1965
He woke up shivering, reaching for his missing blankets. Instead, he found his brother, standing on his bed and wearing Regulus' duvet as a cape.
"Wake up, Regs!" Sirius yelled, jumping with each word. "It's Christmas!"
"I'm cold," Regulus said, reaching for the duvet. Sirius jumped off the bed before Regulus could grab hold of it, and ran from the room. Regulus scowled and followed his brother at a more sedate pace, his bare feet padding softy on the wooden floor.
"Quickly! Before they wake up!" Sirius hissed, already halfway down the stairs.
"But it's still dark," Regulus moaned, eagerly following his brother despite his words. He entered the living room to see his brother already crouched by the neatly stacked presents, duvet abandoned by the door.
"Here they are!" Sirius grinned, holding up the brightly wrapped presents in triumph. "Uncle Alphard sends the best presents," he told his brother, as if Regulus didn't already know. Why else would they have to open them in secret?
Sirius handed Regulus one of the presents, about to tear into his own, before stopping.
"I got you something," he said, slowly reaching behind the stack of presents and pulling out a small parcel hidden from view.
"Thank you," Regulus grinned, "I love it."
"You haven't even opened it yet," Sirius said with a frown, looking down at the present. The brown paper was barley staying put, the tape twisted and peeling, but Regulus was sure it would be the best present he'd receive this year.
"I love it," he repeated. "It's my favourite."
.oOo.
1971
Regulus lay awake in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. It was early - that place between last night and the next morning - but he couldn't get back to sleep. After so many years, it was a habit now. To wake up around this time on this specific morning. He wasn't sure what the point was now, though.
He had no idea how long he'd been lying there, watching the shadows move across the ceiling, when there was a light tapping at the window. He knew the sound of an owl's beak on glass - who didn't? - but never at this time.
With a grown, he dragged himself out of bed and shuffled over to the window. The blast of cold air did more to wake him than the walk over, though he didn't have to keep it open long. The owl didn't carry much, just a small parcel badly wrapped in brown paper, which it dropped unceremoniously onto his bed, before settling itself on top of his wardrobe without any clear intentions of leaving any time soon.
He could tell it was his brother's messy scrawl, even from across the room, and he couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face.
Maybe Christmas wasn't ruined after all.
.oOo.
1977
Things had taken a turn for the worse this year - and he'd thought that impossible after seeing the brief flash of disappointment in his brother's eyes when he had been sorted into Slytherin - so he wasn't expecting anything. He still hadn't managed to get out of the habit of waking up before dawn on this particular day, but that didn't stop him from trying.
Though, try as he might, he was unable to curb the disappointment at finding nothing when he finally opened his eyes. It was what he'd expected, really, but the hot sting of unshed tears was a constant presence throughout the day. It didn't help that there was only one other Slytherin staying at school during the holidays, so, with no distractions, Regulus was left to dwell on it.
He walked sluggishly through the dungeons, having left the Christmas feast early, much to the apparent disappointment of Professor Slughorn; no one else had really noticed. He entered the Common Room alone, hoping to pass through quickly - he would never admit this to everyone, but the emptiness of the castle during Christmas had always scared him a little - but was stopped in his tracks at the sight that greeted him.
It was nothing major - certainly not something that should bring such a feeling of elation to him - and he might had missed it had he not looked up at the exact moment that he had. The small parcel with that same messy scrawl, somehow unchanged by years, sat innocuously on one of the armchairs. He really hoped this meant that things weren't as bad as he had feared.
.oOo.
1979
The sky brightened with the first light of day, beginning to bring life into the murky scene that lay before him. The fog hadn't quite cleared, but that didn't matter as there was no one out at this time on this particular morning. The small graveyard was empty, the only sign of someone having been there recently was a small parcel wrapped in brown paper left in front of one of the more recent headstones.
A/N - (Approximate) Ages:
1965 - Regulus = 4, Sirius = 5
1971 - Regulus = 10, Sirius = 11
1977 - Regulus = 16, Sirius = 17
1979 - Regulus = 18, Sirius = 19