Chapter 16 – It's bad, it's really bad

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She remembered leaving Remus's house thinking she would never see him again. She remembered the hard grip on her elbow that bruised on the spot. She remembered once they apparated in their home, he had thrown her on the floor, cursing her as she went. She remembered the pain that coursed through her body as he Crucio'd her, her uncle laughing from the couch, watching her tremble with pain. That went on for two days. She wasn't in her right mind by the third, so she wasn't entirely sure that there was a party at their house or if she just had imagined it. Flashes of Regulus came before her, his worried eyes, his trembling hands around her, holding her tight.
She remembered hearing her father spat a name at her, Sirius fucking Black, he had sneered. She remembered on the third day, late in the afternoon, she had made an escape to her room. She remembered lying in her bed curled up to herself when the door creaked open, her uncle came in with a disgusted lust filled look as he undid his trousers. She remembered how a head of black curls had thrown him of her. That was about all she remembered when she first woke up.

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"Remus." Professor McGonagall said stern but soft. "She's alive but -"

"She's alive." He whispered, closing his eyes to focus on his breathing.

"Remus, Lily, we'll use the floo from the station that would be quicker that the carriages."

"We're coming too." Sirius voice was hoarse as he spoke but determined. James had wrapped his arms around Lily, showing the professor, they were a united front. The professor eyed them for a moment, but she gave a curt nod. They followed her to the train station in death silence all the way up through the floo. When they reached the closed doors of the infirmary, the professor turned before she opened the door.

"I have to inform you it's bad, really bad." The ever so composed professor was slightly shaking. "Madam Pomfrey has done everything she could, now we have to be patient."

They couldn't do anything but nod, all their hearts were stammering fast in their chests. The professor took in a deep breath before she turned to open the door. Remus hurried forward, his knees shaking uncontrollably and when his eyes fell upon her, he crumbled to the ground.

"Iz." His eyes started to well up.

"Make way, make way." Madam Pomfrey hurried over, pushing past James and Lily, and tugged him over to the bed next to her.

Izzie was lying in the white hospital bed. She had bandages over her chest and wore white hospital shorts. The covers under her where tinged red. Remus could see her old scars on her legs, the ones that went from his side up to her back, the one on her shoulder. But the new ones made his stomach coil. From the looks of it, her stomach was ripped open, a gash of at least five centimetres. Five equally large, bloodied stripes cuts on both her wrists. The bandage around her chest had a dark red spot on the side, and he could smell something, someone foul on her and he knew what else had happened. He felt sick to the stomach, he leaned over the side of the bed and retched all over the floor.

Pomfrey made the mess disappear with a wave of her hand, and when he turned back to his best friend, he saw that James had taken a place on his bed, his hand on his ancle. Lily was sitting on a chair next to Izzie, her hand resting next to hers, afraid to hold on. Sirius was standing on the end of her bed. His hands were gripping the bed end so hard that his knuckles had turned white.

"What happened?" James was the one who asked.

"We don't know." McGonagall's eyes flickered to Sirius. "Regulus Black arrived with her inside the castle with the Black's house elf, Kreacher."

Sirius and Remus head snapped towards the professor. Regulus? Regulus was there with her? Where is he now? Is he hurt? His eyes scanned the room quickly and then he saw him. He was sitting in the corner up on a windowsill, his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms around them. He didn't look up at the professor as she talked about him, his red stained eyes were fixed on Izzie's face. Sirius had found his brother too, he looked back to Izzie one more time before he marched right up to his little brother and grabbed him by the collar.

"What the fuck happened!"

"Mister Black!" Professor McGonagall snapped. Sirius loosened his grip on Regulus but didn't let go. Reg's eyes were still on Izzie. It looked like he didn't seem to notice anything or anyone. "He's in shock. Madam Pomfrey has giving him something, he should be able to tell us more tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Sirius whirled around to the Transfiguration professor. "I - we need to know what happened now!"

"No." She said sternly. Sirius stepped back to the bed, his eyes flickering from Izzie to Reggie. "We need to make sure Miss Miller recovers. That is our first priority."

"Will she recover?" Lily's voice trembled and tears rolled down her cheeks. She had finally mustered the courage to gently take a hold of her hand.

"We believe so." Her voice wasn't that certain as everyone would hope. "She has quite some physical damages, can't comprehend what her mental state is."

"What were the damages?" Remus's found his voice, although it sounded like someone else's. But at the sound of his voice, Regulus glanced up at him, if only for a second, before his eyes fell on Izzie again.

"I don't know if -"

"I need to know." Remus growled.

Professor McGonagall regarded him for a second before she nodded to Madam Pomfrey. "She had a broken ancle and a dislocated shoulder. She seemed to be subjected by a cutting charm, her stomach, wrists, the side of her chest." Madam Pomfrey was having a hard time retelling the injuries. "She's been Crucio'd."

Lily gasped and cried more openly now. Remus was fisting his hands into the covers, James looked like he was going to be sick while Sirius grey eyes were dull, he stared at the wall, his jaw clenched.

"There is something else." Remus said. Madam Pomfrey's eyes were sad, she shook her head. "Tell me." He demanded.

"I don't think it's wise to disclose all of the information." She said quietly. "Maybe later, not now." Maybe when Izzie chooses to tell. She meant. He nodded slowly, but he knew already and with a sickening feeling he knew Regulus knew too because he turned even more pale for the last minute.

"I'll ask the elves to get some food up here." Professor McGonagall said before she turned to Pomfrey. "You let me know when anything changes, right Poppy?"

"Of course, Minerva. First thing." When the professor walked out of the Hospital Wing, she turned back to the sixth years. "You can stay until curfew, if you're quiet. Then you all head up."

"I'm not leaving her." Three voices chimed, those voices belonged to Remus, Lily and Sirius. Madam Pomfrey's brows furrowed a little as she was lost in thought.

"One of you can stay." She raised her index finger. "One, no discussions. She'll be here for quite a while, I'm afraid. You can rotate."

"I'm staying." Remus said, and everyone knew they couldn't convince him otherwise. Lily and Sirius nodded, knowing he would say that. Regulus was still tucked on the windowsill. He wanted to go to him, he wanted to wrap both of his long, strong arms around him. Remus fought the tears that clouded his eyesight. He looked back to Izzie, who was lying still as the dead, but her chest rose oh so slowly.

When dinner arrived, nobody ate. They all pushed their food around on their plates. Madam Pomfrey had finally coaxed Regulus into the bed on the other side of Izzie. His head lulled to the side and his gaze returned, once again, to the badly hurt girl. Pomfrey was bend over Regulus, when Remus noticed the smell of blood. It wasn't Izzie's but since hers has been so overwhelming since the moment he'd stepped in, he didn't notice that Regulus was hurt.

"Sirius." Remus whispered. Sirius was sitting on the edge of his bed, a plate of untouched food on his lap as he looked pale as a ghost at Remus's best friend. "Pads." He tried again, nudging his foot against his hip. That made him look up. "Reggie's hurt."

Probably because everyone was in shock, nobody noticed or commented on the fact that Remus used his nickname. Sirius was on his feet in seconds and hurried over to his bedside.

"Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine, dear. Just some cuts and bruises." The healer said as she waved her wand over a gash on his arm, it healed in an instant. Only leaving a faint white mark on his already pale skin.

"How?"

"We're still gathering information on what exactly happened. But it seems that Mr Black got to her just in time but threw himself between Miss Miller and who ever... did that." Her voice wavered. Regulus still in shock, didn't seem to notice as Pomfrey placed a bottle against his lips. "Sleep, dear." She said while she pushed his hair back and Regulus fell asleep in a minute. Even now his body was tense. He sat down on his brother's bed but was careful not to touch him.

"You better go upstairs. They need their rest right now. You can come back in the morning." Madam Pomfrey's voice was stern and there would be no debating her, they knew. Lily, with quivering lips, placed a kiss on the top of Izzie's head. James wrapped an arm around the red head's shoulder, which she allowed as they started to walk outside. Sirius looked between his brother and Izzie, biting his lip.

"I'll keep an eye on them." Remus said, looking at one of his best friends. "You need your sleep, Sirius. Go, we'll be here in the morning." Remus said as he stood up and clapped his back.

"Yeah." He nodded absently. "In the morning." And like a zombie, he walked out of the Hospital Wing.

"Do you need a sleeping draught?" Madam Pomfrey asked once the door closed behind Sirius.

"No, thank you. I want to be able to wake up when something happens."

"Okay. I have alerting charms in my office if something changes, but if you need anything, you can just pop in, alright?"

"Thank you." He nodded, then stepped forward and clasped the hands of the smaller, but older witch. "Thank you, for everything."

The healer offered him a small smile before she walked to her office. Once she had disappeared, he took the end of his bed in his hands and rolled it away from the wall, he rolled it until the bed was positioned between Izzie and Reg. He couldn't stand the thought to be far away from either of them. He hopped back in his bed and tentatively took both of their hands in his. Regulus grip trembled for a moment before his fingers tightened around his. He let out a shuddering breath as he looked at his sleeping boyfriend. His eyes filled with tears again when he looked to his best friend. Her hand was slack in his, without movement, without a life force. He needed to fix his eyes and ears on her breathing, the slowly rise and fall of her chest, before he could breathe himself again. It took a long while before he fell asleep, his eyes going back and forward between them.