Chapter vi
Regulus was extremely good at many things: chess, singing, lying, etc.
Saying 'no' was not one of those things, thanks mostly to his lovely childhood.
Despite this, Regulus Black had been saying 'no' to his older brother all week. Sirius had gotten Regulus's number, most likely from that traitor Remus. He had texted Regulus at least fifty times, called him every morning and evening, even slipped a couple of notes under his door.
Regulus didn't read them.
He didn't pick up.
He never answered, never responded.
Pandora, Evan, and Barty fully supported him in this, Barty even suggesting a few plans to get Sirius to stop, most of which involved killing him. Barty called this 'the most obvious, logical, and easy solution.'
The Rosier kill-joy duo shot these ideas down, claiming they would get caught and ruin their future prospects, and Sirius was not worth that.
Barty argued that he had no future prospects anyway, so it was fine. Evan disagreed.
Regulus supposed it would be fine either way: Sirius dead, Sirius alive, he was without a brother. Live or die, he would never speak to him again. Sirius chose to leave before. Now it was Regulus's turn.
His phone pinged and Regulus prepared himself to delete yet another text without reading it, cursing Pandora for reminding him that he couldn't block the bastard without his parents finding everything out.
The text wasn't from Sirius.
Remus John Lupin (Editor, E212)
I'm going to call you and you are going to pick up.
Regulus almost snorted at that. Fat chance.
I don't think I will. I'm not going to talk to him.
It took less than a second for Remus to reply.
You won't have to, he doesn't even know I'm calling you. Just pick up your fucking phone and stay silent.
Regulus's screen lit up, and Remus's contact filled it, along with a prompt asking Regulus to accept or decline the call.
Regulus never was very good at saying 'no.'
The noise from the other end was muffled, and Regulus realized with a flash that he was on speaker phone.
That dickhead Remus had lied to him.
Regulus was about to hang up when TDH's shouting voice crackled across the line and Regulus got curious. TDH shouting was something unexpected, and Regulus liked knowing what to expect.
---
Transcript of call from Remus John Lupin (editor, E212) at 11:17, 8 November.
(Voice one, Voice 2)
Sirius, if you've got something to say, just say it! Obviously you want to get something across, just do it!
Just say it?! Oh, really? You sure you want that?
You're wearing my patience pretty thin, mate, you've been pissy at me all week. So yeah, just say it!
Fine! You made me fucking leave my little brother, mate! You told me 'no, she's not worth it, she's not responding, just drop it.' You told me it was hurting you so bad to see me going after him, you told me he was a lost cause. What he went through for the last five years? That's your fault! And you made it my fault, too! So yeah, forgive me for having my panties in a bit of a twist!
My fault?! Sirius, he wasn't responding and it was driving you crazy! You were miserable, and you just kept reaching out to someone who didn't seem to give a single fuck about you. So how was I supposed to respond? He wasn't your responsibility, he could've very well gotten out of that place like you did, but he didn't, and that's on him. He wasn't your responsibility, but you sure as hell were mine, and I won't pretend to be sorry for protecting you!
Oh, I was your responsibility, was I? Because you've just got to save everyone broken, haven't you?
No, I didn't say-
No, no, go on! Tell me how you had to save the poor little mistreated rich boy, just like you'd saved the sick scholarship kid, the one the other kids bullied for being poor! Just like you saved that quiet little boy, the one bullied for his anxiety, for eating too much. You know you want to, so tell me! Tell me how you gathered the kicked puppies around you, surrounded yourself with them and saved them so you could feel useful and whole. Collected them like fucking merit badges, signs that you were just too good. I'm surprised you haven't run after Regulus yet, he's more messed up than any of us. He'd be your real crown jewel, right? But know that it's your fault he needs so much saving in the first place. You wouldn't let me save him when we were kids. That's all on you, Potter.
...
...
I didn't think any of you were broken. You just needed help.
Oh, right, that's you. The golden helper. Well what are you gonna do now that you didn't help? Because you didn't. You just ruined.
---
Regulus stared at his screen as the call was abruptly cut off.
That was a... development.
Some part of Regulus, some ghastly contorted corner of his psyche, was glad to hear Sirius fighting with TDH. It showed that it wasn't just Regulus's fault: Sirius messed things up with every brother he had, biological or otherwise.
The Blacks had never been made for family. How else could it have gone?
Another part of Regulus felt almost sad for his brother, the Prodigal Son who never returned. It was inarguably Regulus's fault that Sirius was ruining his new family, flooding the new life he had made for himself and leaving it barren and uninhabitable. Regulus was used to ruining things, but Sirius hadn't been on the receiving end of that destruction for a while.
Still, some things never change.
There was another feeling in Regulus, though he was sure he'd never had three real feelings in his entire life. He was, however, happy to ignore this one, to push it down so it didn't embarrass him. See, Regulus Black had learned that hope was for the stupid and the poor. The rich had no reason to need it and the wise had no reason to believe in it. Regulus knew that very well.
Still, he couldn't quite stop it. Couldn't stop the tiny droplet from joining his veritable puddle of emotions.
Sirius hadn't wanted to give up on Regulus.
Regulus reminded himself that it didn't matter what Sirius had wanted, it only mattered what he'd done. What he'd done was leave.
What he'd done was betray.
The ends justify the means, and Sirius had ended things.
The way he felt didn't matter, what's done was done.
The Black brothers were done.