Chapter 34 – Sounds Suspicious Indeed
"The court date has been set for June 17th," said Mr. Prince as they all sat down for a meeting.
"But that's in six weeks!" blurted Sirius. "My brother won't last that long! They're mistreating him! He's sedated most of the time and just sits staring at the wall. He doesn't even want to read the books we brought him or listen to his mp3 player."
"I know," sighed Mr. Prince. "But that was the only date we could get, so unless you can persuade your father to drop the charges we will have to wait for court."
Remus looked down at the table. He hated to think of Regulus locked up in the hospital for another six weeks, but it was out of the question that Mr. Black would drop the charges.
"If he gets convicted he will have to stay in there for a very long time, and I'm afraid there is a considerable risk of that," sighed Mr. Prince. "The prosecution's case is strong. They have quite a few witnesses. There is a history of violent reactions to touch. In school alone there are several records of your brother being violent to other students. I talked to the public prosecutor and he told me of a group of students who mentioned quite a few serious incidents, among other things that Regulus cut one of them with a broken bottle."
"Those fucking fuckers!" snarled Sirius to himself. "They're the ones who cut Regulus with a bottle! Bloody hell! I should have killed Avery when I had the chance!"
Mr. Prince raised an eyebrow. "There is a good chance I can get the judge to dismiss the case on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct, but if that fails then all we have are witnesses who can testify that your father has a history of being abusive and threatening towards Regulus. Has your house keeper agreed to testify?"
Sirius nodded.
"Good. She will be our strongest card. People are more likely to believe her word than yours, Sirius, because Regulus is your little brother and older siblings tend to be protective of their younger siblings."
"Do... do you think that will be enough?" asked Remus. "I mean, don't I need to say something or is it best that I don't? Regulus has been very strict with who knows about us so I doubt he would be pleased if I reveal it."
"You should speak," said the lawyer. "You come off as a kind and likable person. "Whether we present you as Regulus' boyfriend of just his friend is up to Regulus." He sighed and looked at Sirius. "Are you sure there is no way you could convince your father to drop the charges? Can't you think of anything to negotiate with?"
o0o0o
When Sirius came back he headed straight for James' room. "Jamie, I could use your help tomorrow. I'm planning to sneak into my old home when my parents are at work and search my dad's office."
"What for?"
"Not sure. But I want to go through all the accounts and company-related papers. I suspect there might be something fishy."
"Something illegal? Like tax fraud? What makes you suspect that?"
"I've been thinking a lot about anything that might be used to blackmail my dad to drop the charges against Regulus. And then I remembered overhearing something a couple of years ago. My mother was asking him if he had taken care of our accountant's extra bonus. It sounded like it was something off the books. They were talking about cash. If it weren't something illegal, then why cash?"
"Sounds suspicious indeed," said James and looked very thoughtful.
They searched and skimmed document after document for hours without finding anything suspicious. At four O'clock Sirius closed the folder he had been looking in. "Let's go. They might be back soon. If they find us here they'll probably have us arrested for burglary."
James sighed and got up from his chair. "I suppose you're right. Will we return or is this hopeless?"
"Oh, we'll return. I'm not giving up so easily and I'm sure there's something fishy somewhere. Otherwise, why would they pay their accountant a super high "special bonus" in cash if not to help them cheat with the accounts?"
Sirius' phone buzzed in his pocket. "Sirius, dear," sounded Mrs. Harris' voice. "I have made another dish for your little brother. Do you think it's okay if I deliver it myself? I mean, will they allow non-family members?"
"Well, they allow Remus and his mother," Sirius said. "Regulus will be glad to see you!"
o0o0o
The nurse who answered the door to the ward, looked Mrs. Harris up and down. "Who are you here to visit?"
"Regulus Black," she said and smiled. "I'm his friend."
The nurse eyed the steaming package of food in Mrs. Harris' hands. "Oh, yes. You brought his food, I see. Our own little prince. Gets special treatment," she said in a sardonic tone.
"Well, I would have you know that this little prince is a sweet and gentle boy if he's treated decently," Mrs. Harris said in a fake sweet tone. "He has some issues - as I'm sure all your patients have, why else would they be here? – which makes eating problematic for him. You should be glad for him that he has friends who take care of him when you fail so miserably."
The nurse pressed her lips together and sent Mrs. Harris a sour gaze. "I have to check the food before you can give it to him," she said curtly. "Doctor's orders."
Without knocking, the nurse opened Regulus' door and stuck her head inside. "Another visitor," she said and left.
"Hello, luv," said Mrs. Harris, finding Regulus lying on the bed with his head on Remus' lap.
Regulus sat up quickly, his eyes widening in his pale face. "Mrs. Harris!" he gasped and rushed over to hug her. Something he had never done before.
Mrs. Harris looked stunned but wrapped an arm around the frail boy and hugged him back. "My dear boy. You're so skinny! I brought you some more food."
"Thank you," said Regulus, letting her go. "It's very nice of you. I would starve if it weren't for you."
"Well of course, dear," she smiled. "And hello, Remus. Good to see you here to comfort Regulus."
Regulus sat down by the small table while Mrs. Harris unpacked the food for him. He only ate a bit. Although he was grateful for Mrs. Harris bringing him safe food, he didn't have much of an appetite, miserable as he was. The only time he didn't sit and stare melancholically at the walls was when he had visitors.
The nurse came half an hour later to announce that visiting hours were over. She had brought two other nurses in case Regulus caused trouble, as he often did when Remus and Sirius had to go.
Regulus froze. "No. They aren't in the way. They can stay here. I won't be difficult if they just stay here."
"Can't we stay just a little longer so we can say properly goodbye to Regulus?" Remus begged.
"Visiting hours are over now," repeated the nurse. "And it wouldn't change anything even if we let you stay longer. He would still make a scene. Now, leave so we can get on with our work. We will give him something to sleep on, so don't worry about him."
"No, don't give him more sedatives!" Remus pleaded, but little did it help. He and Mrs. Harris were ushered unceremoniously out of the room.
Mrs. Harris looked at Remus in shock as they heard the screams and tumult behind the now closed door. "Is it like that every day?"
"Depends on the nurses on watch," said Remus in a sad voice. "Some of them give me time to talk him down."
"We have to get him out of this horrible place. I've never seen the poor lad this miserable," said Mrs. Harris.
o0o0o
Sirius and James went back to Grimmauld Place the day after and the day after that. Then finally Sirius found something that looked suspicious. He wasn't an expert in accounting but he couldn't get the numbers on these document to add up compared to the tax forms. He showed them to James and they agreed it needed looking into. Instead of stealing the folders (which Orion might discover were missing) he took copies of all the documents in question.
Back at the Potters' they found Mr. and Mrs. Potter sitting in the living room, drinking their afternoon tea.
"Could you please have a look at these?" said Sirius and pulled the documents out of his bag and handed them to Mr. Potter.
"What is this?" asked Mr. Potter and put on his glasses. Mrs. Potter leaned in to look at the papers in his lap.
Sirius explained his suspicions.
"Oh, my," said Mrs. Potter. "Do you really think so?"
They studied the documents for about half an hour and finally Mr. Potter looked up. "Yes, these numbers don't add up. If I'm not mistaken, they have cheated the tax office for over 200,000 pounds a year. And who knows for how long."
Sirius' lip curled into a vindictive smile. "Thank you," he said and took the documents. "That's all I needed to hear."
"So what now?" asked James eagerly when they had retreated to his room.
"I'm going to confront him, of course," said Sirius and waved the pages back and forth.
"What if he won't budge? Are you going to turn him in?"
"Damn right, I am," nodded Sirius. "At least a little justice will be done then and maybe it will come off as a good defence for Regulus that Dad is a fraud."
o0o0o
Counting on his parents still being at work, Sirius decided to go to the company headquarters first. The clerk at the front desk looked up as they stepped in. "Oh, Sirius," she said with a wide smile. "What brings you here?"
Sirius sent her a smile. "I'm here to see my dear parents. But if only Father's in, I'll settle with him."
"Oh, they're both here. Working late as usual."
Without knocking, Sirius marched into his parents' office. "Hello, Mother, Father," he said in a cool tone.
They both looked up, his mother leaning over her husband's desk in the middle of showing him something on the computer screen. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"What? A son can't visit his parents at work? I'm hurt," Sirius said, putting a hand to his chest. "But no matter. I just came to talk about something that you clearly don't want the world to know." He pulled out the papers from his bag and waved them. "Tell me... have you been cheating on your taxes?"
Walburga gasped and Orion's eyes grew wide.
"What on earth are you talking about?" he asked.
"How dare you?" screamed Walburga.
Sirius waved the papers again and smirked even wider. "You have. I can tell from the look on your faces. Don't try to deny it. I have it here on paper. I even had Mr. Potter look at them and he agrees with me."
Orion sat frozen, seemingly in shock.
"Give me that!" ordered Walburga, marching over to Sirius and reaching for the papers in his hands.
Sirius quickly moved his hand away and looked into his mother's face. "I believe I am giving the orders here. You have something that I want. In exchange I will not turn you in."
"What? What are you talking about? I will not stand here suffering your evil accusations! Out! Get out!" she screamed and pointed to the door.
"No, Walburga, wait," said Orion, standing up. "Let's take it easy now and hear what Sirius has to say."
Sirius had taken a step back from his mother's violent outburst but now turned his attention to his father. "I want you to withdraw your charges against Regulus. Tell the police what you like, but I want Regulus out of that hospital by tomorrow. Or I'm giving these to the IRS!"
"What? You can't mean that! He's dangerous," sneered Walburga. "He stabbed your father!"
"In self-defence!" Sirius spat. "Isn't that right, Dad? You tried to kill Regulus so you could be done with his nonsense."
"Why would I try to kill him? I'm not a murderer!"
"Well, even if you didn't plan it, you let your hate get the better of you. It doesn't matter. Makes the same difference," said Sirius. "You will go to the police and you will get Reggie released, or you both go to prison for tax fraud. It's up to you."
Walburga let out a shrill sound of fury and Orion stepped closer to Sirius, reaching for the papers in his hand.
Sirius let him take them. "Go ahead. I have more copies."
Orion pressed his lips together, peering at his son with a venomous gaze but then stepped back. "Alright. I will drop the damn charges if that will get you to leave us alone and stop bothering us!"
"It will," said Sirius, trying to hide his excitement. "Oh, and I have one more request."
"What?" snarled Orion.
"I want you to sign these papers. I'll be Regulus' guardian until he comes of age."
Walburga raised her eyebrows. "What do you want to be his guardian for?"
"I don't want him living with you anymore. I want him to be safe and free of you."
"And what are you going to do?" his mother snapped and then laughed. "Move him in with the Potters? They will throw him out by the end of the week!"
"No," said Sirius. "I will get us an apartment, but until then Regulus will be staying with his boyfriend."
The Blacks stood frozen for a very long moment, Mr. Black's jaw dropped.
"What?" gasped Walburga finally. "Are you saying your brother is... homosexual?"
"A faggot," said Orion. "Well, of course he is - that boy is messed up in the head, so why not that as well? I don't know what went wrong. Perhaps he didn't get enough oxygen at birth."
Sirius clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "You should just be happy that he found love. You never loved him and I doubt you ever loved me either. You should never have had children!" He threw the custody papers at them. "Sign these and make sure Reggie is out of the hospital by tomorrow."
o0o0o
The next day Remus sat with Regulus' head in his lap, having finally made him stop crying. The staff had forced him to come into the common room, saying it was time to socialise with the other patients. The others had been curious and several of them very pushy and Regulus had had a major panic attack.
"I don't want to be here anymore," Regulus snivelled. "If I'm going to stay here forever, then I'd rather be dead."
"Don't say that," said Remus and ran a gentle hand through Regulus' his hair. "We will get you out of here soon, I promise."
"How? We're going to lose the trial. Everybody always believes my father. Nobody believes me - in here or the police."
"We will get you out," repeated Remus. "I'll testify that you're the sweetest person I know and would never hurt someone without reason. And Mr. Prince will show them the bruises on your neck. I took pictures, remember? And Sirius and Mrs. Harris will tell them the truth about your father."
There were sounds of footsteps coming down the hall and then a key turning the lock. Remus looked at the door, fearing that they would come and sedate Regulus.
"Regulus Black?" said the nurse who came in, carrying some clothes and a bag. "Pack your things. You're free to leave."
"I don't want to go out there again. The others are violating my personal space!" said Regulus.
"You misunderstand," she said and put the things down on a chair. "You're going home."
"Home?" Regulus looked from the nurse to Remus. "W-what do you mean?"
"Your father dropped the charges and demanded that you were released right away," she said. "Don't know why he suddenly change his mind."
"He... he dropped the charges?" asked Regulus, his eyes wide as he sat up. "Why? Are you joking?"
"I don't know why. Now, put on your clothes. There's a car waiting for you outside. I think it's your brother."
The nurse left the room and Remus beamed at Regulus. He leaned forward and hugged him. "I told you we would get you out of here."
Regulus looked completely flabbergasted. "I can go?"
"Yes, you can," smiled Remus. "She said Sirius was waiting outside. Maybe he knows what has happened."
Regulus stood for a minute, then changed into his own clothes and tossed the hated hospital suit on the floor. The walk down the hall felt like something in a surreal dream. He walked closely to Remus, hanging on tightly to him, afraid that they would jump him and tear him away from Remus, yelling, "April's Fool!" or something like that.
They found Sirius waiting in the parking lot leaned against his car with a grin on his face. "Hello, baby brother," he said as if nothing special had happened.
Regulus stared at him, still confused. The sedatives' effect from that morning had not worn off completely, so it was hard for him to fully comprehend the situation. "What... What's happening? Why did they let me go?"
"I just had a little talk with Dad, and he and I agreed that it would be best if you went home with Remus until I could get us a flat. Also, I'm going to take care of you now. Not like that's going to be any different, except that I'm your legal guardian now."
Regulus stared at him. "You're getting a flat? I'm not going back to them?"
Sirius shook his head. "I'd never let you go back with them after what happened."
"How did you manage to get Father to agree to let me out?"
Sirius shrugged. "Let's just say I got something on him he doesn't want anyone else finding out."
"You got signatures? For both custody and the dropping of charges?"
Sirius nodded.
"So they can't regret?"
"They can't and they won't."
"What happened to your Porsche?" asked Regulus, suddenly noticing that Sirius was driving a different car.
"I sold it. I needed some quick cash," said Sirius and opened the door for Regulus.
Regulus raised an eyebrow. "Quick cash? For what? The lawyer?"
"But this is a good car too," Sirius quickly added, seeing the look on his brother's face. "I don't mind. I got the car for looking after you, anyway, and frankly I didn't do a very good job."
Regulus felt a sting of guilt. He knew how much Sirius had loved that car. "You should buy it back. You can have some of my money. From my savings account."
"We'll need our money for other things than fancy cars. We still need to put you through school, for one thing. What I have left from the car should be enough for the downpayment for a nice flat, but Hogwarts isn't cheap. So unless you can get a scholarship or something, we will have to find the money. I'll speak to Dumbledore on Monday."
o0o0o
When Remus and Regulus stepped out of the car at Remus' place Regulus walked up to the car window and leaned in. "Thank you, Sirius, for everything you've done. No one could ever ask for a better brother. I would've been so fucked if I hadn't had you."
Sirius looked a little taken aback but then flashed him a wide smile.
"Anytime, baby brother. I consider myself lucky to have you. Not a dull moment ever." He moved his hand up to ruffle his hair. "You call me if Remus gets too wild for you and you want me to pick you up," he laughed and watched both boys blush.
Regulus barely stopped in the hall to kick off his shoes and toss his jacket. Then he rushed up the stairs and into Remus' room. "Kreacher!"
The cat bounced off the bed and hurried over to rub itself against Regulus' leg, meowing loudly.
Regulus picked up the cat, holding him up in front of him, their noses nearly touching. "I've missed you. Are you mad at me for being gone so long?"
Kreacher just purred fondly.
"I think he missed you more than he's mad at you," Remus smiled and closed the door. "I took really good care of him while you were gone. He even sleeps next to my pillow now, so I guess I'm accepted."
"I'm glad. Poor Kreacher never liked anybody but me, so it's good to know that he likes you so he could find some comfort," said Regulus, sitting down with Kreacher on his lap.
Remus went to sit beside him and ran a gentle hand over Kreacher's head. "He still doesn't like Cleo but I think maybe it will be easier for him now that you're here."
"Yes. And the switch from Padfoot to Cleo has to be a huge improvement."
"Mum is reporting Doctor White," said Remus. "He shouldn't get away with treating his patients like they did fifty years ago."
Regulus nodded. "Good. I hope they take his license." H turned to look at Remus. "I'm so tired I can barely sit up straight."
"Let's lie down for a while, then," Remus smiled. They lay down on the bed, Remus hugging Regulus from behind, Kreacher settling against Regulus' stomach. Remus kissed the side of Regulus' head. "Sleep now. Nothing can hurt you here."
Regulus sighed and let his body relax against Remus'. He still could barely believe that he was here. He was going to say something but he fell asleep before he could form a sentence.
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.