A/N: Written for the Fan Favorite September 2012 Awards.

はじまる

いちー

Regulus was shivering in the fading light of the sky. Walburga stared straight ahead at the coffin, looking like she was actually interested in the death of her husband. She ignored her youngest son, who was freezing through the thin material of his black jacket. He was from a pure blooded family after all, and he needed to toughen up. She would not accept a pansy for a son! There were certain expectations that needed to be held up in the name of the Black family. And despite her older son's back talking, she had to admit that he had nerve at the very least.

The priest droned on and on, leaving Walburga wondering when the damned funeral would end. She was sick and tired of standing around listening to garbage. Then, she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eyes.

It was Sirius. He had taken off his already thin jacket and had laid it down over his brother's shoulders. She could see Regulus smile adoringly at his brother as he shuffled a bit closer. Her fingers twitched with the urge to rip the piece of cloth off and scream at them, but they were in public and her image was everything to her.

にー

It was Christmas morning.

"Control yourselves. Don't run around like a fool," she had commanded.

"Yes, mother." Regulus replied, giving her a polite smile.

So different from the beaming grin he would give Sirius after calmly uncovering his gift. It made his face look alive, bright and excited and all of the things he should not be.

さんー

Walburga lay quietly in her bed, not quite asleep. She could hear whimpers and soft cries coming from Regulus's room. A nightmare, most likely. Her ears perked up at the sound of a door clicking open, and the quiet pad of footsteps alerted her to the fact that Sirius was calmly walking down the hallway. The cries calmed almost immediately. The woman waited a moment before silently getting up and stood in the doorway of her youngest son's room. She was met with the sight of Regulus curled up in Sirius's lap, a content expression on his face. Sirius glanced up at her arrival, his gaze darkening.

'Leave.'

So for first and only time in her life, Walburga walked away.

しちー

Walburga felt an almost childlike glee when her son was sorted in Gryffindor. She could mold Regulus into anything she liked, now that he saw that his brother was a traitor. But it didn't work that way. For the first couple of months, he had wandered around like a lost puppy, never doing anything and defiantly not listening to her.

It was the first time she had hit her younger son.

ごー

She couldn't, would never be a mother. So what right did Sirius have to take her place?

おわり