Upside Down Mirror: Granger Yet

Not Simple

"I should have known things wouldn't be that simple," Regulus thought to himself as he found himself knocked onto his behind wiping the blood away from his lip while looking up at a rather irate Sirius. "Nothing is that simple with this family, but why is Siri here?"

Sirius, of course, shouldn't be at Grimmauld Place, what with how out of sorts Regulus knew his older brother was with his parents, nor could he imagine Sirius making amends with their mother even though when he was younger he'd always hoped Sirius would come to his senses and come home.

"And if he made amends with her, what does that mean?"

It meant things weren't the way he left them sixteen years ago, yet Sirius said something which cut deeply. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my brother's room?"

Which meant Sirius didn't recognize him, although—despite the confusion, Regulus felt—made sense given the fact Sirius had very selective memory regarding the fact Regulus even existed when they attended Hogwarts together, much less when they lived in the same house. It still hurt greatly. So when Sirius pressed, he said, "None of your bloody business."

And then Sirius was ordering Regulus out of his house.

Regulus felt his stomach twist, knowing that for the house to now belong to Sirius that his older brother needed to make up with their parents, yet it felt beyond strange that his brother who was at odds with their parents over matters regarding Pureblood status would have come to an understanding, unless...

Sirius changed his mind because there was no way Walburga Black would have ever changed her mind, yet something else bothered him. "There's no way he'd become a Death Eater though, so none of this doesn't make sense."

What did make sense was Sirius not wanting him there, so leaving despite not getting what he'd come for seemed like the best option at that particular point, as Regulus knew better than to mess with Sirius when he was in one of his moods.

Except, when he touched the doorknob, Regulus found himself pulling his hand back as the slight burning sensation. Looking down at his hand—his right hand, he suddenly realized something, only to have it confirmed when he attempted apparating out of Grimmauld face.

And the back of his head hit the ground hard, leaving his head spinning. It spun, even more, when Sirius and Sirius' friend Remus Lupin lifted him off the ground and pulled him upstairs to the drawing-room. They plopped him into a chair and a spell was used to tie him up.

Worse, Sirius grabbed him by the hair, yanking his head so he looked Sirius in the eye while asking Regulus about his wand, yet—Sirius didn't recognize him, yet the pain created by his older brother's lack of recognition became exasperated when Sirius used the words, "my brother"—something which Sirius avoided every saying.

His business was thus not Sirius' business.

And, when Sirius asked if he killed Regulus Arcturus Black, he found himself replying, "maybe". After all, he stopped being Regulus Arcturus Black and became Sebastian Cesario Granger, yet here Sirius was not recognizing him, thinking some Death Eater had killed him.

Regulus felt rather resigned to his fate, feeling depressed he couldn't figure a way out of his current predicament let alone Grimmauld place, which seemed to want to keep him there for some strange reason.

Yet, he didn't want Sirus to look. There was no getting around the fact he didn't want anybody other than Olivia, or perhaps even his Muggle parents, to see the scars which crisscrossed his arm and backside. In the back of his mind, Regulus realized that Elizabeth saw the scars on his arm, despite the act he'd kept them from her.

As he said, "I hate you," Regulus didn't think things could get any worse, but then—

Hearing Walburga Black screaming made Regulus cringe, pulling away from the sound of her voice, or at least as much as he could be tied up like she was. He felt his breath hitch, knowing full well that she was the last person he wanted to see, particularly with her and Sirius in the same room as each other.

How she knew to show up when she did, he didn't know, but he felt his entire body tremble knowing he was having to face her tied up like he was, no thanks to Sirius of course. "Sirius Orion Black! You filthy, treacherous..."

She stopped yelling and Regulus turned to see what made her stop only to flinch and look away upon realizing she was looking right at him. Sirius didn't seem to notice and instead turned and yelled back at her, making it obvious there was no love lost between the two of them.

Which of course only made the fact Sirius claimed the house as his even more confusing, yet in the back of his mind he waited for Orion Black to show, to tell the two to stop yelling at each other. He looked away as Sirius continued to tell his mother exactly what he thought of the Black family, which simply made it even more confusing given the fact Sirius' opinion hadn't changed.

"Where are you going?" Sirius muttered as Regulus heard someone stepping closer. "What are you..."

"You horrid, horrid child!" Walburga's voice was loud, too loud for someone standing so close and Regulus winced as she reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. He felt like throwing up, seeing her there, glaring daggers much, in the same manner, she used to do with Sirius, yet he knew why she was saying the things she did.

Sirius of course stared, saying nothing while his friend stood off to the side.

"Your hair! Your nails! That thing around your neck! Your such a horrible child, Regulus Arcturus Black!"

Sirius sighed. "That isn't Regulus."

Walburga turned, but not before Regulus saw a flash in her eyes. "You don't know I wouldn't know my own flesh and blood, you filthy, treacherous bastard."

"Oh yes! I know I'm a son of a bitch, bitch!" Sirius' words made Regulus cringe, wishing that his older brother would use such words around him. "And that's not Regulus!"

Walburga, still holding onto his chin yelled back. "This is between me and Regulus!" Her fingers tightened, and she turned back to him, her eyes murderous. "Don't you dare glare at me!"

Regulus hadn't realized he was doing so, particularly since he never saw himself as being particularly brave. He felt his chin tremble slightly while he continued to look at her, only faltering slightly at the thought he was glaring at her, yet something told him he didn't want to back down, even though not doing so terrified him.

Her fingers tightened even more. "Seriously! Do you know what you did to your father boy?"

"I'm not..." He wanted to say he wasn't a child anymore, but she jerked his face slightly to stop him from saying as much. Worse, he was sure he could feel tears welling in his eyes from the anger he felt from her controlling things much, in the same manner, she did when he was a child.

"He came down one morning and keeled over because of what he saw on the tapestry!"

Regulus narrowed his eyes. "What he saw on the tapestry? Does she mean my marriage to Olivia?" He swallowed, feeling his anger increase. "I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry at all, so don't expect an apology."

He stopped short, seeing the anger in her eyes, but her voice was filled with definite anger. "You horrid, ungrateful little wretch. You..."

She reached out, yanking at the chocker around his neck, and pulled. Regulus felt it snap, the side of his neck stinging where she pulled it off. His eyes widened, completely shocked given how she'd never laid a finger on him growing up, although he'd always imagined her as quite the formidable person.

He then felt her fingers at one of the silver hair clips and his breath sucked in while he looked away in panic. He found himself muttering, "Don't you dare."

"This! This has to go!" She started tugging when Regulus felt a hand on his shoulder and her hand stopping tugging at the clip.

"Get out of my house."

"Excuse me?"

"You made me the owner of Grimmauld Place, remember?"

Regulus' head spun, but then, he likely had a concussion.

"I want you out of my house."