Different

brothers

FYI, I changed Natalie's name to Emaline because I didn't like her name anymore and wanted something that fit the vibe more. I'll be going through and changing it in past chapters, but let me know if you see any times where is still called Natalie. Thanks!

Regulus Black looked young. His cheekbones shot out of his cheeks like he hadn't eaten in weeks and his skin was paler than normal, but he looked young. It was disconcerting to see someone look so old but so young at the same time. Like he wasn't supposed to be there at all.

All was well for just a few seconds before Remus was shoving Regulus into the wall, holding him there with his wand pointing at the young kid, who just looked confused and now scared. Kreacher protested, trying to hit Remus and pull him off, but Sirius yelled out an order and the house elf ran off to hide.

"Who the fuck are you?" Remus growled. Despite how weak he felt, Sirius held his wand up too, blocking Claire from Regulus' point of view. She moved so she could see anyways. Regulus was staring at Remus with wide eyes, looking angry at being shoved against the wall and questioned when he doesn't even know what's going on himself.

"What the fuck are you doing in my house, Lupin? Sirius, what's going on?" Regulus asked. His voice was rough and thick like he hadn't used it in years. His eyes were wide and Claire pitied him, assuming that he was just as tired as she was. It was a deathly tired that was pulling her down, but she was scared to sleep because she wanted to wake up.

"Who are you?" Sirius repeated, his voice surprisingly firm for a man who had technically died not even an hour before.

"Sirius, why are you doing this? What happened to you?" Regulus pleaded, his voice shaky. Sirius was breaking down, tears filling his eyes as he lowered his wand. Remus wasn't budging, but Claire could see that he was considering that the man in front of them was actually Regulus Black, back from the dead.

"Reggie, when did I tell you about Remus?" Sirius asked, looking past Remus like he wasn't even there.

"It's not him," Remus protested, looking upset with his boyfriend for intervening with his questioning.

"When I met Claire the first time. Two days before I...holy shit."

Remus looked over to Sirius, who nodded, an unreadable expression on his face. Remus hesitantly backed up, but he didn't put his wand up yet. Regulus slid down the wall, hiding his face in his hands. When he looked back up, Claire felt like crying at how broken he looked. His bottom lip was trembling and his skeletal hands were clinging to his hair. Tears started falling down his face, and Sirius broke down too.

"What happened to me?" Regulus cried. Sirius was next to him in an instant, the two brothers hugging after years of being apart.

"I'm so sorry," Sirius repeated over and over again, tears streaming down his face.

"It's all my fault," Regulus protested. "I was trying to help, you have to believe me."

"The locket," Claire gasped. The three men all looked at her as if they had forgotten she was there. Her eyes were wide and she looked right at her uncle. "Kreacher has the locket."

"Who are you?" Regulus questioned, looking even more confused now, if that was even possible.

"That's my daughter," Remus said protectively. He didn't look too happy with the situation happening around him, but Claire knew he just didn't like things that he couldn't explain.

"A Seer?"

Sirius and Remus shared a look and had a mental conversation before Sirius answered. Sirius won because Remus just clenched his jaw and looked away instead of nodding or shaking his head no.