Protea - transformation
The Black brothers were never loved in the same way their friends described. When they came home from school, they weren’t welcomed with open arms. They were welcomed with expectations, and events to attend. After all, they had the family reputation to uphold. And nothing was more important to the Black family than their reputation.
They had to play their part in maybe the most cruel play ever written. They were always under their mother’s watchful eye, under their father’s thumb. But they were together. They had each other. For a while.
The night Sirius left was a hard one. He didn’t even say anything to his brother as he left. He simply walked out of the door, never returning. The house was never really the same after that. The family wasn’t either. Father was even more uptight, and critical. Mother had become even more cruel. His brother could no longer shield him, or act as a buffer for his mother’s temper. Now, Regulus’ screams regularly echoed through the house, which had never even been more than just a house. It was never a home. After that, it didn’t even stand a chance of being a home.
Both Black brothers came back to school after Summer break as completely different people. One was carefree and smiling, while the other was gloomy and withdrawn.
The look in their eyes when they saw each other for the first time, that was different too. Regulus’ eyes seemed full of disgust and anger. A spark of hate, hiding behind a wall of pain. Sirius’ eyes filled with regret and a sense of loss. The eye contact barely lasted a second, but it was more than enough for the younger brother. After all, he’s the one that broke it first.He didn’t blame or hate Sirius for leaving. He hated Sirius for leaving him. Leaving the family? Completely fine. But leaving him alone, with those monsters he has to call parents? That might’ve been the final straw. Sirius wanted to leave the family, so he would be treated like everyone outside of the family does. Like dirt.
For Sirius, the eye contact lasted an eternity and barely a second. He could see how hurt his brother was. He could see how he had changed in just a few weeks. He could see it all. He wished he could fix it, explain to Regulus why he did it, why he didn’t tell him about his plan. But Reggie wouldn’t look at him after that. The brothers looked at each other once Sirius had left. For one of them, it was more than enough. He was done with his traitor brother who had left him alone. He was different now. Regulus was a true Black now, his transformation as his mother liked to call it, complete.
But for the other, it wasn’t enough. That one second of eye contact would haunt him for years, whenever he saw his baby brother, or even heard his name. Years later, when Sirius was in Azkaban, that memory still haunted him. That was the moment he had truly lost his only brother.