I Will Follow You Into The Dark || Jegulus

59. No Surprises

After dinner was over, Regulus avoided Sirius the rest of the night, not ready to deal with him and talk yet. He wondered if Sirius would still put in effort like this once they went back to Hogwarts. There was only one way to find out.

The next morning, the family scrambled to get all their things gathered. They were nearly late because they had to turn around - Sirius forgot his wand of all things.

Eventually, they made it to the train, and Regulus immediately headed for an empty compartment, just wanting a moment of peace before maybe heading to find his friends and update them on everything. They were no doubt wondering if Regulus made it out alive.

Regulus sat with his eyes closed, relishing in the rhythmic bumping of his train car once it started moving. His peace was short lived however when Sirius joined him, sitting in the seat across from him.

"So... You and James?" Sirius muttered, breaking the awkward silence.

Regulus glanced up at Sirius for a moment, making real eye contact for the first time in what seemed like years. He noticed how mature Sirius looked. Regulus always saw him as some stupid, childish idiot, but he must have grown up when Regulus wasn't looking.

The train car was tense and silent for a while. Sirius sat, looking out the window, his leg bouncing uncontrollably the entire time.

"You - you never responded to my letters."

Regulus's head snapped up to look at Sirius, "What letters?"

Sirius laughed suddenly, and loudly, almost a cackle. "Oh shit I should have expected this. I'm so stupid aren't I?" Tears welled up in his eyes through his laughter, which turned into stifled sobs.

This was the first time in years that Regulus felt the urge to lean forward and comfort his brother, so stiffly, he did.

"Of course Walburga intercepted them I can't believe I thought you still hated me even after I put in all that effort. Of course you hate me. I treated you like shit, then left and never apologized." He sobbed into his brother's shoulder.

"I didn't know you wrote me letters," Regulus muttered.

"Every night. Every night since I ran away Reg. There wasn't a single day I didn't think about you. I thought you got them, and I thought you still hated me. I mean - of course you did, but... I fought back because I thought you were like them.

"I'm not." Regulus held his brother tight, almost shaking. He tried to keep himself steady, but he felt himself breaking. What had Sirius said in his letters? Regulus couldn't believe Sirius actually cared. His entire viewpoint of his brother was crumbling back into the boy he used to know.

"Y'know I have some. In my dorm. After a while without a response, when you started fighting with me, I stopped sending them, but I still wrote every night. I have every single one if you want to read them." Sirius offered.

"That sounds nice," Regulus said. He hoped he and Sirius could attempt to rekindle their relationship eventually over time.

The brothers eventually parted ways. Sirius went back to sit with his friends, and Regulus went to find Barty and Evan.

Evan was asleep in Barty's lap, but the second Barty saw Regulus he jumped up and screamed, "Regulus Arcturus Black!"

"Not the full government name Bartemius." Regulus sighed.

"What the-" Evan wiped his tired eyes, annoyed at being awoken, but was interrupted by seeing Regulus, "What the hell man!? We thought you were dead!" Evan jumped up.

"We were worried about you. We went to your house - Bad idea. Your mother screamed at us, then the house threw us out. My butt still hurts from that." Barty explained.