CHAPTER VII

THE MELANCHOLIC GREY sky showered rain so heavily that the water droplets thudded against the roofs and windows.

Neither Arabella nor Regulus said anything as they left the palace under black umbrellas. Outside the gates of the capitol, all nobles, middle class men, and peasants all crowded in silence, dressed in black. A group of generals held a large black casket with large bouquets of flowers on top of it. They marched all the way through the main road to the royal cemetery. Only those part of a royal family were allowed in.

From under her umbrella, Arabella could see, within the crowd, many flashing cameras and journalists, and took a step closer to Regulus.

The casket was placed in front of a tomb which read Queen Walburga Black. Underneath the name was the family crest and "toujour pur". She was placed beside King Orion Black.

The Pope spoke for a couple long minutes, the two did not pay attention to his words. Arabella looked around and people from other royal families were shedding tears, and when she looked up at Regulus, his expression did not show a single emotion.

After what seemed like for so long, and so many words, the Pope asked, "Is there anything you would like to add, Your Highness?"

Regulus looked up, and shook his head. The casket was then lowered into the dirt. Where she belonged, thought Regulus.

"We are so sorry for your loss, Regulus," said one of the kings, patting Regulus on his arm. The king's wife wiped her tears with a piece of cloth, and gave Regulus a short hug. His expression did not falter one bit, nor did he utter a single word.

As more people came up to him, Arabella spotted a familiar face in the crowd outside of the gates. Sirius was standing on the other side of the gate. Regulus was not paying attention to her, so she snuck out and met Sirius somewhere more private. She embraced him and his warmth.

"I am sorry-"

"Do not be, you know I never liked my mother," said Sirius, still holding on to her tightly.

"No," she said, "I meant, I am sorry for how things ended last time."

"It is alright-"

"I do not mean any of it," she said, tears blurring her vision. "Nothing was your fault. I have missed you so much and I have felt so terrible."

"Do not worry," answered Sirius, releasing her, "and I have missed you so much more."

She looked up at him with a smile, and kissed him under the umbrella. She turned to make sure no one was watching, but her smile faded from her lips when Regulus made direct eye contact with her from afar.

Sirius took Arabella's hand which was placed on his chest. He looked at her gloved fingers, he looked at the ring. It glistened brightly. It was a symbol of wealth. He was the one that was supposed to place it on her finger. But it was his brother.

"I need to go, Sirius," she said. She looked up at him and he was gazing off into the distance where Regulus was standing with the rest of the royals. "I will write to you," she said, tugging at his clothes a little.

He looked back down at her again. "Yes," he said, kissing her once more. "Goodbye, Arabella."

When Arabella rejoined Regulus, they were alone in the cemetery. He looked disgusted towards his brother, but did not say anything.

When they were both back in the palace, they sat in the war room in silence, working independently on separate things. The rain pattered against the stained glass windows and the grey sky became a black blanket.

---

THE NEXT TIME there was a battle, Regulus shoved himself into a Healer tent, where Arabella was helping as an assistant. He was stabbed by a poison infused unicorn horn, just below his ribs on the left side. Blood splattered the floor as it spilled down his figure.

"They have winged catapults!" he gasped, as his knees buckled beneath him.

Healers rushed to him and settled him on a bed. Arabella cut his shirt open with a spell and examined him. "What happened?" she asked. He showed the bloodied unicorn horn in his hand. "You took it out?"

"Yes, it hurts!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Why would you do that?" she said. "You are losing too much blood." She poured a potion onto the wound, which made Regulus flinch and groan in agony.

"Fuck! What are you doing?" he said loudly, and his voice was high pitched, like a little boy's.

"What does it look like?"

Regulus's eyes widened when he saw it. "No," he gasped, "do not touch me."

"Shut up," she said, and pushed his head down so he would not look at what she was about to do to him.

"There is poison in you," she said.

"No shit," he said, withering in pain.

Arabella ran off to the storage cabinets. She dug through the various vials of potions and Healing utensils. She brought back to Regulus a glass jar with green swamp water inside. She opened the lid and with her wand, levitated a squirming, magical leech out of it.

Regulus yelped in horror.

"Do not move, it will only make it worse," she ordered. "Stay calm!"

"Calm? What the hell are you doing with that awful thing?"

"I said do not move!"

She placed the leech onto his wound and he screamed-in fear or in pain, it was hard to tell. She pushed his shoulders down with both hands.

"Get it off!" he kept yelling. "Get it off!"

The leech painfully absorbed the blood and the poison. Sweat ran down Regulus's skin, his muscles spasming slightly under his skin.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

The leech was ripped off of him as it died from the poison infused blood.

"Fuck!" he swore, his voice cracking and hoarse. "Fuck you."

She pulled out a needle and magical string.

"Stop it," he said, his voice trembling. His breathing quickened as his limbs squirmed. "Please, no."

"We are out of Numbing Potion . . . unfortunately," said Arabella.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I am not," she said quietly. "Do not look, please."

Regulus's vision began to blur, he blinked hard but could hardly see anything properly except for what was close to him, which was Arabella.

When the needle punctured his skin, he cried in pain. "You fucking bitch." His voice was hoarse and almost unrecognizable.

"Stop moving!"

"I cannot stop moving, you are sticking a needle into my fucking-!" The needle pierced him and he swore loudly. "Please stop!" he yelled. "Please!"

"I cannot stop," she said, now holding his arms down to the bed. "If I stop you will bleed to death."

"You are trying to kill me." He was pierced once again, and a tear ran down his temple. His veins rose in his neck and arms.

"As much as I want to, I cannot let you die," she said, and she genuinely felt sorry for him and his pain.

The cries and screams of agony that tore from his throat haunted everyone in the tent, even Arabella. When she had finished with the last stitch, her eyes had been welled with tears, and a hard lump had settled in the back of her throat. She wiped the remaining blood from his skin, as Regulus's vision darkened until there was nothing. He had fallen unconscious.

When she went to wash her hands, the tears in her eyes streamed down her face and she could no longer hold it back. She did not understand herself, why she was crying for Regulus's pain. At some points in her life, she had wished and dreamed to provoke this much pain onto him. She had always believed that he deserved nothing but pain. But he did not deserve it this time. Her shoulders trembled as she sobbed as quietly as she could.