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"Mum," Regulus whined, pulling on his mother's sleeve, "can't you stay with us?"
The woman shook her head ruefully, looking at the small seven-year-old adoringly. "No, Regulus, sweetie, Daddy's too sick. I've got to take him to the hospital."
"But why?" The boy sniffled, making the child lurking in the shadows snort slightly.
Mrs. Black swiveled her head around like a bloodhound; instantly, her eyes were on him, narrowed and vehement. "Does your brother's sadness amuse you, Sirius Orion?"
"No." The nine-year-old dare devil stepped out from behind a curtain. "And my name's Sirius," he added.
"I named you," his mother snapped. "I'll call you whatever I like."
Sirius opened his mouth, eyes determined, but his brother beat him to it. "Mummy, please stay! I don't want to be all alone with Sirius!"
She chuckled as Sirius's scowl grew larger. "Don't worry, honey. The babysitter should be here any moment."
"We don't need a babysitter!" Sirius suddenly shouted. "I can take care of him!"
"Sirius Orion, you can do no such thing, and you - "
"No," Sirius said, and his voice was quieter. "Please, Mum," his mother's eyes widened at that - he hadn't called her anything but 'Mother' or 'Mrs. Black' for months, "just let me try. I'll take good care of him, I swear - "
The tiny moment of slight tenderness she'd felt for her eldest son was long over. "Don't swear things you know are not the truth."
Sirius bit down on his lip, recognizing the hard, cold tone in her voice.
"Fine," he whimpered. "Fine, I don't care, I don't give a - "
"Go," Mrs. Black ordered, "Sirius Orion, room. Now."
The boy slunched up the stairs to his room, where he sat on his stone-cold bed, thinking of what he would do once he was sorted into Gryffindor, leaving Regulus to whine - until the babysitter arrived, when the complaints turned into cries.
"C'mon, Reg," Sirius said, his eyes bright. "Let's play a joke on her."
Their babysitter was sitting in their living room, flipping through a magazine absentmindly.
"No way!" Regulus argued immediately. "She's here to watch us - how could we be as deceitful as to play a joke on her?"
His older brother sighed. "Like this," he answered, and swung his right foot into Bertha Jorkins' (their babysitter) chair leg, causing a loud clang!, as well as making the young woman screech in fright and clutch her heart dramatically.
"Sirius!" his little brother admonished. "How could you?"
"What?" Sirius asked reproachfully. "I didn't play a joke on her. That was more like scaring her without reason."
Bertha stood up and glared at the brothers fiercely.
"Now, listen here, you two - I'm the boss for now, so take your little highly ungrateful behinds back up those shiny steps and keep them out of my view. Got it?"
"Got it," Regulus answered weakly.
"Who asked you?" Sirius said, looking at his "babysitter" like she was an overgrown rat. "Mind your own business, lady."
Bertha raised an eyberow. "First of all, as I said: I'm the boss for now, so no more cheek from you, mister. Second of all, I've been told that before, so I'll tell you what I told them: if everyone minded their own business, there would be no love."
Regulus's eyes widened in fear at that idea, while Sirius shrugged.
"Wouldn't make much of a difference," he said. "There's no love here, anyway."
"Sirius," Regulus sighed. "There is plenty of love, you're just too hotheaded and brave to get it! Act like a Black, for Heaven's sake."
"I'm not a Black," his brother whispered back, as Bertha picked her magazine up off of the carpet, and with one last glare, settled into her chair again.
"I am Sirius, and one day I'll be famous, for doing the right thing, not like you guys. You'll all be stuck in Azkaban while I count my money."
"In your dreams," the seven-year-old scoffed.
When their mother arrived home again, with a still-very-sick Orion Black in tow, she instantly turned to Regulus.
"How was Sirius today?"
"Fine," her son answered. "Well, except for when he said there was no love here, but - "
"Thanks, Reg," his brother rolled his eyes as his father turned on him.
"There's no love here?" Orion demanded, but Sirius wasn't paying attention.
"Nope," he said easily, not even looking up at his father's dark eyes. "Or butter, mum, for future references. My potatos are rather bland."
Written For:
- Purple (positive & negative) on Empress Empoleon's Colors Competition on HPFC.
- Petunia on Slytherin Cat's Greenhouses Challenge on HPFC.
- Dominique Weasley on Bad Mum's Weasley-Potter-Prewett Challenge on HPFC.
- If You Dare Challenge (Alone, #189)