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Seventh Year - 1977
CORDELIA FELL FROM THE FIREPLACE INTO A DARK ROOM. She crawled quietly toward the doorway, hearing shouts in what must be the next room. As stealthy as possible, she darted up the staircase.
She had never tread as lightly as she was in the hallway, keeping her eyes out for any members of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.
A door opened beside her, and just as her heart stalled abruptly in her chest, she heard, "McKinnon?"
Regulus stood with a horrified expression on his face, appalled at the sight of her in his home. He gripped her arm harshly and threw her into his bedroom.
"You can't be here," he whispered urgently, glancing at his door in paranoia. "Did any of the portraits see you?"
His question went unanswered when Cordelia's eyes latched onto his forearm. The rolled sleeves of his shirt exposed his deepest regret, and she was fixated on it.
"Regulus..." she breathed, "What have you done?"
The sounds of shouting she heard upon her arrival continued, but they were growing closer to them now. The guilt in the boy's eyes changed to fear in a flash. Cordelia recognized the high pitched trill of Bellatrix and another voice she couldn't place.
"They can't find you here."
The frantic expression marring the boy's face sent goosebumps over Cordelia's skin. Looking at the mark on his arm only solidified the realization for her: she'd made a grave mistake coming to Grimmauld Place.
If Regulus bore the mark, then surely the rest of the Black family did too. They were loyal to Voldemort.
And she was considered a blood traitor on a good day.
Cordelia breathed deeply, whispering, "You can still run. We can go today. Now."
"I... I can't," Regulus choked. The helplessness in his eyes was like a blade to the chest.
Footsteps sounded just outside the door. She was caught. She knew Regulus was afraid for her. Cordelia could feel it. She gave him a nod and the widest smile she could muster, spinning around just as the door swung open.
With her head high and her eyes wild, Cordelia faced Walburga Black. She didn't even have time to blink before her knees hit the ground.
-
Regulus flinched when Cordelia's body met the floor of his bedroom. His mother sneered down at her cruelly.
Don't. For Merlin's sake, don't.
His inner pleading was in vain as Cordelia drawled in her most infuriating voice, "How do you do?"
The Cruciatus Curse flew from his mother's wand, and Regulus was suddenly years younger... watching Sirius writhe in her place.
Though his ears were ringing, Regulus heard the distant sound of screaming. She was screaming. His eyes were seeing Cordelia's body twitch and tremble, but he felt a million miles away. Only when his lungs began to burn did he realize that he'd been holding his breath.
When his lungs filled with air, the sounds in the room grew more clear. Bellatrix was laughing. His mother was muttering about filthy blood. Cordelia was screaming.
Cordelia was screaming.
It must've been ten minutes before Walburga finally yielded, and he had to clasp her hands behind his back to hide the way they shook violently.
"Ouch," Cordelia wheezed, attempting to push herself up.
"Did my blood traitor son send you here?" His mother spat, raising her wand threateningly. "Answer me!"
"Who ever... are you referring to?" She panted, trying and failing to tack on a cheeky smile.
Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.
"I was under the impression you only had one son."
Regulus had plenty of experience watching his brother test his mother's patience, and he knew it ran out quickly. Cordelia was as good as dead. He was sure of it.
The second round of the Cruciatus Curse was harder to watch than the first. The gasping sounds escaping Cordelia's raw throat were ones he would never forget. Unable to scream any longer, it sounded as if she were suffocating.
"I've just seen Sirius outside, Aunt Walburga!"
Regulus's gaze snapped from Cordelia to Andromeda's figure in the doorway. She stepped to the side as his mother rushed from the room, lingering a heat longer than the rest.
Andromeda met his eyes and breathed, "Hurry," before following her sister and his mother down the stairs.
Cordelia's eyelids fluttered, but she still tried to stand on her own. He rushed to her side and helped her to her feet, practically dragging her toward the Floo.
The pair of them could hear his mother's voice too closely for comfort when he shoved her into the fireplace.
"Don't come back, McKinnon," Regulus demanded. "Ever."
He threw a handful of Floo Powder at her feet and shouted out her destination before her brain could catch up.
Just as she arrived at her destination, her vision went black, and she succumbed to the darkness.
