Music in the Night
Regulus shot up covering his mouth to prevent a scream from escaping his lips. His body was shaking as he sat up to glance at the clock, hot tears threatened to spill out of his eyes, making it difficult to read the blurry numbers. The darkness out the window made it clear that it was far too early to be awake. He lay back down pulling the covers back over his face. It felt wrong. The blankets over his head were suffocating, without them, though, he felt exposed and vulnerable. His pyjamas felt scratchy, his room was too hot and too cold, and there was a knot of anxiety in his stomach.
He felt alone, he couldn't hear anything, in grimmuald he could open his tiny window, and hear the muggles in the other town houses. He exhaled pushing his head out the window, the only sound was the soft wind, the rustle of the wind in the vibrant trees, and the hum of the porch-lights. He shivered slightly in the breeze shutting the window back, walking around the guest-room contemplating what to do. he walked carefully towards the door. The cold brass knob was smooth under his shaky hand as he turned it quietly slipping out of his room. He walked towards the door mere inches away from the wall in case he were to realize someone else were awake, not that anyone would believe he was part of the wall, it just seemed safer.
He pressed his ear against the door of the bedroom, but he couldn't hear anything, despite the fact there were likely three entire people sleeping in there. Remus supposedly had the other guest room, but James insisted it was bad on his back, and that he'd sleep in James' bed and James would relocate, but there also was a mattress between the two twin sized beds in James' room and that seemed unnecessary if only two people were sleeping in the room. He twisted the knob, before releasing it again. What the fuck would he say if the others woke up too? What would he say if Sirius woke up? 'Hey, just wanted to see that you were alive' how much more dumb and childish can one really get?
"If it were James the door would've swung open by now" Sirius whispered in his boyfriends ear. "I hate to do this but-"
Remus nodded groggily "yeah not James then. And, don't worry about it Pads, I get it" he mumbled with a small smile releasing his arms from Sirius' torso, ignoring the inadvertent whine the black-haired boy released at the movement. He planted a quick kiss to Sirius' temple before he carefully walked across the mattress on the floor darting towards the abandoned bed. James had opted to give them privacy, no matter how many times Sirius had told him that he was 'not going to shag my boyfriend with your mum and my brother on either side of the room'. Remus had just managed to still himself when the door quietly creaked open.
"Reg?" Sirius whispered propping himself up on his elbow.
The figure in the door frame froze.
"C'mere" Sirius said sitting fully up. Remus could vaguely hear the sound of footsteps approaching the beds, after the door had shut. "What's up? Nightmare?" Sirius asked, ever so blunt.
Regulus shook his head, as if the thought were preposterous. Sirius lifted a brow, and the boys stared at one another in a stillness for a moment before Regulus nodded.
"It's dumb, I just, I couldn't hear any people" Regulus whispered, his tone exposing him as mortified of his childish antics.
Sirius' stomach twisted. Even when they hardly spoke at school, he'd often hear Regulus sit on the outside of his bedroom door after particularly rough nights. Just listening, to the rustling of his sheets, the pattern of his breath. And he'd left. Regulus surely hadn't gone to his parent's door. Had he sat outside of Sirius' room in the dead silence? Or had he just spun into a rabbit hole of fear and pain, because Sirius left.
"That's not dumb" Sirius said quickly scootching over in the bed. "I'm not letting you leave, you know" he added a smile toying at the edge of his mouth.
Regulus shook his head in a fierce no. "I don't need to fucking share a bed over a nightmare Sirius, I'm not four-" the boy protested.
"Last time I checked you came into my bed until you were fourteen, what's a year compared to a lifetime-" Sirius began, a smirk tugging at the corner of his smug lips.
"Sirius!" The boy hissed glancing around, his arms wrapping over his torso in embarrassment. Sirius had always revelled in how easy it was to fluster his younger brother. Of course, only to a brotherly extent, he tried not to ever actually cause any distress.
"Well, you can come in and sleep, or stay up all night and let Effie interrogate why you look so tired over breakfast" Sirius shrugged flopping back down to a laying position. He only felt slightly guilty for framing everything in a sly sort of way when it came to Regulus. He hated to use ultimatums, but he knew Regulus was aware of his tactics, and whether the boy allowed them to work on him or not, was only up to Regulus himself.
"You're an ass" Regulus mumbled, a slight fondness in his tone as he stumbled over to Sirius' bed. "this is awkward" he huffed climbing into it, and laying at the opposite side of his brother.
"Whose fault is that?" Sirius muttered back trying to create more room so his brother wouldn't be lying on the very edge of the twin sized bed. "So, what was it about Reg?" Sirius asked softly staring at the ceiling.
Regulus shrugged "everything" he replied his voice wavering over the words "what am I meant to do?" he whispered "if you leave again where do I go?" he choked out.
"Oh- Fuck, Reg, Reggie I'm not going to leave again" Sirius whispered reaching over to tussle his younger brothers hair, much to the kids dismay. "I never meant to leave you. I just needed to get out, I wasn't thinking-" Sirius muttered. "I'm not trying to defend it just, I guess, explain kind of-" he hummed in a desperate search for what he meant.
"You didn't reply to my letters" Regulus mumbled, it was dark enough in the room, he could let the tears roll casually down his cheeks. His body was at a slight angle, causing the tears on his left to trickle down the side of his nose uncomfortably covering his lips, and spilling into his mouth.
Sirius was silent for a moment "fuck" he said quietly "I- I, anything with the Black family crest- fuck" he muttered "I guess I just- I" his voice trailed off sadly.
"forgot" Regulus finished for him. "I think it's just how I am" the boy whispered "I think when I die, I'll disappear."
"Isn't that what always happens" Sirius teased poking him, evidently getting uncomfortable with the darkness and (ironically) seriousness of the conversation.
"no. You'll be remembered. With your stupid hair, and all the shit you've pulled at Hogwarts. Your name is carved in the door frame at Grimmuald, mother can't get it out. Your ugly posters are plastered against the walls" Sirius snorted at the thought of his mother trying to pull the posters down. He'd done it mostly in spite of her. "You're brash, and impulsive, and reckless, and dumb, but you're good, and you're memorable" Regulus shrugged. "There already are stories about you, I doubt they'll disappear just because you die."
"You're memorable-" Sirius protested, although the words even sounded empty, even to Sirius, as they escaped his lips.
The smaller of the two's voice was slurring as he approached sleep, he'd likely regret the entire conversation by the time he woke up.
"Am I?" he asked "nobodies written, if I had just slipped out at night I reckon it would take mother and father three days at least to realize I left"
"What?" Sirius was slightly confused, when he'd lived at grimmuald they were on a strict schedule. Be at the breakfast table exactly then, back to your rooms by this time to the dot, do this, do that, no free-time, no real time until past midnight.
Regulus shrugged "They prefer it when I'm in my room"
"Three days? How long have you gone without talking to them?" Sirius demanded.
Regulus gave him another shrug "Mother gets stir crazy after a week or so, but it's worse the longer you wait obviously, so I try to make an appearance once every two to four"
"And they're not worried about you leaving?" Sirius asked incredulously.
Regulus shook his head "Mothers convinced I wouldn't even try. Say's I'd have nowhere to go anyways. Besides, theres decently strong wards, my window can open for air but I can cross the threshold."
"That's fucked-" Sirius said, regret evident in his tone "how did you-" he began carefully "You know, leave if...?" his voice trailed off lightly.
"I got kicked out" Regulus replied sleepily as if it were obvious. His eyes were closed at this point, his face carefully pressed into the pillow, he'd turned to face his brother, who couldn't help but feel some sort of nostalgia at the entire situation. "Don't wanna talk about it" he added before Sirius could say anything. "Why do they like you more than me?" he whispered stumbling over his words.
"They don't even know what it is to like anything. If it's worth anything Reg, I love you, I love you even more than I hate them" he said reaching over to ruffle Regulus' hair again. He'd almost snapped at his brother, told him that only a fucking idiot would think they liked him better than Regulus. But there was no fuss surrounding his departure. Sirius could remember the seventeen howlers pouring through the door, the floo attempts, the way his parents, his aunts, his uncles had all been walking up and down the street trying to find out if Sirius was really there. The ministry official who'd almost banged the door down. He remembered the flood of letters sent to James once the family realized he wasn't getting theirs. And all of that had happened with a mere twelve hours of his arrival. Regulus had almost been gone for two days.
"Sirius stop it" the boy hissed.
"As you wish" Sirius said lowering his hand but leaving it draped heavily across Regulus' chest, with his cast, he was unable to push it back off.
"I hate you" Regulus mumbled resigning after a few moments of thrashing around desperately.
"I love you too Reggie"
"Rem save me" A voice whispered, a quiet laugh.
Sirius' face was lit up by the sun, the crack of the curtains was letting the light in, painting his face with an early morning gold-tinge, and making his grey eyes glow.
"It's slightly annoying isn't it?" Remus smirked, a teasing look on his face. Remus was used to laying in bed for far longer than he wanted to due to Sirius' habit of absolutely clinging to him.
Regulus, tended to have picked up on the family habit (although Remus reckoned it wasn't really a family habit, considering what he knew of the Black's), having his hand grasping the neck of Sirius' shirt in his fist, head tucked carefully underneath Sirius' chin.
"And you'll lie here awake for hours?" Sirius replied cocking a brow up "you absolute idiot" he added carefully propping himself up on one elbow and prying his shirt away, he took the pillow from beneath it, stuffing it into the boys arms slipping out of the bed, carefully crossing the floor towards the door. "But your not allowed to steal that tactic" he smirked "it's mine, and I will not stand for it being used against me" Sirius hummed, running a hand quickly through his hair.
Remus rolled his eyes, tugging a sweater over his scarred chest, as he followed Sirius towards the now open door. He closed it carefully, wincing at the creaking noise as the door shut.
Sirius looked up at his boyfriend with a bit of a soft contemplative face. He glanced at his feet as they walked towards the staircase, glancing up, stopping him with his arm lightly. "Look, I know you wouldn't hypothetically say anything or what not, but uh, just if for some reason, that" he gestured vaguely at the hallway, Remus took it to mean the Regulus situation, "comes up, would you mind, just" Sirius was clearly struggling to find his footing through his thoughts.
Remus understood, he nodded "I won't say anything" he replied in a reassuring tone.
Sirius nodded "kid's got the lowest fucking self-esteem I've ever seen" he added in what was clearly meant to come off as light-hearted exasperation, but was delivered as sheer concern.
Remus wrapped his arm lightly around Sirius, "he'll be okay"
Sirius offered Remus a forced smile, looking unconvinced. There were a million things he could say. A billion reasons that he wouldn't be okay, and most of them somehow drew back to all of Sirius' failures. He knew Remus wouldn't hear any of that of course. "He's here" he finally decided on, leaning closer into Remus for a brief moment. As they walked down the stairs, the smell of pancakes filled the home.
"Marlene?" Sirius asked looking up at his boyfriend. Marlene Mckinnon was insistent that she could not cook anything for the life of her, however, Peter's pancake recipe seemed to always work out better when she made it. She said it was just a pinch of cinnamon, but the other Gryffindors in their year were all convinced she was dropping some sort of potion ingredient within it.
Remus shook his head "James wouldn't invite her over without consulting you" he said, although it was stated in a cautious way. He was using the tone he always used when he wasn't quite sure, but was pretty certain the answer would be no. "We'll see I guess" he added, their voices returning to a comfortable volume as they reached the bottom of the stairs. The Potter's house was not as obnoxiously large as many other Pure-blood manors, but it was well decorated, and quite quaint as a whole.
The boys crossed the living room, pushing open the door into the kitchen, Sirius immediately pressing his arms up against the counter and perching up on it.
"Ms. Marls" He said with a nod, giving a pointed glance at Remus, as if to say So I was right, wouldn't you look at that !!!
Remus gave him a shrug "Where's James?" he added, addressing the redhead.
"Ah, I think he's run to the washroom" She hummed. "I'm glad you guys are alright" she added a solemn look on her face. "you boys had me worried" she added.
"Yeah, and how are you lot?" Sirius asked turning the stove on to re-boil the water in the kettle. The light bounced off of it in a strange manner. The window above the kettle brought sunlight to make the copper blinding, and of course, trapped the condensation, a visual reminder of the water being warmed.
"Everyone's good, been a bit worried for you three" She said "Lily's convinced your all in desperate need of saving or something. Not too sure. A bit of a knight-in-shining-armour complex if you ask me" She snickered "She's with Peter right now but I'll be sure to tell her your alive when I see her" she laughed "Pete thinks you guys are just sick of him" She added her face turning to a frown "I told him that it's clearly not the reason you haven't been coming over. I mean we were all there when the door thing happened" She hummed "Peter shouldn't be worried, right?"
Sirius opened his mouth, before closing it again. Luckily, the door swung open once again temporarily saving them from having to explain the entire situation. He was not in the mood to divulge all of the family history of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.
"I didn't want to let her in- I swear to you!" James exclaimed "no offence Marlene, you're a gift" he added shooting her a cheesy wink, his attention snapping right back to Remus and Sirius "but she walked right past me, and then she offered to make pancakes, and I mean, I couldn't turn down pancakes, and I thought maybe you guys would sleep in a little longer, but then, you didn't, and I've been stalling for so long-"
"Stalling for what?" Marlene asked twisting around with what James had deemed the scary-look.
"Ah, nothing, we'll talk after pancakes" Sirius said tossing his hand in a casual manner. He still wasn't too sure what to say. They were ready to start having Peter over again, seeing as the boy was aware of Sirius' family situation, but the boy hadn't quite figured out how to tell people who didn't already know every thing what the hell was going on.
Marlene raised a brow, "Alright, I'm starved anyways" she said flipping the last pancake onto the plate "I may or may not have come here just because I knew you'd have the ingredients" she smirked "May or may not have, you can't prove shit"
"And here I was thinking you actually were fond of me" James sighed sitting down at the circular table "how foolish"
"foolish indeed" Marlene quipped grabbing the best looking pancake off the plate before anyone could protest. The pancakes themselves were a golden colour, fluffy and somehow seemed wrong. Everything had felt so grim and lethargic, the warm comforting pancakes felt out of place.
"Monty and Effie around?" Sirius suddenly said glancing around, as if maybe one of them would be standing in a corner.
James shook his head "Da's at tea with my Aunt, Mums decided to pick up an adult-herbology class thing? I dunno, she was bored of retirement, so she's teaching a bit here and there now" he explained.
"We should sign up" Sirius laughed between bites of pancake "so she can't get away from us" he grinned. His free hand ran through his hair, a bit of a nervous quirk. Luckily for Sirius, all of his nervous ticks happened to be his 'ticks' for every other emotion. Happy? Run a hand through his hair. Mad? Sad? Disappointed? Sure they were ever so slightly nuanced, however, it would take a fair bit of staring to figure that out. The only people who'd truly done that much staring at Sirius were Remus, James, and Peter. Regulus of course could tell too, simply from years of watching them develop. It was strange how Regulus knew Sirius in such a different context then the marauders, it created a strange divide. The boy's feeling as if there was so much they never knew before, and Regulus feeling as though there was so much he would never know.
"How do you put up with these two?" Marlene asked pointing her thumb at the boys, a face of disbelief turned towards Remus.
"Oh, bugger off, we all know your just as bad" Remus countered a small sly smirk creeping across his face. "All you have to do is say the word quidditch" he grinned, watching Marlenes eyes light up against her will.
"Your not wrong" She snickered slumping into her chair resigned. Her hand subconsciously reaching up to play with her earrings. Little peace signs, hand made by Mary. It was a gift for her 'sweet sixteen'. "Speaking of which, James, our quidditch captain, I swear to god if I'm not on the team I'll hex you-"
"You'll have to try out like everybody else" James countered, he could vaguely hear Marlene mumble something about him suddenly choosing to follow rules "unless I make you my co-captain" he said tilting his head to the side a calculating look on his face. It broke into a bit of a grin "The two of us leading? We'll win every match!"
Quidditch talk resumed until the kettle began whistling, steam rising up from it causing the window above the stove to fog. Sirius scrunched his face up at the piercing noise as he crossed the room to transport it into a teapot.
"Jesus Merlin Fucking Christ that sound is annoying" Sirius muttered grabbing the kettle off the stove as quickly as he could.
"Hmm, reminds me of you" Remus smiled
"Chai?" He called poking his head out to the table, purposefully ignoring Remus' snark (other than giving him the finger of course). "who wants milk?"
"You don't take milk?" Marlene gasped a small laugh escaping. "Not even with chai?" she shook her head with an eye roll. Her red painted nails tapped lightly against the mahogany table, as she waited for the tea. Sirius cast a wandless charm, levitating the tea's over effortlessly.
"The ministry can't prove it was me" He shrugged sheepishly. Receiving eyerolls a cross the table.
Regulus' eyes felt dry as he forced himself to open them. He knew he could use more sleep, but from the light pouring through the curtain he knew it was far past the time he ought to have woken up by. He propped himself up awkwardly leaning on his cast, letting out a whimper to his dismay, from the pain in his right. His arm throbbed as he clutched it childishly, and to add insult to injury, he recalled the events from the previous night, a knot of shame forming in his stomach. He knew there was nothing he could do about it now, but merlin he wished it hadn't happened in the first place. He wished he could simply go backwards in time a bit and convince himself that going to Sirius' bed was a terrible idea. Why would he have done that for fuck sake. A weird sense of panic overtook him as he realized he was the only one left in the room. That meant at least either Remus or James had seen him in Sirius' bed this morning, and if that somehow weren't enough there was a pillow clutched tightly in his hand just to rub salt in his wound. He groaned covering his face, knowing it meant not only had he likely clung to Sirius, but the older of the two had also felt it necessary to fucking replace himself with a pillow. Sirius and the joy he found in mortifying his younger brother. Regulus walked quietly and fast during his trek-of-shame back to his own bedroom. Scratch that, the guest bedroom. This was temporary. He would eventually go back to Grimmuald, and after whatever stunt he'd been pulling (and would continue to pull until the fucking plaster was off his arm) he might never leave Grimmuald again. His entire being was tingling with humiliation, thoughts of what his mother would say bouncing through his mind. It made him feel slightly nauseous. He could just picture her rifling through his thoughts, he could see the disappointment that wuold be in her eyes, the sneer on her lips. He could feel the way her sharp engagement ring would scratch his skin as her hand struck across his face. He gulped praying to whatever was up there that there was absolutely no possible way she could be in his head right now. She couldn't be there, right? He was safe, right? Sirius had told him he was safe. He was safe. Right? Was this somehow some sort of sick dillusion? Was this all an intricate prank? Some sort of sick and twisted joke to catch Regulus in a lie? Or to simply humiliate him, to draw out all of the weak, vulnerable parts of him, just to degrade him even further? He thought back to the last time he'd sought refuge in his brother's bed. Sirius had been right, he'd been fourteen, it was shortly before Sirius left. Neither of them had said anything, Regulus had left before Sirius woke up, and neither of them spoke of it. Part of Regulus had prayed Sirius had been asleep which was why he didn't mention the occasion, but alas, his comment the previous night was not only a great reminder of what happened the night before, but also of how many times it had happened over the course of his teenagehood.
He changed, grabbing Catcher in the Rye, he intended to finish it. However a wave of hunger (plausibly from his terrible eating habits, and the fact he'd hardly eaten since his arrival) washed over him, urging him to go to the kitchen. Anxiety twisting in him wishing Sirius would just come upstairs. If Sirius would just come upstairs, he'd know he could go down. He sighed resigning to read another page. He then decided it was way too childish to fucking need Sirius to come fetch him, and after clinging to him the night before, Regulus figured his ego really couldn't take it. He was dressed in the same pair of jeans Euphemia had leant him the previous day, they were supposedly some of James' old ones, and Regulus could tell from how long it took her to find them, they were likely very old. He was starting to resent his small size, even if it was rather helpful when it came to playing seeker. He tucked the book in his hand and padded towards the kitchen, he could hear laughter from it and tentatively opened the door. He cringed slightly as the room fell silent. Remus, James, and Sirius, all turned their heads to the fourth person.
The fourth person.
Fuck.
Marlene Mckinnon.
Regulus froze, he clearly wasn't meant to be here. He was not supposed to be here. Entering a room you weren't meant to was always a hell of a problem for the Black brothers. Ending up tossed back up into their bedrooms by the scruffs of their necks. Of course the doors locked from the outside. He felt antsy thinking about the time he spent with his ear pressed desperately against the wall hoping to just hear somebody. Anybody.
"Oh" Marlene said, her eyes locking with his. Marlene wasn't very fond of Regulus. Marlene wasn't fond of anyone who was friends with Barty Crouch Jr. whatsoever. And although she wasn't sure if they were friends, she'd certainly seen them together. That, plus the fact she didn't have nearly the scope into Sirius' homelife as the others, left her with not so many positive opinions on the boy stood in front of her. "So, you've come to visit" she commented, clearly trying (and failing) to mask her confusion, and well, dislike.
Regulus cringed, his hand desperately tugging at the hem of his (Sirius') t-shirt. He opened his mouth to say something, words temporarily failing him.
"Nah, he's staying" Sirius said for him.
"Oh" Marlene said again. "Well, I'm Marlene, nice to officially meet you. Well, off the quidditch pitch I suppose" she said giving him a small smile. While she couldn't say much for his personality and or morals, she could say with conviction that he was a wonderful quidditch player.
Regulus nodded quietly. "yeah, you too" he managed to say, mostly to avoid being rude, rather than actually wanting to say anything.
"Well" Sirius said raising his brow up "are you just going to stand there stalking us in the doorway or would you like to sit?" he said with a small smirk.
Regulus glared at him, quietly lowering into one of the empty seats. He was sat next to James, with Remus on the other side. That's fine. That's fine, fine, fine, f i n e.
"Sleep alright?" James asked casually, reaching forwards for his tea, and another pancake. Sirius and Marlene began chatting about some muggle band, Remus chiming in every so often with his own personal commentary, leaving James and Regulus slightly out of the loop. James because he wasn't overly well educated when it came to muggle music (specifically when it came to Rock and Punk) Regulus, simply because, well he had the musical education of a dead victorian boy.
Regulus felt his face flush. Did James know? Was that some sort of backhanded comment? Did everybody there know? Did James' parents know? Had Sirius gone and fucking told every person in a close vicinity? "Uh, yeah, fine" he mumbled, reaching for a pancake, his arm tingling with fear that he wasn't meant to be doing that. "and yourself?" he asked quietly.
James nodded "crashed on the couch, so my backs kind of sore, but I'd rather that then room with Remus and Sirius when-" his words came to an abrupt halt, he covered it with an awkward cough. "Remus moves around a lot in his sleep, if you sleep on the mattress between the bed's he'll roll onto you, which, is well, never fun" he said, discomfort evident in his throat.
Regulus could tell he was lying, but didn't bother pushing for anything. He figured if he let James' obvious lies pass, maybe James would return the courtesy.
"How'd the arm happen? I'd hate for you to not be able to play quidditch when the season starts. Wouldn't be a fair win." Marlene laughed, noticing Regulus' plaster as he reached forwards. The energy in the room was static, tense, and wrong. "Jamie and I intend to win every match, fairly." she grinned, she could feel the strangeness around her, but figured, hey, fake it till you make it right.
Regulus nodded. "I think I'll be fine by September" he said glancing down at the arm "I uh, fell" he added.
Marlene shot an uneasy look at Sirius, who shrugged in return, as if to say drop it.
Marlene nodded "broke my leg once as a kid, I slipped on ice, my mum was trying to teach me to skate" She laughed "Had to wear a fuckin full leg cast for ages. The kids at schools completely drew the ugliest shit all over it" She said shaking her head.
"I broke my wrist" James hummed "mum fixed it in a jiffy though" he laughed "fell off the roof" he hummed.
A chorus of "What?" filled the kitchen.
"I wanted to see if I could fly" He laughed covering his face slightly. "accidental magic kept me mostly alright, but when it finally did let me land I hit my wrist weird." he explained, recieving some nods from around the table. "Wasn't my first bout of magic though. I think the first that I can remember I was four. I broke a vase and somehow put it back together" he laughed.
I broke a vase.
broken vase.
accidental magic. irony. so fucking ironic.
"I lit my first grade teacher on fire" Marlene hummed. "I was six, she was yelling at me, and I was staring at the hem of her dress, it burst into flames" she said shaking her head "My Mum knew she had a problem on her hands" She snickered shaking her head.
"I would turn the lights on, in the hallways from my crib" Remus hummed "I don't know the first one I remember, I have a terrible long term memory-"
"We know moony" Sirius said reaching over to pat him on the shoulder, this earned a shove from the taller of the two. "I was good at healing things, scraped knees and the sorts. Reggie here got himself in all sorts of shit, didn't he?" Sirius said with a small smile turning to Regulus, who had fully intended to just listen to the conversation, or finish his book, or his pancakes, either way, he had not planned on participating whatsoever.
"Oh, yeah, that" he said playing with his shirt.
"He'd slam doors, and break things, knock shit over" Sirius said his eyes upwards in recollection "mother and father were proud for a day or so" he snickered.
Regulus' stomach sank, but he laughed and nodded before opening the book back at up, praying to be left out of the dialogue. His wish came true, and Marlene even eventually left to his relief. Regulus finished both his pancakes, and his book a couple of minutes after they'd said their goodbyes.
"Thanks Reg" Sirius materialized behind him, a hand ruffling through his hair.
Regulus made a practically inaudible sound at the back of his throat when the hand was tugged away. Pathetic, a voice hissed. Not any voice of course. Hers.
"for what" He hissed turning to look up at Sirius.
Sirius shrugged "you don't particularly like other people, or talking to them, especially about anything remotely personal, so thanks" Regulus stared at him with a blank face "Oh for fuck sake just take my thank you would you? You're being so stubborn-" Sirius muttered.
"Yeah, yes, sorry" Regulus muttered with a slightly defensive tone standing up to clear his plate.
"I didn't mean it like that Reg" Sirius groaned running a hand over his face. Regulus shrugged as he walked towards the sink to rinse the plate.
"I'm not mad at you" Regulus snapped slightly.
"Then what was that?" Sirius replied crossing over and leaning against the counter narrowing his eyes to look at his brothers face.
"that was nothing" Regulus said his tone still slightly sharp. "Just fuck off would you? I'm fine"
"Oh to hell your fine" Sirius groaned, walking to the other side of the kitchen as Regulus attempted to turn his back to him.
"I'm fine" Regulus insisted. "seriously-"
"Then why are you being all snappish?" Sirius implored, his voice just as irritable as his younger brother's.
"Maybe because you're trying to tell me theres something wrong with me" Regulus glared, grabbing the cloth to dry his plate.
Sirius ran a hand over his face "Oh for fuck sake, I'm not trying to tell you there's something wrong with you-" He grumbled.
"Then what are you doing? You keep acting like I'm a child and-"
"Not this again" Sirius said exasperated "you aren't of age yet, and your still my baby-brother either way-"
"No" Regulus said quickly, placing the plate and cutlery on the drying rack and turning towards the door.
Sirius stood in the frame "What do you mean no?"
"I swear to merlin if this about last night-"
"This isn't about last night" Sirius stated. "Although-"
"Nope, no, no although's, let me through Sirius" Regulus whined attempting to duck under his arms.
"We're talking later-" Sirius said with a pointed look.
"No we're not" Regulus replied pushing into Sirius arm, which began to push back.
"We're talking about this later" he repeated.
"Sure, whatever" Regulus said darting out of the doorway with absolutely no intentions to talk to Sirius about that ever.