Whispers of the Veil
Seeing Ghosts

"What?" Sirius felt the corner of his mouth twist as what he felt could only be a nightmare was unfolding in front of him.

Regulus took a deep breath, still clutching his book protectively. "I said you look like you've seen a ghost."

"Haven't I?" Sirius said, feeling the tightening of his throat as he fought back the surge of emotion that wanted to erupt from seeing for the first time in seventeen years his younger brother, someone Sirius thought he'd never see as the boy in front of him had died.

"What?" Now Regulus' mouth twitched, something Sirius noticed as he started to look his younger brother in the face.

"Well, haven't I?" Sirius said, his gray eyes wide in disbelief. His hands were in front of him, his mind unsure of whether he had lowered them only to raise them again, but they were starting to shake. He quickly lowered them, not wanting to show any sign of weakness in front of his younger brother, clenching his hand into fists. "Haven't I seen a ghost?"

Regulus sucked in his breath, Sirius' ears taking in the familiarity of the sound, knowing Regulus wasn't happy with what he had just said. "I'm a ghost now, am I?"

"Yes," Sirius blurted out. "You're a ghost."

He shifted his head so he might look his younger brother in the eye, his mind attempting to sort his feelings regarding seeing Regulus again. Still, at that moment, he caught Regulus' lip tremble, as well as how Regulus held his book slightly tighter. His younger brother also looked at the floor, avoiding eye contact, his eyes blinking relatively fast, his mouth opening and closing a few times before, "Sirius!"

"What?" Sirius said, sucking in his bottom lip, wondering what kind of lecture he would receive from his younger brother about how he was behaving.

"You," Regulus started to stammer, his head jerking up and down while still not making eye contact. "I know you," he said, followed by, "I know..."

And then, Regulus' nostrils flared, his eyes went wide, and he turned, heading straight for his room. The door opened, and then it slammed shut between them, leaving Sirius staring at the door in confusion, not understanding what had just happened. Sirius moved forward, knocking on the door, his mouth pressed tightly. "Regulus, is..."

"Go away!" he heard his brother say from the other side, yet there was something strange about how his brother sounded.

"...that really you?" Sirius finished saying, to which a sudden sound came from the other side, which made his eyes go wide, and he sharply sucked his breath upon realizing what he'd heard. "Regulus. Are you..." He took a deep breath. "Regulus, are you crying?"

"I am not crying!" Regulus said the one sob he heard now becoming obvious crying.

Sirius felt his stomach clench, and he knocked again. "Regulus?" He reached for the doorknob, only to turn the knob and find his younger brother had locked the door on him, likely using a spell. "Hey. Let me in, Regulus."

"Go away!" he heard Regulus struggle, getting out from the other side of the door. And then he struggled likewise to get out the words, "And I'm not crying!"

"Yes," Sirius said, as he could certainly hear Regulus crying when he heard from the other side what sounded like Regulus using a silencing spell to prevent anybody from outside of the room from hearing what was going on inside his room. Sirius sucked in his breath. "Bloody Merlin, Regulus!"

He took a step back, looking at the locked door, knowing his younger brother was on the other side, upset in a way he couldn't recollect ever seeing Regulus be. He knew very well he'd been the cause of whatever had set his younger brother off, although he couldn't for the life of him figure out just what he'd said to Regulus that set his younger brother off.

"What to do," Sirius muttered aloud to himself before—

He decided to Apparate himself into the room, the popping sound resulting in a startled sound from his younger brother, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, sobbing. At the same time, Regulus looked at Sirius in horror. Tears were running down Regulus' face, and somehow his younger brother said in what sounded like a squeak and a yell, "Sirius, get out of my room!"

"You're crying," Sirius said, holding up his hands, hoping this would calm his younger brother down.

"I am not," Regulus hissed, trying to hold back the tears forming at the corners of his eyes. His attempt to glare at Sirius—

On top of the glare failing to achieve what Regulus wanted, Sirius couldn't help but notice how small his younger brother was. Still, the thought crossed his mind that he didn't know exactly when he'd been sent back to beyond the fact he was still, for some reason living under his parent's roof, something that filled him with dread. "Regulus?"

"What?" his brother snapped, still failing to send a proper glare, although the tears seemed more under control while Regulus' fingers twisted the bedding he sat on even more.

"How old are you?"

The result was Regulus spluttering and a rather indignant look, the tears slowing even more.

"Twelve, thirteen?"

Sirius watched his younger brother's eyes widen, obviously horrified. For some reason, Sirius couldn't fathom the honest question Sirius posed, as he found himself guessing from how old Regulus looked that he would be thirteen, fourteen, going into his third or fourth year at Hogwarts.

And then his brother's lip trembled, followed by the tears starting again. Regulus shook his head, not looking Sirius in the eye, saying, "You—you..."

"What?"

"Why?" Regulus choked out, the tears coming. "Why do you..."

"Why do I what?" Sirius asked, himself taken aback by what was unfolding in front of him. However, in the back of his mind, there was a definite inkling of a memory that Regulus had, in fact, been quite emotional at times even though as they got older, the younger Black brother managed to become emotionless most of the time.

Sirius looked at the ceiling, wondering when the change happened that Regulus started being so emotionless, whether it was before they started at Hogwarts or after, when, "Get out!"

Sirius' attention turned back towards his younger brother, whose nostrils were flaring again, his entire body trembling as he continued to cry. Yet, Regulus was attempting to hold back the tears streaming down his small face. "What?"

"I said," Regulus said, pausing because he was still crying. "Get out."

"Yeah, but..." Sirius found himself perplexed, unsure, so many things rambling through his head he couldn't put his finger on a single one to help him understand what was happening.

"Get out!" Regulus screamed, his eyes closing.

Sirius stared, then said, "No."

His younger brother looked up at him, horrified, crying for a brief moment before stalling out.

"I'm not leaving," Sirius said, taking a step forward, deciding he wasn't going to leave Regulus alone, not when his younger brother was undoubtedly, in Sirius' opinion, not acting like himself, which in itself was concerning.

And at that moment, hell really broke loose, starting with Regulus backing away from him, hurrying from the edge of the bed back towards the headboard, the look of horror on his face as Sirius got closer seemingly growing, his fingers flexing in and out in panic.

The fact the corner of Sirius's mouth twisted up at some fraternal feeling welled up for a brief moment, not long enough or far enough for him to make out what he was feeling, let alone thinking in that particular moment, likely didn't help, which in turn ended up being his thought when—

"No! Don't touch me!" Regulus screamed.

The scream brought Sirius out from whatever he was thinking, his mind realizing he'd been taking some form of amusement at the current situation for some unfathomable reason while his brother was sitting there, obviously horrified by his behavior. He frowned. "Touch you?"

Regulus was one of the last people, Sirius thought at that moment, that he would typically want to touch, yet he also knew that suddenly that urge was there to reach out and do something about what was currently going on with his brother, as the situation was far from ordinary. And definitely not what he had wanted to walk through a portal to. Regulus shook his head, the tears flowing again—perhaps they had been flowing again for longer than Sirius realized.

"Regulus?" Sirius moved closer.

"No. Don't."

"Hey. What..." The closer he got, the more it seemed Regulus panicked.

"I know! I know, Siri!" Regulus said, slipping into using the childhood nickname he'd not used in a long time, or perhaps he had, and Sirius simply forgot, what with seventeen years passing since he last saw his younger brother, if not longer.

"You know what?" Sirius frowned, wondering as he arrived next to the bed, "Is he afraid of me?"

"I'm too old for crying! And I'm a Black," Regulus sobbed. "Please don't!"

"Are you," Sirius couldn't get anything out, as he couldn't think of words for what was going on in front of him, of what might make Regulus say and act the way he was, and yet—then he remembered. "Didn't I ask him if he was twelve, thirteen?" He lunged then for his brother, saying. "Wait. Did you think I was..."

That was when Sirius heard a sound he recognized as bone snapping.