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Regulus feels like his head is about to explode. The combination of the sheer number of voices on the platform, too many obnoxious colours swirling around in front of his eyes and the feeling of his mother’s nails digging into his shoulder is tipping him straight over the edge into insanity. He glances around the platform in an attempt to spot Barty or the Rosiers but instead locks eyes with his brother. Regulus immediately looks away, he finds that he can’t look into his brother’s grey eyes without remembering everything that had happened over the summer, memories of Sirius screaming on the floor in pain are burned into his mind.
A sharp tug on his shoulder slams him back down into reality. His mother’s chilling voice cuts through the background noises. “Make us proud Regulus. We cannot have another disappointment for a son. Toujours pur.”
“Yes, mother.” His voice is emotionless and level despite the overwhelming nausea that overcomes him with her voice. He can still hear her laughing whilst Sirius screamed.
She nods curtly and then promptly apparates away.
Almost instantly, Regulus feels himself relax, like a puppet whose strings have been cut. As soon as the imminent threat of danger has gone, Regulus feels himself slipping away from reality. Not here, he thinks. Please not here, Regulus is distantly aware that he is moving onto the train, but he is still unable to make anything out around him. Everything becomes fuzzy and distant, the colours merge together and the sounds are all filtered out, replaced by a persistent ringing in his ears.
A gentle hand on his elbow makes it through the haze. He blinks and finds himself staring at the very concerned face of James Potter. There is a wrinkle between his eyebrows that Regulus wants to kiss away. James should never have to worry.
Regulus realises James’ mouth is moving. He’s probably saying something important, so Regulus tries to make out what he is saying.
“-ove, take you time. It’s okay, just come back to me.”
James’ warm hand comes up slowly to cradle his cheek and Regulus feels the heavy weight that had settled on his chest weeks ago lifting. He can breathe again and hates that one person can have such a massive effect on him
“There we go. There you are.” James murmurs. He leans forward and kisses Regulus’s forehead gently, the floor spins out from underneath him and James tightens his grip on Regulus’s arm.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you. You’re safe now love.”
“James.” His voice is raspy from weeks of not speaking.
“I’m here Reg, I’m right here.” James pulls him closer into his chest, strong arms come around his shoulders in a grounding embrace. Regulus feels himself slowly returning to his body, he brings his arms up and holds onto James.
“James.” Somehow, it’s the only word he can say. Nothing else is making enough sense to come out of him mouth. I missed you, he wants to say. How is Sirius? I love you.
A door slams and Regulus jerks out of James’ hold, remembering where they are.
“Regulus, it’s oka-“
“What if someone had seen us, James? This is the Hogwarts Express, not some broom cupboard on the fifth floor! What were you thinking? What if Sirius had seen us?” Regulus is exasperated, James is far too loving and, well, Gryffindor for his own good. His head is spinning again.
“Hey lover boy, keep your panties on.” Evan’s voice shocks him out of his spiral.
Regulus looks around and takes in their usual carriage. James is stood in front of the door, watching him with sad eyes. Evan is sat with Pandora and Dorcas; they are all looking at him with caution and something a bit too close to worry that he doesn’t want to think too deeply about it.
“What…” Regulus starts but is unable to find the words. “What happened?”
“You walked in completely spaced out.” Evan speaks in a level tone, but Regulus can see the worry in his eyes. “We tried to get through to you, but you were so far gone that nothing we could do was working. Pandora went and got James, we figured he’d know what to do with you. No one saw anything so just stay calm, okay?”
Regulus nodded and looked back at James who was still looking at him with concern burning so brightly in his eyes that it makes Regulus want to scream or kiss him until they are both senseless.
“Thanks James.” He reaches out to take James’ hand and kisses it softly. “Thank you.”
“It’s alright, love. Don’t worry about it.” James moves closer. “Are you feeling better now?”
Regulus nods. “Go before anyone sees you.”
He tilts his head up and pulls James into a chaste kiss. They linger in each other’s space just for a minute longer, Regulus tries to savour it and engrave the way that James looks into his memory. James smiles and slowly pulls away.
“I’ll see you later. Come and Go room tonight, around eight okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you there.” Regulus watches him leave and turns to face his friends. “Thanks for getting him. Sorry about that, it always happens whe-“
“Shut up Black.” It feels as though Dorcas is looking straight through him. “Don’t you dare apologise for that shit.”
Regulus smiles slightly, feeling too weak to argue with her. “Okay Meadowes, I'll shut up.”
He settles down next to Pandora and finds himself slowly relaxing into their regular rhythm. The peace that he only finds with his friends slowly warms him as he watches them, listening as they talk about their holiday.
-
Evan is really starting to worry, maybe his insane friends will be the reason he dies young from stress. First Regulus walks in so far out it that they had to go and get James Potter of all people, Evan is still confused and disgusted by the thought of that, and now Barty hasn’t shown up. They are halfway to Hogwarts, and he still isn’t here. It isn’t unusual for him to appear a little later because, well he’s Barty so he does what he wants. But this is unusual, Evan can feel it in the way everyone’s eyes keep darting to the door when someone walks past. He can feel the tension in the carriage building and just when he thinks it’s time to get up and start looking, Barty appears and Evan breathes properly for the first time since they parted before Christmas.
Barty looks… he looks sick. He is more pale than usual and the bags under his eyes are practically purple. Evan is pretty sure he was not that skinny before Christmas either, but the most concerning thing is the empty look in Barty’s eyes. He just opens the carriage door and sits opposite everyone without saying a word. Evan feels all the previous tension returning to his body, he knows Barty’s father is a dick but what could he possibly have done to cause Barty to shut down in such a way?
The thing is, even in his worst moments, Barty has always been painfully here unlike Regulus who goes somewhere else when things get too much. Evan has held him through panic attacks and nightmares, but he has never seen Barty so disconnected and empty. It fills Evan with a fear so visceral he wants to scream.
“Barty?” It’s Pandora who speaks first.
Barty just continues to sit there and stare at the wall behind them, showing no sign of whether he heard Pandora or not. She gets up slowly and kneels in front of him, gently taking his hand in hers.
“Barty, it’s Dora. You’re on the Hogwarts Express. Can you squeeze my hand if you can hear me, please?” Evan has no idea how she is staying so calm, he wants to tear his hair out, he wants to stop the train and demand an answer, an apology, anything from Barty’s father. He wants to scream.
Barty’s face remains unchanged but his fingers twitch minutely in Pandora’s hand. Evan hears Regulus let out a sigh of relief next to him and Pandora’s face lights up. Dorcas goes over to join Pandora and rests a hand on Barty's knee.
“Come on Junior, you’re stronger than whatever this is. Get your ass out of your head.” Dorcas squeezes his knee and stares intently at his face, as if she could will him out of his head if she tried hard enough. Evan is pretty sure Dorcas can do anything if she puts her mind to it.
Barty still remains unmoving. He hasn’t spoken a word and Evan feels sick. Evan is pretty sure the entire carriage is spinning away from him because Barty is just staring at the wall, and he isn’t saying anything. Why isn’t he saying anything?
“Evan, breathe.” Regulus’ voice is in his ear, and he can hear himself gasping for air.
“Ev, it’s okay.” He registers Pandora in front of him, Dorcas is still with Barty, “We’ll figure it out. He’s a tough cookie, you don’t need to be scared. He probably just needs some time to find his way back to us.”
Evan nods, unable to speak, and collapses into Regulus who stiffens at first and then takes his weight. He feels arms coming around him to hold him together as he breaks. He pushes his face into the crook of Regulus’ neck and let’s himself breathe, let’s himself break for a second before trying to pull back and take control of the situation.
“It’s okay Ev, we’ve got him. Just keep breathing for now.” Regulus is running a hand gently through his hair and it flips a switch in his brain. Evan feels his eyelids becoming heavier as his head slips onto Regulus’ shoulder to rest there. Regulus doesn’t say anything and continues stroking his hair. His other hand is tracing patterns on Evan’s back and that’s enough to shut his brain off entirely.
-
Regulus feels Evan’s breathing even out against his neck as he slowly drifts off to sleep in his arms. His hands slowly slip down Regulus’s back as he become a dead weight in Regulus’ arms, he adjusts his hold on Evan to make sure he is secure before looking back to Barty.
Barty’s condition is terrifying him, in all the years of knowing Barty he has never ever seen him this way. He has never drifted away the way Regulus does and the empty look in Barty's eyes makes his skin crawl.
“What are we supposed to do?” Dorcas’ voice breaks the silence.
“I have no idea. What do you think happened?” Pandora looks to Regulus.
“I don’t know. This is… Different. I’ve seen Sirius dissociate before, but it never looks anything like this. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.” Regulus feels hopeless.
Pandora frowns before looking back to Barty. She moves to sit next to him and slowly tugs him down so his head is on her lap. She starts running her fingers through his hair and humming a soothing tune. Barty remains unblinking, staring at the ceiling but Regulus notices his jaw unclenching and the tension falling away from his shoulders.
Thank Merlin for Pandora. He truly believes she is the glue holding them all together. Something about the way Pandora is humming reminds him of something similar. A memory. He tries to fight it but then he hears-
“Sirius!! Please mother, please leave him alone. Please, I beg of you.”
Sirius is screaming on the floor and writhing in pain, there is blood dripping out of his mouth and his eyes are squeezed shut tightly.
“Regulus, hold your tongue if you value his life.” Walburga sneers.
Regulus feels sick. The ground is moving underneath him he is sure of it. Sirius is convulsing on the floor, his mother is laughing, the walls are closing in, it is all too much.
“Crucio!” She screams again.
Sirius screams something awful and guttural, a noise Regulus didn’t think was possible for a human being to make.
“No! Stop! Please! Please stop hurting him!” Regulus jumps in front of Sirius and the screaming stops. For a moment he is relieved, he can hear his brother breathing and he has finally stopped screaming.
“How dare you disobey me in such a disgraceful way?!” Walburga is shrieking now. “Imperio!”
Regulus feels her take control. He feels his body move without him telling it to. The screaming starts again, and he is fighting to get back in control of his own body. But his mother’s curse is strong, every time he nearly breaks past it, he magic strengthens and holds him under her control. He fights and fights and-
Regulus opens his eyes, he is staring at the ceiling and his head in pounding. He wriggles his fingers and sits up, relieved he is back in control of his own body. He hears a groan next to him and suddenly sits up, crawling towards Sirius’ shaking form.
“Sirius?” He rasps as he pulls his brother’s body into his arms. “Sirius answer me, please. Please don’t die on me.”
Sirius’ body keeps trembling, and his eyes remain closed. Regulus casts every healing charm he can think of that may help and cradles his brother’s head in his arms, gently smoothing out his hair. He starts humming the lullabye that Andromeda used to sing for them as kids.
When Sirius’ eyes finally open, Regulus sobs in relief and presses their foreheads together. He breathes for the first time since Sirius was screaming on the floor, “Je pensais que tu étais mort.”
He expects some kind of witty remark, but Sirius remains quiet, and Regulus pulls away to look at him. Sirius’ eyes are blank, staring somewhere past him and Regulus feels a weight crushing his chest, “Non Sirius, non non non. S'il te plaît, non. Reviens juste vers moi.”
They stay that way for what feels like an eternity, Regulus sobbing whilst he desperately tries to bring his brother back to this world as Sirius lays there, still shaking. Regulus is rocking them back and forth, humming the tune of the lullaby he remembers from their childhood. But Sirius is still not saying anything, still not moving except for the shaking and twitching occasionally. Regulus feels sick, he feels-
Regulus feels the slow puffs of Evan’s breathing against his neck and the warmth of his body. He feels his mind returning to the carriage as he looks around to see Pandora and Dorcas speaking in hushed tones as Pandora still runs her fingers through Barty’s hair.
“The Cruciatus curse.” He gasps out.
Both heads snap towards him. Pandora looks horrified and Dorcas’ mouth is pressed into a thin line.
“After Sirius had been under it, he was like that for ages. He didn’t say anything for three days and he kept shaking something awful for weeks. He had that same empty look in his eyes, and he could sort of respond to me, but he didn’t speak properly for weeks.” Regulus feels like crying. The thought of Barty, his Barty, under the Cruciatus curse makes him want to rip the very fabric of existence into shreds.
“Do you really think he would do that to his own son?” Pandora’s voice is shaking.
Regulus exhales harshly, “I don’t know Dora, but this has got to be a result of some kind of dark magic.”
Doras hums in agreement. “He still out?” She nods towards Evan.
“Yeah, I’ll tell him tonight in our dorm if Barty hasn’t got any better.” Regulus starts rubbing circles on Evan’s back, “This must be a lot for him.”
“He was acting weird all Christmas.” Pandora whispers it like it’s a confession, “He was always checking the owls, like he was expecting something that never came.”
“Do you think he was waiting for something from Barty? They need some communication system over the holidays.” Regulus thinks of the pendant under his shirt and how he made sure to squeeze it every day to let James know he was still alive.
“I’m not sure. Evan usually tells me everything, but when I asked, he’d brush me off.”
Regulus frowns at this.
“But you guys are so close.” Dorcas looks equally as confused as Regulus feels.
“I know. I think it’s because…” Pandora looks at Evan, “Are you sure he’s asleep Reg?”
Regulus smiles at her encouragingly and nods, “His breathing evened out ages ago and he’s like a dead weight against my shoulder.”
“Okay, I had a vision.” Pandora is picking at the skin around her fingernails as she stares resolutely at Barty. “It wasn’t very clear, but I saw Barty inside this room, like a prison cell, and he was fighting to get out but every time he fought harder it was like the air changed and made it harder for him to move. I don’t know how to explain it. There was dark magic I’m sure of it. But I don’t know what curse or why and, oh, he was suffering so so much.”
Her eyes are shining with tears now. Dorcas shuffles over and puts an arm around her.
“Wait, that sounds like when my mum put the Imperius curse on me. I fought it so hard I passed out in the end.”
Dorcas looks like she is ready to kill, her jaw is twitching, and her eyes are ablaze, Regulus can see the rage in them. “She did what?”
“Dorcas, it’s okay. That curse is nothing. She always uses the Cruciatus on Siriu-“
“Those are unforgivables Regulus!” Dorcas raises her voice slightly and her hands are clenched into fists on her lap. “She should be in Azkaban, not walking around freely on the streets! How could someone do that to their own children?”
Evan stirs in his arms, Regulus cards a shaking hand through his hair until he settles again. “I- But… Dorcas.” He looks at her hopelessly, praying to a God that doesn’t exist that she will understand his desperation. I still love her, he wants to say. I know I shouldn’t, but I do. I really do.
Dorcas’ eyes soften at his voice. “I know Reggie, I know. I just wish you would leave that place. It pains me to think about you there, I’m so scared that one of these days she is going to lose it completely and just…”
Her words hand heavy in the air, Dorcas doesn’t have to finish her sentence for Regulus to know what she means.
“I would never be able to live with myself if-“ She takes a steadying breath, “If she… If you didn’t come back one day because of her.”
“I know.” Regulus feels himself crumbling from the inside. All his walls are collapsing in on themselves, he tries to tell himself that his friends don’t care about him nearly as much as he cares about them, but he can’t deny it when they say things like this. The love they share for each other is undeniable.
A singular tear slips down his face and onto Evan’s hair. He huffs out a breath before looking at Dorcas with his eyes shining.
“Regulus! Oh Merlin, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t mean to-“
“It’s okay. Thanks, Dorcas. It means a lot.”
Getting the words out felt like choking but he knew it was worth it when her face lit up.
“Now what are we going to do about Barty? I’m pretty sure it was the Cruciatus or the Imperius.”
“Well, what are the aftereffects like for each of them?” Pandora furrows her brow.
“From what I’ve seen with Sirius, if used for too long, the Cruciatus curse causes this weird shaking, like tremors running through the whole body. Bad dissociation and then confusion for days after, the nightmares can get pretty bad. But we should research it, maybe? I only know what I’ve seen, and it might not be accurate for everyone.”
“Okay, research is a good idea. What about the Imperius curse?”
Regulus chews the inside of his lip whilst he tries to remember what being under the curse had been like. “It felt like floating. I was sort of aware of what was happening around me but not enough to actually see anything. I remember that some things would make it through to me, like flashes of the real world. I remember Sirius screaming even through the curse, it helped me to fight it, it felt sort of like having an anchor to reality. I remember Sirius telling me that my eyes looked hollow, as if my soul had been sucked out of my body.”
“He looks like that.” Pandora is staring down at Barty now. “Like nothing is reaching him. Can the Imperius curse carry? If his father did it, he is nowhere nearby, but the curse clearly has a hold on him still.”
“From what I remember in defence, the castor has to break it, or the victim breaks free. Distance has no affect.” Dorcas grimaces as she speaks. “So, in theory, he could still be under it. I have no idea, shouldn’t we tell someone? This is serious and I don’t know about you, but I feel way out of my depth right now.”
Regulus shook his head immediately, “Barty would never forgive us and what can anyone else actually do? His father would still have leverage over them either way, even the professors.”
“Okay, but if we can’t fix it promise me we’ll go to someone. Pomfrey maybe?”
“Yes Dorcas, if we haven’t figured this out by the end of the week, I’ll drag him to her myself.”
-
James kept picking at the skin around his nails. He had never seen Regulus so out of it, and it was worrying him. Sirius had been a right state when he showed up at Potter Manor, it was a memory he would rather not think about. His best friend leaning heavily against the doorframe, blood dripping from his fingertips. Sirius lying unconscious in his arms whilst he screamed for his mum to-
“Where did you run off to earlier Prongsie?” Sirius’ voice could always reach him, no matter how far he had retreated into his own head.
“Eh, just prefect duties you know. Some trouble in the Slytherin compartments and Pandora came to fetch me.”
James glances across the Great Hall and spots Regulus with his friends. They are unusually subdued, Pandora had joined them as soon as the welcome speech was over, James knows this isn’t a strange occurrence but something about the frantic energy coming off her doesn’t seem right. He can feel the tension radiating off Regulus from across the hall and some deep instinctual part of him knows it has something to do with the Crouch kid.
Even from far away James can tell, much to his dismay, that something is just wrong about the way Barty is holding himself. Usually, he has some form of contact with his friends, be that an arm thrown around their shoulder or a foot near their faces, but right now he is sat up straight staring at his plate. Evan has an arm wrapped around him and James can feel his nervous energy from the other side of the room since he is practically vibrating with it.
Regulus looks up and meets James’ eyes, a slight smile creeps onto James’ face but Regulus doesn’t return it. His eyebrows are scrunched up with worry. James knows how much Barty matters to Regulus, he knows their friendship is something reminiscent of him and Sirius.
“Prongs!” Sirius’ voice snaps him out of his stupor again.
James blinks once, twice and then makes direct eye contact with Sirius. His eyes are darting all over James’ face, trying to figure out what’s wrong.
“Yeah?” James shoots him a grin but it doesn't reach his eyes.
“You scared the shit out of me, answer me next time.” He says with a huff, eyes never leaving James' face.
“Sorry mate, just thinking about quidditch try-outs next week.” Sirius punches his arm and scowls.
“You’re such a whore for quidditch, whichever poor sod you end up with will always be second to your damn broom.”
“Third.” James corrects him with a slight smile tugging at his lips.
“What?”
“Broomstick is first, you are second and the poor sod is third.” At this, a wide grin spreads across Sirius’ face and a second later he is launching himself at James, wrapping his arms around him so tightly that it winds him a little.
“Merlin’s beard Padfoot! Don’t crush me to death!” But James is wrapping his arms around Sirius equally as tight. Never one without the other, James recalls McGonagall saying that at some point the year before after catching them both out of bed after hours.
“I love you, Jamie.” There is a sincerity in Sirius’ voice that James isn’t used to. James breathes him in, that weird leather jacket smell and motorbike oil, though his hair smells like thyme strangely enough, because James is sure Sirius uses his vanilla shampoo, the thief.
“I love you too, Sirius.” A beat passes. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” Sirius pulls away but keeps an arm around James’ shoulder as the meal continues.
When James looks back over to the Slytherin table, Regulus and his friends are gone. He feels his heart drop but manages to school his face into something neutral and continues chatting with his friends as normal.
-
To say Evan is at his breaking point would be an understatement. He had kept a firm grip on Barty all throughout dinner whilst he had remained unresponsive, everyone had tried to keep a stream of conversation going but it was awkward and stilted. This carried on until suddenly Barty snapped his head to the side and started muttering under his breath. Evan had tried to get something cohesive out of him with gentle words and soothing touches, but Barty had carried on murmuring random words and staring at a spot over Evan’s shoulder. That was when the panic hit him square in the chest and he looked desperately over to Regulus for some guidance, but he looked as lost as Evan felt. It was Pandora who stood up and led them all out of the Great Hall and into an empty classroom. Evan had coaxed Barty down into a chair and kneeled beside him, everyone else stayed standing in utter silence, the only noise was Barty’s ramblings.
“What do we do?” Evan hisses as he runs his hand through Barty’s hair which is starting to stick to his forehead because he is sweating profusely.
“I don’t know Ev. Barty?” Regulus steps forward and places his hand on Barty’s face tentatively. “Hey, B. It’s just me. Just Reggie.” His eyes are scanning Barty’s face for any sign of recognition when Barty jerks out of his grasp and grabs Evan’s arm in a bruising grip. All his attention is directed at Evan now.
“Barty?” His eyes are wide, and he is breathing too heavily for Evan’s liking. His fingernails are digging into Evan’s arm, surely drawing blood, but Evan can’t focus on anything past the desperation in Barty’s face. It is the first expression he has seen aside from the numbness. “Junior, talk to me. What’s going on?”
“Help.” It comes out hoarse and it seems like it’s taking a lot of effort for Barty to speak but Evan sighs with relief at the sound of his voice.
“Help with what B? You’ve got to give me a bit more than that.”
“Can’t… Curse.” An iron vice starts to tighten around Evan’s lungs.
“What? What curse?” Barty’s eyes are flickering from blank to desperate.
“Dad.” Barty’s death grip on Evan’s arm is starting to loosen and he is swaying slightly where he sits. Evan cups a hand on Barty’s cheek as he starts to shiver violently. His hands keep twitching as if he wants to reach out to Evan, but something is stopping him.
“What did he do B?”
“Help, he-“ Barty stops abruptly and slumps forward into Evan who catches him before he hits his head on anything. Evan manoeuvres Barty into his arms where he is out cold, head lolling onto Evan’s shoulder. His breaths are coming out in shallow puffs, Barty’s face is deathly pale and even though he is unconscious, he trembles in Evan’s grasp. Evan smooths out the hair that is plastered to Barty’s forehead and taps his cheek.
“Barty?” Evan tries again. “Junior, talk to me.”
Evan shakes him slightly. “Junior, open your eyes, come on.”
Regulus kneels in front of Evan and starts muttering spells, a blue light is coming out from his wand and surrounds Barty who slowly starts to stir in Evan’s grasp. Evan sighs in relief as Barty’s eyes flutter open.
“Salazar B, you gave me a proper fright there.” Evan kisses his forehead and clutches him closer to his chest. Barty remains silent through this and when Evan pulls away, he sees Barty’s blank stare again.
“No. Come on Barty, what happened?” Evan looks up at Regulus desperately who is staring at Barty with wide eyes. “What is it Reg?”
“I’m sure it’s the Imperius curse.” He looks up to meet Evan’s eyes. “His dad must have put him under it.” Pandora inhales sharply from behind them and wraps her arms around Evan from behind, burying her face into the space between his neck and shoulder whilst she traces circles on his back.
“I’ll start researching how to break it, in the meantime, just keep him calm. I’ve heard awful things about people trying too hard to break free from it and going insane.” His tone is calm but Evan knows him better than that. The worry is seeping through his features, his tense jaw and the small crease between his eyebrows are telltale signs, also Evan sees that his hands are trembling. Regulus stands and turns to walk towards the door. “If we don’t break it within the week, I’ll take him to Pomfrey myself, ok Ev?”
Evan nods. “He would hate us if we didn’t try before going to her.” Regulus gives him a tight-lipped smile and starts to leave.
“Black, wait.” Dorcas rips her gaze away from Barty’s emotionless face and moves towards Regulus. “We can make more progress together.”
Regulus nods, grabs her hand, and they leave. Pandora slowly pulls away from Evan and stands. “Ev, we need to get him to the dorm before anyone sees him like this.”
Evan nods and helps Pandora to get Barty standing again. They walk slowly to the dungeons in a nerve-wracking silence. When they reach the painting, Evan mutters the password and Pandora stops. He shoots her a confused look.
“Do you want me?” She asks plainly, giving Evan the space to decline without the worry of upsetting her. Evan doesn’t even consider it for a second before he is nodding fervently for her to follow.
They make it up to the dorm without any hitches and Evan pulls out Barty’s favourite hoodie from his trunk, helps him change into it and leaves him to brush his teeth.
“I’m scared, Dora.” His voice is shaking, and he feels unstable, like he might scream or cry or yell at the next person who walks through the door.
“I know.” Comes the gentle reply, Evan has always found solace in his twin, she seems to be the only one who can reach him in the darkest parts of his mind.
Barty emerges from the bathroom and Pandora helps him into bed. She pulls the duvet over him and brushes her fingers through his hair to help settle him. She sings to him softly as he drifts off the sleep. Evan stands and watches, unable to move or say anything. Pandora turns her gaze to Evan.
“I’ll stay here tonight, with you. I’ll get my stuff and come back.”
She leaves no room for discussion before standing up and swiftly walking out of the room with a promise to return soon.
Evan doesn’t move. He stays rooted to the spot and stares at Barty’s sleeping form wondering what could have happened to his boyfriend over the Christmas break.
-
Regulus wants to yank his hair out. Or gouge his eyes out. Or maybe both. He and Dorcas are holed up in a corner of the library surrounded by stacks of books about curses, counter-curses, and weird brain stuff.
“Why is it all fucking useless?” Dorcas launches her fifth book across the room.
“Beats me.” Regulus is definitely going to go mad here. “It’s an unforgivable so I think books in the restricted section would be more helpful except I doubt a school would have books about how to break free from the stupid mind control curse.”
“Wait, say that again.” Dorcas snaps her book shut and straightens up.
“What? Breaking free from the stupid mind control-“ A lightbulb goes off in Regulus’ brain.
“Occlumency!” The say at the same time.
“Okay okay, scrap all this. We need books on that.” Dorcas stands to retrieve more books whilst Regulus waves his wand to return the pile of books they had lain out on the floor in front of them.
He feels the pendant under his shirt heat up. Merlin’s balls, Regulus mentally berates himself for losing track of time so horrifically.
“Dorcas?” He calls out for her.
“On my way back!” A few second later Dorcas appears with a stack of books in her arms.
“James is waiting for me in the-“
“Go. I’ll be here when you’re done.” She replies simply with a small smile tugging at her lips.
Regulus flashes her a grateful smile and rushes over to the seventh floor, taking the steps two at a time. He sees the door already there, open and waiting for him and dashes through it when he barrels into James.
“Woah. Careful Reg.” James chuckles as he pulls Regulus into his chest. And Regulus melts, all the tension building up in his chest since he boarded the Hogwarts Express before Christmas dissipates out of his body as he goes boneless in James’ arms who just tightens his grip to accommodate the extra weight. James is always ready to bear Regulus’ burdens as his own and hold him up when he is too weak to stand on his own.
“I got you, Reggie.” James murmurs it into his hair and starts to rub his back gently. Regulus is content to stand there and breathe the same air as James. He always smelt like his stupid vanilla shampoo and fresh sandalwood, almost like a broomstick in the air on a crisp morning. No other smell calms his nerves quite like it, aside from the Black Lake, but even that would be a close second to James.
James pulls him over towards the bed that was always in the room for them.
“Can you stay a while, love?” James lays down on the bed and Regulus slots himself beside James.
“Yeah. I can stay, as long as you want me to.” He says it to the ceiling because looking at James feels too real, too important and he can’t bear it.
“What’s wrong Reg, talk to me please.” James turns to face Regulus who continues to stare resolutely at the ceiling.
“It’s Barty.” The words come out choked off and quiet. James takes one of Regulus’ hands in his own and kisses it. “I think his father used the Imperius curse on him.”
A tear makes its way down Regulus’ cheek and James brushes it away with his thumb. Regulus shivers at the touch, even after all this time he feels the chills run down his spine. James frowns in his peripheral vision and Regulus turns onto his side to look at him.
“Sorry. It’s just been a while since…” Regulus trails off but they both know what he is referring to: the lack of touch in the Black household was no secret to James.
“Don’t apologise, love.” James’ eyes study his face for a moment. “I’m guessing you’re not going to a teacher about Barty.”
“No. He would hate us forever for not even trying ourselves first.” Regulus closes his eyes, feels the weight of everything pressing down on him from all four sides, and breathes.
“What about McGonagall? She can help. She is powerful and knowledgeable.”
“I know James, but his dad is unbeatable. All it would do is get him in more trouble and probably jeopardise her career. Anyway, Dorcas and I have started researching some stuff and we thought there might be some link to Occlumency because he would be resisting an invasion into his mind. Who knows, that may be the key to helping him.”
Regulus hears James shift, but keeps his eyes closed. “Just promise me you’ll ask for help if it goes too far. There’s no shame in being out of your depth, this is dark magic.”
Regulus opens his eyes and takes in James’ worried face. “I promise.”
James smiles slightly and they just lie there in the comfortable silence, feeling each other’s presence and revelling in it.
Now that James is on his back and Regulus is on his side, Regulus finds himself looking at James. Just to look, taking note of how his jaw curves and committing it to memory. Regulus is desperate to remember every inch of James, he doesn’t want to risk forgetting any detail about him.
“What is it little star?” James says it with such gentleness that Regulus feels himself choke on it.
James turns his face to look at Regulus and just smiles at him. That stupid James Potter smile. Regulus loves it. Regulus wants to rip it off his face. Regulus wants to kiss him until they both suffocate.
“Come here Reggie.” James moves his arm from under his head and pulls Regulus onto his chest. “There we go.”
Regulus feels the rumble of James’ voice in his bones and relishes in it. James starts running a hair through Regulus’ curls, careful not to tug at them. Regulus grabs a fistful of James’ jumper settles his head onto James’ chest with a content sigh.
The steady beating of James’ heart is grounding him, Regulus swears he hasn’t felt at peace like this since… Well, since the last time he was in James’ arms like this. A somewhat terrifying realisation dawns upon him: that James is his peace, his stillness and that without him Regulus would be lost like a ship at sea.
He buries his head further into James’ jumper and lets James consume his senses. Regulus is sure that there is a space just for him next to James’ heart. If he could, he would crawl between James’ ribs and make a home for himself right by his beating heart.
The steady thump thump thump of James’ heart soothes his frayed nerve ends enough that Regulus feels his eyes slipping shut. The last thing he is aware of is James’ hand carding through his hair before he drifts into the abyss of sleep.
-
Barty is floating. Or at least he thinks he is floating. Nothing has been clear for a while, the world is shrouded in this weird fog, like he could reach out to touch something and his hand would go through it.
A few things have made it past the fog and to him: Evan’s worried voice begging him to say anything would surely haunt his dreams, a soft hand in his hair whilst a gentle lullaby was being hummed and Regulus’ horrified expression. Though he can’t remember why Regulus had looked so concerned.
Barty can’t feel anything, for a moment he is grateful because fighting against this weird fog is exhausting but Barty knows he has to get past it and regain control of himself.
He pushes against it, trying to break through the fog but it warps and shifts around him, growing stronger and harder to push through.
In an instant he is in the common room, laughing with his friends. He finds himself staring at Evan, taking in the light in his eyes as he laughs. Barty stands and takes Evan's hand to lead him up to the dorm but as soon as he touches him, Evan drops to the floor. He watches in horror as blood starts pouring out of Evan's nose.
Barty drops to his knees and screams.
-
Pandora is scanning over a passage about strengthening the mind against unexpected attacks when the door creaks and a dishevelled looking Regulus walks in. He takes in what is surely a ridiculous scene in front of him and walks over to sit by Pandora.
“Didn’t realise you were bringing all the books here, Cas.” Regulus picks up the nearest book and starts to skim read it.
“I got bored of the library and I nicked some stuff from the restricted section so I figured it would be best to up and leave before Pince saw me.”
Evan chuckles at that and Pandora just smiles as she shakes her head with amusement at her antics.
“How is James?” Pandora asks absentmindedly.
“He’s so gentle with me.” She glances at his face and sees a slight smile spreading over it.
“Good. That’s what you deserve.” Regulus meets her eyes, and she gives him a smile which she can only hope is reassuring. It is too late in the evening to be worrying about her facial expressions.
Evan snaps his book shut and chucks it into the corner with his pile of discarded books.
“It’s all fucking useless. All I’ve read about is the history of Legilimancy and Occlumency, the way they interact with each other and some crap about the incantations.”
“Yeah Ev, I doubt there would be a ‘how to’ on it.” Dorcas smirks and then yelps when Evan throws the book he was holding at her, glaring in her direction. Though he quickly dissolves into laughter when Dorcas sits back up looking disgruntled, with barely concealed amusement shining in her eyes.
Pandora laughs lightly before turning her attention back to her book, she only gets through the first sentence before Dorcas’ words echo through her head.
A guide.
“We’re doing it all wrong.” She looks up to meet her twin staring back at her.
“What? This is the only information we have on this stuff Pandora, there is no other way.” Evan looks confused.
“That’s exactly the problem Evan. It’s all information. We need to learn how to do Legilimency and Occlumency, not learn about them.” Regulus leans in and wraps and arm around her shoulder, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
“What would we ever do without you Dora?” Dorcas cackles at that.
“We’d all be dead by now Reginald.” Another book is thrown at Dorcas. Pandora shakes her head in dismay as Regulus starts laughing next to her. “If one more book is thrown at me, I swear on Merlin’s balls I will-“
“No need to bring his balls into it, Cas.”
“Rosier, you are on thin fucking ice.” She growls but there is no bite behind it. They all burst into laughter at that. Pandora is grinning so much her cheeks hurt. She wishes that they all get to stay this way forever: young and foolish but happy, oh so happy.
-
Sirius can hear James tossing and turning in his bed from across the dorm. He untangles himself from Remus who is sleeping soundly and softly pads to the other side of the room where James’ bed is and clambers in next to him.
“Good Godric Prongs, what is the matter with you tonight?” Sirius whisper shouts into his best friend’s face. James chuckles and turns away from Sirius to stare at the ceiling.
“Nothing Pads, just restless.”
Sirius huffs at that and casts a quick silencing charm around them so he can talk louder.
“I’m not stupid James, I know something is bothering you, now spit it out.” Sirius props his head up on his arm and stares at James’ face. They sit in silence for all of two minutes before James’ expression crumbles and tears start pouring out of his eyes.
Sirius eyes widen in horror before he is closing the gap between them and pulling James into his arms. James pushes his face further into Sirius’ chest, as if he could hide there forever. Sirius knew he would let him. The fabric of his t-shirt is becoming damp but Sirius feels frozen in place as James’ muffled sobs tear his heart to pieces.
“It’s okay, Jamie. Whatever it is, I’ll fix it. I’ll make it go away… I promise.” Sirius starts rubbing circles onto James’ back as he presses a kiss to his head. He is unsure how to comfort people, the Black blood still frozen in his veins, but he is learning. Sirius casts his mind back to all the times James has held him through his tears and tries his best to imitate that. James’ sobs become more violent as Sirius starts to stroke his hair and Sirius blanches at that, immediately removing his hand from James’ hair and pulling him in even tighter.
He can feel James trying to hold back his sobs and frowns, his chest is stuttering against Sirius’ abdomen and the gasps of air James is taking are becoming more desperate.
“James, please talk to me.” Sirius hesitates, waits a beat. “You’re scaring me.”
He instantly feels guilty when James’ grip tightening around him into something bruising and he holds his breath, probably in an attempt to stop the sobbing.
“Hey, none of that mate. It’ll make you sick, just let it out. It’s okay, I’ve got you.” James shakes his head into Sirius’ chest, still holding his breath. Sirius bites his lips before carding a hand through James’ hair again, remembering the reaction he had not two minutes ago. James goes deathly still in his arms, Sirius can feel his heart pounding in every place they meet and prays to some deity that James would just breathe because Sirius is sure his head must be spinning by now.
His prayers are miraculously answered when James gasps suddenly, finally taking in air. He is shaking with the force of his sobs and Sirius just holds him through it, keeps James tight to his chest and breathes slowly. Eventually, James’ sobs taper off and his breaths become more measured, Sirius feels himself smiling when he realises that James is matching his breathing to Sirius’. He would breathe for them both forever if James needed him to.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Pads.” The words are choked off into Sirius’ chest.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Please tell me what’s wrong.” When he doesn’t reply, Sirius squeezes him gently. “James?”
“I can’t.” James whispers it as if he has done something unspeakable. Sirius swears his heart cracks right down the middle, they tell each other everything, don’t they?
“Why not, Jamie?” Sirius tries to keep his voice from shaking but knows he failed when James burrows his head even further into Sirius’ chest.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” James is crying again, and Sirius pulls away slightly to look at his face. He wipes James’ tears from his face gently and presses a kiss to his forehead.
“You won’t James, you’re the only one who can never ever hurt me.” James shakes his head vigorously at that.
“It’s bad Sirius, you’ll hate me.” Tears are streaming down his face again, as if the thought of Sirius hating him is enough to break his heart.
“I could never hate you, James. You saved my life. There is nothing you could ever do that I wouldn’t forgive you for. I promise you that.” Sirius draws circles on James’ cheek with his thumb, hoping that James is comforted by his presence.
He sees the conflicted expression on James’ face, his eyes darting over Sirius’ expression to find proof that he is lying, but Sirius is patient. He just looks back, nothing but love and trust in his expression. He can see that whatever this is, it’s ripping James apart from the inside and he looks so painfully human in this moment. Sirius has always seen James as the embodiment of sunshine, though he has witnessed James’ bad days first hand, to Sirius he is always shining. James is his safety, his rock, his brother in everything but blood.
“It’s…” James is staring at Sirius’ face. “Regulus.”
“What about him? Did he do something to you? Say something?” Sirius feels this protectiveness rise up inside of him. Mine. James is mine. You can’t hurt him.
James’ expression falters. “No, he hasn’t done anything Sirius. I-“ James closes his eyes and starts again, “We- He and I…” James steadies himself again, taking a deep breath.
“What James?” Sirius is utterly lost.
“You wouldn’t think of me differently if I told you I liked men, would you?” There is something so vulnerable in James’ face and suddenly he looks five years younger. It feels like a punch to Sirius’ gut.
“What? Godric no! Never. Prongs you were my first kiss, remember?” James chuckles at that memory.
“How could I forget? You were mine, Pads.” He exhales, looking calmer than he had all evening.
“I’ve been seeing someone. A guy. Since last Christmas. I was too afraid to tell you all because… Well, it’s quite complicated.” Sirius feels taken aback, James has been seeing someone for a whole year and he hadn’t told anyone?
“How is it complicated?” James winces at that and looks into Sirius’ eyes as if he is begging him to understand and put the pieces together, but Sirius isn’t even sure what the pieces are to begin with.
“He’s related to a good friend of mine.” James is still looking at him imploringly but must see Sirius’ confusion because he carries on. “His little brother.”
The pieces slot into place. James’ nighttime rendezvous when he always took the map with him, the stolen glances across the Great Hall to the Slytherin table, the locket that suddenly appeared around James’ neck before summer and the similar one that had appeared around Regulus’ neck around the same time.
“Pads? Please say something. Say anything.” James’ face comes back into focus and he sees the tear marks on his cheeks.
“Wait, why are you upset? Did you two break up?” James blinks at that.
“No, we’re still together.”
“Okay, so why were you crying so much?” A disbelieving look creeps onto James’ face.
“You’re not mad?” He seems so small when he asks this.
“Mad? Nah. Confused as hell, no idea what you see in him. He’s such a prick.” Sirius can’t help but smile at the thought of his baby brother, despite everything that happened over Christmas. “If you hurt him, I’ll kill you. Understand?”
“Yeah, Pads. I got it.” James exhales heavily.
“I still don’t get why you were so upset. Did you two have an argument?”
“No. It’s just…” James scans Sirius’ face for something, whatever he sees there must appease him because he continues. “Something happened after you left, I’m sure of it. He looks… different. Feels different too, more fragile almost. And something is going on with Barty and I can tell it’s tearing him apart, but he won’t talk to me about it.”
“Barty, huh? Not Crouch anymore?” Sirius smirks at James and lifts an eyebrow.
“Give it a rest Pads, I know all his friends.” James hesitates again. “And… I hate keeping things from you. It was ripping me to pieces inside because, well, we tell each other everything, you know?” James’ eyes are shining.
“Yeah, we do, don’t we?” Sirius brushes a stray piece of hair away from James’ eyes. “Come here, you goon.” Sirius pulls James into his chest again and settles in next to him.
“Staying here tonight, Pads?”
“Yeah. Moony will understand.” Sirius ruffles James’ hair. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”
“Why this time?”
“Nothing can ever come between us. I don’t care how bad it is, I’ll always forgive you. I’d choose you over anyone, it’s me and you James. Always us.”
“I love you.” James is relaxed in his arms.
“I know. I love you too. Now shut up and sleep.” James huffs out a laugh and closes his eyes. Sirius watches as his breaths slowly even out and his face becomes slack. When he is sure James is asleep, he pulls him close and breathes. His stupid shampoo smells like vanilla and Sirius knows that is what home smells like. His muscles relax slowly, and Sirius falls asleep with James in his arms knowing they are both utterly safe and loved.
-
Regulus approaches Severus in the corridor after breakfast. Approaches is quite generous; he practically runs after him with how fast he is walking. He left Evan with Barty at breakfast hoping that Serverus would be able to help. Regulus knew about his reputation with Legilimency, and he was counting on that being enough to help Barty.
“Sev! Severus, wait up!” Severus turned and pulled an exasperated face upon seeing Regulus.
“What is it baby Black?” He smirked at Regulus’ clear distaste for the nickname.
“How many times? Don’t call me that.” Severus had a fond look in his eye at Regulus’ petulance that he wanted to rip out, but secretly found quite comforting. He was the equivalent of Regulus’ mentor in many ways, with him being a year older, Regulus found he often had pretty good advice to give.
“I need your help. Something’s wrong with Barty.” Severus frowned at that.
“How wrong?”
“Hospital Wing wrong, but we think we know how to fix it.” Severus sighed, clearly no convinced.
“And you need my help because?”
“Leglimency.” Severus’ eyes widen at that. “And Occlumency, sort of. I know how to do that one. But I need you to teach me how to do Leglimency.”
“Do I want to know why?”
“Probably not.” Regulus looks at him pleadingly, it isn’t often he will outright ask for things, but Barty is… Barty and Regulus would do anything for him. Including, but not limited to, begging... Apparently.
“Fine. Don’t make me regret this Regulus. Meet me in the Potions lab tonight, I’ll take you over the basics.” Regulus feels relief flood his senses.
“Thank you.” Severus shakes his head.
“Don’t thank me yet, this stuff is hard Reg, it’ll probably take a few days to get it, even for you, to get it. Make sure you bring someone with you, we’ll need them to cast the spell on.” Regulus nods at that, hoping either Pandora or Evan will come with him because he knows Severus would not be happy if he shows up with James. “8pm sharp, do not be late, or I will tell everyone about the time you threw up in a cauldron during your mock and I had to clean up the mess”
“Okay.” Regulus grins at him. “And no, you won’t, I have far too much dirt on you.”
Severus flicks his forehead and Regulus cackles. He smiles, despite his best efforts not to, before muttering “You menace Reg.” and walking off.
Regulus turns back around to make his way to Charms, hoping to get there early and meet Evan there before the whole class arrives when he walks directly into someone. He glances up, ready to snap at whoever it is, when he meets Sirius’ eyes and freezes.
Oh shit.
-
Sirius finds himself staring into the eyes of his younger brother for the first time in weeks. The shock on Regulus’ face is hurtful for reasons Sirius doesn’t want to dwell on, but the hurt is quickly replaced by rage.
Years of being the louder sibling just to direct his parents’ punishments at him all come flooding back to him, Regulus’ face is making him think about when he left Grimmauld Place after begging his little brother to come with him and the knowledge that he has been fucking James for over a year is what really tips Sirius over the edge.
Within a second, he has dropped his bag, and he slams Regulus into the wall. He is winded, taking in air with sharp gasps and looks scared before he schools his face into a disgusted expression, but Sirius knows him better than that. It only slightly worries him that his little brother’s fear makes him feel powerful, in the moment he relishes in it.
“What do you want Sirius?” Regulus sounds bored which only infuriates him further. Sirius pulls his wand out of his pocket and presses it to Regulus’ throat.
“What do you want with James?” At this, Regulus’ eyes widen, and he opens his mouth, probably to respond when Sirius speaks again. “If you hurt him, I will end you. The day you stayed in that house is the day we stopped being brothers, understand?”
He shakes Regulus and hears his head hit the wall he has his little brother pinned to. Regulus doesn’t react to this; he simply continues to look at Sirius, or just past him. Though his gaze seems more distant than a few seconds ago.
“James is my brother, so if you do anything to harm him, I’ll come for you.” Sirius waits for a response and finds his rage growing in the absence of one. He presses his wand further into Regulus’ throat. “Do you get it?” He is yelling in Regulus’ face now.
Regulus remains unmoving in his grasp, staring somewhere beyond Sirius. Sirius huffs out an irritated breath and lets go of Regulus’ robes. He turns away from Regulus and storms down the corridor, only slightly concerned that he doesn’t hear him do the same.
-
Evan is getting antsy waiting for Regulus to appear because people are starting to come in and he was supposed to be here nearly ten minutes ago. His leg is bouncing restlessly under the table whilst he grips Barty’s hand for his own sanity. He feels Pandora sit down next to him and turns to her immediately.
“Where is Reg?” Pandora frowns at him.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Now Evan is freaking out.
“He only went to ask Sev about something, he should be here by now.” Evan glances at the door. “If Flitwick gets here before I get back, come up with something good Dora.”
“Screw you Ev.” But there is no bite behind it. She catches his arm as he passes her. “Find him quickly, okay? Something doesn’t feel right.”
Evan nods and has to stop himself sprinting through the corridors, down to the dungeons. He checks most of the classrooms and branching corridors on his way, becoming increasingly concerned when there is no sign of Regulus. He is about ready to try and track down James Potter because he always has a knack for finding Regulus when no one else can when he spots him standing against a wall not far from the potion’s classrooms.
“Reg! Merlin’s beard I thought you had died or something.” Evan nearly laughs at his own stupidity when he registers Regulus’ lack of response to his presence.
“Regulus?” Evan moves closer and takes in his far away gaze before mentally berating himself for not realising that this had happened again.
He approaches Regulus slowly and puts a hand gently on his arm. He squeezes twice, before closing the distance between them and wrapping Regulus in a tight hug. He remembers Regulus telling him that slight pressure, familiar smells and sounds grounded him better than anything else.
“Come on you bastard, come back from wherever you’ve gone to.” Evan pulls Regulus’ head down to rest onto his shoulder and rubs his hand up and down Regulus’ back firmly. It seems to work because he feels Regulus’ hands twitch at his sides as he inhales sharply.
“It’s just me Reggie, it’s just Evan. You back with me now?” It takes Regulus a few seconds before he responds.
“What are you doing here Evan? What happened?” Regulus brings his arms up to return Evan’s embrace and buries his head further into the crook of Evan’s neck.
“I don’t know. You didn’t show to Charms, and I got worried after ten minutes so I came to find you. You were just spaced out in the corridor.” Evan moves to pull away and drag Regulus to their lesson which had definitely started when he feels Regulus tense in his arms.
“Sirius.” Regulus is shaking now. “Sirius. He… I was and he-“
“What did that dickwad do now?” Evan’s distaste for Sirius stems from a place of love and a desire to protect Regulus, but also because he just hates the man.
“He said that I’m not his brother anymore. He shoved me into the wall and his wand was on my throat.” Regulus whispers it like it’s a crime, and Evan swears he would rip Sirius to pieces if he could. “He looked like her for a second.”
Regulus tightens his grip around Evan who starts running a hand through his curls to soothe him. “I’d kill him if you let me, Reggie. I swear it.”
Regulus laughs and shakes his head. “For some reason I still love him.”
“I know Reg. It’s okay.”
Regulus slowly pulls back to look at Evan. “Thank you Ev.”
A comfortable silence settles between them, Evan can tell Regulus needs the space just to come back to himself fully and so he waits.
“Anytime.” He tucks a stray curl behind Regulus’ ear and grabs his hand. “We are so late to Charms, I think Dora will bite my head off.”
Regulus laughs again and Evan swears it’s like music to his ears.
-
Severus arrives at the potion’s classroom that evening to find Regulus and Pandora Rosier waiting for him. The pair are deep in conversation, but they are both smiling, it’s refreshing to see as he is pretty sure it’s been a while since he’s seen a genuine smile on Regulus’ face. He clears his throat, mentally cursing himself for becoming so soft, and walks in.
“Shall we get started?” Regulus hops off the desk and reaches for his wand straight away whilst Pandora stays seated and looks at Severus with a calculating gaze.
“Slow down baby Black, I’ll show you the wand movement and talk you through the process first. Then we go.” Regulus huffs before setting his wand down on the desk.
The next half an hour is spent going over the incantation, wand movement and how to navigate a person’s mind if you make it past their mental barriers. Severus is impressed with the speed at which both Regulus and Pandora pick it up, he definitely underestimated their abilities, though he would never admit it.
“Okay, I think you’re ready to try it now. Who is going first?” Pandora and Regulus share a look before he gently taps her shoulder and gives an encouraging nod.
“You definitely won’t make it past his barriers the first time but don’t feel badly about that. As long as you get a feel for what you’re doing, that should be enough for the first few tries. We’ll worry about breaking through later on.”
Pandora lifts her wand up until it is in line with Regulus’ chest and utters, “Legilimens”
Severus sees the effect immediately as Regulus becomes rigid, mental barriers clearly flying up. He is impressed at the way that Pandora seems to fight against them valiantly in a way that makes Regulus have to focus on keeping them up.
“Good. That was really good Pandora.” She is slightly flushed from the effort but takes the compliment in her stride before sitting on a chair.
“Ready Reggie?” She holds out his wand to him with a soft smile and he takes it from her even though Severus can see his hesitance.
“Legilimens.” Regulus flinches as soon as the word leaves his mouth, and he drops his wand onto the floor like it burnt him. “No. I can’t do it. Not like this, not to you.”
Pandora slowly makes her way over to him and gently cups his face in her hands. “Reggie, it’s okay. I’m okay with you doing this, remember? I did the same to you just now.”
“I’m scared I’ll hurt you, like she-“
“No Reg, this isn’t the same.” Her tone is firm and leaves no room for an argument. “You aren’t invading my mind if I’m allowing you to do it, okay?”
She picks his wand off the floor and holds it out to him again. He takes it and glares at it, she takes his hand in hers and pulls him down to sit on the floor, her hand never leaves his.
“Try again now.” Pandora’s patience never wavers. Regulus looks to Severus, as if he is searching for guidance. Severus just shrugs and nods.
“Try again baby Black.”
Regulus turns his attention back to Pandora. “Ready?”
“When you are.”
“Okay.” He takes a breath. “Legilimens.”
The word comes out stronger this time and Severus is glad to see that Regulus doesn’t freak out immediately. He breaks the spell in a controlled manner and closes the distance between him and Pandora. Severus looks away to give them some privacy in Regulus’ moment of emotion and when Pandora’s soothing voices tapers off, he turns back to them.
“Again?”
-
Regulus has a pounding headache. Both he and Pandora were completely exhausted after last night and collapsed in bed together as soon as they got back to the dorm, but they are back at it again with Severus watching over them.
Regulus is endlessly impressed by Pandora’s talent for seemingly everything. He can feel her starting to break past his mental barriers which means she has gained confidence with the spell in the space of one night. His barriers are strong enough to withstand Walburga’s attacks, but are straining under Pandora's magic, which makes Regulus’ chest warm with pride for his best friend.
He takes a second to lean back against the desks whilst Severus corrects a few things in Pandora’s technique.
“I think she’ll have you this time Regulus.” Severus directs this comment at him. His lack of response seems to be enough to confirm his suspicion and he gives Pandora a truly awkward pat on the back. Regulus snickers, knowing this to be Severus’ sign of a well done, and takes great amusement in Pandora’s slightly horrified face.
“Ready Reggie?”
“Do your worst.” A mischievous grin spreads across Pandora’s cheeks.
“Legilimens!” Regulus feels the force of her spell hit him square in the chest. He fights back but finds his mental barriers to be exhausted. He focuses and tries to put them back up, but they are crumbling under Pandora’s power.
He tries one more time to put his walls back up, block out the memories that are threatening to resurface when the room suddenly falls away from him. Regulus-
Regulus is nine and has just knocked over a vase which shatters on the ground.
“You insolent brat!” Walburga’s nails dig into Regulus’ cheeks. She shoves him down onto the floor where shards of the broken ceramic wedge themselves into his skin. Regulus is crying.
“Do not cry! You weak excuse for a boy!”
Regulus is thirteen. He is gasping for breath in a broom closet in Sirius’ arms.
“C'est bon, petite étoile.” Sirius is running his fingers through Regulus’ curls and some of the tension seeps out of his body. “Je t'ai maintenant. Tu es en sécurité.”
Regulus sobs into his brother’s chest.
Regulus is fourteen. Sirius is being tortured in front of him and he is screaming for his mother to stop. He is on his knees, begging for her forgiveness in his place, begging to take the punishment for once. The world falls away from him for the first time then. When he comes back to himself, Sirius is unconscious and Regulus crawls onto his chest, listens to Sirius’ heartbeat and feels his breathing.
Regulus is fifteen and he is in love with James Potter. Sirius is becoming more jaded with him; the summer has been long and tiresome. But the locket under his shirt keeps him tethered to his body. Regulus-
Regulus feels the cold stone of the floor pressing against his cheek. He realises that he is gasping for air and his hand is clenched around the locket around his neck. He can hear voices around him, but he cannot register what they are saying.
A hand is stroking his hair, he is somehow certain it is Pandora, but he can’t see her because the room is spinning, and he can’t make out her voice past the ringing in his ears.
The locket heats up in his palm, he relaxes slightly knowing James will be on his way.
-
James is sprinting down the dungeon corridors in his pyjama bottoms and an old t-shirt. He was abruptly awoken by the locket burning against his skin and grabbed the map to get to Regulus as fast as he could.
He turns the corner into the classroom where Regulus’ name is on the map and nearly runs headfirst into Snape.
“What are you doing here Sn-“
He is halted mid-sentence by the sound of Regulus hyperventilating and snaps his head to the side to see his boyfriend curled up on the floor with Pandora at his side. Regulus’ chest is heaving up and down, his eyes are squeezed shut and he is holding the locket in his hand with an iron grip.
James is by Regulus’ side with three quick strides. His hands hover over his boyfriend’s shaking frame with uncertainty as he sits down, leaning back against a table and then makes the decision to gently pull Regulus into his lap.
Regulus comes with no resistance and now has his head resting on James’ thigh. James runs his hand through Regulus’ hair and takes deep, measured breaths in the hopes that Regulus will follow.
Regulus’ hand unfurls from around the locket he uses it to push himself up.
“James?”
“Yeah, it’s me love. I’ve got you now.” James wraps his arms around Regulus’ shaking body and settles him against his chest. Regulus is significantly less tense already; it seems like just the sound of James’ heartbeat soothes him and he is starting to breathe in sync with him soon after. The shaking subsides and Regulus' body slowly goes lax in James’ hold.
James tightens his grip around his boyfriend as Regulus’ head rolls and settles in the space between James’ neck and shoulder.
James glances up for the first time since he entered the room and finds Pandora staring at him, her eyes are red and puffy as if she has been crying. Snape is nowhere to be seen.
“What happened Dora?” Her expression crumbles at the nickname.
“We were practising Legilimency so we could help Barty and somehow I broke past his barriers.” James winces at that. “It was awful.”
Pandora is crying again, and James feels his heart splinter, both for her and the boy in his arms.
“It’s okay Dora, don’t blame yourself. There was no way you could’ve know what was on the other side of that.” James tries to give her a reassuring smile. “I’ll stay with him tonight, go and stay with Dorcas or come with us to Evan, okay?”
Pandora nods and starts to wipe the tears off her face whilst James manoeuvres Regulus into his arms, making sure he has a strong grip under Regulus’ knees and upper back. He adjusts Regulus’s head to secure it on his shoulder before scooping him up and walking out of the room with Pandora in tow. Regulus’ head bounces against James’ shoulder as he carries him back to the Slytherin dorms which makes James’ heart ache for him. He must have been exhausted to pass out that quickly.
Pandora mumbles the password, and they walk through the common room quickly to avoid seeing anyone and up to the dorms. Pandora pushes the door open, and James follows, Evan shoots upright at the sight of them.
“What the fuck happened?” Pandora starts sobbing and climbs into bed with him, Evan holds her against his chest, soothing her without any further questions. He shoots James a questioning look as he nods to Regulus in his arms but James just mouths, "Later." and Evan nods in understanding.
James gently lays Regulus down in his bed, then waves his wand to remove his school robes and replace them with comfy clothes. He gets into bed next to Regulus and pulls his boyfriend closer to him. James falls asleep listening to the sound of Regulus’ breathing.
-
When Regulus wakes up, it’s warm. The dungeons aren’t usually this cosy, he slowly opens his eyes, half thinking Barty or Evan might be in his bed.
Instead, he sees the last person he expects. James is sleeping next to him, his arms wrapped around Regulus.
He blinks a few times to make sure he isn’t still dreaming before trying to remember what happened the night before. Regulus remembers the Leglimancy practise, but everything is hazy. He takes a steadying breath and thinks back to what they were doing.
He remembers being exhausted, they were taking it in turns and Pandora was getting really close to breaking through his mental barriers. And then she did. Now Regulus remembers it; the memories, clutching at his locket desperately and then James arriving.
Regulus melts further into James’ embrace and pushes his nose into the crook of James’ neck in an attempt to hide from the world. James doesn’t stir so Regulus takes this as permission to fall back asleep when he hears the curtains around his bed being opened.
“Regulus?” Evan sounds exhausted. Regulus considers responding but he is so comfortable in James’ arms he doesn’t want to move. “I know you’re awake, dumbass.”
Regulus sighs and slowly removes himself from James’ hold before glaring at Evan, who chuckles at him, and gets out of bed.
“This better be good, Rosier.”
“Calm down, you freak.” Evan chuckles fondly and flicks Regulus’ forehead. He continues to glare at Evan with murder in his eyes.
“I wanted to ask you what happened last night. You and Dora left, everything was fine then, and a few hours later you come back passed out in James’ arms and Dora was sobbing the whole night.”
“Didn’t she say anything?” Regulus frowned at that.
“No, nothing that made sense. She just kept crying. I managed to get her to sleep but she kept waking up from nightmares, probably. Or visions, either way she was very upset the whole night."
“You know that we’ve been practising Leglimancy with Snape?”
“Yeah.” Evan looks mildly concerned at the mention of Leglimancy.
“She managed to get through my barriers and… she saw some of my worst memories. It probably shook her up.” Evan had the decency to try and hide his shocked expression.
“That does explain a lot. She kept going on about how she hurt you and I was confused because I know she would die before she hurt anyone. Especially you.” To his credit, Evan does manage to keep his voice from wavering despite the worried look in his eyes.
“Tell her not to worry, I was just tired from the day and all the practising. I should have controlled it better.” The longer their conversation goes on, the more Regulus wants to tear his own skin off.
“Regulus, what she did to you… it wasn’t your fau-“
Evan is cut off by Pandora walking out of the bathroom. Her face is puffy and red, Regulus can tell that she spent the whole night crying. An all-consuming guilt starts to choke him as he thinks of how comfortably he slept in James’ arms whilst Pandora was probably worrying about him. The feeling is bitter and ugly, twisting inside his chest until he is sure his ribs will collapse under the pressure being put on them.
Pandora only hesitates slightly before she steps towards him and wraps her arms around Regulus. It’s gentle and soft, Regulus returns the embrace before he works himself up too much to accept it and risk upsetting her more.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice is thick with guilt and Regulus wants to take the feeling from her, he cannot stand the thought of Pandora feeling bad because of him.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, look on the bright side: if you can break past my walls, you’ll definitely be able to make it through to Barty.”
Pandora nods into his shoulder and tightens her hold momentarily before she is pulling away. Regulus misses her warmth immediately.
“We should do it tonight. At least try it?” Evan is looking at Barty now. He is asleep in his bed, something that hasn’t happened in nearly a year since he and Evan started going out.
“Yeah, I’ll tell Dorcas. Should Severus come?” Pandora is making Evan’s bed; Evan always insists he can do it with magic, but she likes doing it the muggle way for him.
“No, I never told him why we were practising Leglimancy. If he finds out, I’m sure he would tell a teacher and that won’t be good for Barty.”
Pandora nods again at Regulus’ words before she waves them goodbye with a promise to meet at breakfast to plan out what they were going to do.
“I’ll get Barty up, you want to deal with your boyfriend?” Evan is smirking at him.
“Fuck off Evan.”
“Why so mean, lover boy?” He is fully grinning now.
“Rosier, I swear to-“
“Well, if you don’t want to wake him up, I would love to. He is a big piece of eye candy that one. You have good taste Reggie, I’ll give you that. What I wouldn’t give to run my hands all over his-“
A pillow smacks Evan in the face.
“Real mature, Reg.”
“You were practically drooling over him.”
“Yeah, but who wouldn’t. He’s literally shirtless for Salazar’s sake.”
Another pillow hits Evan.
“What about Barty?”
“What about him? We both agree on how much we want to fuck the two of you. Honestly Reg, just consi-“
A third pillow is thrown across the room, Regulus charms it to beat Evan relentlessly.
“No. Go wake Barty up.”
“Regulus, make it stop.” He can see Evan struggling to grab the pillow out of the air to make it stop hitting him. Regulus just laughs. “Please, Regulus!”
“I’m sure you’ll manage just fine.” Regulus walks back towards his bed and spells the curtains shut as he clambers onto it whilst Evan is shrieking for the pillow to stop hitting him.
He looks down to see that James is still sleeping, he looks so peaceful this way. Regulus gently brushes a stray hair out of his face and traces James’ jawline with his finger. It's slow and tender, the way he has learnt to be from James. He never knew touch could be so loving until James touched him.
“James.” Regulus rubs James’ cheek with his thumb.
“Baby, you’ve got to get up.” He shakes James’ shoulder lightly and he stirs slightly, frowning as he wakes up. Regulus gently smooths out the crease between his eyebrows as James’ eyes open. He smiles as soon as he sees Regulus, almost as if it’s reflexive. James reaches up and cups his cheek, gently brushing the hair away from his face.
“Hi.” Regulus thinks he will melt under the intensity of James’ gaze, he looks at Regulus like he is the world, and it terrifies him.
“Hi.” Regulus finds that’s the only word he can manage.
Something flickers across James’ expression and suddenly he’s inches from Regulus’ face, eyes are darting all over him searching for something.
“James, wha-“
“You were hurt. Were you- Where does it hurt Reggie?” The words are tumbling out of his mouth as if he can’t stop them.
“It’s okay. I’m okay James.” He is still trying to find something in Regulus’ face.
“But you were-“
“James. It’s okay. Really, I’m fine.” One look at James’ face confirms he doesn’t believe Regulus at all. “I promise, it was scary but then you came. You made it better.”
James’ face softens and he gently tugs Regulus into his chest, bringing his arms around him.
“I’ll always be here love. You’ve just got to call me, and I’ll be right there.” Regulus nods into James’ chest, content to settle there and relax.
“Reginald! Hurry up!” Evan’s voice cuts through the peace.
“Sounds like we need to go.” James is laughing and it travels through Regulus’ whole body.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
-
Pandora is sure she is going to accidentally blow something up with her magic. She has to get to the end of Charms without almost killing herself or someone else and then she has to try and reach Barty, wherever he is trapped inside his head. The more she thinks about it, the more worked up she gets and the more unstable her magic feels. She can feel the looks Evan is sending her from across the table, but she keeps her eyes trained down on the pillow she is supposed to make sing.
“Miss Rosier, are you having trouble?” Professor Merrywater is stood next to her, looking at her with confusion.
“No…” Her voice wavers and she winces at the unsteadiness of her voice. “Just thinking it through.”
She takes a steadying breath and catches Evan’s eye across the table. He raises his eyebrows slightly and taps the table with his wand. Pandora smiles at the signals, nostalgia for their childhood warms her chest as she nods. He smiles instantly and winks.
She lifts her wand and mutters the incantation with no intention, allowing Evan to cast the charm for her. The pillow starts singing her favourite nursery rhyme from when they were children.
“Well done! Excellent wand movement, Miss Rosier.”
As soon as he turns around, Pandora is stifling her laughter into her hand as Evan watches her with immense fondness on his face.
“Stressed?” She looks back up to meet his eyes, there is nothing but love on his face.
“Just a little bit.” She knows he can see through her attempt to reassure him.
“Why?”
“I’m scared I won’t be able to do it.” Her voice is small, barely above a whisper. Evan’s expression crumbles at her words.
“Dora-“
“I know, there’s no way we even know it can work, and you won’t blame me if it doesn’t, all of that… But I will.”
“You shouldn’t. I know Barty wouldn’t. He’d just be happy that we’re trying, that you’re trying to help him.” Pandora can feel tears gathering in her eyes.
“I know.”
“Right! I think that’s quite enough of that, class dismissed!” Professor Merrywater’s exasperated voice echoes through the classroom.
“Ready?” Regulus holds his hand out to her, and she glances back at Evan who smiles encouragingly at her.
“As I’ll ever be.” Pandora takes his hand and grabs her wand before they all but run to the dungeons in their haste to potentially get Barty back.
Dorcas is already sat waiting in the boy’s dorm, Pandora can feel the nervous energy radiating off her, despite her reassuring smile.
“Okay.” Pandora is glad Regulus is taking control of the situation. “We need to draw the curtains shut, it’s way too bright in here. Evan, lay some blankets and pillows down in case he passes out from the spell.”
Everyone gets to work straight away; Dorcas spells the curtains shut and conjures floating candles to light the room whilst Evan and Regulus raid the cupboards for spare blankets and pillows to lay down.
Pandora sits on Evan’s bed with Barty, her magic is thrumming with nervous energy as she holds onto Barty’s hand like it’s a lifeline. It could have been twenty seconds or twenty minutes, but it’s all too soon when Evan is kneeling in front of her with a worried smile and slowly coaxing her off the bed. He sits down on the blankets they have strewn out and pulls Pandora down to do the same.
“Whenever you’re ready Dora.” His hand never leaves hers.
“Okay.” She takes a steadying breath and tightens her grip on Evan’s hand. Barty is kneeling opposite her; he has the same awfully blank look in his eyes from the past few days and it’s enough to spark her determination.
“Leglimens.” She feels resistance from curse, it’s strong but not as strong as the resistance she felt with Regulus' barriers. Pandora focuses on one point in the wall of magic in front of her and wills the spell to go through.
She feels the moment she breaks through and a surprised gasp leaves her lips. The initial joy and relief are immediately overtaken by confusion. Pandora finds herself standing on the seventh floor.
She glances around and notices that it’s snowing outside, before she can start to work through her confusion as it definitely was not snowing earlier, footsteps sound from behind her. She quickly ducks into an alcove and watches, Barty and Evan walk down the corridor hand in hand.
Pandora notices that the ends of Barty’s hair are dyed green, like they were before he went home for Christmas. Barty suddenly smirks and pushes Evan into the wall before quite violently making out with him, Pandora has to stifle a giggle at her brother’s shocked expression.
“Come back with me.” Evan whispers it between kisses, it’s so soft that Pandora is surprised she could hear what he said.
“You know he’d kill me.” Barty bites Evan’s neck and he groans, melting further back into the wall.
“I’ll kill him first, just spend Christmas with me and Dora.” Barty pauses and smiles into Evan’s neck.
“I love you Ev.” Evan visibly reacts to that, eyes widening before he takes Barty’s face in his hands and pulls him up to meet his eyes.
“I love you B.” The look in his eyes can only be described as pure adoration, something tugs at Pandora’s heart as she watches them.
“I have something for you.” Evan pulls out a box from his robe pocket. It’s familiar because she helped him to wrap it, nearly two months ago. Pandora realises that she is in Barty’s memories.
Barty’s grip on Evan goes slack and Pandora doesn’t have to see his face to know that he is looking at the present with disbelief.
“It’s for me?” His voice is soft, and he sounds years younger than he is.
“Yes, it’s for you.” Evan pushes the gift into his hands. Barty starts unwrapping the present when suddenly Evan drops to the floor. Barty drops the gift and is at his side in a second. Pandora feels ice flood her veins, she knows that this didn’t happen. Evan told her exactly what happened when he gave Barty the gift.
“Ev? Evan?” Barty is shaking his shoulders, but Evan doesn’t respond. A guttural sob cuts through the corridor as Barty buries his face into Evan’s shoulder.
The noise snaps Pandora out of her confusion and she is rushing over to his side in an instant.
“Barty.” At her voice his head shoots up and he locks eyes with her.
Since his back had been to her the whole time, Pandora hadn’t got a proper look at his face and now that she can see him, she feels sick. Deep scratches cover his face and neck, she is sure they carry on underneath his robes and he has a haunted look in his eyes.
“Dora? What are you doing here?” He sounds as if he isn’t sure she is real or not.
“Rescuing you, of course.” She steps over Evan’s body and envelopes Barty into a tight hug. He is rigid at first but then quickly melts into the embrace and cries into the crook of her neck.
“I thought I would be stuck here forever.” Pandora’s heart nearly snaps in half.
“No, we’d never leave you. You know that B, it’s okay.” He presses himself impossibly closer to her. “I’ve got you.”
Pandora glances around to try and gage how to handle the situation. She knows Evan is anchoring her outside of Barty’s mind by holding her hand, she just has to somehow let him know that she has him.
Pandora slowly peels herself away from Barty and keeps a firm grip on one of his hands as she reaches out with the other.
“Don’t worry, Evan is going to help get us out of here.”
“Evan’s there?” His voice cracks.
“He’s been here the whole time B.”
“I felt him ages ago. I think I managed to talk to him, but the curse pulled me back under. Was that real?” Barty’s grip on her hand tightens as if he is anticipating bad news.
“Yes, I remember that you gave us a proper fright there.” Her hand makes contact with something in the air and she directs all of her magic towards it, picturing herself tightening her hand around Evan’s.
A firm tug pulls her forwards, and she is falling. Pandora keeps a death grip on Barty’s hand the whole time until she feels it slip out of her hand. She screams his name.
-
“Barty!” Evan jolts as Pandora screams, her eyes open and she is searching the room for Barty with tears sliding down her cheeks. Regulus is next to her in an instant, holding her to his chest and whispering soothing words to calm her down.
Evan lets go of her hand and shuffles over to Barty who is laying on his back with his eyes shut. Evan remembers watching him collapse forwards onto Regulus a few minutes after Pandora had cast the spell and Evan swears his heart dropped out of his chest.
He gently brushes a piece of stray hair out of Barty's pale face and presses a kiss to his forehead. He lingers in Barty’s space for a moment before pulling away and watching his face for any signs of movement.
He doesn't have to wait very long because Barty opens his eyes a few seconds later and sits upright, gasping for breath.
“Dora?” His voice is hoarse, and Evan can tell he isn’t really seeing anything because he keeps looking around wildly despite Pandora being sat in front of him.
“I’m right here B” Her voice seems to calm him down enough to take in his surroundings. He meets Evan’s eyes, Barty freezes and his breathing picks up.
“No... You can't be here. He’s going to hurt you. You need to leave.” Suddenly Barty is crawling towards Evan and shoving him, frantically looking around for something in the room.
“Junior, it’s okay. No one is-“
“No!” Barty screams as Dorcas touched his back to try and get him off Evan. She steps away instantly with a horrified look on her face. “Don’t take him from me.”
Evan can feel Barty’s heart pounding against his rib cage as his boyfriend desperately tries to get him away from something. The sounds of Barty’s panicked gasps fill the room.
Evan is equally enraged and terrified, but he manages to bring his arms up off the floor and wrap them around Barty. He pulls Barty into his chest so he could support his weight and pushes Barty’s face into his neck.
“No one is coming to take me B.” Evan feels Barty pause, his breathing slows down slightly.
“Ev? Is that really you?” Barty sounds hesitant and so exhausted that it cracks Evan’s heart.
“Yeah, it’s me Junior. Just me and you.” Evan starts tracing small circles on Barty’s back and feels the effects of his action as Barty slowly relaxes into him. Evan can tell that Barty is realising he is safe now by the death grip around his wrist loosening.
“I thought I’d never see you again.” Barty murmurs against Evan’s neck, his head is becoming heavier on Evan’s shoulder as each second passes.
“I’d find you anywhere. I’d tear the world apart to get to you B.” Evan kisses the top of Barty’s head and tightens his grip around him slightly as he feels Barty drift off to sleep in his arms, the last bits of tension leaving his body.
Evan looks up to see Pandora crying into Regulus’ arms. He has a scarily distant look in his eyes.
“Fuck. Reggie, can you hear me?” He gets no response.
Evan glances around and belatedly realises Dorcas has vanished. He doesn’t have long to wonder where she went before the door bursts open and Dorcas is running in followed by a very flushed Lily Evans.
“She knows healing magic.” Dorcas has tear tracks on her face.
“What happened? She wouldn’t tell me anything and he doesn’t look good.” Evans is kneeling in front of him and Barty with her wand pointed at Barty.
“There was a dark curse put on him, we broke it but…” Evan’s voice trailed off, not wanting to tell her too much in case Barty flipped out about more people knowing. “He wasn’t in a good way. I think he was seeing something that wasn’t there.”
To her credit, Evans only nodded before running her wand across Barty’s head and casting, what Evan assumes to be, a diagnostic charm. Her eyes narrow as she studies the results of the spell.
“It’s not great.” She turns back to Dorcas who just nods as her before she carried on. “There is some severe damage to the part of his brain that deals with memories. I don’t think it will be permanent because they’ve shown up well enough on the charm but they’re not active.”
Evan feels a weight crushing his chest.
“There are spells that can help, I’ll pass them on to Dorcas, but the main thing will be keeping him calm and grounded in reality. The part of his brain in charge of conscious actions is a bit jumbled up as well. It looks a bit off, but not drastically different than what I’d expect.”
Evan swears his lungs are going to collapse.
“There’s a lot you can do to help with that too. It will be a process, but he’ll recover well enough by the end of it.”
Evan is drowning.
“Thanks Lily.” Evans had got up and was by the door, Dorcas is hugging her.
“Thank you.” It comes out shaky and weak, but she simply smiles and nods before walking out.
Evan is choking.
Regulus is sat in front of him, worry lines are etched in his face.
“There you are.” He vaguely realises that the room has been tidied and Barty is no longer in his arms.
“Calm down, idiot. You were way too out of it to help him if he woke up so Pandora’s with him in your bed.” Evan slumps forward into Regulus’s shoulder and breathes.
“He’s okay?” The exhaustion is making his limbs feel heavy.
“He’s okay. And so are you.” Regulus’ voice grounds him and then he is being pulled up and lead into bed.
“Sleep well Ev.” Then the curtains are shut, and he registers Barty’s sleeping form next to him. A smile spreads across his face as he falls asleep.
-
The first thing Barty is aware of is the green curtains around the bed he is in. Panic floods his veins; the memories of Evan and his friends dying in front of him are far too fresh and vivid. He needs to find them and make sure they are okay. He needs to-
There is a warm weight on his chest stopping him from getting up. Barty turns his head to see Evan sleeping next to him, one arm draped over Barty’s torso and the other tangled in the pillows.
The knot in Barty’s chest releases as he looks at Evan. Barty feels safe for the first time since he left Hogwarts before Christmas. He doesn’t move from Evan’s bed.