A/N: As promised, an extra chapter this week. Enjoy :)

Chapter 8 – "Oh, that Poor Boy"

When the brothers came home from school the house was already buzzing with activity being prepared for the guests. Mrs. Harris had been reinforced with three caterers, four waiters, two bartenders and a cloakroom attendant.

Regulus found his mother discussing flower arrangements with a party planner. "Mother - I need to go to bed. I'm feeling ill."

"How stupid do you think I am?" said Mrs. Black, not even looking at him to check if he was actually telling the truth. "This is a very important party and you will attend even if you were dying from a fever." She scribbled her signature on an order form and then turned her head to look at her son. "Now go take a shower and get dressed. I want you looking respectable for the guests. Just like Sirius."

"But I'm ill! My stomach is acting up and I might suddenly vomit, perhaps not even have time to get out of people's way." When he got no answer he continued, "Perhaps it's contagious too. You don't want me to make the guests ill, do you?"

She gripped his arm and pointed at him. "If your stomach truly is upset, I'm sure it's because of all that organic rubbish you fill your body with," she hissed. "You will attend this party because I say so and I will not stand here and listen to your griping. You will not be excused from this event!"

Regulus pulled away from her grasp. She always had to grab him like that when she was scolding him. She knew how much he hated it. "How long do I have to stay?"

"Until the guests go home," she said and turned back her attention to the party planner, who looked a little shocked.

Regulus left for his room in a sulk, deciding to take a very long bath.

o0o0o

Dressed in a brand new Brioni suit, Sirius knocked on Regulus' door a good hour later. "Need help with your tie?" he asked when Regulus stuck his head out.

Regulus hesitated for a second. "Yeah, alright." Sirius was just about the only person Regulus could tolerate standing close to (it made him uncomfortable, but not to the point of panic), and Regulus never had quite gotten the hang of tie knots.

Sirius stepped up to him calmly, put the tie around Regulus' neck and started tying it. "It's going to be fine you know. I'll make sure they stay away from you. At least I'll do my best to make sure of it."

"I hate those pretentious snobs with all their superficial chatter. Mother and father better leave me alone for a while afterwards."

"They probably won't," sighed Sirius as he finished the knot. "They will bitch about how much better we could have done for the business, I'm sure."

"Not you. They're proud of you. At least when it comes to the impression you give at parties."

Sirius looked at his brother and then gently gave his shoulder a squeeze and took a step back to give him some space. "Don't worry so much about what they think. It doesn't mean shite. Just try and keep your speeches about... well everything, to a minimum."

"I don't care what they think about me. I just want them to leave me alone," said Regulus and stuck a small container of hand sanitizer in his pocket. He was probably not going to get out of shaking a few hands so he was going to need it.

o0o0o

Mrs. Black swooped into the hall when they came down, her eagle eyes inspecting them. "Hmm… I guess you look respectable," she said when she reached Regulus. "Now you behave and shake the guests' hands, you hear me?"

"Yes, Mother," said Regulus darkly.

The first guests, the Abrams, arrived ten minutes later. The brothers stood lined up at the bottom of the stairs ready to greet them.

"Oh, both of your boys are here!" said the woman. "I have never seen the young one. Is it Regulus?"

She stuck her hand out for Regulus to shake but he hesitated. Mrs. Black sent him a warning look and he shook it quickly.

"Lovely to see you, Mrs. Abrams," said Sirius, taking her hand and kissing it to take her attention away from Regulus. He had met Mrs. Abrams several times at previous arrangements and knew she was what Regulus would call very pushy. "I hope you had a nice summer?"

"Ah, Sirius – so lovely to see you again," she beamed. "Yes, we had a wonderful summer. We spent two weeks touring vineyards in Provence and Rhone." She took a step back. "Oh, look at the pair of you! Such handsome sons, Mr. and Mrs. Black."

"Yes," smiled Mrs. Black smugly and nodded at her husband. "We are very proud of our sons."

Sirius looked over at Regulus and could clearly see that he was uncomfortable. And these were only the first guests. He would definitely have his work cut out for him.

Regulus retreated further into the house as soon as his parents weren't paying attention. As long as he was standing in the entrance hall he would have to shake every new guest's hand, but if he was further in, at least some would overlook him. Sirius, however, remained in the front hall and greeted every guest that came in.

"Don't you have two sons?" a tall man asked Mr. Black as he shook his hand. "I see young Sirius, but I would have thought your other son would be here as well tonight?"

"He is here," said Mr. Black and turned his head in the direction where Regulus had been standing five minutes ago. He swore inside but gave the man a smile. "Oh, he must have forgotten something. He will be right back, I'm sure." When the man turned to talk to Mrs. Black, Orion went over to Sirius, leaned in and growled in his ear. "Find your God damned brother and bring him back! It's your job! And tell him to stop rubbing his hands with that bloody gel every time he has shaken someone's hand!"

Sirius looked at his father. "Yes, sir," he mumbled and hurried off in the direction he had seen Regulus disappear. "Reggie?" he said when he found him. "You better get back in there or Father will have our heads."

"No. I've already been out there playing the nice little son. Now I'm in here. It isn't as though I've left the party," Regulus said, waving the hand to show all the guests in the parlour.

"You're supposed to be greeting the guests with me. They're asking where you are and Father is furious, as you can probably guess. I suggest that if you don't want a shitload of trouble, you follow me back out there." Sirius sighed, feeling he had taken on more than he could chew.

Regulus grudgingly followed his brother back to the main hall. When they entered, a few of the guests turned their heads and a woman let out a surprised gasp when she spotted Regulus.

"Oh, my! You look so like your brother!" she beamed and went over to shake his hand, which he unwillingly accepted. "Very handsome indeed."

Regulus swallowed and stepped back when the woman finally let go of his hand. He supposed he should be flattered when people called him handsome, but he wasn't. He would rather have been average looking, attracting the least amount of attention. It wasn't as though there was anybody he wanted to attract. Except... He hadn't minded when Remus had complemented his looks. In fact, it had made him feel good, had it not?

When the last guests had arrived, the brothers followed their parents into the parlour. Sirius took a glass from a tray and handed one to Regulus as well. "Just pretend to drink it. It will make you look social," he said and took a sip, sending Mr. And Mrs. Abrams a nod as they passed.

"I don't know why people fill themselves with this poison of their own free will," said Regulus, sniffing the wine. "Alcohol eats brain cells like fire eats paper."

Sirius rolled his eyes and took another gulp. "Because it makes you feel good and wine is not that bad for you. I think I actually read somewhere that a glass of wine a day should be healthy."

The dinner was a buffet, so people could take some food on their plates and still move around among the other guests or take a seat at the many couches and chairs available, should they choose so.

Regulus blankly refused to take anything from a buffet, organic or not. People would take food with their hands, often touching some of the other food, whether by accident or not. Mrs. Harris, of course, knew Regulus well enough to be aware of this and she had provided a platter of personal "Regulus food" in the kitchen.

Mrs. Black, however, did not look pleased when she spotted Regulus walking out from the kitchen with a plate of food. "What is this?" she hissed as she leaned close to Regulus. "You will eat the food that is served and not have the help prepare special meals just for you. There is plenty to choose between in the buffet so you should be able to avoid all the things you think will poison you."

"He's not hurting anyone by getting food from the kitchen," said Sirius, having guessed what the problem was. "I doubt anyone even noticed." He looked around and indeed no one seemed to have paid the slightest bit of attention to Regulus leaving for two minutes.

Mrs. Black sent Sirius a glare but then walked off to mingle with the guests.

Regulus found a chair in a corner and sat down with his plate, hoping that he would be left alone. However, a few minutes later an elderly woman sat down next to him. "Hello, dear," she smiled. "I am so pleased to finally meet you. Your mother says you play the piano?" She took a sip of white wine and when Regulus said nothing, she continued: "Perhaps you would care to play us a piece? I would love to hear some."

"I'm not a circus animal performing tricks," said Regulus, looking at her blankly.

The woman looked a little startled and then got up from her seat, leaving him without a word.

Two minutes later, Mrs. Black walked up to Regulus. "Did you tell Mrs. Finn that you would not play the piano for her?"

"Yes. I don't like to play in front of people. You know that."

"You were very rude to her! You could have said a polite no instead of being rude!"

"I did say no. And I didn't yell or swear or anything."

"Well she felt offended. Now you go apologize to her or you will be sorry!"

Regulus opened his mouth to tell his mother to stuff it, but then changed his mind. Sirius had been promised a new car if Regulus didn't make too much trouble at the party, and recently Sirius had been helping him out a lot (for instance at the dentist) so he decided to make more of an effort. "Fine," he said and got up to find Mrs. Finn. "Madam," he started when he found her. "I apologise if I offended you. I'm just shy about playing for people."

Mrs. Finn turned to look at him and then smiled amicably. "I understand, dear. I was just a little taken aback by your comment, but it's okay if you don't feel comfortable playing for me. I had just hoped."

"I'm sure Regulus wouldn't mind playing a little later," said Mrs. Black and took a hold on Regulus' shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

Regulus had not noticed his mother coming up from behind so he got so spooked that he jumped away, raising his hand protectively in front of himself. The nearby guests stopped talking and gawked at him in surprise. Regulus quickly retreated, not at all liking the attention he was suddenly getting from the nearby guests. Also, he knew that his mother was not someone he would want to be close to right now. There would be hell to pay later.

Sirius had also seen what had happened and hurried after his brother. "Reggie!" he called. "Reggie, wait! You can't leave. You know they will come down hard on you if you do!"

"Yeah? You think they want me here after that display? But it's her own fault! Why did that stupid bitch have to sneak up on me like that?" said Regulus agitatedly.

Sirius stopped him by the shoulders but Regulus quickly shook him off. "I know," said Sirius. "But it will only get worse if you disappear now. You have to go back in and -"

Then footsteps could be heard behind them and Sirius only just turned his head to spot his father coming towards them, before he was in front of Regulus, grabbing him by the arms.

"Let GO!" shrieked Regulus as his father quickly dragged him down the hallway further away from the guests.

"Shut up, you little demon!" he growled. Regulus knew he would have been roaring if there had been no guests in the house. "You are not ruining even more than you have already done by screaming! What do you think you're doing, acting like you're some abused child? Was it your plan to make people think your mother beats you?"

"It's her own fault! She snuck up on me and grabbed me! I got a shock! I didn't have time to think, I just reacted!"

"Don't give me that!" spat Mr. Black and shook Regulus. "What do you think she has to endure right now because of your little scene?"

"I don't care! It's her own fault!"

Sirius had realised that some damage control was in order if this was not going to have devastating consequences for Regulus, so he hurried off to find his mother, who was still standing the same place, trying to behave as though nothing had happened. Sirius went up to her and gave her a hug. "Don't be upset, Mother, you know Regulus didn't mean to react like that. He didn't realise it was you and he's just a little shook up still."

The guests looked from Mrs. Black to Sirius, obviously having no idea what he was talking about.

He turned his attention to them, giving them an apologetic smile. "Yesterday at school some lowlife bullies decided to play a prank on Regulus, so one of them snuck up behind him and hit him hard in the back of his head. He's a sensitive boy, and he was rather shook up, so this must have reminded him of that."

Mrs. Black looked at Sirius and then around at the guests. "Yes. Yes my poor Regulus," she said and struck up a fake smile. "My husband went to check on him, did he not?"

Sirius nodded quickly and let go of his mother. The guests looked worried and Mrs. Finn walked up to Mrs. Black. "Oh that poor boy. Kids nowadays can be so cruel. Do make sure that he is alright."

"Yes I will," said Mrs. Black and turned her attention to Sirius. "You entertain the guests while I check on Regulus," she said and then hurried off to find her son and husband.

Regulus had backed away from his father, trying to put as much distance between them as he could. He could feel himself shaking, but did his best to supress the panic that was stirring in his chest.

"Orion," said Mrs. Black as she reached them. "Sirius took care of it," she said and eyed her younger son. "He made up some story about Regulus being attacked at school, so everything is fine."

Orion looked at his wife and sighed in relief. Then he turned back to Regulus. "You best be glad that you have a quick-witted brother to cover for you," he hissed. "Now go to your room and stay there for the rest of the evening. I don't feel like you causing any more trouble tonight."

"I'll be more than happy to. And you can count on me staying there the rest of the night," said Regulus and slipped past his parents to rush up to his room and lock the door. He sank down on his bed, still shaking, but relieved of getting away. Kreacher, happy to see him, jumped onto his lap and rubbed his forehead against his chin. Regulus hugged his cat close and started sobbing.

o0o0o

Sirius knocked on Regulus' door later that evening when the guests had gone home. "Reggie? Are you asleep?"

Regulus didn't answer, hoping that Sirius would go away, but when he knocked again he sighed and got up to unlock the door.

Sirius slipped in, closing the door behind him. "Good thing they let you go here after only a few hours. How are you?"

Regulus shrugged. "How do you think? It's funny, though - turned out that it wasn't the guests who were worst. It was them. How stupid can they be? They know what things set me off!"

"I don't know," sighed Sirius. "They're bloody idiots, I guess."

A/N: To see Zayhad's illustration to the chapter go to deviantart dot com and look up Zayhad. She has a folder in her gallery with the story's name on it.