Remus,Peter,and James always knew that Sirius did not have the best home life. It was common knowledge that Walburga was a strict, prejudiced woman, but no one knew anything beyond that, and surely, no one ever expected her to be as bad as she is. The only ones that knew were the members of her family, and that's all who need to know.
Late one night, everything fell apart, though. No one was meant to know, and no one was going to, only if Walburga hadn't pushed it a little too far.
“You bastard of a son!” She shrieked at Sirius Black, who was sobbing on the floor as his body seized. She thrashed her wand again. “Crucio!” She shrieked for what felt like the millionth time that evening. “Crucio, crucio!”
Sirius felt as if he was on fire, his skin burning and falling off repeatedly while being pricked with poisonous needles. He couldn’t say anything, couldn’t do anything; all he could do was sit there and take it, hoping she would stop soon. “I never raised you to act this way!” She growled. “You, you and your kind,” she hissed, twisting her long, dark wood wand in her hand. “I don't want to hear anything more about it; you will cease this behavior immediately,” she demanded.
“You hear that!” She yelled at Sirius, though he was still shaking too violently to respond. “You ungrateful, disobedient blood traitor! I never raised a son to be a... a... a…” She couldn’t bear to say it out loud; instead, she turned to storm off. “Regulus, get him off the floor,” she demanded coldly of her youngest child.
Once she was out of the room, Regulus crept down the stairs and tried to help Sirius stand, but his legs were far too weak. “Oh god, you're bleeding,” he groaned. That was never good; you had to be crucioed especially badly to bleed. Regulus scurried around the house looking for some medicine, but there was nothing that could help, and Sirius was still in a critical state. “Monty,” Sirius managed to mutter.
Regulus's face drained of color; he had to take him to the Potters. “But Sirius, I can't-” he stressed, his voice full of fear, fear of what would happen to himself if he went, and fear of what would happen to his brother if he didn’t.
Regulus could live with himself getting hurt if it meant his brother being safe, so he held tight to Sirius's shoulder and apparated off.
He reappeared outside a quaint cottage on a London street. The house was made of wood, and snow was falling around them. Upon landing, Sirius fell down, causing the snow to slowly turn crimson. Regulus quickly ran up and started banging on the door. “Mrs. Potter, Mr. Potter, James, anyone, please!” he begged as he hammered on the door.
When it flew open, he almost fell through the doorway onto Mrs. Effie Potter, but thankfully, he caught himself. “Hello, who are-” she froze, seeing Sirius behind him on the ground. “Sirius!” she shrieked, running out to pick up the boy and carry him in. “Mum, Mum, what's wrong?” James asked, terrified, running down the stairs. “Reg?” he asked, seeing the short, dark-haired boy in the doorway.
“James, it's Sirius; he, um…” Regulus started to say but stopped, remembering what his mother had said, ‘if you ever tell anyone, I will treat you the same I do your brother!’ She had told him at age 10.
“Crucioing?” Effie asked, worried, as she dabbed at him with a damp cloth. Regulus took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, it's worse than she's ever done before,” Regulus confessed. The color drained from Effie's face. “What! Do you mean she has done this before? How long?” Effie cried. “Since he was 11,” Regulus muttered.
Effie looked like she was about to cry. “He never told us; oh, poor boy,” she whispered.
Monty came running down the stairs. “Here, give him this; it should help,” he instructed, giving his wife an ointment and a few pills. “Here, sweetie, eat this,” she said, feeding Sirius the pills and holding a cup of water up to his mouth.
Soon, the shaking stopped, and Sirius was asleep. “Okay, he should be fine for now,” she sighed before looking right at her husband. “Monty…” she hesitated, her husband nodded, understanding. “You're right, dear; there is no way in hell we are letting him go back,” he agreed.
It was settled. Effie turned back to Regulus, who was standing at the kitchen counter holding James's hand. “You should stay too, dear,” she suggested. Regulus blushed. “I... I can't; Mother would kill me,” he explained. “Not if we have a say in it,” Monty persisted.
Regulus thought for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I can't; I really can't. But thank you for helping Sirius. Could I visit him sometime?” Regulus asked nervously. Effie walked over and hugged him. “Anytime you like. What did you say your name is?” she asked. “Regulus,” he responded. “It's nice to have you here, Regulus,” she smiled solemnly before walking back over to Sirius.
“Effie?” he asked groggily. “Oh, you're awake! How are you, son?” she asked excitedly. Sirius sat up. “Ow,” he winced. “I'm alright?” he said, trying to smile. Effie looked as though she was about to cry. “Oh, good, I was worried sick. What happened? What would lead that sick woman to do this?” she exclaimed.
Sirius blushed. “She found the letters… the ones me and my, um, partner sent to each other,” he mumbled. “Oh, I see; that's no reason to crucio you, though, dear boy. Would you like to invite this girl over?” she asked understandingly. Sirius could feel the tears coming to his eyes. “What's the matter?” Effie asked, resting her hand on his shoulder. “It's um… not a girl,” Sirius confessed as tears fell from his eyes.
“Oh,” she whispered. “Are you going to make me go back there?” Sirius asked worriedly. From the kitchen, James and Regulus looked nervously at each other.
“Oh, heavens no! I would never. Sirius, listen to me; it's nothing to be ashamed of. You will always be my son, no matter what. I will always love you,” she assured him as she held his hands. “Really?” Sirius choked out. “Really,” she nodded.
Sirius grinned and hugged her. “Thank you, Effie, for everything,” he whispered. “Anything, dear. Now, would you like to invite this boy over?” she asked. “Yeah,” Sirius nodded. “I um, should probably get back home,” Regulus said tentatively. “Are you sure you can't stay?” Effie asked, worried for his safety. “Yeah, I'm sure,” he sighed.
James smiled solemnly. “Okay, well, I'm going to say goodbye,” he said sadly as he took Regulus's hand and led him outside.
Little did they know, the window curtain was wide open, and Effie could see James when he hugged, and then kissed, Regulus goodbye. Effie smiled. “Well, it looks like you're not the only one, Sirius,” she chuckled as James stared longingly where Regulus had just been standing.
Right then, Remus apparated a few feet behind James. “What are you looking at, Prongs?” he asked. James turned around as if he was snapped out of a trance. “What? Oh, nothing,” he sighed, turning back around. “Come on, Sirius is waiting for you,” James remembered as he pulled Remus inside.