One of Us | Jegulus

Fourty-One

Bellatrix took him to the edge of a forest where many other death eaters were already waiting. He frantically looked around, thinking for a moment that his was the exact same forest as the one behind James' house.
Somewhat relieved, he realised that he did not recognise the surroundings. But still, not knowing where he was and where they were about to go made him horribly nervous.

Some of the death eaters greeted the two of them. Regulus spotted once again Barty and walked over to him while Bellatrix positioned herself in front of the group.
"Hey," Barty grinned. "This is gonna be fun!"
"Mhhh," Regulus muttered and exhaled shakily.
"You know, you've been kinda weird recently," Barty suddenly said.
"Uh, what do you mean?" Regulus asked uncomfortably.
"I'm saying, ever since you returned from them, you're being different and I'm wondering—"

"Silence!" Bellatrix suddenly yelled. Regulus looked apruptly to her and so did everyone else. She let her eyes wander over the group and then she smirked. "It is time. Let us go."
And suddenly the death eaters started to disapparate.
"Where are they going, I don't know the location!" Regulus asked Barty hectically.
"Come on, I'll take you," Barty offered and took Regulus' arm.
They clung to one another as they turned on the spot and Barty led them through the suffocating dark.

Only few moments later he felt the ground under his feet again. He paused, looked around, unsure what to do.
There was a house, standing alone und seemingly unprotected in the dark. Regulus did not recognise it, he hadn't been here before. Just like the one he spent so much time in, this one seemed to be rather isolated, not a part of any town or village. The order might think this would be more safe but it was obvious that it was simply by far easier to attack. It almost was as if they actively tried to lose this stupid war.
Everything was dead silent for a second and the tension in the air grew unbearable. But then everything happened very quickly.

Death eaters shot hexes and curses against the property but they were repelled by an invisible force.
They're not getting in, Regulus thought hopefully when suddenly there was a loud, horrifying sound and the protection wall seemed to break.
The death eaters rushed forward and with a sinking feeling Regulus stood and watched them bursting the front door open.
"What are you doing!" Barty shouted. "Come on, you're missing all the fun!" He grabbed the sleeve of Regulus' robe and pulled him forward, into the house.

There was pure chaos. Members of the order stormed into the entrance hall and immediately started to defend themselves. They weren't a lot and Regulus didn't know whether that was good or bad.
He didn't know what to think at all. The death eaters might just kill them all, they would return in victory, Regulus would be safe, he could run to Kreacher, ask him to show him that secret hiding spot and destroy the part of the Dark Lord's soul. He would return and everything would be fine. The order would have lost some of their members and one of their safe houses, yes, but that would be worth getting one step closer to the defeat of the Dark Lord, right?

Because in the opposite scenario of the order fighting back this attack, Regulus would be lucky if they didn't immediately kill him. Then again... would he? He had no idea what the order was doing to those death eaters they were able to catch but it surely wouldn't be good. They might lock him up for good. They might try to obtain information from him... would they torture him?!

He started to panic, only now realising what dangerous situation he found himself in. He should stay in the background, try not to be seen and just hope for it all to be over.
But that wasn't possible. He was forcedly pulled out of his thoughts when he was pushed further into the house and found himself inmid of a total chaos.
Spells were shooting all around him, everyone was moving so fast, he heard shouts and screams and couldn't tell death eaters from order members apart.