The Day the Music Died | Jegulus, Wolfstar

The Cruciatus Curse

Startin' over.
Why don't we take off alone,
Take a trip somewhere far, far away,
We'll be together all alone again,
Like we used to in the early days.
Well, well, well darling,
It's been too long since we took the time,
No-one's to blame, I know time flies so quickly.

James gave Regulus a reassuring smile, he was very visibly scared, his hands were hidden by his jumper, and his legs crossed. James' clothes looked huge on him, he thought that was appealing, and quite adorable as well, if that mattered.

  "That's right," he mumbled.

Dumbledore nodded.

"I'm going to need you to tell me what happened after, is that clear? Don't miss any detail, these may come in handy, later on," he said wisely, as usual.

Regulus nodded and took a deep breath.

"When I arrived home, Walburga was already waiting for me, she seemed... slightly tense, but she didn't tell me anything, back then. Until Christmas night, they kept it a secret, they just kept reminding me to get ready, and..." he stopped.

  "Keep going," hurried Dumbledore, very out of character, for he used to be a very patient man.

  "They kept calling Sirius a disgrace, a family shame, they forbid me from sending letters to him, and anyone else by that matter. Our feast was by all means normal, eerie, formal, a family reunion, but then... dark subjects begun to be discussed, the Dark Lord, the muggle mass murders, they were... thankful," Regulus looked disgusted from his own words, "and then, when everyone left, they took me to the library, it's located right next to my room".

«That's why we could hear the screams,» thought James, he was waiting for this. He wanted to know what they did to him.

Sirius' matter didn't come off like such a surprise for him, he'd been treated that way since he knew him, and didn't seem to be bothered about it. Regulus on the other hand...

Well, he was the heir, after all. They needed him, supposedly. And for all James knew, he was resigned to compel his families expectations and requests, till now.

His attention returned to the silver haired man, his long, slender fingers interlaced in a tight grip against each other.

  "Don't miss any detail, Regulus, remember," the blue-robbed wizard added.

Regulus nodded.

"They finally spoke about the Dark Lord's servants, they are called... Death Eaters, he's been recruiting followers, and a few get..." Dumbledore widened his eyes, "the Dark Mark, it's the same stamp they cast in the sky each time they murder someone, for people to know it was them".

Regulus' eyes began to get glassy, he sniffed.

"They forced me to get it, and I said no, I refused, but then... they used the Cruciatus curse on me, I-I kept trying to escape, but... it hurt too much, Bellatrix was there, she laughed, they all did... I had no choice"

James held his breath, they used one of the unforgivable curses on him, and he survived, he ignored that was a possibility.

The Cruciatus curse was one of the unforgivable curses; the torture curse, the most painful experience a being can feel.
And Regulus, a sixteen-year-old had to go through it, and the worst of all, inflicted by his own family. Just like Sirius, everything seemed like a horrible déjà vu.

"You let them do it, Regulus? You must be completely honest," Dumbledore muttered, very clearly. Regulus stared at the floor, not daring to blink.

"I gave up, I swore loyalty to the Dark Lord."

Dumbledore remained silent for a few seconds, his eyes weren't focused. He did that when he was deep in thought, James used to trust him, he thought the old wizard may have the answer to every question, the solution to every problem... but he let this happen... twice. He was just as powerless as any other wizard when the situation didn't concern him.

The thought of him squeezing information out of Regulus when he didn't even have the slightest remorse for neglecting him made James' insides boil, in the behalf of the two brothers.

"Do you have the mark?" He asked calmly, the room completely silent. James didn't think anyone was aware of it. They all held their breath.

  "I swear, I didn't want to... but they burned me..."

James gulped, he couldn't understand how someone could hurt Regulus so badly, he didn't understand how he even survived, after all.

  "Do you have the mark?!" Asked Dumbledore, his voice was raised now, uncannily unlike him.

Regulus raised a sleeve from his forearm shakily, a horrible, inked black human skull with a snake sliding out of it was permanently engrafted on his arm, Dumbledore rushed next to him and grabbed his limb, quite tightly, Regulus flinched in pain, but the blue-robbed wizard seemed hypnotized. James fought the urge to push him away.

  "This isn't any normal tattoo, Regulus, as you may have guessed. It could perhaps have other hidden functions... The Dark Lord may be able to communicate using some sort of... jinx. Yes," he nodded for himself, "I'll be sure to uncover its true meaning shortly, I'll inform you as soon as I find any evidence of a clue."

Fleamont nodded, gripping his wife's hand reassuringly, she looked worryingly pale.

Dumbledore got away of the younger Black scratching his chin, covered in platinum beard, and nodded slowly, "for now, stay inside, keep him safe, I'll be back before long," he said, gazing at Fleamont.

  "Won't you stay for breakfast, Albus?" offered Euphemia softly.

Dumbledore gave her a quick smile.

"I'm afraid not, Euphemia, I have to attend a rather important matter, and I'm already late. Thanks for your hospitality, as always. Goodbye, may the rest of your Christmas be jolly," and in less than a second, he vanished.

James wondered if it was sarcasm, or if he was just really bad reading the situation.

Now everyone was staring at Regulus, he appeared to be crying silently, retracted, hugging his knees, appearing smaller than ever, the Dark Mark didn't sit quite right with the fairness of his skin, it looked out of place, too evil for a boy like him.

Euphemia got closer and knelt in front of him.

"I'm sorry dear, I'm so sorry you had to go through this, no boy deserves to be treated this way... but I swear it, you're safe with us."

Regulus nodded gratefully, but James' mother words didn't seem to make much of a difference, so James got nigher too, Euphemia walked away, realizing that her motherly speeches wouldn't work, for Regulus didn't know what a real mom was supposed to do.

  "Hey, star-boy," smiled James, but Regulus didn't answer, too embarrassed to lift his head, James presumed. So he hugged him, as skin-tight as he could, till the young Black inevitably hugged him back.

He didn't know how long they stayed like that, but each time he tried to back off, Regulus held him tighter, so James ended up sitting with him, and the grey-eyed boy ended up curled on the arm of the squashy chair and James' thigh.

Regulus' hair smelled like fresh picked black barlows and plums, James could feel his lean body pressed against his, his hands and feet were freezing cold, he tried really hard not to shiver while the boy cried, his icy nose buried in James' neck. His cheeks were wet, so he wiped them, and he caressed his long, wavy hair till he fell asleep once again, now under his arms.

***