As soon as the aurors arrived, the Death Eaters bolted immediately. The teachers and a few of the oldest students accompanied the younger students back to the castle, and a few hours later Hogsmeade was like a morgue. Gladly, no one had been severely injured. The damage was mostly material, as the Death Eaters had broken the windows of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop and spread the content of its shop windows across the entire street. Otherwise, there was only minimal damage on the other buildings.
Glumness lay heavily over the Great Hall at dinnertime, like every lightness had been sucked out of it, not to mention the oxygen. The Slytherin table was an exception, however. Most of the Slytherins seemed unfazed by the events of the afternoon.
Sirius kept his eyes glued on his brother, observing him carefully. The longer he watched Regulus, the more determined he got. The way Regulus moved his head, held his shoulders, turned his head... It had been him, Sirius was sure of it.
Dumbledore got up and cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the students. He looked around, taking in the worried faces of his students. Finally, with a very serious expression in his usually twinkling eyes, he spoke.
"After the events of the afternoon, I wish to say a few words. Many, if not all of you, will already be aware of the fact that this afternoon, a group of Death Eaters attacked Hogsmeade whilst many students were visiting the village. I am relieved that I can definitely say that no one has been severely injured. Nevertheless, this was an attack on us and on the residents of Hogsmeade.
The staff of Hogwarts, as well as the aurors, will guard the school and Hogsmeade during the next days. They will also be present on the train back to London. Even so, I beseech you to take care during the next days, as we do not yet know who exactly is responsible for the attacks other than that they were supporters of the one that has arisen to call himself the Dark Lord.
So I ask of you, dear students, to keep your eyes open on the journey back to your homes, and help and support the younger, more vulnerable students in situations like the one that occurred this afternoon.
We, the staff and students of Hogwarts, should stand united against violence that is cowardly directed at the most vulnerable members of our society. It is of dubious honour to terrorize children and unarmed, peaceful individuals. Keep that in mind, dear students. I call on you to think about the consequences of your actions and to act as a moral model in all virtues. Virtues of justice, friendship, loyalty and honesty. Don't do unto others what you would not have done unto you, as goes a wise muggle saying."
Dumbledore cast a quick glance to the Slytherin table.
"But I do not want to dampen the mood because I'm sure you all look eagerly forward to the holidays and I want you to enjoy the last days of school for this year. Have no fear, we will do everything in our power to keep you safe and sound. I wish you all a nice dinner and a good night." Dumbledore smiled at the students and stepped back as plates fully laden with delicious foods appeared on the tables.
The students' faces lit up a bit and they started to eat. Still, the atmosphere was pensive and quiet for the remainder of the evening.
James, Remus, Peter, Lily and Sirius sat together at the Gryffindor table, James and Sirius were particularly thoughtful after Dumbledore's speech.
"Have you really seen Death Eaters?" Peter piped up, breaking the silence, his blue eyes wide and curious. He and Remus had stayed at the castle during the attacks and had been shocked after James and Sirius told them what had happened.
"Yes, we have. It was awful. They were randomly attacking younger students, the children were so afraid!" James said enraged. "They're nothing but cowards. I bet Snivellus was there too." He added in a hateful voice.
Lily cast him a short side-glance.
"How'd they look?" Peter asked curiously.
"They were dressed in long, dark robes, with masks. To hide their ugly faces, I bet." James sneered. "But the aurors were really great! Their mere appearance frightened them away, the Death Eaters knew they couldn't stand against them for a decent fight, not in a million years." He smirked. "Have you seen how Moody fought? It was truly amazing!" James said to Sirius, excitement shining in his brown eyes.
"I have. It was really impressive, you should've seen it," Sirius agreed and they told Remus, Lily and Peter in colourful details everything about the fight.
"After school, I'll definitely do something like this. Being an auror is just the most awesome thing ever. You get to do something that's important and protect lives." James said, his eyes shining as he spoke about his career dream. Sirius couldn't agree more. It was an honourable job and exciting as hell. And you could fight against the evil in the world. People like the aurors were needed, to guard the wizarding society and to maintain justice and order. They were like heroes.
Sirius cast another glance at his brother. Sitting at the Slytherin table, his brother seemed to have a good time with his Slytherin companions, laughing from time to time, not fazed by the events at all. Snape, Avery and Mulciber had smug grins plastered on their ugly faces and Sirius had the strong feeling that they had been amongst the Death Eaters this afternoon or had, in the least, known about the planned attacks.
It was disgusting that they were sitting at Hogwarts' tables like rats, living off its protection.
That night, Sirius started to make a plan.
Sirius, Lily, James and Peter shared a compartment on the train back to London. Remus was sitting with the prefects in a special compartment, but now and then he dutifully patrolled the corridors and he stuck his head into their compartment for a minute for a quick chat.
Most of the time they were talking lively about Quidditch and their plans for the holidays, but Sirius held himself in the background, what was unusual for him because normally he'd be the centre of attention, yanking their wands and creating a good time on the long ride back to London.
On the previous evening, he'd informed Professor McGonagall that he'd accept his inheritance, that he took on the responsibility of being the Head of the House Black, owner of his parents' possessions and guardian of his younger brother.
He'd also asked Professor McGonagall not to tell his brother about it yet, he said he wanted to do it himself.
The previous day had been exhausting. He and James had apparated from outside the Hogwarts grounds to northern Scotland, where the Potters owned a cottage. Sirius knew about it because he'd spent the previous holiday there with them, and now it seemed like the perfect place where he could start and rebuild a relationship with his brother.
Sirius was glad he didn't have to go back to Grimmauld Place, and if he had his way, he'd never put a foot in that damned house again.
Only darkness, grief, insanity waited for him in that haunted house. The reminder of how why he knew that being proud of your blood was total nonsense.
The cottage, on the other hand, held only positive, happy memories, and it had felt like home for him last year. Now, with the Potters' permission, he and James had prepared and warded it for his and Reg's stay over the summer.
Those wards included security spells against dark wizards and whoever might want to cause them harm, regular wards that were put on the Potter's house as well, but other wards were purposely installed to allow Sirius a certain amount of control over his brother, and would prevent Regulus trying to leave without Sirius' permission.
Even though it had sounded strange at first, those were mainly spells mothers used for little children to keep them out of certain areas of the house they weren't allowed to enter, or at least that's how Mrs. Potter had explained it to them.
Sirius smiled as he thought of the Potters. He was so thankful to them. They had taken him into their family and showed him how real family life worked. For the first time, he'd been allowed to be a child. For the first time, he'd had adults he could trust. They'd showed him the meaning of security, love and care. Things he'd never experienced like this before.
Sirius wanted his brother to know about that too. And he was his big brother, so he was the one who should show him all of that.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius could see Professor Slughorn patrolling the corridor, sticking his bald head quickly into their compartment, gave them a nod and a light smile that made his walrus-like moustache twitch and then continued his walk. It was so unusual to see teachers aboard the train. Usually, there was only the driver and the tea trolley witch.
"This is so strange. It feels like war." Lily mumbled. The others nodded. They felt the same way. Even though the teachers did their best to reassure the students that all was fine and it was just safety precautions, the students didn't miss the wary glances and the exchange of short nods between each other.
Unlike the last years, the arrival of the holidays had been silent and stealthy. Many students were anxious, especially the ones with muggle heritage. It was something Lily had mentioned a few times, worrying about her parents and sister. Sirius thought about Andromeda. Would the Death Eaters attack her and her family as well? The Tonks' were the only members of his blood family he was in contact with. Andromeda had always been his favourite cousin and Sirius still wrote her letters and visited her and her family from time to time. As far as he knew, Regulus had never met Andromeda again after she'd been disowned by the family for marrying a muggle-born, the whole Black family had seemingly erased her from their memories as his mother had burned Andromeda's face from the Black family tree tapestry. Just like she had erased Sirius' face.
Sirius thought about his mother. She had been a vile, horrible woman. He couldn't recall one memory in which she'd shown sincere love towards him. Sometimes he wondered if she'd always been like this. But then again, he found himself caring little. He didn't think about his mother often, nor about his father. They had died for him long ago, and their actual death hadn't changed anything about his feelings for them. But it had changed his feelings for his brother.
Again, he was thinking of Regulus. He was all he could think about the last weeks, it seemed. The feeling of responsibility always in the back of his mind, like a sound, a bittersweet note being played without ceasing. He got used to it, could ignore it for a while, but when it was only him and his thoughts, he couldn't block it out.
Responsibility. It was a strange feeling.
Weighing on his shoulders, making his stomach turn.
But then again it somehow made him stronger in his decisions, more determined.
Sirius turned his head and rested his chin on his left hand, looking out of the window, watching the landscape pass by. Trying to put his racing mind at rest and think about something else.
A few hours later the train arrived at King's Cross.
Sirius glanced at his best friend.
James nodded.
Sirius shrunk his trunk and other luggage to pocket size and handed it to James. James would take it with him so Sirius wouldn't have to care about that as well. He felt so anxious.
"Good luck." James said, flashing Sirius a bright grin. Sirius grinned back, although it felt forced, more like a grimace. Yes, he'd be needing that luck.
The locomotive whistled loudly. Sirius hurried out of the compartment after saying bye to Peter and Lily and wishing them good holidays. He knew in which compartment Regulus had rode, and he was still in it after what Sirius could hear.
Quickly Sirius jumped out of the train on the platform, scanned the crowd. Was Bellatrix here? Maybe Rodolphus?
They weren't. Sirius exhaled in relief. He was almost sure that his brother was supposed to meet up with them somewhere, though gladly, this somewhere was not King's Cross. He didn't want to create a scene. He just wanted to take his brother and apparate with him to the cottage. Without raising any attention.
Sirius watched his friends leave the train and disappear into the crowd. Then he was on the look-out for his brother. He spotted him soon. Regulus left the train as one of the last students, carrying his trunk with him. The platform was still crowded, students saying goodbye to each other, parents welcoming their children, but it had already cleared a bit and you were able to walk through the crowd without bumping into all too many people.
Sirius watched Regulus leaving the platform and followed him at a safe distance, careful that Reg wouldn't see him.
He knew that if Reg walked into the direction of Grimmauld Place, he'd be able to apparate away with him from a nearby apparition spot.
It seemed like Sirius was indeed lucky on that day because Reg chose to walk in the direction of their childhood home. For the first time in his life, Sirius was thankful for the good location of his parents' house. 12 Grimmauld Place was in a fifteen-minute walk distance from King's Cross, what meant his brother wouldn't resort to any kind of transportation. It also meant that he'd have a ten-minute walk distance to their apparition spot close to Euston, and that gave him time so he could try and come up with some ways to persuade his brother to come with him. Or rather muster up the courage to simply address him and bear that black look Reg would give him.
Alright, he didn't really expect any persuasion to work. He was prepared to take Regulus with him by force.
Maybe he should just grab him and apparate away. Surprise him.
Reg wasn't nearly as strong or as tall as Sirius, he was three years younger, almost a head shorter and still very slender.
Sirius could overpower him easily.
Sirius shook his head at himself. His thoughts sounded like a predator's. Like he'd kidnap his brother.
Sirius laughed silently. Then his smile froze, the laugh getting caught in his throat. Was it kidnapping?
Of course not. He was his brother's guardian now, so it couldn't be. Although he would take his brother, if necessary with force and against his will, to the cottage and would hold them captive there. But no.
It was the right thing. He was trying to help his brother.
Sirius followed Regulus at a safe distance, but as he saw the apparition spot appearing in front of him, he sped up, taking long strides in the direction of his brother.
A few yards away, Sirius called his brother's name.
"Regulus!"
Regulus turned, surprised. As he saw Sirius, his eyebrows creased.
"What is it, Sirius?" He said, his voice holding a tinge of surprise although he tried his hardest to make it sound dismissive.
"We need to talk." Sirius said, closing up on his brother.
"I wouldn't know what we had to talk about, so… Bye?" Regulus snarled and attempted to turn away and resume his way to his home, but Sirius grabbed him on his shoulder.
"Stay." Sirius tone changed without him consciously intending it, adopting a stern undertone.
Regulus stared at him for a second. "Alright, make it short." He said finally.
"I want you to come with me." Sirius said. He resisted the urge to bite his lip. He felt super nervous, but he knew he couldn't show that right now. He needed to appear strong. Strong-willed.
Regulus huffed. "Go where? I think we're finished here. Let me go." Regulus demanded, trying to pull himself from his brother's grip.
Sirius hardened his fingers around Regulus' shoulder. He'd known it wouldn't be easy, and now here they were. He'd known Regulus wouldn't come with him voluntarily.
"I'm sorry but I can't do that." Sirius said, taking hold of Regulus' other shoulder as well, firmly keeping him in position. The last thing he saw before apparating away with his brother was how Regulus drew his eyebrows together in confusion.
Then they disappeared into thin air.
tbc...