The Shore
"We're watching a moving picture, you should join us" James called through the door.
Regulus stood up, genuinely confused. He turned the handle of the door and swung it open, laughing slightly at the way James stumbled through, seemingly after putting all his weight on the door.
Regulus ignored the spectacle "what's so interesting about a picture" Regulus deadpanned.
James laughed slightly, which threw Regulus off guard, James' laugh implied that he was the one being stupid.
"Not a picture in that sense, it's like, a film, a movie, ya know, muggle thing on the telly" James explained.
Regulus narrowed his eyes "the what?"
James ran a hand over his face "So you haven't been in the basement yet" he commented leaning in the door frame "well it's a little muggle technology box, that like, shows a play kind of?" James said clearly knowing he was explaining it wrong.
Regulus wasn't particularly fond of basements, specifically after the events of Shrake Shore Beach-house. But nothing at the Potter's seemed even vaguely reminiscent of Grimmuald place, or its subsequent sister houses.
Sirius materialized behind James, and Regulus must've audibly groaned because the boys exchanged a slightly amused look.
"C'mon Reg, they want to meet you" Sirius said from the doorway.
"This is peer-pressure" Regulus mumbled.
"Aha!" James said triumphantly "you consider me a peer"
Regulus rolled his eyes, his left arm awkwardly playing with his plaster. "I doubt your muggle-born and half-blood friends would be very eager to meet me" Regulus added his brows lacing together.
"We're birds of a feather Reg" Sirius said flipping his hand out as if to brush away his concern, but inadvertently swatting James in the nose, who brought his hand up to cover it muttering a sarcastic thanks.
"you used that wrong" James began whispering, but a quick shove from Sirius' shoulder shut him back up with a small snicker.
"If you want to leave early just, I dunno, yawn and walk away, no ones gonna question you" Sirius added with a small shrug.
Regulus chewed on the inside of his cheek
"You're a liar" Regulus hissed in Sirius' ear as they walked into the basement.
"It would be rude to walk away now" Sirius shrugged, cocking a brow up, he was playing to Regulus' weaknesses.
Sirius had in fact lied. They weren't watching the telly, well, it was on, but the volume was low and the lights were still on. Instead the entire group was sprawled across the couch, loveseat, and the floor, with tons of muggle snacks strewn about, Rita Skeeter's gossip magazine on Dorcas' chest, Lily had her head in her hands, Marlene sat right next to her reading a letter that had been torn open, Peter was with another girl who Regulus recognized as Mary MacDonald. He could practically hear Mulciber and Dolohov talking about their run in with her, the memory alone made him feel sick to his stomach. The worst part of the situation, was he knew that wasn't half as bad as what he was about to get roped into. A part of him knew she'd dealt with far worse than what he'd heard of.
James immediately pushed forwards flopping his head onto Remus' lap, Remus put up two fingers, which Regulus found slightly curious, but a cig was promptly placed into them by James.
Regulus glared up and behind him as Sirius pushed him forwards, he was tempted to make a quick remark about not being a child for fuck sake Sirius but he was not prepared to make a scene in front of his brothers friends. He went and sat with his back against the edge of the love seat's arm. He only really knew Sirius and James, and figured Sirius would shortly be part of whatever pile was happening on the love seat. He reached up for a cigarette, feeling a harsh swat to his left, courtesy of Sirius.
"Absolutely not Reg, this stuff destroys your lungs" Sirius chastised taking the fag from James' lips and shoving it into his own.
Regulus rolled his eyes, tentatively reaching forwards for a bag of crisps. The lightness and saltyness of them were far too satisfying for a gas station snack. Regulus wasn't quite sure what the function of a gas station was, but he reckoned it wasn't supposed to sell good food.
"Oi Regulus pass the crisps" Marlene called from across the coffee table.
Regulus tossed them towards her, briefly glancing over at the film playing, it did seem like it should've been made by magic, but clearly it was a muggle invention, wizards didn't use the rope looking things, or such strange materials.
"Thanks love" she added shoving her hand into the bag with too much eloquence for what it was. "Lily how are you going to reply to that" She snickered, finally handing the letter back to the redhead.
"I don't know" Lily groaned coming up from her hunch on the table running her hands through her hair. "This would be a far easier conversation to have in person. It's so much easier to be mean in person" she huffed.
"No it's not!" Mary protested "I wrote an entire letter of insults to that mental asshole after the March incident" Mary commented "Gave it to some tiny scared first year, and demanded they deliver it" she added. "Hey, did the letter ever get to Mulciber?" she said turning to Regulus.
"I'm not sure" he replied quietly, he was internally cringing at the obvious attempts to rope him into someplace he did not belong. "I don't really talk with Mulciber, Snape and them" he added.
"Mulciber Snape and them" Lily muttered, a disappointed look on her face. It wasn't the look that was shared when something was disappointing in a bit of a let-down way, but more so a resentful look.
Regulus glanced over at Sirius briefly to see if it was something he'd said or not, Sirius wasn't looking in his direction.
"I thought Severus was more of a like, introvert, loner kind of kid" Dorcas said grabbing a handful of popcorn.
Regulus shrugged "Well I guess he doesn't seek out social interaction. Like he'll be at the fireplace, and then people will join because I mean those are the most comfortable couches in the common room" he said quietly.
"This is great we have full insight into the snake pit" Peter said a slightly manic grin on his face.
"I doubt I'm the best source into it" Regulus replied quietly trying to switch his attention to something else, a slightly desperate attempt to get rid of the spotlight.
"Well, you're the only one we've got" Peter shrugged.
"Is Rita Skeeter not enough for you?" Regulus hummed.
This time Dorcas sat up right "How does she even get this information anyways? She has pictures from Bellatrix and Rudolphus' wedding" she said shaking her head throwing the magazine to the coffee table.
Sirius reached forwards for it "I'm sorry, wedding? Bellatrix got married?" He said his head turning towards Regulus.
Regulus shrugged "No clue, I wasn't invited" he said, watching Sirius scowl at the photos.
"You're listed in 'notable guests'" Sirius countered narrowing his eyes at his brother. He glanced back at the page "Oh, theres an asteric, it says you weren't in attendance"
"Theres a rumour that she's an unregistered animagus" Regulus said ignoring Sirius, turning back towards Dorcas. "Something small and unassuming, like a bird"
Dorcas pulled a face "She hardly passed her OWLS, how did that rumour come about?"
Regulus shrugged "I figure it's unlikely, you'd ought to be quite advanced in transfiguration" his voice trailed off as it was drowned out by Sirius and James' laughter, well Peter and Remus too of course, but the first two were laughing louder.
"I feel like I'm missing something" he said quietly, ignoring the strange twist in his stomach, he couldn't piece together what was funny.
"You're not- I, we- apparently," Peter stammered out clearly at a loss for words. He cleared his throat "anyhow, lets, uh"
"Actually watch the film?" Sirius offered before subtly sending a look Regulus' way.
Regulus couldn't quite tell what it meant, and a slight sadness overtook him, he used to know exactly what those looks meant. Suddenly the light's were flicked off, and the movie had re-started. The glow of the screen lighting up everyones faces with pretty colours, a bit like a kaleidoscope.
It was strange to Regulus, to be sitting there, rather than watching them sit there. He could practically picture himself leaning over the astronomy tower balcony, watching the bright colours of their hair and clothes swirl around as they ran around like children, a post-exams picnic on the field. Or walking past their compartment on the train, he'd be newly away from his mothers hand on his shoulder, only to have Evan slap his own claim on the same body part. He frowned thinking of Evan. Surely Evan would've written, he'd have to ask Fleamont about the post soon. Or ask Sirius to ask for him. (Maybe James, Sirius would be a prat about it)
Watching the group interact only made Regulus feel more lonely. He had never experienced anything even marginally close to what they had. He'd once been close with Sirius, but it wasn't close in the innocent way he'd always thought it had been. The time they spent together was Sirius trying his best to make the bruising of a black eye go away, or Regulus fumbling with a pain potion he'd begged Kreacher to let him bring to Sirius, it was healing salve, and it was protective self sacrifice. It was throwing a vase in order to prevent their mother from noticing the tears forming in Regulus' eyes, or sneaking to unlock a door so that if Regulus couldn't sleep he'd be able to go somewhere. It was tight hugs and silent sobbing.
Suddenly Regulus understood why Sirius preferred James. Sirius didn't need to look after James. Sirius wasn't responsible for James. Sirius didn't have to protect James. Sirius didn't need to console James. They were their for each other, evidently, but it was glaringly different.
Regulus felt his chest become heavy, he glanced over noticing everyone was decently engaged in the film, he slipped out of the room not looking back, he didn't want to see the face Sirius was giving him, he didn't want to not understand another look from him.
Regulus was relieved when Sirius' friends, and Sirius himself, seemingly slept in the basement where they spent their night. He'd woken up with a half-hearted and broken scream in the morning, and he did not need to deal with Sirius' mother-henning and all of Sirius' friends pity.
Regulus had made his way downstairs, slowly becoming more comfortable in the house. Before making his way to the kitchen of course, he'd poked his head out the window and noticed that the Potters car was gone. Seeing as it was a Tuesday Mrs. Potter would be teaching, and since the car was out, Mr. Potter was clearly out and about himself. Sure, maybe he was okay enough to turn the kettle on, but not if James' parents could burst through the doors abruptly. He wasn't sure what he was worried about, but there was always the chance of a mood change, and he really didn't want to be in the kitchen if that were to happen. This was of course due to more than one reasons. First of all, sharp objects like knives lived in the kitchen. Then of course there was the stove, oven, and usually scalding water in the kettle. And to top it off, he technically had no right to be in their kitchen. Although they could hypothetically revoke his right to "his" bedroom at any moment, it felt less likely to happen too fast.
"Reggie" Sirius smiled walking into the kitchen. "Want some toast?" He asked reaching towards the bread bin.
"If it's no bother" Regulus replied automatically. "Tea?" he offered.
"Yeah sure" Sirius replied. The two boys navigating casually around the kitchen. It was still slightly foreign. Especially for Regulus. Sirius seemed so different in the different setting. He seemed at ease. There were no explosive fights, he wasn't walking on egg shells around the boy. He couldn't hear Sirius pacing around the house at three in the morning, Sirius didn't seem mere seconds away from breaking at every plausible moment. Regulus, Sirius noticed, was not very different at the Potter's residence then at Grimmuald place. The striking differences of course included the lack of the glamour, and the pureblood facade seemed to be cracking. He still spent most of his day out of sight, and tended to avoid communal areas like the living room, or kitchen. If you went into the washroom after he showered you'd notice the water was flipped all the way to the cold side. He eyed the door and drive way carefully, evacuating spaces if a car or foot steps approached. He continued to flinch at contact, wince at loud noises. He seemed for the most part just as anxious, and just the same.
"We've got butter, jam, nutella, and marmite" Sirius said turning to Regulus, the older boy was shamelessly digging through the cupboards in a way that made Regulus' stomach knot.
"I don't mind" Regulus replied pouring hot water into the two mugs.
"Marmite then" Sirius replied raising a brow up at his brother.
Regulus made a face.
"Yeah, thought so. So what do you want on your fucking toast?" Sirius said trying to push the smugness out of his voice. He wasn't trying to be a pest, he was simply trying to enforce in Regulus' mind, that sharing your opinion was sometimes for the best.
"just, butter" Regulus said quickly, hardly making the decision.
"You're getting nutella" Sirius countered "You'll like it. It's like the chocolate stuff at school but better" he explained.
Regulus rolled his eyes "I thought I had to choose what I wanted on my fucking toast"
"Well, if you don't know all of the choices, you can't make an educated decision. Besides, you chose bad" Sirius shrugged carrying two plates of toast to the now familiar round kitchen table.
"I'm not eating with your lot" Regulus said reaching for his plate after setting Sirius' tea down.
"Yes you are" Sirius said kicking a chair out for Regulus. "They'll be in here any moment" he added "You didn't stay for the moving picture, please Reg" Sirius said with a pout that Regulus thought no respectable seventeen year old boy would ever sport.
Regulus glared at him, it wasn't a particularly nasty look, but it certainly wasn't friendly (or Regulus would never admit it was) "Well I'm leaving" he reached for the plate again. Sirius moved it.
"It's just breakfast" He protested "You can eat fast!" he added looking at Regulus' face trying to see if that helped-- it did not. "I solemnly swear they're really good people. Dorcas, and Mary are leaving after breakfast, they want to meet you, like actually just chat a bit and what not"
Regulus shrugged "What a shame, suppose I'll see them next time" Regulus shrugged stepping closer towards the toast again.
"Please Reggie" Sirius frowned. His plea was reminiscent of their childhood. "I won't make you hang out with them ever again"
Regulus sighed.
It worked.
"Fine. Just breakfast" the younger boy sat down on the chair taking a tentative bite of his toast.
Sirius laughed at Reg's facial expression. His eyes widened slightly and he shot a glance towards Sirius, Sirius took it as a thank you.
"Top of the morning!" James grinned sitting on the other side of Regulus.
The small gesture made him feel warm inside. He felt looked out for, but not in an overbearing, you need to be looked out for way. Just in a, we're kind of friends now way.
"morning" Regulus said with a small smile.
Sirius' mouth was full, which didn't stop him from trying to say hello, but it was not a very successful attempt. Their mother would've been furious with those manners.
"Ew Sirius shut your mouth" Marlene said scrunching her nose up, she sat next to him nevertheless.
"How was your night?" Remus asked quietly from across the table.
Regulus sent a quick look at Sirius, trying to figure out if he'd for some reason told Remus about the nightmare, he shook it off, he was being paranoid. "It was good, I finished 1984, strange to think that 1984 the year itself isn't actually that far away" he hummed.
Remus nodded "Did you like it?" He asked.
"Not as much as that first book I read" he shrugged.
Remus nodded. "Fair enough" he hummed taking a sip of his tea.
The table was loud and chaotic. Sirius was right though, he was just fine, his friends were good people.
He found it easy to participate or stay quiet at any given moment, everyone seemed willing to accommodate. He talked to Dorcas about care of magical creatures. She told him about visiting her Grandmother in Chile where there were tons of neat creatures that many British wizards never heard of. Peter told him about his family, how they liked to go camping, his summer job. Regulus nodded along. Peter seemed to make people feel comfortable, even if Regulus could tell the boy was weary of him. In his defence, they all were. Mary complimented his rings, Marlene talked quidditch with him, and of course Sirius and James couldn't help themselves from checking in on him at an embarrassing frequency. The morning seemed to go by far quicker than Regulus expected. He wasn't usually the type to enjoy long periods of time with strangers, but Sirius' friends weren't difficult to be around, they didn't really care about what he did, or said, or how he acted.
The rest of the day flew by without much incident.When the girls were still round in the morning the group attempted to bake cookies, Regulus watched from the living room where he sat with "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe". Lily asked him how he liked it, joining him for a few brief moments. She laughed when he told her he rather liked Edmund. Lily laughed a lot, Regulus noted. They all did. It made Regulus' heart hurt a bit.
Eventually the crew went to a nearby lake to spend the rest of the afternoon, they planned a quick picnic for lunch, and were all excited to cool down. Coming to this decision though was difficult, there was a lively discussion- Regulus found it more of a heated debate though.
Regulus politely stayed out of the conversation. James ruined it.
"Reg, do you want to go to the lake today? We need a tie breaker." He said. "Me, Peter, and Lily want to go, Sirius, Remus, and Marlene don't." he said.
"I can't go, I have something to do, you guys decide" he said quietly.
"Okay but if it was an option..." James prompted.
"Jamie" Sirius laughed "Drop it he can't swim" the black haired boy exposed.
James' jaw dropped "No way" he said "you're totally missing out" he added.
Regulus shrugged awkwardly after glaring at Sirius. "I just never learned"
"I could teach you, I taught my cousins" James added proudly, clearly getting excited. "Please, guys we have to go to the lake now-"
"Your father gathered the post for me, I'm going to look through it. You guys should go though" Regulus said getting up off the couch.
Sirius pulled James' arm and whispered something in his ear. Regulus walked faster.
"Reg" Sirius called running up the stairs behind him.
"I don't want to go" Regulus snapped.
"I know, I just, do you want me to stay?" Sirius asked quietly.
"What?" Regulus exclaimed, as if the thought was incredulous.
"I reckon there will be some nasty things in the one from Mother" He said grimly. "I don't want you to be alone in the house-"
"Sirius. I'm not a child, I'll be fine" Regulus snapped.
Sirius sighed bringing a hand up to his temple. "Reg you keep on saying that, but you are still a child. You're not of age. You're still in school. Also, traumatic events don't necessarily make you more mature or wiser, they can actually stunt your-"
"Are you saying I'm mentally stunted?" Regulus blinked a scowl on his face. "Your a prick" he muttered turning around to walk up the stairs.
"That's not what I'm fucking saying" Sirius cried out behind him following him up. "Reading the letters is fucking hard Reg, I know, I've done it, I just really didn't want to be alone when I read through them and I figured"
"You could have started with that" Regulus said quietly.
"It felt embarrassing" Sirius replied in the same tone, the pair now standing on the upstairs landing.
"Well you're embarrassed by something you expect from me" Regulus said, he seemed slightly off put, almost hurt.
"I'm sorry. What I'm getting at is that it was really hard for me and I already knew the Potters, and their house, it wasn't such a strange transition. But like you do know I get it. We get it. You know what they're like, you know what it's like to not really want to hate them, to want them to not hate you. I just wanted to be there for you if you wanted me there"
"I'm fine Sirius" Regulus replied. For a split second he reached forwards for Sirius before almost retracting. Sirius acted faster pulling him into a hug.
"You don't have to be"
"Piss off, I am" Regulus laughed into his shoulder.
"I love you, if Mother is a cunt tell me" he said pulling away and looking at his brothers face with worry, still holding onto the smaller boy's shoulders.
"Mother's a cunt" Regulus said a smirk forming on his lips.
Sirius laughed dropping his hands, "You knew what I meant you absolute prat"
The smaller of the two shrugged.
"Love you bye" Sirius added walking down the stairs.
"You too Siri" Regulus called softly as his brother left.
A fight was immenent. Both boy's could feel it on the horizon, barreling towards them quickly. Every mistimed step, and every unthought word was observed closely by both brothers, the set wondering who would break first, wondering what the tipping point would be.
James ended up initiating the dominos.
"I'm sorry about earlier" James had said. "If I had known at the time about Shrake Shore I wouldn't have said anything." he'd added. "I'm really sorry, I wouldn't have forced anything"
"It's fine" Regulus had replied, his heart beating quickly, anger already boiling in his stomach. He was dealing with too much that day. First he'd put up with Sirius' friends, then he'd read the letters, this was too much.
He waited for Sirius to come upstairs, after about fifteen minutes of his rage brewing, the moment Sirius opened his bedroom door all hell was set loose.
"Fucking Shrake Shore Sirius?" He'd yelled. "That's fucking grand. What a fun fucking story to tell your best mate! Haha want to hear about the time my parents almost fucking drowned Regulus!"
"What-" Sirius was taken aback.
"That's fucking fantastic. What a fun lake trip you must have had." Regulus sneered
"Reg, he just wanted to know if he'd insulted you-"
"You could have just said no?!" Regulus replied throwing his hands to his face "Why are you like this? You can't just go around telling people shit about me all the time!" Regulus murmured clearly beginning to panic. "What else does fucking James know? Does he know anything else?"
"No!" Sirius protested, it was obvious he was lying.
"What else does he know?" Regulus asked, a look of betrayal setting into his facial features.
Sirius shrugged "I don't know Regulus" he sighed frustrated, he felt misunderstood "if something came up I would have explained it-"
"What does that even mean?" Regulus cried. "I- just- what does he know?"
"I don't know!" Sirius exclaimed "I- well, the toothbrush story"
Regulus made a disgusted face "Why would you- Sirius, why would you share that? You don't have the- why would you do that" The boy's breathing became laboured. "Theres more isn't there"
"Yeah, a few, Reg this is James it's not like I told the fucking student body!"
"So like what else? The broken window? The attic in Italy? The time mother purposefully left me in Knockturn Alley?"
"That last one is always relevant and you know it-"
"Sirius this isn't funny for me at all" Regulus snapped "You can't just go about telling people things. Especially not James." Regulus snarled.
"Okay, well how the fuck am I meant to know what I can and can't tell James?" Sirius was getting mad, Regulus could tell.
"I don't know? How about you just don't tell him shit if it has anything to do with me at all, or our family in general-"
"Regulus, you can't not let me tell James things- I need to get them off my chest-" Sirius said, his voice edging towards a shout.
"Well they're not on your chest, they're on mine!" Regulus said anger dripping off his tongue.
"The way our parent's treated us affected both of us and you fucking know it" Sirius replied, his tone continuing to escalate.
"Wow that's the first time you'll admit that" Regulus snarked.
"I never said what they did to me never affected you, it just was different-" Sirius was clearly agitated.
"Okay well if what mother and father have done to me weighs so heavily down on you, just pass the weight back to me-"
"You know that's not how it works, telling someone helps-"
Regulus glared up at him "Tell someone else then"
"Why? Fuck Regulus, why someone else? What the fuck is your problem with James?" He said, his level of anger rising.
Regulus shrugged "Why do you have to tell him everything?" Regulus snapped back, resentment lacing it's way through his tone.
"I dunno maybe because he already knows everything about me? That I don't have to fucking explain anything to him? I can't lie to him Reg, he's practically my broth-"
The silence was loud.
Words were caught in Sirius' throat, regret immediately rising up his throat like vomit. How could he say that in front of Regulus? How could he fucking say that? His actual brother looked more than dejected, wide eyes staring up at Sirius, the boy clearly biting the inside of his cheek in a dull attempt to prevent tears from forming in his eyes.
"Reggie I-" Sirius began, Regulus shook his head taking small steps backwards. Sirius cringed, it was exactly what he did when his mother would advance on him.
"Leave" Regulus choked out, furiously wiping at his face, presumably getting rid of any tears that had fallen.
"No- I- I didn't mean it-"
"Yes you did. Leave." Regulus repeated his voice breaking ever so slightly, the boy pushing his shoulders down farther, and trying to lift his head up, as if it would get rid of the emotions, usually it did, he had to be good at the facade.
"Regulus I'm not leaving-" Sirius tried again.
"Well you were really fucking good at it last year, so just, do it" Regulus said his voice splitting into anger, and if Sirius didn't know Regulus as well as he did he would've believed it. He would've believed that Regulus was simply angry, any semblance of hurt, or sad, or loneliness had fully disappeared.
"I asked you to come with me" Sirius said quickly raising his hand into his hair, he tried to ignore the way Regulus flinched at the moment. His mother had never put a hand on him before. And suddenly a dark thought filled his mind. Walburga was a Slytherin after all. Sirius always thought that Regulus was the favourite, that he was protected by the way his mother doted on him, but he of all people should've known how good Walburga was at closing the curtains and turning into a monster.
The tears were back "Hardly, you were halfway out the door" Regulus mumbled his voice shakier than he would've wanted it to be. "You didn't even come to say goodbye, you wouldn't have said anything- why wouldn't you say goodbye?" he whispered his face so full of expression.
Sirius felt physically ill whenever he thought of how the most emotion he ever saw Regulus show was always negative. Why was he never happy anymore?
"It- It wasn't like that Reggie, I didn't think you'd- I- I was scared, It was so, so much was happening" Sirius stammered out, searching for words, begging himself that he had a logical explanation somewhere in his head.
"Wow" Regulus muttered bitterly "You're great at lying to me Sirius" he said staring at the hardwood floors, Sirius recognized that as a callback to his James comment. How could he say that? How could he-
"I'm happy for you though, that you have someone who knows you so so fucking well" he continued sardonically "because I'm hardly an afterthought to the person who knows me best" Regulus said staring up at his brother through his tears. "Genuinely, it's great that you have a family that isn't fucked up, but you were all I had, and you actually believed that I cared more about Mother and Father than you. I never wanted to stay, but I don't belong in your life anymore, and I was fine with that, because at least you were okay, and now I've come back, and It's ruining everything, and I, I-" Regulus took a shaky breath "You were so much happier at Hogwarts, and I just, I wanted you to- i thought if- if- I just" his words were becoming messy and slurred as Sirius reached forwards for him.
Sirius paused "You have a place in my life. You always will" he whispered. "There's not a single day that goes by where I don't worry about you. And maybe James knows more about my life, but you understand it, you know? You were there, for everything, and I wish I could've, I don't know, I wish I could've been better at keeping you safe-"
"Shouldn't have been your job" Regulus mumbled.
"but it was-"
"I just wanted to return the favour" Regulus muttered glancing down at his hands.
Sirius pulled him into a second hug that day.
Regulus had been hugged more in that day then he had during his entire year at Hogwarts.
"This is better than you being over there suffering alone. I'm so glad you came, okay? Please don't go back" Sirius murmured.
"Can you just ask me before you tell James stories about me? I don't want him to know." Regulus mumbled, his tears now seaping into Sirius' shirt.
Sirius nodded "Yeah, I'm sorry, I should've asked"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Regulus whispered pulling out of the hug, quickly wiping his eyes trying to regain his composure.
"Reg you're fine" Sirius replied ruffling his hair. "Can I lie here for a bit? We can talk, I dunno, you can tell me about your life, I need to catch up" Sirius said gesturing to the bed.
Regulus nodded, lying on the opposite side of the double.
"How were the letters, are you alright?" Sirius asked as Regulus turned to face him.
The younger nodded "I didn't open them all. Can we do it tomorrow?"
"Of course"