One Saturday morning at breakfast, the Marauders all started reading the Daily Prophet. Each person preferred different parts of the Daily Prophet. Sirius liked looking at the news that mentioned different dueling championships, while James liked reading the Quidditch news. Lily liked reading the breaking news headlines.
"Sirius, Regulus, you two should read this," Lily said, breaking the silence. She handed the paper to them. Sirius and Regulus leaned in to read the article.
FORMER BLACK MEMBER HOSPITALIZED
As they read it silently, they were shocked. Their father had been seen being hurried into a critical care ward at St. Mungo's by Andromeda. Orion was not known for seeking help when hurt. Something desperate must have happened if he was at St. Mungo's.
When this reporter asked Andromeda Black what had happened to the former Black, Andromeda responded, "That is private."
"Merlin's beard!" Regulus whispered. "What the bloody hell happened?!"
"I don't know," Sirius replied. "Maybe Grandmother or Grandfather will know something. We'll ask them when we go to see them in a little bit." Regulus nodded in agreement. Sirius could not remember Orion being hospitalized the first time around, so he knew something major had happened.
As Sirius and Regulus were heading out of the Great Hall, Rita Skeeter came running over to them. "Sirius! Regulus! Did you read the Daily Prophet this morning?" she asked.
"Oh, yes," Sirius said with a grin. "There's a dueling championship in Spain that looks interesting, don't you think?"
"Oh, I wasn't talking about that," Rita said dismissively. "I was talking about how your father was hospitalized."
"Yes, we read about that. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to get going," Regulus snapped. He was not in the mood to answer her questions today.
Sirius and Regulus arrived at the headmaster's quarters ten minutes later. Everyone else was already there.
"Sorry, Rita Skeeter slowed us down," Sirius apologized.
"Oh, I'm sure she did," Capella said.
Narcissa was whispering into a two-way mirror. She was clearly talking with Andromeda. No one could quite catch their conversation, but a few minutes later, Narcissa put the mirror away.
"Well?" Melania asked. "What did she say?"
"She will not tell me anything," Narcissa responded. "She says that her healer's oath prevents her from revealing any information, and even without the oath, she wouldn't say anything without the patient's permission."
"The critical care ward though?" Capella asked. "I'm assuming it means he's been injured severely?"
Arcturus and Melania gave each other a look before Melania responded. "Yes. Anyone who's in the critical care ward usually has had something major happen to them. Most people who are in that ward have been tortured in some way."
"You think, you think he was tortured?" Regulus asked nervously.
"Most likely," Arcturus replied.
"Why should we be worried about it though?" Sirius asked. "I mean, he left the family, so… what's the point in worrying?"
"I have a theory," Arcturus said. "And if my theory is correct, then I think even you would be worried, Sirius. I believe that Walburga could be hurting him."
Sirius' face paled. "Oh," he breathed out, realization dawning. "Like she hurt us."
"Exactly," Arcturus said with a sigh. "No matter what has happened in the past, thinking that Walburga could be hurting Orion is a horrifying, yet very likely possibility."
"Oh, but Andromeda did tell me something," Narcissa spoke up. "She wasn't making much sense, but she said to ensure that Kreacher doesn't have any long-lasting injuries."
"Kreacher?" Regulus asked, horrified.
"What could have happened to Kreacher?" Capella asked, not really knowing Kreacher that well, only having seen him a few times.
"Oh, please not what I think it is," Melania said worriedly.
"Kreacher!" Arcturus barked. The old house-elf popped into the room.
"What can Kreacher be doing for Master Lord Black?" Kreacher asked.
"Kreacher, did Walburga ever harm you in any way?" Arcturus asked.
Kreacher bowed his head. "Kreacher was ordered to not tell anyone, Master Lord Black. But since Master Lord Black asked Kreacher, Kreacher will tell Master Lord Black," he stated. "Yes, Walburga hurt Kreacher. Bad curses, bad curses."
For the first time ever, Sirius felt sorry for Kreacher. Regulus looked like he was going to cry. Even at a young age, Regulus had always been close to Kreacher.
"Thank you for informing me, Kreacher," Arcturus said sadly. "I am sorry Walburga harmed you. That was uncalled for. Go see the Healer house-elves at St. Mungo's to get healed. Don't respond to any summons from any family member until you are released."
"Yes, Master Lord Black," Kreacher said gratefully. He popped out of the room.
"When do you think she started hurting him?" Sirius asked. "I know she wasn't doing that when we lived with her."
"It must have been after you were removed from your parents' care," Arcturus explained. "And something tells me that, after she was disowned, she only had one person left to harm."
"Orion," Melania whispered.
Everyone sat quietly, taking in everything they had learned that morning. Finally, Arcturus broke the silence. "While this situation is very concerning, there's not much we can do. All we can do is hope that Orion is healed, which, I am sure he will be with Andromeda the one healing him. Let's play a game."
As they played some games, everyone's minds were elsewhere, but they knew that there wasn't much they could do. They would just have to put their full trust in Andromeda to handle this situation.
When everyone was leaving, Arcturus stopped Sirius for a moment. "Sirius, I wanted to let you know that this Thursday, when we have our Occlumency lesson, we will start working on shields and gentle invasion
Sirius nodded. "Understood, Grandfather." As he left the room, he made a mental note to re-read Chapter 2 of the Occlumency book, so he could be prepared for Thursday. He just hoped that it would go well. He would find out soon.