𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆, regulus black

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟎: 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬

The recommended dosage was a drop, and the bottle would be able to last the user 3 months. He'd finished it in a week. 

He quickly unscrewed the bottle and lifted it to his mouth. One drop. Two drops. Three drops. 

The effect was thankfully immediately because majority of the pain subsided as he screwed the bottle and shoved it back in his trunk in time to have it out of sight as Rabastan entered the room. 

"Reg," he said in a rather quiet voice. "I didn't actually ask. What did you say to her?" 

Regulus sighed as walked to his bed and dropped down onto it. "I said that you wanted me to let her know that you were done with her." 

"Did she take it well?" 

"What do you think, genius?" asked Regulus as he reclined onto his pillows purposefully keeping strain of his right side. 

One of the side-effects of the painkillers. It made him drowsy at all times. No matter how many hours of sleep he was getting, he still wanted more. He needed to sleep off the dosage. 

Rabastan walked to his bed side. "What did she say?" 

"She wanted to know why. I told her you didn't tell me why." 

"And then?" pushed Rabastan. 

"And then she asked if I know why." 

"And what did you say?"

Regulus' eyelids were feeling heavy. His eyes were already drooping. 

"Regulus, what did you say?" 

"I said because she's a filthy mudblood." 

There was a deadly silence that filled the room. 

Had he not been so out of it from drugging himself, he might have anticipated it, but the force of Rabastan's fist on his face was so unexpected that it jolted him out of his drowsiness and had him jerking upright. 

Regulus groaned as he lifted his hand to his jaw.

"Really, Rab?" He drawled, massaging his face and grunting. "You just couldn't have gone for the stomach, could you?" 

"You called her a mudblood." 

As the iron taste of blood filled his mouth and his vision grew blurry, Regulus swore. 

"You told me to say something that would make her dislike you. I did what you asked and you punched me for it."

Rabastan sighed. "Do you want to get ice for your face or something?" 

Regulus wanted to say yes and accept the relief it would have brought but he thought he deserved the punch. 

So, he laid back down on his bed and covered his eyes with his arm. "I'll take it like a man."

"Okay, tough guy. You're bleeding onto your shirt." 

"It's just a shirt. I'll survive" 

There was a silence that passed between them as Rabastan slumped down onto his bed. 

Neither of them spoke for several minutes until Regulus asked, "You still awake?" 

"Yup." 

"Are you okay, Rab?" 

Rabastan laughed bitterly. "Yeah. We knew it was coming to this." He waited for a moment before asking, "Are you okay, Reg?" 

"Yeah." He swallowed hard. "It sucks a bit though, doesn't it?" 

Rabastan's voice was just louder than a whisper as he answered, "Yeah. Yeah, it sucks." 

~

When Regulus' eyes opened again, he realized that he had severely underestimated the strength of the painkillers. 

It was completely dark, and all the beds were occupied. He had somehow managed to sleep his way through lunch, dinner and the rest of the evening. 

As he tried to sit up, a stifled groan escaped from his mouth. 

He needed more painkillers. 

It took a tremendous effort to drag himself out of bed and grab it from his trunk before he could make his way to the bathroom and lock the door.

His eyes caught his reflection in the mirror, and he couldn't help but wince at the sight of himself. 

He wondered when he had begun to look so lifeless.

The blood from being punches crusted around his mouth and stained his teeth. The meals he missed were the cause of weight loss and his jaw and cheekbones jutted out making him look sharp and cold. 

Despite the fact that he had just woken up, the circles around his eyes gave the impression that he'd been awake all week. He looked pale and sunken and scary. 

He scoffed at the realization that he was looking as dreadful on the outside as he felt on the inside. 

Although it caused him immense pain, he slowly unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off his body. 

He dropped it onto the ground and leaned forward onto the bathroom counter, dropping his eyes from his face to his body. 

It was none the better. He looked sick. 

He was sick. 

The poison was beginning to spread at a rapid rate and turned the skin from the base of his neck all over his shoulder to a purplish color. The veins bulged a bright blue against it. 

He lifted his left hand to it, but the slight touch had him trembling in pain and he immediately dropped it as his gaze fell onto the black branding on his left arm. 

It was rather poetic. 

He had been made to wait his whole life for the mark and when he finally got it, it was at the time he'd been poisoned. 

It was laughable.

Regulus uncrewed the lid of the painkiller bottle and dropped the rest of the contents of the bottle into his mouth. Perhaps, he thought, if he was lucky he'd overdose.

Then he opened the cupboard beneath the sink thankful to whoever had left the spare t-shirts in it. His guess was Evan. 

Once he pulled it on, he tossed the empty bottle into the bin. 

As he opened the door, he caught sight of the familiar grey kitten on the floor outside. 

He looked around the room for signs of her owner and when the search showed that she wasn't in vicinity, he bent down stoked her head gently. 

"What are you doing here?" he whispered gently. 

Rolo immediately trudged forward, rubbing her head against him.

Regulus looked around the room again just to be sure and once he was certain of the fact that Rune was nowhere in sight, he lifted the kitten into his arms and carried her to his bed. 

"Just this one night then," he murmured as he settled down in his bed and Rolo curled on his stomach. 

The kitten purred happily, and Regulus stroked her gently until both he and Rolo fell asleep.