Maybe James was right. Maybe he should just go. Regulus would probably be better off without him. Less chance of the house suddenly erupting into a domestic. Surely all that fighting wasn't good for him. Maybe once things calmed down there'd be less pressure to be loyal, to be perfect.

The thought made Sirius laugh.

Blacks weren't allowed to be anything but perfect. That was the problem, to begin with. Sirius had never abandoned them. They'd turned on him when he proved to not be exactly the heir they wanted.

"Reg?" Sirius opened the door when he heard his brother's footsteps in the hall. Regulus and Sirius were the only ones who ever stepped foot on the third floor. Orion barely left his study, and Walburga just screamed up if she wanted them. Neither of his parents had come near either of their bedrooms in years.

Regulus stopped, his door half open.

"He's gone, you can stop hiding now," Regulus mocked looking up at him.

"I wasn't hiding."

"Please, you practically ran up the stairs."

"Well, excuse me for not wanting to have tea time with a psychopath." Sirius sneered before he remembered to guard his reaction. It wouldn't do any good to make Regulus angry. That is the opposite of what he wanted.

"He's not a psychopath." Regulus' hand tightened on the door handle, but he didn't go in his room just yet.

"Do you have any idea how many people he's killed?" Sirius asked, keeping his voice passive. It was hard. He wanted to yell and scream at his brother for being such a blind idiot. "Even if you don't count muggles and muggleborns."

"People die in war. That's just how it goes."

"It's not that simple, Reg." Sirius approached cautiously, expecting his brother to retreat. Regulus didn't move. "Those are people's lives. Real living people, with families and friends, and children. They're not a statistic. That's all people are to him. A statistic. That's all you are."

"And how the hell would you know?" Regulus snapped back. "Hiding up here like a coward. You don't know anything."

"There are some things that we're better off not knowing."

"You're wrong. Knowledge is power. Without it we're defenseless."

"Why should you have to defend yourself?" Sirius glared his fist tight and his nerves tense. "You're fourteen, you don't need power."

"Because people are dying, Sirius!" Regulus threw his argument back at him. "And I don't want to be one of them."

"I wouldn't let you die."

Regulus stared at him for a moment his hand still on the doorknob.

"I know that."

"Tell me you're not thinking about joining him."

Regulus finally took a step away, into the room. It was answer enough but Sirius waited for an actual answer.

"Mum wants me too."

"Who gives a damn what she wants?" Sirius grabbed his shoulders, trying to be gentle but Regulus winced anyway. "If she wants to be a death eater then that's her problem. You can't live her life for her."

"Why, so I can end up like you? Hated by everyone I care about. Angry and bitter and taking it out on everyone else because I'm just such a victim, guys!" Regulus pulled out of Sirius' grasp.

"I don't do that."

"The last thing I want out of life is to end up like you. So your 'advice' means nothing to me."

Sirius felt like he'd been slapped and maybe stabbed because his heart hurt too.

"Reg…"

"Leave me alone, Sirius. I've got more important things to do," he said and walked into his room slamming the door in Sirius' face.

Sirius stood there for longer than he wanted to admit. Holding in his tears because honestly, the conversation had gone exactly how he'd expected it too.

Except for that last bit.

He hadn't planned for that.

Finally moving he made for his room just as he heard his mother scream his name from the bottom of the stairs, a demand to come down was implied.

Fury welled up inside him despite himself. He'd promised himself he'd keep a low profile this summer. Not wanting to risk his mother using another unforgivable on him.

But she wanted his little brother to join a death cult.

He ignored her and slammed the door hard enough for her to hear it downstairs.

It was a terrible decision, and he regretted it immediately.

Because for the first time in over ten years he heard his mother's footsteps on the stairs.

His wand was on his dresser, on the other side of the room. He didn't have time to run for it. She didn't bother trying to open the door properly, blowing it off its hinges like it they were made of plastic.

"What the Hell?" Sirius yelled jumping away from the doorway he'd been standing in half a second before.

"Don't you dare ignore me," She screeched like the banshee he'd always thought she secretly was.

"You could have knocked!"

"You heard- What the Hell have you done to this room?"

"I redecorated. You like it?" He smirked taking a small step back, his wand was just a little further.

"Fix it." She seethed wand pointed right at him.

He shrugged casually like they were talking about the weather. "Can't it's permanent."

Her eyes went wide and her nostrils flared. She looked disturbingly similar to Professor McGonagall when he was being willfully obtuse. Sirius would have to forget that similarity, maybe he could convince James to obliviate him.

Walburga waved her wand, and sure enough, nothing changed. Sirius used the distraction to take another step back. He wasn't convinced he could fight off another imperius curse, but he could cast a mean shield charm if he could reach his wand.

"You dare defile the house of our ancestors."

"What? You don't like it?"

Her wand went back to pointing at him and she took another step forward.

Then Sirius knew he was going to die. Because something had caught her gaze. The only thing he knew she would kill him over.

She stared at the two-way mirror her face going terrifyingly blank.

"What have you done with the other half," she said, her voice calmer than he'd ever heard before.

"I-"

"You've given it to one of your blood traitor friends." Her cold grey eyes turned towards him, and this time when he stepped back, his wand wasn't the goal.

"No, I wouldn't-"

"Crucio!"

His mother was better at it than Bellatrix had been.

Or maybe she just hated him more.

Yeah, that was probably it.

"WHERE IS IT!"

"I let James borrow it. Just borrow, he'll give it back if I ask." Sirius tried the moment she gave him a chance to breathe.

"That mirror is priceless!" She screeched. "One of a kind and older than you can possibly imagine!"

Sirius knew better than to try and argue, instead diving for his wand. Her reflexes were faster, the dresser, wand and all, exploding right in his face. Sending him flying back, bleeding from somewhere. He rolled behind the bed expecting the follow-up blast.

She was in between him and the door and he didn't know if his wand survived the explosion or not.

"YOU DARE HAND OUT OUR PRECIOUS FAMILY HEIRLOOMS TO MUDBLOOD LOVERS AND FILTH!"

The bed went flying and Sirius grabbed the nearest heavy object, the walkman he'd once again been trying to get to play on school grounds, and threw it at her with every ounce of his beater's aim intact.

It wasn't likely to start working now, but it was enough of a distraction for him to bolt for the door... or what was at one point a door.

"What did you do?" Regulus said peeking out his own door.

"Hide, don't come out." Sirius didn't stop but Regulus wasn't an idiot. He was gone before Walburga made it out the doorway.

A picture frame flew at him, bruising his shins and tripping him, while a window curtain wrapped around his neck. He stumbled but didn't fall to the ground struggling with the curtain even as he tried to make it to the stairs. More decorations throwing themselves at him.

Using a piece of broken glass the picture frame had jammed into his leg he cut the curtain into shreds, tearing his hand up simultaneously.

His leg hurt worse the longer he ran, but he didn't stop until he reached the stairwell when she hit him in the back with a nonverbal spell sending him crashing into the banister so hard it broke under his weight. He fell two floors onto his now injured back.

Dazed and feeling like he might throw up if he so much as twitched, he pulled himself under the staircase just in time for her to throw another hex at where he'd landed.

His father's study was two rooms down. He didn't come out. Sirius hadn't expected him to but it would have been nice.

Blinking back the obvious concussion he tried to remember which way the front door was.

How much blood could someone lose and still be able to run for their life?

He heard her storming down the stairs screeching at him still. His brain was no longer able to distinguish individual words at such a high pitch and volume.

The door was to the left. Success.

Sirius ran, dodging pictures and umbrella stands and display cases as best as his injured legs and befuddled brain could manage. Which was poorly, but enough to not die.

He threw open the front door just she reached the bottom of the staircase. His brain was finally able to make out the words coming from her mouth.

"Avada kedavra!"

Slamming the door behind him, just in time, the force of her spell threw the door off its hinges and knocked Sirius off the landing and onto the sidewalk.

He wasn't safe yet. She was still coming.

There was nowhere in the empty street to hide, all he could do was run for the closest intersection to at least block her line of sight.

She screeched from behind him and he ducked behind the corner of the intersection just as another jet of green light flew past.

Maybe he could hide as a dog? Would she see a dog and immediately assume it was him? The road was dark and his fir was black. Maybe she wouldn't even see him.

Desperate, he shifted there in the street. Anyone could have been watching out their windows at him but if they could see him they could probably also see the madwoman trying to kill him. A person turning into an animal was a bit less noticeable than a crazed witch screaming obscenities at her son.

The landings in front of their neighbor's doors were just big enough to hide a giant hound so he hid behind one of them in the darkest spot he could find trying not to whine at the pain or throw up or worse pass out.

Sirius could see her shadow as she turned the corner. The angle of the streetlight elongating it for dramatic effect. She stopped and went quiet, searching for him in the empty street. No one stepped out of their houses to investigate why a woman was screaming angrily down the road.

There was a reason the Blacks had decided to place their home on this street after all.

Satisfied that he was at least gone, the shadow turned and disappeared.

Sirius still didn't move. He didn't shift back, didn't try to pull his weight off his injured back leg, didn't breathe until her footsteps disappeared and he heard the door of their house repair itself and slam shut.

The big black dog whimpered and was sick, it's body shaking and falling over when both the legs on it's left gave out just barely managing to maintain consciousness.

He had to stay awake. If he passed out he'd automatically shift back. The pain was so much more manageable as a dog, but more importantly, he didn't want anyone to see a bleeding teenager lying in the street and call the muggle healers.

Maybe an hour, maybe five minutes of trying to bully his body back onto its paws he heard his name again. His blood froze, though the voice was softer and less terrifying than Walburga's had been.

Regulus' shadow didn't appear, which meant he was using a light source of his own. Which meant he could follow a trail of blood that led right to a big black dog.

His wand outstretched, it's tip glowing, Regulus took a hesitant step towards the dog. Sirius tried to step back but the wall was already behind him.

"Sirius?"

There was no point in hiding the obvious so he whimpered in reply.

"Well that explains the nickname, I suppose," Regulus said to himself lowering to the ground slowly. As though worried he'd scare his brother off. Like Sirius had the strength to keep running.

"You can change back yourself, right? I don't know how to do it for you."

Against his better judgment-the pain was a lot easier to manage as a dog-he shifted back. Trying to keep the worst wounds hidden from his little brother's sight. Didn't stop Regulus from wincing at the obvious head wound though. He'd never been a fan of blood.

Despite the pain, he grabbed Regulus in a hug for the first time in years. He wished he could say it was for his brother's sake, but really Sirius just desperately needed a hug.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think- I didn't mean- I'm sorry," he sobbed into his brother's shoulder, and for once Regulus let him, even if he didn't hug him back.

"Idiot. You never stop pushing do you."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't even want to know what she's so pissed over." Regulus was shaking, or maybe Sirius was. He couldn't tell anymore. He was so dizzy and disoriented. Was it the concussion or blood loss? Maybe both.

"She's blasted your name off the tapestry," Regulus warned, "like she did with Andy. I doubt you'll be allowed to come home even after she's calmed down."

"That was fast."

"Yeah, well maybe if you hadn't made it your life mission to get yourself disinherited she'd have waited a little longer."

It was Sirius that was shaking. Regulus seemed to notice this too when he pulled out of the hug. Sirius had made it clear he wasn't letting go on his own.

"I never learned any healing spells, and I couldn't find your wand. Pretty sure she broke it. Mine doesn't like other people using it, but you can try if you want."

"Last time I tried to use your wand I ended up with amnesia for three days. I'll probably just hurt myself worse. I'll be okay." Sirius was pretty sure he was lying through his teeth. The world was spinning and it was everything he could do just to stay conscious.

"That's probably true. Here," Regulus pulled off his robe, waved his wand at it, and gave it to Sirius. Sirius pulled it over his ruined muggle clothes. It wasn't a perfect fit even with the adjustment, but maybe that was on purpose. A robe that was too big wouldn't rub against his wounds as much.

"There's enough gold in the pocket to get you anywhere on the night bus. It's got a hood so hopefully, you can convince them your not injured enough to take you straight to St Mungos. No doubt they'd tell Mum exactly where you are. I don't trust her to not go with the sole intention to murder you."

Sirius gave a humorless chuckle, it hurt. "Thanks."

Regulus started to stand but stopped when Sirius grabbed his arm though his grip wasn't strong enough to hold him.

"Come with me?"

They both looked at each other, one brother pleading with blood dripping down his face the other blank but for a slight twinge of worry.

"I can't."

"Please."

And just like Sirius had done to James just that afternoon his little brother refused hurting him far more than any physical wound he'd suffered. Regulus pulled out of Sirius' weak grasp and walk away not looking back.

Karma was a cruel mistress.

Sirius gave himself a second to recover from that final blow before he pulled his brother's hood over his head, hiding most of his face and raised his empty wand arm. His left leg barely keeping his weight.

The sudden appearance of the night bus did nothing for his vertigo, neither did the bumpy journey. He gave the greeter James' street, but his concussion stole the house number from his brain. So it dropped him off at the entrance to the road.

He blinked for a second, forgetting why he was standing in the middle of the street in the dead of night. Was James' house near here or on the other side of the road? His leg wasn't going to last long enough for him to search for it. He looked around, hoping desperately to recognize something, this was James' street… right? Maybe he'd given the wrong one?

If he was lost he was dead.

He saw the church. That he recognized. He'd gone with James once, right? Forever ago? When the world knew how to stay still.

James' house was near the church… somewhere.

He headed for the church. Picking himself off the ground three times when his leg gave out. It got harder each time.

He forgot why he was headed for the church by the time he reached the door. Probably James?

Yeah, probably James.

Most things he did had something to do with James.

Should the church doors be unlocked? They should probably be locked. Oh well, they opened anyway.

The light was on inside… oh, there was probably someone home. He probably shouldn't be here.

There was a table by the door, leaning on it to take some of the pressure off his leg he noticed he'd left a handprint. That wasn't nice of him, someone would have to clean it up. There was a noise from somewhere.

"James?" he asked before his arm gave out and he fell hard to the floor.

The noise wasn't James.

It had come from an angel.

She was screaming.

A/N) Okay, so I'm taking a slight liberty from cannon here. This is directly after they return home after their fifth year. Which in cannon would mean Sirius is already 16, however in this story Sirius' birthday is later, I think I placed it in August because I didn't know when it was, not even sure if Rowling had announced his birthday by 2009 when I started this story. So technically he's only 15 right now. However, my plan for the next few chapters requires more than just a month to be believable. So we're just going to assume he was being vague when Sirius told Harry he was 16.

I could just retcon his birthday, but I like Sirius being the youngest of the crew. In cannon, he's actually the oldest of the birthdays we know. I don't think we have Peter's yet.

Also, we've officially hit 1000 reviews! Seriously guys that's awesome. Thanks so much for the encouragement, especially with how sporadic my uploads are.