, do you know why I called you here?) ,his father often spoke french with him when he was particulary mad or disappointed. He knew that in those situations it was best to speak french as well, it could save him from a more severe Punishment. „Aucun père que j’ai ne sais pas. Quelle en est la raison?“(= No I´m afraid I dont . What is the reason?) „Votre cousin m’a dit que vous aviez refusé de porter un toast à Voldemort, n’est-ce pas?“ (= Your cousin told me you refused to toast to the dark lord, is that correct?) „Oui père c’est effectivement correct.“(= yes father, that is indeed correct.)„Pourquoi pas? N’êtes-vous pas loyal à la famille et au seigneur des ténèbres ?“(= Why not? Arent you loyal to your family and the dark lord?)„Mes excuses père, je n’ai tout simplement pas pensé que c’était nécessaire.“(= My apologies father, I just didnt think of it as necessary.) Walburgas sharp voice cut through the argument between father and son.„Je vous ai dit que nous n’aurions pas dû le retarder Orion.“ (= I told you we shouldn´t have delayed it Orion.) Orion ignored his wife/ cousin and continued´´ „ Vous savez de quoi il s’agit. Les sangs de boue s’infiltrent dans notre mode de vie, volent les secrets de notre magie, polluent notre gouvernement et nos écoles. C’est la guerre, et seul Lord Voldemort est assez courageux pour se lever et faire quelque chose pour protéger les vrais sorciers.Le choix que vous devez faire est de savoir si vous voulez protéger votre famille, vous battre pour notre mode de vie, ou si vous voulez enterrer votre tête dans le sable et permettre à des traîtres de sang sale de la déchirer en morceaux.“( =You know what this is about. Mudbloods are infiltrating our way of life, stealing the secrets of our magic, polluting our government and our schools. This is war, and only Lord Voldemort is brave enough to stand up and actually do something to protect real wizards.The choice you have to make Is whether you want to protect your family, to fight for our way of life, or whether you want to bury your head in the sand and allow filthy blood traitors to tear it to pieces). From besides him , Bellatrix piped up. „Swear allegiance! You see this?“ she pulls up her sleeve and reveals a skull with a serpent. The dark mark. Regulus draws in a sharp breath at the sight in front of him. „I have chosen my side, now you are old enough Regulus. Choose yours.“ His father looked at her and in that moment they were the proudest they have ever been, Regulus could see it in their eyes. He fiercely looked at them and said:“ Non! Je ne veux pas encore décider. J’ai toute ma vie devant moi. Peut-être que je pourrais choisir le seigneur des ténèbres mais pour l’instant je ne veux pas m’installer.“ (= I dont want to decide just yet. I have my whole life in front of me. Perhaps I might choose the dark lord but for now i dont want to settle down.)Is mother looked him dead in the eye, pulling out her wand and with the words „ Well perhaps with a bit of a push in the right direction? CRUCIO!
There weren’t words for it .The pain burrowed; it burned; it tore; it gnawed; it gnashed; it shattered; it slavered; it writhed; it consumed. His bones had turned to teeth; his body was trying to eat itself.
And then it stopped.
It was so sudden that for a moment—just a split-second—Regulus thought that he’d died. It was impossible, that he should be able to feel his limbs moving, his heart beating, his lungs expanding as he gasped for air, when just a moment before the only thing he’d felt was the wretched, fervid pain.“Swear your allegiance!”His mother’s sharp voice pulled him back into his body, and Regulus sucked in a breath. He was fine, he was okay; the curse didn’t actually damage the body, only targeted the mind.“No,” he gasped, trying to stand—when had he fallen to his knees?
“Crucio!”
He collapsed, only vaguely aware of the way his head cracked against the hardwood floor. It was nothing compared to the agony devouring him; a pinprick when every nerve in his body had been skewered by red-hot knives. He couldn’t hear himself screaming—couldn’t hear anything except his own traitorous heartbeat, pounding against the cage of his chest as it tried to escape his body.
And then it stopped, again, and he was on the floor, gutted like a fish.
“Swear it,Regulus.”
She was standing above him; she was so far away.
“Mum—” he choked out, voice knotted with tears, but it wasn’t his mother who raised her wand this time.
“Crucio!”
His father’s pain was colder, locking his muscles, freezing the marrow in his bones. It howled like a winter storm through his body, ravaging everything in its path.“It’s time you learned your place, boy!”“No, please, dad don’t—”“Crucio!”They weren’t stopping, it wasn’t ending, they were going to kill him, he was dying, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt.
“Crucio!”
It hurt more than breaking his ankle, more than the animagus potion, more than the cuts on his legs. Regulus had never imagined his own body’s capacity for pain.“Swear it, Regulus”
He couldn’t do it—he had to say yes—but he wouldn’t, the ink and the snake—the blood on the outside, the twisting coils, the vipering of it, the poison—
“Swear to him! Make yourself worthy of this family!”
He’d never say yes—he wouldn’t, he wouldn’t. His thoughts spun away from him, disjointed, and Regulus followed them, searching for something—anything—to hold on to.He clung to it, even as his parents lifted their wands, over and over and over again. He clung to it as the pain battered him, ebbing and flowing with the pauses between spells, like waves on a beach. He clung to it until he couldn’t cling anymore, until thought slid from his mind like water through grasping fingers, until the entire world was nothing but pain and breath and pain and breath and pain.
He might have said yes, then, if could still speak.
Regulus came back to himself in pieces. Taste, first—copper and iron, where he’d bitten his tongue. He spat blood onto the carpet.Hearing—voices, from far away, the sharp click of heeled boots, the sound of a key sliding into a lock. Snick. Silence. No—his own throat, gasping for air, so ragged with screaming that he hardly recognized the sound.Sight—when he cracked open his eyes, the room was fuzzy, as if everything were slightly out of focus. He blinked tears away. The gaping maw of the fireplace beckoned, a promise, whispering run.Touch—the drag of his body over the floor, the fine, powdery dust in his fingers. The ache of his tongue as he forced it to move, to press against teeth and speak the words, the prayer, the salvation.And then he was gone, and then he was there, and then there were new voices, new colours, new textures, but he was sinking so quickly. The water was so dark.
He was so, so tired.
The memorys vanished and the next moment, a pair of arms wrapped around his now shaking body.
„Regulus Darling it is alright. Calm down, breath. Can you do that for me? In…..and out…..in…and out…“ After a couple of times Regulus´s ragged breathing becomes steadier. Mrs. Potter pulled away, a sad smile on her lips. „Oh dear you had a Panic attack. Here drink this.“ She handed him a little vial. „Dreamless sleep, it will help.“ „ Thank you Mrs. Potter but I think I´d appreciate it if I could be alone now? I want to sort out my thoughts.“ He drinks the potion before putting the vial back on his nightstand. „Of course Regulus, remember if you need anything, just call for one of us ok?“ „I will, thank you. Thank you for letting me stay.“ He turns around to the sound oft he door closing, before rolling back onto his back to stare at the ceiling.
------"It is my fault he is here after all."-----