Over Again

Chapter 19

It had been more than a decade since Harry had had any kind of muggle teachings, but the one thing that had been stuck in his mind was "every action has an equal and opposite reaction.' Oftentimes, Harry had acknowledged that his actions would have consequences but his apathy towards those consequences had only grown, it could be said that not much fazed him. So it was definitely surprising when he suddenly screamed bloody murder suddenly, in the middle of the day, while entertaining his siblings as his parents and Sirius sat nearby discussing something.

His screaming had resulted in the adults jumping to their feet with wands in their hands while his siblings began crying, disturbed by the noise. The reason for his screams? The sudden ghostly being he could see materialising beside Sirius looking amusedly at him.

"...ry, Harry, Harry!" His father's voice turned his wide eyed gaze from the seemingly empty space beside Sirius to worried hazel eyes. His mother and Sirius were consoling the twins and herding them towards the elf who had appeared to take them to another room. Yet, Harry couldn't turn his eyes away from the familiar face of the ghostly being. From the familiar curls of Sirius's to the same grey eyes of the Black families, the only difference being the slimmer form and the babyish face frozen in time.

"Harry, sweetheart what's wrong?" That was his mother. Her voice filled his ears as red and green overtook his vision. Still dazed and unsure of what was going on, a single word left his lips.

"Regulus."

Sirius stiffened at that from where he was hovering, his eyes shifting to where Harry had been staring, where now grey strands grew into webs, coalescing into the form of his brother. James, Lily and Harry too watched stunned as a translucent, colourful version of Regulus Black sparked to life. Sirius stumbled back in shock, choked sobs escaping his throat.

"Reggie?" The childhood nickname echoed with the scars that only an abusive home could leave, the love, pain, betrayal poignant in that one word, stripping away all the years of misunderstanding, hatred, longing leaving behind only the desperation and love of two brothers, just hoping to survive in a place determined to erase them and replace them with the idea of who they should be.

A [bitter, loving, sad, happy], similar smile twisted up Regulus Black's lips as his gaze remained steady fast on his brother's face, grown up, lined with laugh lines, happy.

"Hello brother." The soft whisper of his words carried across the room.

"Ho-ho-how? How are you-? What are you-? You're dead! You died, the tapestry." Sirius stuttered over his words, unable to verbalise his thoughts or understand his feelings.

"I am dead, I did die. I do not know what I am, all I know is that I am here because of your godson." The living beings in the room stiffened at that, as they came in between the child and the being.

"How do we even know if that is the real Regulus?" Lily asked, fingering her wand as her mind raced over all she had raced, wondering what the thing in her living room was.

Before anyone could reply, Harry spoke. "He is real."

Startled, they looked down at him, but his eyes were trained completely on Regulus. "I can feel it. They are real."

"Harry..." Sirius said in anguish, hope and fear. James's hand came down on his son's shoulder protectively. Harry looked up at his father, green eyes meeting hazel. "How are you so sure of it Prongslet?" James asked calmly.

"I can see it, they are connected."

"Connected?" Lily asked as she came to crouch in front of him, her mind running, on the cusp of something.