"Sirius," Remus' soft, hesitant voice broke the heavy silence that had fallen over the room.
His friend didn't seem to hear him at all. His gaze remained fixed on a nonexistent point in the distance, his eyes dark and out of focus. Every muscle in his body was held so tensely that Remus couldn't tell if his hands were trembling from shock or physical strain.
Remus looked down, unable to stand seeing his friend in so much pain and hating himself for it. Sirius had always been so fearless. Even when Remus had stood before him at his very worst, as an absolute monster, his grin hadn't faltered. He'd never cringed away, not even when he had five times as much of a right to do so than Remus did now. But knowing this only made Remus feel more helpless.
"He'll be all right, Padfoot," he offered weakly.
"It doesn't matter," Sirius was seething, his voice so bitter that it became impossible to distinguish anger from fear or disappointment. "Regulus can make his own choices."
Remus wanted to comfort him. He wanted to reach out to him somehow, to let him know it was okay to worry about his brother, even if he did stand on a different side of the war. But for all the faith Remus put in words, he'd never been able to make Sirius listen to him. All he could do was stare at his friend and try not to say something to make Sirius yell, or as terrible and unimaginable as it seemed, cry.
"I hope they all rot!" Sirius exploded all at once, crumpling up the letter he'd been reading and throwing it into the fire. The flames roared as they engulfed the dried out parchment, spitting out golden embers that turned black and cold as the touched the floor.
Sirius' eyes shone in the surge of light, reflecting more fire and anger and hatred than Remus had ever seen in him. But when the letter was reduced entirely to empty ash and the fire died down again, the light left his eyes, and Remus could see how much sadness and hurt they really held.
Remus had always sensed that all of that was hidden somewhere inside his friend, but every time he'd hinted at it Sirius had only laughed and declared, "You, James, and Peter are the only family I need." And so easily, Remus had believed him. But now he saw the truth.