Chapter Text
Sirius is feeling rather proud of himself. It’s not often he gets his boyfriend to agree to impromptu sex, and in a classroom no less. With his mouth fixed to Remus’ neck and Remus’ hands pressed against his arse, it’s hard to imagine feeling more pleased with himself.
At least, up until Sirius feels Remus go rigid against him, so he pulls away and starts to ask: “Remus, what—?”
But then he catches sight of Remus’ expression—something like shock, with a tinge of embarrassment coloring his cheeks—and he stops himself. His eyes are looking at something behind Sirius. He looks over his shoulder, to see what Remus is seeing—
And then he sees just who is standing in the door of the classroom. He swallows hard. “Reg.”
His brother almost mirrors Remus, his cheeks a light pink, and with eyes wide as the serving platters in the Great Hall. But then that disappears, and the mask slips on—hard, blank, unfeeling. Sirius knows the expression well—it practically runs in the family.
"Rem," Sirius says, stepping away from Remus so he can face Regulus directly, "you should go."
"Sirius—"
"Go, Remus. This is something we need to do alone."
As Remus approaches the doorway, Regulus steps away, nose in the air and eyes narrowed. It takes a conscious effort not to say anything about it.
When Remus is gone, Sirius slams the door with a wave of his wand, then crosses his arms and waits. When Regulus doesn’t speak, he breaks the silence: “Let’s hear it, Reg.”
The dam breaks: “What do you think you’re doing?”
Sirius sighs and rubs a hand over his face. “Look, Reg, I know it’s hard for you to understand—”
"As if I could!"
"—but I want you to just…" and here Sirius falters a little, "stop and consider."
"Consider that you’ve gone and gotten involved with Lupin, of all people?” Regulus scoffs. “You’re going to get yourself blasted off the tapestry, Sirius! Bad enough it’s another boy, but him?”
"Watch it," Sirius grits out, rolling his wand in his hand.
Regulus spares it only a glance. “No, I won’t, because this is bloody mental, Sirius!”
"He makes me happy, Reg!" Sirius finally bursts out, the words in the air before he can stop them. "If that makes me mental, fine, I’ll be mental!"
Regulus is at a loss for a moment, the mask slipping enough that Sirius can see the conflict in his eyes. Eventually, he looks away from Sirius.
"What we feel—Sirius, it doesn’t matter. You know that."
He’s right about that much, at least, and so Sirius has no answer at first. Then: “What if I don’t care?”
Regulus’ eyes flit back to Sirius. “You don’t mean that.”
"I do, Reg," Sirius says quietly. "You know I haven’t been a part of this family for years. Maybe it’s time I make it official."
"Sirius—don’t—at least, not like this—"
Sirius looks at his brother, looks at him hard, and tries to keep despair from overwhelming him. Where he had managed to escape the mania of his family, Regulus had fallen right into it, intentionally or not. Already, Sirius could see him struggling with it—the repercussions of toujours pur.
Suddenly Sirius is more worried for his brother than ever.
"I’m sorry, Reg. I wish I could make you understand… but I’m starting to think that will never be possible."
With that, he moves forward to push past his brother. He’s halfway down the corridor when Regulus’ voice makes him stop.
"What are you going to do when you get kicked out?"
When, not if.
His brother has already forsaken him. Sirius doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He turns back to look at his brother, standing outside the classroom now. "You really need to ask?"
And that’s how he leaves him, alone in that empty, darkened corridor.