The Squib and the Werewolf

65. A Brothers Love

A few days after their engagement, Raya and Sirius were packing up his things in the bungalow, when an owl suddenly flew in through the open window.
Raya removed the letter from its leg, letting the bird fly away.
"Siri, there's a letter for you" announced Raya.
"Can you open it for me, and tell me what is says?" Asked Sirius, who's hands were currently holding a heavy box.
"Are you sure you want me to read it?" Questioned Raya as she removed the letter from the envelope.
"Um, tell me who it's from first"
"It's from Andromeda"
"Oh, that's fine then. Tell me what Andy has to say".

After reading the first line of the letter, Raya gasped, and the parchment fell from her hands onto the floor.
Seeing her distress, Sirius put down his box, and approached Raya.
He then picked up the letter from the floor, and began to read it.
"No" mumbled Sirius.
"She- she said that Regulus is dead" trembled Raya.
Sirius ran his fingers through his hair, while the hand holding the letter began to shake.
"It can't be true" insisted Sirius.
"Andromeda wouldn't lie to you. She is the one cousin you actually like. And if Regulus's funeral is in 2 days time, then he really must be dead".

Sirius scrunched up the letter and threw it onto the floor in anger.
Raya placed her arms around him and held him in a tight hug, as he screamed and cried.
"He was my little brother. I was supposed to take care of him. I know I haven't spoken to him in a long time, but I still loved him. And now he is gone" sobbed Sirius.
"Regulus chose to become a death eater. So there was nothing you could have done to protect him" replied Raya.
"This is all my fault. I left him alone in a house, not a home. I should have taken him with me to the Potters. I never should have left him with our parents, and their pure-blood mania".

"Regulus didn't want to come with you, and you couldn't have forced him to do so. You had to get out of there, or your parents would have ended up killing you, because you were dating me. And Regulus was too young to go with you, so he had to stay behind... But there is no use beating yourself up over what happened, because there is nothing you can do to change the past" Raya said soothingly.

Sirius let go of Raya and wiped the tears from his face.
"I can't believe my parents couldn't even do me the decency of telling me that my own brother is dead. I had to hear the news from Andy" sniffed Sirius.
"It's probably because they don't want you turning up to the funeral. They also don't know your address, so wouldn't have been able to send you a letter, even if they had wanted to" replied Raya.
"Even if they don't want me to go, there is nothing they can do to stop me from attending my brother's funeral" announced Sirius.

"I know you want to go. I do to. But is it wise? I mean, the funeral will be full of death eaters, so attending would put us in danger" reminded Raya.
"I don't care about the danger. He is my brother, and I have to say goodbye to him. Besides, even the death eaters wouldn't cause a disruption at someone's funeral. Mother wouldn't like that, because appearances are everything to her, and she wouldn't want people talking about a fight at her sons funeral" admitted Sirius.
"If you want you go, then I will come with you"
"Thank you".

Sirius sighed, and slid down towards the floor, with his back against the wall.
Raya copied him, and placed his hand in hers, to give him support and reassurance.
"I still can't believe he really became a death eater. The Regulus I knew was not evil" continued Sirius.
"Regulus was not evil" agreed Raya.
"Then why did he join Voldemort?" Questioned Sirius.
"I don't think he had a choice. He was a Slytherin from a proud pure-blood family. His future was lain out for him by your parents, and there was nothing he could do about it. From what I've heard, you don't say no to Voldemort when he asks you to join him, not if you want to live"
"He didn't live for very long after joining though"
"No, he didn't".

"I just wish I had known that he had signed up" sighed Sirius.
"But he didn't want you to know, which is why he didn't tell you. He knew you would do something brave and stupid to try and protect him. Which is why he didn't want you to know the truth" replied Raya.
Sirius frowned, "You're talking like you knew he was a death eater".
Raya bit her lip awkwardly, "That's because I did".
Sirius jumped to his feet and stared down at Raya.
"You knew my brother was a death eater, and you didn't think to tell me?" Questioned Sirius.

Raya stood up to face him, "Yes, I knew. I found out during one of our Potions lessons, when we were made partners. I saw the dark mark on his arm, and questioned him about it. Which is when he revealed that he had joined the death eaters, at Voldemort's request".
"Why didn't you tell me?" Demanded Sirius.
"Because he didn't want you to know, and I wanted to respect his wishes. He clearly didn't like talking about it. So, as soon as I found out, we decided to forget about it and never mention it again" admitted Raya.

"You broke the law, for my brother? You know that if you learn the identity of a death eater you have to inform the Ministry" reminded Sirius.
"You wanted me to tell the aurors that your brother was a death eater?" Frowned Raya.
"Of course not. But I still think you should have told me. I am your fiancé after all" replied Sirius.
"You weren't in my 6th year"
"You've known since your 6th year!"
"Yes, because that's when Slughorn was trialling his Potions partners thing"
"I can't believe you kept this from me!".

"Look, me and Regulus both wanted to keep you safe, which is why we hid it from you. We knew that if you discovered he was a death eater, you would try to get involved in his life, to stop him from helping Voldemort. I didn't want you trying to stop him, because that would have put you in danger. If you tried to interfere, Voldemort would have killed you. We didn't want that, which is why we didn't tell you" informed Raya.
"I thought you didn't keep secrets from me" frowned Sirius.
"I don't. This is the only one I kept, because it wasn't my secret to tell, it was Regulus's. I'm sorry for not telling you, but I was just trying to keep you safe. We all do stupid things to protect the ones we love" admitted Raya.

Sirius took a deep breath and allowed some of his anger to fade.
"I'm sorry for losing my temper and shouting at you. It's not you I'm mad at... I just wish you had told me" he said quietly.
"So do I" mumbled Raya.
"Well, nothing can be done about it now. Regulus is dead, and I will never be able to see him again" replied Sirius.
"I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am"
"It's not your fault. It's like you said earlier, Regulus made his choice".

"What can I do to make you feel better?" Questioned Raya.
"I think I just need some time by myself" answered Sirius.
"Are you sure?" Asked Raya.
"Yes. I want to be alone... Maybe later I will visit Andy and Ted, to see if they are going to go to Regulus's funeral. But right now, I just want to be by myself"
"Alright. Well, I will be at the manor when you are ready to come home"
"How are you going to get there without me?"
"I'll get a Muggle taxi, since the protective magic around the manor stops anyone from using floo powder to get inside"
"No, that's silly, I'm being selfish. I'll apparate you there first, and then I'll take some time to myself"
"O.K then, let's go".