The flash of white-hot pain; his father glaring at him. He watched his brother next to him, cowering in fear.
Their father was a monster; he could not be fought. His mother's sobs echoed from the next room.
He couldn't hold it in anymore; he needed to leave. But he couldn't get away.
The thoughts coursed through Regulus's head like fish in a river. He couldn't fight anymore.
He felt his father's hot beer breath on his neck and braced himself for the next blow. Sirius watched, his
eyes wide with terror. However, he did nothing.
His father had was broken his brother too. This was the first time he hadn't protected Regulus when his
father tried to hit him.
The end result was always that both of them got hurt. Still, his betrayal hurt Regulus in a way his father
had never been able to.
Regulus rolled himself into a ball and tried to block out the pain. Not the pain his father inflicted on him.
The pain his brother did.