Some Day | Wolfstar

Fifty-six

"Sirius?"

Sirius pushed himself off of Remus, and scrambled to his feet. Lucius' wand dropped from his fingers. Remus let him go, too shocked to try and stop him. The boy in the dark started running forward, meeting Sirius halfway acroos the hall. Sirius stumbled towards him, almost blindly, and with the little strength he had in his bones, wrapped him in a tight embrace.

"Regulus," he gasped, hands pressing into the shorter boy's back. Sirius pushed him closer against himself, letting Regulus' warmth inundate his senses, inhaling the pungent smell of herbs wafting from his robes. "Regulus," he whispered again.

It was too much; too much and too soon. His heart couldn't bear it. Regulus was the one person Sirius always hid his weakness from. Regulus was the one whom he would smile for despite the hollow ache left behind by the Cruciatus, the one whom he would sneak out to get chocolate frogs for, even if he'd be beaten black and blue when   he got back. For a long time, no one else had mattered.

It was way too much. How could he bear it?

Sirius didn't know what was happening. He didn't know how it had all culminated into a chaotic disarray of loss and reunion, of aching and relief, bittersweet in the strangest, most beautiful but also the most painful way.

And this time, Sirius really couldn't take it. His mind was too blurry, his heart was beating too fast. Regulus stumbled when Sirius went limp in his arms, but didn't let go. He held on to his brother tightly with his eyes squeezed shut, afraid to pull back and open his eyes.

"Reg? Is that you?" Remus had finally snapped out of his shock, and was no standing a few feet away from him. James was by his side, holding two wands in one hand, his lips parted in shock. No one in the room was completely aware of what was happening.

"Master?"

Remus looked down at the shorter person -no, it was not a person, a creature- with narrowed eyes. It was a house-elf.

"Call my father to my room, Kreacher," Regulus said, still holding Sirius. "Sirius..." He frowned when Sirius didn't respond. "I think he passed out," he said to Remus, who was still staring at Regulus as if he'd seen a ghost.

"It's okay, he's... things have been a little rough for Sirius these few weeks. Don't worry, Reg." James assured him, patting his shoulder more to see if Regulus was actually there, than to give him comfort.

Regulus nodded faintly, eyes fixed on Sirius as Remus gently took Sirius into his own arms, and picked him up. James raised Sirius' head so that it could rest on Remus' shoulder.

The house-elf rushed out the doors. "What happened?" Regulus asked, leading them out of the hall into a long corridor. It had a dusty pink carpet covering its entire length, and circular paintings of Blacks were hung on the light blue walls at regular intervals.

"What happened to you?" James asked. Regulus turned to him, and shrugged. "Nothing? I'm doing quite alright, aren't I? What did you guys do this time? What on earth happened to Sirius?"

Remus almost dropped Sirius. James grabbed his arm to steady him. Quite alright? What did we do this time?

"Just-" Regulus sighed, "Just come this way. You look absolutely terrible. We need to make sure that Sirius is okay before anything else."

They entered a large room with green wallpaper. Its carpet was grey, and it had a large, circular window. There was a bed with grey sheets,  on to which Remus lowered Sirius.

For the first time in weeks, Remus could finally look at him properly. His skin was a sickly white, his always so defined cheekbones were too prominent on his face, his pale, chapped lips had a cut, and there was a very faint bruise on his jaw.

Regulus sat down next to his brother, and moved his hair back. "What the hell happened to you?" He whispered, only now seeing how truly awful Sirius looked. Sirius didn't move.

James placed a hand on Regulus' shoulder. "We'll explain everything. I promise. Sirius was-"

Someone walked into the room before he could finish. It was Orion Black, dressed in his usual emerald robes. His black hair was greying just below his temples. Behind him stood a woman Remus had never seen before. She looked so much like Sirius. Her skin, just like his, was so pale that it looked almost white. Her cheekbones had the same structure. Her eyes were the same dark grey.

Walburga Black.

As if by instinct, Remus grabbed James' arm, knowing how much James hated her. The last thing they needed was the two of them throwing hexes at each other.

Orion rushed past Remus and James. Regulus stood, and moved over to his mother, who wrapped her arms around him. It was almost impossible to picture her even raise her voice, let alone hit her own son with the Cruciatus. Her eyes were trained on Sirius, even as she stroked Regulus' hair.

"Sirius," Orion leaned gave a pat to Sirius' cheek, but received no response. He turned to his wife, eyebrows knitted in a frown. Walburga gently moved Regulus away, and walked over to the bed, her black skirt trailing behind her as she walked. Orion moved back to give her more ready access. James gripped his wand tightly, ready to blast her to bits if she were to hurt Sirius.

"It's okay. She won't hurt him," Regulus whispered to him, but he didn't relax his tense muscles.

Remus watched Walburga place a hand on Sirius' cheeks. Her slender fingers quickly unbuttoned his bloody shirt, revealing his disfigured skin. Frowning, she reached into her sleeve and pulled her wand out.

James tensed, but Regulus placed a hand on his back. "Just trust me, okay?"

Walburga trailed her wand over Sirius' wounds, murmuring something they couldn't make out. She carefully removed the bloody shirt from under him and covered him with the sheets. "Let him wake up on his own. He needs rest." Her voice was sweet and melodious as she spoke.

"Feed them, and give them rooms." Without another word, she walked out of the room. Remus realised that the house-elf was behind them. "Come," he showed them the door. Remus didn't want to leave Sirius, and neither did James.

"You boys can go. We will stay with him," Orion told them. Regulus nodded. "Go and get some rest. You look like you need it." He walked over to the bed and sat down again.

James and Remus looked at each other in silent agreement, like they had done so many times in the previous weeks. Before leaving, Remus walked over to Sirius and kissed his cool forehead. And if Orion Black didn't like it, he could've kindly gone and copulated with himself for all Remus cared.