Number 12 Grimmauld Place had, for decades been a place that held the dark arts in reverence. It had always been home to witches and wizards who since birth, were destined to be sorted into Slytherin at Hogwarts, until 1971. In 1971, Sirius, the oldest son of Orion and Walburga Black and heir to the House of Black was sorted into Gryffindor. A rebel ever since he was born, Sirius never followed his family’s supremacist and pureblood elitist beliefs. After his sorting, Sirius would defy his mother even further by turning his room into a shrine to Godric Gryffindor and putting permanent sticking charms on Gryffindor banners. As he grew older, he would decorate his room like a muggle boy his age would, posters of motorcycles, muggle women in skimpy clothing hung on the walls and muggle music played in his room, all day long. Regulus, the Black’s youngest was sorted in Slytherin and unlike his older brother, was compliant. Sirius and Regulus never spoke much because Sirius thought that speaking to him would make their mother’s rage befall his younger brother, and that’s where Sirius drew his line of defiance because he never wished for his brother to be treated the way he was.

August 1976

On a night cursed with the wretched downpour of ice cold water from the skies,

James opened the door and found, standing at the door completely drenched in the downpour with a bag in hand, his friend Sirius.

“Padfoot..?” James asked, surprised.

“Is everything okay..?” He continued as he let Sirius into his house and snatched the bag from his hand.

“You even brought the racy posters, which I reckon means you’ve left for good.” James said as he opened the bag and went through it.

“Yes. Is that going to be a problem..?” Sirius finally broke his silence.

Smack! James hit him with the rolled up and wet Playboy posters and said,

“Stop being an arse Padfoot. I understand. And you can stay with me for as long as you want.” James replied, smiling.

James’ parents Fleamont and Euphemia Potter had known Sirius since he was 12 and knew how it was for him, to live with his parents. They welcomed Sirius as if he were their own and even offered him their guest bedroom, Sirius graciously accepted their gift but still slept in James’ room for the better part of his stay at their house.

A week before returning to Hogwarts, James finally asked Sirius the one question, the answer to which was hurting his friend more than anything in his life ever had.

“Hey Padfoot…”

“Hmm…” Sirius hummed as he looked at the clouds from atop the roof of the Potter residence.

“Why’d you leave..? You’ve been living with them for your entire life, you’ve defied your mother for a decade, what changed..?” James asked, seriously.

“Shut it Prongs! I’m not interested in answering this line of questioning.” Sirius replied instantaneously, his voice sternly swatting James’ question out of the air.

“Okay. I apologise.” James said before picking up his wand and “Accio umbrella.” he ordered and an umbrella lying a mere ten steps away from where they sat, flew towards them, gracefully through the drizzle.

“It’s about to rain Padfoot. We should probably get down.” James said as he opened the umbrella and held it over their heads.

“I’m sorry James.” Sirius replied as he got up.

Smack! James hit him at the back of his head, even though he knew that Sirius’ untamable and bushy hair would take most of the impact and said,

“I understand Padfoot! In your shoes, I might’ve done the same.” James replied, smiling as they reached the stairs.

“What do you mean..?”

“Well… I’d wait till we got back to the castle as well because otherwise I’d have to repeat myself when Moony asked me the same question, all worked up and worried. And don’t get me started on how Wormtail will react.” James completed.

Smack! It was James on the receiving end that time.

“What..!? I am right aren’t I..?” He asked, nursing the back of his head.

“Absolutely.” Sirius replied as he smiled and walked down the stairs.

Back at Hogwarts,

“What..!? Are you serious..? Please tell me he’s kidding James.” Remus said, as they sat on the bleachers of the quidditch pitch at dusk.

“Unfortunately Remus, he isn’t.” James replied sitting on his broom, hovering above the others.

“Hey, what did I miss..?” Peter asked as he reached his friends, panting uncontrollably from all the running.

“Padfoot ran away from home.” Remus said, disappointed.

“But… But Sirius…” Peter mumbled.

“Shut it Wormtail! You have no idea why I did what I did, so before I stupefy you, just shut it.” Sirius threatened Peter.

“Okay. Then tell us.” Peter said, concerned.

“Yeah Padfoot. Tell us!” James said, as he jumped from his broom and landed on the ground and all four of them heard the usual posse of girls that came to watch James practice cheer in glee.

“Well… I don’t know where to start.” Sirius said, seriously.

“Sirius. We can’t help you if you don’t talk to us. And you know for a fact that I hate feeling helpless. So talk… Please.” Remus spoke as he reassuringly put his hand around Sirius’ shoulder.

“I hate feeling helpless as well Moony. I do. And that’s why I had to run away.” Sirius replied, his voice beginning to crack.

“Usually, when I feel helpless, I charge right into the situation that makes me feel that way.” He continued.

“We know.” His three best friends said, in unison.

“But this time, I couldn’t… I couldn’t just charge right into the situation and handle it because…” Sirius’ conscience stopped him and his grey eyes dampened.

“Because what Sirius..?” James asked, concerned.

“Because it’s Regulus, James. It’s my little brother.” Sirius said, overpowering his conscience with his undying loyalty.

“What happened..? Is he okay..? I… I just passed him on my way here. Should… should we go talk to him..?” Peter mumbled nervously.

“No Peter. Not until we hear all of it.” Remus said, as he tightened his grip around Sirius’ shoulder.”

“I got home early one day from my evening stroll and right before I entered my room, I heard voices coming from Reg’s room. I tried to ignore them but then I heard Regulus moaning in agony. I swiftly made my way over to his room and saw something.” Sirius said, before he swallowed the huge lump in his throat.

“I saw Regulus tied up to a chair and I saw my mother, whipping him. I couldn’t bear to look at what she had done to Regulus’ back, he was bleeding!” Sirius continued as the lump of emotions he had swallowed came back up.

“I never thought she would do something like this to Regulus. He is a better son than I am, he always has been. I’ve never spoken to him much after being sorted into Gryffindor because I didn’t want something like this to happen to him, but I reckon I’m a lot more awful as a son than even I imagined. Aren’t I..?” Sirius asked, in a painfully non rhetoric tone as tears began falling from his face.

“Hey Padfoot! Anyone who says you’re a bad son can come and talk to my parents or better yet, talk to me personally.” James said, as he removed his quidditch gauntlets and sat down beside Sirius.

“But there’s more James… I entered the room, enraged and horrified and I… I stupefied her James. I watched her fall to the ground unconscious and I felt good about it.” There was no lump in Sirius’ throat anymore, for all of his emotions were coming out of his body as tears.

“I untied Reg, told him to pack his bags and ran to my room to pack mine. But I returned, only to find Regulus still standing where I had left him, bleeding and in pain. I cannot come with you brother, he told me. I tried to convince him Remus, I really did! But he told me that he wanted to stay and stop mother from coming after me. He walked me to the door, hugged me and told me that he was glad that I had finally found my bearings to do what I should’ve done years ago, he smiled as I heard him say these words out loud and then he bid me farewell and promised me that he would be fine as long as he knew that I was too. He then closed the door and I ran, still feeling as helpless as I did when I confronted my mother. And I still feel helpless.” Sirius completed as his friends held him in their arms and let him cry.

As the sun left the sky and darkness began to take over the quidditch pitch, the quartet stayed silent, looking up at the twilight sky.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you Peter.” Sirius broke the silence as he wiped the tears off of his face.

“Oh… That’s quite alright Padfoot.” Peter replied with a smile.

“Do you want us to go talk to Regulus..? Because my parents will be more than happy to take him in as well.” James said as he put his legs across his broom once more.

“No James, there’s no need for that anymore. Look.” Remus said, pointing at the sky.

“What..? I don’t see anything.” James retorted.

“Well… That’s just because your vision is terrible Prongs.” Remus said, mockingly.

“It’s an owl.” Peter said, squinting.

“Not just any owl. It’s Hobart. Reg’s owl.” Sirius said, as the big brown long eared owl swiftly made its way to them.

Hobart soon reached them and brought with it a letter, Regulus’ letter.

Sirius walked ahead of his friends and opened it, he used his wand to shed light onto it and read it,

Dear brother, I know you are fine and that makes me happy. Everything at home is as it always has been. Mother is not angry on me anymore and I hope you aren’t as well. I didn’t sleep for a week after you left and to my surprise, neither did mother. The day we got the news that you were living at the Potter’s and were safe, we slept like infants. I had never seen Mother the way she was in that week, she’d step into your room and look at the Gryffindor banners for hours, she’d sit on your bed and smile as tears rolled down her cheeks, she’d smile in a way that I had never seen her smile before. I know you hate her brother and I know that you have your reasons, but what I also know, is that she misses you. Well… but then as soon as we found out that you were safe, she returned to her normal, proud self and blasted your name off of the family tree. I will always consider you my brother Sirius, but unfortunately we can never be together again, Mother and Father are already having a hard time dealing with the repercussions of you leaving us and that is why I cannot add on to it by speaking to you behind their backs. We’re loyal brother, but it is where our loyalties lie that define who we are. I’ve always been loyal to our family and you’ve always been loyal to your friends because the Sorting Hat gave you a choice, because it knew that it’d be better this way. In the end, I would like to address the incident and write that you shouldn’t have seen what you saw and I am sorry you did, but know, that I deserved it. Mother was whipping me, punishing me because I asked her to, because you and I are different people, because I may be the better son, but we both know that you’ve always been the better person.

Goodbye Sirius. Forever your brother,

R. A. B.

Sirius slowed his pace and let his friends catch up to him,

“Still feeling helpless Padfoot..?” James asked, distracting him while Remus snatched the letter from his hand.

“No I don’t.” Sirius replied, smiling.

“Then we don’t need this anymore, right..?” Remus asked as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the letter.

“No we do not.” Sirius replied, right before he knocked James off his broom.

“You call yourself a seeker Prongs..?” Sirius asked, mockingly as Remus and Peter snickered.

“I wasn’t prepared.” James complained.

“Too bad, but no one ever is James. Do it Moony.” Sirius said, before Remus set the letter on fire and the four watched as it burnt to ashes right outside the quidditch pitch and Sirius finally made peace with his decision to leave his family behind.

“So Moony… Now that I’m essentially a free agent, what say you set me up with your friend Evans huh..?” Sirius asked, as he awaited James’ reaction.

“Oh… I would love to.” Remus replied, smiling as he saw James’ expession take a turn for the worse.

“Moony you sw…” James said before Peter cut him off by saying,

“They’re just playing with you James.”

“Were you just about to call me a swine James..?” Remus asked, inquistively.

“No! Of course not. I was saying that… Umm… Moony… You’re… A… Sw…”

“A sweetheart..? Why thank you James, but I am not interested.” Remus teased him.

“But he can set you up with Betram Aubrey if you’d like, you remember him right..? James..?” Sirius teased him to the point of no return and fled.

James swiftly picked up his broom and followed him,

“I’m going to kill him first and then come back for you Moony. And don’t worry Peter you’re safe.” James said before he sped away behind Sirius, who had now transformed into his Animagus form to gain speed.

Remus and Peter then laughed as they followed their friends on foot, back to the castle.