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Harry sits on the floor of a room in Sirius’ childhood prison. Together the two of them are sifting through different pictures. No particular reason except avoiding the chaos that’s occurring downstairs with the Weasley’s and the rest of the Order. Harry has never done well in crowds so Sirius is trying to distract him. Remus is stationed in the hall to ward off any wandering guests.
Harry makes a noise in the back of his throat when he gets to one picture in particular. A much younger looking Sirius stands next to a young Remus and another young boy. James, Harry’s dad, is standing on the other side of the unknown boy with his arm thrown over his shoulder. Peter is standing awkwardly apart from the other four. Something about the boy niggles at the back of Harry’s mind.
Letting out a quiet gasp Harry almost loses his grip on the picture of winking boys. “Sirius! I know him. Who is he?” Sirius looks up calmly thinking Harry must be mistaken. When he sees the picture Harry is holding a sad smile etches across his face. His grey eyes look a little misty with memories of many years before.
“You don’t know him pup. That’s my younger brother. This picture was taken the school year after I ran away to your dads. I think it’s the last one I have of us together. James was quite fond of Reggie himself.” Sirius lets out a soft chuckle as Remus scoffs from the hallway.
“I guess that’s one word for it Pads.” Harry doesn’t care about that though because he knows that he knows this boy. Tightening his grip on the edge of the picture and feeling a rise in anger Harry cuts a glare to Sirius and Remus, who is now looking into the room.
“No. I know him.” Remus’ face has lost the softness from a moment ago and is regarding Harry warily. He hasn’t seen him get this angry often but when it happens it’s for good reason. “I know him. When I was little and some punishments got too bad he was there in my dreams! He told me that I could go with him ifI wanted it to stop. He said that I would make people I didn't know yet sad though. He always played with me for a bit before I woke up again. Some days I wished I would have gone with him.”
Sirius sucks in a breath with tears in his eyes as Remus crouches before Harry. Taking the picture from Harry Remus runs his eyes over Harry’s repeatedly. “I’m not lying! I know it was him. He has this corded bracelet that’s right there in the picture. He said someone very important gave it to him and it helped him find his way to me. I always thought I was just imagining him but I wasn’t. This is him!” Remus leans forward and wraps Harry in a hug.
“I believe you.”
Sirius lets out a huff of laughter as tears stream down his face rapidly. “Reggie you berk. Using his kid to pass on the bracelet message.” His hands shake as he leans forward to wrap his arms around Harry just as Remus leans back again. Harry is digging his nails into his palm repeatedly saying that he isn’t lying. Harry knows he isn’t lying.
Once Harry stops muttering to himself Remus sits all the way down and makes Harry meet his eyes. “Harry, what kind of things happened before you dreamed of this boy?” A harsh knot is forming in the pit of Remus’ stomach. If he’s correct it’ll take a miracle to keep Sirius from killing a family of muggles.
“Well, the first time I hadn’t been allowed to eat for about a week. It wasn’t horrible, just left me a bit hungry. Then there was one time I was sick, really nasty fever. The Dursley’s didn’t want to take me to the hospital though, said it wasn’t worth the money. The last time I saw him was between first and second year. I was forced to work in the garden for the day and it was really hot. I hadn’t had any water for a couple days at this point. It wasn’t so bad though because I got to talk to him. I wasn’t able to talk to anyone until I went back to school that year so it was nice.”
By the second sentence of Harry’s story Remus had to grab Sirius by the arm. If there was any possible scenario he could get away with it Remus would be trying to beat Sirius to those trash relatives house to kill them. Neither adult has ever felt this deep, consuming rage before. For Remus it bordered on how he felt during those early days of his transformations every month.
Later that night when everyone else is in bed Sirius buries his face into Remus’ chest and silently sobs. He cries for his godson and all the pain he endured. He cries for himself and Remus’, for everything they could have prevented if allowed. He cries for his dead best friends and most of all he cries for his brother. He cries for Regulus Black and how he died too young.
He cries over the fact that Regulus was there to keep Harry’s will alive so he didn’t die before Sirius ever reunited with him. Sirius cries for it all as Remus holds him only allowing a few small tears to escape for the same reasons. Both men fall asleep crying and both men dream of the two friends that will never grow older. They dream watching the two lovers who never got their happy ending meet one last time. They dream of Regulus helping Harry when no one else could or would.