romantically - 𝖜𝖔𝖑𝖋𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗

I

sirius black

Regulus Black, 9 at the time, stared up adoringly at his older brother. He had always admired Sirius, and he looked up to him immensely. He had always hoped that someday he would be like his brother -- big, strong -- well, stronger than him, anyway -- and most importantly, Sirius was unapologetically himself. 

"What's that?" Regulus asked curiously, as Sirius hugged the envelope to his chest protectively, as if it shielded him from all danger. "Is it a letter from Uncle Alphard?" 

"Better!" Sirius' eyes shone. "It's...it's my letter to Hogwarts! It's my ticket to magic!"

Regulus' eyes widened. 

"We'll open it together." Sirius said happily, and he sat down on the floor beside Regulus, putting aside his little brother's magically moving train set and carefully peeling open the envelope, breaking the red Hogwarts seal. 

As Sirius read through it, his heart leaped with joy. "Term starts in a week, Reg!" he said happily, shoving the thick parchment into the envelope. "In a week, I'll be at Hogwarts...learning new things, meeting new people, making friends..." He gazed dreamily into space. 

Regulus' face fell. "Wait. Meeting new people? Making new friends? You're..." he stopped, giving Sirius a tentative and fear-filled face. "Siri, you won't forget me, will you? You won't be off making new friends and leaving me behind?" 

Sirius inched closer to his brother. "Well, I can't possibly take you with me. You have to stay with Mother and Father. But you're absolutely mental if you think I'd just go off  and forget my own brother. You're stuck with me, whether you like it or not." 

How Sirius wished he was living that memory now, instead of having to watch Regulus at a different house table, laughing with different people and looking at anyone but Sirius. He sighed and turned back to his own friends.

"What?" he snapped, when he realised that James and Remus were both staring at him with expressions of mixed pity and care. Having grown up in the Black family, affection was something Sirius was unused to, even right then in his fifth year of Hogwarts, where term had just begun a day ago. 

"Mate, it's okay to be upset about Regulus." James tried. "I mean, sure you miss him, and you regret that he isn't in the same house as you even though you guys are in the same school, and he's somehow become clouded by purist ideas from your stupid family, and you wish more than anything that he's still the same brother who you were mates with before he came to Hogwarts..."

Remus pinched James on the arm. "When it comes to comfort, Prongs, you're not exactly the most tactful." he said ruefully. He shifted in his seat to turn to Sirius. "What James is trying to say is, even if it's been a while with the whole Regulus situation, you'll always have us by your side. We're your brothers too, and that means we're all gonna stick by you, no matter what."

"Yeah, what he said." James said hurriedly, and Sirius relented enough to give a small chuckle. "D'you think Wormtail's finished serving his detention?" he asked, in an effort to change the topic to something less emotion-filled. 

"Bless him, good on him to take the blame for us." James said fondly, and from two seats away, Lily Evans leaned forward to stare incredulously at them. "It was you three who poured Love Potion in Professor Slughorn's pumpkin juice, and not Peter?" 

"Ah well, Peter was there too." James shrugged, smirking as he always did around Lily. "But he had nothing to do today, and as Captain..." he paused here slightly for effect. "...I'm to lead the tryouts for this year's two Chaser's, two Beaters, a Seeker and a Keeper. And by the way, Evans, speaking of which, I think you should try out because you're definitely a Keeper."