Sirius sighed as he looked out of the window. The scenery whizzed by in one big blur, as the train silently sped through the countryside of Scotland. He turned away from the window and surveyed the mess in front of him. He smirked when he saw James playing a game of exploding snap with Peter, who was losing very badly. He turned his head to where Remus sat, book in hand, chocolate frog in mouth and an idea sprung into his mind.
He carefully scooted over to where Remus was sitting, and in one swift motion, snatched the book out of his hands, and threw it onto the seat next to him. Remus let out a noise of protest, however he still had chocolate in his mouth, so he couldn't say anything just yet. After Remus had eaten the chocolate, he glared at Sirius menacingly before lunging to get his book. Sirius was quicker however and managed to push him out of his trajectory line, and right into James and Peter's game. The cards exploded, sending a mess of lollies and juice everywhere. Sirius and James got the brunt of the mess, whilst Peter and Remus somehow missed the shower.
Peter and Remus burst out laughing when they saw how drenched James and Sirius were. The latter were not as impressed. James grumbled and he took his glasses off trying to find something to clean them with, before giving up and shoving them back on his face with unnecessary force.
'Rem, can you do that cleaning spell you learned last year?', he asked.
'Sorry Prongs, we are not allowed to do magic on the train remember.'
'Since when has that ever stopped you?', he muttered.
'Maybe this is a good lesson', Remus said pointedly, looking at Sirius. 'Never interrupt me when I'm reading.'
Peter snickered, and James looked slightly amused. He pulled Sirius to his feet and shoved him out the door of their compartment to go get cleaned up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On their way back, Sirius was talking animatedly to James about Quidditch trials for the year, when he collided with someone else, causing them to be flung back into a wall.
'Ow, sorry!', he exclaimed as he stood up, rubbing his arm where he could already feel a bruise forming. 'I didn't see- reg?!' his eyes grew wider at the sight of the boy. It was Regulus!
He hadn't seen Regulus since he left at the beginning of summer, to go to the Potter's house. He tried to help him up, but the boy shoved him off and stood up, his face showing no signs of emotion. Sirius recognized this look. It was his mask. The one he wore at the house, to protect himself from the wrath of their parents. So why was he wearing his mask now? They were on the train. They were safe.
Sirius paused for a moment, taking in how his baby brother looked, and he felt disgusted. Regulus had a black eye, and a thin scar that ran from the top of his lip to his chin. From the way he was standing, Sirius could tell that he probably had a bruised rib or two. Is this what had gone down when he left?
'Reg I-'
'Regulus', the boy interrupted.
'...what?'
'My name is Regulus', he said, his glare ice cold.
'Reg don't be silly', Sirius laughed uncertainly. 'Why wouldn't I call you Reg? I always have.'
'No. My brother called me Reg. But I don't have a brother anymore.'
Sirius felt glued to his spot. 'What are you saying?', he whispered.
Regulus leaned in and said lowly, 'I waited for you every night. I hoped that you would come back for me, so I stayed. I endured every punishment that was meant for you. I waited for you Sirius. But you forgot me', Regulus stood up straighter. 'So I'm just returning the favor and forgetting you too.' And with that, he walked back to the Slytherin compartment.