high adventure! → regulus black ✓

[5] last resort

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"MERLIN'S BEARD..." MURMURED SIRIUS, staring down at his little brother, barely conscious and bleeding profusely on his doorstep. He looked to Stella, who looked just about ready to cry.
"Bring him to the couch." Stella brought Regulus into the flat and eased him onto the couch as Sirius magically cleaned up any blood evidence that was left behind in the hallway. Once he was done, he shut the door, locked it, and rushed over to the sofa.

"Is-Is be going to be all right?" stuttered Stella. Sirius gestured for her to move to a chair, and while she did so, he crouched down beside his brother, wand out.

"Dunno," he mumbled, gently raising Regulus's shirt to get a better look at the wound. He winced.
"Okay, this I can deal with. I'm no Healer, mind you, but this isn't the first time I've dealt with this particular curse."

"So he's going to be okay?" Sirius didn't reply immediately, instead focusing on the movements of his wand and the incantations he whispered, and soon enough, the wound sealed itself, and with one more flick, all of the blood was gone. Stella audibly sighed in relief.

"He will be. A nasty curse, that is."

"Yeah, no shit," murmured Regulus, who still seemed to be in a great deal of pain, but was looking better already.
"I'm having a sense of déjà vu here, but the other way around."

"Just like old times, little brother. Only this time, it's me repairing you, and we're allowed to use magic." Sirius stood, but rather than moving away from the couch, he trained his wand on Regulus.
"Now you can tell me what the fuck you're doing here."

"What are you doing?" Stella interrupted harshly.
"He doesn't mean any harm!"

"As much as I'd love to take your word for it," he began, refusing to look away from his brother.
"I don't know who you are, and last I checked, my little brother was a loyal Death Eater."

"Yeah, er, about that..." And so Regulus tiredly relayed the whole story to Sirius, who sat down, but didn't sheath his wand quite yet.

"And this is true?" he asked quietly, finally diverting his gaze to the Muggle girl sitting across from him. She nodded solemnly. Sirius whistled lowly, and must have decided there was no longer a threat, because he tucked his wand away.
"There's hope for you yet, isn't there?"

"If I make it that far, yeah."

"And you were going to come see me...when, exactly?" Stella shot a pointed look at Regulus, who suddenly became very interested in the ceiling.

"I might have been putting it off because, while I knew you'd be the best way to take him down, I feared you'd shove me away claiming it was all a ruse. I only came here as a last resort—you know, with me bleeding to death and all."

"Well, you're right, I would have thought it was some elaborate scheme put together by Voldemort," sighed Sirius, leaning back in his armchair.
"I've got to say, I'm impressed. I didn't think you had it in you to rebel like that."

"Gee, thanks," Regulus deadpanned.

"I don't mean it like that. You were just...so set on your ways."

"And then I realized just how rubbish those ways are, and now I'm having to fight for my life, and for Stella's as well."

"Because she's safest with someone with a wand," said Sirius, nodding.

"Precisely. If I had left her on that train, or let her separate, they'd presume she knew something and—"

"I'm right here, you know," she huffed, and Regulus's cheeks went a shade of pink. Sirius exchanged the briefest of glances with him before turning back to the girl.