A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. I do own the characters I made up though. Anyway, on to the story and review please!

Chapter 5: Orion, 1979

"Where is my baby, Kreacher!" Walburga shrieked yet again. I couldn't take it anymore. I left the room and went to my study. I sat heavily in my desk chair. Placing my face in my hands, I finally let a tear lose.

He was gone, that much was obvious. Walburga and I had come home to see Kreacher frantically beating on a locket I had never seen before. He was crying, repeating "For Master Regulus…for Master Regulus." When we asked what he was doing, he said Regulus had forbidden him to say. When we asked where Regulus was, Kreacher dropped the locket and the hammer he was using to beat it. Then he burst into tears and simply said, "He's gone."

Walburga had gone into a frenzy, but I remained silent. I had lost both my boys, one to death and one to stubborn selfishness. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't Sirius being stubbornly selfish; it was Walburga and I. now we couldn't even mourn with him because we pushed him away. Did Sirius even know his brother was dead?

A breeze blew past my ear. I looked up out of my hands. A strange owl sat on my desk, a letter clutched in its beak. My question answered, I reached for my eldest son's letter. Shaking slightly, I opened it. I knew it would be nothing nice, but I hadn't expected to feel his disappointment through his words.

Father and Mother,

I hope you're proud of yourself. Regulus is gone because of he need to prove himself. He's dead because you insisted that Voldemort was right and I, his role model, was wrong. You led him astray. You broke him. I wish now that I had done more to protect him. I wish that he had come with me when I had run away. It's too late now, but mark my words; I'll work even harder now to bring Voldemort and his followers down, even if my family must go too. I wish I could say I was sorry for your loss, but I have a feeling you don't even care. He died "for the greater good" nothing more.

Sirius

I stared in horror. Not care about Regulus? How preposterous. He felt I didn't love my children. If only he knew how broken hearted I was when he had run away. If only he had known how proud I had been when he had been Sorted into Gryffindor. If only he had seen me, and not his mother.

Then it hit me. Sirius hated his mother, not me. I had never argued with him, not once. I had encouraged him; I had taught him to fly, to garden, to read, to be himself. Had he forgotten in his bigotry against Walburga? Walburga was the problem, and nothing more. I had to go talk to Sirius. I had to comfort him; Regulus had obviously meant so much more to him than he had let on.

I stood up and tucked the letter into my pocket. I grabbed my traveling cloak. It was time to set things right. I went downstairs where Walburga was pacing, still in shock over Regulus. When she saw me, she charged me.

"Aren't you even curious to how he died?" she asked. "Don't you even care?"

I glared at her. "I care much more than you do. Don't you realize it's our fault it even happened?"

"Our fault? How in the name of Merlin did you come to that conclusion?" Walburga snapped.

"We kept…no, you kept comparing him to Sirius every time he screwed up. Then you and Bella coerced him into becoming a Death Eater when it was obvious he didn't want to be. You don't care about anyone except yourself, Walburga, and you've killed one son and banished another. You may have even lost your husband too."

I stalked to the door.

"Orion Black, don't you dare walk out on me!" Walburga shouted.

"Watch me," I spat as I Disapparated from step. I appeared in a rather nice suburb. Sirius had done himself good. Regulus had mentioned that Sirius had moved into number 14. I found it quite easily. Sirius was outside with James and James' cousin and some redhead I didn't know. I approached cautiously. James spotted me first. He tapped Sirius shoulder quickly. Sirius slapped his hand away then looked over. I saw him stiffen.

I knew he wouldn't pull his wand on me; Sirius really wasn't violent. He walked over to me, his lips pursed.

"Father," he said stiffly.

"Sirius," I said calmly. "I came to apologize."

I saw his shoulders relax slightly. He looked at me suspiciously, yet hopefully.

"Oh, you have, have you?" he said. I nodded.

"Your letter made me realize that I hadn't been entirely truthful or supportive of you and your brother. I let your mother push me around for far too long. Could we talk inside? I think this may take a bit."

Sirius relaxed a little more. "I suppose so, let me just send Lily and James back home and we'll talk." He walked away. I quickly caught up.

"Is Lily the redhead?" I asked casually.

"Yes, she's James' wife." Sirius said reluctantly.

"The other girl, she's James' cousin, right?" I asked trying to keep a pleasant conversation.

"Yes, and she's my fiancée." Sirius said tersely. I stopped in my tracks. Sirius stopped and looked at me curiously.

"You're engaged?" I asked stupidly.

"Generally that's why one has a fiancé." Sirius said walking on.

"James, we'll pick this up at your place, okay?" Sirius told his best friend. James nodded.

"Okay, come on Lily, we need to clean up a bit." James said taking Lily's hand.

"We, you don't pick up after yourself hardly ever." Lily said playfully. "Bye, Sirius, bye Savannah." She said brightly. After she and James had Disapparated, Sirius turned to Savannah.

"I'll make this quick, you can go on ahead." He told her.

"Are you sure you won't need me?" Savannah asked.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." He kissed her tenderly and she Disapparated.

"Let's get this over with." Sirius said marching inside. He led me to a small sitting room. He plopped down in a recliner and looked at me expectantly. I sat on the couch.

"Well, er, I want you to know, that I am very deeply upset over Regulus's death. I never wanted that to happen. I never wanted him to be a Death Eater, Bellatrix and Walburga forced it upon him. They wanted to make an example out of him. I think they were hoping you would come crawling back apologizing and worshipping at their feet. I'm glad you didn't. I'm very proud of you Sirius, I don't know if you know that, but I am. When you were Sorted into Gryffindor, I couldn't have been happier. You were much braver than any of the rest of us. Even Andromeda couldn't meet your bravery."

"Why are you telling me this? How do I know this isn't a trick?" Sirius said suddenly. I sighed.

"Well, for one, I don't think Walburga's going to let me back in the house after the way I spoke to her earlier. I blamed her for Regulus's death and for you running away. I told her she pushed you both to the edge. I told her she had lost both her boys and her husband to her selfishness."

Sirius gaped at me. This was obviously not what he had expected.

"Wait, you left her? Permanently?" he blurted. I nodded.

"But, I thought…you…why?"

"I was a coward. I never wanted to marry Walburga, we were an arranged marriage. You see, no one wanted to marry her and her parents figured that someone in the family couldn't say no. She's been in control of me ever since. It's only now I got the courage to even back talk her, let alone leave."

Sirius seemed lost for words. "You really weren't upset when I didn't get into Slytherin?" he finally asked.

"No, House doesn't matter to me. It's just a temporary home. It's what's inside that counts. I admit it, I'm not fond of Muggles or Muggleborns, but I never wanted them to be murdered. And I won't deny that we need them if the Wizarding World is to survive. All that really matters to me is if my boy is happy. Hopefully Regulus finally feels safe and happy. I know I failed him…and I know you feel like you failed him to."

Sirius stood abruptly and walked over to the window. I knew he was crying. Sirius hardly ever showed emotion and it embarrassed him when he did.

"It's okay to cry son, heaven knows I've done that today." Sirius' shoulders were shaking. I stood up and turned him around. He sobbed into my shoulder like he had done when he was little and Walburga had yelled at him for one little thing or another. It felt right. I was finally the father he needed again. When Sirius had finished, he looked at me.

"Sorry, I probably ruined your cloak."

"Nah, it'll live." I said smiling. He smiled too. He hadn't smiled at me in so long.

"You know, you can stay with Savannah and I. We have an extra room." Sirius said.

"I would love that. We could catch up." I said.

I should have known it was too good to last. I don't know how Sirius managed it, but he was able to get most of my things out of Grimmauld Place without Walburga knowing it. I was settling comfortably in, taking care of the house while Sirius and Savannah went to Order meetings.

One day I was sitting in my favorite armchair when I fell asleep. My left arm had been killing me. I figured a nap would stop the pain. I had never known such pain, especially for an arm. When I woke up, I wasn't in my armchair. I was sitting in a white meadow, leaning against a white rock. I sat up slightly confused. It would be just like Sirius to pull a prank on me.

"Dad!" I turned around ready to tell off Sirius, but it wasn't him. It was Regulus.

A/N: In case you didn't figure it out, Orion had a heart attack. Review please!