Regulus stormed into the Slytherin common room, angrier than any of his classmates had ever seen the usually calm and collected young man. He had slammed the common room door shut behind him, shaking some of the portraits on the wall and causing several of them to scoff in disapproval. As he passed the fireplace, the nearly burnt-out embers flared up into powerful flames. With an aggravated growl, he threw himself into the empty armchair.
"Quite the temper, Black," Rudolphus Lestrange said mildly, not looking up from his copy of The Daily Prophet. "One might think you were beginning to take after your pathetic brother."
"Shove off, Lestrange," Regulus uttered, his eyes on the fire before him. "Go busy yourself with Bellatrix. I haven't the time nor the desire to deal with you."
"Your darling cousin has decided to take her grievances out on some breakables in the kitchens. She said something about smashing tea cups." The seventh year boy flipped the page with an absent sigh. "I do hope she doesn't frighten the house elves too horribly again." He glanced up to look at Regulus. "So what about you? Are you also just seething with anger over some petty inheritance?"
Regulus snorted and rolled his eyes. "I haven't the need. With Sirius out of the way, I'm the heir to the family. I couldn't care less about what Alphard left me." It was only partially a lie. He cared very much about what his uncle had left him, and he was actually quite pleased with it and the nostalgia it held for him. But the days of playing Merlin with his brother were over. Oh, how it was a much simpler time that now seemed like a completely different life.
For a split second in the corridor, Regulus had gotten the chance to glimpse back at that life and he felt that spark of connection that used to be so strong between himself and Sirius. That spark was immediately extinguished with the literally painful reminder that they were now on opposing sides of the Wizarding world.
Rolling up his sleeve, Regulus looked at the still-aching mark on his flesh with uncertainty. Still just shy of sixteen years old, he was the youngest to receive the eerie-looking symbol of a skull with a snake protruding through the mouth.
The 'Dark Mark', as it was called within the inner circle, was meant to identify him as a follower of Lord Voldemort, and also a way for the Dark Lord himself to communicate with them. It hadn't necessarily been his choice. In fact, when his parents announced their desire for him to join up alongside his cousins, even his Aunt Druella and Uncle Cygnus expressed their concern for him being so young.
His parents made their reasoning impossibly clear. They would not risk having another embarrassment to the family, and if Regulus joined ranks with the Dark Lord, it would not only ensure his loyalty to their beliefs, but it would also put the family name in good standing once the Dark Lord gained full power. To Regulus, it was as if they had put a collar and leash on him so he couldn't get away, even if he wanted to.
He had always considered himself neutral when it came to politics. He was, after all, only fifteen. While he never fully agreed with the values his family held so dear, he wasn't exactly the careless rebel, bent on being seen and heard, like his brother. He supposed, however, that if Lord Voldemort was going to be the one to ensure safety and security for himself and his family, it was worth masking his own undetermined feelings.
—-
When Sirius didn't show up for Defense Against the Dark Arts, the others figured whatever meeting he had had in Dumbledore's office was just taking a long time.
"Are you sure he didn't mention hexing any Slytherins or switching Slughorn's potion ingredients with kitchen spices again?" Remus asked James as they both kept periodically checking the clock on the wall and the door to the classroom, waiting for Sirius to come in any second.
James shrugged. "Not to me."
It wasn't until Sirius also missed Charms and Herbology that they really started to worry.
Ducking behind the greenhouses, Peter pulled out the map. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."
The three boys looked over the map, searching for Sirius' name in any of the Professor's offices where he might be getting lectured on behavior or serving some form of full-day detention.
"There!" Remus said, pointing to Sirius' dot in the dorm and suddenly feeling concerned. "I wonder why he went back to the dorm…"
James reached into his back pocket for his two-way mirror. "Padfoot?" There was no response and Remus grabbed the mirror from James. Something didn't feel right.
"Padfoot? Sirius, are you there?"
Nothing.
"Maybe he's asleep," Peter suggested, looking from Remus to James. They all felt suspiciously anxious. It wasn't like Sirius to just duck out of class without one of them to partake in something more amusing. For him to simply be in the dorm room on his own was very strange, especially when he wouldn't answer his mirror.
"Potions next." James sighed. "Do we skip it and go check on him?"
"You two go," Peter said suddenly, making Remus and James turn to him questioningly. "It'll look odd if we all no-show. Moon's in less than a week. I'll tell ol' Sluggy that Remus was feeling ill and you had to take him to the hospital wing."
James nodded and patted Peter on the back. "Good man, Wormtail. Nice thinking."
Peter beamed with pride as he always did when others praised him for doing something helpful.
Remus sighed and gave Peter an apologetic look. "Hey Pete, you wouldn't mind-?"
"I'll take notes for you, Moony. Don't worry. Just make sure Padfoot's alright."
Remus visibly relaxed and smiled at the other boy. "You're the best, mate. Thanks."
"Here." James held out his mirror to Peter. "In case there's something really wrong and we need to tell you."
Peter took the mirror and stuffed it into his pocket. He handed James the map so they could dodge any Professors on the way back to the dorm. When the bell rang for class, Peter headed towards the dungeons for Potions with a quick word of well wishes to be passed on to Sirius, and James and Remus went off in the opposite direction to Gryffindor Tower.
—-
Sirius had wrapped himself up in blankets on Remus' bed, his face buried in the pillows, trying to put all thoughts of his little brother out of his head.
There was a moment there, and Sirius knew deep down that Regulus felt it too, where the years had melted away and they were them again. Brothers. It was a fleeting moment, though. Gone as quickly as it had come. They certainly weren't brothers anymore. In fact, they felt more like strangers.
You don't need him, Sirius thought to himself. His eyes stung with tears as he fought to prevent them from falling. Regulus was right about one thing, James is my brother. I have a family.
He couldn't help but let his mind wander to what he and James had heard over the holidays about this Dark Lord and what he and his followers were doing. Many people were being threatened. Muggles and muggleborns, of course, but all Pureblood families that refused to join up. He felt his body shiver involuntarily and pulled his blanket cocoon tighter around himself. He knew for a fact that Narcissa and her fiance Lucius Malfoy had already pledged their loyalties to the man; he had heard Bellatrix talking about it over a year ago. He was sure Bellatrix would be jumping on the opportunity as soon as it arose if it hadn't already…
He wondered how long it would take before these so-called Death Eaters propositioned Regulus. Regulus, so young and so naive and weak to the demands of Mummy and Daddy. He would go without a second thought just as he was told. Their parents would be so proud, of course.
Sirius groaned, feeling his stomach churn at the thought. Maybe he could go to Pomfrey and ask for a sleeping draught. He could use a minor coma…
So lost in the fog of his own mind, he didn't hear the door to the dorm room creak slowly open and click shut. Nor did he hear the two pairs of feet walking across the room. So he was quite startled to hear the concerned voice of James calling out.
"Padfoot?"
He considered not answering, letting James think he was sleeping so he could continue to wallow in his own misery.
"We know you're in here, mate." James went on.
"He must be sleeping," said Remus' voice, sounding anxious. Sirius squeezed his eyes shut as the curtains of the bed were carefully pulled back and the mattress dipped under the weight of Remus sitting on the edge.
"Padfoot?" Remus asked softly, one of his hands resting on the lump of blankets that hid his boyfriend from sight. Sighing heavily, Sirius began to stir. He wiggled his head out from the blankets, shaking his now staticky and mussed hair out of his face which made Remus smile softly in amusement before returning to his previously worried expression.
"What the hell happened?" James asked as he too sat on the bed. "What kind of trouble could you have-"
"I'm not in any trouble," Sirius muttered, shaking his head and keeping his eyes downcast. "My great uncle Alphard died." He sniffed and rubbed his red nose on the blanket.
"O-oh…" James and Remus exchanged glances, clearly unsure of how to react seeing as Sirius wasn't at all a fan of his family.
Sirius bit his lip, forcing himself to continue. "He was my favorite uncle. He was really good to me and he… he…" Then it hit him, he had been so wrapped up in Regulus that he had almost forgotten and he felt his chest swell as he said it out loud. "He left me a bloody fortune in his will…"
Both James and Remus' eyes grew wide and their jaws dropped a little.
"About 909,000 galleons…" Sirius barely breathed out the words in awe.
"What?!"
Sirius nodded, running a hand through his hair and struggling when he hit a few knots. He pulled his legs closer to himself. "Bellatrix and Regulus weren't happy about that. They said the money belonged in the family and not with a 'blood traitor' like me."
Remus crawled to the other side of the mattress to sit behind Sirius, pulling him to sit in his lap and he began to gently run his fingers through the dark lock, detangling and smoothing it out. Something he always did to comfort his boyfriend.
James shook his head with a frown. "Don't let them get to you, Sirius. You deserve it. Clearly, your uncle thought you were the best option, that's all that matters."
Sirius' whole body began to relax as Remus started twisting his hair into a tight braid.
"Yeah, I know." He sighed. "I just… There was this split second with Regulus…" He explained what had happened in the corridor after the meeting with Dumbledore, and how Regulus had behaved as if Sirius had burned him suddenly.
"I'm so sorry, babe," Remus said, kissing the nape of his neck before securing the braid with a black hair tie from Sirius' wrist.
Sirius shook his head. "It's fine. I…I don't want to think about it anymore, alright?"
"Alright," Remus complied.
"What can we do to get your mind off of it?" James asked. Sirius was quiet as he mulled over a few options. Things like flooding the dungeons with tea to piss Bellatrix off even more, or hexing Mulciber to sing Queen every time he tries to use the word 'mudblood' crossed his mind. Somehow they didn't seem very satisfying.
"Want to get drunk at the Three Broomsticks?" He said finally.
James grinned. "Sounds perfect. Your treat, I guess? With all that money you've just acquired."
Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes, but he nodded. "Yeah, my treat."
He kicked the blankets off and kissed Remus' cheek before extracting himself from the boy's lap.
Remus smiled at him, but it didn't reach his eyes, which were still filled with concern. "Are you going to be alright, Padfoot?"
Sirius nodded. "Of course. We'll all be alright. We haven't got a choice, do we?"
—-
"Alright then, you lot, settle down!" Rosemerta yelled over the noisy chatter of the eight young Gryffindor students who were seated in the corner booth of the Three Broomsticks. "That's five bottles of firewhiskey." She placed the bottles before Sirius, James, Remus, Marlene, and Peter. "And three glasses of mead." Those went to Lily, Dorcas, and Mary. "Anything else?"
Sirius grinned up at the older witch with a flirty wink. "Depends. What else are you offering, Rosmerta?"
"Wouldn't you like to know, Black." The barmaid smiled wickedly at him before she left to wait on her other patrons. Under the table, Remus' hand gently squeezed Sirius' thigh in a discreetly possessive manner that made Sirius' face grow warm.
Clearing his throat, Sirius raised his bottle of firewhiskey. "To my late Uncle Alphard. Without whom, all of you would be getting drunk on your own galleon tonight." He smirked.
"Hear hear!" James and Peter cheered as everyone raised their drinks.
"Thanks for inviting us out, Sirius," Dorcas said after chugging down nearly her entire glass of mead. "Sorry to hear about your uncle, though."
Sirius gave a slight shrug, playing with the label on his bottle. "We all could use a night out, I think. We've got Career Counseling coming up after all."
"That sounds so… grown up," Lily said in amazement. "Career Counseling." She shook her head. "After that, it's not just fun and games anymore, is it? We'll actually be working towards our futures."
Marlene shuddered and took a long drink from her own bottle. "Has anyone… I mean… have any of you given it any thought at all? What do you want to do?"
The others all looked around at each other with matching expressions of uncertainty. No one said anything.
"Well," Lily started, breaking the silence at last. "We all know what Potter's going to be."
"Oh?" James grinned at her. "And what's that? A professional prat? Come on Evans, just say it…"
Lily laughed and rolled her eyes. "You are a prat, Potter. I'd certainly hope no one would pay you to be an even bigger one-"
"Minister of Magic!" Marlene giggled. "That's a professional prat."
All of them laughed at that but Lily shook her head. "Actually, I was going to say that Potter will probably end up being a professional Quidditch player."
James' goofy smile faded slightly and a faint blush fell over his face. "Really? You think so, Evans?"
Lily shrugged, sipping at her mead. "I heard there were some scouts at your last game against Ravenclaw." She looked up at him from under her long lashes. "I could only guess they were there for you."
There was an awkward pause and Mary jumped in. "Sirius won't be needing career counseling." Her voice was an octave higher than usual. "With all this money he's got now, eh? Forget a real job, you'll probably take to underwear modeling or something."
Sirius barked with laughter and Marlene shook her head. "No. He'll just be a groupie for David Bowie and travel the world following his tour everywhere."
"Only if you accompany me, Marls." Sirius grinned, knocking back the rest of his whiskey.
"Ha!" Marlene scoffed. "In your dreams, Black. I'll be off on my own tour, thank you very much. I'm going to be famous."
"For what?" Dorcas snorted. "That gargling you call singing? I've heard you in the showers."
"I accidentally swallowed water, you prat! Now stop that or I won't let you be my manager!" Marlene defended, crossing her arms and looking hurt until Dorcas leaned over and kissed her pouting lips.
"What about you, Pete?" James asked, his cheeks red from drinking. "What's in your future, mate?"
Peter hummed thoughtfully and Remus quietly excused himself to go order another round for everyone. "I dunno." Peter shrugged. "I'd like to do something important. Something big."
Sirius slammed his fist down on the table, making everyone jump, and he grinned, pointing across to Peter. "A spy."
Peter raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "A spy, Padfoot?"
"Yeah! Y'know, like that one you and Rem talk about… that muggle man that wears a suit and gets all the birds… er…"
"James Bond?" Lily supplied, her lips twitching up as she watched the Pureblood struggle.
"Yes. That one, the real fit-looking bloke." Sirius rambled on, clearly beginning to feel the effects of his drink. "Anyway, that's what Pete should do." Remus had returned and Sirius graciously took another bottle of Firewhiskey from him as the drinks were passed around. "Think about it." He pointed his wand to the bottle cap to remove it and took a large gulp, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand and setting the bottle down. "You're smart, you know how to sneak about undetected, you're a ruddy good liar when we need to come up with alibis. Plus, if your track record with Emmeline is anything to go by, you're not half bad with the ladies. So there you are. Spy."
Peter snorted. "Keep drinking, Pads…"
"So that's a professional Quidditch player, a Bowie groupie." Lily smiled as she listed, pointing to everyone as she went. "Famous for Merlin knows what reason." Marlene huffed and muttered something about her exceptional singing skills. "And the new James Bond… what a successful bunch of young Witches and Wizards we are."
"And you, Evans?" Sirius asked as he moved over and opened his arm to Remus to sit snugly beside him. "What will you be?"
"She'll write for Witch Weekly," Mary said. "And get to interview all of those famous, good-looking wizards."
Sirius nodded enthusiastically. "Hey, don't forget about us little people here when you're drowning in free concert tickets and the like, yeah?"
"Oh please," Lily laughed. "That's so not my future. Writing silly articles for some tabloid…"
"Minister of Magic," James interjected, taking his arm off of Mary's shoulders to point at the redhead with his whiskey bottle.
"Are you calling me a Professional Prat, Potter?" Lily asked with an amused tone and a smile.
James, however, shook his head. "No," he said, his tone serious. "Quite the opposite. I think you'd be great. We've had enough prats in office… It's time we had an intelligent person who won't take shit from anyone. That's you."
Lily's face turned bright red as she and James stared at each other across the table for just a moment too long. Lily was the first to notice and she quickly looked away. She forced a smile and a wary look at Mary. "Mary will probably-"
"A healer." The girl informed without any hesitation, her eyes looking harder than usual and her fingers wrapped tightly around her glass of mead. Then she blushed and looked down shyly. "I… I want to be a healer, actually."
Once again, the others all looked at each other, this time feeling slightly uneasy. Sirius glanced at James, who had busied himself with a loose string on his sleeve.
"Wow," Lily said softly, sitting back in her seat. "That's really wonderful, Mary. You've actually thought about it, then?"
Mary nodded. "I have." The smile had returned to her face. "Er.. I've even spent a few free periods in the Hospital Wing with Pomfrey. My mum is a nurse –sort of like a muggle healer– so… I've always been interested."
Sirius kicked James under the table, snapping him out of his apparent daze.
"Oh! That- that's great, Mary." James kissed her on the cheek. "It'll be nice when I get all beaten and bruised during a match and you can fix me up, eh?"
The rest of them continued joking about all of the injuries they would get over the years and how Mary would be their go-to girl.
Sirius, however, was too distracted by how stone-like Remus had been, sitting right beside him. He nuzzled the werewolf's shoulder. "You're quiet."
Remus took a sharp intake of breath but didn't budge.
Sirius' hand found his and he laced their fingers together, squeezing gently. "Hey, Moons." He kissed just under his ear. "Come back to us, babe. You're far away somewhere, I can tell."
Remus shakily let the air out of his lungs. "I just-"
"I know," Sirius responded. He did know. He knew exactly what was on in Remus' mind, and he'd be damned if he let Remus' self-loathing and doubt get the better of him. Turning his attention back to the group, Sirius grinned and pulled Remus closer to him. "Of course, we all know our little Remus is going to be a Professor, eh?"
"Oh, Remus, you'd be a wonderful teacher!" Lily beamed at him as the others all nodded and murmured their enthusiastic agreement.
It was Remus' turn to blush and he shook his head. "I… I doubt it, really. Thank you though."
"Rubbish," Dorcas said. "You'd kick the pants off Professor Zahorsky in Defense Against the Dark Arts. You correct him all the time."
Remus smiled wryly and fiddled with his half-empty whiskey bottle. "Thanks..." he muttered.
It wasn't just Remus, though. There was a general heaviness in the air around all of them, even as they laughed and joked with each other.
Growing up had been something of a dream up until now, and still, here they were, expected to make these decisions all while the threat of the war loomed overhead. Childhood dreams like being on a professional Quidditch team or traveling the world with different rock bands wouldn't fit into a world where most if not all, of them would be expected to fight. If the Wizarding World was in as much trouble as James' dad and The Daily Prophet seemed to think, it wouldn't make a difference what they wanted to be. They wouldn't have a choice. They would be soldiers.
Yeah, yeah... I'm aware that career counseling is supposed to happen in fifth year, but I lowkey kinda forgot so it's happening now for ~plot~ reasons. Get over it
You can find me on Instagram at Via889 . Fanfiction and I now have an email at via889fanfiction at gmail . You can also find my podcast The Marauders (Olivias' Version) on Spotify and possibly Google Podcasts as well as Instagram at themaraudersoliviasversion
