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“Sirius, you will obey. We need the energy, we are the noble house of Black, and we will not use those inferior to us to harvest our energy stores. This has gone on long enough,” Walburga placed the point of her trident to Sirius neck, and he couldn’t move because he was backed up to the cave wall. He swallowed harshly, and felt a drop of blood form from the action.
“No,” he gritted out.
“Bellatrix, bring in Regulus,” Walburga said, a sneer on her face.
“No! Leave him out of this,” Sirius yelled. But it was too late, Bellatrix had Regulus by his good arm, and was jerking him along.
“Yes, Mother?” Regulus said in a quiet voice. He had been born without one of his arms, and his voice was distorted, so he would never learn to sing to keep himself alive and contribute to the family hoard of energy. Honestly, Sirius thought that they would have killed him on sight if not for Sirius, who scooped him in his little arms and stuck his chin in the air. Back then, Sirius had been their golden child, and the hope for the continuation of the Black name. So, what Sirius wanted, Sirius got. As he grew older and more defiant, they began to use Regulus as a threat. Do this, do that, act this way. Or else.
The house of Black was cruel, they killed more than necessary, storing up more energy than they should. And instead of what was common practice of just killing the human, they would keep him alive and torture him, drawing out the time they could extract from him. They had devised a system where they could technically breathe, but Sirius couldn’t bear to look at them. They always looked terrified and in pain. He’d once tried to free the humans from the room they kept them, but that was a lesson hard learned. They’d locked Sirius in a room, and made him watch Regulus be hurt over and over. That wasn’t the only time they’d hurt his fin, but it was the worst. His colors were faded, barely recognizable through thick scar tissue. Regulus could barely swim these days but he loved for Sirius to take him to the open ocean and help him explore.
“You are to kill a human and bring it here,” Walburga said. “You will do it by the end of the week, or Regulus will pay.” Regulus was trying to get away from Bellatrix but she had her long nails in a tight grip around his skinny arm. Sirius tried to sneak him extra energy, but there were always so many people around their opulent cave that he had little chance.
Sirius had just turned 18 about six months ago, the age that sirens were expected to be considered mature, with their voices and looks perfect in order to lure humans. The age where he was expected to start singing and bringing in humans for energy. In other families, to fend for themselves, but in this family to go to excess. Sirius had been to the surface six times, one trip for each month that sirens were required to eat before they started to die. And while he sang and got energy, it was only enough to keep him alive, and not enough to kill the human. Sirius knew of other families who did this, they were extremely rare, and Walburga ranted about them being primitive and the only reason that humans had any idea whatsoever they existed. You couldn’t achieve a long life this way, you didn’t have any of the strength you could be capable of, and were susceptible to getting ill. And it was a very delicate balance, because you had to make sure you didn’t take too much from the human or they would die. And it required a lot of magic that didn’t exactly come naturally to sirens. It was more the type of magic that mermaids used, but those two species had diverged so long ago, Sirius was honestly surprised that sirens could still wield it. It caused the humans to forget about the encounter, or if you weren’t great at the magic, they would think that it was some kind of foggy or erotic dream. This sort of magic drained a siren, and caused them to sleep for much longer than usual and that, on top of not taking the normal amount of energy, they lived a less full life. Yet, Sirius wished that he could have been born into a family like that. Sirius hated seeing humans in pain, or seeing life leaving their eyes. Walburga and Orion would take him and Regulus to the surface with them sometimes to see how it was done, or make them watch as they died below the sea. It made Sirius feel sick.
Sirius would run away, but he could never escape, there were wards around their stretch of sea. If he had Regulus, and he absolutely was not leaving him here, he would never be fast enough to escape. Bellatrix was the fastest among them, and they couldn’t outswim her.
“Yes, Mother. May we go?” Sirius said as humbly as he could manage. She let him go and gestured for Bella to do the same to Regulus. Sirius helped Regulus to his room, and Regulus told him it was okay, he could handle whatever they wanted to do. Sirius shook his head sadly, and left without another word.
He swam slowly up to the surface, feeling a heavy weight on his heart. If he had to breathe, he isn’t sure that he would be able to catch his breath the way that his chest was constricted. He headed up to the beach on the other side of the port. It wasn’t a common choice but Sirius thought that it was beautiful here, even if less traveled.
He’d half hoped that it would be empty and he could call the morning a bust. A sign that today wasn’t the day that he had to have murder on his hands. Because it was either a human that he didn’t know or his brother being tortured. If it was himself, the choice would be easy. But Regulus…
But there was a man, walking slowly on the beach, stopping often to pick up a shell only to toss it right back in. He was beautiful. His skin was tanned, and his hair was wild. He had curls that almost begged for Sirius to run his fingers through, and when the sun hit them the right way, they looked almost golden. Sirius couldn’t watch him any longer if he was going to do this. He couldn’t help but imagine what family he might have. A mother and father, maybe siblings of his own that would miss him just like he would be broken in half if something happened to Regulus. The man looked around his age, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could have a wife, or even a child. Sirius shivered and shook himself out of it. He couldn’t think like this. This was food. Energy. Humans existed so that sirens could live. He tried to recite his mother’s ranting, trying to convince himself he believed it, but that didn’t help either.
So he pictured Regulus’ face and started to sing. The man didn’t really seem to notice, so he got closer and closer. Still nothing. Sirius raised his voice, and swam around to the front of the man instead of the back.
“Oh, hello there,” the man said, and his voice was thick and slurred. Unlike anything Sirius had ever heard in humans. “Give me a second. And you can stop singing. It won’t work on me.”
Sirius stared at this man, perplexed. This man knew what he was? And why wouldn’t Sirius’ song work on him? I have a beautiful singing voice, thank you very much, you frustrating human, Sirius thought to himself. The man was fiddling with something near his ear and finally looked up.
“I’m Remus. I was born with severe hearing loss, and this is a machine that helps me to hear. But it distorts your voice. So, I’m sure that you have a lovely song, but the machine doesn’t translate it to my brain like a normal human’s.”
“Can you read my mind or something? Mother speaks about humans with magic sometimes, but we didn’t know that mind reading was possible,” Sirius blurted out. He needed to be able to put this human under his thrall to be able to extract the energy. And he wondered if the magic to change or erase memories would work on this odd human, because Walburga would go insane if she heard that he let a human go with intact memories.
“Well, actually, I am a wizard, which means that I can use magic. But I can’t read your mind. I’ve just met sirens before and have been through it. You often wonder if your song is broken, or get offended that yours is not the best I’ve ever heard, something that would overcome my implant.”
“Implant? Is that the magic? Can you show me magic? And how are you still alive, Remus?” Sirius blurted out.
“My implant is what helps me hear, it's the human machine just there,” he said, pointing to something on the side of his head. “And yes, I suppose I can show you some magic,” Remus said. He leaned over and swept his hand upwards and a spout of water sat on his palm. He shook it off and met Sirius’ eyes. “I am alive because I have helped other sirens or altered their memories if they didn’t want my help.”
“Your magic can erase our memories? I thought that only we could do that,” Sirius said.
“Yes. I’m rather powerful in those charms if I say so myself, although I suppose it's not quite something to be proud of. But it's useful with my research,” Remus said in his accented voice. It was kind of beautiful in its differences both to other humans and to sirens. It wasn’t really the same, but it did remind him of Regulus and how his voice was different from others as well.
“Research? What do you research? And how have you helped other sirens?” Sirius asked, tail slowly moving under the water to meander at the pace of the gorgeous man on the shore.
“I grew up studying with my father about sirens and other magical beings. We’ve discovered that I have an advantage working with sirens, and we have had some luck with a potion along with a spell that helps sirens be able to live without killing or draining magic from other humans. It’s not perfect, but I have a wonderful group of sirens that work with us and we help each other,” Remus replied.
“That sounds too good to be true. I hate this, you know? But I have to. My brother… My family… Well. Remus, I’m sorry but you have to either die or forget me today,” Sirius said. He tried to sing to the man again, because he was right in front of him, and the guilt was eating at Sirius. He didn’t expect it to work, and as he glanced at Remus, it confirmed it. His eyes were clear and he hadn’t moved from his spot on the shore. He was looking at Sirius sadly.
This rather angered Sirius, actually, so he gathered his magic and pushed it towards the wizard, needing to erase his presence. But it flowed right back into him. “What did you do? You don’t understand. I have to take care of this.”
“I put up a shield. I’m sorry. I really am. But I can help you, if you’ll let me,” Remus said.
“But. My brother. I can’t leave him. I don’t know if you’ll be able to help him,” Sirius answered.
“You could let me try?” Remus said. “I don’t have the potion with me, but I can give you some energy. You can come back tomorrow. I can let you meet James. He’s another siren that is working with me.” The man waded into the sea towards Sirius, showing no indication of fear.
He was even more gorgeous up close, he had freckles, and soft looking lips, tugged up in a small smile. Sirius felt the need to flee. This strange human man was making him feel strangely. He wanted to touch him, to spend more time with him, to just keep talking to him. But all of that was dangerous. Remus placed his hands on Sirius' face, and they were warm, and soft. He closed his eyes in concentration, and Sirius felt a rush of magic go through him. It tingled pleasantly, and it took the edge off of his hunger. When the other man opened his eyes, they locked with Sirius’ and he felt a pull towards him. He quickly backed up, because what was he thinking? He had touched this man, and he felt drawn to him. He’d nearly kissed him. And kissing without killing tied a siren’s heart to another.
“I’ll… See what I can do. Do you know if this works on all sirens? Regulus was born… Differently. And I will not go without him.”
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t. Please let me try. What’s your name, if you want to give it?” Remus asked.
“Sirius. I am Sirius. I’ll try to get here at midday. I’ll think of something. But please don’t tell anyone about me.”
“Okay, Sirius. I hope you’ll come. I… Well, I would like to help you, but also get to know you,” Remus answered before turning and getting out of the water.
“I would like to get to know you too,” Sirius said quietly and he didn’t know if the other man heard him but he didn’t turn around.
Sirius spent the rest of the evening swimming, thinking. What was it about this man? Did he have other motives? Could he really help him? Would Sirius and Regulus be able to live a life free of the rest of their family? A life without killing? Whatever magic Remus did, it had not completely gotten rid of Sirius’ hunger, but he wasn’t starving any longer. Could Remus want to hurt him? Why was Sirius thinking about trusting him? This was not only his life, but his brother’s. Who Sirius always put first. But it would get them away from their family, give them a chance.
He finally headed back, determined to talk to Regulus.
“Well?” Walburga said as soon as he entered their house.
“Tomorrow. I promise. I know you think I’m weak, but I have been thinking over things. And I know that I have to change. I will bring a human back tomorrow,” Sirius said. He knew that he would either have to leave or fall into his place in the family.
“Very well,” she huffed. Sirius could tell that she wasn’t happy, but that she might have believed him. At the very least, she had given him a week, and it had only been a day. He swam off and went to find Regulus. He held out his hand in offering to go for a swim.
“So, I met someone today…” Sirius explained the whole thing. What the wizard said, Sirius’ doubts, and gave him the options as he saw them. “What do you want to do?”
“I will follow you anywhere,” Regulus said quietly.
“That isn’t what I asked. Do you want to go, not knowing what will happen? Or do you want to stay here?” Sirius asked, desperately.
“Let’s go. We both hate this life,” Regulus said finally.
The next morning came quickly and Sirius hadn’t slept well, going over ways to get Regulus to the surface, and what might happen whenever he met Remus and this siren James that he mentioned. Ways that he might be able to get away if something went wrong and his positive feeling about Remus, the draw to the other man proved to betray him. He told Walburga that he was going to take Regulus with him the next day, and let him see how it was done. That while he can’t sing to the humans, he could probably learn to extract their memories. She let them go with a smug look on her face, thinking that she’d won something.
Sirius was relieved to see Remus in a small boat with a handsome dark skinned siren leaning casually against it, laughing.
“Sirius! You came,” Remus said happily, a big grin on his face.
“We’re here. This is Regulus. Regulus this is Remus and James that I told you about,” Sirius said.
“Good to meet you both,” James said. He swam over and offered his hand for them to shake. He didn’t even stare when Regulus offered the other arm, James just casually switched the hand he held out and offered a wink. Regulus blushed and gave James a big smile.
Sirius gave a run down of their wards and Remus hummed thoughtfully. “Okay, I am going to cast a spell to hide you two. And to hopefully place a small hole in the wards that shouldn’t be noticeable. If they do at all, they should just think it's a few humans swimming through it,” Remus said. He closed his eyes in concentration and once again, Sirius felt a tingling wash over him. It felt different than the spell for hunger, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
“Okay. Let’s go. Regulus if you can hold on to the boat, we can probably help you go faster without hurting you,” James said.
“Sirius if you stay on that side, I will cover the other in case he falls, or if something goes wrong with the spell,” James directed to him.
“Remus? If my family comes, take him and get as far away as you can,” Sirius begged, meeting his eyes.
Remus nodded. “I’ll do my best. I can send for help if we need, but I thought that a smaller operation might be better.”
It was a long and stressful half an hour, with them swimming beside and Regulus holding on to Remus’ boat, and being hypervigilant for any of his family that might be following them. There was one scare, Sirius felt a pull. It was odd, but in his panic, he thought it was another siren. Remus told him it was just a mermaid, and they were on friendly terms. They wouldn’t tell anyone else, because they had a working agreement. Sirius was even more tense after that. But they eventually entered the sound, and the water warmed up, and was smoother. He felt new wards circle around him and he sighed in preliminary relief. They just might have made it.
They pulled into a pier, and Remus asked them to wait. It wasn’t long until two women came back with Remus.
“This is my best friend Lily,” he said. A woman with thick, curly, red hair waved and gave them a friendly smile. “And her wife Mary,” he said, gesturing to a woman with brown skin, and long braided hair.
“Do you remember what I talked about? The spell I did for you yesterday? I needed to keep most of my energy in case something came up on the rescue mission, so I didn’t fully take the edge off for you. If you want to wait on the potion, that’s fine. We’d just need to do the spells again sooner?”
Sirius looked at Regulus, who for some reason looked at James.
“You know I want the potion,” James said, reaching his hand out. Mary came closer and handed it to him.
“Ready for the magic?” She asked.
“You know it,” he downed the potion and leaned his elbows on the pier. Mary pulled out a wand and touched it to his temple, and Sirius saw James shiver a bit. He seemed to glow for a second and then she stepped back. Remus handed her a piece of chocolate and she thanked him.
“Alright, bottoms up, I suppose,” Sirius said. Remus stepped over to him, and Sirius couldn’t help the way his heart sped up just a bit. He drank the potion, and made a face. It wasn’t the most pleasant, but it really wasn’t bad. Then again, he wasn’t really in the habit of eating anything, and the need for him to take potions had been few and far between. Remus took the vial and set it to the side.
“Okay if I touch you? Just like yesterday?” Remus asked.
Sirius nodded, and he felt Remus’ warm hands on his face again. The magic rushed through him, even more tingly and powerful than the day before, and Sirius gasped. Regulus tensed beside him. “It’s okay, Reggie. It’s just… different,” Sirius explained. He gave Remus a big smile, and even when he didn’t feel the magic anymore, Remus still cupped Sirius’ face. Sirius finally broke eye contact and shivered a bit. “Don’t you have to use a magic wand, Remus?”
“No. I’ve always done wordless magic though because of my hearing. This is fairly new, only about three years old” he said, pointing to the machine on his ear. “Besides, sometimes my speech is a little too slurred for the precision that magic needs,” Remus said, and then after a long pause he continued. “But also… I’m a werewolf, so I do wandless magic,” Remus said, body suddenly tense. Probably afraid of their reaction. Sirius knew that wizards and humans were afraid of them, and had lots of stories. Sirius didn’t really know what was true or not, but he didn’t really think that he was in danger.
“Can werewolves swim?” Regulus said. His voice sounded strong, but Sirius knew him well enough to know that he was wary.
Remus laughed loudly. “No, Regulus. Werewolves can’t swim. Besides, we have a potion that lets me completely keep my mind when I’m a wolf. I just sleep all night.”
Sirius smiled. He loved that laugh, he wanted to bottle it and keep it in his pocket to listen to it whenever he wished. He wanted to make him laugh like that.
“So, Regulus. What do you think? Me and Sirius are still alive, and I for one, am not hungry,” James changed the subject, giving Regulus a gentle shoulder nudge.
Regulus blushed and Sirius’ eyebrows rose. This could be interesting. He thought with a small smirk.
“Let’s do it,” Regulus answered. Lily came forward, and even though Regulus flinched a bit when she came close with her wand, he held steady.
“Alright, it’s been a long day. Do you want me to show you the underground cave and some of the highlights of the cove?” James asked, breaking up the quiet that fell once Lily finished her spell.
“Just ring the bell if you need us, and we’ll see you in the morning?” Remus said, before giving a wave, and following the two women back up the pier and to one of the houses up a small hill.
The days and then weeks passed quickly before Sirius was able to let his guard down. He watched a romance blooming between his brother and James, and he was really happy about it. His brother deserved all the good things. He had his own relationship developing quickly. Sirius and Remus spent a lot of time together. Remus could do a charm to let him breathe underwater for a bit, so he could swim with Sirius. He showed Sirius some of the sign language he used more often before he got his cochlear implant so they could communicate when they were swimming. Otherwise, they would sit by the pier, or a few rocks that jutted out in the middle of the cove where Remus could sit, or he would take the boat out. Of course, Remus had a job, so there were stretches of time where Sirius spent tending the coral, or hanging out with James and Regulus. He had gotten to know a few people on the shore that didn’t work the same job or hours as Remus, so it was fun to talk with them as well. He was happy, and felt safe for one of the first times in his life. It was nice to not have to be hungry all the time or have to take energy drained from murdered humans, or face the drawbacks from only taking energy without killing, and still made Sirius feel guilty.
One evening, Remus had just come up from swimming with him, and they sat in silence watching the sunset. He tapped Remus on the shoulder and motioned to his ear. Remus turned off his processor and did a waterproofing charm on it when he was in the water, so he couldn’t hear much then.
“It’s pretty tonight,” Sirius said, motioning to the sky. And it really was, but Sirius was really just working up his nerve.
“Yes, hopefully the weather will hold for a few more days,” Remus answered.
“Remus? Do you know what it means when a siren kisses someone without taking energy or killing?” Sirius blurted out.
“It is kind of a bonding, right?” Remus answered carefully.
“Yeah, sort of. It ties the heart of the siren to the person they kiss. If it’s not another siren, nothing happens to the other person, so you wouldn’t have to worry about that… But, Remus? I’ve never felt about anyone the way that I feel about you. And I hope that this lasts forever, you know? You make me so happy, and I feel safe, cared for, and understood. I feel like I can tell you anything, and I want to. Anytime something happens, you’re the first person I think of, and want to tell. So, I guess, I was just wondering… Can I kiss you, with you knowing what it means to me?”
“Sirius?” Remus said, and cupped his face gently. “I feel the same, kiss me, please. It wouldn’t be official for me I suppose, we could do a muggle or wizarding ceremony in the future. I think that I would like that if you would. We can talk about that later if, but I want to give you my heart, and all of me; everything that I am, all that I have.”
And so, beneath the first stars glimmering in the sky, on a warm night on the last day of October, Sirius kissed Remus. He felt warm, soft but binding. Something in his heart reached out, and latched on to Remus. An invisible string that Sirius would always treasure and care for. And it was perfect.