Regulus walked back. His overly-dramatic, overly-emotional moment had left no trace other than the soft trembling in his hands. He tried to stop their shaking. The last thing he needed was to drop a potion he would no doubt have to force down Sirius's throat.

"I can help him," Reggie whispered as he walked. The air was nice and warm, but he wrapped his arms around his torso, seeming to give himself a hug.

(i can.)

Maybe the strange knowledge

(my knowledge.)

that had told him what potions to use for what would be back. He couldn't think of a reason for him to know what to do like he had. Perhaps it was accidental magic?

(or practice?)

Regulus didn't know what he really expected when he got back. Before, Sirius had seemed confused and hurt. Then he awoke and had practically sent Reggie on the mission he was returning from.

Regulus sighed, pushing the air through clenched teeth. It made a whistling sound that was easy to hear through the mayhem of a London street.

Alex had acted as if they were old friends, and his mother had also been kind.

(better than my own.)

Regulus found that something inside of him trusted her.

(my heart.)

But he didn't know why.

After all, he had just met the woman. Regulus didn't know what he had been expecting, but he certainly hadn't expected that. She was kind, and he could see in her eyes that she meant what she said.

"She's just a muggle," he hissed between his teeth.

(but you liked it when she cared.)

"Shut up," Reggie muttered. He didn't notice that he had just spoken to himself. Pity, for if he had, he may have noticed that the thoughts came with flashes of memory buried deeply within him.

He entered his house, dully wondering if Sirius had woken again. Regulus was worried for his brother, of course, but he also was unsure. He would really have preferred if Sirius would just miraculously heal himself. Come on, couldn't he use his magic at all?

After all, Regulus could swear he remembered Sirius healing himself with his magic before.

(he never had to.)

Sirius had been beaten so often

(barely ever.)

that it wasn't surprising. Regulus wished he could do it again. He didn't mind taking care of his brother, but he hated how everything relied on him. Whatever was wrong with Sirius, it was severe. Regulus was extremely worried that he would mess it up somehow. What if he gave Sirius the wrong potion?

(i know those by heart.)

He could hurt Sirius even worse.

Regulus turned into Sirius's room. Inside, he saw that Sirius was tossing and turning, barely asleep. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to wake his brother.

"Sirius?" Regulus whispered. Sirius blearily blinked open his eyes as Regulus put a hand on his shoulder.

"Reggie?" Sirius rasped. His voice was hoarse, and Regulus immediately got him a glass of water. Sirius struggled to sit up to drink it, and Regulus propped a pillow behind him.

His brother's eyes were unfocused, and it was clear that his head was spinning wildly. Sirius blinked them a few times, and he seemed to start to shake his head, only to wince and groan.

"How are you?" Regulus asked. "Is it any better?"

"A bit," Sirius said. Regulus was happy to notice that Sirius did sound better and much more awake. Suddenly, the emotions that overwhelmed him before came flooding back.

"S – Sirius… I was so – so worried…" he said, trying valiantly not to sniffle.

"You were worried?" Sirius said. He appeared calm, but Regulus could see the slight shaking of his hands.

"Yeah!" Regulus declared.

"You don't care that I'm a bloodtraitor?" Sirius seemed very leery to ask that question. Regulus understood why. He'd never been

(yeah. never.)

happy that Sirius rebelled against the Black family. In fact, he'd always been the one to protest against what Sirius said.

(not the other way around, of course.)

Regulus forced his lips into a small smile.

"Of course not, Sirius."

He was amazed to find that he meant it. Regulus didn't care that his brother was a Gryffindor. Sirius could have been a damn House-elf and Regulus would not have cared because in the end, Sirius was his brother.

He was finally realizing what that truly meant.

12312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312 312312312312312312312312312312312

"What are we going to do, Orion?" Walburga Black asked. "It didn't work right." Orion was pacing across their shared bedroom. He glared at his wife for a moment as she interrupted his thoughts.

"Of course it didn't work right!" he scoffed. "Regulus is very powerful. You saw how he convinced Sirius that his way was right over the years."

"All Blacks are powerful," Walburga protested haughtily. Orion sighed.

"Not his magic!" he snapped. "I don't know about that. Regulus's mind is strong. It's fighting the memory charm, and it's only a matter of time before he breaks it."

"So what can we do," Walburga said in a falsely sweet voice. Orion nearly growled at the sound. His wife was a fool. She couldn't see that their younger son couldn't be forced into anything. They had to convince him personally.

Orion would have liked to say that it wouldn't be hard, but he knew that Regulus had a very deep belief that muggles and wizards were alike.

He was wrong, of course, but it would be hard to make them see that. Walburga was beginning to look irritated at not getting an answer.

"Orion?" she prompted. He clenched his teeth, doing his best to ignore her. She called herself a Black and wore her emotions on her sleeve at the same time. It was sickening.

Regulus was in the wrong.

They just needed to convince him their way was right. Orion nodded to himself. He knew what to start with.

Orion would have to spend time with his youngest son and show him personally what made muggles so bad and so dangerous to wizards.

Walburga was pouting at him as she once again waiting for his answer.

"I'll take care of it," he snapped. Then he turned and stalked out of his room. He glanced into Regulus's bedroom, but it was empty.

Orion clenched his teeth. Regulus was probably still taking care of his brother.

Perhaps Orion would have to help him. IT would certainly make Regulus warm up a bit.

Orion nodded to himself. He would help his oldest son heal. After all, it was imperious in order to get to Regulus.

And who knew, perhaps, in the end, he could convince Sirius of his mistake as well.

Orion smiled as he looked into Sirius's bedroom. Both boys were asleep in Sirius's bed.

He shut the door carefully. They needed their rest.

Tomorrow would, after all, be a very big day.

Tomorrow, the Black family would regain their heirs.

And he would do it in a way that would make sure neither of his sons protested against it again.

Ever.

12312312312312312312312312312313213121231231231231 231231231231231231232312312312312

Hey guys! I'm sorry that it has taken so long for me to update. I am finding that all of my fics have run dry on ideas

However, in order to fix that, I am proposing that anyone who reads this can leave a request for me to write something for them.

It can be any topic and any rating. I can't promise that any will be more than 1000 words, but I think that this will help me get back into the swing of writing again.

By the way, I have been somehow subconsciously punishing myself for not updating. The last four nights I've had violent, painful dreams that have to do with Harry Potter. They've gotten worse, too.

The first night it was funny.

Today, I woke up and cried out because Greyback was chasing me and had caught me and bit me.

I can usually control my dreams, and I haven't been able to change a thing on these! It's ridiculously weird, and it's the first time in years where I haven't been able to end a nightmare just by thinking about waking up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!

Please review!

Thanks to all my old reviewers!