Last Chance

by mossywossy_18

Summary:

This is all bullshit in Sirius’s opinion. You’re telling him that because Regulus and him ran away from ONE foster home, because of ABUSE, he might add, that they are now labeled as troubled children? That they are going to be separated if they aren’t somehow perfect little angels at this new home?? Okay; whatever, him and Regulus are going to make this work (even though it is not their responsibility to make this shit work in the first place).

OR: Sirius and Regulus escape Grimmauld’s place at 14 and 12, and they are placed in foster care. All they want is to stay together… and that’s when the Potter family enters stage left

Chapter 1

Sirius was 14 when he finally got him and his brother out of the prison that was 12 Grimmauld Place. They were placed into the foster care system, and when their first home lasted for 3 months before they were running again, they were labeled as troubled children.

After that, the social workers felt it was better if they split up Sirius and Regulus from each other. They didn’t realize that there wasn’t anything that was going to separate the brothers from each other.

That’s how Sirius and Regulus found themselves in a social worker’s home they never bothered to learn the name of. Regulus is gripping onto his older brother’s arm for dear life, and Sirius is in too much of a shock to worry about the fact that he might have a bruise in the shape of a hand slightly smaller than his own on his lower arm. 

“You’re not serious,” usually Sirius would comment that he was, but now he just stared at the man in front of him, begging him to say it was all a cruel joke.

“No, I am. You two cause too much trouble when you are together,” the man replied.

“Well, maybe if they weren’t going through Regulus’s things and trying to hit him, we wouldn’t cause so much trouble,” Sirius retorts. Regulus is frozen next to him, his grip tightening at every word his brother says. Scared.

“You were meant to contact me if you felt you were ever in harm's way,” the social worker said in a voice way too calm for the matter at hand.

“I don’t think you understand that I didn’t have access to a phone! How was I meant to contact you?!” Sirius almost got up in his anger before Regulus pulled him back down.

“C-can you just get Sirius a good home, please?” Regulus asked, tears pooling in his eyes.

Sirius’s head moved so fast to face his little brother. “Regulus, stop, okay? We are going to be in the same home. Don’t talk like that,” The social worker sighed.

“Fine, we have a temporary placement that is open to taking siblings anyway. I’m giving you a second chance, but this is the last chance you get. In the real world, there are no second chances.”

“Oh, fu-”

“THANK YOU!” Regulus stepped in before Sirius could somehow lose this home for them. “Thank you so much. We are going to make this home work; we swear it.” Sirius grunted next to him in annoyance and sat back with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed.

The man wasted no time ushering them out and into the guest room of the house before shutting the door firmly. Sirius immediately turned towards Regulus, furious, but his face softened as he saw the relief on his brother’s face. “Listen to me Regulus, it is not your responsibility to make this work. Don’t say we’re going to make any placement work when it’s never our fault they’re abusive pieces of shit in the first place.”

“Fine. I won’t pretend like it’s our fault anymore, if you don’t protect me from hits by taking them yourself. You said earlier that the reason we left was because they threatened to hit me, except they never actually did hit me. They hit you,” Regulus said. And for a 12 year old, Sirius had to admit he was pretty smart, but this little speech he had just come up with was plain stupid.

Sirius sighed and pulled his brother over to the spring filled bed, that was probably going to be a pain to sleep in. “I will never not protect you, Regulus,” Regulus tried to stop him from continuing, but Sirius quickly prospered. “Like it or not, you are my baby brother. I practically raised you in that house, and you know that. Whenever you need me, I’ll be here, and whenever you’re in danger, I’ll be there.”

Regulus grabbed his brother’s hand, with a much softer grip than earlier. “You need someone too. You have to let me help you sometimes. You’re not invincible.”

Sirius laughed, “why can’t you just be the 7 year old that used to run to me for everything? Why did you have to grow up?”

Regulus quickly pushed his brother away from him, “I hate you.”

“Awwwww, I love you too, Reggie.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

Regulus’s mood dropped again. “You think this placement will work? I really don’t want to be without you.”

Sirius smirked, “we’ll just have to make it work then?”

“Hey, how come you’re allowed to say that and I’m not?” Regulus said, sounding so much like a child, despite never having outbursts like this when he was younger. Sirius liked that he felt comfortable enough to act like his age now.

“Cause I’m older and better, obviously,” Sirius flipped his hair, tilting his head back and shaking his head side to side so it could swish even more behind him.

“Now go to bed,” Sirius began, “we might as well try to make a good first impression tomorrow morning if this is our last chance at a house together. No being snarky, unless I’m snarky first.”

“Why are you telling me that like you’re not the only one ever causing problems?”

“Cause I know deep down, Reggie, that you’re a rebel just like me of course.”

“You wish you were a rebel,” Regulus rolled his eyes, “let’s just shut up and go to bed. It’s rare that you have a good idea, so let’s not let it go to waste.”

“Awwww, Reggie!! You liked my idea!”

“Sirius, I swear to god, shut up right now and go the fuck to sleep!”

“Geeze, fine. Can’t even have some fun around here.”

Silence filled the bedroom, but both brothers remained awake, trying to hide the fact that they were from one another. Tomorrow, they were going to be in a new home, enrolled in a new school, with a new family they knew nothing about, but they knew they had each other in the end. That’s the thought both the boys clung onto as they eventually fell into the most peaceful sleep they had in a long time.

 

 

 

Chapter 2

Sirius woke up when the clock next to him read 5:33 am. He didn’t know what time they were leaving for the new placement, and the thought wouldn’t allow him to go back to sleep. Sirius glanced at the clock that was moving way too slow and way too fast all at the same time. He needed to know when he needed to get himself and Regulus up. He needed time to prepare. He needed time.

Sirius’s breath started coming out in short, rapid breaths, and the clock still only read 5:34. Sirius couldn’t remember how to fall asleep, and he was sure his legs wouldn’t carry him very far if he tried to get up now. “Reg,” he managed to get out of his mouth miraculously, but Regulus remained decidedly asleep. “Regulus, please,” Sirius got out again, yet his breaths hadn’t slowed at all.

Regulus groaned as he shifted beside Sirius, “Mmm… What's wrong?” Regulus said not registering that his brother’s breathing was way too fast to be normal.

“Don’t know how to- help!” Sirius said.

Regulus finally sensed the panic his brother was under and pushed himself up with urgency. “Sirius, we are fine. We are safe. Can I touch you?”

Sirius nodded, feeling light headed. “Okay look at me,” Regulus held his brother’s face with his hands, “breathe in with me, okay?” Regulus grabbed Sirius’s hand and placed it on his chest, hoping that Sirius would feel his rib cage expanding or at least his heart beating at a steady rhythm. “In-two-three-four. Out-two-three-four. Good. Let’s do that again, okay?” Now, some may be surprised that Regulus is so good at this. Maybe this happens a lot to Sirius? No. It’s usually Sirius talking down Regulus from a panic attack. Regulus is just doing his best to copy what his brother usually does for him.

Sirius’s breath eventually slowed, his breath hitching every now and then, with tears streaming down his face. For Sirius, it felt like hours since he had been able to breathe normally, but with another glance at the clock, it was only 5:38.  It hadn’t even been a full five minutes. Regulus still held his hand. It wasn’t like either of them were planning on going back to sleep. They were up. Silence filled the room once again, and while Regulus knew he should ask what was wrong, he was too scared for Sirius to confirm what he already knew. If Sirius was this panicked about going to a new placement, then this house had to be even worse than the last.

Sirius squeezed his brother’s hand a couple of times, trying to get the message across that they’d be okay, and Regulus answered with a shaky smile. “Pack your stuff up, Reg, and put on something nice.”

“Something nice? Jeez, Mother would be proud.”

“God, I hope not,” Sirius said with a chuckle that both of them knew was just for show.

“Yeah, no. I promise she still hates you.”

“Wow, thanks for the kind words, Reg”

“Of course!”

Both brothers finally felt a weight lift off of their chests when they laughed with genuine humor. 

They packed in silence before Sirius broke it by using two pencils to make walrus tusks for himself. He laughed like it was the funniest thing ever, as Regulus shook his head trying so hard to keep the smile from his face. There was no way he was going to laugh at something so stupid. He refused. But if a small noise resembling a giggle left his mouth, his brother didn’t need to know about it.

Sirius laughed on and on about stupid things, and Regulus smiled as they packed. When the social worker came to wake them up, he was surprised to find them already awake and packed. “Breakfast is ready. We leave at 9.”

He left them alone in the room again, and the clock read 7:30. Finally, some actual time had passed. They both put on their “something nice” as Sirius had phrased it before, and Regulus tried to gel his hair back before Sirius messed it all up again. The gel remained forgotten on the counter after a couple more tries when Regulus just gave up. Sirius was, of course, delighted at the fact that his brother’s curls hadn’t been flattened out of existence and were actually more defined because of the gel.

As they descended down the stairs to the kitchen, both of the brothers felt more nervous than they had felt ever in their short lives. This really was their last chance. They couldn’t just leave if it reminded them too much of what they got away from before. Shit… what if the placement was even worse than Grimmauld place. How would Sirius be able to keep them both alive in a place like that?

They barely touched their scrambled eggs. They looked almost artificial anyway, and they had a concerning gray tinge to them that made them look inedible. Honestly, they probably were.

Regulus studied his brother’s face one last time, watching only him as the social worker gabbed on and on about whatever he deemed important, and his brother, even now, was still trying his best to offer Regulus a comforting gaze. Regulus vowed now, and forever, that he would be the one to protect Sirius from harm. Always. Sirius had done it for him for far too long without expecting anything in return.

“I love you,” Regulus mouthed at Sirius.

“Love you too, Rabbit,” Sirius mouthed back. Regulus always hated that nickname, but Sirius always liked the way Regulus’s nose scrunched up when he found something annoying. Sirius always thought that most of Regulus’s expressions were endearing. Of course, he always hated the fear and sadness that sometimes made its way across his younger brother’s face.

At 9 o’clock sharp, both brothers were walking out of the house and into a car that would take them to their new life.

 

Chapter 3

Despite the fact that both brothers woke up earlier than they had in a while, they were both wide awake on the car ride to wherever they were going. It felt like they were being led to a trap, and they didn’t know how long it would take for them to fully succumb to it either. There were multiple times when Sirius thought that the social worker was going to turn into a neighborhood, and that would be the end of it- the end of the small amount of safety that came with staying with the social worker, the end of Sirius and Regulus getting to stay together, and probably the end of the world (or at least theirs).

Sirius hadn’t even considered the possibility that this placement might be different, might be loving and nurturing for the both of them. It seems so obscure that Reggie and him could one day be living in a home that provided them with what both of them so desperately craved from a parental figure- love. They really hadn’t had that since Andromeda left, and at the time, Andromeda was still a kid herself. Now, she has a family of her own. Going to live with her would be a dream come true, but the social workers weren’t able to find Andromeda’s contact information. Sirius knew she was alive and well, but otherwise, she had disappeared from any kind of police radar.

Regulus kept glancing towards Sirius, and Sirius would send him a small smile each time. Otherwise, the car ride was quiet. The quiet only made the fact that the car was now parking in front of a brown-bricked house that much scarier. 

The house in front of them was big, not quite as big as 12 Grimmauld Place, but big enough that the brothers knew the family that lived there had money. Sirius hoped they weren’t old money. Old money meant the same social galas with the same old money people that Sirius never wanted to see again.

The grass on almost every lawn beside the house was freshly mowed, but it looked like the house owners of the house in front of them had gone a little lax with their yard trimmings. Of course, it was nothing obscene, but the grass was just a little higher than should be average.

“They have a son about y’alls age, you know?” The social worker said. And all Sirius wanted to say was no, we don’t know shit because you didn’t bother to tell us anything about these people before we got here. 

“I’m going to be so honest,” Regulus said. “I don’t think you’ve done anything your job actually entails, so no, we did not know they had a son about our age. We know nothing about this family, if they’ve had other placements, if they currently have other foster kids living with them, what school their son attends to know what school we would attend, literally anything.”

Sirius wanted to look shocked, but he couldn’t hide the smug expression on his face even if he’d taken acting lessons for the past 12 years of his life. However, the social worker definitely looked shocked. “W-well, I gave you two a second chance. You should be more grateful that you get to be together.”

At that moment, a boy with wonky glasses and wild hair came out with a crooked smile. Some might think that those features would lead to him looking just a little goofy, but in reality, everything just worked together to make him look objectively pretty. “Hi! Sorry, I know you’re probably talking about something important out here, but I’ve been watching the window all day to wait for you to arrive, even though mom said that that might overwhelm you guys. I just was really excited ‘cause I’ve never had brothers before, not that I would expect you guys to think of me as your brother, just that, maybe we could be friends and hang out sometimes like brothers do. You’re both probably so weirded out right now. Sorry I’ll just let you in now.”

Sirius snorted and couldn’t stifle the giggle that came afterward. “I think we’re gonna be okay, despite the fact that you gave us no information about anything, huh Reggie?” Both brothers looked at each other then back at the social worker, just so done with him.

“Hold on one second, even if you two are eager to get rid of me, I must go in with you until I can locate Mr and Mrs. Potter.”

“I’m sure the young Mr. Potter in front of us can find his parents and bring them out here just fine,” Regulus looked at the boy in front of him expectantly.

“Oh yeah for sure,” as he ran back inside, he turned over his shoulder and said, “My name is James by the way.”

“Thanks James!” Sirius exclaimed. “At least James is capable of telling us his name,” Sirius muttered under his breath.

Regulus smiled just a little brighter at that, and Sirius felt more than satisfied.

Despite the fact that they hadn’t met Mr and Mrs Potter, Sirius couldn’t help but assume that they might be just like James, and that lifted such a huge weight off of his chest. Regulus’s too. It was going to be odd feeling safe around an adult again. An adult that was actually a parent’s age. Neither of them had felt safe around an adult since they had stayed at Alphard’s that one time while their parents were on a business trip. Unfortunately, the brothers lost him to alcoholism just a year back after he lost his partner.

They could only hope the Potters were half as safe as Alphard made them feel when they were with them. It was no secret that Alphard hadn’t had a good childhood either, but he was able to rise above that and stop the cycle like neither of their parents had.

As Sirius lost himself in memories of Alphard, a woman and a man that had the brightest smiles exited the front door of their home. Sirius didn’t know why they were standing so far away still, not when he just wanted to go up there and live in the warmth the family exuded.

The man looked almost exactly the same as his son with his crooked facial features, dark skin, and wild hair. Grays were poking out among the dark brown of the mop on his head as was same for the woman.

She looked like a mom. She wasn’t a mother. In Regulus and Sirius’s experience, a mother was cold and calculated, dark and conniving, but they had never had a mom before. The woman was a mom, through and through.

“Please, please, everyone come inside. Don’t stand so far away from us; I promise we won’t bite. James grew out of that phase about a year ago, right beta?”

“Mom, stop telling people that,” James’s cheeks flushed bright red at the comment, but the Black brothers were witnessing something they had never seen before. Not from any of the families their parents deemed acceptable. “I swear I haven’t bitten anyone in years. Mom just has a really weird sense of humor.” His mom wrapped James in a hug and kissed the hair on top of his head.

“Ok James,” Regulus said, “lead the way.” 

The social worker followed the boys in looking more confused than ever. He had never dropped someone off at a placement like this. He sighed. “First time for everything, I guess.”