Serendipity (S. Black)

TWENTY

"why? why do bad things happen to good people?"

*

Sirius sat up in his room all night in the dark, headphones on, listening to Lily's 'Something Bad Happened' mixtape over and over again. She had lent it to him right before the holidays. He figured most of his relatives trickled out after midnight, but he couldn't have cared less. At one point, Andromeda snuck upstairs to give him a quick hug before leaving with her family.

"You'll stay in your room until you apologize for your behavior," Mrs. Black had hissed after the guests had all gone home. "No food, either. Teach you some respect."

He made a few smart remarks at this, earning yet another bruise. Regulus flinched at the sound of his mother hitting his brother, but he just stood and watched. That hurt Sirius more than the beatings.

The long-haired boy watched the snowfall from his bedroom window, resting his bruised cheek against the glass to numb the throbbing to a dull ache. All of the bravado he displayed at dinner vanished, leaving behind nothing but a depressed boy who missed his friends more than anything. Their owls slowly started to fly in around three in the morning, all bearing packages, but they all flew to his kitchen, not the bedroom. Exactly where Sirius was not allowed to be.

"Happy Christmas, Sirius." Regulus' voice startled him from his thoughts. He glanced around at his brother's room, decked out in Gryffindor banners and Muggle motorcycle posters, even a few magazine pictures of Muggle girls in bikinis, and grinned in spite of himself. While Regulus was not one to rebel himself, he admired Sirius' nerve. "Thanks for the books."

"You did say you wanted them," he said in a detached voice. "And thanks for the new tie. I like that it's not green. I'm not apologizing to Mum and Dad, if that's what you're here for."

Regulus shook his head. "No, not really. I knew that was a long shot. I came to say that a miniature owl just crashed into our kitchen window. It's fine, I think. I'm going to send it back in a few minutes, once it warms up."

Sirius recognized the apology his brother was too proud to say out loud. He stood and embraced him. "Yeah, that would be great."

"I have the present from that crazy little owl. Here, it was small, I just slipped it in my pocket." He fished the package out and looked back at the door. "I need to go back down or Mum will have my head. She doesn't know I'm up here. I'll see you later?"

"Unlikely. Thanks, Reg." The younger Black was halfway out the door when Sirius spoke again. "Hey! I'm not sorry for anything else, but I'm sorry that I dragged your name into the row last night. Brothers don't do that."

Regulus smiled. "Don't apologize. Even if you do become an Auror, you'll never be able to catch me." He winked and left his brother's bedroom, Sirius waving him off playfully as he went.

Sirius sat at the foot of his bed and unwrapped the gift, chuckling to himself about yet another one of Ringo's bad landings. He pulled a small cassette tape out from the brown wrappings. She had labeled it 'For Sirius.' Nothing else. Curious, he switched Lily's tape out for hers and put the headphones back on.

"Hi Sirius. If you're listening, I actually pulled this project off, which is, I don't know, crazy?" He smiled at her cute, flustered voice. "It's just this stupid idea I had.  Maybe it's not so stupid. Maybe. I know you hate going home and you miss us more than you'll ever admit. I started talking to Remus and Lily about it, and we decided to come up with a group mixtape for you to listen to when we aren't able to be there for you in person. May I present: Siriusly Good Songs."