Chapter 43

Sirius was sitting on the couch with his hand resting on his now overly huge seventh month pregnant stomach. Ana was taking a nap upstairs after playing with markers for about two hours. Of course, after she had finished playing with them, not only was she a mess, but there were several different shades of blue, red, and green on the walls. Sirius got to go around using a cleaning spell and then he had to wash up his daughter, which was not easy considering she was very squirmy. Afterwards, of course, she went straight to sleep. As such, it was an exhausting day for Sirius, and it was only two o'clock in the afternoon.

James was due to be home in two hours. Sirius glanced at his watch and sighed. He hated being home alone. It really bothered him, the suffocating silence. As much as he hated chasing a little girl around, at least there was noise.

"I know," he muttered to himself, hauling himself off of the couch. It took a lot of effort and he wouldn't have gotten up had he not been driven out of his mind by the encompassing silence. "I'll turn on some music. Music always cheers me up. Well, for the most part."

And he walked over to the stereo system that he had bought and turned on a cd, but not so loud that Ana would wake up. He smiled in satisfaction and headed back to his seat on the couch. He was really supposed to be working, but no inspiration was striking him. As such, he just sat there, staring at the ceiling. "There has to be something interesting to do around here that doesn't require doing much. Apart from reading and writing."

He rolled his eyes at himself. He really was lazy. It wasn't entirely his fault though. Although, it mostly was.

A knock on the door made him groan. Why did people insist on knocking on the door, making him get up? Carefully, Sirius stood up, grabbing his wand and casting a quick concealing spell, and walked to the door. Pulling it open, he came face to face with someone that he hadthought he would never see again. Not to mentionhe hoped that he wouldnever again see him as well. Regulus Black stood there, looking nervous, hopeful, tired, beat up, and confused.

"What do you want?" hissed Sirius, softly, crossing his arms across his chest. He didn't want to yell as Ana was still upstairs asleep. Regulus looked the same that he had two years ago, only…not.

He still had the trademark Black features, but was somewhat…it wasn't so much physical appearance that had changed (although he did appear to be more scruffy and uncertain) but it was his posture, the way he held himself...his attitude. He took a deep breath and shook his head. "This was a mistake. I shouldn't have come. I'm sorry, I don't want to endanger your family."

Sirius raised his eyebrows and put a hand out to stop him, just as the baby kicked. Hard. "Ow," he gasped and clutched onto Regulus's arm to keep from falling. Instantly Regulus was there, supporting his older brother with concern etched across his still young face. This mildly surprised Sirius, but as he was doubled over in pain, he didn't make much of it at that particular moment.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously.

Sirius shook his head slightly and righted himself again, gesturing with his head for Regulus to come inside. He had misgivings about his brother, but he was willing to give him the chance that he himselfhad never received. He settled himself back onto the couch and watched as Regulus carefully took a seat across from him. Regulus was watching him with equal interest.

"So," Sirius began, "what is it that you suddenly want?"

Without missing a beat, Regulus answered, "To apologize. To beg for forgiveness. I don't deserve it, and I'll be the first to say that I don't. How could I?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "So, after being possibly the most evil little brother on the planet, you just come back asking for forgiveness. What sparked this random desire to repent?"

Regulus shrugged. "They want me to become a death eater. I don't want to...well, not really. Why would I? I never agreed with mum and dad. Well, I s'pose I did once, but after a while, I met this girl in London while I was in Diagon Alley. I was outside of the Leaky Cauldron and this muggle girl walked into me. At first I was going to yell at her, but she was so beautiful, so mysterious, so…I don't know. Something about her just captured me. Anyways, I invited her to go get something to drink down the street somewhere and she agreed. We talked about muggle things, because obviously she's not a witch, and she just seemed so intelligent...for a muggle anyway. She wasn't foul, vulgar, or rude. I couldn't picture how she could be a vile creature that did not deserve to live because our parents said so. Anyways, I asked her if I could see her again, and she said yes. So, I'd been seeing her for a while when mum figured out. Of course, the house could have blown up with her angry words and dad practically said he'd disown me if I didn't get rid of her. It was then that I realized there was more to life than conforming to every word our parents said. As such, I was blasted off of the tree, which didn't upset me as much as I thought it would. And now I have no where to stay, but I don't want to intrude on you, so don't think I'm asking to stay here. I just wanted you to know that I understand now. And I'm sorry for what happened between us."

Sirius listened to his entire story and was about to say something when something big hit the floor upstairs. He rolled his eyes. Ana must have gotten up and was probablyplaying with something that she shouldn't be. Sighing, he grinned at Regulasand stood up slowly. Regulus raised his eyebrows at that and then smiled slightly. "Pregnant?" he asked.

Sirius raised his eyebrows slightly and then grinned. "Yeah, a real bummer actually." Regulus laughed as a little body started walking down the stairs. Regulus turned to look at Ana and raised his eyebrows. The little girl walked over to Sirius, who carefully picked her up before sitting back down with just as much caution.

"You kept her," Regulus said, amazement in his eyes. He hadn't thought that Sirius had actually kept her, considering while at school, he never saw her. It made him happy to know that he had.

Sirius smiled and nodded. "Yes I did, and I love her very much."

Regulus smiled at that and shook his head. "Well, under the circumstances in which she conceived and why, I mean, I didn't think that you would want her so much."

"Why? You know why those bastards decided I needed to be pregnant?" Finally the truth might come out, and Sirius was anxious to hear it.

Regulus shrugged and shook his head slightly. "Well, it was just another perfect way of torture, wasn't it? Also, Jacob wanted an heir, and who better to sire an heir than one of the Blacks.It could've been me except I'm just not good looking enough. You are, though, but not like that. Not to mention that mom and dad thought you were more expendable than I was."

Sirius listened, sorrow filling him. An heir? Anastasia was Jacob's heir? Regulus must have read his mind, because he shook his head slightly. "You don't have to worry about him. He was put in Azkaban recently for being convicted of your rape and also supporting the dark lord. You don't have to worry about him coming and making strange claims."

"So the entire heir thing is gone, completely?" asked Sirius, gently stroking Ana's forehead. She was becoming drowsy and falling asleep in his arms. Regulus smiled at both of them.

"Unless you want to start a law suit against him and his family, then no."

Sirius smiled. "I think I'll pass up that opportunity." He looked at Regulus carefully. "You really are in trouble, aren't you?"

Regulus nodded and smiled weakly. "Yeah, but I'm taking control of it. It was my mess that I created, so I'm gonna get myself out of it. Just you watch."

"I believe it, but you should stay here. We could easily transform a room into a guest bedroom. Plus," he added, picking up his wand and removing the concealing charm, "I could use some help around the house while James is at work."

Regulus stared at Sirius's stomach, his eyes wide. "Wow, you really are pregnant."

Sirius laughed and nodded. "Yeah, that's whatmost peoplecall it." Regulus joined him in laughing, waking up the half asleep child in Sirius's arms.

"So this is my niece?" Regulus asked.

"Yeah," a voice from the door replied. Both of the Blacks spun around to face an angry James. "And if you have any sense, you'll stay away from her, Sirius, and the baby."

A.N. ooh, more conflict. I love it! Anyways, thanks, review, see ya!