A/N: First, just wanted to say thank you for all the reviews and kind words of support from my loyal readers. I appreciate it more than you know. Here's a chapter much earlier than expected just to show you how much I care!

Second, I can now officially confirm that, after this chapter, there will be 3 more chapters and an epilogue! I've got it all planned out (though not quite written), and I hope you'll enjoy them.

For now, enjoy this next chapter and let me know what you think! :)

Chapter 13: Mine

Sirius looked through the glass window of Remus's office and saw the tall, dark employee, Ephraim, standing in front of Remus's desk. Remus was smiling and nodding occasionally and saying things that Sirius couldn't hear. When he looked up and spotted Sirius looking in on him, Remus smiled and waved him in. And although Ephraim's skin was too dark to betray a blush, Sirius could sense the blush when Ephraim saw Sirius striding into the room, like he'd been caught red-handed.

"Hi, babe," Sirius said as he walked around his husband's desk to kiss him quickly.

Remus glanced up at Sirius after he stood up straight and saw that he was looking at Ephraim with slightly narrowed eyes. Remus cleared his throat.

"Um, Sirius, this is—"

"Ephraim," the dark man said, extending his hand to Sirius with a smile.

Sirius glanced down at Ephraim's hand and paused for a second before he accepted the hand offered to him.

"I'm—"

"Sirius," Ephraim finished for him. "I know who you are. Remus talks a lot about you."

Sirius looked down at Remus and smiled as he put a possessive hand on his husband's shoulder.

The gesture did not go unnoticed by Ephraim, who glanced at Sirius's hand before smiling again and looking at Remus.

"Well, I should go, Remus. Work to do. You know." He flashed a big, flirty grin at Remus before nodding at Sirius and turning to leave the room. When he got to the door, he seemed to remember something, and he turned back, his hand on the nob. "Olive oil," he said with a shy smile.

Remus gave Ephraim a quizzical tilt of the head, and Sirius clenched his jaw, trying not to call Ephraim out on flirting with Remus right in front of him.

"For your hands. It will help with the dryness."

"Oh." Remus nodded and smiled. "Thanks. I'll try it out, E."

"Nice to meet you, Sirius," Ephraim then said after smiling back at Remus. "See you later, Rem," Ephraim winked at Remus and then left the room, snapping the door shut behind him.

"E? Really, Remus? And he can't call you 'Rem.' I call you that." Sirius moved to sit on the edge of Remus's desk off to Remus's side.

"What?" Remus looked genuinely confused.

"E likes you."

"What? No he doesn't." Remus said dismissively. He tried to move his chair around but Sirius scooted over and placed both hands on either side of the chair, moving his face close to Remus's.

"Sirius, what're you—" But Remus was cut off by his own gasp as Sirius leaned in closer and he felt Sirius's breath ghost down his face. He shivered.

"That guy," Sirius said huskily. "E," he said, again emphasizing the 'E.' "He likes you." Remus opened his mouth to protest but Sirius moved in and grazed his teeth along Remus's jawline, making Remus's eyes flutter closed and any protest die on his lips. "I mean, I get it," Sirius said as his mouth moved along Remus's jaw. "How could he not like you? You're sexy," Sirius moved and placed an open-mouthed kiss on Remus's collarbone. Remus tilted his head back slightly to give the other man more room. "Smart," he said as his mouth moved higher, planting kisses in between each word. "Funny." Sirius kissed Remus's chin and moved his mouth so it hovered right over Remus's. "And you've got a killer ass." Remus smiled faintly and tilted his head up to meet Sirius's mouth, but instead, Sirius moved his mouth to the other side of his husband's face.

"You know," Sirius said as his mouth found the part of Remus's neck just below his ear that drove him wild and kissed it softly. "He's probably watching right now." Remus shivered again at the feeling of the dark-haired man's hot breath on his neck. "What do you say we give him a little show?" Sirius nipped at Remus's earlobe, and just when Remus processed the words that Sirius had said and was about to protest, Sirius's mouth found his.

Since Remus had opened his mouth to say that Sirius was crazy and that Ephraim was not watching and that there would be no "show" anyway, Sirius's tongue was able to make an easy entrance. Sirius's hands slid to the back of Remus's neck so he could tip the other man's head back and gain more access. Remus rolled closer in his office chair so that he was in between Sirius's legs as the kiss seemed to go deeper and deeper. Remus's mind was telling him to stop—that he was at work and his office blinds were open and that anyone could see. But his body… His body was betraying every rational thought that his mind seemed to have. It had just been so long since he and Sirius had been like this—carefree and spontaneous, not caring about anyone or anything else around—and the memory of simpler, sexier times was enough to arouse Remus's libido.

Sirius grunted a bit as Remus's hands slid up and rested on his thighs. Remus couldn't remember the last time that Sirius's tongue had been so perfect in his mouth. God, it was like it knew every nook and cranny—every place that drove him absolutely insane. That was when Remus stopped caring. It was his damn company, and if he wanted to make out with his husband in his office, then he very well would.

What the hell, right? It's only kissing.

It was. Until Sirius moved Remus closer and put one of his knees on the side of Remus's chair so he could press Remus against him. Remus could feel his husband's erection straining against him, and he couldn't help it when he moaned into Sirius's mouth. Then Sirius's hand moved from the back of Remus's neck and slid down his front until it was cupping his erection on the outside of his black slacks.

"Sirius," Remus said breathlessly as he pulled his mouth away from Sirius's. But his husband just moved his mouth to his neck and began to bite and suck and lick and do all the wicked things that he could. It wasn't really Sirius's fault. Remus's breathless protest had sounded more like a desperate plea for more rather than urging the other man to stop. And god, as much as he knew they couldn't do this right here, right now, because if anyone walked by his office they would see them (although it would only look like kissing from their angle), Remus was having a hard time stopping it.

"You're mine, Remus," Sirius said as he began to stroke Remus over his pants.

"Yours," Remus breathed.

"I don't want E getting any ideas," Sirius said hoarsely as his hand started to speed up. Then his hand moved away briefly, but Remus didn't get a chance to feel bittersweet relief because as soon as it was gone, it was slipping inside Remus's pants not a moment later.

"Sirius," Remus tried to protest again, but again it sounded like he was muttering the name in the throes of pleasure. "Sirius," Remus tried again as Sirius's other hand unbuttoned Remus's pants so Sirius could move his hand a bit more freely. "We can't." But oh, Sirius was biting and licking at that spot right below Remus's ear, and then it was moving along his jaw line—biting, sucking, licking, kissing—doing all the things that turned Remus into a puddle.

"Sirius, anyone could see," he tried to say. His voice was just too damn weak and quavering.

"No one even comes up here unless you summon them," Sirius said, ever the voice of reason. The man had a point. Remus's office was in a more secluded area of the building that no one really came by unless Remus asked them to. "Is anyone out there?" Sirius asked.

Remus craned his neck to try and sneak a peak over Sirius's shoulder. "No," he breathed when he saw no one come by for several seconds.

"Good," Sirius said. And then his hand moved so that he could free Remus from his pants, and when he succeeded, he began stroking quickly and efficiently. Remus threw his head back and bit his lip, trying not to moan out loud. He knew it would be over quickly, and it had to be before someone walked by his open window. Remus couldn't believe he was doing this—letting Sirius do this to him when at any moment, someone coming back from a job could burst in to report on something. But right now, Remus's rational mind seemed gone, and all there was room for was yes, god, yes and more, faster.

And after a few more strokes, Remus was coming. And he leaned forward so he could grip Sirius's thighs, and Sirius continued to stroke as Remus road out his wave of pleasure. He was panting and whimpering with the effort of keeping himself quiet.

As soon as his orgasm was finished, Remus looked up at Sirius slowly who was smiling down at him with a noticeable bulge still in his pants. Without saying anything, Remus stood up, zipped up his pants and walked over to the front of his office. Sirius just watched him as he started at the far left and walked all the way to the right, closing each window along the way. Sirius arched an eyebrow and grinned with salacious intent.

Right when Remus finished with the last window, he turned around to go back to Sirius, but he jumped when he felt arms wrap around him from behind and a mouth find it's way to his neck. Remus bent his head forward to give easier access to Sirius, and he braced one hand against the window in front of him as he felt himself going slightly weak from Sirius's attentions.

"What were you and E talking about before I got here?" Sirius whispered against Remus's neck as his hands went to the front of Remus's pants and unzipped them slowly.

"Work," Remus said hoarsely.

"Liar," Sirius breathed as his hands dipped into Remus's pants but avoided his man's already growing erection. Sirius grinded his hips against Remus's backside and growled low and deep in his throat.

"He watched a… a movie… we had talked about," Remus said breathily as Sirius slid Remus's pants down just enough to expose his ass and free his cock. One of Sirius's hands stayed in the front of the other man's pants, making slow, teasing circles on Remus's inner thigh—but being careful to avoid his cock—while the other hand moved back to knead and massage Remus's ass.

"I don't trust that guy," Sirius breathed into Remus's ear, making the man shiver.

"You… don't have to… trust him," Remus said between gasps. "You trust… me."

Sirius made a noise of affirmation and then moved the hand from Remus's ass up to his mouth. He put two fingers inside Remus's mouth and, knowing what his husband wanted, Remus began to suck. Sirius then moved his hand from Remus's thigh to stroke his freed erection.

"I don't want him talking to you," Sirius said while he continued to stroke and his man continued to suck his two fingers. "I only want him in here if it's to talk about work." Remus tried to protest but he couldn't with Sirius's fingers in his mouth. "Keep sucking," Sirius ordered and then continued. "I trust you, but I don't trust anyone but you." Sirius used the hand that was stroking the other man to maneuver him so he would bend forward. Both of Remus's hands were now pressed against the window in front of him as Sirius moved his finger from Remus's mouth to his entrance and pressed the finger inside. Remus gasped and forgot about what Sirius had been saying as he pumped his finger in and out slowly.

Because the couple had just slept together the night before, Remus was still pretty prepared when Sirius slipped a second finger inside and began to pump agonizingly slow.

"Fuck, Sirius," Remus moaned. "I'm ready."

Then Sirius pulled his fingers out and Remus moved his hips just slightly, letting Sirius know he was ready, but was disappointed when he didn't feel the familiar pressure of Sirius at his entrance.

"Come here," Sirius said quietly. "I want you over the desk."

Remus tried not to move too quickly and eagerly as he did what his husband asked and moved to the other side of the room, his pants still down just below his ass. He stood at the front of the desk with his back to his man and shivered involuntarily when he felt Sirius's warm body press up against his. He then saw Sirius's arm snake in front of him as he moved some of the things on Remus's desk slowly out of the way. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Fucking, come on, Sirius," he said exasperatedly as he pushed everything off his desk in one fluid motion.

Remus then felt, rather than heard, Sirius chuckle low in his throat, and in the next few seconds, everything happened quickly. Sirius bent Remus over the desk, unzipped his pants, and was inside the other man in an instant. It only took Remus a few pumps to adjust fully, and soon, he was begging Sirius to go harder and deeper, though Remus was quiet. Even though he knew his office was relatively sound proof, he didn't want to risk anything.

"Fuck," Remus said as one arm extended so his hand could grip the edge of the desk and the other he bent so that he could bite down on his hand to keep from crying out.

Sirius grunted in agreement as he began to pound unforgivingly into Remus.

Sirius's hands were gripping Remus's hips hard, pulling Remus back every time Sirius pounded in. But Remus hardly noticed. He didn't notice Sirius's grip, and he didn't notice how the fronts of his thighs were banging into his desk so hard that he would probably have bruises. He didn't care because Sirius had found the sweet spot and he knew he was close as he tried desperately not to be too loud. Both men were breathing heavily, and Remus would make a whining noise every so often, due to his near inability to fight off his moans.

"I'm gonna come, Remus," Sirius warned, his voice deep and hoarse. "You ready?"

Remus made a weak sound of affirmation and squeezed his eyes closed as he felt himself building higher and higher. He then clenched his muscles around Sirius, making the other man cry out.

"Fuck, Remus."

Remus didn't have a chance to marvel at how he had the ability to make Sirius come undone with just a simple movement because he was coming. It was hard and fast and violent, and he was biting down on his hand hard while still making loud grunting noises in his throat. And then Sirius was coming inside him, and for a moment, the edges of Remus's vision blurred and he thought he might pass out from the force of his orgasm. But as he felt Sirius collapse onto his back, panting heavily, he came back down to earth.

They laid like that for a few minutes—Remus pressed flat against the desk and Sirius on top of him, both men trying to control their breathing.

"You're so fucking hot, Remus," Sirius panted. "So sexy." He kissed the back of Remus's neck as he pushed himself off of Remus and slid out slowly. Remus stayed where he was on his desk, his pants still down, as he heard Sirius zip up his fly.

"Come on. Up," Sirius said as he gave Remus a light slap on the ass. Remus grinned and turned over slowly and pushed himself up on his desk so he was laying on his back with his legs dangling over the sides. Sirius was still close by, and Remus was able to move his legs and so he could wrap them around Sirius and pull him closer. Sirius smirked as he tucked his shirt back in and moved against Remus willingly. Sirius then bent down so his hands were planted on the desk on either side of Remus's waist. Then Sirius laughed.

"What?" Remus said, grinning.

"Well…" Sirius said slowly, his own grin widening. "I may have given you a small hickey." Sirius brought his hand up and brushed at the spot underneath Remus's ear that he had been paying particular attention to earlier.

"Did you really?"

"You can barely see it."

"You idiot," Remus said, although he was smiling when he said it, so the effect was lost. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Well, I came by to fuck my husband."

Remus punched Sirius in his chest, but Sirius just smiled.

"You asked."

"Is that really the only reason you came by?"

Sirius blushed a little. "Well, yeah," he said, suddenly shy. "I was just thinking about you and I wanted to see you."

Remus smiled at Sirius's sudden bashfulness. "And you just abandoned all your work at Black & Potter to come fuck me over my desk." Sirius nodded, still looking shy. "Are you done for the day?"

"Yeah, I told James I wasn't feeling well and that I would see him on Friday."

"Oh, good," Remus said, tightening his legs around Sirius's waist. "Because I want more."

Sirius's eyes darkened as he looked down at his husband's growing erection that was still outside of his pants.

"Why, Remus Lupin, you devil," Sirius said as he leaned forward and kissed his insatiable husband.

Later that night, Teddy was already in bed, and a naked Remus was laying with his head on Sirius's stomach, lying perpendicular to his husband with his legs bent and his right ankle resting on top of his left knee while he stared up at the ceiling, still breathing a little more heavily than usual. Sirius was laying flat on his back, naked, with one arm bent behind his head and the other hand in Remus's hair.

"I'm beginning to think you only want me for my body," Sirius said.

Remus laughed. "Finally caught on, have you?"

Sirius chuckled and it was silent for a moment before Remus spoke.

"So, how are things going with those kids… Neville and Alice?" Remus asked, and he felt Sirius tense up a bit underneath him.

"Fine. Okay," Sirius said, and Remus just waited for him to say more like he knew his man wanted to. "Well…" Remus tilted his head back a bit so he could look up at his husband. "It's just that he doesn't trust me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the kid has been through so much, you know? And I can tell he's scared… Not for himself, but for his sister. He's afraid he's going to get in trouble and he'll have to leave her alone. He doesn't realize that I'm trying to help him because he doesn't seem to trust any adults. And how can I find out the real story and help the kid if he doesn't trust me enough to tell me?"

Remus sighed. "You'll have to get him to trust you," he said somewhat obviously, but then went on to clarify. "You'll have to explain to him and help him understand that you're the only one who's on his side. You're the only one who truly has his best interests at heart."

"But how? How do I make him see that?" Sirius was staring at the canopy of their bed in frustration. Remus could tell that his mind was whirring. "How do I make him understand that if he doesn't tell me what happened he's going to be in serious trouble? If I say it the wrong way, he may take it as a threat and close off from me forever. Dammit."

"How old did you say the girl was?" Remus asked after a moment.

"Four."

"Interesting," Remus said slowly.

"What are you thinking, Rem?"

There was a brief moment of silence before Remus spoke. He opened his mouth, closed it, then sighed. "I don't know if this is against the rules or anything—I'm not a lawyer." He looked up at Sirius, who smiled. "But maybe… I don't know. Maybe you could have them over for dinner or something. I'm sure Dumbledore could arrange it so he could come without supervision of someone from the department." Remus shrugged. "I don't know, Alice could play with Teddy and you and Neville could try to get to know each other. Even if he doesn't want to open up, it might be a good way to make him trust you—to let him see that you're a good person."

Sirius stared up at the canopy for several moments, not saying anything.

"Anyway, it was just a thought," Remus said quickly looking forward. "Like I said, I don't know the rules. I'm not—"

"You're brilliant, Remus."

Remus tilted his head back and looked up at Sirius again and saw that the dark-haired man was grinning down at him like a fool.

"Completely fucking brilliant," Sirius said as he bent down to kiss Remus. "Come here." After Sirius kissed Remus once quickly, he grabbed Remus's face in his hands, and Remus was forced to move as Sirius began planting kisses all over his mouth and face, muttering about how amazing Remus was the entire time. Remus ended up straddling the other man, and Sirius's little playful pecks all over his husband turned suddenly into a heated kiss. While Sirius kept his hands firmly planted on either side of Remus's face, Remus's hands came up to rest on Sirius's toned chest.

"You're so god damned smart," Sirius said breathily when he finally broke away from Remus, and the two men rested their foreheads against each other's. "How can I ever thank you?"

"I can think of a few ways," Remus said with a smile as he moved his hips against Sirius's.

"You're killing me, Remus," Sirius growled right before he boosted himself up and moved so that he was now on top of Remus on their bed, with both their heads at the wrong end.

And as Sirius's mouth found Remus's neck and Remus brought his arms up to wrap around Sirius, he couldn't help but smile as he thought to himself, And what a way to go.

A bit later, Sirius was laying in his bed with his hands bent behind his head as he stared up at the canopy. It was patterned, and Sirius liked to follow the patterns while he thought. Their bed covers were laying loosely at Sirius's waist, leaving his bare upper half exposed.

While Sirius thought, the sound of the shower soothed him. It was always comforting when he heard Remus showering. He didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the thought of Remus naked and lathering up. Or maybe it was just the thought of how different his life was—the thought that someone he loved so much was so close by and that soon he could be all clean and smelling good and out of the shower to cuddle with him. Sirius wasn't one for cuddling, but there was something about Remus being all clean that made Sirius rethink his aversion to it.

The shower had always been some kind of beacon of knowledge for Sirius. He always had his greatest legal breakthroughs in the shower. He could remember when Priscilla was in the shower, and the sense of dread he would get when he would hear it turn off because he didn't want her near him. He could also remember when he would hear Andrew in the shower. And the spray of the water gave Sirius such anxiety because his feelings for Andrew had been so raw, and yet it was when Andy was in the shower that Sirius thought most about the lie he was living.

"Penny for your thoughts," Andrew said as he walked out of the steaming bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist as he toweled his hair dry.

Sirius looked over at Andrew. And god, he was a vision. Sirius loved running his hands down Andrew's toned stomach. He loved trailing his tongue down Andrew's happy trail until he got to the area he was really searching for. He loved to kiss the chest that Andrew worked so hard to perfect. Sirius had always been athletic, but he had never cared about his body until he met Andrew. Going to the gym together was one of the many ways Sirius had been able to ditch Priscilla to spend time with Andrew alone before… Before everything. Sirius had almost laughed at the irony of Priscilla admiring his new, defined and well-shaped muscles, for they were the product of Sirius's infatuation with another man.

"Sirius," Andrew was snapping two fingers in Sirius's face. "Earth to Sirius."

Sirius chuckled. "Yeah, I'm here," he said as he swatted Andrew's hand away.

"What were you thinking about?"

"You," Sirius said with a grin. "Your body."

Andrew arched an eyebrow, and before Sirius knew it, Andrew was straddling him, the towels thrown to the side and Sirius's head thrown back as Andrew's mouth attached itself to Sirius's chest.

"But Andy…" Sirius said breathlessly as Andrew pulled down Sirius's boxers and looked longingly down at Sirius's cock as it sprang free. "You just got all clean."

"So?" Andrew said as he reached over to his bedside table and squirted a bit of lube in his hand. Sirius moaned as Andrew rubbed the cold substance on him.

"But you're going to get dirty again."

"What," Andrew breathed as he watched Sirius's cock grow even more at his attentions. Andrew then raised himself up and positioned his entrance at Sirius's tip. "You don't want to?" Andrew asked, looking at Sirius with dark eyes.

"Don't be stupid," Sirius said hoarsely as he lifted his hips up and sank into Andrew as Andrew came down on Sirius at the same time, meeting him halfway.

"Okay," Andrew half moaned. "Then why don't you just shut up and fuck me."

"You got it, boss."

When Sirius had been intimate with Priscilla after that, that had been one of his go-to memories to get him in the mood. But now, he just shook his head with a smile when he thought of it. They had been so young. So young and stupid and naïve. They had thought that the world stopped when they were with each other. Andrew had thought Sirius would leave Priscilla and be with him, and Sirius thought Andrew understood that he could never leave Priscilla. Neither of them had understood anything about anything, and they'd both paid for it in the end.

And now, after all that—after Sirius, knowing he was gay, chose to be with Pris over Andrew—the man wanted to see him. Why? To throw water in his face? To punch him? Or maybe he just had some things he wanted to get off his chest. Truthfully, neither of them had really gotten any closure, but Sirius had forgotten about that after he'd met Remus.

See the thing was that everything in his life was BR and AR—Before Remus and After Remus. Sirius had long ago tried to forget everything BR. BR was sadness and melancholy and frustration and darkness. AR was light and joy and happiness and beauty. AR he got Remus and Teddy and he got his best friend back. Andrew was BR. And Sirius didn't know if he was ready to remember and go back to anything BR. He just didn't think he had it in him.

But it seemed that Andrew desperately wanted to see him. Jeez, he had gone through Remus's vetting process for six months (something Sirius was still pretty annoyed about, by the way, and had every right to be, thank you very much). Remus trusted him, so why shouldn't Sirius? Maybe Andrew wanted to be a part of Sirius's new life the same way Priscilla had. Maybe Andrew could become a part of AR. Maybe. Just… maybe.

"Well, I'm just surprised that my big, hot-shot brother has time for us lowly commoners," Regulus was saying as he took a swig of his beer.

"Please," Sirius said with an eye roll. "You're anything but common."

Regulus just smirked.

"So, how are things with you and Isabelle?" Sirius asked.

Regulus had married his long-term girlfriend, Isabelle, a few years ago. Ever the perfect child, Regulus had married the person that the family had deemed fit. Unlike Sirius, however, Regulus loved the life that he'd been given. Although their father had nearly ruined Regulus's life with the Riddle case, Regulus had seemingly forgiven the man. Now, Regulus was married to the beautiful but cold Isabelle VanGoren, a New York socialite with a rich father and a mother who pretended to be happy while everyone new she had a pretty intense addiction to prescription drugs.

Despite all of it—the arranged marriage, the psychotic parents, the lies, the deceit—Regulus liked the life he had that Sirius had loathed. And despite it all, Regulus was—surprisingly—infatuated with Isabelle. Although she seemed cold to Sirius, Regulus just adored her. And even though Sirius worried about Regulus in the life he was in, he was happy that his little brother had found love.

"She's doing quite well." Regulus tried to sound disinterested but Sirius could see his eyes light up.

"Oh, come on, you gotta give me more than that," Sirius said. "I told you all about Remus, and how he did that thing—"

Regulus held up a hand. "Don't," he said. "I didn't want to hear it then, and I don't want to hear it now. Again." And although Regulus tried to sound serious, Sirius knew he was enjoying himself. Secretly, Regulus wasn't disgusted at all by Sirius and Remus, and—again, secretly—he enjoyed hearing about and being a part of his brother's life.

Sirius rolled his eyes again. "Just tell me one thing about Izzy—"

"Isabelle," Regulus corrected.

"—and I'll leave you alone."

"Fine," Regulus said after a moment. "Just one thing…"

A bit later, they were eating some fancy fish that was distinctly BR to Sirius, and Regulus coughed a bit, making Sirius look up and stop what he had been saying about the Jets. Regulus, however, kept his eyes on his plate, and after a moment of silence when Sirius went back to his food and was about to start talking again, Regulus spoke first.

"Dad mentioned you."

Sirius looked up from his plate and nearly dropped his fork as his hands shook slightly. Regulus was still carefully studying his plate.

"And?" Sirius said after a moment.

Regulus just shrugged. "We were just talking about thanksgiving and he casually said, 'wonder what Sirius is doing.'" Sirius stared at Regulus, but his brother refused to look up at him. After several moments of silence, both men spoke at once.

"Reg—"

"Look, Sirius, I know you're still mad about what happened with Riddle—"

"Mad? You think I'm mad about… Riddle?"

"I—"

"When I quit, do you know what he did?" Sirius sighed and put his fork and knife down lightly, trying to control his temper. "When I told him I couldn't work for him anymore, I told him that I didn't want him to hate me, and that I loved him no matter what. I told him I didn't agree with what he was doing but that I still loved him and always would, and you know what he did?" Regulus finally looked up at Sirius, and it looked like he was afraid of what Sirius would say next. "He laughed."

"Sirius—"

"I told my father that I was sorry and that I loved him and he laughed. He called me naïve and stupid and he told me that this 'silly firm'—" Sirius did air quotation marks. "—that I wanted to start would never survive. I told him I loved him and he said that if I failed, he would never take me back."

When Sirius finished, neither he nor Regulus spoke for a while. Regulus had gone back to studying his plate, and Sirius was just watching Regulus, waiting to see what he'd say.

"He was just angry, Sirius."

"Regulus—"

"Let me finish," Regulus said firmly, looking up. "You know how dad is. He's prideful and he's exacting and he's critical. And it's hard to be his son, trust me, I know."

"Oh, but Regulus, you're perfect to him," Sirius said in a voice laced with disdain.

"Do you think that's easy?" Regulus said sharply. "Do you think it's easy trying to live up to his impossible standards? Because it's not."

"Oh, I know."

There was another block of silence, and this time when Regulus spoke, he spoke quietly and to his plate, back to not looking at Sirius.

"Isabelle can't have kids." Regulus's voice was barely above a whisper.

Sirius felt his heart lurch, and he paused, wanting to comfort his brother somehow. "Regulus," he sighed. "I'm so sorry," he said—because it was all he could think to say. He wanted to reach out and put his hand on his brother's but he knew they weren't a touchy family. It was amazing that Regulus was even revealing this, and Sirius knew he couldn't push it too far.

"Dad tried to act like he wasn't disappointed, but I could see it all over his face." Regulus sighed. "I mean, I never really wanted kids, and I don't think Isabelle did either. She only wanted to fit into her social circles. But… We don't want to adopt or do anything like that. We just aren't going to have any."

"Reg—"

"I think Dad wants to meet his grandchild, and Sirius," Regulus looked up at him. "I know you hate him, and you have every right to, but… Sirius, just let him meet the only grandchild he has… may ever have."

There was a long silence—the longest they'd had so far. Sirius closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. When Sirius finally opened his eyes, he found Regulus regarding him intently.

"I'll do it, Reg," Sirius finally said. "For you."

Next chapter:

A decision is made.