Twenty-Two.

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-Remus-
   
It's mid-February, and Sirius, Peter and I are hanging out in the library while everyone else is either at a Slug Club meeting with Professor Slughorn or Quidditch Practice. We were studying for the N.E.W.T. exams that we're taking in June. I was making them, actually. The earlier they got ready the more prepared they would be.
   
Lily, Dorcas, and Mary all joined us after a little bit. The Slug Club meeting ended early I guess. We were all surprised when Regulus Black approached our table. I was certain that he was going to tell us off for being too loud, but he didn't.
   
"Sirius," he said, his voice nearly shaking.
   
Sirius did not make eye contact with his little brother. "What do you want?" He asked in a tone that suggested he wished Regulus would just leave us already.
   
"Can we talk, please?" Regulus asked, his voice still sounding like he was on the edge of a breakdown.
   
Sirius finally looked up at his brother, "Why don't you go talk to one of your Death Eater friends? I'm sure our cousin Bellatrix is up for a chat."
   
Regulus sighed, "Fine. Forget it."
   
He walked off then, and Sirius looked back down at his book like Regulus was never here. "That was kind of harsh, Padfoot." I said without thinking about it. "He looked like he really needed to talk."
   
"He's got people he can talk to," said Sirius, who didn't look up from his book.
   
"He's still your brother," I reminded him.
   
"By blood yes, but he's not my family. He never has been."
   
I let the subject go then, but that night I couldn't stop thinking about how Regulus looked. He looked so lost, and helpless. He obviously needed help, his brother's help. He needed to talk. Something was bothering him, something major. I know he's a Death Eater, but he's still a person. A person that has something bothering him.
   
I told Ellie about this, that it was troubling me. She told me I should try to talk to him first if it was bothering me so bad. So I sent him a letter, pretending to be Sirius and asked him to meet me in the Astronomy Tower at night. Ellie came with me, and we waited for Regulus.
   
It was so odd. He looked so much like Sirius, except for the fact that he wore Slytherin House robes and he kept his curly hair short. His eyes were also a lighter greenish hazel color, where Sirius had dark brown eyes. He was Sirius if Sirius had actually listened to his parents and became what they wanted him to become.
   
He wasn't happy when he saw it was us, he tried to walk off, but Ellie stopped him. "We knew that the only way to get you here was if you thought it was Sirius that wrote to you. You want to get to him, tell us what's going on and we'll tell him. He will listen to us."
   
"There's nothing going on," he said, and he slowly turned around. "I'm just starting to regret my decision. I just wanted to talk to my brother."
   
I think he's lying. There was something else. Something happened to make him regret his decision. I had to get to the bottom of it. "What happened to make you regret your decision?" I asked.
   
"It's just not what I thought it was going to be," he admits. "That's it."
   
"Nothing happened? No one threatened you or hurt you or something?" I ask, trying to keep my voice level and calm.
   
"No," he said, his voice level and calm as well.
   
"Well, if something does happen, you let us know and we will do what we can," I tell him.
   
"I won't need your help," he assures us, "The Dark Lord will protect those who are loyal to him when he destroys The Order of the Phoenix and takes over the Wizarding World."
   
Said the guy who just admitted he was regretting his decision. I did my best not to roll my eyes at him. He was sounding ridiculous.
   
"Whatever you say," I tell him.
   
He walked off then, not wanting to say anything else. Something wasn't right. This talk with him didn't make me feel any better. "He's hiding something big." I said to Ellie. She nodded in agreement.
   
"Come on," she said, taking my hand, "It's getting late."
   
We headed back to the Common Room hand in hand. When we got back there, Sirius was sitting on the couch with James and Peter and their girlfriend's. We headed that direction. "Hey guys," Sirius greeted us, "How was star gazing?"
   
"Actually, that's not why we went up to the tower." I admitted, "We met your brother up there."
   
"What?" Sirius asked, "Why did you do that?"
   
"Because the other day he looked like he really needed to talk, and you told him to go away. I felt bad for him."
   
He scoffed, obviously annoyed at this. "Well, what did he say?"
   
"Well, he said he was starting to regret his decision," I said and I studied his reaction to this news. He looked interested, like he wanted to hear more. "I told him if he wanted to leave the Death Eaters that The Order of the Phoenix would protect him."
   
"And how did he take that?"
   
"He refused, saying that the Dark Lord would protect him if he's loyal. I think he's conflicted. I think he's hiding something big. I think something happened to him."
   
"Well, there's nothing I can do," said Sirius, "All I could do is tell him what you did. If he wants to leave the Death Eaters, the only protection that he will have is Dumbledore, and he won't take that kind of help. So there's nothing I can do for him."
   
He had already come to a conclusion about this. There was nothing he could do for Regulus if he wasn't willing to leave the Death Eaters. It was just a true fact there was nothing any of us could do if he wouldn't leave them. I guess it was just unsettling for me to think about someone so young getting roped into that mess. No wonder he regrets it now.
   
I decided to let it go. We couldn't help Regulus if he wouldn't accept our help, so I had to let it go. It wasn't my problem.

It was almost my birthday, I should be focusing on that instead. I will be 18 soon. I know I'm not a total adult yet but I will be of age in the Muggle World along with the Wizard World.
   
In early March, I started to feel better about the Regulus thing. I was getting over it. It's getting warmer out, but it's starting to rain a lot more now that it's turning to spring time. I was alone, just getting out of the shower, when all of my roommates and my girlfriend came bursting into our dorm room calling for me. I stood in front of them with my bottom half wrapped in a towel and my hair still dripping wet. I hadn't even gotten dressed yet.
   
Ellie's cheeks turned pink, but she smiled at me like she was enjoying what she was seeing and said, "Hi."
   
"Hi darling, what is going on?"
   
"We have some bad news," James began.
   
I sighed, "What did you idiots do?"
   
"Filch took the map," James said quickly.
   
"W-what?" I asked, stepping forward, "I took a shower, I wasn't even in there for 20 minutes, and you idiots let Filch take the Map that we took two full school years making! You blasted idiots! How did that happen?"
   
Sirius looked at Ellie and smirked, "You got a little drool," he pointed to the corner of his mouth, "right there."
   
She elbowed his side, "Shut up."
  
"We cleared the map before he took it," Peter assured me.
   
"Filch will never figure out how to work it," James assured, "He can't do magic. He'll throw it in his pile of magical items he can't figure out. It's fine."
   
"We've all had the map memorized for years," Sirius added, "We don't need it anymore."

"You're all so stupid. Get out of my face. Let me get dressed in peace. I will see you in the Common Room."
   
The three guys all turned to walk out of the dorm, but Ellie walked over to me and whispered, "You're really hot when you're angry," and she threw her arms around me and kissed me so hard, and with so much passion. I was glad my towel was wrapped around my waist otherwise I would have dropped it. Of course I kissed her right back.
   
"You coming Ellie?" Asked Sirius, but his tone suggested that he wasn’t really looking for an answer.
   
I waved them all off, not disconnecting our lips, and then my arms were around her, pulling her closer to my body. I heard the sound of the dorm room door closing, and I knew we were alone now.

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Here's part 22!

So obviously this chapter only exists to establish some things that we knew would happen later in the story.

But like, that end was cute, so, I'll take it.

I have some ideas for them for when they're finished with school that I really just want to get to already. So don't be surprised if the last few months of them being in school are kind of rushed through.

-Emily Winchester.

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