Prologue:
Regulus ran into his brothers room full of more excitement than had been in the Black home in decades. Without hesitation he jumped up onto the sleeping form of his brother and threw the blankets off of him, the older boy grumbled and threw him back off the bed.
"Sirius! It's Christmas Sirius!" Regulus squeaked in excitement, and jumped back onto the bed, not at all perturbed by the older boys reaction.
"Reg!" Sirius barked, "It has got to be five in the morning, mum will kill you!" Regulus was not swayed, he jumped down from the bed and grabbed Sirius's broomstick from the corner of the room. Mounting it, and kicking off the ground he shot into the air with more gusto than one would have thought possible from such a small child. His eight year old body bobbed as he took off into the air, running into all sorts of trinkets and causing enough noise to wake the dead.
"OKAY I'M UP!" Sirius roared, grabbing his little brother around the middle, pulling him back to the ground with ease. Regulus was a small child, and although he had reached the ripe age of eight that spring, he was under four feet tall, and weighed an astonishing 45 lbs. The Black boys certainly looked like brothers, both extremely good-looking with wavy black hair, although Regulus was perhaps not quite as handsome as his older brother. Sirius had intense grey eyes that seemed to change shade in the daylight and his hair was long and rugged. Regulus's hair was shorter, falling evenly into place, and he was cursed with big brown "puppy dog eyes", or at least that's what Sirius called them. Sirius stood him upright and yanked his broom from his arms, he had a stern look on his face.
"Regulus! You know if you wake mum you'll get a good whippin-" A shriek sounded from downstairs and the boys both froze, fear etched on their faces. Sirius recovered first, he looked down at his brother,
"Well look what you've done now." Regulus's eyes widened in fear, and he began to shake.
"I'm sorry.." he squeaked, clearly frightened, and tears began to well up in his eyes. "But it's Christmas, it's Christmas…"
Sirius looked down at his brother, his face was set, and he shrugged. "You made your bed, and mine apparently…" And he headed towards the door, ready for the wrath that they were about to be dished out. Regulus followed his head hung low, and grasping to the hem of his older brothers Pajamas for comfort. They made their way downstairs in a soloum parade, upon entering the kitchen they approached their mother, Regulus let his eyes drop to the floor as he hid behind his older brother, but Sirius stared right into his mother's eyes, unblinking. Walburga Black was a handsome women though cruel, she had long black hair, that was most of the time in a sleek plait down her black, her dark grey eyes looked down at her two sons severely. It would be incorrect to say that Walburg did not love her children, because she did dearly, however she could be a cruel woman with set ideals, and one should be careful not to cross her.
"And what in the name of all that is holy, caused you two to wake me so early this morning…?" She gazed down at them sharply, eyebrows raised. Sirius nudged his brother out from behind him, and Regulus took a deep breath and he gazed up into his Mums eyes.
"It's Christmas Mum…" he began but Walburg did not seem to care for the excuse and had cut him off with a powerful slap across the face. Regulus choked, and tears began to fall down his face, but he made no sound.
"No excuse for such behavior, idiot boy! I have worked hard to raise good pure children! And because it's Christmas…" She laughed mockingly. "I expect better." Her expression softened slightly, "Breakfast will be ready in an hour, tell Krecher I am in need of his assistance. Should I expect to see you then?"
"Yes Mum." The boys answered in unison and began to quickly make their way back upstairs. On their way they stopped by the cupboard under the stairs to wake their ancient house elf. Sirius tore the door open,
"Kreacher, Mum needs you to make breakfast." He sneered, wrinkling his nose as the elf made to stand. "Disgusting…" he muttered under his breath.
The elf gave him a hurt look, "Yes Master Sirius, I live to serve the noble house of Black."
"Yeah yeah…" Sirius scoffed and turned to walk up the stairs. Regulus made to follow but not before giving Kreacher a gentle pat on the head, he then ran to catch up with his brother. As they entered the landing Sirius turned and gave his brother a critical look,
"Does it hurt?"
Regulus shook his head in a defiant sort of way. "It's okay."
"Atta boy." And then he turned, entering his room to change for breakfast. Regulus made his way down the hall to his own room, Number 12 Grimmauld place was a dreary colored place, draped in silver and green, (the Blacks wanted to make sure everyone knew what they stood for), Regulus's room however was pretty simple. There were a few Quidditch posters on the walls, some Slytherin Banners here and there. But if you took time to really look, you would notice the subtle blues and purples that accented the room. Regulus loved the ocean more than anything, and even though he had never been to a proper beach, he dreamed of going to the Bahamas one day. He could imagine himself flying on a broomstick over the water, dipping his toes in as he went, the salty ocean water spraying in his face. And so in light of his dream, he would find little ways to express it in his bedroom, with small violet seashells, an old daily prophet picture of palm trees blowing in the wind, a simple blue jumper draped over his coat rack... His mother would never approve of such childish reminiscence, but he didn't care. Regulus got dressed in a hurry and made his bed neatly, and in one bound was knocking on his brother's bedroom door again, not wanting to make the trek downstairs by himself. Sirius opened the door carefully, and upon seeing who it was he let him in. Sirius's room was full of funny things, he had quidditch posters like Reguluss', but the similarities stopped there. Muggle band posters were stuck up on the walls, as well as a variety of Hogwarts posters, Sirius loved to find things to hang up, just to bother their Mum, and it was a constant reason for punishment on his behalf.
"Sirius?" Regulus tested to see if his brother was paying attention while he finished dressing.
"Hmm?" Sirius mumbled, obviously distracted.
"Will you write to me... about Hogwarts? Ya know… when you leave." His voice was quiet, it had been a question that he had been wondering the answer to for a long time. Sirius looked up, detecting the urgency in his brother's voice.
"Yeah if you want."
"Are you excited?"
"You bet your broom I am." Sirius said laughing, his excitement lit up his face. "I can't wait to get out of here, and be able to make my own way with people. Maybe I'll even be sorted into Hufflepuff." A mischievous grin formed on his face, and Regulus drew in an uneasy breath.
"Don't let Mum or Dad hear you say that. You'll get the belt again."
Sirius dismissed this with a wave of his hand. "Nothing they could do about it, even if they wanted to."
"Still," Regulus shuddered at the thought, "They'd be so mad. Mum might actually starve you to death."
Sirius jumped up onto the bed and puffed out his chest in a pompous way, and in a perfect imitation of Walburg Black shrieked, "The shame Sirius Orion Black, decades of Slytherins and now this... THE SHAME!" And then he collapsed in a dramatic heap. Regulus ran forward and both boys exploded into a fit of giggles. It was one of those contagious laughs that lasted longer than you would think, and whenever the boys made eye contact they'd burst into another fit all over again, grasping their bellies in an attempt to breath. Eventually they calmed and laid draped over the bed, staring at the ceiling, happiness and excitement twinkling in their eyes.
"I hope to be in Gryffindor maybe…" Sirius whispered into the silence… almost pleadingly. Reg thought for a minute, his mind racing.
"What do the houses stand for?" He asked thoughtfully, as a family such things had never been discussed, because it was expected to be sorted into Slytherin, no questions asked. But now he was curious, perhaps there was a choice.
"Well…" Sirius began in a knowing tone, "There's Slytherin of course, and I think that besides the whole pureblood thing they're supposed to be the cunning and thrifty ones… and then Ravenclaws are the really smart ones, they are always reading and acing tests. That's what Andromeda told me anyway. Gryffindors are supposed to be really brave and chivalrous. And then there's the Hufflepuffs, and Andromeda also told me about them. They are really nice and 'loyal and just' I think it was…"
"What does 'just' mean…" Regulus asked screwing up his face in confusion, but Sirius just shrugged in response. Reg thought carefully, if he could choose his house he would want to be in Hufflepuff, or maybe Gryffindor… if Hufflepuffs were really nice though, he pondered, then maybe they would be less disappointed when he failed a test or something… He shuddered at the thought of what his mother would say if he were actually sorted out of Slytherin.
"I think I'd like Hufflepuff." Reg whispered to his brother. So thick was the silence that settled over them as they imagined obscure realities, that when the crack sounded of Kreacher appearing in the room to inform them that breakfast was ready, both boys jumped so violently that they fell off the bed. They peeped back at each other and muffled their giggles before heading down to eat.
It was a solemn meal, the boys silently ate their food while their mother watched over them hawk like, critiquing the way they held their silverware, and barking at them to sit up straight.
"As you boys know, it is Christmas…" Walburg began, and the boys exchanged looks of wonderment. "And Sirius will be leaving to Hogwarts next fall. Well one can't prepare too soon, so your father and I, as your christmas present this year, will be taking you to Diagon Alley and purchasing you a wand, and a broom." She nodded curtly at Sirius, and he smiled shyly in response. "And Regulus we will be getting you something as well. But you will be staying here when we go-"
"No!" Sirius almost shouted, and then corrected himself, "...I mean please… could Reg come with us Mother? It is my present, and I would love to have him there." He turned to his brother with a questioning look, and Regulus nodded so enthusiastically that the eggs he has been chewing on spewed back out of his mouth. Their mother looked at them, eyebrows raised, and then sighing to herself nodded in agreement.
"You best be on your best behavior though, I won't have the same nonsense that I had this morning out in public." She spoke sharply, but a gleam in her eyes glowed with pride, if there was anything that Walburg Black loved it was how close her children were. Family was everything.
"Shall we call your father down?"
"Aw Mum, he's probably tired…" Regulus began to protest, but his mother's eyes flashed dangerously and he hushed up quickly. Sirius exchanged a mourning look with Regulus as their mother left the table. Orion Black was a complicated, harsh man. He was a highly ranked ministry official and was extensively educated in the magical arts. He was a tall dark man, with black hair slicked back and a well groomed mustache, and although he was mostly soft spoken, with little to say in most circumstances, he had a nasty temper and a heavy hand that caused many to tread carefully around him, for his reputation was well known. The boys held their breath as their father made his way down the stairs, with each clunk of his feet hitting the hardwood floor they would flinch slightly. He rounded the corner and gave his sons a long look, as if sizing them up in once glance. Regulus squirmed uncomfortably under his father's eye, but Sirius stared back up at him, refusing to look away first.
"Shall we?" His voice boomed through the silence.