𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨-𝙧.𝙖.𝙗

43-rats

JO'S FINGERS SHAKE AS SHE WORKS TO HEAL REGULUS. His skin is bare before her, raw and sliced and bruised, shirt discarded and wounds open. She did her best not to flinch at the sight of them, at the quantity and the severity. But it made her dizzy, looking at them. It reminds her a bit too much of Ivan, of the wounds that wouldn't heal. She bites down that thought and applies a salve to his skin and watches as the cuts slowly start to clean and close themselves.

It's been a few hours now and Jo's not even sure if this is real or not, or if this is just some intense dream. It doesn't feel real. It feels like she's drifted away from her body, and she is floating in some alternative reality where things go her way. But she can feel Regulus's skin against the tips of her fingers, cold as ice, despite the warm summer air that drifts in from her open window. She can feel his heartbeat under his chest, feels the goosebumps that rise over his skin.

Regulus is looking down at her, his back pressed against the side of her bed as she tends to him. He has not stopped looking at her. He has not looked away for one second, like he is afraid that she will disappear if he does. As Jo leans closer to him, dragging her salve-covered thumb along his collarbone, thinking of how it feels out of place, Regulus reaches a hand out towards her, first cupping her check, then moving his fingers towards her scalp, tangling them in the roots of her hair. He leaves his hand there.

Jo swallows and looks up at him.

He hasn't said much, not in a bit. When he did speak, his voice was raw and rough, like he had been screaming. Jo can feel her heartbeat in her throat as she blinks up at him, feeling miniscule under his tense gaze. Regulus leans in, gently pulling her in towards him, and he kisses her, softly, gently. His lips linger against hers as he says, "Marry me."

She scoffs, and pulls away, trying to fix her attention on his injuries again. "Regulus-"

"I'm serious," he insists, and reaches for her again, arms going tight around her waist, taking her attention away from healing once again. Reluctantly, she meets his gaze again, her expression forced to be flat and unimpressed, trying to ignore her heart, hammering away in her chest. "It can just be us. It doesn't have to be traditional or big or anything I just," he leans in closer to her again, pressing his forehead against hers. 'I just want to be yours."

"Can you at least let me fix you first?" Jo asks, quirking an eyebrow and trying to sound indifferent to make up for the way her cheeks burn. She forgot the effect he has on her.

Regulus smiles softly and releases her. Jo shakes her head before she reaches for her wand, thinking of his crooked collarbone. His eyes are warm as he watches her, and he hardly even flinches as Jo snaps the bone back into place. Healing Regulus is remarkably easier than James or Remus, no squirming or squealing. Removing water from his lungs and reshaping bones and Regulus remained still as stone throughout the whole process.

Jo's eyes move up, eye his neck and studying the hand-shaped bruises that wrap around it. Her hand raises slightly, fingers brushing against the uneven edges of them. It's only then when Regulus averts his gaze, eyes now focused intensely on the floor. Jo frowns. "What exactly happened to you?" she probes gently. "What did this to you?"

He sighs, shoulders rising and falling with the movement. Regulus has always been reluctant to disclose these types of things to her, keeping his cards close to his chest. But he has no reason to now, and Jo wouldn't let him hold it back anyways. He seems to know this. "Inferi."

Jo's eyes nearly pop out of her head. Images come to her before she can fight them off. Cold, wet pale hands wrapped around Regulus's throat, pulling him down into deep, black cave water, turning him blue. "Inferi?"