I do not own Harry Potter and anything that you may recognize from another source within this story. Harry Potter is the property of the lovely J K Rowling, and I will never stop being grateful for the wonderful world and characters she created.

February 4th, 1973

If Sirius was really honest with himself, he knew that deep down he still craved his parent's approval. There had been a time, years ago, that he'd tried his hardest to believe the lies his parent's had force fed him. He'd gone along with it, as long as he could before the circular logic and his own sense had caught up with him. 'Why does blood status matter so much?' he'd ask, innocently curious. 'They can do magic too, so why does it matter?' By the time he was eight he'd learned not to ask. The Black family had always been big on corporal punishment and his parents weren't any different. Sirius had personally become very familiar with many spells specifically tailored for such a purpose.

He had known that when he was sorted into Gryffindor he'd be defying every expectation of him. The Black family had been Slytherins, with the occasional Ravenclaw, for centuries. They were a cunning lot, and as dark as they came. As long as Sirius could remember he had been brought up to respect blood purity and detest anything else. And as the first born, the heir to the Black family, there had also been lessons on etiquette, long lists of family history to memorize, and magical knowledge intended to put him ahead of the game when he finally went to Hogwarts.

The first couple months of term last year he'd caught himself almost saying 'mudblood' out of habit. At home he'd been forbidden to say things like 'muggleborn,' on grounds it was just 'hiding the truth.' The freedom he had experienced at Hogwarts was a stark change to his home life, and it'd been a breath of fresh air. At least until now.

Sirius glanced down at the parchment crushed in his fist and felt another burn of anger towards his brother. The little snake was spying on Sirius and reporting back to their mother. It had to be. He smoothed out the letter and read it again, although he'd done so enough times already to memorize it.

Sirius,

It has come to my attention that you've been spending time with company that is far beneath the name of Black, specifically the spawn of the blood traitor Dorea Potter. Just being Purebloods doesn't excuse them of their treacherous beliefs and you will cease your association with that boy immediately. You've already shamed the Black family by being sorted into that filthy den of mudbloods and bloodtraitors, but do not dare disgrace us further. I will know, and you will be punished, severely.

-Walburga Black

The threat in the letter was clear and he knew that if he didn't start hanging with the 'right crowd', he was going to end up spending another summer like the last; alternately locked in his bedroom or attending 'lessons.'

Sirius levered himself up from the wall that he'd been brooding against and with a glance, that become a wince when he checked his watch and saw the time, he stuffed the crumpled letter back into his trouser pocket. It was just shy of three in the morning and he had classes in just a handful of hours. If he was lucky he'd catch an hour or two of sleep, breeze through lessons, and then it was the weekend.

Sirius had plans with the others to sneak into the Restricted Section with James' Invisibility Cloak tonight and look for any sort of spell that would help with the map, which had been scarcely worked on since October. The rebel in Sirius, who detested rules and anything 'proper' out of principal, was greatly looking forward to a bit of marauding. The rest of Sirius was a bit put out at the thought of yet another sleepless night.

Starting off down the corridor with silent steps Sirius peered around a corner, and finding it devoid of prefects, ghosts, or Filch, crossed to the other side and made for the Grand Staircase. He'd have to be quick in order to avoid the patrol that usually did a sweep at three.

Just as he reached the end of the corridor, low voices had Sirius ducking behind a suit of armor. Breathing as quietly and evenly as possible Sirius waited for them to pass. The voices grew louder, and as they rounded the corner Sirius could see two figures hurrying towards him.

He shifted slightly, trying to take his weight off of his right leg, which had begun to cramp, and his wand slipped out of his pocket. The wood made a soft clatter as it hit the stone, but in the silence it was defending. Sirius groaned mentally as one of the two figures whipped out their own wand and with a whispered word, lit the tip with a bright white glow.

The sudden light had Sirius shielding his eyes with one hand and fumbling on the stone for his own wand with the other. Grasping it firmly in his right hand, Sirius stood, hoping that he wouldn't end up serving detention tonight.

"Sirius?"

Sirius stiffened and lit his wand as well. The extra light exposed Regulus and Hadrian Moores, both clad in plain black and though Moores was the one with his wand lit, Regulus was holding his as well.

"What are you doing here?" his brother said, making to stow his wand back up his sleeve.

"I could say the same for you," Sirius replied tightly. The sight of his perfect little Slytherin brother brought whatever anger he'd managed to banish roaring back. "That goes double for you," he continued, flicking his eyes towards Moores. "What's a Gryffindor doing wandering around with a Slytherin in the dead of night?"

Moores frowned, and opened his mouth to answer but Regulus spoke first. "That's rich coming from you," he sneered. "You and that band of menaces you call friends spend more time out of your beds wandering the castle then you do in them!"

"At least I have friends! You wouldn't know a friend if they bit you on the arse!" Sirius hissed back, the triumph he felt at Regulus' flinch soured with guilt. Before they'd been old enough to recognize the politics involved in their playdates, Sirius and Regulus had often spent time with the children of other Pureblood families while their parents had been discussing business or whatever else. While Sirius had always been popular with the other children, Regulus had been an awkward child, never as outgoing as Sirius and tending to go off on his own. After the other children had left Sirius would find him reading in the library or off in a corner somewhere.

Regulus probably didn't know how many times Sirius had walked in and noticed a stray tear before Regulus had hurriedly wiped it away. Sirius liked to think he'd managed to make up for it in other ways. Letting Regulus crawl into bed with him after a bad dream, usually brought on by their mother's stories, or sneaking dessert to him when he'd been sent to bed with no dinner, but the guilt had never gone away and feeling that now only made his anger flare.

Regulus' face was red in the wandlight and his dark eyes glinted dangerously. "I may not have friends" he said through gritted teeth, "but I can say my Mother loves me. Can you?"

Sirius had his wand pointed at Regulus before he really knew what he was doing and he saw Regulus lifting his to match. His mind was blank for spells, but Sirius opened his mouth anyway, desperate to erase the knowing smirk on his brothers face.

"Expelliarmus!"

His wand was suddenly ripped from his hand and when Sirius turned he saw Moores standing with his own wand up. His gaze snapped back to Regulus and Sirius was surprised to see the wand gone from his brother's hand as well.

For a moment it was silent save for their heavy breathing and then Regulus lowered his arm and took a breath.

"I don't know what I've done to make you hate me, Sirius" he said, a trace of genuine confusion beneath the blank mask.

"What you've done?" Sirius spit back, reaching into his pocket. "You've been reporting on me! Back to Mother!" He threw the crumpled letter at his brother with trembling hands. "You know how bad it was last summer!"

Regulus' bewildered face did little to stem Sirius' anger but as his brother smoothed it out and began to read, Sirius felt his breathing pick up. The idea of leaving Hogwarts, of returning to Grimmauld Place, terrified him. He barely survived last summer, how would he make it through another?

"But, I didn't… I wouldn't…"

"Save it!" Sirius shouted back, ignoring Moores when he stepped forward as if to try and physically get between them. "You're just like the rest of our family! Snakes, the lot of you!"

Regulus reeled back as if struck and Sirius didn't look back when he snatched up his wand from the ground and took off down the corridor. He didn't stop until he'd made it back to the Fat Lady, gasped out the password between trembling breaths, and charged inside when it opened, ignoring her when she asked if he was alright.

He bounded up the stairs to the dormitories and then paused to catch his breath. After a moment or two he opened the door and slunk inside as quietly as he could. Pitching himself onto his bed fully clothed he pulled the curtains shut viciously, ignoring the way his breathing was speeding back up.

He managed to muffle the one traitorous sob that escaped him in his pillow and if he pretended his tears were just sweat from the run, well that was his business wasn't it?

His mother and Father, Regulus, even Moores, they could all go to hell as far as he cared.