Moar chaptah. And there is no structure to any of this is there? It's what I get for refusing to outline this story and just jumping in headfirst. That'll teach me.

Sirius had to admit that he was actually a little sad to be in a furniture store of all places. Was it weird to admit that he liked having his brother sleep next to him? Probably. Regardless, that's where he and Regulus were now, shopping for a second bed that was to be, as Regulus believed it, the youngest Black's birthday present.

"How about this one?" Lily asked, flopping herself down on a twin-sized daybed made of a deep red wood.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You're just picking random ones," he accused.

Lily threw an arm over her face. "Yes, oh my god, please just pick one so we can get out of here. It's been like an hour."

"You offered to help," Sirius pointed out. He walked up behind Regulus, who had been spending an unnerving amount of time in the expensive import section of the store, and gently led him towards the four posters.

"I offered to help you two weaklings carry the bed into your apartment. I didn't think I'd been commissioned to help with this part. What's taking you guys so bloody long?"

"This is an intense decision," Sirius insisted. A moment later, he noticed Regulus's eyes begin to wander back towards something that looked unsettlingly like a state bed. "Regulus!" he called. "Come here and look at the bed Lily found."

Regulus reluctantly shuffled back to them. Sirius had initially been more than a little nervous to accept Lily's offer of assistance, afraid Regulus might be less than polite to her again, but so far he had remained amicable. True he hadn't said a single word to her, but Sirius supposed complete silence was better than a constant stream of derogatory remarks. Lily seemed to take Regulus's behavior as a compliment.

"A daybed?" Regulus asked his brother.

"A very nice daybed, and look it even comes with a nightstand."

Regulus shrugged. "I guess I think it looks nice," he said.

"Good!" Lily shot up and started frantically waving down one of the store clerks. "Now you guys go get some matching sheets and pillows and then let's get the hell out of here."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Drama queen," he scoffed. "Come on, Regulus, let's do like she said."

"All right. Thank you again, Sirius. You know you really didn't have to do this."

"I want to," Sirius insisted, walking with an arm slung over Regulus's shoulders. "Can't stand to have you hogging half of my bed forever," he laughed.

No, I'll bet you can't, thought Regulus bitterly. He forced a smile on his face.

It was a muggle store, so Lily paid with her strange bank card and Sirius reimbursed her with gold as soon as nobody was looking. They hauled Regulus's furniture into the back of the truck Lily had borrowed from her mother and drove back home.

"Lily," said Sirius conversationally as he fiddled with the buttons on the passenger side door. "What do I have besides your word that you didn't overcharge me when you translated the pounds to galleons?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"What?"

Lily turned the radio up louder.

"Have you heard anything from your friends lately?" asked Regulus in what he hoped was an inconspicuous tone.

"Why do you ask?" asked Sirius curiously, swiveling around in his seat to face his brother. Lily switched off the music so she could hear them.

"Just wondering," Regulus shrugged. "I sort of got the impression the five of you were always going out together."

"More like the four of them," said Lily with a laugh. "I'm just the extra tag-a-long who leeches on their fun man time every now and then."

There was a pause during which Sirius stared wistfully out the window and Regulus fidgeted with his wand.

"You were supposed to tell me that's not the case, Sirius," said Lily in a low voice.

"Huh? But it was true."

Lily made an exasperated noise and jerked the vehicle hard to the left, sending Sirius careening into the dashboard. Regulus was only just able to steady himself against the back of Lily's seat.

"Ow, holy shit," he cried. "Most people slow down a little before turning!"

"Oh, like you would know," Lily rolled her eyes. "You've never driven a car in your life, and you'd've been fine if you'd been wearing your damn seat belt like I told you to. I swear if you get me a ticket…"

"I do so know how to drive!" insisted Sirius. "I have my motorcycle, you know, and I can turn it just fine!"

"Yeah, in the air, Sirius," Lily scoffed. "That's a little different."

"You are insufferable!" Sirius exclaimed.

Lily shrugged and whipped the car sharply to the right, speeding off down the street so fast the tires screeched. Sirius cracked his head on the window.

"Ouch, Jesus. Regulus!" he said while digging through his pockets for his wand. "Put that safety belt thing on, okay?"

"You have a motorcycle that flies?" demanded Regulus. He had no idea where his brother could have gotten such a thing. It was certainly something his parents would not have allowed. Another thought began to crawl into his head. "Sirius, that must have been incredibly expensive! Is that what you spent all of Uncle Alphard's money on and that's why you have such a horrible, one bedroom apartment? You bought a flying bicycle and so now I have to share a room with you?"

"Regulus, seat belt!" Sirius yelled again trying to slow Lily's driving down with magic. "And it's a motorcycle, not a bicycle!" he added indignantly. Lily leaned over the centerpiece and wrapped a free hand around Sirius's wrist, stopping his wand waving.

"Hey, let go of me!"

Lily laughed but ultimately released her hold and slowed down. Sirius began pouting and rubbing his wrist like he had been horrifically injured. Regulus glowered at the both of them.

"If my new bed is scratched or broken from all this messing around, the two of you are fixing it," he muttered.

"That's right, Sirius," Lily said. "Careful before you end up having to do home repairs."

"Me?" Sirius screeched. "You're the lunatic who's strifing the car all over the place!"

"It's a truck," Lily insisted.

"What the fuck ever, you're insane!"

Lily put on a look of mock outrage. Seeing where this was going, Regulus yanked his seat belt down from over his shoulder and quickly clicked it into place just as Lily sent them death spiraling down another side street again.

"Motherfucker," Sirius growled, unfolding himself from around the gear shift. Lily laughed.

Regulus wondered briefly if the Dark Lord would consider a shattered spinal column as the result of a horrific and fiery car crash to be an adequate excuse for a lack of timely information.

"Lily, will your mother be able to fix these tires?" asked Regulus when they had pulled up at the apartment. He was crouched in the street, examining with feigned interest the scorched and smoothed tires of Lily's vehicle.

Lily laughed loudly as she hopped down from the driver's seat. "Probably not. We're gonna' need to buy new ones."

"God your parents must love you," muttered Sirius sarcastically. "Now help me lug this thing inside."

"Alright. Regulus, you should get the door," Lily suggested. Regulus bristled first at being ordered by anyone to do anything, and then once again when he reminded himself the person commanding him around was a redheaded mudblood.

Sirius glanced over at his brother, who was starting to glare. A sickening feeling settled in his stomach. With the day's activities and how kind (well okay, un-hostile) Regulus had been acting, he had almost forgotten that his brother had for thirteen years been the kind of person who would happily hex Lily for daring to be in the same zip code as him.

Regulus's scowl disappeared quickly and he gave a lopsided grin quite similar to Sirius's own trademarked one. "Right," he said neutrally and held his hand out to Sirius. "Keys?" he asked.

Sirius handed them over and Regulus unlocked the door and stood by it, waiting to hold it open for Lily and Sirius.

Sirius had charmed the bed lighter, but still needed Lily's help because it was an awkward thing to carry by oneself. Together they guided it into Sirius's bedroom and set it up beneath the window.

"What do you think?" asked Sirius.

Regulus smiled thanked them both.

"Well if you don't mind," Lily said. "I think I should get home now. My parents are expecting me for dinner in an hour and—" but she was cut off by a sharp tapping at the door.

The three of them wandered curiously into the entrance hall and Sirius opened the front door.

"Oh, Lily," he said in surprise. "It's your owl."

Regulus peered around his brother's side. Sure enough, shuffling around on the cement outside the house with a letter in its beak was a small, tawny colored bird with sharp, yellow eyes.

"Interesting," Lily picked the bird up and set it casually on Regulus's shoulder. Regulus closed his eyes in exasperation at this brazen display of camaraderie. First actual mudbloods and now he had to contend with mudblood birds.

"It's from James," Lily said, scanning the note. "Oh! Sirius, they want to have a meeting tonight!"

"Again?" Sirius questioned, momentarily forgetting that Regulus was at his side. "Didn't we just have one?"

"I don't know, something important must have happened. And it looks like we've been specially requested this time by Dumbledore! We might finally get to do something!"

"Do we need to leave now?"

"Yes! James wants us to pick him up…looks like Remus and Peter are already at Aberforth's. We should leave now so I can drop the truck off at my parents' and then apparate to James's…"

"We're going to miss dinner…" grumbled Sirius. Lily looked at him exasperatedly.

"I'll save you something," said Regulus quietly.

"What?" Sirius turned to his brother, seeming to just then remember that he was still in the room.

Regulus picked Lily's owl carefully up off his shoulder and held it out to her. Gently, she took it.

"I'll make some dinner for myself while you're gone and save some for you," Regulus repeated. "I can cook, remember?"

"You can cook?" Lily raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Didn't you have slaves for that?"

Her tone was more curious than accusatory, but Regulus still gritted his teeth. He muttered something under his breath.

Almost afraid to know, Sirius asked, "want to repeat that a little louder, Reg?"

"He is not a slave."

"Who, Kreacher?" asked Sirius. "Yes he is, Regulus. That's what someone who cooks and cleans and follows your every order for free is."

Regulus straightened his back and looked Sirius right in the eyes. "I do the cooking," he admitted in the proudest voice he could manage.

Sirius smirked in disbelief. "No you didn't," he said. "Your meals were brought to you by that unsightly little creature, don't lie."

"I don't lie," said Regulus in a very quiet, flat voice. "He has enough work to do without cooking for Mother and Father as well. He deserves all the help he can get."

Lily cut back in to conversation. "Is that why you're so skinny?" she tried to laugh. "You spend all your time cooking for you parents and pretending the house elf did it so you don't have time to eat yourself?"

Regulus bowed his head to face the ground and tried to walk away, now embarrassed that he had let so much slip. Sirius grabbed his arm, though, and pulled him back.

"I'm sorry," he said, concern in his eyes. "I believe you. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Whatever," Regulus rolled his eyes. "I'll have some food left out for you if you think you can manage to heat it up on your own. I'll probably be in bed."

"You don't have to—"

"I said it's fine," Regulus cut him off. He handed Sirius his jacket from the nearby closet. "Here, it's not summer weather yet. Nighttime still gets cold."

Sirius slipped the coat over his arm. Regulus was in a weird mood and he really didn't want to leave him alone again. "Okay, well…"

"Come meet me in the truck in a second, Sirius," Lily said, walking past them. Regulus caught a glimpse of her owl fluttering off her shoulder and into the dimming sky. He and Sirius stood alone.

"Just go…have fun with your friends," Regulus murmured.

He had chosen the right words to say. Immediately Sirius reached out to Regulus and placed a hand on his shoulder. He absolutely did not want Regulus to think he was blowing him off to go drinking with Lily and James…James who was already such a sore spot for Regulus already.

"I'm not really doing anything fun, Regulus…I don't really want to even go. It's just…just a meeting that I need to go to."

"Meeting for what?" asked Regulus, looked up at his brother shyly.

Sirius bit his lip. Should he say anything? He sighed. He could almost hear Remus talking in the back of his mind, asking him how exactly did he expect Regulus to trust him when he so obviously didn't trust him in return?

"I'm going to an Order meeting," he said quietly. After a brief pause he continued, thinking he might as well go all out. "It's a group of people working together to try and undermine Voldemort's plans. Dumbledore's the head of it so we've got a pretty good chance. My friends and I aren't full members because we're still in school, but this way we'll be ready to help when we do graduate."

"Oh, so you don't get to do a lot?" asked Regulus consolingly.

"Ha," Sirius barked a laugh. "Yeah we get the shaft a lot, last time they kicked us out before the real strategizing began. Mostly we just sat in on Kingsley's speech on how the aurors are closing in on Malfoy, and we got introduced to new members."

Regulus's mind was working furiously. He had to keep Sirius talking.

"Cissy's Malfoy?" he asked in pretend shock.

Sirius shook his head quickly. "No, his father, though I can't expect Lucius is far behind. Their whole family's dark…" which is why I don't want you near them "but they've been messing up lately. Letting things slip in public, and daring to make public trades in Knockturn Alley. The ministry has finally gotten approval to officially monitor most of the shops down there now, watching customer records and such…they're planning some more raids even for some of the stores that haven't been too cooperative."

Regulus nodded, doing his best to look scared. He managed to wheedle a little more information out of his brother before he let up, not wanting to seem overly concerned or suspicious.

"I'd better go," Sirius grimaced when he heard Lily's sounding the horn on her truck. "Can't be late."

Regulus nodded again.

"Please be in bed by the time I get back. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

Sirius seemed to be battling with himself. Eventually he gave in and pulled Regulus into a quick hug and placed a light kiss on his cheek. Regulus froze, and remained rigid even after Sirius released him.

When the front door closed with a snap, Regulus wiped his face off so hard with his shirt it burned, and then threw himself at the wall in frustration. He slowly slid down it to the wood floor where he sat, panting for a few moments.

Acting just wasn't for him.

ﯕⱤﯕⱤﯕⱤ

"Here, Regulus, light yourself up," Rabastan waved a fading package of cigarettes under Regulus's nose.

"Jesus," Regulus muttered. He slid the second to last cigarette out of the box and then shoved Rabastan's hand away. "You don't have to stab me with them."

"Just offering," Rabastan smirked, igniting his own smoke with his wand. He breathed in deeply. "Given how shitty an apartment this is, I didn't expect it to have a back patio."

"Yeah, well…surprises surprises," Regulus deadpanned. He sent a column of smoke curling up into the sky, wrapping around stars before disappearing over the moon.

"Can't believe you're staying here instead of Grimmauld, the Dark Lord'd better appreciate the sacrifice you're making for him."

Regulus snorted. The air around him was cold, summer having decided to take back its previously announced arrival and allow the cold chill of early spring one more go at London. Regulus was glad he had reminded Sirius to take his jacket with him earlier. Lightly he shook his head. What did it matter if his brother was cold? If anyone deserved to shiver it was—

"—Sirius?"

"Huh?" Regulus snapped back into reality just in time to stop his cigarette from slipping from his loose grasp and burning a hole through his pant leg, and also to turn his gaze over to his cousin.

Rabastan rolled his eyes. "I asked you where that traitor of yours is hiding. I assumed you wouldn't have dared to invite me over if he were home somewhere," he said, shaking his fingers through his sienna bangs, sweeping them in and out of his shining eyes.

"He's gone…out."

"To meet with the Order?" demanded Rabastan almost immediately. He perked up immensely and was now staring intently at Regulus, who drew back a little.

"Just…with his friends," Regulus muttered, looking down. Rabastan sat back a little, disappointed.

Regulus took a long drag on his cigarette to help bring back his nerves. "Where did you hear about that, anyway?" he queried.

Rabastan lay back on the concrete, staring blankly at the underside of the balcony on the next floor up. "I heard it."

"From who?" asked Regulus. "I thought Rodolphus was trying to keep you out of the war as long as possible?"

Rabastan bristled and threw his cigarette in a high arc out into the lawn. "Yes he is, the fucking prick."

Regulus drew his wand and sent a small stream of water cascading onto the cigarette butt Rabastan had been too apathetic to put out before chucking.

"He seems to just want to keep you safe," he said in a small voice, halfway hoping his cousin might not hear.

Rabastan scoffed loudly. "No, don't give him so much credit, Reg. He just wants all the glory for himself. Mother and Father are so very proud of him." He rolled onto his side to face Regulus. "It was Bellatrix who told me about the Order, and how the Dark Lord'll soon be picking them off one by one." He laughed, closing his eyes briefly.

"Bellatrix…" Regulus ground his cigarette into the concrete by his side, now disgusted with the taste of it.

"Want another?" asked Rabastan, holding up their final cigarette. "Got one left."

"You can have it," Regulus conceded. "Those things are vile anyway." Besides, if he smoked anymore of them Regulus thought he might not be able to hide the smell. Minor drinking at their family's soiree had been one thing, but he felt Sirius might react a little differently where the process of wrapping carcinogens in paper, shoving them into one's mouth and setting fire to the other end was concerned.

"I can't fucking believe Rodolphus is helping you get in with the Dark Lord," said Rabastan bitterly as he lit up the last cigarette.

A sickening feeling was swirling about in Regulus's stomach, and at Rabastan's words it began to grow.

"I haven't interacted with him at all…I doubt Rodolphus has even said anything to him. He'd probably waiting for me to give him some actual information first before mentioning me to the Dark Lord. He wouldn't want to look like an idiot by building me up and then I fail to deliver…"

Rabastan gave Regulus an incredulous look. "Reg," he said, straightening up. "You think this whole thing was Rodolphus's idea? God no, He asked him to contact you. Don't be stupid."

"What?" Regulus exclaimed in a voice a little too high pitched for his liking. "I mean…I thought it was just an offer…you know, something to think about. Not that I would consider not doing it," he added hastily upon seeing Rabastan's dangerous look. "I just…didn't realize, I mean…I don't know."

"Whatever," said Rabastan, settling back down. "Just…fuck you're lucky. You must be the youngest person working for Him. You'd better put in a good word for me."

Regulus shifted uneasily. "It's not like I'm going to meet with Him. Rodolphus will do that, he's the intermediary…"

"Don't talk like that," said Rabastan in a much kinder voice. "You'll be welcomed with open arms and attending meetings before you know it. You could probably get Rodolphus to teach you to apparate early. Hey…how much time do we have before your brother gets back? I don't want to run into him."

"No, I don't want you to, either," Regulus admitted. He stood up and led Rabastan back inside.

"Next time I'll bring Antonin and maybe Lucius and Cissa. We'd have a lot more fun with them around."

"Yes, yes, I'll write you later."

"Don't forget to try and get some useful info from your idiot brother. The better standing you have with the Dark Lord the more seriously he'll take the good things you say about me!"

Shakily, Regulus pulled a short letter out of his jeans pocket. "Here," he held it out to his cousin, willing him to take it before he lost his nerve. "Just…take this to your brother, okay?"

"What is it? I thought you said you didn't have anything for him yet. Isn't Sirius just out drinking or some shit?"

"No," Regulus hissed. "He's at Dumbledore's brother's house. They're having some kind of meeting. This is everything I was able to get out of him before they left."

"Why did you lie to me earlier—?"

"Just take it to Rodolphus, okay?" Regulus pushed Rabastan out the front door. "If you need money for the Knight Bus, I can get you some."

"I have plenty, thanks. Regulus, can I read this first?"

"Do whatever you want, Rab, just get it to him," Regulus tried desperately to hide the tremor in his voice.

The Dark Lord had asked for him specifically. How could he already be on the man's radar?

"Thanks, Reg."

"Yes, well goodbye," Regulus shut the door in Rabastan's face and locked it. Sirius had his keys, didn't he? Yes, he did, of course he did. Regulus shook his head and hurried to his bedroom. He slid off his shoes but curled up into bed with his day clothes on, too nervous and preoccupied to think about changing.

Was it all nervousness, though? No, a part of him was giddy. The Dark Lord knew of him already. He was wanted, needed, requested…more important than Sirius ever was.

Regulus pulled his arms tight around his chest and thought with vindication about Sirius. He imagined how hurt Sirius would be when the doors of his Order's little clubhouse were broken down and a half dozen loyal followers of the Dark Lord tore apart everything he cared about.

Then we will be even.

When Sirius quietly fumbled the locked door open and guided himself through the dark apartment quietly, Regulus was just falling asleep. Sirius turned on the bare minimum amount of lights in the kitchen to locate whatever food Regulus had left out for him.

Then we will be the same.

When he had eaten the (delicious) re-heated white rice and sautéed mushrooms, Sirius crept into the bedroom. He squinted in the darkness, and by the light of the moon from the window, could just make out the reassuring shape that was his little brother curled up in bed.

I cannot pull myself up, and so instead I will have to drag you down.