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Sirius hated family gatherings. He hated his family in general so the idea that he had to meet with all of them and talk to them for hours on end was not something he wanted to do. What made it worse, was that his brother was always so uncomfortable during them.
Sirius was laying in his bed, his mother had come into his room earlier to give him his suit. Sirius absolutely hated dressing up. It was so restricting and just ugly as fuck. Most of all he hated complying to his family's wishes. He hadn’t gotten changed yet, and he didn’t plan to until he absolutely had to.
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. It wasn’t mother or father, as they wouldn’t knock, just barge right in. The only other person in the house was Regulus, but he didn’t know why Reg would want to see him. He guessed that it could be Kreacher but he didn’t know why Kreacher would want to see him either. He slowly got up, not really caring if he made the person at his door wait. It was almost a full minute by the time he got to the door and opened it. It was Regulus.
“Hi?” Sirius said, not knowing why Reg would be here.
“Can I come in?” His voice was uncertain, and if Sirius didn’t know better, scared.
“Uhh, sure.”
Regulus walked in and went over to Sirius’ bed. He looked really worried and stressed out. He pulled his knees up to his chest and his arms around them. Sirius didn’t know what to think, Reg looked really really vulnerable and he didn't know how to help. He ended up going to his bed and sitting beside his brother.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Regulus shook his head.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“It might make you feel better,” Sirius told him, knowing full well that he was being hypocritical.
“I doubt it, it won’t change anything.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Mother won’t like it.”
“Reg, when have I ever given a shit about what mother likes?”
He got a laugh from that. “Really though, tell me what’s wrong.”
Regulus hesitates. He doesn’t say anything for a while, so long that Sirius thinks that Reg just won’t tell him, but he eventually does.
“I don’t want to wear a dress.”
Oh.
That.
Yeah, that was a problem. Sirius had honestly forgotten about that, forgotten that Regulus would have to wear a dress, forgotten that Regulus would have to act like a girl in front of their family, he had forgotten that Regulus was a girl according to the world. Because he wasn’t. He wasn’t. Sirius would fight anyone who disagreed with him on this. Regulus was his baby brother, and there was honestly no length that he wouldn’t go to, to help him.
“Fuck,” Sirius said. “I forgot.”
Regulus actually lifts his head up and lets out a dry chuckle at this.
“You forgot that I’m fucked up like this?” Reg asked, and Sirius hated how little Reg thought of himself because of their family.
“Hey, no, we’re not doing that. You’re not fucked up. You’re not a mistake. You’re my brother, okay? Besides, if mother and father don’t agree with something, you can be very sure that it’s perfectly fine.”
Regulus doesn’t look convinced, “But—”
“No buts, let’s just think of solutions for tonight, okay?” Sirius interrupted.
Reg nodded, “Okay.”
Sirius honestly doesn’t know what to do. Regulus cut his hair for the first time a few years ago and Walburga was furious. Sirius had ended up growing out his own, to make her mad at him as well and not take it out on Reg. There were other times, like when Reg told Walburga and Orion his preferred pronouns and preferred name. Well, to say that hadn’t agreed had been an understatement. They were furious that their ‘daughter’ wasn’t just that, a girl. They had told him that if he continued this bullshit, as they had called it, there would be severe consequences. Regulus obviously didn’t stop, and Sirius just made sure that he was double the trouble maker so that Reg didn’t get hurt as much. It was honestly a shitty position for them both, but it was what they had.
“Any ideas?” Reg asked, snapping Sirius out of his thoughts.
“Umm, not particularly—”
Regulus put his head in his hands, “I can’t, I can’t do this. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.”
Sirius put his arm on Reg's back, “We’ll figure something out, I promise, Reg, look at me.”
Sirius forces his brother to meet his gaze. “They are not going to force you into a dress, or to do anything you aren’t comfortable with, okay? I won’t let them.”
Regulus nods before letting out a choked sob. Sirius’ heart broke at the sound his brother let out, he didn’t deserve to go through all of this, he deserved everything and Sirius could only give him so much. So he kept rubbing his back, trying to give him some form of comfort.
“Can you not wear any of your other clothes?” Sirius asked.
Reg shook his head, “I don’t have anything fancy enough.”
“You could just show up in normal school clothes,” Sirius suggests. Regulus gives him a look, “I’m joking, I know mother would probably literally kill you for that.”
“It’s a shame we can’t just swap,” Reg mutters.
Wait, that was actually a really good idea.
“Well, why not?”
Regulus looked at Sirius like he was crazy, “Mother and father would kill us!”
“It’s not like they’re not already trying to,” Sirius pointed out.
“Sirius. . . they’re really really not going to like this.”
“Oh come one, the only thing they’re going to like is if you go down in a dress and all. Besides, we’re technically breaking any rules, we’re wearing the clothes they laid out for us.”
Regulus hesitates, but after a few minutes, he smiles, “Okay.”
“Okay,” Sirius agreed. “Now go get that dress for me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fifteen minutes later, Sirius was in his brother's dress, and Regulus was in Sirius’s suit. The dress was a bit tight on him, since Reg was a bit smaller, but it fit well enough. Regulus looked perfect in the suit, like he had been made for him. Definitely, he was much better in a suit than a dress.
“Mother’s going to be so pissed at us,” Regulus muttered.
“Welllllllll, I don’t give a fuuuuuck,” Sirius sing-songed.
Regulus tried, and failed, to stifle a laugh.
“You look terrible in a dress,” Reg noted.
Sirius gasped and put a hand to his chest, faking offense, “I am offended! I look absolutely stunning, thank you very much!”
Regulus didn’t even try to pretend not to laugh this time. Sirius lifted the dress and twirled around, making Regulus crack up even more. Sirius relished in the sound, there was so little joy in their house especially when it came to Regulus. Sirius was so happy that he could help in any way he could, and if that meant wearing a dress so Reg didn’t have to, then he’d do it in a second. Also it pissed off his parents, that was just an added plus.
They spent the rest of the evening joking and talking, which they hardly ever did. They had grown apart in the years since they had gone to Hogwarts, but Reg was still his little brother. He was glad that they could have good moments, like this.
Soon enough, though, mother called them downstairs for the gathering. Sirius glanced at Reg, and smirked. Mother was going to go crazy, that was for sure. He started towards the door, when Regulus stopped him.
“Do you— Do you think that mother will hurt us?” Reg asked, he sounded so young.
“No,” Sirius said immediately. “She’ll be pissed no doubt, but she won’t do anything to you.”
Sirius knew that wasn't the case. He had no idea how Walburga would react, except that he knew she would be absolutely livid. She wouldn’t hurt Reggie though, that part he was sure about. If she even so much as raised her wand at him, he would wreck the whole fucking house just so she would turn her wand onto him, not Regulus.
Reg still looked doubtful, “Hey, it’ll be okay, come on.”
Sirius offered him his hand and he took it, they left Sirius’s room and headed downstairs.
They’d stopped holding hands by the time they got to the stairs, the moment they got downstairs, mother would see them. She would no doubt tell them to go upstairs and get changed. Not going to happen, though. They made their way downstairs, Sirius’ heart was beating way too fast to be normal, but he kept his face neutral, for Reg. He’d never been this nervous before, sure family gatherings were never fun, but never particular nerve wracking.
They made it downstairs, mother was by the door welcoming the guest, who were making their way to the kitchen. No one was coming in right now, most of their guests would have come a bit early no doubt. She heard them come down, and turned to them. A flurry of emotions passed through her face; surprise, shock, disbelief, disappointment, then what Sirius knew was coming, fury.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing!” she hissed.
Sirius faked innocence, “What? We’re wearing the clothes you laid out for us.”
Walburga was livid, “I have no idea if this is some elaborate prank that you convinced your sister into, but you need to go upstairs and change.”
“No.” Sirius wasn’t backing down, “And it’s my brother.”
She turned to Reg, “Regina—”
“It’s Regulus,” Sirius growled, Walburga ignored him.
“I expect this behavior from your brother, but not from you. You won’t get in trouble if you change now, I’ll get you another dress,” Walburga offered.
Regulus shook his head, he hardly ever rebelled against their mother. He was always the good kid, their perfect daughter, even if it killed him inside. So now, when he did say no, Walburga was furious.
“Regina—”
“It’s Regulus!” Sirius yelled. “He’s not a girl! My Merlin, is it so hard to be a decent human!?”
Walburga turned to Reg, “What is this nonsense?”
“I—” Reg faltered.
“I think you heard me perfectly fine,” Sirius interrupted. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a family gathering to attend to.”
Without waiting for a response, Sirius took Reg’s hand and dragged him into the kitchen. The moment they walked in, all eyes landed on them. There were some gasps, and some more glares. Sirius didn’t care. Regulus wasn’t dying inside, and he’d do anything so that he could always feel like that. He ignored all the stares and went to take a seat, Regulus sitting beside him. Their father was glaring at them from across the table. Sirius knew they were going to face the repercussions for this later, but for now, he could just make the family dinner as bad as he could.
About ten minutes later, mother came back in, with a few more guests. Everyone sat down and started chatting. Dark Lord this, mudbloods this, blood supremacy bla bla bla. Sirius resisted the urge to roll his eyes like forty-five times a minute. He had his wand on him, it wouldn’t be that hard to jinx the table or something. Doing that would also get his parents furious at him, and not Reg, so really, it was a win-win.
Sirius looked around the table to try and find his victim, Regulus was talking to Narcissa who sat beside him. They were always close. Bellatrix was talking to Redolphus, he could hear bits and pieces of their conversation, they were, of course, talking about blood supremacy and the Dark Lord. A plan started in his head.
He waited until the food was laid out on the table to start. If he wanted to do this right, he had to do it fast. As soon as Kreacher summoned the food to the table, Sirius started the spell. Transfiguration was always his best subject so this shouldn’t be that hard. He took his wand out of his pocket and murmured the spell. Sure enough, all the food started levitating. The whole table went absolutely crazy. It was now or never. He murmured the next spell and the food transfigured into glowing letters that floated above the table, he swished his wand and they rearranged.
There were screams as the people around the table read what it said. Sirius smirked as the chaos ensued. Yep, it had the intended effect. Regulus turned to him, horror on his face.
“Are you insane?” he exclaimed.
Sirius just grinned.
“SIRIUS ORION BLACK!” Walburga roared.
Shit, she was mad.
Sirius looked over at her, she was probably madder than he had ever seen her, and that was saying something.
“Yes, mother?” he asked innocently.
“Go to the office now.”
Yeah, he was fucked.
However, even he wasn’t stupid enough to argue against his mother during a gathering. So, instead he leaves the room, leaving two words floating above the dining room table.
VOLDEMORT SUCKS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius had been pacing the office for almost twenty minutes. He had no idea what was going on downstairs, his parents probably had apologized for their horrendous son. Then had ended the gathering quickly, his parents would want to punish him as quickly as possible. The door to the office opened and Regulus came in.
“Reg?” Sirius asked, he had no idea why Reg would be in here.
Regulus glared at him, “We already had them on edge with our outfits, and then you had to go do that! Now we're both getting hurt!”
“Oh come on Reg!” Sirius exclaimed, throwing up his hands, “They were going to hurt us anyways.”
“I’m not like you!” he screamed. “I don’t want to get hurt! I don’t want to rebel, I just want to get through all of this and you make it nearly impossible!”
Sirius shut up.
He had no idea what to say to that, he had only ever wanted to protect him. When their parents were being assholes, Sirius always tried to be there for Reg, he always tried to help him.
“I didn’t think they were going to get mad at you,” Sirius said.
“Well they are,” Reg snapped. Maybe he saw the hurt on Sirius’ face, maybe he didn’t, but then he added, “I’m scared.”
Sirius walked towards him and put his hands on his brother's shoulders, “They will have to curse me a thousand times over before they lay a hand on you, okay?”
Reg had tears in his eyes, but he nodded.
Sirius pulled him into a hug, fully expecting Reg to pull away. He didn’t, instead he hugged him back just as tightly.
The door opened and both of them separated in less than a second. They looked into the cold eyes of their mother and father. Both of them knew that tonight would be hell on earth.
“What do you think you two are playing at?” their father hissed. “First your clothes and now that.”
“Regulus had nothing to do with that,” Sirius said immediately.
“Regulus?” Orion asked, grimacing at the name.
“My little brother,” Sirius snapped.
“Regina thinks she’s a boy,” Walburga informed Orion.
“He is!” Sirius growled.
“Regina, is this true?” Orion asked.
Regulus nodded, “I am.”
“You both need to be taught a lesson,” their father started. “I don’t know where me and your mother went wrong, but you two are descendants of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, and you will act like it.”
Sirius instinctively moved in front of Regulus. There was no way they were hurting him, not today, not ever.
“Sirius, move,” Walburga hissed.
“No! He didn’t do anything wrong!” Sirius yelled.
She took out her wand.
“Sirius, you have one more chance, move.”
“No.”
“Lacero!”
Sirius gasped as the spell tore his skin apart in his calf. The amount of scars from this curse he had was unbelievable. If his mother thought that would make him move, oh she was so wrong. His leg stung, but he could still stand, and he did just that.
Walburga glared at him, and if stares could kill he would be dead ten times over. He glared right back at her, forcing every ounce of hatred he had for her, into protecting his brother.
“Lacero! Lacero! Lacero!” she screamed.
She said it over and over and over again. His leg was being ripped apart, he was gasping and biting his tongue so that he didn’t cry out. He wasn’t going to give her that satisfaction.
After five minutes of this, Sirius could barely stand. Walburga wasn’t actually trying to make him move, if she was, he would have moved by now. She was just punishing him. He wanted more than anything to just fall to the floor and stop pushing himself.
“Lacero!” she cast again.
Yet another gash appeared on his leg and he bit his tongue so hard that it bled, he was putting all his pressure on his uninjured leg, but still, it hurt. He half hoped that Reg would say something, stand up for him in some way. It was unfair, he knew that Reg was in as much danger as he was.
“Lacero!” This time she directed the spell at his other leg, the only reason he was able to stand. The moment that his other leg was cut open he fell on his leg and to the ground, groaning in pain.
“That wasn’t so hard now was it?” she asked icily.
“You bitch!” he yelled. He was so angry, angry at her, angry at his father, angry at Regulus. He hated the situation they were in, and he hated that their parents could just do this to them. He was so angry at Reg for being here, for not running, for not doing anything, he was going to get hurt and Sirius couldn’t do anything.
“How dare you!” This time it was Orion. “Do not speak to your mother like that!”
“You know what!” Sirius yelled back. “You can go and fuck yourself too!”
“Crucio!” Walburga screamed.
Sirius fell even lower to the floor, pain was enveloping his entire existence. He couldn’t feel anything but the fire flowing through his veins, he could hear someone screaming, it had to be him. He didn’t know. He didn’t know anything except he wanted it to stop, he wanted the pain to stop. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.
Then it was gone, and Sirius was left gasping on the floor, his entire body shaking. He hurt, he hurt so much.
“Sirius!” Reg’s scream got him out of his own head. He could hear Regulus running towards him, and crouching beside him. Sirius took his hand and squeezed it.
I’m okay, it said.
I’m here, Reg squeezed back.
“Regina, get up,” their mother snapped.
Reg did, he stood in front of Sirius, and the only thing he could think was that he needed to do something, so that Reg wouldn’t get hurt. So their mother wouldn’t hurt him.
“Lacero!”
Sirius closed his eyes right as Regulus yelled in pain.
“You. Are. A. Girl. Lacero!”
Regulus screamed again, and Sirius still couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes. He couldn’t do anything to help him, being still weak from the cruciatus curse. Not to mention his marred legs.
“Tell me you’re a girl and this can stop,” Walburga snarled—Regulus stayed silent. “Tell me! Lacero!”
This went on for so much longer; Walburga yelling, Regulus screaming, the smell of blood filling the room. At some point Sirius opened his eyes, he still couldn’t speak, his voice gone from too much screaming.
Regulus was on the ground, sobs overtaking him, he never had as high a pain tolerance as Sirius. There was blood pooling around his leg.
“You are a woman! Daughter of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black! Lacero!”
Regulus screamed, and then it turned into a sob.
“Stop,” Sirius didn’t know when he got his voice back, but he needed her to stop. “Please stop hurting him.”
“Her,” Walburga snarled. “Silencio!”
Sirius's voice was gone, he tried to yell but nothing came out. Walburga kept torturing Reg until he stopped responding, until the only sign that he was in pain was the tears streaming down his face and the way he shook with every cut. She kept going until he passed out from blood loss and pain.
“I hope you and your sister have learned your lesson,” Orion snarled at him.
Sirius tried to say something but he was still silenced. His parents left the room, and his voice was back. The moment they closed the door he was at Regulus’ side.
“Reg, Reg, Reg! Reg please can you hear me?” He shook his little brother but he still wasn’t responding. He didn’t want to move him in case he hurt him more. He ran out of the room, ignoring his aching bones and fire in his legs, and ran to the bathroom. He opened the drawer where the bandages were—it was empty. They had taken the bandages away, the bitches. He took a few towels and ran back to the office.
When he opened the door, Reg was still where he left him, but his eyes were shut tight and he was whimpering in pain.
“Reg!” Sirius ran over to him and dropped next to him, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.
Regulus squeezed back.
“Okay, okay. I’m going to try and stop the bleeding, okay?” Sirius was already moving towards his legs when Reg nodded. The moment he put the towel on his legs, Reg cried out in pain.
“Shit! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay,” he tried to say, but it came out more as a sob.
Sirius’s heart clenched, what right did their parents have to do this to them? Their own kids. He just wanted to take away all his brother’s pain and put it onto himself, he would take all the pain in the world if it meant that Reg didn’t have to feel it. He wrapped the towel around his leg’s, trying to ignore the muffled cries of pain that Reg let out.
“I’m done, it’s done, it’ll be okay,” Sirius tried to comfort him.
Reg just nodded, he must’ve been so tired. Sirius got on the ground and laid next to him. He pulled Reg into himself.
Sirius didn’t know how long they laid there. He did know that Reg stopped whimpering in pain after a while, and his breathing evened out a bit after that. Eventually, he was in a good enough place to talk again.
“Can we go to my room?” he asked.
“Yeah, it won’t be too much on your legs?” Sirius didn’t want to add any pain to him if he could help it.
Reg shook his head. Sirius sat up and helped Reg do the same, pretending he didn’t see the wince that Regulus suppressed. He helped him stand up, Reg was leaning heavily on him but didn’t seem to be in too much pain, for a moment Sirius thought they would be okay. However, as soon as they started walking, Regulus yelled in pain. He sagged against Sirius, who had to use all his strength to keep Reg upright.
“Shit! Are you okay?!”
“Ow ow ow ow ow!”
“I can try to carry you,” Sirius offered.
Reg shook his head, and tried another step, he gasped but didn’t yell. Sirius would take it. They kept doing until they got to the door, Reg was doing pretty good, but obviously in a lot of pain. Sirius wasn’t doing much better, himself. Although he would deny it, he was also exhausted and in pain from his own hand of curses.
After almost an hour of agonizing walking, they had made it to Reg’s room. Regulus collapsed onto the bed, careful of keeping pressure off his legs. He had tears streaming down his face and looked exhausted. Sirius crawled in next to him, both of them getting under the covers.
“I love you,” Regulus murmured.
Sirius was taken aback, he couldn’t remember the last time Regulus had said those words to him. He squeezed his brother comfortingly.
“I love you too, Reg.”