ADDICTED | j.p x oc

68

"What the fuck, Reg? You haven't replied to my letters for months!" Eleanor picked up a pillow from the sofa and threw it at him.

"Yeah yeah, throw things at the injured man," Regulus put his hands up in defence.

"You're injured?" James stepped forward, as if preparing to catch Regulus should he fall.

"I missed you, you prick," El said as Regulus hugged her, then allowed her to help him over to the sofa. "James, send a patronus to Marls, and tell her to bring her healing kit."

Regulus sighed as he sat down on the sofa, leaning his head all the way back and closing his eyes. "It's a fucking long walk from Grimmauld Place to here."

"You walked across London like this?"

"Couldn't bloody well apparate, could i? I'd end up in fucking Yorkshire in the state i'm in."

"What happened?" El asked sitting beside him while James' patronus floated around the room, then galloped off out the window.

"Bellatrix," Regulus said, though it sounded pained every time he spoke.

"Oh," was all El said, she didn't need him to explain any further.

"Can i stay here for a few days? Just until my body actually functions again," he winced in pain as he tried to find an angle to sit in that was comfortable.

"Umm, yeah sure, we only have one bed, but i can transfigure the sofa for me and James to sleep on."

"No, you keep your bed, the sofa is fine, thank you."

The front door opened, Marlene began speaking before she even entered. "James, what the fuck is going on, i swear if this is some sex related injury—Regulus, oh my god!" she ran over to him, smiling.

"Don't hug me, please, i might pass out," Regulus managed to grunt out, though his eyes were closed in pain.

Marlene, ever the observant one, finally realised why she had been called there, and placed her healing kit on the coffee table, setting out various potions and passing one to Regulus before performing a diagnostic charm on him. Her eyes flicked over the various colours floating in front of Regulus' body with a firm line forming between her eyebrows.

"Jesus christ, did you fall off a cliff?"

Regulus tried to laugh but it turned into a groan of pain, "not quite. Bellatrix is inventive with her forms of punishment."

"What were you being punished for?" James asked, finally sitting down on the loveseat.

"Bellatrix was given the role of training us...she had us practicing the crutiatus curse on the house elves. I didn't do it, i thought i'd managed to blend in well enough but she noticed," he grunted in pain when Marlene made a particular flick with her wand, clicking one of his broken ribs back into place. "Anyway she then decided it would be funny to test how good everyone's levitation charms were. In short, she had fifteen Death Eaters levitate me to the top of the ceiling then drop me again onto a wooden floor. Said that was my payment for her not telling the Dark Lord about my failures."

"Merlin, Reg," Marlene breathed.

"We can have Potter manor set up for you, like we talked about last time i saw you. That way no one will find where you are," El suggested.

"Don't bother, i don't intend of staying long."

El clenched her jaw at Regulus' response. "What d'you mean? You can't go back there!"

"I don't intend on going back there either," he grunted, shutting his eyes as if that would close the conversation.

"You've planned something stupid," El said blandly, it wasn't a question.