The one I know you've all been waiting for, more Regulus!

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There was a very soft gentle shaking going on somewhere above his nice warm blankets that he tried to roll over and ignore.

"Reg, come on mate," a voice his sleep-deprived brain did not want to acknowledge said quietly. "Up and attem, today's the day!"

"Shove off Pete," he grumbled, flipping the cool side of the pillow over his face...wait... he peeked back out and slurred, "how are you in my dorm?"

His best mate grinned without remorse among the Slytherin beds. "Snuck in, of course, would you come on! My mum's sent three owls about wanting to meet you, and we've got a lot to do today!"

"Wormtail, if you get caught," he sighed as he dragged himself free of the covers now and went to his trunk.

"I'll just change and you can introduce me as Scabbers," he scoffed in a far to Sirius like manner. "Merlin, after what he did to Prongs, I hope Snape comes barging through that door," he finished bitterly. He loathed more than even Lily Regulus was still stuck down here under the lake having to play nice to those Death Eater faces just to save his own skin while avoiding them as much as humanly possible.

What they might do to the youngest Black if any of them suspected he no longer intended to keep up the charade had actually kept Peter up with nightmares for the past fortnight and he may or may not have been sneaking into here every single day just to keep an eye on things, as if Regulus hadn't been spotting a long bald tail and rolling his eyes with a smile at his mate's paranoia.

"I'm going, I'm going," he assured, waving him out now. "Don't murder anyone while I swap underpants!"

"No promises," he snickered as he left.

He made a bit of a fuss trying to decide what to wear, driving his dorm mates crazy as he kept going in and out of the bathroom to check in the mirror. His nicest robes were his first thought, but Vernon flashed through his mind and he didn't want to seem intimidating or above the first Muggle he'd ever meet, yet to wear anything lesser would give the wrong impression, or was that just his mother whispering in his ear about his last name and the pride of their house?

Finally he couldn't take it anymore and after giving himself a new sore in his mouth from chewing on his cheek so hard, he went out in an acromantula silk top and boxers to ask Peter, telling himself he wasn't being ridiculous and it was better to ask the expert.

Wormtail took it in stride and gestured back at his school trunk. "Just wear your school uniform if anything else bothers you." 

Regulus exhaled and was more grateful than anything Sirius wasn't down here to laugh at him.

...

Peter had inherited her soft brown hair and pointed nose, but not the clear blue eyes, the first thing she did when Regulus stepped out of the fireplace was come forward and offer her arms in an inviting hug he was free to step towards or embarrassingly brush off.

Lingering memories of passages for Harry getting the same from Mrs. Weasley made him curious, the idea of his mother murdering them both on the spot had him hesitate.

She smiled and patted him gently on the arm instead without a second thought. "It's alright dearie, oh but you do look like Sirius, it's so lovely to meet another of Pete's friends! I won't hover, he'll show you around, and I hope you have fun here, it's all been taken care of, you're to stay here as long as you like."

Regulus swallowed in shock she hadn't so much as given him a single ultimatum or expectation yet and had no clue how to respond as she smiled and went back to the stove.

"It's Friday, correct?" He tentatively asked either her back or Peter, who was leaning on a chair by the table fidgeting with a few puzzle pieces. He wondered if the Muggle kind wouldn't move like their pictures didn't when you finished.

She glanced cheerfully over her shoulder to tell him yes while Peter nodded casually. "Why do you ask Regulus?" She added as she popped open the oven.

The warm smell of turkey wafting through the air had his mouth watering as he met his friend's eyes. "Looking forward to the weekend is all," he laughed in excitement of all things for having no clue what was coming next.

...

The Potter Mansion did not hold happy memories for all its occupants the day before term let out, but Euphemia and Fleamont were far too busy prepping arrangements to notice why the Muggleborn girl kept holding their son's hand and avoided their library. They were even to distracted to keep scolding him about scratching the bandage today.

"You've got the-" Fleamont didn't even get the chance to finish.

"Essence of Erumpent, right here," she bustled in and handed it to him as she began stirring her own cauldron. "Did you find the-"

"Bolbodox powder, certainly," he passed it along as both alternated between their potions and flipping hastily through books.

"Mum, Dad," James was looking nervously from Sirius to the doorway like he expected it to be blasted off its hinges any second, and considering who they were about to be in hiding from, it wasn't an invalid fear. His mouth was ticking so much it looked like he had a white worm on his face from the rippling plaster still on. "I thought you'd have everything ready when Dumbledore and I explained-"

"Professor Dumbledore," his mother corrected.

"And the Fidelius Charm is as ready as it will be, these are just some backup solutions for the least likely scenario it won't work," his father explained patiently.

James batted his eyes in sudden wonder as one turned bright red, and the other congealed into something black, and seemed to have a pulse. "Are, are those bombs?"

"Yes honey, and you're not to touch," Euphemia brushed lovingly at his messy hair, "oh we need to have another go at this, but later," she finished with quiet ferocity. "Go fetch all your friends now, none of you kids is going anywhere until we've sorted all this out."

Regulus was being remarkably calm about it all, hovering next to Peter but watching with practiced ease as if this were one of mothers cocktail parties and he was only awaiting his summoning.

Sirius, usually thriving in the center of attention, looked like he needed to take a piss. He kept dancing on the spot, trying to hold Remus's hand, then switching to holding onto James's shoulders, before stuffing his hands in his own pockets and backing away for the stairwell before correcting himself and trying to put up a cool, aloof mask that fractured in seconds and repeating it all again.

"You can still back out," his little brother told him without remorse. "If just I vanish from their memory, I doubt anything will change for you with significance." It was his brother's nature to be inquisitive, fight back, impulsive, and brash. His parents never would have tolerated him for long even as their only child, his life very likely would have gone the same way it had.

"Let you have all the fun!" Sirius tried to brush off, but then he shook his head and looked right at him, squaring his shoulders. Regulus didn't need him, not for this or anything, his non-confrontational brother who had disavowed their pure-blood ways had chosen to go into hiding with his Muggle-born best friend and graduate and then likely travel the world with an owl along with Peter to let him know he was alive if he was lucky. He'd accepted that, but he still wanted to be part of his life and this was not an opportunity he was going to miss. "Nope, you're stuck with me on this one Reg, Mr. Potter will tell them literally seconds after we get erased from the whole universe's mind and I'm being a big baby, you happy?"

"Mildly," he admitted as he was literally bouncing on the spot with nerves. Sirius was such a pessimist, always expecting everything to go wrong.

Then again, if this didn't go perfectly and somehow Walburga and Orion Black did find out the trick they were trying to pull, well, there was going to be a bloodbath at the train station tomorrow for starters as their deranged parents tried to figure out where the two Black heirs had gone...

Fleamont and Euphemia came into the room cool as could be now that their side projects were done and had the brothers stand in the middle of the little cluster of them. Sirius's hands were spasming in frustration no longer being next to his mates and Regulus finally relented and stepped into his space, feeling his older brother relax as he placed his hands on his shoulders.

James was watching his parent's every movement like a hawk, even subconsciously mimicking how they kept silently reassuring each other onto Lily as he put his hand on the small of her back the same way his dad did when he promised he'd only be the Secret Keeper for one breath and still his mother was muttering she should be the one to do this while lining up potion ingredients just in case something went wrong while Lily's hands were twitching and wishing she could go help arrange something that couldn't resemble a mess if it wanted to.

Remus had eyes only on Sirius, who kept flashing his boyfriend cheeky little grins and was watching Mr. Potter's wand with the first hints of fear in his life, usually it was only his parents that made him flinch. Remus wasn't fooled by his cavalier attitude, Padfoot kept watching the door anxiously and then turning back to meet his eyes.

Peter was standing quietly behind everybody at once somehow, doing what he did best in observing the scene and Regulus longed to go stand beside him, Sirius's hands were hot and heavy clamping down on him and he still wasn't used to this kind of prolonged physical contact, but if Sirius would be involved in a previously time-warped botched spell he already had no faith in for him he could put up with it as long as his brother needed to. This was all for his benefit after all, if Mum and Dad did come for them, it wasn't Regulus who would be punished first.

Alice and Frank were clinging to each other with a distinct feeling of being out of place. Regulus and Sirius were their friends now but they'd always had the impression they'd been dragged along into something they had no involvement in and this was Alice's idea, if this did go wrong it would be all her fault...

Fleamont Potter stood before the two Black's with a reassuring smile on his face. "You boys ready for your clean slate?"

"Yes sir," Regulus said softly.

"You betcha," Sirius beamed.

With one last promising look at his own son this would all work out, he began reciting the old spell.

At first nothing visibly happened except for Sirius and Regulus tensing up, and then a small, flickering of movement as the first little wisp began trickling off both boys at once... then faster, and faster like a cocoon encasing them both. It was a bright, whitish silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the very air around them ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked like light made liquid - or like wind made solid - as their friend's eyes went out of focus and could no longer properly see what was right in front of them, when the memories flew into Fleamont's head.

Sirius felt an instant thrill of horror when Remus was no longer looking at him, but instead right through him, as if he weren't even in the room. The irony was not lost on him now he was the one invisible to the love of his life. James was turning blandly away from his parents like any casual Sunday tea with them happenstance in the room and began chatting animatedly to Lily, his company replaced already by her, as the others all relaxed and tried to move on, all except Mr. Potter who was shaking his head and trying for a smile at the Black brothers.

"Sorry, lot to take in," he chuckled such a familiar, friendly noise to Sirius, just like his best mate. Euphemia was eyeing the kitchen and muttering about making scones, but he casually grasped her hand before she could scamper off and said, "wait a moment Effie-"

Then the front door exploded.

...

Euphemia moved for her son at once, shouting at all of the kids to get to the back of the house, only Mr. Potter was left to look at the true scene.

Sirius reacted first, pushing Regulus behind him and wand drawn in fury to see Bellatrix Lestrange at the front, of course. There were four other members of the Black family all marching in as well, including their own parents. Their eyes too slid right past the two boys, at first, but Walburga Black looked right through Sirius as usual, before they lingered in confusion on their youngest and she turned to her husband before looking back. "Who are you? You, you two are," taking in the unmistakable haughty features of her own on their face. For the first time in their life Sirius and Regulus saw their parents seemed confused, unsure of themselves. Like they'd forgotten why they'd stormed in here.

"Get out of my house!" Fleamont still had his wand drawn and was moving murderously forward, one arm outstretched towards Sirius and Regulus while Euphemia pulled her son farther back, pinning him to her side, where he raised no protest as he looked on in hatred for the intrusion with pure confidence for his dad handling this. "Now, or you will regret this."

Only Sirius saw Orion strike out, his wand a forever extension of him. Perhaps it was just his natural air of authority that had him calmly firing a spell at the man who thought could give him orders, maybe he like his wife kept looking at the two frozen boys and had even an inkling of a feeling why they'd trespassed here and would then calmly tell the two to come along so they could have words.

A flash of purple light sent the only father figure Sirius had ever cared about to the ground with a silent scream while Walburga reached out for the pair of them.

"No!" Prongs burst out of his mother's arms as she too cried in fury, but while she drew her own and began dueling with Bellatrix and their Aunt and Uncle all at once, his brother's eyes landed on Sirius at last, with unbridled fury as he drew his own.

"Run," Sirius whispered. Whatever his parents might remember, they knew the Potter's were connected, what they could do to James-

James wouldn't though, he'd never, not for anything as some instinct propelled him to connect this.

A stray spell went into the kitchen, it exploded the waiting cauldrons in there with a high-pitched whine spurring the madness on.

Regulus remained frozen behind him while the first spell made Sirius duck on pure instinct, the plaster of the wall crackling with a hole in it that had missed his little brother's head by the string of a sizzling hair. "Regulus, run," Sirius shoved him, hard, but the kid only held on tighter to him, their friends were joining in on helping Euphemia against the rest of the Black's in a chaos of flashing spells and shouting as the house around them burned in the air with magic, while Orion and Walburga stood calmly amongst it all, eyeing their two sons.

Prongs threw another curse and Regulus only tugged harder on his brother, shouting, "come on!"

"James, please," there was no way he could have distinguished the quiet plea in Sirius's voice to be heard by the one person he always thought would know the best in him, but his hazel eyes were murderous, the next spell flashing out of his wand sent the carpet around them on fire.

Remus was beside Mrs. Potter without even glancing at him, like he wasn't even here.

"James, I didn't," it was useless, he knew already as he let himself be pulled along now, but he couldn't take his eyes off his family fighting for their life without him.

"Sirius!" Regulus pleaded, eyes on the door and pulling so hard to escape.

Their parents had come to some decision, they were both aiming their wands at them as well now, for once possibly just a nice stunner compared to what Prongs might do next as the fire spread.

Sirius clamped his hands back down onto Regulus's shoulders and met his brother's eyes one last time as he promised, "I'm going to fix this," before he turned on the spot and apparated them away.

...

He'd never actually apparated before this, but considering they spent approximately a lifetime getting thrown around the universe every time they took a breath it came naturally to him for some reason.

Why the pier? He had no clue. He'd always wanted to visit and their deranged trip had never dropped him off at one and he'd been laughing to Remus just this morning about not even getting much good sightseeing out of their near-death experiences.

Why did this keep happening to him? That was harder to define, he didn't know what he'd ever done to deserve having to keep choosing between Regulus and his family like this!

He released the kid and bent double, head between his knees as he kept uselessly trying to breathe in salty air that wasn't helping one bit, he kept thinking he'd look up any second to see Remus screaming next to a pit of green holding his scar and dying as he dragged Prongs from the lake of the dead-

"Sirius!"

Regulus finally yelled louder than the horrible siren wail of his mind, he snapped upright and looked around to take in the rest of the odd scene, and the noise wasn't just in his head. The place was empty, no Muggles in sight around any of the odd contraptions or booths, all of the rides were at a standstill, it was horribly familiar and eerie, like they were back in no-mans land and the last two people on earth.

"What's that noise?" His little brother had his hands over his ears and somehow looked as sick as he felt.

It was neither rising nor falling, just a constant whir, the warning didn't need words, the noise rang straight to their core. Run. That made his decision easy for now as he put his hands back on Regulus's shoulders and began steering him away. "Nothing good," was all he could answer.

Concentrating this time on what the hell they were supposed to do next, he tried to imagine Charing Cross road in his mind at least before they went again, put them somewhere on safe and familiar ground- when two other crack, cracks joined them, and two wizards now stood feet away, scowling at them. They weren't Black's, but he still recognized their attire. The Ministry, Sirius belatedly realized, had just gotten involved with the two underage wizards doing magic and something having gone wrong at the Potters.

"Shite," he cursed and demanded of the universe what else could go wrong. "Run, Reg, go," neither of them had to be convinced of it this time as they were ordered to stop and clearly did no such thing.

Both of them were naturally athletic, sprinting much faster than the two older men and making hairpin turns through the brightly colored cloth like they had brooms beneath them, Regulus was even slightly faster the little brat, but they were making their way off the wooden planks with quick efficiency and now trying to bolt along Muggle shops with glass windows promising soothing drinks and ice-cream he probably couldn't pronounce- "In here," Sirius snatched him into a brick alleyway and tucked low behind a horrible smelling dumpster.

Regulus was barely breathing hard and had his wand drawn while Sirius's mind was spinning like a tilt-a-whirl and fighting every impulse to change into Padfoot just to get one clear second of thought from all this. Mercifully, one man ran past, sadly, the second hesitated and looked in, then casted, "homenum revelio!"

"Shite," Sirius hung his head in resignation while his little brother aimed carefully for the warm glow of color suddenly surrounding them.

A shout in the distance froze all three, to far away to make out the words, but the Ministry Man obviously understood as he looked back the way they'd come in sudden fright, then apparated away.

Later, Sirius would detail his facial features into memory to add him to his list of people he should probably murder for the betterment of society for leaving them to die.

At the moment, he exhaled in relief and said, "well, at least one thing-"

WHOOM

A wall of water slammed the dumpster into them, and then it was everywhere, spinning them like a single drop in a hurricane.

Regulus.

It wasn't even a thought, just one solid instinct his body complied with as he wrapped his arms tight around the kid, even the force of the earth trying to separate them wasn't happening this time as it all flashed through his mind in a sickening display of deja vu, James being pulled into the lake by inferi, Regulus coughing his hair out of his mouth as they were pounded into everything, he couldn't breathe anything but salt, he'd die of dehydration while the water drowned them, and still he didn't let go.

The movement stopped so suddenly with a jerk he thought his bones had all shattered inside him for a moment, he half expected to look around and find himself in a new place all over again as the dark water kept rushing around them. He instead found himself still shielding Regulus from the debris as evidenced by his throbbing everything but the kid having the chance to get an arm free and snag an actual telephone line, he'd only read about those!

Another body had tried the same tactic half a dozen feet away, facedown, its swollen limbs only there by luck for now. Hopefully this one didn't reanimate and come after them next.

Regulus was trying to pull himself towards the victim of life.

"Don't," he rasped, reaching around his little brother and bracing them both into place now, still coughing up water. "They're dead Reg."

"How do you-" he stubbornly tried to duck under him.

Sirius pinned his legs around the little idiot's hips with a rush of pity far greater than even this tidal wave while looking around with purpose now for somewhere more secure, a monumental task in itself through the plaster of his own thick hair on his face, his hands were already slipping. "We're more durable than muggles kid, we can take a beating better, it's the only reason we're not dead yet! Come on, help me get to that roof."

Wizards had their limits too though. Just because they could fall twenty feet off a broom with minor injuries didn't mean they could swim through this monstrosity with ease, and when they finally flopped over the edge their muscles were tensing so bad Sirius thought he finally had a slim grasp on how Moony must feel right before some monster burst out of his chest for how painful every single joint of his felt.

Regulus was sitting up with dignity, smoothing down his sopping wet hair that was curling up unpleasantly along his neck and looking all around with something akin to boredom, putting all of his effort into unclenching his hand from the death grip of his wand as he tucked it back away. That was just a mask, he was chewing on his cheek and internally calculating how screwed they were and extremely grateful to not be alone, until he saw his big brother was freaking out.

Sirius was flat on his back and gasping, hands fisted up so tight in his hair like he was trying to pull it out, saying over and over, "can't use magic, have to go back, shite," on a loop.

Regulus watched the display in concern, he'd only seen Sirius break down twice, and one time had been in his concern for his boyfriend likely dying, the other James had been there to help. What was he supposed to do that wouldn't get him punched back into the ocean still slowly rising towards them?

He dug deep into his resolve and recent experience. If Sirius needed a slap awake, he owed him a good one anyways. "Padfoot!" Definitely one step in the right direction, his brother jerked upright at least and looked at him while still gasping slurs and nonsense. "Get your ass together, where's that Marauder that can come up with a plan at the drop of a hat?" His brother was like a dog with a bone, he'd categorized. Give him something to focus on and he'd never let it go until complete.

Those gray eyes were fracturing, one foot here now, the other still tumbling below with the garbage of the ocean now on display for them to see. "Sirius please," he put his hands on his shoulders now, "I need you here with me on this."

His hair was clinging to his face like streaks of a bar and he was so pale, but he gave a jerky kind of nod and really looked at him as he started spouting off his thoughts at least, "James is going to kill me, I mean literally, he thinks I did that to Mr. Potter! We have to get back there, make sure they're all okay, but we can't use magic, the Ministry will know and Merlin knows what they'll do to us! Probably figure out real quick who we are and ship us right back, and James wants me dead! Merlin's shite! If Orion killed him, oh Merlin Fleamont, I'll kill that bastard, we'll be trapped like this-"

It was the longest bout of hysteria Regulus had ever seen Sirius let loose, and he seemed likely to keep going now on a spiral of what they couldn't do. Regulus gave him a firm shake, shocked at his own longing to have back that angry, resilient big brother of his rather than this. "Then we answer for what we can, right? Let's just, start back, all the way back, how would our parents even have known to come get us there? I'm thinking someone from school warned them we took off early, yeah?"

His fault. Any of his dorm mates could have betrayed him making all that noise this morning, Merlin he was such an idiot.

Sirius nodded at this without protest, his hands finally releasing the clumps of his hair.

"Okay, so, nobody's here to sell us out this time. All we have to do is make sure Mr. Potter's okay and the plan is right back where it should be, he'll be at St. Mungo's. We just have to, um, get there," he finished lamely as he looked around again like the Knight Bus would magically appear in its usual convenient chaotic nature. No such luck, and they couldn't use their wands to summon it. "Where are we anyways?" He wasn't well versed in the Muggle world, as in he'd only been to his house and school and wherever they'd landed over the course of those books, and this was none of those.

"Um, not, one hundred percent sure," Sirius was getting back control of himself though, flashing him a smile and easing him back so that he could stretch. "This was sporadic on my part, we could honestly be anywhere in the world that has a pier, I had no solid destination."

Regulus nodded for that understanding without resentment, at least they'd gotten away from the worst threat, for now. "Look, here's a starting plan then. We apparate there, wait to see if someone comes after us again, and if they do we run off and ditch them and circle back."

Sirius wanted to argue the point, he was definitely still adjusting to taking orders from his little brother and could spot flaws a plenty in this idea, Merlin did he want James back so badly right now, but as it would only be their second strike on underage magic and might not register by St. Mungo's, it could possibly work.

"Alright then, let's get to work," he hopped to his feet, but froze before taking hold of Regulus, head cocked to the side in an odd dog like manner he wondered if his brother had adopted before, or after his animagus status. "Hey, you think it would register me if you apparated with me as Padfoot? One less person they'd be looking for."

"There's you using your head," Regulus nodded. "Plus, the silence will be nice."

"Piss off asshole," he huffed before there was a slight pop. Regulus smiled as he gave him a mock pat on the head, Padfoot bared his teeth at him, and Regulus laughed softly as he leaned over and wrapped both arms securely around the pooch's middle before twisting his center sharply from one side to the next for his own try at apparition.

...

Regulus had experience with self-magical teleportation, more than any other fourteen-year-old had claim to, what with his involuntary nearly two-hundred goes of it.

That didn't make him perfect on his first voluntary try.

He somehow found himself sprawled out in an alleyway with enough noise slamming down around he thought another flood was about to befall him, the smell of some unknown pungent odor that wasn't even old food was atrocious, and there was no large black dog in sight as he bled out from where a rib bone used to be.

It was just cleanly missing, like someone had come in and pulled it out with a perfectly designed spell leaving the gaping wound in his chest crying where it should have been. His hand slapped over it on instinct to hide such a fault, only making him gasp in pain and cry, "Oh shit, Peter!" Then he remembered too late they weren't trapped in hell but somehow kept recreating it themselves, plus his best friend wasn't around and probably didn't even know he existed. "Sirius!"

His knees were already starting to shake as he fell back against the wall, something whizzed by so fast he actually yelped in fright and fell to the ground as that awful smell increased, and then another did so slightly slower. They were cars, he realized, like the one Mr. Weasley had owned he'd been trapped inside of. The wizarding one hadn't smelled like that though.

It was so loud out here, like that bike Sirius had loved riding, and they made an awful high-pitched noise that made him flinch as they swerved around each other on the street. He had no idea how close to St. Mungo's he'd gotten, and one car swerved hard and made another odd honking noise right next to his alleyway he wanted to cringe away from if his head would stop spinning.

"Sirius!" He called again with a hint of desperation as he drew his wand and forced himself to crawl back up the brickwork, leaving a trail of blood up the side. Had his brother been splinched even worse, bits and pieces of him left to scatter across the world? He knew a couple of minor healing charms thanks to his brother and friends, but wasn't entirely sure if they would work on a splinching wound and he was already half expecting someone to show up and arrest him again and drag him back home where he'd probably be killed or worse.

He didn't want to die alone. More than water or inferi or his own failure at his botched attempt to do any good in that awful future, he'd left the experience with his greatest fear having to go through the rest of his life alone. 

For those few, first short days back, his brother hadn't abandoned him, when he'd had every reason to.

 He should have put his foot down about Sirius doing this with him, he'd had no need to and could have just stayed happily at the Potter's without having to deal with him and his endless catastrophes. If he wasn't dead, it seemed most likely he'd run off to do just that.

Peter was the best friend he never could have thought to ask for, but he might have to somehow reform that friendship with him every day the rest of their life now if he could even get up-

Several people stepped into the alleyway, but he knew without looking up they weren't Sirius or anyone he wanted to see. They wore loose and baggy muggle clothing that reeked of cheap alcohols and something even more pungent, they were laughing and shoving each other with grating accents to his ears and eyeing him in an all to familiar way like Mulciber and Avery were back to pounce on him at the slightest sign of weakness, and he was sadly feeling that in abundance right now as the blood ran a river down his side and he just wanted to cry and accept that hug from Sophia Pettigrew now.

"Looks like somebody already got to him," they were eyeing his clothes with greed, and he vaguely noticed that even sopping wet and half dead, he was far better dressed than them in his black robes and silver clasp.

"We can check to see if they missed anything," another scoffed as he strutted forward.

He'd been trying to tamper down recently on the repulsive urge to curse away Muggles for merely existing, especially with Peter being a Muggleborn and his mother had been ever so lovely...Merlin had it only been that morning they'd all left school a day early to set up arrangements for this atrocity of events?

He swallowed a mouthful of blood and told himself it was okay to make an exception for these as he threateningly pointed his wand, hoping they'd just run.

They laughed, to his confusion. Didn't Muggles know how they channeled their magic? Wasn't this simpler species, like the Dursleys, aware of magic enough to fear their existence even if they didn't understand its intricacies and where it came from; or was that another of mother's stories and lies? He was debating in his head which spell to use to scare them all away at once, father would have given him a curse already for hesitating to long.

"Going to give us a switch laddie?" The one kept walking closer, his head was shaved bald and he had tattoos that weren't moving on his skin, which was far more distracting than when he raised up his shirt where something with a black handle was sitting rather uncomfortably looking in the seat of his pants. "Think that little stick is a knife?" He was right in Regulus's face now and the whiff of him was so bad his nose might fall off. "You escaped from the madhouse?"

They must be like Dudley before his Dementor awakening, too stupid to process what was about to happen to them as he opened his mouth-

WHAM

For the second time in a concerningly short time Regulus was flat on the ground with no clue what had happened until the Muggle drew his fist back to his side and swayed around drunkenly laughing.

He'd been punched? Huh, he hadn't seen that coming, and his throbbing eye was paying the price. He'd done it once himself to Sirius and it had really hurt his fist.

The not-Dudley raised his boot as if to stomp on him next and he rolled away, trying to realign the fight now as he clutched his wand steadily. He didn't know how to do this though, there was no flashing lights or twitch of lips to indicate what spell was coming, no dueling practice from father and his classmates had indicated what to do if someone just threw a punch. He supposed he could still watch their hands more carefully for the next, but had no clue how to estimate where some wild swing would land. He only got back to his knees before his trembling body wouldn't let him go higher, his arm was wrapped in a useless gesture around his chest to pathetically hold in whatever little blood was left in him, he was so lightheaded he wasn't sure he could do a first-year charm and he was starting to breathe too raggedly to even try.

He absently wondered if he'd ever kneeled to Voldemort to pledge himself and if Sirius was already at St. Mungo's checking on the Potter's, leaving him to another useless death.

That black object was pulled from his waist and he saw it was much shorter than his wand but thicker, and held firmly in his grasp much like his own weapon. He wasn't sure what it was, but he raised his wand again to match just in case. Still, he hesitated to throw a spell. To be dragged back to the Black house would still be worse than losing a fight to a bunch of Muggles.

A deep growl broke the standoff, both turned to see the hulking black shape of the monstrous dog padding forward, and Regulus exhaled in relief. "Sirius, where the hell have you been?!"

"Oh hell no," his adversary finally seemed to release a spell of his own, there was a horrid bang noise like a blasting charm that made his ears ring louder than the rumbling of the cars still flying past, and then Padfoot was lunging, snapping, his canines ripping into the fabric covering his pants while the rest of the crew scattered screaming.

The man was flat on his back and trying to kick him away, howling bloody murder, despite the fact there was barely any blood and his brother was already leaning back with some blue cloth hanging from his mouth.

"Sirius, would you knock it off," Regulus said in exasperation as the guy finally ran off screaming about lunatics in only half his pants. "This isn't helping." His wand was digging into his palm, he was panting like an animal himself, fighting back tears now and trying to pretend otherwise as the world blurred around the edges.

His brother changed back, and the wrath-like expression of anger on his face was so concerning Regulus automatically began looking around to make sure their parents hadn't somehow shown up in the kerfuffle. Sirius was looking at him though, pushing his cloak aside and demanding, "did he shoot you! I should have ruddy killed him!" He spat a bit more denim out with a look of regret.

"I splinched myself and it bloody hurts," he corrected, leaning into him now and finally letting his head rest to ease up the pounding tempo in his skull. "Can we go now, please? Merlin, I'll take a muggle hospikable at this point." His words were not slurring, he naively told himself, he had a right to be tired after his day!

Sirius put an easy arm around him and gladly supported his weight in the opposite direction of the goons. "Pretty sure they just call it a hospital too."

"Oh," he muttered, vision swimming unpleasantly as he forced himself to keep moving. He started shivering with no idea why and decided to change the subject. "Where were you?"

"I landed in some Muggle woman's house, she shrieked and chased me around with a weird looking broom, she didn't even try to fly on it and I jumped out a window, that's not the point," he redirected in exasperation. "At least now we have an excuse to be at St. Mungo's no one can dispute, we're only a block off."

Regulus sighed at the idea of that much walking and somehow more of his weight was being shifted onto Sirius and he was too damn tired to care right now.

Purge & Dowse Ltd. was in sight at the end of the street when Regulus whispered, "what do we do if Mr. Potter isn't awake yet?"

"James will try to kill me," Sirius muttered as he continued marching his brother to said death sentence. "Don't worry, I'll get you checked into a bed first."

"Sirius," Regulus tried to draw him up short, but his feet were stumbling too bad, and they were getting a lot of concerned looks from passing Muggles, one woman was even stopping and hesitating and clearly considering coming over to see what was going on. Only his cloak hiding the worst of it must have been what saved them from getting stopped every few feet. "Maybe we should just, I don't know, figure out how to get to Dumbledore or something, explain to him-"

"Not a chance kid," Sirius pressed on, now practically dragging his lifeless body along. "We can't risk anything else, you're hurt, and I'm pretty confident I can fend off Prongs from ripping off anything important."

"Stop calling me kid," he tried to grumble as Sirius leaned in and spoke to the dummy.

"Whatever you say Reggie," Sirius smirked as he gently eased him through the glass.

Last semester, he was convinced Sirius would have shoved him through the front door if he'd even cared enough to get him here, and then gone after those muggles with his own gun, whatever that was, but Sirius seemed particularly irate one had been around him, he kept muttering about it under his breath. Hadn't Hagrid bent one of those like a toy when Vernon had one? He didn't get the big deal, but he was finding it harder by the step to string together words and ask.

His older brother didn't even go tearing through the place to find the Potter's at once.

Instead, the following exchange with a very confused nurse showed Sirius with a face of calm Regulus had thought his brother would only assume if he'd ever spent years away in Azkaban. Managing not only this while keeping his head as he answered only the necessary questions and also surreptitiously looking around for any incoming killer best mates and still keeping most of Regulus's weight supported was a sort of maturity that he'd never have wished Sirius to suffer through in the course of those books, but it did make him acknowledge he wasn't the only one who had changed during all of that mess.

His wound was healed right there in the lobby while his silver-tongued brother dodged whatever irrelevant questions he could and Regulus was given a nasty potion that tasted like he'd bitten his cheek too hard again but finally cleared him from most of his light-headedness.

They were not allowed to leave until they gave up their names, and because they both refused, a Healer was being summoned to the fourth floor where they were being escorted in case it was some magical damage holding their tongues they couldn't give up. They let themselves while watching each other to see when they should ditch her and go looking for Mr. Potter. It didn't occur to Sirius that's where he'd be until the spell whizzed past his nose.

It hit their orderly instead as both trained boys ducked, Regulus shot back on instinct, while Sirius couldn't even lift his wand in defense as James's wand went flying.

He was still advancing, of course he was, and Sirius stepped in front of Regulus but couldn't run anymore. He had nowhere else to go. "Prongs, please, wait," the Spell Damage corridor was empty, he had no idea where Mrs. Potter or their other friends were, but it wouldn't matter, not with their genetics like a beacon of who was responsible.

James stopped.

He looked like Sirius had thrown a punch back..."How did you- you shouldn't call me that!" He snapped in disgust, now quivering on the spot.

Sirius's heart stumbled in his chest in shock as he took a cautious step forward. "Oh yes I should, I gave you that nickname. End of fourth year mate. Our dear Quidditch captain called me by my last name, again, one to many times. Wormtail called me an asshat again, but you and me, we always wanted to pick our own names."

"You," James took a step back, beads of sweat collecting on his brow as he described something that had happened like he'd been there, but the memory was crystal clear in his head...wait, why had James laughed and decreed the three of them needed nicknames?

Sirius didn't prove his point with their recent escapades through the past and future for the same reason he hesitated on giving irrefutable evidence of their time in school. He had no clue what James wouldn't remember versus being alternated thanks to the charm, so he went with cold, hard, facts.

"You met me September first, on the Hogwarts Express," Sirius pressed on relentlessly, knowing it wouldn't come back to him, but babbling at top speed now. "You ordered one of everything off the trolley and called out Snivilus for being a prat, Evans went with him, oh boy was that a repeat shitshow for the next few years." He paused, and laughed, the barking noise made him wince, James now looked like he was going to be sick.

"You're the most loyal git I'll ever meet, you snuck out of the dorm your first night in the castle and didn't go back to bed until you'd found the kitchens. You're favorite Quidditch team is the Kenmore Kestrels because you used to sit on your dad's lap and listen to games together, still do sometimes, though I was sworn to never mention that, pretend he's not here," he waved vaguely over his shoulder where Regulus still had his wand drawn, though down at his side. He heard the exasperated exhale from his little brother while his other brother stared into his eyes.

"You're failing Muggle Studies because you have the attention span of a gnat, you still eat all the green Bertie Botts Beans whole no matter the flavor because it's your favorite color. I know your favorite animal is a stag, Prongs, because you're an illegal animagus for the same reason I am," he finished, holding his eyes up and daring him to defy a single thing when he could have gone on all day. "Our friend is sick, on a fairly regular schedule thanks to his furry little problem, and we help him."

"I don't-" James shook his head slowly, but not as if he didn't believe him. "Who are you?"

"Sirius," his last name went without saying, no matter how much he loathed it. "This is Regulus. I'd never hurt your dad mate, he's probably my favorite person on Earth, above even you, for everything they've given me. Our donors are piles of shit, your parents offered to help hide us and of course everything got botched!" He threw his hands in the air in exasperation.

James ruffled up his hair in frustration, and Sirius smiled for the familiar gesture and kept talking. "It's a spell that did its damn job, I want him to wake up so bad because I can't spend my life with you hating me."

There was a long moment of silence where James just watched him. He checked anxiously over his shoulder once, but he still hadn't called for help. If it was the proof of his words or instinct itself, Sirius didn't care. "Okay," Prongs sighed, looking down at the poor person he'd transfigured into a slug that was still crawling along near his boot. "Let's say I believe you, enough I don't kill you." Sirius exhaled and smiled already.

"Oh thank Merlin," he stepped forward but James still took a cautious step back. "Right," Sirius said lamely. "We're going to laugh about this soon," he chuckled for himself, before his eyes lit with curiosity and he said, "seriously."

James blinked for a moment, before letting out a small chuckle. "Okay, that's kind of funny."

"Ha! I knew you still thought it was!" He actually jumped on the spot, making his best mate take another step back in surprise.

"In his defense, he hasn't heard that stupidity a million times yet, again," Regulus rolled his eyes.

"You're kind of an idiot, aren't you?" James smiled, as he accepted his wand back from Regulus and finally waved it to revert his spell.

"You're favorite," Sirius agreed as the woman began screaming at them a familiar tune, as if McGonagall were scolding them once more.

...

Regulus found Sirius up on the roof smoking. He'd always wondered what that smell lingering in his room was.

It was clearly a place frequented by the people who worked here, long since discarded cigarette butts littered the walkway somebody had been to lazy to banish even his brother couldn't have gotten through. His pack was still slightly wet and he couldn't imagine they tasted very good, or he was even getting much out of their addictive, staining quality as his hands still shook and the acrid smoke swirled around them.

Sirius had never once made mention of wanting a fag while they'd been 'away.' Actual curiosity, to know more about parts of his life he'd never been invited into before made a question bubble to his lips, but he bit his cheek and reconsidered.

His brother was straddling the building, one leg dangling off the side without care, watching the Muggles passing below with an absent look on his face Regulus was far too used to seeing. A passive, cool, aloof expression he carried every summer as he forced himself not to care about the goings-on around his environment. One he'd lost around his friends but never him.

"Did you want to be alone?" He asked instead, quietly, respectfully. 

"No," Sirius didn't look at him, voice very even but fingers shaking that had nothing to do with the hot summer sun as he went for another puff. "Just can't stand the way they're looking at me right now." Fumes tumbled from his lips with every word he spoke like somebody had put a spell on his vocals, something Sirius himself might do or one of his mates as a prank. He flicked the ash off the end with practiced ease and Regulus stepped closer, watching over the side as it sprinkled down. "Mrs. Potter says I should stay out of the way, there are seven kinds of inquiries going on, and James says Mr. Potter will wake up soon enough, so, we wait." His voice cracked, a flicker of fear he hid with his next drag, the horror unspoken if something else could still go wrong.

Its specks didn't land on anybody, so he wasn't sure why his brother was watching them with such scrutiny like they would look up any moment and start screaming about him. A mother was pushing a pram about, noisy, smelly cars were still trundling along, some teenagers who probably smelt as foul as his brother were on the far corner smoking away same as him. 

Regulus could only imagine how his brother was feeling, throughout the entirety of the third book his three friends had never believed the worst of him, the crimes he'd been accused of to his very own best mate. Even Regulus hadn't been so instantly convinced otherwise, it had taken a bit for him to form his own opinion about anything, for the first time in his life, maybe the first opinion he'd ever had on his own without outer interference. As impulsive, cruel-tongued, or even violent as Sirius ever got, he was no killer. He didn't have it in him, after everything he'd grown up with, and more than easily could have offed their own parents any time with an available dark spell abundant in their home. Yet he never had, apparently hadn't even considered it, though Regulus had yet dared ask that exactly.

"Moony went home, can't blame him," Sirius kept talking at least, his other hand running through his damp hair. Regulus still loathed how calm he sounded as he sat uneasily beside him, both legs facing inwards. He had no more fear of heights than his brother, he just had no need to take the risk of shifting his weight the wrong way. Sirius was only this casual about bad things, otherwise he was a whirl of shouting energy around James. "Place freaks him out. The others did too, after condolences so he tells me, except Pete, probably off in the kitchens. No surprise, I think he went right back to worshiping the ground Prongs walks on."

Regulus huffed in frustration, he wished Sirius would get out of his own arse and realize he wasn't down there trying to talk to his own best mate either who jumped every time he opened his mouth, Peter kept flexing his right hand if he ever did look at him to long and it sickened him too that seemed to be the lingering feeling he had about him, which is why he'd come to find this asshole instead. He gave his brother something else to redirect his anger at, lest Wormtail get a sock in the nose next for something else he didn't deserve. "I'm sorry I'm an idiot."

Sirius finally looked at him. He was rolling his tongue around in his mouth like he wanted to keep bad-mouthing Peter, maybe start shouting to at least vent his frustration, but instead he watched for a moment before forcing a smile and sucking in another hit. "I'll keep the crown for myself, thanks." He formed his lips into a perfect O and let out a ring of smoke, just a hint of a smile now when Regulus blinked in surprise. "None of this was your fault. Even if Mr. Potter never wakes up, I'll, I'll get them back, somehow. We're free, that's the important part. I don't regret it," he finished with a genuine smile that always softened his features into something that nobody could ever dream of comparing to a real Black.

He smiled back instantly, though his face felt stiff in the baking sun and he kept brushing impatiently at the curls in his hair that he hadn't yet tried to settle back. He watched as the cinders burned nearly to the pads of his brother's fingers, a few black scraps even smiting the edges of his skin before he finally dropped it below. It landed under the black, speeding circle of the next large muggle machine and was carried away. "I meant this," Regulus waved vaguely at their current location, "was sort of my fault," he corrected, he wouldn't let his impulsive brother have all the blame as his gray eyes still flickered to his side to make sure his wound hadn't magically reopened. "Made a bunch of noise leaving school this morning."

His brother scoffed and said dismissively, "anybody in that school could have sold us out, didn't we have this conversation that being a Slytherin doesn't make you an automatic prick?"

Regulus felt an odd, unfamiliar tightening in his chest, and wondered if maybe he should get checked out again as he added, "I also should have summoned Kreacher, at any time, I'm an idiot for not thinking of him when I was going to the instant I got back to the Pettigrew's."

Sirius waved that off with a flick of his yellow-stained nails as he began beating the box against his thigh where the last one almost fell out. "I meant to say earlier I was proud you didn't, Merlin knows if they've already thought of that and put some sort of track on him in case we tried." He crumpled up the empty pack and shoved it back into his pocket.

"They don't like him enough to think of that," he scoffed, "you're just trying to make me feel better," he suddenly realized, blurting that out without thinking.

Sirius smirked as he lit his wand and set the tip ablaze, a very familiar expression he was more than happy to see again. "Don't be getting ideas in your head about such tosh, next you'll think I like you or something."

"I've never had much of an imagination Siri," he pleasantly mocked back.  His brother chuckled. Regulus waited, and when his guard didn't seem to be going back up he tentatively asked, "what are we going to do until he does wake up?"

Sirius took a slow inhale again before he answered, "Plan B, or C? Probably D." He tipped his head into the wind to exhale a large puff, his hair getting tangled up and knotted and clearly annoying him as he kept running his other hand through it. "We live like hobos until he wakes up, I've got a stick ready and everything." Regulus was a tad concerned he didn't seem to be joking. "We could try to awkwardly go back home with people who think we don't exist or hate us, or go to Dumbledore like you said and explain ourselves, see if he has any insights. I'm not fond of any, so I'll leave it up to you I guess."

Regulus swallowed, he felt the cloying taste of the smoke in the air just from sitting right next to him even though he kept trying to blow it away. His brother had now been trapped in the bowels of Gringotts, twice, with the smell in the air of a dragon's fiery breath, and he'd had the misfortune of first-hand experience knowing Fiendfyre. He sort of suspected now Sirius smoking was his way of defying the idea he was afraid of it all, his way of thinking about it and shoving a finger in that experience's face.

He had no idea how Sirius could stand the smothering taste on the back of his tongue, and yet was tempted to ask for one. Padfoot kept watching him calmly, awaiting a response. He swallowed again and measured how to answer without coming across as idiotic, he'd never felt so equal to his brother being included like this right now instead of just being told by him what they were going to do.

The door to the roof opened with a bang, and both startled to see James was sprinting over with a wild look on his face. Regulus drew his wand and stood up, but Sirius just calmly stubbed out his smoke and put it in his ear like he really wouldn't stop him if the bloke changed his mind and shoved him off the roof, yet there was an odd smile on his face all the same. It was distracting enough that James had time to cross the space in three quick strides and did the opposite, pulling Sirius into a tight hug that dislodged him from his perch the opposite way into his chest as he shouted, "Padfoot, you idiot! Are you guys okay, why are you wet?!"

"You, you remember-" Sirius sounded deliriously happy as he was being yanked around back towards the stairwell.

"Dad woke up, punched an orderly for not being allowed to see you, he's going spare and mum's holding him down until I come back with you, you'll be lucky if she ever lets you out of her sight when I do! Regulus, Peter's looking in the gift shop!" He had yet stopped shouting and Sirius was now joining in as he laughed in relief and demanded right back proper details of everything he missed while James was still trying to do the same, the two idiots shouting over each other like usual.

Regulus beamed and took off, but he paused on the stairwell and looked back to see the two were still trying to hug and come after him. It only now occurred to him as he looked at his brother back at James's side what he'd done, twice now, Sirius hadn't. He'd confronted James, or at least tried to, in an impulsive urge not to let his memory loss hurt his brother. He'd finally made him proud, maybe shown something as close to love for each other that they'd never been able to do before. Just because they were so different didn't mean they couldn't still get along.

 Sirius smiled right back without a care in the world. Both of them finally believed it might last this time.

HPHPHPHP

These are the big two I had planned out to show some of the side effects of the changing timeline, if you want to see more I'm happy for suggestions, though I may not write a whole one shot for it but just answer what I imagined. Like I said in my last A/N I really think things settled down pretty quickly for them and they all just got a perfect, happy life.