Crap. Double crap.

I am extremely sorry for not updating for so long. There was a mishap with the computer.

Anyway, on with the story!

Chapter 3: Protect

Sirius froze at the doorway, heart stopping.

Now, he wasn't the type who was prone to panicking, but he going pretty close to the breaking point at the scene he just caught.

In front of him was Kreacher, holding on to Tales of Arabian Nights with the floorboard open and the books displayed. Sirius was seriously regretting hiding some of his favorite books in the old hiding place, since it was more convenient to reach.

The house elf slowly turned to look at him, his bulging eyes popping out more than usual.

"What is this?" he hissed, waving the book with barely two fingers, as if holding a disgusting slug. Sirius winced at the cracking voice. It always sounded as if the elf's throat was dry. He swallowed.

"Kreacher, please." He couldn't say anymore. Didn't need to. It was obvious what the books signified.

Kreacher stomped his foot, his glare looking quite menacing from his small figure. "Master Sirius is reading Mudblood work. Master is betraying Mistress. Traitor and Mudblood lover!" he accused. He turned his head away from him, as if not daring himself to look at him. "Must tell Mistress Walburga. She will set him right…" he muttered.

Panic rose in Sirius. If his mother knew about his secret stash, he was going to be skinned alive. And knowing her, she would have a full check of his room if told, discovering the full trunk of forbidden books in the process.

He turned cold when a thought struck him.

He and Regulus, out of his own rebellious or reckless nature, he still didn't know, had their initials engraved on the lock of the trunk. It wouldn't take one plus one to figure out who R.B. was.

It was his own fault the engraving was there in the first place. It was his due to his careless actions this situation was happening at all. There was no way he was going to get Regulus in trouble because of him.

Surprising even himself by his speed, he immediately went down on his knees to the house elf, bowing so low that his head hit the wooden floor. Kreacher's head snapped in his direction, forgetting completely not to look at him, and stared in shock. Sirius ignored it.

"Kreacher, I'm begging you. Please, please don't tell anyone."

If the Black had looked up, he would've seen the dumbfounded look on Kreacher's face, his floppy ears erect as they pointed to the ceiling, the book falling out of his grasp with a thump. In any other situation, the look would've been quite comical.

The elf swallowed. "W-W-What is Master doing?" he stuttered before getting his bearings. "Get up! This is a disgrace on all Blacks. Master cannot bow to Kreacher. It's not allowed!" he hissed.

"I'll only get up if you don't tell mother anything." Sirius knew the longer he stayed in this position, the more flustered the house elf would get. He felt bad for horrifying the old elf so much, but he didn't have a choice. He'd do whatever it took to protect his brother.

The elf hesitated for a few seconds before finally bobbing his head. "Alright, alright! Now get up before anyone sees!" he sounded incredibly terrified by the prospect.

Sirius sighed in relief and immediately got up again. He still stood crouched on one knee, looking at the elf at eye level. He couldn't help but grin, his relief palatable. The elf widened his eyes.

"Thank you Kreacher. You have no idea how grateful I am to you. Thank you."

The elf spluttered. "Master should not be thanking Kreacher. Kreacher made Master bow. Kreacher is a bad house elf."

"No you're not!" Sirius defended instantly, startling the elf by his boldness. "If you had told mother about the books, Regulus would've-" he stopped, paling at what he had just slipped out.

Kreacher narrowed his eyes. "Master Regulus? Why would Master Regulus...?"

"KREACHER!" a shout boomed from downstairs.

Sirius had never been so happy to hear his mother's voice in his life.

"Kreacher, get down here this instant! You have dinner to set!"

"Yes Mistress!" the house elf called out. He turned to eye the young Black, accusing suspicion in his large eyes. Without another word, he left the room, leaving a very anxious Black along with a cart full of books behind.

*SSB*

A few nerve wrecking weeks passed by with Sirius still feeling incredibly stupid.

He wanted to bang his head against the wall for slipping out his brother's involvement. Maybe even pull a Kreacher move and shut his ears in the oven, though it would be difficult since his ears weren't as big.

Kreacher himself was beginning to act differently towards him. He always seemed to be watching him, trying to catch his every move. It only got worse when Regulus was with him.

Sirius wanted to groan.

Unfortunately, he was not in the position to groan at the moment.

He slightly scowled and idly clanked his feet together, very much like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when she had wanted to go home. He very much felt like the opposite right then.

Another dinner party was taking place as his parents greeted their guests, both brothers also present to do so as well. After half an hour, Sirius was ready to bolt at the drop of a hat, itching to leave and talk to the boy next to him.

He glanced to his left and saw Regulus resolutely standing still, the perfect image of an interested, polite boy. The facade was ruined from the discreet way the younger boy was tapping his foot, showing he was just as bored as he was.

Sirius's lip quirked up. A little less than a year ago, he wouldn't have noticed that.

And just like less than a year ago, he felt someone grab on to him, tugging insistently.

Sirius looked to see Narcissa looking up at him, a bit older with her baby fat still present. "Siri! Why are you standing by the door with Reggie?"

Sirius had to hold back a snicker when he saw 'Reggie' narrow his eyes at the nickname, annoyance flashing before his impassive mask came up again.

He smiled and ruffled her hair fondly, causing her to glare at him in a cute manner. "Me and Reggie," he smirked when he practically felt his brother's glare. "are greeting the guests."

Narcissa wrinkled her nose. "But that's so boring!" she exclaimed. The older Black nodded gravely.

"Indeed. But somebody has to do it."

"But Auntie and Uncle Black are doing that!" she argued.

Sirius couldn't help but laugh. Even Regulus smiled at the 'Auntie' comment. It was just so weird to think of their aristocratic, cold mother as a doting aunt.

"Well, 'Auntie' is too busy to greet everyone on her own."

"Then I'll ask!" Narcissa declared. "Then it's okay, right?"

He pretended to ponder this. "You may be on to something Cissy. I never would've thought of that."

She huffed and puffed her chest out. "Well of course you wouldn't have. Andy always says boys are more stupid then girls." She sounded extremely proud of her gender. Sirius raised an eyebrow. He and his cousin was going to have a long talk after this.

"Alright then. Off you go. We're counting on you!" he called out to her as she left, earning a tongue sticking out at him. Regulus chuckled at the childish action.

"Cute kid." Regulus commented. Sirius grinned.

"Yeah, she's always like that." his amusement wore off along with his grin. "I just hope she stays like that."

Regulus went quiet at this, something Sirius was grateful for. If there was one thing Regulus was good at, was being silent when needed.

He looked at his brother and furrowed his brows. Had Regulus ever been innocent like that? For the life of him, Sirius couldn't remember.

He smiled bitterly. Come to think of it, he couldn't even remember himself when he was free from burdens and expectations. It just went to show how much they didn't have control over their lives.

After a few moments of polite greetings and bowing, the entrance was empty with the guests inside. Sirius stretched his arms out to his sides, tilting his head back as a crack resounded from his spine. Regulus was much less dramatic and just rubbed the back of his neck, looking a bit cranky himself.

"Well, at least that's over." Sirius muttered. He looked at his brother and raised an eyebrow. "You're neck hurting?"

"You have no idea." was the younger boy's flat response. His eyes darted around as a frown marred his face. "Do you really think Narcissa went to ask?"

Sirius snorted. "Definitely. If there's something she wants, she gets it. She's spoiled that way."

"Spoilt what way?"

Both brothers simultaneously glanced toward the voice to see the middle child of the Black sisters staring at them with one delicate eyebrow quirked upward. Sirius grinned while Regulus went slightly red.

"Where batting your eyelashes or giving the puppy face is considered a lethal weapon." he said cheekily. Andromeda laughed.

"You wish you had that skill set." she shot back. Seeing how she wasn't offended, Regulus's mortification subsided as his unreadable mask was put up again.

He cleared his throat. "Did she ask?"

"She did." she smiled. "Got a yes."

Sirius whooped. "Next time all of you come over, I swear I'm going to give as much Chocolate Frogs I can buy."

"Cissy will hold you to that." Andromeda pointed out with a wicked smirk, which was eerily identical to her older sister's. She turned to the hallway on their right, away from where the guests were.

"Come on. They're probably waiting for us right now."

Sirius nodded. He moved his hand to move toward Regulus's but stopped. It would be a bad idea if anyone knew just how close Sirius had gotten with his brother. There were some things that Sirius wanted to keep private, and this matter was one of them. So with some disappointment, Sirius followed after his cousin, Regulus trailing behind him silently.

The silence worried him. The moment their cousin had shown up, the younger boy had clammed up, his neutral expression unchanging as they walked on. It was so different from the joking behavior they had both just exhibited moments ago. Sirius fervently hoped his brother's shy behavior will be cured one day.

The three went to an unoccupied dining room that was smaller than the other dining room Walburga was using. He saw Narcissa was sitting on a long table while rocking her dangling feet back and forth, while Bellatrix was tapping her foot impatiently as her eyes burned holes to where they were standing.

She scowled. "About time you got here you mutt."

Sirius felt Regulus stiffen beside him at the tone. Shooting a reassuring look that made Regulus's tense shoulders minutely relax, he smiled politely to his cousin.

"Nice to see you as well my dearest Trixy." he said pleasantly.

Andromeda coughed to muffle her laughter while her lips twitched like crazy in a losing attempt not to crack. Narcissa outright giggled, falling on to her back against the table.

Regulus looked amused.

Bella did not.

"Shut up." she snapped.

Andromeda, who had by that point calmed down, raised a hand in her sister's direction in a placating gesture. "All right, all right. That's enough." her face brightened. "Why don't we play tag again?"

"It rained yesterday, idiot." Bella hissed. "We'll slip and fall if we go outside."

Narcissa looked blankly at her. "Then we play tag inside." she said slowly as if talking to an infant.

Sirius thought this over. There really wasn't much they could do, and Sirius doubted that the sisters would be satisfied with staying in the library, quietly reading books the whole time like Regulus would. Also, he never really did get to play the particular game at the last dinner party.

Plus, he really wanted his brother to interact with others. He didn't want to have his brother isolated from family that he could befriend.

He nodded. "Fine. But we have to stay away from the China room. Mother would kill us if anything breaks."

"You mean you." Bella said snidely.

Sirius gave her a sharp look. "Fine. Me. Whether you like it or not, I'm now responsible for all of your actions. Anything that goes wrong will put a dent in the Blacks reputation to other pureblood wizards eyes. So please, be quiet."

His cold tone seemed to freeze Bella before she quickly recovered and gave a indignant huff. It was obvious though she was shaken up from the way he talked. "It's not like I'm the one who screw things up."

"Whatever you say dearest Trixy."

"Okay, that is enough." Andromeda finally butted in sternly. "We shouldn't be arguing like this." Seeing that she now had everyone's attention, she huffed. "Are we going to play or not?"

Sirius and Bella glared at each other before both looked away, grudgingly letting go of the argument. Narcissa, who had been watching a bit nervously the whole time, perked up at the action. She jumped off the table and immediately dashed out of the room with a gleeful grin. As she did, she tapped a startled Bella by the arm as she ran.

"Tag, you're it!" she shrieked back. Sirius laughed and ran off to, a smirking Regulus and an amused Andromeda flanking him.

Bella seethed.

Sisters.

God, how she hated them.

*SSB*

The game had went on for half an hour before Sirius felt his lungs burning out, sweat on his forehead. He couldn't help but grin though, exhilaration pumping his veins. He hadn't had this much fun with his cousins in a long time, and he was enjoying every minute of it.

He took note of his surroundings as he ran, straining to find his brother and cousins. The game had evolved ten minutes ago when Bella had managed to get him, something she had no qualms gloating over when he chased after her with murder in mind.

Out of an eyeshot, he saw a person's leg at the end of the hallway before it turned. He didn't hesitate to dart after the person, determination fueling him.

After a lot of turns, he found that there was only one room in the dead end hallway, making him wickedly grin.

Gotcha.

He burst in the room and found himself face to face with Regulus, who froze when he found himself caught by Sirius. The expression made the older boy smirk as he casually closed the door behind him.

"Well well well, aren't you lucky." he nonchantly commented, circling around the table that was placed in the middle of the room, like a wolf hunting down his prey. Regulus followed his lead just as casually as he began to circle too, eyeing for an opening.

"I prefer the term coincidence." Sirius grinned at the response.

Without another word, the older brother bolted toward Regulus, the abrupt action met with readiness. The younger boy ran in the opposite direction, trying to reach the door, when something happened.

CRASH!

The two boys froze at the sound, a broken vase shattered to pieces on the floor. Sirius had seen that jar fall when Regulus had knocked it over while running, the vase toppling like a deck of cards.

Seconds passed when Bella slammed into the room, her sisters following. Her initial reaction was widening her eyes, until something else entered in her expression. Sirius felt his stomach sink when he saw the malicious intent. Before he could stop her, she turned and left the room, leaving the other children behind.

Andromeda cursed and turned to go after her older sister, leaving poor Narcissa at the scene. The little girl seemed terrified, for even she knew there was going to be repercussions, accident or not. Sirius turned to see Regulus who stood motionlessly as he stared at the broken glass. He glanced up, making Sirius involuntarily flinch at the utter stark terror that was facing him.

Walburga Black practically flew into the room, a hoard of curious guests behind her to see what has occurred. She was absolutely livid looking, her face white and her hands clenched together till Sirius was sure she broke skin. He tried not to tremble at the fury, for he knew it wouldn't do much good.

The aristocratic woman scanned the room before her gaze landed on the vase. Her lips pursed.

"Who did it?" she didn't bother to ask what happened. Sirius knew the only thing that mattered was someone needed to be punished.

Her breathing sped up. "Which one of you did it?"

Sirius saw Regulus, who had his mask on, looking secretly scared and angry at himself and-

He widened his gray eyes.

Was that resignation he was seeing?

Anger and sadness overwhelmed him. How dare she make his brother feel that way. No one should look so submissive to something as small as an accident. No one should treat someone like a criminal for a broken vase of all things.

That was when he knew what he had to do.

"I did it."

Regulus snapped his head to look at him, barely concealed shock on his face. Sirius ignored him. "It was my idea that we play tag, and I accidentally knocked over the vase while we were playing." he gave a low bow, swallowing down his pride in having to do this with so many witnesses present. "I apologize greatly for my carelessness, and take blame for everything."

A tense, deadening silence met his words. His mother's face closed off into a neutral expression, something that was even more scary than seeing her furious.

"So," she said softly. "This was your doing then?"

"Yes ma'am." he responded, feeling his nerves fry more. It was like the calm before the storm, without him knowing when it was going to hit.

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Stand in front of me boy."

He blinked, confused. He had expected her to tell him to clean up the mess, or maybe even fix it without magic or something. Still, he did what he was told, not sure what to brace himself for.

She smiled coldly, freezing him. Without warning, she raised her wand and pointed at him.

"Crucio!" she shouted.

The moment the red light hit him, immeasurable pain burned him till he felt that he was on fire, agonizing to a fault. It was like a thousand knives were stabbing him everywhere, his eyes watering from the pain. He bit down his tongue till it started to bleed to prevent himself from screaming.

He didn't notice when he fell to the ground gasping, and could barely make out Andromeda's grimace and Narcissa's frantically worried face. He looked behind them and saw Bella smirking at him with her arms crossed, loving every minute of him writhing on the floor.

He thinks he's never hated someone so much in his life.

After what felt like a millennia has passed, the backstabbing pain stopped. His muscles couldn't stop quaking, but he managed to stand, his legs trembling. He would not let anyone see him as weak. He jutted out his chin and looked at the crowd, daring them to say anything.

Nobody did.

Walburga snarled, apparently not happy he was still able to stand, and jabbed a finger out of the room.

"Go to your room. You will not get supper tonight."

He nodded at the order, causing a sharp ache to the back of his neck. He pushed through the crowd that parted for him, and soundlessly left.

Before he did, though, he saw his younger brother stare at him with guilt and worry raging in his grey eyes, the only indication that he cared.

To Sirius, that was more than enough.

*SSB*

It took a lot of effort climbing the stairs, a fact that irritated Sirius greatly.

Every time he had lifted his leg, it screamed at him not to bother as it burned from the straining of the muscles. It was aggravating and a bit pathetic in his opinion for a simple task to become so arduous. It was only because of his stubbornness that he made it to his room at all.

When he reached there, he painstakingly went to his bed and felt himself slip into unconsciousness the moment his head hit the pillow.

Waking up was torture.

When he opened his eyes, every part of his body throbbed as if every part of him was bruised. He didn't know how much time passed, though from the absent sound of people talking downstairs, he guessed that the party was over.

He sat up slowly, feeling his body protest, and glanced at the window. He was surprised to see it was already night time. Around the middle of the night even, from what he could tell.

He rubbed his eyes and sighed, feeling tired.

Just when he felt like collapsing again, he heard a soft knock on his door, so quiet that only he could hear it. For a moment, he feared that his mother came back to punish him more, until his rational side pointed out that his mother would never be so quiet if that were the case.

So with effort, he slowly got off his bed and cautiously went to door.

When he opened it, he wasn't too surprised to see Regulus, who had a stoic expression on. What he was surprised about was the house elf trailing behind his brother, clearly looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"Regulus?" he whispered. His brother gave a brief nod.

"Sirius." his rigid tone made Sirius falter for a moment.

What in Merlin?

"Uh, please. Come in." Sirius said awkwardly, not really sure what else to say. Both went in at the permission, one more reluctant than the other. Sirius was sure having both in his room was the strangest sight he's ever seen.

One was his brother, obviously tense and uncomfortable for some reason. The other was his house elf, who he had been avoiding for weeks and was now brought by his brother of all people. If the latter situation wasn't ironic, he didn't know what was.

He winced as he walked toward his bed and sat down again. He motioned for his brother to sit down next to him, and was confused by how the younger boy almost hesitated before he did. Kreacher stood in front of him, staring unabashed at him as if he was some kind of slug he didn't really want to touch.

He fidgeted at the silence and turned to his brother. He noticed how his brother was sitting as far away from him as possible. His face was tight and his back was like a pole.

Sirius didn't know what was going on. Why was his brother acting like this? It was almost as if he-

Sirius's trail of thoughts stopped.

That idiot.

Without warning, he grabbed on to his brother's arm, startling both occupants in the room.

Kreacher bristled. "What is Master Sirius doing-"

"Shut up Kreacher." Sirius interrupted him coldly. He was too angry to see the elf flinch at the command. He stared at his brother who was looking at him with wide eyes.

"Sirius, what-" Regulus said bewildered. Sirius didn't let him finish.

"You are an idiot!" he hissed. "You are the biggest idiot on the planet!"

Regulus stared at him in shock. Never has Sirius ever been truly mad at him before. With the older boy's piercing eyes and clenching jaw, he looked even more intimidating than their mother.

"How dare you think what happened is your fault!"

Regulus blinked.

And blinked again.

"My fault?" he was absolutely incredulous. "Of course it's my fault! I was the one who knocked it over!"

"It was an accident though you twit!" Sirius snarled. "By Merlin! Out of the two of us, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one!"

"I got us in trouble for it!"

"Only because Bella tattled on us! If it was anyone else who told mother, she definitely wouldn't have reacted the way she did, especially with guests present!"

"Well you got hurt!" Regulus furiously pointed out. "I never asked you to cover me!"

"Of course I would cover you! You're my little brother!"

The declaration made Regulus pause before he quietly talked again.

"Did it ever occur to you I was ready to be punished? You didn't have to do it."

Sirius scoffed. "Ha! I know. It's the reason why I did it in the first place." his gaze bore at his brother intensely. "You shouldn't have been prepared to get punished for something that was clearly an accident. And..."

He turned away. "I don't want you to get hurt." he said softly.

Brief silence met his words before Regulus snorted. "Same here, you reckless fool."

Sirius's lip quirked up. "It wasn't reckless. I knew exactly what I was doing."

"Keep telling yourself that."

They both went quiet as they shared each other's presence, both glad that the argument was over.

Sirius looked to see Kreacher staring at them. There was no longer any disgust on his face. The elf looked contemplative, his big eyes darting back and forth at them. After a moment, an almost satisfied look crossed his face. Looking at the elf suddenly brought up the question why he was there in the first place.

"Why are you here Kreacher?" he said curiously.

"Master Regulus was in the halls. Kreacher escorted Master Regulus to where he wanted to go."

If Sirius didn't know any better, he would've thought there was almost respect evident in the house elf's voice. He shook his head and smiled at the elf.

"Well, thank you Kreacher." he briefly worried over the possibility that Kreacher would tell his mother what had happened tonight, but thought better of it. The house elf didn't seem like he was going to tattle, so he gave him the benefit of doubt. Besides, Kreacher was rather fond of Regulus.

The house elf bowed and cracked out of existence. Sirius sighed and turned to his brother. "Well, we better go to sleep now. Mother hates it when we're late."

"Oh," the boy looked startled by his words. "uh, alright." he didn't get off the bed immediately though. He hesitated for a moment, as if he wanted to say something. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Regulus swallowed. "Well, is it alright if I... stay here tonight?"

Sirius blinked. "You mean sleep with me?"

He nodded. "Yes. You don't have to though." he added quickly. "With the pain-"

"It's fine." Sirius smiled. "Of course you can sleep here." He was incredibly happy that his brother had asked. More and more, his younger brother was opening up to him.

It took little effort for both brothers to get under the covers, which was still warm from where Sirius had been lying earlier. Sirius tucked Regulus in, which earned an annoyed look much to his amusement. It took only minutes for them to be lulled to sleep, exhausted from the long day.

When morning came, two brothers laid on the bed, both with small smiles on their faces, like they didn't have a care in the world.

*SSB*

Well, that was longer than before, though not by much.

And again, really sorry for not updating for so long.

Thank you, and please review soon!