Sirius walked into the kitchen at Grimmauld Place to find Severus Snape seated at the table with a bottle in front of him and a glass in his hand, his feet propped up on the top of the table.

Sirius snorted. "I doubt getting drunk will help anything, Snivellus."

Severus didn't say anything, choosing to ignore the irate man in front of him.

"Oi!" Sirius slammed his hand down on the table. "What are you even doing here? And where did you get that wine?"

Severus finally looked up at him. "It's from Regulus' secret stash."

"Why would my precious brother need to hide his booze? He always got anything he wanted."

"It's muggle wine."

Sirius blinked. "Really? That's. . .surprising." He looked carefully at Snape. "How did you even know where he hid it?"

"I visited him here a few times. He liked muggle wines." He paused. "He even convinced the Hogwarts house elves to smuggle him some every now and then."

Sirius snorted. "That does sound like him. He always did like those elves way more than he liked other humans." He stared blankly into space for a few minutes, thinking. He sat down decisively across the table from Seveus with a thump. "Is there another glass here somewhere?"

Severus pulled out his wand. "Accio glass."

Sirius filled his glass with wine and sat slumped down, staring at it for a few moments. "You know, I didn't realize it after he was dead, but I never really knew my brother."

Severus laughed bitterly. "And whose fault is that?"

"Mine," Sirius whispered into his wine. "It was mine." He tossed back his glass. "Tell me something about him."

"You mean you don't know anything about your own brother?" he asked in surprise, staring at his rival with disdain. "You didn't deserve him as a brother."

Sirius closed his eyes, broken. "I know. I just want to hear about him. A time when he was happy."

Severus stared into his glass, swirling it thoughtfully. "Well," he began. "There was this one time where he somehow got ahold of some muggle hair dye."

Sirius snorted. "Muggle hair dye? Really?"

"He thought Lucius would appreciate some more. . .color."

Sirius stared at him. "You're kidding. Reggie did that?"

"Hot pink. Lucius didn't know it was muggle and would just wash out. Tried every counter jinx he could think of."

"Who were his friends?"

Snape shrugged. "He was friendly with almost everyone, he didn't have any close friends that I knew of. Except for maybe Lucius."

"Of course," Sirius sneered. "Voldemort's little fan club."

Severus flinched and glared at Sirius. "Don't. Say. His. Name."

"Whatever." Sirius dismissed Severus' demand. "You were all part of You-Know-Who's little fan club, and that's what got Reggie killed. Probably just messed up something simple and easy and got himself killed for it. He was never the most competent wizard," he mused. "Especially when compared to myself." He noticed Severus' disgusted look. "And that's not just vain boasting; you know it's true." He took another drink. "Regulus just wasn't a very good wizard. He wasn't a very good man either. I mean, he did follow a dark wizard. And while he may not have agreed with some of the things Voldemort did-" Severus flinched. Sirius ignored it. "He would have never have the guts to do something about it."

His last statement seemed to have struck something in Severus, as multiple emotions crossed his face.

He lifted his glass in a salute. "At least he got his wish in the end."

"What," Sirius snapped, "you mean the return of You-Know-Who? That's all dear Regulus ever wanted," he sneered. "The purification of magic and extinction of muggles. Stupid fool."

Severus looked at him over the top of his glass. "No." He said quietly. "The last time I saw him, a few days before he disappeared, he told me he would rather die than continue to serve the Dark Lord."

He set his glass down and stood to leave. "And he did."