Beautiful Boy (English)

The mark

Sirius was gone. He was gone from that fucking house and he had escaped and fought for his life. He was fine. But why then did Regulus feel that he had betrayed him? He had left him behind, alone, and vulnerable. He felt good for Sirius, he had been the one to ask James for help. But still...

That night he cried like never before. He cried and cried and cried so much until he couldn't cry anymore. He couldn't cry anymore. Regulus then understood: He knew he would have to do whatever it took to stay alive in that house.

----

Every time he passed by a corner of the house, he saw Sirius in it. He saw him when they were 5 years old and played hide-and-seek. He saw him when he was 10 and stole one of Mom's lipsticks. And he remembered him now, when he had become...nothing. Now he was just memories.

Now Regulus was alone, he had no one, so he wasn't surprised when what happened happened. When they arrived that Christmas, his whole family had tattoos to support the bullshit movement that was going on. Apparently some sort of cult of Voldemort's "followers" had formed. It was disgusting.

So that morning, when Kreatcher came into his room to wake him up, he told him that his parents demanded to see him. Regulus' heart began to beat very, very, fast. He got dressed and went downstairs.

His parents were there, waiting for him.

Shit.

----

-You are now our only daughter- said Walburga, showing him the family tree on which she had burned Sirius' name, among others.

Betrayal.

Regulus simply nodded. He didn't know what to say.

-We want to be sure we can trust you. We want to make things right with you-Orion said, smiling at him, as if he was doing something good for him.

Bullshit.

-We can't think of a better way for you to show you're with us. And well, with him.

-What?- Regulus didn't quite understand what was going on.

-The mark, daughter. We'll make the mark on you- her mother smiled, with a terrified look on her face.

-I'm very young, I don't know if I should....I mean-Regulus was starting to sweat- of course I'm with you, of course, but....

-Well, if you're with us, it won't be a problem, will it?

Regulus' ears were ringing. Who was going to help him? He had no one. Not Sirius. Not James. He didn't deserve to be saved. They didn't care enough about him.

If it was like that...

Regulus rolled up the sleeve of his shirt, strong-willed. His parents smiled. His mother pressed a kiss to his forehead. His father pulled away. And then he saw him. It was him.

Voldemort.

----

They barely spoke. The man walked over to him and grabbed his arm. Too hard, for his liking. He dug his fingernails into his skin, and held him firmly. He pulled out his wand and then....

Regulus collapsed. He had never felt pain like this before. He screamed. He screamed because the pain was so intense that he couldn't even escape. He screamed hoping someone would hear him and help him. No one did.

Regulus fell to the ground, and lay like dead weight.

-We're proud of you- he didn't know which one of them was the one who said it.

But he looked down and...

He had the mark. Regulus had the Dark Mark.