Whumptober Prompt 3:
Hair’s Breadth From Death
Gun to Temple | “Say Goodbye”
TW: This story includes mentions of the following:
Held Captive
Panic Attacks
Wands to the Head
Regulus Black heard the basement doors open, many footsteps following. He wasn’t prepared to hear the voice of his past lover, screaming to be let go. He sobered up from his sleep real quick. The screaming continued.
“Would you SHUT UP!? You’re making this a LOT worse for yourself, and nobody can hear you anyways.” one of the captors cut into the yelling. Regulus watched as they dragged the new prisoner into the cell next to him. The person had not yet spotted him eyes still focused on the person who was pushing him into the cell.
A second person was then thrown in. Regulus hadn’t even noticed them, and they were making direct eye contact with him. As soon as the basement doors closed once more, and the first person’s yelling ceased, Regulus spoke to the eyes he remembered from childhood.
“Sirius? What are you doing here? You aren’t supposed to be here. You should-” he began to panic, sinking to sit on his knees. Sirius was meant to be far away from here. Sirius was meant to be safe. Here, in this basement, Sirius couldn’t be safe.
Then his mind shifted to his past lover. James. James shouldn’t be here either. How was he here? Why was he here? He had to get both of them out of here, out and away from the torture. His mind continue to ramble, unintelligible words leaving his mouth. Somehow, a voice cut through the thoughts:
“Regulus. Reggie, look at me.” said the voice. He looked towards him, eyes clouded by tears. “Good boy, can you come closer?”
And Regulus felt pulled by the voice, slowly inching closer. Inching towards the 2 hands that were reaching out for him. Once within reach, each hand found a place on either side of his face.
Regulus heard some exaggerated breathing, following it, as one of his hands came up to hold the wrist of one of the hands on his face. Once he had calmed, he looked at the face of who was in front of him.
“James?”
“I’m right here, you’re going to be okay.”
Regulus had just enough energy to let out a soft laugh before speaking, eyes shifting from one of James’ to the other. “It’s not me I’m worried about, you idiot. It’s you,”. His voice dropped to a whisper “You shouldn’t be here,”
He turned to look at Sirius, who was standing a few paces away from James, still and un-moving. “What are you doing here?”
Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His eyes panicked for a second before closing and taking a deep breath, fists clenching and un-clenching for several moments.
Regulus knew he needed time. He would have episodes like this where speaking was physically impossible, which is probably why he hadn’t spoken upon arrival. There we’re several more seconds of silence before Sirius’ strained voice sounded:
“Rescue- mission.”
Regulus was still. From what he had last heard from the captors, Death Easters to be precise, he was supposed to be dead. He had gotten caught in the cave while trying to retrieve Voldemort’s locket, and had long sense been taken here. He had no idea how long he had been down there, but obviously it was long enough for people to think him dead.
“How did-” Regulus began to ask.
“Bracelet,” was all Sirius had to say. Regulus immediately moved his hand to his left wrist, feeling the piece of metal that wrapped around it. Keeping his eyes on Sirius, he let out a relieved breath, smiling.
“I forgot about it. I thought you stopped wearing yours-”
“I would never stop wearing it. I love you Reggie,” Sirius said coming down in front of him, reaching through the bars that separated them. He put a hand on Regulus’ wrist. “I regret not taking you with me when-”
“I didn’t give you a choice. I shoved you into the fireplace before you could even grab me.”
Sirius had tears starting to crawl down his face now. “I’m just glad you’re actually here. I knew when I felt the bracelet was still warm that your had to be somewhere.”
“You never stopped looking for me?” Regulus had a slight smirk on his face, playing around with his brother now.
Sirius laughed, just a breathy laugh and gripped the younger more firmly. “I’m going to get us out of here, I promise.”
“Do you have a plan?” Regulus now shifted gazes between his brother and his ex-lover.
“We figured the one we had wouldn’t work, which it won’t, so we’re going to come up with one on the spot. Got any tips about this place? Any schedule?” James answered.
Of course, Regulus thought. Of course they have to come up with a plan. Nothing can be as simple as getting in and getting out. There are factors that have to be considered, and people you have to get by in order to escape a hell hole.
----
Two days later, they had a plan. They had to comply with their captors for a couple of days, Regulus mostly being taken out of the room and coming back with bruises and small cuts. James and Sirius had also been taken out of the room, however, neither had experienced what Regulus seemed to have. More than likely, they would be taken into a room one at a time and be yelled at for information.
The captors had finally gotten tired of no information being shared, and had a plan of their own.
They walked in, opening Regulus’ cell. Regulus had readied himself for them to grab his arms and drag him out like they had done for days. However, Upon walking in, they grabbed him and shoved him to his knees from where he sat on the bed.
Eyes were wide from all three prisoners as a hand gripped Regulus’ hair, pulling his head back and exposing his neck. His hands went to grip the ones in his hair, and a wand landed itself, pushing painfully, on his temple. Regulus raised his hands from his hair, showing no sign of defense.
“Hey what are you-” Sirius was cut off.
“This is how this is going to go. We ask questions, you give answers, and pretty-boy here doesn’t get hurt.” He paused. Looking between all three as he spoke. The wand suck deeper into Regulus’ temple when he said ‘pretty boy’, and Regulus tried to shy away. “Have we got a deal boys?”
Neither had answered. Regulus could barely see the other two as he looked around, eyes straining for anything other than the captors masks.
The captors didn’t like the lack of answer. They pulled on Regulus’ hair, a wince and a small groan coming out of him. Both James and Sirius reached a hand out, ready to pounce, before they had wands trained on them from behind the bars. They relaxed, but only slightly, and the grip on the trained wands were loosened.
“Fine, we’ll talk.” Sirius stood firm, the Black posture showing with his chin tilting up. “Just, please. Leave him alone.”
“Sirius, n-” Regulus was cut off with another tug of the hair, his hands balling into tight fists before stretching back out. His face showed an expression of pain, his chest constricting slightly at his position.
“Let’s get started then,” said the captor behind Regulus. “First question, who sent you?”
“We sent ourselves, psycho. What makes you think that-”
“Crucio!” Was all Regulus had to prepare, which wasn’t a lot. The feeling of sharp knives had spread over his body, his body tensing, and his eyes scrunched shut. His arms had folded in, clutching themselves to his chest and his teeth grinding.
The hand on his hair had released him and he slumped over, folding further into a fetal position. It seemed to go on for hours, when it was really only a few seconds. He hadn’t felt the effects of that curse in years, and he did not miss it. All at once the sharp knives had stopped, and his body went lax, but the pins and needles feeling lingered. His body twitched every so often, breathing coming a little easier now even if heavy.
He could hear now. Hear the way his brother was screaming for them to stop. Hear the way his ex-lover was banging on the bars, trying to hold back his sobs. Hear the way the captors laughed behind their masks and stood watching the scene.
Regulus slowly pulled his head out of his chest to look at Sirius. Tears were streaked down the olders’ face, hands had a white-knuckle grip on the bars. Mouth open to say something but no words coming out.
“ ‘m okay, Siri. ‘m okay.”
Sirius whimpered, words still not coming out. Regulus shifted his gaze to James. James just looked mad, and instead of grabbing the bars, he had opted for piercing his own skin, nails to palm.
“Jam-”
“I’ll be fine,” it was curt. Regulus didn’t say anything else, energy having been drained.
The captors were still giggling to themselves when the “leader” spoke up:
“This isn’t going to end well for pretty-boy if you continue this way. That was only the first question.” He laughed harder, the other following in suit. “Might as well say ‘Good-bye’, pretty-boy,” he said, pushing his boot into Regulus’ chest to turn him onto his back. “Looks like your friends here don’t care about you enough to keep you from getting hurt.”
“Good.” was all Regulus said.
The masked captor had stared for a moment, and gave a slight huff before motioning towards the door. It was a signal to leave, and everyone had obeyed, leaving the cell and going back upstairs. The “leader” had also left, but not before turning to Sirius and James.
“I’ll be back later.”
----
Regulus hadn’t moved from his spot in 20 minutes. His eyes now shut, and his breathing for the most part even. Every once in a while he would gasp in his sleep, his body jolting slightly before going back to its lax position.
Sirius and James couldn’t take their eyes off of him, making sure he kept breathing. They had a quiet conversation as he slept.
“We have to do this, Sirius. It’s now or never. If we wait any longer we’ll have to carry him out of this place dead.”
“Don’t say that, James. We’re going to get out of here, and Regulus is going to be fine.” Sirius let a single tear shed thinking about James statement.
Because James was right. If they didn’t set their plan in motion now, there was no way all of them were going to get out of there alive. Their plan was done, and ready to be executed, but the details all depended on how the captors planned for the day.
James and Sirius had a back up plan in case their original didn’t work. The main goal of Plan B: Get Regulus out.
----
Regulus had regained consciousness now. He still hadn’t moved, making James and Sirius worry more for the boy.
They didn’t have long to dwell on the moment as they heard the basement doors open. James and Sirius immediately jumped to their feet, Regulus settling for shifting his head against the ground to catch a glimpse of the scene. Only one pair of footsteps could be heard, but there was no doubt there were more upstairs.
The person came slowly towards their cells. They had no mask on, and seeing their face was only a slight relief.
“Hello cousins, Potter,” they said.
Sirius stood shell shocked. Never in a million years did he think he would see this person like this.His mouth opened and closed, no words spoken for a minute. Regulus was the one to break the silence.
“Cissa-”
She had rushed to the door of his cell, quickly opening the door with a flick of her wand. It was obvious Alohamora wouldn’t work, so the fact that she had clicked open the lock so easily was impressive. Narcissa had dropped to her knees in front of Regulus, her blonde hair blocking her view for only a second. Pushing it out of the way, she placed a gentle hand on his arm and another coming up to brush through his matted hair. Regulus flinched slightly at the sudden attention.
“What have they done to you? This is not what we had agreed upon. They’re going to pay for thi-”
“What?” Sirius voiced. So many thoughts running through his head at the statement. “’Not what you had agreed upon’? What is that supposed to mean?
Narcissa looked back. “We had agreed to keep him here, and try to get information out of him, try to understand what he was doing. Torture was completely out of the question.”
“You mean you still care for me?” Regulus smirked.
“Oh hush, you.” Narcissa looked around for a minute. “You’re getting out of here. Right now. Come on, up and at em.”
Regulus whimpered at the movement that Narcissa was forcing on him. Apologies were said, but she kept moving his to a sitting position, his legs straight out in front of him now, arms gripping the others’.
Sirius let another tear fall now, and couldn’t look away. James had stayed silent as the “family reunion” happened, wringing his hands together all the while.
Narcissa had told Regulus to stay put for a second, and went to open the other cell. She instructed Sirius and James to help Regulus, then led them out of the basement. Regulus had one arm over James’ shoulders, and the other around Sirius’.
Sirius was hesitant at first. What if this is a trap? What if I’m letting my judgement cloud my knowledge?
Those thoughts were quickly shoved aside as James spoke softly, “It’s going to be fine. She’s going to get us out, and we’ll be fine.”
Narcissa opened the basement door, and held it open for the other three. She then led them towards the front door, but paused as she heard a voice.
“Cissy? Are you back up already?” Malfoy was coming down the corridor, and Narcissa ushered them back behind the banister. No later then when they had disappeared did Lucius manifest from around the corner.
“Hey,” Lucius said embracing his wife in a hug. “How is he?”
“Fine for having an unforgivable used on him,” Narcissa sighed, her head resting on his chest now, Lucius’ chin finding place on her head. “That’s not what we agreed, Lucius.”
“I know, honey, but there has to be a way to get the other two to talk. They’re stubborn, but there had to be something.”
Narcissa moved her head away now, “Yes, but you couldn’t talk to me first? You know how I feel about you going behind my back. I go down there expecting him to be up and pacing, but he’s crumpled on the floor and barely talking to me.”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t know how to talk to you about it.”
Regulus’ head was beginning to droop closer to his chest, eyes slowly closing, and legs going weak for a split second. Sirius and James weren’t ready for it, but easily accounted for the added weight. A few moments had gone by, both Sirius and James focused on the conversation keeping them from escaping.
Paying more attention to the couple warranted Regulus the split second the completely slip out of consciousness, not having the energy to stay awake. A thud was heard, and Lucius pushed Narcissa behind him.
He didn’t have time to speak though as Sirius shouted:
“Reggie!”
Immediately, Narcissa pushed Lucius to the side and ran to the other side of the banister. Regulus was slumped against James, chest to chest, and hair covering his pale face. James had wrapped his arms around the younger Black as a reflex. Thank goodness for quidditch.
Once James had safely lowered them to the ground, Sirius helped in rolling Regulus onto his back, now laying fully on the floor, head lolling to the side.
“He just collapsed, I don’t- What- How did I not-” Sirius was panicking. He looked between Regulus and Narcissa several times. Lucius was frozen.
“You-” Narcissa cut through his staring, “are going to go upstairs and pretend you saw none of this.”
“Cissy, you know I can’t-”
“Do it NOW before I do it for you.” her face was angry. Lucius knew better than to mess with an angry Narcissa, so he obeyed and left to go upstairs.
Turning back around, she saw James still over Regulus with one hand on a pale cheek, trying to coax him out of his slumber. Sirius was sitting with his arms his midsection, like a child who was about to throw up. She had to think quick.
“It was the Cruciatus Curse that was used, right?”
James was the only one focused enough to reply. “Yes, but the person said it weird. It sounded more like ‘cru-see-o’. I don’t see what this has to do with him passing out though.”
“That’s not just any Cruciatus Curse. That’s the second one that was developed, but it’s only known by dark wizards.” Narcissa was wracking her brain for side effects of the spell. “How long was the curse kept on him?”
“Only seconds, why?”
“How many?”
“10-15. What is happening?”
“You need to get him somewhere with a healer, NOW. Get him up, I’ll take you to the apparation point and you need to get him a healer.”
“I can’t just waltz into St. Mungos with him. He’s been presumed dead.” James said looking back to Regulus.
“You don’t know anyone else that has healer training?”
Silence. Useless said Narcissa to herself. How can nobody be a healer in your wide range of friends.
“You do, Cissa.” Both James and Narcissa looked to Sirius who was still sitting with his arms around himself, but his face was no longer in a mix of panic and crying. Instead his face was stone cold
“Yes but it’s been ages since I’ve actually practiced anything.”
“Do you know what needs to be done?” James asked, leaning towards her slightly.
“Yes but I-”
“Them save him,” Sirius looked into her eyes. “Please? Please save him. I can’t lose him.”
And so Narcissa got her wand out. Neither Gryffindor knew what was going on, but eventually there was a little gasp from Regulus. No more than a couple seconds went by, all eyes on him, before his eyes fluttered open. His breathing began to pick up, looking around frantically, trying to understand what just happened.
“Hey, hey,” Narcissa placed a hand on his chest. “You’re okay. We’re right here, and you’re right here. You’re getting out of here.”
James took that as a signal to pick Regulus up, bridal style, and follow Narcissa out of there.
----
Once at the apparation point, Narcissa bid them farewell, telling Regulus to find a way to write. James apparated away first.
Sirius stayed behind. He looked from where James had just been standing with Regulus to Narcissa.
“What was that curse, Cissa? Answer truthfully.”
She had to take a deep breath. “It’s designed to feel and look like the Cruciatus, but in reality, it’s just another form of the killing curse.”
“So it’s like they just put two unforgivables into one curse?”
“Essentially, yes.” Narcissa had no other words on the matter. She was just glad that she had known what was happening, and stopped it in time. “Take care of him. If you need anything else, the wards are set not to alert anything from you, so send a patronus.”
“I will. Thank you again.” Sirius stepped away, getting ready to apparate.
“And Sirius?” Narcissa stopped him. Sirius turned around.
Narcissa stepped towards him and pulled him into an embrace. Sirius was stiff for only a moment before he accepted the embrace, wrapping his arms around his cousin. They stayed like that for a moment longer, Narcissa pulling away first.
Sirius had tears in his eyes. “I knew you were a good one,” he said laughing. Narcissa returned the laugh, and stepped back.
“Take care of yourself too. I can’t lose you.” Narcissa said.
Sirius nodded, smiled, and apparated away.