Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its universe, that belongs to J. K. Rowling.
AN: Thank you so much for your reviews! :DDD They kept me inspired!
Here's another chap to start up December! I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 22: Starling
Salem moved slowly and unsteadily as Snape dragged him along.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
No.
This was wrong.
This was all wrong.
Orion was out of Azkaban. Early. By over two years.
It was proof. Hard proof. His presence was changing the timeline by great amounts.
He broke into a cold sweat.
By how much? What would the cost be?
Should he alert Dumbledore?
He thought back to the warning about not interfering as changes arose.
Why hadn't Dumbledore sent him off right at the start? Was it because it was already too late? That things had already snowballed?
But was this so terrible if…if…if it meant Regulus would have their father back?
Would he still become a Death Eater…?
Something prickled at the back of his mind…
On the original timeline…
Regulus became a Death Eater at sixteen. A year later Orion was cleared by the Wizengamot and allowed to leave Azkaban.
Why hadn't he ever noticed that?
In a way, he had; he'd initially assumed his father was guilty and it took a while for friends in high places to arrange a pretense for releasing him.
He and his mates had groused over it during pub crawls; how Purebloods got away with things.
But the timing was too suspicious:
Regulus joined up.
Orion was let go.
Was that something he'd negotiated for?
Salem's stomach flopped.
But this…had Orion actually been innocent? If he'd been innocent, why did it take so long to prove in his own timeline?
Who wanted him out of the way? And was it orchestrated to trap his brother in the Death Eaters' ranks?
Who would be that desperate for a sixteen year old to sign up? That…that they'd hold his father hostage?
Was it another scheme of Bella's?
It had been a shock to pick up whispers from the patrons of The Leaky Cauldron.
A Cleansing? His little brother was nearly beaten to death in a Pureblood Cleansing? At the direction of their cousin, Bellatrix?
That's how some versions went.
Others said it was her that had…personally tried to…to…
Murder him…
In their own home…
That was the truth. He could sense it.
He already knew where it happened.
His heartbeat grew louder.
"Salem, we have to go," Snape hissed.
Where the carpet was stained by his room…and he assumed it meant Buckbeak had nabbed some creature and maybe left it as a trophy for him before Kreacher threw it away…even though the stain was too old and large and stiff.
Because he didn't want to contemplate what it was. He didn't want to ask Kreacher what it was…even when he saw him scrubbing at it multiple times throughout a week as part of his half-arsed cleaning routine.
Where the doorframe had a sloppy repair…and he told himself the scratches and gouges there were evidence of Kreacher hating Sirius and his duties… not someone's fingernails scrabbling for purchase.
Where a faint scent of ash lingered…that he always dismissed as candles burning through years of dust.
And now he knew it was because his brother had ignited himself and his attacker…
It had happened in his own timeline.
His glass had shattered on hearing:
"I hear Grimmauld Place has been taped off as a crime Aurors have been prying teeth out of the door frame. So deep the house elf tried to just paint over them."
His little brother's teeth…
His little brother's blood…
His little brother's nails…
It was the ghoulish delight in their voices. They were welcome to hate his parents. They were bigoted monsters. Not Regulus. He was just a kid. He could grow out of his idiocy if given half a chance.
Assaulted. Then, hexed into silence.
It wasn't right. He didn't deserve that.
Knowing it now…explained a lot. Why his brother was never keen on seeing him—he was a constant reminder…
Salem shuddered.
There was a special kind of horror that one of the best winter holidays of his life…was one of his brother's worst.
Why didn't I check on you? What would it have hurt to check on you? I had a present. And even if I hadn't, what reason did I need to see you other than that I was worried?
What would he have found?
He bumped into Snape as the latter stopped stockstill as Regulus shrieked: "I NEEDED A BREAK! I feel trapped! Siri's being weird. His mates hate me. Everyone knows what happened now. Can't escape it anywhere. SUFFOCATING! And I don't understand why you're here. WHAT DO YOU REALLY CARE? I met this man in Diagon Alley and he was obviously a relative and he said so and it seemed to confirm it. It confirmed what Mr. Malfoy was saying all along. He says…says…about your past. He told me. What you were like-you didn't always love Mum-you-you-you LIED to us—He-he says—it's not hard to see that habits like yours don't change. How a person was is how a person is and-and-that's why you cheated on Mum and why you were embezzling because YOU WERE GOING TO LEAVE US!"
Salem's soft, stunned, "wot?" as he struggled to make sense of this melodramatic revelation was easily eclipsed by their Dad's stronger reaction.
"WHAAAT?!"
He and Snape both winced. Severus began tugging him along more insistently as car alarms blared and the windshields of several vehicles dotting the lot shattered as accidental magic wreaked havoc on them.
He'd never known Dad could reach that decibel.
But then Salem realized that the Regulus who'd laughed through all sorts of horrors…was weeping now.
He'd heard his brother cry plenty of times while growing up.
The noisy wails he'd given while teething. The crocodile tears when he didn't get his way. The loud sobs when Sirius hit too close to the mark with a cutting insult.
Never like this.
Like everything was lost beyond all recovery and he'd been abandoned there in it when there was no way forward or back.
There was only pain and loss.
He'd cried like this after James and Lily were gone. Before he dedicated himself to vengeance and helping his godson.
And he felt conflicted because his life hadn't ended when Regulus died, though it took on a somber weight with his passing because nothing would ever feel completely right again. Even the best days were never really top shelf because his brother never stopped being dead.
But he'd had James and Lily.
And then he didn't.
And then Remus was lost to him as he withdrew thinking him guilty...
And Peter…
But he'd been an adult.
He'd had the saving grace of being an adult when his life fell completely apart.
Harry had grown up in the aftermath of his life imploding.
He felt his heart hurt at the idea of all the things that were lost that Harry hadn't even known were missing.
But Regulus had witnessed his own ruination and been powerless to do anything but grieve as it fell away.
And even then, he'd largely done it in silence…while shouldering society's expectations to the best of his abilities.
Hiding what it cost him…
Until now.
Salem couldn't take the sound. He turned back.
"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Orion roared. "I LOVE YOUR MOTHER MORE THAN ANYTHING! You exist BECAUSE we love each other. You think I would risk everything I cherish to—to—such a stupid base impulse. I would never betray her! How could you think so poorly of me?! What have I done to invite such vicious disrespect?"
Regulus cried harder.
Salem freed himself of Snape's panicked grip and started jogging back, not sure what he would do in this confrontation, but he had to do something.
He had to.
For the Regulus he'd failed.
Orion's voice brought back a slough of bad memories as he declared, "I cannot believe this level of idiocy—and from you. I expected better—"
Salem's teeth gritted together and he gripped his wand.
Then there was a CRACK! And the two were gone.
He missed his chance.
He stood and he seethed.
There had to be a way to get Regulus out of that blasted household.
Sirius and Arcturus Black collapsed, exhausted, in chairs in the elder man's library.
The awkwardness of their reunion had been tempered by the desperation of the moment.
The two of them had spent the last few hours owling and fire-calling everyone they could think of who was even remotely trustworthy because there was a very real possibility that Bella had kidnapped Regulus as a matter of retaliation for reporting her.
That was Father's fear.
Sirius's heart pounded every time he considered it.
Guilt roiled sickly in his gut; he should've brought his brother with him. He never should've left him alone.
If Bella had hurt him…
Grandfather Arcturus had nothing of Pollux's hardness. His hair was neat and had gone mostly white with streaks of grey and matched his well-trimmed beard and mustache. His eyes were a very light grey and had an array of crow's feet that made him look sad even when he was smiling. He was still dressing well, but there was no strength in his frame...or his demeanor.
He had visibly trembled when Father voiced the possibility that Regulus had been kidnapped.
Arcturus moved with a limp and a cane and had been embarrassed to admit to Orion earlier that he'd had a bad fall this year, a few months ago, and one lung had collapsed. While he was healing, he'd yet to recover his full strength, but he had tried to write to him more in the meantime since he couldn't visit.
He was shocked to hear that Orion hadn't received any correspondence this past year.
Both men grew more alarmed when Sirius shared his suspicions that someone was messing with Reggie's mail as well, and that he was guarding his letters in a silver hexed box.
They were interested in the box.
Orion frowned and looked to his father. "Dark Arts?"
"Sounds like a…Blood Box. I haven't seen one in years, my great Grandfather had one. It got buried with him, I think."
"But Father, how would he know how to make one? What book would it be in? I made Pollux take the most dangerous ones and lock them away."
"He found it somehow."
"Siri, have you told the Aurors that? That his mail was being tampered with?"
Sirius shook his head. "No. I should. I will."
Orion gave him an annoyed look. The one that said he was disappointed in him for not meeting the bare minimum.
And he felt the gnawing anxiety he thought he'd outgrown. He could never quite live up to the mantle of Heir.
"I'm going out. I know several locator spells," Orion announced.
Sirius tried to volunteer. He could check Diagon Alley. "I can-"
"You can stay with Grandfather and make inquiries. And direct Regulus here if he makes contact."
"Dad-"
"No. I don't need both of my sons out there in peril. One is too many."
It wasn't a rebuke. He'd said in Azkaban that he hadn't wanted Reggie there.
But…
Damn it. His vision blurred.
This was what he got for always leaving him behind. He couldn't even learn from his own mistakes.
He was such an idiot.
A soft hand settled on his shoulder, "Sirius? Can the elves fix you something? I'm sorry I…don't know your favorites. Your parents were never very keen on having you over. We didn't argue it after…My wife and I…" He stared up at a large oil portrait of a woman in finery. "We always regretted that…I'm glad that you're here and you're alright."
"T-thanks…"
Was Dad's side the more normal branch of the family and he'd never noticed?
A house elf appeared then and curtsied. "Young Master has returned with Youngest Master, sir."
Arcturus released a deep breath of relief and thanked God. "That's wonderful news, Shybee, could you lead us to them?"
The elf brought them to a drawing room where Father was kindling a fire in the fireplace with a quick spell. His movements were jerky.
He magicked the screen over with a loud screech across the floor before moving to stand in front of Regulus to bellow, "Of all the ridiculous things, Regulus!" He started pacing. "I can't…I'm so disappointed in you. I just can't—Have you any consideration for how dangerous your conduct was this night!? Anyone could have hurt you! And for what? Because you were feeling stifled?"
Wait. So he'd just run away? Sirius felt an instinctive flash of outrage.
"Sirius ran off—"
"We are not talking about Sirius. We are talking about YOU."
Sirius gaped. It was NOT the same! He'd gone to the Potters' house and he'd been nearly sixteen! He'd also been a good deal bigger and stronger and he'd still traveled at dusk—not wanting to invite more danger by moving alone at night.
"Siri goes wherever he wants! And you never get on him for-"
He traveled in a group with his best mates! And even then, they weren't stupid about it! Some places were too dangerous to be! It didn't matter how clever you were.
"I have made it VERY clear to you, young man. That you are not to be out without me or someone I trust accompanying you, especially at night. How did you get there? Did you cross a park? Alone?"
"…"
"It's dangerous!"
Sirius had taken stunning spells with more grace than this.
He knew. He knew with a sickening certainty then that with no parents and no big brother, thirteen-year-old Regulus had gone wherever he wanted whenever he pleased through all the seediest parts of London and Knockturn without anyone having his back.
Because he had a delusion that that was what Big Brother did.
His chest felt so tight it was hard to breathe.
No one had shown him the ropes. No one had explained where he could and couldn't go and why.
He could've been jumped, or robbed, or taken advantage of by muggles or wizards!
He was young. He was small. He was handsome. That could be incentive enough for the right sort of monster.
And now…
Now, his fourteen-year-old brother felt entitled to that freedom and recklessness.
They were infringing on him by wanting him to be safe and accounted for.
Regulus had Father's cloak on and was sitting on the settee. His head was bowed and his shoulders shook.
He was…crying…
It was wrong. The sound of it was wrong.
Sirius blinked hard.
Orion's voice thundered, "I know Siri owled you. I owled you. You knew I was coming. That means you did this deliberately. You lied. You forged notes in your Mother's hand. Were you hiding from me? Because of what you thought? Hm?"
"…"
"You don't do that. That was shortsighted. That was stupid."
"…"
"With everything that's happened…why did you do it? Were you trying to get back at me? By putting yourself in danger? Oh, that's clever. And you pride yourself on that? Right? Being clever?"
"…"
"I will have an apology, young man. You will apologize to us all for your grave lack of courtesy and consideration. I will not tolerate deception." Orion grew more agitated when said apology didn't come swiftly enough. "Regulus!? Now!"
"I'm…sorry," he whispered.
Maybe he ought to provide a distraction?
"Dad?" Sirius called.
"Not now, Sirius. Your brother and I are having an important-"
Regulus looked over at him; his eyes were bloodshot and a tear ran down.
Whatever diversion Sirius would have offered, dried up and he was direct: "Don't yell at him."
Orion's face twitched with vexation. "Sirius. Leave us. Later, we can talk." He noticed Arcturus. "Father? If you can alert The Ministry that we have him safe at home now? Whoever else was contacted will also need to be told—"
"Of course, Son."
"Thank you, Father."
Arcturus hesitated on leaving. "Should I have the elves make the boys something? Siri hasn't eaten yet."
"Have you eaten?" Orion demanded of Regulus.
Regulus flinched at the harsh tone. "…Chips."
"Besides chips?" His lip curled.
Regulus shook his head.
"Can't even trust you to get yourself a proper meal and you think you're up for just waltzing around town wherever you fancy whilst murderous Death Eaters are on the loose?!"
"Stop! Just stop! Don't yell at him anymore!" Sirius pleaded, crossing the room.
Regulus's breath kept hitching.
"Oho? Do you hear that, Regulus? Your brother, whom you insulted tonight, tries even now to defend you. You apologize at once for calling him a-a…" His features twitched furiously.
Regulus looked away.
"Regulus!"
"No, it's alright. You're alright." Sirius carefully moved closer to his brother. "That's all that matters to me. I don't care about anything el-"
"I'm…sorry," he whispered, "I've been calling you a blood traitor-"
Sirius froze.
"Louder."
"Father, no, don't make him-"
"I raised you better than this, Regulus. How could you act this way? Disgracing our house with such-"
"Father, STOP! He hasn't cried about anything since this whole nightmare began. Not really. Scared me half to death and now he's crying? How can you—don't you care?" He choked. "Dad?!"
What the hell was going on?!
It was like the whole world had turned upside down.
His father was usually beside himself whenever something happened to his precious younger son. He charmed parchment to protect against paper cuts!
His father whirled on him for that.
"Don't be absurd, of course I care!" He snarled. "Would I have spent the night searching the streets like a madman if I didn't care?"
Regulus flinched again.
"I care more than anything! Which is why you both need to make good decisions. I can't lose you! Either of you. You're too important. Do you hear me? Look at me!"
Regulus forced himself to meet their father's eyes.
"Both of you. You're too important to lose. I need you to be safe. Do you understand me?"
Sirius managed a soft, "Yes, sir."
"I didn't hear you, Regulus," he snapped.
"…I'll try."
"Oh no, no, no. That's not good enough."
"I…I don't know if I can promise that!" Regulus was exasperated and he struggled to gulp a breath.
"Why not?"
"What if my only choices are bad…and worse?" Regulus asked wearily.
"All the more reason for you to tell me absolutely everything. I mean it. I want to hear it. Maybe I'll see choices that you don't?"
"…I'll try…"
"Is that the best I'm going to get from you now?"
Regulus gave a hard look and whatever sorrow he was feeling was being transfigured into something harder. His mouth stopped trembling and his voice stopped wavering. His tone turned dark and belligerent. "Yes."
With no "sir" attached to it…
Sirius stared in shock.
"That's not terribly impressive, Son," Father sneered.
An equally hard and ironically unrepentant "sorry" followed.
Orion sighed. "Regulus, come here. Now."
His brother cast off the cloak and closed the distance. Feet apart, arms crossed, he squared himself for another dressing down.
There was something nauseatingly similar—he'd confronted Bella like that.
Sirius felt his nerves heighten into panic. Father wouldn't hurt him, right?
Right?
"You foolish, stubborn thing!" Orion enveloped his second son in a fierce embrace. "I have done nothing but worry about you. And rightfully so, it seems."
He tutted over the too long hair and his threadbare clothes and his small, thin frame. "You need to stay near," he scolded while setting his hands firmly on his younger son's shoulders to give him a light shake. "I can't protect you if you wander off. And at night. In a dangerous part of town. Even the muggles avoid places like that in the dark. Good God boy, don't you know?" His voice went thick. "It kills me when you're harmed and I can't stop it."
But Reggie wasn't moved by this new appeal.
Sirius's stomach flopped. He couldn't help but feel that his father had fumbled his chance.
Regulus looked even more stone faced now then he had months ago.
Father's tenderness cooled in response. His voice went hard again. "Put my cloak back on, you're freezing. Sit closer to the fire. Don't need you catching your death of pneumonia on top of everything else."
Like Regulus, in and of himself, was a burden…
Sirius methodically chewed a bread roll.
It was a tense dinner meal that Regulus only endured half of before he spat, "I'm going to bed!"
He quit the room with a breakneck pace that was only one degree short of running and their "Goodnights" to him went unacknowledged.
Seeing a similar opportunity to escape, Sirius stood and declared his intent to rest.
They wished him well.
He was approaching the stairs, when he remembered the web of names he'd been carrying around in his pocket since first searching Regulus's trunk. Maybe Father would have more clout presenting it to Auror McKinnon?
He started back and winced a bit at a distant door slam.
Regulus…
Or maybe he should appeal to Reggie first and have him give it to Dad for the Aurors? Let him earn back some of Father's favor?
A moment later, Arcturus remarked with heavy disapproval, "You were very hard on him."
"Father…" Orion sounded exhausted.
"I know that's your child to raise, and I didn't want to undermine you in front of him, but you were all brimstone and I don't approve."
"He ran off into the night after lying regarding his whereabouts!"
"And you were lucky enough to find and retrieve him before harm was done. Where is your gratitude?"
"Gratitude?!"
"You had tonight. You get a tomorrow. You think every parent whose child makes a stupid decision does?"
"…"
"You spoiled his appetite. He barely ate."
"I noticed that."
"He's wasting away. I can't believe he'll be fifteen in August."
"I know. He looks just as I left him. I'm trying not to panic. I'll need to check in with Mungo's. See if something can be done to help him get back on track. I'll make you a list of foods he likes so the elves can make them."
"Good. The sooner, the better. Now, what's this Siri was telling me about a Cleansing? I didn't vote on that. The family has to come to an agreement before anything of that severity comes down-"
"I…I can't go into it right now. If you think I'm angry now…? Tomorrow, Father. I'll request another meeting with the Aurors and you can sit in."
"What has you so angry, Rye?"
"Tomorrow. Please."
"What terrible thing has Reggie done to provoke you so?"
"I'm in shock. I can't believe he'd behave so badly as this."
"Rion…"
"He was always such a good, obedient child. But now…he never did things like this…"
"What did he say? He said something that upsets you."
"Apparently, Mr. Malfoy thought it good sport to insinuate that my marriage vows were easily broken by virtue of my past. And the embezzlement scheme I was framed for tied into some ridiculous affair. No, just wait. It gets better. My ultimate plan was to run off on Walburga and abandon her and our boys altogether. Yes. I would just do that. That's the kind of man I am."
"Be angry at Malfoy."
"I AM!" He slammed his fists on the table and everything in the room rattled. "I'm just so... All I have wanted since entering that foul place was to be back with my family. That's what kept me going. Kept me sane and here I am—returned. But it's all-all-I have loved that woman nearly all of my life! I knew I loved her and wanted to marry her the summer I turned seven!"
"…Did you really?"
"YES!"
"Tell him that then. I thought you were close? Siri was the bold thrill-seeker, like Walburga. Reggie was your whimsical dreamer, like you. Your letters painted it that way. The photos at Knight's Stronghold and in the newspapers?"
WOT? Dad thought he took after Mum?! And Reggie took after him?!
Orion made a sound of frustration.
"Be angry at Malfoy," Arcturus repeated. "I can't conceive any reason for him to have planted these thoughts without intending to hurt the poor boy and without anyone near him who could refute it. You know now. Fix it."
"Father-" His chair screeched as he stood abruptly.
"Don't lose him. Don't risk the relationship because you're insulted that he believed in a lie instead of trusting in your character. Don't lose him because of your pride. I speak from experience."
He sounded bitter.
Orion nearly bumped into Sirius who was standing outside the door.
He scowled. "Sirius, you do not drop eaves—"
"That was what had him all in pieces!?" Sirius demanded.
That had to be the stupidest reason he'd ever heard of to get upset.
Who cared if their snobby, mulish parents loved each other or not?!
Wasn't it in vogue for Pureblood arrangements to have a hint of underlying contempt and thwarted hope?
"He thought you came to your senses and were trying to escape Mum-"
"Oh hush, Siri. I'm sure it was a very frightening idea." His right eye twitched in irritation though. "And you watch yourself when you talk about your mother. She's the love of my life. She risked herself twice in childbed to bless me with this family. And I won't suffer any insult to her."
"But the Cleansing! Bella! Fire! Poison! He didn't bat an eye!" Those were all reasonable terrors. "Some weirdo tells him Mum and Dad are having troubles and he cries then?"
His father was quiet for a moment before stating, "Those were things that were done to him, Sirius. Outside forces. This is something that was changing how he saw himself. The story of how he came to be and what his place and his value was."
"But why would Lucius care about that? Is he that into mind games that he'd-"
"Lucius? No, Abraxas. Reggie calls Abraxas Mr. Malfoy."
"Oh…Abraxas? Lucius's father? But… why?" That just made everything weirder.
Why would that man stir up such things? What business did a grown wizard have to sabotage a boy's impression of his father?
Had Reggie expressed some kind of melancholy? And then the man scoffed and dredged this up?
"There's lots of possibilities. None of them justify it. Now, go. Your grandfather has a guest room prepared so get some sleep. I want you to study up all of tomorrow. In the evening, we'll practice Apparating. There's a good game room here for it. It's where I learned. Then, I can schedule that makeup exam for the following day."
Restlessness plagued him. He threw back the covers.
After a trip to the loo, Sirius paused by his brother's room and heard soft sobs.
He didn't bother knocking and entered.
"Get out," was the immediate reply from the dark room.
"I just wanted to check on you."
"I don't need you."
"I'm just trying to help."
"I don't need your help."
It hurt to hear that.
"I don't need you."
Maybe it was because Reggie said it twice? That it sounded like a weaker argument the second time? More like he was trying to convince himself and not Sirius?
"…I don't need anyone."
Now, that was just a blatant lie.
He carefully closed the door and waited, letting his eyes adjust to the lack of light.
It took about three minutes and then Regulus went back to crying softly into his knees from where he was seated on the floor near the window.
It took another fifteen minutes and him taking a moment to blow his nose with a tissue to realize that Sirius was still in the room.
"You…get out…please…"
Sirius moved towards him, leaned against the wall for a moment, and then slid down to sit beside him.
"He was really worried about you. He was scared that Bella took you from us."
"…"
"I was scared. I know you think I don't get scared. Well, I was scared, Reggie. I left you there, thinking it was safe. I let you think it was safe. Safer than where I was going. I thought it was the same thing all over again. I left you. And she got you. Again. All my fault."
"All your fault? Puh-lease, I swear you're such a narcissist…you can't take credit for everything. Honestly, it's like you're trying to say you're responsible for Bella being a psycho. She's older than you, Siri. She was here before you. She was crazy long before you did anything."
"…I'm supposed to protect you from bad things."
"Says who?"
"…You used to ask me to."
"Well, I shouldn't have. I relinquish you from the task. There. You're free."
"…"
"You're free. You can go now."
"You don't get it."
"What now?"
"You really…just don't get it."
"No, I really don't," Regulus muttered.
"How much worse that makes me feel…"
"Wot? Why? I mean, you're not that much older than me. I shouldn't be depending on you for anything-"
Sirius flinched. "God, stop talking." Because that hurt.
"What? I'm saying it wasn't fair of me. It…had to be smothering."
It was. So many times it was.
But that wasn't something a little brother was ever supposed to realize while they still needed their big brother's protection.
"Snape helped me see—"
"He doesn't care about you. Never did. Never."
Regulus's breath hitched and he trembled.
"And you've made a Goddamn fool of yourself for long enough, don't you think?
Or do you like everyone laughing at you and how stupid you are?"
Big silver eyes welled up.
"He's a filthy Blood Traitor and you know it."
Sirius's temper soared. "No! No, he didn't! No, he was wrong! You can always trust me! You're ALWAYS safe with me! You're supposed to depend on me!"
"Er…Siri?"
"I will always help you. I promise that. On my magic! On our blood. I-"
"O-okay, Siri. Okay. I'll remember."
"Trust me, Black...
You already did the best thing a blood traitor could do for Regulus. You left.
Why spoil things now?"
"Sirius? Sirius, are you alright? S-siri?"
"Are we calling for Siri? Here, I'll help. SIRI! SIRIUS?! O SIRIUS! Shoot.
He doesn't seem to hear us, love? Here, one more time. With feeling. And incentive. SIRIUS ORION BLA-ACK!
O blood traitor cousin of mine, I'm gonna kill your baby brother!"
"Sirius? Oi?" Reggie gave him a careful poke to the arm.
He forced in a breath and swallowed. "Go to bed."
"Wot?"
He reached over to ruffle his brother's hair. "Stop crying and go to bed. Father was just scared, alright? That's why he was so…but you don't need to be upset about that. It's not that he was really angry. Okay? Or are you upset about something else?"
Regulus sighed. "I'm upset about a lot of things that you can't change, Siri. You don't have to feel responsible for it."
"You don't have to pretend to be a grown up about it, either!"
"It's…it's weird having someone hear me again," Regulus admitted softly.
"…"
"I'm not used to it."
Being upset in a near-empty house…where no one would come to comfort him…
Regulus sighed and leaned against him. "Does it actually bother you when I call you a bloodt-"
"Reggie." He wrapped an arm around his brother. "If Bella can do everything she's done and not earn that label from you, I just don't think that's fair."
"…"
"I'm not saying I haven't screwed things up. But…but that's just not…it's not…" His throat closed up.
There was precisely one knock on the door before Orion entered and magicked on all the room's lanterns.
Both boys hissed and squinted over at him.
"So you were both being miserable in the dark, hmm?" He twirled his wand before stowing it up his sleeve.
"…Talking," Sirius muttered.
"Oh? It's very late. Must be important. Care to enlighten me?" He leaned against the doorframe.
Regulus took the invitation to be blunt. "Siri's trying to explain how you raging at me is really a manifestation of your fears. That you're not really angry at me deep down. I don't buy it. You still seem irate to me."
Orion pinched the bridge of his nose and entered the room. "Boys. Bed. Now."
Not wanting to press his luck, Sirius hurried out of the room but hovered just outside.
A grumbling Regulus stood and walked over to the bed, ducking an attempt by their father to hold him. He pulled the covers back and slid under them.
Orion surprised him by tucking him in and sitting on the edge.
"You know how relieved I am that you're safe, don't you? You must."
Regulus leveled a glare and crossed his arms.
Orion smoothed the covers. "No. You must know. Surely, you must. How very dark my sky would be without my Regulus."
Regulus took a deep breath and held it and glowered.
Orion gave a sad smile. "I love you so much. I can't lose you, Reggie. I can't. I wouldn't survive it. I wouldn't want to."
Regulus sniffled.
"I probably should have led with that, huh?" Orion gave a self-deprecating smile.
Regulus released a ragged mirthless laugh that was more of a sob than anything.
"I'm here," Father assured him.
Regulus cautiously reached for him.
Orion embraced him gently. "I'm here now. And I'm so sorry you had to wait. That you had to be alone. That you had to be afraid, my poor starling."
Regulus burrowed into his chest.
Tension left Orion's shoulders and his tone warmed. "Shhh, I've got you. Everything will be alright. You'll see, Daddy and Mummy will make sure we-Ack! Sirius Orion Black! You go to bed, this instant!"
Sirius jolted and sprinted for his room.
"I will check!" His father warned. "Don't you dare think I'm not strong enough to still tuck you in, young man! You have two minutes!"
It was no idle threat.
While Azkaban had taken its toll on him, he was still taller, broader, and more muscular than his seventeen-year-old son.
Still, the sound of Regulus laughing was worth the risk.
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