Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter. This is written for the first Regular Froday challenge for the month of March, but the prompt is pottery and this little idea popped into my head.

Pottery Pieces

"Why are we doing this again?" There was a tightness to Sirius's throat, the corner of his mouth twisting slightly as he looked at the pottery wheel, wondering why he'd agreed to this of all things.

"We're doing this because you promised to give it a try," said his companion, making Sirius look up to see a pair of rosy pink lips twisting into a smile. Usually, he'd want to be kissing those rosy pink lips, but as of late—

"And why did I do that?" Sirius asked, a feeling of melancholy not going away at the thoughts of making out with his companion.

"Because you did." Her eyes twinkled as her mouth twisted into a smirk at his expense. Yet, there he was with Marlene McKinnon taking a couples pottery class because it was a thing Muggle couples did to relieve stress, not that he and Marlene were a couple. However, he'd come the closest out of all the girls he'd been with, and perhaps she knew him better than some, attempting to distract him from his thoughts as she was.

And now he found himself staring at a mound of clay and the wheel, unsure of what to do even though the instructor explained. He was lost in himself, trying not to think about that, when he looked up and saw him. "Reg?"

At a pottery wheel, there was a young man with black hair and—although that young man wasn't looking at him and instead at the young woman with brown hair who was smiling at him, gray eyes. Sirius was sure of it and—

A hand reached out and grabbed onto his sleeve. "Sirius."

He stared, wishing Regulus to turn and look at him.

"Sirius, it's not him."

"Please turn and look at me, Reg. Please."

"Sirius, it's not him. Regulus is dead." He responded to Marlene by standing up, her hand still latching onto his. "Please don't do this!"

Yet he didn't listen. Sirius stubbornly walked over, looking down at the young man who refused to turn and look at him as he used his right hand to shape a pot on the wheel while the person with him used their hands to steady the pot they were making, like a real couple, but the use of the right hand instead of the left didn't phase him.

"Reg?"

The young man with black hair didn't respond, didn't acknowledge him, though there was a slight movement from the girl.

"Regulus." Sirius felt Marlene's arms wrap around his, through his, the girl reacting more than the young man.

"Don't. Don't do…"

And he did. His hand came down on the pot the other couple was working on, making the young man look up with those gray eyes.

"It's not him," Marlene muttered as Sirius looked down and the girl glared up at him, while the young man remained completely unfazed by what he'd done, as Regulus always had—the one person who'd never been fazed, giving him those blank looks. And it—

"What's going on here?"

The art teacher came over and had to come over, so now Sirius was glaring at her. And the girl with brown hair that Sirius didn 't know, who even looked pregnant now that he was closer. The date was ruined, and from the look on the art teacher's face, he and Marlene wouldn't be allowed back for interfering—

"Hand slipped," said Regulus, smiling as if nothing happened. Which frustrated Sirius the way Regulus could be. Too complacent, too nice for his own good. Too forgiving even.

"Yeah. I think Sebastian and I've had enough for tonight," the girl said.

"Shall I toss the pot, Olivia?"

To which Regulus—no, the Muggle named Sebastian, who reminded him of Regulus, shook his head, and Olivia, who was with this Sebastian, watched, then smiled at the teacher. "No. He likes it, so I guess fire it as is?"

Sebastian nodded his head, and they got up. At the same time, Marlene held onto Sirius' arm as the teacher lectured them about interfering with other couples—that wasn't how communication between couples was supposed to work kind of thing; as Olivia and Sebastian washed their hands, or more specifically, Sirius noticed, she washed her hands. She helped him with his right hand; the left hanging limp. Which—

Suddenly, they were leaving, following, Marlene following and tugging him after, before saying very loudly to their backs, "Please! Let me treat the two of you to coffee or something to apologize for my boyfriend's actions."

Except, he and Marlene weren't a couple, just friends with benefits, although she'd come the closest to being that, might become that. The couple turned, and the girl—Olivia stared. She said quite firmly, firmer than need is for someone addressing another, although Sirius did find himself admitting he did kind of bring that on. "I'm Olivia Granger, and this is my husband, Sebastian Granger."

"I'm Marlene McKinnon, and this is my boyfriend, Sirius Black."

Which was when everything went to hell. Olivia—she became full of furry, letting go of her husband's arm. "Black?" Sirius watched as her husband feebly tried motioning with his right hand while the left hung limp for her to stop. "You're a Black ? "

"Yes?" Sirius said, almost asked, confused why she would have so much disdain in her voice for him simply because he was a member of the Black family.

Which was when the slap came.

His mind registered slowly the fact a pregnant woman had slapped him.

She was a pregnant woman who said firmly to him as she looked at him. "Leave us the hell alone!"

And as Sirius' mind continued registering how she'd slapped him, the woman dragged Sebastian away, around a corner—

Sirius let his gray eyes open and close. "Hold on a sec!"

For that person wasn 't Sebastian, but Regulus. His mind knew that even though he knew Marlene might think otherwise as she called out his name as he hurried after to see—

He saw a dead end, his eyes widening. And he felt like screaming. "They Apparated."

"Sirius…"

"They Apparated away." It wasn't as if she'd believe him that it was Regulus, that his brother had slipped through his grip once again.

"I know. I know they did."

To which he found himself looking at her.

And she said, "I know it was Regulus."

"What?"

"I know it…"

"Don't joke with me. Regulus is dead."

"Sirius, please."

"That man, that Sebastian Granger was right-handed," Sirius said, wanting to forget, too—it hadn't happened. "Regulus is left-handed."

"Okay. Let's head back to my place."

"I don't feel like making love tonight, Lene. Please?"

"You can rest on my couch rather than go back to your place. But I'd rather not leave you alone right now. Okay?"

"Fine." Except, it didn't feel okay.

...

"Guess what!"

"I'm not in the mood, Marlene," Sirius muttered. He was, in particular, not in the mood for another one of her dates meant to pull him out of his melancholy.

"Well, I found where the Granger's lived."

"Who?" Sirius said, watching the Muggle device he kept at his place to use when he was in one of those kinds of moods.

"You know who."

"It's not Regulus."

"She owes you an apology," Marlene said.

Sirius turned to look at her. "For what?"

"Slapping you, silly."

"In case you hadn't noticed, she was pregnant. From what I've heard, that can explain a lot, but that I shouldn't be…"

"And you owe them an apology for acting in the class."

Which made him stare at her.

"I'm not letting you get out of this, Sirius. We're going, or do you want everyone to know we've been casually hooking up, that we're an item."

"We're not…" Sirius took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll go, but only because you won't leave this alone."

And he'd initially planned on finding a way to escape, to leave it alone, even as they headed up the lane.

"So, I found them as soon as I did because there's a bookstore called Granger's Bookstore. I wonder if that's how they met."

"Why would you…" Sirius frowned. "He's not Regulus. You know…"

"A girl can still dream up romantic situations, particularly since they're a rather cute couple."

Yet, it wasn't that Olivia or that Sebastian who greeted them at the door. Instead, it was an older woman, to which Marlene got them invited in as friends of Olivia and Sebastian paying a visit. "Oh. Olivia is out getting her textbooks for university."

"Uni…"

"She must be excited. No, I mean, I know she's excited."

"She's probably more excited about picking up material so Sebastian can study for his A-levels, though."

Sirius didn't know which was a word, yet he asked something else. "Where's Sebastian?"

"Oh. My son is lying down upstairs in his room rather than the room he shares with Olivia. He's a bit overstimulated. Otherwise, I'd have gotten him rather than serving you tea while you wait for Olivia."

Sirius looked at the tea, not thinking that sounded right, thinking they were mistreating Regulus. " No. It 's Sebastian, " he scolded himself. "Don't you mean son-in-law?"

"Sebastian is my son," the woman said firmly. Sirius looked up, suddenly thinking the woman reminded him of James' mother and how she'd come to protect him even before moving in with them.

"Sorry. I—yeah. I get that. I have one of my own, though she's not my mother by marriage. And yet she's my mom. Sorry for implying otherwise," Sirius looked away. "Then it's not that they're hiding him or ashamed of him, but protecting him? And the way she reacted—but it can't…"

"Olivia's been mum about how she's met Sebastian, no matter how much I've bugged her for the details. I love that kind of thing, romantic stories." Which Marlene didn't, Sirius knew, as she was more of a tom-boy and would have made a great Marauder had she not been a girl and a separate dorm than they were. He found himself looking away.

"It's complicated."

"They are trying to protect him." Sirius looked away. "Um. Bathroom?"

"Down the hall."

He'd done it to escape the idle gossip, or so he told himself, but down the stairs was a flight of stairs leading upstairs, and he couldn't help himself, being who he was. Yet, he wasn't in any of the rooms, though the girl's room looked as if two usually lived there, but it was ready for when the baby came. And the thought of turning around, only to hear music coming from another set of stairs, stairs which would lead up to the attic.

Which made him think again they were trying to hide him as if his magic were some kind of a shame as he headed up the stairs to the open door of the attic.

To find a room built into the attic, a relatively comfortable space, as if it had been built specifically for—

Sirius stared at the person in the bed, reading as the music played—Muggle music, surrounded by Muggle things, making him the biggest hypocrite, while not noticing Sirius was there.

"Regulus."

And the person startled, finally acknowledging Sirius was there, that they were who he thought they were. The book went to their side, and—there was a definite look of fear in their eyes, but then, he'd been caught.

"Regulus," Sirius felt his hands clench at his sides. "What the bloody hell were you thinking?"

And Regulus stared, his left-hand limp at his side, though Sirius didn't think much of it, at least not at that point. Regulus stared.

"Why?"

"What?" Which was the first word.

"What do you mean, what?"

"What's why?"

"What's why?" Sirius shook his head. "Here you are. Here." And a hypocrite.

"Here?"

"Here!" Sirius pointed. "Why did you stay away, here of all places."

"Didn't come."

"What?"

"You didn't come."

"Excuse me?"

"Nobody did. Nobody came looking."

"You—you!" Sirius clenched his hands into fists, wanting to hit Regulus at that moment. "You fucking bloody faked your own death, you moron!"

"My son did not fake his own death."

A chill ran up Sirius's spine, and he turned, knowing he would be looking into the face of a protective mother, a mother so unlike the one who had birthed him and Regulus.

"And I'd like the two of you to leave."

Yet, he also saw something else, that look of disgust he'd seen on the girl's face, the one who was pregnant with his brother's child while hell froze over, and his world turned completely upside down, not that it hadn't already done so back when he'd thought Regulus dead.

It was hatred towards him, of what he meant to Regulus. "I'm not…"

"You are not taking my son away, either one of you. He might have been a part of that group, but he didn't kill anybody! He didn't torture anybody!"

"Wait." Sirius found himself surprised. "You know about the Death Eaters?"

"The what?" The woman glared, which didn't add up because it seemed like Regulus had told her about something he shouldn't have.

"That group," Regulus said softly. "That group, maman."

The woman took a deep breath. "Yes. Sebastian…"

"Regulus. His name is Regulus."

"Sebastian is the name I gave my son, thank you very much, and as I said, I would like you to leave! And don't you…"

"We're not going to turn Regulus over to the Ministry," Marlene said.

"And I don't trust you!" Regulus' new maman said, a fire to definitely be reckoned with.

"Maman. Okay. It's okay."

And she turned, her face softening only the way a mother would towards their child, meaning she cared. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"If things get…"

"I'll personally kick Sirius' butt for you."

"Marlene!"

"Don't Marlene me! Everyone knows you can be a complete ass at times, particularly when you start losing your temper. Be glad Lily's not here instead of me, you moron!"

"Lily?" Regulus perked up. "How's Lily?"

"Well," Marlene said. "Please, Mrs. Granger. We don't mean any harm to Regulus."

"Be that as it may," Mrs. Granger said firmly. "He's not exactly one-hundred percent."

"What do you mean by that?" Sirius felt his stomach churn.

"I told you, my son didn't fake his death. He really did die, more than once."

"Don't joke with me. You can't resuscitate the dead."

The woman glared, then turned to Regulus. "Are Wizards this dumb? A person can be resuscitated if done within enough time."

Regulus shrugged. Then, he slowly said. "I think. Not know."

"You mean they don't know that?"

"Yes."

"And are you sure about this?"

"Sirius. Sirius is…" Regulus frowned. "Rich. Lettie. Cass?"

"Sirius is your older brother?"

"Yes."

"You do know that actually makes him trust him even less, knowing he's from that family."

"Yes."

"Hey! You know full well I ran away from that family when I was sixteen, Reg! Don't lump me in with the ones following him!"

"Him?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"That group. Leader."

"Yes, well, that means you're from that other side of the family, the ones he either didn't want to involve or…"

And that's when Sirius let out a string of curses, turning to glare at his brother. "Involved in what Regulus. " It was then that it registered. "She said something about hearts stopping. And you actually dying! You idiot! You didn't think I'd care if something happened to you! You!"

"You hate me."

"What?" Sirius looked at Regulus, noting the look of irritation on Mrs. Granger's face, almost as if he'd crossed the line. "What do you mean I hate you? Where the bloody hell did you get that idea from?"

"But you do."

"Regulus! Why do you have to be so daft!"

"Oh, I don't know."

"Marlene!"

"I wouldn't call you the responsible older brother type. In fact, I'd call you the highly neglectful who treats his younger brother like a major annoyance simply because he got sorted into the wrong house type."

"That…" And suddenly, Sirius was bowing to Mrs. Granger, his brother's new maman. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being such a lousy older brother to Regulus. Thank you for taking care of him, but please don't take him away from me again. I learned the hard way I'd thrown away something important. And I promise I won't take him away from you. I know what it's like. I told you that. It wasn't a lie, what I said. About having a mom who isn't my mom by blood."

And the tears suddenly came.

"Thank you for giving him that. Thank you. But please, don't take my little brother away from me! I don't want ever to feel like I've lost him or that I'm losing him again!"

Silence.

And then—

"Please, maman."

"Sirius can visit, but he can make up for being a lousy older brother by being a wonderful uncle."

"I—what?" Sirius looked up, that part sinking in. He turned, wanting to talk to Regulus, to be with him.

"Come back downstairs. There's some…" The woman frowned. "Some things I need to fill you in on, particularly since I think he's had enough excitement for today. Please? I did say, after all, you can come to see Se—Rabbit. But there really are some things you need to know."

"Come on, Sirius," Marlene said before flashing Regulus a smile. "It's great knowing you're alive, though we'll keep that secret for now for reasons you likely get. But it's also good to know you're as sweet as you've always been, Reg."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You were always considered the nice Black at school?"

"Who, me?"

"Marlene…" Sirius said, only to find himself tugged down the stairs, but not before saying a quick goodbye to his brother.

To which he learned from Mrs. Granger about how Regulus lost and was trying to regain mobility, particularly in the left arm he used to favor. How he still could feel Voldemort calling him. How he was afraid a Death Eater might hurt his Muggle family. How that was communicated through writing with his right hand, as verbal communication was an issue because whatever Regulus went through—they still didn't have many details beyond the fact he'd been torn to shreds, left him in a mental state where words refused to come out the way he wanted.

It wasn't what he wanted for Regulus.

And he told her as much.

"I know. But he's making progress. He…"

Which was when she came home, and she exploded at him for being there of all places, something Marlene said he quite deserved.