Chapter 19:

Said Slytherin was now more than curious how the meeting had gone. Making up his mind he quickly penned a note to his grandfather and sent his eagle owl Onyx on his way.
The next day he flooed through the fireplace of professor Slughorn to the Black family home. He had received a special permission from his head of house to return to his home for the day. At Grimmauld's Place he quickly greeted his mother before he joined his grandfather in his study.
There he gave his family head a rundown of his encounters with Marianne Abbott and the information that he had gathered concerning her and Sirius' relationship, as well as his thoughts for what this could mean for the Black succession.
The unreadable and silent gaze of Arcturus Black didn't bother him too much; Regulus had become used to them throughout his childhood. After he had ended with his report the two made their way to St. Mungo's to visit Orion.

The following discussion let Regulus look slightly more optimistic into the future.
Orion had finally had closure with his eldest son and furthermore seemed content and even happy about Sirius' choice. He gave the two other Black's a detailed account of what happened the day before and then surprised Regulus with letting out a slight chuckle.

"They remind me a lot of grandfather and grandmother." Orion told his father.

Said man's eyes became a strange light to them before he quirked his lips and sent an acknowledging nod into Orion's direction.

"You two think that the little Abbott will bring Sirius back onto the right path?" Arcturus asked. As answer both Regulus and Orion nodded. Arcturus sighed, it soundly nearly relieved. "Very well. Then I will change the succession again, Sirius will be reinstated as the Black scion. Walburga will be unable to do anything about this as soon as I have registered the will with the goblins. Regulus I trust that you will keep us updated about the Abbott situation. I also expect that you will start to teach her what she will have to know as the Lady Black as well as family oriented etiquette." than he looked at his son and sighed. "I'm sorry to say this Orion but I don't trust your wife with this task."

"You don't have to tell me. Her fits of insanity have been increasing in the last years. I fear that she has also infected the houseelf with her harebrained ideas. Regulus I have set aside two vaults, one for you and one for Sirius, those contain my personal earned money, those are for emergency situations. I don't trust your mother to not thrust you into a difficult situation with this new dark Lord on the rise, so be careful and watch your back."

Regulus could just nod and swallow hard, his mother would make his life difficult after his father's death, and he only hoped that he would escape the situation unscathed.

"I will watch over both of your sons as much as I can, but should she drag Regulus to one of those initiation meetings I will be unable to help. Insane or not this new dark Lord is extremely powerful." Arcturus promised and warned at the same time.

After that they continued to discuss how to invest the family money to come out of the fast approaching civil war as unscathed as possible. In the evening Regulus arrived 15 minutes before curfew back at Hogwarts, his stomach clenched and he had the uneasy feeling that this had been the last time he had talked to his father.

Four days later on Wednesday evening a regal looking owl landed in front of Sirius at the Gryffindor table. In its claws was a black letter, which insinuated a death in the family.
Sirius left the table without having eaten anything and walked out of the Great Hall after he had inconspicuously taken the Marauder's map from James. Sirius had noticed right away that Regulus had been missing during dinner and while he had presumably cut all ties to his family he had always been aware where and with whom his younger brother was.
Outside in the entrance hall he activated the Marauder's map and a quick glance revealed that his younger brother was at the North Tower, alone. Making his way there he still couldn't open the black letter even though he was pretty sure what it contained.

When he arrived at the North Tower Regulus sat on the wall and was gazing up at the cloud free night sky. Silently Sirius came to a halt beside his 15 year old brother before he let himself settle down beside him. Neither one of the two spoke while they watched their namesakes and those of their family members above them.

After a while Sirius heard how Regulus was swallowing in quick succession, a glance revealed that his brother was silently crying while he still sat unmoving with his face upturned. It surprised Sirius how strongly his brothers tears affected him. During their time growing up Regulus had rarely cried, to see him so vulnerable now stroke a chord with eldest Black son.
Without another word he encircled Regulus shoulder with his arm and tugged him against his chest. At first Regulus slightly struggled against this before he relaxed and let himself be pulled even closer until they sat pressed against each other with Sirius' arm serving as silent comfort while they watched the stars.

Neither of them spoke that evening or ever mentioned out loud what had happened up there in the Tower, but both would secretly cherish this night. At this moment they had been simply brother's once more, both remembering their father without thinking about rivalries, alliances and secrets that normally stood between them. The memory of it would serve as a bitter sweet reminder in the next few live changing years of what they had lost and what could have been.