Chapter 5
When the boys woke up the house was silent. Maybe it was for the better. Regulus watched his brother sleep.
Maybe I can try to help some more. He took his wand and looked through Sirius's textbooks. He didn't find anything. Regulus was sneaking back in into his room to see if maybe his schoolbooks have something about healing magic wounds in them.
"The Masters aren't here. You don't have to sneak." Regulus turned around and saw Creature.
"Thank you Creature." said Regulus. "Do you know anything about healing wounds inflicted by magic?"
"Creature doesn't know anything. Even if Creature knew, he would get punished."
"I understand." Regulus nodded and continued to his room
"Creature can help. He can look in the library." The elf disappeared.
Regulus never disliked Creature, Sirius hated him to his core. Creature was first and foremost loyal to their mother, he always listen to her orders. Regulus couldn't held that against the poor house elf. Suddenly a book appeared on his nightstand.
"Thank you Creature." He took it in his arms and ran to Sirius.
Sirius was still sleeping soundly, his breathing slow and steady. Regulus sat down next to him and opened the book, searching for any information that could help his brother. As he flipped through the pages, he found a chapter on healing spells. Regulus's heart lifted as he read through the spells and incantations, searching for one that could heal the kind of wounds his brother had.
Finally, he found a spell that seemed promising. It was a complex incantation, one that required a great deal of focus and precision. But Regulus was determined to try.He took a deep breath and began to recite the incantation, his wand pointed at Sirius's wounds. The air around them began to shimmer, and Regulus could feel a rush of magic coursing through him. For a moment, he thought he had succeeded. Sirius's wounds seemed to be knitting themselves back together, the flesh slowly sealing up. But then something went wrong. Regulus lost his concentration for just a moment, and the spell backfired. There was a loud explosion, and Regulus was thrown backward. He hit the wall with a thud, his head spinning. When he looked back at Sirius, he saw that the wounds were worse than before. They were bleeding profusely, and Sirius's face was contorted in pain.
Regulus felt his heart sink. He had failed. He had made things worse.
But then he saw something that gave him hope. Sirius's eyes were open, and he was looking at him, Regulus saw his brother smile.
"Thanks, Reggie," Sirius said weakly. "You tried. Let's just fix it up the Herbal way, ye? You are much better in that."
"Ok, I will get some herbs form the garden." Regulus stood up and headed straight into their greenhouse.
On his way there he got scared by Creature. "It wasn't your fault by the way. Creature knows it wasn't."
"Don't lie, I lost focus and fucked up the spell that's all." protested Regulus.
"Creature doesn't lie. The spell Master cast was red, wasn't it?"
"It was how do you know that Creature? Were you watching?!" Regulus took his wand out, filled with anger.
Creature protested."No, your mother uses it on Creature as well, Creature knows the spell it is The Cruciatus Curse." The house elf sounded kind of proudly when he said that. Maybe Creature didn't realize how horrible the spell actually is and just wanted to get his Young Master to like him. Regulus panicked. Did their mother really use the unforgivable curse on one of her sons? She would never, right?
Regulus's mind was racing. He knew that the Cruciatus Curse was one of the Unforgivable Curses, and that it was illegal to use them. The thought of his own mother using such a spell on one of her own children was almost too much to bear. He tried to push the thought out of his mind and focused on finding the herbs he needed.
When he returned to Sirius's room, he saw that his brother had managed to clean himself up a bit. He was sitting up in bed, looking a bit better.
"Here, I brought some herbs," Regulus said, holding out a small bag. "I hope they will help."
Sirius took the bag and opened it, inspecting the contents. "These will work," he said, nodding. "Thanks, Reggie."
Regulus felt a pang of guilt. He knew that he had let Sirius down. He had tried to help, but instead he had only made things worse. He wanted to make it up to his brother somehow.
"Sirius, I'm so sorry I shouldn't have urged you to come back," he said quietly. "and I should have been more careful with that spell. I didn't mean to hurt you. This is all my fault."
"It's okay, Reg," Sirius said, smiling weakly. "I know you were trying to help. And you did, in your own way. You always do."
Regulus felt a lump form in his throat. He knew that Sirius was just trying to make him feel better, but it still meant a lot to hear those words.
"I'll try to be more careful next time," he said.
Sirius nodded, still smiling. "I know you will, Reg. You always do."
Regulus and Sirius knew that they couldn't delay their departure to Hogwarts any longer. They had to catch the Hogwarts Express, and it was leaving soon. Sirius was still weak and in pain, but he was determined to make the journey. He didn't want to think about what would happened if their mother found them here.
"Are you sure you're up for this, Sirius?" Regulus asked, concern melted to his face.
"I'm fine," Sirius said, a bit too quickly. "Let's go."
Regulus knew his brother was just trying to be brave, but he didn't want to push him too hard. They made their way to the train station, with Sirius leaning heavily on Regulus for support.
As they approached the platform, they saw that it was crowded with students and parents saying their goodbyes. Regulus scanned the crowd, looking for any familiar faces. He spotted a group of his friends from Slytherin - Barty, Evan and their cousin Sisi with Lucius Malfoy, both of them were starting her final year at Hogwarts. But he didn't see anyone else he knew.
"Just some pricks, who can't see you like this. Looks like we're on our own," he said to Sirius.
"That's okay," Sirius smiled. "We'll manage."
They made their way onto the train, their trunks in tow. They found an empty compartment and settled in, Sirius wincing in pain as he sat down.
"Here, let me help," Regulus said, pulling out a small jar of balsam from his bag. "This should help with the pain."
Sirius nodded gratefully as Regulus applied the salve to his wounds. They sat in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts.
"I'm sorry, Sirius," Regulus said suddenly.
"Reggie, stop saying sorry. It's ok."
Regulus shook his head. "I know something."
"What is it?"
"It was Crucio." Regulus couldn't look at Sirius, he felt guilty for his brothers suffering. "Sirius, we have to be careful, I think she's been using it on us our entire lives."
"What so you mean, Regulus?"
Th-the curse it's red. It's always been red. Creature told me she uses it on him as well. We'd been crucioed this whole time, Sirius."
"That old BITCH!" Sirius spat on the ground. "That hag, fuck!" Sirius was shaking in frustration, clenching his fists, it look as if he was about to kill the first living being, that would appear in his sight. Regulus could see the anger and pain in his brother's eyes. He KNEW that Sirius had suffered at the hands of their mother, but he had never seen him so enraged before.
"Sirius, we have to be careful, we don't want to make things worse."
"No, Reggie, WE don't, I do. She keeps talking about honor and family legacy. I will give her honor. Using the Unforgivable curse on HER OWN SON..."
Regulus jumped in to stop him. "Shh- don't be so loud Sirius..."
"YOU stay out of it BUT I WILL make this BITCH regret ever having children. I hope you don't mind that I put some dirt on the Black family name." Sirius smirked, flames of passion in his eyes. Reg had no idea what Sirius was planning. But she sure as hell knew it couldn't be anything good.