One of Us | Jegulus

Four

The headaches were gone.
When Regulus woke up, it took him a couple of seconds to comprehend what was different. His head felt so light, so free.
It worked.

The pain in his torso and his limbs was more present then ever, though. Now that he could think clearly and concentrate on certain things, it was more difficult to shut out the other pain.
To make it even worse, he discovered bruises on his body that weren't there before. Some were blood red, others were completely black.
Oh my god, he thought. This couldn't be good.

And he was hungry. No, he felt starving. He would have to ask for food soon or how was he supposed to recover when his body didn't even have the energy for its basic functions?

He turned his head and faced the door. He desperately wished he could get up. But that was utopian. He could only hope and wait for someone to come and he hated waiting. Besides, it was humiliating.
Hopefully, Potter had calmed down over night. Regulus feared that the older boy would refuse to heal him again, which would be very childish after all, in his opinion. But then, that's how he'd always known Sirius and his friends.
And Potter was probably the only one who could do it, too. He doubted that Sirius had ever wasted a second of his precious time on selfless things like healing, which wouldn't matter anyway since Sirius would rather shave his beloved hair than helping Regulus. And the other two couldn't care less about him, that he was sure of. It was just James' heroism that kept him alive.

But his doubts turned out to be unfounded. Only minutes after he woke up, Potter showed up and walked over to Regulus. He yawned and looked down at him.
"How are you feeling?"
"My head is better. The rest is worse, though." He avoided James' eyes. He hated admitting his weaknesses.
"Worse? How, exactly?" James inquired.
"Er..." Regulus lifted his sweater s bit and showed him the bruises on his skin.
James gasped. "Oh fuck."
"Yeah..."

He looked at Regulus, then at the door and back again. "Listen, I've actually got work to do today. But I can't leave you here like this. I'm gonna check with Remus if we can change shifts. So I'll be right back. Okay?"
Regulus nodded silently. He didn't know what to do with the information that he wanted to skip whatever work he had to do just for Regulus.
"Wait", he called before the older one could leave. "Can- can I have something to eat?", he asked embarrassed.
"Sure. I'll get you something. And fresh clothes will do too, I reckon?"
Regulus looked down at his sweater that was still stained with his own dried blood. His trousers which were hidden under the blanket probably looked the same. It was the first time he noticed how filthy he must look. And smell, probably. Awesome.

"Yes... I'd like that", he answered. James nodded, more to himself and left again, returning just a couple of minutes later.
"I've got the day off", he announced happily the second he closed the door behind him.
Regulus didn't like the enthusiasm.
"So, here we've got some breakfast." He placed a tablet filled with toast, egg and orange juice on the nightstand. "And I've brought you some clothes of mine. Might be a little too big for you, but Pete's stuff probably won't fit either, too small. Besides, he doesn't live here with us most of the time, so I'm not even sure if there's any of his things here at the moment."
He dumped a pile of comfortable looking clothes on the bed next to Regulus' feet, then sat down himself.

"Mhh", Regulus muttered, eyeing the food hungrily.
"Do you need help sitting up?"
"No!", he said determined. He tried shifting up, but just like the day before the stinging pain shot through his spine and made him gasp, unable to move any further.
"I'll take that as a yes", Potter smiled and supported Regulus' back. Regulus clenched his teeth and to blend out the pain. It was humiliating how long it took them to lift him into a sitting position. But in the end, he leaned against the headboard, panting, but able to ignore the pain.
James placed the tablet on his lap and watched him as he started eating hastily, as if someone would take it away the second he stopped.

It was the best feeling. He felt immediately stronger and more awake. After swallowing the last bite, he exhaled relieved and let his head drop back.
Thank you, he thought. He wouldn't say it out loud, though. Potter's ego was already big enough.
James put the tablet back on the nightstand and then pulled out the same potions he used the day before.
"I suggest we start right away, hm?", he asked, turning to the younger boy.
"Do I have a choice?", Regulus muttered. He dreaded it even more, now that he knew how agonising it had been, but he knew that it was necessary.
"No. You're too stubborn to make your own decisions." James smirked and helped him lie down again.
Regulus scowled up at him. But instead of a nasty comment he resigned and drank from both vials.

"You also need to take off your sweater."
What? Regulus stared at him. No. He wouldn't do that. Not a chance.
James noticed his reluctance. "Oh come on, how to you expect me to heal you if I can't even see what's going on? Can't do the magic through layers of fabric."
Oh god. Regulus understood that. Of course he did. He felt very cold when he tried to pull it off. He felt even worse when James had to assist him, because he couldn't do it alone in his state.

God, he felt so exposed and vulnerable. He observed James nervously, who only stared at Regulus' left arm and swallowed.
"What?!", Regulus hissed defensively.
Potter didn't respond and looked slightly paler when he forced himself to focus on Regulus' bruised torso instead.
He began without a word. The magic of a few light spells brushed Regulus' skin. James probably scanned his upper body for the most urgent injuries, then decided to start on a spot in the middle of his chest.
Regulus closed his eyes so he didn't had to watch whatever Potter was doing to his body. He'd feel it soon enough.

It started as a stinging feeling in his lungs. It became harder to breath as the magic advanced. But not even in the slightest comparable to the crushing pain in his head from the last time. He could bear it this time. It made sense, though. Magical interferences in the head are the most dangerous ones. It was much more complex and probably very difficult. And when Potter was able to succeed in that, the rest, the more "normal" injuries, couldn't be that much of a problem, could they?
But then, he had no knowledge of healing whatsoever, so how could he possibly know what would require more complex magic and what was done with a simple wand flick? Maybe yesterday was the easy part and it just felt worst and now he almost wasn't worried at all while he actually could be in mortal peril?
Merlin, sometimes he hated himself for his overthinking.

A few more minutes of hissing and panting and stinging pain, but then it vanished in an instant. Surprised, he opened his eyes and found himself eye to eye with James, who grinned down at him.
"Was that... it?", Regulus asked confused.
"Not trusting my abilities, are we?", Potter smirked. Regulus rolled his eyes. Laughing, the older one focussed on his upper body again and proceeded to the next injury.

Even though it was definitely a more durable pain, after more than an hour of it, Regulus felt like he was bursting. Potter had done good work, he had to admit it, but now his entire body felt extremely sore. He didn't feel very stable either, more like a single touch could make everything crumble again.
Just the moment when he laid there, trembling and panting and thinking he couldn't take it anymore, Potter stopped and put his wand aside.
"You look like you need a break", he acknowledged.

Regulus nodded exhausted, to weak to speak.
"Alright. Let me check..." James drew his wand again and seemed to scan Regulus again.
His expression lighted up quickly.
"Awesome! It looks so much better already. The curse seems to be fully extracted. We've done it!", he exclaimed happily.
"Are you serious?", Regulus asked hopefully, ignoring how feeble his voice sounded.
"Yeah, I reckon. I've got to give you something to strengthen your bone structure, it had suffered heavily, so I think moving around won't be safe before that's completely healed. There still some minor injuries as well, but nothing threatening. And it can take you a couple of days until you're on your feet again, I can't tell you how severe the aftermath of the cursing is. But you're safe now, that I can promise."

"Wow, okay..." He was overwhelmed with relief. Was it really done, that easily?
"You..." He struggled with his words. "I guess you're not as useless as I thought." He smiled weakly.
Potter grinned. "Charming as always, little Reggie."