Chapter 4
"This was a terrible idea" Regulus complained.
"What was? Coming out here? Or all collectively and silently deciding that we were going to wander off from the group?" Elian wondered. Regulus rolled his eyes. A year ago, he had run away to come live with the Potters, and while they were very welcoming, it was taking longer than he expected for him to get used to a house with so many children, after growing up in a house with only one other child: Sirius.
He still couldn't decide which took longer to become used to: that he was the youngest anymore, or that there were now two older boys living with him. And actual, good parents.
"Both" Regulus responded a second later. Evita smacked her boyfriend and brother, warning them to be quiet.
"Shh" She knelt down, looking over a small cliff edge at what was happening in the clearing below. It didn't look awfully exciting to the boys, but they stayed, even if they were considering leaving her there and going to find the older kids again.
"Well if it isn't the little blood traitors. Surprised to see you here, Black" Several older kids had circled around the younger three, cornering them. Regulus reached for his wand, as did Elian, before realizing they left their wands at the house. Evita had too, leaving all three of them defenseless.
"Don't be. I live here" Regulus responded. That seemed to annoy the older kids enough for them to pull their wands out. It didn't take long for the older group of kids to take down Evita, Elian and Regulus.
"Elian!" Evita screamed, when a blast of light hit her brother, knocking him out. She could barely see as a trickle of blood started from a gash in his forehead. She didn't doubt he wouldn't be scarred; the spell hit him right in the eye and left a nasty cut. The unmistakable sound of bones breaking echoed behind, seeming louder than it really was. Regulus cried out, clutching his arm delicately. The last one of the older groups to leave was standing over him, pointing his wand at Regulus. With a small wave, and a flash of light, Regulus was knocked out and the person was gone.
"Evita!" The girl turned to the source of the voice, trying to see who it was. James, Sirius and Remus burst through the trees a moment later. James breathed a sigh of relief, going to Evita.
"Thank Merlin, I thought something happened to you. Are you okay?" James checked her over. Evita was frozen, she couldn't say anything, but she didn't need to. Remus did it for her.
"James, she's fine. Regulus and Eli aren't" Remus pointed out, causing James to turn around and stop when he saw his little brother laying like a broken doll on the forest floor. James went over, gently picking his brother up, Sirius did the same with Regulus, and walked back to the Potter house. Remus took charge of making sure Evita stayed close, seeing as how she was in too much of a shock to even move on her own.
James went over to Elian, getting a good look at his brother. Once Sirius had gotten over the initial shock at seeing his brother hurt, he realized Regulus wasn't the only one. Elian had long hair, his bangs especially were long enough to cover one eye at times, as it did now. James tilted his brother's head up, revealing the long cut that started from his forehead and went down across his left eye. There was no doubt about it now; Elian would be blind.
Having a pretty good idea who had done this, James and Sirius went back out after making sure the younger kids were okay and entrusting them to Remus. They were determined to make whoever hurt their siblings pay, and they thought they knew exactly who it was.
"Snape!" James shouted, already making it to the Snape-Prince house. The only young occupant of the house was already outside, almost as if he had expected James and Sirius to show up.
"What is it this time?" He stalked over, standing in front of the other two boys.
"You hurt our brothers!" Sirius stated, as if it were that simple. Snape gave him the most dumbfounded look.
"And why would I purposefully go after your brothers to hurt them, which I'm guessing your thinking I did to hurt you, when I could just go after you in the first place? Honestly, do you not think half the time?" Snape wondered.
"Are you insulting us?" Sirius demanded to know, already pulling his wand out. Snape turned to go back inside; he did not have time for this.
"Don't walk away from us! We're not done talking to you" James called after. Snape had pulled his wand out when he turned, sensing that Sirius and James would not leave him alone without a fight.
"Well I'm done talking to you" He responded, reminding himself to keep walking. The two boys behind him were not worth his time. Except it wasn't as easy as jsut walking away, not when it was between these three.
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Hearing the commotion downstairs in the kitchen of their home, Euphemia and Fleamont rushed downstairs. The last time they had checked on the many kids staying in their home, all six had been in bed and asleep, which left no explanation for what had happened and why the six kids were no longer in bed, two of them not even in the house anymore.
"What is going on!?" Effie demanded to know. Remus tensed, slowly standing up and turning to the very angry, very worried parents.
"Um..." He had no idea what to say. He wasn't usually caught after sneaking out, given that he never had the freedom or space to even sneak out of his home. His dad would've been on him the second Remus dared to step outside his room. And if Lyall didn't catch him, Abi would.
"Where did you go? You've obviously gone somewhere so where did you go?" Effie put her hands on her hips. At that moment, James, Sirius, and a very angry Eileen Prince, with her son in tow, appeared in the kitchen.
"Euphemia, I would appreciate it if you would keep your boys from tormenting mine!" Eileen demanded.
"My apologies, I didn't realize they had even left the house, considering that it is well past their usual curfew" Euphemia directed the last part to the guilty party. Remus, Sirius and James avoided looking at her, instead catching Fleamont's eye, which was even worse.
"If you don't mind, would you tell me what exactly happened? I'm afraid Monty and I have been asleep as we thought they all were as well, but I guess we were wrong" Effie wondered.
"Well, Severus had gone outside for something, I didn't ask what but the next thing I knew, I heard shouting and spells flying so I came outside and these two were battling with my son! I demand they be punished for their injustice actions against my son" Eileen insisted. Effie looked at the two boys, still in Eileen's grasp.
"Oh, don't worry, they will be. I would like to hear their side of the story first" Effie took the two boys, guiding them away from the other woman, who left soon after. Effie tried to control her anger as she prepared for a long talk, making up mugs of hot chocolate and butterbeer. She grabbed blankets and little medical things that Elian and Regulus would need on the chance they woke up.
"Alright, who's going first? Someone better start talking" She sat down, Monty sitting beside her in his chair, Elian curled up on his side next to his dad. He had woken up a few minutes prior and immediately called for Monty. Sirius and Regulus were on the couch, Remus sitting on the arm of the couch beside Sirius. James and Evita were on the floor.
"We thought it would be fun to go for a small walk in the woods?" Sirius offered. That didn't seem to make anything better so Remus took the lead, explaining everything that had happened up until the moment Regulus, Evita and Elian wandered off and then picking up again when they heard Evita's yell.
"And we just know it was Snape who attacked them! Him and his little buddies" James added in at the end. Elian looked at Evita, confusion written all over his face.
"Do you have proof of this?" Monty wondered. James looked confused for a moment, almost hesitant to answer.
"Well no" Sirius shook his head, causing Monty to look at him which he absolutely hated.
"Then how do you know it was him? From what his mother said, he had only gone out for maybe ten minutes before you two showed up. That was certainly not enough time for him to leave his house, find these three, attack them and then still be outside when you two showed up if you had time to find them, come here, make sure these three were okay and take the fifteen minute long trip to his house" Monty pointed out.
"She was lying!" James blurted out, randomly. Monty nodded, as if that made perfect sense.
"Elian? Evita? Do you remember anything about the people who attacked you?" Effie wondered. Evita hadn't seen their faces, they were masks, and it was already dark out, so it was hard to see.
"Well, I didn't see all of them but the one who attacked me wasn't Snape. I don't think any of them were but it was kind of hard to see. I'm sure none of them were Snape except the one who went after Regulus. I'm not so sure about him, but I didn't see his face" Elian added.
"Okay. So, here's what I think happened. First of all, you kids decided it was a good idea to sneak out of this house for a little adventure, putting these three all in danger and yourselves as well. Second, these three decided to wander off and got separated from you three, which will be dealt with later. Then, when you found them next, they had been hurt and you just assumed you knew who was behind this so you went after an innocent boy and fought him like he was a criminal for something he didn't even do. Did I leave anything out?" Monty stood up, looking at the kids in front of him.
"Remus had nothing to do with this" James blurted out. Remus went to argue, he was not about to let his friends and friend's siblings take the fall when he was just as responsible for this as they were.
"Don't worry, Remus. Your part in this will be dealt with" Monty could see the retort on the tip of the boy's tongue. Remus shut his mouth, of course he would be punished. He had a part in this as much as the others.
"So, here is how this is going to go. Sirius, James, I expect both of you to write a formal apology to both Mrs. Prince and her son for unjustly going after him and causing them both worry and panic. It will be at least one page long and be given to me before it is sent out. If I do not find it sufficient enough, you will rewrite it. Is that clear?" Monty decided. The two boys did not look very pleased but they knew not to argue so they could only agree.
"Evita, for the next two, no three, weeks, you have the responsibility of helping your mother in the kitchen, garden and anything else she may need help with. Elian, I expect two pages of lines saying, 'I will not come up with ridiculous ideas that put my sister and her boyfriend in danger'. And don't even try to deny anything, I know it was your idea to wander off" Monty looked at the twins. Evita pouted, she hated being in the kitchen and doing gardening. She would much rather be playing with her brothers and their friends than anything else or being with Regulus. Those were her favorite things.
"And Remus, since you love watching over and helping the younger three so much, you should have no problem signing up for the tutoring club at Hogwarts. I'm sure you'll enjoy that" Monty turned to the last and final miscreant, minus Regulus, who still had not woken up. Remus' face fell; there was a reason he had been avoiding the tutoring club at Hogwarts. He had no problem with Evita, Elian and Regulus, because he knew their brothers and they were all good friends. But other little kids, who had no respect for those trying to help them, Remus couldn't stand other kids.
"Furthermore, you are all grounded until further notice. Now, since Regulus is still passed out, we will continue this conversation with him once he is awake. For now, I think its time you all went to bed, where you should've been in the first place" Monty dismissed his children, ushering them upstairs and into their respective rooms. James, Sirius and Remus were in one room, Evita in her own room, and Elian and Regulus in the last room.
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Remus pressed a gentle hand to Regulus' forehead, making sure the younger boy was okay. Regulus still had not woken up, and that alone was enough to cause panic. Elian had decided to curl up in one corner of the room, knees pressed to his chest and his head buried between his knees. Remus looked over at him, debating whether to stay with Regulus or go over and try to console the younger boy. Everyone else was already downstairs, but as part of his punishment, Remus was stuck watching over the two injured boys.
"James hates me" Elian stated as soon as Remus was within hearing distance.
"Why would he hate you?" Remus sat down. Elian looked down at his hands, picking at the skin around his fingers until Remus stopped him by putting hand over his.
"Because I couldn't protect Evita and Regulus might not wake up now because of me. I'm a terrible brother. I'm weak" Elian muttered. Any normal person might not have heard him but Remus was not normal.
"Your not a terrible brother. A terrible brother would've seen what was happening and done nothing. You jumped in as soon as you saw what was happening, that does not make you a terrible brother. And as for being weak, your not. Snape is much bigger than you and he has more experience. Even James, Sirius, Peter, or I don't always win against him and most of us are bigger than him" Remus pointed out. It was true. While the Marauders were stronger because there were more of them and they were bigger, Snape had concocted some rather strange spells to help him win against the four boys. Elian thought about that but he had nothing else to say.
"Remus?" Regulus sat up, causing Remus to jump up and go over to Regulus.
"Are you feeling okay?" Remus wondered. Regulus nodded, he really did fine. His head was a little fuzzy but he was sure that was normal.
"Well your going to wish you weren't in a minute. Monty and Effie are furious with all of us. I'm going to go tell them your awake" Remus got up and left, right as Sirius and James walked in. A moment later, Monty and Effie did too.
"You know your not going to be going anywhere for a very long time" Effie reminded him. Regulus figured as much, he had gathered enough from the sour look on Elian's face and the way Remus talked that they had been caught.
"Oh, that's unfortunate. I was really looking forward to the game tomorrow" Regulus whispered. Sirius sat down beside him.
"Yeah, well even if you weren't grounded for the rest of your miserable life, you wouldn't be able to go due to this. You can thank Snape for that" Sirius threw an arm around his little brother. Regulus winced but didn't make any move to push Sirius' arm off.
"Snape?" Regulus was confused. The memories from the night before were a little fuzzy but he was positive Snape had not been there. Regulus was sure he would recognize the older boy if he had been there.
"Yeah. Snape, he's the one who did this to you. He was there that night but Elian said they only one he didn't see the face of was the one who went after you" Sirius explained.
"It wasn't him. I know it wasn't" Regulus shook his head.
"How do you know?" Sirius wondered; something in him was saying there was something seriously out of place.
"Because Snape doesn't have blond hair" Regulus responded. Sirius straightened up, no one in Slytherin really had blond hair, except Cissy but she had graduated a while ago and everyone else in Slytherin had darker hair. Sirius turned to the others in the doorway, looking a little panicked. He didn't want to believe it, he wanted to just continue thinking that Snape was the one who hurt his brother, because that so much easy than trying to figure out who really did it, but Regulus never lied and he had no reason to start now.