regulus

.o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o.

something is so very

wrong,

you can

feel

it.

he

threatened to

leave.

how would you

survive

without sirius here?

what

are you supposed to do? you can't just

sit

around and let him

go.

you run to him like you

used

to. it's not like you can

sleep

now. not when there's a chance he won't be

here

in the morning.

'sirius'

you mutter, crawling into his bed,

crawling

into his heart, you

hope.

hope's all that you have left.

.o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o.

sirius

.o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o.

you only let him in because you

know

it'll be the last time you sleep with him.

realizing

that the only thing you'll miss about this

place

is regulus, how could you

deny

him the last chance to sleep in your bed?

'sirius'

he mutters.

'reg'

you reply. 'why can't we just be like

this

forever? why do you need to

leave?

why do you need to leave

me?'

he

begs,

but you can't bring yourself to

answer,

so you simply pull him

closer

as you think

this

is the

last

time you can do this with him.

but

you can't stay here.

tempers

run high and they're all directed at

you.

because you're

sirius,

the unwanted son.

regulus

is the one who's the

perfect

son, the

perfect

black.

you're just

sirius.

and they all hate that.

.o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o.

regulus

.o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o.

you

relive

your little secret with

sirius.

memories of your youth flood back from when you were in his

bed

as a child, how you

both

did things that you're now

ashamed

of. but shame and the need for

repetition

are not the same. too bad you can't

distinguish

between the two anymore.

somehow,

for some mad reason, you figure,

he

lets you in,

wraps

his arm around you,

holds

you tight to his warm chest.

'sirius,'

you mutter. 'are you

really

leaving me? leaving

us?'

'yes, reg. i

have

to. just calm down, go to

sleep.'

and you, being the

obedient

brother, comply.

'goodnight,'

sirius,' you whisper.

'goodbye,'

he replies as you drift off to sleep.

.o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o.

sirius

.o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o.

you wake

early,

writing a note for

regulus

to find when morning

dawns.

dear regulus,

i

can't stay any longer,

obviously.

we both know this. there's no

way

around it.

they

don't want me here, and

frankly

there isn't much here for me.

but,

if you ever need

me,

use this mirror. it's

two-way

so we can see each other when we look into it. just say my

name

and i'll be here for you.

you're

never alone, reg.

you're

just somewhere else. i'm always here for

you.

best of luck,

sirius.

p.s. keep what we did in bed our little secret,

hush-hush.

you tuck the mirror for

regulus

underneath the letter and grab your things. time to

go,

sirius, you tell yourself.

you

leave, and you don't look back.

.o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o. o .o.

A/N: For Camp Potter Arts and Crafts (freeverse) Week 3 using the prompts: Mirror, 'Hush hush,' Sleep (all mandatory) and the optional prompt Leaves (as in leaving, not leaves on a tree…) Word count: 546

If You Dare Challenge, using prompt #514: Secrets