Chapter 9
When needing to do something like this delicate buisness of him trying to get his brother alone, Sirius was not going to be able to do it himself. He hated asking for help, almost just as much as he hated being wrong, but he needed to do both of those things here. Because he had been wrong. He had thought him leaving would mean that Regulus would be fine. After all, Regulus had always been the favorite child. He had never gotten into trouble, but it was becoming clear to Sirius that he just had never SEEN it happen, because it obviously happened. Honestly, he felt stupid for even thinking Walburga and Orion capable of parenting without abuse. Regulus' jittery nature was clear that some dastardly things had happened, and now Sirius was on the outside.
The reality was he had no idea if him approaching Regulus would garner this reaction, because he had never approach Regulus. Not on the train, not at school, not even at home. In fact, the last time Sirius had a one on one conversation, one where he himself had tried to talk to his brother without ill intent, had been when Regulus was eleven, before his sorting. Now he was beginning to realize he had been wrong. He hated being wrong. If he was wrong about his brother being bad because he got into Slytherin, he had to admit that not all Slytherins were evil, were going to be these dark wizards that would plague the world. Which meant he had to admit that his bullying them was wrong.
Which was an entire new difficulty. Sirius had bullied Snape relentlessly due to the black arts that Slytherin was known for. Now he had to question whether that was actually a bad thing. How many people did they bully relentlessly, viciously, with an almost spiteful feel that did not deserve it? He had always thought Slytherins deserved what they got, but he had to reassess the situation now. Then to find out James' mom had been Slytherin? it was almost as though he had been hit in the gut twice.
HE was not really sure how he was going to handle this, but he had to figure something out, and since he was already ready to admit that he had been wrong, that he had missed something-though he was not entirely certain what it was that he had missed-that he had done things he should not have done, and judged those preemptively, he had to ask for help. There was no way he was going to get Regulus alone without help. Not with how often Rosier and Crouch flanked him in the halls. Not with how determined that glint in Bella's eyes promising dark curses and pain had been. No...he would need backup. A lot...a lot of backup.