TW: Mentions of abuse (not in detail)
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"Shit," I muttered, bringing Regulus inside my house.
I grabbed his hand and led him upstairs, neither of us speaking. I had no idea what happened, and my heart was pounding in my chest as I brought him into the bathroom.
"Sit down," I instructed, helping him sit on the closed toilet seat.
"Meredith-"
I shook my head, "Not now."
I cast a silencing spell over the bathroom before grabbing the first aid kit from underneath the sink. It was filled with various potions and salves, but I didn't know the extent of his injuries.
"What the hell happened?" I asked, not looking at Regulus. I got a washcloth and wet it with warm water.
Regulus leaned his head back against the wall, his eyes fluttering shut.
"My mother happened," He muttered.
I stood between his legs and tilted his chin towards me to get a better look at him.
In the bright light of the bathroom, I could see the full extent of his injuries. His nose had stopped bleeding, and there was dried blood down his chin. He had a cut on his forehead, a dark bruise blooming.
I ran the washcloth over his face, cleaning over the dried blood and what looked like dirt.
Regulus winced in pain as I ran the washcloth over the cut on his forehead.
"I know," I whispered, "I'm sorry."
His eyes fluttered shut again as I ran my finger over the fresh bruise on his forehead.
"My mother," Regulus winced, "Was in a bad mood tonight."
I stared at him, taking in his state of vulnerability. "How come?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.
"She wants me to get engaged."
I went silent, waiting for him to continue.
"I said no. She didn't like that," Regulus explained. "She gave me a whole list of girls that were "pure", and I said no."
Regulus's eyes opened, and he stared at me.
I turned away, setting the washcloth on the counter. I rummaged through the first aid kit, looking for something to clean his cuts with.
"Why'd she want you to get engaged now?"
Regulus watched me as I opened the rubbing alcohol and poured it onto cotton pads.
"As a power move," Regulus answered. "My dad's sick, the Healers said he won't make it to the end of the year."
I stopped, dropping my hands to my side.
"I-, I didn't know that."
"Most people don't. She wants to keep it a secret-, said it would slander the family name."
I stood between his legs, resting my hand on the side of his face. I cleaned the cut on his forehead. Regulus winced in pain, gripping my waist to steady himself.
I frowned at him, starting to worry if this was the extent of his injuries or if there was more.
Regulus smirked at me.
"What?" I questioned, continuing to clean out the wound above his eyebrow.
"You're cute when you're worried," Regulus said, looking up at me.
Our eyes met, and I held his gaze for the first time in over a month.
"Stop flirting with me, Black," I said, my tone sounding weaker than I meant.
Regulus went silent as I grabbed my wand from the counter to heal the wound.
I pointed my hand at the cut. "Episkey."
Regulus's grip on my waist tightened as his skin knit itself back together. I ran my finger over the barely visible scar above his right eyebrow.
I turned away from him, his hand falling from my waist. Being this close to him was too much.
I searched through the first aid kit until I found a salve to help with bruising. I took a deep breath and turned back towards him.
"This is for your bruise," I said, rubbing some of the peppermint-scented cream over the bruise on the side of his forehead.
Regulus stared at me, "Thank you."
"Did she get you anywhere else?" I asked, staring at him.
Regulus didn't say anything.
"Reg-"
"Yeah," He said, "She got me on the shoulder."
I looked down at his abdomen, which was currently covered with a black button-up and a white undershirt. "Can I see?" I questioned, fully expecting him to say no.
Regulus nodded, standing up. He faced the mirror, unbuttoning his shirt and letting it fall to the floor before pulling his white shirt over his head. There was a large bloodstain on it. He dropped it on the floor and let me look at his shoulder.
There was a six inch long gash on his left shoulder.
"Merlin, she got you good," I muttered.
Regulus laughed, "Yeah, my mother is persistent."
My heart ached for him as I reached for a washcloth to clean off the dried blood. Regulus leaned against the counter as I cleaned off the gash on his shoulder. Once it was clean enough, I grabbed the rubbing alcohol and cleaned out the wound.
Regulus groaned out in pain, gripping onto the counter.
"I hate you for what you did," I said, my voice quiet.
Regulus's face remained neutral. "I know you do," He replied. "It probably doesn't matter, but I hate myself for what I did."
I finished cleaning out the cut and threw everything into the trash.
"And I hate the way that you make me feel."
Regulus frowned, "Did you always hate the way that I make you feel?"
I reached around him, grabbing my wand off of the counter.
"No, I loved the way you made me feel," I answered. "Episkey."
His skin knit itself back together until there was only a long white scar across his shoulder blade. I ran my finger across it, not thinking.
"I'm sorry, Meredith."
I didn't say anything, I just watched him in the mirror.
"I should've told you, and I'm sorry that I didn't."
I whispered, "Are you sorry that you took the Mark, or sorry that you didn't tell me?"
"Both," Regulus muttered. "But you have to understand, if I didn't take it, they would've killed me."
"Who's they?"
Regulus turned around to face me, and exhaled sharply, "My mother, my cousins, their husbands. I was scared, I don't want to die. I'm only seventeen."
I didn't know that.
I looked down at his bare abdomen, realizing that this was the first time I've seen him without a shirt on. The Dark Mark sticks up like a sore thumb against his pale forearm.
"I didn't think of it like that," I replied.
Regulus nodded, "I know."
"I think I would rather die," I added.
Regulus shook his head. "That is why you're braver than me, Meredith."
I stared at him, trying to read what he was thinking. The mask was down, and he was being vulnerable with me. He wasn't lying.
My eyes darted down to his lips, quickly returning to his silvery-blue eyes.
We were too close. Being close to him makes me feel intoxicated. Everytime that I'm this close to him I want to make stupid decisions and deal with the consequences later. We kept getting closer and closer until his lips were less than an inch from mine.
"I hate you," I whispered.
Regulus brushed his lips against mine, "I know."
I reached around Regulus and grabbed my wand off of the counter before pulling away from him. In the wave of my wand, the bathroom was clean and there was no evidence of the beating that Regulus took. I grabbed his clean shirt off of the floor and handed it to him.
"Are you kicking me out, McKinnon?" Regulus asked, smirking at me.
I grabbed Regulus's hand and led him out of the bathroom and down the hallway to my room.
"No, not in the slightest," I answered.