Slytherin Boys

Brother

(Just popping this on here. It's set in this Universe)

"And I left you alone in a house, not a home." Sirius was a bit tipsy and sitting close to Regulus. The brothers had been working on actually repairing their relationship. "And I watched the sky burn and all I learned was that smoke fills the lungs like disease."

Regulus looked uncomfortable but also vulnerable. "If I was dying on my knees, you would be the one I'd call to rescue me." He cared for his partner but deep inside, he wanted his big brother to protect him. He could tell that his brother still felt guilty all these years later over leaving.

The older man seized his brother in a tight hug, a sob finally breaking through the restraint that had been beaten into them from childhood. They hadn't ever been able to truly discuss their childhood and their relationship with each other. Regulus had joined the Death Eaters and had regretted it from the beginning, especially after Sirius had seen him for the first time during a raid.

~Mini flashback~

Regulus panted, having been dodging spell fire and crouched behind a half destroyed wall. His mask was long gone in the scuffle. His whole body tensed as he heard his brother's familiar voice. 'Shit.' He prepared himself to disapparate but nothing happened. The Order had put up Wards to prevent Disapparation.

"Got you, Death Eater." Sirius barked out as he approached, a spell glowing on the tip of his wand. "Reggie?" Sirius' voice held a kind of sharp painful note that made Regulus want to crawl in a hole.

"You don't get to call me that." Regulus answered after a long moment. His grey eyes glinted with a faint sorrow and he lunged up, knocking Sirius off balance before jumping out a window. He sprinted through the streets, momentarily forgetting that he could Disapparate now. The encounter had shaken him up.

~End Flashback~

"I thought I hated you but I didn't. You left me in that house and with Mother. And you seemed to make a new family. One without me." Regulus would never admit that he bawled his eyes out. He was sobbing against Sirius' chest like a child, clutching at his brother's shirt with both hands. "And you never asked me how I was or if I needed help."

"I wanted to so badly. But Narcissa was watching. She was under orders from Mother and Uncle to make sure you were never alone." Sirius had tried multiple times but had been thwarted. The times he had succeeded, Regulus had acted cold and hateful. "I'm sorry, Reggie. I'm sorry I failed as your big brother."

"Don't do it again." Regulus just pressed closer. He didn't have many good childhood memories but secret hugs with his brother had been a common occurrence up until Regulus went to Hogwarts. "I thought that I would never see you again, Siri... When I went to the Cave to get the Horcrux, I thought that was it. And it was temporarily. But then Lady Magic blessed us."

"She did. She's good to those She favors." Sirius had a deep respect for Lady Magic. She had given him his brother, his lover and godson back. She had given him his youth and life back. "I won't fail you again. I won't fail our new Family. Because you're part of it, Reggie. It's small and broken but still good."

"I love you, Brother." Regulus laughed wetly. He summoned a handkerchief and wiped his face. "I think Grandmother would be happy to see this."

"I agree... Reg, maybe we should open the Portrait Hall at Black Manor. Wake up the portraits of older generations." Sirius knew that a lot of the older Portraits had been put to sleep when their ideals didn't match what the Family went for in modern times. He wanted to wake his Grandparents up because they had not been bad. They had disliked the Death Eaters as Arcturus knew of Tom Riddle's origins but Orion had been the Lord of the House so Arcturus hadn't been able to outright ban any connections to Tom Riddle.

Melania and Arcturus had always been good to their grandchildren. The two adored each and every new life that came into their Family. Walburga had hated that her sons seemed to love their Grandmother more than her. So the visits had stopped when Sirius was seven and Regulus was five. She had been a jealous, spiteful woman who had ruled the household with an Iron Fist which was a contrast from Melania who had been a stern yet gentle soul.

"Let's do it. But just you and me first, okay?" Regulus wanted his brother to himself sometimes. He would take any opportunity that he got. The younger man relaxed at Sirius' nod.

"Definitely a good idea. I have no clue about the state of some of the portraits. And you know how they are if their magic wears off." Sirius remembered a small painting of an obscure relative on his Grandmother Irma's side that had slowly lost its magic and the portrait had seemed to lose its mind. "Remember great great grand uncle Phineas' son Igor? The painting we had of him that lost its magic."

"I remember it cursing at Mother and telling her that she was ugly." Regulus had never seen his Mother turn that particular shade of purple red before. The two had scurried to Sirius' room and laughed until they cried. It had been a funny occurrence in their usually dreadful childhood.

"To put it bluntly, my not so dear lady, you are as foul as a hippogryff's back end and probably smell like it too." Sirius quoted and howled with laughter. The two were swaying a bit drunkenly from the alcohol and the emotions, holding onto each other as they related the other bits the painting had said as it lost its plot. There would be more talks later but for now, everything was well in the brothers' relationship.

(The new sidealong is available! It's called Brothers Black)