#the disklavier

Well, here is a snippet of chapter 2, the brothers' first meeting:

From, The Disklavier

At four in the morning a member of the Black Family’s army of butlers and governesses, Kreacher, shook Sirius out of his slumber to relay the news that he’d finally become an Older Brother, and that he was to greet his new sibling and congratulate his parents as soon as possible.

Sirius didn’t need to be told twice. He zoomed out of bed in a flash, without giving old Kreacher any time to try to catch him and wrangle him into more appropriate clothes than his simple, woolen pajamas.

He sprinted to his parents’ room, the only place where he could hear faint chatter even in the dead of night, and crashed full-bodily against the heavy ebony doors in order to tackle it open.

The first thing he noticed upon entering the chambers was Mother’s absence. The second, a baby’s quiet cries.

Father was rocking a small, bundled up creature in his arms with gleaming pride written all over his face. As soon as he noticed Sirius’ presence, he beckoned him over.

Father then knelt down in front of Sirius, moved the hem of the white blanket from the bundle in his arms, and presented him with the smallest baby he’d ever seen.

He said, “This is your brother, Regulus Arcturus Black.” And Sirius’ entire universe shifted on its axis so violently that he stumbled along with it.

The baby was sniffling pitifully, his face contorted in what Sirius thought was evident displeasure. His little sobs were anything but loud, as if he was trying to stifle them… As if he already knew that to survive inside their house, he’d have to lead a very silent existence.

Sirius wouldn't have any of that.

He outstretched his arms and stared at Father with a clear question in his eyes, which Orion appeased immediately.

As soon as Regulus was carefully deposited in Sirius’ arms, his cries grew louder and louder, so much so that they elected a surprised chuckle out of Father - who rarely ever laughed at all.

“Don't worry, Sirius, he must be a little scared of the sudden change. He's just been delivered ten minutes ago, after all.” Father tried to reassure him, but Sirius wasn't worried in the least. On the contrary, he took the baby's crying in stride.

“He's not scared, Father. He's talking to me.”

Orion scoffed out one more little chuckle before standing up again and warning Sirius to hold Regulus very carefully.

Sirius didn't need the warning, he somehow knew exactly what he needed to do.

The crying didn't bother him at all, but even as he was in no hurry to shush it he started rocking the baby back and forth a little, like he'd seen Father do, because he thought that it was the right way to go about it.

Regulus seemed to like it. If anything, he stopped crying very quickly and settled peacefully against Sirius’ chest.

That baby was Regulus. What a strange concept, what a wonderful notion.

Sirius tried to pronounce his name, slowly.

“Re-gu-lus.” He added a little bounce to his step while trying again. “Re-gulus! Regulus.”

He smiled and decided that it was a good name. It also paired up nicely with his own.

“Hello, Regulus.” He said more formally once he was confident of the pronunciation. “I'm your older brother, Sirius.”

The baby gurgled in a weird way, and then he opened his eyes. They were gray, just like Sirius’, and so very tiny that he couldn't possibly be seeing anything through them.

But they looked very focused on what they had in front of them, which must have been Sirius’ face, and under their gaze, the boy felt seen.

Sirius heard his own heart stutter.

It jumped a beat, then another, and then it started banging like a drum, so fast that he feared for a moment it would jump out of his chest. Regulus seemed to be breathing in sync with that rhythm, impossibly small ribcage rising and falling steadily underneath the soft blanket that enveloped him.

From The Disklavier

Chapter 10: Runaways

“Reg, get dressed.”

There it was, his first task.

Regulus slid down the bed, copying Sirius’ every movement to perfection, and slowly walked over to his wardrobe. “What do I wear, Paddy?” He asked quietly.

“Something really warm,” Sirius said as he zipped up a grey rucksack that he’d filled with Regulus’ stuff. “And comfortable, Bunny. We’re going on a trip, you and I.”

Regulus’ ears perked up. A trip? Him and Sirius, alone? That couldn’t be. Walburga and Orion would sooner die than let that happen.

Regulus’ hands started shaking with excitement as he got rid of his pajamas and carefully put on a pair of his warmest trousers. “Where are we going, Siri? You and I, you said? It’s going to be just us?”

Regulus turned around and– and he didn’t like what he saw.

Sirius’ eyebrows were furrowed and he was chewing on the corner of his lips.

“Why are you scared, Pads?” Regulus asked in a whisper.

The last time his brother had shown any visible trace of fear had been before almost dying at Walburga’s feet. The smell of blood invaded Regulus’ nostrils at the mere thought of the Accident, and he had to quickly push it all away from his head. Sirius was alive, he was alright.

Or was he not?

Regulus’ tremors of excitement halted all at once. He dropped his pajama bottoms on the floor - the grip he previously had on them suddenly turning lax.

Sirius was hesitating. He went from looking up to Regulus to down at the rucksack, from looking at the bed to the big, arched window in the corner of the room.

“I’m–” he stuttered (Sirius never stuttered). “I'm gonna have to make us do something really dangerous, Bunny. And I'm so sorry, but it's the only way…”

Regulus would never not trust his brother, not even with ‘something really dangerous’, so he waited for Sirius to finish speaking, with only the smallest lump stuck sideways inside his throat.

Sirius lifted his frowning, worried gaze to meet Regulus' wide eyes. He murmured, a little shakily, “Regulus, I'm taking you away. You–we, we're running away. Tonight. Now.”

The world halted. Then it tilted, all the way to one side, and then Regulus was upside down. He felt lightheaded. He felt higher than the man who had climbed all the way up Mount Everest in the book he'd just finished reading.

Running away, running away. Running away? The two of them, you and I, you and I! No Orion and no Walburga.

Sirius was still speaking - he was rambling, actually, because for some reason he was nervous, and Sirius always rambled when he was nervous or scared or worried - but Regulus kept zoning in and out of reality.

The world was upside down.

We're running away. You and I you and I you and I.

“--And it's going to be hard, you'll be cold and I don't really know how…how to get to our safe place because James is not…he cannot know. Not yet, not today. We'll have to do this on our own, Reggie. Possession is nine tenths of the law! and I'm—---”

Sirius was going to take him away from the House. Sirius was going to save him.

Regulus was upside down. The world spun and spun and spun and it was you and I you and I, just you and I.

“The Potters and Alphard all want me to wait, they want to show up here with lawyers. But if they do…they will never let us go, Bunny. I must do it and– we, we must do it now. If we wait you won't make it out of this house and I won't make it out alive!”

Sirius was terrified, that much was clear. He was so scared that he was whisper-shouting, which was absolutely forbidden during a game of Shadow Magic, but Regulus forgave him.

He forgave him for every single thing, even for the ones his brother blamed himself for that really weren't his fault at all. Regulus forgave him for leaving him all alone in the House, for making friends without him, for always taking the beatings in his place.

He forgave it all, and more.

Because Sirius was about to get him out.

Regulus could have died of happiness right then and there, in smart trousers and a woolen pajama shirt.

He jumped in Sirius’ arms like a frog - like the little green ones from the science textbook that could leap very far - and buried his face in Sirius’ t-shirt.

“Yes, yes, please. Please Paddy please, let's go. Let's go now, you and I. You and I.”

Sirius lost his balance and stumbled backwards, but he still managed to land gracefully and silently. He cursed either way, a quick “fucking shit” that made Regulus giggle almost hysterically.

The whole situation was exhilarating.

Regulus couldn't believe that he was about to finally, finally run away from the House. A place that had always been inescapable, unconquerable.

A place that, for one night, was about to be.

“Okay.” Sirius, who seemed to have snapped out of his panic, exhaled slowly to stop the tremble from reaching his voice again. “Okay,” he repeated. “We're going then. I'll finish dressing you then, c'mon, just like when you were a baby.”

Sirius did quick work of putting Regulus in a long-sleeved t-shirt, a warm sweater and a rain jacket, zipped all the way up to his throat.

It was summer, and quite a warm July at that, but the temperature always dropped significantly during the night to no more than a dozen degrees, and that, mixed with the strong wind and heavy rain that had been battering the ground the whole day, made for a less than pleasant weather.

“You'll be cold, Bunny, and we'll most likely get sopping wet but it–it will be alright. …Okay.”

Sirius, who had been kneeling down, stood up to his full height and swung the rucksack around his shoulders.

Regulus asked, “Are you not bringing anything, Siri? Of your own stuff?” with genuine concern. The rucksack was not that large but he would've easily done with one less toy or the really comfortable trainers, if only to make space for some of Sirius’ belongings.

“Don't worry about that, all my things are safely stored away in Hogwarts.” Sirius zipped his own raincoat and went to lock the door to Regulus’ room with a key he must've smuggled from Kreacher.

At last, he laced up his boots and then held his arms out to Regulus. “You'll need to hug me really tight, alright Reggie? I’ll climb down from the window, but you just focus on holding onto me and don't look down. Think you can do it, Lieutenant Whiskers?”

Regulus smiled. He was missing a front tooth, and it felt weird when air got past the bare gumline.

“I can, General Padfoot.”

Hi!! No it's not out unfortunately it's a very slow work in progress :(