oo1. [Accidental Video]

[the_noble_black]

[The video feed clicks on with a wet, sopping sound. The sound of waterlogged fabric slipping along itself. There's a resounding thud as the figure crashed to the floor. It's hard to see, at first- whirling, obscuring robes, collapsing in on itself, water flung off of fabric and skin and blurring the camera

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[snarkypotions]

[Oh.

He knows that mark, but more importantly, he knows that boy. It has been quite a long time since he's seen his friend housemate, and the way he's arrived at Adstringendum doesn't leave much room for imagination as to what was happening right before this.

And besides, the week with the gravestones and the fog had been quite... enlightening.]

Regulus. [His voice is slightly deeper, more sure, more developed, yet still very recognizable. As is that nose and hair.] There should be a Muggle device near you, press the large button on the top of it.

[Video || Private || Unhackable]

[the_noble_black]

[He's going to spend a few long moments trembling anyway, looking up from behind his soaking bangs, eyes searching for where the voice was coming from- or where the Muggle device actually was.

He found it after a few minutes of fumbling and presses the button on the top of it, his eyes squeezing shut as he sends Snape his coordinates- an abandoned building, unsafe for residency, but not quite in danger of collapsing yet.]

S-Severus? [His voice is hoarse, broken.] Where are you, I can't-

[Video || Private || Unhackable] --> [Offline]

[snarkypotions]

I will be there soon. In the meantime... breathe.

[And by soon, he means in about thirty seconds. Enough time for him to gather necessary potions and have Erebus bring him to the building.]

Injuries?

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[the_noble_black]

[He tries to breathe- it hurts- but he forces himself, squeezing his eyes shut and waiting for Severus. Wherever he was, Regulus wasn't quite sure- all of this was so foreign, so strange, it hurt.

And then Severus was there, and it was all he could do to look up at the man, his eyes slightly wide. Severus was old- at least twenty years older from the last time they had met. What happened? Why was he- Regulus' head hurt and the potion that he'd drank still coursed through his veins, clouding his head with hazy regrets and apologies.]

Severus, I need... [He reaches up a hand- bloody where the nails had been ripped off- to try and grab at the other man's robes. He's soaked, shivering, desperate.] Water, please-

[Offline] Completely just conked out last night, I'm so sorry!

[snarkypotions]

[He had seen the effects off the poison with his very eyes, seen how it had reduced Dumbledore from the powerful wizard that he was to the weak, old man slumped against the wall in an effort to remain upright. It's not a pleasant memory, it's a memory he wishes never existed, and yet, tonight...]

One would think you'd have had enough water as it is, Regulus.

[Sardonic, dry, almost humorous even if this wasn't Snape. But he squats down next to the boy, gripping the front of those water-logged robes and pulling him over so that he is supporting him in a sitting position. Conjuring a cup, he fills it with clear water from his wand before tipping it down Regulus' throat with one hand and running diagnostic spells with the other, his voice a low murmur of spells.]

[Offline] no worries!

[the_noble_black]

[Regulus drinks like he wasn't just drowning, thirst as if he'd gone for weeks without water. Every few gulps it goes down wrong and he chokes it up, only pausing to take quick gasps of breath.

There's no mortal injury on him- bruises around his ankles and ribs where they held him down, bleeding scrapes on his palms and arms from where they scratched him. The worst of the damage was internal, his waterlogged and bleeding lungs, raw and bleeding throat. He's still under the effects of the potion, but with time, it seems to be fading just slightly.

Regulus is trembling though, freezing in his ice cold robes, his lips practically blue from the hypoxia and chill.]

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[snarkypotions]

[There's a sound of disapproval every time Regulus coughs some of the water back out, but Snape is patient enough to manage to get all of it down Regulus before setting the cup to the side in order to get his potions pouch out. He's had the time to think about this in the time here, time to wonder what might have happened had the Headmaster trusted him enough to bring him along on his hunts for the Horcruxes. He's wondered, more than once, what could have been had he been with Dumbledore and got to the curse from the ring earlier, how things might have turned out if he had been there to undo the weakening effects of the potion before the man had returned to the trap waiting for him at the top of the Astronomy Tower.

The conclusions are all the same... Albus Dumbledore might still be alive.

So the potion he draws out is one that has been specially crafted to combat the particular one that Regulus drank, and he slowly pours it down his old schoolmate's throat as he dries the robes and casts a warming charm.]

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[the_noble_black]

[The warmth and the cure works its wonders almost instantly, and a trickle of life ebbs back into Regulus' cheeks, the color slowly seeping back into his skin, the brightness behind his eyes. He'd been on the brink of- not quite death, but hypothermia at the very least, though pneumonia was still entirely possible, especially with traces of the dirty water still in his lungs. Not much hope of helping with that at this point though.

He sucks in a deep breath like he's as greedy for air as he'd been for water just a few moments ago, his eyes opening wide, sitting up on his own as his heart gives a mighty few beats, jumpstarted by the potion, the sudden warmth.]

Severus-

[He coughs, but it's not as wet or deep as it had been before. He's not completely better, but he's come a long way.

There's a lot of things he wants to ask right now, but the confusion over his situation dominates everything, and he can't quite figure out how to ask the questions he's thinking. So he just stays silent, bright gray eyes watching his old ally, in

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[snarkypotions]

[The questions can wait, the water still in his lungs and the bleeding can not. So Snape is completely ignoring those gray eyes in favor of shoving another potion in Regulus' face.]

Drink before you mangle my name even more.

[Because you sound like shit, Reg. And this whole coughing up blood thing? Not pleasant. Should also help with the fingernail thing.]

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[the_noble_black]

[Hey man, we can't be pretty all the time okay.

Regulus nods and drinks the second potion- he has second thoughts, of course he does, but he doesn't really have a second choice. He was dead without Snape's help (though wasn't he dead anyway?). And before he could go down the slippery slope of thinking that this is all some strange hallucinogenic spell of Voldemort's, the potion hits the back of his throat, and he sighs audibly in relief as the flesh starts to wind itself back together.]

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[snarkypotions]

[Once he's ran a second diagnostic and is satisfied with the results, Snape is moving out of the way and giving Regulus the most unimpressed look ever.]

You're an idiot.

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[the_noble_black]

[He looks back toward Snape for a long moment, his voice sounding much better- still weak, but not pathetic.]

And you didn't age well.

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[snarkypotions]

That should hardly be a surprise.

[He's not the pretty/good looking/vain one here.]

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[the_noble_black]

[Slowly, Reg struggles to his feet, using the wall for support.]

You really don't have any grounds to call me an idiot, you know.

[Offline]

[snarkypotions]

I have plenty of grounds.

[He saw your death. Death by Inferi. Really?]

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[the_noble_black]

Tell me what's going on here.

[Cut the chitchat, he's fucking confused.]