No, I should not be writing this. I have too much to do. But... I loooove Regulus and Sirius. So... Lol this is the longest thing I've published on here yet.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own either of them, because if I did, neither would've died.

Sirius didn't expect anything bad to happen that night.

Despite being in the middle of a war, despite the possibility of death at any moment... He felt safe, cooped up in his nice, warm flat.

That is, until he heard a loud crack! and a small, bony hand settled itself on his arm. "Kreacher!" He shouts, getting over the initial shock. "What the bloody hell are you doing here!" The house elf regards him with frightened eyes, ears quivering with agitation.

"No time, master. We must go." He intones.

Sirius stands from his chair, jerking his arm from Kreacher's grasp. "Where?" He demands.

Kreacher frowns. "Master Regulus is in trouble, sir. He asked Kreacher to come here. 'Go get my brother, quickly.' He said."

Sirius's heart lurched with an alien fear. He wouldn't be asking for me unless things were really bad. And then he caught himself. "Why the hell should I care, Kreacher?" He remarks with a roll of his eyes. "If he's having problems with a mission his 'Dark Lord' set him on, he should've thought of that earlier."

"It's not a mission for the Dark Lord, master." Kreacher says softly. "Please, sir, Master Regulus is very ill, near death. He asked for you."

Sirius barely had time to register the words before his body was getting ready on his behalf, and by the time he's completely processed them, he and Kreacher are Apparating away.

They land in a clearing, in a forest somewhere. Sirius turns about, trying to figure out why exactly they were there as opposed to his family home at 12 Grimmauld Place, where his brother was still living the last he heard. But before he can come to a sensible conclusion, a small croak drives all thought from his head. "Sirius...?" The voice is weak and thready, but undeniably belongs to his little brother. He whips around, shocked when he sees the young man the croak originated from.

Oh, there's no doubt that it's Regulus. Sirius would recognize the sharp, defined features of his brother anywhere. The state he's in, however, makes the older brother feel as if his heart is being squeezed. The young man is curled up on his side at the base of a tree -Oh Merlin, he must've been trying to get out of the rain- and shaking violently, frighteningly thin and frail-looking. His face is ashen and shines with sweat, and his silvery eyes are glazed over with fever. Even as Sirius turns, however, he's struggling -and failing, miserably- to sit up. His efforts are cut short by a coughing fit that makes him flop back to the ground. This, finally, snaps Sirius out of his horrified daze.

"Regulus!" He breathes in shock, rushing over and falling to his knees next to his baby brother. He reaches out and puts his arms around the skeletal, shaking body. "Easy, little brother. I'm here. I've got you." He murmurs. His eyebrows draw together at the blistering heat coming off of the younger man in waves, as well as the persistent cough and sound of wheezy, congested breathing. He's got to get somewhere warm. Sirius thinks determinedly. "C'mon, let's get you home." He says very softly, glancing at Kreacher and mouthing, "You go back to Grimmauld Place. I'll take care of him." The house elf nods, and Sirius tightens his grip on his brother before they disappear.

It's instinct that causes Sirius to reach for the wastebasket as soon as they land in his living room. That same instinct places it beneath his brother's chin as Regulus's small body starts heaving. Instinct quickly drives Sirius to rub his brother's back comfortingly as a mixture of blood, bile, and some unidentifiable thick liquid is expelled from his mouth. "Shhh, Regulus, it's alright. Just let it out, it'll be alright. I'm here. It's alright." He whispers, seeing tears streak down the sunken cheeks. The vomiting stops all at once, and the strength quickly leaves Regulus's already severely weakened body. He falls sideways against his brother, still shaking.

"S-S-Sirius... I d-don't f-f-feel v-very w-well." He chokes out.

The grip around Sirius's heart tightens slightly. "I know, Reggie. It'll be alright. I'll take care of you." He says gently, brushing feathery black hair back from Regulus's burning forehead.

The silver eyes, so much like his own, attempt to focus on his face. "P-Promise?" He whispers exhaustedly.

Sirius nods, gathering his brother into his arms. "I promise." He whispers. He gets to his feet, holding Regulus's startlingly light body. Those unfocused eyes slide shut, and their owner relaxes, breath evening out slightly. Thank Merlin, he's asleep. Sirius walks slowly over to the couch, handling the delicate young man in his arms with the utmost care. He places the limp, still body on the sofa, hushing him as he stirrs restlessly. The older of the two brothers grabs a folded blanket from an armchair, where he always keeps it, and drapes it over the younger's still-shaking form before quickly fetching a thermometer from the bathroom. He places it under his brother's tongue, waiting nervously for sixty seconds before pulling it out and swearing as he checks the temperature. "Forty degrees... Damn it!" He whispers, eyes flicking to his unconscious brother's face nervously. Bloody hell... I'm no expert at medical care, but even I know that that's not good at all.

Shaking his head, he tries frantically to remember what you're supposed to do when someone has a fever. Well just get his temperature down you idiot! A voice in the back of his head reprimands him. He stands quickly. Cold water. The voice prompts. He nods, getting a bowl and a washcloth from the kitchen before going into the bathroom and filling the bowl with as cold water as will come out of the tap. He hurries back to his brother, sitting on the floor by his head before soaking the cloth in the water and then placing it on Regulus's forehead. "Shhh... There we go." He smiles slightly. "That helps, hmm? Should get you cooled off a bit." He whispers, knowing his brother can't understand him but hoping to calm him slightly.

A few hours later, Sirius's optimism has been safely squashed. Regulus has barely improved, the only change being that the shaking has calmed, and Sirius has managed to get the fever down by a half a degree. Ah yes, this is so much better. I'm still stuck with no idea what's going on and having to take care of my little brother, who happens to have a dangerously high fever and is vomitting blood. No big deal. He almost chuckled at his own sarcastic humor, but the chuckle died when his eyes wandered to Regulus's pale face. He sighs, taking the cloth -now hot from Regulus's body heat- off of his brother's forehead and wetting it before replacing it. "Damn it Reggie... How'd you let yourself get sick like this?" He asks softly.

Unexpectedly, the younger man shifts slightly, eyes cracking open. "S'r'us?" He slurs groggily.

Sirius jumps, startled. Then he shakes his head, rolling his eyes. "Wot, trying to give me a heart attack, then?" He asks cheerily.

Regulus winces. "M's'rry..." He mumbles. Then his eyebrows draw together. "Wh's s'c'ld?" He asks pathetically, shuddering.

"Sorry, didn't catch that, you're gonna have to speak up." Sirius states, trying to keep up his cheery demeanor.

A thready moan escapes the younger brother, and his eyes open just a bit more. "I said... Why's it so cold?" He breathes exhaustedly.

Sirius winces, having no choice but to drop the facade in the face of Regulus's suffering, and pushes the hair back from his brother's forehead, trying not to smile when Regulus leans into his touch. "It's not cold, you're just feverish." He says gently.

"Oh..." Regulus murmurs. His eyes slip back shut.

Sirius shakes his head again and taps his brother's cheek. "Hey, hey, none of that." He says sternly. Another pitiful, thready moan. He can see Regulus struggling to open his eyes, and he taps his cheek again. "C'mon, Reggie, you need to try to drink something at the very least."

Finally the silvery eyes crack open. "B't S'r'us..." The slur has returned, which makes the older of the brothers frown concernedly. "S'r'us pl's..." Comes a near-frantic mumble. Then his eyes pop all the way open and he tries to sit up, arm flailing blindly. Sirius starts to ask -No, beg hysterically- what's wrong, before noticing the green tint of his baby brother's pale face. He reaches for the wastebasket, sighing as the mixture of fluids he recognizes from earlier comes up again.

A slight whimper is all that warns him as Regulus almost tumbles off the couch into the wastebasket.

"Hey!" Sirius scrambles up to support his brother, anxiously hushing him and smoothing his hair back from the hot -So hot... He's burning up...- forehead. "It's alright, you'll be alright." He murmurs, feeling a slight sense of deja vu. He notices how tense his brother is, every muscle tight with pain. "Reggie, please calm down. Being stressed is only going to make you feel worse, little brother." He pleads softly. As Regulus attempts to comply, an echo of the past chimes in Sirius's ears. "Reggie, calm down. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." "Siri please make it better..." "Of course. What are big brothers for?" And he suddenly realizes- but for the setting, they could be little kids again. He hugs his brother a little closer with the arm that isn't currently occupied with holding his head up for him.

The retching stops after a minute, and Regulus helplessly sags into his brother's arms, coughing slightly. Sirius tugs the blanket up around his shivering brother, who nods greatfully and closes his eyes again.

Then, a thought occurs to the younger of the brothers. "Hey Sirius..." He says, eyebrows drawing together even though his eyes don't open.

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you call me 'Reggie' earlier? You haven't called me that since we were kids."

A soft chuckle, and a hand rubbing his arm gently. "You still are a kid, and I called you that because I didn't want to act all stiff and formal when you're sick."

Regulus relaxes. "Oh." Another chuckle, and he smiles slightly. Then the smile drops, and he sighs. "M'tired..." He whispers.

The arms around him tighten slightly, as if his brother is afraid of losing him if he doesn't hold on tight enough. He probably is... And then, a soothing coolness on his brow. "Go to sleep, Reggie. I'll take care of you." Sirius murmurs gently.

That's all the invitation Regulus needs. He drops into an uneasy sleep.