Chapter Text
Regulus Arcturus Black is dead.
He might still breathe, and his heart has yet to stop, but Regulus Black is dead.
He's dead because Regulus has no plans on living past his sixth year of Hogwarts, and he's dragging his entire family down with him.
Well, sans Sirius, Narcissa and Andromeda, although the latter is a Tonks now.
The thing is that Regulus has a plan, and it's a really, really good one, but it doesn't cover what to do in this very particular situation.
Because Sirius, who ran away at the end of last year's summer and hasn't talked to Regulus since, just pulled his brother into an empty compartment of the Hogwarts express.
"What-?" Regulus can't help but let out, absolutely and helplessly bewildered by his current predicament.
"I want to fix things between us." Repeats a visibly very nervous but determined Sirius.
Regulus just gapes at him.
Yep, definitely not in his plans.
Sirius was two years old when Regulus was born.
He doesn't remember much of it —because he was two— but he thinks he was really excited about the whole thing.
What Sirius does remember is that Regulus used to be a really, really noisy baby.
And that in spite of it, he stopped making any kind of noise that would displease their parents when he turned one.
Mother used that as an example of how well-behaved Regulus was, but Sirius knew better.
Regulus was just a really smart kid who didn't want to get hurt.
And as smart as he was, he discovered quickly that making noise wasn't the only thing that angered their parents.
Regulus' accidental magic started showing when he was two. At the start, Mother and Father were delighted. Presenting accidental magic before the age of three is one of the characteristics purebloods families pride themselves to have, so Regulus making the piano play by itself or making his feeding bottle float was something to brag about.
But those small bits of magic grew as he got older. Regulus had a lot of magic in himself, just as Sirius did, and it caused glasses to break, paintings to fall and furniture to fly around. By the time he was five, his bedroom's windows had to be replaced at least twice a week.
This quickly got into Mother's nerves, and she started scolding him harshly every time it happened. But accidental magic is emotional; it feeds off of strong feelings like fear. So, the more Mother got mad at him, the more Regulus' magic acted up.
Until one day, when he was six, Regulus became so overwhelmed that he accidentally made Mother's most expensive tea set explode.
To say she was livid would be a great understatement, and no matter how hard Sirius tried to protect Regulus, the younger boy still got his first scar and was locked up in the attic for a couple of days.
After that, his accidental bits of magic decreased significantly, and Sirius saw how his little brother was so fucking terrified of being punished again that he started repressing his magic.
By the time Sirius went to Hogwarts, Regulus could very well have been mistaken as a muggle nine-year-old.
It continued that way until the summer Regulus turned ten, when Mother hired a tutor to teach him for a year before going to Hogwarts.
Weeks passed, and when his tutor noticed what Regulus was doing, she was completely horrified. She unceremoniously told their parents their son was halfway through developing an obscurus —and that if he hadn't already— and he had to be put into Hogwarts that very same year so he could relearn how to express his magic.
Mother, far from being upset, was actually smug about the idea of Regulus going to Hogwarts a year early. She talked about the whole thing —avoiding the word obscurus, of course— as more proof of the pureness of their blood.
And Sirius, having no idea what an obscurial was, just chalked the whole thing up to Regulus being really smart and having strong magic.
The years went by, and Sirius and Regulus drifted off little by little. At the end of the summer after his fifth year of Hogwarts, Sirius ran away to James' house.
He tried not to think about Regulus at all, because their memories together hurt like no others and he couldn't bear to remember his little brother's icy eyes as he refused to escape with Sirius.
And that strategy worked well enough. That is, until Sirius got his first DADA class about obscurials.
Because there he learned his little brother had most definitely been one. And Sirius has been that fucking close to losing him forever.
After making that discovery —and having a truly wild panic attack in James' arms— he decided that he wasn't going to give up on his little brother just yet.
And maybe, Remus forgiving Sirius fort the worst mistake he has ever made had a little bit of influence on his choice. Sirius still feels nauseous when he thinks about it, even if things are better than ever between them.
Remus forgiving him has somehow made them even closer, because now Sirius has tangible proof that Remus loves him so much that he managed to forgive him for that, and Remus saw how much Sirius loved him in all the attempts and effort he put into meddling their friendship.
Anyways, the thing is that Sirius has learned how wonderful true and deserved forgiveness is, and it has put into perspective his relationship with his brother.
So here he is now, having pulled Regulus into an empty compartment in hopes of talking to him.
Sirius takes a deep breath, and begins to talk.
“Regulus, I-“ Sirius stops, growing more and more nervous at Regulus’ lack of response. “You are still my little brother, no matter what happens, and I’m not sorry for leaving because- I needed to. But I still care about you, even if I don’t understand why you stayed. So I want to be there. And talk to you.” Sirius rambles.
Regulus blinks but forces himself to give some kind of response. “I’m a bit confused.” He admits, in his most polite tone. “The last time I attempted to talk with you, you seemed rather displeased about my presence.” Understatement of the fucking century, as Sirius told him to ‘go fuck himself and fuck his racist ass’.
His brother winces and his expression shifts to something apologetic. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I was a real idiot, and like- overwhelmed by everything. I know you don’t believe in those things either. That’s why I don’t understand why you stay there.” His voice turns frustrated at the end, and Regulus really isn’t in the mood for arguing right now.
“I have my reasons, which don’t concern you.” He adds at the end, seeing Sirius’ mouth open.
Sirius’ shoulders slump, and he breathes deeply. “Okay, that’s fine. We don’t- Let’s not talk about that, okay?”
Regulus rises an eyebrow, but lets his brother continue.
“I miss talking to you. So, I want us to try. We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to, and I’ll fuck off when you tell me. But- we can see each other, when we can.” Sirius says, looking at him.
Regulus is left speechless again.
Sirius starts talking again. “And- Even if you don’t want to, I’m still here. Always. I’ll be there for you.”
Oh. Regulus gets it now. Sirius just wants a closure. It’s his last year at Hogwarts, so he wants to leave in amicable terms with his strangled brother. Maybe he even feels a bit guilty, Sirius is good like that.
Regulus is tempted to tell him no, but…
It won’t really make a difference in Regulus’ plan. He’s going to die before summer anyways. If Sirius wants to do this for himself, Regulus can indulge him.
And maybe, it will be a bit nice to die knowing Sirius doesn’t completely hate him.
“Okay.” Regulus finally says. “I accept. But if I tell you not to-“
“-do or say something I won’t. I promise.” Sirius interrupts him. He’s smiling like Regulus just gave him a million galleons. “Thank you, Reggie.” He says, and then gives Regulus a hug so fast he doesn’t even have time to flinch. He says goodbye and proceeds to run trough the corridor shouting ‘Prongs, I did it!’ so loudly Regulus would be impressed if the whole train didn’t hear it.
Regulus —still a bit shaken by the whole thing— leaves the compartment and starts looking for his friends.
He opens the door of the compartment to the sight of Barty listening intensely to Pandora's’ explanation of a mystic creature whilst Dorcas and Evan talk about their summers. They all turn to him and smile when they see him.
“Regulus!” Pandora greets him, getting up from her seat to hug him. Regulus accepts the hug effortlessly, because is Pandora.
“What held you up? We’ve been waiting for a bit.” Evan asks, tone curious.
“Sirius.” Regulus answers rather bluntly, and sits beside Pandora.
“What the fuck? What did he want?” Barty asks, bewildered and a little offended. Dorcas nods. “Yeah, the last time you two talked didn’t go very well as far as I’m aware.”
Regulus frowns. “Yeah, I don’t get it either. He said he wants to fix things between us.”
“That’s great!” Pandora smiles. She is probably the person who has tried to convince Regulus to talk to his brother the most.
“And your answer was?” Questions Evan, who looks rather unconvinced.
“I accepted.” Regulus answers, sending them a glare in which he tries to transmit he is not going to explain that any further. His friends seem to get it, and Barty smoothly shifts the topic to things that have happened in the summer.
“By the way, Reg, I saw your father in the Prophet the other day and he looked more dead that usual.” Dorcas states, lifting an eyebrow curiously. “Has something happened?”
"Oh. That's most likely his back. It's been aching him lately." Regulus answers calmly.
Evan stares at him with blunt suspicion. "What did you do?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about" Regulus states, not a hint of dishonesty in his voice.
"No, Evan's right. You're using your smug voice. You only use that voice when you’ve done something. " Barty agrees.
Regulus just hums.
Pandora's eyes widen. "Did you curse him?" Dorcas chokes on air in the background.
"Not him." Regulus admits, almost smiling.
Barty gasps. "His chair! He cursed his chair! That's why he went looking for curses for furniture at the end of last year!" he exclaims, and all his friends faces turn a mix between proud and wary. Well, except Barty. He only looks proud.
Regulus does smile then. "I call it poetic justice."
Barty starts cheering loudly and Evan and Dorcas burst out laughing. Pandora is still quite aghast, although amused.
They talk about what they thin sixth year is going to be like for the rest for the trip, and Regulus drifts off with the sound of their voices.
When they reach Hogwarts, they all go to the great hall for dinner and Regulus takes a deep breath before entering the room.
It’s noisy, crowded and rather overwhelming. His friends cheer loudly to every kid who is sorted in Slytherin, and Sirius even sends him a small smile across the hall when he meets his eyes. Regulus usually bolts to the dorms as soon as he can, but this year he eats his dinner slowly, savoring every bite, and doesn’t press his friends to leave early.
Because this is, after all, the last time he will ever attend the welcoming feast of Hogwarts.