Like Real People Do

Chapter Twenty-Seven

CW- retelling of some of Regulus's worst memories, including death, child death, mentions of torture

Legilimency was a skill that James had only ever tried once, and it was easy enough to say that it was a massive failure. The only thing to come from the failed experience was that James received a gushing nosebleed and Sirius forgot who James was entirely for a full twelve hours.

That's why the feeling was so foreign to him, being in someone else's memories. 

He was in what he could only assume to be Sirius's bedroom in Grimmauld Place, although he had never seen it himself. The room was dark, seeming to match the décor of the rest of the house, but with Gryffindor banners and bikini-clad women posters adhered to the walls permanently. 

James could remember the way Sirius winced as he used his left arm for a month after telling them about the permanent sticking charms. 

Sat sprawled across the bed were two people that James knew well, albeit they were much older in the present time. Sirius had his back against the headboard, one knee propped up and book open on top of it. Leaned against the footboard, gangly legs taking up the rest of the bed, was Regulus.

The sight alone was odd for James to see, given that the two had been mortal enemies for almost the entire time he had known them. But here, as proper children, they seemed to be the best of mates. 

Sirius paused in reading and looked up at Reg, who had closed his eyes. Giving him a bit of a kick, Sirius blurted out, "Oi, don't fall asleep in my bed again, you wanker. Go get in your own!"

A bleary eyed Regulus sneered back at Sirius, looking almost like the version James remembered.

"I haven't been sleeping well, Sirius. Just this once, can't you-" His sentence trailed off as he shook his head. "Never mind."

"You haven't been sleeping?" Sirius asked, a bit quieter than before.

"Not since what Mother did to you last week. I'd never seen- I mean I didn't think they'd do that. It was horrible. Didn't it hurt terribly?"

"It stung a bit in the beginning. I have a feeling that won't be the last time, Reg. No need to lose sleep over it. What's a little torture now and then anyway, yeah?"

Sirius was joking, trying to appease his younger brother, but James could see how Sirius's face hardened on the words.

"Don't be making any plans to make this a nightly thing," Sirius warned as he snapped the book close. "And if you kick me in the face in the middle of the night, you'll be out in the snow."

Regulus scoffed and aimed a halfhearted kick at Sirius's side as the scene in front of James dissolved, leaving him momentarily back in the darkness.

He was prepare to be yanked from the book, but instead a second scene formed. This was, without a doubt, the foyer of Grimmauld Place, and it held Orion, Walburga, and Sirius. They were all three yelling at one another as the scene solidified. 

"You're a disgrace! And no son of mine!" Walburga was roaring, towering over Sirius as he stood there with a blank look on his face. "You either do as we command, or you leave!"

"The choice is a bit obvious, then, innit?" Sirius cheekily replied, smirking up at the reddening face of his mother.

"Insolence! You're a traitorous scourge that is rotting our family tree! No more, Sirius! I won't allow it!"