Chapter Text
He really hadn't thought this through when Sirius left. For some idiotic reason he believed his parents to have more humanity. Yet here he is laying face first on the living room carpet, where his parents left him to bleed out. He hadn't considered what would happen when the heir of the Black household would get himself disowned. He should've known that the target on his back would only magnify under his parents' gaze. Just a mouse caught under the cat's claw.
The first day after Sirius left, the house had been deathly silent. Every creak of the wooden floorboards sounded like a thundering boom. Even breathing too loud made the portraits glare down at Regulus. His body stiffened as the day went, every noise had him looking over his shoulder. It wasn't until dinner when the silence was broken.
"As of today, you are the heir, understood?" His father spoke.
"Yes sir," was all Regulus could say in response.
It was after dinner when Regulus found his brother blasted off the family tree. Gritting his teeth he turned away and went to his room for the night.
The first week followed in the same silence. By the end of the week Regulus was exhausted and tense beyond belief. The house had an eerie calmness to it that unsettled him to his core. It felt like the calm before the storm. The portraits barely acknowledged him, same with his parents. It was like he was walking around under an invisibility cloak with everyone none the wiser.
When the following week ended, Regulus started second guessing his unease. Maybe, for the first time in his life, his parents were taking Sirius being rebellious in stride. As the days continued to pass by Regulus felt himself slowly unclenching his muscles and looking behind his back less and less.
Before Regulus knew it a month had passed since Sirius ran away. He rarely interacted with his parents, besides meals that were expected of him to join. Every meal was the same, nobody spoke of Sirius and he wasn't to act out of turn as the new heir. Back straight, elbows off the table, never clank the utensils against the glass, formal wear, and not a strand of hair out of place.
This was the way of pure blood households, don't follow every rule to a T and you would find yourself at the will of a wand. Regulus understood this concept at a very young age, but Sirius never seemed to grasp it. Every chance he got, like a moth to a flame, he would antagonize their parents until they chased him down and Imperio him into staying still and doing as told.
Regulus had learned over time going unnoticed was much preferable to having their parents gaze on him like a hawk locked on its prey. However, it never stopped his parents from using him as a toy for fun or even use him to get Sirius to get in line.
Which is exactly why Regulus should've known it had been some time since his parents had let off steam. Instead, he allowed himself to relax and bask in the peace that he had become accustomed to. So, it really should've been no surprise when one night after dinner his father asked him to join them in the living room. Not wanting to test their patience, he followed without question.
He hadn't been prepared when the first Crucio spell hit him. His body seized and fell to the floor as he groaned through clenched teeth. Every nerve ending was burning like lava, his muscles tense as steel, and his eyes became unfocused. Wheezing through the pain, his mother had begun screaming like a banshee.
"If you're brother hates being the heir so much, I'll make sure you never even think of leaving this house to escape the duties expected of you!"
He didn't bother to think of a reply before his mother hit him with the second crucio spell. His consciousness started to blink in and out as his body burned like Icarus, getting too close to the damn sun. Honestly, he could only blame himself for this outcome. He allowed himself to become vulnerable in a house that is only known for its misery and torture. Now here he is blacking out on the wooden floor as his mother continues to scream nonsense at him.
"You're such a disappointment, Sirius at least had the strength to fight back! All you do is lay there and ignore me! Am I too good for you? Is that it? I'm nothing but a nuisance? I'll show you!"
Regulus ended up blacking out that night and didn't wake until the next morning, unable to move. No matter how hard he tried to move his arms to lift himself, he was unable to. His arms were bound to the sides of his body. He could slowly feel himself begin to panic as he realized his parents had used the Imperius curse to keep him laying here until he awoke.
It wasn't until hours later did his parents return. The following week continued in the same fashion, scream and berate him as they threw Cruciatus curse at him under their very will. Until one night they decided to bring a guest to the house.
The moment he heard her giggle enter the room his veins turned to ice and his eyes widened. When Bellatrix entered his line of sight he knew in that moment he might die that night. Didn't matter if he was her favorite cousin, a toy was a toy in her eyes, and he was her new prey. She licked her lips as she looked down at him and her chest started moving erratically from excitement.
"Be careful not to kill him," was the last thing he heard his father say before the door slammed behind him.
That was the moment she decided to get the party started. She walked leisurely in a circle around him. "What to do first? Hmmmmm, oh I know!"
She pulled out multiple knives from her bag and stalked towards him. "You know I hate doing this, but I have to give Sirius a lesson, you'll forgive me won't you?" She asked him as she knelt in front of him. All he could do was stare back at her in silence.
"I guess I can't expect an answer when you're like this," She sighed before gripping the knife in her hand and started carving at his skin.
He wasn't even able to make a single sound as she continued to carve different parts of his body. All he could do was lay there under excruciating pain as tears slipped down the sides of his face. He felt so stupid for wishing his brother was there to save him. Instead, Sirius was the smart one this time and he was the idiot for not following his brother out the front door the night he left. He never should've ignored his brother all these years, he should've followed in his footsteps like he used to as a child. Back when his big brother was his role model and he wanted to be just like him.
His attention snapped back to Bellatrix when she started carving across his face, just below his eyes and across the ridge of his nose. She giggled as she went, humming melodies under her breath. She stared down at him like he was a masterpiece that she created from her own hands. The next few hours were a blur of pain and tears until eventually he lost enough blood to become unconscious once again.
Regulus didn't wake again until he felt shoving against his shoulder consistently. He groaned lowly as he realized he had control over his body again for the first time in over a week. He could start weeping at the thought alone.
"Young master, you must get up, please young master," Kreacher whispered to him.
Regulus tried to move his arms to lift his body, but his body was so weak all it could do was shake from the adrenaline and pain. "I can't move," was all he could manage to whisper back to the house elf.
Kreacher started to pull on his clothing and slowly but surely started dragging his body towards the fireplace. "Master Regulus can't stay here anymore he will die," Kreacher told him. Regulus could feel the tears build up and pour over his face, making the new wound on his face come alight with throbbing pain.
"Kreacher is taking the young master away right now," Kreacher whispered before running over to grab the floo powder and throw it down onto the fireplace floor. "Potter residence!" was the last thing he heard before a cloud of green covered his vision.
The house was covered in darkness and not a single sound was heard besides the ticking of the clock that hung on the wall. "Kreacher will go get help for young master," Kreacher whispered to him before running out the room.
As each second passed by Regulus struggled to stay awake but forced himself to count as he breathed through the fire burning through him. What felt like an eternity had passed before he heard footsteps slowly becoming louder before the door busted open to Sirius looking around the room widely before landing his gaze on Regulus. "Oh merlin," he whispered before running over to him on the floor and kneeling beside him.
He grabbed Regulus hand and started petting his hair as tears flowed over his face and landed on Regulus. "It's going to be okay, I promise," Sirius said through heaving sobs.
Regulus could only squeeze his brother's hand. He felt himself relax completely for this first time in years, probably not since his childhood. He couldn't resist the pull of sleep coming over him and closed his eyes.
"Hey, no, no, no, keep your eyes open just for a little longer," Sirius said gripping his hand tighter.
He slowly opened them to find movement behind Sirius. A moment later Mrs. Potter knelt down on the other side of him before his eyes could focus. She was quick to pull his clothes off to get to the wounds covering his body. He grunted the whole way through, gritting his teeth against the sharp stinging he experienced through all the movement.
"Alright Regulus I'm going to need you to bear with me, this might be painful," Mrs. Potter told him, gently touching his cheek.
"Okay," He whispered, too scared to move his head too much from the piercing headache he was experiencing. She smiled softly before counting down from three and getting started.
The pain was excruciating; it was like reliving the past week all over again except this time his body had control over itself. His head threw itself backward as he strangled his brother's hand and the carpet below him. He had started screaming before he even realized that horrid sound was him making it. It wasn't long before he blacked out completely.