Brothers

London, early January 2008
Architecture firm Black & Cie

"What's the load figure for P19 and P20?" I asked my team.

"We're at 1.65 megatons, sir," replied one of my colleagues, showing me the model.

"Given the hindrance of the bridge piece, I hope not, Mr Hill. What was I, stuck between 1.29 and 1.35?" I replied, raising my head and looking him straight in the eye.

"Absolutely, sir," agreed another of my colleagues, Mrs Olsen, showing me a sheet of notes with calculations scribbled all over it. "We're currently at 1.32 and 1.34 exactly."

I nodded and grabbed a precision cutter and a polystyrene board. I was pleased with my subordinates because I could see that at last the fruits of their efforts were paying off and that they were all performing better day by day. With all this good work, and I didn't intend to stop there, I hoped that Black & Co would become one of the most famous architectural practices in London, England, the United Kingdom, Europe and, finally, the world. I had as much confidence in them as they had in me, and I must admit that I also had a great deal of confidence in myself. But as I was cutting with the naked eye, under the excited eyes of my colleagues, my ramblings caused me to press too hard and the blade slipped. I cut myself right between the thumb and forefinger, which made me bleed. Arghh, he was a clever one, Regulus 'the compass in the eye' Black!

"Putain!" I bellowed in French, as I did every time I got angry or lost my patience. "Shit."

My team looked at me with round eyes that made them look like Telescope goldfishes.

"Do you want me to call for 111 Mr Black?" asked the frail 19 year old trainee, who already looked ready to turn a corner.

"No thanks, Ruben, why don't you go and get some pepper from the kitchen? We don't have time to procrastinate."

"Pepper, sir? Are you sure?"

I frowned slightly at the sting of the cut and Ruben seemed to take it as an air of harshness towards him. The poor guy looked like he was about to wet himself.

"Yes pepper please. And a clean tea towel too. Thank you."

The young man ran towards the kitchen while the employees all looked at their boss, me, with curiosity or concern. They all wanted to help me but I dismissed all their suggestions with a wave of my hand and grabbed the pepper Ruben brought me with a firm hand to pour it abundantly and directly onto the bleeding wound, which made everyone, except me, wince.

"It works better than you'd think," I whispered to everyone. "Back to your posts, we've got two days to finalise everything. If all goes well, in 48 hours we'll be making history, and then you'll be claiming indecent salaries way beyond my current means! So let's get moving, and fast!"

A man in his fifties approached, half running and half walking, trying to stay as pro as possible and not crease his new suit.

"What is it Craig?"

Craig, looking genuinely concerned about something, handed me a phone as he stopped to give it to me and headed back to his office in the process. What a strange fellow. But very helpful and friendly.

I put the phone to my ear, suspicious because I didn't recognise the number on it.

"Hello?"

"Hello Regulus? It's Draco! I've got someone here who wants to talk to you."

"I'm listening," I replied, intrigued by the call from my 24-year-old nephew.

"Hello Mr Regulus. My name is Harry, I'm the son of James and Lily Potter," introduced a boy who must have been the same age as Draco. "I have a very important question to ask you on behalf of my parents and their friends: is Sirius with you?"

My ears began to ring loudly and I had to step out of the room to avoid being disturbed, both by the stream of speech from my colleagues and the noise from my eardrums. I think my hand was shaking slightly. It had been such a long time since I'd heard my brother's name. So long since anyone had said his name to me. I was suddenly amazed. I was almost breathless with shock.  

I heard more than two voices at the other end of the phone and I thought I heard someone else speak.

"Regulus, are you still there?" asked a deeper voice, a man's voice, at least the same age as me. His slightly gruff tone and his hint of a Welsh accent, which he must have found so hard to conceal, completely dissociated him from Draco and this so-called Harry Potter, whom I didn't know from Adam or Eve.

"Yes."

"Is Sirius with you?" one repeated.

"I haven't seen Sirius for years," I admitted in a very low voice.

"He's disappeared. I was away on business this week and I expected him to return home last night as usual, but radio silence. I had his colleagues from the magazine where he works on the phone and they told me they hadn't heard from him for several days", the man on the other end of the line brutally announced. And I could tell from his tone that the man was extremely worried but that he was trying to hide it.

I almost forgot to breathe, not really feeling it. Breathe in. Breathing out. Breathe in. out.

Fucking hell.

"Tell me if you know anything," the voice pleaded. "I need to know."

"I don't know anything," I admitted.

"I just have a bad feeling about him. He hasn't been well lately..."

Silence on both sides of the receiver. I thought for barely half a second.

"Did he take his passport?"

"Yes," the man breathed, his voice trembling slightly. I didn't know who he was to Sirius but he must have been fucking worried about this idiot who disappeared without warning, inviting me into a world-class game of hide-and-seek.

I rubbed my temples, breathing in and out, completely lost. Well, no, not completely. I thought I knew where that bastard had gone.  

"I'll find him," I breathed before hanging up on the guy, because I knew he didn't need to hear any more. I returned to the main room and ran to Craig to give him back his mobile. I took the opportunity to grab my keys and hurriedly put on my coat.

"Craig!" I shouted. "I have to leave urgently, take care of everything."

Craig turned towards me as I entered the lift.

"What are you talking about? What are you talking about? Regulus? Regu-"

The doors closed, cutting off his words.

I hailed a taxi and it soon stopped. I quickly gave the driver my address and patted my lap anxiously the whole way. When I arrived, I jumped out of the taxi. But before running off down the hall and rushing up the stairs, I stopped at the driver's window.

"Please wait for me here" I begged. "I won't be long. Then we'll go to the airport!"

And I ran to the hall of my building and rushed up the stairs. 

I think I've always dreaded this moment coming. It's strange to have a part of you that lives outside you. Not a twin. Just a brother. And yet that's the half that kept me alive and made it past my sixth birthday.