Chapter 7: Making Amends

In the morning, it was just them at the breakfast table and they could fall back into their old routine. But first things first, thought Hermione.

"I'm sorry about last night Sirius."

"It's perfectly alright," he said ever the gentlemen.

"No it's not. And I'm honestly sorry. I shouldn't have screamed at you, especially not about a deceased family member. I was insensitive."

"Well, you were a little," he teased.

"I know. I just get carried away when I start trying to solve a puzzle. It's like when I am at Hogwarts and working on a project, Harry and Ron know to stay well clear of me because I'm ruthless when anything distracts me or gets in the way...Though if you had kept your snout out of it, maybe I wouldn't have..."

Sirius chuckled. "You can't blame old Snuffles for getting in on your secret! Dogs are natural detectives." He tapped his nose.

"Not fair, Sirius."

"You could become an animagus too Hermione, I'd teach you how."

"You mean unregistered?"

"Yes, of course, unregistered! Everything's better illegal," he waved his hand in the air, "I'm illegal aren't I?"

"In more ways than one. But I think I'll pass, for now...If this investigation is what I think it is, I'll already be engaged in enough illegal activity."

"Keep it in mind, Hermione. You're investigation could be helped along a good deal if you had a second guise like Rita Skeeter."

Hermione made a face of disgust, "Please don't remind me of that woman, she's positively ghastly. Besides there is no way I would risk being squished to death with a fly swatter for the sake of some eavesdropping! Just the thought of turning into something so small makes me feel sick."

Sirius chuckled, "I suppose you're right. I wouldn't be able to ever kill a fly again either if that was your animagus. It would be mighty inconvenient."

"Glad we can agree on that."

They paused their conversation for a little while they ate. Until Sirius brought it up again.

"About yesterday..."

"It was my fault, Sirius! I won't bring it up again, promise, if that's okay with you."

"Can you let me finish?!"

"Sorry."

"As you might have noticed yesterday, I overreacted but once I had time to think of it, I realized it is a very good idea, though I suppose I should expect no less from a bright mind such as yours..."

He paused to give her a tight smile.

"...As it happens, the official story of Regulus' death never sat well with me, it seems unlikely that he would been taken down by a simple exploding spell. I guess I owe it to him to find out what happened. " A pained expression suddenly came into his eyes. "I had stopped talking to Reg even before he became a death eater, but there always was more to my brother than I understood or cared to know...as you said, I blocked things out. He tried to contact me, you know, shortly before he died, he seemed remorseful but I didn't give him the time of day." It was visibly painful for Sirius to finish his last words, "I've always regretted that."

Hermione felt her heart break for Sirius.

What could she possibly say to comfort him? To not blame himself? That everything was going to be alright? His brother was dead. Sirius never got to be reconciled to Regulus or anyone else in the family that didn't give him the love he needed. If there was one thing Hermione had learned about Sirius so far it was almost everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong in his life. No one could truly relate to his life as a whole. It was too dark.

Yet by some miracle, the man before her had managed to hold onto the light and after so many years in isolation with the dementors, he still had a huge heart. Hermione knew it was a rare man that could still laugh and love in the face of so many hardships. Others who had spent as much or less time in Azkaban returned as broken people, some insane and some just unable to ever enjoy anything again.

What could she possibly say to him?

Her life had been so sheltered compared to his. At the same time, she felt her heart breaking as if she had a direct line of communication to the pain he was feeling.

There were no words for it so suddenly she wrapped her arms around him and though he was taller and larger than her, she felt like a protective mother holding onto a wounded child. Sirius at first flinched away from Hermione when she lunged at him but then realizing it was a hug, he slowly eased into it. He had never been hugged before by Hermione. It felt very different. It was not like a hug with Harry or Remus, which were strong bear-like taps on the back that were quickly withdrawn. This hug lingered on as she held onto him with what seemed to be her whole being. It was as if she were saying by the embrace that she felt his pain, she felt it all and didn't want him to suffer alone. Sirius felt the past recede into the back of his mind as he relaxed in Hermione's arms until there was only her around him and in his mind.

When they pulled away, it didn't feel awkward. They had been one for a moment. If anything, they felt closer.

"You really do care about me, don't you?" he said gruffly, trying to hide his emotion.

Hermione nodded solemnly. Lately she thought she cared more about Sirius than even Harry did. It was like she had direct contact to all his emotions and could feel his pain in her soul, as if it had been transferred from his soul to hers. As if she carried his pain with her always now, so that his burden was less to bear.

"Do you want to tell me the story now?"

"Only if you want to hear it," she said quietly.

He nodded.

"Are you sure you want to hear it now?"

"Yes, I think I do," Sirius said. And he smiled grimly to let her know he was alright.

Hermione did her best to explain things gently to Sirius but without leaving anything out. Sirius was too smart to not notice if she did. He had to hear the whole truth.

"...You see Regulus wasn't killed while in the battlefield, zero evidence was ever found to support the official story, which was actually just a wild speculation," Hermione said, "His obituary, which I found last night, also had errors. It seems whoever covered his death did not care much for accuracy."

Sirius sighed, "I thought as much. Though you have to remember Hermione, there were so many deaths during that time, on both sides, that it was impossible to keep a track, let alone accurate records, of everyone who died."

"I get what you're saying Sirius, but I think the errors in your brother's case were made on purpose."

"Why would anyone do that?"

"Sirius, your brother was murdered from the inside, by someone among Voldemort's followers. It is even possible that he may have been killed by Voldemort himself."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Selena Ryder."

Sirius thought for a moment, he had heard that name at Hogwarts a long time ago. Then it came back to him.

"She was his friend, another Slytherin. I remember her now. Not very friendly. Hated Gryffindors...How did you possibly get talking with her? She couldn't have been at the wedding."

"No, but her son was."

"So how did you just casually get talking about my brother's death?"

"It's the oddest thing Sirius but I noticed him immediately because, well...he looks a lot like you."

Realization started to dawn on his face.

"I asked him if he was related to the Black family and he told me after a bit, "Yes, I'm the son of Regulus Black, but don't tell anyone, it's a secret.""

"Why did I never know?" Sirius asked shakily.

"Regulus married and had his only child with Selena," she said quietly, "but he kept his family secret for their protection. They were never seen in the public eye. It was well known that Voldemort tortured the families of his followers when he felt they were in danger of slacking on his orders or running off. And Regulus was taking no chances with his own family. He instructed her to keep the secret even if he died because as long as Voldemort lived, there was a chance that his vengeful nature might endanger them."

There were tears in Sirius' eyes. He had no idea that Regulus had a family, that he by extension had a nephew. He was an uncle. Perhaps it was what Regulus had tried to tell him all those years ago, only for Sirius to ignore him and leave his widow and nephew alone in the world.

"What is his name?"

"Perseus Ryder."

Sirius breathed a laugh. "He wasn't that careful though was he? Everyone knows the Blacks are named after constellations."

"Maybe he wanted people to know, once it was safe, after Voldemort was gone..." her voice trailed off, "Sirius, Perseus told me that his mother always said that his father died trying to take Voldemort down, not support him. He was a death eater, but in the end, he was just a father and husband trying to make the world safer."

When Sirius had collected himself and dried his eyes, he grabbed Hermione's hand and kissed it, the way noble gentleman used to greet ladies.

"Thank you Hermione."

There were no words he could use to describe how much it meant to him.

She just nodded because she knew if she tried to say anything more she might blubber into tears. It was already too much seeing Sirius like this. He must have loved his brother more than he allowed himself to realize. They had been fighting on opposing sides after all so it would not have even been safe for them to meet.

"We're going to need to talk with Selena Ryder," Sirius said with new command in his voice, "I'm guessing there's a lot more than what she told her son. And unless she trusts us, I don't think she'll tell us anything."

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A/N: Sorry this chapter is dark again but hold on the next chapter will have plenty of laughs in it...poor Siri!

But at least he knows he has family now! Awwwwwww.

If you want to hand Sirius a tissue, please review and I will give it to him to dry his tears. And then he will thanks you for being such kind thoughtful readers. Awwwwwww.

*Goes to cry and listens to "All of me by John Legend" .perfect song for Sirius/Hermione.

Especially the line "What's going on in that beautiful mind? I'm on your magic mystery ride" because Siri is so pretty but messed up. He is crazy beautiful awwwwww.

*stops awwwwing*

Thank you to Jily, RoaringLion51 and Guests for reviewing!