Feeling the wind ripple against his hair as he flew around the pitch, Regulus closed his eyes and took a deep breath, relishing in the cool breeze that enveloped him. Quidditch. It was the only place where he remotely felt at ease anymore, the weight that had been ruminating in the pit of his stomach this week instantly cast aside once he was 100 feet in the air.  

Palming the maroon ball in his hands Regulus opened his eyes, his broom instinctively pointed toward the goal posts. He was a seeker by nature, but sometimes when he was alone Regulus liked to take the quaffle out for a spin, the act of throwing goal after goal, releasing whatever emotion that had been swirling inside of him better than the snitch ever could. 

Crouching close to the handle Regulus soared over to the goal posts, his new broom handling his touch nicely. It had been a bit awkward this summer when Orion Black had come home with the newest and best model from Quality Quidditch supplies, Regulus not exactly knowing how to tell his father that his old broom was perfectly fine. Because his old broom really was fine in every regard, better, faster and newer than half the brooms the other teams were using. Despite this though he had taken the new broom graciously, understanding that in some small way, this was his father trying to cheer him up after Sirius' departure.

But what his father didn't realize was that it kinda defeated the purpose to have a new broom if there was no one left to fly with him. 

Which wasn't anything you'd want to. 

The sight infront of them made his stomach churn, anger boil inside of him for what had happened to that innocent girl. His fists balled but he couldn't look away. Unworthy. Who the bloody hell was allowed to call anyone that? 

After another moment, he finally took his eyes off the gruesome scene and pressed his knuckles against his mouth. "Fucking cowards" He mumbled quietly. "Attacking those who can't fight back."

Narcissa had been enjoying her evening -- any excuse for getting to play dress up was a good one for her. So, when she heard the disturbance and commotion, her first reaction was irritation. Her curiosity won out as she approached the crowd, expertly making her way to the front but not quite knowing what to expect. She had spent a long time tuning out the mindless chatter of her schoolmates, and it didn't even register.

When she looked up to see a dangling, lifeless body hanging mid-air, however, Narcissa froze in place. She couldn't take her eyes off of the sight even as it horrified her. A chill ran through her body as she saw the dripping blood, the words carved into the girl's skin over and over again. She felt sick.

She knew this sort of thing happened in their world, in her world, but she had always been so far removed from the reality of what exactly her belief system taught. Unworthy. The message was clear. It was one Narcissa agreed to, lived by, preached. But, this... this was something else. This was the beginnings of things she had heard her family speak about, her friends whisper about. She had kept a careful distance from it all, feeling much more content to remain in the naive frame of mind she had been in. She knew in her mind that she should be smug about this, glad that someone was spreading the noble message she lived by, not remotely phased by the sight of death up close like this. But she felt nothing but nausea and a sudden lightheadedness.

Without thought, she led her students back to the Common Room, not listening to the scattered snickers and whispers that followed. Her mind was elsewhere. Bella. She had to find her. She had to know if she was a part of this. If she was okay. After leading the students to the dormitories, Narcissa made her way back out into the dark halls in search of her sister. In the back of her mind, she wondered about Andy and Regulus -- perhaps she should have gone to them.

Her thoughts briefly went to Remus as well. Unworthy. She tried in vain not to think of him, after all it was what she had promised herself. But thoughts that this could have been him, it could be him next seemed to follow her as she wandered through the empty, eerily silent halls. She willed those thoughts away in search of her sister, nearly afraid of what she'd find. She knew where Bellatrix's fate and loyalties lay and the types of things she'd go on to do, but Narcissa was, for the first time, frightened for her sister. 

The scream. Regulus can still hear it piercing through his mind as everyone started to push towards the opening of the great hall, half of them not even realizing what they were pushing themselves towards. It was a gut wrenching sound that he couldn't stop from playing over and over in his head. And it only got worse as the sea of students pushed him last the floating body, blood dripping from the word unworthy etched into her skin about a million times. 

Unworthy

He'd heard the phrase countless times, Half-breeds were unworthy. Mudbloods were unworthy. Sirius was unworthy. But something about that phrase had never been so real as it was now. Never been so visceral, so jarring, so right in front of him. With many Slytherins trying hard to keep the smiles off their faces, as they watched her just floating there.

Dripping her unworthy-ness on the stone flooring.

Standing there Regulus found it hard to turn his eyes away from the scene, emotions swirling throughout his mind. it was weird, how part of it felt right, and part of it felt so wrong. It was as if he was literally split down the middle. The one part that found joy in the desecration of someone unworthy, relishing in victory. And the other part that was fighting to keep the contents of his stomach inside his body, the one that was secretly whispering why why why over and over in his head.  

Shaking it off, Regulus looked around the crowd, eyes scanning for the familiarity of his family. He needed to find them. He needed Cissy's arms over him, telling him that this was right, this was ok. That this was supposed to feel good. That this was supposed to feel like a win, not like a loss.

He needed to see Bella, He needed to know if she was ok. He needed to know if she had been involved. And if she had he needed to know what to do next. He needed to know how to protect her. He just needed to know so much right now.

But instead he knew nothing.