Dis.: I do not own Sirius and Regulus Black nor Kreacher (Who would want to own him?)

Summery: One shot. Sirius and Regulus are v. young children and are getting ready for bed.

A's Note: The poem is mine. Luckily I had a pencil and a scrap of paper laying by my bed that night when I thought of it. Keep in mind that at one point in time Sirius and Regulus may have been very close. In this story Sirius is about...let's say seven and we'll make Reggie five. I have no clue how far apart they were or anything like that so let's just pretend...okay?

To my M&OotP readers I am working on the next chapter. Shame on me for not working on it for over a year! I'll get that up as soon as I can.

"Brother, how many stars."

Sirius Black tugged on a string of his black pajamas. He hated going to bed early just because his parents were having some of their "friends" for dinner. But on the other hand he didn't really enjoy their company in the first place. The things they talked about...

Sirius shuddered.

Finally giving the string a hearty tug he pulled it out and laid it strategy in the middle of the bedroom floor that he and his younger brother Regulus shared.

He never understood why they had to share a room. It wasn't as if 12 Grimmuald Place was a small house. There were plenty of rooms to spare and not all of them could contain objects that he and Regulus could get in trouble with.

'Kreacher will have to pick it up later.' Sirius thought with a grin looking down at the string.

Dispite his hatred for the ugly house elf Kreacher Sirius often found the thing useful. Doing his chores for example. Sirius hated cleaning his room so he always had Kreacher do the work for him. He was always careful to make sure that the ugly house elf could not snitch on him and tell his mother by using the laws for house elves against him.

By telling Kreacher that he, the master, orders the elf to clean his room and never tell a living person of how the room actually got cleaned.

Sirius was now by the window. He gazed up at the sky looking for his namesake. It was a clear full moon night and the stars shone brightly. He quickly found Sirius the dog star and was content to stare at it forever.

Forever, however, was not an option for that very moment Regulus burst in the door grinning followed by Kreacher. Regulus ran up to Sirius and looked wildly about at the night sky.

Kreacher meanwhile prepared their beds.

"Wow!" Regulus said brightly.

Sirius rolled his eyes playfully at his little brother. "What?" he asked.

"Brother, how many stars are in the sky?"

"Only two. You and I."

"And what of the moon? What of him?"

"Why his light compared to us is dim."

"What about the sun? What is he?"

"He is to us, the bottom of the sea."

"And what about a candle's flicker?"

"We are brighter and we are quicker."

"And will we stand the test of time?"

"Yes indeed, brother of mine."

"Young masters needs to be in bed." Kreacher rasped.

"Okay! Okay!" Regulus said exasperated. "Now go away until we are called for breakfast." Regulus made sweeping motions with his hands like his parents do when they send the elf out of the room.

Kreacher slunked out of the room.

Sirius shut the door and hopped into bed. Regulus did the same.

"G'night Sirius."

"G'night Regulus."

And without another word the two brothers drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

They could never have known what the future would hold for them. They would never have imagined that the bond that they held so dearly that night would be snapped in two so easily or that they would never grow up to be old wizards playing chess and bickering with each other about who could hear the least as they had pretended so many times. For now they will love and cherish one another.

Rest in peace: S.B. and R.B.

The End