Upside Down Mirror: Saving Regulus -Frustrations
"Puppy."
Sirius stirred from his sleep, feeling Regulus shift in the bed beside him. His year twitched when he felt Regulus' warm breath right before his younger brother buried his face into his black fur coat. Regulus reached a hand up in his sleep, rubbing the top of Sirius' head before wrapping his arm around his older brother's Animagus form, letting out a deep sigh of content.
He didn't remember when he'd shifted into his dog form during the middle of the night, yet he didn't remember how Regulus calmed and became more receptive to a warm body lying next to him, keeping him warm during the middle of the night, which in turn made it easier for Sirius to fall asleep himself, though he felt as if he'd just woken from a nightmare.
He felt Regulus stiffen next to him, then pull away from him slightly. Sirius turned his head to see what his younger brother was doing and saw Regulus watching him right before Regulus said, "Puppy?"
Sirius let out a yawn, remaining in his Animagus form, noting in the back of his head how child-like and innocent his brother sounded, a stark contrast from the night before. He stretched, feeling the bed shift as Regulus pushed himself up from the bed into a sitting position, his eyes blinking in the sunlight which was absent from their childhood home, but from Sirius lay he could see Regulus look around the room.
Regulus started tugging at the pajamas he wore, his hands almost buried by the sleeves before muttering, "Muggle things."
Sirius sat up, still in his Animagus form, taking in the Muggle things which were definitely in his bedroom before turning back to watching Regulus who'd lifted his arm so he might smell the clothes. He stopped when he saw Sirius—the black dog—staring at him. He lowered his arm and stared back at the black dog.
"You must belong to Siri," Regulus said. He reached out to touch the top of Sirius' head, only to hesitate for a few seconds. He shook his head, his mouth twisting slightly into a smile. "Lucky. Maman would never let me have a pet, but I guess that's one of the benefits of not living under the same roof as her, huh?"
"Why did you have to bring her up?" Sirius let out a sigh. "And why do you have to smell my clothes like that? What is wrong with that head of yours?"
"I know. I know. I shouldn't talk about her. That will just upset Siri if he hears," Regulus ruffled the dog's face, much to Sirius's amusement, though the fact Regulus was just moments before smelling his clothes still bothered him. Regulus stopped, swallowing, his mouth pushing together in the way it always did when something was upsetting him.
Sirius suddenly bounced up, placing his front paws on Regulus' shoulders, and did exactly what a normal dog would do when a human was upset and started licking Regulus' face. "Take that you little weirdo! Revenge is sweet, but wait until you find out, if ever that it's me doing this! Maybe you'll think twice before smelling someone's clothes like that!"
"Hey! Don't do that!" A laugh escaped from Regulus, one that Sirius hadn't expected, but the way that his brother spoke was definitely in a different tone than the night before.
"Maybe today he'll talk to me." Sirius hopped out of the bed and headed for the door.
"Come back!"
Which of course simply amused Sirius as he stepped into the other room, changing forms as soon as Regulus couldn't see him. Remus started awake from where he sat. "You seem in a good mood."
Lily spoke up from where she sat reading a book. "Be sure to get him a drink of water rather than just playing a prank on him."
Sirius stopped in his tracks, before letting out a sigh and heading into the kitchen area, filling a cup with water before heading back into the room. Stepping into the room, he saw Regulus yet again smelling the pajama sleeve rather than paying attention to who came and went through the door. He stepped over, still holding the cup, and said, "Hey."
Regulus' eyes blinked, his head turning to look at Sirius without saying anything before looking away, giving him the silent treatment. The softness Sirius saw in his brother's face, even the smile was now gone, replaced with a far more serious expression.
Sirius cleared his throat. "Are you thirsty?" Regulus didn't answer and instead tugged at the sleeve before smelling it again. "That's a simple yes or no question, you know."
"Yes," Regulus muttered.
Sirius reached out, meaning to place the cup into Regulus' hands, only to stop short. "Regi..."
Regulus continued tugging at the sleeve, absentmindedly smelling the clothes rather than responding.
"Regi, could you stop smelling my clothes?"
Sirius watched his brother's silver eyes blink and then Regulus turned his head so he might look Sirius in the eye. He didn't say anything. Instead, a light blush appeared on Regulus' pale cheeks.
"Why are you smelling my clothes?"
"It smells like you," Regulus stated, sticking his arm out, almost knocking the glass out of Sirius' hands, but also waking him in the nose. He looked at Sirius as if said statement was a matter of fact that anybody would say.
"You little creep," Sirius muttered, glaring at his younger brother. "I knew you had issues, but..."
Regulus narrowed his eyes and said, "I don't want to talk to you."
"Excuse me?" Sirius choked out.
"I don't want to talk to you."
"You were talking to the dog a moment ago."
"Dogs don't talk back."
"You little..." Sirius slammed the cup of water down onto the nightstand next to the bed, not caring if the water got all over the place. "I'm outta here. Who cares about you!"
He walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Silence greeted him which made him look at the other two in the room. Lily continued reading her book while Remus gave him a rather horrified look, but he finally decided to say something. "What happened?"
"That little twerp thinks it's normal to smell people's clothing but told me it was easier to talk to the dog than it was me," Sirius snapped.
"He smelled the clothing you were wearing?" Remus asked.
"No! He was smelling the pajamas and told me that they smelled like me! There is nothing normal about that!"
Lily continued reading her book. "Regulus isn't normal, but you of all people should know that."
"And what would you know about that?" Sirius snapped.
"I was in Slug Club with him, remember?" Lily finally looked up at her book. "Hearing you tell me that he finds it easier to talk to an animal than an actual human being doesn't surprise me in the least."
"Well, that doesn't explain him smelling the clothes and telling me they smell like me!"
Lily glared at him. "Really?"
"It's not normal."
"Regulus is in an unfamiliar place, so what is the most familiar thing to him?" she added.
"That's still creepy!"
Remus cleared his voice, finally deciding to speak up again. "At least he felt comfortable enough to do it in front of you. I doubt he would have done that in front of your parents."
"That isn't helping."
"He's doing it because you make him feel safe, not because he's got some kind of sick fetish. But you had to go and blow up at him and getting him to open up to you, didn't you?" Lily snapped. "You know, so we could get more details regarding whatever it was that you two got up to last night, though to be honest we haven't even gotten the details from you, beyond the fact he had to drink a potion to get to a locket."
"The locket he told me he wanted me and Kreacher to destroy, but doing so had something to do with bringing down Voldemort."
"Then he has defected," Remus whistled.
"Why would..." Lily sighed. "Any more information on destroying the locket?"
"Just that Dumbledore might know more regarding what to do with it."
"Well, I guess we should summon him here then, given the fact there is definitely no way at this point we'll get more information from him, is there?" Lily snapped.
"That..." Sirius glanced at the room, not wanting to summon Dumbledore yet. "He'll talk to the dog. Bloody hell, he'll talk to the dog that happens to be me, but not me."