Poly-Marauders Torture Hell

[rab]

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.

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[wolfymcwolf]

Remus is a little surprised when a rather frazzled-looking owl reaches him while he's out on significantly more local Order business than he'd been doing a scant week ago. He still isn't sure he'll ever be able to apologize enough for that, to make up for leaving them, especially at a time like this. Luckily the owl reaches him just as he's finished up. He takes the small note from it and reads over it quickly, confused for a moment as it doesn't seem to be intended for him at all. As he reads on, that confusion turns to dread, a cold dead weight in his stomach.

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."

[effingsirius]

The sound of Remus' voice is a relief, even with the panic in it, and his eyes open instantly so he can see his partner and believe he's really there. It's a bit of a mistake, because even though he knows it's Remus and that he's safe, the sight of a wand aimed his direction still earns a violent flinch, followed by a sharp cry of pain as the movement ripples through every single injured bone.

"--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.

[wolfymcwolf]

Remus understands the flinch, that it's not really at him. He doesn't take it personally, and while he does regret causing Sirius to react like that, he doesn't regret taking care of his injuries immediately.

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.

[effingsirius]

His nod is rough and a little wild at the question, and his fingers squeeze tighter-- either reassuring or being assured, even he isn't sure-- at hearing the uncharacteristic swear.

"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.