Whispers of the Veil
Dinner

Several thoughts went through Sirius' head as he sat there trying to get his homework done, one of which was how much he wished he'd just run away as he'd originally planned. But then, he'd look up and observe his younger brother sleeping peacefully on his bed and remember the way Regulus reacted to him earlier in the day and let out a sigh.

"He looks so peaceful sleeping there like he's never going to become a bloody Death Eater," Sirius thought. "Not that I wanted him to. That was all on them. Those bloody parents of his."

Every so often, Sirius would glance at the timepiece in Regulus' room, although there was a memory in the back of his head that Regulus never paid attention to the time when he was studying. When a quarter to six o'clock rolled around, he sighed and glanced at his younger brother.

"He looks like an angel, sleeping like that. I wish I didn't have to wake him." Sirius stood up from the test and walked over, the meltdown episode still in his head as he headed over to his younger brother. He sat down on the edge of the bed, unsure of how Regulus would react this time, and gently reached out and nudged the boy.

And as expected, Regulus started at the sight of him, but thankfully he didn't go into a complete meltdown this time. Instead, his gray eyes, which to Sirius felt like a mirror of his own, almost blinked at him. "Siri. What are you doing in my room?"

"I'm here to fetch you for dinner," Sirius almost said, only he didn't, seeing how tired Regulus still looked. He grinned and said, "It's a quarter to six o'clock. You know Walburga likes us to be punctual." He watched Regulus sit up straight and reach out to grab Regulus by the shoulder, feeling the younger Black tense at the touch, the final strains of peacefulness on Regulus' way melting away to fear. "Hey. If you don't feel up to coming to dinner, it's alright."

"Alright?" Regulus shook his head. "You and I both know she'll throw a fit."

"Well, I'll be the one in trouble, not you," Sirius said. His hand reached up from Regulus' shoulder and ruffled the black locks, exasperating the bed head on the top of his brother's head, which resulted in Regulus looking away from him, the fright still there. Sirius let out a deep breath. "Regulus?"

"What?" Regulus, the corner of his mouth twisting up, the fear melting away for a look of disdain more along the lines of what was expected of a member of the Black family.

Sirius reached out to touch his brother's chin, wanting Regulus to look at him, only for Regulus to cringe and look away, the look of fear returning and replacing the look of disdain. He shook his head and lowered his hand, looking away. "Look. I'm sorry about what happened earlier. For frightening you like I did, even though I'm still unsure what happened."

"Siri?" Regulus said, the tone of voice soft and curious, which resulted in Sirius looking up to see Regulus' facial expression had softened, although he wasn't looking him in the face still.

"It's alright if you still need to sleep after that, brat," Sirius said, letting a sneer spread across his face. "You should know by now I'm pretty good at dealing with Walburga's wrath."

Regulus frowned, his fingers twisting into the green sheets of his bed, the green reminding Sirius his brother had been sorted into Slytherin. His head tilted. "It's maman , Sirius. Calling our parents by their first names."

"I'm not a child," Sirius said firmly.

"It's still rude."

Sirius sighed, feeling any progress between them had been lost, and shook his head, standing up as he did so. "Whatever. I don't need the lecture. I'm headed to dinner. As I said, I can deal with her wrath, with getting in trouble."

"Yes, but…."

"I'm the only one who'll be in trouble, Regulus," Sirius said, turning towards the door. "She's already informed me as much."

"Wait," Regulus muttered as Sirius headed through the door. "Was maman in my room?"

"Yes," Sirius said, heading towards the stairs. "I told her to let you sleep, but I'm the one who got in trouble, not you."

And then came the hurrying of feet as his younger brother moved to the top of the stairs. "Wait. Sirius, what did you tell her? About what happened?"

Sirius registered the panic in his younger brother's voice, turned from where he stood on a lower step, and looked up at his younger brother, seeing the panic written all over his face. "What? Are you worried about not being her perfect little angel anymore, Regulus?"

"Sirius!" his younger brother said, his already pale skin growing paler as his cheeks flushed ever so slightly from what Sirius said.

"Don't worry." Sirius waved his hand. "I told that woman it was my fault. All of it." He tilted his head, noticing Regulus teeter slightly. "Hey. You look like you're still under the effects of…."

"Did you tell her," Regulus hissed, his arms crossing as he hugged himself, "that I had a complete and utter meltdown in front of you? Please tell me you didn't?"

"Why would I do that?" Sirius said, the mentioning of the Calming Draught earlier not registering in his head as having let that slip.

"Because you're always going on about how perfect they think I am when I'm not," Regulus said. "I'm not perfect."

Sirius opened his mouth, wanting to say something about how prim and proper Regulus always acted. He couldn't say anything, not with his younger brother currently sporting bedhead, nor were Regulus' clothes at his usual level of perfection. The corner of his mouth twisted, and he shook his head before he started heading down the stairs, not knowing what to say regarding the incident, although he did know to say, "I'm headed to dinner, but you don't have to come if you don't feel up to it."

"Why?" Regulus asked.

"Why?" Sirius continued down the stairs. "I told you already that I'll be the only one in trouble if we don't show, but I'm fine with taking the brunt of her wrath." He'd almost reached the bottom step when he heard the sound of his brother's feet again, right before he felt Regulus' small frame slam into his backside. "What?"

Two thin arms wrapped around his middle as Regulus held on for dear life, his face buried into the middle of Sirius' back.

And he said nothing. Sirius' larger hands went down to his brothers. "Regulus, what are you doing?"

"I don't like it," Regulus muttered into his back. "When maman gets mad at you."

Sirius frowned, surprised to hear what his younger brother said. "Fine. But we should be headed down, Regulus."

"Yes. Yes, I know," Regulus said, pulling away only to surprise Sirius again when his younger brother's hands twisted into the back of his shirt, gripping tightly as he followed Sirius down the stairs, almost like a lost puppy.

"Which would be funny, given my Animagus form is that of a black dog, if it weren't for the fact I haven't a clue why Death thought to send me here instead o to Harry," Sirius thought to himself. Eventually, they arrived on the first floor and stood in the dining room doorway where Sirius could see both of his parents sitting, yet the clock hadn't struck six yet as he stepped into the room.

Walburga looked up. "Well, I see you made it to dinner on time, Sirius, but where's your brother?"

"You said I'd be the only one in trouble," Sirius started to say.

One of Regulus' hands let go of Sirius' shirt and reached out, waving. "I'm here."

"Regulus, why are you hiding behind your brother."

Sirius frowned. "Leave him be."

"Regulus," Walburga said firmly, which resulted in Regulus stepping away from his older brother, one hand still latching onto the back of Sirius' clothes.

Her eyes widened before saying, "Why are neither one of you presentable?"

Sirius stiffened, then said, "You didn't say anything about being presentable."

"That's a given, Sirius Orion Black," Walburga snapped. "And I've never seen your brother less presentable than he is now."

"Walburga," came a voice softly from the other side of the table, one Sirius chose to ignore.

"You said I'd be the one in trouble, not him," Sirius said.

"About not being," Walburga started saying before—

"Walburga, leave the boys alone."