Chapter 3
the next morning sirius woke up with the sunlight streaming through the windows. the light hit the caramel curls of the sleeping boy next to him and he smiled softly, placing a gentle kiss on the tip of the werewolf’s nose.
remus blinked a couple of times, returning the smile as sirius’ face came into focus. remus waited patiently while sirius sorted out his hair before they headed down to breakfast together.
they almost made it through the double doors before remus stopped and turned to face the older boy.
“aren’t you waiting for regulus?”
“mhmm? oh. err yeah. i’ll see you in there” sirius said, letting go of remus’ hand. “i won’t be long.”
sirius waited in the entrance hall, watching amusedly as some NEWT students who clearly didn’t have first period lessons entered the great hall still in their dressing gowns, leaving with only large mugs of coffee.
sirius looked up when he heard multiple pairs of shoes hitting the hard stone floor. a large group of slytherins were making their way to breakfast and sirius pressed himself against the wall attempting to be discreet. he noticed regulus trailing at the back of the group and called after him as quietly as he could without drawing the others’ attention.
“reg!”
before regulus could take a step towards sirius, the group surrounded him, forming a physical barrier between the brothers. bellatrix stood at the front of the group, her dark curls falling around her face which could be described as pretty, if it wasn’t for the expression of contempt that was etched on it at all hours of the day.
“absolutely not; i’ve seen the tapestry and you’re finished, finished, with this family.”
before sirius could open his mouth to protest, bellatrix had closed her hand around regulus’ wrist, dragging him away. scanning the group for andromeda, sirius thought he saw a mousy brown head duck into the great hall. sirius cursed and took a small piece of parchment out of his pocket before scribbling a few words on it. he took his wand out of his pocket and sent the message flying across the great hall, lost in the midst of the other letters that were in the process of being delivered.
he smiled to himself when he saw the parchment tuck itself safely into regulus’ trouser pocket.
on his way back to his dorm to pick up his books, regulus put his hands in his pockets as he always did. he quickly retracted his left hand as his skin made contact with something. he cautiously put his hand back in and pulled out the folded piece of parchment.
the library, 19:00, tonight
the rest of the day now couldn’t pass quickly enough and by last lesson regulus’ thigh was bouncing uncontrollably. he carefully watched the gold-faced clock in the slytherin common room before gathering a small bag and making his way to the library.
his leg resumed its bouncing as the time passed.
19:02
19:04
19:05
a soft breeze blew across the back of the slytherin’s neck as the door at the far end of the room was opened. he squinted, thinking he saw a shadow.
“i know it’s you, sirius - with james’ invisibility cloak, right?”
“how do you know about the cloak” sirius asked.
regulus smiled as sirius took it off and he held out the bag he’d brought for his brother.
“these are for you” he stammered. “i just felt so bad a-and i didn’t know what to do, so i got you this. after you left, i went into your room and saw the posters so i got you a couple of records by the queen becaus- why are you laughing?”
“it-it’s not the queen,” sirius explained, failing to hide his giggle. “it’s just queen.”
regulus smiled sheepishly: “oh.”
“i’m sorry” he burst out suddenly. “for everything. for not standing up to her, or saying something. i’m so sorry, sirius.”
sirius looked at regulus in shock, the apology having been unexpected.
“i’m sorry too” he managed. “i was selfish and shouldn’t have left you behind. maybe the next holidays we can stay together? christmas isn’t too far away.”
“it’s like two months away” regulus said with a roll of his eyes. “would you want to stay here though? or were you planning on going back with james?”
“we can stay; james will probably want to go alone to spend some time with his parents because he actually likes doing that.”
“imagine” regulus murmured, just loud enough for sirius to hear.
“i’d rather not, thanks” sirius responded.
he stared at regulus for a moment, analysing his appearance as though something was irritating him. his eyes narrowed when they landed on the scarf - it was barely autumn. sirius knew regulus was a person who got cold easily but even for him this seemed excessive.
“what are you hiding under the scarf?” sirius asked.
regulus froze, stopping his fiddling with the silver ring on his finger. he hesitated before unwrapping the material around his neck, closing his eyes as he heard sirius’ sharp intake of breath.
“she’s like picasso” regulus joked. “i’ve replaced you as her canvas.”
“reg! how are you even joking about this. and no offence now, but you look awful. is that pus? god, it looks infected.”
“fun fact for you: healing charms have become part of my morning routine.”
“no that’s not a fu-” sirius interrupted himself, grabbing regulus’ wrist. “we’re going to the hospital wing.”
“what? no, i’ll be fine.”
“stop being so stubborn.”
“do you ever take your own advice?” regulus enquired, earning a glare from his brother.
“come on” sirius said harshly, throwing the cloak over the pair of them. “this way.”
“SIRIUS BLOODY BLACK!”
madam pomfrey left her office the moment she heard the door to the hospital wing open. she stopped suddenly when she saw sirius.
“if you bring one more injury into my ward, i will start charging you for bandages” she warned him.
sirius merely smiled before he thrust regulus at her. she looked the shorter, slighter boy up and down before guiding him over to an empty bed.
“i’ll be back in a minute.”
she reappeared less than forty seconds later, carrying a small vial and some cloth.
“you must know i can’t heal these properly; they’re magically invoked - they’ll be here forever” she said quietly as she started cleaning regulus’ largest wound. her eyebrows met as she looked between the two brothers. “how did you even get injuries like these? they’re incredibly deep and dark-natured i-”
she looked at sirius helplessly, the boy she’d attended to more than any other in her time at hogwarts.
“sirius, can i speak to you in my office for a minute please?”
setting down her cloth and antiseptic, madam pomfrey led the way to her office, turning back momentarily to see sirius mutter something indistinguishable to his brother who was tearing at him imploringly, begging him not to leave him alone.
sirius sat down in the chair opposite the matron and waited for her to start talking.
“sirius, you have to understand that these are horrific wounds the evidence of which will remain on your brother’s skin indefin-”
“not just his” sirius muttered.
“you-? minerva mentioned something but i- take off your shirt; let me see.”
in no position to argue, sirius turned his back on her, revealing a deep gash that ran the full length of his back.
“fuck” was all poppy pomfrey could manage. “holy fuck.”
sirius flinched as she began to inspect the pale, broken skin. blood oozed out slowly as she gently applied pressure.
“i need you to tell me how the two of you came to be so badly injured by such dark magic.”
the lack of eye contact made the conversation easier for sirius.
“our mother doesn’t really like either of us so err here we are.”
from his position on the hospital bed, regulus could see into the matron’s office. for the first time he saw the full extent of his brother’s injuries.
and suddenly it was all too much and he wanted out. out of what he didn’t exactly know, but he wanted out of whatever it was. grabbing james’ invisibility cloak, regulus ran through the castle corridors. surrounded by the comforting potter-y smell of ginger, regulus sprinted out of the double doors and didn’t stop.