Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

Chapter 8

The resemblance between Sirius and his brother was uncanny at times. No wonder the Fat Lady couldn't remember anyone sneaking in, James thought as he stared at Regulus. Regulus flashed a smirk, still fiddling with his red and gold tie, his hair wild and loose like Sirius's instead of his usual neatly combed-back style.

James stood with Sirius, watching as Regulus slowly came down the spiral stairs. The golden griffin statue leapt back in its place as soon Regulus stepped down onto the floor. "Won't Mother be disappointed that her new heir's been expelled," Sirius said, lips twisting into a grin.

Regulus blinked owlishly at them. "Expelled?" He innocently asked. "The Headmaster didn't expel me."

"Liar. What you did-"

"It was only a prank, Siri." The wolf-like smile on Regulus's face grew wider. "Boys will be boys, after all."

Sirius was fishing for his wand before Regulus had even finished speaking, and James made a wild grab for Sirius's arm.

"Let go!"

"Siri, stop-"

"Listen to your friend, Siri." Regulus leaned against the stone wall, arms loosely crossed, not even bothering to try for his wand. "I'm not Snape. I won't be your new punching bag. People actually care if something were to happen to me. Mother would throw a fit."

"Mother doesn't love you anymore than she loved me, you idiot!" Sirius was almost foaming at the mouth.

The smile slipped from Regulus's face. "No one loves you. Not even Potter," he spat out before turning on his heel. His hand reached up and clawed at the Gryffindor tie still wrapped around his neck. He wrenched it away from him, throwing it down on the floor with a look of disgust.

James loosened his grip and Sirius nearly fell on his face when he finally yanked his arm free. "You should have let me curse him!" Sirius raged, spittle flying everywhere.

It used to be that James would bend over backwards to accommodate Sirius's moods. Sirius was bored? Go find Snivellus. Sirius was angry? Go find Snivellus. Sirius was depressed? Rub his back, stroke his hair, tell him he cared, that he was his best friend. Sirius was happy? Enjoy it while it lasts. Now he couldn't muster up any feeling except exhaustion as he wiped away the spit from his cheek. "I can't keep doing this, Siri. You have to learn some self control."

"That git deserves it! You saw it, didn't you!? You saw what he did!?" He pointed wildly in the direction Regulus had disappeared. "He's barely even human!"

"He's your brother-"

"He's a mental case! He was raised by house-elves, you know. As soon as he was born, Mother gave him to Kreacher because she didn't care about the spare! She only started paying attention to him when I was sorted into Gryffindor! Me! He doesn't know how to be human! He just slavishly follows Mother's every command! So stop defending him!"

James rubbed his forehead. "Merlin, Sirius." He wanted to kill Walburga, because whatever Sirius believed, he didn't escape his mother's claws unscathed anymore than Regulus had. "I'm not defending him, but-"

"You are. You're changing, Prongs. You wouldn't have cared if I had cursed him a year ago. You're not actually scared of the consequences are you?" His grey eyes lit up as if he had hit upon the answer. "It shouldn't matter if they're rich or not, or powerful or not. He's still a Slytherin, and when he graduates he'll be a Death Eater. We can't let people like that get away with it just because we're scared. It isn't right. That's not what Aurors do."

"Maybe I don't want to be an Auror anymore," Jamed snapped.

Sirius's eyes were a little too bright, a little too watery, but his voice was calm and cool when he said, "Fine. But don't kid yourself into believing that will save you. A war is coming. They've been planning it for years. If you knew the things I know, heard the things my parents said-" Sirius snapped his mouth shut, his lip curling in a dog-like snarl. Biting the hand that feeds. "Never thought I'd see James Potter turn coward. Or maybe you've always been a coward. There are worse people out there than Snivellus and you won't have me or Remus or Peter backing you up. You'll fight, or you'll die."