Author's Note: The characters and situations featured in this fic are the sole property of J.K. Rowling. Because I am not her, I own nothing.
There was a large bag lying on his bed, with nothing in it. He surveyed the room for what seemed like hours trying to think what he'd want to take with him, but there was nothing. This was his new life, and he would start fresh, leaving old memories behind and making new ones.
Still, it was difficult to leave the old ones behind; in stories it was always easy, but in reality it was different. This place, although gloomy, held memories from him, good and bad, and although he understood that he could not take them with him, he still wanted to take them all in before he left the house.
He waited just seconds too long, because for some strange reason Regulus walked into his room at that moment.
"You're loud," he whispered, complaining, before seeing that his brother was fully dressed, with heavy robes on for combating the cold.
"I am not," Sirius said. "I don't know how you heard me."
"You made a complete racket." Clearly that wasn't what was on Regulus's mind, but it was the safe subject, something that let him not deal with the reality of what would soon come to pass, so he pounced upon it gratefully. Sirius was equally eager not to discuss his parting with his brother, although, they both knew the subject was unavoidable and they would have to talk about it soon, however many delays they forced into a conversation.
"That must have been me rummaging through my schoolbag, but that was about half an hour ago."
Regulus shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Well. It took me that long to get the courage to come up here." He didn't say how he had known what was happening for a long time, noticed Sirius's disillusionment with the family and its philosophies increase by an astronomical rate as of late.
"So."
Regulus nodded. "Where are you going?" he asked, as though he didn't know the answer. Sirius pondered lying, but his brother would see through it, and truly he was too excited about the freedom that was only minutes away, waiting outside in the winter cold, to hide his true intentions. And this would be a foolproof way to ensure the news got back to his parents; he wouldn't leave a note like Andromeda did, because truly he had nothing to say that they would be willing to hear.
Sirius shrugged. "Away. Somewhere away from here, somewhere that I can truly call home."
A hesitant pause filled the room before Regulus spoke. "Is this temporary?" he asked in a hollow voice. He knew the answer, but he had to ask, because he needed to know that there was no hope, not the slightest possibility that his brother might change his mind.
Sirius shook his head. "Do you really have to ask, Regulus? I've wanted to get out of here for years."
That made Regulus go mute while his face looked tortured with hurt, causing Sirius to relent.
"Not away from you, Regulus – away from the family in general. Please, Regulus, don't think that I want to leave you, I don't. I really don't." He hesitated; an idea had come to mind so wonderful, that would solve all of his mixed feelings about leaving the house. "Regulus, why don't you run away too? We could live with Andromeda, if she'd let us, or if not maybe with Uncle Alphard." He caught his breath, excited by this new idea. "What do you say?"
It took Regulus a long time to respond, before he shook his head, his features clearly showing his torment about the choice he had to make. "It's just like when I got Sorted," he explained in a low whisper. "I had to choose Gryffindor or Slytherin, the Hat was making me choose…but it wasn't Gryffindor or Slytherin at all, really. It was you or the family. I can't abandon the family, Sirius."
Stepping back, affronted, Sirius nodded. "Oh."
The sheer agony showed in Regulus's expression was unbearable. "Sirius, I want to go with you, you have no idea how much. You're my brother and I love you but…you're brave, Sirius. You're a Gryffindor. I'm not. I'm not brave, Sirius, I don't want to clash with the family or start some kind of feud. I'm happy staying here."
"I understand." The chill in Sirius's voice only showed Regulus how much he didn't understand. The irony hardly registered on Regulus that Sirius would accuse the family of not understanding why he wanted to leave but that he could not understand why anyone would want to stay.
"I'm sorry."
"Regulus, I have to go. This is something I've looked forward to forever; I can't let anything blight it. I need to let go of this. I need to be free from all of this. If you won't come with me, I'll be free on my own." He walked past his brother, and then looked back once, remembering the childhood where it was just the two of them, where Regulus idolized him and they were best friends, their years in Hogwarts where they were still close. Now it was all coming to an end, but Sirius didn't like to think of ends. He liked to think of beginnings. He walked away, noticing out of the corner of his eye Regulus following from a distance, still looking agonized, and he gave a slight nod in his brother's direction, and then he was ready to leave.
He pulled the door open and stepped away from all that he had known, looking back only once to see the shadowy outline of his brother as Regulus watched him leave the house for what he thought was forever.
His footsteps were silent on the snow as he treaded down the walkway in his own solitary flight, the darkness of night lit up by the snowflakes falling lightly to the ground. Some rested in his hair, but he was too enraptured by freedom to brush them off as he walked away from his inheritance.