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Cold dead fingers reached up, grasping onto his arm that reached out for the clammy water to quench the painful thirst wracking his entire body. Fingers tore into his arm, tearing into the tattoo he hated so much as the voices tore apart his mind, cursing him for being so many things he couldn't be.
The fingers reached up past his shoulder, yanking him underneath the surface. Instinct made Regulus suck in a deep breath of air right before the fingers pulled him under while the momentum made his entire body twist, so the next part that the cold dead fingers grabbed was his backside while the voices continued racing through his mind telling him how much of a failure he was.
" I'm going to die here, but I expected that, didn't I? " There was no escaping how his inner thoughts always reflected the voices in his head telling him how much of a failure he was. " It wasn't as if I had any dreams of my own, so... "
" Don't you have any dreams of your own, Rabbit? "
Regulus' eyes opened, and the murky water stung his eyes. " Why? Why do I hear her voice now of all times? " Even as the cold dead fingers tore into his backside, Regulus remembered his response to her. " No. I don't. "
" That's - sad. "
" Why am I thinking of that Muggle girl right now? " His eyes closed, unable to brush aside the memory of what she looked like, but for some reason, her voice became the loudest voice in his head.
If his mother knew -
Walburga Black would throw a fit worse than any she'd thrown for his older brother Sirius if she knew he'd become close to a Muggle girl in the way he had, telling her things about himself he honestly should never have brought up. He told her everything because she accepted him despite everything. " I'd like to see her one more time. "
Regulus' eyes snapped open, his mouth opening in sudden realization of the truth. Bubbles of air started escaping his mouth as a heavy feeling of regret suddenly set in.
" Why? Why in this moment did I have to realize I do indeed have a dream for myself? "
" Because... " his mother's voice cooed in his head. " You, a Pureblood of the Noble House of Black, are not allowed to have such dreams for yourself. "
" You're not a doll, Rabbit," he remembered Olivia saying. " You are a human being and deserve to have dreams of your own. "
" It's not fair, " Regulus thought to himself as he felt anger boiling up in his core. " It's not fair that suddenly I want to live, right when I'm dying. " Bubbles continued out of his mouth. " It's not fair when I finally found a dream for myself, as stupidly impossibly as it might be. " He sucked in a breath of air, which was instead murky water. " It's not fair! "
Something burst out from his core, through all the pain, all the terror, all the voices in his head. The cold dead fingers grasping at him tore away as the same murky water which burned his lungs suddenly churned from some unknown force, forcing his eyes shut.
And then -
Regulus slammed into something. He heard the impact followed by another sound which sounded like wooden furniture breaking. His mouth opened and closed like a dead fish as he gagged the murky water in his lungs up, while his mind registered the sensation of air all around him, cooling his cold, clammy skin even more. People around him let out gasps and yelps, which confused him.
" I shouldn't have been able to apparate out of the cave. " Regulus clenched his eyes shut, pushing himself up from the debris of where he landed. He remained entirely unsure of himself as the adrenaline from coming to the realization he wanted to live continued to rush through his veins. Even in the sitting position, he struggled to keep himself up with his arms. Knowing this, Regulus still reached for his wand, gripping it tightly as his hand went back down to steady himself.
"Goodness!" said a woman Regulus didn't recognize the voice of, making him wonder why he'd ended up in this specific spot when he apparated. "Poor child."
" Not a child. Seventeen, almost eighteen. " Regulus breathed heavily, continuing to cough up the nasty water.
A man spoke rather loudly. "We need to get him to the hospital."
" Not St. Mungos. I'll end up in Azkaban once the staff finish with me, and then... " Regulus swallowed, not wanting to think about what his mother would say once she found out, let alone what Voldemort would do as well.
"Rabbit?"
Regulus felt his body stiffen. " Olivia? "
He heard a fourth voice mutter something about how Olivia happened to know him, yet he found himself confused still regarding where he was, let alone why he ended up near the Muggle girl. She spoke softly. "It's going to be okay."
Regulus collapsed while still clutching his wand.
~
Nobody in the Granger family expected the sight of a young boy appearing out of thin air and crashing into their coffee table while they were enjoying a family night with those who were able to show up. The black-stained wood cracked under the impact of him landing as all four stared at the boy, their eyes wide in disbelief, although Olivia's eyes softened first, accompanied by her mouth pressing more firmly while her hands tightened around the drink in her lap.
Even more frightening than the boy's sudden appearance was the way ghastly water dripped off the boy and blood poured from his wounds. He seemed like an enigma out of another era, for the clothes he wore were recognizable as being from another decade despite being as badly torn as they were. They heard him retch out more of the water while not looking at them, wobbling back and forth before reaching for something - a stick.
"Goodness!" The mother gasped out, a hand going to her mouth as Olivia set her cup onto a nearby side table, a look of determination on her face.
"We need to get him to the hospital," her husband plied, placing his drink aside as well while the boy's hand tightened around the wand.
It was then that Olivia did something unexpected, muttering out one word. "Rabbit?"
"Wait? You know this kid?" her brother, the one that was there that night for family night, muttered as she moved from her seat, so she was in front of the boy.
"It's going to be okay." At that moment, the boy collapsed, still clutching the stick in his hand.
"Hamlet, I'm going to get the car ready," The father said, standing up. "Bring him out and put him in the back seat. Let me know if he stops breathing at any time."
He headed out the front door while Hamlet lifted the boy into his arms, the stick still clutched in his hand that was up against Hamlet's body while their mother hurried out, glancing over at Olivia and stopping at the door. "Stay here."
"But..."
"Call ahead and let them know we're on our way, that they should prep for surgery. We'll talk about who he is later." She hurried out, Hamlet close on her tail. She opened the left door to slide into the back seat while Hamlet went to the right side of the car where the car door was already open, ready for him to slip the boy into the back seat, leaning him back, so his head rested in the woman's lap. "Poor, poor child."
Nobody noticed the stick grasped in the boy's left-hand drop to the ground before slipping under one of the front seats as he continued to bleed out. Hamlet hurried to the other side and got in on the passenger side at the front. Blood was all over his shirt while the car started up and headed down the road towards the local hospital.
They soon arrived at the small hospital, and the person on duty hurried out, bringing a gurney so they might lift the boy onto it. "What mauled the kid, Dr. Granger?"
"I don't know," Dr. Granger replied as he slipped out of the driver's side of the car. "The boy just showed up out of nowhere at our front door tonight in need of help, so we rushed him here."
"Yes. Poor thing." His wife hurried along. "Is surgery ready for us?"
"Yes, Dr. Granger," the person in charge stated. "As ready as it can be on such short notice."
Hamlet rubbed the back of his neck. "And what am I supposed to do?"
"Get a change of clothes, but be here when Olivia shows up."
"You told her to stay at the house. "
"I don't think she's going to stay. You'll find a change of clothes in your father's office."
She hurried away while Hamlet muttered, "You mean the change of clothes is his clothes." Shaking his head, he let himself into the office and changed. He let the bloody shirt drop onto the couch. "Are they even going to be able to save the kid, given this is just a small cottage hospital?"
He scooped the shirt back up and headed to where the hospital kept its laundry and dumped the object in before heading back to the front. His brown eyes widened upon seeing his younger sister there. "Olivia?"
"Any word?"
"You do know that kid then, don't you?" She kept mum, her eyes glued to the floor. He let out a sigh before sitting down on one of the seats in the reception area. "Sit." When she sat down, he asked a burning question. He switched to speaking softly in case anybody was nearby to overhear the rest of their conversation. "So, what was up with him literally appearing out of thin are like that?"
"I'm not supposed to talk about that."
"What do you mean you're not supposed to talk about that?"
"He wasn't even supposed to tell me."
"That he can do things like that?" Hamlet asked. She nodded her head while her hands clenched her skirt. He looked up at the ceiling. "The story mom and dad came up with is that he showed up at our front door tonight in need of help."
"What?"
He glanced down, seeing her look up at him with wide brown eyes as her straight brown hair cascaded around her face. "What I mean is mom and dad are going to keep his secret, as am I. Sure, the way he showed up is a metaphor, but him being in trouble isn't a lie, is it?"
"No."
"Olivia, what do you know about the trouble he's in?"
"Rabbit isn't a bad person." She swallowed. "But he might have gotten involved with some bad people."
"I see." Hamlet folded his arms behind his head. "Do you like him?"
"Yes. I do. I didn't think I would see Rabbit again, given the fact we live in different worlds."
"He's not going to be able to go back to that world of he is, not without being in danger, is he?"
"No. I can't..."
"You can't go into details regarding the kind of danger he's gotten himself into because it's his place to tell us those things, but he'll tell us what he will when he's ready to do so, if ever, right?"
"Right."
"As you told him, everything will be okay." Hamlet smiled, even though there was still the feeling that Olivia's little Rabbit wouldn't survive. "You know mom and dad will do everything they can to save him."
"I know."
Hours passed. Olivia nodded off first and then Hamlet, but his father's voice woke him. "Done."
Hamlet looked up but then glanced down at Olivia, who was asleep leaning up against him. "The boy?"
"It was touch and go, but he's alive."
~
" I'm alive. " Regulus looked at a hospital ward of some kind as sunlight streamed in from windows on all three sides, almost like the infirmary back at Hogwarts. " But this isn't St. Mungos, and I'm not in Azkaban. "
"Oh. You're awake, sweetheart." Regulus tried turning his head. "Don't move. You might open your wounds back up, and we don't want to do surgery again. So, I'll come to the other side."
A woman appeared, pulling up a chair as he lay on his stomach. A stuffed rabbit was in her hands, and she placed it on the table beside his hospital bed. His head turned slightly, observing the object in confusion.
"Olivia's not allowed to visit just yet, but since she called you Rabbit, I thought this little guy might keep you company until you are well enough to have visitors."
" Olivia? Then this is a Muggle hospital. I'm screwed. I'm majorly screwed, but I've put her in danger. " Another thought crossed his mind. " Wait. Why hasn't anyone come looking for me? Don't they care? " He started moving, thoughts of someone caring enough to have him dead unnerving him. Bandages covered his left arm, shoulder, torso, and thighs.
"Don't move." The woman said. "You flatlined three times. Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds, four minutes and forty-nine seconds, and finally two minutes and twenty-three seconds."
" I don't know what this word flatlined means. " Regulus opened his mouth to speak, yet nothing came out. The woman reached out and brushed a lock of black curls away from his silver-grey eyes.
"I'm Olivia's mother, by the way. Her father and I are the doctors who stitched you back together. She's quite fond of you."
" And? "
"Rest up."
" But, they are in danger, correct? Olivia and her family?"
He waited. He waited for someone such as Bellatrix to show up, but nobody did, as if he were already dead. As such, his mind wandered to other things.
" Why am I alive? His magic prevents a person from apparating in and out. It felt like some kind of accidental magic on my part, brought on by those thoughts of mine. I honestly don't get it."