The Noble Story Of The Brothers Black

III - God, Reggie...

R
He knew his brother just arrived, yet he decided against welcoming him, he couldn't risk getting 'scolded' by his parents again, especially not when his brother was there, he didn't want the chance to appear that they could use the cruciatus curse on Sirius too.

In fact, he was really afraid they would use it on Sirius, more afraid than that they could use it on him.

He didn't think he could stand seeing his brother in so much pain, when he knew how bad it was.

Suddenly he heard footsteps and a knock on his door, it of course was Sirius. "What do you want?" He asked after his brother stepped into the room.

"I wanted to talk to you, tell you about Hogwarts and apologize-"

"Do NOT talk to me, blood traitor." He had to say this, otherwise he might would get into trouble for even looking at him. Sirius looked hurt and left the room.

"I'm sorry..." he murmured, he just wished that everything could've gone back to normal. Of course it wouldn't, it would never, but that wasn't up to Regulus.

"Why did Sirius have to get into that stupid house? Why couldn't it have been Slytherin?" He thought to himself, looking outside.

S
As Sirius walked away from Regulus's room, he couldn't shake the sting of his brother's words. "Blood traitor." The phrase echoed in his mind, harsh and venomous, so unlike the Regulus he used to know.

He clenched his fists, frustration mixing with hurt. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They used to be close—they were supposed to stand together, not be divided by stupid house rivalries and their parents' narrow-minded views.

Yet again, Sirius had only once responded to the letters and to that his brother hadn't responded. He knew, if he had just answered earlier, maybe everything could've been differently, but he just had been so afraid his parents could find out.

Now, standing outside Regulus's room, he realized how much he'd let fear control him.

He glanced back at the closed door, a barrier between them that felt thicker than the walls of Grimmauld Place itself. "Maybe I shouldn't have come," he thought bitterly, but then again, he couldn't just ignore his brother.

Regulus had always been the quieter one, the one who listened when Sirius ranted about the family's twisted views or dreamed about escaping to somewhere far from here. But now it felt like all of that was slipping away, as if Regulus was disappearing behind the expectations their parents forced on them.

He wanted to knock again, to push his way back into the room and demand that his brother talk to him properly, but a deep sense of rejection held him back.

"What if he really does hate me now?" The thought tightened in his chest, and he turned away with a heavy heart. "I can't make him see things my way. Not if he's already chosen their side."

As he walked down the hallway, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of determination. "Fine," he thought. "If he won't stand with me now, then I'll just have to show him that he's wrong. One day, he'll understand why I couldn't be a Slytherin."

R
Regulus stared at the closed door as if willing Sirius to come back, to try again, but he knew it wouldn't happen. Regulus had made his choice the moment he let the words out, aligning himself with the expectations their parents had set.

"It was for his own good," he told himself, as if repeating it might somehow make it true. "They wouldn't hesitate to punish him. Not like they did to me."