Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter. This was written for the monthly Froday challenge for April 2022, but the flower I was given was Candytuft, but "the plan symbolizes indifference. Other symbolic meanings of candytuft include sweetness and stoic beauty." Warning - mental age regression because of PTSD

Indifferent to Indignity

Rain poured down.

A small figure crouched down next to an empty stall that the vendor had closed up early on, not moving, looking as if they were dead. Black locks of hair hung down, obscuring their eyes. Their once pristine robes were torn and stained, while both shoes were missing, and only one sock was on their foot. And there were signs of blood which was apt to make anyone passing think the person was dead, another casualty of the war.

And a few did indeed pass the figure on by, not carrying, not wanting to make it their business lest they end up dead as well, mainly if the body was meant as a warning of some kind despite there being no sign of his mark anywhere nearby. However, had they bothered looking at the left arm, they might have caught a glimpse of his mark peeking out slightly from underneath a torn sleeve.

It wasn't until a red-haired witch did a double-take as she turned a corner that something changed. She at first stared, her mouth dropping, before stepping over and examining them a bit more. Her eyes caught sight of the edge of the mark. She stepped closer, umbrella over her head, then knelt down. Her hand reached out for the left sleeve to see if her suspicions were correct—

Suddenly, the figure sprung to life, snarling, snapping, threatening to bite her, only to pause as a pair of familiar gray eyes looked into her own green ones. Her mouth dropped as the person in front of her turned into a statute, their eyes wide with fright as they looked at her, mouth still in a snarl. She frowned, her fingers still inches away, before saying, "Regulus?"

His head tilted up, his mouth closing, while he physically swallowed and sniffled, almost as if in recognition. His right hand—not the hand he usually used, lifted up, but then hesitated, the fear still there in his eyes.

"Regulus, is that you?" She smiled at him, trying to be disarming, knowing the person in front of her was frightened out of his wits, although she felt the same given how she was seeing a dead man walking.

He then reached up, tugging on her sleeve, letting out a guttural response as if that was all he could do.

Then, Lily frowned and made up her mind, letting her hand wrap around his arm, watching him tense. "We're apparating to my place, Regulus. So prepare yourself, so you don't get any more hurt than you already are."

They landed with a thud and—

Lily frowned, watching Regulus lie on the floor, somewhat indifferent to what was going on, although the fright seemed to fade from his eyes. Taking a deep breath, she lifted him so she could remove the robes and get at the injuries. She frowned, " He 's too complacent for my liking. And these injuries are awful. "

Claw marks covered the young man's back, which was the worst of it, as there were also claw marks on his left arm, maiming what she knew to be the Death Eater's mark. Some traveled around from his back to mar his sides slightly, but—

Lily took a deep breath, starting with the upper body knowing she would need to move onto the lower part, suddenly tugging him up so that he was sitting in a chair at her kitchen table, sitting backward so his chin could rest on the back of the chair, his eyes drooping until the sting of healing positions made them jolt open. Yet, he didn't move, didn't complain except for a slight whimper every time it likely hurt.

When she finished, he let her dress him in one of James' sweaters that he'd left behind, which meant it was time to move on to the part she didn't like. He was turned around, looking at her, the edge of the sleeve in his mouth as he gazed off to who knew where even as she gently placed hands on his shoulders. "Regulus."

He didn't respond.

"Regulus, I need to remove your pants."

Again, he didn't respond.

"And your underwear."

No response.

"There are claw marks on your left side, going down there, from both the front and back."

He'd been warned.

She, of course, hadn't been warned about anything but the injury going down around his hip as Regulus unhelpfully sat there, right sleeve in the mouth while left-arm hung lip at his side. It wasn't at all as if she'd just pulled his pants down to his knees, exposing his nether region in the world as he continued to stare off into space, but—

Lily went and vomited in the trashcan before coming back to finish pulling off the pants and underwear, which, even had there not been, the damage couldn't be kept in, as the young man had soiled himself more than once. Still, she was left with the task of cleaning him up unless, of course, she could get a response. She slipped the pants off, tossed them aside, then reached up, cupping his chin in her hands, not liking how she could make him look her in the eye only to have no reaction, which was odd given his dislike of looking someone in the eye.

"Regulus. Sweetheart. You do know that you've defecated all over yourself, right?"

The lack of response made her want to cry, for this wasn't the intelligent young Slytherin she remembered but a shadow of himself. She let her forehead touch him, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Regulus, I am so sorry! I've got to get you cleaned up for putting you in this situation. If I don't, you risk major infection."

And so it was, much to her embarrassment, while he remained indifferent to what was going on, yet once she got him bandaged up, she found herself taking a step back, frowning, hands-on head.

Then, she spread a blanket on the couch, wrapped a towel around his middle, and settled him onto the sofa, knowing he'd not be going anywhere. She'd also not caught sight of his wand either, ruffling his hair dry like the rest of him. "I'll be back, but I wish you understood how indignant this is. If you were yourself, you'd be utterly embarrassed. So I guess I'm stuck being embarrassed for you."

She knew she should call someone. James, Sirius, yet thinking of calling the latter, made her stall out, made her—

"I don't want to know how Sirius would react to what I'm doing, helping a Death Eater. Buying adult diapers." Unfortunately, when she returned home and had unlocked the door, she heard—

"Adult diapers?" along with a laugh. "Something you want to tell me about yours and James' sex life," Sirius said before opening the door. She watched his face contort, the smile leaving, replaced with utter furry, and he was in, cursing and—

She quickly cast a spell to silence things to not draw the attention of the neighbors. Still, she was far more alarmed with the way Sirius was now shaking his brother, who he'd lifted from the lying down position, while Regulus kept the edge of his sleeve in his mouth as Sirius continued to yell at him, right into his face. Every word was pure hatred or calling Regulus out for faking his death.

And Regulus, who'd been indifferent, was now sobbing like a small, frightened child, which meant his mind was shattered as she'd thought and hoped wasn't so.

"Stop! If you open his injuries!"

"I couldn't care!" Sirius snapped. "I don't…" He stopped when he smelt it. He looked down in shock. "What the?"

She pulled the adult diapers from her bag and shoved them in his direction. "You get to take care of it this time! And you, of all people, should know he's the last person to subject himself to this kind of humiliation purposefully! But I wish he was dead rather than turning up in this state, and you are acting like an absolute bully towards him."

"I have to what?" Sirius said, turning on her. "I'd come here hoping to have dinner with you and James, and…"

"You invited yourself over!" Lily said, listening to the hiccups coming from Regulus, the sleeve of the sweater now forgotten after she'd said she wished he was dead and—

Suddenly, he attempted to curl himself into a fetal position just as he had been when she found him.

"No, Regulus. Sweetheart. Don't do that. Please don't," she said, as sobs wracked his slight frame, and she got another view of more than she'd rather see. "Sirius! Please. I know you don't like this, but he isn't well."

"He's a bloody Death Eater! This is what he gets for joining and only weeks later getting cold feet!"

"It wasn't weeks later!" Lily snapped. "He's been a Death Eater since he turned sixteen."

To which Sirius stared at her as if she'd betrayed him. And, of course, he'd turned the frosty Black anger on her. "Wait. You knew he was a Death Eater while we were in school and didn't tell me."

"Or James because it was Regulus who confided in me that he had, but I can tell you that your brother had no clue what he was getting into! And this is the result! Sirius, this is the result of all that fighting between you and your family! You weren't there to protect him or for him to confide in that kind of thing because you couldn't let your bigotry towards Slytherin go! And he's your brother, for god's sake!"

He stared, chastized, then said. "What do you want me to do?"

"I'm going to get him to lie down, and you're going to have to clean him up and get one of those on him."

"Bloody Merlin!" Sirius said but then froze. "Uh…"

"Let me guess? Is James here? Well, I don't want bull crap from him either regarding your brother being here. Regulus' mental state is currently that of a small child, and he needs help."

"So, I'll get some clothes for him, so he's not, well, you know," James said. "And I'm letting Moody know."

"You're what?"

"Mate, I don't think…"

"If he knows what state Regulus is in, he won't haul him in, will he? There's no fun in that or any use of getting information out of him."

It hurt, seeing such a sweet, beautiful child reduced to this. Lily let out a sigh, wishing this wasn't so.