Chapter 2
The silence that follows is deafening.
The only thing heard is the quiet laughter of Barty who has decided to face the cold and wet outside, he hasn't gone far, a few meters past the door. Sirius is sure Barty would have liked to go further, hell he does and he doesn't even understand half of what's going on right now.
"My husband," keeps ringing in his ear. Repeated over and over again. Out of everything Barty had just said it is the one thing his brain has decided to focus on. Not the impending battle that must happen with one of the dark lords most valuable soldier declaring war against him, not the fact that James slept with Reg, not the fact that Barty had cast a spell none of them could counter. No, it's just the harsh declaration of "my husband," Barty had said in regards to Regulus. Sirius can barely process the fact that Regulus got married without him there, that Regulus never told him when they reunited. He knew the gap between them had grown but he hadn't expected it to be such a chasm. This is something he would expect them to share, would like to know about his brother, even though the idea of it being Barty makes him want to vomit, he feels it is something important to be told of. What else has Regulus been hiding from him? And now the questions are starting to pile up in his brain. Why did Regulus leave not only his best friend but also his husband? There is so much of the story Sirius must be missing, and his mind is running a mile a minute to try and come up with a reasonable solution as to why he would leave. However, nothing comes up, Sirius can think of no reason for Regulus to have left someone he loves if not for a very strong push. There must be one. And now he can think of nothing more. Curiosity fills him to the brim, he must have answers, and he will get them.
Sirius is broken away from his thoughts as Evan speaks up when Dorcas makes to follow Barty.
"Leave him be. He needs to cool off. He will just take his anger out on you in this state."
Dorcas falters in her steps and nods at Evan in either understanding or thanks, probably both.
Sirius stands up from where he had unconsciously sat down deciding that this sitting in silence in disbelief was not going to do any help at least not now, he will go back to his plotting later but as of now the show must go on and by that he means the people must go, this isn't a secure location and one must not stay in one place to long in these times, least death eaters get a hold of them. He claps his hands to gather the attention of those around him. Everyone turns towards him curious as to what he will say.
"James if you wanted a Black you could have at least come to me, I would have given you the best time," he winks at James as he says this, aiming to ease some of the tension that has grown, his voice a tad too forced to be sincere. Silence is his only response.
Remus stands up from where he had been slouching in the corner all mysterious like and rolls his eyes. Dorcas squints her eyes as she shakes her head in disgust, Evan kisses his lips looking far from pleased arms across his chest, James stares at him with wide, wide eyes, full of guilt, he looks so out of his depth in this moment, Regulus's face has gone pale, whiter than his usual complexion if that's even possible. His eyes are wrinkled in the corner, his brows downturned, his expression communicating deep pain and regret. The only person who has decided to humour Sirius is Marlene, giving a small snicker as she continuous to stare into space, eyes focused on a point by her feet, Sirius is honestly worried if she is even on the same dimension as them right now.
"Tough crowd." He tries again. This time Marlene actually laughs, really hard while everyone else looks at him in horror. Oh well, time to get down to business.
"This party has been fun but we have got to go." Sirius watches as Evan focuses on him and Regulus's mask comes over his face. "Sadly, I cannot question Evan and Barty yet as we have wasted enough time here as it is. We all know how risky it is to stay too long in one place. We will move and once we have arrived at a secure location, I will then question Evan and Barty, is that agreed?" Evan nods for him and Barty proving their desire for cooperation. Everyone else gives him a look of approval. Dorcas grabs her coat slinging it on her shoulders, pulling their organisations mask over her face and tugging her hood to cover her hair. Remus does the same and everyone starts to follow suite.
Barty walks in then probably having heard everything Sirius had said, the temperature in the room drops immediately. Regulus freezes every so subtly, an action most will miss, his shoulders hunching up on himself. James who had just started to put on his coat physically recoils, tension oozing off of him, his face a mixture of fear, guilt and confusion.
Poor guy probably didn't have a clue about Regulus and Barty, seeing as even Sirius didn't know. But hey serves him right for shagging his brother, Sirius can't help the wicked thought that crosses his mind, he quickly ends that thought, now is definitely not the time do get into that.
Dorcas just looks warily between the three and Remus steps in the middle of them all in case he needs to stop any fights.
Bartys rolls his eyes at this action, arms come to cross his chest, wand out on display in his left hand leaning against the warehouse door.
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt poor Jammie again," he says the last bit mockingly, lips pouting out to increase the effect. His drops his voice and grins manically, "at least not here."
Remus rolls his shoulders out, James freezes fear written on his face, Dorcas now removing her wand for herself, ready to act if anything.
Barty bursts out laughing, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You should see your faces." He looks around grin still firmly in place on his face. "Although I must admit it does boost my ego just the smallest amount to know you fear me." He brings his thumb and forefinger together next to his face to demonstrate how much he means. His smile never falling from his face as he says "You're smart. Do fear me."
Sirius is getting really tired of the heavy silences that are given as the only response, but before he or Barty can say anything more Marlene stands up. She stretches her arms above her head, hands connected to make a bridge between the two, she then lowers them to the floor to touch her toes yawning as she goes.
"Alright!" She jumps up clapping her hands together. "This is going to be fun. Shall we go?"
Marlene holds her hands out in preparation to apparat everyone, hands making grabby motions to get people to form a chain. Barty walks up to her and grabs her hand first, repeating the same motion as Marlene did with her palms, encouraging people to hold his hand, when no one takes up his offer, Evan huffs and grabs his hand. Bartys grin, that Sirius is now fed up with, hasn't moved an inch as he agrees "This is going to be so fun. Come on, let's get moving people!"
And as everyone joins the chain to form a circle Sirius can only think, "this is not going to be fun at all." Then the world is spinning, and they are all apparating away.