That night, neither of them slept.

The next morning, Sirius stopped outside Regulus' door and tried the handle.

It opened. Frowning, he went inside and found the room empty.

Where could his brother have gone? It was only six thirty and Regulus was never a morning person.

"Kreacher!" He wasn't quite sure if the house elf would come since Kreacher had always hated him. But it was worth a shot.

Luckily, the creature appeared immediately. "The blood-traitor Master summoned Kreacher?"

He didn't have the patience to chastise Kreacher. "I need you to find Regulus, Kreacher. I haven't seen him since last night."

"Master Regulus has already gone to work."

What?

Most days, Regulus had a hard time getting out of bed before six. Today he was already at work?

Sirius dismissed the house elf and quickly got ready for the day.

When he reached the Auror Department, he found his brother at his desk, going through a file.

"Reggie?"

Regulus looked up and Sirius was rather taken aback by the expression on Regulus' face. He hadn't seen that look on his little brother in nearly two decades.

It was that damn stoic mask which he'd worn all his childhood, shielding his emotions and thoughts from the rest of the world.

"I uh... you left early today. That's surprising considering that I have to haul your lazy arse out of bed almost every morning."

Normally, Regulus would have said something witty or sarcastic but his mask didn't slip.

"Yes well, I realized that there's a psycho bitch out there we need to catch and we're not going to accomplish that by sleeping in."

"Hmm."

Sirius didn't want to talk out here since other Aurors were also present near Reg's office. "Come into my office for a minute, will you?"

"I have wo—"

"It will only take a minute."

There was a mild flicker of annoyance on Regulus' face. "Fine."

Sirius closed the door once they were inside. "You had me worried last night."

"I'm fine, Sirius."

"Regu—"

"Sirius, I'm fine. Like I said, there's a maniac who needs to be put away so you will forgive me if I don't have the time nor the inclination to speak about my feelings."

Sirius didn't bristle at Regulus' surly attitude because he knew his little brother all too well. This was the exact same way Regulus behaved when he wanted to avoid something.

Dry and sarcastic to mask the pain. It was a tactic he himself had previously employed on numerous occasions.

"You need to go to Hogwarts this afternoon, you remember, right? Draco's weekly lesson?"

Regulus tensed immediately. "I'm afraid that's not possible. I already wrote to Draco, telling him that I won't be coming over to Hogwarts for a while. There's a lot of work to be done here, Sirius."

This wasn't about work. Any idiot would've figured that out.

"It's only three hours a week, Regulus. I'm sure you can spare that much time. I would go but there's a meeting this afternoon with the Wizengamot."

"He's a sensible lad, Sirius. He'll understand."

"That's exactly my point, Reg! He shouldn't have to. Look, whatever it is that you are currently going through, I couldn't possibly understand. But that doesn't mean I won't listen. Come on, Reg, talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about, brother. I'll be fine. Happy?"

"Regulus, don't shut people out. Not the ones who care."

"So what do you expect me to do, Sirius?" Regulus snapped, finally losing composure. "Am I just supposed to waltz around like nothing's bloody changed? To act like everything's rainbows and puppies? Because it's not. Not by a long shot."

"Regulus, I don't expect you to be okay with everything. All I'm saying is don't let Draco down. He doesn't deserve that."

When his little brother finally met his eyes, Sirius was taken aback by the sheer amount of pain in them.

"Neither does he deserve to be around a murderer."

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked together, their feet almost sinking into the snow.

Ron had just finished spending his allowance at Honeydukes and they were going to Zonko's to pick up a few items for Fred and George.

"They think of me as an errand boy, I swear! Just because they were stupid enough to land themselves in detention, I'm supposed to fetch their stuff."

"You could just not do their work you know," Harry pointed out.

"And have them prank me for the rest of the year? No thank you!"

"Why didn't Malfoy want to come?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. I asked him and Blaise if they'd join us but Draco wasn't in the mood. Blaise claimed he was sulking because Regulus couldn't drop by."

"I suppose the Aurors do have their hands full with an insane prisoner on the lose. I only hope they don't cancel Hogsmeade trips for us students."

Both Harry and Ron groaned when she said that. "That's brilliant, Mione! Now you've gone ahead and jinxed it! Thank Merlin we go home in two weeks!"

Harry paused mid stride outside the Three Broomsticks when he noticed someone.

Leaving the Three Broomsticks was none other than Professor Lupin with his arm around a pink haired woman's shoulders.

"That's Professor Lupin, isn't it?" Hermione pointed out, also noticing the couple.

"Yup. And that's his girlfriend, Nymphadora. But she gets super annoyed if you call her that. She'll only answer to her last name, Tonks."

"Why? Doesn't she like her name?" Ron asked.

"Nope. And I don't know why. Dad calls her Dora but she seems to be sort of alright with that. You two go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"What are you up to now, Harry?" Hermione gave him a suspicious look.

"Oh don't look at me like that, Hermione." Harry grinned at her innocently. "I just need to fulfill a certain mission that's been assigned to me by none other than Sirius Black."

Leaving his friends confused, Harry took off in the couple's direction.

Draco reread the letter for probably the twelfth time that day. He didn't know what to make of it.

That morning, when he'd received that letter from Regulus, he had expected it to be regarding their plans for the day. He most certainly hadn't expected Regulus to cancel their lesson.

Sighing, he threw his head back against the pillow and read it one more time:

Draco,

I won't be able to make it to our weekly lessons for a while. I apologize for this but I'm afraid any more lessons will not be possible for the next few weeks.

I hope your other lessons are going smoothly. Take care.

Regulus.

This was so wrong.

Why?

Because Regulus had never begun a letter with 'Draco'. It was always something like 'hey kiddo' followed by a silly joke which always made him smirk and roll his eyes but never failed to cheer him up.

This letter was so curt, cold and detached. So unlike Regulus' typical jovial greetings.

He felt like a baby admitting it but it hurt.

Plain and simple.

He tried to convince himself that Regulus was just really busy with everything that was going on at work. But, no matter how hard he repeated those words, he couldn't help but feel like something was horribly wrong.

Three weeks later, Harry and his friends were home for the holidays. It was still two weeks to Christmas.

Harry couldn't help but feel like something was bothering Regulus. He was never there for breakfast and whenever he was home in time for dinner, the man was silent.

He ate a little and excused himself to his room. He didn't talk much and that jovial and playful side of him seemed to have completely disappeared.

Even when he was at school, Regulus' letters were infrequent and brief.

One night, he was on his way to his room when he heard Sirius and Regulus arguing inside the younger Black's room.

He weighed his options: curiosity and a chance of a scolding from Sirius or quietly walking to his room and avoiding getting into trouble with his father.

Ultimately, his curiosity got the better of him and he crept towards the door, pressing his ear to it.

"—lked about this, Reggie. You need to stop doing this to yourself. It isn't healthy. Let me help you. Don't shut me out, Regulus."

"I'm dealing with it, Sirius. It's not easy. I am trying and I'm getting better. I don't need your help, dear brother. I'm fine."

Both their voices were heated but Sirius' had a pleading note to it.

Had something happened to Regulus? Was that why he had been so reclusive off late?

"Reg—"

"I'm fine, Sirius. I'm sure you have better things to do instead of babying me. You should be with Harry now. He's home for Christmas and I'm sure you would rather spend time with him instead of dealing with my sorrows."

"It's not just your sorrows that we're talking about here. You're hurting even those who care about you. When was the last time you played Quidditch with Harry or gave Draco his magic lesson? As for Draco, that boy looks up to you more than he ever did his own father . He worships the ground you walk on. Ignoring him is hurting both of you. "

"You're right."

"You nee— what?"

"But that doesn't change what I did."

"For the last time, Regulus, that wasn't you! It was that bloody locket! It happened years ago and it's not your fault!"

"I know that!"

"Do you really?"

"Like I said, just give me some time and I'll be fine. Goodnight."

Regulus sounded resolute, like the matter was closed. Harry was now more inquisitive than ever about so many things: what was troubling Regulus, how was the locket responsible and what had happened so many years ago.

Harry heard Sirius sigh and he identified it as one of exasperation. "I'm not giving up, Reggie. We will talk."

Harry heard footsteps coming towards the door and bolted away before he could get caught. He made it to his room and threw himself on the bed. He pulled out a comic from underneath his pillow and pretended to be engrossed in it.

"Not sleepy?"

Harry looked up from the comic to see Sirius standing at his door. He put on his most innocent expression and nodded. "I'll sleep in a few minutes. What about you?"

Sirius raised a reproving eyebrow at him and crossed his arms.

"Are we really going to pretend like you weren't just eavesdropping on our conversation?"

Harry's ears flushed a deep red at the tone. "Sorry. I was curious. And worried about Uncle Reg."

The man wasn't upset anymore. "So am I, pup."

Figuring that he wouldn't get into trouble, Harry ventured ahead. "Dad, is Regulus okay? He hasn't exactly been... you know... himself for a while now."

Sirius sat down on the bean bag in Harry's room, resting his forearms on his legs. "I know."

"Is he okay? Did something happen?"

Sirius shook his head. "I'm afraid not. As for whether he's okay, he will be. He just needs to realise that he's not alone."

"Yeah. He has me and Draco and of course his annoying big brother," Harry teased, a grin slowly forming on his face.

Sirius rolled his eyes and stood up. "Yup. And I'm not letting him forget that."

He ruffled Harry's hair before leaning down to press a quick kiss to the boy's forehead on his way out.

"To bed with you little rascal."

Harry was too late to notice the man's smile fade and be replaced by worry.

Regulus was late that morning. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night and had fallen asleep only around four. That wasn't such an uncommon occurrence off late.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that muggle's lifeless body. He had tried to forget it, to put it behind him and convince himself that it wasn't him who had killed the man, but in fact it was that damn locket.

He was getting better at it but there were still those few moments when the guilt got the better of him.

Sirius had tried talking to him about the incident at least a thousand times only to be rebuffed by Regulus. He always ended up telling his brother that he needed space or that he would talk when he was ready.

Except that he wasn't sure when he would be ready.

Everyday, he was out of the house before seven since that was when Draco dropped by for his lesson. Sirius had been tutoring the boy lately and that's how it would stay.

He hadn't spoken properly with Draco since their last lesson back at Hogwarts which was over a month ago. He still wrote to him, albeit rarely. Whenever Draco came over, Regulus would say a few quick words to him before leaving.

He tried to make himself appear as nonchalant as possible, to act like nothing was wrong and that he was merely busy. He felt like he had succeeded to a certain extent.

Because of the guilt, there was something else that tortured him and he couldn't talk about it. Not without appearing weaker than he already was.

He fussed with his tie and once it was done, he went downstairs to use the floo so that he could get to work.

Sirius was sitting the living room, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.

His brother raised his eyebrows in greeting and he nodded in return.

Regulus grabbed some powder from the pot and was just about to step into the fireplace when it roared and he nearly bumped into the person who had entered.

Draco.

The boy gave him a small smile and he forced himself to return it. "Morning, kid."

"Hey. Were you leaving?"

"Afraid so, mate." He could almost feel his older brother's eyes burning a hole into the back of his head and he was nearly afraid to turn around.

"Oh. Maybe you could stay tomorrow. Sirius is teaching me this new sp—"

"I'm sorry, mate but I really don't have the time to sit and watch you practice magic."

Draco deserved better.

Before Draco could get another word in, Regulus was already inside the fireplace.

The last thing he saw was the disappointment on Draco's and Sirius' faces.

Damn you, Regulus Black!

"Ugh! This is boring! Planning to tell us what's bothering you?"

Draco looked up from the chessboard at Harry who was sitting on the bean bag and observing the game between Ron and Draco.

"Huh?"

"Every time you and Ron play, the match is a tough one. Now you're suddenly losing to him in less than an hour?"

Draco switched his gaze to Ron who nodded with grudging respect. "You're good, better than Percy," he admitted. "You're way off your game today, Malfoy."

Draco couldn't tell them what was bothering him. Not without sounding like a sodding baby. "I'm sort of not in the mood today," he lied.

"Quidditch?"

Draco shook his head. Honestly, he felt miserable. Regulus had been ignoring him for the past month and it hurt more than he cared to admit. That morning's harsh dismissal still stung badly.

He couldn't understand what he had done wrong. Was the man upset with him about something? Draco didn't buy that story about him being far too busy at work.

Sirius was Head Auror and he still managed an hour every two days to help Draco with his magic. The last straw was when Regulus had stated that Sirius would be giving these lessons all by himself.

"I'm actually tired. I think I'll go home now."

Harry frowned but didn't stop him. "You'll come tomorrow, right? We need to decorate the tree."

"Yeah, of course."

Draco flooed back home and threw himself on the sofa, not caring to take his shoes off. His mother would have disapproved but she wasn't at home now.

She was out with her sister. Apparently, they'd gone to this Muggle event where a lot of people sit in the darkness and stare at a very large portrait filled with many people.

His mother had been hesitant at first but had given in since she had a lot of catching up to do with her sister.

He sighed and rolled over, buried his face into the cushions and let the first tear fall.

"You're a real piece of shit."

Those were the firsts words Sirius said when he stepped into his Regulus' office.

Regulus glared at his brother even as he felt a privacy ward go up around his office. . "Thanks. That's exactly what I needed to hear."

Truth be told, that's precisely how Regulus felt about himself at that moment.

He had kept his interaction with Draco to the minimum these last few weeks but he'd never outright ignored the boy or brushed him off so harshly as he had this morning.

"How can you be like this, Regulus?" Sirius snapped, his voice a harsh whisper, as he shut the door behind him so that it was just he two of them in the office.

They argued.

Regulus wasn't sure how long they'd been at it but Sirius' next words drove him over the edge.

"You behaved just like father today."

The next thing was completely out of his control. He didn't know how it happened.

His hand shot out and punched Sirius in face.

"Do not compare me to that man."

Regulus stood frozen to the spot, his chest heaving and eyes blazing. But even as he spoke in his defence, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, Regulus realised that Sirius was right.

And hell if that didn't make him feel like the worst human being in this world. All his childhood, he had only wanted to make his father proud.

But Orion had never acknowledged him, not once.

He recalled the disappointment on Draco's face when he'd brushed past the boy and into the floo.

He had behaved just like Orion Black.

That one small, frightening realisation terrified Regulus more than he could possibly comprehend. It was enough to shock him and to slam him out of his own pity party.

He glanced at his brother who wiped the blood from his lip and stared back at him unflinchingly. He didn't look angry any longer. Just... sad.

He stared at the red coating Sirius' fingers and was once again reminded of that awful night.

That dark street.

The man on the ground with a knife sticking out of him.

His icy, still form.

Blood on his hands.

A stranger was dead.

Regulus Black was a murderer.

Sirius was dead.

Regulus Black was a murderer.

Harry was dead.

Regulus Black was a murderer.

Draco was de—

"—ey! Hey! Reggie, can you hear me?"

He snapped out of the trance and felt a firm hand gripping his shoulder.

Grey eyes identical to his own bore into him. "You with me, Regulus?"

Regulus nodded, bringing a hand up to rub his eyes.

"You sort of just zoned out there." Sirius was still talking in that firm but soothing tone, the one he sometimes used with Harry.

It grounded him, helping him focus.

He couldn't keep doing this.

All these days, he had been having nightmares. Today, he'd had a mini panic attack at the workplace.

How much worse would things get?

He absently allowed Sirius to push him into his chair.

He did need help.

Sirius' grip on his arm helped.

He had so much to do. "I'm a right bastard," he mumbled, the self deprecation ringing in his words.

"No you're not. You're just far too stubborn for your own good," Sirius replied.

He had been acting like an utter arse.

How had he been so blind?

"I'm ready."

"Huh?"

Regulus forced the words out in a calmer, more certain tone. "I'm ready to talk about it. Everything."

Sirius' mouth curved upward slightly at the much awaited compliance.

"But there's something I need to do first." Indeed there was. He owed someone an explanation.

Sirius looked confused before it dawned on him and he nodded back. "I get it. We'll talk at home."

"Thanks. Mind if I take the—"

"Absolutely. Now get out of here. I need to get back to work."

A soft laugh escaped him and he stood up. He stopped at the threshold of his office and turned around.

"Thank you."

He then made to the floo with a certain blonde haired boy in mind.

How was it?

Read and review!

I'm sorry about the long wait. I was going through a bit of writer's block with this one.

Btw, the first five chapters of Black are out. Some of you have already read it and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

It's something I've been wanting to write for a long time now.

Also check out my new fanfic:

Meeting The Godfather: the Dursleys family receive exactly what they deserve.

Featuring BAMF!Sirius and awesome, adorable!Harry.

Be sure to check out both: Black and Meeting The Godfather.