Chapter 3
~Regina~
"Okay, okay. My turn." Sirius said. "Alright, I think I got one."
"Well, get on with it." Regina said impatiently.
"Yes ma'am, don't bite my head off." Sirius muttered softly. And then spoke in a louder voice.
"Would you still love me if I was a… worm?"
"What kind of question is that?" Regina said as she wrinkled her nose.
"Just answer it."
"Why would you want to be a worm?"
"I'm not saying I want to be a worm, I just- would you answer the question."
"Okay… Then why would you be a worm?" She asked.
"I don't know, I- Eghh, just answer."
"Well if you don't know, how should I know?"
"Reggie." He said, sounding a mix between annoyance and exasperation and Regina smirked at his expression.
"Would I be a worm too?"
"No."
"Then… Anyway, would you still be my brother?"
"Yes." Said Sirius with an eye roll, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"And, dare I ask, how did you become a worm?" She said, arching one eyebrow.
"No, it's just-"
"Just what?" She asked, the smirk on her face still firm in place.
Sirius sighed in exasperation.
"Just… Imagine I was born a worm."
"Then how are you my brother if I'm not a worm."
"It's a hypothetical story Reggie!" Sirius whisper-shouted so their parents wouldn't wake.
"Well you're hypothetical story sucks!" She whisper-shouted back. "If you're gonna create a fake story, you should at least try to make it understandable."
Sirius glared at her.
"Alright." He then said and Regina gave him a questioning look.
"Imagine I was turned into a worm, would you still love me?"
"What kind of worm?" She asked.
"Okay, now you're just being difficult out of spite."
"It's a valid question. Again, if you're gonna create a fake story, make it understandable."
"It is completely irrelevant to the question." Sirius exclaimed.
"I beg to differ."
"Just answer the damn question. If I was turned into a worm would you still love me?"
Regina looked at him incredulously for a moment and then said. "Hmm, I have to think that one over."
"What?!" Sirius cried out in disbelief, only to slap a hand over his mouth to quiet himself.
"What do you mean you 'have to think it over.'"
"Exactly as I said." She replied with a smirk.
"But I'm you're brother."
"Surprisingly I am aware."
"Reggie!" Her brother whisper-shouted at her. At that the young girl finally giggled.
"Wha- You're messing with me?" Sirius asked exasperated. And the giggles turned into a full laugh. "Of course you're messing with me, don't know what else I should have expected."
Once she calmed down she said. "You’re making up a story about you turning into a worm and you expect me not to mess with you. And of course I'd still love you, you idiot." And a small smile tugged on her lips.
"Oi, I'm not an idiot."
Regina raised one eyebrow and Sirius muttered something that sounded awfully familiar to 'shut up'. Regina ignored it and went on.
"Though I really hope you didn't just ask me this, because you were planning on transforming yourself into a worm." She said wrinkling her nose and Sirius snorted.
"Don't worry Reg, if I'd do that people would have to miss this." He said while showing off his hair. Which earned him an unimpressed look from his little sister, which made Sirius chuckle.
~Sirius~
It was the day before he went back to Hogwarts. He was excited to see his friends, the marauders, again. But the sadness he saw in Regina’s eyes was making him dread it. He was packing his trunk when Regina quietly walked into his room.
“Hi.” She said in a soft voice.
He turned around and smiled sadly at the sight. She was standing a few inches away from the closed door, fidgeting with her hands. That's her tell that she was in a situation where she wasn't completely comfortable.
"Hi, Reg." He replied.
"Do you need help?-" She asked and he shot her a confused look. "With packing, I mean."
"Oh, well, erhm, if you want to." He said hesitantly. She smiled and stepped forward.
She glanced at his trunk, it looked like he had dropped everything in it and Sirius felt like he was being judged. Especially when he saw the sideways glance she gave him.
"Yeah, yeah. I know my packing skills suck." He muttered under his breath.
"Understatement." She said, sounding amused, Sirius only grunted in response. "How did you even get all this in there in the first place."
"I don't know, I just punched until it fit." He said sheepishly. "Are you all of the sudden the expert at packing bags, that you feel like you can judge me about how I pack my trunk?"
"Not an expert, just better than you. Though by the looks of it, that doesn't seem to be a really big accomplishment." Regina retorted with a slight smirk.
"Oh right, I forgot you're the genius here."
"Exactly" She agreed and started picking up stuff he dropped in his trunk.
Regina has always been neat and organized, it's just the way she is. His little sister would always get annoyed when he made a mess in her room. Sometimes even when it was his room, even though it was his room.
So it came to no surprise that Regina could pack his bag in thirty minutes, organizing it in a way there was even room left. How she managed to do that was beyond him. It had taken the full power of James and him to get his trunk to close.
*
He woke up by the sound of his door opening. He groaned and the person who had come in huffed a soft laugh. He opened his eyes and saw his little sister, who else?, sitting on the floor beside his bed, looking very upset.
“Morning.” He said and she just kept looking at him without responding. “Hi, what’s up?”
“You’re leaving today.” She said, sounding absolutely devastated.
“Yeah.” He said weakly.
"I don't want to stay here alone." His little sister said, voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't want you to stay alone here either."
He moved to the side of the bed, so Regina could sit next to him. She slowly moved towards the bed and laid down next to him. She nuzzled towards him and he wrapped the blankets around her.
It was comforting for both the boy as the girl. They stayed like that for about 45 minutes, until they needed to get ready for the day. Regina left his room to get dressed and to give him the space to do the same.
In half an hour Regina, Sirius and both their parents would be brought to platform 9¾. Sirius was only grateful that Walburga allowed Regina to come too, this way he could at least see her for an extra hour.
*
On the platform Sirius was getting a strong feeling of déjà vu, though not in a good way. Regina was looking at him with tear filled eyes, she was clearly trying to hide them. Probably because she wasn’t eager to find out what would happen if their mother saw her crying in public.
“I won’t see you till summer break, but like before I will write to you as often as possible and try to reply to you’re letters as I can.” He said in a soft and hopefully soothing voice. She was clinging to his arm, as though trying to hold him there, to keep him with her and again the thought of leaving her alone with Orion and Walburga was making him sick.
“Okay.” She said quietly, her voice breaking and visibly fighting to keep the tears from falling. She looked so vulnerable and his instincts to protect her increased.
“Time to go, Sirius Orion.” A cold, sharp voice cut in from behind.
A wave of annoyance came over Sirius. He looked at his mother with a cold Gaze, that immediately softened when he turned back to his little sister. He hugged her tightly to his chest and gave her a small kiss on her forehead.
"I've got to go, Reg. Like I said, I'll write to you." He said and frowned when she didn't respond or looked him in the eye.
"I love you, Reg."
At this her eyes locked with his and the tears that had been threatening to fall, fell. The little girl angrily wiped them away and wrapped her arms tightly around her big brother.
"Love you too, Siri." She said in a soft almost wounded voice.
He slowly pulled away from Regina, picked up his trunk and walked towards the train. He stepped on the train and went looking for his friends.
~James~
James was already on the train, watching everybody saying goodbye to their family and stepping on the train. Across from him was Peter, the boy was happily counting his gallions he got for the lady with the trolley and James smiled at the sight. He always loved being around friends and family and was glad to see him so cheerful.
When his gaze went back to the station he saw Sirius and his family. Sirius hadn't really talked about his family. Though he did sometimes make a comment that made it clear that he didn't live in the kind of situation James himself lived in. He had asked questions of course, on multiple occasions, but everytime he did James saw that it upset Sirius, so he decided to stop asking.
Bringing his attention back to Sirius on the platform, he focused his attention on Sirius' relatives.
James saw a tall woman with raven black hair, that was similar to Sirius', in a tight bun on the back of her head, the woman was skinny with very cold features, she was wearing clothes which looked like they cost a fortune. Beside her was a smaller man, he looked just as neat and unwelcoming as his presumably wife and just like his wife, he was wearing incredibly expensive clothing.
James hoped that Sirius' parents were a lot nicer than they looked.
He turned his gaze to Sirius and saw that he was standing a view feet from his parents. Next to Sirius was a girl that was bit smaller than Sirius. Just like her mother and her brother she had raven black hair, only her hair wasn't tied in a bun, but gracefully falling over her shoulders and back. The small girl had beautiful features and was wearing a dress that, again, looked very expensive. It looked like it was made for her.
James shook his head out of his weird trance and noticed that the girl was on the verge of tears. James then took a better look at the scene.
Sirius was saying goodbye to, what James assumed was, his little sister. He saw Sirius hug her tightly, then pulling away, picking up his trunk and walking towards the train.
A moment later the compartment door opened and revealed Sirius.
"Hi mate." Sirius said cheerfully.
James stood up and wrapped his arms around Sirius.
"Good to see you, how was you're break?" James asked.
"Ah, you know, nothing special." Sirius muttered and waved James off. "How was yours?"
"Mine was great!" Peter exclaimed excitedly.
"That's good Pete." Sirius said with a smile on his face and then turned to james. "And yours?"
James gave him a cheerful smile, "Awesome, it was great seeing my parents again." He said honestly.
James watched as Sirius looked out of the window, in the direction of his family. James’ gaze followed and watched as they made their way out of the station. They didn’t even wait for the train to leave?
On another place in the station, James saw his parents. He smiled warmly at them, which they returned. He kept watching them for a few more moments, before focusing on his friends.
The tree of them started catching up but paused when the compartment door opened and closed again.
Remus walked in and the four of them were complete again. The train soon started moving and the four boys talked, laughed and joked around the entire ride to Hogwarts.