Granger Yet
Reflection

Quiet.

There was a strange blissful silence at Grimmauld place that was an unusual occurrence, not to hear Walburga Black yelling at the top of her lungs at her oldest, that her oldest didn't know what to do with himself. Yet, as always, Sirius' mischievous side won out, and he searched for his prey, a younger Black that he'd not seen since leaving for Hogwarts while eating up every moment of the uncharacteristic silence.

To no surprise, he found his younger brother reading a book so large that it balanced precariously in his lap as he sat buried into a corner of the couch, feet to the side so their mother wouldn't yell at him for having his feet on the couch as she did with Sirius. And through the silence, Sirius heard a page turned as he crept closer, for once being the one to creep up on the ever-silent Regulus.

He reached out his hand to touch his younger brother's shoulder, to make him jump in surprise, leaning in close in hopes of seeing the excitement on Regulus' face over his older brother returning home from Hogwarts for the school break.

Instead, Sirius received a punch to his nose as he leaned over, and Regulus skittered away as the book slipped ungracefully from his brother's lap. Regulus was soon on the other side of the couch, one foot under him, so he'd likely be getting a lecture from Walburga for that one foot being on the couch if she saw. Sirius stood there, staring at his brother, who stared back while feeling something wet coming from his nose.

Sirius frowned, reached up to touch the wetness, and pulled his fingers away to see blood. He glanced back up, growling in a fury. "You bloody little monster!"

At that precise moment, Regulus turned on the waterworks, which in turn brought the adults running, their mother turning to look at him, glaring in a fury herself. "What did you do, Sirius!"

"Me!" Sirius said, pointing his free hand at Regulus while he clenched his nose. "He gave me a bloody nose."

"And what did you do?" She snapped.

And then, that person said, "You don't touch Regulus, Sirius."

"Sirius?" someone else said. "Earth to Sirius?"

Sirius nearly jumped from where he stood, looking at the tapestry, his eyes blinking. "Remus?"

His friend—the one still alive and hadn't betrayed him asked, "What did you do to make Hermione tell me to tell you ' to stick it where the sun don 't shine,' Sirius?"

"What?" Sirius' eyes widened, his head turning back to the tapestry. He closed his eyes, groaning, reaching a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Oh. That."

"Yes, that," Remus said. "What did you do?"

"Don't you mean what did Regulus do?" Sirius asked, letting out a sigh. "This is his fault."

"If it were his fault, she would have told me to pass that message on to him," Remus said. "What happened?" And then, "Also, where's Regulus?"

"I stuck him in his room. He was about to have one of his conniptions when he realized Orion Black had kicked the bucket when he saw his beloved little heir had supposedly kicked the bucket."

"So you're actually admitting it's Regulus?" Remus let out a sigh, one that sounded like relief.

"A certain witch reminded me the place is warded against strangers Apparating in here," Sirius muttered. "Told the little sod the old man bloody deserved it."

"Bloody Merlin, Sirius!" Remus said, his tongue clicking, a hand reaching out to grab his shoulder, forcing him to look at him. His other hand latched onto the other shoulder, and he squeezed. "Why did you bloody do that?"

"Because it's true," Sirius said.

"No, you said it because you wanted to make Regulus hurt more than he already was because you got hurt," Remus said, his voice remaining firm as he looked Sirius square in the eye.

Sirius glanced away, remembering how Regulus avoided eye contact, not that it was anything new. "What are you talking about? What hurt am I retaliating for?"

"You're retaliating because Regulus made you think he was dead and because you grieved for him."

"I did not grieve for that little snit."

"Liar. You told me otherwise the other day, so stop lying to yourself to avoid getting hurt."

"Yes, well," Sirius turned to look at Remus, reaching up to remove the hands on his shoulder. "I didn't expect the brat to fake his death, did I?"

"Fake his death?" Remus let out a laugh. "Do you think Regulus would have reacted the way he did to learn your old man passed because he thought his youngest had been killed in that bloody war?"

Sirius tensed, feeling his facial features twisting. He let out a laugh, one that didn't sound to himself as he was convinced of what he was saying. "Oh? And tell me, Remus, what other reason would my brother think my old man would have kicked the bucket when he saw the tapestry?"

He watched his friend's eyes narrow. Remus crossed his arms and firmly said, "I don't know. What reason did Regulus give you?"

"He's not her bloody father!" Sirius snapped, his breath drawing in. His eyes closed. "He's a bloody virgin, so that is absolutely impossible." He could feel his voice strain as his eyes opened so he could look Remus in the eye. "And he had that boyfriend back at Hogwarts."

Remus looked at him with wide eyes before firmly asking, " What boyfriend?"

"You know. That Ravenclaw."

"Sirius, Regulus didn't have a boyfriend, let alone a girlfriend, at Hogwarts," Remus shook his head. "So what are you even getting at?"

"He did. I saw," Sirius said. "I saw them together. I didn't like the way that Ravenclaw was around him, but it was his choice."

"Sirius," Remus let out a sigh, closing his eyes. "I honestly have no clue what you're talking about. James might, but he's not here." He then opened his eyes, his confusion evident. "That said, what did you mean he's not her bloody father? Who is she that you're talking about?"

"Hermione," Sirius said firmly, watching as Remus' jaw dropped, his eyes widening. "Regulus isn't Hermione Granger's father!"

"What?" Remus shook his head. "Did you just say what I think you did?"

"See. You don't believe that any more than I do!"

"Hermione's Muggleborn," Remus said, glancing at the tapestry. Sirius nodded, glad that Remus agreed with him, smiling, but then Remus said, "Oh. That definitely explains things."

"I—what?" Sirius' voice strained. "You're supposed to agree with me! Not him!"

"No. I'm your friend and supposed to pull you back from the brink of madness," Remus said. "But if Regulus married a Muggle…."

"What's this about Sirius' younger brother marrying a Muggle?"

Sirius tensed, his throat tightening as a third person wandered in on their conversation. "Oh. Molly. Maybe you can talk some sense into Remus?"

The look on her face made his blood run cold, and he looked away. "Let me get this straight. Regulus is actually alive and well?"

"He's upstairs," Remus said. "Though I wouldn't say he's well, given he smashed his head trying to Apparate out of her yesterday when Sirius' decided to be an absolute arse, only to find he couldn't."

"There's a Death Eater in the house?" Molly said, her voice making Sirius shudder.

"Um, yes?" Sirius said.

"Former Death Eater," Remus said. "And Sirius has his wand." He then paused. "Molly, that's what Hermione was upset about."

"That there's a Death Eater in the house?" Molly said. "I can't blame her, and does Dumbledore know?"

"He knows," Sirius said firmly. "As does Moody, wherever Mad-Eye got to."

"Um, actually," Remus said. He then paused, turning to Sirius. "Wait. How did Hermione take to finding out her father's a Death Eater?"

"What?" Molly asked.

"Regulus is not her father."

"Which I bet you bloody told her, right?" Remus said, not missing a beat. "Bloody Merlin, Sirius. You really know how to step into it, don't you."

"Wait a second," Molly sighed. "I've met Mr. Granger."

"Well, tell Remus Mr. Granger can't bloody be Regulus," Sirius said, turning to look at her. He saw her looking at the tapestry as if something was bothering her. "What's wrong?"

"Where to begin," Molly said. "I'm thinking back to when I met him and Mrs. Granger, but the first thing to pop into my head is that Hermione's birthday is in September."

"So?" Sirius said as Remus glanced at the tapestry and, a few seconds later, sucked in his breath as if he'd realized something. "What? What am I missing."

"Don't worry about it," Remus said, his voice straining. "You don't want to know."

"And now I want to know," Sirius said.

"Molly," Remus swallowed, looking at her. "Care to handle this one?"

"Yes, well. It's certainly not something I'd have expected. I mean, this is Regulus we're talking about. I didn't interact with him much, but I remember him from my visits to Aunt Lucretia and Uncle Ignatius' place." Sirius sucked in his breath at what she said, and Molly turned to look at him. "Oh, please tell me you didn't forget we have an aunt and uncle in common, Sirius?"

"Maybe," Sirius said. "Yes, I had forgotten."

"Well, it's not something I'd have expected of Regulus."

"What wouldn't you have expected?" Sirius frowned.

"How to put this, Sirius," Remus cleared his voice. Then he looked at Molly. "Please. Molly."

"Sirius, you know how babies are made."

"Obviously. Apparently, Regulus didn't know. Got mad at me for not teaching him to use a condom earlier for some strange reason," Sirius said. "I really don't know why he brought that up. I told him there's absolutely no situation where he'd ever need to know how to use a condom." He shook his head. "Could we maybe not talk about this?"

"And this is what I have to deal with," Remus sighed. "He's in bloody denial. About it being Regulus, although he's come around on that. And this thing with Hermione."

"Did he really get mad at you for not talking about condoms?" Molly said, her mouth suddenly pushing together in amusement.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius lifted his hands in the air. "Yes! The little git did."

"And you've not yet figured out why he said that?" Molly said.

"Because, unlike Regulus, I'm some kind of bloody idiot, so please explain what I'm missing!"

"It's called premarital sex that resulted in a teenage pregnancy," Molly said without batting an eye. Remus stood there, a hand lifted to his chin, his eyes going wide, only for him to burst out a chortle before turning his head away to hide his amusement.

Sirius stared, his eyes widening. "Wait. What?" She smiled at him, the Weasley matriarch. "There's absolutely no bloody way. Not Regulus." He sucked in his breath. "Isn't this proof he's not Hermione's father?"

"Dear, even if it were proof, which it is not, that man is the man Hermione knows to be her father," Molly nodded. "And I'm sure of it now."

"Sure of what?" Sirius asked.

"When Arthur and I met Hermione's parents, I thought her parents were nervous because they were both Muggles interacting with a world they were unfamiliar with." Molly let out a laugh. "That and Arthur can be a bit much for some people."

"What are you saying?"

"Well, Harry was with us when we first saw them."

"And?"

"Sirius, Harry looks like James," Remus said.

"But that wasn't the only thing. I mean, I did meet Regulus through my aunt and uncle, but my brothers were quite fond of him."

"Not Adrian," Sirius said. "He was in the same year as Regulus and never interacted with him."

"Even Adrian, Sirius," Molly said. "So I imagine he was worried I'd recognize him. "And I don't think he was fond of Lockhart. But Arthur—he got into it with Lucius Malfoy that day. I'd thought it was because the two were getting into it, but Sirius—Malfoy could have recognized your brother."

"But you don't know for sure it was Regulus!" Sirius said. "And this is Regulus! He's always been prim and proper. I was the one doing stuff like premarital sex! If either of us had been dumb enough to end up with a kid, it would have been me!"

"Yes, but you didn't because someone told you about the birds and the bees, Sirius," Molly said. "Regulus admitted to you nobody bothered talking to him about that, so it's not surprising Hermione was the end result."

"Hermione was the end result?" Sirius reached his hands up to run them through his hair. "Molly. There is absolutely no way my sweet, innocent kid brother has a kid!"

"Sweet, innocent Death Eater," Remus coughed into his fist, still trying to hold back his laughter.

"Not funny, Remus!" Sirius snapped.

"Sirius," Molly said. "Can you look at me?"

"What!"

"You don't need to snap," she said. "But there's something I think you should know about Regulus." Only—