𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐍 | Regulus Black x Reader

XIII. The Summer of 1997

Time bears no meaning to one unseeing and unfeeling, one who endlessly sinks into a void. You've read the papers and the theories: an observer outside of a black hole would think that time has frozen, while those falling into the black hole would appear to be frozen to those watching.

Perhaps, you were falling through a black hole.

You don't know how long you've been laying in the medical wing, eyes puffy, pillow damp with tears, but you can only pity whoever it was that sat with you the entire time. The first memory you could recall of waking up in the medical wing seemed so distant, but you knew it had likely only been a few days since then.

Nothing seemed to register in your mind throughout those days, not that you cared all that much. You would simply peel your eyes open, silently shed tears, ignore whoever was whispering in your ear, ignore Madam Pomfrey's fussing, go back to sleep, and repeat.

Every time you awoke, you desperately hoped that the events that kept replaying in your head had been nothing but a terrible, prolonged nightmare. But the emptiness in your pocket weighed on your chest and hollowed out your heart.

Every time you opened your eyes to see the familiar beige, arched ceilings and bright latticed windows, you wanted to sink through the bed and fall into an abyss that matched the chasm in your chest .

Regulus' voice kept ringing in your ears, making your head ache with sharp stabs behind your eyes, 'I'll find you again, my love.' You wanted to laugh. His last words to you were futile promises, yet you still wanted nothing more than to believe them.

You were positive that you would drive yourself into madness.

You decide to start listening to the voice that would always emit from beside you, half expecting it to be a figment of your imagination. Even so, you hoped that it could provide solace, if not a distraction from your mental spiral.

The more you listened, the more your senses began to clear – and you realized you couldn't spend forever wallowing in your misery. Surprisingly, it was not just one person that visited you. From what you could discern, it was three different people that would seemingly take turns talking to you.

"Mother and I are concerned for you, amico mio. Draco hasn't been back since that night, same with Professor Snape. The term is going to end soon, and Aurors have been hassling Potter for answers. They're leaving you alone for now because you've been unresponsive, but the press and Ministry are waiting for your eyewitness account. If you don't get better soon...They want to send you to St.Mungo's for monitoring, but mother volunteered to house you instead. I have to go, but I'll be back tomorrow. Rest well, Y/N."

Blaise.

It seemed that Dumbledore was dead then. There was no other reason why the Ministry would be so eager to question you. Two people died that night, three if you counted whatever part of yourself was missing now – but only Dumbledore would be memorialized.

You felt your heart race at the thought, but you tried to ground yourself by remembering Blaise's words. At least you knew that the Contessa was willing to take you in. The thought sent a warm buzz down your navel. You wouldn't be alone.

"It was Professor Snape. It all happened so fast. After he shot the spell and Dumbledore ... Draco was going to stay with you, but then they shot off the dark mark into the sky. And Snape, he-he ... he's the Half-Blood Prince. He killed him. Dumbledore trusted him, and he killed him. I don't know where the locket is either. To think of what it took – what it cost us, and I lost the bloody thing."

Harry.

Even in your state, you could feel Harry's turmoil – his rage. But you couldn't bring yourself to reflect the same sentiments, things were always more convoluted than they seemed, especially for your lot. You did feel remorseful about the locket though, realizing the damn thing was still looped around your neck (even if it were a sham).