Chapter 5
Regulus, for all that it was clear something was going on with him, seemed none the worse for the wear. He took his classes, and despite Regulus being watched constantly by Sirius to a degree that had the other members of his friend groups nigh worried (he was beginning to become obsessed, after all), and yet he did not seem to be upset, anxious, or even worried. Regulus was, for all intense and purposes, the same as he always had been. Aloof, studious, and perfect. Sirius wanted to throw something, but the words of the Head Prefects would ring around his head every time that the urge got a hold of him. He knows how to play the game, Sirius was preferred, whatever else. Regulus had always seemed like he could navigate their parents much better than Sirius himself. After Sirius had gone through Hogwarts the first year, Regulus had changed, but not much. Sirius knew that Regulus had been bound to go to Slytherin, but he had hoped maybe Ravenclaw. The disappointment was still there when Regulus got classed into Slytherin, but he also was more than well aware that if anyone could toy with their parents and the pureblood families it would be Regulus.
Regulus was smart, this was something Sirius had always known, and his grades in school proved it more than Sirius could with his claims. He rarely got anything other than an Outstanding on everything. It was almost terrifying just how intelligent that his brother was. Not that his parents noticed, they had been too focused on Sirius...but then, another thing that Regulus had said was plaguing his mind. I was raised by father....While Sirius would admit that Regulus was rarely seen around Father, he had not actually realized that he had seen his father even less than he saw Regulus. Regulus did not like to be made a big deal of, and after Sirius left, the heirship...Sirius was beginning to realize that there was quite a few things that he did not know.
"What is going on in that big head, hm?" Remus questioned, poking Sirius' forehead, shoving it backwards a bit. Sirius could not stop the smile from falling across his face. Remus had always made him feel better. "Regulus is fine, it seems that Crouch and Rosier are quite protective of him, I do not think you have anything to worry about." Sirius's smile quickly turned from upside to downside, and a frown replaced it almost immediately.
"It isn't that, Remus, I know that that Regulus will be fine, but...I don't know what happened with Malfoy...Lucius. My cousin married him, you know? Now I have to hear that he did something to my brother, and it was serious enough that bonds would be paid and a trial could be held? Even if the trial would not go anywhere because of the money, but still. Anything that had evidence to go to trial was dangerous. It had to be something...and the malfoy's were not known to be cruel, at least not outwardly."
"I know you're worried, but surely just talking to Regulus could solve matters?" Sirius scoffed, folding his arms across his chest defensively, rolling his eyes to the back of his head hard. Remus laughed softly at the display. Dramatics, as per the norm when he was confronted with something discomforting.
"I would, but you know that is not going to end well, it never does. We always end up fighting."
"Well, there does not seem to be much choice if you want to figure out what happened. You can't very well just question Lucius Malfoy. Crouch and Rosier are never going to willingly tell you and if anyone knows Crouch even remotely well he will fully enjoy a chance to beat you. Even if it comes at his expense." Sirius groaned, rubbing his hands over his eyes roughly. "Talk to your brother, Sirius, and at least try to figure out what is going on without freaking out on him."
"Can you come with me?" Sirius whispered, big eyes staring up at his werewolf boyfriend. Remus sighed, shaking his head.
"If it is something as serious as you think it is, he will never speak with me around, but I can wait outside of the room as a sense of moral support." Sirius hummed, contemplating the suggestion, but quickly realized that was all he was going to get. Sighing, he reluctantly agreed wishing that he could convince Remus to be in the same room. He knew that Remus was right though, and that put a rather large damper on his already bad mood.
"It is good enough, I suppose, you are right, there's no way that Regulus will want to be in the room alone with two Gryffindors." Regulus hated being alone with anyone, but Gryffindors were a personal affront to almost every Slytherin. Their rivalry was literally something that was legendary. Everyone knew about it, and it had always been like that. Sirius thought it was because though they had the same general way of life, their application was totally different.
"What if you invited him to take backup?" Sirius shook his head viciously. That would definitely be a horrible idea.
"No, no, no. Crouch will jump on me the moment I ask! I can take Regulus, but Crouch is dangerous. That isn't even including Rosier. Both Crouch and Rosier are ridiculously protective of Regulus. I don't know them enough to be able to anticipate how they would react, and Regulus has a hard time keeping Crouch under control. Clearly, if a week ago was any indication. Regulus would have clearly preferred Crouch not say a word about what was going on, and yet look where that got him?" Remus sighed. Sirius was as tough as he was stubborn.
"Fine, whatever, but when things go south, if they do, I am not going to be entering the room to help you do you understand?" Remus stated seriously. Sirius nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes, yes, yes! Thank you!" Remus laughed, ruffling Sirius' head sharply. Sirius watched as Remus left, shocked that the boy was so kind to him. He understood what his expectations were, and he was more than willing to abide by his boyfriends' expectations and boundaries. Everything seemed brighter when Remus was with him. While he did not think that Remus would be able to keep his emotions fully in check, he hoped just having him around was going to help him out.
Every time him and Regulus tried to have a conversation it ended up in a fight. It always had. Knowing Regulus invoked a protection order? As much as Sirius would like to say it was a lie, Crouch had said this in a fit of rage, and in one of his classic fever spells. Crouch never lied in those, it was like his normally low filter had no filter and he was crueler and harsher than normal, which was saying something considering how he was typically. Furthermore, it made sense as to why the Slytherins' never clapped back at them. Sirius had thought that maybe it was because they were just too good, but...perhaps it was not.
Sighing, Sirius stood. He needed to hunt Regulus down first before he could even try and speak with him, or ask for him to meet up with him. Sirius rubbed his temple, trying to wave off a headache. He had a feeling that this was going to get worse, far before it got better. If Regulus was correct about anything, it was that Sirius had a temper, and as much as he tried to curb it, it was almost impossible to actually do it. He just got so angry so quickly.
Perhaps he should take a calming draught before his talk with Regulus...yes, that seemed like a brilliant idea. Turning his feet back towards the dungeons, he figured he could filtch a simple draught, or two, or several. He was going to need every advantage he could get.