Greetings,
It was three weeks later when Sirius saw a familiar owl land on his windowsill, drenched in warm August rain. He took the letter and thanked the bird with a small treat, watching it fly off into the distance before shutting the window.
He took the letter and wandered into the living room with the intention of curling up in Moony's favorite chair. He set aside the book Remus had been reading. A torn piece of paper stuck out to hold his place. If he let himself, Sirius could almost imagine that Remus had just wandered away to make some tea and would return to his unfinished story any minute.
The thought made his heart ache, knowing he wouldn't come back for a while yet. Everything was harder without him, even breathing was harder when he wasn't around. He misses his Moony every second, with every fiber of his being.
Unfortunately, it was too warm to put on one of his jumpers, as he so often did when he missed Remus. So instead, he was settling with what he had, and that was this old, worn-out chair. It was falling apart a little around the edges, purchased used and frayed from years of use.
Sirius had offered to buy Remus a new one. It's not like he couldn't afford it, but his Moonlight said no. He likes his chair worn in the way it is. He's glad about it now. When he’s missing Remus, he can curl up in the chair as Padfoot and let the lingering scent of Moony fill his senses. It makes the time apart marginally more bearable, even if Remus will scold him later for the dog hair on his chair.
Once he was contentedly snuggled into the chair, he unfolded the letter.
Dear Sirius,
I have a plan for retrieving the first object.
Meet me at 50.16103°N - 5.54022°W. Sunset on the 26th.
R.A.B
Dramatic little shit. Why can’t he just set a meeting like a normal person. You know, a normal location known by name rather than fucking coordinates.
Heaving a sigh, he summoned the calendar off the wall, tracing his finger over the dates. It was the 18th today; the 26th is a week out. It’s another full moon—
Oh. He had assumed that their meeting had been a random date, but it must have been a conscious choice by Regulus. He knew that Remus would be away with the werewolf packs on full moons.
His brother had planned their meetings to make it easier, so he wouldn't have to explain his absence to Remus.
Regulus must have trusted that he could make an excuse to anyone else. Which was true, James and Lily were far too busy these days with their own lives. Peter was rarely around anymore. Marlene was busy ignoring the war whenever she wasn't on duty, and spending all her free time with Dorcas. Then there was Mary. She was hardly around at all anymore, shrinking into the muggle world and rarely venturing back.
The war had taken its toll on all his friends. It was upsetting, but if it made it easier for him to help Regulus end the war, then he'd do whatever he needed to. The fear and heartache would end, and things could return to normal. They could all have their lives back.
—
The week went by fairly quickly. He spent some time at James’ house, but he tried not to be too overbearing. James was busy with so much right now, and he didn’t need Sirius dumping himself into the mix.
Not that Prongs would ever tell him he was being a bother, but he knew when he was being more of a nuisance than a help. So he spent most of the week on missions or guard duty details with the Prewett twins or Dorcas. Then, when he wasn’t doing Order business or spending time at James', he was home, alone, thinking.
He had been doing a lot of thinking over the last week. Nearly everyone he spent any time with commented on how quiet he was. He told them he felt tired, stressed, or something else nonsensical. It wasn't that it was untrue, but it certainly didn't get anywhere close to capturing the full breadth of everything that was warring inside him.
Sometimes he daydreamed of telling James or Remus everything. Unloading it all so he didn't have to carry it alone anymore. Just— Hey! Yeah, I'm great, I found my dead brother a few months ago and as it turns out, not dead. We had a great talk a few weeks ago. He faked his death to escape the Dark Lord and our insane family. Spent a year living in someone else's body and working as a fucking bartender, can you believe it? hmm? Yeah no, he isn’t a death eater anymore. Actually, he is trying to kill Voldemort. Unfortunately, the bastard is basically invincible since he’s hidden away bits of his soul like a squirrel hoarding nuts for winter. It's fine though, my baby brother has a plan to destroy them. Huh? Oh yeah, he has to actually find them first. He has two of them, our crazy cousins have two and one has been lost to the known world for a couple hundred years. No worries though, we got this. And if we don't then we both die. Yeah, like dead dead. If something happens to Regulus while he is trying to kill good old Voldy then I die too. Fun right?
Yeah. That wouldn’t go over very well.
No time to dwell on it now though. He was due to meet up with Regulus at those damn coordinates in an hour, and he planned on being early again.
He tidied up a bit before he pulled on his shoes and headed out the door, apparating as soon as he passed his wards.
When he landed, he was confused for a moment. Why did Regulus have to pick the most random places to meet? Honestly. Looking around there were grass-covered stone walls all around him.
Ruins, really? Last time it was an ancient stone circle, and this time he was in the midst of an old, forgotten village. If he were a virgin, he would worry that someone might jump out and attempt to use him for a sacrificial ritual.
He wandered around for a while until he came to a low wall with a nice view. Sitting, he took in the beauty of the summer sunset, letting his mind wander back to his Moony.
“It’s disgusting that I can tell you are thinking about Remus just by the lovesick look on your face.” The voice came from beside him, again he hadn’t heard him coming.
"Well, I find it disturbing that you are so fucking quiet. You shouldn’t sneak up on someone; I could have hexed you.”
Regulus laughed, “You could have tried; I’m faster.”
“Bullshit.” Sirius smiled as he stood and walked over to hug his brother, who reluctantly allowed it. "It's good to see you, Reggie.”
“Yeah. You too.”
“I have to ask, though. Why are we meeting at sunset in ancient ruins, and standing stones last time? What's up with that?”
Regulus shrugged, “Aesthetics.”
He couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped him. He had to admit it did give their meetings a nice ambiance. Godric, they were dramatic.
They moved to sit back down on the stone wall.
“Alright, so you have an idea to get one of the Horcruxes?"
“I do. I think we should start with Hufflepuffs' cup. I know he gave it to Bellatrix to keep safe. I would imagine she has it at their manor or in their vault.”
"Oh, good, so just stroll in and get it then.”
“Don’t be an ass, but yes.”
Sirius turned his most incredulous look on his brother. He had to be joking, right? He didn’t really think they could just stroll into the house and grab the damn thing.
“Reggie.”
“Sirius.” His brother looked at him, his most bored mask plastered to his face. "Strolling in would be a very simplified way to describe what I'm planning.”
“Please, unsimplify it," Sirius responded slowly.
“Gladly.” Regulus smirked, 'You borrow James’ cloak.'"
“How do you know about—”
“You're the one who was so convinced that James and I were an item, how do you think we got around to see each other?”
“Oh Merlin, I'm sorry I asked. Please obliviate me, I don't want to think about what you and James have done.”
“Oh, piss off. Like you haven't done worse with Remus.”
“Nope, absolutely not, I'm not talking about any of this with you.”
“Good, so you can borrow the cloak from James, right?”
"Yeah, I don't think he will mind me taking it for a bit.”
“Perfect, then we use the cloak and get into Lestrange Manor and find the cup.”
“And if it’s not there?”
“We take some hair.”
Sirius closed his eyes and sighed, “Sorry, hair?”
"Polyjuice, Sirius. Then we can use it to look like Rodolphus and Bellatrix when we break into their Gringotts vault.”
“Wait, wait, wait. How will we even get into the manor, let alone the vault?”
“As much as I adore our cousin, she's a bit clinically insane. You might have noticed? I'm sure she forgot all about me as soon as they declared me dead. You know, since I wasn't around to torture anymore.”
Sirius winced, “Alright, and how does that help us?"
“They wouldn’t have bothered to remove me from the wards. I'm 98% certain I will still be able to pass the wards with no issue.”
“And the other two percent?"
“We break the wards and do it fast? I don't know," Regulus shrugged.
“Great plan.” He deadpanned.
Reggie reached over and shoved his shoulder, “Fuck off.”
“Okay, so you get through the wards and bring me through. What then?”
“We search for dark magic. It's the easiest way to find the horcruxes. The problem this time is that we can be damn sure that Lestrange Manor is filled with dark objects.” He paused, thinking for a moment, “Horcruxes feel—different, though.”
“Alright, and if it's not there, we'll get hair for Polyjuice potion. Then, break into Gringotts? That sounds delightful.”
“Passing through the waterfall will be the hardest part. I can go into the vault and search for the cup while you keep watch.”
“You want me on guard duty in an insanely secure bank when I could help you search, and we'd be out of there even faster.”
“Do you really think they don’t have precautions on the vault to keep people from stealing? Bellatrix might have married a Lestrange, but she’s still a Black. Since I was the Black heir and her closest male kin, I was permitted to enter the Lestrange vault. Since they have no children, if something happened to them both, Rabastan and I would have inherited their belongings. Same principle as the wards, they likely haven’t asked to have me removed and the bank won't do it for another five years.”
“Why five years?”
"Because there was no body. When I ‘died’ they could only declare me missing presumed dead. Our family thinks I am dead and had a funeral, but legally I cannot be declared officially dead until I have been missing presumed dead for 7 years. Which is just over 5 years from now.”
“Good to know.”
“Mmm, well, I plan to return to the living before then or be truly dead so— Actually, scratch that, I will be returning to the living. I'm not crossing through the veil at the same time as you, one life haunted by you is enough. I don't need to do it in death too. In fact, I plan to outlive you.”
“You love me really.”
Regulus let out a low hum, maybe agreeing or perhaps just not wanting to hurt Sirius's feelings by disagreeing.
They sat there for a long while in silence, just watching the stars above them.
Regulus stood suddenly, “Are you good with the plan? I will brew a batch of polyjuice potion just in case we need it for Gringotts. You get the cloak, and we'll break into the Manor. If we need to go to Gringotts, then you just follow my lead, stay quiet, and let me get us in.”
“Stand there and look pretty, got it.”
Regulus rolled his eyes.
“When do we do this?”
“Next full moon, or rather the day of. Bellatrix and Rodolphus are out with the Dark Lord nearly every day. We will likely only have to contend with Rabastan, but he's a moron, so I'm not worried.”
“Okay, so, where do I meet you?”
“Here will do, I'll apparate us to the Manor at 10 a.m."
Sirius nodded and stood, looking at his brother as he smiled, “See you in a month then.”
“A month.”
He walked away and apparated back home.
—
It was a lonely month between full moons. Remus came home for two weeks, but had been at meetings constantly with Moody and Dumbledore.
It didn't give them nearly enough time to be alone together. Especially since everyone else also wanted to see Moony when he was home, Lily and James in particular.
Then, before he had time to blink, the two weeks were over and Remus had to return to the pack. Return to that monster he had to call his Alpha. The man who calls his Moony "pup". It made his skin crawl, he doesn't know how Remus does it.
He had to fight to push the thoughts aside, there were important things to do today.
First, though, he had to put some things in order. Today was the first time he and Regulus would be actively putting themselves in danger. Since his life was tied to Regulus, he had a higher chance of dying. That said, he wouldn't die without leaving a note. He knew how it felt to be left behind without a word.
He had been working on his notes secretly, any chance he could when someone wouldn't walk in on him. He wrote one for James and one for his Moony.
He set both letters down on his desk and cast a disillusionment charm over them, one that would lift after 48 hours. So, if anyone came looking for him before then, they would find nothing, but if he didn't come back, they would find the notes resting where he left them.
He knew it was a bit morbid, but he couldn't just disappear without saying goodbye to those left behind.
Once everything was in place, he made his way to the village ruins. This time Regulus was already there waiting.
“Morning.”
“Mhmm.”
"You've got the cloak?”
He raised his arm, draped over it was a brownish, modelled bunch of cloth. It was so underwhelming when you first saw it, but miraculous when you knew what it could do.
He had gone over to James' house the night before and asked for it. James had handed it over without question, trusting that whatever Sirius needed it for was worthy of his unwavering faith in him. That was James.
“Great, let's get going.”
“Alright.”
Regulus stopped. Turning to face him, eyeing him warily, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You seem— off.”
“Sorry, should I have a little more pep in my step to go search our insane cousins' house for a piece of a dark wizard's soul?”
Regulus rolled his eyes, “No need to be an ass. I was just concerned.”
Sirius let his shoulders slump. He wants his brother to be part of his life, which means letting him in. “I'm just a little scared, and I miss Remus.”
“Oh–” His brothers' expression softened, “Does it help to know I'm scared too?”
He looked up at that. His eyebrows must have nearly hit his hairline. Then they dropped and pulled together as he squinted at his brother. “A bit, yeah. Why are you scared?”
Regulus laughed, but it lacked humor, “You've basically backed me into a corner. If I'm not extremely careful and something happens to me, then I'll take you with me. That terrifies me, I don't want to do that to Remus or James. Losing you— they wouldn't recover.”
“You aren't scared of dying yourself?” Sirius once again felt his stomach sink at his brother's lack of care for his own mortality.
Reggie's face looked genuinely surprised at the concept of worrying for his own life, “No. I told you, I had accepted that I was going to die a long time ago.”
That made frustration flare wildly in his chest, “You must want to survive this war, see the other side, and have a life? A second chance?”
“I already lost everything. What am I supposed to do with a second chance?” He shrugged.
“What if you didn't lose everything? I'm here. If we survive this, I'm sure Remus will be thrilled to have you back. James–”
Regulus's mask slipped back over his face in an instant, “Don't go there, Sirius. –We've got to get going.”
“Fine.”
“I'll apparate us to the woods near the manor, we'll get under the cloak and make our way through the wards. Then we search.”
“Great.”
Regulus grasped his forearm and they were gone with a loud pop.