the escape
It had already been two hours since Sirius had left the house, and James was starting to get worried. When Sirius had first left Grimmauld Place he had tried to take Regulus with him, but Regulus insisted that Sirius leave him behind. In his rush Sirius didn't bother to argue with him, he figured that Regulus would come to his senses in about a week and join Sirius at the Potter's house, but when 3 weeks passed and there was no sign of Regulus Sirius began to worry about him. Sirius felt so guilty for leaving Regulus behind he shut down. Sirius hadn't left his room to do anything except eat at first, but then after a week or two passed with not even so much as a letter from Regulus Sirius stopped coming out of his room at all. James had taken to bringing Sirius food from the kitchen and leaving it outside the door for him. Eventually James decided that the only way to cheer Sirius up was to find a way to get Regulus to run away to the Potter’s too, so the plan was that Sirius would; sneak back into Grimmauld Place, convince Regulus to run away, sneak back out, and come back to the potter's with Regulus in toe.
James felt helpless 'did I just send my best friend to his death' he thought to himself. I mean he was pretty sure that even if Sirius was caught that the worst that could happen was his parents keep him there. they wouldn't actually kill their own son, would they? James thought back to when Sirius told him about his mother's punishments. How she would even go so far as to use the cruciatus curse on them if they stepped even a toe out of line. 'oh shit , maybe they would kill their own son' James thought to himself. James's heart was racing. Did he really just send Sirius to his death? He buried his head in his hands 'this can't be happening' he thought to himself.
James felt a soft hand resting on his shoulder. "honey are you alright?" Euphemia Potter (James's mother) said in a comforting tone. James looked up at his mother and smiled "ya mum, I'm alright." Euphemia looked at him with a look that said 'stop lying to me James' and sat next to him on the couch "what's wrong James, you know you can talk to me." Euphemia said. James felt a tear slide down his cheek, he could never hide anything from his mom she always saw straight through him. before long James was fully sobbing. Euphemia hugged him close to her in an attempt to comfort her son. finally after James had cried for a bit Euphemia picked James's head up, whipped the tears off of his face and asked... "sweetheart, why don't you tell me what's wrong so we can try and figure it out together." James told Euphemia everything he had been keeping from her, And than when he had finally gotten it all off his chest, Euphemia hugged him again and said "Alright sweety, thank you for telling me, now let's talk about how we can make sure that Sirius and Regulus get back here safe."
"I'll go make some tea and some cookies for them. why don't you try and get some sleep? I'm sure they'll be back any time now but if they aren't back by morning we can figure out how to get them back here when the time comes." Euphemia said as she stood up to go start baking some cookies for the boys. Euphemia always did have a magical way of making James's worries and fears disappear in an instant. no matter how dire the situation she could always manage to make it better.
-meanwhile at Grimmauld place-
Sirius looked around at the place he had once called his home. He saw the tall grand staircase that he and Regulus used to run up and down playing tag. He saw the paintings on the walls that he and Regulus would make up stories about. Sirius began walk slowly and quietly down the hall towards Regulus's bedroom. he walked past dozens of paintings of their relatives, alive and dead. he watched as the paintings went from generation to generation of the noble house of black until he reached the current generation. he stopped In front of a painting of himself, Regulus, Andromeda, Narcissa, and Bellatrix. He looked at the painting of him and his cousins for a while before moving forward towards Regulus's room. Sirius couldn't help but look around at the paintings on the walls. Especially the ones that had him in them. He wanted so badly to know if his parents had removed any trace of him from the house.
Sirius stopped once more in front of the family tree on the wall. He saw his name burned out of it. He reached his hand out and felt the burned portion of the wall where his name and picture once were. he felt a soft tear roll down his cheek. This shocked him 'am I really crying about being disowned from this family?' he thought to himself. His whole life he had only seen the bad parts of being a part of the Noble house of Black. he had always highlighted; the pressure he was placed under, the expectation from his parents to be the perfect heir, and the punishments he would receive for not being the perfect son. now all he could think about was the fun he had in this house. he thought of; the times he had spent playing with Regulus as a little boy, the jokes he would crack with his cousins when their parents weren't around, and the time he would spend in the library with Regulus. Sirius sighed heavily and continued on.
Finally Sirius found d himself at his brother's door. he slowly reached for the door knob and turned it ever so gently so that it wouldn't make any noise. than he slowly opened the door and slipped into the room. "oi Reggie, wake up I'm getting you out of here." Sirius whispered as he walked over to his sleeping brother. he leaned over Regulus and gently shook him to wake him up while also trying not to startle him.
Regulus's eyes shot open. A look of shock and confusion washed over Regulus's face but he stayed silent knowing that if he woke his parents the consequences would be dire for both of the. "what the hell are you doing back here?! Are you crazy?" Regulus whispered so as not to alert his parents. "I'm here for you. look I know you didn't want to come with me before but you just have to Reggie." Sirius pleaded. "I already told you I can't, if I leave they won't have an heir." Regulus said reiterating what he had told Sirius the night he had first escaped. "why do you give a shit about them needing an heir Reg? fuck them and their fucked up blood purity." Sirius said, pulling Regulus up out of bed until he was standing up. "Merlin Sirius you are so dense," Regulus said putting his head in his hands in frustration, "I don't give a shit about their fucked up blood purity! But the only reason you got out is because they had a back up." Regulus said gesturing to himself. "If we would have both left then they would have dragged both of our asses back here in a second." A wave of realization washed over Sirius he stood in thought for a moment before finally saying to Regulus, "hell, let's run any way. it's better to try and fail then to never try at all." "fuck Sirius that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Regulus said. Regulus stood in thought for a moment and than turned back to Sirius and said "bloody hell, why not." Sirius smiled and hugged Regulus tightly. the pair stood there hugging for a moment and then they heard a gentle creak in the floor boards outside the door. both of them shot their heads up simultaneously and said at the same time with match looks of terror on their faces "Kreacher!"