Shattering Timelines

The castle was eerily silent except for Harry’s loud footsteps that echoed through the halls. The halls were empty since it was long past curfew. His heart pounded in this head, and Harry tried to focus on that rather than all the thoughts swirling in his head.

He couldn’t believe that Siri- No. Sirius. This teenager was nothing like the godfather he knew. No, this guy was idiotic, insolent, foolish, self-centered, egotistic--

Harry growled and slammed his fist into the wall. The pain centered him a bit, driving thoughts from his mind if only for a minute. He glanced down at his hand and saw that he had split several of his knuckles on the unforgiving stone wall. He flexed his hand causing the cuts to split open further and blood to run down his hand. A dry chuckle left Harry’s lips. He really needed to stop punching things when he got angry. Hermione would be so upset if she knew that he was resorting to physical violence instead of actually dealing with his anger.

Harry paused and corrected himself. The old Hermione would have been concerned about him. The Hermione after the war would have taken this as a sign that he was surely going dark if he was using pain to center himself. He clenched his hand, focusing on the pain instead.

Harry stalked through the corridors. He still wasn’t calm, not even after hitting something. In fact, he felt worse than before. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Sirius had really done a number on him, physically and mentally. Harry hadn’t been this bruised up since before the time jump. A particularly deep breath made Harry wince and clutch at at his ribs. He was almost positive that Sirius had either broken or severely bruised a couple of his ribs sometime during his ‘Let’s Kill Harry’ phase.

Harry debated for a moment going to the hospital wing before shaking his head. If he went to the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey would lock him in overnight at the very least. It wouldn’t be worth it.

He shook his head and dug into his bag that he barely had the brains to grab when he made his fast escape from the Quidditch field looking for some kind of bandage. He sorted through the jumbled objects before pausing, his fingers landing on a cold, smooth object. A smile flickered across his lips. Screw bandages. He knew just what he needed. With a turn of his heel, he started heading in the opposite direction at a much calmer pace.

A few minutes later, Harry leisurely walked up the steps of the Astronomy Tower. It was a crisp, clear night with not a cloud in the sky. The stars were shining brightly not deterred at all by the large glowing moon that seemed to take up most of the sky. Harry walked to the railing and began to look for his favorite stars in the sky. A dark expression flickered over his face when he caught sight of the dog star. His fingers delved into his bag and wrapped around the cool body of the flask of Firewhiskey that he usually had stashed in his bag. He grinned when he noticed the charm he had placed on the liquor bottle to make it look like a water bottle was still holding up. He took a long swig of the whiskey, not even twitching as the liquor burned his throat. The minutes passed with Harry reveling in the cool breeze and the beginning of a burning in his blood.

Quiet footsteps echoed up the stairs causing him to freeze in his place. The footsteps stopped when the person evidently saw him.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I didn't realize anyone was up here.”

Harry hummed quietly and took another sip of his whiskey. He knew if he answered Regulus would become angry and storm off.

“Would it be all right if I stayed? On the other side of the tower, of course,” the boy asked hesitantly.

Harry paused before replying, “I suppose, but only if you promise not to kill me. I've already reached my daily limitation of tempting fate today.”

“You!” Regulus snarled, “What are you doing up here!?”

“Well, I was trying to enjoy my drink,” Harry said before taking a swig of his whiskey, “Didn't think anyone would bother to come up here at this time at night.”

Regulus sneered. “Well, I leave you up here to enjoy your water.”

Harry snorted. “If this was water than I would have had a lot more fun in my life.” Harry turned to Regulus and waved the bottle at him. “Here. Take a drink. You must need it if you're up here in the middle of the night.”

Regulus stared at him warily, causing Harry to roll his eyes. “It's not like I poisoned the damn thing. Take a drink. Live a little.”

“I'm not a Gryffindor, Emrys. I try not to do idiotic things.”

“You know,” Harry began, “I have a philosophy. Even though we’re all placed in a certain house, we have the qualities of all of them. You can be a wise Ravenclaw and still be as loyal as a Hufflepuff. You can a courageous Gryffindor and still be a smart as a Ravenclaw.” Harry’s eyes drifted to Regulus. “And you can be a cunning Slytherin and still be as brave as a Gryffindor. Take a drink. It's only firewhiskey.”

Although Regulus’ face was carefully blank, Harry could see in his eyes that he was toying with the idea. Finally, after a moment's pause, Regulus snatched the bottle from his hand and  took a drink. A small chuckle left Harry’s lips when the burning sensation from the liquid caused Regulus to sputter and cough. The glare that Regulus sent him would have killed a lesser being.

“Hey, I’m not poking fun! I just didn’t think Sirius’ brother wouldn’t be used to firewhiskey by now,” Harry said holding his hands up in surrender.

If anything, his comment made Regulus’ glare worse. “Do not compare me to my brother.”

The joking manner left Harry immediately, and he nodded solemnly. “I’m sorry. I don’t like being compared to my father, so I don’t know why I thought....” Harry shook his head. “You’re nothing like your brother, anyway. I don’t know why I assumed you were.”

A hurt look flashed across Regulus face before it was replaced by curiosity. “How’d you figure out that Siri and I have nothing in common?”

Harry snorted. “Well, the first thing that gave it away was the fact that you haven’t repeatedly tried to kill me today.”

   Regulus looked truly shocked by Harry’s accusations. He floundered for a few moments trying to form a response before replying, “W-what? But why would he do that? You’re one of his lot for Merlin’s sake.”

“Funny you should say that,” Harry said darkly, “Because it seems that I’m not Gryffindor enough for him.”

Harry snagged the bottle from Regulus’ hand and took a long drink.

“That bastard,” the Slytherin finally growled, once he got over his shock, “I can not believe he would act this way purely because you are Lord Slytherin.”

Harry looked at him appraisingly. “You can’t really go judging him, though. You basically did the same thing when I got sorted into Gryffindor.”

“That’s different!” Regulus claimed indignantly, “I was angry with you for legitimate reasons, house rivalries and such, but he is being a hypocritical bastard. Always spouting off shite about how purebloods shouldn’t judge a person by their name and blood and then he goes and does something like this!” He continued to grumble to himself before turning back to Harry, “So, what did he do this time, and should I warn Father that he should expect another lawsuit?”

Harry waved his hand in a dismissive manner. “It wasn’t that bad. Quidditch was just a bit...rougher than usual. I’ll live; I’m just pissed.”

Regulus looked him up and down, trying to find all his injuries. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the large gash on Harry’s head and how he was holding himself extremely stiff. “A little rough you say? No quidditch match I’ve been in has left a player in as bad as shape as you.”

Harry couldn’t help but snort. “Then you haven’t been to very many games. Hell, I’ve been worse just in quidditch practice much less a game.”

“I’ll have you know I’m the Slytherin seeker!” Regulus said proudly before becoming concerned again, “And the games aren’t violent here.” He paused before amending his statement. “Well, they can be, but the teachers always stop it before it gets too bad. Blood is very rarely drawn.”

If what Regulus said was true, then Harry wondered what had caused the change in his time. In the future, there was always at least one severe injury in a game if not more. Harry took another drink. Maybe his generation had become so desensitized to violence and pain that major injuries in a child’s game weren’t anything to be concerned about. They had all had worse or seen worse.

“Emrys?” Regulus’ voice pulled Harry out of his thoughts. “If-if it makes you feel better, this thing with Sirius is probably not personal. He just…hates Slytherins.”

“Does that include you?” Harry asked quietly.

Regulus stiffened immediately. “What exactly are you insinuating?”

“You know what I’m saying, Regulus.”

“How dare you-”

“That’s when your relationship with your brother fell apart wasn’t it? When you got sorted into Slytherin.” Regulus opened his mouth, but Harry plowed on. “I’m just trying to say it’s not fair how he treats you. After all, you can’t choose your house. It’s who you are. It would be a crime against nature to deny that.”

“A crime to deny it…” Regulus murmured to himself before shaking his head and glaring at Harry. “My relationship with my brother is none of your business, Emrys.”

Harry nodded and took another drink. “You’re right. It’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

A heavy silence settled over the two of them. Harry wasn’t sure what surprised him more: the fact that Regulus didn’t tear him a new one or the fact that he was still here. His shock disappeared when Regulus snatched the bottle out of his hand and gulped down half the firewhiskey in the bottle. Evidently, Regulus was only staying for his liquor.

The minutes ticked by slowly with no words passing between the two of them. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional sloshing of the bottle when Regulus took a drink.

“He is such an arse,” Regulus said suddenly, causing Harry to jump slightly. Harry looked at him questioningly before the younger boy elaborated. “Sirius. He’s...he’s...he’s so hypocritical and judgemental and irrational!”

Harry looked Regulus over worriedly. The younger boy was swaying slightly and there was a fiery look in his eyes that Harry had never seen ther before. Maybe he shouldn’t have let Regulus drink so much. He held out his hand for the bottle. “Mind giving me back the bottle?” Harry said carefully. “I’m dying of thirst over here.”

Regulus grumbled but handed over the bottle anyway. He paced the floor beside Harry for a few minutes before he started ranting. “He is such a goddamn arse! I swear! He’s always going on and on about house loyalty and how we shouldn’t judge others based on their blood and he goes and does something like this! He is such an arse!”

“I’m not disagreeing with you, mate, but this is your brother we’re talking about,” Harry said nervously. He didn’t want Regulus to explode at him or go running off to yell at Sirius.

“That’s what makes this so much worse! He’s my brother! He’s a Black! He should know better than ostracizing the new lord! He should know better than hurting people he shouldn’t...” Regulus trailed off.

Harry took a small drink of firewhiskey before saying, “Why do I have the feeling this conversation isn’t about me anymore?”

Regulus picked at his cuticles. “I...may have gotten side-tracked.”

“Through my own experience, it’s always family that hurts us the most.” And it was true for the most part. As much as Harry hated it, he was related to the Dursleys by blood, and they had made his life living hell. The pain he had caused him wasn’t the worst he had suffered from those he called family. It hurt him deeply whenever his godfather compared him to his father. Practically the last words Siri had said to him…and now he…Harry shook his head. Bad thoughts. Very bad thoughts. Needed to leave his head now thoughts.

 Regulus snorted. “Now, isn’t that beyond true.”

He motioned for the bottle, but Harry took a long drink, pretending he didn’t notice. Regulus sighed but continued anyway. “We didn’t use to be like this you know. We used to be,” He made a show out of crossing his fingers. “Inseparable. Where one of us went the other one followed. But that was before Hogwarts. Once he came here everything went downhill.”

Regulus motioned for the bottle again, and Harry was forced to hand it over. He twitched in frustration. His forehead itched.

While Regulus took a drink, Harry carefully looked him over. The younger boy was clearly intoxicated. It was unmistakable in the way he swayed slightly and how he slurred his words when he became particularly angry about something.

“Hogwarts was the beginning of the end. That’s when he met those friends of his,” He snarled at the mention of the Marauders before turning to Harry with a wild look in his eyes. “It’s all their fault, you know! He was fine until he met them! He actually cared about his future, about his family! They turned him against us! They turned him against me!”

Harry stepped closer to the younger boy and tried to calm him down. “Hey, now, I’m sure we can...I’m sure we can fix this…”

Regulus continued on as if he hadn’t heard Harry. “They turned  him into this bullying prat! When he actually saw me as his brother, he was super protective. And caring. He would never think about about hurting anyone unless it was in self defense or to protect me. And now...now, he won’t even look at me.”

A choked off sob was all it took to get Harry to wrap his arms around the younger boy in a hug. “It’s gonna be all right. We’ll figure out something. It’s gonna be all right,” Harry whispered comfortingly.

Regulus sniffed quietly and pulled back slightly before freezing. Harry watched in confusion as the other boy’s eyes grew exceedingly large. Finally he opened his mouth and said, “You’re bleeding.”

“What?” Harry stared down at him in confusion. “I stopped bleeding hours ago, Black. All my cuts have scabbed over by now.”

Regulus narrowed his eyes in frustration before swiping a hand across Harry’s forehead with lightening speed, causing a half startled/half pained yelp to escape from Harry. He opened his mouth to say...something when he realized Regulus hadn’t been lying. Even in the dim light, Harry could easily see that the younger boy’s hand was covered in a dark liquid.

Regulus began to search him over for injuries, all the while ranting at Harry. “You idiot! I can’t believe you decided to get drunk after you had been severely injured! Alcohol is a blood thinner, dumbass! You could bleed to death!”

Harry gently pushed the Slytherin away and tried to examine his injuries. He sighed in frustration when he realized it was too dark to see how bad everything was. It didn’t help that he didn’t feel any pain. The firewhiskey was buzzing in his system and creating a pleasant, warm feeling.

“We--we need to get you to the hospital wing,” Regulus slurred slightly.

“Slow down there, hero. We can’t go to the hospital wing because Madame Pomfrey will realize that we’re both well and truly sloshed. And that will land us both in detention for Merlin knows how long.”

Regulus swayed slightly but looked determined all the same. “We still need to get you help. I’m not the n-new lord bleed out on my watch. Now, let’s go.”

Regulus turned to walk down the steps but stumbled. Harry jerked into action and barely caught him before he fell flat on his face. Harry sighed and mumbled to himself as he helped the younger boy up, “Well, I’m obviously not letting you walk down the stairs alone,” He sighed again before talking to the Slytherin, “Come on, I know a place we can go.”

Harry carefully began to help the younger boy down the stairs. “Why do I have the feeling that if your brother finds out about this he will either try to kill me or give me a high five for this.”

“Probably high five you and make fun of me,” Regulus snorted, “Although I doubt either one of us would be able to get close enough for him to figure out we’re both drunk.”

“Got that right.”

Slowly, the two made their way through the school corridors. Not a soul was out. Regulus pouted when he realized this. “How is it that whenever I’m out on my own I’ve got to hide and sneak around, but you can just walk down the halls like it’s the middle of the day. It’s not fair!”

“Yeah, well, life’s not fair.”

“But still! It seems like all you Seventh years are able to sneak around and do what you want. What’s your secret? Trackers on all the prefects? Compulsion charms on all the teachers?”

Harry chuckled. “I wish. It’d make my life easier.”

Relief flooded him when they finally made it to the seventh floor without any incidents. “Come on, Black. Just a little bit further,”

Regulus looked at him in confusion. “Why did we come here? There’s nothing up here except unused classrooms and empty rooms.”

  “That’s what you think,” Harry said with a grin as he pulled the boy over to the empty stretch of wall he would recognize with his eyes closed.

Regulus watched him warily as Harry paced three times in front of the wall. His eyes widened when two huge doors etched themselves out of stone. “W-what? How? Why? What?” Regulus stuttered in shock.

Harry chuckled and dramatically flung open the doors. “Welcome to Maison d’ Emrys!”

Regulus eyed the room carefully before nodding slightly. “You have impeccable...style. It reminds me a bit of all the old lords’ mansions.”

Harry could see why he said that. The Room of Requirement seemed to always outdo itself whenever he was involved. It had turned itself into a spacious loft with everything trimmed in gold and emerald. One wall was lined with bookshelves filled with various books on healing, defense, and a few books that Harry truly enjoyed surrounding a large canopy bed. A huge, crackling fireplace was surrounded by several comfortable looking chairs and couches. The third wall held a large mirror and baskets of bandages and gauze. A crystal pitcher and bowl as well as a couple of towels were on large wash stand beside the mirror.

Regulus’ eyes landed on the wash table and he immediately drug Harry over to it. “We need to clean you up.”

He shoved Harry down into the large emerald armchair in front of the wash stand. Harry winced when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He looked as if he had gotten into a fight which he kind of had. The cut on his forehead had reopened and blood was dripping down his face. He couldn’t help but wonder how the blood had missed his right eye since the cut was almost directly above it.

He looked down at his hands in order to get away from the sight only to realize his knuckles had split open again from where he hit the wall.

“So, how did you get that?”

Harry jumped. Regulus nodded down at his hand as he wetted one of the towels. “Did you punch Sirius after he caused that cut above your eye?”

Harry snorted. “No, I punched a wall, actually.”

Regulus hummed to himself as he dabbed at the cut above Harry’s eye. “Punching walls. Sounds like something my brother would do.” He motioned at the bowl of slowly reddening water. “Sorry for doing this the muggle way. You would think that after all these years I would know more healing spells. Hell, I barely know how to fix a broken nose.”

Harry chuckled. “ Not to be mean, but I wouldn’t let you near me with a wand. Hell, you’re swaying right now!”

Regulus glared at him and made an effort to stop swaying. “I’m fine!”

“You’re drunk!” Harry said in the same tone of voice.

“I’m not!”

“You totally are--Ow!” Harry yelped when Regulus pressed down hard on the cut.

“Oops,” The Slytherin said with no real remorse.

Harry huffed and sat silently for a few minutes before asking, “So, how’d you learn how to clean out wounds?”

Regulus paused for a moment before dipping the towel back into the now red water. “I’m a Slytherin, Emrys. It’s not like we don’t get into fights.”

“Sure. That’s how you know how to do this.”

Regulus turned around sharply, accidently sloshing some of the water out of the bowl before slamming it down onto the wash stand. “Stop while you’re ahead, Emrys.”

Harry stood with a sigh. “Sorry, I should be thanking you, and instead I’m…”

Regulus took a deep breath before turning around. He sent Harry a glare. “What are you doing standing up? Sit back--” Regulus cut himself off with a gasp as his foot slipped in the pink puddle of water. Harry stepped forward and caught the younger boy, but he couldn’t help but grunt in pain when Regulus accidently elbowed him in the ribs. Yep, he definitely had some cracked ribs.

  Regulus jumped back with wide eyes. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you? What’s wrong?”

Harry carefully crafted a blank look on his face. “It’s nothing. I’m fine. You just winded me when you fell.”

The Slytherin’s eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t an ‘I can’t breath’ grunt. That was an ‘that fucking hurts, stop’ grunt. Something’s wrong with your chest. Let me see. Now.”  

“Bossy much?” Harry grumbled as he carefully lifted up his shirt. He winced when he realized a bruise had already started to form. It was ugly, purple and slowly spreading across the left side of his chest. A sharp inhale of breath told Harry that Regulus saw the bruise.

“Fuck…” The younger boy said somewhat breathlessly, “Did-did Sirius do that to you?”

“Yes...He did.” It hurt to even say it.

“W-why? You’re a Gryffindor. You’re on their side,” Regulus said looking lost.

Harry snorted. “Well, they don’t think so.” He motioned to the room. “Why’d you think I knew about this place? I’ve been crashing here whenever things get...tense in the Tower.”

“You’re-you’re not on their side?” Regulus asked quietly.

“I’m not on anyone’s side. I’m just trying to survive,” Harry sighed.

Regulus nodded, more out of shock than anything else. “You really should have been sorted into Slytherin.”

“You’re not the only one to say that,” Harry said with a slight smile. The Sorting Hat hadn’t been the only one to claim he would be a great Slytherin.

“I-I need sleep,” Regulus whispered, clutching his head. “I should go back to the dungeons.”

Harry looked at him in concern. “You should crash here. I doubt you’d make it all the way down there without getting caught. Plus, I don’t think you should be walking down all those stairs with how,” he paused, “tipsy you are.”

“There’s only one bed.”

Harry glanced up and smirked. “And now there’s two.”

Regulus looked up in shock to see a large, black canopy bed lined with silver. He glanced at Harry and the bed and back at Harry before huffing. “I’m not even going to ask.”

“I’ll explain it in the morning,” Harry said as he helped the younger boy to the bed, “But for now, you should get some sleep.”

Regulus nodded his agreement as he slid under the covers. Harry willed the lights to dim. “Goodnight, Black.”

Regulus groaned before mumbling, “Call me Regulus.”

Harry paused on his way to his bed. “Goodnight....Regulus.”