Cardigan

“ Sirius! What the fuck are you doing? “ Regulus screamed out from the front of Grimmauld Place.

Sirius had no clue.

He could barely piece together what he’d done all week.

He was having another argument with his mother when suddenly her eyes had darkened, and she’d whispered something.

Immediately he felt like he was in a haze.

He couldn’t move.

But he still felt his legs moving, and he had somehow walked all the way to his room.

Sirius felt this way all week.

He barely felt awake, like he was a puppet being moved around.

At 12 am one Sunday he woke up suddenly, feeling so heavy he was ready to fall back into his bed, but he realised in that moment what had happened.

Sirius felt so sick he could barely think straight.

He fled from his room and out of his house immediately in pure fear.

His mother had used the imperius curse on him.

His own mother.

Sure, she was cruel and wicked in more ways than one, but there was always a line.

Or so Sirius had so naively thought.

Now Sirius was at the end of the street, staring back at a tear-soaked Regulus, trying to piece together a sentence.

“ Reggie.. “ He choked out, feeling dangerously on the verge of breaking down.

It barely took half a minute for Regulus to run from where he was standing to holding Sirius in a tight embrace.

“ Come home, please don’t be stupid, please “ Regulus sobbed.

“ She used the imperius curse on me, I can’t.. I can’t go back “ He whispered in response.

Sirius felt Regulus’s body tense.

“ Where are you going?” Regulus whispered.

“ James “ Sirius said immediately, without even thinking about the technicalities.

Whenever Sirius felt sad he couldn’t help but want to run to James.

James made everything right.

Regulus pulled away from the hug, the distaste he felt for Sirius’s friend clear on his face, and he paused for a second before stating firmly

“ I’m coming with you “.

…..

“ Réveillez-vous Reggie”, Sirius called before opening his brother’s door.

“ Laisse moi tranquille espèce d'idiot” , Regulus groaned into his pillow, as Sirius flicked his room light on.

“ We’re leaving for Diagon Alley in ten minutes, you don’t want to keep your weird little friends waiting would you? “ Sirius teased, in all reality Regulus’s friends scared the shit out of him.

Regulus rolled his eyes and got up, quickly walking over to Sirius, and slamming the door on his face.

“ Good morning to you too! “.

Sirius had honestly been doing better than he had in a while, sure he had moments where he felt hurt, sad or maybe a tinge of regret, but he felt happier than he had ever been at Grimmauld Place.

Before he was never allowed to invite friends over, he wasn’t allowed to make noise, and he certainly wasn’t allowed to go out.

Now he was laughing and chatting with his closest friends in Diagon Alley, feeling all of the weight lift off his shoulders momentarily.

Lily, Mary and Marlene had agreed to meet him, James, Peter and Remus at Diagon Alley to shop for their upcoming term at Hogwarts.

Sirius knew the girls wanted to ask questions about what had happened, as if the large news article about his exilement in the daily prophet hadn’t been enough, but they were sensitive enough to know it wasn’t smart to.

Regulus had long gone off with his own friends, and the girls had convinced James and Peter to get their fortunes told at a pop up shop, leaving Remus and Sirius to gather their school books.

“ Merlin “ Sirius sighed at the long list of books he needed to gather, “ are they trying to kill us? “

Remus chuckled “ what? With words? “

“ The worst death one could have “, Sirius nodded solemnly.

Remus smirked, which Sirius wished he would do all the time, and proceeded into the shop.

It didn’t take long at all for the two to get all the books they needed, so they decided to take their time walking over to the rest of the group.

“ I can’t wait to pull a killer prank when we get to Hogwarts “ Sirius smiled, already thinking of all the spells he knew.

“ Well “ Remus put his hands on his hips “ as your prefect I can’t endorse such mischievous behaviour “ he teased.

Sirius stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth hanging open in shock.

“ Oh, did I not tell you? “ Remus rubbed his neck, thinking back.

“ Pas de putain de moyen! The mastermind behind the biggest pranks ever pulled- “

“ Well I wouldn’t say ever- “

“ Has somehow become an ambassador for good behaviour and rules “ Sirius’s shocked expression was quickly replaced with loud laughter.

While Sirius was laughing his head off, he was actually aware Remus would be an amazing pick for a prefect.

Remus was cool and laid-back, Sirius remembered how much he had admired him in their first years of Hogwarts.

All four of the boys, or The Marauders as they called themselves, were smart, but Remus was on a different level.

Because of Remus’s quick wits he was usually the brain behind their pranks, or at least their most successful ones.

Now he’d be patrolling the halls at night to stop kids doing exactly what he did, it was comical.

“ Okay, okay “ Remus looked away, his freckled cheeks tinted pink.

Oh, how lovely was he.

“ I get it, ha ha “ he waved his hands around sarcastically.

“ Sorry for laughing, please don’t give me detention “ Sirius barked before falling into step with Remus.

When the two had found the rest of the group at the pop up fortune shop everyone had gone in, besides Peter, who was currently in a small blue tent with colourful stars painted all around it.

“ Anyone get the grim? '' Sirius joked.

James grinned at his voice and walked over, “ no, sadly, but apparently love is just around the corner for me “.

Sirius looked between Lily, who was having an animated conversation with Mary, and James with a raised eyebrow. “ Does she know that? “.

James rolled his eyes and, before he could say anything, Peter emerged from the tent with a pale face.

James looked over at Peter, his face now looking slightly worried.

“ You alright Pete? “ He asked slowly.

Peter nodded slightly, “ fortune tellers just creep me out “ he let out a nervous chuckle.

James patted Peter on the back, and the two walked over to Marlene to discuss what their fortunes had meant

Sirius looked over to Remus with a mischievous look on his face, and he didn’t have to say anything before Remus sighed and said “ only if you do it first. “

“ That’s my moony “ he smiled before quickly walking into the small tent.

The thing about wizard tents is that the outside is almost always misleading, for example, this tent might seem like it’d be cramped on the inside, but in reality it was as big as a standard Hogwarts classroom.

There were old, maroon bookshelves surrounding almost all of the walls, the floor was covered with an equally as ancient, dark blue carpet, and there was loose paper and other miscellaneous items scattered all across said carpet.

At his right from the entrance Sirius spotted an old witch sitting at a desk, he walked over to her and sat at the seat across from her.

The witch’s eyes were mostly shut, and she held a deck of purple cards in one of her hands.

“ My, if it isn’t young Sirius Black… You don’t have to be a seer to know wherever James Potter goes, Sirius follows “ she mumbled.

Sirius smiled and hummed in response, “ Okay, so what’s my future “.

The witch began shuffling her cards, and three of the purple cards flew out and rested on the desk neatly.

She flipped the first card over, which had a woman and a lion painted on it in gold, and it had the word ‘ Strength ‘ written at the bottom.

“ Reversed.. “ The woman thought aloud.

“ Um, so what does that mean? “ Sirius asked, now feeling slightly anxious at the tense silence.

“ It means you’re going to or are already going through great anger and or sadness, maybe feeling a lack of conviction or confidence in your abilities “ she replied slowly.

Sirius was taken aback, he was expecting to be told he’d fall in love and have five dogs.

The most obvious answer was she was referring to him running away, and it made sense to a point, but he didn’t feel insecure about any abilities.

The witch watched Sirius’s face and, like she could read his thoughts, said “ there isn’t always a clear answer, Sirius. It could mean many things at once. “

Sirius hesitantly nodded for her to flip another card, now worried he might actually get the grim.

She flipped the next card, this card now showing an illustration of the moon.

Remus.

The witch again watched Sirius’s face through her barely opened eyes, and resumed

“ The moon… This card clearly symbolises more than just words, it means there may be some miscommunication or an event that causes confusion. You must be wary to think things through… Or you may lose The Moon entirely “.

Sirius stared at her, completely oblivious to any underlying implications, “ I’m sorry, but I doubt I’ll be losing your card any time soon “ he smirked, now confident the witch was simply just strange and not at all a seer.

The witch just sighed and shook her head, whispering “ I don’t get paid enough for this “ under her breath, before flipping the final card.

This card had two people on it with the words ‘ The Lovers ‘ below the drawing.

“ You have a lot of loved ones in your life, don’t you Sirius? “

“ Well yeah, you just saw all of them “ Sirius smirked.

“ You will continue to thrive in their comradery, as long as you “ she pointed to The Moon “ don’t mess it up “.

Sirius felt himself get slightly tense, before nodding and saying his thanks.

When he emerged everyone was looking at him expectedly, but Sirius wasn’t quite sure what to say.

‘ Hey guys! Basically some major shit is about to hit the fan, and the moon might disappear! ‘

“ So, got the grim? “ James asked with raised brows.

Sirius chuckled, “ nah, just gonna fall in love, and come into possession of that leather jacket I’ve always wanted “.

Sirius knew James would know he wasn’t being honest, but he clearly decided to brush it off as he simply laughed and put his arm around him.

“ Okay, Moony, your future awaits “ Sirius announced to Remus whilst pointing to the tent.

Remus sighed and started walking over, “ you know this is just a scheme to get money- “

“ Oh hush, a deal’s a deal “ Sirius waved him off.

“ He’s right “ a familiar voice came beside Sirius.

Sirius looked over to be met with his scowling brother, which was completely normal at this point.

Sirius heard all the previously loud conversations go slightly quieter, most likely because Regulus making conversation was now a sight to behold.

“ Let me guess, she told you something bad is going to happen, but didn’t give you any details or context “ Regulus raised his eyebrow, giving Sirius a look he knew all too well, the look of superiority.

There was a small silence between the two as Sirius debated how exactly to respond, when he heard a small cough beside him.

“ Well actually he’s going to fall in love and buy a jacket “ James corrected weakly, as if that’d quickly defuse the tension.

Regulus looked over at James, and for a split second Sirius couldn’t understand what changed on his face, but it was quickly gone.

Ever since they were little, the black brothers were taught to not wear their heart on their sleeve, and to make sure they were constantly showing no sign of weakness.

Regulus was never as good as Sirius was at it, maybe to others he was completely unreadable, but Sirius always knew exactly how his brother was feeling.

So this was really strange.

This was more than strange.

Sirius did not like it.

“ Where are your friends? “ Sirius sighed, now having Regulus’s attention.

“ You said we were leaving at four “ Regulus said slowly, again giving Sirius a look that said he was stupid, “ it’s four. “

“ Oh “ Sirius said dumbly, looking over at James “ we’d better get going then “.

Everyone began saying their goodbyes as if they wouldn’t be seeing each other on the Hogwarts Express in a week, and Sirius waited by the tent for Remus to finish up.

Regulus had been standing on the corner of the street, clearly annoyed that they were taking so long to leave, and James had gone over to try and make things less tense, Sirius assumed.

Sirius understood why James was trying to make Regulus more comfortable, but he would realise soon enough that Regulus didn’t want to be comfortable, for whatever strange reason he had.

It only took about five minutes for Remus to emerge from the tent, and he looked as tense as Sirius felt.

“ So? “ Sirius asked, ready to be told the good fortune and nonsense Remus was going to experience.

“ Oh, I'm gonna pass the end of term exams, and someone is going to betray me “ Remus said in an ominous voice.

Sirius chuckled “ yeah right, my bet’s on Madam Pomfrey “.

Remus gave Sirius an unimpressed look.

“ What? She could easily slip poison in one of those potions she gives you! “

….

It was the night before Hogwarts, and Sirius was so excited he could hardly sleep.

Even though he was now living with the Potters and had no reason to be afraid, Hogwarts was still the place he truly viewed as home, the place he had met the friends that would complete him in every way.

He remembers meeting the other marauders like it was yesterday.

Sirius had been getting pulled around and lectured by his mother all day, she made sure he stood straight whilst waiting for The Hogwarts Express, and wore an empty expression as if anyone around him actually cared.

He remembers how James had looked over at him and smiled, and not one his mother would wear when they went out, but a genuine, bright, goofy smile.

How could Sirius not befriend such a boy?

After all, his mother had spent hours complaining about how the Potters were blood traitors and truly despicable, it would make her absolutely furious to find out her already troublesome child had befriended theirs.

All the more reason to do it, Sirius thought.

James, without a second thought, had immediately invited Sirius to sit with him and Peter, his friend from childhood.

The three of them had been looking around for an empty compartment when they found a boy with a small scar across his face and a rather hefty book.

Of course James had immediately sat down next to said boy, and Sirius and Peter followed suit.

Only a few months later had they declared they would be ‘ The Marauders ‘, the most successful and mischievous pranksters ever known to walk the Hogwarts halls.

Decades later their work would still be admired and carried on, and they would forever be remembered.

It was going to be their legacy.

Sirius held those moments close to his heart, he only wished his brother had been a part of them.

Sirius and Regulus had been close when they were younger, after all they had only had one another for years.

Though, after Sirius returned from Hogwarts, he was filled with anger at having to be back at home, it didn’t seem fair that James got to come home to baked goods and warm hugs, whilst he got a stiff nod and later a lecture about his grades.

He wanted to separate himself from the Black family, from Grimmauld Place, from all of it.

It caused a rift between him and Regulus, one that had never quite been mended.

Sirius wasn’t sure it would ever mend.

Maybe it was a hopeless case.

“ Why are you standing in the middle of the kitchen in silence? “

His timing was impeccable, as always.

“ And why are you awake at four am when we’re leaving at nine? “ Regulus continued.

“ Didn’t realise we were playing twenty questions “ Sirius sighed, looking over at his dishevelled brother.

“ And I could ask you the same “.

Regulus gave Sirius an irritated look, and began to walk away.

“ Wait “ Sirius called.

Regulus turnt slightly and glared at Sirius.

“ We’ll still talk at Hogwarts, right? “ Sirius asked, hopefully.

In all truth he may be able to read Regulus’s emotions, but Regulus’s thoughts were always a mystery to Sirius.

Regulus didn’t speak for a moment, and Sirius watched as his face flickered through many different emotions at once.

Irritation.

Uncertainty.

Sadness.

Anger.

Not just anger, but bitterness, like he had just remembered something truly vile.

“ I don’t think so “ Regulus gave Sirius one last stony look, before leaving the room.

Shit.

Shit shit shit shit shit.

What was Regulus so bitter about?

Honestly Sirius could write a list of the issues they’ve had, but he thought they’d all subsided once Regulus decided to run away with him.

He thought that meant Regulus had forgiven him.

Sirius now realised he was completely wrong.