Epiphanies
“So, how do you suppose we go about this?” Regulus sighed.
“Same way we always do.” Sirius rolled his eyes at his brother.
Regulus grimaced, “Right,”
“James, you should stay so he doesn’t feel cornered.”
“I was going to do that anyway.” James smiled tightly.
“Alright, let’s get this over with!” Sirius clasped his hands, looking over James' shoulders at Regulus, “Reg?”
Regulus gives another hearty sigh and shuts his eyes for a moment, he opens them when he hears Remus start to stir.
They watch as Remus blinks, unseeing at first, coming back into himself with a stretch and a groan. The three on the couch stay quiet as he orients himself, realizes who is looking back at him, and remembers.
“You-” It’s unclear which of them he’s referring to, but his eyes jump between Sirius and Regulus. “You were drinking his blood,”
“Yeah,” Regulus drawls, settling with his legs curled towards James an elbow on his shoulder and his wrist bent, twirling a curl. He looks bored. Sirius watches him over James with a gentle smirk.
“Is this like…Roleplay?” Remus puts air quotes around the word.
“Nope, totally real.” Regulus pops the nope.
“But, vampires aren’t real.” Remus gripes, palms facing the sky on his knees, eyebrows furrowed.
A beat passes.
The three on the couch burst into laughter.
“No, I see what you mean, that is funny.” James clutches his chest.
“Every time,” Sirius purrs. Remus looks at a loss for words, looking confused about the lack of tension in the room. “Alright, let’s start from the beginning, my name is Sirius Orion Black, and I’m turning two-hundred and seventy-three in October.”
“Regulus Arcturus Black, two-hundred and seventy-one.” Regulus keeps twirling his curl.
“James Potter…I’m twenty-one,” James gives a little wave, “Human, by the way.” He clarifies.
Remus looks horrified.
“Look, I know, it’s a lot to process. But, once you get used to it, it’s pretty cool.” James assured.
“And you’re okay with this?” Remus spoke slowly.
“What’s there not to be okay with?”
“They were sucking your blood!”
“I’ll make more.”
Remus made a slight noise of defeat.
“I can’t believe this…” Remus trailed off, grabbing at his hair, eyes squeezing shut. He took a steadying breath, “Prove it.”
“You want us to suck your blood?” Regulus perks immediately.
“No!” Remus covers his neck with both hands as if he’d be attacked any second. “Something else, can’t you turn into bats, or something?”
“No, I can turn into a cat though.” Regulus chirps.
“Dog for me.” Sirius raised his hand with a smirk.
“Do it, then,” Remus stood, wiping his hands on his pants, eyes wide and expectant.
Sirius groaned in tandem with his younger brother on the other end of the sofa.
“I'm too full!” Regulus complained.
“We have to focus so hard to do that.”
“I barely ever do it anymore, my back always hurts after.”
“Right?” Sirius shoots back, lost in his conversation with Regulus.
“Okay!” Remus interrupts, “Something else, then.”
“Siri, you go, I don’t want to move.” Regulus sighed, settling further into James’ side.
Sirius stood sluggishly, holding his hands up to Remus to show he was in no danger. Remus was acting like he wasn’t safe this whole time while unknowingly under the same roof as the two blood-suckers. Remus watched, confusion dawning on his handsome face as Sirius walked backward into an unlit corner of the room. He could see Remus squint, looking for him as he felt himself tingle; dissolving into the shadows.
Sirius visualized the dark hallway behind Remus and felt his body return. He strode up behind Remus and tapped him on the shoulder, Remus nearly jumped out of his slippers. He whipped around and met Sirius’ eyes.
“How did you–?” Remus gasped.
Sirius saw Regulus smirk before he spoke, “Sirius’ gifts seem to be fine-tuned for mischief, my trickster spirit.”
“Your poltergeist, mon amour.” He replied. Sirius could see Remus’ shoulders tense at the name.
Midnight memories.
“What,” Remus cleared his throat, “What else can you do?”
Sirius looked deep into Remus’ eyes, not as brave as Regulus to dig his fingers into the grooves of Remus’ mind. Get a reading, so to speak.
Sirius squared his shoulders and tore his eyes from those impossibly green and earnest ones. He’d only ever met two people with green eyes his entire undead life.
He focused on the candy dish at the center of the sitting room, lifting the top piece and hovering it in the air over the silver tray and tea set before floating it to Remus. Remus stared at it disbelievingly, hesitantly glancing at Sirius, who gave him an encouraging wave of his hand.
Remus bit the candy out of the air and immediately spat it back into his hand. Snickers sounded around him.
“That’s been there since ’82!” Regulus giggled, dodging it when Remus threw it at him.
“Wanker,” He muttered at Sirius who was hiding a grin. Sirius didn’t miss the upturn of Remus’ lips. Perhaps, he was winning him over then.
“Cold?” Sirius inquired, walking over to the unlit fireplace, one stare and it roared to life.
Remus guffawed, “What else?” his eyes shone with the flames.
Sirius looked around, picking a shadow. He settled on the large ones dancing on the closed drapes. Remus followed them with his eyes as they slid off the curtains and melded into one on the floor, slithering like a massive snake onto a nearby wall, becoming the silhouette of a man wearing a top hat, then a woman in a ballgown, and finally a child waving to him.
“Unbelievable,” Remus gasped, Sirius swelled with pride. “What can you do?” His attention turned to Regulus.
Regulus couldn’t contain his cockiness, Sirius could see it, he loved watching that look creep over his little brother.
The boy turned to look at James, “You mind?”
James rolled his eyes, trying his best to look annoyed. “Go ahead,” He said flatly.
Regulus barely batted his eyes as James’ arm moved as if on a string, lifting to his cheek before slapping himself softly. Once, twice, thrice…
“Why are you hitting yourself, Jamie?” Regulus giggled.
“Alright, alright.” James bit a smile.
One wave of Regulus’ hand over the crown of James’ head and he slumped. A dead sleep.
“That’s what you did to me!” Remus points out.
“Oui,” Regulus waves his hand again, and James’ slumber lifts.
“That always feels so good.” He sighs, nuzzling up into Regulus’ hand.
“I know,” Regulus coos, giving James a little pet before standing and approaching Remus. “This next one I’ll have to show you.”
“What, are you going to read my mind?” Remus joked.
“Would you like me to?”
Remus stilled quickly, the amusement draining from his face.
“Thought so,” Regulus smirked.
Sirius could see the cold water trickle down Remus’ back as realization crept in.
“Pick any period between 1762 and now.” Regulus offered. This brought Remus back to the present but he was still distracted.
“Uh, the Victorian era,” A weak answer from a man like Remus.
Regulus looked off in thought, then placed two fingers on Remus’ temple. Sirius caught his brother's eyes, they shared a glimmering look. Remus went under.
James took this chance to speak to speak in confidence. “He knows?”
“Oh, yeah.” Regulus chuckled, pushing Remus’ head to lay on the seat's back. “Quite the peeping Tom, this one.”
Remus shuddered in his dream, and that’s when Regulus released him. Remus sucked in a gasp.
“Those were your memories,” Remus stated.
And Regulus smiled back, “Quite right.”