A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters except those you do not recognize.
Regulus heard muffled yelling and instinctively pulled his pillow over his head, hoping to drown out the sounds even more. Unfortunately, it appeared the voices raised in volume at the same time. He let out a small sigh, and sat up, composed. He glared a little at the silken green curtain around his bed. He knew it was only one of his brothers and Mum's famed yelling matches, and would end soon. His mum would win, she always did. Sirius would be sent to his room for what felt like the remainder of the Holidays, and that would be that. Regulus hated the summer holidays. It was the one time Sirius returned home, and therefore his mum would spend all summer berating him for anything that she possibly could.
Regulus carefully clambered out of bed to change into something more formal than his green and silver striped pajama pants, and the silver shirt with an emerald S on it. He did not particularly care for the pajamas, but his mum had them special made from when he was eleven. It was one of many gifts for being sorted into Slytherin and Regulus had hoped he would soon grow out of it, so he would not be forced to wear them. The younger Slytherins ridiculed him for it to this day, because his mum had a charm cast on it, so it grew to fit his size.
The younger Regulus had let out a string of curses that polite company would faint at hearing. Too bad, he never cared much for polite company, that was one thing Sirius and him had agreed on. Polite company was extremely boring, and they both found it dull to have to spend their allotted time with people who normally did not understand, nor appreciate their wit. He yawned, yanking on one of his many good black robes accented with silver trim that his mum had ordered him to wear for the day. He hated having to do everything his mum asked of him, especially when it came to what he was wearing, but if Sirius already had her riled up at this point in the morning, he figured it couldn't hurt to do so.
He heard a deadly quiet thump, and allowed a grimace, only the slightest bit. Regulus knew his mum had started throwing things, and that meant the normal screaming match was heating up, and that was never good. He just hoped it was not a prized family heirloom, and if it was, that it was not damaged. Walburga had done that once, and the china had shattered beyond repair. It only served to make her angrier with her eldest son than she already was.
After he straightened out his robes to the point of insane perfection, and had managed to tame his wild bed head hair, he sat down, having nothing else to do without leaving his room. He could still hear the argument, and had no intention to put himself in the line of fire. He heard his mother screech some words he knew she would never say in front of polite company, and smirked a little to himself. Then he remembered she was directing all of this at Sirius, his brother, and his smirk fell off his face faster than chocolate melted in summer heat.
Regulus did not want to hear what it was that they were fighting about, as he was sure that Sirius would relay it for him later, if he asked nicely. At least, he hoped Sirius would. He and his older brother used to be inseparable, but as they became older, and took on different views on the world, they had steadily split further from each other. Regulus did not like it, but Sirius seemed to welcome the gap. He bit his lip, and grabbed a schoolbook he had barely touched over the last year, in hopes of drowning the conversation out with some new knowledge about stuff he could care less about.
Halfway through learning about some Goblin war in another country (though they were all the same, really) he heard a faint 'crack'. Briefly, he wondered if his mum had thrown something else at Sirius, until he realized that it was the sound of someone apparating. Regulus frowned deeply. Yes, Sirius was old enough to apparate, but he never thought he would do so. Sirius did not like to leave Regulus home alone for long periods of time normally, as he was worried that mum would twist her youngest to the shape she desired even more so.
Regulus shut the book and set it down on the nightstand, along with his other pristine schoolbooks, and cracked open his door cautiously. He peered down the hallway, and began walking down it. Once he neared the staircase, he heard a something ricochet off the wall. Panicked, he all but ran down the stairs, and his eyes widened. Sirius's name had been blast off the Black tapestry. That meant he no longer had a brother that was recognized, and that he would only see Sirius at Hogwarts, once summer ended. His mum smiled slyly at her youngest—no, only child's—face.
Regulus knew he should have been ecstatic, after all, he was the only recognized heir of the Black family at this point, but he was boiling angrily on the inside. How could his mother do this? He knew she had a temper, but she loved Sirius as much as she loved Regulus. She just thought that Sirius needed a firmer hand in being guided to the right side. That Sirius was simply leaded astray, and that she could fix it, given enough time. Now, though, his mother was pretending that she never had another child. That Regulus was her only child, and was suited for being the heir. He gulped, unsure of the whole thing.
Regulus had once been able to fly under the radar, without anyone's particular notice. He owed that to Sirius, as the black sheep, he diverted attention away from Regulus. When he was younger, he had resented his brother for that. However, as he grew older, and watched Sirius begin to buckle under all the pressure that came with being the heir (such as an arranged marriage); Regulus had been beyond grateful for it. He could do almost anything he had wished, and his mum would not so much as raise an eyebrow. Now though, he knew it was time for her to start her picking at him, and he had a gut feeling that he would not enjoy it.
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