~ And you take care of me,

My blood brother, fight for me. ~

***

Felicity looked up to see the door open and Sirius stepped inside, his face drawn with guilt and sorrow. He looked absolutely broken such that she immediately approached, her hands reaching out to steady him.

"Siri, what happened?"

But he gave no reply though his face was whiter than that of a corpse, making her even more anxious.

"Sirius, where are you coming from?"

He breathed at last, the words leaving his tongue surprising her, "Grimmauld Place..."

"You went there? Why?"

"Mum called and... I had to..."

"Walburga Black called you?" Fel couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Sirius's mother who had herself disowned him and casted him out of the family could ever call him back to Grimmauld Place.

However, when he gave no further response, she made him sit down on the couch and fetched a glass of water.

Marlene who had gone to take a bath earlier had stepped out as well and seeing Sirius like that she too got worried, "all okay, Black?"

"No..."

"But what happened?"

He took in a deep breath as if even saying those words hurt, "Regulus... Regulus died..."

Fel froze in shock as she registered what he had just said. Regulus Arcturus Black, his younger brother who had joined the Death Eaters at the very young age of sixteen, was no more.

She still recalled the first time she had talked to him, an unexpected meeting between the two which she hadn't mentioned to any of her friends. Not even to Sirius, because Reg had asked her to keep it a secret.

Both of them had stumbled upon the same place in the Room of Requirement as both had been looking for some peace and quiet. It was back in the days Fel was still recovering from the sorrow of her father Alphard's death so she had found her way to the Room of Requirement, asking it to show her a place where she could be alone.

Apparently, Regulus had asked for the same thing so when she stepped into the room, she had come face to face with the young Black sibling who had already been there, his blue eyes mirroring her own. 

He had recognized her immediately to be his lost cousin, because he had attended his Uncle's funeral and seen her there as well. The two had talked a bit back then, all alone Reg seemed to be very different from the persona he held up in front of others. He had comforted her back then but asked her not to Sirius that she had met him.

And when she had asked him why he was there in the Room of Requirement, he had reluctantly showed her the Dark Mark and confided in her that he was still conflicted.

Felicity had never breathed a word of it to anyone else because she couldn't break is trust and had promised him not to tell. Over time, she even forgot about him altogether.

But right then hearing from Sirius that he had died brought back that memory from full force.

"How?" Felicity asked, unable to digest the fact that the boy was dead, "why?"

"Because he was an idiot that's why," the anger struck Siri at last as he clenched his fist, ramming it into the table in front of him. 

Marlene's eyes widened in alarm because she knew very well that Sirius's anger was self destructive, a trait that he had inherited from his mother even though he would never ever admit it.

"He joined the Death Eaters because he was a bloody fool and that is exactly why he got killed!"

He got killed, the words echoed in the silence of the room as realization dawned upon Fel's features. 

That clearly meant Regulus had been murdered but not by the Aurors nor the Ministry, but by someone from the Death Eaters.

Or perhaps by Lord Voldemort himself.

Felicity recalled that day vividly and Reg's soft voice rang in her ears again. "I think I have made a mistake. I should not have joined them. Now I can't back off and if I do, they will kill me."

"They killed him," she spoke up all of a sudden and Sirius's stormy eyes snapped towards her abruptly.

"What?" Marlene asked, visibly surprised.

"Yes, he died because of Voldemort," he spoke through gritted teeth, "but how did you know?"

"I... I had met Regulus, back in our seventh year," she told them at last, deciding that Sirius deserved to know that his brother was not as foolish as he thought, "I had found him in the Room of Requirement when I had accidently stumbled upon it, wanting to be alone. We talked."

His anger seemed to subside as he took in a deep breath, "what did he tell you?"

"He never wanted to join the Death Eaters," she mumbled, recalling the distressed features of the young boy as clear as if it had just been yesterday that she had met him, "he only did so because that was expected from him. Your parents... They expected him to become a Death Eater and he did so that he wouldn't disappoint them."

"Bloody fool, always following each stupid order and worthless command just in order to be the perfect son," the words poured out of Sirius in a rush but Marlene gestured him to stop.

"When I had met him, he was conflicted. He didn't want to do any of the things he was ordered to. He didn't want to kill, he didn't want to torture... He didn't want to stay working for Voldemort. Back then, he told me he was looking for a way out but if he left the Death Eaters, they would kill him."

Silence lingered in between the three of them until Sirius spoke up at last, "so you're telling me that he got killed by the Death Eaters because he was thinking of leaving them."

"It could be possible," she nodded.

"And why did you never tell us before?"

"He had promised me not to tell it to anyone and especially not to you," her voice lowered, "he was in trouble and I didn't want to cause him any more worries so I agreed. Then I forgot about it altogether until... Until now..."

"And you never met Reg again?"

"No. Never again."

Sirius was deep in thought, pondering upon all that she had told him. There was a high possibility that Fel was right and Regulus had been killed by Voldemort himself for betraying or thinking of leaving them.

And if that was the case then he wasn't going to rest until he avenged his brother's murder.

"Where are you going?" Marlene asked as Sirius stood up immediately, heading back towards the door in order to leave.

"I'm going to see Mum and then I'm going to the Order. If Reg really has been killed by those pathetic Dark wizards, I will make sure that his murder is avenged."

The door closed with a slam behind him as he left and Marlene's eyes flickered towards Fel who looked rather forlorn, hearing about her cousin's sudden death had saddened her as well.

So the blonde girl sat down beside her, gathering her in her arms in a comforting embrace. Felicity rested her head upon her shoulder, letting Marlene gently run her fingers through her hair.

"If what you said is exactly what happened to him, Fel, then he died a hero," she whispered comfortingly, "he realized he was with the wrong people and wanted to back out but got killed as a result. That makes him on our side, Fel, he died for the right cause."

"Regulus was never really a bad person," she mumbled, recalling the short times she had seen him and the brief interaction she had had with him, "he didn't deserve to die."

"I know. His death is unfair but then so are a lot of other things here. This whole war is unfair and it has taken the lives of so many people already with no knowing how many more would succumb to it."

That thought was a fear that lurked in her heart stronger than ever. She couldn't bear to lose anyone dear to her and yet the war hovered over them like a constant threat.

"I know it's a lot to hope for but I hope none of us ever part due to this war. I hope we all survive."

"We will survive, sweetheart," she reassured her, "we are all going to stick together, of course we will make it through."

Little did she know that time was running out and their fate had already been sealed.

Most of them would not survive the war, unlike what she had just said.

***