Under the Full Moony
Scroll 18: The End of the World
"Dear Sirius ... no ..." Regulus crossed out the words on the parchment furiously.
"To Sirius ... no!" he said again, ripping the offending piece off.
'Dear brother ...To my brother ... Merlin's beard, this is unbelievable! I can't even write a letter to Sirius ... then again ... I haven't seen him in two years now ... and we really haven't been close ... since ...'
Regulus threw his quill down, 'Damn! Damn him for being right! Damn him for seeing through my mother, and Bella, and Cissa! Damn him for knowing what kind of person Severus was!'
Regulus dipped his quill into the ink pot and began scribbling quickly. Soon, he paused and thoughtfully looked at his gray horned owl.
'Truth is ... I miss your, Sirius ... I don't want to make another stupid mistake ... and even though I've finally done something right ... I want to right the wrongs I committed by not trusting you ... you never misled me before ... and I ...'
Regulus' thoughts were interrupted by the door slamming open and three hooded figures striding in. He recognized two of them immediately, a haughty stride, head held high, black hair poking out from behind the white mask; the brooding figure behind the other two, black eyes staring at Regulus as if he could read his mind ... which he probably could.
Regulus backed away and threw the half-finished letter at his owl, who caught it in its beak and made for the window.
But one of the death eaters, Lestrange perhaps, raised his wand; there was a flash of green light and the owl fell to the floor with a hard 'thud'.
Regulus' hand scrambled instinctively for his wand on the desk, as Bella raised hers. His heart thumped wildly and his hand shook as it took hold of his wand.
Bellatrix strode closer, "The Dark Lord always knows ..."
She threw her head back and laughed, Lestrange joined her ... but Severus just looked at the floor.
Regulus was breathing hard, he knew what was coming, he knew the look in Bella's eyes, he knew the cold laugh only too well. He remembered when she'd nailed his pet kitty to the front door ...
Regulus did not plead, he did not beg for mercy from Bellatrix, not only because he knew he wouldn't receive any, but because his job was done. He'd done what he wanted and the Dark Lord would not survive for long in the world.
No, Regulus looked at Severus, the only person aside from Sirius who had bothered to at least pretend to care. He'd never known love from his mother, the rare hugs and kisses she'd gave him were always cold, meaningless ...
Finally, Bellatrix and Rodolphus stopped laughing. Severus looked up slowly, looked Regulus in the eye. Regulus didn't cry ... didn't smile ...
He mouthed, "I love you ..."
"Avada Kedavra!" came Bellatrix harsh words. Regulus was falling, darkness closing in, the last thing he saw was Severus above him, mouthing, "I'm sorry."
Then everything went black.
"I'm bored, what do you wanna do?" asked Sirius, yawning and looking down at Remus, who was lying on his chest reading.
Remus looked up, "I don't know, you can try reading with me."
Sirius shifted on the couch and pulled tiled Remus' face up, "Nah ... that book is boring."
"It's Shakespeare," argued Remus, resting his head on Sirius' shoulder.
Sirius rolled his eyes, "I bet I can do better. To kiss Moony, or not to kiss Moony- that is the question. What's in a body? That which is a werewolf by night, is still my Moony in the morning."
Remus laughed and Sirius grinned, satisfied, "Hah! I'm pretty good, aren't I!"
"You should be a playwright."
"Well, I don't like writing ... but I sure as hell like playing ..." muttered Sirius as he leaned down and captured Remus' lips in a tender kiss.
"You wanna play, right?" asked Sirius, his hot breath on Remus' neck.
Remus threw his book to the floor, making sure it didn't land near the fireplace, and succumbed to Sirius, making a note to tell Sirius off for his bad jokes.
Sirius nibbled on Remus' ear, teasing him. Remus shivered and whispered, "Just .. go ..."
Suddenly, Remus tensed and said, "Moody!"
Sirius pulled away quickly, "No ... I'm Sirius, remember! Don't tell me you've been cheating on me for THAT-!"
"No!" Remus turned Sirius around.
Moody's head was in the fire, limp hair framing his face, one eyebrow raised.
Sirius grinned, "Hey Moody!"
"Once you two have finished you ... whatever you were doing, I want you to come to the old house where we found Fawcett's body. We have something to show you ..."
Then Moody was gone and Remus was standing up and getting their cloaks. Sirius stood up and stretched, "I wonder what they want to show me ..."
Remus threw Sirius his cloak, and fastened his own, "I wonder who 'we' is."
Sirius and Remus found out that 'we' was Moody and Frank Longbottom, when they arrived on Sirius' motorcycle. Sirius raised an eyebrow as he looked at the house.
"I don't get it. There's nothing here but-"
Remus suddenly grabbed his arm. Sirius turned to look at him, and found Remus staring at the sky above the house.
Sirius gasped. The Dark Mark ... the Death Eaters had killed again.
Frank looked at Sirius in the eye, "This ... this may be a bit shocking to you ... brace yourself."
Sirius frowned, "What's going on? Just show me already!"
Moody gestured to the door (which was ajar) gruffly. Sirius walked in, Remus' arm hooked with his.
The small room was dark. There was a single window, open with the curtains flapping in the cold wind of the night.
Sirius' eyes traveled over the room. He saw a small gray mass near the window, a small desk on the other side of the room, and a large black object in the middle of the room.
Sirius let go of Remus and strode over to the mass, which turned out to be a person. Black hair poked out from the Death Eaters cloak that covered him. and his left arm lay limp and uncovered, the sleeve purposely pulled back from the Dark Mark.
Sirius frowned and turned to Moody who was inspecting the desk and the scrolls that littered it.
"What ... this is a Death Eater ... I don't understand-"
Remus had walked over and gasped when he saw the person, lying on his back, face covered with the black cloak, and a white mask lying a few feet away.
"Sirius ... his hair ..."
Sirius crouched down and examined the person's hair. A sudden feeling of cold dread grew in the pit of his stomach as he realized who the person was. He tentatively reached for the cloak and pulled it back quickly.
He almost wished he hadn't.
It was Sirius' own eyes that stared back at him, lifelessly; Sirius' own long, night-black hair was sprawled around the figure that was almost identical to Sirius.
Sirius' shoulders shook and tears sprang to his eyes. He tried to stop, he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, but it wasn't enough. Tears spilled out, running down his face, onto Regulus' body.
Remus tried to hug him, to comfort him, but Sirius just pushed him away. He heard Frank mumble something, and Moody telling them all to give Sirius a moment.
Finally Sirius was alone. Alone with his dead brother, the Death Eater ...
'Why ... why ... WHY! Merlin ... god ... WHY! Why him!'
Sirius held his brother's limp body close to his own, tears still spilled out, his shoulders shook even more ...
'My little brother ... gone ... why! WHY!'
Sirius looked down at the blank eyes and could not bring himself to close them, still wishing for everything to be a bad dream ... a terrible nightmare.
'Please ... please god ... let this be a bad, horrible, terrible nightmare! Please let me wake up ... I swear on my life I'll go look for Regulus ... just let this be a bad dream! Please ... please!'
It was a long, long time before Sirius let go of Regulus' body, letting it flop back onto the floor. He had studied the Dark Mark carefully, remembering the symbol of the people who had corrupted his brother, only to toss him aside and kill him.
Sirius walked over to the small desk. Most of the scrolls were stained with ink from the bottle that had fallen on its side, but there was one that was still legible.
Dear Sirius,
You don't know how hard it is for me to say this but you were right. Everything you said about everything, Mother, the Death Eaters, Bella and Cissa, Severus ... it was all true.
I want to apologize for everything and I hope that we will be able to be a family again, no matter how small. Please forgive me and come look for me at the place where they found Fawcett's corpse. I have done something terrible to the Dark Lord, and the Death Eaters will most definitely be after me.
Maybe I'm asking too much when I say that I'd like you to forgive me, but I don't expect you to just forget all the horrible things I did. All I want-
Sirius frowned at the unfinished letter. He felt hot tears sting his eyes again.
"Sirius?" came Remus' voice.
Sirius quickly pocketed the letter and turned to look at Remus, "Yeah?"
Remus sighed, "Would you like to ... go ... we can arrange a funeral-"
"He'll be buried in the basement of Number 12."
Remus frowned, "What?"
Sirius nodded and said in a very hoarse voice, "He'll be buried in our basement ... like dad and everyone else in my stupid family."
Remus tried to touch his arm, but Sirius pulled away, "I'll be out in a sec."
"But, Sirius-"
"I'll be out in a sec!" snapped Sirius, staring at the desk.
He heard Remus sigh and his footsteps fade.
Finally Sirius walked back to his brother's corpse and bent down again. He arranged Regulus just as he'd found him, putting the cloak on him again, arm hanging out and showing the Dark Mark.
He took a last look at Regulus' eyes and whispered, "Good night, sleep tight, dog star's watching you all night."
With that, he finally closed Regulus' eyes and threw the cloak over his face. He stood up and walked out into the cold of the night.
The three other men looked at him.
"Well?" asked Moody.
Sirius shrugged, "It's just some Death Eater dead ... we'll bury him tomorrow in the basement of Number 12."
Remus frowned, "Sirius, he was your bro-"
"My brother died a long time ago! When he decided to join the Dark side ... that's when MY brother died ... this bastard ... I don't know him!"
With that Sirius walked over to his bike and kick-started the engine. He swung his leg over it and waited impatiently for Remus.
Remus gave the other two a sad smile, before joining Sirius. The two sped off, Remus holding onto Sirius' waist for dear life and Sirius speeding almost twice over the speed limit.
Finally, Sirius just cursed and turned the flying gear on. Remus did not feel the need to remind Sirius that they could be seen, right now Sirius just didn't care.
Remus did not know how they got home without any body parts damaged or severed, the way Sirius had been driving.
Sirius now sat in front of him, drinking coffee.
"Sirius?"
Remus received a grunt in response.
"Sirius, if you're sad, you only-"
"I'm not SAD! I don't care about him! He ... didn't give a damn what I thought, now look at him!"
To Remus' utter surprise, Sirius was crying. Remus rushed over and held him as Sirius let go of his grief.
It was like that, they both understood each other; they both knew how to comfort each other ... they always had ... and always would ...
Christmas found them in James and Lily's house. Sirius was sitting on the rug, leaning on the sofa near the Christmas tree, and Remus sat between his legs, head resting on Sirius' shoulder, reading. Peter, as always, was sitting on the couch, gnawing on a chicken leg. Lily was in the kitchen cooking and James doing his best to distract her.
Sirius was running his fingers through Remus' hair, a habit of his, when he discovered the most horrible, terrible thing that could happen to a twenty-year old.
He looked down at Remus, who looked up from his book, "What?"
Sirius sighed and said in a very choked voice, "You've a gray hair ... see?"
With that Sirius plucked the offending hair off and handed it to a very reproachful Remus.
"I know that Sirius."
"You're twenty! And you're CALM!"
"I'm a werewolf!"
"You're a werewolf!"
Peter looked up, "We knew that already ..."
Sirius opened his mouth as if to argue, then closed it. A few seconds later, he spoke again, "What's that have to do with anything?"
Remus sighed, "So you remember the picture of Fenrir Greyback I showed you?"
"Yeah ..."
"And you said he resembled a wolf ..."
"Yeah ..."
"And I told you that was because he was a werewolf-"
"Wait, what! Why! You're saying ... you're going to ... resemble a wolf someday too!"
Remus nodded and Sirius looked at Peter, "That sucks ..."
Peter nodded and stood up, "I'm going to try to steal another chicken leg!"
Sirius stared after him with a disgusted expression, "Anyway ... "
He turned back to Remus, "But you're only twenty! This sucks ..."
Remus laughed, "I'm glad I'm the werewolf. You're so vain, you'd be pouring all the ink bottles in the house on your head right about now."
Sirius grinned, "Probably ... but only the black ink!"
"Dinner's ready!" called Lily.
Sirius stood up quickly and helped Remus up. He looked at the Christmas tree mournfully, "I wanna open the presents!"
Remus rolled his eyes and half-dragged Sirius away.
After a superb dinner (sausages, and roast beef, and turkey, and potatoes and gravy, and many more things) Sirius practically ran to the tree and started throwing presents around.
"This one's Peter's, this one's mine, Remus catch! This one's Prongs', Lily ... mine! Mine! Remus ... Peter ... Prongs ..."
Remus put his face in his hands, "Sirius, you're acting like a child ..."
But Sirius paid no heed, he was already ripping the wrappings off his presents.
Suddenly he started laughing, "Prongs! What in the bloody hell!"
He held up a black dog collar and a bottle of 'Flea-Free'. Lily giggled as James got pummeled by Sirius.
A few moments of madness later, when all the gifts had been opened and the mess cleaned by Lily, Sirius came to sit next to Remus again and kissed him wetly on the lips.
Remus blushed about twenty shades of red and tried to not catch anyone's eye. Sirius wrapped the scarf that Remus had given him (a shade of gray that matched his eyes) and pouted.
"Remus ... you didn't put my watch on!"
Remus looked down at the silver watch Sirius had given him and said sadly, "Sirius ... it's silver ... I can't really-"
Sirius rolled his eyes and snatched the watch from the box, "It's not silver, silly! It's white gold! What kind of boyfriend do you think I am!"
Remus blushed again and kept his eyes on the watch as Sirius clasped it around his wrist.
James cleared his throat suddenly, "Lily and I ... we have an announcement to make ..."
Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Oh no ... not 'an announcement'."
"Shut up Padfoot. We ... well ... Lily ... is ... well ... we ... are going to have a baby!"
Peter, Remus, and Sirius gasped.
"Wow, James, really?" said Remus, standing up. "Oh that's wonderful!"
Peter nodded along, and looked a bit pale for some reason.
Sirius too stood up and walked over to Lily, "So, how far along are you?" He inspected her stomach carefully.
Lily laughed, "Dunno ... about a month or so."
Sirius nodded grimly, "We have eight months left ... to teach James how to be a human being!"
Remus rolled his eyes, "James will be fine ... as long as he doesn't use Levicorpus to rock the baby to sleep ..."
Sirius sighed, "This signals the end of the world! James is bringing a child into this world ... we are all going to die!"
Lily and Remus laughed as James tackled Sirius to the ground.
"They haven't changed a bit!"
A/N: Well ... not much to say ... "burst into tears" Regulus' death was SO hard to write ...
But now "sniff" he's GONE! Ahem ... I'm being silly ... just ... Review Please!