A/N: The things your muse will get up to in Latin class. I refuse to translate the Latin until the end. See if you can't figure out what it means before then.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Authoress: Reggie
Title: Meus frater semper remanebis.
The first time Sirius ever heard the phrase, his Latin tutor said it. Sirius suggested it as a way for Regulus- three years behind himself- to learn some basic words, and his tutor had said it was good for Sirius to practice his basic conjugation. His tutor had annunciated it slowly for both boys to hear.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
Sirius said it next when Regulus had been sobbing in his arms. Sirius could see Toujours Pur burnt black into his shoulder. He felt the hatred for the woman who had put it there- their mother- simply because Regulus was five and didn't understand that loving a Muggle girl was wrong. He understood now. With tears in his eyes, the eight-year-old forced his shaken sibling to look at him and reminded him of what they had.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
Sirius first heard Regulus say it when they were saying good-bye on Platform 9 and three quarters. They had spent all morning reminding each other that they were only going to be separated for a little while. Come Christmas, everything would go back to normal. They promised each other. Now, Regulus flung his scrawny eight-year-old arms around Sirius's neck and made him promise in a whisper.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
The first time Sirius hated the words was when they were yelled at him through his closed door. Christmas had come. Their promise was broken. It was after his first fight with his parents, and he had slammed the door when Regulus asked him what was wrong. Regulus had tried to coax him into opening it, but to no avail. Sirius heard him yell it in a voice full of anger and tears.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
The only time he said it without meaning it, Sirius had to say it through clenched teeth. Regulus had just been sorted into Slytherin. There was now a line drawn between them that they could never cross. Sirius could see Bellatrix's look of triumph as he knelt in front of his frightened brother to remind him without reminding himself.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
It echoed oddly the next time Regulus said it. It hung between them, a though unfinished. They had been fighting, because Sirius had said he wasn't a Black. Regulus had only gotten as far as me before Sirius hit him in the mouth. As he washed his brother's blood off his hands, Sirius could hear it echoing around his mind.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
It was with fear Sirius said it next. A prank on the Slytherin common room was supposed to be harmless. Now, Regulus was in the hospital wing. His mother had come, and told him it would be all his fault if Regulus died. Sirius knew she was right. He had buried his head in the blankets beside Regulus still form and whispered it as silver tears soaked the sterile white.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
The last time Sirius said it, no one could hear him. He was hovering above number twelve Grimmauld Place. He was leaving forever. He looked back for the first, and only time, to see Regulus curled up asleep in the window seat of his room. Sirius hadn't even said good-bye, and he suddenly felt guilty about it. For a second, and only a second, he thought about turning around, or taking Regulus with him. Instead, he whispered to the crisp late night air.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
The last time Sirius heard it, Regulus had been pinned against the wall. He was only seventeen. Still so young, to young to have that mark burned black on his arm. Regulus was staring at him with defiant eyes, though there was pain there so deep it was almost invisible. The words had hung between them, a weapon that wounded them both.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
The last time Sirius read it, they had been scrawled on a hastily written note. An owl had dropped it off. Regulus's angled handwriting stared at him from the note, surrounded by tearstains that smeared the ink. It had arrived only moments before the howler from his mother. The howler that informed him his brother was dead.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
The last time Sirius thought it, he was standing in a graveyard. Everything was grey. Grey and Black. Like his eyes. Like Regulus's eyes. His family didn't know he was here. He was not welcome, but he had to come. He had to lay his heart to rest beside the young boy in the coffin.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
The first thing Sirius heard as he was welcomed into the curtain's black arms was a whisper from beyond.
Repeat after me; meus frater semper remanebis.
Repeat after me; my brother you will always remain.