Take a shot of holy water

Im a bad dream baby

Sirius pushed himself out from under the covers, collecting his clothes and not even bothering to be quiet. The man he'd left in bed was still snoring anyway.

He wasn't bad for a 'get your mind off the sodding priest you just snogged within an inch of your life' fuck. Pretty great, actually, Sirius had orgasmed a number of times throughout the night, and he wouldn't be opposed to doing this again if the opportunity arose. He'd missed having irresponsible and poorly timed sex.

The only downside was that he'd gotten extremely trashed, and wasn't as young as he once was. He used to sleep off hangovers like no one's business, sometimes relishing in the excuse to be lazy for a day.

Now, he was certain that if he didn't book it out of there, he would be sick all over his random but lovely one night stand's flat.

It had been a few days since the night at the church, and Sirius hadn't seen or spoken to Remus at all. He didn't know what to say. But the wedding was tomorrow, so he supposed he'd have to figure something out.

Oh, fuck, speaking of the wedding...

Sirius fished his phone out from one of the pockets in his jacket, relieved to find that it still had some charge left. Regulus had called and texted a number of times, reminding him to come to their childhood home at Grimmauld Place, where their parents still resided, to finalize details for the ceremony.

It was half past nine, and he was supposed to be there by a quarter to ten. He had absolutely no idea where he was in relation to his old home, and the sun was ten levels of blinding, though that might have been the hangover talking.

By the time he finally showed up, pace slow and queasy, Regulus was waiting outside the gate with an impatient expression.

"You're late," he said by way of greeting, then wrinkled his nose. "Are you drunk?"

"Not anymore," Sirius mumbled, peering over the tops of his sunglasses at the door. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Regulus grunted. "I don't know why we have to do this, it's not like Severus or Lily are actually related to us."

"So you've just now realized," Sirius remarked. He couldn't find it in himself to be bothered about it anymore, it just wasn't worth it. He'd gotten past the point Regulus was at in high school. He held open the gate for his brother then shut it behind him as they both approached the door. He added, "Snape's more of a son to them than I am."

Regulus merely shrugged, which was agreement enough, and knocked on the door, shifting from foot to foot. Sirius looked him up and down from behind his sunglasses. They'd seen one another less than a week ago, but Regulus looked different, somehow. He was dressed how he usually was, and his expression was a mask of bored aloofness, but it was just that— a mask. Sirius was so used to his brother being an extension of their parents that he never expected anything different, but slowly, since the fateful engagement dinner, Sirius had started to see a different side to him, one he thought had been lost forever. The Regulus that Sirius loved more than anyone in the world; the version of him that Sirius had always convinced himself was the real version, not the Black family puppet he'd become over time.

Regulus met his gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" Sirius played dumb. Regulus eyed him warily, about to say something else, when the door opened.

"Regulus! So glad you could make it," their father said, completely ignoring what should have been an unignorable Sirius clad in an ostentatious leather ensemble that was not at all seasonably appropriate.

"Hello, father," Sirius said cheerfully, brushing past the two of them to walk inside and rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses.

The house didn't look any different from when he'd last been there. Smelled the same too, musty and oppressive. Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't been back to the house since he was sixteen. Even as his parents had drawn him back into each other's lives, tightening their noose more and more with each passing day, he'd remained adamant about refusing to meet them back here.