The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part Two

Jaggedy Edges

The first thing Regulus saw when he woke up was Lily Potter's eyes.

She was holding his good arm and he could feel immense amounts of love and a soothing peace coming from the place where her hands held onto his skin. It was like all the fear and anxiety and pain he felt was being vacuumed away and a gentle wave of "alrightness" flowed in where all the bad stuff was gone from.

The image of her sort of floated before his eyes, and she whispered, "It's alright, you're safe. James and I are right here."

He felt the smallest smile tug at his mouth - it took all his energy to do - and he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

The second time he opened his eyes, James was asleep using the edge of the bed as resting place for his arms, which were his pillow, bent forward in the chair beside Lily, who was curled up in a little ball, her head fallen to one side, hugging her knees with one arm, the other extended out and splayed across James's back.

It must have been hours later for it had been daylight the first time he opener them and it was dark now. He tried at moving his arm and pain shot up it and he winced and inhaled sharply -- and precisely two seconds later, Lily Potter did the same thing.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked over at him, saw he was awake, and quickly sat up. "Regulus?" she whispered, "Be careful moving, sweetheart, you needn't hurt yourself!"

His mouth was incredibly dry and his head felt like it was splitting in two. He could only manage a few small groans in answer. He wasn't even forming words in his own mind really yet, everything felt funny and far off.

"Here you are," Lily said, and she was holding a tea cup of water to his mouth. "Drink, you'll feel better." She smiled as she poured the smallest sips into his mouth at a time and he took them in. "Very good, that's better, huh? It's okay, sweetheart." When he was done with the water, she drew the cup away, then gently wiped his mouth.

"Thank you," he breathed.

Lily nodded, "You're welcome, Regulus."

The sound of his own name made his eyes well with tears. "...mm names... Frrreddy... Jen..kins," he murmured. The words cane out blurred together, his mouth felt heavy and stuck together.

"Not to me."

He smiled weakly.

She smiled back.

And he fell asleep again.

The third time he opened his eyes, Lily and James Potter were gone, but the chair James had been in was not empty. 

Sirius Black sat there, awake and staring at some spot on the wall across the room, his face pale and nervous. He was absently tapping a rhythm against his thigh with his finger tips and bouncing his knee in anxiety, a gentle thumping of his boot heel against the tile below him formed a heartbeat in the room. His lips moved soundlessly and Regulus watched them, trying to decipher what he was saying.

Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't heal? Your eyes have died but you see more than I. You're a star in the face of the sky...

Regulus couldn't take his eyes away from his brother's face. It was marked by a bit of acne about the chin and the slightest shadow of facial scruff about the jawline... His grey eyes were missing the thick black eyeliner he usually put on, and he looked more like Sirius than he had in a long while without it. Regulus could almost imagine they were knee to knee in the clubhouse back at Number 12.

Suddenly, Sirius's eyes dropped from the place on the ceiling and met Regulus's.

The heartbeat stopped and so did his lips and his finger tapping as he stared at Regulus, a fair amount of mild panic filling his eyes.