chapter 2
The next day, the black house was terribly quiet, with only the occasional shuffle of servants running around. Sirius and Regulus were in the doorway, about to leave for the town again, but were stopped by a tall, skinny figure.
The sight of her made the brother go still. “Hi, Mother,” Sirius said first as Regulus looked down.
“Where are you two going?” she stared at them with a cold gaze.
“On a walk through the town,” Sirius replied, a little shaky.
“Well, be back before curfew. I don’t want yesterday’s little incident to repeat,” she said, announcing the word ‘incident.’ At this, Regulus shuddered a little before nodding. They all turned to walk a different way. The boys went out the door, and their mother, Walburga, went to the living room.
The black family house wasn’t always the most welcoming place to the brothers, but it was still their home either way. The only one they’ve ever had, even if it was abusive.
When they got a distance from their house, Sirius paused just to take a breath, which it seemed he had been waiting for since he woke up.
“Are you going to join?” Regulus suddenly asked Sirius not to even look up from the ground once.
“Like the war?”
“Yeah”
The question sounded unreal, especially after what had happened at home when Regulus had even mentioned the signup sheet on the town’s bulletin board.
“No,” he said, unsure. “I don’t believe I will.” He then looked at Regulus, who was now facing him with watery eyes and such an innocent look to him, like they were still 7 and 9. “Are you going to sign up?”
Regulus looked away first before slowly nodding.
“Regulus! Are you crazy?!” Sirius shouted, gripping Regulus’s shoulders, making the younger look at him. “Even after all that father did to you yesterday? Reggie, you were shaking in pain!”
Regulus sighed before a tear came streaming down. “I know, but Pandora..” he looked down at Sirius’s annoyed expression. “Her brother signed up. I know she would never say anything, but I know she’s scared for him, and I just want to bring him home to her..” he said with now a face full of tears
“So what. You’re going to go and die just to protect a girl you met yesterday?” Sirius now dropped his hands from Regulus’s shoulders and wiped a stray tear down his cheek. “If you join, then I’ll join too.”
Regulus immediately shot his graze to Sirius with his mouth dropped. “NO!” his eyes were now filled with panic.
“Well then. If you join, I will; if you don’t, I won’t. Make your fucking choice” Sirius turned around and started walking, not caring what Regulus had to say.
Sirius walked through the town not caring about who he bumped into or who yelled at him; he was just so pissed at the fact Regulus would actually sign up for a girl he barely knew and would leave his family he’s known his whole life. He wouldn’t blame Regulus if he wanted to escape Walburga and Orion, but him? He was so sad and upset that Regulus would trade his life for a girl but not for his brother.
He was so blinded by his anger that he didn’t even realize the brown-haired boy standing in front of him until he bumped straight into him. Sirius glared at the boy in front of him with blurry eyes before realizing it was Remus.
“Oh, Remus, hi,” he said awkwardly, moving backward enough to give them space. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking, and I don’t know.”
Remus smiled at him softly, “Are you okay?” The question made Sirius’s heart twist in all the ways it could before he shook his head and let the tears finally fall down. Remus reached out to grab Sirius’s hand, pulling him into a quiet alley and bringing him into a big hug, where Sirius cried for 15 minutes.
After Sirius had calmed down, Remus lifted his chin to wipe his face ever so gently as if touching a delicate flower.
“You’re just like a rose,” Remus started looking into Sirius’s eyes and then to his forehead. “Both of you are. Regulus, I mean, both beautiful but prickly.” Sirius couldn’t even be mad at the prickly comment when Remus’s smile slowly started spreading across his face; if he had been beautiful in his eyes, then he couldn’t imagine what Remus was to others.
“I don’t want to lose him.” Sirius’ head just went limp in Remus’s hand. He waited for Remus to react, but he just waited for Sirius to continue. “I know why he wants to sign up, and it’s even heroic of him, but he only just turned 16.” The age comment seemed to be the thing that made Remus think.
“16..? That’s only about 2 years off, me and James.” he finally let go of Sirius’s face to scratch his head. “Your brother is quite an odd one,” he laughed.
Sirius looked at Remus, confused. “This isn’t the time to be laughing,” he mumbled. Remus still heard the mumble, though by his reaction of playfully covering his mouth.
“Even if he does join, he’ll have James, and I know James will do anything to protect something he loves,” Remus patted Sirius’s head before wrapping his arm around him. “Let’s go and find that brother of yours, why don’t we?” Sirius nodded shyly. He’s definitely going to like this new guy being around him.