A PRETTY FACE DOESN'T MEAN A PRETTY HEART, regulus black

chapter two

chapter two

" family jewels "

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(contains strong language, domestic abuse, briefly a panic/anxiety attack)

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          REGULUS BLACK DIDN'T QUITE KNOW HOW TO LOVE. He used to, when he was younger, but as he got older, the more he started to understand... He just slowly lost that ability.

Of course, he knew the feeling, but he didn't know how to express it. So he didn't.

Whatever love he had in his heart turned into hate, anger, fear.

A lot of that is due to his family. Not Sirius, though. Never Sirius. Regulus couldn't bring himself to ever truly hate his brother. No matter how much the two fought, no matter the awful things they said to each other, no matter how much they hurt each other, they still found a way to love one another in their own way.

Regulus' family made his life miserable. But they were family. He felt obligated to them in a way. Like he owed them, no matter how awful most of them were.

His parents already put most of the pressure on him, even though he was the youngest, because they found Sirius to be unreliable.

So when Sirius ran away, everything was dropped onto Regulus. Every expectation, every responsibility. His parents expected too much. Regulus couldn't handle it sometimes.

He hated his parents. But he had to give them some credit. They weren't all awful. At least, in the sense that they still housed him and fed him and somewhat took care of him. They barely even did that, though. Kreacher took better care of Regulus than his parents did.

They treated Regulus like shit until somebody else was around. Then they went on and on about how he was a brilliant, well behaved boy who would truly live up to the noble Black family name.

Because of them, Regulus was closed off and appeared cold and cruel to others.

Because of them, Regulus lost the only person in the house keeping him sane.

It happened in the middle of the summer.

Walburga was screaming at Sirius, as usual. But this time, she crossed the line. "Why can't you be more like your brother?!" She had said.

Regulus had been right there. He could've done something. He could have fought back for once.

But he didn't.

Because he's a fucking coward.

"Why can't I be more like my brother." Sirius repeated, a dry laugh escaping his throat. "I'll tell you why. Because my brother, is an entitled prick who gets everything he wants because he lives up to your silly little fantasy of a perfect son!" He shouted.

Orion started to get involved. "Do not speak to your mother like that!" He shouted, stepping up to Sirius and raising his hand slightly.

"What?" Sirius taunted. "You gonna hit me? You w-"

Orion struck Sirius across the face. Hard. It was sure to bruise.

"Your mother is right. Regulus would never act out like this." Orion said, placing a hand on his wife's back.