Chapter 12
Remus liked to think he was a reasonable person. He usually was, but when he had ordered Regulus to stay in the room, and the boy merely said a quiet 'yes, sir' before Remus handed him the rest of the chocolate bar and left the room, making sure not to slam the door so that Regulus did not believe him angry, he had promptly flew down the stairs to see Barty was gone. He had no idea where Crouch was, but before he could even ask, Sirius told him he had been sent home. Remus seethed, his eyes molten red, the wolf way too close to the surface.
"Good," The word were growled out, a predatory urge to rip the other apart which did not fade, not even after James handed him a cup of tea, so that they could try and figure out what the hell was really going on. James lured Sirius to an armchair, a few flicks of their wands had the room back to sorts, and James dropped into the couch running fingers through his hair. Remus took his time savoring his tea, and trying to calm down. Once his heart rate had finally begun to rest at a reasonable level, and he finally looked at Sirius over his cup of tea. "Regulus seems to be convinced you have a good reason for kidnapping him and holding him hostage, but it is apparently not his place to ask you about it." Sirius sighed, running a hand over his face and scrubbing it a bit.
"Its...Complicated." Sirius grumbled.
"So uncomplicate it." Remus ordered, not taking this as anything other than the excuse he knew it was. James had been staring at them too, and Remus was determined to figure out what the fuck was going on. Sirius was not the best person in the world, far from it, their antics at school proved this, but he knew full well Sirius cared about his brother. The way he avoided him at school to avoid gathering their mother's wrath was clear enough...that and Sirius was not stupid, he knew it would complicate things for Regulus to be seen with his gryffindor brother.
"Its just..." Sirius paused, trying to figure out how to say what he was going to say. He knew what Remus was asking, and it was difficult to simplify things in a way that would make sense. "Spares are raised to obey the heir in everything, and under no circumstance can they question them." Sirius sighed, trying to figure out how to continue. "It...It means they can't question their decisions, unless it is in private, they can't be outwardly disregarding of the heir, they cannot refuse to do what they are ordered to...Spares are essentially...Oh what is the english for it..." Sirius paused, eyes narrowing in thought before he figured it out. "Ah, they are basically like...servants to the heir...who eventually become their right hand advisor, and confident...if you think about it like those muggle kings and how they choose a special person they trust to be their right hand...sort of the same...except you don't choose your right hand, they are kind of like...raised for you?" Sirius nervously glanced over at Remus and James, hoping they understood him. Remus had his nose pinched between two fingers.
"You are telling me that your parents essentially groomed Regulus into being your all obedient servant and they didn't think that was going to cause problems?" Sirius shrugged.
"I am the favorite, and I am the heir...Mother likes me far more than she does Regulus...and its always been like that. She, to an extent, pretends Regulus does not exist except for when he does things wrong. It is...rather depressing really. They also thought they could keep me under control, and were not shameful about using Regulus as a way to do it."
"No wonder the boy has no self esteem." James muttered viciously, his voice tight with anger.
"I did not know he was even with this Crouch...I would have refused to allow it had I known, but..." Sirius sighed. "Anyone can tell Crouch isn't exactly the nicest person, and definitely not a good match for marriage. I should have figured it out sooner, and perhaps if I had stayed closer...I would have."
"How does marriage work?" Remus asked, thoughtful, suddenly. Sirius swallowed nervously.
"It...depends?" Sirius questioned. Remus raised a brow, and Sirius cleared his throat and stated more firmly the words. "It depends. On whether you are an Heir or Spare. Typically the Heir is allowed to choose the spare's partner after they are married, because at seventeen you are generally married off, and then become the head of the family, so the Spare's fate depends on how much your sibling actually gives a shit about you."
"Are there any..." Remus waved his hand dismissively. "Gender expectations?"
"It...depends." Remus glared unamused. Sirius just shrugged. "it does! It depends on who they marry, it depends on if they are the spare or not, it depends on a lot of factors. I would never force Reggie to marry someone, ever, but if he did end up getting married, within of course the expectations of the family, he would likely be married to someone of lesser standing, but perhaps not a spare...if the person he marries wasn't a spare, he would be expected to obey them as he does me, if he was married to another spare, or a man in general, it just depends, but more than likely it would depend on their status, and whether it eclipsed his own. the bitch hasn't actually talked about it to Regulus, I'd wager, especially if he was getting with Crouch and was allowing him to..." Sirius stopped here, his fingers curled into the palms of his fists angrily.
"Your parents are horrible," James said, absolutely aghast.
"They basically primed Regulus to be taken advantage of, in any and every possible way. I can't imagine a way where they didn't see this going awfully." Sirius shrugged.
"in a way, they did their job." He said softly, not wanting to anger Remus after his statement. "Regulus does listen to me, he doesn't question me, he obeyed me without disapproval, and he does not say anything bad about me...he is exactly what you would expect and want from a spare."
"And exactly the material to be awfully manipulated!" Remus shouted. Sirius lifted his hands, calming Remus a bit.
"I am not saying it is right, I am saying it is how it is. Ideally, Regulus should have informed me when he got with Crouch, but because I told him not to talk to me unless I approach him, he didn't. It is my own oversight that has allowed this," Sirius felt his shoulders drop as he took responsibility.
"No, none of this should even be a thing," James grit out. It shouldn't, but it was.
"the bitch wanted me to swear in to the death eaters." Sirius rushed out, hushing the group. "When I refused point blank they said they would simply take Regulus then, and I could go to hell." Sirius breathed through his anger, something he was getting a tad bit better at lately. "I was definitely not going to allow that. Regulus is too...meek, too obedient. It would rip him apart and shred him to the seams, so I took him, and held him here. I haven't told him, there hasn't been a good time. I took his wand because I didn't want to risk him running back and being immediately conscripted to whatever vile fascinations that dark lord seems to have with us." Sirius shuddered silently. "We aren't even seventeen, the age everyone is conscripted. I thought I had more time, but clearly I didn't." Nobody dared to wonder why the Dark Lord wanted them to be marked younger than seventeen. It was too...dangerous a thought to have. "Either way, I know it seems harsh, but I also knew Regulus would listen to me, if I told him to not go after his wand. I didn't want to risk anything. It was stupid, maybe, in hind site, but I wasn't exactly thinking clearly."