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Sirius looked more like Bellatrix than Aquila ever gave him credit for.

Maybe that was the result of all that inbreeding Blacks loved to do. But there was no denying the fact that Bellatrix and Andromeda could pass as Walburga and Orion's daughters.

Or maybe Aquila had just lost her mind.

She'd heard that's what tended to happen, if the mind was put under a spell too long. That's why the Imperius and Cruciatus were part of the Unforgivables. They manipulated the very conscience, the very big fundamental part of the human brain known as 'choice'. The Cruciatus' pain was all psychological, but it worked to turn your own brain and body against you.

Some isolated part of her brain knew Sirius wasn't going to stop torturing her until she showed her power. Wait, Was it Sirius? No, It's Bellatrix.

But how was Bellatrix to know, that the more she tortured Aquila, the more the bond would weaken as Regulus was made to stand watch, the more her powers got suppressed. Regulus was informed at the beginning that if Aquila would not perform, they would move the curse to Regulus instead, in hopes of driving a wedge between the twins.

Joke's on them though. The split second before the curse had hit her, Regulus had simply snarled a warning into her mind.

And Bellatrix revived Aquila once again, and saw Regulus sporting a black eye.

A red flare, and the screaming began anew. My screaming, Aquila thought. And then she had no thoughts, except the ones Regulus had whispered into her mind.

Not a word, Aqi. We'll make it through.

---

"Hey, where are you going?" James asked as he felt Sirius turn away from him. The Hogwarts Express had arrived and they had been loading their luggage in, when Sirius had abruptly turned and started walking.

Well, until James had grabbed his collar.

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. "I need to go see Reg and Aqi."

James frowned. "I'll come with."

"I- I think I want to do this alone," Sirius said, pursing his lips.

James felt the pang of hurt at his brother's words, but he told himself to bury it down. Sirius had been through enough, and he certainly didn't need James' petty anger over a silly crush.

"Of course, mate. You go ahead, I'll be in our compartment," James smiled and clasped a hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius grinned, and turned to the direction of the entrance of the Slytherin compartments.

---

"Regulus!" Sirius shouted on the platform, pushing away the people that came in his path as soon as he spotted his brother's hair over the crowd. Regulus looked side to side, paused, bent down to presumably whisper something in Aquila's ear, then stood straight again and moved forward.

Sirius blew a hair out of his face. "Reg! Regulus!" He knew it was fruitless calling Aquila because A) she was so short and B) she was probably still not hearing properly from her ear. The thought of his siblings hurt just made him walk faster, pushing people out of the way constantly enough to warrant him ugly looks.

"You do realise we'll go in the same train, right?" James spoke in his ear, laughter highlighting his voice.

"You little bitch, you followed me!" Sirius accused, whirling around to poke him in the chest with his finger.

James grinned and grabbed Sirius' wrist, pulling him towards the direction of one of the train's entrances. They stopped by to say hi to Peter and Remus who had already looted the Trolley and were throwing shit around the compartment for entertainment. Remus was looking freshly scarred, but brighter than usual. Peter also seemed to have a growth spurt and some of the baby fat was gone from his cheeks. Sirius kept assuring James that he could go see his siblings on his own, but James was insistent on coming.

Sirius supposed he should be wounded that his siblings hadn't come to visit him, but giddiness was overtaking any sort of ego or pride then. They entered the Slytherin compartments, most of them full of students dressed in black attire or the typical black and green with traces of silver stuff. Finally, they reached the compartment where they saw Avery and Regulus sitting on one of the seats.

They apparently didn't see them coming, but no matter. Sirius would just 'boo!' the daylights out of everyone.

Sirius stood in front of the compartment window with a shit-eating grin on his face. When he looked down to clasp the handle to open the door, his eyes drifted to Aquila. Her normally unbound and beautiful waist-length hair (certainly not more beautiful than Sirius') was tucked inside a beanie. She had dark circles under her eyes, and come to think of it, so did Regulus. Both were shivering slightly, and in a swift movement, Avery and Aquila swapped positions as Regulus and Aquila curled into each other.

Sirius frowned. Yes, they were close, but not people to publicly declare their love for each other. They both relished in subtle gestures. Not this. Whatever this was.

Regulus brushed a hand over her head, over her beanie, and it caught on one of the rings he was wearing, and pulled back a little bit. Sirius couldn't help but gasp loudly as he saw the revealed area concealed by the beanie, which prompted all four Slytherins to look at him.

He saw both Regulus and Aquila blanch at the sight of him and grow deathly pale. He felt their hatred burning through his skull. Mulciber quickly got up, shot him a quick apologetic smile, and shut the blinds.

The hatred in their eyes-

The fear-

The cowering-

The shaved head where Aquila's beautiful hair used to be-

What, and Sirius could not stress this enough, the fuck had been happening at the Black Manor? 

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