My Brother

Summary: AU before the events of the movies/books. When Sirius sees that Kreacher has returned without Regulus, he makes the house elf take him to his brother
Warning(s): Spanking; AU; minor spoilers for the Harry Potter books/movies; references to abusive behaviour and racism

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Sirius did his best to avoid returning to the place he’d been raised. Ever since he’d reached his majority, ever since he’d left Hogwarts, he’d left 12 Grimmauld Place and had planned to never go back. He had his own friends; and he had his own family that he’d chosen, nothing like the people who’d his spent most of his early life with.

But he needed to collect some items from the house and had planned his return there for a time he knew his parents would be gone. He couldn’t say the same about his younger brother, but his relationship with Regulus was slightly better than his relationship with their parents.

Removing the charm that had been placed on the lock was easy. Sirius took out his wand and aimed it at the door, muttering the counter spell under his breath.

The door opened easily and Sirius stepped in. As soon as he heard the portraits begin screeching, he wished immediately that he’d borrowed James’ invisibility cloak. Of course, that would have brought a whole lot of other problems with it.

Underneath the screeching disappointment and insults being tossed his way, that he was so used to and had learned to block out, Sirius could hear muttering. He would have completely disregarded it as Kreacher being his usual ornery self, if the house elf’s comments didn’t directly involve Regulus.

“My poor master. Shouldn’t have left him there. Should go back to Master Regulus.”

Narrowing his eyes, Sirius followed the sound of the house elf’s voice. He tracked the voice up the stairs and to his brother’s room.

The door had been left slightly ajar and Sirius could glimpse the house elf moving around, muttering to himself. He didn’t immediately notice Sirius, but when Sirius stepped into the room, Kreacher immediately whirled on him. “You shouldn’t be in Master Regulus’ room!”

Sirius ignored the words. He might have been disowned by his parents, he might have willingly left them, but he was still a Black. And that meant Kreacher had no choice but to obey him. So he quickly moved into his brother’s room. “Take me to Regulus!” he ordered.

Even if the house elf wanted to refuse, he couldn’t. Kreacher had no choice but to obey Sirius’ orders. But even though his eyes narrowed, the house elf didn’t argue. He didn’t protest. Instead, he grabbed Sirius’ hand and the next moment, they disappeared and reappeared somewhere else.

It took Sirius a few moments to reorient himself. It took less than that to see the water in front of him; to see something struggling within the depths, though he couldn’t see exactly what it was.

Kreacher let go of Sirius’ hand and strode towards the water’s edge. “Master Regulus.”

Sirius didn’t hesitate. He didn’t think to question Kreacher’s words. He didn’t think, period. He just raised his wand and cast.

It was a struggle, similar to the muggle form of fishing Sirius had once attempted. There was resistance that came from more than just his brother. Something had hold of Regulus under the water. Sirius narrowed his eyes and set his feet slightly apart and used his wand, putting every single bit of strength and power he had into the spell he was casting.

A small, shrivelled hand rested on Sirius’ and he felt a surge of energy added to his own. With Kreacher’s help, Sirius was able to pull his brother out of the water. He caught a glimpse of a creature sliding back under the surface, Regulus no longer in its grasp, but his main focus was on his brother’s limp form.

Carefully, Sirius used his wand to draw Regulus towards him, clearing the water. He then gently lowered his brother’s body to the ground, shifting enough to make sure none of them were close to the water’s edge.

“Master Regulus…!” Kreacher leaned over the younger man.

“Move out of the way.” Sirius’ normal irritation at the house elf was absent, or perhaps overshadowed by his worry and fear for his brother. Either way, as soon as Kreacher moved out of the way, Sirius crouched down next to his brother.

Regulus’ body was limp and cold. Sirius leaned in close, turning his head to one side and looking down the length of his brother’s body. He held his breath and listened, hoping for some sign of life.

Nothing.

“Master Regulus…!” Kreacher was wringing his hands anxiously.

Sirius blocked out the house elf. He blocked out everything else, apart from his brother’s limp form. Regulus wasn’t breathing, but he couldn’t have been in the water for that long…could he? Pushing aside all thoughts and doubts, Sirius began to do CPR on his brother’s body.

“What are you doing to Master Regulus?!”

Sirius continued to ignore Kreacher’s protests and demands. He breathed for Regulus and pushed down on his chest. And he kept doing it, breathing and doing chest compressions. He lost track of how much time had passed, but his body was aching and he was reaching the point of desperation when his brother suddenly coughed up what seemed like an entire lung full of water.

Quickly, Sirius moved Regulus, turning his brother onto his side so that he wouldn’t choke on the water coming out of his mouth. He placed a hand on Regulus’ back and rubbed slowly, even as he glanced towards the water’s edge.

There was no sign of the creature that had dragged Regulus under the water, but Sirius couldn’t quite let himself relax. He gripped his wand tightly, in a white-knuckled grip, as he waited for Regulus to stop coughing. “Can you stand?” he asked softly.

Regulus wasn’t coughing so much now, but there were tears streaming from his eyes and he wiped at them before looking up at Sirius blearily. “How did you find me?” he whispered.

“I think we should save that discussion for when we’re at my flat. Along with the one where you tell me what the hell you were thinking.” Now that Sirius could see Regulus was recovering, he couldn’t quite keep the note of anger out of his voice. Of course, underneath that was the worry and fear for his brother’s life. Regulus had nearly died.

Regulus flinched visibly and pushed himself up. He pushed his wet hair out of his eyes and stood on shaky feet. “Your flat? I’m not going anywhere with you.” He wrapped his arms around his own stomach, like he was trying to self-comfort, and looked towards Kreacher. “You brought him here? I told you to go home and destroy the locket.”

“Hey, don’t get mad at him.” Sirius stepped forward, refusing to think about the fact he was defending Kreacher. As much as he hated the house elf, and knew the feeling was mutual, he wouldn’t let his brother blame Kreacher for something that wasn’t his doing. “I made him bring me here. And it’s just as well that I did. Or did you have a plan how to get out of the water and stop yourself from drowning after you’d already swallowed half the lake?!”

Regulus wiped at his eyes and shook his head. He took hold of his wand and held his hand out to Kreacher. “Come on, Kreacher. We’re going home.”

The house elf didn’t move.

Regulus frowned. “Kreacher. Let’s go.”

The house elf slowly looked towards Sirius. The expression on his face was more disconcerting than Sirius could ever remember seeing before. And then Kreacher spoke to Regulus. “Master Regulus, you nearly drowned. Your brother saved you. I think you should go with him.”

Sirius didn’t know which of them was more surprised by Kreacher’s words, him or Regulus. He was the one who recovered first, though, and moved over to his brother’s side, taking hold of Regulus’ arm. “Go back to Grimmauld Place,” he directed Kreacher.

“Yes, master Sirius,” Kreacher replied, before apparating away.

Regulus tried, in vain, to pull his arm free of Sirius’ grip. “I don’t want to go back with you, Sirius!” he hissed. “You walked out and you left me. You have no right to walk back into my life and start bossing me around and…!”

Sirius gripped his brother’s arm tighter and delivered a firm smack to Regulus’ backside.

Regulus jumped and glared at Sirius. “Don’t…!”

His brother was no longer trying to break free of Sirius’ grip and it was good enough for what Sirius needed to do. He raised his wand and cast, apparating both of them back to his own flat.

Regulus stumbled, winced and resumed trying to pull his arm free of Sirius’ grasp. “You can’t just come back into my life when you were the one who walked out of it in the first place!” he snapped.

“Regulus.” Sirius took hold of his brother’s other arm and turned Regulus to face him. “It was never you I was leaving.”

“But it was me.” Regulus’ voice hitched and he looked away. His shoulders slumped and he whispered, “You didn’t even ask me if I wanted to come with you. You just…walked out. And you only came because…what? You needed something? I know you didn’t come back for me.”

Sirius winced at the note of hurt in his brother’s voice. It wasn’t like Regulus was entirely wrong. Sirius had left his family; he hadn’t planned to leave his brother, but it had been an unfortunate side effect of Sirius leaving the rest of his family. “Regulus, I’m sorry.” He put all of the sincerity he could into his voice, gently squeezing his brother’s upper arms. “But you still shouldn’t have put yourself in danger. You nearly died, Regulus.”

“You don’t even know why I did it…!”

“And I expect you to explain it to me. You can do that before or after I spank you for doing it, but you won’t be getting out of the punishment.”

Regulus huffed and looked away, muttering, “Whatever.”

Sirius paused. He thought about trying to explain; to reason more. But he had the feeling Regulus was past the point of listening to anything his brother could say to him. Taking a firmer hold of Regulus, Sirius led his brother over to the sofa. He sat down and gave a firm tug, pulling Regulus across his lap.

With a startled, “Ooomph!” Regulus landed across Sirius’ thighs and immediately threw his hands back to cover his backside. “Sirius, no!” His voice cracked on the second word, so it didn’t sound quite as defiant as he’d probably intended it to.

Sirius ignored his brother’s protests and grabbed Regulus’ hands, holding them against the small of his back. Then, he proceeded to pull Regulus’ trousers and underwear down, baring his bottom.

Regulus’ struggles abruptly ceased and he whispered, in a voice that sounded clogged with tears, “This isn’t the way you do things.”

“This mean you’re ready to listen to me, then?” Sirius forced a stern note into his voice, even as he allowed himself to gently squeeze Regulus’ hands. With his free hand, he rubbed his brother’s back; felt it as the tension began to seep out of his brother. “You ready to tell me why you nearly drowned?”

Regulus’ breath hitched and he whispered, “Voldemort. I…I know he’s not a good person. He’s probably never been a good person. But then he used Kreacher and Kreacher nearly died and….”

“And it meant something different, because it wasn’t a person you didn’t know. As soon as he hurt someone you cared about, you decided to defy him. But what about all of the others hurt by him? He doesn’t even believe wizards who are muggle born should be accepted into our community!”

“I didn’t just decide…!”

Sirius lifted his hand and brought it down firmly, stilling Regulus’ argument. He continued to swat, spreading the smacks out evenly over Regulus’ bottom. He went down to his brother’s thighs and then began again from the top.

For a few moments, the only sounds in the small room were those of Sirius’ palm striking his brother’s bottom and Regulus’ whimpers and soft groans every so often. He wasn’t struggling to get out of Sirius’ grip anymore; now, he was slumped limp in place.

After the third circuit of smacks, Sirius could hear a quiet sob escape Regulus’ lips. He paused the spanking, seeing that Regulus’ bottom was a warm pink in colour. He could hear Regulus sniffling quietly and while he wanted to move immediately to comfort, Sirius forced a stern note into his voice as he asked, “Why did I have to save you from drowning? What did you do?”

“The locket.” Regulus’ voice hitched. “Voldemort. He…he created horcruxes.”

Sirius drew his breath in sharply. Horcruxes. The very thought filled him with so much revulsion. And Regulus had said horcruxes. Plural. How could even one have been created, let alone more?

“I’m sorry.” Regulus was crying now; sobbing, really. “I know I should have acted sooner. I know it’s too little, too late. I know you’re disappointed in me. I….”

“No. No. No. No.” Sirius winced at his brother’s words. Regulus sounded like he was in physical pain. He sounded so distraught, all Sirius could do was respond the way he had when his brother had been in pain as a child. He moved Regulus up and into his arms, cuddling his little brother on his lap, holding him so tight that he wouldn’t have been surprised if Regulus pulled away.

His brother didn’t pull away. Instead, Regulus wrapped his arms around Sirius and nuzzled in close, his tears soaking into Sirius’ shoulder.

For the next few minutes, they just cuddled. For a long time, ever since they’d started at Hogwarts, there’d been a distance between them. Now, finally, it felt like that gulf was gone. The different paths they’d taken had finally brought them together.

“What now?” Regulus asked quietly. “Can I…I don’t want to just go home again. I know you left and don’t want to come back to Grimmauld Place anymore, but…I want my big brother back,” he whispered.

Sirius hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Regulus. He loved his brother. It filled him with so much relief that he’d been able to save Regulus from drowning. But he didn’t want to see the rest of the Black family. “What if you stayed here? With me?” he asked hesitantly.

“Kreacher too?” Regulus pulled back enough to look into Sirius’ eyes.

Sirius tried not to wince. He pushed back his initial reaction, which was to say absolutely not. Remus was always telling him to treat the people he disliked better. He’d nearly lost his best friend over what had happened to Severus. And Kreacher had sided with Sirius over Regulus. “You get your mother to free him from the Black family service and he can move in with us as well,” he said finally. If nothing else, Remus would be happy with him for doing the right thing. Probably.

“Thank you!” Regulus gave a brilliant smile and threw his arms around Sirius, hugging on tight. “I love you, Sirius,” he whispered.

“I love you too, little brother.” Swallowing hard, Sirius tightened his own arms around his brother. He still didn’t know everything that had happened to Regulus, but at least there was one member of his blood family who didn’t hate him and see him as a traitor.

It was enough.

The End