Once upon a Midnight Dreary - Regulus Black

Chapter 20

"𝔉elix..." Voldemort hissed my name as soon as I entered the chamber.

I needed to blink a few times to clear my vision and get it used to the semi-darkness of the room. My gaze found the Dark Lord's figure almost immediately; he was sitting by the fireplace, his eyes glowing in the gloom.

"I heard you had an unexpected run in with James Potter, Dumbledore's favorite protégé. Have you solved that problem well?"

"Yes, My Lord." I bowed my head humbly. "Please forgive me for being so late."

I tried to protect my mind and shield the truth from Voldemort. I couldn't tell if I had succeeded; I could only assume that I had, because he nodded and turned away from me.

"Have a seat," he ordered in his shrill, cruel voice. "We are almost finished here, but you have arrived just in time to witness something very important."

I turned around, looking for an empty chair and I felt my stomach do a somersault. Over the round table, there was a slowly revolving figure suspended in the air, a familiar face I had not seen in a year. It was Oscar Fawley, another pure-blood acquaintance. He used to attend the same parties with us before going to Hogwarts. With his parents publicly declaring their alliance with Dumbledore a few years ago, they had quickly become blood traitors. He used to be a Hufflepuff and on his house's Quidditch team; apart from a few conflicts during the games, I had never interacted with him much.

My gaze shifted from Fawley, trying to block out his desperate moans. I looked at Regulus and noticed that he seemed to be on the verge of fainting. His scared eyes staring ahead, his forehead heavily sweating and his face dead white, he was shaking like a leaf. It was different for him because he knew Fawley rather well, the latter previously being Head Boy in Regulus' fifth year. He was also good friends with Sirius and they had joined the Order at the same time after leaving school.

Right next to him, there was another familiar and terrified face. It was my cousin, Evan Rosier sitting beside Regulus. His left forearm already shadowed by the Dark Mark and his features contorted with disgust, he looked like he might puke any time now.

"Regulus, you know you're not like them. It's not too late for you to leave yet," Fawley chanted in a pitiful voice. "Sirius wouldn't want you to be with these people either. You're better than that."

"As you can see, we have a friendly reunion here," Voldemort mused, his voice coldly entertained. "You also recognize our guest, Felix, don't you?"

I found it safer to simply nod. If I were to open my mouth now, no words, no voice would have come out.

I halted over and over, dragging myself forward step by step. Fawley kept moaning and begging for Regulus' help, but the latter couldn't do anything to save him. We were surrounded by a horde of Death Eaters, with Lord Voldemort ready to cast the Killing Curse the moment someone tried defying him. Neither Regulus nor I were able to defend Fawley, no matter how wrong it felt to watch him suffer.

I glanced over at my brother for help, but he merely shook his head no. It was such a barely perceptible movement that I knew no one else had noticed it. He, too, looked terribly pale and haggard, though his eyes remained emotionless and stern. He must have already been used to watching people die, perhaps occasionally murdering them himself...

I felt a jolt of shock pass through my body. I wasn't any better than him; I might not have cast any curses yet, but I enabled Fawley's torture by being a silent bystander. I should have done something, but I didn't know what I could possibly do. If I were to play the hero and attempt saving him, it would have cost many people's lives: mine, Theodore's, as well as both our immediate and extended families'. I couldn't afford that, just as I couldn't afford getting Regulus, James and Jiao into trouble as well, in case the Dark Lord managed to weaken my resistance and found out the truth about us, the Horcrux hunt and everything else in between.