A/N: So we're nearing the end. Only two more chapters (apart from this one)

Chapter 33 – Permission Granted

"How's your brother?" asked James.

"Not too good," sighed Sirius and took off his jacket. "I said some stuff I didn't mean and he flipped and I was kicked out."

James sighed. "Well, don't kill yourself over it. You know how touchy he is."

Padfoot came running and jumped up Sirius, licking his face.

"Who's a good boy?" Sirius beamed and laughed when Padfoot barked as an answer. "Has he behaved?"

"Besides slobbering all over the couch, yeah," grinned James.

Mrs. Potter came out when she heard the commotion and asked Sirius how his brother was and how the case was going. "Listen, why don't we go and get your things and move in here? You're eighteen and not planning on going back to live there, are you?"

Sirius looked at her a little stunned and it took him a few seconds to respond. "Sure! If you won't mind having me here?"

"Of course we won't mind. We have plenty of space. You can take the largest guest room," smiled Mrs. Potter. "Say - how about I order a moving van with personnel? Then all you have to do is pack your clothes and smaller items. They will do the actual moving."

Sirius nodded. "It would probably be best to wait until Mum and Dad aren't home. Just in case they want to make a scene."

o0o0o

Sirius changed his mind about waiting until his parents weren't home. Instead he ordered the van at a time he was pretty sure they would be.

Mrs. Black heard the noise as the boys and the two removers made their way through the house. "What are you doing?" she asked from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm moving out," said Sirius in a cold tone and turned to fix his mother with a gaze that told her how little he thought of her. "I do not wish to stay in this house another second and I am old enough to move out."

"Oh... Well, a warning would have been nice, instead of you just marching in here."

"I didn't feel like talking to you," Sirius said flatly. "You might think I was threatening you or something. You know... like Dad thinks with Reggie?"

"Threatened? Do you call stabbing someone a threat?"

"We all know that Dad did something to Reggie to set him off," Sirius spat. "And you just tell everyone that he's insane!"

"He is, and you know it," said Mrs. Black, following Sirius into his room where he started giving instructions to the men. "It was only out of our good hearts that we protected him as long as we did."

"You treated him with no respect at all and just kept pushing and pushing him," Sirius said and started throwing things angrily into a gym bag. You didn't protect him ever. I did! At school. At home. You know nothing about him and he is your son! And you know nothing about me either!"

Mrs. Black was about to start screaming at him but then seemed to remember the removers. She didn't want too big a scene in front of strangers. "You come with me now so we can discuss this in peace!" she hissed.

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

Mrs. Black marched downstairs and found her husband sitting with a newspaper in the reading room

Mr. Black looked up. "Who was that?" he asked and put the paper down.

"Your son is moving out."

"What?" said Orion, a little taken aback by the news. He got up from his seat and hurried to Sirius' room along with his wife, ready to tell his son a thing or two.

They had to pass the removers carrying a heavy oaken desk down the stairs. In the room James was helping Sirius take the bookshelves apart.

"You're moving out? Just like that? No discussing it first?"

"Yup," said Sirius, not even facing his father as he spoke to him. "I don't fancy living in a house where we are treated like this. Where you tried to kill Regulus and then cover it up by sending him to a loony bin."

"You have some nerve, boy," growled Orion and shot a glance over his shoulder to see if the men were coming back. "What happened with your brother was inevitable. He is crazy. I talked to the hospital and they confirmed it. They're having a lot of trouble with him."

"He isn't crazy!" snapped Sirius and finally looked at his father. "And even if he were you should still have taken care of him and not thrown him into an asylum where he can just rot! He only stabbed you because you tried to choke him!"

Orion's face turned crimson and he raised a hand to smack his son but stopped in mid-air when he met Sirius' burning gaze.

"Go ahead!" said Sirius in a dangerous tone and stuck his head a little further out. "That's what you do best, or would you rather strangle me?"

Orion's hand hovered in the air for a moment but then he took it down. It was clear that Sirius was going to fight back, and unlike Regulus, Sirius was big and strong enough to match him.

Sirius stared him down and then huffed. "I didn't think so. You don't want to hit me when my friend is watching? Or are you afraid that I'll kick your arse?"

"If you're moving out like this, don't ever come back," said Orion.

"I wasn't planning on it."

"And you can forget about inheriting the company."

"I don't want your stupid company! I'll find myself a good job that actually makes sense. Now get out of my room so I can pack the rest of my stuff!" When his father didn't move, Sirius picked up a book and threw it at him.

The book landed at Orion's feet. He stared at his son, first in disbelief, then rage. "Get out," he snarled, his hands clenching into fists. "Take your things and get out - or I will call the police!"

"Yeah - that's just like you, innit?" Sirius barked. "You call the fuzz when you can't handle your children! Are you going to tell them I tried to paper cut you to death?"

"Good thing I was here as a witness," grinned James.

You could almost see smoke rising from Orion's scull. "You ungrateful curse of a son!" he shouted.

"Orion!" said Mrs. Black, standing in the doorway. He turned to look at her and she mimicked to him to contain himself because the removers were coming back up the stairs.

"Don't worry. I'll be gone within the hour if you stay out of my way!" said Sirius.

Before leaving, Orion walked up to his son and hissed. "Tomorrow I'm contacting a lawyer to change our wills so you will only get the absolute minimum the law requires."

"I don't care!" Sirius hissed back. "You can keep all your money and spend them on a fancy gravestone for you and Mum."

Walburga stepped up to Sirius as well, looking livid. "Curse you. Curse you to hell!"

Sirius left the house with James, feeling truly free for the first time in his life.

o0o0o

It was not until the afternoon that day that Regulus' head cleared up enough so that he could remember what had happened the day before. They had knocked him out when he had continued screaming and thrashing even fifteen minutes after being strapped down.

Although his memory wasn't clear, he knew that Sirius had upset him and he had thrown him out. The last image of his face before the door was shut was the only thing that stood clear in his mind: one of regret and despair. Regulus couldn't recall precisely what his brother had said to upset him, but could it really have been bad enough for Regulus to react as strongly as he had? He had accused him of not being on his side, but that couldn't be true, could it? Sirius had always been on his side. No matter how many fights they had had, Sirius had always had his back. He got up and pushed the button that called the staff.

The kindest of the nurses came into the room. "Yes?" she smiled.

"I want to see my brother," Regulus announced.

"Oh? But you threw him out yesterday. Well, I suppose it would be good for you to make up," she smiled. "I'll give him a call for you."

About an hour later there was a knock on the door and Sirius stepped into the room, looking very humble. "Hi, Reggie," he said in a small voice, staying near the door, ready to leave if Regulus should change his mind about seeing him.

"I'm sorry I threw you out," mumbled Regulus, glad to see his brother.

"I deserves it," said Sirius and sat down on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked, studying his brother.

"I don't remember exactly what you said because they drugged me again, but I guess... I know you want to help me. That you want me out of here. You don't think I belong in here, do you?"

"Of course I want you out of here. We all do. We're working hard on getting you out." Sirius sighed and looked out the window. "I moved out of the house today and in with James. I'm going to get my own place soon. I hope you want to come live with me."

"Well, I don't want to go back to them. I'm afraid what father might do. I don't know if he truly wanted to kill me or just hurt me."

"You're never going back there," said Sirius determinedly. "Did... did he just attack you out of the blue?"

"He..." said Regulus, furrowing his brows, trying to remember exactly what had happened. "He was yelling because of the party. He cornered me in the kitchen. Said he was going to teach me a lesson. I tried to run. He caught me..."

Sirius listened as Regulus talked. "I won't let him hurt you again," he said, letting out a remorseful sigh. "I'm sorry I wasn't home, Reggie. I should have been."

Regulus shrugged. "You aren't my babysitter."

"I'm your big brother and I'm supposed to look after you."

There was a knock on the door and the nurse stuck her head in. "You have another visitor," she smiled and let Remus in.

Regulus got up and hugged Remus, burying his nose in his shoulder.

Remus wrapped his arms around him and kissed his head. "Are you okay?" He was glad to see that Regulus seemed to have forgiven his brother.

Sirius got up. "I will leave you two alone for a while, shall I?"

Remus hooked a finger under Regulus' chin and tipped his head up so he could look at him. "Hey," he said again before leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

Regulus responded eagerly, frantically pulling Remus close. He had never needed comfort more than now, and being close to Remus was the best comfort he could get. It was funny how his disgust of physical closeness was at a high since he had come in here, but at the same time his need for Remus' closeness had doubled.

o0o0o

Sirius sat down in the hospital cafeteria with a club sandwich and a cup of tea. When he had eaten his sandwich he called Mrs. Harris. She picked up at third ring. "Mrs. Harris? It's Sirius."

"Oh, hello dear! How are you? How is Regulus?"

"Not good. They're drugging him constantly because he's being difficult. Whenever he gets worked up they strap him down and sedated him. It's like it's the only solution they have. He's miserable in here. It's hard to witness."

"I understand, dear." Mrs. Harris sighed. "I wish I could do something for him. Is there anything I can do? Should I come visit? I bet that poor lad is starving with the food they serve in there."

"There actually is something important you can do," said Sirius. "Our lawyer is building a case and needs people who can testify on Regulus' behalf. You know him well, and you've seen how Father treats him."

"Of course I will! I can tell them a thing or two about what a horrible parent he is!"

"You'll lose your job, though…" said Sirius.

Mrs. Harris laughed. "Did you think I would stay there a minute longer after you lads had moved out? I've already quit. Did that the day you told me what had happened. And I gave them both a piece of my mind, I did. Said some things I've been longing to say for years. I only worked there and put up with them all that time for you boys' sake."

"I'm glad you did. You've meant a lot to us. Especially Reggie. I don't know how he would have managed without your cooking and cutting his hair and all those things he won't let other people do. You've been more of a mother to us than that vicious bitch ever has."

Mrs. Harris didn't speak for a moment, and when she did Sirius could tell how moved she was from the sound of her voice, which was close to breaking. "I will do everything in my power," she said. "Even if I have to force that judge to let him off."

o0o0o

After ten minutes of kissing Remus and Regulus sat down on the bed. Regulus rubbed his sore upper arm and pulled back the sleeve, revealing all the needle marks.

Remus looked at them with a sad expression and carefully touched with his fingertips. "They can't even be gentle about that, huh?"

"No, they just stab me. A wonder they haven't broken a needle yet."

Remus looked at him with a serious expression. "Maybe you should ask them for pills instead. Then they won't have to do this to you."

Regulus eyed him sceptically. "So you think I need medication too? That I need crazy-pills?"

"No," Remus said and shook his head. "But they are going to keep forcing you to take medicine while you're here and I hate to see them hurt like this, so I just thought that pills would be the better option. Then they won't have to touch you at all."

"It would send the wrong message to them," said Regulus. But he could see what Remus meant. The worst part about getting the shots was the manhandling.

"I know, but can't you at least consider it?" said Remus, letting a finger brush over the puncture marks again. "They don't care about what signals you're sending them anyway. I don't want them to hurt you and if you take your meds willingly they won't have to."

Regulus sighed. "Yeah... I suppose you're right. But I don't know how to take pills. I only do it when I have to take antibiotics and then I crush them and mix them into a smoothie or something."

"Just swallow and quickly drink a lot of water."

"I suppose," said Regulus, cheering up a bit as he got an idea.

o0o0o

The next morning when two nurses came in, one holding a syringe, Regulus held up a hand, saying, "STOP!" when they moved in to grab him.

"You have to get your medicine."

"I've changed my mind about the pills," said Regulus, still holding his hand up. "I'll take them. If you lot don't touch me."

The nurses looked a little surprised but then agreed. One of them left and came back with three pills and a cup of water, holding it out to him. "Here you go."

"I'm not eating them when you've touched them with your infested hands!" snarled Regulus, eying the pills. "Get the bottles and roll them directly into my hand!"

The nurse sighed and left. He returned a minute later with a bottle. "Hold out your hand, then," he said in an exasperated voice.

Regulus slowly reached out his hand. "Don't touch it!" he warned.

The other nurse rolled her eyes. The male nurse shook the bottle and two pills rolled into Regulus hand. "There. Now eat them and be done with it."

Regulus eyed the bottle. "These are for what?"

"Anxiety."

"Cunningham, you forgot the sedatives," said the other nurse. "I'll go fetch them."

"I don't need sedatives," grumbled Regulus. He hated the feeling of being dizzy and half-asleep. It made him feel extremely vulnerable. "I'm calm now, aren't I?"

"As long as that lasts," snorted the nurse.

"Fine. You will get one chance. If you become difficult you're getting sedatives," said the male nurse. He tapped his foot impatiently and crossed his arms, looking much like he was ready to stuff the pills down Regulus' throat if he didn't swallow them soon. "Well? Did you change your mind and would rather have the shot?"

Regulus watched the pills for a second, then stuffed them into his mouth, hid them under his tongue and swallowed, hoping to trick them. He had seen people do this on TV a million times, and perhaps it would work in real life. He took a gulp of water.

The nurse eyed him sceptically for a moment. "Good job."

As soon as the door closed behind the nurses Regulus spit out the pills, nearly retching from the taste. Then he stuffed the pills under the mattress and washed his mouth with water.

At dinnertime the kind nurse arrived with a trey of food. Regulus' stomach turned in disgust. Both because he was sure the food was not organic and because there was no way of knowing how many unwashed fingers had touched it while preparing it. His stomach was screaming for food (he had eaten nothing for a week and he could feel his boxers get looser) but he could simply not eat this. "No," he said, looking away from the trey.

"But you have to eat, dear," she said a little concerned and put the tray down. Regulus just looked away from her and she sighed. "Is there anything I can get you instead? You have to eat something soon or you will get ill and I'm sure both your brother and boyfriend would be very sad about that."

"I might also get ill if I eat that. Did you know that a study has found that only 2/3 of hospital staff wash their hands after visiting the bathroom?"

"Well, I washed mine," she smiled and showed him her hands. "And I used hand sanitizer too. I know how you feel about germs so I'm extra careful."

"You didn't cook it and you have no way of knowing if all the people involved washed their hands. No, I won't eat it."

She sighed and picket up the tray. "If I can convince the doctor to let your brother bring you some food, will you eat, then?"

"Yes," said Regulus, his eyes lighting up.

"I will ask," she smiled.

Doctor White, however, was relentless. "We can't just bend to our patients' demands. What would we be teaching him? That it pays off to be stubborn and refuse to cooperate. No, I'm sure he's about to crack. He must be extremely hungry."

"He won't eat anything that he doesn't know where came from," she insisted.

"Well, he will have to. And if not by own free will we will have to force-feed him.

The nurse looked horrified. "You can't be serious! There's no need for such harsh measures! Can't we please just let his brother bring his food? We are supposed to take care of him, not break him!"

Doctor White sent her an irritated look. "Are you the doctor or am I? You don't have a problem with force-feeding the anorectic."

"That's… that's different," she said. "He wants to eat, just not our food. He isn't anorectic!"

"Did you not hear what I said? It would be a bad lesson for him. My way will show him that eating our food isn't dangerous. And it will teach him that he can't just arrange everything in life like he wants. I will hear no more of this."

When the nurse had left, the doctor picked up the phone and dialled Mr. Black. "Mr. Black? It's Doctor White."

Orion sat in his study, quiet for a moment as if afraid to let Doctor White know that he was there. "Yes?" he finally said. "What has that bloody boy done now?"

"He refuses to eat. Hasn't eaten a bite since he was committed. I need your permission to force-feed him."

"Permission granted," said Mr. Black and couldn't help smirking. He knew just how Regulus would react to that. His wife had tried it on several occasions.

"Good. I will fax you a paper that you have to sign."

"Fine," said Mr. Black and hung up.

o0o0o

"I'm sorry," the nurse said with a sad expression on her face as she looked at the thin boy in front of her. "I tried to convince Doctor White to let your brother bring you food, but he wouldn't allow it. You have to eat what we serve."

"It will be nothing, then," said Regulus, looking determined.

"Please, dear," she said. "Either you eat or they will start force-feeding you, like they do with anorectics."

Regulus' eyes widened. "You mean to stuff food down my throat, like some foie gras goose? How can you do that! Feeding geese like that is not even legal in this country!"

"They will do it, Regulus, unless you start eating," she warned him.

Regulus turned his back to her, refusing to show how unsettled he was. "I will not eat and I will not be fed," he said in a forced calm voice. "It's my body. If I chose to starve, that's my business."

"Not in here, it isn't," she sighed.

o0o0o

Remus arrived at the hospital with his mother the next day. Sirius would visit later. They found Regulus sitting curled up on the corner of the bed like he did most of the time. His eyes were dull, indicating that he had been sedated again. Remus went to sit down on the edge of the bed and gently let a hand run over his raven black hair. "Hey," he said in a soft voice.

Mrs. Lupin walked up slowly and stopped a few feet from the boy, keeping out of his personal space. "How are you doing, dear? You look tired."

Regulus didn't say anything, just leaned into Remus' touch.

"Have you still not eaten?" Mrs. Lupin asked worriedly.

"They want to force-feed me..." mumbled Regulus.

"What?" said Remus in shock. "Mum? Can't we do something?"

Mrs. Lupin's face had turned pale. "I assure you that we can," she said. "This is the last straw!" Then she left, forgetting to close the door behind her.

She marched up to the meeting room where she ran into a nurse. "Is it true what I'm hearing?" she asked, looking livid. "That you plan to force-feed Regulus?"

"Well, he won't eat on his own," said the nurse and looked coldly at her. "We have a signed document from his father giving us permission to do so."

"Oh, really? Where is Doctor White?"

"He doesn't have time right now, he's having lunch in his office," said the nurse.

"I don't care how much time he has or hasn't!" said Mrs. Lupin and marched over and barged through the door to the doctor's office, the nurse shouting after her to stop.

Doctor White looked up from his sandwich in surprise.

"What do you think you're doing, planning to force-feed Regulus?" Mrs. Lupin demanded. "I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

"The boy won't eat so we are considering him anorectic," Doctor White said and dapped his mouth with a napkin before giving her his full attention. "One nurse asked if you people could be allowed to bring him food but that would send the wrong signal to the boy."

"Wrong signal?" said Mrs. Lupin, positively fuming. "The boy is not anorectic! In all my years of practicing psychiatry I have never met such incompetence!"

"Now you listen here," said Doctor White, going a bit red in the face. "I run a perfectly good ward here and I know how to handle this sort of patient. The key is to not let him have his way!"

"Do you not know the laws of procedures in treating patients, or did you sleep in class the day it was taught? Force-feeding is a last resort when NO OTHER METHOD has proven to work! Another method WILL work - Regulus will eat on his own if provided with specific food!" She hammered a fist into the desk so the rest of the doctor's sandwich jumped off his plate. "If you go through with this plan I will report you to the Board of Health. See what they have to say about how you treat that law!"

Doctor White's face drained. "But he won't eat anything, so what exactly do you want us to do if not force-feed him?"

"Don't play dumb! We have made it perfectly clear - he is afraid of food that is not organic and he's afraid that the food has not been prepared with proper hygiene!"

"So what would you have me do?" Doctor White asked again. "We can't very well let the bloody boy prepare his own food. It could be dangerous to let him near a knife."

"We have begged you several times to let us bring him food! He trusts us to cook for him and no one else. You can inspect it first if you're afraid we're trying to smuggle in something dangerous."

Doctor White hesitated a little and then sighed, nodding. "Fine. You may bring him food but I want a nurse to inspect it before you give it to him."

"Good. Mrs. Lupin turned to walk away but then stopped. "And I better not hear of any more abusive treatment of this boy, or I will report you! Jesus Christ, this place is like walking into a mental asylum in the fifties!"

"So?" Remus asked when she came back. Regulus sat leaned against him, looking pale and tired. "What did they say?"

"I talked some sense into that wretched excuse of a psychiatrist. Or rather, threatened some sense into him. We're allowed to bring you food, Regulus."

Regulus' head snapped up and his eyes became a bit clearer. "Really?"

"Yes, really," smiled Mrs. Lupin. "Remus, could you call Sirius and ask him to get some food and bring it here as fast as he can?"

"Sure," beamed Remus and dug out his mobile from his pocket.

Sirius arrived an hour later carrying a plastic container with damped chicken, vegetables and rice, enough to feed at least three people. He smiled as he walked in. "Did someone order food? Mrs. Harris' special."

Regulus reached out his hands, eagerly taking the box and ripping it open. He ate for ten minutes without a word while Sirius sat down and talked to the others. Mrs. Lupin told him about her conversation with the doctor.

"Finally someone put him in his place. Good thing you did it, or I would have and that would just have landed me up in jail."

Regulus only ate a third of the food, because when you have been starving for so long you quickly get full. He covered the rest in foil and hid it in a drawer in the nightstand. Then he looked at Sirius. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, little brother," he smiled. "It's nice to see you eating again. Get some colour back in your face." Sirius watched him closer, noticing how dull he looked. He pushed back his sleeve, revealing two fresh needle marks, still with a little dry blood around them. "They sedated you again?"

"I was being difficult."

Sirius frowned and looked like he was about to burst with anger. "They can't keep doing this! I'm going to give them a piece of my mind!"

"Sirius it will do no good," Remus sighed. "They will keep doing it until Regulus behaves."

"I tried to eat the pills but then I threw up and they injected me instead. Also with sedatives. Doctor White yelled at me. That he was tired of me acting like a diva."

"He yelled at you?" Remus asked and ran a hand down Regulus' back. "He is very unprofessional if he yells at a patient and calls him a diva."

Mrs. Lupin shook her head in disbelief and put a hand on Sirius shoulder to stop him from storming out. "I've already had a serious talk with him, Sirius. I threatened him with reporting him to the Board of Health and it scared him. If there are any more episodes I will have to talk to him again."

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.