regulus arcturus black. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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marauderstower2016-10-15 12:31 pm
rab) wrote in marauderstower2016-10-15 12:31 pm
Poly-Marauders Torture Hell
TIMELINE: 2 mo after Find Out Pregs. Relatively soon after getting Remus to return from being a TRASH HUSBAND. Bun In Oven about 3mo along.
Regulus finds out about the plan before he knows he's even supposed to be involved. He finds out when he overhears Bellatrix talking about it and his blood runs cold. He slips away quiet and hidden to send off a panicked owl with what information he can give without being incriminated.
S.
Do not go home tonight. B going there. Will be V. BAD. Safe elsewhere.
R.
Each emphasized word is underlined twice.
He barely gets it sent off and goes back among the others when Bellatrix slings an arm around his shoulder and asks him if he's excited to go on the mission. He forces a smile at her, but he feels like he's going to vomit. It's easy to get there though, easy to get to the flat with Bellatrix's...methods. They're left waiting for Sirius to return home and Regulus is only barely not shaking. Bellatrix is draped over an armchair like this is a social call, leg hanging over the arm of it. Regulus is standing nervously behind it and looking at the door every so often.
"You know he's not going to change his mind," said soft. They're not wearing their masks tonight.
There's a silence before Bellatrix's voice slithers out from her perch where he can't see her. Her knife smile is in his mind. "That's not the point, darling cousin."
(Regulus isn't religious, obviously, but what he does now is something very like praying.)
WARNINGS: torture, violence, Mean Things Being Said, Bellatrix Lestrange.
Regulus finds out about the plan before he knows he's even supposed to be involved. He finds out when he overhears Bellatrix talking about it and his blood runs cold. He slips away quiet and hidden to send off a panicked owl with what information he can give without being incriminated.
S.
Do not go home tonight. B going there. Will be V. BAD. Safe elsewhere.
R.
Each emphasized word is underlined twice.
He barely gets it sent off and goes back among the others when Bellatrix slings an arm around his shoulder and asks him if he's excited to go on the mission. He forces a smile at her, but he feels like he's going to vomit. It's easy to get there though, easy to get to the flat with Bellatrix's...methods. They're left waiting for Sirius to return home and Regulus is only barely not shaking. Bellatrix is draped over an armchair like this is a social call, leg hanging over the arm of it. Regulus is standing nervously behind it and looking at the door every so often.
"You know he's not going to change his mind," said soft. They're not wearing their masks tonight.
There's a silence before Bellatrix's voice slithers out from her perch where he can't see her. Her knife smile is in his mind. "That's not the point, darling cousin."
(Regulus isn't religious, obviously, but what he does now is something very like praying.)
WARNINGS: torture, violence, Mean Things Being Said, Bellatrix Lestrange.
no subject
"Go ahead, Regulus darling. I know you've been itching for this, I can see it in your eyes."
What's in his eyes is terror, but she doesn't see anything other than what she wants. He exhales shakily and raises his arm. He knows the charm will hold but his hands are shaking so badly that she's going to notice and--
"I can't."
There's a sickening silence.
"What?" It's sharp before she turns sweet again, shaking her head like he's said something funny. It's still dangerous. "Of course you can, Regulus! I've always known we've needed to toughen you up and this is the perfect chance! Here, I'll help you."
Her 'help' is to hold Regulus' wand arm with hers, guiding him to point it properly at Sirius and lean close to his ear to speak. "Just think, Regulus. Just hate. He abandoned his status, abandoned his family. He deserves this, doesn't he? We've kindly given him a chance to come home and he's thrown it in our faces."
Regulus' grip on his wand tightens and he exhales sharply through his nose. She's steadying his arm still but his hands won't stop shaking--finally he croaks out the tiniest whisper, barely audible.
"I can't."
no subject
He can't help the way he glances up, suddenly terrified, though he isn't sure who for. He wishes he hadn't, because then Regulus and Bellatrix are standing side-by-side and Bella is telling him to hate and Sirius knows, knows that the hatred Regulus feels for him must be so much deeper than Bella's. That this is going to hurt and he is going to deserve every single goddamn moment for exactly the abandonment his cousin is speaking of.
It stops his heart. It honestly terrifies him. It's got him shutting his eyes in terror; in preparation for the wave of agony.
It doesn't come. It doesn't come, and Regulus is saying that he can't and fuck.
Sirius' eyes shoot open and he tries to marshal his shaking arms into getting him back up again. Hope hurts, but it's growing in his chest anyways because Regulus said he can't and Bellatrix is talking about toughening him up like he isn't already and fuck. Fuck. Now is not the time for the realization that's creeping into his mind.
"Reg--" His voice is already tinged with hoarseness when he speaks. He doesn't know what he wants to say; doesn't get it out anyways because Bellatrix is Silencing him as she rounds on Regulus.
"Regulus," she says, her voice sickly sweet and incredibly dangerous, "I think you're forgetting the goal here, sweet cousin. We're meant to remind this blood traitor that he's a place in our Lord's army. What would he say if he finds out that we didn't do everything we could to convince him of that?"
If Regulus didn't do everything he was meant to, specifically.
no subject
He's going to get punished. He's going to get killed for failing and he's going to deserve it, but not for the reasons the Dark Lord thinks.
"Bellatrix," he whispers, and it's pleading even though she's still holding his wand arm and he can't go anywhere, can't do anything. His mind is racing and he thinks he's come upon something, maybe: "let me try other methods. I know you love this--" torture, he means, "--but you know I prefer ways far more subtle. Your style is far more rightfully grandiose than mine, but I've my ways. Let me talk to him." Merlin, he's doing his best.
She almost seems to be considering it for a moment, but it's too little, too late. "No," she says finally, that danger still there. Still lurking. "No, that won't work this time, Regulus." This time has so many more implications. "You are going to cast the Cruciatus on him. This is the only way with his type, I'm afraid."
No. Even if he did try it would fail, and he can't. His breath shakes and he inhales, exhales, inhales again. "He's my brother, Bellatrix!" It's a shout when the rest had been quiet and even.
Bellatrix reels back and slaps him without a second thought. "You don't have a brother!"
The slap strikes him still: Bellatrix has never hit him before. The expression on Regulus' face will be painfully familiar to Sirius.
no subject
He'd failed Regulus, and then he'd misjudged him, and now Regulus was about to get himself killed because of Sirius. That's absolutely unacceptable.
Something cold and certain settles in him when Bellatrix slaps Regulus. It's familiar in the same way that expression on his brother's face is. It's the kind of feeling he'd get, right before saying something to Walburga to get her attention on him instead of his brother.
Like aunt like niece, right?
"Hey bitch," he says, fighting back to a slightly more upright position and doing his best to sound bored and unaffected even though he's terrified and still feeling weak, "As fascinating as it is to watch you try to keep such a spineless lout in line, can you not get up to your crazy dominance shit in my house?"
His gaze flickers towards Regulus, and maybe his brother will catch the apology and the warning in his eyes. Regulus needs to do something to get back into Bella's good graces, but if he isn't then at least Sirius can try to get her attention back onto him.
It's almost enough. Bellatrix turns towards him with a bright fury in her eyes and strides forward to backhand him as well. The large ring on her hand leaves a familiar cut, and Sirius can't help the sharp laugh that escapes his lips at how alike this situation feels to the days at home for all everything has changed since then.
"What, was that rude?" he asks with a feigned innocence, "I suppose I'm sorry. Sorry that he clearly doesn't have the balls to do much more than kick a puppy and you clearly don't have the influence to make him do otherwise."
And now there's a wand pressed to his throat as Bellatrix grabs his hair, tugging his head back painfully so he meets her cold, bright eyes.
"I will show you both influence, you scum of the earth," she hisses, "Imperio."
And shit, that's not what he was anticipating and he should have been. He feels a hint of rage and fury before it's smothered under this odd sense of peace. Bellatrix's voice sounds like it's coming from the other end of a tunnel: "I really do regret that you have to learn this way, Regulus, but if you won't teach him, then I'll have to make sure you both learn at once. Sirius? Make him hurt."
Getting to his feet is oddly easy, for all he was having trouble before. He's stepping towards Regulus without thought, but the orders don't sit right in his chest. Making Regulus hurt doesn't seem right. Making Regulus hurt is wrong and goes against everything he believes in--
"--No." The fog clears as he speaks the word with certainty and he rounds on Bellatrix, "No, and fuck you, Bella."
He lunges towards her, intending to knock her over, but despite her surprise at him breaking out from the Imperius curse she still flicks her wand instantly. Suddenly, he's dangling in the air, blood rushing to his head, and Bellatrix looks absolutely like she'd kill him if she were allowed.
"It seems he needs softening up, still. Last chance, dear cousin," Bellatrix says softly to Regulus, "You can take it from here, or I will, and I'll leave the bare minimum of him left so he can crawl back to our Lord when I'm finished with him."
no subject
His breath is shaking as he inhales, exhales, and he has to do his best to not cry. He can't, not now. That really will be a death sentence.
He wishes Sirius would stop pushing it. He wishes Sirius would just let him die so he can at least do it protecting his brother, doing something good with his life for once. But he keeps going and when Bellatrix grabs Sirius to press her wand to his throat his own breath stops, he's reaching out to stop her despite what she's saying--then he's Imperioused, he's standing and taking a step toward Regulus and he takes a step back instinctively, hands shaking and eyes filled with terror - he's never been afraid of Sirius but he is afraid of this.
He still looks terrified when Sirius breaks out of it. It takes him a second to process and he's breathing out sharp and harsh, but he doesn't have time to even himself out because then she has Sirius in the air and he's panicking - even if Sirius hates him, he can't do nothing. "Bellatrix" he says, and it's sharper and firmer for it - he moves forward and pushes her arm down before she can protest, effectively lowering Sirius to the ground. "Bellatrix, we can't, please--you may not think he's family any more but you know I do. You can't hurt him that much."
There's another of those deadly pauses but Regulus has turned his face toward her, wearing a sickle-sharp grin that Sirius will be able to catch if he's looking at them. "Cousin, I know you're angry. But he has to still be useful whether he returns to us or not." He's hoping (that small thing like prayer again) that she remembers some conversations he's been having with the Dark Lord.
Finally, finally, it seems to break through. "Oh!" She's right back to before, syrupy sweet, and she's actually pinching his cheeks. "Look at my little Occlumens! You've been practicing. Yes, he'll be quite happy with you for that."
Regulus exhales but that smile is still there, then he's nodding. "I've got to always do my best, Bellatrix. You know that. Still, I can't hurt him. I can't let you hurt him too much either." Sirius will know this tone: it's precisely the tone he'd used to lie to their parents when they were children. To protect Sirius. He hopes it's enough.
"You're going to be a lovely little spy, aren't you? Properly penitent and all. Well, we'll still have to give him something lasting so he can't quite place what happened here. Too preoccupied with the pain, after all. It'd be a shame if he remembered this part!"
When she moves toward Sirius this time, she doesn't have her wand drawn.
no subject
But then Regulus is talking to Bella with a quiet urgency, and Bella is pinching his cheeks, and the sweetness in her tone makes him sick to his stomach. The smile on Regulus' face does the same. He thought that his brother didn't want this.
But then there's that tone, and even after all these years he knows that tone, and his eyes are widening as he puts together what it is that Regulus is implying and exactly what it is Reg is trying to do. It's foolish and so much more likely to get him killed and he's doing it for him.
He doesn't bother hiding the fear in his eyes for his brother when Bellatrix turns on him. She smiles as she interprets it as terror for what he's heard.
"Oh, yes, he'll definitely have fun with this," she says with glee as she grips Sirius' head again, "He'll be such a good spy, making all of you think that he's on your side. I wish I could let you keep remembering this so that you could hurt over it while he lures everyone in, but I suppose I'll have to do otherwise satisfy myself. Consider this your way of suffering between now and until you remember again."
So she wordlessly shifts her grip from his hair to his wand arm, bending it until she hears the satisfying crack and Sirius screams again, blinded by the pain of it. The cry gets Bellatrix beaming, and then she's letting go of his arm and he's shifting it to his chest as best he can, curling in on it. It means he doesn't see and so isn't warned for when the witch breaks out her wand again, waving it a few times in quick succession and earning a crack first from each of his legs, and then in the rough vicinity of his chest.
Sirius screams until the strike to his chest makes a few of his ribs buckle and crying out only hurts them more. He slumps to the ground and Bellatrix has both her knife and her wand out, and she looks as though she can't decide which to use next.
But then she gasps as though she's been stung, nearly dropping her wand as she moves to briefly brush the back of her hand against her left arm.
"Oh, but we just started having fun," she murmurs, more to herself than anything else, "Did he call you, too, dear cousin, or will you be able to Obliviate him properly so I can go?"
no subject
He winces visibly with each crack, breath coming in quiet and shaky gasps but Bellatrix is too preoccupied with what she's doing, with Sirius' screams. Thankfully he's able to get some semblance of normalcy to his expression before Bellatrix looks to him - he'd winced when the burning started but keeps as impassive as possible. He nods, but when he speaks it's a lazy drawl and there's no tremor to it. He's coming into his own, with this. "Of course, Trixie." The nickname flows like honey from his mouth, affectionate and dear - "he's called both of us but it won't take me but a moment to Obliviate Sirius - you know everyone comes in over the course of a few minutes, so I'll be able to. We all know you always go to his side first, but I won't take long at all. If you'd like, you can put in a good word for me and tell him I'm putting the final nail in the coffin to set up my in as a spy and that I'll be there promptly after. It should please him well enough. This won't be a struggle."
She seems to be considering it but the pull for her to go is too strong and she finally nods, looking him over. "You'll be such a good spy, darling. I'll let him know of your progress. Don't take too long."
(And then she's flouncing out to leave, nudging Sirius with a boot like he's so much trash before she does. There's a crack of Disapparation and she's gone.)
Regulus lets out a choked sob as soon as they're alone, the noise of it caught in his throat. He moves to Sirius' side quickly but doesn't touch him, just drops to his knees there on the floor. "I'm sorry," he whispers, "I'm so sorry I couldn't get her to stop. I know I'm a coward, but I--she would have killed you. I'm not going to Obliviate you, I just--" A shaking breath and he wipes his eyes with his fingers. "I know you probably hate me now but I tried to warn you, I swear, I told the owl to find Lupin if it couldn't find you. I don't have long, I have to go, but--" Another breath and he pulls out his wand, leaning close but still not touching him, murmuring softly under his breath. Inaudibly. It won't be a familiar spell but it will help, a coil of warmth around him and a numbing of the pain and gentle comfort. He can't fix his bones but he can make him hurt less in the meantime, at least. It's a strong spell but it's still going to hurt. Quite a lot. It will just be easier to breathe now, easier to relax and not disappear into it.
It's all Regulus can do.
He still doesn't touch Sirius for a long moment before one hand smooths over his hair, barely-there and gentle as he kisses his forehead. "I'm sorry," he murmurs again, "I love you, even if you hate me more after this. I have to go."
He gets up to leave but seems to realize something at the last second - he casts Obliviate at a potted plant (which breaks, but obviously can't forget anything) just in case he gets asked or checked. The man he's going to is paranoid, after all. Then he clears his mind and puts all the locks on it at once, breathing slow and even before he runs out the door to Disapparate.
--
When he arrives his expression is schooled into a lazy sort of smirk and Bellatrix is just reaching the end of her tale of how even she was convinced of Regulus' fear and determination to help Sirius, and just how good of a spy her little cousin will be. Regulus knows that won't be good enough.
"Is this true, Black?"
Regulus nods, bowing his head with proper respect. "I've Obliviated him, my Lord. Immediately after that, I cried and told him how sorry I was and that I had to go but that I'd wanted to help him. He believes me. My path is paved well."
(There are crawling fingers in his mind, digging, prying, but they find nothing.)
He nods, satisfied. "You've done well since coming up with the idea. I will require one more thing from you to prove your loyalty before I let you go to do this bidding, though. I require an Elf for something I am testing, I trust you will not mind if I take your household's?"
Regulus goes cold and he feels guilt picking at his psyche but he nods, eyebrows raising as he smiles. "Of course, my Lord. I would be honored."
"Good boy."
--
As soon as he gets home, Regulus goes to the bathroom and vomits. Then he sits there, breathing slow, and is glad his parents aren't home. Finally, finally, he goes to Kreacher and explains that he'll be helping the Dark Lord, but that no matter what, he is to come home afterward so that Regulus can take care of him.
He apologizes over and over but Kreacher doesn't understand why because he's just meant to follow orders.
Regulus doesn't know what the job is, but he thinks it must have something to do with what's been on his mind for months now.
It's almost morning by the time Kreacher finally returns, and he's different. Broken, somehow. Regulus does the best by him as he can, and eventually, when the sun is fully up, Kreacher can tell him what's gone on.
He decides, then and there, that he's going to go steal it.
no subject
But then all that comes is a nudge of Bellatrix's foot against him, which still hurts because it's well-placed against his injured ribs, but that's all. There's the sound of Disapparition that echoes through the room, and then Regulus is at his side.
It hurts too much to think, let alone speak, so most of his energy is focused on listening to his brother, much though he wants to respond. There's an instinctive flinch and a soft accompanying groan that escapes his lips when Regulus leans in with his wand, but then the pain is ebbing just slightly. The relief of it earns a choked sob, and then actual tears when Regulus leans in to press a kiss to his hair.
It clears his mind enough that he manages, or at least tries, to murmur a quiet, "Reg--" but his brother's attention is elsewhere, now, and then he's gone. Sirius whimpers a quiet, "I love you, too," to the empty flat, tears streaming down his face.
He's crying even as he shifts as carefully as he can so he feels more supported by the spell taking the edge off the pain. He can't help it, between the physical pain and the emotional agony he's feeling ripped to shreds over. Crying hurts, so he tries to hold it in as best he can, but he's not entirely successful.
Regulus said that Remus might be getting the owl. He hopes that his partner does, and that he comes soon, because much though he wants to he can't get himself to move towards the fireplace to call for anyone else. He's no idea where his wand is at this point, either. All there is to do now is wait, and try to breathe through the hurt, and hope that Regulus' charm lasts until then.
When Remus does come, at least there won't be a Dark Mark waiting for him. It won't be much of an assurance, for all that the flat will look mostly intact. There's still the fact the lights are on in one of the rooms. There's still the broken potted plant, dirt spilling everywhere and the plant on its side, at the entrance of said room. There's still Sirius' wand, abandoned on the floor not far beyond the plant
And then, once Remus enters the room, there's still Sirius himself, his body crumpled and broken on the far side of the room.
no subject
He Apparates back to the flat immediately, much to the hungry owl's dismay.
There's no Dark Mark over their home, which isn't as comforting as he'd like it to be, and it only gets worse from there. The front door is locked as it should be, the flat is still and quiet... nothing seems out of place, except that the lights in the entryway are on, and they're never on when no one's home.
He sneaks through the flat, wand in hand, and the next clue that something has gone wrong is the broken potted plant he sees in the doorway as he turns the corner. As he gets closer, he sees Sirius' wand on the floor, and he's already expecting the worst.
The wards haven't picked up the presence of anyone who isn't supposed to be there, but he's cautious anyway, up until he can see Sirius' body on the ground, limbs twisted unnaturally, and no apparent threats still in the room.
"No! No no no no please--" He rushes to him immediately, certain that he's too late, that Sirius is already gone-- but no, he's breathing, he's alive, he's even conscious, and Remus lets out a sob of broken relief, falling to his knees beside him. He draws back his focus, tapping his wand to Sirius' broken arm. "Ferula." He repeats the process with the legs. It's a temporary fix until they can get a proper Healer to him, but it should keep him from making the breaks any worse, as well as help with the pain a little. He adds a few localized numbing spells, then sends off three Patronuses with messages to Dumbledore, James, and whichever Order-aligned Healer it can find first. Then he takes Sirius' unsplintered hand in his, stroking his thumb over the back of it soothingly. "Padfoot-- Padfoot, it's alright, I've got you."
no subject
"--Sorry," he gasps out immediately afterwards, knowing that the flinching away is only going to make Remus hurt even more, "Merlin, Moony--"
He's so glad to see him. He's overwhelmed. He was crying already but the tears begin anew, now, especially as Remus goes to work on his injuries. It makes his breath come out sharp and shaky, and he has to fight the pain to add, "Ribs, too," because that's hardly going to be obvious, and his broken limbs are obviously more distracting.
Once all the spells are cast and the pain feels a little more distant, he's going to squeeze at Remus' hand just to assure himself he's real. He's still hurting and traumatized enough that his eyes are bright with pain and a little unfocused. When he speaks, it's a babbling, incoherent mess still.
"--I love you, oh Merlin, I love you, he said you'd be here and you are and it hurts, but he did the best he could. He did, Moony, fuck, he's being so stupid but I'm so proud of him. She wanted to kill me, I could see it in her eyes but he stopped her, he's so fucking smart, Remus--"
His pulse is fluttering like a hummingbird's and his words fly just as quickly from his lips, and he's still crying. He doesn't know if he remembers how to stop. But Remus is here and that means help is on the way, so he thinks that maybe he's allowed to crack a little bit. He certainly doesn't know if he can stop himself, either way.
no subject
He numbs his rib cage too at the mention, though the spell needs to be a bit milder to keep the organs working properly.
It hurts to see Sirius cry like this, like he hasn't since perhaps their second year of school. He can't help but keep his wand in hand, though, as much as he wants to stroke Sirius' hair, to offer as much comfort as possible. Whoever attacked could likely return, after all. He tries to make sense of Sirius' babbling, and it takes him a minute, because honestly, it's been a while since he's had cause to think of Sirius' brother, but he remembers the note and things start adding up.
"Are you-- talking about your brother? Regulus was here? And--" Her-- B-- He let out a rather choice expletive. "Thank Merlin you got out of that alive. I love you too, Padfoot, so much." He'd tell Sirius about the note later, when he was a little more coherent. Right now, keeping him talking was more about distraction, keeping him from going into shock.
no subject
"Reg, a-and B-Bella, and they wouldn't've killed me at first, Moony. He wants me on their side." And there's only one he he can be referring to, with such venom in his voice, "But Reg doesn't hate me; he couldn't do Crucio me even though I was trying to make him because she was going to kill him if he didn't and she tried to make me hurt him when she realized--"
There's a crack right through his voice as he says that, words briefly devolving into a sob because there's still almost nothing in the world he hates more than the thought of harming his brother, and that's even more true now, after tonight.
"--But I didn't. I couldn't. I fought her, Remus, I didn't know if I'd be able to but I did and she was furious. Thought for sure I'd get hit with all three Unforgivables in one night." A rough, terrified laugh, one that makes his breath come in sharp because of the way it shakes his ribs, "But he managed to convince her otherwise and now he's off doing Merlin knows what--"
And he's terrified for his brother, and in pain, and feeling guilty and relieved all at once. His shoulders shake with the force of his sob this time, earning another sharp inhale in pain.