AN: "The Bravest Death" requested by my girlfriend a bit ago. Sirius finds out about his brother's death. I had Sirius live with Lily and James, probably not too long before they would get their own house together I think they would share an apartment for a small amount of time.
Sirius hadn't been told his brother was dead, he was shown by black print across the top of the daily prophet. A picture shown underneath the title of an expressionless dark haired boy, standing amongst his fellow Quidditch players back when he had attended Hogwarts just the year before. He dropped the paper with shaking hands on his kitchen table, not believing a word it said, not wanting to see them anymore.
Regulus had graduated just a year ago, finally completing his seven years at Hogwarts. Sirius had graduated not that long before him, but it had been years since they had last talked. When had that been exactly? Sirius tried frantically to search his mind to remember the incident, but came up with nothing. A fact that had made his reality feel so choked and forced he wanted to cough up the mucus like feeling spreading through his throat.
Nothing from the header of the paper to the body beneath it made any sense to Sirius at first. "Recent Hogwarts Graduate Found Dead In Own Home". That was all there was too it, no other reasons for his death were listed besides that no proof could be found that lead to a cause. In situations like this it didn't have to be said, the killing curse was the most likely source. But why Regulus?
Sirius pushed the paper away from him and stormed out of the kitchen and into the living room of the small apartment he shared with Lily and James. It was a recent move and their boxes still littered across the floor. James and Lily weren't even awake yet and Sirius was glad in that moment. He picked up a lamp, something Lily had decided was a needed purchase for any house, and threw it across the room with a loud curse into the wall. The glass of the worthless muggle purchase shattered loudly, leaving bits of thick glass on the floor all messed up with the cord.
Sirius wished he had another lamp to throw at the wall.
Stupid STUPID Regulus. The damn Slytherin had gone and gotten himself blown up. Sirius couldn't point a finger at anything but the slow dawning on him from the quickly receding sleep from his mind told him it had something to do with him becoming a death eater. Sirius flipped the table next, kicking one of the legs off of it while continuing to yell. He wasn't even aware how much he was shouting while he did it until James had run through the nearest door, glasses askew and robe forgotten to cover his only boxer covered form.
The black haired man stared at the screaming Black continuing to trash what was nearest to him. He watched him throw a table leg through a window before jumping quickly to him.
"Sirius? Sirius! What the hell happened?!" James yelled loudly, trying to grip his friend by the shoulders. Sirius just continued to curse in response, pulling away quickly.
He was dead. He was fucking dead. His little brother was fucking dead and everything they had ever said to each other was now worthless. His disgusting infuriating git of a brother who didn't ever learn how to tell their mother no was now fucking dead. He was dead and he probably deserved it. The paper even said it was a loss to the dark forces side, it was a fucking article to boost public moral.
"SIRIUS!" James tried grabbing his friend again and again but he kept pulling away in his rage and breaking more things before he finally stopped, standing there with his long hair falling into his face.
James approached his best friend wearily, not sure if he would try to break away again, but putting a hand on his shoulder anyway.
"Sirius… What the fuck are you doing? What happened?"
Like a man who had snapped Sirius gave a loud broken sounding laugh, pressing his hand to his stomach while his face pointed upwards. James knew this had to be serious, he had seen Sirius laugh when stressed, and also break things in a rush of anger, but never the two combined.
"He's dead, James!" Sirius said after his laugh had rang out loudly through the living room. He gasped for breath after that, his body language changing as his head hung low again and his shoulders slumped. His voice was much quieter when he spoke again,
"He's dead, my brother's dead."
James moved forward instantly, clasping Sirius around the shoulder and turning him around to grip him in a tight embrace. Sirius began to let out loud unrestrained sobs, pulling at James roughly in an attempt at gaining comfort. James had never seen Sirius cry before in his life.
"What… What happened?" James asked, shocked.
"I don't fucking know!" Sirius said loudly in response. "It was a god damn mystery to investigators! As if they even bothered, a fucking death eater, who would?! They found him at Grimmuald place dead, said they had to basically pry the fucking house elf off of him."
"Who's they?"
"The daily prophet, it's in the fucking kitchen." Sirius pushed James away from him suddenly and began to squat on the ground, putting his face in his hands.
"Fuck..."He whispered quietly.
It was one of the harshest realities that the war with Voldemort was real and that even if the people were on his side; they could be lost because of them. It all made Sirius feel sick and helped him come to the grim conclusion that despite everything and all the choices his brother had made he loved him. Thinking of what his body must have looked like, empty lifeless and cold, Sirius rushed to the bathroom to puke up the coffee he had slurped down that morning. Lily found him there, curled over the edge of the bowl and quietly did her best to calm by gently finger combing his hair.