A/N: You reviewers really are amazing! I love you all! And all you amazing new followers, welcome!

So, this chapter was going to have a nice, long Sirius bit in it, but it ended up stupidly long, and it didn't seem to fit in as well as I wanted. I've had to split the chapter in half as it flows better. I promise you all there is a nice long chapter coming after this one and there will be LOADS of Sirius :)

Instead of just one update this week I'm giving you this one early and you'll get another one on Thursday/Friday. Just putting the finishing touches on the chapter before I do a quick edit and it'll be ready for y'all.

I hope you all enjoy this. Let me know what you think :)

The second I got outside I immediately regretted what I was wearing. The cold October wind whipped my hair around my face, obscuring my view of the almost empty grounds. My hand desperately tried to hold my skirt down as a big gust of wind blew it up. In the brief break between each gust of wind, my hands moved to scrape my hair out of my face and to pull my jacket tightly around my body in a feeble attempt at preserving some heat.

My eyes darted to the treeline of the forbidden forest, scanning the entirety of it. The only movement was the rustling of the leaves, but that seemed to die down the closer I got to the dark forest. After my first initial scan I couldn't help but look over it a second time, this time to admire the array of different colours. Reds, oranges and browns could be seen for as far as the eye could see. Even all the hills surrounding the school were filled with such a variation of colours it took my breath away. This country really was unlike anything I had seen in Miami.

I reached the first tree, crossing the threshold to an area I knew very few students would dare to enter. Within a minute the trees, towering over my head, blocked out most of the sunlight. Not that it mattered, I didn't need much light to get where I was going though. My feet seemed to know the route by heart.

Every now and then I found myself glancing over my shoulder, just to make sure that I wasn't being followed; especially with how close Sirius was when I left him. The last thing I needed was for him to follow me and make an already awkward conversation even more awkward.

It never did take me long to get to the clearing, but for some reason it seemed like the journey was never ending this time. My mind was all over the place, unsure on what part of what Sirius had said to focus on. There were two choices. Let myself dwell on what he'd said about me, letting the anger that had been pushed deep down come out. Or dwell on what he had accused Regulus of, which I didn't believe. It couldn't be true, something would have hinted towards it long before then.

The space in front of me was slowly getting lighter, so I knew it was only a matter of minutes before I came face to face with Regulus. Only a few, short minutes before I could warn him about what his brother was saying about him. That is what I'd be doing, right? Warning him.

I let out a small sigh as I tugged my jacket closer to my body once again. Who was I kidding? As soon as it came out of my mouth we'd both know that there was a part of me struggling with what Sirius said. If I was so sure that it was all untrue I wouldn't waste my breath. All I needed was to hear the words out of Regulus' mouth. There was no way that he'd lie to me. He'd done nothing to prove that a single word Sirius said was even close to the truth.

As I came to the edge of the clearing I scanned the area for Regulus. It took a moment before my eyes settled on him, sitting against a tree with a small book in his hands. He was completely still, the only movement was the wind blowing through his hair, blowing it away from his face. The corner of his mouth twitched up on one side as he concentrated on whatever he was reading. It was the most relaxed I'd ever seen him, as though he didn't have to worry about what he was doing, how he was acting. He could just be.

I made my way to him slowly, my feet squelching in the wet mud as I did. It didn't take long for Regulus to hear me, his eyes lifting up from his book to me at the first sound of movement. His entire body went slightly rigid but the tiniest smile appeared on his lips as he rested his book on his lap. The two reactions contradicting one another immensely.

Just as I sat down next to him, our shoulders brushing lightly against one anothers, a shuffling came from the direction I'd just come from. Before I even had the chance to find the source of the noise, Regulus was stood with his wand in his hand. He scanned the forest, his whole body stiff and alert.

There was movement from a bush near where the sound came from, followed by the same rustling noise only slightly closer. I followed Regulus' lead and got my wand out, pointing it to the forest.

My heart crashed against my chest as I thought of all the people it could be. My mind drifted to Sirius instantly. I thought back to my journey but I was certain that I hadn't been followed by anyone.

"Did you not manage to get rid of him?" Regulus voice was low, his eyes darting around madly as he tried to find the source of the noise.

"He went back towards the common room." I shook my head as I took a step forward to try and get a better view. It was impossible to see anything out of the ordinary though, especially in the darkness that surrounded the clearing.

"Are you sure?" Regulus moved forward so he was stood just in front of me, blocking me off from whatever was in there.

I tutted and rolled my eyes. "Of course I am. It's probably just an animal." I placed my arm on the crook of Regulus' elbow and pulled him back towards the tree he had been sat by. "If it was anyone looking to hurt us, they probably would have done so already."

Regulus dropped his wand to his side before turning to face me. His eyebrows knitted together as he caught my gaze. "And you're an expert, are you?" He smirked at me whilst he shoved his wand back into his robes.

"Something like that." I forced a grin onto my face. "I'm sure whatever it is will be gone soon."

I followed Regulus back to the tree where he sat down, arranging part of his robe so that I could use it as a blanket and not have to sit directly on the mud.

The both of us turned, once again, to the sound of movement, finally seeing what was causing it.

"Is that," I squinted my eyes, trying to focus on the figure that was cautiously emerging from the trees. "a dog?"

"I think so."

A shaggy, black dog made it's way into the clearing, sniffing around as he did. It was one of the biggest dogs I'd ever seen, with slightly matted fur from where he'd obviously been running around the forest.

I got to my feet and slowly made my way to the dog, whistling to it to get its attention. The dog turned to face me instantly, it's yellow eyes landing on me. I crouched down to it's level, sticking my hand out to try and temp it over to me.

As the dog slowly made it's way to me, I couldn't help but smile to myself. It felt like I hadn't seen my own dog in forever.

"Ignore it and it'll bugger off." Regulus scoffed, obviously not too keen on the idea of having to be around it.

The dog cautiously reached me, sniffing my hand, which was still stuck out away from my body. Once he seemed to be satisfied he closed the gap between us, jumping up at me to lick my face. Suppressing a giggle, I shoved the dog down before leading him over to where Regulus was sitting, glaring at the dog in disgust.

I retook my spot next to Regulus, my knee brushing against his until the dog came and squeezed between our legs, growling at Regulus as he did.

"I don't think he likes you." I laughed. As I did it felt like everything had disappeared for that small moment; the argument with Sirius, the letter from my mum. In that moment, none of that mattered. In that moment I was sat with someone who meant more to me than anyone else at the school, and a friendly dog who didn't understand what I was going through.

"What a shame." Regulus' drawled as he shook his head at me. "I can't believe you're making me sit next to this smelly mutt."

"Hey!" I covered the dogs ears. "Leave Snuffles alone. He can hear you."

Regulus shook his head at me in disbelief, yet there was still a small smile on his face, his eyes lighting up as he looked at me. "Snuffles? You named the dog Snuffles?"

I grinned as wide as I could as I let go of Snuffles' ears and shrugged. "It's better than calling him It."

Snuffles' rested his head on my lap as I ran my fingers through his knotty fur. The smell of dog was no doubt going to be all over me by the time I left but I couldn't bring myself to care.

We sat there in comfortable silence for a bit; Regulus flicking through the book he was reading whilst I scratched the dogs head. My head went back to the argument that I had with Sirius and my stomach immediately tied itself in a knot.

"So, how'd you get rid of him in the end?" Regulus peeked at me out of the corner of his eye, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. "I would have hexed him for you."

Snuffles growled again, but this time he didn't bother turning around to face Regulus, instead just showing his teeth to my lap.

"Shh." I soothed the dog until he had calmed down. "He would have loved that! I already had to stop him from running after you."

"He saw then." He stated, placing his book in his lap before adjusting his body so that he was facing me. His voice was steady and controlled as he spoke and the entire time I was sat with him his back was straight against the tree. It was like the boy could never relax. "You should have let him. It's been a while since the two of us had a conversation."

"It wasn't a conversation he was looking for, Reg." I leaned back, resting my head against the rough bark. "It's like in that split moment you became his worst enemy. He definitely had a few choice words to say about you."

Regulus turned to face me, his grey eyes watching my face, searching it for any sign of what was going on in my head. "I can't say I'm surprised. I bet I could hazard a guess at what it concerns."

I nibbled the inside of my cheek, not sure whether to even bring it up. Now that I was beside him, there wasn't a single part of me that could believe that he was a Death Eater or that he was using me. Sure, there was something about him that was a bit uptight, but that didn't mean he was a bad guy. Besides, that was the last thing I could ever believe Regulus was. Just because he some of his friends were a bit questionable, it didn't mean he was.

After a huge internal debate I took a deep breath and steadied my nerves before turning to face him. My eyes ran over his face, taking in just how similar he was too Sirius, the both of them extremely handsome.

"I'm just going to throw this out there, and it's not because I believe in anyway that what he was saying is true." I started rambling without taking a breath, the words coming out like verbal diarrhoea. "But I just want to hear it from you and then we can just sweep it all under the carpet."

A throaty chuckle came from the boy, his eyes sparkling as he did. It was the only time he seemed completely relaxed, and it didn't seem like he even laughed all that often. "Spit it out then."

"Okay." I looked everywhere except directly at him. In the end I let my eyes focus on the Snuffles' yellow eyes that were looking up at my face. I knew that Regulus' face wouldn't give a thing away, so there was no point in observing it. He'd had too much practice at keeping his emotions hidden. "Well, it's two things really. The first is, um-" I trailed off, still not entirely sure whether I even wanted to ask the questions.

"Jules." His voice was softer than it usually was, as though he was encouraging me to continue. It was all I needed to find the courage to just come out and say it.

"He says you wouldn't waste your time on someone like me so you must have an ulterior motive for spending time with me." I blurted out the words, letting them all mix in with each other. It was then that I realised that I wasn't nervous about his answer. It was his reaction to the question that I was worried about. The last thing I wanted to do was offend him by insinuating that I didn't trust him. He was, without a shadow of doubt, the person I trusted more than anything in this place.

"And the second?" There was the smallest hint of amusement in his voice as he continued looking intently at my face.

"That you're a Death Eater." The words were barely a whisper.

All of a sudden Regulus started laughing. Not just a throaty chuckle, but a full on hearty laugh that lit up his whole face. "Of course he did." One more small chuckle escaped his lips before he turned back to me. "I'll tell you a little something about my brother. Sirius is a very bitter person, who doesn't like anyone touching what's his, especially me. He'll tell you anything he can come up with if he was certain it would keep you away from me."

I laughed at Regulus, thinking he was joking but when I looked at his face that was entirely serious I almost choked on the air. There was no way Sirius actually believed that, did he? He had barely even looked at me, so how can he honestly believe that.

"I'm not his, Reg." My eyebrows furrowed as I looked into the same amused eyes that I had just been trying to escape from. "I've never been his. He made that quite clear."

I looked down at Snuffles to find him asleep with his head still resting on my lap, his stomach slowly moving up and down with each breath. I finally stopped petting him and rested my hand on his side instead.

"It's not me you should be telling, Angel."

I froze at the sudden nickname, not expecting it. I observed Regulus' face but he showed no signs of letting the little pet name slip, as though it was just a normal, everyday occurrence. Except that's the last thing it was. He'd never once called me anything other than my name. I internally shook my head not wanting to dwell on the thought any more.

"He knows not to come near me again." I defended, not allowing myself to believe that's what Sirius actually thought. "Trust me, he'll stay away if he knows what's good for him."

Regulus looked at me dubiously before he shook his head at me, the small smile returning to his lips. "He never did know what was good for him. It's your turn to trust me when I say, he'll be back. And it won't be long before he is."

"He can try but he knows that I'm not his biggest fan right now." I shook my head, the anger from before startled bubbling within my skin again. I clenched and unclenched my fists as I tried to let go of some of the tension.

"What did he want anyway?" Regulus adjusted himself so that his body was angled towards me. "I thought he wasn't talking to you?"

I placed my hand on the ground, picking up a few of the fallen leaves that were scattered around us. The crisp leaves crumbled in my hands as I slowly worked them into a dust. "To apologise." I shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"But it is." Regulus studied my face as he pulled away slightly. "He doesn't normally take it upon himself to apologise to anyone."

"And how about we stop talking about him for a bit?" I exhaled through my nose and rested my head on Regulus' shoulder. His whole body tensed up before he leant back on the tree. Despite the tension he didn't once pull away from me. "The whole world doesn't revolve around him, as much as he'd like it to."

"Okay." He placed his hands in his lap, his right one fiddling with his left sleeve, as though he didn't know what to do with his hands. "He's off limits. Got it." He rested both hands on his book before resting his cheek on my head ever so slightly.

"What are you reading?" I said desperately trying to force conversation so that I wouldn't end up sitting there stewing about everything that had gone on. It was safe to say that the nice, stress free day that I wanted was the last thing I was going to get.

"This?" He passed the old, tattered book to me. "I must have read it a hundred times."

I ran my fingers over the faded cover. "Grimms' Fairy Tales?" I couldn't stop the small laugh from escaping my lips. "And what do you tell your friends when they see you reading a no-maj book?"

"Give me a bit of credit." Regulus scoffed, his body relaxed as I lifted my head off his shoulder to face him. "No one will find out about that unless I want them to."

"Oh, I forgot." I nudged his shoulder with my own. "You're basically a spy, right?"

"Something like that." He laughed.

There it was again. That hearty laugh that lit up his entire face, no, his entire body. It was an odd and refreshing sight. I don't think I'd ever get used to it, it contradicted everything that he tried to put across. Yet, in that minute moment he finally seemed like the 16 year old boy that he was.

"You really don't laugh enough." I commented before I realised what I was saying. "It suits you."

Regulus eyes crinkled slightly as he scoffed at me and shook his head. "That's coming from the girl who always seemed to be crying when I first met her?"

"I wasn't always crying!"

"You may as well have been! Always hiding away in the library." There was a mischievous gleam to Regulus' eyes. The exact same gleam that was constantly in Sirius' eyes. The boys were so similar, yet complete opposites at the same time.

"I'm starting to think I was better off there." I handed the tatty book back to Regulus and put my head back on his shoulder.

"You can always go back." Regulus snorted. "At least then I wouldn't have to endure the stench of a dog that has clearly never had a bath!"

All of a sudden Snuffles' eyes flew open as though he had heard and understood the insult. His head spun around so he could train his yellow eyes on Regulus, his lips curled up in a snarl.

"It's okay, boy." I ran my hand through his fur, my fingers snagging in knots as I did. "Don't listen to the horrible man."

"He can't understand me!" Regulus threw his hands in the air.

I glared at Regulus, pouting slightly to show that I was only kidding. "Of course he can. Can't you, Snuffles?" I spoke to the dog, my voice higher than it normally was.

Regulus rolled his eyes before shoving his book into his bag. "As much as I am having the time of my life, I really should head back."

I rearranged how I was sitting so I was no longer on Regulus' robes so that he could stand up without sending me flying. He looked down at me and I was shocked to find his eyes full of warmth, something that was never normally in his eyes. My breath caught in my throat at the sight. I gave him a small smile as I continued to stroke Snuffles, who was now sitting where Regulus had been.

"Are you going to be alright here?" Regulus' eyes scanned across the edge of the clearing, obviously trying to make sure that there was no one around.

"I'm more than capable of looking after myself. I'll be fine."

Regulus looked down at me, worry edging it's way onto his features for a split second.

"I won't be here much longer." I promised, my cheeks warming slightly as he continued to look down at me. "I promise."

"Okay." Regulus finally accepted after silently watching me for a minute. "See you tomorrow, Jules." He threw his bag over his shoulder, rearranged his robes and turned his back on me. His whole body was rigid as though there was a stick strapped to his back, preventing anything except perfect posture.

I watched as he disappeared through the trees before I leant my head against the tree before shutting my eyes with a sigh. Snuffles had come up beside me, his face level with my own. His cold, wet nose was on my cheek before his tongue came out to lick me.

I sighed again, letting my fingers slowly tease out some of the matted mess of his coat. I opened my eyes to meet his not moving from my face. "I know I should have gone with him, boy. You're right, I am a coward." His nose was against my cheek again, leaving a trail of slobber across my face. "I just don't have it in me for another argument today, and if I bump into Sirius there's definitely going to be an argument."

Snuffles whimpered before lying down next to me, his head was between his front paws. He looked up at me with huge puppy dog eyes as he whimpered again.

"Cheer up, boy. It's not your fault he's an ass. Maybe that's just what he's like. Maybe he just can't help it." I leant back again, letting my hand move of it's own accord as I stared up at the sun in the sky. "What do you think of Regulus? He's not bad, is he? Don't dogs have some sort of sixth sense about that sort of thing?"

A slight growl was all I heard come from Snuffles.

A groan slipped out of my throat. "I'm going crazy. Here I am, talking to a dog as though you can even understand me. I'm not going to get a straight answer out of you, am I?"

We both sat silently and unmoving as the sun moved across the blue sky. The only movement was my hand, slowly brushing the big dogs black, shaggy fur. There was something soothing about the action, something that calmed something deep within me. Whilst I was sat there with Snuffles I was content, my heart ached less, my brain worked less. It was the peace that I had been hoping for. If only I didn't have to go back.

The longer I sat there, the faster fatigue seemed to hit me. I was tired. Tired of fighting, tired of being strong and tired of everything. I fought hard to keep my eyes open, but it was only a matter of time before the darkness inevitably got me.

Snuffles' fur was rough against my cheek as I rested against his large body. The smell of dog drifted to my nostrils, somewhat soothing me as it mixed with the fresh, Autumn air. The rise and fall of his chest was enough to lull me into a light, dreamless sleep.