AN: Warning for this chapter, there is mention of Loki and Sirius being intimate, so I thought I'd warn of that, there also are plots to kill someone, and mentioned of passed child abuse, but briefly and not detailed. So, hope you enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 53: Brothers Reunited.
"When are we going to kill Umbridge?" Loki asked. Sirius laughed and turned his head to look at her.
"You're not giving up on that, are you?" Sirius demanded; both were still angry about what Harry had gone through during his detentions with that woman. So far, being barred from Hogwarts for life and getting suspended from the Ministry pending an investigation was the only punishment Umbridge has received. When she finally goes in front of the Wizengamot, it is doubtful that Umbridge will get more than fired and possibly a heavy fine. She is too much of a Fudge kiss-up to get sent to Azkaban, and Sirius and Loki still want to seek their revenge, and for Loki, that means killing Umbridge.
"And you are?" Loki demanded.
"Of course not," Sirius replied, "but we have to wait. Let her go to court and get whatever lame punishment Fudge gives her, and once that happens, she'll stop being in the wizarding news, and people will start forgetting and move on to other things. Then we'll get her."
"When she's let her guard down, I like it," Loki replied, raising and leaning over Sirius to kiss him; that's not the only reason Sirius wanted to wait until Umbridge became old news. It'd be easier to make her death look like an accident. Sirius, who usually wasn't as quick as Loki was to take a life for revenge, was all for it this time, especially if she didn't get sent to Azkaban. If Umbridge did, he might be able to let it go and talk Loki into just letting her suffer with the dementors, but if not, Azkaban changes people. Sirius realized that spending twelve years there brought out his darker side. If anyone hurt the only family he had left, especially Loki or Harry, they'd have a mad as-hell Sirius Black after them. There would be nowhere they could hide; Umbridge will get what's coming to her, no matter how long it takes.
"Are you alright?" Loki asked, breaking into Sirius' dark thoughts. He glanced up at her to see the concern in Loki's eyes; Sirius grinned and reached up and pushed her hair behind her ear.
"I'm perfectly fine," Sirius assured her, "Just thinking."
"Why would you want to think when we could be doing other things?" Loki asked. Sirius laughed.
"You mean the things we've been doing all night?" Sirius teased, "Don't we have to work tomorrow? Maybe we should try to get some sleep."
"Perhaps," Loki smiled as she climbed onto Sirius and grinned down at him. "But I think one night of no sleep won't hurt."
Loki leaned down and kissed Sirius again, this time longer and more passionately. When her lips left his, she started kissing along his neck, adding to the marks she'd already put on him, but then Sirius wrapped his arm around Loki's waist and flipped them to where he was on top. A rare giggle escaped Loki's lips as Sirius covered her body with his, and Loki wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. Sirius moved from her lips to her neck, biting and nipping. However, the marks Sirius left on her skin never lasted long and faded within minutes due to Loki's fast healing. A moan escaped Loki's lips just before Sirius covered them with his.
It was late, around two in the morning. It had been one of those nights where neither Sirius nor Loki could sleep, so they had found other ways to spend their time in bed. At that moment, they were trying to continue those activities, but unfortunately, someone interrupted them when Tony's communication device started ringing and wouldn't stop.
"Do they not realize how late it is?" Sirius demanded. Loki let out a noise of annoyance as Sirius rolled off her turned over, and as he reached for the device, Loki scooted a little closer and covered them with a sheet. The device was small enough to fit in your palm, looked almost like a smartphone, and had a screen the other person appeared on when talking to them. Sirius pressed the answered button, and Bucky's face appeared on the screen.
"Padfoot, you need to get your ass to St. Mungo's now," Bucky said before Sirius could even speak.
"What? Why?"
"I can't explain it over the device; just get your bony ass down there."
And just as quickly as Bucky appeared on the screen, he was gone, and Sirius cursed, threw the covers off him, waved his hand, and the light turned on, and he began searching for his clothes.
"I wonder what that's about?" Loki said, sitting up; she found Sirius's boxers at the foot of the bed and tossed them to him.
"Moony must have gotten hurt," Sirius replied, standing up and slipping them on. He found his jeans lying on the floor, almost going under the bed, so he grabbed them and slipped them on, but Sirius couldn't find his shirt anywhere, so he sat on the edge of the bed to put his boots on, he skipped socks just this once since there was no telling where they were.
"I hope he isn't hurt bad," Loki said; they better not have let Remus get badly injured, or Loki might just have to kill them all.
"I'll let you know once I find out," Sirius said, standing and heading to his wardrobe for a shirt. Sirius glanced at Loki while he slipped a t-shirt on, she was sitting in the middle of the bed covering her body with a green silk sheet, and her hair was a mess. Any other time, the sight of Loki like that would be a turn-on for Sirius, but nothing kills the mood like finding out the closest thing to a brother you have left is in the hospital and could be hurt badly.
"I'd go with you, but I don't want to leave Harry alone," Loki said, and Sirius nodded in agreement.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Sirius said; he stepped over to the bed and kissed Loki. "Tell Dumbledore where I went. I might miss my early classes."
"I will, and I'll let Harry know, too," Loki replied. Sirius kissed her again, then pulled away and headed towards the door. He grabbed his leather jacket off a chair on his way out of the room, then jumped when Loki appeared before him, now wearing a silk green robe with Sirius' pocket watch in her hand.
"Merlin, Reigny, don't do that," Sirius said as Loki handed him the watch.
"You forgot this," Loki said as Sirius put the watch in his pocket.
"Thanks, babe," Sirius said. He hugged Loki and gave her one more kiss. "I love you.
"I love you too," Loki replied, getting a smile from Sirius along with another kiss before he pulled away, stepped around Loki, and headed out the door; the moment Sirius made it out into the corridor, he shifted into Padfoot and ran as fast as he could to the statue of the one-eye witch, turned back human, tapped it with his wand, gave the password. The witch's hump opened wide for Sirius to slip his thin frame through. Once in the tunnel, he became Padfoot again and ran until Sirius came to a trapdoor, shifted back to his human form, and crawled out into Honeyduke's cellar, then apparated straight to London, not caring if the owners of the candy shop heard him, the moment Sirius appeared on the streets of London, he shifted back into Padfoot and ran to St. Mungo's. By the time Sirius made it to the wizarding hospital and entered the building, he was out of breath from all that running and had to stop and lean against a counter to catch his breath.
"Merlin, Padfoot, did you run all the way here?" Remus demanded, suddenly appearing next to him, making Sirius jump a little, and then he grinned at the sight of his best friend.
"Moony, you're okay," Sirius said, reaching out to hug him, which surprised Remus.
"Um…I'm happy to see you too, Padfoot." Remus replied, sounding confused, and Sirius pulled.
"I thought you were hurt," Sirius said.
"Why would you think that?" Remus asked.
"I was interrupted at two in the morning by Bucky telling me to get my bony arse to St Mungo's," Sirius said.
"I'm sorry he woke you that way, but I wasn't hurt," Remus said; then he spotted the marks on Sirius' neck and rolled his eyes, and Sirius grinned. "You weren't even asleep."
"Hey, what else was I supposed to do lying in bed with Reigny all night?" Sirius joked; Remus shook his head and led him toward the lifts.
"Sleep, maybe," Remus replied, stopping to press the button for a lift.
"So, why did I have to rush down here?" Sirius asked as the lift doors opened, and they both walked on.
"Clint, Bucky, Steve, and I went to that cave," Remus said, "we found a Horcrux, but it's not all we found."
"What did you find?" Sirius asked.
"There was a wizard there; he had come for the same reason we did, to find Voldemort's Horcrux and had gotten trapped. Not sure how, or how he even got into that room, but he was, and still alive, though in bad shape, he's been in that cave for over seventeen years."
"Poor bloke," Sirius said, "but why was it so urgent that I come here so late?"
"The man in the cave was Regulus," Remus said.
Sirius stared at Remus in disbelief. "That's not funny, Remus."
"You know I wouldn't joke about that." Remus said, "Nobody ever found Regulus' body because he didn't die; he's been trapped in a cave and couldn't get out until we showed up and found him."
"My brother is alive?"
"Yes," Remus replied, "he's in bad shape, but he's alive."
The lift doors opened, and the two stepped out. Sirius didn't speak as Remus led him down a long corridor to a room at the very end, where Andromeda stood leaning against a wall; she strengthened up once she saw Sirius and Remus approaching.
"Did Remus tell you?" Andromeda asked, Sirius nodded, "How are you taken it?"
"I don't know yet," Sirius replied as Andromeda hugged him. Sirius was glad his brother was alive, but he was afraid he'd want nothing to do with him. Just because Regulus cared enough to come to his graduation doesn't mean he wants anything to do with Sirius; after all, Sirius didn't go to his, and he did join the Death Eaters, but on the other hand, he did turn on them in the end.
"It's a good thing Remus found him." Andromeda said, "You can talk to him, bring back the Regulus he used to be before all that brainwashing your parents and Bellatrix did; he is already showing signs of it; he let Ted treat him, and though he was a bit rude hasn't called him a Mudblood."
"Though he did call me a half-breed, and the others filthy Muggles, though to be fair, I think he was mocking Walburga when he said it," Remus said, "Just remember, he was in that cave to destroy the Horcrux, he did turn on Voldemort."
"How is he?" Sirius asked; before Andromeda could reply, the door to the hospital room opened, and Ted stepped out into the corridor.
"Oh, good, you've made it," Ted said, noticing Sirius standing there.
"How is Regulus?" Sirius demanded.
"I'm going to be honest with you, Sirius," Ted said; "your brother spent almost twenty years in a cave. He survived by eating rats and insects, along with conjuring water to drink. He's severely malnourished and dehydrated, has weak muscles, his eyes are sensitive to bright lights, he's also suffering from Vitamin D deficiency, he's moody, he's jumpy, way too underweight and his heart rate keeps skyrocketing, which is my biggest concern at the moment, but so far the potion I gave him for it, is working."
"Is he going to live?" Sirius demanded a bit harshly; he felt his heart breaking again; there was no damn way fate would be that cruel to give him his brother back only to take him away again.
"It's too early to tell if Regulus is going to have any lasting effects, mentally or physically; I've scheduled him for four small meals a day instead of three. He'll be taking nutrition potions and potions for the Vitamin D deficiency along with the heart rate potion. Regulus has a long road to recovery, and even after he leaves here, he'll still have to take potions for a while and stay on the diet I have put him on, but I do believe he'll live."
"Thank God," Sirius sighed in relief, then glanced at the door; he wanted to go in and see him but had no idea if Regulus would even want to see him.
"He asked about you," Remus said as he gripped Sirius' shoulder gently.
"He did?" Sirius asked, hopefully.
"You're the first person he asked about," Remus replied, "I truly believe he wants to see you."
"Wait," Andromeda said, "before you go see him, you should know that we told the hospital his name was Arty Tonks and that he was a cousin of Ted's; there are certain people we don't need finding out Regulus is alive."
Sirius ran his hand through his hair; he hadn't even thought of that; if Voldemort found out Regulus was alive, it could put him in danger, and it didn't sound like he was in much shape to defend himself. Sirius turned toward the door, took a deep breath, then opened the door and stepped into the dimly lit room. Sirius spotted Regulus right away; he was lying in the hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling. Seeing him was shocking; you could tell Regulus wasn't in good shape; he was extremely pale and so skinny; if he covered his head with the blanket, you wouldn't be able to tell anyone was lying in it. But it was Regulus; even if he hadn't been told beforehand who was lying in this room, Sirius would have still recognized him. He would know his brother anywhere.
Sirius gently closed the door, which got Regulus' attention, and his head jerked his way. His eyes widened, recognizing Sirius right away, and the brothers stared at each other as Sirius slowly walked towards him until he reached the end of the bed and gently tapped Regulus' foot.
"Hey, kid," Sirius greeted, which caused a smile to form on Regulus' face before he grimaced, and it fell; that had been how Sirius would greet Regulus when they were kids when they still talked to each other; whenever Sirius went into Regulus' room, and he was lying on his bed, Sirius would greet him that way. Regulus didn't say anything at first; he turned towards the tray next to his bed, reaching for a glass of water. Sirius hurried over and handed it to Regulus; he accepted it without a word and drank it while never taking his eyes off Sirius; not until he was done and handed the glass back to Sirius to set on the tray did he finally speak to his brother.
"What the hell are you wearing? You look like a muggle."
Sirius let out a bark of laughter and sat on the bed next to Regulus' feet; he smiled to let him know he was here on friendly terms.
"Are they treating you alright here?" Sirius asked. Regulus shrugged and laid back; he looked exhausted.
"They wouldn't let me shower, or shave or cut my own hair, said I was too weak and shaky for that, so I got a sponge bath, and a nurse cut my hair and shaved me." Regulus rubbed his face. "Feels weird without the bread and hair; my head seems lighter."
"Yeah, I know how that feels," Sirius said, running a hand through his hair.
"I have to put these stupid things on every time they need to turn the bright light on to examine me because it hurts my eyes," Regulus said, holding up a pair of Captain America sunglasses that Sirius knew belonged to Bucky.
"I'll get you a better pair," Sirius said, "then you can toss those ugly things in the bin," Sirius liked Steve, but those sunglasses with the red, white, and blue frames and Captain America written across the ears with stars for As were just tacky.
"I have been renamed Arty Tonks." Regulus continued complaining, "Andromeda came up with the name. She feels it best to keep me being alive private for now since the Dark Lord is still lurking around."
"Yeah, they told me," Sirius said.
"I just want out of here," Regulus said, "but they say I can't go because I need treatments. I have to take potions every eight hours, I can do that at home, they want me to eat four small meals a day, I can do that at home too, and I have to drink plenty of water, again, something I can do at home. Tonks said he won't even think of letting me leave until I gain weight, but yet only gave me soup to eat; I'll get porridge for my next meal, and possibly some fruit; I can hardly wait."
Regulus said the last part with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes. Sirius was reminded of Harry and nearly laughed, but he knew how Regulus felt; Sirius was once put on a similar diet when he escaped Azkaban.
"Reggy, " Sirius said. He wanted to ask what happened to him, but Regulus talked over him.
"You're different," Regulus said, "I don't know what it is, but you seem different, " he nodded toward Sirius' neck. "I see ladies still worship you."
"Nah, these are from someone special, " Sirius said, rubbing his neck.
"We are lucky we took our looks after Father and not Mother," Regulus replied. Sirius laughed; Orion Black was once an attractive wizard. Sirius and Regulus had inherited their handsome features and grey eyes from him. Everyone knew the only reason he married Walburga was because his parents forced him to. Hell, they never even acted as if they were married, having separate bedrooms ever since Sirius could remember.
"I don't think I've ever heard you say anything bad about Mother," Sirius said.
"She's dead," Regulus shrugged, "Andromeda told me, Father, too; not like I have to pretend to like either of them anymore."
"I thought you were dead," Sirius said. "We all did."
"You were supposed to," Regulus mumbled, "that was my plan; that's why I told Kreacher to put a death date on the family tapestry, I was hoping news got back to Bella and she would tell the Dark Lord, so he wouldn't hunt me down and kill me for destroying his Horcruxes, but I got trapped in that damn cave, and I didn't realize making me officially dead would cut my connection to Kreacher, I called him for what seemed like weeks, and he never showed…..no one ever showed."
"I'm so sorry, Reg; if I had known you were alive, I would have torn the country apart looking for you," Sirius said; he moved closer to Regulus to hug him, but Regulus moved away and wouldn't allow him to.
"I don't need your pity, and I don't want it," Regulus snapped. Sirius pulled back, feeling a little hurt.
"You said two Horcruxes?" Sirius asked, "Did you destroy the other before going to the cave?" Regulus shook his head.
"I was going to destroy them together because I didn't know if the Dark Lord could feel it, and I didn't want to alert him, and he move the second horcrux," Regulus said.
"Where is it?" Sirius said.
"It's at home," Regulus said, "I hide it there before going to the cave."
"You mean Grimmauld Place?" Sirius demanded; Regulus nodded. "What is it?"
"A locket that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin. I hide it in a treasure box of mine," Regulus said. Sirius was sure he knew what box Regulus was referring to, but there was no locket or Horcrux, just pictures and an old slinky. He'll have to tell Remus to search the house.
"I'll have Remus and the Avengers look for it," Sirius said.
"The Avengers?" Regulus demanded, "You mean those filthy Muggles that were with Lupin have access to our house? The Black Family home? Muggles have never stepped foot."
"Stop that," Sirius demanded, "You stop it now; all that prejudice shit our parents drilled into your head needs to end; those so-called filthy Muggles are friends of mine and saved your arse even though they knew you were a Death Eater you're on our side now, Regulus, whether you like it or not, and once you go home, you'll be living with them and you will not treat them as if they are scum."
Regulus made a face; even after being trapped in a cave for nearly two decades, he still had some of the old prejudices their parents brainwashed into his head, and Sirius was determined to fix that.
"How do they even know about the Dark Lord and our world?"
"They were fighting with wizards," Sirius said, and Regulus gave him a confused look, "Some of our kind have gotten tired of staying hidden and have been showing themselves to Muggles, and the ones who found you, they are part of a larger group, they are not your typical Muggles, the Avengers are either trained or have special abilities to fight threats to the planet, and they were trying to stop the witches and wizards that were running amuck."
"So, you recruited their help to stop the Dark Lord? It's a pity no one's been able to accomplish that in the last seventeen and half years," Regulus said.
"Well, he was for a while, but he came back," Sirius said.
"Yeah, I felt it. " Regulus said, holding up his left arm. "When the Dark Lord was supposedly killed and when he came back, and I've felt every time he called his puppets to him."
"Reggy, will you tell me what happened to you?" Sirius said, glancing at his forearm; someone had covered Regulus' dark mark with a bandage.
"Only if you tell me everything that's been happening in the last seventeen and a half years," Regulus said, dropping his arm and looking at Sirius.
"I will after you tell me what happened to you, how you got trapped in that cave," Sirius said. Regulus raised and reached for his water, and Sirius handed it to him. Then, after Regulus had his drink and sat it back down, Regulus pushed a button on the bed and raised it to a sitting position; he ran his hand through his hair and then took a deep breath.
"Bella came to me one day asking a favor; the Dark Lord wanted her to hide his most prized possession, a locket that had once belonged to Slytherin, in her vault at Gringotts, but she thought it best to hide it in the Black family vault, due to it having more protections, I agreed since it was easier for me to get access to it, but the moment I touched it, I knew something wasn't right with it, it felt so alive and…and evil, I decided not to put it in the vault not right away at least, I needed to study it research it, and if it was something terrible I was going to destroy it. "
"Weeks passed, and Bella came to me again and told me the Dark Lord needed the use of a house-elf, and she had volunteered Kreacher, and I again did what she asked and ordered Kreacher to go with her and do as the Dark Lord asked, I was curious and worried, so when Kreacher returned home, I ordered him to tell me what the Dark Lord had wanted, and Kreacher told me the whole horrific tale of what he had just been through, and during his tale, I realized then just what that locket was, and what the Dark Lord had hidden in the cave, and I waited a few days planning everything out, I wasn't going to service someone like him anymore, I hadn't wanted to join anyway, if I had had my way I would have stayed neutral and not have gotten involved in the war at all."
"But Bellabitch pressured you into it," Sirius said.
"She said Mother and Father would be proud of me if I did," Regulus said, "And I was never brave like you, Sirius; you know I always wanted to make them happy. I was scared of Father and especially Mother; if I were the perfect son, I would be okay. I wouldn't face their raft, so I listened to Bella. I let her brainwash me like I let everyone else."
"Hey, it's okay," Sirius said. "I don't blame you; I blame myself; when I left, I should have taken you with me."
Regulus shook his head, "No, she would have had you arrested for kidnapping."
"I ended up in Azkaban anyway, so…" Sirius trailed off, shrugging, and Regulus gave him a shocked look.
"You were in Azkaban?" Regulus demanded, "You, Gryffindor's golden boy?"
"Don't call me that," Sirius replied, "I'll tell you about that later. Can you finish your story? How did you get trapped in the cave? That's more important than what happened to me."
Regulus waved away Sirius' comment, though he was smiling slightly; this time, he didn't grimace; his face or jaws must be getting used to moving with all his talking.
"What the Dark Lord did, splitting his soul apart, was not only against the laws of nature but magic itself, to do something so…so horrid, I decided to destroy the Horcruxes, but if I was going to do that, then I needed to fake my death and leave the country, so, I hid the locket in my box, planning to return to Grimmauld Place once I got the second one, I was going to buy a house and use Fiendfrye to destroy the Horcruxes and burn the house down with it, my goal was for everyone to think I died in the fire, and when the Dark Lord meets his match he'd be mortal, but until then I would be thought died and safe from him, I told Kreacher to add a death date for me on the family tree, after I had disappeared for three days, went to the cave went through all the obstacles, red capes, hinkypunks, dementors, and inferi, then came to the door that led into the temple only to discover it couldn't only be open using Parseltongue."
"How did you get into the room?" Sirius asked.
"I stood in front of it, just hissing until it opened. It closed on me the moment I stepped foot in the room, and then I had to drink a potion to get the Horcrux to appear on the statue of Slytherin, but the potion messed with my mind, made me delirious, and I was out of it for a long while. When I finally came back to my senses. I called Kreacher for help, but three days must have passed, and Kreacher must have added my death date, ending the connection to him because he never answered my calls. I couldn't get that damn door to open again. No matter how many times I hissed at it it wouldn't open. I tried every spell I could think of, and still, the door wouldn't open, and I couldn't apparate out either. I was trapped in that cave until that weird Muggle knocked the door down."
"I don't understand; Kreacher knew you weren't dead; how could the connection between him and you be cut," Sirius said.
"Our family has a unique connection to our house elves; unlike other families, the Blacks were too paranoid to allow the elves to connect directly to them but wanted house elves, so they figured out a way to put some of their magic in the family tapestry for the connection, whoever's name is on the tapestry they have to follow their orders, as long as they are alive, once Kreacher added a death date for me and the tapestry accepted my death as fact, the connection between me and him ended."
"But I got blasted off the family tree, and so did Andromeda, and Kreacher still has to listen to us," Sirius argued; Regulus shook his head.
"The tapestry at Grimmauld Place isn't the original tapestry," Regulus said, "it's just a copy that's connected to the original one; every main branch of our family tree had one; you can blast names off, but it's not official unless you blast them off the original, though if you blast them off the original, it appears on the copy, so does death or birth dates, Kreacher would have added my death to the original tapestry, I told him to, because I wanted to cut all ties to our family, I couldn't afford anyone to find out I was alive."
"Oh," Sirius frowned, not sure if he understood a thing Regulus just said, though he was a little hurt that Regulus had planned to let him think he was dead. "Where is the original one?"
"In the main family vault," Regulus answered. Sirius nodded. He didn't see any tapestry the few times he'd been in there, but it could be in one of many trunks stacked all over the place or hidden behind something.
"Reg," Sirius said, "That box you mentioned, the one with Voldemort's Horcrux in it, is it small, wooden, with the family crest and your initials on the lid."
"Yes, why?"
"We found that box; there wasn't a locket in it," Sirius said.
"There is a secret compartment in the lid, bewitched, so only I can open it; it's in there," Regulus said.
"Harry has the box. I can easily get it from him, and you can check," Sirius said. Regulus narrowed his eyes.
"Who is Harry, and why the hell does he have my box?" Regulus demanded, sounding angry. "That's my private…he has no right…."
"Don't speak of Harry in that tone," Sirius demanded. "He has that box because he thinks his uncle is dead and likes having a keepsake of him."
"Merlin, don't get your knickers in a twist," Regulus replied, then something Sirius said dawned on him. "Wait, his uncle? You have a kid?"
"A son," Sirius replied, "He's fifteen, gifted in magic, has my good looks and his mother's attitude."
"Oh," Regulus said, and Sirius decided to change the subject; he wasn't here to fight with his brother.
"You said you had to get passed dementors," Sirius asked, "I didn't know you have a patronus."
Regulus raised his wand, which Sirius hadn't even noticed was lying beside him in the bed, and pointed it straight. A second later, a silvery dog shot out of the wand and ran around the room. Sirius' eyes grew big, and his mouth opened slightly,
"I taught myself after the Dark Lord gained control over the dementors," Regulus explained as his patronus faded, "I think it's supposed to be you; I always admired your, you know, how stupidly brave you are, how you always stood up for what you believed in, no matter the pain it cost you, you never backed down from anything or anyone, not even our parents, me, I was terrified of them, and always felt safest when you were around when I was younger, I thought nothing could hurt me because my big brother would protect me, no matter what."
Sirius looked at Regulus, shocked. He had never known he felt that way; Sirius always thought Regulus had wanted to please their parents to make them happy, but as it turns out, Regulus only obeyed because he was scared of them, terrified their parents would hurt him like they did Sirius, and knows if they had ever tried to hurt him, Sirius would have stopped them. Sirius realized then that watching their parents abuse him was almost just as traumatizing to Regulus as it was for him.
"I figured the dog was because you're named after the dog star and always wanted a dog when we were little." Regulus laughed. "I remember you complaining about Hogwarts not allowing dogs."
Sirius smiled a little, just for a second, then ran his hand through his hair. "Reg, I'm sorry I left you there. I should have stayed for you, no matter what happened to me."
"I already told you I don't want your pity," Regulus said, "You had to leave that night, or they would have killed you,"
"After I left, they didn't hurt you, did they?" Sirius asked. Regulus shook his head.
"Not them, no," Regulus said, and Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"Bellatrix." He mumbled. Regulus nodded, and Sirius vowed to himself to kill her.
"I never disowned you," Regulus said, breaking Sirius from his thoughts. "No matter how much we fought in our later years or how different our beliefs were, you were still family."
Sirius stood, removed his jacket, then pulled off his shirt and turned around; it took a moment for Regulus to realize what Sirius was showing him, and then he noticed Sirius' tattoo and his eyes widened.
"You were never anything other than my little brother, even if you were a prejudiced git."
Sirius put his shirt back on and turned around. Regulus was still staring at him in disbelief, then his eyes fell to Sirius' forearm, and he reached his hand out, took hold of Sirius' arm, and looked at the tattoo of the snitch there, then let go and did the same with the other arm, before letting go, and shaking his head.
"Why do you have so many tattoos? You look ridiculous."
Sirius laughed, leaned down, and hugged Regulus, who stiffened and didn't hug Sirius back, though he didn't pull away either.
"We can start over, right?" Sirius asked, sitting next to him on the bed. "With a clean slate, I don't care if you were once a Death Eater. We can be brothers again; I promise I won't fail you this time."
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Regulus relaxed and hugged Sirius back, who sighed in relief and tightened his hold on his brother.
"We've always have been and always will be brothers, Siri," Regulus said.
AN: Bringing Regulus back left the plot hole of why didn't he just call Kreacher, and then explaining like I did, made the plot hole of Sirius being able to order him, while being blasted off the family tree so I came up with that one not being the oringel tapestry, hopeful that explanation made sense.
When it comes to Regulus, and I think I mentioned this before, but we never really know how he was or his true thoughts about Voldemort, and the pure-blood nonsense, so it's fun coming up with a personality for him. He is conflicted at the moment, he knows all that is wrong, and Voldemort is bad, but he also still has a little of his parents brainwashed, so sometimes especially when angry he slips up a little.
I made a mistake in the last chapter, when using dementors; I forgot Muggles couldn't see them, so, to fix that mistake, Steve and Buck could see them because the super soldier serum heightened their senses. They can see some magical things. Clint couldn't see them but could sense them, and when using the fire extinguisher, he pointed it in the direction Remus pointed his wand in. Hopefully, that makes sense.
Regulus was at St. Mungos for a few hours, before Clint, Steve, and Buck left after hearing he was going to be alright, Ted had connected Andromeda, that's how she knew and was there, and when the others left Bucky volunteered to connect Sirius for Remus.
I looked up what effects being in a cave that long would do to someone, but couldn't find much so I had to look up similar situations and choose a few things from there which makes sense and the Vitamin D thing can happen if you don't get enough sun, and since Regulus was in a cave though the room had light, it wasn't like bright lights or being in sunlight so his eyes are sensitive at the moment.