Story Notes: A very brief James/Regulus. I don't think I've ever tried this pairing before which is a shame because I secretly love it! Especially when Sirius gets involved! Also it's 4 in the morning and I can't fall asleep for some reason so...that's why this happened.

Title credit to Edgar Allen Poe. (I feel like I can't use Emily Dickinson if Sirius and Regulus aren't getting it on...)

Story Summary: Sirius forces James to break up with Regulus and then has to deal with the fallout.

"I can't believe you, Sirius," Regulus whined. "What did you say to James?"

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "Nothing, really," he answered. With a shrug of his shoulders, he continued absent-mindedly filling out his astronomy star chart. "I guess he just wasn't as serious about you as you thought, Reg."

Regulus bit his lip. Sirius wasn't making eye contact with him, and that was usually a sign that he was at least partially lying. But the fear of rejection, the fear that maybe he hadn't been good enough for James after all was something Regulus had been battling for a long time, and hearing Sirius say it…maybe it had been true after all?

"No…" Regulus said in a shaky voice. "No, I mean…I always thought…he just…"

Regulus was almost quivering. He seemed to be using all his self-control not to break down in the middle of the empty Gryffindor common room. Sirius did a double take. How long had it been since Regulus had come even close to crying in his presence? Years, surely. He hadn't even shed a tear when Sirius had left home—or at least, he hadn't while Sirius was still watching.

What had befallen Regulus after Sirius had left? Did Sirius even have a right to know anymore? Cautiously, Sirius looked up from his homework. Regulus was hugging his chest and looking down, still mumbling incoherently about things James had promised, things they had enjoyed together. Sirius bit his lip. When he'd confronted James, he'd expected his friend to break things off amicably. That had, after all, been the whole point of this mess, hadn't it? To protect Regulus? Yet here he was acting like he had been deeply wounded.

With a frown, Sirius opened his arms. "Oh, Reggie," he whispered. "What did he say to you?"

Sirius was thankful there was no one else around. It meant he could set Regulus at his feet, let his brother's head rest in his lap and run his fingers gently through his soft, black hair. Were there a single witness around, he would probably have told Regulus to get a grip on himself and left it at that. Come to think of it, Regulus probably wouldn't have stuck around to talk to him at all if they weren't alone.

Sirius listened to Regulus tell his tale in between deep, controlled breaths intended to keep what Sirius assumed would be an eventual maelstrom of tears at bay. As Regulus spoke, Sirius's frown deepened.

"He called you what, now?"

Regulus's breath hitched. "A waste," he said. "A complete waste of his time."

"Regulus…"

"They didn't like me for this, you know."

"Who?" Sirius asked.

"Mum and Dad," said Regulus sadly.

"You told them?" Sirius yelped. "Regulus, tell me you didn't! Why on earth would you do that? Regulus, you…" A horrible idea began to settle in Sirius's mind. "…Oh, you really thought this was something that would last forever, didn't you?"

"James was insistent that I cancel any and all marriage contracts that our family tried to set in place. I had to give them a reason why…"

Sirius groaned. "How bad is it?" he asked, dreading the answer. Suppose Regulus had been disowned like himself? Where would the kid go once summer holidays started?

But no, Regulus was their parents' last hope, they wouldn't send him away. More likely than not, they'd tried to correct him. Images of all manner of horrific punishments crossed Sirius's mind. Urgently, he repeated his question. "What happened, Reggie?"

Regulus only shrugged and leaned away from Sirius a little. "I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled.

"Regulus," said Sirius in a voice laced with worry. This was his fault and he knew it. Anything that their parents had done to Regulus (and judging by Regulus's demeanor something pretty painful had gone down) was Sirius's fault.

Regulus closed his eyes. "I said no, Sirius," he snapped. Sirius immediately backed off. The last thing he wanted was Regulus storming off, back to the Slytherin dorms before they had worked this all out. Both brothers were silent for a while.

"Nobody'd ever said they loved me," Regulus said in a faraway voice, finally breaking the silence.

"What?" asked Sirius, his voice scarcely above a whisper.

"James," Regulus explained. "He said he loved me. No one's ever told me that before."

"That's not true, Regulus," Sirius scolded. "I love you. For what it's worth, Mom and Dad love you. I'm sure your friends…uhm, well, Uncle Alphard loves you, I'm sure Granddad and Gra—"

"You left me behind without a backwards glance, our parents only pretend to like me because you're not around anymore, all my 'friends' would just as soon see me dead, your precious Uncle Alphard doesn't even remember my name half the time and our grandparents haven't spoken to me in five years," Regulus deadpanned. "And besides, my point still stands: I'd never heard those words before. They seemed…special."

Sirius could have screamed. What a mess he was in! Splitting things off between Regulus and James had seemed like such a good idea at the time, and he still maintained that it was healthier for everyone involved if the two never spoke again…but fuck he hadn't meant to crush his brother like this. He'd ruined a pretty important first for Regulus, but dammit, why had James had to go and say that in the first place?

Sirius sincerely hoped he hadn't ruined any other…firsts for his brother as well.

"Regulus, you didn't…?" he started to ask but then stopped himself. How could he even broach that subject? And did he even want to know the answer?

Regulus looked up at him curiously. "Did I what?" he asked.

"Nothing," Sirius said, shaking his head. "I just…"

"Oh," said Regulus, a light blush creeping across his face. "You were going to ask if we had sex."

Sirius choked on his own breath.

"Don't worry," Regulus said in a clipped tone. "We never did, and apparently James would rather die anyway, so you can stop hyperventilating."

Sirius blanched. "He didn't—"

"Didn't what?" Regulus spat. "Didn't tell me the thought of touching me made him gag? Didn't call kissing me the most disgusting thing he'd ever done?"

"Regulus, I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, well, don't be. I'm the one who got my hopes up," Regulus said. "Stupid…"

The clock above the mantle chimed one a.m. The very last of the fire was smoldering to embers. Regulus suddenly threw his arm out, palm outstretched, and the fire roared back to life, filling the flue and scorching the two of them with an immediate heat. Sirius's eyes widened.

"Fucking idiot…thought I might have found somebody who liked me for more than just my last name…or maybe in spite of it." Regulus's voice trailed off, as if his wandless spell had sapped most of his energy.

Sirius went back to stroking Regulus's hair. "I know it's hard," he murmured. "But break ups are just part of life. It'll get better, Reggie, it will. Soon you'll stop hurting and everything will be okay. I promise."

Regulus looked at his brother forlornly. "How long?" he asked sadly.

Sirius sighed. "I don't know, Reg, maybe—"

But Regulus continued as though Sirius hadn't begun to answer at all. "I mean sure, the bruises will fade in a couple of weeks," he said matter-of-factly. "But even without any physical reminders, I—"

"WHAT?" Sirius roared, leaping to his feet and sending Regulus careening to the carpeted floor in doing so.

Regulus cowered while Sirius heaved him to his feet.

"He didn't?" Sirius cried.

"Didn't what?" asked Regulus in a small voice.

"Hit you!" Sirius insisted.

"No," Regulus said, wide-eyed. "No, just..." his eyes wandered guiltily to his sleeve.

Sirius pushed Regulus shirtsleeve back and gasped at the long, purple bruise that wrapped around his little brother's forearm.

"What happened?" Sirius asked in horror. When Regulus remained silent, Sirius actually shook him a little. "You tell me right now," he ordered. Regulus whimpered.

"It was n-nothing, I promise," he said. "I just…I had a hard time hearing what James had to say. He told me to leave him alone, but I followed after him and he sort of just…pushed me away. I don't think he even realized the stairs were so close—"

Regulus gasped a little, as if worried he'd said too much. With no hesitation, Sirius pulled his shirt up a little, revealing several long scrapes and many ugly, deep bruises, such as one might get from striking the edge of a railing and then tumbling down some stairs.

Sirius didn't hesitate. He spun around and dashed for the spiral staircase to his dorm. Regulus followed him immediately.

"Sirius, don't!" he yelled, but Sirius paid him no heed.

Regulus followed his brother through the door to the room he shared with Lupin, Pettigrew and James. Sirius furiously turned on the lights.

Now that the lamps were flickering brightly, Regulus could see James, who was in the bed nearest, begin to stir. His curtains hadn't been pulled shut, so when he sat up, rubbing at his eyes in confusion, he was face to face with both Blacks.

"Sirius?" he asked groggily. "What is—"

He was cut off by Sirius's fist connecting heartily with his jaw. There was a loud crack and James was pelted backwards into his headboard.

"Holy shit!" he cried. "What is wrong with you?"

Regulus tried to hold his brother back, but Sirius threw him off easily. Nervous, Regulus looked around and saw Sirius's other two roommates peeking out from behind their curtains in awe.

"You fucking prick!" Sirius yelled. "How could you hurt him like that?"

James was doubled over, rubbing at his jaw. "Hurt who?" he asked frantically. Then his eyes fell to Regulus. "Reg?"

"Yes Reg, you fuckwit," Sirius yelled. "You had no right to be so cruel to him."

"You're angry that I broke up with him?" asked James in confusion. "I thought that's what you wanted."

"Sirius…?" Regulus's hurt-sounding voice briefly pulled Sirius back.

Sirius turned to his brother and looked at him pleadingly. "I'm sorry, Reg," he said. "It's true that I asked James to end things, but only because I wanted what was best for you."

"No," said James. "You wanted what was best for you, Sirius. Regulus didn't even cross your mind."

Sirius whirled around and punched James again. James reeled backwards.

"How many more times are you going to fucking hit me?" he screamed, sitting back up and fumbling around his nightstand, looking for his wand.

"Until you're as bruised up as he is!"

"Huh?" James asked in confusion. Regulus immediately stepped in between the two of them.

"Please stop, Sirius," he said. "It's fine, really. You don't have to do this. I…I think I'd just like to go back to my dorm now and forget…everything." His eyes drifted to James and he looked so incredibly sad that Sirius lost the last of his resolve.

"Don't go, Reggie," he said. He wrapped his arms around his brother and held him close. "I'm sorry I set out to sabotage your relationship with James. I shouldn't have done that I was just…it was just a lot to take in. I guess I didn't like that you'd chosen my best friend." He turned angrily to James. "And I was worried about you. I thought James might hurt you."

"Well you were right about that at least," Regulus said in a small voice.

"Ah, Reg," James crooned. His voice was a little stilted from being punched in the face twice. "I didn't mean any of those things I said to you; I felt awful saying them, but I thought it was the only way to make sure you stopped wanting me for good. Sirius had me horrified that us being together would bring your whole family down on you."

Regulus peeked out from his brother's arms. "Really?" he asked.

James nodded, smiling.

"Reggie," he said emphatically. "I love you. And when I said I wanted you with me forever? I meant that."

Sirius made a very distressed noise and for a brief moment, he tightened his grip on his brother before finally releasing him.

"Fine," he said forcefully as Regulus went to James and fell into his lap. "Fine. Go ahead. I just…fuck." Sirius raked a hand through his hair in frustration.

There was some mild movement from the corner of the room. Sirius started. He'd forgotten the other marauders were still there.

"It's almost two o'clock," said Lupin in a tired voice. "Why don't we all go to sleep and Sirius and James can finish their talk in the morning?"

There was a sort of confused desperation to his voice, as though he only half believed what he was seeing was real.

Sirius took a deep breath. "Okay," he said. "Bed…right." He threw off his shirt and shoes, then flopped down in the bed next to James's. He got under the covers but made no move to close his curtains.

Regulus settled likewise, curling up next to James with a small smile on his face. When James reached for the pull to his own curtains, Sirius growled, "Those stay open."

"Yes sir," said James, throwing his arms around Regulus. "Absolutely."

Regulus gave James a shy kiss to his smarting jaw. James smiled. Regulus kissed him a second time. James smiled again but pushed Regulus back a bit. "Please wait until someone falls asleep," he begged in a low voice. "My face really hurts."

Regulus sniggered. Sirius couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but he knew he didn't like it.

"I can make Regulus sleep with me," he reminded them.

Instantaneously Regulus and James separated a little and settled down on opposite sides of the bed. Begrudgingly as satisfied as he was going to get, Sirius killed the lights and settled down to sleep.

When he heard his brother's breathing even out, Regulus climbed onto James, connecting their bodies at the hips and mouth. James moaned into Regulus's kiss.

"I can always count on you, can't I?" he sniggered. Regulus nodded enthusiastically.

"If I'd've known you were this good at manipulating Sirius, I would have started dating you in your first year. Imagine what I could've gotten him to do for me!"

Regulus laughed quietly. "Don't abuse my power," he whispered, placing a hand on James's cheek.

"Don't worry, love, I would never. Your brother loves you; I won't exploit that," James promised. "You sure had him going good, though. I mean, I know I gave you some good material to work with, but he was seething. You must have added something…"

Regulus sat up and blushed a little. "I might have told him that you got a little…rough."

He slipped off his shirt and in the moonlight streaming in from the window, James could see the injuries on Regulus's arm and torso. He quickly sat up and brushed his fingers lightly over Regulus's stomach.

"Holy fuck," he whispered. "No wonder he was in such a state. He thought I did this to you!"

Regulus shrugged. "He needed a little extra motivation…"

"We're getting you salve from the hospital wing first thing in the morning," James said sternly, pulling Regulus to his chest gently and peppering his face with kisses. Regulus hummed contentedly at the attention.

"I would never do something like that to you, Regulus," James said earnestly. He brushed his hand up and down Regulus's back, mindful of the bruises. "You understand that, right? I'd rather die than hurt you."

"I know that," said Regulus, sounding embarrassed.

"But now Sirius doesn't," said James worriedly. "Jesus, Regulus, he thinks I'd hurt you."

"Yeah, he'll probably be watching you annoyingly closely for a little while, but he'll get over it, I told him it was mostly an accident, really…"

"Regulus?" James asked suddenly. "How did you get all banged up like this, actually?"

Regulus looked away and didn't answer. When he turned back to James it was to press their bodies together again. Regulus began to kiss his way down James's body, intent on reaching they boy's cock, but James stopped him and pulled him back up so they were face to face.

"Seriously, Regulus, how did you get like this?"

"It's nothing!" Regulus said. "I…I did it to myself. James." He started to slide out of the rest of his clothes.

"Regulus, I—" James was cut off by another kiss.

"Want to take me right here?" Regulus asked breathlessly. "Four feet away from my brother? It'll be amazing…" he trailed his hand down James's chest. He hadn't exactly been lying to Sirius when he'd said he and James hadn't gone all the way yet. They had come damn close.

"With you looking like you've been run over by a hippogriff?" James said incredulously. "Of course not, Regulus, it would hurt you. Now stop trying to distract me and answer my question."

James's tone was starting to remind Regulus of his brother so he reluctantly relented.

"Fine," he muttered. "I went home over the weekend."

James put a hand to his mouth. "You told me you wrote your parents a letter."

"I did," Regulus admitted. "They ordered the school to send me home so I could explain myself. I told them was bisexual. They didn't care about that. Then I reassured them that I was going to marry a man and my father freaked out. There, are you happy now?"

"You told your parents you were going to marry me?"

"I don't think it was the fact that you're a boy that even set them off," Regulus said idly. "They asked if you were a pureblood and I said yes. For a minute it seemed like everything was going to be fine until they asked for a name and I told them. I think they put two and two together that you were Sirius's best friend. Yeah…that was what did it," he added in an awed voice.

James was still stuck a few sentences back.

"Marry me?" he asked again in disbelief.

Regulus suddenly looked very apprehensive.

"Well I…of course it was just something that I said, I mean…what a crazy notion," he stammered. "I was just testing them, really…wondering how far I could go before Dad would lose it. Pretty far, evidently," Regulus said, pointing to his black and blue torso with a nervous laugh.

But James cut him off with a kiss. Regulus responded, more than a little bit confused.

"Come here," said James quietly, and the two of them lay back down. James pulled the covers up and slid Regulus up against his chest. He hummed softly into the side of the Slytherin's neck.

Regulus didn't say a word. Perhaps James was going to just forget his little mishap. They could just move on like Regulus hadn't said anything stupid at all.

It was James who broke the silence.

"You're fifteen, Regulus," he said quietly.

"I…know that?"

James laughed. "You're too young to be thinking of marriage."

Regulus blushed furiously. "Obviously," he said. "James, I don't know why I said it, I was just being stupid…"

"Oh I know exactly why you said it and you weren't being stupid so stop saying that," said James immediately. He placed a finger to Regulus's lips and the latter quieted.

"Now, Regulus Black," said James earnestly. "I accept your proposal and plan on holding you to it."

Something inside Regulus's chest exploded.

"But for the sake of your brother," James continued. "Let's postpone the announcement for a few years."

"You…want to get married to me?" Regulus asked in awe.

"Yes," said James. He gently traced the contours of Regulus's face with the very tips of his fingers, loving the little shivers of pleasure that would wrack through his boyfriend's body. "I love you too much not to."

Regulus didn't have any words. Instead he only nodded frantically. James kissed his forehead to calm him down.

"When the time comes, Regulus," he said with a smile. "I expect the works, you know. I want you down on one knee, big fancy ring, everything."

"Okay," said Regulus breathlessly. "Whatever you want…anything you want…I love you." He leaned forward, needy and wanting James to kiss him, touch him, anything.

James chuckled. "I love you, too, Regulus. And I'll snog you to your heart's content just as soon as your older brother closes his mouth and stops staring at us…"

*gasps* ...Happiness? ...Fluff? Where did all that come from?

Signed/tenrousei-kuroi