Rewriting destiny

Chapter one

𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑!
𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑.
𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙, ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠, 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑦.
𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑠, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛.
𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙, 𝑘𝑖𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒.
𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ  <3

"They burned me off when I ran away.
One of my greatest achievements, that."
Sirius Black said proudly, tilting his chin a little higher in an instinctive response to the memory.

"And this one beside you?
Er- where you were, before- you know."

Sirius stiffened as Harry leaned closer to the tapestry, unaware of the way his words hit the older man like a wayward bludger.
Everything in him screamed to get away.
To tell Harry he didn't want to talk about it.
The boy would understand.

Instead he followed his godsons inquisitive gaze. Despite the sharp ache in his chest Sirius was glad to see him again.
He focused on the picture Harry indicated.
Stared at that pale, delicate face and those wide gray eyes until his vision blurred.
He still knew that face almost better than he knew his own.

The aristocratic cheekbones.
The slight dip in the bridge of his nose, almost unnoticeable if you weren't looking for it.
The dimple that sprang to life on the left side when he smiled.
The long, thick black eyelashes framing those mesmerizing eyes.

The long years that had passed since this picture was taken had changed Sirius more than he would've believed possible but the boy in the photograph was just as beautiful and perfect as ever.
Another pang shot through his chest.
It was the worst kind of pain but Harry deserved to know.

"My idiot brother, soft enough to believe them- that's him.
Regulus Black.
He was younger than me and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.
He joined the death eaters."
Sirius blinked hard, that famed Black mask falling over his face for the first time in a very long time.

He had always hated the idea that showing emotion made you weak.
It was one of many things he and Regulus had disagreed on in those last years.
Sirius had always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, nevermind the resulting punishment.

Reggie- Regulus, he corrected himself fiercely- Regulus had been the perfect pureblood, always in complete control of his emotions, more concerned with upholding the family image then anything else.
Ironic, then, that talk of his baby brother- of Regulus was enough to have Sirius pulling the mask on.