Regulus wasn't alright.
Even though he 'd foolishly thought he could settle things quickly and easily without getting caught, there was nothing alright about finding himself trapped within his childhood home. " I should have known better. Nothing is that simple when it comes to the Black family. "
And his head hurt, the back throbbing from hitting his head on the floor at the sudden knockback from his attempt to Apparate out of Grimmauld. It was a sad attempt, finding himself locked inside the cursed place he never expected Sirius to step foot in, not since his young mind finally processed the fact that Sirius was never coming back.
Yet there Sirius was, a problem within Regulus ' mind as he tried puzzling out his situation. He couldn 't, though. Not with how his head throbbed. Not with how he'd drift off into sleep, which seemed the only relief to his throbbing head. And definitely not with his brother nudging him awake as if Sirius wanted Regulus to know just how disgusted he was to see him.
The only reprieve from his nightmare was Sirius ' friend from school—Lupin—giving him a drink of water whenever Sirius woke him.
"At least this is a reprieve from the nightmares I've been having," he mistakenly thought, only for the next time he fell asleep for the dream about the lake in the cave to resurface, and—
He startled awake, falling off the couch onto the wooden floor of the drawing-room, his head jolting, which caused a surge of pain in the back of his head while a wave of nausea hit. He closed his eyes, waiting for the nausea to subside. Opening his eyes revealed an unfocused vision, yet he saw a pair of feet when his vision came into focus. He stared, his mind noting the shoes were the type his mother liked to wear. "Bloody hell."
"Is that any way to speak to your mother?"
Regulus started to push himself up from the ground, only for his left arm to fail, the psychosomatic systems setting in. He started rolling onto his back, so he wasn 't using his left arm to support himself. At the same time, he felt his left hand tremble uncontrollably when Walburga Black reached down, yanking him up by the front of his clothing, making him feel like a rag doll while his mind wondered where Sirius was if he'd perhaps imagined his brother being there as well.
"Get up! Up off that filthy floor!" And then she let go, letting him fall onto the floor, still raising her voice at him. "Sleeping on the furniture rather than a bed? I'd expect such things from Sirius, but you?"
"Shut up," Regulus muttered, deciding to cover his eyes and rest his head on the floor even though it hurt to do so. "Just shut up."
"What? What did you just say to me! You little..."
"What the bloody hell are you doing here!" And there was Sirius, definitely there as Regulus remained on the floor, covering his eyes, filling absolutely miserable as his hand continued to tremble. "And what are you doing on the floor?"
He felt like a rag doll again as Sirius grabbed him by the front of his shirt, though this time, he kept his head from moving too much as Sirius plopped him into the couch where he sat, his head spinning. And, of course, Walburga Black had to make his aching head worse. " What is he doing sleeping on the couch? "
"That's where he decided to make himself at home, old hag!" Sirius snapped.
"Sirius," Regulus said, closing his eyes.
"And what made you decide to make yourself at home on the couch rather than your own bed?" Walburga said.
"Not my own bed," Regulus muttered.
Sirius was louder. "To purposefully irritate me!"
"Sirius," Regulus said, wanting to say something about his head hurting. His mind—he couldn't erase the image of the infiri clawing their way out of the lake from his head.
"Fine!" Walburga said, which made Regulus grimace, thinking she now didn't care so long as what he did irritate Sirius. "I'm sure, though; you're not wearing Muggle clothing to irritate that filthy runaway?"
Regulus winced, realizing he 'd touched the back of his head with his hand. "Does it matter?"
"Of course, it matters! Start acting like a respectable Pureblood!"
His nostrils flared as he took in a deep breath. "What I do with my life is none of your bloody business."
Sirius ' response was to suck in his breath, but Walburga—his mother, let out a screech. "It's absolutely my business. It's absolutely my prerogative to know what Wizard my son's been staying with these last sixteen years!"
Regulus felt his left hand continue to tremble, though he chose to block it out with how his head hurt. "No. No Wizard."
Only she grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her while Sirius did nothing. Her eyes were dark, angry. "A Witch? Have you been staying with a witch? You filthy salope . "
He knew the word that particular French word, and his eyes widened as he stared at her, mouth agape. Sirius, on the other hand, actually responded. "Woah. Woah. And that didn't didn't pop into your head when you thought he was staying with a Wizard friend?"
"What?" Regulus stared, confused, as Walburga suddenly turned on Sirius.
"You!" She pointed her finger at Sirius, which Regulus saw because he turned his head too fast. "How dare you! How dare you suggest such a thing?"
"Not that you're any different," Sirius snorted. "Plus, there was that Ravenclaw back at school, although I don't remember..."
"Shut up!" Walburga snapped, looking at Regulus, who simply wanted the yelling to stop as it worsened his head. "And you! What were you thinking!"
"Not a Witch," Regulus said, leaning against the back of the couch while trying to cradle his head.
"A squib! How dare you sully yourself!"
"Says the woman who just called her son a slut," Regulus muttered. "And no, not a squib."
"If not a squib..." Walburga frowned; the confusion was too evident, which Regulus found irritating.
"Seriously. I thought you were smarter than that," Regulus muttered.
"Don't talk to your mother like that, boy!"
"Muggles," Regulus said. "Did you figure it out from the clothes?"
"Yeah, right," Sirius said.
"You, you!" Walburga pointed her finger. "You've been hiding among filth! Salope! Putain! Pute! You little..."
"And having lived among Muggles, I have to ask something," Regulus said despite knowing he was stepping on what the Muggles referred to as a land mine. "What exactly is your problem with them? Muggles."
He watched Sirius ' jaw drop, his arms crossed as if his older brother thought he'd gone mad, and perhaps he had. Walburga snapped. "You know full well what it is, you brat! You filthy brat! "
"No. I know what most Purebloods' problem with them happens to be, but you—it's different. Because of most Purebloods..." He didn't get the chance to point out that Purebloods were willing to take ideas from Muggles when convenient.
"You're not a parent, so you wouldn't understand," Walburga said, looking at him in disgust.
"Excuse me!" Regulus stood up quickly. "Excuse..."
At that moment, his headache got the better of him, and someone reached out to catch him. At first thought it was Sirius, but then his mother yelled out, "Let go of him, you filth!"
Lupin helped him to sit back down as his head spun. "He's a head injury, Mrs. Black. So, please. The yelling going on here can't be helping."
"And neither one of you've given him a potion for it?" Walburga snapped.
"What potion?" Sirius said, not at all phased by what she said.
"What potion? What bloody idiot doesn't know that there's a potion for head injuries! And let me guess, you're the one who destroyed him?"
"He sustained it from whatever bloody magic you used to keep him from leaving this place!" Sirius said.
"Really?" Walburga puffed her chest out. "He bloody deserves it, running away as he did." She let out a sniff. "And don't worry. I couldn't care what you do, as you've already considered of no consequence to this family or the rest of Pureblood society, shaming us the way you did."
"So you're sticking me with him?" Sirius snapped.
"You could always leave. Oh, wait. You have nowhere else to go, do you?"
"Please stop yelling," Regulus said.
"Ah. Yes," Walburga said, lowering her voice, acting as if she'd managed to win the exchange, which would make Sirius a pain to deal with. "I'll have the potion you two are incapable of making ready by this afternoon."
"Don't you dare step foot into my home, old hag!" Sirius snapped. "I've already told you not to!"
"I don't need to do anything so
menial as that when I can just send the potion here, but you 'd better give it to him, Sirius. It's the only thing you're good for."
And then she was gone, Apparating away, having taken away Regulus ' freedom to leave out of spite while—Regulus wasn't sure about Sirius.
"Bloody Merlin! I hate that woman!"
"Sirius," Regulus muttered, both hands in his lap.
"What!" Sirius snapped.
"Could you stop yelling?" Lupin said, handing Regulus the glass, making him wonder where Kreacher had gotten to. He almost couldn't swallow the water as Lupin steadied it. And when he was done, he helped him lie down.
"Still," Sirius murmured. There came a pause as if he were thinking about what to say, and then he said, "Do those Muggles you're hiding among know you're a murderer?"
Regulus flinched, sucking in his breath, not wanting to rise to Sirius bait, his entire body stiffening.
"Well?"
"Sirius, knock it off," Lupin sighed. "You've already been told Moody and Dumbledore will be handling that."
This meant that Sirius was still on the other side, the side Regulus could never be a part of, yet that made no sense given how Sirius was back in the house, let alone how Sirius came to own said house. Regulus closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he attempted to clear his thoughts.