Ficlet: Brotherly Love

[lls_mutant]

sasha_davidovna made me the sweetest Toby/babies with hats icons ever, and I said I'd write her a ficlet/drabblet in return. So here it is- thanks again Sasha!!!!

Title: Brotherly Love
Rating: G
Pairing: Sirius/Remus, but unfortunately I got off on a tangent a bit!
Length: 1,180 words
Disclaimer: Not mine. We know this.
Notes: sasha_davidovna's request was: I like to ask for some variation on R/S pre-Halloween 1981, a scenario I can't seem to get enough of, but with you, I have AiL to look forward to, so hmm... How about Remus/Sirius, setting and relationship status of your choice. I like my chocolate bittersweet., so I went for Sirius/Remus in the summer of OotP (before Harry arrives), with mentions of 1981. There's also some of Ron and the twins in here.




"Check."

Sirius studied the chess board, swearing softly in a pleased sort of way. There had to be a way out of this, but he wasn't spotting one easily. Across from him, young Ron Weasley watched him with a carefully blank face and excited eyes.

It had been a long time since he'd had an opponent like this.

A small explosion shook the floor of the library. Ron and Sirius both ignored it, as such explosions were far from rare, especially when Molly and left the house to do the shopping. Instead, Sirius slid his knight into place, and grinned as he saw comprehension dawning in Ron's eyes.

Something like a rooster squawked, and another explosion hit, this one jarring the chessboard and making several pieces flail to keep their balance. "They're going to wreck the house," Ron muttered.

"They're welcome to do so," Sirius grinned.

"Mum will kill them, though."

"True, that. Are you going to go or will you concede I have you beat?"

Ron snorted and took his turn.

"Good move," Sirius had to admit.

"Thanks." There was an element of smugness about the younger man.

"Do you play often?"

"Not as much as I'd like. Bill plays when he's home, but he's really the only one that likes it. Well, Percy did, but…" Ron's face twisted into a grimace that Sirius could well understand.

"Percy did what?" a tired voice asked, and one of the twins (Sirius presumed it was Fred, but the amount of soot covering his face did little to help distinguish) fell into a chair, exhausted.

"Yeah, what did the git do now?" That one was definitely George.

"Nothing." Ron retreated back into the game, ostensibly studying the board. But his eyes weren't quite seeing it.

"Come on, Ronnie-kins. Tell your big brother what's bothering you," George simpered, mussing Ron's hair.

"Piss off," Ron said, irritably.

"What did you two do with Remus?" Sirius asked, more to avoid the oncoming storm than because he felt the need to know.

The twins exchanged guilty glances, and Sirius sighed. "Right. I'll go check the wine cellar then, shall I?"

"No need." Remus was standing in the doorway, his robes and hair mussed and a bottle in his hand. "After being 'accidentally' banished there, I am capable of walking up the stairs." He fixed a long glare on Fred, who didn't seem to have the energy to even look guilty. "What's all this?"

"Ron's sulking," George announced.

Ron scowled and pushed away from the game. "We'll finish later," he told Sirius, and with that stalked out of the room. With identical evil grins, George and Fred got up to follow him.

Sirius waited until he heard a door slam, and then gave a quick flick of his wand, casting a charm so that the occupant of the room could get out, but no one could get in. "That won't stop those two," Remus sighed. "Not for long."

"For long enough. They're incorrigible."

"So says Mr. Padfoot, who's been sitting up here playing chess the entire time instead of helping the Terrible Two with their Banishing Beer. You know, I really am shocked they didn't get more O.W.L.s. The idea is rather novel."

"So I've heard." Sirius was gloomy, still staring at the chess board.

"Was it something I said?" Remus asked, settling into the chair Ron had been sitting in and righting one of the pieces.

"No, something Ron said," Sirius admitted. "It just… got me thinking."

"Merlin protect us all." Sirius glared at him, and Remus flushed. "Sorry. What did he say?"

"He was talking about Percy."

"Oh."

"He's upset."

"Can you blame him?" Remus asked. "They were brothers. I know they didn't always get along, but Ron did love him in a way and when Percy left… oh," he said, seeing the expression on Sirius's face. "Oh."

"I never thought about how Regulus must have felt, Moony," Sirius admitted. "Even in Azkaban, I didn't think about it much."

Remus squeezed his arm mutely.

"Do you think he was as mad as Ron and the twins?"

"I wouldn't be able to tell you, Sirius. I don't really know."

Sirius fiddled with the king. "You knew him. I know you did. When you were spying on the Death Eaters during the first war…" his voice trailed off, because there was pain in that, too, and another time he'd left without thinking of the consequences, even if his departure hadn't been physical.

Remus's face was carefully blank, something Sirius hated. He watched as Remus opened the bottle of wine with a tap of his wand and conjured and poured two glasses before answering. "I did work with Regulus," he admitted. "He… he didn't much like me, Sirius. I was a half-blood, a werewolf, and sleeping with you."

Sirius's head shot up. "He knew all that?"

"He did. I have no idea of how, but he did." Remus turned the glass in his hands, watching the light play on the wine. "We were able to work together, and I think by the end we respected each other. But he never liked me."

"Did he… did he mention me?"

"Once or twice." Remus chuckled dryly. "He asked if I thought he looked like you. I said not much, for all that your coloring was the same. He also asked if I thought he was much like you."

"What did you say?" Sirius asked.

"I said he was," Remus said after a long pause. "But I can't remember why. I don't remember much of anything the last time I saw him, and then a few days later I heard he was dead."

Sirius turned back to the chessboard, staring at it until it began to blur in his vision. He wished so many things could be different. He wished he could go back in time and talk to Regulus, to ask him just what had happened to make him leave the Death Eaters. He wished he could go further back and change… what would he change? What would be that one instance that could change an entire relationship? There wasn't one. He wished he could talk to Percy, and tell him how much he might live to regret his decision in the future. And yet, he didn't completely regret his. He wished-

Remus's hand was warm on his shoulder. When Sirius looked up, the cold, expressionless mask was gone and he could see the pain flaring in Remus's eyes. He covered the hand with his own.

"You can't change the past," Remus said softly. "And you can't change the present, either. Only he can change that."

Sirius smiled up at him grimly. "I know," he said, tightening his grip.

"Come on," Remus said, pulling Sirius to his feet. "Molly should be home soon. Let's go downstairs and raid the pantry before she gets here and tells us to keep our noses out of the apple crumble."

"All right," Sirius agreed, pushing yet another dark thought back into the recesses of his mind. "But let's have Ron join us."

Remus smiled.

Comments

[medicinal-mirth.livejournal.com]

Oh, beautifully done. The regret, the longing, Sirius' concern for Ron -- it just rings honest for me. I loved this. It's something everyone can relate to, the complicated messes that all families deal with in one way or another. Just wonderful.

And here I thought you had gone off and had your baby. :D

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

I'd love to see more people do stuff with Ron-Sirius. Not at all in a shippy way, but because Sirius is genuinely a truly caring person, and he seems to quite like Ron in canon. Now I'm tempted to write a little ficlet with Sirius giving Ron advice on girls (particularly Hermione), just because I think it could be really funny, but I'm not sure I'd have the time. But yeah- I can't help but wonder what Sirius must think of the Weasley situation!

I wish, on the last one. Guess it was just gas :P :)