Waking Up
God its too early.
It's always too early.
6 am, 7 am, 8.
Never enough.
He rolls over as Kreature slams the door of his bedroom closed. Regulus looks over at the cup of water and the pills on his bedside table. For years, his mother told him they were vitamins.
They were not vitamins.
He picked up one pill at a time; a pink, a white, and a grey and blue. He stared at them with a hint of distaste before dropping them into the glass, letting them dissolve.
Regulus was not crazy. He wasn't, and he wouldn't take those muggle placebos.
He cracked open his window slightly, cool air hitting his face and stinging his eyes. He coughed, it smelled like cigars.
Regulus hated cigars.
He looked at the ground four floors below him just as his father went inside and closed the back door. Slowly, he tipped the glass out onto the ground. He watched the snowy liquid slip from the glass.
For a moment, he considered letting the glass fall with it.
For a moment, he considered letting himself fall with it.
He smiled slightly at the thought before pulling back from the window and letting the thought go. He closed the window with a familiar creak and click. He put the glass back where the elf had left it and let himself fall back onto his pillow, melting into it.
He began to slip back into unconsciousness just as a firm, loud banging noise could be heard from his door. He flinched and scrambled to his feet, yanking a jumper over his head and arms just as the knocking could be heard again. “Coming!” he said, putting on a sock hat and some sweatpants, trying his best to look like he’d been out of bed for a while before answering the door. “G- Oh, you. Why didn't you just open the door?” Regulus said, his voice practically dripping with irritation.
“Wow, good morning to you too. You look a mess, bloody fucking hell.”
Regulus moved out of the way, letting the other come in. “Yeah, thanks.”
“Of course, brother mine.” Sirius flopped back onto his bed, catching himself with his hands.
“You weren’t in bed last night.” Regulus spoke as he turned to grab his lighter and flicked it on. “Did you sleep out in the guest house again?” His eyes flashed from his hair to his clothes. “Or… bike?”
Sirius smiled “Ding ding ding!! How’d you guess?”
Regulus rolled his eyes at his brother's enthusiasm. How did he have so much energy so early in the morning without sleeping? He scoffed. “You smell like gasoline, your hair is a mess, and you’re wearing that stupid jacket again.” He shook his head as he lit the candles mounted to the wall. The fire glowed bright against the worn beige and green wallpaper.
“My jacket is NOT stupid, it’s great protection and it's basically MADE for me.” Sirius spoke with an air of exaggeration. “And anyway, how do you know I didn't go to bed? You were asleep before I left and you CLEARLY just woke up.”
The younger chuckled at his brother's dramatic ranting. “Judging by the state of your hair, protection wasn't your biggest concern given you weren’t wearing a helmet.” Regulus gave his brother a look. “I thought I told you that you needed to wear one. Even as a wizard, you aren't immune to injury. It could be hours before someone found you, you’d be dead before dawn and it would ruin the family’s reputation. Mother would drag you back from the afterlife herself just to scold you.”
They both chuckled, but there was an aftertaste of fear in his words. They both knew how delecate the reputation of their family was.
Sirius spoke, eager to change the topic. “Train leaves in two days. Have you packed your trunk yet?”
Regulus paused. The words hit him like a warm breeze. He relaxed at the thought of leaving the manor. “Not yet. I’ve been putting it off honestly- you know how mother gets when she sees our stuff packed. I think I’ll do it after breakfast, if I get the chance.” He shrugged, looking at his trunk. He let his back fall against the wall softly, though that didn't stop the bruises on his back from aching at the touch.
The older nodded. “Yeah, I get that. I haven’t got too much stuff to take since..” Sirius paused, remembering what his parents had done after he came home from his first year at hogwarts. He shook the thoughts from his head- he couldn't be blamed for the house he was sorted into. “..yeah. Jamie has all my good stuff. I just have my new things and of course this.” He waved around a small coin pouch. It looked like it held no more than a few galleons at most, but Regulus knew better than that. It was pretty much bottomless, he could put anything in there as long as he kept it away from his parents. “Speaking of which, take this.” He took a nearly identical one out of his pocket and tossed it at Regulus, but his was black at gold while sirius’ was blue and red.
“Oh, thank you. Might need that this year.” Regulus said the last part quietly, though he hadn’t meant to say it at all. He ignored the curious look his brother was giving him and glanced at the clock. 8:42 am. “Shit.” He turned to the closet and grabbed the first things he saw- a white button up and some black trousers- then ran to one of the bathrooms conjoined to their shared room.
Sirius chuckled, amused at how cautious his brother was about angering their parents. He grabbed a tight white short-sleeved shirt and some baggy, flared jeans. As he walked towards the other bathroom, he stopped in front of his jewelry box before grabbing a handful of whatever was on top and walking into the bathroom.