Shattering Timelines

Harry woke up with a loud groan when the makeshift bandage he had made for his hand got caught in the sheets. Harry ignored the stinging pain and snuggled further into the silk sheets. A sudden wetness between his fingers had him cursing and springing out of bed. The scabs on his knuckles had ripped off with the bandage.

Grumbling to himself, Harry walked over to the wash stand in order to clean off the blood. He really should have tried to heal the majority of his cuts and bruises last night but he had been so tired. After Regulus had fallen asleep, the reality of the day hit him. He realized exactly how long the day had been. The quidditch tryouts, Sirius, then Regulus. Everything hit him at once. So instead of trying to deal with his thoughts, emotions, and even injuries like an adult, he voted to slap a bandaid on everything and just sleep it off. He was regretting that now.

He poured a generous amount of water into the bowl before dipping the towel in it. Blood ran down his fingers and dripped to the marble floor as he gently dabbed at his knuckles. After a few minutes, the bleeding stopped. He looked at his hand in consideration for a few minutes before disregarding it. The cuts would heal on their own fine; he should focus on more important injuries.

With a sigh, Harry stepped in front of the mirror and started to carefully remove his shirt. He froze when it was halfway over his head before yanking it back down, his eyes going wide. Oh fuck, He thought to himself, Please, tell me I did not do what I think I did last night.

He groaned as the memories of last night started to come back to come come back to him.“You gotta be fucking kidding me! I took off my fucking shirt?! What was I thinking? Damn drunk me!”

Kali yawned before curling tighter around his wrist, annoyed by his agitated movements.

He began to pace back and forth in front of the mirror. “Okay, maybe--maybe he didn’t notice the scars. I’m mean he was really drunk. Maybe he just focused on the bruising and nothing else. Hell, maybe the bruising covers the scars.”

The only way he could figure out if that was true was by looking at his chest, though. Carefully, he took off his shirt. A sharp hiss left his lips when he saw the bruising. The left side of his ribs were a motley design of purples, blues, and greens. At the very center of the bruise, where Sirius had hit him the hardest, the skin was a ghastly black. This, he was definitely going to have to heal.

He began to carefully eye his old scars. Gnawing on his bottom lip, he tried to decide if Regulus had noticed them.  The glamour he had put on the burn he had received from the dragon in his fourth year and the scars from… when he was young had held through the night so he doubt Regulus been able to see them, but other scars were clearly visible. He winced when he realized that the bruises didn’t hide the scars, but actually accentuated them. All the scars he tried to hide nowadays seemed to be on display more than usual. Harry ran a hand through his hair. He wasn’t sure how he was going to hide this from Regulus.

Suddenly, he heard a quiet rustling and moan from behind him. Harry threw on a shirt in panic before turning around to see Regulus trying to sit up while he clutched his head.

“Oww… My head hurts,” The younger boy groaned.

“Shhhh,” Harry shushed him quietly, “Go back to sleep. It’s still really early.”

“I can’t sleep with my head hurting this much,” Regulus whined.

Harry sighed before walking over to a shelf of bottles that appeared at his wish. He sorted through a couple bottles before finding the two he wanted.

He walked over to Regulus’ bed and gently pressed the two bottles into the Slytherin’s hand. “Here,” Harry whispered quietly, “Drink these. You’ll feel better.”

Regulus looked at them in confusion. “What are these?”

“The reddish-brown one that kind of looks like mud is a hangover cure. And the light purple one,” Harry paused before continuing, “is a dreamless sleep potion.”

Regulus narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to drug me, Hadrian?”

“Is it considered drugging if I told you what it was?” Harry asked with an easy grin.

“I suppose not,” Regulus said after a moment's pause, “but I’m still not drinking it.”

He set the bottle down on the nightstand beside the bed.

Harry frowned slightly. “You should drink it, though. It’ll help with the hangover and we still have a few hours before breakfast is served in the Great Hall.”

Regulus pushed himself up with a sigh. “Nope. When I’m up I’m up. No going back to sleep now. Even with the help of potions.”

The Slytherin uncorked the brown potion bottle and downed it in one go. He immediately gagged. “Merlin, What’s in this?”

“Trust me, Regulus. You don’t want to know.”

The Slytherin nodded slightly before cocking his head. “You’re favoring you’re left side. I’m guessing your injuries haven’t gotten any better, have they?”

Harry waved his hand dismissively. “They’ll be fine. Just a few bumps and bruises, that’s all.”

Regulus narrowed his eyes. “That wasn’t just a bruise I saw last night, Hadrian. It looked like you were bleeding out under your skin.” The Slytherin paused, searching Harry’s face for something before continuing in a false cheerful tone, “But, then again, I don’t think my memories are all that reliable. Unless there actually were pink elephants parading down the corridors last night?”

Harry smiled. He knew exactly what the younger boy was doing. He was giving Harry an out if he didn’t want to talk about it. “Pink elephants? Really? Did you see Dumbo flying by the Astronomy Tower last night as well?”

“Dumbo?” Regulus repeated, “Who’s Dumbo?”

Harry waved his hand dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. It was just a joke.”

He walked back towards the mirror and began to carefully examine the gash on his head. It was very wide and the edges seemed to curl away from each other. Harry was either going to have to  stitch it back together or heal it magically. Carefully, he prodded the edge of it before letting out a sharp hiss.

“Generally speaking,” Regulus called out to him, “You shouldn’t poke a wound. Especially an injury such as a broken bone, a severe cut, or a head injury.”

“It’s not that bad,” Harry said, trying to convince both himself and Regulus.

Regulus grumbled as he struggled to untangle himself from his bed. Harry rolled his eyes at the younger boy and went back to poking the cut. A startled yelp from behind him had Harry whirling around to see what had happened. Regulus was half laying on the floor, half on the bed with silver sheets tangled between his legs.

“Are you all right?” Harry asked while trying to keep a grin off his face.

Regulus scowled and went back to untangling himself. “I am perfectly,” he somehow managed to get the sheets untangled before standing up, “Fine.”

Harry chuckled. “If you say so.”

Regulus’ scowl deepened. “And how about you?” He snapped, “Are you all right?”

Harry stilled. Evidently, the other boy wasn’t going to let it go liked he had hoped. “I already told you, Regulus. I’m perfectly fine. Just some minor bruises that’s all.”

“Yeah, sure. And the bruising I saw last night wasn’t due to a broken rib or two.”

Harry growled and turned to face the Slytherin. “I’m fine, Regulus. Now stop asking.”

“You are not fine!” The younger boy cried, “You’re obviously favoring your left side and you have your arm curled around the left side of your ribs protecting them. Now take off your goddamn shirt and let me help!”

“No!” Harry growled taking a few steps back, “I’m not taking my shirt off!”

Regulus’ eyes narrowed. “Take it off.”

“No!”

“Take. It. Off.”

“No, I’m not going to take it off!”

Regulus huffed. “Fine. Whatever. Suffer for all I care.”

Harry stared at the younger boy warily before smiling a small, tight smile. “I’ll be fine, Regulus. If anything’s truly bad, I’ll heal it with magic.” Harry turned around to face the mirror again. “But nothing's really bad except for the cut on my head. I think that’s the only thing I’m going to have to--”

Harry cut himself off with a gasp when he felt his shirt disappear. He whirled around to see Regulus staring at him with wide eyes. The Slytherin’s eyes traveled up and down his torso, taking in all the scars and bruises.

Finally, Harry snapped. “Like what you see?” He growled harshly.

Regulus shook himself out of his daze before walking forward and carefully surveying Harry’s ribs. “We need to take care of your ribs. I think at least a couple of them are broken or at least fractured.”

“You’re not going to ask me about my scars?” Harry asked in confusion.

“Hadrian,” he began softly, “I’m not going to force you to tell me something you obviously don’t want to talk about. You can tell me in your own time or not at all. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is making sure you don’t accidentally puncture a lung by moving the wrong way.”

Harry remained silent as the younger boy went back to carefully examining his ribs. It had been a long time since anybody was willing to wait for him to explain something instead of forcing it out of him. Hell, he couldn’t really remember the last time that had happened.

“Thank you,” Harry said suddenly.

Regulus smiled softly. “It’s no problem.” A serious look stole across his face. “Now, I’m almost positive that some of your ribs are broken. Unfortunately, I don’t know a spell that can heal this. That leaves us two options. We either take you to see Madame Pomfrey,” Horror filled Harry’s face. “Or we find something in this room to help heal you. It seems that stuff appears when you need it to in this room. Maybe a healing book will as well.”

Harry shook his head, although Regulus did not see it since he had already turned to the bookshelves for answers. “We don’t have to resort to that. I already know a spell that can heal my ribs.”

“You do?” Regulus paused from looking through one of the bookshelves. “Why didn’t you heal them last night?”

“Well, one: I was drunk. Two: it was like four in the morning. And three: I was too lazy and tired to do it, so I just went to bed.”

Regulus eyes widened. “You idiot! You could have made them worse! What if you had rolled over in your sleep and accidently punctured a lung or something!?”

Harry waved his hand dismissively. “Eh, it’d be all right. If I had punctured a lung, I would have woken up and healed it.”

Regulus stared at him in horrified awe. “Oh my god. I’m friends with a suicidal dumbass.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha,” Harry said with a completely blank face, “I’m glad to see you think so much of me.”

“What can I say?” Regulus shrugged. “I call it like I see it. Now, quit trying to distract me and heal yourself.”

Harry rolled his eyes but nevertheless drew his wand. “Bossy much?” Ignoring Regulus’s answering growl, Harry pointed his wand at his ribs and whispered, “Noctis.”

Two resounding snaps echoed through the room causing Regulus’ eyes to widen and Harry to groan in pain.

“There,” Harry grunted, clutching his ribs, “See? All better.”

“No, you don’t sound any better,” Regulus fretted, “Here, sit down. Rest a little.”

Regulus carefully helped Harry sit down in the chair beside the mirror. “Is there anything I can do?”

Harry shook his head. “Nah, just give me a few moments. And maybe a pain reliever.” As Regulus began searching the shelves of potions, Harry couldn’t resist adding, “Or twenty.”  

 “What was that?” The younger boy called over his shoulder.

“Oh, nothing,” Harry paused before saying, “On second thought, can you get me some bruise removal cream? Just one jar.”

Regulus’ hands stilled amongst the jars. “Bruise removal cream? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Harry winced. Of course he wouldn’t. Fred and George made long in the future. But if he needed it, surely the room would provide it. Wouldn’t it? “I doubt you would have. Some of my friends created it a few years ago and never went public. But there should be some in the room. It’s a dull yellow color, very thick.”

Regulus searched for a few moments before shouting victoriously, “Found them!”

Regulus’ pleased expression dimmed when Harry immediately snatched the pain relief potion out of his hand, uncorked it with his teeth, and drank it in one swallow.

“I’m gonna assume you did that out of habit and not because you’re in serious pain,” he drawled.

“Habit? Why do you think it’s a habit?”

“Really?” Regulus asked before motioning at Harry’s scars. “You’re asking me that?”

“Oh. Right.”

Harry held out his hand for the other bottle hoping the action would distract the other boy. It must have for Regulus almost dropped the bottle because he was so startled by the sudden movement before handing it to Harry. The Slytherin stared curiously at the bottle as Harry uncorked it and used his finger to scoop out some.

“How exactly does it work?” Regulus eventually asked.

“I’m not sure,” Harry said as he smeared some of the solution on the bruising on his chest, “Fred and George were always very secretive about anything they made. What I do know is that it helps heal the bruising. Depending on the severity that is. It’ll heal a small bruise completely, but it’ll merely fade a bruise this bad.”

As if to prove his point, the part of the bruise he had spread the cream on turned from a startling purple to a nasty green color. Regulus whistled. “That sure is a handy cream.”

Harry nodded as he spread on the rest of the cream. “Definitely. It’s helped me out numerous times.”

Regulus stared in confusion when Harry corked the bottle again after he finished covering the bruise on his chest. “Wait, what are you doing? Why aren’t you covering your other bruises?”

“You can only use so much at one time before it stops working,” Harry explained, “I doubt any of my other bruises would heal since I put so much cream on this one.”

Regulus looked Harry over worriedly. “Are you sure you’re going to be all right? Is there anything else I can do?”

“Nah, there’s nothing else to do besides heal the cut on my forehead.” Harry smiled up at Regulus comfortingly, “I’ll be fine, though. I promise.”

The younger boy continued to look at Harry in worry, but this time his eyes settled Harry’s numerous scars.

“Tell me one thing,” the boy said quietly.

Harry tensed waiting for the inevitable.

“Tell me that you’re safe from whoever caused those scars,” Regulus said with pleading eyes.

Harry leaned back in his chair and stared up at Regulus appraisingly. “That’s really what you want to know? Not how I got my scars or who gave them to me?”

The younger boy nodded. “Telling me if you’re safe or not is enough for me.”

Harry smiled softly. “I’m as safe as anyone can be in the castle. The people that caused these scars cannot harm me here.”

Although he did not seem completely satisfied with Harry’s answer, Regulus nodded before turning and tidying up the potion bottles he had jumpled up in his haste to find the pain relief potion and bruise cream. Harry stayed seated with his head resting on the palm of his hand. He was deep in thought, his eyes vacant. After a few moments, he blinked and nodded to himself as if coming to a decision before calling out, “Regulus.”  

The younger boy stilled. “Yes, Hadrian?”

“They say that all great friendships start with an act of trust.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Regulus said, confusion tainting his voice.

“I could use a great friend about now.”

“Hadrian, what are you saying?” Regulus asked as he turned back to face Harry.

Harry stared deep into the younger boy’s eyes. “Can I trust you, Regulus?”

Regulus paused, looking slightly shocked by the question before his expression became a mixture of concern and determination. “Yes. Yes, you can.”

A thin smile appeared on Harry’s lips. “In that case, I’ll tell you the story behind one of my scars. Just one. The others you will have to work for.”

“You don’t have to do that, Hadrian! You can tell me when you’re ready. I’ll understand.”

Harry shook his head. “If I’m honest, I doubt I’ll ever be ready to tell the stories behind these scars. But I’m willing to tell you one of the many horror stories of my life. I’m willing to trust that you won’t tell it to anyone else. Will you let me trust you?”

Regulus gulped and nodded. “Which-” he paused to clear his throat. “Which scar will you tell me about?”

Harry hummed and tilted his head. “Why don’t you pick.”

“What?” Regulus asked in shock, “You’d let me pick?”

Harry shrugged. “In for a penny, in for a pound. Go on. Pick.”

Regulus’ eyes wandered up and down his torso. Harry could help but wonder which scar he would pick. The small, thin stab wound between two of his lower ribs? The large scar on his shoulder where it looked like the skin had literally melted off? The large, jagged scar that was at least a half an inch thick that traveled from the lower part of the right side of his waist down to his left hip?

After what seemed like an eternity, Regulus’ eyes settled on a scar, or rather scars. “How did you get those scars above your heart?”

Harry winced. “Of course, you would pick that one.”

Regulus eyes widened. “You don’t have to explain it if you don’t want to! I can pick a different scar or, better yet, we could wait until you’re actually ready to tell me! You don’t have to answer!”

Harry waved his hand dismissively. “It’s not that. It’s just that I should have realized you’d pick that one.”

Subconsciously, Harry’s hand went to cover the scar.

“Hadrian,” Regulus said gently, “you don’t have to tell me.”

Harry rubbed harshly at the vicious claw marks above his heart before saying, “I want to. Just give me a moment to figure out how to explain what happened.”

Regulus nodded and waited patiently as Harry began to craftily combine the truth with a few lies. Taking a deep breath he began. “Last year, me and two of my friends were on the run.”

Regulus narrowed his eyes in confusion, but didn’t interrupt.

“My family had a habit of making enemies,” Harry continued, “They always did what they thought was the right thing, and, well, that pissed a bunch of people off. There was this one woman, though, who absolutely despised everything me and my family stood for. Her name was,” Harry paused before hesitantly saying, “Belladonna, and she was bloody insane. I’m not talking ‘staring into the air and talking to inanimate objects’. I’m talking ‘cackling as she forces you to watch as she removes your friend’s intestines’ insane. She liked hurting people. It was one of the few things that made her happy, I think. And she knew what would hurt my family most would be to come after me.

“I was at a wedding when Belladonna and her friends attacked. It was mass chaos, but somehow me and my best friends were able to escape. We hid out for hours, waiting for someone to contact us, and when they did it wasn’t with good news. They told us to run and trust no one. We did. For several months. But then we got stupid. I got stupid. She caught us.”

Kali nudged his hand gently in order to make sure he didn’t get lost in his memories. Regulus offered his silent support as Harry took a deep breath before continuing, “She split us up. Torturing us separately in hopes of gaining information that she knew we didn’t know. She spent the most time with me, though. She wanted me to suffer.” Harry shrugged and leant back in his chair. “But I was never one to taking things lying down. I called her some choice words, but then I did something unforgivable in her eyes.”

“What?” Regulus asked almost breathlessly.

Harry turned his eyes to the Slytherin. “I insulted her lover.”

“What?!” Regulus exclaimed in confusion.

“Yep.” Harry chuckled. “Funny thing was she was married too, but she didn’t give a damn about her husband. Hell, you could kill him for all she cared, but if you so much as glanced at her lover she would make you beg for death.”

“What did she do to you then?” Regulus asked quietly, “I mean, you insulted him for Merlin’s sake.”

“She tried to claw my heart out. Since I had insulted hers, she wanted to take mine. Or rather, rip it out and make me watch while she crushed itt in her hand as I died.” Harry cocked his head. “She was a rather violent person.”

“Why did it scar so badly, though?” Regulus asked, “Shouldn’t you have been able to heal it?”

“That’s just it. Belladonna had this thing were she would dip her nails into a potion that her lover gave her. It was basically a liquid form of the cruciatus. If she so much as scratched someone they would feel like they were being cruio’ed. She clawed at me until all of the solution had been stripped from her nails before she poured half the bottle on the gouges. Even after we eventually escaped, my friends weren’t able to get all of the potion out of the cuts, we were only able to heal around the potion.”

Regulus looked at his chest worriedly. “Does that mean you’re still affected by the potion? Since it’s still in your body?”

Harry rubbed harshly at the scars over his heart. “Yeah, the potion’s still there working its magic, but it’s faded over the months. Now it’s just a deep ache with the occasional pulsing pain.”

Regulus shook his head. “How could your friends heal you with that shit still inside you? How can you still call them friends for doing that to you?”

Harry shrugged. “Well, we were in a rush at the time, trying to get away and I couldn’t afford to have a debilitating injury at the time. And if I’m honest with myself, I think they were more than a little pissed with me.”

“What? Why?”

“Somehow we all managed to escape around the same time, although theirs was a planned escape, whereas mine was just luck. After they escaped from their cells, they came looking for me.” Harry chuckled darkly. “And, oh, they did not like what they found.”

“What did they find?” Regulus asked hesitantly, dread coloring his voice.

An unfriendly smile settled on Harry’s lips. “They found me holding a stolen wand, casting crucio after crucio at the bitch who almost clawed out my heart. Needless to say they weren’t happy. They were very staunch supporters of the light and despised any type of dark magic. I didn’t care right then, though. All I cared about was the fact that I got the bitch to scream.” Harry turned to face Regulus directly. “And that is how I got these scars.”

The younger boy stared at Harry in shock. “That… is one hell of a story.”

Harry stood and stretched. “Unfortunately,” he said through a yawn.

“Do all  your scars have stories like that?!”

Harry smirked and wagged a finger at him. “Eh. Eh. Eh! I promised you the story of one scar, and that is what you got! You’ll have to earn the other ones.”

Harry stepped in front of the mirror and started poking at the cut on his forehead again. “Oh, and, Regulus,” he called out, making eye contact with the Slytherin through the mirror, “If you break my trust,” Harry’s eyes narrowed, “You’ll realize there are people in this world who are much more efficient at torture than Belladonna ever was.”

Regulus nodded, a small flash of nervousness flickered in his eyes before it was replaced by determination. “Can I ask you one thing, Hadrian?”

Harry paused. “It depends on what it is.”

“Is the bitch dead? Because if not, I’ll kill her.”

Harry smirked through the mirror. “Oh, yeah. The bitch is dead.”

Regulus nodded. “Good. That’s good.”

Harry hummed and flicked his wand at his forehead, causing the cut to heal partially. He frowned at it before shrugging. It’d be fine to heal on it’s own now. He doubt it would leave a scar. He turned back to Regulus with a bright smile on his face as if they hadn’t just been talking about torture. “Ready to go eat breakfast? A good story always makes me hungry.”