A/N: This chapter is a little on the shorter side, so apologies for that. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint though! I would love to know what you all think of it thought!
Disclaimer: Still not JK Rowling. All characters and rights belong to her still.
"So, Snape is going to get the diary from Malfoy?" Sirius asked, not truly believing what he was hearing.
"He's going to work on it," Lily said, leaning into James. They were in the Room of Requirement, deciding it best to come here to discuss everything after everyone had gone to bed. They didn't want to take the chance of someone overhearing them in the common room, or even have Peter accidentally stumble upon them. "Mind you, it may take some time. Sev said there's some things in the works and he needs to keep his head down for a bit to keep earning Voldemort's trust."
Sirius started rubbing his head. "Does anyone else feel, I don't know, like we can't completely trust Snape?"
"Sirius, shut it!" James snapped. "He's risking his neck to help us, remember? Besides, he told Dumbledore he would try to pass on vital information to him, especially if it meant saving innocent lives."
Sirius snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it."
"Black, how's it going with talking to Regulus," Dorcas asked.
Sirius stiffened. "Er, well, not very well actually. I haven't really talked to him since that Hogsmeade weekend."
"So, why not get off Lily's back about Severus, and focus on how you're going to talk to your brother then?" Marlene snapped at him.
Sirius glared at her. But instead of saying anything, he surprised everyone by standing and leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.
He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked down along the corridor, upset at himself for not being able to talk to his brother—his own flesh and blood. He blamed his parents, for shoving their pureblood prejudices down his and Regulus's throats since they could talk. Only he had the sense enough to not listen to them. If only his brother had the same sense. But that's where he blamed himself. He should have helped Reg, taken him with him when he left his bigoted parents, and move in with James. Even though Reg listened to everything their damned parents told him, Sirius knew he didn't really believe it all. He knew because why else would Reg had warned him that day before going to Hogsmeade. 'Be careful Sirius.' If he truly believed pureblood were above muggleborns, half-bloods, muggles and even blood traitors, he never would have given him any type of consideration or warning.
His thoughts took him back to when Regulus was about to start school at Hogwarts.
'Sirius, what if I don't want to be in Slytherin? What if I got put in Gryffindor like you?"
"Then we'd be glad to have you Reg!"
"But mother and father would hate me, like they despise you," Regulus said forlornly.
"Well, they'd just have to deal with it. Having two sons in Gryffindor would maybe make them see reason."
After a moment of silence, Regulus looked up at his brother. "Will you protect me?"
Sirius dropped his smile and clung to his brother. "Always Reg. You're my brother. I'll always protect you."
He was so caught up in his thoughts and memories, he didn't realize he had wandered down to a corridor he wasn't familiar with. Blasted, if only he had the Maurader's Map with him. He should know it all by heart with how much they looked at it, but this corridor didn't look familiar.
The pictures on the wall were all sleeping, the hallway was dark aside from the moonlight coming through the one lone window. There was a couple closed doors down the hall farther down, and as he passed one, he heard something from inside. It sounded like someone was crying.
He pressed his ear to the door. Someone was definitely crying. Should he go in and see if they needed help? Technically, it was after curfew, and he wasn't supposed to be out and about. Oh sod it, since when have I ever cared about getting in trouble?
He opened the door slowly, and poked his head around, looking for the source of the crying. The room was full of desks and chairs, covered with sheets. It must have been a classroom at one point. "Ahem, sorry, I was passing by and I heard-" he stopped talking when he saw the source of the crying.
Regulus shot up from covered desk he was sitting at, and pointed his wand at his brother. "What are you doing here," he seethed, trying and failing to sound tough.
Sirius shot his hands up. "Look Reg, I'm sorry. I was walking, I got lost, and I heard someone in here cry-"
"I wasn't crying!" he shot back, his wand still pointed at Sirius.
"Look, can you put the wand down? It's just me. It's not like I haven't seen you cry before."
"I wasn't crying!" Regulus shouted again.
"Okay, you weren't crying. Can you please put your wand down?"
Regulus hesitated a moment, before lowing his wand. Putting his back in his cloak, he started for the door past Sirius.
Sirius on instinct, grabbed his arm. "Wait Reg-"
"Leave me alone and don't touch me!" He flung Sirius' arm off of him.
"Reg, I'm worried about you," Sirius said before his brother could walk completely out of the room.
He stopped and held onto the door tightly. Spinning around, he looked at Sirius, and Sirius knew something was wrong—aside from the fact that he did indeed hear him crying.
"Reg, please, talk to me."
Regulus shook his head, and Sirius could tell he was trying very hard to keep the tears from coming again. "Why should I talk to a blood traitor like you?"
"Don't! Don't you dare talk to me like that! I know you far better than you think!" Sirius shot back.
"You think you do, but you have no idea! You have no idea anymore because you abandoned me!" Regulus shouted at him.
"Really? I didn't abandon you Reg! I left our crazy, demented parents who wanted me to become a murderer –"
"And because of that, I had all the pressure!" Regulus shouted, his words causing Sirius to roll his words around in his head.
"Reg, what did you do? What happened?" Sirius had an idea, but he didn't want it to be true.
Regulus, looked away from his brother, instinctively grabbing his arm. Sirius sucked in a breath, not sure he was actually breathing. "No, Reg," he whispered.
"I had no choice," Reg ground out, still not looking at his brother. "Unlike you, I have no where else to go!"
"Reg, who was it?" Sirius asked sternly, still looking at his brothers arm.
Regulus shook his head. "Does it really matter?"
"Reg, you killed someone! It bloody hell does matter!" Sirius shouted at him.
"He tortured me! Tortured me right in front of mother and father, and they just stood there watching, looking beyond proud!"
Sirius looked like he was going to be sick. He knew his parents were demented, but to watch their youngest son be tortured by a psychopath—Sirius' fists clenched.
"Do you remember when I was about to start school?" Regulus suddenly asked, breaking Sirius of his anger for a moment. "Do you remember when you said you would always protect me? While he was torturing me, all I could think was, 'Where is Sirius? Why isn't he here protecting me? Saving me?'" Sirius finally saw his tears start falling down his brothers' face.
"Reg, I-I wish I had known. I would have been there to –"
Regulus snorted. "You're all words. You always were."
"No Reg, I never wanted this for you! You never deserved any of this," Sirius said walking towards Regulus.
Regulus looked up and his shoulders seemed to sag. "But what choice do I have?"
Sirius was silent for a moment before saying, "Reg, do you truly believe all that he stands for? Do you really believe in all that pureblood shite?"
Regulus looked at him and Sirius could tell immediately he didn't.
Sirius put his hand on Regulus' shoulder, and pulled him towards one of the covered desks. Sitting down, Sirius said, "You know you can redeem yourself."
Regulus snorted. "How? I killed someone. I have the Dark Mark now!"
Sirius flinched, but continued. "What if I told you, you could become a spy for the Order?"
Regulus shot his head up, and looked at Sirius. "You can't be serious!"
"Well actually, I am Sirius," Sirius grinned trying to break the tension. It didn't work, because Regulus just glared at him. "Look, if you don't really want to be a Death Eater, you can help the Order tremendously, by being a spy for us."
"Oh yes, and after this is all over, if by chance the Dark Lord falls, I will still be blacklisted, because of this mark on my arm!" Regulus shot back.
"Possibly, but if you spy for us, if you pass on vital information to the Order, I know Dumbledore will stand up for you, and it would definitely diminish your sentencing-"
Regulus scoffed. "Dumbledore wouldn't dare stick his neck out for me."
"I wouldn't doubt it," Sirius said sincerely. "Dumbledore is full of surprises," he said, thinking of Dumbledore, surprisingly, showing Snape all of the memories from the future. "Look Reg, I-I know I haven't been the best big brother to you, I know there's a lot of things I could have done differently, and now I wish to Merlin I had, but I-I want to try to help you. You're still my little brother."
Regulus looked down; his hands clasped in front of him on his knees. He looked up at his brother and shook his head. "I don't know. I'm-I'm so confused right now."
Sirius nodded. "Right."
Regulus suddenly stood and headed for the door. Before walking out, he looked back at Sirius, which Sirius thought was a look of gratitude, and he walked out.
Sirius wanted more than anything to go after his brother and take his pain and hurt away. He never should have gone through that! Sirius hated himself for allowing it to happen. But he hated his parents even more for it. And he hated Voldemort. He promised himself then and there, he was going to do anything to save his brother, and he was going to take out Voldemort and every one of his followers down with him.
