St. Mungos

It wasn't fine.

Sirius gritted his teeth and crossed, pushing back the feelings of jealousy as they waited for Regulus' adoptive brother to return upon his younger brother's insistence. Regulus didn't look him in the eye as they waited, but then, "I did claim he managed to wreck my life while living a normal life among Muggles."

Remus, who stood between them, nodded his head. "He's here."

Looking in the direction Remus nodded, Sirius saw Regulus' adoptive brother approaching, and he sighed. "I don't like this person."

The man nodded his head. "Are you sure? Sure about this?"

"Yeah," Regulus said, reaching out to take the gray hoody slung over his adoptive brother's arm. "I am."

Regulus let the jacket hang low, so the fingers of his left hand dipped right into the armpit. He gave a quick tug, pulling it up over his shoulder, and slipped his right arm into the other sleeve. With his right hand, he tugged the hood up and over his face, and with a few more tugs, he straightened the hood so nobody could see his face.

Sirius frowned. "What's with the bag and jacket?"

Regulus turned, mouth pressed into a frown. "Do you really want me drawing attention to myself at St. Mungos?"

"And the bag?" Sirius repeated.

"Nothing to worry about," Regulus sighed, still not looking Sirius in the eyes as he grabbed the handle of the black bag with his right hand, his fingers tightening. "I've not Apparated in forever, so I'll need to side Apparate with one of you. Is that fine?"

"Yeah." Sirius straightened, grabbing Rregulus' arm, resulting in his younger brother flinching.

"Hey!" Regulus' adoptive brother clicked his tongue, his hand reaching out—

Regulus lifted a hand, stopping his adoptive brother from grabbing Sirius and pulling him off Regulus. "It's okay, but we should be going."

"This way," Sirius said, starting towards the front door.

"The back door would be better, wouldn't it?" Regulus asked, resulting in Sirius stiffening, his mouth twisting as the emotions kept welling, his current emotion—

"Bloody know-it-all," Sirius thought as they exited through the back door, into an alleyway where any Muggles wouldn't see their Apparating.

Remus nodded at the bag. "I suspect you'll not want them to inspect the contents of your bag, so do you want me to stay outside and hold onto it for you while you and Sirius go into St. Mungos?"

"Appreciated," Regulus said, eyes blinking as he looked at Remus, handing over the bag.

"And what is with this bag of yours?" Sirius asked again, then, "Wait? Where's your wand?"

"Don't worry about it," Reguls said, continuing not to look Sirius in the eye.

"Not worry?" Sirius let out an indignant huff. "You're going to be helping..."

"Haven't yet decided to help you, have I?" Regulus said, glancing at Sirius through the corner of his eye. "Can we get going? To St. Mungos?"

"Sure," Sirius said, his hand tightening around Regulus' forearm.

"Hey," Regulus said. "A bit too tight, right?"

"Sorry," Sirius muttered. "We're Apparating now." He took a deep breath and transported the two of them to the entrance of St. Mungos, letting out a deep breath. He started pulling Regulus after him as Remus Apparated nearby.

"Slow down," Regulus muttered, attempting to yank his arm away yet failing miserably. "I'm not steady on my feet yet, Sirius, nor am I some child you need to guide by the hand."

Sirius let go of Regulus' forearm, letting out a sound of irritation, unable to look his brother in the eye. "Fine. Come along. Behave yourself, and keep your head down to not draw attention to yourself."

"I already figured that out," Regulus replied, following after Sirius. They approached the front desk, where the Welcome Witch batted her eyes at him, her demeanor quickly changing upon seeing his handsome face.

"Ah. Mr. Black. Here to see the Potters, are you?"

"Yes. I've brought," Sirius paused, then, "Hey. Stop ogling."

He watched Regulus stiffen right before stiffening and muttering a quick apology. The Welcome Witch leaned against the counter, still attempting to flirt. "Huh. Usually, you bring a different friend, your father, or the children."

"Ah, yes," Sirius muttered. "We'll be heading on in then?"

"Once you sign the register," the Welcome Witch said.

"Yes. That," Sirius said, looking down at the register.

"It's fine," Regulus said.

Sirius glanced up, looking at him.

"Can you sign in already so that I can sign in?" Regulus asked.

"Fine," Sirius said, quickly signing in and watching Regulus sign in. The corner of his mouth twitched as he watched the Welcome Witch turn to look at the register. His mouth opened, only—

Regulus started walking away, motioning for him. "It's fine. I don't know where to go, so—"

"What do you mean it's fine?" Sirius asked as he quickly followed after him, keeping his voice low. "You just signed..."

"The name I've been using," Regulus said. "What name did you think I used?"

"That..." Sirius' eye blinked. "What name have you been using?"

Regulus turned, looking at him. Then, "Does it matter?"

"I guess not," Sirius said. "Let's get this visit over."

"Yes, please," Regulus said, remaining emotionless as usual.

Sirius let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Why did I agree to this? He has absolutely no connection to James and Lily, yet he insists on seeing the destruction he wrought, so isn't this about seeing my pain?" Yet, the deal was the deal. Sirius led his brother to the Janus Thickey Ward and took a deep breath upon entering, seeing James and Lily as they were. He turned to look at his brother. "Here we—"

He paused, watching Regulus lower his hoodie. Sirius stiffened, catching the pained look on his brother's face as Regulus looked at Lily and James.

"Wait. Then this wasn't about seeing me in pain? It's really about what happened to them?" Sirius watched Regulus step forward as Lily and James didn't notice either of them was there.

"So," Regulus said, swallowing. "This is..."

"Hey," Sirius said. "Don't beat yourself up."

"Kind of hard not to," Regulus said, stepping in, hands at his side.

Sirius sighed, then reached out, patting Regulus on the pack, resulting in his brother flinching. "You're the one who wanted to see them, remember?"

"That..." Regulus took a deep breath and stepped closer, his mouth pressed into a frown as he watched James and Lily, seeing what Sirius always saw. "They're always like this?"

"Yes, well," Sirius took a deep breath, stepping towards Regulus, the look on his brother's face making him want to comfort his brother, even though he didn't understand why James and Lily's situation would bother Regulus the way it was.

However—

Sirius stiffened, watching as Lily noticed them, her eyes lighting on Regulus and lighting up in a way he'd not seen in a long time. She hurried over, grinning ear to ear. "Reggie! Reggie, Reggie?"

"Ah," Regulus said, stiffening as Lily reached out to grab his arms. "Evans?"

Lily's mouth twisted into a frown, her hands reaching up to pull on Regulus' cheeks, resulting in Sirius attempting to stifle a laugh. "Reg."

"Alright, alright, Lily," Regulus muttered, catching Sirius off guard, but his surprise only grew as Lily pulled Regulus into a hug, which Regulus awkwardly returned.

"What is going on?" Sirius wondered, eyes blinking, hand reaching out, only to let out a sound of confusion as Lily—

"Hey!" Regulus protested as Lily reached for his left hand and left it up. "This is rather..."

"Awkward?" Sirius piped up, lowering his hand as Lily started waltzing Regulus around the room, drawing James' attention, his head tilting as he watched the two. "And I'm not understanding what is going on here."

James stopped standing where he was and moved towards Lily and Regulus, resulting in Sirius sucking in his breath.

"Hey," Sirius said, holding his arm up again, worried about what James might do to his younger brother.

James tapped on Regulus' shoulder, nodding his head. Regulus cleared his voice nervously, "Sure. You can have this dance." Regulus turned to his dance partner as Sirius looked on in amusement, an eyebrow rising. "Um, Lily? James wants to dance, I think?"

Lily's eyes blinked, and she let go of Regulus, his left arm falling to his side. Sirius expected James to move in to dance with his wife, only—

Sirius choked, the corner of his mouth twitching as he grinned at the three. "James? What are you doing?"

"Uh?" Regulus' eyes blinked, looking right at Sirius, just as baffled as James took Lily's place, waltzing Regulus around. "This is..."

"Weird?" Sirius said, stepping forward. "Hey. James. Can you stop? I mean, that's my brother..."

And then James stopped, glaring right at him, which caused Sirius' eyes to widen, never expecting James to do such a thing, let alone pull Regulus in, resulting in a yelp from his younger brother as James put Regulus into an awkward mix between a hug and a headlock. "Mine."

"What?" Sirius looked at him, folding his arms. "I have to be the adult now?" He took a deep breath. "Let my brother..."

"Mine," James said emphatically."

Regulus cleared his throat, then tapped James' arm with his right hand as his left—

"Wait," Sirius thought. "Regulus is left-handed, yet he's not—"

"It's fine," Regulus said. "It's fine, James."

Sirius flinched. "First name basis? For both of them, when..." He looked up at Lily. "When her status is that of Mudblood to Purebloodists like him?"

"Sirius and I," Regulus paused, then said, "We're speaking. We're on speaking terms, okay?"

Sirius watched as James turned, looking at Regulus, as if pondering what Regulus just said, then reached out and ruffled Regulus' curling black hair before letting him go, grinning right before he and James went back to what they were doing.

"What?" Sirius started saying, feeling pangs of jealousy at that moment. "What just happened?"

"Not sure," Regulus muttered, sighing and looking at them. "We can go now. I'll help."

"Wait, what?" Sirius startled as Regulus pulled his hood up with his right hand, his left hanging limp at his side.