the promise
3rd September 1976
Daily Prophet
Orion and Walburga Black found dead in their home early Thursday morning
Mr Orion Black and Mrs Walburga Black were both found dead in the Black family home 12 Grimmauld Place in Islington in the early hours of yesterday morning by niece Bellatrix Lestrange. Their cause of death is unknown at this time. They are survived by son Regulus Arcturus Black II, as well as various siblings and nieces. A private ceremony will be held and they are set to be buried in the Black family cemetery. The family have requested privacy at this time.
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June 1976
Sirius
Sirius and Regulus had not been close for a long time.
No matter how similar their eyes were, or how much they were unmistakeably related, they were not brothers anymore and hadn’t been for years. Sirius knew this. He knew that Regulus would say no. But there was still that small part of him that wanted to save him.
There would always be that small part that still saw Regulus as his baby brother. His baby brother who cried about dead animals and was deathly afraid of water. His baby brother who used to sneak into Sirius’ room because he was afraid that there were ghouls hiding in his. His baby brother. He was the only reason Sirius hadn't done it yet, but he and Regulus were more estranged than ever now so why should he even bother staying.
It had been two hours by now. All his stuff was packed, his childhood bedroom as bare and empty as his parents had always wanted- if you didn’t include the Gryffindor banners and nude posters he had permanently stuck to his wall the year before. He still didn’t think he’d be able to leave without atleast telling Reg, without at least trying one final time to get him out too. This was his current dilemma. He knew that if he told reg then he ran the risk of his parents finding out and being stuck there forever, but he knew that he had to.
He finally plucked up the courage to knock on Reggie's door and didn't bother to wait for a response before walking in and sitting down on the perfectly made bed. It was now or never and he knew it. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Reg finally spoke
“What do you want Sirius?” The words came from his mouth as cold as they had always been since Sirius had started at Hogwarts.
“I’m leaving, Reg. I’m not coming back.”
“What?” Regulus turned to face him finally, a flicker of emotion hidden behind his eyes.
“I’m going. I’m going to James’. Tonight.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“I know you’ll say no, because you always do but I want you to come with me Reg. Please” he told him, silently begging him to just agree this time, to realise it wasn’t too late, to want to stay with Sirius.
He stayed silent for a moment, quietly deliberating. Sirius knew it was silly to hope, but every single time that he had asked before Regulus had given him an immediate no, he’d never stopped to think, even for a second.
“I can’t. You know I can’t” he eventually replied, but there was a quiver in his voice that told Sirius he wanted to even if he did believe that
“Why not? You can come with me; James’ parents won’t mind I swear. I know they won’t" Sirius knew that there would be a way to convince him, he just had to figure out what it would be
“Because it can’t be both of us.” He said it so sadly that it only made Sirius more determined to get him out of there. He could see how much life this house and this family had already drained from Reg and he would rather lose everything than stand by and see it drain anymore.
“It can though, we could leave tonight. The Potter’s have got all the charms ready to cast to make the house undetectable, completely untraceable. It would be safe, they won’t be able to get us there, ever again. I promise” he said it so sincerely in an attempt to get Regulus to believe him, he needed him to believe him.
“Even if they can’t get to us at the Potter’s, they can still get me back from Hogwarts. They're still technically our parents Sirius. The only way would be to kill them or something” there was a weird silence that Sirius couldn't quite decipher. It hit him again just how much they had grown apart, when they were younger there wasn't a single uncomfortable silence, no look in Reggie’s eyes that he couldn’t recognise, it set him on edge completely. He hated not knowing his little brother.
It was Regulus who spoke again first
“Stay until the end of summer and I’ll come with you”
“Promise?” he asked, not quite believing what he was hearing
“I promise, if you stay until we go back to school, I’ll come with you to James’, I’ll run away with you and we can make it so that they can’t bring me back.”
“Okay” Sirius said. He'd survived sixteen years in there by now, what was two more months if it meant he could bring Regulus with him?