Regulus found Kreacher huddled on his bed beneath the cupboard, shivering despite the warmth of the enclosed space. Maliah had joined them just after seeing Caelum off to bed. Convincing the house elf to tell what had taken place in their absence took next to no effort.
It was fortunate for Sirius that Regulus had been able to convince Maliah to stay home with Carina and Caelum while he met with his brother. She was furious at him for threatening Carina; summoning Caelum had been bad enough.
Regulus had been just as angry at first, but he couldn't be fueled by Maliah's righteous fury. The more time that passed, the more his mind cleared. That Sirius would raise a wand to a child was proof of how much had changed- and yet how little. He hadn't nearly attacked some random kid, but his daughter. Carina would have borne the curse, but the offense would have been meant for Regulus.
The downfall of his relationship with Sirius had been their inability to communicate. He didn't need his brother in his life anymore; they had lived fewer years being in contact with each other than not. But it would make things easier if he could gain his brother's cooperation. Attacking him, no matter how tempting, would only guarantee the opposite.
After giving Kreacher every order imaginable to ensure their children nor Maliah could be summoned by Sirius, he commanded his elf to take him to Grimmauld Place. He half-expected to find his brother asleep given the late hour. The sun would rise soon, but Sirius hadn't yet been to bed.
To his own chagrin, he had been waiting for Sirius across the hall in his old bedroom for what felt like hours. He was beginning to worry he had been wrong to think Sirius would continue sleeping in his old bedroom when he heard footsteps coming up the staircase. Finally.
He mentally counted each footstep he heard from the last landing, knowing there were only eight steps remaining between there and the top level of Grimmauld Place. Five. Six. Sev-
Did he bump into the wall?
"Argh," he heard Sirius grumble, followed by stumbling, a muffled crash; cursing.
Regulus was tempted to open the door to see what was going on. Hearing him begin to climb again, he resumed his counting. Seven. Eight. Nine? Ten? How many steps had he fallen down?
He waited until he heard the door across the hall creak open, then slipped into the hallway. Sirius left his door slightly ajar. Regulus followed him in, quietly shutting it behind him. Oblivious to his presence, Sirius continued his haphazard trek towards the bed. He got a bit tangled in a pile of robes lying in the floor but managed to keep his balance this time.
The entire room smelt of alcohol and something rotten. For a moment Regulus worried it was Sirius, until he saw a stack of assorted dishware covered with old food in the corner. Should that be reassuring?
If the amount of rubbish piled about was any indication, it was difficult to contest Dumbledore's belief that Harry was better off under someone else's care. Regulus averted his eyes from the mess, focusing on his brother who had just laid his wand on the night stand.
"I hear you met the kids," he announced, not quite able to keep the edge out of his voice.
Sirius instantly grabbed for the wand he had just laid down. Regulus sent it skittering across the room. He turned abruptly, anger helping to sober him for the moment.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded, halving the distance between them in two long strides. His eyes were bloodshot and it looked as if it had been days since he last slept.
"You can't actually believe you would have any chance against me in your current state," Regulus answered, casually returning his wand to his pocket as if to demonstrate how miniscule he believed the threat.
Sirius stopped just short of grabbing him- eyeing him, sizing him up.
"I don't need to be sober to kick your arse," he warned. More hesitantly he added, "There's also a house full of Order members downstairs."
"Don't make this harder than it has to be, Sirius. Just tell me what you told the others."
"You can't expect me to lie to protect your illegitimate brats, Regulus! I only wish I could have witnessed the scandal you avoided. Was it mum's idea for you to fake your death, rather she die in shame?"
"If mother had known about either of them, you never would have been re-inherited," Regulus reminded him.
"More likely, you would have been un-inherited. Oh, the shame you brought upon this noble house-!" he mocked their mother in a bit of a shout. Regulus cast a glance at the door of the bedroom. He was glad for the sound barrier that had always been kept between the third and fourth levels of the house, but didn't know if it would be enough to prevent a werewolf's keen hearing if things got out of hand.
"I really doubt it, but it scarcely matters now."
"How is it that of all rubbish lessons father taught us, the basic concept of where babies come from is the one that escaped your mind? How stupid can you be?"
"Who else knows about them?" Regulus asked impatiently, ignoring the insult.
"Why? So you can alter their memories while they sleep? I think I'll keep that bit of information to myself."
Regulus balled his hands into fists to keep from drawing his wand. He preferred to be diplomatic, but it was taking all of the restraint he had not to curse him, or worse, resort to muggle methods of fighting. He spoke slowly, emphasizing each word, "Hear me, Sirius. This isn't a game. There isn't any sort of prank involved here. They are children. They have nothing to do with any wrong I've done in my past."
"Aside from not preventing their existence in the first place," Sirius sneered.
"They are innocent," he answered with forced calm. "They deserve the opportunity to hold on to that, not to be dragged into an upcoming war that has nothing to do with them."
"Well they certainly don't act innocent, do they? That girl of yours-"
"Had never stepped foot on British soil until Kreacher appeared from nowhere, took her brother and left her alone without any explanation. By the time she called Kreacher back, he was distraught about having left her brother behind." His hand twitched, aching to reach for his wand, "You nearly attacked her," he reminded him through gritted teeth. "You would be mad to have expected a warm reception."
"I was never going to attack her. Not that she wouldn't have deserved it if it happened. Tell me, how is Canada this time of year?"
"You can't blame her for being cautious, Sirius, she's a Black-"
"Don't remind me," He warned. "No family has ever deserved to die out more than ours, yet surprise! I can't even believe how selfish you are."
Regulus pursed his lips, "The family name will die with you in this country if that's your decision. I'm believed dead – you're all that's left. I only want to keep my family safe."
"You act as if they were discovered by death eaters rather than members of the Order!"
"Do you have any idea how much of Voldemort's information came from Order members the last time?"
"The fact that you know that," Sirius retorted indignantly, "You have yourself to blame for whatever happens to them!"
"You already know that too, Sirius. Pettigrew-" at the mention of his old friend's name, he immediately had to duck to avoid Sirius' fist.
"Are you incapable of having a rational conversation?" he demanded, shoving him away.
"You think I'm irrational?" Sirius half-slurred, rising to his full height to accentuate his slight height advantage. "You're the one who faked your death!" He began smacking him repeatedly- on his arm, the side of his head- each hit only hard enough to be annoying, trying to make him retaliate. If not for it being Sirius' most obnoxious habit when they were young, he might have thought someone had charmed him to repeat the motion continuously. It was as if he had reverted back to being eight years old.
"Grow up," Regulus chided, swatting him away. "You know as well as I do, my death only meant one less death eater for you to worry about."
Sirius retracted his arm suddenly. "You're right about that," he admitted coldly, his hands clenching into fists at his side. "The only good thing that came out of the last war, and it was a lie."
Regulus hesitated a fraction of a second, just long enough to ensure his voice would be steady and face impassive, "Tell me what I need to know and it'll again be as if I died, fifteen years ago," he answered quietly.
Sirius shoved him into the wall angrily, "You are such a bloody hypocrite!" he shouted in his face, offering a generous whiff of his rancid breath. "You want to protect your spoiled brat children but don't hesitate to look in on Harry to satisfy your own interests! Don't pretend you weren't there. Your scent is too… repugnant not to recognize!"
Regulus thought it ironic for him to be talking about odors. He was supposed to be the rational one of the two, but his ability to reason with Sirius had always been dreadful at best.
Sirius shook him, demanding, "Why were you there?"
"I don't know, Sirius. Checking on him just felt like the right thing to do."
"Do you actually expect me to believe that? Doing the right thing has never been your priority. The only reason you wanted to check on him is because you knew it would piss me off. You always do this!"
"Don't you think enough has changed since the last time we properly knew each other to stop pretending we still do? You're not the same person you were, nor am I. How could we be?"
Sirius' inner turmoil was evident. There was a craving for- something. To hear more, maybe? To try to understand him? Whatever other inclination, it was battling a lifelong desire to beat his younger brother to a pulp. The effect of the alcohol couldn't be helping.
"I see nothing different about you," Sirius answered in a strained voice. "You're arrogant and deceitful. The same traits are evident in your children... I expect mother would even concede to claim them if she were here."
"You see only what you expect is there, Sirius. I am not the person I was when I left."
Sirius regarded him warily, "Everyone says you got in too deep and wanted out," he paused, waiting for him to deny it.
He didn't.
Sirius sneered, "You found a way to leave when you could have just as easily stayed and fought back."
"I did what I had to do."
Sirius looked at him in disbelief, "You could have come to me, fought with us against Voldemort. You didn't have to leave. You just… ran away."
Regulus didn't bother to hide his own disdain.
"Come to you, Sirius? You would have helped me? Is this how you spent your time in Azkaban? Deluding yourself with notions that your brother would still be alive if only he would have let you save him? You don't trust me now, you sure as hell wouldn't have then!"
"Did you just ask me how I spent my time in Azkaban?" Sirius roared, punching him, this time making contact. "You're the one who should have been there!" He swung at him again. It was difficult to avoid the onslaught, being stuck against the wall; Regulus' arm took the brunt of the impact. "Instead you were running away from your past, living it up- Making baby-mamas left and right. How many do you have anyway?" He aimed another blow. Regulus grabbed his arm this time, pulling it towards him. Sirius lost his balance, tripping over Regulus' feet.
Regulus tackled him, "She's my wife," He snarled, punching him on the nose. Blood seemed to be spurting from everywhere, from Sirius' nose and lip, as well as some from Regulus, nastily dripping over him, and running down the sides of his face. He hadn't even realized he was bleeding. Sirius gagged as he tried to shove Regulus off of him. He wouldn't budge.
"And you threatened my daughter," he drew his wand.
Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"I guess you aren't so domesticated, after all," he jeered, eyeing the wand pointed in his face, "Less reformed than you would have me to believe. A death eater would never attack without the advantage. I'm not even armed- you saw to that."
"I don't have the luxury of playing fair, Sirius. I left Voldemort at the height of his power; became a father before turning nineteen," he ignored the choked growl that escaped Sirius. "My family has been safe for fifteen years. But I can't protect them from Voldemort and his legions of death eaters if they are found out," he admitted. "You can choose to help me, or not- there is nothing I won't do to keep their existence hidden."
"And what do you think you're going to do? Place memory charms on everyone that you deem knows too much? What about me? Do you intend to alter my memories?" he demanded as he futilely tried to unseat Regulus, still perched on his chest.
"That's up to you, but I won't ask again. What did you tell the others about my children? Who knows about them?"
Sirius sighed heavily, "Get off of me." Regulus studied him for a moment. Realizing it was his last chance for Sirius to willingly help him, he stood slowly, careful to avoid tripping over the pile of books they had unsettled.
Sirius got to his feet hurriedly and immediately scoped out the room, obviously looking for his wand.
"Well?" Regulus asked impatiently.
"Tonks and Bill are the only others who know about them besides Remus," Sirius answered resignedly. "Some of the others in the house heard our… talking in the kitchen and came down – Tonks and Bill met them, pretended to be having an argument. They were able to keep everyone else away until after Kreacher took your kids back home. Molly told Bill to go home – that's her son, and she insisted Tonks go to bed. No one else saw them."
"What do you intend to tell them when they ask?"
"They heard your son refer to me as his uncle," at his look, he added hastily, "You've got nothing to worry about, both of them are trustworthy."
Regulus refrained from commenting on how Sirius' trust in Pettigrew had backfired. "Where can I find them?" he asked instead.
Sirius hesitated. He was a mess with his nose and lip busted, and drying blood covering much of his face. Regulus knew he couldn't look much better.
"You won't. Nor should you try." Regulus' grip tightened on his wand. "If you want me to believe you are different you have to act differently. You can't expect me to trust you if you don't first trust me – I have far more reason to doubt you."
Regulus stared at him, "You aren't in any position to bargain."
"And you have far more to lose than I do," Sirius pointed out, scarcely hiding his own bitterness. Regulus raised his wand, poised to strike. "Is this how things end then, Reg? You take away my memories of seeing you alive; allow me to believe you died a coward?" Regulus hesitated. He could think of several alternatives that would be worse. It was obvious Sirius was just buying for more time, his eyes flitting towards the direction his wand was last seen. Regulus might have done it, if not for Sirius' eyes focusing on him then, suddenly less interested in finding his wand; watching him intently, "Why did you really leave?"
"I learned I was to be a father," he answered after a moment, omitting a large chunk of the truth. "My situation at the time wasn't going to be conducive to parenting- so I left."
"Right… so you just said, 'hey boss, I'm done with this,' and Voldemort let you go on your happy way?"
"Of course not, I've already told you, he thinks I'm dead. The less you know of the details the better, Sirius."
"So, when you left, it wasn't Voldemort that you changed your mind about. It was because you were going to be a father," Sirius shook his head in disappointment. "Who's their mother?"
Regulus raised an eyebrow slightly, wondering if he had been asked a genuine question. The resemblance between Carina and Maliah was enough it should have been obvious given their past relationship. Not to mention that Maliah had disappeared shortly after his supposed death. "I'm not telling you that," he answered finally. At Sirius' look he added, "You're only asking to satisfy idle curiosity. There's no benefit in you knowing."
"Did I not just tell you, you would have to trust me if you wanted my help?"
"You told my daughter you would hunt down our family. That doesn't bode a strong feeling of trust."
"There is something you aren't telling me," Sirius remarked, watching him carefully. "It doesn't make sense for you to have left just because you got some witch pregnant, unless – she can't be a muggleborn."
Regulus almost objected immediately on principle but stopped himself. Denying such an accusation vehemently could prove counterproductive to convincing Sirius he had changed.
Sirius' eyes widened in surprise, "I take back what I said; mother would not concede to claim them." Was that pride in his tone? Regulus thought it might have been but ignored it, along with his guilt for allowing him to believe an incorrect assumption.
"You would agree to keep my family a secret because their mother is muggleborn," Regulus remarked blandly. Leave it to Sirius to promote the exact opposite of pureblood supremacy.
"I- maybe," he answered, suddenly suspicious. "You still haven't told me all I need to know. How did you know where Harry lived? Why did you feel the need to check on him?"
"I just wanted to make sure he was safe," he answered vaguely, "I wasn't sure if you had been able to check on him with the Ministry being after you and all."
"Oh, how thoughtful," Sirius answered amusedly. "I've been stuck here, so you took it upon yourself to check on my godson," More irritably, he added, "Of course you did. He's the boy-who-lived. Naturally, you're desperate enough to rally behind anyone in the hope they can protect you from the big bad maniac you used to worship. Anything to keep you from getting your own hands dirty."
Regulus' own anger was beginning stir again. Sirius had wasted so much time going back and forth, undecided on whether or not to be reasonable. If it were possible, it wasn't even his lack of helpfulness that bothered him most.
He realized he was angry at Sirius for what he had settled for since leaving Azkaban. The Sirius from their youth would have never returned to Grimmauld Place, much less confine himself to it. The brother he remembered never listened to anything anyone told him, he certainly wouldn't have allowed someone to dictate how he lived his life. He never would have let his orphaned godson be raised by neglectful muggles.
"He's just a kid," he answered evenly, "who lost his parents. And as unfortunate as it is already, it's made even worst, because the one person they trusted to take care of him, can't even take care of himself."
Sirius lunged at him. He would have expected nothing less. Regulus landed on a pile of books, and quickly rolled as Sirius tried to pummel him. Before either of them could gain an advantage over the other, Sirius' bedroom door was blasted open, admitting Remus Lupin and a young woman with bubblegum pink hair.
Each of them cast stunning spells. Regulus deflected Lupin's, recalling with chagrin that he did in fact still have his wand. The realization came too late as the woman's spell disarmed him.