The Vanishing Cabinet...Black

eleven. falling out

tw: mentions of mass murder, physical abuse, torture

TOLD BY REGULUS

HIS MOTHER HAD SCREAMED AT SIRIUS AGAIN. This time it was about his music, but it had escalated into something much worse, and Reg felt like he was seven years old again, crying into his pillows to stop the sound of Sirius's screams from the Cruciatus Curse.

Except he was not seven, and he and his brother hated each other. 

"Fine! I won't play it again!" he had heard Sirius's defiant response from downstairs, and heard him stomp up before Mother could catch him. And now he was in his room, kicking things about.

They lived next to each other, so Reg heard everything he did through the walls that decayed with age.

He was penning a letter when the yelling started; to Malka. He'd felt terrible as he wrote his response about the Muggle murders just a few blocks away.

It had been Bellatrix. She'd been back for another one of her visits to try and sway his grandfather Arcturus to join the Dark Lord, and again she'd been turned down (because Blacks don't serve). However, she'd brought the fight to them. Dressing up in her silver mask and dark robes, she and other members of his followers had ended up pissing off a bad-tempered Muggle man who was having a bad day. And in retaliation, she'd killed their entire family.

It was a statement to the world, yes, that the Dark Lord was powerful. But it was more of a statement to the Blacks. His mother had screamed at his grandfather about it; how he should have joined her Lord a long time ago, but a single strong word from Arcturus Black's lips had silenced her. Reg could tell his grandfather was worried. Bellatrix was still a Black even if she was married, and to not only be involved in, but to plan and lead an attack so close to their family home was ominous. It meant the Dark Lord knew where they lived. And if the rumors were right, even Arcturus Black might not stand a chance against him. 

So, Reg had wrote, hoping she'd read between the lines, that the attack was prompted by Wizardingkind and that he would clarify anything she wanted when they returned to school for their second term. She hadn't mentioned it in her second letter, though he knew her spirit by now, and knew it would be the first thing she said to him back at Hogwarts. They had sent exactly seven letters in total by now, Reg kept count. And they had talked about everything, from gelato to tobacco.

And when Christmas Day rolled around, he had recieved a small, hand-sized package with her tiny owl. He opened it, and a familiar scent washed over him. One of a winter night party, and it brought him back to the duo sitting together on Slughorn's balcony, as the evening breeze blew in the direction that gave him the grace to smell the strong scent of honey and forget-me-nots that lingered about her. 

It was packaged with a sticky seal made of plastic, which is how Reg could tell it was made by Muggles, as he loosened the tape and two or three bags of tobacco fell onto his lap. He smelled them, and it was a far more expensive, quality kind than the kind he usually stole from Rickard Burke's dresser. He had smiled at the present and its accompanied note.

The sounds from Sirius's room stopped.

Reg looked up in surprise. Sirius normally raged, kicking things around for at least an hour after his tantrums. But no, this time was different.

That night, after their normal silent dinner, Regulus went to bed, and laid in his bed, secretly awake. The house had faded into silence. Sirius and Mother's fight had been so bad because his mother had been holding in her temper for days.