Chapter 25: Screams

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The Slytherin dungeon was silent. Several house-elves moved about, quietly cleaning up the mess left behind from the small House party that had died down a few hours earlier. All of the students were tucked away into their beds, enjoying the last night in the school before morning came and it was time to head to the train. A scream shot through the dungeons, filling every corner and waking many of the students.

Regulus sat perched on the edge of his bed, his face cold and distant as he listened to Topher's wailing and watched the boy frantically rip back his curtains and dive to the floor beside his bed. Topher hit the floor with a loud thud and sprung to his feet, swatting helplessly at his body. He started ripping at his clothes, letting out an occasional growl full of fear.

The other two boys in the dormitory were peeking out of the curtains to their beds, but neither dared to step out and help the erratic boy. Tiny voices could be heard from the other side of the door, making them all certain there was a gathering outside of the dorm, all curious about the panicked screams. No one dared to knock or come in.

Topher, who had stripped himself of his shirt and was now brushing his hands violently over his bare chest and arms, looked up at Regulus with horror in his eyes. "Get them off of me, Regulus!" he shouted, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

Regulus sat unmoving, his wand clutched so hard in his left hand that his knuckles were drained of their color. He raised one eyebrow at Topher and pulled his lips into a smirk. "Get what off of you?" he asked, an eerie hint of pleasure lacing his words.

"Stop fucking around, Regulus! Get these damn spiders off of me! Now!" Topher was dragged his nails over his arms so hard that his skin started to flake and peel away. Tears poured from his eyes and he backed himself up against the cold stone wall, using it to help support his weight. "Regulus, please stop!" He started shaking his legs spastically and growling from the pain he was inflicting on his own body.

"Spiders?" Regulus asked, voice sickeningly casual. "Topher, I don't see any spiders." He turned his head towards one of the spying dorm mates and smiled. "Do you see any spiders, Nelson?"

Nelson shook his head and stared at Topher with concern. "There aren't any spiders on you, Mulciber," he said quietly.

Regulus turned back to Topher with a satisfied grin on his face. "See, there aren't any spiders."

Topher was still digging at his body and swatting at the spiders only he could see and feel. "Regulus, whatever you're doing, just stop it. Please! Just make it stop!" he screamed, his words forced out through choking sobs. He threw himself onto the ground and rolled over, letting out another growl.

Regulus sighed and stood up, crossing over to where Topher was curled up on the floor, shaking. "Since you asked so nicely, I guess I'll help you," he said, smiling down at his friend. He waved his wand over the sobbing boy and watched as Topher relaxed onto the floor in relief as the illusion faded away.

Topher took several deep breaths and rolled onto his stomach to get onto his hands and knees. He crawled over to his bed, his arms weak and shaking, and pulled himself up onto it. Regulus summoned the boy's shed shirt and walked over to Topher, holding it out to him with a satisfied smile. Topher snatched it from his hand and pulled it on, then cast his eyes over his damaged skin. Several places on his arms had been dug into so deeply that drops of blood were pooling on his skin.

"Alright, Regulus, you made your point," Topher whispered, dragging the hem of his shirt over the blood to clean his arms.

Regulus ran his tongue over the front of his teeth and narrowed his eyes at Topher. He opened his mouth to speak, but let his words go unsaid, instead simply letting out a sharp breath. As he headed back to his own bed, he glanced over at Nelson and raised one eyebrow at him, his eyes silently questioning the boy. Nelson's head quickly disappeared back into the curtain.

It was uncomfortably quiet inside the train compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Two boys sat on opposite sides of the car, staring distantly out of the window at the trees and fields that rushed by. An awkward sigh. A hesitant cough. Shuffling of clothes against seat as one shifted nervously. Nails dragging loudly over skin, fighting off a persistent itch. Then finally...

"Whatever he did, I'm sure he deserved it."

Regulus sighed at the broken silence and turned his head towards Will, who was staring at him with sympathetic eyes. "I'm not telling you what he did."

"I didn't ask. I'm just saying whatever it was, I'm sure it was bad enough to deserve what you did." Will clasped his hands in front of him and leaned forward, resting his weight in his arms over his legs. "If you ask me, he should just be glad that you didn't use real spiders."

"Well, I didn't ask you, so just shut up about it." Regulus turned to lean his back against the wall and put his feet up in the seat beside him. He stared out of the window, not truly focusing on anything he was seeing, his mind replaying the argument he had with Topher that morning before heading for the train.

Regulus was mad when he knew that Topher had known about him and Anthony the entire time. He was even angrier to find out that Anthony had known that Topher had known about them the entire time. His anger reached a new level of existence when Topher confessed to him that he and Anthony had been talking behind his back. Not just about the relationship either, they had been discussing Regulus' family, his grades, his future, his ideas, his habits, everything about him, right down to whether he was eating properly or not when he was stressed out.

Sick. It made Regulus sick to think on. The worst part, as he saw it, was that Anthony's offer of another chance had been a set up. Regulus was afraid to tell his best friend about Anthony and he knew it. Anthony knew that his best friend already knew about them and rather than tell Regulus, rather than bring him a moment of peace, he chose to let him go on and fear losing Topher over his new found urges. To think, he was afraid of losing his best friend, his hypocritical best friend, who stacked Regulus' lies in front of him to hide his own deceit.

Regulus rubbed at his face, roughly, trying to clear his head from thinking about Anthony or Topher. The sound of the snack trolley banging down the aisle of the train brought Regulus to his feet. Perhaps a good dose of sugar would be what he needed to pull his mind from his worries. He slid open the compartment door and leaned against the frame, waiting for the witch to get closer to his car. A familiar laugh made him whip his head around.

Anthony was standing in the aisle, clearly waiting for the snack car, chatting away with a blonde boy. Michael? Mitchell? Edward? Regulus wasn't too arsed to remember the boy's name. All he could think about was the fact that this no name, insignificant boy was making Anthony smile in a way that he couldn't stand. Regulus moved so quickly, there wasn't time to stop him. Even he wasn't fully aware of his actions. It was as though his body was six steps ahead of his mind.

Six steps. That is how many it took to put Regulus right beside Jackson or Justin or Joseph, whatever the boy's name was. Blonde hair was twisted around fingers so quickly that even the boy didn't realize he was being grabbed until his head hit the door frame behind him with a loud crack. Noise flooded the aisle. Anthony was talking to the boy, who had slid into the floor holding his head. Several girls were shrieking exaggeratedly. Will was saying something into Regulus' ear, but all he could hear was a high pitched ringing. He reached up and covered his ears, begging the sound to stop.

Will's arms closed around Regulus' chest and the older boy dragged him backwards towards their compartment. He pulled him inside and slid the door closed quickly, making sure to pull the shade down. Regulus moved away from Will and dropped onto his seat, his hands still firm over his ears. He pulled his knees to his chest and gasped for breath.

Will listened at the door a moment, confirming to himself that no one was planning to barge in to the compartment. He stood over Regulus and stared down at him with confusion. "What the fuck was that about?" he asked, grabbing Regulus' wrist and attempting to pull his hand away from his ear.

"Don't touch me!" Regulus screamed as he jerked his arm away and jumped from his seat. He backed away from Will as far as possible in the tiny car and clutched at his chest, his lungs screaming for air.

The door to the car slid open, banging loudly against the slot. Within seconds, Anthony was inside the car, his finger pressed hard into Regulus' chest, his eyes red and angry. "You. Are. Psychotic." Anthony's voice was pointed. "You could have seriously hurt him, but you don't give a shit. What do you care about hurting people? Soon enough, you'll be a lousy murderer just like your psychotic family wants! You are seriously unbalanced!"

Will reached out and grabbed Anthony by his arm, pulling him away from Regulus. "You keep your filthy hands off of him and get your ass out of here!" he yelled, shoving the boy towards the door. He pulled out his wand and pointed it into Anthony's face, daring him to defy.

Anthony shook his head at Will and cut his eyes back over at Regulus, who was watching him being threatened with a cold indifference. "Congratulations, Regulus Black, you have succeeded in destroying any shred of hope that I had for you to save yourself." He spun around and was out of sight before either boy could respond to him.

"Get him out of that room!" Orion Black did not raise his voice often, but when he did, the sight was truly frightening. His grey eyes would narrow and the whites would flush with blood, giving him a fierce stare. His typically neat, dark hair would fly wildly around his strong set face and his hands would clench around things so tightly they would pale. At this moment, his hand was clutched around a fireplace poker that was being bashed against Kreacher's trembling body. "Beat him if you have to, just get that boy out of his damn room!"

Another blow to Kreacher's side sent the house-elf bustling up the stairs and into Regulus' bedroom. "M-m-master Regulus, your father says that you must come out of your room." The tiny elf stood before Regulus, his head bowed low. "He says that I must beat you if you don't comply. It has been two weeks since you arrived home. It is time to come out. I'm not allowed to bring you food any longer."

"Why should I come out?" Regulus' voice was no more than a whisper and it sounded distant, as though he was merely reading from a script.

"You're having a visitor today. Mistress Bella is coming to collect you," answered Kreacher. "You must come out. Your father says that today you will bring the honor back to this family that your brother stripped from it." The elf stepped closer to Regulus, his large eyes growing even wider. "Today…you will become one of his."

A Note From the Author: Alright, so...thoughts. Anyone? Next chapter picks up right where this one leaves off. Regulus is "off to see the Wizard" if I may make a WoO reference. It wouldn't be the first. Even the title of this story is a Sort of WoO reference. Anyways, the story...yes. Thoughts? :D -Jenna

Now Beta'd by magic139 from the HPFF forums.