The Black family isn't mine sadly. Nor is the rest of the Harry Potter world.

Regulus peeked out of his room when he heard the last door slam. Sirius's door was shut tightly against the world and Regulus stared at it timidly. He wanted to go talk to his big brother but he also didn't want his parents to think he was on Sirius's side. So he stood, frozen in his own doorway, his stomach panging, completely empty. He had only been at dinner a couple of minutes before his mother and Sirius had gotten into a fight, and Regulus had slipped away from the table so he didn't have to listen anymore.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked gruffly, throwing open his door.

"I- I-"

"What?" he insisted.

"I was going to get something to eat," Regulus gushed.

"Oh," Sirius replied. "That's what I was going to do too," he added. "Come on." Regulus nodded and followed after his older brother. The two of them crept carefully down the stairs, trying their best to be quiet. Inside their mother's room Regulus heard her ranting to Kreature. Sirius, for all his bravery, looked a little pale as he walked past his mother's room. Regulus made sure he was extra quiet so Sirius didn't get caught.

"I'm not even going to come back over Easter," Sirius proclaimed when they got to the safety of the basement kitchen.

"But I'll miss you," Regulus said without even thinking it out.

"Oh, I'll see you during summer," Sirius told him, "and next year you can join me in Gryffindor."

"No I can't!" Regulus said quickly. "I'm not going to be in Gryffindor. I don't want to get in trouble."

"Fine, but you can't go to Slytherin. We couldn't be friends if you were in Slytherin," he said absentmindedly. "Maybe you could be in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff." Regulus was silent. He had always just assumed he would be in Slytherin. Everyone else in his family was or had been, everyone except Sirius that was. "Do you suppose Kreacher left any of the roast from dinner in one of the cupboards?" Sirius asked him.

"I don't know," Regulus replied, pulling himself up on to the counter. "Don't let me fall," he instructed.

"Alright," Sirius agreed and walking forward to stand behind him. Regulus began opening cupboards and glancing through them before closing them carefully so the noise wasn't too loud. "I wish Annie was coming for Christmas dinner tomorrow too," Sirius said rather quietly.

Regulus turned and looked at him sharply. "You're not supposed to wish that."

"But Cissy just ignores me since I got sorted into Gryffindor. And Bella-" Sirius stopped and shook his head. Regulus nodded and turned back to searching the cupboards.

"I wish she was coming too," Regulus said quietly as he shut another cupboard. "There's nothing up here," he added more loudly before turning around and jumping down. Last Christmas had been the first time they'd had Christmas dinner without Andromeda; she had said she was at school though Mother had told him she had lied and was actually consorting with mudbloods then too. Regulus didn't like the idea of Andromeda being around dirty people but that was who she was with, apparently.

"She could bring her husband. I'd be fine with it," Sirius added. "Mother would explode into a million pieces. It would be brilliant," he said with a huge grin.

"But Cissy said she married a mudblood, Sirius," Regulus reminded him.

"That's why Mother would explode if he came," Sirius added, as if Regulus had said something idiotic. Sirius didn't catch Regulus's look of confusion. He was bending down to look in one of the lower cupboards. Regulus shivered at the idea of a mudblood sitting around their table. He decided not to protest anymore. He didn't want to get into a fight with Sirius. He wanted Sirius to like him.

"Would you really not like me anymore if I got sorted into Slytherin?" Regulus asked him.

"You can tell the hat where you want to go," Sirius told him as he pulled a hunk of cheese out of the cupboard. "That's what Remus told me. He told the hat not to put him in Slytherin as he put it on and he ended up in Gryffindor right away. Although I think he ought to have gone to Ravenclaw. He's always too chicken to go in on pranks with James, Peter, and I unless he's sure he won't be caught. And he always tries really hard on homework. It's annoying. But James likes him and I guess he's growing on me. You'll like James. I'll introduce you sometime."

"Will he like me?" Regulus asked worriedly as he pulled a loaf of bread out of the breadbox.

"James likes just about anybody who's not into Dark Magic," Sirius replied. "And you're my brother," he added as if that settled it all. He took a knife out of one of the drawers.

"But what if I get sorted into Slytherin," Regulus protested.

"Just tell the hat not to put you there," Sirius shrugged, pulling out one of the chairs at the table and beginning to cut into the cheese he had found in the cupboard. Regulus sat down next to him. Sirius passed him a piece of cheese. Regulus didn't comment but passed over the bread after taking two pieces and making a cheese sandwich. Sirius was doing the same. He wasn't sure he didn't want to be in Slytherin. He didn't want to get in trouble with the rest of his family but he didn't want Sirius to hate him either.

"What about your other friends?" Regulus asked. "Would they like me?"

"I don't know," Sirius shrugged. "Peter probably would. He'd pretty much likes anyone James likes. And Remus would probably like you more than he likes me. He hasn't said anything but I don't think he likes it when we do something that might get us in a lot of trouble. I'm not sure why the hat thought he was brave enough to be in Gryffindor."

"But he's your friend," Regulus replied. "You found friends even though you weren't in Slytherin." Sirius nodded, his mouth full of bread and cheese. "So I could?"

"Course," Sirius told him. "You'll find your own friends in whatever house you're in. I'm thinking Hufflepuff, right by the kitchens."

"Right," Regulus said vaguely. He tried to imagine his mother's reaction if he ended up in a house other than Slytherin. It wasn't pleasant. He remembered her yelling when she first heard (in a letter from Narcissa) that Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor of all places. Regulus had hid in his room until she had gone to bed. Kreacher had been very nice and thought to bring Regulus food.

"You'd love Hufflepuff. I know it's not as cool as Gryffindor but most of them are pretty nice. You'd make a lot of friends."

"I'd like that," Regulus replied. The idea of friends sounded very nice. He had a few boys he played with from time to time, others from pureblood families but most of the time he was lonely. He had counted down the days until Sirius returned for the Christmas Holiday, desperate to have his brother around again. Sirius had come back with a lot of tales about his new best friend James and Regulus struggled not to feel displaced; he struggled not to still feel lonely.

"Want to play a game of Exploding Snap before bed?" Sirius asked, finishing off his sandwich. Regulus nodded enthusiastically and shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.

"Let's go," he replied. The pair of them crept back up the stairs before settling in Sirius's room, covered in red. Regulus pretended all the red was for Christmas, not for Gryffindor. He made himself forget that January was coming and his brother would leave him all over again. He was just glad to have his brother.

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