When I thought I knew what was going to happen Sirius switched up the plot and wanted his story told xD In some ways, I find out what's going to happen as we go along as well!
Let's find out what Sirius and Remus have been up to and get transported back in time for some -sirius- reminiscing and back story ;)
Last Time:
They looked up as he walked in quietly. He raised a brow, looking around, asking without words where everyone else was, as he wasn't exactly early. He has never attempted to be the first in attendance.
Sirius just looked tired.
"Severus, could you please pull up a chair? I have some questions, and I have a feeling you are the only one who will give us straight answers."
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Two Days Prior:
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Remus leaned onto the table with his head in his hands. Heaving a sigh that had Sirius humming in agreement.
Books were scattered across the desk in the library, and after days of looking for ways to undo an Obliviate, they were realising they simply didn't have the right skills to pull it off.
Sirius was decently proficient in Occlumency as his family ensured he was fully capable of protecting his mind from a young age.
Remus had a basic proficiency, as it was a good idea on principle to at least be able to detect when someone is attempting Legilimency, though that is all he would be able to do.
Sirius was tempted to ask Kreacher to bring some whiskey to the library, but he knew the level of passive aggression would increase for the next few days if he did. The elf was particularly vigilant about the books remaining in immaculate condition, and adding the consumption of alcohol to their search would potentially work against that.
This likely was an overcompensation from him overhearing the Order speak about getting rid of the books. Not that Sirius would ever let them.
Granted the lack of alcohol was likely for the best as it would have been counterproductive anyway, though it would have made him feel better for a moment. And he definitely wasn't pouting about that.
Spending time in the library also gave them both an escape from Albus and the rest of the Order.
While they were furious with Albus about how he had treated them in the past, and more recently how he handled Harry's disappearance, the rest of the Order had not given them solid evidence that they were complicit.
While Molly had defended the headmaster at first, she had fallen back when Albus had started to describe the condition in which they had found the Dursley's.
They were fairly certain that Bill and Snape were not under Dumbledore's thumb.
It was harder to tell with Severus, as had been indebted to the headmaster for some time. However, he balanced the line with skill. His ability to act how both sides wanted in a fashion that allowed him his freedom was commendable.
It made it difficult to trust him completely, but it was commendable.
Sirius knew he wouldn't last a day in Snape's shoes, though he supposed that was why he had been sorted into Gryffindor and not Slytherin.
Regulus had also possessed that ability, though not to the degree of mastery that Severus accomplished. Which made sense, given that Severus had several more years to perfect his masks.
He missed his brother, and having learned even a fraction of the truth made him wish he had stood up against Dumbledore sooner. He knew why he had not in the past, though now his reasons felt inadequate.
- S.O.A.R. -
Having grown up with James just a 10-minute walk away, there was a camaraderie that they had come to need.
Regulus was with them then, and the majority of their time was spent in James' home.
They needed a break when even after Voldemort started to go insane his parents stayed just as fanatical.
After being sorted into Gryffindor, he became forcibly distant from his brother, the prejudice that was rampant in the school infected their relationship.
He wanted to stay close to Regulus, after all, growing up they relied on each other. However, it was social conditioning that created a divide between them.
Dumbledore ruled the school with an iron fist in a velvet glove.
Slytherins were to oppose Gryffindors, and anyone who fought against that standard was subtly ostracised.
Sometimes not so subtly.
The year's highlight was the developing friendship between James, Remus, Peter, and himself.
Everyone in the school assumed that Sirius was the outlier, that Regulus would inevitably be a Slytherin just like the rest of his family. Speaking well of his brother did not go over well.
The first year of Sirius' time at Hogwarts was beyond difficult for both of them. Regulus was stuck at home with their mother, and Sirius felt his brother pulling away.
Thankfully when Regulus came to Hogwarts, despite the house differences, there were parts of the year where it felt like they were transported back to pre-Hogwarts days. Where they could simply enjoy being brothers.
The holidays were quite different compared to the first year, as Regulus would bring Severus Snape, and Sirius would be Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew along with James.
Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James had seen Severus during their celebrations, as those who celebrate the old traditions knew and supported one another. Already being familiar, Sirius didn't hesitate to introduce Regulus and Severus.
While participating in the old traditions was a free ticket to months of detention, they all valued the opportunities they had to celebrate together.
Group rituals always had them walking away with lighter steps.
Being able to see each other on the holidays was sufficient for the first few years of school.
During the celebration of Beltane in their fourth year, Remus had started to pursue Sirius. The energy of the festivities and the tension that had grown progressively between them that year culminated in some rather passionate moments after they got back to the dorms. Thank goodness for silencing charms. As though the rest of the dorm didn't know what they were doing, made evident by the speed in which they vacated the room.
Fifth year was boring relative to other years, save for becoming Animagi, which was fantastic. Sirius would treasure those memories of the full moon forever. Granted, Regulus had to stay behind as it was a little dangerous for a small black cat, and Severus refused.
He would have taken boring over what followed.
Sixth year was brutal.
James was pursuing Lily, who was adamantly against the old traditions. Severus had already tried to convince her of their value while they were growing up and had given up, as her family considered such practices evil. Which, ironic. Sirius and Regulus attempted to convince James that the old traditions were worth more than a school crush, but James had shot that down vehemently.
Looking back, Sirius wouldn't be surprised in the least if his sudden turnaround had been orchestrated by Dumbledore. In fact, he was almost certain of it.
He maintained his friendship with James, after all they were brothers in all but blood, but it would never be quite the same.
Peter stayed with them, as he likely had nowhere else to go. He had always been the most distant out of their group.
The summer before seventh year Sirius was rather focused on Remus, and spent quite a bit of time alone with his boyfriend, much to the joking outrage Regulus put out.
That also was the summer that Walburga started insisting they make progress towards following the Dark Lord, as "she had been too lenient with them in the previous years."
They both put it off for as long as they could, and they took comfort in that when they got out of Hogwarts, they would be free from her influence. They could find jobs that would allow them to live far away from her.
The laws were better for werewolves outside of the UK anyway.
All of their plans came crumbling when Sirius returned from spending time with Remus, James, and Peter.
When he entered the house, his mother looked furious. This was not unusual, but he had no desire to confront her.
Making his way up to his room, he heard sobbing when passing by his brother's room. This was also unusual, as even if his mother had done something Regulus typically used silencing charms to pretend nothing had occurred.
Unlocking the door with a quick Alohomora he walked in.
He froze when he saw the blood.
His brother was on his bed facing away from the door, shivering. He was curled protectively around his left arm, and from his position Sirius could see that the blood was coming from Regulus' back.
It had been whipped clean through his robes.
Feeling nauseated, Sirius quickly made his way to the bed.
"Regulus, can you hear me?" He kept his voice quiet in case his brother also had a concussion. It wouldn't be the first time.
His voice caused Regulus to freeze, before he began to sob even harder.
Walking around the bed, Sirius tried to reach out to get Regulus to look at him, but then his hand paused.
On his brother's arm was the dark mark.
He was too young. 16 was far too young.
Sensing Sirius stop, Regulus pulled his arm in closer as he squinted his eyes open.
They were bloodshot, and he only looked partially lucid.
"Woon't take no for'n answer.." The slur caused by pain was understandable enough, and it made Sirius livid.
With that brand there was no way he would have a normal life.
Likely noticing Sirius about to make yet another rash decision, Regulus grabbed his arm tightly, wincing as that caused his left arm to take more weight.
"Nuh, s'not worth it." Sirius was about to curse out his brother regardless of his state when he stopped, really looking at his face.
It was resigned, and desperate.
Now that their mother had forced one son into the monster's service, she likely wouldn't be as adamant about forcing Sirius. He was a Gryffindor of course, which brought him leniency in her expectations for perfection as he was already imperfect.
They both knew where this would lead, and the parts they would have to play.
Unfortunately, a side effect of Regulus being forced into Voldemort's service was Severus feeling like he needed to also join to help protect Regulus. They might have been avoiding acknowledging what they meant to each other, but after Severus had seen what happened to Regulus the unsurety of their positions he felt his hesitation seemed juvenile.
The Dark Lord was skeptical about Severus' loyalty, which was fair, but was ultimately convinced due to Severus' skill with potions.
Severus was well on his way to becoming a potions master, and having one of those on your side was quite the boon.
Back in Hogwarts Regulus and Severus had to maintain their distance from the others so as to not cause Voldemort to become suspicious if he heard from one of his followers that the brothers were close.
Sirius was dreading leaving Hogwarts now. Before they had plans, but now those were scattered to the wind.
Remus gave him comfort, and they were each other's rocks through that year.
When Sirius felt like he was falling apart, Remus was there to help him piece himself back together.
When Remus felt like he was being torn apart as his wolf was yearning for all of his pack mates, Sirius held him.
The full moons were still special to them all, and he was thankful they still had that at least.
When the end of Hogwarts arrived for them all except for Regulus, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.
It was after Hogwarts that another major shift happened that was extremely obvious in hindsight.
James had been pulling away slowly up to that point, but after they graduated, Sirius found out he had become involved with what he called The Order of the Phoenix. A group fighting against Voldemort.
He had never believed Voldemort would bring good into the wizarding world, especially once he lost his mind. What he read about the policies he attempted to pass beforehand would have been fantastic additions. That seemed to vanish before he even entered Hogwarts.
What the Dark Lord had turned into he could get behind fighting against.
What was out of character for him however, though he did not notice it at the time, was his willingness to forego a career to join the Order full-time.
He had made plans for after Hogwarts, and even after the initial plans crumbled, he still wanted to make something of himself that separated him from Britain, and Remus had agreed with him.
Though they did not know it until later, the old man's manipulations caused his change in heart.
His manipulations caused Regulus' death.
Sirius was certain Dumbledore was the cause of more than he knew.
Severus had broken when Regulus died. They had a bond, and he could feel it the moment Regulus' heart had stopped. Severus and Sirius were not seeing much of each other at that point, but the letters sent between them had been tear-stained.
Some days he wished things had turned out differently.
He did not regret becoming a Gryffindor, he knew that was where he belonged. He acted far too rashly to fit in with the snakes.
He did not regret introducing Severus and Regulus. They had loved each other dearly until the end.
He did wish he had stood up against Dumbledore. Then his brothers and his friends might still be alive.
While he couldn't change the past, a good first step is remembering whatever Albus felt they needed to forget.
To accomplish that, according to their research, they needed a master Legilimens. For the average person this would be a challenge. However, with Severus' experience as a spy he was perfect, though they had not been close in far too long a time.
Reaching out and scheduling a time for Snape to come by via owl was out of the question due to trackers, but forcing the Order meeting to be rescheduled and make everyone want to leave for the evening? That was feasible.
Whew, almost 11pm and that wraps up that chapter! Had to rewrite this about four times as the timelines kept tripping me up xD I tried to keep it as canon as possible without it being canon at all (: I hope you like the different take on the Marauders' years in Hogwarts! It isn't the focus of this story so I condensed it, but I feel like all of that would be a story by itself! Might be worth a prologue. I'm also thinking about writing a series of one-shots for scenes that aren't expounded upon in this story. In this case, perhaps an extended version of when Sirius and Remus got together on Beltane? Severus' reaction to Regulus' death? Then again, that could be part of a prologue... There are so many possibilities! Thoughts?
