Orion casted the counter curse to Regulus's memory charm, maintaining a careful concentration. The counter curse was much harder to control than the spell itself.
Orion had studied memory charms for a long time after realizing he had a slight affinity for casting them. He had never wanted to cast a spell without the ability to undo it if necessary, but he had never run into a situation where he had to undo a memory charm.
He had read about it, how the charm would meld into the afflicted person's mind and the mind would grow around the spell, entwining with it and into it until the mind was a tangled mess.
He could only hope that he could remove the memory charm. Of course, Orion wasn't going to tell his sons that. They held no love for him – nor did he expect them to, but he did want them to respect him. If he couldn't fix his own mess, then he would seem weak.
Orion closed his eyes as he felt the spell. He could almost see an echo in his mind, showing where Regulus's mind entwined with the spell.
It was a mess.
The charm had a red colour to it, and it was like a net covered Regulus's mind. The mind had no colour, for it was every colour and every shape, too complex to imagine.
Orion had, in theory, known it would be difficult, but he never imagined something this extensive.
Merlin, he didn't even know where to start. Carefully, Orion pulled at a thin red strand, pulling it back from the mind. It offered some resistance, swinging as if it was sentient. More of the web began to lift away from the mind. Orion could feel it trembling in his hands.
It pulled harder as he lifted it further away. Suddenly, there was a tearing sound and the line snapped, a part of it crashing into Regulus's mind once again.
Orion's eyes snapped open just in time to see Regulus collapse to the ground. Sirius was immediately by his side, and Orion was breathing heavy.
"Was that it?" Sirius demanded. "Did you fix him?"
"I couldn't," Orion said. "The charm has affected him too long, to remove it could cause permanent damage. What just happened to him – that was because I tried to remove a small bit of the charm."
"So how will you remove it?" Sirius demanded, cradling his limp brother's head in his lap.
"I cannot, Sirius," Orion said.
"So you're just going to leave him like this?" Sirius said. "After all that you said? You're just going to give up?"
"It would kill him to remove it. I would think you'd rather let the charm remain than have no brother at all."
"We should take him to St. Mungo's," Sirius said, looking his father in the eye.
"They would not be able to help him," Orion said, looking at his youngest son sprawled on the ground, head resting in Sirius's lap.
"He's unconscious, Father!" Sirius exclaimed. "You don't care about him! After all you said, all you pretended, you haven't even checked if he's still breathing."
"You forget your place, Sirius!" Orion spat.
"What're you going to do? Cast a memory charm? Make me forget even more?"
"Sirius! Go take care of your brother. I don't want to see you again tonight." Orion turned away to stalk out of the room when he heard Sirius talk again.
"You're a coward, father," Sirius said. "You don't want to take Regulus to St. Mungo's because you don't want to tell them you can't reverse your own spell work. So instead, you've changed your son and affected the rest of his life. All because you're embarrassed."
Orion spun around, pulling his wand from his pocket. A jet of bright purple light exploded from the tip, shooting towards Sirius. Sirius dropped to the ground, allowing the curse to pass over his head. Standing, he glared at his father, eyes burning with both hate and anger.
"You don't care about us, father. You never did, and you never will. Don't try to pretend differently." Sirius looked away from his father, pulling his younger brother into his arms.
Then he turned and walked out of the room with Regulus.
Regulus groaned as Sirius lifted him, clearly beginning to awaken – thank Merlin. He stayed quiet until Sirius made his way up the stairs and laid Regulus onto his bed.
"Sirius?" he asked. "What happened?"
"Father happened. He hurt you, again," Sirius snarled.
"I thought he was trying to fix me," Regulus said. Sirius laughed, a cruel and bitter sound that was too old for an eleven-year-old, too old for any child.
"When does father ever try to fix anything?"
Regulus looked up at Sirius, questions burning in his gaze.
"I'm never going to remember, am I?" he asked, fear hidden behind shaded eyes.
"I don't know," Sirius said. "Father couldn't make you remember."
Regulus sat up, pushing Sirius's hands away as he tried to help him up. He sighed, unsure of what to say. His life seemed to be a great tangle of emotion and thoughts and loyalty and beliefs. Sometimes, he didn't even know which emotions and thoughts and beliefs were his.
There were two different people – two personalities – trapped inside of his head. One was thoughtful and calculating, naïve to loyalty and friendship. The other was kind and resourceful, brave to no end and ready to fight for what was right.
Who was he?
Regulus could remember only some of his childhood. He remembered Sirius being beaten, but the evidence of multiple broken noses existed on his own face, not his brother's.
He remembered Sirius sneaking out, but Alex had been his friend – his best friend – but hadn't known Sirius as well.
He remembered his mother and father praising him, but he knew that that would have never happened.
"Sirius," Regulus said, fighting panic and fear and the horrible realization that he had no idea of who he was. "Who am I?"
Sirius looked shocked at the question but responded quickly.
"You're my brother," he said. "And my friend. As long as we both know that, then we can figure everything else out."
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Hey, guys! Another chapter It's a bit short, but oh well.
I planned for it to be happy, and this emerged from my head instead… sorry…
Please review!
Thanks to all my old reviewers! (I haven't PMed everyone back yet – I'm sorry!)
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.