The Reunion
The following week, Regulus had walked past Sirius' apartment at least 10 times, but he could never work up the courage to make himself known. He’d found so many excuses not to: I forgot to buy the groceries for this week, it's already 6 PM, he's probably eating dinner, it's already getting late, I don't want to disturb him, he must have other things to do, I don't want to bother him, it's just gonna bother him, I've always bothered him, I'm just such a bother bother bother bother bother… but Regulus just wanted his brother.
When he’d finally found it in himself to stop and knock, he only had to wait a few seconds before the modest green door creaked open revealing a tall man with light brown hair, and Regulus immediately recognized him as the cute barista from the café down his street. What was he doing here? He blinked owlishly for a second before remembering why he had knocked on the door in the first place.
"I apologize for bothering you this late, I'm looking for Sirius Black? But I've obviously got the wrong address, so I'll just go, I'm very sorry to disturb- " The cute barista interrupted him before he could finish apologizing.
"No no, you're in the right place! I'm Remus, and you must be Regulus, right? You look just like him! I'll go fetch him; you can come in, don't worry!" He stepped back to let him in before rushing off, Regulus assumed it was to go find Sirius for him.
He was so surprised at the warmth and confidence Remus gave off that he didn't even know how to act. He took a step in the flat, wondering how the man knew him, and what he was doing in Sirius' home. When Sirius appeared at the end of the corridor, Regulus' brain went silent. Was this finally happening? It had been 6 years since Sirius had left, 4 years since they last saw each other, and Sirius had stopped answering his letters 6 months ago. Regulus had been boiling with rage at his brother's silence for so long, but seeing him now made him forget all his hatred, as it turned into unadulterated joy. Sirius seemed almost shy as he walked into the foyer where Regulus was waiting but soon joined his embrace when Regulus offered him his arms.
But as soon as they came into contact, all the resentment from before came back to Regulus, and he jolted back. Sirius looked at him in confusion, before Regulus exploded at him.
"How dare you act like nothing happened? I’ve waited months for an answer! I’ve sent at least a hundred letters and you never answered! And now you expect me to hug you!?" Regulus was all but screaming at him, arms flailing around in anger as he yelled, he was aware that he was being childish at best but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Sirius looked shocked by this outburst and visibly collected himself before responding.
"Well, first of all, you hugged me first. Second… I'm sorry, I got scared of our parents and couldn't risk sharing my new address. And, by the way, how did you find it? And finally, how did you get here without them noticing?" Regulus looked almost disgusted with how his brother had responded to his original outburst, how could he not realize what he’d done!? How he’d hurt him and betrayed him!?
"You left me all alone with them!” He sounded hysterical as he yelled at him. Usually, he’d be embarrassed about acting this way, but he was far past the point of caring anymore. “I'm the one who should be worried about them finding me, not you! And, since it's the only thing that matters to you, I left home two months ago, so they won't notice anything! Bet you didn't even know that, did you!?" When he’d finished his rant he looked at his brother expectantly. He’d expected some anger in his face, maybe even some shock, but when grey met grey all he could see was sadness and remorse in his big brother’s eyes. Regulus could feel his eyes widen in shock as he registered that Sirius had no idea what had happened since he’d run away. He felt himself lose all of his previous energy as the adrenaline left his body now that he wasn’t yelling anymore.
Sirius quickly noticed him crashing from his adrenaline high, because he guided him away from the door and towards the sofa in the adjacent living room, before they sat down together. None of them said anything for a moment, both recovering their thoughts in silence. Sirius was the first to speak, slowly and calmly so as to not startle his little brother.
"Reggie, I'm so happy you managed to get out, and I am truly sorry for leaving you all alone there, a-and I know there is no excuse for it –" Regulus cut him off from his rambling before it could get too far.
"Sirius, it's okay, I know you had no choice but to leave, and I'm sorry I lashed out at you, I just feel so weird finally seeing you again and I didn't really know how to react-" It was Sirius’ turn to cut him off this time.
"It's okay, Reg," Sirius said gently with a soft smile on his face, "I think I'll need an update on your life, though, because I never got your letters."
So Regulus explained to him how he left Grimmauld Place after their mother tried to force him to enrol in the family's haute couture house. The Black family had been running it for centuries, but Regulus had always despised how his parents handled it, exploiting their workers and selling their pieces at outrageous prices, reserving them to the richest people in London, and throwing extravagant and frankly extreme parties for these celebrities, while the poor were starving three streets down.
Sirius had also hated it, but it wasn't why he left. Their parents had always been harder on him, since, after all, he was the heir, and had practically thrown him out when he had come out as gay, so he just left, just like that, to live with his best friend and his parents. So when they were left with Regulus as their only heir, they had no choice but to accept him, and since he hadn't been seen much in public before, they had even offered to allow him to transition. They couldn't risk losing him when they needed him to keep the family's legacy alive, but Regulus would never agree to participate in it, so he left too.
After he’d finished explaining to Sirius, (who was now beaming with pride after realizing how brave his little brother had been) he also realized it was necessary to explain to his brother how he found him, and after explaining the coincidental tale and how ‘It was like a miracle’ Sirius decided that he needed to thank Pandora and Dorcas profusely for helping them reunite, and they agreed to go to the shop the next day to meet everyone. As they sat on the couch, Regulus curled up against his older brother’s side and tucked himself under his arm. He slowly began to drift in and out of consciousness before finally passing out completely, knowing that he was safe in his brother’s arms.