Whispers of the Veil
Orion Black

Sirius stared, finding himself taken aback at the magical effect the words spoken by Orion Black had on the family matriarch, how she fell silent and turned to retake her seat. He could still feel one of Regulus' hands clutching the back of his shirt.

And then—

"Take a seat already," Orion said, looking right at Sirius, motioning them towards the table. "Goodness knows Regulus won't make a move to sit until you do."

Sirius glanced down at his younger brother, still finding himself bothered by the ten to fifteen centimeters difference in height. Sirius felt his eyes blink, and he headed over, racking his brain for any memory regarding their father and how to deal with the man, only to find himself drawing a blank. He took a deep breath when he arrived, where he normally sat at the table as Regulus followed close behind him.

"What I remember was an absentee father. That's what I remember."

Sirius shook his head in frustration and turned his attention to pulling his chair out, only for the sight of Regulus' hand shaking slightly to draw his attention to his younger brother pulling his own chair out. He stopped and turned.

"Here."

Without hesitation, he pulled Regulus' chair out, which resulted in a silence that made Sirius realize he had done something wrong. Regulus stared at the chair wide-eyed. Orion remained emotionless while Walburga glared. "Sirius Orion Black, what are you doing?"

"I'm helping," Sirius started to say, then took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "Doing something very un-Black-like, wasn't I?"

"Helping?" Walbuga said. "What has gotten into? Do you remember what I said earlier? About this being too little, too late?"

Sirius turned his head, staring down at the proper table setting, wishing he were at the Potters rather than having to sit down to one of their family dinners. "Although, is it too late?" He turned his head to look at his younger brother, who trembled slightly as he stared ahead. "After all. Regulus is alive." He swallowed the memory of how he felt upon learning Regulus was dead in that other reality. "My little brat of a brother is actually alive."

He let out a chuckle at the thought, only to hear a sharp retort from his mother. "This isn't a laughing matter Sirius. And why are you both just standing there? Take a seat so we can serve dinner already."

Sirius took a deep breath and glanced over at his younger brother, finding himself still concerned at the slight tremble in his younger brother's hands only to receive a death glare from his younger brother to which Sirius sat down, pulling his own chair in. Yet, he still looked over at Regulus, flinching upon seeing his younger brother nearly face plant into the dinner plate as he pulled his chair in. He swallowed. "Are you alright."

"I'm fine," Regulus said, glaring at him again.

"Sirius, leave your brother alone already," Walburga said. "Your change in behavior is quite disconcerting and it needs to stop."

Sirius tilted his head. " What am I doing wrong? Being kind to my younger brother? That 's not wrong, but I guess in the Black family it is? "

Walburga clapped her hands, which was the cue for Kreacher to send up food from downstairs. In front of him appeared vichyssoise , reminding Sirius of how the Black family always took pride in their French ancestry, which seemed backward given they lived in the United Kingdom. He let out a sigh and started to eat the potato and leak soup when "Regulus!"

Sirius turned his head in time to see his brother starting to nod off at the table which meant face planting into the potatoe and leak soup, only for REgulus head to jolt up, both when Walburga called out to him as well as when his head started dipping down again.

"Are you actually falling asleep at the dinner table, young man?" Walburga said sternly.

"Hey," Sirius said, swallowing, knowing Regulus was still under the effects of the Calming Draught.

"Stay out of this Sirius."

"But I'm the reason he's falling asleep at the dinner table," Sirius said.

"And Regulus is capable of acting like a proper young gentleman," Walburga snapped.

Sirius watched Regulus' head jolt up, then turn to look at him. Regulus shook his head, as if asking his older brother not to interfer, yet after a few minutes Sirius saw Regulus start nodding off yet again, which meant—

Sirius let his wand slip from his sleeve and said under his breath, "Rennervate."

Which in his head should have woken Regulus up the moment he cast the spell, knowing as he did that the spell helped bring back to consciousness someone made unconscious because of a spell or potion.

Instead, he watched Regulus completely tense up, his head jerking to one side as his fingers started twitching slightly, right before toppling over in the chair onto the floor as his muscles continued to twitch. Sirius lowered his wand as he saw his father stand up while Walburga looked on, horrified, but all he could do was stare at his younger brother, horrified at the mistake he'd made.

"Sirius Orion Black! What the bloody Merlin did you do to your brother this time!"

And then he flinched as Walburga slammed her hands down, his wand still in his hand as his father pushed himself away from his seat and came over. He didn't expect the old man—for Orion was already in his late forties—to get down on one knee and gently lift Regulus, letting the boy rest against his chest as Regulus' hands continued to twitch.

"Sirius! Did you hear me!"

Sirius startled. He started to turn his head to look at his mother when "Walburga! Enough!" He twisted his head around to look at his father, surprised to hear the man raise his voice in the slightest, only to discover his father looking him in the eye, frowning. "Sirius, what spell did you use?"

"I," Sirius started saying.

"Your wand is out. You used a spell, didn't you?"

"Rennervate shouldn't have done this," Sirius said. "It was supposed to," Sirius looked back at his soup, frowning. "It was supposed to wake him up." The fingers of his right hand tightened around his wand while the ones of his left hand tightened into a fist. "I'm sorry. This isn't what I meant to happen."

"Sure, it isn't," the Black family matriarch snapped.

"Walburga," Orion said, the result being Walburga Black saying nothing. Orion then nodded his head. "Regulus and I will finish our dinners in the kitchen tonight."

And then the old man was gone, Apparated down to the kitchen with Regulus, leaving Sirius to deal with the mad woman. Sirius tensed up, twisting his wand in his hand, remembering the portrait he'd discovered when he finally returned to Grimmauld—a portrait where his mother had gone completely mad. He took a deep breath.

"Sirius Orion Black," Walburga said. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Say for myself?" Sirius said, turning to look at the woman. He swallowed, seeing her dressed as elegantly as he remembered while she was in the house rather than in her nightgown as with the portrait. Her arms crossed, and his teeth gritted. "You said I'd be the only one in trouble."

"That was for arriving at dinner late," Walburga said firmly.

"That was for," Sirius shook his head. "What don't you understand about this being my fault?"

"Oh, your brother falling over because you cast a spell on him was certainly your fault!" And there she was, yelling at him. "Are you trying to bloody kill him!"

"I'm trying to bloody save him!" Sirius said, wishing he'd said, "I'm trying to bloody help him." He'd still not figured out why Death sent him to this joke of a time in his life when everything kept going wrong, and he couldn't do anything right rather than sending him back to be the family he'd promised Harry. "Back to the place that is home. This—this isn't home."

"Save him from what?" Walburga sneered. "You!"

"No, you!" Sirius said. "You old hag!"

"What did you just call me, Sirius Orion Black?! You filthy…." Walburga said, snarling at him as she always did when their arguments got like this.

Sirius stood, knocking over his chair and slamming his hands on the table. "Fine! I'll go ahead and have dinner in the kitchen as well."

And he Apparated away, not wanting to face her wrath, hoping she wouldn't follow him down there.