Regulus's POV

Monday 26th July, 1977

I winced as I slowly bandaged my ankle, careful not to make it too tight. I looked through my first aid kit for a bandage clip, putting it on my bandaged ankle when I found it. Afterwards I meticulously put everything back into the kit and hid it back under my bed, moving to sit on the edge of it as I stared at my feet.

I tried not think about what just happened. About my mother, pointing her wand at me, or her cold words before she started slicing up my ankle. She always went for the ankle, because it's easy to hide. It was no where near my first time being hurt by her, but it was probably the scariest. There was no Sirius to protect me, and my parents had been extremely angry at me. The only reason I was mostly unmarked was because we had guests coming over tomorrow, and they didn't want anyone to see me limping around.

Fortunately for them, the Cruciatis Curse leaves no physical marks.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by a knock on my window. My gaze darted to the window, curiosity and fear marring against each other. Who was knocking on my window on the second story? And why were they?

Hesitantly, I walked towards my window, pushing the velvet green curtains aside to see outside. I stumbled back a step when I found a face staring at me, my heart thudding in my chest. Recognising the face, I silently cursed as Sirius grinned at me through the window, giving a little wave as his broom hovered in place.

I stared at the others behind him in disbelief, unable to accept the fact that all these people came to rescue me. That all these people cared enough to fly here on brooms just to make sure I was safe, especially Sirius, who had told me numerous times that he would never come back here, yet here he was, in the place he hated most in the world, for me.

I cleared my throat, blinking back the sudden emotion that came over me. I would rather jump off the astronomy tower than cry in front of my brother right now. My fingers found the latch on the window as my gaze travelled over the group of people here to rescue me, eventually landing on Y/n. It was obvious flying wasn't for her, with her death grip on the broom and all. Even so, when she found me staring she managed a smile, making my heart flutter like it always did around her.

She was beautiful. An artwork. A masterpiece. I'd been infatuated with her since I was eleven years old and we met on the train. She had been quieter then, more reserved as she stuck by her brothers side like glue. Even so, she'd given me a shy smile when Sirius and James introduced us, and I thought wow, she's so beautiful. My fascination with her lessened when she was sorted into Gryffindor and I in Slytherin, and as my distaste for Gryffindors grew, the feelings my eleven-year-old self had felt slowly melted away.

I always knew she was beautiful, but aside from that I'd convinced myself there was nothing appealing to her. She was a Gryffindor, a blood traitor, and she was friends with my brother. That was enough to put me off her, and I spent the next few years happy in my bubble of resentment. That was, until, that fateful day on the train at the start of the school year. Seeing her eyes widen as she took me in, seeing an expression other than hate on her face as she stared at me made some of those old feelings for her resurface.

As the year continued on, and I got to know her, no matter how much I fought it I wasn't able to stop the feelings rushing back. I remember the exact moment I fell for her again, on the Halloween party when she'd bid me goodnight, wrapped in my blankets with strands of hair covering her face. She'd seemed so peaceful, and being treated like something other than the enemy made my heart soften like butter.

Everything after that was history.

As soon as I opened the window, everyone came flying in, much to my dismay. I tried to warn them against it, but everyone seemed too keen to escape the chilly air to pay my words any heed. Y/n was last to enter, tumbling through my window with the same grace she had while dancing, which, in other words meant very unladylike.

I offered my hand to help her up, feeling my skin ignite where she touched it. As soon as she was upright I brought her into an embrace, feeling my heart settle as I found home once again. Having Y/n in my arms was a different kind of magic, one I cherished more than anything else. It was the only time I felt truly safe, the only time that I was able to let everything go and just be with her.

I pulled back though, because there were currently 5 other people in my room with us, including Y/n's brother. I turned to survey the group, going over James, Remus, Peter, Lily, and eventually landing on Sirius. He looked good, healthy, the way someone in a safe household would look. It was always a bit of a surprise to see him looking so well, without the bags under his eyes, pale skin, and unusually sharp cheekbones from lack of food. I always envied him.

Sirius looked back at me, his face softening into the expression he saved only for me. His little brother. I hadn't seen it in so long, my heart ached as I stared at him and I longed to be in his arms, have him protect me and shield me from the world like he used to. Alas, that was a long time ago, and I stopped being protected the second he left me alone in this house.

Unable to stop myself, the corner of my lips tugged up in the ghost of a smile. It wasn't much, but it was enough. Sirius smiled, taking a step towards me, and I would've tumbled into his arms and stayed there forever if not for Y/n.

I saw her, as if in slow motion, moving to lean against the wall. I swerved towards her, arm outreached as Sirius shouted a warning, but it was too late. Y/n had already rested her arm on the wall and was looking at us with an alarmed expression.

I got to her too late, watching in horror as an unsuspecting Y/n leant against the wall, and the enchanted wallpaper surged forwards and bit her arm, making her yelp and stumble backwards into me. I held her, watching as the red mark from the wallpaper melt into her skin, knowing it was too late to try and reverse the effects.

Y/n swayed in my arms as she adjusted to the magic, blinking multiple times before looking at her surroundings in awe, her eyes glazed.

"Why is everything so colourful?" she asked.

I cursed, holding her tighter as I glanced worriedly around the room. The remaining inhabitants all looked aghast as they stared at Y/n who was giggling and waving at a wall.

"Did your wallpaper just fucking bite her?" James asked hysterically, eyes glued to Y/n as she held her hand up to her face, observing it with intense interest.

Sirius let out a humourless laugh, leaning against my bed post like he'd done a thousand times before. "It's the Black house, what else did you expect?"

"Not flesh-eating wallpaper!" James shrieked, staring at the wallpaper with horror plastered on his face.

I sighed, letting go of Y/n as I explained. "It's not flesh-eating wallpaper. It's a defence mechanism where the house can sense intruders, and if the intruder touches the wallpaper it bites them and transfers magic into their bodies, forcing them into a vulnerable state so they can't do any damage and the owners of the house can find and get rid of them without trouble."

The others stared at me in confusion, so Sirius clarified, "basically it makes them high."

"Seriously?" Remus asked, mouth slightly agape as he turned to look at Y/n more closely. The others followed suit, all of them looking at the now high Y/n.

"Remus, you're looking especially colourful," Y/n said suspiciously, edging closer to the werewolf. "Is there something you want to tell me? This is a safe space, it's just us."

James cleared his throat and Y/n jumped, startled, as her head snapped in his direction. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "When did you get here?" she turned her head and found the rest of us there as well, letting out another gasp.

I shook my head at her actions, a small smile on my face as I stared at her fondly, feeling so much love for her even in this state. Y/n eyes latched on me as a smile spread across her face as she hurried over. "Regulus! We're here to save you! Come on!"

She grabbed my hand and started leading me to my window, only to stumble and nearly face plant. My quick reflexes were the only reason she wasn't eating the floor right now. I righted her, letting her hold onto my arm as she regained her balance. She went to try and get out of the window but I stopped her, keep a firm grip on her arm.

"We can't go out that way anymore," I said.

Sirius sent me a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"It's charmed not to let anyone out," I explained. "I tried to warn you when you were coming in, but you didn't listen. Mother installed it after you escaped through the window."

Sirius looked away, his expression darkening as memories no doubt plagued his mind. I felt guilty for reminding him about it, but it was the truth. Mother had gotton worse after Sirius left, enforcing harsher punishments and higher expectations.

"We'll just have to sneak out the front door then," Lily said. "Are your parents home?"

I winced, remembering my earlier punishment for dating Y/n and reluctantly nodded, suddenly seized by fear for Y/n. I didn't even want to imagine what would happen if they found her here, if they managed to get their hands on her. Sirius as well. They would tear him to shreds if they found him here, and I felt queasy as I thought about it.

"You shouldn't have come," I said roughly to Sirius, barely able to meet his gaze.

I tried to hide my fear, but it managed to come out anyway, clear on my face and in my words as Sirius stared at me. His expression softened once again, and he took a step forward, staring at me earnestly.

"I'm not leaving you again," he said quietly. "I promise."

My heart leapt, and I felt an intense yearning to leave with him, to escape this place and find happiness with him somewhere else.

My attention, along with everyone else's, was taken by Y/n who had managed to wriggle out of my grip and had stumbled into my desk. She huffed, not pleased, as she crossed her arms and glared at me.

"Your room is too neat," she complained.

"What?"

"It's too neat! How am I supposed to glean any secrets from you room when its so clean and tidy," Y/n whined, her face scrunched up in annoyance that only made her look more adorable.

"I'm sorry I kept my room clean," I said with as much sincerity as I could muster.

Y/n glared at me grumpily. "Good."

Suddenly she was smiling at me and moved in for a hug, her arms wrapping around my waist. "I missed you," she whispered.

I smiled, looking down at her, humoured by her mood swings. "I missed you too, but right now we need to get out of here."

I looked up as I said that, making eye-contact with Sirius who smiled, pride radiating from him as he stared at me. I tried not to show I pleased I was by that.

Y/n untangled herself from me and we all went to my bedroom door. I opened it a crack, peaking out into the hall. When I didn't see anything, I opened it further and slipped out, making sure the hallway was clear before beckoning the others to follow.

We walked through the hallways as quietly as possible, the others careful not to brush against the wallpaper as we went. Peter was in charge of holding the brooms and was doing a surprisingly good job at not crashing them into everything we passed. We'd nearly reached the end of the hallway before James spoke.

"Where's Y/n?"

I looked around, surprised when I didn't see her among the group. Remus cursed and we were forced to go back, searching all the rooms before we eventually found her near the start of the hallway, looking at some of the dark artifacts our parents had on display. I managed to grab her hand just before she touched one of them and steered her back to the rest of the group, keeping a firm grip on her hand.

"Someone needs to be holding her hand at all times," I said. "Otherwise we'll lose her again."

The others agreed and we continued back down the hallway as Y/n trailed beside me. As we walked though, Y/n kept pulling me in different directions, attempting to go to whatever she found interesting. This created a struggle for me, who was supposed to be leading the group through the house but ended up stopping multiple times to keep Y/n from taking wrong turns.

Eventually I'd had enough, because while I loved Y/n dearly, right now she was being a fucking menace. "Okay, Y/n's being too difficult. Can someone else take her for a while?"

Y/n stared at me, offended, as she tugged her hand out of mine. "How can you say that? Do you not love me anymore?"

"Of course I do, it's just-"

Y/n cut me off with a raised hand. "Excuses."

Her voice started growing louder, and just as I felt my anxiety spike, Lily grabbed her hand and calmed her down, doing a spectacular job of it. Y/n smiled, her mood changing once again, as she teased her brother about stealing Lily and I pretended not to be jealous.

Eventually we reached the last set of stairs, the entrance hallway at the bottom of the staircase. It was a big struggle to get Y/n down the stairs though, because not only were they unusually steep, like all English stairs were, it was also very close to the living room where my parents were so we had to make sure she stayed quiet as well.

We were about halfway down the staircase when Y/n stopped struggling. She just stood there, staring at something behind us as we glanced at one another in confusion before she finally spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me your mum was so hot?"

I froze. "What?"

Slowly, everyone turned around to find Walburga Black standing in the entrance of the hallway, watching us with disbelief written across her face. Orion Black stood next to her, equally revolted as he observed the situation unfolding before him.

I shared a look with Sirius, feeling my earlier fears slam into me twice as hard.

"How dare you come back here?" Walburga hissed, her eyes on her eldest son.

Sirius flinched at our mother's voice, and I felt an unexplainable hatred towards my mother for making him look like that. For making him cower before her. Walburga turned her gaze onto me, making my mouth go dry.

"How could you let them in here?"

She raised her wand, and I felt any fight drain out of me. I knew that look, that cruel look in her eyes. There was not point fighting it. I took a deep breath, readying myself for the spell, only for Y/n to jump in front of me just as my mother opened her mouth.

I franticly pushed Y/n aside, but I was too slow, my mother's Cruciatis curse already hitting Y/n in the chest. She screamed, falling to the ground as she writhed around in excruciating pain, one I was very familiar with.

I felt the world slow down as I looked at Y/n, the person I loved most in the world, being tortured before my eyes by my mother. An unfamiliar rage fell upon me, one strong enough that I had to curl my hands into fists to stop myself from doing something I'd regret. Yet as I stared at Y/n in pain while I did nothing, I was already regretting my actions. It was just like when Sirius was facing the brunt of our parents wrath and I would stand there, motionless, as I let them torture him into unconsciousness. Was I really going to let that happen again, except with Y/n?

What felt like hours later, yet were mere moments after my mother raised her wand to Y/n, my own wand was in my hand and pointed at my mother as I shot a disarming spell, her wand flying across the room and clattering to the floor, rolling to a stop at my feet.

Walburga looked at me, cheeks flushed with anger as she took a threatening step forward, mouth open. Before she could get a single word out, Sirius was surging forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and tackling her to the floor.

The others followed suit, disarming Orion who had just gotton his wand out, and keeping their wands pointed on him and Walburga. I was barely conscious of what they were doing, already kneeling on the floor beside Y/n as I carefully cradled her in my arms, making sure she was okay. I whispered quiet assurances into her ear and rubbed her arms, yet nothing stopped her shaking as she stared at nothingness, her eyes blank.

I swallowed harshly, trying to stop the blinding rage threatening to resurface. I needed my wits about me, yet as I stared at Y/n, shivering though it wasn't cold, like I and Sirius had done countless times before, I couldn't stop the fury taking over me.

How dare they touch her? How day they lay their wands on her and hurt her like they did me? She was the most important thing in my life, the person I cherished above all else, and they hurt her. They hurt her.

I stood up, Y/n in my arms, and carefully passed her to James before turning my focus onto my parents. Sirius was up off the floor, his wand pointed at a furious looking Walburga. Slowly, the others started backing away, but I stayed rooted to the spot, staring at my mother.

Sirius put his hand on my shoulder. "Reg, c'mon."

"No."

I felt Sirius's hand on me stiffen, but I didn't look away from my parents. I knew what he was thinking, what they all were; that I still couldn't bring myself to leave. That I didn't have the guts to run.

"What do you mean no?" Sirius asked.

My hands curled into fists. "They hurt Y/n. They need to pay."

I took a step forward, intending to show them just how angry I could get. They deserved a taste of their medicine, to know what it feels like to be beaten and bloodied by the people you're supposed to call family. The deserved to feel my wrath.

"Regulus no," Sirius warned, grabbing my wrist and preventing me from going any further.

I turned my head to look at him, shooting him a dirty look. "Let me go."

"No," he said firmly, staring into my eyes pleadingly. "We need to go. Let them suffer knowing they lost both their heirs. That should be enough."

I gritted my teeth. "It's not enough. They tortured her, Sirius. They used the Cruciatis curse on her. You're telling me I'm supposed to just be fine with leaving them alive and healthy while she's shaking and weak from what they did to her?"

Sirius's jaw twitched. "No, I'm just saying-"

"Regulus."

My head snapped to Y/n, seeing her eyes open a crack and staring right at me, her arm outstretched in a weak gesture. My throat bobbed as I stared at her.

"Regulus," James said quietly. "Y/n doesn't need you to avenge her. She needs you to get her the fuck out of here."

I glanced at my parents, the two of them seething back at me but unable to do anything with Remus and Lily's wands pointed at them. I looked back at Y/n, the girl still staring at me, and let out a defeated sigh, moving towards her.

James handed her over and we left the house, immediately welcomed by the chilly air as Peter handed us the brooms. James and Lily were sharing one, as were Remus and Sirius, while Peter had one to himself. There was one left, no doubt for Y/n and I, and I carefully placed Y/n on the broom in front of me, keeping my arms around her as I directed the broom after the others as we took off.

The wind was cold but comforting, and I risked one more glance at the place I'd grown up in before we flew higher, through the clouds and above them to avoid being seen. We flew over London, occasionally catching glimpses of the city through gaps in the clouds. As we flew, Y/n became more and more relaxed in my arms before eventually falling asleep, her breaths even.

We eventually landed in front of a Manor, no doubt belonging to the Potters, and I carefully dismounted the broom, Y/n in my arms. I followed the others to the entrance of the house as James gently opened the door and slipped inside, beckoning the others to follow him quietly. We did so, walking into the dark entrance hall with soft footsteps.

I was on edge as I walked through the unfamiliar house, unable to even properly see my surroundings because of how dark it was. I heard James whisper something about going upstairs and then the room brightened, catching me off guard.

My eyes darted around the room franticly, eventually landing on two adults sitting in armchairs in the living room: Y/n's parents. I felt my panic skyrocket as I looked at Y/n unconscious in my arms. This wasn't how I had imagined meeting her parents would go like.

Euphemia stood up, giving her son a stern look as she crossed her arms. "James Fleamont Potter. Care to explain what you're doing sneaking into the house at 1 in the morning?"

James froze, gulping almost comically as he stared at his mother. "Um... we went to save Regulus?"

Euphemia frowned and turned to survey the group, eyebrows raising in surprise when she spotted me. Her eyes widened when she noticed Y/n in my arms, head lolling back as she slept. Immediately she rushed forward and I gently passed her to her mother. Fleamont Potter was right behind her, and they laid her carefully in the couch, eyes assessing her for any wounds.

"What happened?" Euphemia asked.

James grimaced, and Lily grabbed his hand comfortingly. "We went to get Regulus out of that house, and Y/n got bitten by the wallpaper that essentially made her high, and then..."

Fleamont looked up to his son. "And then?"

James swallowed harshly, throat bobbing as he tried and failed to speak.

"And then my mother found us," I continued. James sent me a grateful look. "She was going to use the Cruciatis curse on me, but then Y/n went in front of me and the spell hit her instead."

I blinked back tears, looking at the floor. Y/n's parents were sure to hate me now, since I was the reason she was tortured. I felt a comforting weight on my shoulder and looked up to find Sirius there, giving me a smile as he stood beside me.

"Oh my poor boy," Euphemia said. I looked up, surprised, and found her staring right at me. "Are you okay? Do you need anything to eat? A blanket, maybe?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I swallowed and tried again. "Shouldn't you be looking after Y/n?"

Euphemia gave me a soft smile. "Fleamont has already cast the counter curse. The best thing we can do for Y/n right now is to let her rest."

"And you don't hate me? For letting her get hurt?"

Euphemia smiled sadly at me and took a few steps towards me. I leaned into Sirius anxiously as she arrived in front of me. "Darling, you didn't let her get hurt. You didn't have a choice in any of it, and I'm so proud you managed to get out of there."

I blinked at her, feeling my chest ache. She was proud of me? This woman that I had never met before was proud of me for leaving an abusive home I could have left ages ago? The home that Sirius left, but I was too weak to? She was proud of me for that?

I didn't know what to say, so I just stood there, staring up at this woman who had shown me more motherly affection in five minutes than my own mother had in years. Euphemia Potter smiled at me and asked James to get a guest bedroom ready, and slowly all the others dispersed into whatever rooms they were staying in, Fleamont and Euphemia gently carrying Y/n to her room, until it was only Sirius and I.

I turned to look at him, my head a mess of confusion emotions and thoughts. I never thought I'd be here, with Sirius in a house I was safe in. It felt unreal, but as I stared at Sirius's face, how close to tears he was, I knew it was real.

"I love you," Sirius rasped, wrapping me into a hug.

I held onto him tightly, clinging onto him as I breathed in his scent and slowly calmed my racing heartbeat.

"I love you too."

A/N:

REGULUS'S POV!!! AHHHH!!

i struggled so much while writing this chpater bc i didn't know how to write things from his point of view. i hope i did him justice 😔

also, this chapter - chapter 69 yes- was basically a crack chapter and is one of my favourites

the regulus and sirius moment 🥺🥺

what part of this chapter was ur favourite?

also thank you for 500k reads on mine, i love and appreciate you all <33