Prompt - "How did you get in here?" - Orion and Regulus

"How did you get in here?"

Orion's voice - though appropriately stern for a father having just discovered his six-year-old son hiding in the tight corner between the mahogany storage cupboard and the wall of his study - was soft, softer than he'd have spoken had it been his elder son who had been caught instead of his younger.

Regulus stared up at his father, his pale, silvery eyes wide with alarm and foreboding. Though the little boy had inherited the coveted Black feature of grey eyes, his were a shade paler than that of his parents' and elder brother - more shimmering silver than stormy grey.

"Answer me, Regulus" Orion prompted, firmly yet calmly, eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Through there" Regulus said, softly, his robe sleeve sliding up to expose his spindly arm as he pointed to the corner of the ceiling. Nailed to the wall in that corner was a brass air vent, a reminder of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place's brief history as a Muggle residence before the original wizarding owners of the Black family acquired it. Orion had never before paid any heed to the various brass vents dotted about the rooms of the house - wizards, naturally, had no need of air distribution systems. Such feats could be controlled by the far more superior means of magic.

Now, however, he noticed that the vent in his study happened to be less than two meters above the top of a tall, solid, wooden display cabinet - a distance that a small child might easily slip out of through the vent and land upon to gain access to the room.

"And would you care to tell me why you saw fit to sneak into my private study, which you know full well you are not permitted to enter without my permission, through such means?"

It hadn't seemed possible that Regulus's eyes could widen any further than they already had, but that is precisely what they did upon hearing his father's clearly displeased tone. The boy nibbled at his bottom lip, a natural habit for the naturally nervous child, but quickly forced himself to cease. His papa had warned him before that it was a bad habit that would only result in a sore lip and a weak appearance.

Orion suppressed a sigh at how obviously troubled his younger son clearly was. The contradiction of his sons' ways was taxing at times; for all Sirius was scolded for being too daring, too brash, too confident, Regulus was often sighed over hopelessly for possessing an insufficient amount of any of these qualities.

"Regulus" said Orion, the boy's gaze flitting upwards to meet his own. "Whatever you've done, you will be in far more trouble if you do not confess now"

"Was looking for the phoenix, Papa" Regulus mumbled, his small fists clutching at the material of his robe sleeves. "Sirius said it would be in here somewhere…"

Ah. So that was the aim behind this great break-in.

The phoenix to which Regulus referred was the small toy model phoenix that Sirius had received for his birthday several weeks ago and which Orion had confiscated from Sirius almost a week ago.

Though thankfully not realistic enough to catch-fire after a certain amount of time, the little model bird, small enough to fit comfortably in a child's palm, could chirp realistically, flap it's feathered wings and even fly about a room, following the directional commands of the child by which it was owned.

Whilst most children would be content to simply have the bird flutter about for their amusement, Sirius, naturally, had seen fit to go several steps further and had charged about the hallways of Grimmauld Place in an attempt to see just how fast it could go and if he could outrun it. Caught up in a fit of his own triumph at having achieved the goal, he'd lost control of the toy and it had gone soaring straight into a large, extremely valuable antique vase, shattering it.

Though the china itself was fixable through magic, no wand could restore the vase's rumoured magical energy, the secret of how to unlock this power hidden throughout the centuries. And now, the secret would never be discovered.

Sirius had been confined to his room for the rest of the day and all of his toys confiscated, a select-few of which had been returned to him yesterday. His favourite, the phoenix, however, had remained confiscated.

Irked at his continued punishment, Sirius had immediately begun plotting to get the phoenix back himself, much to his younger brother's silent disapproval.

"And why did Sirius not see fit to come and retrieve his toy himself, hmm?" Orion asked.

It seemed rather odd for his adventurous-to-a-fault elder son to pass up the opportunity of undertaking such a daring mission himself.

"He was too big to fit in the vent" replied Regulus, his eyes occasionally darting up to look at his father before averting them quickly to the safety of the floor in front of him.

Orion glanced up at the vent again. It was true, the vent was indeed not particularly large, and Sirius, having recently shot up by several inches, would certainly have found the space to be a tight squeeze compared to his smaller, slighter brother.

"So he told me to do it for him instead" Regulus's words were meek and quiet, reminding Orion, not helped by the fact that his son was currently cowering in a dark corner, rather of a mouse.

"And you agreed to do this, did you?" Orion probed his son, noting how his fingers began to fidget with them hem of his sleeves more anxiously with each question. "Despite knowing that you would be in big trouble when caught?"

Though deliberately eliminating the possibility of getting away with their crime in his words, it was only through chance that Orion had caught Regulus in his study at all. His sons' had chosen their timing well - both he and his wife were due at the Rosiers' for dinner in less than half an hour and it was only due to the sudden realisation that he'd forgotten to collect a document he'd promised to bring to discuss with his sister-in-law's father over their after-dinner port that Orion had returned to his study unexpectedly.

Had his memory not let him down, his sons' plot may well have been successful. His eyes darted over to the chest of drawers further along the wall, inside the top drawer of which the toy in question was stored. The drawer was magically locked and, with no sign of forcing, it seemed Regulus had failed to find it before hearing the footsteps of his father approaching and seeking a hiding spot.

"I'm sorry, Papa" Regulus said solemnly as he lowered his head in shame to rest his chin on his knees, the true image of regret and remorse that his elder brother would never willingly assume. "I know it was wrong"

"Then why did you do it?"

Regulus did not reply. He looked visibly anxious at being unable to think of a suitable answer to his papa's question. Poor, sweet, submissive Regulus, who's silvery orbs would begin to shimmer with tears over the stress of failing to offer the correct answer demanded of him. Soft, eager-to-please Regulus, always quick to obey, easily taken advantage of by those of a firmer disposition.

"You did it because Sirius told you to" said Orion, speaking aloud the words which Regulus could not quite manage to.

The little boy sniffled, bowing his head to stare at his knees, his heavy black fringe veiling the eyes that Orion was certain were brimming with tears, threatening to fall with one blink too many.

Orion crouched down beside his son, still tightly squeezed between the cupboard and the wall like cornered prey.

Regulus, unused to his father being on the same level as him, slowly turned his head a little to glance across at the imposing wizard. True to Orion's suspicions, his eyes were indeed shining with moisture.

"Listen to me, Regulus"

Regulus's head obediently lifted a little higher attentively.

Unsatisfied, Orion reached out to tilt the boy's head up higher, his hair falling back from his face, to look his father directly in the eye.

"You mustn't let yourself be coerced so by your brother" Orion told his son, his stern tone still mingled with the calmness that was required when handling his younger son. "Sirius is a glutton for trouble. He is failing to set the example he ought to be setting you as your elder brother. He needs to learn to behave himself properly. What he does not need is the knowledge that he has his younger brother at his command as a way to attempt to escape his punishments"

Regulus swallowed anxiously. Orion could see the conflict of interests plastered across his pale face as clear as day. The corner of his bottom lip disappeared between his teeth again.

"You must learn to assert yourself more, Regulus" Orion urged his son. "Set the example your brother requires and refuse him when he attempts to engage you in his disobedience. He may scowl and be irked with you but he will benefit from it in the long-run. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Papa" Regulus replied obediently.

Orion removed his hand from the boy's chin. Regulus's head stayed attentively elevated like an eager-to-please puppy, awaiting further instruction from those that would command him. As always.

Orion suppressed a sigh.

He rose to his feet and gestured with his hand for Regulus to stand up.

"Come, now. Out of there"

Regulus scrambled to obey. Orion grasped his son's shoulder, steering him towards the study door.

"I will escort you back to the nursery and speak with Sirius"

Orion did not miss the slight flinch that ran through the little boy's body upon hearing that his brother would not escape punishment for his part in this failed retrieval mission.

Despite all he had told the boy, despite his son's pledge to learn to say no to Sirius, Orion knew that Regulus would almost-certainly find himself on the receiving end of his brother's persuasive orders again several times over before long, such was the boy's natural desire to please those he looked up to, despite knowing he shouldn't.

Orion only hoped that Regulus's errant elder brother would be the only one to take advantage of his softer, younger son in such a way.