Lead The Way

by thissucks

Summary:

Orion and Walburga dropping dead in his last year of school was never in Sirius's plans.

Neither was taking in his little brother who was dead set on pressing each and every one of his buttons.

But he would do it. For the greater good. No feelings attached......none at all.

Chapter 1

The ginger biscuits got stuck in his teeth. They were truly disgusting but no matter how much Sirius tried, the manners Walburga cursed into him just couldn't disappear. So he ate them when Mcgonagall told him to sit and eat when she pulled him out of a very boring Charms class. 

Kicking his feet, Sirius ran a hand through his silky hair, waiting for Minerva. Her naturally poised demeanor seemed different, refusing to look him in the eye and didn’t even chastise him when he called her Minnie. Definitely odd. Maybe she found out about the roosters the Marauders planned to release all over the castle before dinner. Oh, that reminded him, he should make this fast, the roosters were getting pecky being locked in a broom closet. He already had a tiny scar on his finger. 

Interrupting his thoughts, the door opened revealing Professor Mcgonagall and the Headmaster. Okay the prank wasn’t that bad, maybe just a bit of droppings, no need to involve the Headmaster. It had to be something horrible. Sirius prepared himself to deny Snivellus murder, no matter how guilty he may seem…..or how enticing the idea was. 

 

Sirius took his feet off the desk and sat up straight. “Uhhhhh...Hi. Whatever you think I did, I probably didn’t do it…...and if I did, I’m very sorry.” Sirius said with the biggest puppy eyes he could muster. 

 

A smile pulled at Minerva's lips, it quickly disappeared, wouldn’t want her students to know she actually likes them. Dumbledore on the other hand chuckled. 

 

“Worry not Mr.Black, you are not in trouble.” He said, taking a seat at Mcgonagall's desk after she refused to take it, choosing to stand as domineering as possible to his side. 

 

“Yeah I knew that,” Sirius said trying to laugh it off, “I was just joking. Is there something wrong?” If he wasn’t in trouble, Sirius was hardly a student two teachers called out of class for a nice chat. This had to be bad. What if Andy died?! Or Euphemia or Fleamont?! Lily's parents were killed in their own house just last month, and they were muggles! Who knew what could be done to high profile Blood Traitors. 

 

Minerva cleared her throat. “Mr.Black, we received an owl this morning from the Ministry,” oh Merlin this can’t be happening, “Orion and Walburga Black were found dead in a country residence in Paris two nights ago. We are very sorry for your loss.” How could this happe- wait what? 

 

“My parents are dead?” Sirius asked, his face unemotional, eyes glued to his lap. 

 

“Yes. We know that your relationship was strained but if you need any-”

 

“That's not necessary Professor, truly.” Sirius finally looked up, a smile forming on his face. Somehow his shoulders felt lighter, like a giant weight he had been lugging around his entire life had been ripped away. It was like receiving air after a lifetime of drowning. He needed to go tell James and Remus. Hell he was gonna yell it from the astronomy tower: Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead! About to excuse himself, Sirius got up. 

 

“Not so fast Mr.Black,” The Headmaster spoke up, “There is still something we need to discuss.” Sirius sat back down. What could be more important than this!? It was the greatest day of his whole life.

 

“Along with the letter from the Ministry, custody papers also arrived.”

 

“What? I already turned 17 and it's not like they were ever truly parents. I left years ago.” If these people made him go live with Uncle Cygnus, they would have another thing coming to them. 

 

Dumbledore gave him a small smile,”Not for your Mr.Black, for your brother, Regulus. He’s still a minor and his legal guardians are gone. You on the other hand are of age. Since you are his older brother, legally, custody would be passed on to you, if you desire it.”

 

“No offense Professor but I’m sure Regulus would be thrilled to go live with Bellatrix. He made his choice long ago.” Right about the time the sorting hat put him into Slytherin with all the other future Death Eaters. 

 

Dumbledore sighed “I know it may seem like it but you would be surprised what a little guidance can do to a person. Young Mr.Blacks fate is not set in stone. Don’t give up on him just yet. If not for your brother's sake, I know that you plan to join the Order when you graduate,” Sirius eagerly nodded his head, “Regulus Black is a very smart and bookish person. I have it on good authority from his teachers that he is in the running to receive a perfect OWL score…”

 

“I know what a nerd he is, Sir, what does this have to do with anything?”

 

For a split second, the old man looked his age, his voice hardened, “The Dark side has a vast array of talented fighters, that is known. But the reason they have been so successful is not just because of their brute strength. Their plots are organized and timed to avoid law enforcement while having escape routes just in case they have a run in. Imagine adding an academic genius to that plotting. Regulus Black will be a very very dangerous Wizard one day. It's just a matter of who will be his target that can still be changed, while he’s young. I beg of you, not as your Headmaster but as a fellow soldier, take some time to think about it. No matter what you choose, we will all support you, this is also a family affair.”

It had started out such a great day- he woke up with Mooney's arms wrapped around him, the oatmeal was perfectly sweet, James tripped on the stairs, causing a good laugh, his parents died, but leave it to Regulus to cause him a splitting headache. Regulus was unreachable, Dumbledore had to know that. 

 

“Yeah, I'll think about it. Give me a couple of days.” Sirius feigned a thoughtful look. 

 

“Thank you, Mr.Black. I hope you make the right decision.” Feeling dismissed and oddly offended, Sirius stood up again and moved to the door. 

 

“Mr.Black,” McGonagall stopped him. “I knew your mother from school. She was nasty and unkind and never got any better. Your father was a coward who would step on anything and everything that would get him a leg up. I don’t see an ounce of them in you.”

 

“Thank you, Minnie.” Sirius blinked away the tears that threatened to form in his eyes. Not even a teacher was allowed to see anything but his bad boy persona. He would actually die. 

 

“I don’t see them in Regulus either.” Now that was unexpected. 

 

“My door is always open if you need a talk-”

 

“Aaaaaaaaw Minnie-”

 

“Get back to class Mr.Black. It's your last year and you can’t afford to fail.” There you go, the Minnie everyone knew and loved. “Also 10 points from Gryfindor for the improper use of faculty names, off you go.”

 

“Huuhh!? My parents just died, have some sympathy!”

 

“I was going to make it 20. Get to it!”

 

---

“You’ve been awfully quiet, Padfoot. If Moony’s not meeting your needs, I would be more than happy to step up- oww!” Lily smacked James over the head. “Just joking love” He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Lily huffed and started scribbling her History of Magic notes, and as the love sick fool James was, he diligently started his own as well. 

 

“Everything alright Si? James is right, you've been quiet all day. Did something happen during that meeting?” Remus looked at him with concerned amber eyes, hand on his knee under the table. Remus never failed to make his stomach flutter. Sirius knew there was something special about him the moment he walked into his compartment all those years ago. There was nothing Remus couldn’t fix. 

 

“Oh its nothing” Sirius tried to brush off his concern. Regulus was never a favorite topic of Sirius’ to discuss, he would figure it out later when everyone was asleep. But Remus knew him far too well.

 

Remus closed his book and put his parchment into his bag. “We’re gonna call it a night.” He announced to the table. Dorcas and Marlene barely looked up from their makeout session and the Prewett twins, as oblivious as ever, kept on playing their fantasy Quidditch game with pieces of paper. James and Lily, as disgustingly in love as ever, had been waiting for the moment to sneak off as well. 

 

“See you all tomorrow” Lily called out as James pulled her out of the library, both giggling like children.

 

“You’re all leaving?” Peter finally looked up from his essay. “But you're not done yet.”

 

“You can look at my essay tomorrow Pete, don’t worry,” Remus said. He took Sirius’s hand and led him out of the library. 

 

“Where are we going?” Sirius asked. He really really didn’t want to talk about this.

 

“Let's just walk for a while.”

 

“Fine.” 

 

Sirius felt tired. His brain was working on overload, too many things happened today. Life was supposed to be easy now. Better even. All his friends would graduate and get apartments and fight bad guys and ride into the sunset. But now, Sirius had to take in his potential evil mastermind brother and make sure he led him on the right path. It wasn’t like he could turn down the custody either. After both Dumbledore and Mcgonagall gave him that wonderful guilt tripping speech, how could he? Sirius would look like an asshole who wasn’t willing to do his part for the war. He was seventeen for fucks sakes, he couldn’t raise a fifteen year old! 

 

“Your thinking awfully loud, Si” Sirius was interrupted from his thoughts.

 

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.” Remus’s hand drifted further down his back. Further and further and-

 

“Oh really you're tired? I guess you're too tired to do anything.” Remus looped his fingers into Sirius’s belt loops, slowly pushing him closer to the wall until they were barely touching. With slow mocking movements, Remus grinded his hips into Sirius’s, eliciting small moans-

 

“My parents are dead and now Dumbledore and Mcgonagall want me to take custody of Regulus so he doesn’t turn into a genocidal mastermind.” Remus froze and then pulled away.

 

“Oh wow...I didn’t expect that. Ummmmm let's go get a cuppa in the kitchens. We can talk there.” Sirius let himself be led down to the kitchens. His head felt somehow empty now that he let it all out into the open. All of the house elves had gone to bed for the night, the kitchens empty and quiet. The world finally stopped moving at top speed. Remus always knew what to do.

 

Remus handed him a cup of hot chocolate and sat next to him on the floor. 

 

“How do you feel about your parents being dead? And be honest, I’m not James. You don’t have to pretend everything's fine for my sake.” Sirius loved James, he really did but he just didn’t get it. James had a perfect life, with perfect parents, and a perfect childhood and a perfect future ahead of him. The worst thing that had ever happened to James only truly affected Sirius and Remus. It was never direct. 

 

“Confused, I guess. I hated them with every fiber of my being but there's this little part of me that's almost...angry at them for dying.”

 

“Angry? Why?”

 

“Well…..there was a time long ago when they were almost like real parents you know? But as the years went by they just became angrier and angrier until they became….the Lord and Lady Black. You know what the real kicker is?” Sirius was yelling now,  “That Regulus doesn’t even remember those people. He’s spent all of these years trying to impress people who aren’t even our parents anymore and they just...just….drop dead! And they leave me with this mess to clean up knowing they aren’t gonna be here to do it!” Tears were freely flowing down his face. 

 

Remus sat calmly by his side, holding his hand. 

 

“Regulus used to be the sweetest kid ever, you wouldn’t know it now. Would wake me up in the middle of the night to tell be a stupid fact about whatever he was excited about that week. I would get mad and tell him to piss off but he would keep doing it anyway. And then that bitch Walburga dug her talons into him and I started sleeping soundly through the night. I was so fucking glad Regulus wasn’t hanging off of me all the time, that I just let it happen. How can I raise a teenager after I let the Devil drag him into hell?” Sirius couldn’t stop ranting at this point. Everything was slipping out now. 

 

“Look at me Sirius,” Remus’s voice was hard as steel, Sirius snapped out of it, looking at his boyfriend, “That was not your fault. You were a child. I know he’s your brother but you are not responsible for what your parents did. If you stayed any longer, you’d be just as dead as they are.” 

 

“Moony, you don’t unders-”

 

“No, I may not fully understand what you feel because I don’t have siblings and all that, but I do know that everyone deserves a fighting chance. If you truly feel obligated to take Regulus in, show him that kindness your parents used to have and never let it go. If Walburga pulled him into the depths of Hell, that's okay because I’ll be right there to help you pull him out. We all will. It’ll all be fine. We will do this together, you hear me?” 

 

“Yeah.” Sirius murmured, resting his head on Remus’s shoulder.

 

“We’ll work on your enthusiasm later,” Remus tried to joke, “Does Regulus know?”

 

“About our parents being dead? Slughorn probably pulled him out of class and told him as well.” He started playing with the buttons on Remus’s cardigan. 

 

“Oh I meant about you potentially taking custody of him. From what I’ve seen of him, he’ll probably not take that too well.” Sirius stopped.

 

“Fuck!” Sirius yelled out, Remus winced, his ear aching. 

 

Sirius stood up and started pacing the room. 

 

“What if Regulus doesn’t know?! What if he thinks I’m trying to take him away from his family out of spite?! He’s so smart Moony, he’ll think that's something wrong right away. I don’t think I can do this! This whole time I was just thinking about the idea of all of this, but actually doing it? He’ll eat me alive. He can smell fear, I swear.” His breath got shallower and felt like the walls were caving in. Until it wasn’t. Arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly until he felt he could breathe again. 

 

“I told you Si,” Remus whispered in his ear, “We’re in this together. If you have to tell him, I’ll be right there with you. Before jumping to conclusions, we’ll find Slughorn first thing tomorrow and ask him what Regulus knows. And if you don’t want to tell him, I’m sure Slughorn is more than equipped to handle it.”

 

“Right, you're so right.” Sirius felt more tired than he had felt in a very long time. 

 

“Let's go to bed. You can turn your brain back on in the morning. I’ll even finish our essays for us.” They left the kitchens and made their way up to Gryfindor tower. 

 

“I love you Moony.” Sirius murmured half asleep. 

 

“You just like me for my good looks, '' Remus jokes.

 

“Don't you know it” Sirius fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Chapter 2

“Here me out, I’ve got another one. What if, this is a great idea by the way, I convince a bunch of students to do one of those spontaneous dances that muggles do in public, what are they called? Oh right flash-mobs, when he's walking to class and right as it ends, I present to him the custody papers and tell him he's an orphan but like not really. Because I’m his new dad…...Dadfoot.”

 

Sirius was met with blank stares. 

 

“I think he’d rather be an orphan if you did that.” James said with a grin on his face. “I still don’t see what's wrong with my idea.”

Remus gave him his most teacher-esque look. “For the last time James, I don’t think Regulus would appreciate it if we kidnap him off of the platform and keep him in your parents basement until he gives into the power of love. Sirius is supposed to make him want to stay, remember? Not plot his death out of spite.” 

 

“Well fine then.” James murmured petulantly under his breath. “Do your stupid dance routine and see how he likes that. Lily would think it's a good idea.” Lily had been roped in by Slughorn to assist him with teaching some lower classes and was helping prep instead of eating breakfast with James. He was obviously very miffed about it. 

 

“Alright lads, we have to plan something for real now. Christmas vacation is coming up and I don’t think Dumbledore would appreciate his future brain getting a set of poisoned knives for Christmas instead of a sweater.” Sirius pushed his plate of eggs away, appetite gone and stomach churning. Holiday break was in two weeks and he still had no idea how he would break the news to his brother or even approach him. The friendship of their youth fading as the years went on. “Circe, this is stressful.”

 

Sirius didn’t even know what to do when Regulus physically came to be in his care. The Potters had been gracious enough to let him live in their house when he ran away and he didn’t want to burden them with more children. Unknown to his friends, Sirius spent late nights combing through apartment listings he could afford with the money Uncle Alphard left him. It would be tight, his newfound freedom had gone to his head last year and half the funds bought the most beautiful motorcycle the world would ever see. Budgeting for two now would be a bit rocky until he got a job. Walburga would be rolling in her grave if she knew he needed a job for money. Jobs were for the poor. 

 

“You should just tell him, Si,” Remus broke him out of his thoughts and offered him a comforting smile, “The longer you put it off, the more you’ll sike yourself out. Find him after dinner today and explain the situation. It's not like he can be mad at you about it, if he's got a problem with it, he can take it up with the Ministry. Unless you actually killed your parents, then you should worry a tiny bit.” Yup, that's what he'd do. After his heart stopped beating a mile a minute and the world slowed down just a tad. 

 

“Yeah mate, we’ll even come with you!” James exclaimed, waving his hands, nearly knocking over his juice. “We’ll stand behind you and be real quiet, for moral support and all. Reggie will barely notice we’re there. And if all else fails, we always have my plan.” Merlin, Sirius loved James. The idiot could make him smile even when the world was ending. When the Black family made it clear he wasn’t welcome, James and his parents gave him every ounce of love he deserved. Because he did deserve it and they made sure he knew it too. The Potters were his family now. 

 

“Thanks Prongs.” Maybe things would turn out like they were supposed to, the four of them living grand lives and fighting crime, just with a plus one. “Were gonna be great parents when-”

 

“Ummmm…..are you sure that’s a good idea?” The three turned their heads to the quiet fourth member of the Marauders. None of them would admit it, but they hadn’t realized when Peter came down from the dormitories to join them in the great hall. 

 

“What's not a good idea, Wormy?” James asked.

 

“Us going with Padfoot when he goes to tell Regulus. I don’t think he’ll appreciate it.” Peter's voice was so soft, the three had to lean in to hear. 

 

Sirius let out a laugh. “HA! Don’t worry Wormy, there's four of us, he won’t even have the chance to try anything. And if he does, I’ll ground him or something. Let's get to class, Marlenes always taking my seat by the window in Transfiguration. I swear she runs there and does it on purpose.” They wiped their mouths and made to get up, once again they were stopped.

 

“That’s not what I meant.” The Marauders gave him questioning looks. “Don’t get me wrong Padfoot, you're a great brother….just not to him. In all these years I’ve never seen you talk to him for more than two minutes and those conversations never sounded pretty. I’m not gonna lie, but if I were him, I’d kinda hate us. Surrounding him like that won’t earn you any points.”

 

Hate them? Why the hell would Regulus hate them? There was nothing about the Marauders not to love. Pete really needed to get a grip. Stopping himself from rolling his eyes, Sirius swung his feet over the table bench. “I’ll keep that in mind, Wormtail. But I know him alright,” do I really? “There's nothing more Reggie likes than a good argument. Just keep quiet and let me do the talking.” And when I start panicking, Moony will jump in. It was a spot free plan.

 

“If you say so.” Peter murmured into his cereal. “I’ll meet you guys in class, Flitwick wanted to see me about my charms essay.” 

“If you say so Wormy. Save you a seat!” Sirius threw his arms over James and Remus’s shoulders, the three of them walking out of the Great Hall as Peter looked on. 

 

---

The day could not have gone any slower. Double Transfiguration paired with Double Potions should be its personal sort of hell. All they had left was Charms, the last class of the day, and for once Sirius was glad school was so boring. The nerves from the day in the kitchens came back full force halfway through Potions when Slughorn mentioned how good the Black Brothers were at Potions. Needless to say, Sirius’s potion turned an ugly brown seconds later instead of vibrant pink, making him start all over. Slughorn pretended to not notice. 

 

Next to him, James was taking his newfound role of Head Boy to a laughable extent. Fractions of points were being taken off students for the stupidest things like looking at him funny that one time in the second year. It was a wonder his Headship hadn’t been revoked already. 

 

“James! You can’t take 4/378 of a point off of someone for wearing shoes that offended you!” Lily tried to keep a straight face but was miserably failing. “If a teacher sees you, your badge could be taken away. And then we wouldn’t share the Head Dorms and…….” She whispered something in his ear, making his ears go a brilliant shade of red, his eyebrows nearly touching his hairline. Geez, not even him and Moony were that disgusting. This was a public corridor of Merlins sakes! If Sirius wasn’t a godly man, he’d have oh so much to say!

 

“Your right love. But you have to admit, fuchsia does go terrible with gre- OI YOU CAN’T SMOKE IN THE CORRIDORS! PUT THAT OUT!” James yelled out to someone across the hall. Students scattered their way to class, not wanting to lose even a .000001 of their points before break. The target of his wrath looked around and when he found no one else standing behind him, he pointed a finger to his chest. 

 

“Are you talking to me?” The Ravenclaw boy had a much too innocent look on his face. Perfect. Sirius needed some stress relief and watching James give a smart ass detention was just the thing for it. 

 

James made his way to the boy until he stood a few feet in front of him. Lifting his head and puffing out his chest slightly, James was now in Head Boy mode. “Yeah, I’m talking to you. You can’t smoke in corridors. I’m going to have to give you detention.” 

 

“I’m not standing in the corridor.” The boy took a puff of his cigarette and may or may not have blown it in James’s direction. “I’m standing on the grass outside of the corridor, so technically I’m outside.” He said the words very slowly as if James were a small child. A grin grew on James’s face.

 

“Well you see mate, you can’t smoke anywhere on school grounds so-”

 

“Thanks for telling me, mate. Wow, you really do learn something new every day.” He put out his cigarette on the corridor column and clapped James on the shoulder. “I’m gonna be late to class. See ya.” The Ravenclaw turned to the rest of the group, looking them all over, his eyes laying on Remus. And then he winked and stepped into the hall. He bloody winked. 

 

“Just what do you think-”Sirius was stopped by Remus’s hand on his shoulder and a shake of his head.

 

“Let James take care of it. He obviously wants a rise out of us.” Remus whispered to him. 

 

“Hey, I’m not done with you! What's your name lad, don’t make this harder than it has to be.” James really tried to sound like Fleamont when trying to assert his dominance. Fleamont would probably laugh if he saw this. 

 

The boy had only gotten a couple of steps away before turning around and letting out a big sigh. “Barty.” 

 

“Barty what?”

 

“That’s not my last name.”

 

“What isn’t?”

 

“What isn’t what?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Jeez Potter all those years of flipping your hair really scrambled your brains up.”

 

“You’ve got lots of nerve talking-”

 

“Okay, as entertaining as you two are, we’re going to be late to class.” Lily intervened. “We have Flitwick next and we’ll inform him of a Barty from his house smoking on school grounds. ” She rolled her eyes and intertwined her fingers with James’. “Let's go.”

 

“I had that.” James said to Lily as she pulled him away. 

 

“I know you did love and you were doing so well. The fighting wasn’t worth the….” Their voices fading as they walked on. 

 

Sirius, also being ushered away by Remus, looked back at Barty one last time with the most menacing look he could conjure up. “You better watch yourself.” And with that Barty was left to watch their bodies grow smaller and smaller until they were gone. He leaned against the pillar he had put his cigarette out on and lit up another one. 

 

Just as he raised it to his lips, a hand reached out and plucked it from his hand. “Looks like I’ve got competition.” 

 

“So I get detention because of you AND you steal my cigarettes? I’m starting to believe this is an unfair relationship.” 

 

“If you'd like, we can try to figure out whatever Evans whispered to Potter earlier. It’s not like we’ll make it to class on time.” The two boys looked each other in the eyes for what seemed like eternity before bursting into laughter. 

 

Regulus took a hit and passed it to Barty. “Well did you learn anything new at least?”

 

“I’ve been watching them for days and all I’ve learned is that Evans and Potter are really horny and got confirmation my brother is dating the werewolf.” Regulus slid down the pillar to sit on the ground, Barty following suite. “And that one was unwillingly. I was in the restricted section of the library and I heard them come in so I hid. Worst 20 minutes of my life.” 

 

Bartys eyes grew wide. “Wait wait wait..you're telling me I got detention for nothing? I could have told you all of that! Fuck the entire school could have told you that! Lupin and Black aren’t as subtle as they think. For a genius you're a real idiot.” He huffed.

 

“Oh come on, you're always saying you wanted to meet James Potter and now you got the chance.” Regulus tried to reason with a joking smile. 

 

“Yeah...to punch him. Your lucky your semi decent looking or-”

 

“Or what? You would drop me for Lockhart? Though, that Valentine he sent you was quite romantic. Now I’m gonna have to fight Lockhart AND Lupin!” 

 

“Oh shut it.” Barty took back his cigarette from Regulus’s lips. “Are you even sure this is happening? All this stalking is making me feel like a creep.”

 

“I’m certain. They’ve been talking about me for weeks and they're not exactly subtle. Evan said that it's probably something about custody and the house elves confirmed it. Sirius and the werewolf were yelling in the kitchen a few weeks ago and they heard. If he thinks he just gets to waltz back into my life like nothing happened……” Barty zoned out. They had been having the same conversation for the past few days and they all ended with Regulus releasing a tiny bit of anger and then shutting down for the rest of the day. Sirius Black could fuck off in his opinion. Regulus was doing just fine without him and his boyfriend didn’t need him now just because he finally realized James Potter wasn’t his actual brother. Well, Sirius could keep Potter and Barty would keep Regulus and they would all be happy like they had been since Sirius left. 

 

“....it's all a matter of when...” Regulus was so cute when he rambled, Barty thought, most of the time he had no idea what Regulus was talking about. Barty inched closer to Regulus until his head was propped on his shoulder. Leaning forward, Barty whispered in his ear something that would put Evans and Potter to shame. 

 

“...and then he- BARTY THAT IS DISGUSTING! I’M TELLING YOUR MOTHER!...”

 

Echoes of Bartys laugh could be heard all throughout the castle. 

Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Grimmauld Place Summer 1976

 

Evan Rosier was dropped on his head, no correction thrown , from a very tall tower, right onto hard concrete. Yes. That must be it. There was no other explanation to the sheer stupidity that spewed out of his mouth. 

 

For as long as Regulus could remember, the Pureblood boys of his age group spent a few weeks every summer at the retired Lord Burke's summer house in Italy, ‘playdates’ transitioning to ‘visits’ and ‘get togethers'. Glorified sleepovers were what they really were. Midnight skinny dipping, muggle marijuana, shooting rifles, first kisses, lifetime political alliances, whispering secrets- were all part of the infinite possibilities that came with summers at The Coach House. Leave it to stupid Cousin Evan to ruin Regulus’s summer, causing him to return to the suffocating walls of Grimmualds Place 3 days early. 

 

“....mummy wouldn’t like to know her little boy is a fairy, would she?....even he pretends you don’t exist ....” Jerk. Lord Burke took one look at Evans smug grin and the butter knife clenched in Regulus’s hand at the breakfast table and sent everyone packing. Luckily Evan wasn’t stupid enough to let anyone hear and Burke claimed to have enough of prepubescent boys, so it was back to silent anger and slamming doors.  

 

Tension was at an all time high at Grimmauld. Orion was on mistress #4, who Mother suspected was a muggle, and took to wobbling in drunk at every hour of the night, passing out on every bed in the house except his own. Mother was not happy. And if Mother wasn’t happy, Sirius wasn’t happy and Regulus was miserable. The moment they stepped off the train, Mother and Sirius’s annual screaming match over whether or not Sirius would join the rest of the boys at Coach or wallow in self pitying misery repeatedly failing at sneaking out, promptly ensued. Neither noticed Regulus leave. And now he was back.

 

Stepping out of the floo, Regulus shook off the charcoal soot, disappearing into the charmed clean floors. No one was waiting for him. Strange. Usually Kreacher would be eagerly waiting for Regulus’s return, tearing the bags out of his hands and bursting with gossip. He was nowhere to be seen. Once again grasping the handle of his deserted trunk, the young Black made his way out of the parlor and towards the staircase, footsteps echoing on the high ceilings. The dead house elf heads that lined the walls seemingly followed his movements, eerily sending chills up his spine. No matter how long Regulus lived in this house, he could never shake the feeling he was always being watched. The trek up two flights of stairs towards the third floor seemed longer than usual, his trunk banging on each step as he struggled to lift it as the top neared. Bartys comments on his noodle arms came to mind, raising the corners of his mouth as well as his spirits. Two weeks. Regulus had to endure two weeks here and he could see Barty again and not think about his family again until next year. 

 

“Mother?,” Regulus called out into the empty hall, “Mother?”. No answer came from closed doors. Now that he thought about it, not a squeak could be heard from anywhere in the usually bustling house since his arrival. Just great, leave it to his family to go on holiday without telling him. You would think they would give him the courtesy of leaving Kreacher behind to fill him in. 

 

Another flight of stairs led up to his and Sirius’s floor. Out of sight and out of mind, just like their parents liked it. 

 

Regulus stopped dead in his tracks. 

 

The portraits were empty. 

 

All his life snickering dead family members pointed out every flaw of his being no matter where in the house he was. Blank canvas laid in ornate frames. He needed to leave. Abrupt change was never good.He needed to leave, Grimmauld Place was no longer safe. 

 

Regulus reached for his wand that was stuck up his sleeve, if he could get back down to the third floor, Mothers parlor room always had the Floo open for any person dropping in, he could go to Malfoy Manor and alert Narcissa and then-

 

His wand was gone. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. How could he have been so stupid as to not feel his wand was missing.

 

In his panic, Regulus failed to hear the heavy footsteps coming towards him from behind. 

 

“Stupify”, whispered a voice before everything Regulus saw was clouded in darkness. 

 

Present Time, Hogwarts

 

Regulus wouldn’t necessarily call himself a lonely person. People were just disappointing. 

 

Not many children were Walburga Black approved to associate with her children and not many parents wanted them to be. So then, it was always Sirius and Regulus. Regulus and Sirius. Sirius was the first person Regulus ever loved, his mother never quite making the cut no matter how much she tried to reel him in to be her little shadow. His older brother had big dreams, ones where they would find buried treasure, figure out the secrets of the universe and conquer the world, and they would do it all together. Not even the long dreaded day, for Regulus, where they had to say goodbye on Platform 9 3/4 could separate them. Every morning since then,  Regulus would skip every other step on the stairs, running all the way to the kitchen to await Sirius’s pitch black owl. Day after day he waited. And waited. And waited. But Sirius never wrote. Not a single letter. He had found a new brother by the name of James Potter to find the end of the rainbow with. When Sirius finally came home all he could talk about was the loud adventurous bespectacled boy, Regulus’s indulgent smile growing dimmer with each passing day. He should have known that day on the platform was the beginning of the end. ‘We’ no longer included him. 

 

All remaining hopes of joining his brother on his adventures were squashed what a stupid ratty hat yelled Slytherin. Some ‘family’ Sirius was. It took a few weeks for Regulus to realize his official replacement after one too many times of Sirius pretending not to see him in the halls. Regulus began to dread summers being stuck at Grimmauld, all of Sirius’s lost battles with their Mother somehow becoming Regulus’s fault. By the time his older brother hightailed it to his real family, it was a relief to Regulus. He had lost Sirius a long time ago, no point in grieving what had been long gone. 

 

Technically speaking it was Regulus’s fault that he was sitting alone in the library. Flitwick decided it was the perfect day for Barty to help Hagrid feed the thestrals for smoking and mouthing off the golden boy Potter. All because of Regulus’s plan. As Barty liked to say, for a genius, his decisions were quite shit. Friendships didn’t work the same way they do in other houses. In Slytherin one wasn’t even allowed to call another person by their first name without express permission, doing so being the equivalent of spitting at their feet or dismissing a handshake. Regulus had many alliances and acquaintances but not many he could call actual friends who wouldn’t slit his throat in his sleep if they could. Hiding in the library instead of sitting in the Great Hall sounded a whole lot better than pretending that Rabastan’s jokes were funny. 

A hand blocked Regulus’s view of the parchment, eyes following as all his things were pushed on the floor. “Your heads going to get stuck in the clouds if you're always up there.” a whimsical voice said.

“Hello Pandora,” Regulus said with a huff, nearly falling off the chair reaching to pick up his belongings. His friend gracefully set down her own stuff where his were before and sat down a bit too close for comfort. Well, his comfort. Pandora probably didn’t notice. Bemused, Regulus watched as she ignored the world around her and pulled out a whole potted plant out of her bag along with a giant microscope and began inspecting every leaf. She sure was an odd one. He could remember the day they met…

 

“This is yours.” an 11 year old Pandora with eyes far too big for her face said, holding out a black kitten. 

 

Regulus was hiding in a deserted alcove after Sirius and his friends laughed him away after his third attempt that week to speak to him. Quickly hurrying away so no one would see the tears threatening to fall, Regulus didn’t know a Ravenclaw classmate with far too much time on her hands was following him. 

 

“I’m pretty sure it's not,” Regulus said, mustering up all the cold facade a Slytherin should have.

 

“She says she is yours, so she is.” the girl declared. She pushed the kitten onto his chest and without another word turned on her heels and skipped down the hall.

 

What a freak, Regulus thought. 

 

It was the start of a beautiful friendship. Salem thought so too apparently...according to Pandora. 

 

“I thought you had a date with Xeno tonight.” He tried to pry. 

 

Without taking her head out of the plant Pandora responded, “Your brother was very loud at the Gryffindor table.”

 

“I don’t quite see the correlation between the two-”

“They're also standing right behind you.” Someone cleared their throats. Every muscle in Regulus's body tensed. This could not be happening right now, not when Barty was absent. What an awful day. 

 

“Thought you might want to know,” sang Pandora, head still stuck in her plant. 

 

“How will I ever thank you,”Regulus gritted his teeth. The person behind them cleared their throat louder than before as if they couldn’t hear what the 2 fifth years were saying. Maybe if Regulus ignored them they would go away. It worked well for his grandfather after all. 

 

Turned out Regulus did not have Grandfather Arcturus’s luck because next thing he knew the empty chairs were scraped out and filled with the most annoying Gryffindors in the entire school. Fuck him.

 

“Don’t mean to intrude but we couldn’t help but notice how exciting your conversation was, since you know, it was about me,” Sirius said in what Regulus assumed was meant to be a “suave” way.  

 

Regulus figured there were two ways he could deal with this: collect his things and maturely leave or stay and engage ultimately resulting in a screaming match 4 against 2. Maybe even 4 against 1, if Pandora kept her head in her stupid plant. Well, Regulus wasn’t known for his great decisions anyway. 

 

“Are you lost?” Regulus asked mockingly.

 

“I thought we could talk since well you know our-...uh your parents are dead and all.” Sirius was completely still, the picture of serenity except for his right fingernail attempting to carve a hole in the wooden desk. He was nervous. What the hell did he have to be nervous about? His gang of fellow bullies surrounded him, cornering Regulus from running away. 

 

“Fine. Let's talk.” Little did Sirius know, Regulus always brought knives to a duel. He would never make that mistake again. 

 

Notes:

ngl college is kicking my ass. Sorry about the long wait, ill try to update more often. plz leave comments they give me serotonin ;)

Chapter 4

 

Grimmauld Place Summer 1976

 

He felt a light touch stroking his forehead like it was skimming water. It was almost soothing. It had been a long time since someone touched him in such a loving and simple manner. If he were able to move his body or even open his eyes, Regulus would have leaned into the touch. His bliss was broken when the caressing finger scratched his skin with its sharp nail, slowly and harder as it moved. The back of his neck tensed, trying to move away to no avail.

 

“....wake up Reggie….you have to wake up now” 

 

Someone was talking. The voice was so familiar but he couldn’t pinpoint who it was. Panic was beginning to set into his mind. His body felt heavy and all his thoughts were sluggish as if everything were happening simultaneously but also not at all. 

 

“...its nearly time darling you must WAKE UP ”

 

Regulus’s eyes snapped open and almost automatically shut again when a searing light forced them close.

 

“Now now Reggie, that won’t do,” the voice was right next to his ear now. “Open your eyes love, You'll want to pay attention to this part. 

 

When he finally managed to pry his eyes, he wished they had never opened. 

 

Present Day Hogwarts

 

The silence was palpable.

 

Sitting in front of Regulus, Sirius realized this was the first time he had gotten a good look at his brother in years. He was starting to shed the baby fat on his face and his dark curls fell almost stylishly around his head. His little Reggie was growing up. The one thing that hindered Regulus from emulating his own good looks was his eyes. When they were younger Bellatrix would taunt him to tears with jears of him not being a real Black with what she called his cow-like eyes. Regulus had inherited Grandmother Melania’s brown eyes that mixed with the Black's dark features made him look soft. Even now, sitting with the confidence that only the elite could have, he couldn’t be described as anything other than boyish.

 

Sirius tore his gaze away from his brother in an attempt to seem less creepy as they sat there in silence. Instead, he moved to the strange girl sitting next to his brother. At first glance, she looked perfectly normal. Not a blonde hair out of place, blouse buttoned to her neck, gold cufflinks shining on her wrist. It was almost humorous how this pristine girl was enraptured by the potted bush she had set down in front of her on the library table. She was lightly humming as she held pruning shears in her hand and lined up the loose leaves she plucked off, in straight rows on the table. 

 

What a pair they were, Sirius thought holding back a smile. 

 

“What do you want?”, Regulus spoke up, finally breaking the silence. 

 

“How are you? After, you know everything that's happened.” Sirius asked. 

 

“Do you mean after finding out that our parents were found dead on their vacation? Indifferent. Other than that, I've been perfectly splendid.” Regulus said innocently. “Is this all? I’m trying to concentrate.”

 

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat beside him. “Yeah, we were really sorry to hear about your parents, mate. If there's anything my fam-”

 

“I appreciate your efforts at condolences but I do remember your rendition of Marius The Great last month where instead of Marius defeating the dark witch, you threw a watermelon off the top stars with my mother's name on it,” Regulus said blankly. “Or maybe I was hallucinating, they do say the Madness has been starting earlier.”  

 

James’s face seemed to go through the five stages of grief before settling on fighting a grin. 

 

“Well.....in my..umm defense that was before I- we,” James gestured to him, Remus and Peter, “knew about the very, very unfortunate events. Otherwise, we would have- Sirius here, actually had something really important to talk to you about didn’t you Padfoot?” James clapped Sirius on the shoulder urging him to speak. Only he didn’t. All the words and thoughts he had in his head seemingly disappeared. Sirius knew that at that moment the next words out of his mouth would change the trajectory of his and his brother's lives forever. Regulus’s fate which had been so carefully written in the stars by their parents from the moment he was born was about to be wiped away. And so he said nothing. 

 

Sirius felt Moony's knee press into his thigh, probably thinking that he was chickening out. 

 

Across from him, Regulus raised his eyebrows, like a dragon tempting a knight into its cave. 

 

“Hi.” Sirius settled on. Like the idiot he was. Hi?! Who says ‘Hi’ in the middle of a conversation, you are so stupid! 

 

Regulus let out a small scoff, the fire in his eyes growing by the second, “Hello Sirius, was there something you wanted to tell me? Something you would like to get off your chest?” 

 

Our parents are dead and now you have to come to live with me and everyone is afraid of who you’ll become and I don’t regret leaving and I love you but you are ruining my life and I hate you. 

 

“Dumbledore says that I’m your dad.” 

 

There were a few moments in his life when Sirius wanted to die. The first was when he was 9 and realized that his parents truly didn’t love him and seemingly never would. The second, standing over Moony in the infirmary having to explain to the love of his life what he had done to Snape. And the third and most painful of all was when he watched his mother cast the Cruciatus curse as she lovingly looked at him as if he were a silly pet. But this moment right now made him wish he were already dead. 

 

As if it couldn’t get more mortifying, Regulus’s blonde friend stopped her racketeering and turned her full attention towards him, “Well that is physically impossible but if that's what you need to tell yourself to get through these hard times then that's your business but only your business.” 

 

“Wait!” Remus called out as Regulus and Pandora started collecting their things and standing up, “Sirius didn’t mean it like that, this is just unbelievably difficult to explain. What he was trying to say was,” Remus sent him a reassuring look that Sirius would spend the entirety of his life paying him back for, “due to your parents passing, your parental custody has been offered to Sirius before your other family members.” 

 

“No need, I’ve already spoken to Narcissa and she's offered to let me stay at Malfoy Manor over the summer,” Regulus states as though turning down a faulty business attraction. 

 

“You want to spend the summer with Lucius Malfoy over Sirius? Why? “ James exclaimed.  

 

“What's wrong with Lucius?,” Regulus turned his ire on James, “ And I’d watch my words around my family Potter, not all of us are as forgiving or forgetful of ourselves.” 

 

James rolled his eyes and leaned back into the library chair, not caring about the sound of cracking wood under him, “ I don't know what to tell you mate, but if my cousin-in-law was going around calling people slurs and pledging his life to You Know Who, I wouldn't be so quick to defend him.” 

 

“You shouldn’t be so keen to throw stones when you live in a glass house Potter. Someone might set it on fire.” 

 

James’s sympathy for the boy’s situation seemingly had quickly dried up. “Look I understand that your parents are dead and all that but if you think that your cousin and her husband are a better choice of parents than Sirius, maybe that madness has caught up -” 

 

“James!” Peter squeaked from his chair. 

 

“If I do recall, it was just a few years ago you were hanging first years from their ankles for saying a word they didn’t even understand. Everyone seems to forget that before you were the reformed golden Head Boy you had made half the school cry for a quick laugh. I’d advise you to get off your high horse before someone out there shoots you off of it. Not everyone is a bumbling Gryffindor who thinks your Merlins gift to magic and if you opened your eyes you'll see that everyone at this school outside of your little bubble fucking hates you.” Regulus smirked at James whose knuckles were turning white as they formed fists. 

 

“Hey! Cut it out Reg,” Sirius intervened, “I've seen the people that you hang around-”

 

“And you,” Regulus turned towards Sirius, “Our parents have been dead for a month and you haven't said a damn word to me. Don’t even start your bullshit about how much you care about me because I along with the whole school know just how much you despise me. And yes our parents because as much as you've convinced yourself that your hair is as ugly as Potters, your blood is as Black as mine. Now you can’t even be bothered to tell me this yourself, having to bring your posse to do all the talking while you sit there like an idiot bobbing your head. So no Sirius, you are not my father, you are off the hook and unburdened of the responsibility of me. Goodbye.” Regulus finished collecting his things with the help of his friend who was balancing her plant on her hip, and walked right past the Marauders towards the library door.

 

“No wait!” Sirius called out. He was watching his chances of Dumbledore having faith in him walk away but most important his brother was slipping through his fingers. 

 

Although his brother didn’t stop, the blonde girl did, leaves nearly covering her face as she pivoted around. “That was very stupid. I wouldn’t walk around on my own for a while if I were you.” And with that, she was gone. 

 

“What a wanker.” James said shaking his head. 

 

“Told you that wouldn’t go well,” Pete murmured under his breath thinking no one would hear. 

 

Remus put a comforting hand on Sirius’s shoulder and looked at Peter, “I don’t think that now is the time to-”

 

“No he's right,” Sirius said still looking at the library door. 

 

“C’mon mate, don't listen to Regulus, old Burgy has him good and brainwashed.” James ran his hands through his hair.

 

“No I meant Wormtail was right, I shouldn’t have asked you guys to come. I should have told him myself,” Sirius stood up brushing Moony's arm off him, “I’ll meet you guys at the dorm later.”

 

“Sirius, where are you going?” Remus’s concerned voice cut deep into his skin but Sirius couldn’t handle anyone else's feelings at the moment. 

 

“Don’t wait up,” and with that, Sirius ran down the sections of tables and out the library door hoping his brother hadn’t entered the snake pit just yet. 

 

“Regulus is gonna eat him alive,” Peter said looking on. “Poor thing.” 

Notes:

I'm back! I can't promise consistent updates but none of my stories are discontinued.

Plz, leave comments they give me very-needed serotonin to keep writing.

Also, does anyone else watch Vanderpump Rules, the third part of the reunion is tonight and im soooo excited

Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Grimmauld Place Summer 1976

 

They were all surrounding him. Even if he ran as fast as he could towards the door, wherever it was, someone would shoot him down before he could escape. 

 

Regulus recognized some of the faces more than others. Bellatrix was obvious as she clutched his face posing as a person who could care, caressing him with adoration in her eyes. If the circumstances of his awakening weren't overwhelming every one of his senses, Regulus would be truly stunned that she was capable of complex feelings other than rage. Narcissa stood behind her sister, trying to look anywhere but him, her white hand firmly gripping Lucius’s arm as if she would cave in if she let go. Aunt Cassiopeia stood next to a distant cousin whose name Regulus couldn't be bothered ever to remember. As Regulus looked around more he realized that of the twenty or so people in the dark stone room, the identity of the people who shared similar features alluded him. It was obvious that they shared relation but never so much that they held great importance, yet here they were staring down at him with detached expressions as if his terror and confusion were unimportant to them. 

 

Bellatrix’s embrace quickly turned sour as her nails dug into his cheeks forcing his previously searching gaze toward her.

“Now now baby Reggie look at me don’t look at them. You’ll have to focus tonight. The fate of House Black is now in your hands so stop your blubbering. It's time to grow up now.” She dropped her hand from his face and reached out behind him. In all his panic Regulus failed to notice a different presence behind him. It was a man by the look of the arm handing Bellatrix a sinister-looking dagger. She took it readily, dragging the flat surface up his chest and across his neck.

 

Surely this wasn’t real. It was a figment of his imagination plucked out of his most horrid nightmares where everyone he thought loved or even cared for him wished him harm. 

 

It will stop soon, Regulus thought. This isn’t real. Mother would never allow so many people in her house, let alone so many people she didn’t like. Yes, Mother will come soon, and she will make them stop. She must.

 

“Mother,” Regulus choked out not caring if it made him look weak, “Where is Mother?”

 

The laughter that echoed throughout the room was humiliating, real or not. Narcissa was the only one who made no sound, still pretending she was elsewhere. Lucius stood with an approving smile as if he were looking down on a son riding his first broom. The thought made his insides turn. 

 

“Oh, such a sweet thing you are,” Bellatrix cooed, “That will have to end. The Head can’t be a baby crying for his Mother. Mummy isn’t coming. Not now, not ever.” 

 

And with that, she finally took a step away from him, knife still in hand. 

 

What happened in the next few hours would forever haunt Regulus, never ceasing to linger in the back of his mind until his death years later. 

 

Time stood still as she raised the knife towards her bare palm and sunk the jagged edge into her once-unmarred skin. Maybe it was a figment of his imagination but Regulus could swear he heard the snapping of Bellatrix’s bones and tendons as she turned the knife like a screw, blood oozing through her fingers and down her lace sleeves. The smile never once left her face and her eyes never left his own. 

 

Regulus could smell the coppery notes of her blood. 

 

It finally hit him. This was real. He remembered waking up that morning in his assigned bed at the Coach House. He remembered what he ate for breakfast and who he sat next to. He remembered how the kick Evan had given him under the table had felt on his shin because he could still feel it now. Regulus could remember the trek up the stairs and the panic he felt coming home to a barren house because it had all happened.  Every second of it had happened the way every second of reality was happening now.  

 

Regulus’s imagination was not so vast to conjure up something so horrific surrounded by people who meant so little. Even the thought that Narcissa who claimed to love him stood there watching him tied up and her sister bleeding, wasn’t so strange. The Blacks were a selfish bunch. No matter how much you thought someone loved you, they always loved themselves more. That made Regulus more scared. The type of fear made him want to climb into his brother's bed where nothing could touch him and everything evil ceased to exist. If Narcissa were here, it meant she had something to gain and naturally it would be Regulus losing—a common occurrence in his life. 

 

“House Black has fallen into shambles,” Bellatrix continued, still bleeding. “What was once a great and noble house is now a bunch of cowards sticking their heads in the sand at the call of greatness. But tonight you will prove your worth Reggie. You will lead this house into its former glory and not a single soul will be able to say that you didn’t deserve it. They will know, you will know that it was always meant to be you and not that traitorous brother. Because you would never do what he did, would you love? You would never turn your back on the family. You would never betray your ancestors and sell your soul to the Light.”

 

“No, no- I would never betray the family” Regulus twisted in his seat, “Please Bella-” He was cut off by Bellatrix’s bloody forefinger pressing on his lips, the wetness making him cringe into himself.

 

“Shhhhhhhhh, hush my dear Reggie. That will do for now. Blacks do not beg and after tonight you will never beg anyone ever again. We will make sure of it” And with that, his eldest cousin pried his mouth open with her palm and shoved her wound right onto his tongue, coppery hot liquid filling his mouth. 

 

“Blood of my blood,” the crowd chanted. 

 

Regulus wanted to heave, to spit out the blood in his mouth but his cousin's hand remained steady as did the hands on his shoulders. He had no choice but to forcefully swallow, it being evident that Bellatrix would not give him rest until he did. At that moment he didn’t care if the tears in his eyes made him look weak. Not when he could see the bystanders in the room inching forward towards him holding their own bloody palms. 

 

Finally, it dawned on Regulus. This wasn’t a torture session or a kidnapping. This was an initiation. His initiation into being Lord Black.

 

---

Present Day Hogwarts

 

“It’s been years, years since Sirius has approached me and he chooses to do it with his band of stupid idiots!? Who does he think he is waltzing back into my life like nothing happened? And the way he was just staring at me, you’d think that someone wiped his mouth off his face he was practically mute. And don’t even get me started on that pompous cunt Potter. I’d like to see his parents get murdered so I could piss on their grave, wouldn’t be so cocky and self-important then….” A madman had nothing on Regulus as he muttered to himself. Students of all ages and houses practically fell over themselves trying to get out of his way as Regulus stormed out of the library as if he were on fire. 

 

Pandora quickly fell behind seeing as her role of support had been fulfilled and genuinely had better things to do than coddle a lunatic. Barty was much better at that but since he was in detention, the students of Hogwarts would have to deal with the loose lunatic until the other lunatic could attend to his boyfriend. 

 

Regulus had no clue where he was going. The only thing that mattered was putting as much distance between the library and himself as possible. He turned corner after corner until no students could be seen, and the lit candles dwindled on the walls. Just as Regulus thought he was alone enough to scream as loud as he wanted, an aggravating and grating voice forced him to stop where he was standing. 

 

“Reg! Hold on! Reg? Regulus come on and stop for a second.” Sirius had run after him, robes blowing heroically around him like some storybook character swooping in to save the day. Pompous prick. 

 

“Are you clinically stupid? I think I made myself pretty clear when I said I wanted nothing to do with you.” Regulus held his wand steadily at his side. The corridor was far enough from the stairs and seemingly void of constant use that no one would come looking for them any time soon. 

 

“Oh ha, yeah that, I was hoping you forgot about that.” Sirius tried to joke while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. An outsider would have thought this was Sirius’s attempt to light the mood or ease his discomfort but Regulus knew better. Regulus had seen the way his face had twitched and his eyes rolled slightly. Of course, his elder brother wasn’t taking him seriously, he was used to Regulus being a clingy little brother whose love was unconditional. Regulus had finally done the one thing Sirius had been yelling at him to do for years- grow up. “Look I’m sorry, okay? We didn’t think that one through all that well I suppose. So let's talk you and me. Like before, you know, everything.”

 

Regulus should have walked away right there. Consciously he knew he should have walked away and he would look back hours later kicking himself because he didn’t. But Regulus’s life was full of moments where he should have walked away and today was not going to be any different. 

 

Instead, mirth consumed him. 

 

The laugh that escaped his lips was nothing but mocking and cold. 

 

“No, no I don’t know . What do you mean by before? Before our parents were murdered? Because before that you would tell anyone who would listen that I was a pathetic child playing king because the family had no other choice. Or do you mean before you ran away? When you would pretend not to see me in the hall or aim every bludger at me during games. The only before that I think you would like to go back to is the one where you treated me like shit and I was too young to understand that I didn’t have to worship you just because you were the heir. But that was before and this is now.” 

 

“Merlin Reg, enough with the monologues. Why does everything have to be so dramatic with you? Can’t we just talk like normal people for five fucking seconds before you freak out?” Sirius huffed as if Regulus was the one being difficult. And maybe he was but Regulus wasn’t in the habit of making things easier for anyone but himself.  “Look we can go down to Hogsmeade, I know a place where they’ll serve you whatever you want, and we can talk. I want to talk.” 

 

“Maybe I don’t want to talk. Have you ever considered that I’m done talking-“ His fingers tightened around his wand. 

 

”Well you never fucking stop-“ 

 

“- I want you to walk away now. I need you to let me go and we can part ways like nothing ever happened. Like the first few years of our lives were unfortunate accidents that held no significance to us now.” 

 

“I can’t do that Reg, you have no bloody clue how much I want to forget you but I just can’t. So move your ass and let's go to Hogsmeade.” Sirius held all the conviction of an older sibling but years had chipped away at the love that should have supported it. To Regulus, Sirius’s words just sounded like a script he needed to complete so he could say that he at least tried to save his miserable little brother. 

 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Regulus did not attempt to hide his wand now, “ Enfereniate .” 

 

Tiny balls of fire, the size of snitches, appeared around Regulus and one by one shot forward at Sirius. He managed to jump out of the way just barely. One stray bulb grazed his arm, singing his robes and causing a stinging welt on his skin. When Sirius looked behind him at the wall where he had been standing, deep black burn marks were carved into the stone. That hadn’t been friendly fire. 

 

“What’s your fucking problem?” Sirius yelled at him. It seemed like he finally caught up as he also pulled out his wand, although lazily. 

 

“Your my fucking problem. Now get up, it's not nearly as fun if you're already on the ground.” Regulus had been yearning to use the new spell he had created and there was no time like the present. Using wordless magic, Regulus’s wand felt heavier in his hand, the smooth wood transforming into dark metal and the tip now pooling at his feet. It had transformed into a whip. 

 

If the shooting balls of fire hadn’t thrown off Sirius, this certainly did. 

 

That’s not a normal whip, Sirius thought, finally on his feet, his heart beating a second faster than it had been before, it was coated with Dark magic. I can feel it from here. 

 

If Regulus wanted a fight, Sirius would give him one. It was a language they both understood better than actual words. Sirius cast a wordless shield charm around himself, bracing for the hit. 

 

Regulus pulled his arm back and threw it forward eagerly waiting for the crack that would follow but it never came. Just as he released his arm, his entire wand was ripped from his grip and he lost his balance causing him to fall on his palms. 

 

“What is going on here?” It was Slughorn. Stupid vapid Slughorn. “Dueling in the corridors, I expected much better from you Mr.Black.” 

 

And of course, Regulus, Lord of House Black, was his favorite student. 

 

“Professor, he attacked-“ Sirius blurted out still maintaining his shield charm, not trusting Regulus to concede just because a teacher was present. 

 

“Attacked?,” Regulus scoffed, “Just friendly dueling, professor. I do apologize for the wall but I’m sure they will come off very easily. It was all for… dramatic effect.”

“He shot fire at me, professor!” 

 

”Shot fire at you? Now you’re being dramatic. Sirius, brush it off and do the chivalrous thing and take your loss on the chin.” 

 

“Now, now boys I don’t know anything about that fire you speak of” Sirius laughed incredulously, “But that spell you had a second ago Regulus, well that was a very interesting use of magic. I’m afraid I will have to escort you both to the headmaster's office.” 

 

“But I didn’t even do anything. All I wanted to do was talk and he went off the walls mad and was going to slice me in half with whatever that thing was.” Sirius’s plea for sanity was met on deaf ears. Slughorn was biased towards his own house and no amount of logic would sway him. If Sirius had been anyone else, Slughorn would have slapped them on the wrist and sent them to bed. No harm done. But Sirius was a Gryffindor who would wreak havoc if nothing was done, so off to the headmaster's office they would go. 

 

“Walk in front of me, boys. It’s late as it is, let's go.” Slughorn didn’t even wait for them to walk ahead, beelining for the stairs. 

 

Sirius turned back to his brother expecting at least a sneer or dirty look of some sort but there was nothing. Regulus simply walked over to where his wand had transformed back to normal and put it in his pocket. He grazed the marks on the wall with his fingertips as if in awe of his own work and followed Slughorn without looking back once. 

 

Regulus was far more gone than Sirius had thought. Sirius had no idea who this person was or who he would be. And he wasn’t so sure that he wanted to be a part of it.

Notes:

Just a reminder that everyone is an unreliable narrator. Especially Regulus. He's just angry

Hope you like it (: Please comment, it gives me serotonin