Story notes: Short and sweet and to the point. Let me know what your overall thoughts were. As usual, cross-posting is fine.
It shouldn't have been surprising.
But it was.
Sirius should have seen it coming.
But he hadn't.
Regulus was gone again. And Sirius was so worried he forgot to be excited.
(Because if Regulus had high-tailed it from their parents' again, then it meant that he wasn't lost after all. He'd not been serious about those things he'd said before, at least not entirely).
Naturally the first person Sirius had contacted was León, but Regulus wasn't with him.
Oddly enough, the first person Orion and Walburga Black had contacted…had been Sirius.
"You're looking for him here?" Sirius had demanded, a single eyebrow raised. "You saw how angry he was with me!"
"A thirteen year-old can hardly be expected to remain consistent emotionally," Orion Black spat. It was less that he had any affinity for child psychology, and more that he wanted to be right, and Sirius to be wrong.
"Are you going to invite us in or not?" Orion snapped a moment later. Sirius took a long look at his parents, arms folded and matching scowls on their faces, standing shoulder to shoulder on his tiny doorstep. He shrugged and stepped back to let them in.
"Regulus is fourteen, Orion," Sirius's mother said quietly as she followed her husband into Sirius's tiny living room.
"Shut your mouth, I know how old he is!"
His parents hadn't stayed long. Sirius suspected they had only deigned to enter his apartment so they could be certain that Regulus wasn't hidden away in a closet somewhere. Sirius's father had stomped out the door in a huff, muttering about Ministry contacts he was going to conscript. His mother, however, lagged behind for a moment.
"My Regulus never used to behave like this," she said, an accusing look in her dark eyes.
"Mother, I—"
"He was so much happier with you."
Sirius was taken aback.
"W—what?" he stammered.
Walburga looked straight into Sirius's eyes and said truthfully, "he would never have gone with you in the first place had it not been something he badly wanted."
Sirius only stared.
"And had he disliked staying with you," Walburga continued. "He would have left."
"Mother…I…"
"I have to go with your father, Sirius," Walburga said sharply. She marched regally back to the street where she and Orion stood awkwardly for a moment (conspicuously dressed in their blackest wizard robes), looking back and forth for bystanders before apparating away together. Sirius blinked.
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By the second day Regulus was gone, Orion and Walburga Black had have the Ministry out searching for him. When more than three weeks' worth of efforts proved fruitless, Sirius was beginning to panic.
Perhaps Regulus hadn't run away after all. Perhaps someone had…gotten ahold of him. Bellatrix insisted she and Rodolphus had seen neither hide nor hair of him, but Sirius was adamant that he would murder them both if no one found his brother soon.
Sirius found he had no interest in his friends anymore, and no matter how much they tried to coerce him, he refused to go to any Order meetings. When he wasn't actively looking for Regulus, he would sit hunkered over his small coffee table, head in his hands and shaking. There was a massive guilt trying to claw its way out of his belly.
Sometimes he remembered to eat.
"Crying over me, eh?"
Sirius looked up with a start. How had he not noticed his front door open? Regulus was standing in his entryway, arms folded, and looking quite bemused.
"Blacks don't cry," he said seriously.
"I'm not—" Sirius started to say automatically, but stopped. "Regulus…where have you been?"
Sirius stood up and Regulus walked over to him. He looked down into his little brother's eyes and saw determination there. Regulus seemed hell-bent on accomplishing something.
"Don't you lecture me," Regulus demanded. "You don't have that right. Not after how you treated me. Not after how you threw me away."
"Regulus," Sirius said softly. "You have to understand."
"Oh I do," Regulus insisted. "I get it. You did what you thought was right—for yourself. No, don't argue with me, Sirius, because you know I'm right. Now, things got a little out of control, and that much is my fault. I fucked things up. But it was your job to handle that, and as soon as you felt overwhelmed, you got rid of me. You shunted me back to our parents because you thought I was irredeemable, and you figured if that was the case, that you'd rather they be to blame than you. Then you tried to rationalize it by saying it was in my best interests."
Sirius was silent for a moment.
"Is that all you have to say?" he said loudly. "Is that the extent of why you came back here, after pulling another vanishing act? Do you have any idea how worried I…" his voice trailed off. Perhaps Regulus was right. Maybe Sirius didn't have the right to act concerned for him anymore, though that thought didn't stop his heart from bursting—with glee that Regulus was unharmed, and with anger that he had put himself in such danger by running off.
"Don't flatter yourself," Regulus said sharply. "I didn't come back just to yell at you, Sirius. I know it's hard for you to believe at times, but the world does not revolve around you. And certainly I don't plan my every action with you in mind. I'm here because I want to be."
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.
Regulus glanced around the living room, stalling. He seemed to have to steel himself before speaking any further.
"I want you to listen closely to me, Sirius," Regulus said in a very clear voice. "Because I am only going to say this once. After today, I will deny this conversation ever happened. I will crucify you if you repeat what I am about to say to anyone on this earth. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," said Sirius immediately, although he had little intention of keeping any such promise.
Regulus seemed satisfied by his answer.
"I said you didn't have the right to badger me about running away again because you'd stopped taking care of me. I meant that. But…I'd like for you to try again. I'll behave this time, I promise. I'll obey you, I'll concede you the right to discipline me in whatever manner you wish—providing you never beat me as Father does. I will respect your friends, even the muggle-born one, and I will never run away again. I propose that this arrangement be in place until I reach my majority, and then we may reassess our relationship.
"I've decided on this for selfish reasons, Sirius, don't think otherwise. Altruistically speaking, I couldn't care less how you think or feel about me, but I do appreciate your affections. I enjoy feeling loved by you and so I seek to reestablish a scenario where I can feel that way again. I'm not sure that having to watch over me is suitable compensation for meeting my demands, so I am prepared to offer you something else in return: my inheritance."
"I can do little about it now, because I'm fourteen. But in three years' time when I am of legal age, I will sign everything over to you. Grimmauld Place, the money, the title…it will all be yours."
"Regulus—"
"I haven't gotten to the best part yet," Regulus added somewhat desperately. "I went back to Grimmauld Place this morning. I've informed Mother and Father of my decision. They were unhappy of course, but also quite unwilling to disown me (and I managed to escape alive, as you can see). Instead they've begun desperately trying to win me over. Buying new assets for me, summer houses, legal influence…knowing full well that I still plan on signing it all over to you! They've even agreed to let me stay here in relative peace providing I remain in touch and allow them to visit. Obviously I demanded they visit during hours when you are here, in part to appease you and in part because I want you here to protect me."
"Regulus—"
"Not yet, Sirius, I'm not done. I…I just—look…about everything," Regulus started to stutter. "I understand why you don't want me as a brother. I'd've replaced me, too, honest. But if you don't want me as your little brother, I thought, maybe you might want me as a son?"
Regulus had stopped breathing. He looked up at Sirius, trying to remain calm and unconcerned, but felt frozen with fear, waiting for Sirius to send him packing.
Instead Sirius only said, "Where the fuck have you been?"
Regulus bit his lip. "Do you really want to know?" he asked.
"Obviously," said Sirius.
Regulus shrugged. "I went to your friend Lily's. And for the record, her parents thought I was, quote, charming and adorable."
Sirius's jaw dropped.
"You can ask her about it if you don't believe me," said Regulus smugly. "Honestly I'm surprised she managed to keep it a secret from you this last month. She seemed dying to spill the news."
Sirius sat back down on his sofa, feeling incredibly overwhelmed.
"Sirius?" Regulus asked shyly a few seconds later. "Sirius, are you going to turn me away? Because I hadn't really thought of what I'd do if you did…"
Sirius didn't answer him. Regulus reached out a hand like he might touch his brother, but stopped and backed away. This didn't seem to be going the way he'd hoped. He waited in vain for another few moments before sighing miserably and turning around.
"All right," he said quietly. "I get it; I'll leave. It was foolish of me to come here."
He hadn't gone three steps before he heard Sirius growl, "Regulus Black, get back here."
Startled, Regulus turned back. "Huh?"
Sirius jabbed a finger at the spot next to him on the couch. "You sit down here, right now," he ordered.
Regulus did as he was told, sitting stiffly next to Sirius with his hands folded in his lap. He looked frightened and confused.
"You are not going anywhere. Do you understand me? You just—just stay right here where I can see you!" Sirius put a hand over his eyes.
"Sirius?" Regulus asked, looking perplexedly at him.
"Because you're grounded. On restriction. House arrest until further notice. Regulus—don't you snigger at me! I'm serious. I thought I'd lost you, I thought I'd killed you."
But Regulus only laughed, eyes watering, until he finally quieted down and slumped sideways into Sirius's lap, panting.
"I really thought you were going to tell me to leave," he admitted breathlessly. Suddenly he seemed very exhausted and Sirius carded a hand through his hair, wondering how long it had been since Regulus had gotten a good night's sleep.
"Never," Sirius murmured, but Regulus had already fallen asleep. Sirius stayed up for a while, afraid any movement might wake his brother, but thirty minutes later, when Regulus was still firmly asleep, Sirius picked him up and carried him to their bedroom. He got Regulus settled and then flung himself down into his own bed.
A few hours later, Sirius awoke with a start. Momentarily disoriented, he reached blindly to his side but felt nothing. A brief swell of panic set in before he remembered that Regulus was less than ten feet away, tucked in and sleeping soundly.
Breathing harshly, Sirius gave in. He got up and crawled into Regulus's bed with him. It was a bit cramped, and Sirius had to push his brother over (Regulus mumbled something in his sleep and fussed about a bit, but then settled down).
Sirius slept soundly for the rest of the night.
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The next day Sirius woke up earlier than he would have liked to the dizzying sensation of his brother shaking him furiously.
"Holy shit, what is it?" Sirius demanded.
"This?" asked Regulus, releasing his brother and gesturing to the two of them. "This is not going to be a regular thing. I'm not five, Sirius. I'm fourteen, and that's way too old to be sleeping with you every night. Can you imagine what my friends will think?"
"I don't give a fuck what you're friends think about anything," said Sirius tiredly. The early morning frequently made him swear more than usual.
"Well whatever. I need to you get up and let me out of the bed so I can go shower. I'm sort of trapped here."
Sirius rolled onto his side and closed his eyes again. "Then climb over me, and remember you're not leaving the house today."
"Yes, master, Regulus understands," Regulus quipped. Sirius only huffed at him.
"God you're bony," he complained as Regulus tumbled to the floor.
"Shut up," Regulus snapped. A moment later, though, he added, "Sirius?"
"Hmm?"
"Maybe it would be acceptable if…on occasion…you were to sleep next to me. I mean, sometimes I…it…" Regulus stuttered.
Sirius cut him off by flinging out a hand to pull Regulus back down into a one-armed hug.
"I love you," he murmured. Regulus didn't respond to him, but Sirius could feel him smile and that was enough.
While Regulus showered, Sirius managed to prize himself out of bed. He was staggering into his kitchen when his doorbell rang. It was Remus Lupin.
"Moony," said Sirius, yawning. "What do you need?"
"Lily told me your brother was here again."
"This is true," Sirius admitted, closing the door behind Remus, who had meandered into the kitchen to stand next to the sink.
"I came here to congratulate you. It looks like you really got your wish," said Remus earnestly. "If Regulus was willing to come back to you after that whole fiasco at Aberforth's then you really must have made an impression. Personally, I didn't think you had it in you."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "You vote of confidence was noted."
"Ha-ha," Remus snipped. He took the cup of coffee Sirius offered him and leaned casually against the counter.
"Actually I'm also here to be useful to you; I came to deliver this." Remus removed from his pocket a small envelope. It's off-white color and goblin seal suggested it was from the bank.
"What's this?" Sirius asked curiously.
Remus shrugged. "Not sure (although I have a pretty good guess). Arrived at James's house by mistake about an hour ago. Gringotts must still think you live with the Potters. Anyway, I was over there last night and heading out this morning. I told them I'd drop it off."
Sirius was only half-listening. He tore open the envelope and stared at the letter in disbelief for a few seconds.
"Son of a bitch," he muttered.
Remus cocked his head to the side. "What's up?" he asked.
Sirius let his arm drop to his side and turned his amazed face towards his friend.
"It's my mother," he said in awe. "She's unfrozen my accounts and reinstated my stipend."
Remus snatched the paper back. "Let me see that," he said. " 'Reinstated monthly deposits'… 'added value congruent with the estimated costs of raising a child'…holy fuck, Regulus must be an expensive child!"
A laugh escaped Sirius's lips. "Wow," he said. "I can't believe it."
"So…you're rich again?" Remus asked. "The drinks are going to be on you permanently from now on…do you suppose your father knows about all this?"
"He'd have to," Sirius said carefully. "The money's always been jointly in both of their names…"
"Sirius?" Regulus's voice startled both older boys. "Oh, hi, Lupin. Sirius what's that? Oh good! Did Mother's bank letter finally get here?"
"Why are you all dressed up?" Sirius asked in confusion. Regulus had put on his best robes, smoothed his hair down, and made his face perfect with a combination of charms and light concealer.
"So we can make a good impression while we're out real estate shopping today. No one's going to sell a house to us if we look like a couple of transients. By the way, the shower's free, you should make us of it." Regulus eyed his brother critically. "And I suppose your werewolf friend can accompany us so long as he promises not to embarrass me. Oh, don't look at me like that, I've known for two years. Did you think I wouldn't do my research on the people who stole my brother from me?"
Regulus poured himself some coffee and leaned on the space of counter next to Remus.
"Well go on," he nodded to Sirius. "Get ready to go. I'm really excited to see the houses available on the coast. Of course you can still keep a small apartment here for times when you're Order friends need you in the city for stretches of time, but I see no reason why we have to stay in the smog all the time. Anyway, Mother's favorite real estate agent opens at ten, and I promised her we'd go to him first. He'll make sure we get a good deal…"
Regulus continued to chatter away from a long time. Numbly, Sirius traipsed into the bathroom to get ready to go. Remus watched him go with an amused look on his face, and a part of him wondered who had really saved whom.
Signed/tenrousei-kuroi