CHAPTER FIFTEEN! ༉‧₊˚✧
━━━━ ⋆𖤐₊˚.༄ ♡ ━━━━

WAKING UP IN Grimmauld Place was never a fun endeavor.

Regulus Black groaned as he rolled over in bed. The light streaming into the room could be symbolized as a beacon or as an end of bliss. He didn't see it as either: most things were numb nowadays.

He hadn't wanted any of this newfound separation between him and his brother. But yet, he knew that he was only to blame for it.

He remembered before his sorting when Sirius had jokingly told him that if he became a Slytherin, he would never speak to him again. He was only trying to freak him out, though; they were too close for that to happen. So, when Regulus was sorted into Slytherin house later that night, Sirius had applauded him, and his friends had joined.

Regulus didn't know how to feel at that moment. He knew things would never be the same.

That was only the beginning of Regulus conforming to what others expected of him.

As the years progressed, Regulus got quieter and quieter, losing his joking nature with his brother. All he craved was to please the people who expected so much of him.

Of course, his brother disagreed. Sirius was a Gryffindor at heart, always making his own expectations. Sirius was already branded a "blood traitor" for reasons that he couldn't control, so why should he give a fuck about what his family thought?

Regulus wished that he could think the same way.

Sirius and Regulus were still living together, but they lived on opposite sides of the world. They were so alike but so different.

Regulus was a Slytherin, whereas Sirius was a Gryffindor. One played Quidditch, and one preferred to watch. One was respected by his family, and the other one was just a problematic speck in their eyes.

Regulus slammed a pillow over his face (gracefully, of course) as he continued to groan.

"Rough night?"

Regulus sat up abruptly in his bed, startled.

"What the hell?" He pulled the sheets up to cover himself. "What are you doing in my room, Talwar?"

"Well, after utilizing that little Christmas gift of yours—" Diya referred to the magic journal that Regulus had purchased for her. When Regulus and Diya wrote to each other, the pages would glow gold, signaling that the receiver should respond as soon as possible. They wrote in real-time, generating a speedier alternative to owling back and forth. "—I figured that I might as well stop by since Walburga and Orion aren't here."

"You do realize how dangerous this is, right?" Regulus motioned for Diya to turn around while he threw on proper clothing. "For everyone involved."

"You do realize that my parents are attending the very same bash that yours are, right?" Diya mimicked him as she faced the wall. "None of them are gonna be home for days. Besides, I've been dying for a proper conversation with you ever since school ended. My last attempt failed since your brother intervened."

Thank Hecate that Diya was still facing the wall, or else Regulus would have discerned the change in her expression at the mention of his brother.

"That doesn't mean that I welcome this intrusion of privacy, Talwar."

Diya whipped back around, covering her eyes. "What the hell are you being formal for? Godric, it's like I'm Frankie First Year!"

Regulus retrieved a pillow from the bed and threw it at Diya, smacking her in the face since her eyes were closed.

Opening her eyes, she placed her hands on her hips, huffing, "Rude!"

Regulus only laughed as they both picked up pillows, wielding them as though they were weapons.

Just as Diya was about to throw the pillow, the door to the room flung open, and the two froze.

"Regulus, what was that noise—"

Sirius had walked only two steps into the room before he froze, taking in the sight of his stuck up little brother ready to chuck a pillow at his. . . something.

"What the fuck?"

"Brother, I can explain—"

"Why wasn't I invited to the pillow fight?" Sirius grumbled, crossing his arms dramatically.

While Regulus stammered, Diya took advantage of the moment, clutching her pillow tighter before throwing it at Sirius's face.

"Do you think we could hire you to be a fulltime pillow thrower? It'll help us to keep him in check." Sirius winked.

Diya smiled, deciding to partake in the joke, "What's in it for me, Black?"

"Well, Talwar, it's mainly the satisfaction of seeing his reaction to getting a pillow thrown at him." Sirius pointed with his fork to James, who playfully glared back at him.

Diya propped her chin up in her palm, pretending to be pondering her answer. James took this time to lay his head on her shoulder and give her puppy dog eyes, pleading for her to say no.

"You've got yourself a deal, Black."

Sirius squeezed his eyes shut as the pillow bounced off of his face and to the floor.

"That was familiar."

Diya laughed in return before adjusting her hair. Sensing a difference in the atmosphere of the room, Regulus cleared his throat with an eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"Alright, now does anyone care to explain why Regulus's room is housing Diya?"

Regulus crossed his arms, throwing the pillow onto the bed, "I too would like to know."

"I'm so fucking bored!" Diya whined as she collapsed on Regulus's bed dramatically. "Lily's away with her family on vacation, and I have nothing to do."

"Sucks for you," Sirius said as he began to run toward his brother's bed. Turning around, he jumped onto the bed, causing Regulus to groan in annoyance. "When's Evans coming back?"

"She said sometime around the beginning of August, which could be weeks away!" Diya grumbled. "She's on vacation with some family friends who have money because they're weird muggle healers of some kind. Fascinated with teeth."

Regulus shuddered.

"Well, then, looks like you should start counting the days," Regulus sighed dramatically before pulling Diya off of her bed and dragging her toward the door of his bedroom.

"Well, hold on, now, Dear Brother," Sirius announced dramatically from the bed. "As esteemed purebloods, I think we are obligated to make sure that Miss Talwar is content with her experience at Grimmauld Place."

Regulus raised his eyebrow at his brother as the two silently conversed.

Sighing, he hoisted Diya over his shoulder as she yelped.

"Put me down, Reg!" She yelled, trying to kick him to let her down. He grabbed both of her ankles and held them together, ignoring the chimes of her anklets. He opened his bedroom door, running down the hallway as his brother followed close behind, laughing gleefully.

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The trio ditched Grimmauld Place for a pleasant picnic in the park. With Regulus on their side, the food they arranged for the picnic was much better than Sirius and Diya's midnight garden meeting. Kreacher was much more compliant, in Sirius's opinion, when it came to Regulus.

They were lucky to have Kreacher on their side since neither Diya nor Sirius had eaten since their meeting in the garden — something they were avoiding talking about.

Regulus quickly packed several items in the basket with the Undetectable Extension Charm, including a picnic blanket and enough food to feed the house of Gryffindor.

"Sirius, what the fuck kind of a question is that?"

"What?" Sirius raised his hands in his defense, "It's a valid question, Regulus, and you know it!"

"Sirius, why don't you just ask them?" Diya bit into a strawberry, smiling cheekily.

Sirius laughed, taking a swig from the bottle. "Yeah, right. I'm just gonna walk up to the fucking Dementors of Azkaban and ask them if they can fall in love with each other? No thanks, I'm going to try and stay away from those things as long as I possibly can."

"Aren't we all?" Regulus murmured under his breath before snatching the bottle from his brother and taking a swig.

In retaliation, Sirius mimicked him in a squeaky annoying voice.

"God, you are just like Zoya," Diya laughed, covering her mouth.

"Should I be offended or pleased?" Sirius tilted his head in mock amusement.

Diya threw a strawberry, "I mean, you guys are just like how we are. I bet you also make shit up just to get Reg in trouble."

Regulus snorted, "What, Zoya does that?"

Diya nodded, "One time, my uncle gave us these toy broomsticks when he came to visit. We must have been seven at the time. Anyway, she told me if you jump up and down on the broomstick, it would work better. She also told me that she already did it. So I stood there, and I jumped on the broomstick, and it broke obviously."

She took a sip from her glass, ignoring Sirius's stare as she continued her story.

"So I took it to my parents, who are both intelligent people, so when they saw that I had jumped on my broomstick to make it work better, let's just say they weren't happy."

Regulus was keeled over in laughter, "How the fuck did you believe her?"

"I was seven!" Diya defended, throwing a strawberry at the boy. "You can't blame me for believing everything my older sister told me!"

"How did your uncle react?" Sirius asked, stealing a strawberry and taking a bite. "I mean since he bought you the broomstick and everything."

"He never found out," Diya guessed, shrugging. "My uncle's a squib, so he only ever visits our family when he is certain that he won't be kicked out of the house."

"What, your family doesn't like squibs?"

"They don't like imperfection." Diya articulated. "He lives in America, now. New York, I think."

Regulus smiled, "I've always wanted to go to America, actually."

"Really?" Sirius queried, furrowing his brow, "You've never mentioned it."

"Yeah, seems better than here," Regulus shrugged, uncomfortable talking about his interests.

"Probably." Sirius agreed, grabbing another strawberry. "Heard a song the other day about a city there. Sounds peaceful."

Diya shook her head, "You can't always trust songs for things like that. Especially if the song talks about the people in the city."

"I don't know, man." Sirius took a bite. "San Francisco still sounds like a fun place to go to."

Regulus's sprung up in his seat, hitting Sirius lightly with the back of his hand, "San Francisco is the exact place I wanted to go to!"

As Sirius and Regulus spoke to each other with excitement for the first time in what seemed like decades, Diya sat back, knowing to let them have this moment without their interception.

The two brothers had never been as close as they once were, but perhaps this was the closest to it. They could've easily achieved it on their own, but maybe they needed this little push.

Her eyes wandered around the park curiously as she pulled her hair up, the heat of the summer day impacting her heavily. As she scanned her surroundings, leaning back, her eyes landed on a small ice cream shack.

Diya pushed herself up onto her palms, adjusting her skirt as she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Regulus paused his conversation with his brother.

"I'm gonna go get ice cream for us." Diya picked up her small bag, "Any flavors that you guys want?"

"Mint chocolate chip."

"Mint chocolate chip."

The two brothers spoke in unison, startling themselves before they turned to each other and burst into conversation once more.

"We used to sneak away to that one place, remember?"

Diya laughed to herself, shaking her head in amusement as she walked away from the picnic blanket. The chimes of bicycle bells rang through the park, as well as laughter from the people riding bicycles on the hot July day.

The ice cream shack was small and attached to a bicycle, with a cover to help with temperature. The cart was across the street from the park, which meant that Diya had to watch out for muggle cars as she awkwardly jogged.

Upon first glance, the ice cream shack seemed to be unmanned.

"Hello?"

Bang!

The shack rocked as someone hit their head, trying to get up to greet Diya.

"Ow," The boy groaned. He stood up straight now, rubbing his head as he looked at the girl in front of him. "Diya?"

"Mark?" Diya smiled, tilting her head. "Hey!"

"Hey!" Mark brought his hand down to the top of the freezer. "Are you here with Lily?"

"Nah, she's on vacation with Jean's family." Diya rocked on the balls of her feet. "Luckily, Petunia's gone with them."

"Thank god," Mark sighed, leaning against the counter but standing straight once again when the cart moved. "She still forces me to call her Cousin Petunia."

"She's always been formal like that." Diya shook her head. "You know, she doesn't even let Vernon call her Tuney? It has to be her full legal name. I swear, she made me call her Miss Evans once."

Mark laughed as he nodded at his cousin's lunacy. "So, what can I get you?"

"One vanilla and two mint chocolate chip cones, please." Diya smiled.

Mark raised an eyebrow, "You planning on eating all of those by yourself or. . ."

Diya pointed behind her to the large willow tree that Sirius and Regulus were sitting under. "I'm with those two over there."

"Sorry, who?" Mark was looking behind her but couldn't see anyone.

"Us."

Sirius and Regulus stood next to each other dramatically, all items abandoned back at the tree.

"Mark, meet Sirius and Regulus." Diya pointed to the two boys who were trying their hardest to look tough. "Sirius, Regulus, meet Mark."

"Sirius," Mark tried to place the name. "Isn't he Toerag's friend?"

"Toerag?" Sirius queried.

"Oh, sorry, uh — James!" Mark clarified. "That was his name."

Diya stifled her smile as she began to go through her bag to get muggle money out, "Yes, he's James's friend."

"Right," Mark grimaced as Sirius tittered. "That was one vanilla and two mint chocolate chip?"

Diya nodded, smiling, "Talked to Lily lately?"

Mark shook his head, "No, unfortunately. But I did run into that friend of hers. He looks angrier than usual."

He handed one of the cones to Diya, who gave it to Regulus. He smiled as he grabbed the cone while trying to steady Sirius, who was still keeled over laughing at James's nickname.

"We didn't see you guys last Christmas," Mark pointed out, scooping more ice cream into its cone.

"Yeah, Marlene, Alice, and I stayed back with Lily at boarding school because of Miss Evans," Diya mocked Petunia's shrill voice as she placed the money on the cart.

"Sounds like Tuney," Mark smiled, shaking his head. "Here you are, guys."

Sirius snorted one last time, causing Diya to send him a horrified (but amused) look, as he grabbed his ice cream cone. "Thanks."

"Thanks, Mark." Diya smiled, grabbing her vanilla cone. "See you for your birthday, right?"

"Yeah, since you always seem to be with Lily." Mark scoffed playfully, smiling. He looked behind her to another customer that had walked up to the shack. "Can I help you?"

Diya moved out of the way quickly, accidentally bumping into Sirius.

"Let's go!" Diya rushed the two boys back across the street and to the willow tree.

"He was cute!" Sirius mocked in a high pitched voice as they sat back down.

"Mark?" Diya raised an eyebrow, scoffing. "Yeah, right! He's Lily's cousin, which means that he's basically my cousin."

"That didn't stop our parents," Regulus snorted.

"I'll never understand how the Sacred Twenty-Eight works, and I am thankful for it," Diya quipped.

"Me too!" Sirius cheered, going in for an awkward high five. He quickly decided against it, though, retracting his hand and leaning back.

Regulus nodded, his eyebrows furrowed in suspicion as he licked his ice cream, "Right. . . well, thanks for the ice cream, Diya."

"You two owe me, you know." She cleaned an ice cream smear off of her face. "Considering you're both rich, and yet I paid for our ice cream."

"All you're doing is proving that chivalry isn't dead, Talwar." Sirius shrugged, biting directly into his ice cream and regretting it soon after.

"Sure, Sirius. Whatever can get you out of paying me back," Diya teased, leaning back.

The three teenagers were happy to find time to relax over the summer. Diya could have never imagined this; Regulus and his brother getting along in a muggle park, of all places.

Sirius had gotten rather good at braiding hair, a skill that he had promptly shown his younger brother once Diya complained about the heat.

Diya's back was toward him, Sirius plaiting while Regulus picked flowers for him to braid into her hair.

"So, Regulus," Diya smiled, trying to look back as far as she could without disturbing the plaiting process, "Excited for your Fifth Year?"

"I don't know, to be honest." Regulus sorted more flowers before placing them next to Sirius.

Sirius turned to his brother, briefly pausing his plaiting. "What do you mean? My Fifth Year was full of fun."

Diya scoffed, "The whole year?"

"Maybe not the whole year. Mainly just winter." Sirius bit his tongue.

"I've pretty much been trained to be a prefect, so I'm not sure how fun it's going to be." Regulus began to murmur once again.

"Well, you aren't getting rid of me yet, Reg," Diya smiled assuringly, "How could your Fifth Year ever be boring when you have the most entertaining tutor slash best friend?"

Regulus rolled his eyes, smiling as he swayed in his seat slightly. "Yeah, whatever."

What the hell? Sirius thought. Sirius had never seen Regulus change moods that quickly — or at all.

He'd always been so anxious at home, even if he believed that no one noticed.

Did he really know that little about his brother? Merlin, he felt shitty.

As though sensing Sirius's change in thoughts, Regulus handed some flowers to him. "Here,"

The brothers smiled.

"Thanks, Reg,"

"Of course."

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a/n

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