Idea by tigergirl-moonstar :)

More chapters coming.

Hope you enjoy!

CookieLizard

It didn't feel right. He never wanted this. He should have said no when he had the opportunity, but now it's all gone. He's just another puppet and it's too late now to cut the strings. He should have been the smart one. He was the older brother. Setting an example for Reg. And yet, his younger brother turned out to be smarter than all of them. Of course, no one in the family was allowed to speak to Regulus now, or even enter his Gryffindor room of shame. But there he was. Looking at his brother, who was too disgusted to even face him.

"Reg…", he started, surprised at his hoarse voice, "Reg, perhaps…"

"Don't bother, Sirius. I don't want to hear one more word. Just let me finish school in peace and then I'll be gone. For good. You won't have to see me anymore."

He still hasn't moved. He was talking to the wall more than to Sirius. But it was okay. He deserved this.

"Look. I know where you stand. And I respect it. But…"

"No, Sirius.", he said standing up and finally facing him, "If you truly respected it, you wouldn't try and change my mind."

"You have to understand the times we live in. We must stand united."

"Yeah… We do. And I am standing united. With the side I chose. On my own. Can you say the same for yourself? Do you actually believe in your cause?"

"I…"

"Just. Forget it. Leave."

"Reg…"

"Now!"

It hurt. It always hurt, seeing him like that. They used to support each other and now they were enemies. And it didn't feel right.

There was a crowd in the kitchen. Mother looked so proud. They must have had an assignment for him. Something important. Fantastic.

"Sirius, my boy.", mother said. She never called him that. There was definitely an assignment. "Lucius will fill you in on the way."

"On the way?"

"You'll see, you'll see. Make your family proud, like you always do."

"Of course, mother"

He loathed himself.

Sirius touched Lucius' shoulder and they disapparted outside the house and apparted in some small, Muggle-looking village.

"Have your wand ready.", whispered Lucius.

Sirius took it out and followed him, quietly. They reached a house and Lucius spelled the door open. Sirius entered quietly after him.

"It's not like I wasn't expecting you.", came a voice from behind them. Sirius saw a very thin man, who looked almost ill. His hair was once dark but there were traces of silver on it now. He was pointing his wand at them. He seemed confident even though his looks would say otherwise. "I knew you'd come for me."

"Edgar.", said Lucius softly, "You know you can avoid your sentence. You can always join us. You know we could do with your connections."

"You must be delusional."

Sirius stood there, awkwardly, not knowing what to do. He somehow felt concerned for the thin man.

"You know we have your wife and children. You know we can kill them any second, unless…"

"What? I cooperate? As if I didn't know they were dead already… You will never get me!"

"I think you are mistaken. And there's only one of you."

"Well, I think you're mistaken too."

"Drop your wands.", came a soft and oddly pleasant voice. Sirius turned again to stand face to face with a tall man, with sandy hair and green eyes. He knew him from school, but not by name.

The two wizards were on both sides of them. Sirius' eyes flicked on Lucius and noticed the slightest shake of his head. He knew what he planned. It wasn't going to be a fair fight.

"I am afraid, I can't grant that wish.", said Lucius and disappeared in a cloud of thick, black smoke. At the same time, Sirius dogged Edgar's spell and turned quickly to attack the other wizard. He blocked his spell and Sirius heard the other one attacking again, but Lucius reappeared behind his back and disarmed him. The other wizard cast something and Sirius winced and moaned when he felt a deep cut on his cheek. The tall men went to attack again, but Sirius used the Trip Jinx and he fell over.

"Incarcerous!", Sirius said and in a second his opponent was tied up. At the same time, green light flashed and he heard a thump. He turned to see Lucius gazing in disgust at the emotionless body of the thin, weak, unarmed man.

"Our job is done.", he said.

"What about this one?", Sirius said, pointing sat the sandy-haired wizard. Lucius shrugged.

"I didn't get any specific orders about him. You can kill him or leave him."

Sirius winced slightly.

"We could take him? He might know something."

Lucius smirked at him.

"Well, Black. You might have just made your family prouder." He stepped over Edgar's body and left the house.

Sirius picked up the other wizard's wand and leaned over to lift the wizard. He, however, used his tied legs to kick Sirius on his tibias. Sirius groaned and swore, fighting the tears that automatically fogged his eyes.

"You…", he looked at him, angrily. The other one, put an innocent expression on his face and looked away. Sirius smirked and calmed down. "Have it your way. Stupefy!"

The wizard's muscles gave way and he lost consciousness.

"Mobilicorpus!", Sirius then murmured.

"Black! This isn't the time to be making friends!", came Lucius' voice from the outside.

"I'm coming!"

He shot a last glance at Edgar's lifeless body. He gulped and his hand gripped his wand tighter. He then turned away, and left with his prisoner hovering in front of him.

"Where now?", he asked Lucius when they joined him.

Lucius sent him a look which told to stop asking questions. It all became clear when they apparted in front of the big mansion. Malfoys' Mannor.

The house was impressive. Even more impressive, when compared to the cage at Grimmauld Place. When they walked in, after series of protection tests Lucius had to do, Sirius realised that the inside was even more breath-taking than the outside. Finished with black marbles, with a great fireplace in the middle, by which stood two armchairs upholstered with black leather. There were marble stairs on both sides of the hall. It was definitely bigger on the inside.

"And you live here with just Cissy?"

"Sometimes the Lestranges visit."

"Oh. Family meetings. You should invite us too sometimes."

Another stare. He decided to stop talking.

"Take him to the dungeon."

"You have a dungeon. That's a surprise."

"You took him, so now make it worth it. Interrogate him about the Order. We need to know what their hideout is and who is in charge. Don't hold back. Do what it takes to get the information."

"What if he's not in the Order?"

"Of course he is. He wouldn't be there to protect Bones if he wasn't. He didn't do a very good job, I must say…"

"Well, it wasn't exactly a fair fight…"

"Excuse me?"

"He was defenceless, Lucius. You didn't even give him a chance to die in a fair fight."

"We don't stop to think about this nonsense. I had a task and with your help, I completed it. You need to stop thinking so much about everything."

Sirius nodded. He left Lucius and hovered his prisoner downstairs. A row of torches at the wall lit up with green flames when he walked into the dungeon. It wasn't a cheerful place. There were four small cells, none occupied. He placed the wizard in the one furthest from the entrance and untied him. He felt a wild urge to fix his fringe. Up close, he saw that the wizard had a clear jawline, but it was gentle and gave his face a handsome shape. There were scars on his skin, barely visible from a distance. He also spotted a few freckles.

He realised he was taking a bit too long, just staring at his face, so he stood up quickly and left the cell. He locked it behind him and used the Reviving Spell. He then conjured a chair and sat down. He heard the prisoner groaning.

"Hey, buddy. We're gonna be here together for a while. Just the two of us. Might wanna socialise a bit."

"You killed him. Do you even know anything about him? Do you know he had a family? And that they were taken captive a while ago, and probably slaughtered?"

"I'm afraid I didn't."

"What do you know? Do you just follow orders, blindly?"

It felt like he was talking to Regulus again. He was tired of people accusing him of everything.

"That's not your concern. Now, state your name."

"Do you really not remember me, Black?"

"I have seen your face, yes. But I was never too bothered with your name."

"Well I can't see why would I be bothered with it now, then."

"Because you're on the other side of the bars and don't have much of a choice."

"Fine. Torture me then."

Sirius clenched his fists. He was never keen on hurting others. He should've thought of that before he joined the Death Eaters.

"I'm going to ask you to answer my questions."

"Well, good luck with that."

"I don't think you understand the situation."

The wizard put both hands on the bars and studied Sirius for a while. The stare of the green eyes gave him goose bumps. Somehow, it was more terrifying than anything else he'd encountered so far.

"Why did you do it, Black? Why did you have to be such an idiot?"

"You know nothing of me. You don't get to talk to me like that."

"I remember you. Always walking around with Snape. But you seemed different. You never joined in any of your little gang's bully parties. You would stare at us sometimes. You also never protected Snape from James. There were moments I thought of trying to befriend you. Maybe we wouldn't be here now, if I did."

James… James Potter? And then, suddenly, it clicked.

"Lupin… Remus Lupin. It's you. Bloody hell… You sure changed…"

He knew his face was familiar. But he never thought it was that person. The person he used to stare at sometimes, just like Lupin just said, but would never admit it. He always wanted to be their friend. But Lupin… He looked like he gained years in the few months that passed from their graduation.

"Well, you might not realise but I'm currently under a lot of stress. It changes people."

"I can surely see that."

"And how's your brother these days? I've always quite liked him."

"You don't get to talk about him."

"Why? He was a laugh at school. Too bad you didn't get to see how funny he was at the Gryffindor parties. But I guess you and your buddies were too busy with praising the Dark Lord in your lovely dungeons."

"It's not my fault the Hat decided to sort me there."

"But it's your fault for letting it get to you."

"I didin't have a choice, okay?!"

"And Reg did?"

He didn't know what to answer. Of course he had a choice. Of course he knew that. But he made the wrong one.

He heard footsteps.

"That's enough for now, Black.". It was Lucius.

"What, why? I didn't even…"

"Yes, that's the point. Move on."

"It was lovely to chat, Black!", Remus shouted when they were leaving upstairs, "I'm looking forward to the next talk!"

The lights went completely dark as they left the dungeon. Sirius thought of Remus, sitting there in the darkness, all on his own.

"Will someone else come to interrogate him?"

"Probably."

"Did I screw up?"

"A bit. But the Dark Lord is very pleased with you. Lupin is a valuable asset. Just don't let him get to you."

"Don't worry.", Sirius said, suddenly emotionless, "I will do my job."