Flash of Red

Aiden Short

Lupin Cabin

First Aid

Flash of Red

Streaks of pink, orange, and gold stretched out across the sky from the horizon. The few clouds that flitted about the evening air were turned a deep violet color with bright silver edges. Directly overhead, light cheery blue turned to inky black as the flaming red sun sank towards the horizon. It cast a golden light over the tops of trees in the forbidden forest and reflected almost blindingly off the lake at the base of the Hogwarts castle.

Regulus Black stood atop the astronomy tower, watching the big ball of fire sink lower and lower behind the trees as he waited. The sunset was a beautiful sight, yet the picturesque scene didn't match the dark and dreary thoughts going through the boy's disturbed mind.

"Regulus?" a voice called out, confidence laced through it, but underneath a hint of uncertainty could be heard. Regulus turned at the sound, breaking away from the dark thoughts festering in his mind and weighing heavily on his heart.

"Sirius," he greeted the boy as he stepped out of the shadows of the stairwell. Sirius glared at his little brother with suspicion and moved with caution in his step. Regulus felt a pang of sadness. He remembered when they could trust each other, when they were best friends as well as brothers. He regretted that it all had to change.

"You wanted to meet with me?" Sirius' voice was filled with hostility and Regulus cringed. He took a deep breath, but he just couldn't bring himself to say what he needed to. He knew if there was anything left between his brother and him, any love or friendship at all, it would be gone once he told Sirius. He wished he could keep it a secret forever and rekindle their friendship. Everything could go back to the way it used to be.

But he had to tell him. If he didn't now, he'd find out eventually, and that would just make everything ten times worse. Now was the time.

"I'm joining him."

"What?" the venom in Sirius' voice was sharp and Regulus felt as though he'd been cut with a knife. He knew this would happen. This was definitely the end of them. The reality of losing Sirius sent Regulus spiraling into oblivion. Without his brother, he was nothing, just an empty shell. But then Sirius surprised him by softly asking, "Why?"

Regulus sighed deeply. "I have too."

"No you don't!" Sirius argued squeezing his hands into fists by his side, look of anger on his face.

"Yes I do," Regulus replied sadly. "His people in Hogwarts have been harassing me about it for weeks, they won't take no for an answer. Also, Mother and Father think it's a wonderful idea. They say I'll bring honor to our family name, I can't let them down."

"Just tell them all no!" Sirius growled feeling frustrated. "Be brave for once in your life!"

The comment stung, no matter how true it was. Tears began to prick Regulus' eyes as he shouted back at his brother, but he blinked them away. He couldn't cry, now was not the time. "I'm not like you, okay? I'm not brave or bold or daring! I try, but I'm just a coward. I'm sorry!"

"So what?" Sirius threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "You're just going to go kill a bunch of innocent people because Mother thinks it's a noble idea?"

Regulus ran his fingers through his hair in distress. "You think I want to kill them? All these years of degrading muggles and mud bloods has bothered me just as much as you Sirius. I don't really have much of a choice here."

They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Oh how Regulus wished he could turn back time, before everything became so hard, before it all came to this.

"Come away with me," Sirius spoke up sounding desperate. "We can hide you. I'll do everything I can to protect you. Think of the possibilities!"

Regulus hesitated. He could, all this could go away and he could be friends with Sirius again. He wanted to so much, but, "I can't."

"Come on Reg," Sirius' voice shook and his eyes sparkled with tears, something Regulus had never seen happen to his big brother before. "I can't let my baby brother go get hurt. It's my job to keep you safe. If I let you do this, what kind of brother would I be? What's going through your head that makes you think you can do this?"

"You'd lose your mind trying to understand mine," Regulus sighed.

More silence. The two brothers watched each other. This was it for them. Even if they wanted to, they could never be friends again, the paths they chose brought too far apart. Regulus was overwhelmed by sadness. It felt like his heart had been ripped right out of his body and torn to shreds right before his very eyes. He turned away from Sirius and back to the sunset, it was too painful to look at him. The sun had dipped far below the tree line and was almost completely gone. The air was dark and hard to see through, but still had just enough light to trick one's eyes into believing they could.

"If you ever want to come back," Sirius began softly from behind Regulus. "You know you'll always welcome."

"You know as well as I do what dark magic does to a person, Sirius," Regulus sighed without turning to face Sirius. "We've both seen the effects first hand. Once I do this, there's no coming back."

After a pause, Sirius spoke up one more time, his voice shaking wildly as he fought to keep it under control. "I'll miss you."

Turning to his brother with a sad smile, Regulus replied, "I'll miss you too."

Without hesitation, they ran to each other and hugged as if their lives depended on it. They knew this would be their last ever, so they gripped each other tightly. Regulus buried his face in Sirius' chest, the latter kissing his little brothers hair. This simple gesture was able to convey what words could not. It let Regulus know, that no matter what happened, his big brother would always love him.

Neither wanted the hug to end, but they both knew it had too. They pulled away from each other and Sirius coughed awkwardly. "Come on. We better get back to our dorms. We don't want to get detention."

And with that they went their separate ways. Regulus turned once more to look at the sunset, and caught a flash of red as the sun disappeared completely. It seemed that as his friendship with his brother ended, so did they day. And while he knew tomorrow brought new beginnings, he couldn't help but dread what those beginnings were of.

Oh how he longed for yesterday.