Chapter 34

Regulus

James couldn't wait any longer than a few hours to contact Sirius. He was so worried he hardly even ate dinner, though he hadn't eaten much all day. It was nine o'clock and he was praying Sirius wasn't already asleep.

"Sirius" He said into the mirror.

"Hey James. Perfect timing mate, I was about to call you." He saw Sirius' face in the mirror, and sighed in relief when it showed no signs of abuse.

"You alright?" He asked just to make sure. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Please tell me you aren't actually worried. I told you all she was going to do was yell at me. Oh and she made me skip dinner but that's not that bad, I ate enough on the train to make up for that."

"She isn't going to starve you is she?"

"James will you stop worrying, I'll be fine. She isn't going to do anything to me that she hasn't done before. I know how she is, all bark and no bite." He smirked at the dog reference, hoping to make James laugh. It worked, of course.

"Alright, I believe you. Just promise me that if she does you'll tell me." Sirius rolled his eyes again.

"She won't."

"Humor me." Sirius sighed.

"I promise if she causes me any physical pain whatsoever you will know about it the second I can get to my half of the mirror. Happy?"

"Yes, very much. Thank you." James smiled at him.

"Never thought you'd turn out to be a worry wort." He teased trying to change the subject. He laid on his bed and rolled over on his stomach.

"I'm not, I just want to make sure you're okay. You were acting weird on the train, it freaked me out." James said unable to look in Sirius' eyes, even if it was just though a mirror. "I've never seen you like that before. Usually when you're upset you just try even harder to make yourself and everyone else happy, on the train you just looked dead." Sirius gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I'm just not looking forward to spending an entire summer trapped in my room." He told James, then sighed when James started to look worried again. "She isn't going to lock me in my room all summer, James. I'll probably lock myself in here to stay away from them." James calmed down and nodded.

"I wish you could come over here." he said and Sirius laughed humorlessly.

"Wouldn't my mother just love that." Sirius jumped when he heard someone coming up the stairs. "I gotta go." He said quietly before stuffing the mirror in his pocket. He got up and pretending to be unpacking. He looked up from his trunk when Regulus opened the door.

"Sirius." Sirius stood up, instantly noticing that Regulus wasn't using his nickname. That wasn't a good sign at all.

"Reg." He said, curious to how he would react. He just ignored it and walked into the room.

"Do you want me to tell Kreacher to help you unpack?" He asked pointing to the still full trunk. Sirius didn't answer immediately, he was trying to read Regulus' body language, but it wasn't saying anything good. Regulus refused to look him in the eye, and stopped just inside the doorway. But he was offering help, even if he wasn't offering to do it himself, that was a somewhat good sign.

"He'd probably just steal my stuff." He said for an answer. Kreacher had a bad habit of stealing his master's things, or Sirius' and Regulus' anyway. He never swiped anything from the adults, causing their mother to think that they were lying when they tried to complain about it.

Regulus nodded still not looking at Sirius.

"Are you mad at me, Reg?" Sirius asked not being able to take not knowing any longer. Regulus was silent, he hadn't quite decided yet.

"You made Mom sad." He accused.

"I apologized."

"You're not sorry." Sirius winced.

"Yes I am, I swear it."

"You won't stop."

"You're right." He said, it was his turn to avoid eye contact. "I'm not sorry for what I did."

"You just said.."

"I'm sorry it hurt you guys. I'm sorry I had to do it. I'm sorry I made Mother sad. I'm not sorry I did it. I still love you guys, I just don't believe the same way you do. Will you shun me for it?"

"You're hurting her and not even willing to do anything to stop it." Sirius could tell, that he was not going to forgive him.

"If me doing the right thing hurts her that is something she needs to deal with, not me." He said not once expecting him to understand. His mother probably spent the entire year trying to make sure Regulus wouldn't turn out like his brother.

"How can anything that hurts your family be the right thing?" He said almost glaring at Sirius.

"What if what Mother is teaching us is wrong? What if it is something that could get people killed? You know as well as I do, that a war is coming. It's coming because people like us won't even consider the possibility that we are wrong, and we are wrong Reg. This entire purebloods only thing is wrong."

"The 'what ifs' don't matter Sirius! What matters is you've betrayed your family and you don't even care!" Regulus yelled, surprising Sirius. Regulus wasn't one to let his temper get so out of control that he had to express it. He took after their father, while Sirius took after their mother.

"You think I don't care! Are you mad, of course I care! Do you have any idea how hard it was to make this decision! But I did anyway, because I'm going to do what's right, no matter what anyone says!"

"So that's it then. There's nothing I can do to change your mind?" Regulus said quietly, looking for the first time into Sirius' eyes.

"It doesn't have to be like that Reg, and you know it. Mother will calm down, she always does. I'll try to be good, if you need me to, but don't do this." Sirius was practically begging by now.

"I don't really think you've given me a choice, Sirius." He said before walking out of the room.

Sirius just stood there, trying to figure out what to do next. He felt like he should be crying, but the tears wouldn't come. He stood there feeling numb. Regulus had been his only hope of having a family again. Maybe there was still a way. Sirius ran towards the door, but didn't open it. He stared down at the floor, who was he kidding anyway. Had he really been stupid enough to believe that Regulus would forgive him, especially when he could barely forgive himself. Maybe Regulus was right, maybe it was wrong to put your beliefs over family loyalty.

He was surprised when he felt something in his pocket get warm and begin softly vibrating. He pulled it out and looked at James.

"Sirius? Are you alright, you look really pale." James asked, it took a little while for Sirius to find his voice, causing James to worry even more.

"James." He said after a while. "Remind me that I did the right thing." He begged.

James was surprised by what Sirius said, as far as James knew Sirius had never once doubted his decision before. James smiled reassuringly.

"You did the right thing, Sirius." James told him sitting on his bed. "Don't let them get you down, Si. Remember only two and a half months till we are back to school, where everything actually makes since."

Sirius nodded and closed his eyes. "I think I should get some sleep" he said quietly.

"That's probably a good idea, hey I get to sleep in tomorrow. Awesome." James said excitedly. Sirius laughed, though it sounded rather hollow.

"Night James."

"Night Sirius." James put the mirror on the stand beside his bed next to an empty cup. He was hoping that if Sirius needed to contact him in the middle of the night, the mirror would vibrate enough to knock over the cup and wake him up. He climbed into bed, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

This was going to be a very long summer.

A/N) Aww poor Sirius. I would hate to have Regulus as a brother. My brother is so much cooler.