Upside Down Mirror: Granger Yet

Brother Bother

In and out.

Regulus wasn't sure when he'd become aware of the presence of individuals other than family—biological family. Sirius' friend Remus, a somewhat gravelly voice, said, "You're supposed to wake him up every couple hours, not every fifteen minutes, Black."

Right hand on the right eye, left hand dangling uselessly by his side, Regulus opened up his eye, having been poked awake by one Sirius Orion Black to see his brother moving away. A man with an eye—Regulus wanted to touch that strange eye that rolled around in the man's head, yet he recognised the person. He frowned, wondering if Sirius had contacted the Auror, but then he knew this person had been a part of the Order, so perhaps not. "Moody."

"Not afraid of me?"

Regulus stopped covering his right eye with his right hand, his head throbbing as the urge to touch that eye—Mad-Eye Moody's eye, no matter how gross that would actually be remained steadfast in his head. He also contemplated that he should have known others were coming and going, with how Walburga screamed from somewhere in the house yet didn't present herself, remembering the portrait downstairs well. And without hesitation, he said, "No."

"Damn it, Regulus!" Sirius hissed from somewhere nearby, not that Regulus was paying his older brother any mind, although Sirius had called him by his name—that name he'd tried to distance himself from. "You're a Death Eater for crying out, and you're not afraid of Moody?"

"I'm not Bella, so why should I be?" Regulus said.

And that had Moody laughing. "You're referring to Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"Who else would I be talking about?" Regulus said, realising he couldn't reach out far enough to touch Moody's eye and decided he might as well give up.

"Moody was the one who caught her," Sirius said, sounding all too irritated with him, but then—when was Sirius not ever irritated with him?

"Good," Regulus said, watching the man. "I bet she put up quite the fight, though."

"Regulus, could you take this seriously?" Sirius sighed.

"I am," Regulus narrowed his eyes, wondering if Sirius would still argue that it wasn't him or if Sirius was simply trying to soothe him. "You're here to interrogate me?"

"You've defected from the Death Eaters?"

There came a sound of irritation from Sirius. However, Regulus wasn't sure the reason for it beyond the fact that Sirius hated him as he did in the Black family, excluding perhaps of those alive, their cousin Andromeda. Regulus lay there. "Yes."

"Liar!" Sirius snapped. "And why don't you have him under Veritaserum?"

Moody sent Sirius a glare.

"Well! He came back here because he's running back to him," Sirius said.

Regulus remained silent, not bothering to dignify that with a response.

"And see! He doesn't deny what I said?"

"He'd already said he'd defected," Moody said.

And Regulus laughed when both of Moody's eyes rolled, and Sirius let out another sound of irritation. Regulus pushed his mouth together, trying not to let his amusement show. "Sorry."

Moody was now glaring at him, not that Regulus cared. He watched a young woman with bubblegum pink hair tilt her head to the side, peering at him. "So this is your brother, Sirius?"

"He is not my brother!" Sirius snapped.

"Don't I know that already," Regulus muttered, now focusing in on the couch, no longer feeling like smiling?