Tell Me Your Story

The Unspeakable still had to check on a few other 'mysteries' before going home that night, but he didn't seem able to concentrate on it. That wasn't really very strange, though. It only proved there was still some sanity left in this world. Visitors from other universes were still considered something very unusual. And, as Regulus made sure things were still in their usual places, his thoughts kept coming back to the room with the veil.

'What's the last thing you remember?' he finally asked his brother.

Sirius thought about it. The answer was not as simple as it should have been. Was it the battle? Fighting with Bellatrix? Falling? Or was it…?

'My whole life…' he finally said.

'What?'

'Sort of like I was dying…' he tried to explain 'My life passing in front of my eyes. Only it wasn't my life really. It was different.'

'What do you mean?' Regulus didn't understand.

'It was my life… Only it happened differently…' Sirius tried to recall as much of the vision as he could 'I didn't fight with Bellatrix on the train… and then there was the Sorting… but I don't remember - '

'What house were you in?' Regulus interrupted him suddenly.

Sirius considered lying or refusing to answer. It didn't seem reasonable to tell him too much about his life. Afer all Regulus, in his world at least, had been a Slytherin… and a Death Eater. But he had tried to leave them. Sirius was not sure his brother had ever really wanted to join them in the first place. For some reason he wanted to trust him. Or maybe he just wanted to trust someone?

'Gryffindor,' he finally said 'Why?' he added in a 'You have a problem with that?' tone. To his surprise, Regulus started to laugh.

'What?' he asked him.

'Nothing…' Regulus said, still laughing 'It's just… weird… And I'm trying to imagine what Sir- erm… your other self… woud say if I told him. Gryffindor! Oh Merlin!'

'I still don't see what's so funny about Gryffindor. It's as good as any other house. Or better.'

'I know it is,' Regulus told him 'I know quite a few Gryffindors. Most of them are all right… But… but…' he burst out laughing again. It annoyed Sirius very much. But finally he began to understand what it might all be about.

'All right,' he asked 'Who is this other me?'

XXX

The two brothers decided that the differences between their worlds were a Long Story, explaining them was likely to take all night and, as Sirius needed a place to stay, they might as well go to Reg's house to talk about it all. They left the Department of Mysteries, went to the narest fireplace and then to a place that looked a lot like the house Uncle Alphard had lived in.

'You can sleep here while you're staying at my house,' Regulus told his brother, opening the door of a guest bedroom.

Sirius looked inside.

'It looks like a kid's room,' he observed 'You have children?'

'No, I don't,' Regulus told him 'My youngest nephew sleeps here sometimes'

'Oh…'

'Yeah, he comes here when he's tired of living with his parents…'

'Nephew… nephew… your nephew…' Sirius muttered, as if not really understanding what his brother had meant 'My son?' he said finally, slightly shocked 'I have children?'

'I take it you don't in your world,' Regulus guessed.

'Not that I know of,' said Sirius, smiling even though it was not a happy thought that if he did have any children he didn't know about, they were much better off not knowing about him either.

XXX

'Want something to drink?' Regulus asked when they were back in the living room.

'Sure'

'There's tea, butterbeer, firewhiskey… What do you want?'

'I've just nearly been killed, fallen into a different universe and met a guy who has been dead for sixteen years. What do you think?'

'Oh… right…'

A moment later Regulus came back into the room, carrying a bottle and two glasses.

'Thanks, Reg,' said Sirius, taking his 'Now would you mind telling me about this world?'

'Sure,' Regulus agreed 'No need to hurry, though. Why are you so nervous about it anyway?'

'I don't really know anything about you,' Sirius said 'For all I know, you could be a Death Eater waiting to kill me.'

He realised that it really was possible and put down his glass in case Regulus was trying to poison him. Regulus looked shocked. He spat out a mouthfull of his drink all over the table.

'What?' he said quickly 'Why the hell would I be a Death Eater?'

'Well, you were in my world,' Sirius pointed out 'I don't know why. I always thought there was still hope for you. Don't know what posessed you.'

'A Death Eater?' Regulus repeated 'I thought you said I was dead?'

'Oh yeah. That too,' Sirius said, glad that, judging by Regulus's reaction, it was probably safe to finish his drink 'So, are you going to tell me?'

'All right,' Reg said 'Some of it might be quite a shock for you…'

Sirius didn't think anything could really shock him any more. He was sure his own story was much more incredible than anything he could find out tonight.

'You said you were a Gryffindor, didn't you?' Regulus continued.

'Yeah.'

'You wouldn't like your other self…'

'Let me guess. Slytherin?' Sirius was already beginning to hate his counterpart.

'Hey!' Reg said 'There's nothing wrong with Slytherin! I was one, you know?'

'You sound like Slughorn right now,' Sirius commented '"It's such a pity you're not in my house, m'boy! You would have made an excellent Slytherin… Oh, there's no need to look at me like that, it's not a bad thing!"' and they both burst out laughing.

'Okay, I guess you're right,' Sirius admited when they finally stopped 'As long as I'm not friends with Snivellus or anything…'

Well, all right. There were things that could have shocked him. That was one of them.

'You mean Snape? No, you never really liked each other.'

Sirius sighed with relief 'So what happened to me then?'

'Well, Mother was proud, of course,' all right, that was a bit of a shock 'Especially since you always got good marks.'

'And I never did anything that made her angry?'

'Well, some pranks you played on James Potter and some others annoyed her a bit,' Reg said with a small laugh 'She sent you a Howler once. "This is not a proper way for a young aristocrat to behave!"'

'Oh…'

'Of course she needn't have punished you. James did it himself. The prank war in your fifth year was Filch's worst nightmare…'

'If you think that was bad, imagine me and James as best friends.'

'Whoa…' Regulus gasped 'But you weren't, were you?'

'Why, of course we were!'

'Is the school still standing?'

'Oh, we only blew up one toilet!' of course, they had done a lot of other illegal things, but few of them involved blowing up parts of the school.

As Regulus continued teling the story, Sirius thought his counterpart's life was rather uneventful, compared to his own. The other Sirius had grown up to be very much like his father. He lived in his family's old house, with his wife and three children. (All of them were Slytherins, except for the youngest boy, the one who sometimes slept in the spare bedroom.) One nasty shock was that some people seemed to suspect he might be connected to the Death Eaters, but Regulus did not believe it and he should know.

'What have you been doing anyway?' Regulus asked when he'd finished his story 'You don't look good.'

'Well, you wouldn't look good either if you'd been through the hell I've been through!'

And then another story had to be told.