Whispers of the Veil
A Promise

With a deft flick, Sirius brought his wand out, muttering the spell to undo the spell Regulus used to lock the door of his room. As quietly as possible, Sirius opened the door; slowly, the door crept open as the elder Black brother peeked out with one gray eye, the fear their mother might be lurking, ready to pounce and question what was going on under her roof.

Walburga Black didn't appear, and Sirius sighed in relief before slipping into the bathroom he and Regulus shared, reaching for a washcloth and quickly dampening it, wringing it out and heading back into the room, still walking as quietly as possible to not draw her attention.

Upon finishing, Sirius returned to his brother's room, tiptoeing to not wake Regulus, even though he knew his younger brother was under the effects of a Calming Drought. He stepped over to the bed where Regulus now lay on his right side, leaning over to gently wipe away the sticky tear streaks left on Regulus' face from his younger brother's unexpected meltdown before sighing.

"Not much I can do about your hair," Sirius said, watching his brother crash out on his bed, the typical black locks, which were kept neat and orderly now askew while his younger brother's shirt was also in the state Sirius' clothes typically was in.

Regulus' face squinted, then his lids opened partway before fluttering shut again as if Sirius' younger brother were trying to stay away. Sirius glanced over at his brother's desk, sighing, remembering how studious his younger brother tended to be and how Regulus, in his transmuted state of mind, hadn't wanted him to leave.

Taking a deep breath, Sirius nodded his head. "I'll be back. I promised."

He turned and headed to the door, his mind set on grabbing his book bag even though he was reluctant to study so that he could keep an eye on him when he froze in the doorway of his bedroom. He saw on the bed the suitcase he'd been packing so he could run away to the Potters for what would have been the last time had Regulus' meltdown not distracted him, a part of his mind realizing the change to his own reality, his own timeline that he still couldn't put the finger on him. And yes, something struck him at that moment.

"Wait? What promise have I broken to Regulus?"

In that moment of uttering the word promise—that he would not leave Regulus alone after the unexpected episode Sirius was attempting to wrap his mind around—that moment, Sirius remembered what he said to Death.

"I promised. I promised him, and I intended to keep that promise. So you will not be keeping me here, wherever here is."

Sirius stiffened, his head tilting slightly as his jaw pressed together in a fury, angry at Death. His fingers tightened around the door frame of his room, his eyes still on the suitcase, of the red and gold Gryffindor colors, of the girls in bikinis and the girls in bikinis—everything he'd left behind because he'd had enough of Grimmauld Place and the Black family, but had for some time before making the decision.

"How dare he," Sirius muttered. "How dare he choose how to interpret what I say."

He started to slide his wand up his sleeve so he could slam the suitcase shut when a voice in the back of his head, one that sounded like his self that was in his thirties instead of sixteen-year-old him, asked, " So? Are you going to break another promise to him ?"

Sirius felt his throat tighten before turning his head, wanting to yell at someone, to take his frustrations out on someone, when his gray eyes fell on the door to Regulus' room which was now open, remembering his younger brother always kept his door shut. He reached up his free hand, covering his mouth as his other hand gripped his wand tighter, feeling frustrated at the situation not going away.

"Nor will it go away if you stomp your feet or take your frustration out on the closest thing to you like you usually do. And isn't that thing closest to you right now, Regulus?"

Sirius sucked in his breath, turned around, and with a flick of his wand, sent the suitcase flying against the wall of his bedroom, not carrying what happened to the contents, a smirk twisting at the corners of his mouth. " Except Regulus isn 't the closest thing to take my anger out on! "

And then came the screaming from downstairs, similar to how things had been right before he stormed out of Walburga, yelling at him not to cause such a stir that he was grounded for reasons he rightly couldn't remember and to get back into his room. His hands clenched, his mind not wanting to obey her, before quickly taking his frustrations out by putting everything back and making the suitcase slide under the bed soon so he could grab his school bag and not be in his bedroom where she expected him to be.

And there was Regulus, sitting up in bed, groggy and disorientated, her yelling likely having drawn him out of the sleep effect the Calming Draught was having on his younger brother. "Siri?"

"Yes?"

"Why is my door open?"

"Oh. That," Sirius turned and closed the door behind him. "No worry. You just get some rest."

Regulus frowned, his eyes narrowed in confusion. He then lifted his left arm, staring at it.

"Hey? Are you able to move your arm? Your hand?"

Regulus responded by opening and closing his hand to make a fist, only for his head to nod, his attempts at fighting the sleep brought on by the Calming Draught failing.

"Come on. Lie down, Reg," Sirius said, setting his book bag on Regulus' desk, heading over to the bed, and sitting on the edge.

The result—Regulus flinched, then looked away, still holding his arm.

"Hey. Don't," Sirius started to say. He turned to look at Regulus' desk. "I'll just be studying over there at your desk while you sleep."

"Studying?" Regulus frowned. He lifted both hands to his forehead. "Ugh."

"Yeah. You really should lie down, Reggie," Sirius said softly. "You don't look too well."

There came no response.

Sirius frowned, reaching out, hesitating to remember what happened before, of how trying to calm his brother had resulted in Regulus getting hurt as he did.

And then he sighed, slowly reaching out just in case Regulus reacted again and touched only the sleeve of his brother's white shirt, which was no longer in the pristine condition their mother wanted their clothes to be in. He gave a slight tug.

Regulus was startled yet didn't melt down.

Instead, he stiffened at the unexpected touch.

"Come on. Just lie down for a bit. What could it hurt?"

"She won't like it," Regulus muttered, lowering his hands.

And yet, Sirius noticed, his younger brother was turning to lie on his right side, the same side of the sleeve he'd tugged. He felt the corner of his mouth twist, then grabbed one of the pillows that had been pushed from the bed onto the floor. Sirius picked it up and gently tucked it to Regulus' chest in hopes that doing so would place less strain on his brother's arm, unsure of how House Elf magic really worked, let alone whether he should go against his original train of thought of not contacting Orion or Arcturus Black regarding the injury.

Only—

Regulus quickly fell asleep, faster than Sirius expected. He sighed, heading to Regulus' desk and taking out his books, feeling as if he were in for a long night.

"And I still want to be elsewhere," the sixteen-year-old voice in his head said.

"Yes. But are you willing to abandon him again? To break a promise to him again?" the voice in his thirties said. "And what was our promise to him that we broke?"

"I don't know," Sirius muttered to himself.