Hello Fam :)

Long time no see. :P

I actually forgot I had chapters written offline. I might update them because there seems a lot has happened between this chapter and the one I am currently writing now. 

Happy Reading...

Sirius was overwhelmed by everything that was going around him. It first started with their DADA class where Sirius casted his first successful non-verbal spell in front of their professor, totally pissing him off. After that, he pretty much ignored Sirius in the class earning a grin from James.

James was a whole different story. The boy went back to following Sirius even to restrooms except when they were in their dorm room. When Marlene rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of the boy and tried to drag Sirius aside, James pulled Sirius beside him in an instant. Marlene, I am sorry, but I don't want anything happening to him right after holidays like last time. After that, everyone pretty much left him alone because no one wanted that to repeat. Secretly, Sirius thought, they were sympathetic towards him at having been reminded of how he ran away from his family. Sirius hated it.

Hence, when Prof. McGonagall gave him a detention in Transfiguration class for not paying attention, he silently nodded but James burst out laughing, even if they all knew Minnie wouldn't fall for his tricks. Proving him right, she shook her head. "No, James. I am not giving you detention. Sit down quietly."

"But Minnie, don't you care about me? Don't you want me to become a better person?", protested James.

"As far as I know, if you would sit down and listen to the class, I would say you had become a better person from what you are right now", said Minerva.

James stood up on his seat instead. "Why is Sirius given detention for as small a reason as wavering his attention but I am being excused even if I am laughing out loudly, Minnie?"

Minerva rolled her eyes before putting a silencing charm on James. "I know what you are trying to do, Potter. Unlike you, I don't think you should try to be Sirius's shadow. I would next throw you out of the class if you don't sit down quietly. I hope you wouldn't want that", she said, pointing at Sirius.

Maybe even she was aware about James's obsession because Jay sat quietly and the whole class tried to stifle their laughter.

XXX

Remus was in the library working on something when a shadow fell on his book and when he looked up, he was surprised to find Regulus there. Regulus never tried to initiate any talk with Remus except when he was with Lily and the younger Black had to talk to Lily. Looking at the boy now, Remus felt he was scared out of his wits, which worried him. Regulus was epitome of a control, the perfect pureblood kid unlike Sirius, who wore his heart on sleeve. "Is everything alright?", he asked, cautiously.

Regulus bit his lip and shook his head. "Take me to Sirius, please?"

"What?"

"Please", he repeated.

Remus gave him a nod, wondering what might have happened to make Regulus lose control like that. Regulus could go to Gryffindor tower by himself but if he was asking Remus's help, he might have wanted to go without anyone's notice. Remus would need the cloak. He shoved his books into the bag and asked Regulus to follow. When they were near Gryffindor, Remus halted and turned to face the younger boy. "I will go get the cloak", he said. "I guess you should try taking a couple of breaths first", he added before making a run towards the tower.

When Remus reached the room, the room was empty except for James, who had the map at his side, as he worked on his homework. "Where's Sirius?", he asked, grabbing the cloak.

"Detention", grumbled James. "Remember, Minnie didn't give me detention."

Remus rolled his eyes before leaving the room. If Sirius wasn't there in the room, at least James could talk to Regulus. He saw the boy pacing nervously, rubbing his hands in his hair. The disheveled hair should be the reason enough to know that something was really wrong. "Here, put this on."

With the ease Regulus had put the cloak around him even in this state, Remus wondered how close he was to James before going into Slytherin and stopped talking to his brother. Remus took the boy to their dorm room avoiding the crowd as much as possible. As soon as Regulus stepped into the room, James was already on his feet and taking the cloak off the boy before pulling him into a hug.

"Reggie, what's wrong?"

Remus sat down as James tried to help the boy breathe. It was really a wonder how Regulus buried himself into James's arms and tried to breathe. It was like seeing James calming Sirius down all over again, only there's a younger version of Sirius. James was really good at being a mother-hen but he took it to a whole new level when the Black brothers were involved.

A few minutes later, James broke the hug and brushed some of the hair out of Regulus's face. "Sirius is fine. He is in detention with Minnie. Will you tell me what happened?"

"Bella", whispered Regulus. "We were in the common room and Bella was explicitly explaining how she would kill Sirius."

James sighed, rubbing his forehead. Remus could understand. Bellatrix was always on the wilder side. "Reggie, Sirius's fine and with the brilliant witch the Hogwarts had ever seen and she would protect Sirius like he was her own son, if there was any threat. Does this help you calm down? You could wait here until Sirius returns."

"No", said Regulus. "I need to see him. Take me to Sirius, please?"

James groaned before grabbing the cloak again. "Put this on."

Remus straightened up. "But he is in detention."

"With Minnie", said James. "She would understand. Look at him, Moony. He is shaking."

With that, James squeezed Regulus's shoulder before he went under the cloak once again, this time following James.

If not anything, at least Remus was happy Regulus cared enough about his brother that he was scared to lose him.

XXX

It was weird. Having James around him constantly was uncomfortable but right now, when James isn't there beside him, Sirius felt it was weird. Sure, they had separate detentions here and there but somehow this was one of those few times when Sirius alone had detention after James started following him like crazy. Sirius shook his thoughts before knocking on the door of their transfiguration classroom and waved his hand at Minerva.

"Sirius, take a seat", she said with a smile. "How are you?"

"I am fine?", he asked because the scene was getting even more weird. Minnie saw him just a couple of hours prior in the classroom.

"Did you finish your homework?", she asked and gave him a parchment, quill, and the transfiguration textbook when Sirius shook his head. "Sit down and do it silently."

"What?"

Minerva sighed. "I know Potter isn't leaving you alone. Just do your homework or just sit here and you can leave whenever you want to. If you want some quiet time alone anytime, you can ask me, okay?"

Sirius was too dumbfounded as he sat down taking the textbook and the parchment. Of course, James wasn't leaving him alone but James was also afraid that something would happen to Sirius and sure he was overprotective but that's what made him James. It was all fine when Sirius thought about it but Minerva, out of all the people, was trying to keep James away from Sirius, however noble her intention was, was discomforting. Sirius sighed heavily before putting his quill down. "Minnie, you know I love him, right?"

Minerva nodded. "I know, Sirius. But even love in overdose isn't good for us. And it's okay to want to be alone for some time or with someone other than him. You don't have to center your world on one single person."

"I know. I just", he started before reframing his thoughts. "I know he is trying to protect me. If anything like that happens again, I would be glad if he was there beside me."

Minerva abandoned her seat to sit beside Sirius. "James isn't a bad person, Sirius. Quite the opposite actually. Especially to you. He is scared and you should be happy that there is someone who would stop their entire world for you. If James is protecting you, his sole focus is on you."

Sirius chuckled. "I am happy. Of course. Sometimes, I feel like I am alive because of him. I wouldn't have survived my family all those years if not for him. I wouldn't have escaped from there if he wasn't there in my life. Who knew, you would have hated me, Minnie."

Minerva shook his head. "I wouldn't have hated you, Sirius. If James wasn't there in your life, sure you would've turned out different or like the rest of the Blacks but you would've been my student and I wouldn't hate a student. I would sure hate the circumstances because you are a good person. Also, apart from James, you have people around you who care about you. Maybe not as much as James does but there are many. Just promise me, if it becomes too much and if you feel like you don't have anyone to talk to, you would find me?"

Sirius grinned. "I would."

Minerva smiled before patting his shoulder. "Now get back to studying."

"Ruined the moment, Minnie", said Sirius, chuckling.

Minerva just rolled her eyes before going back to her table and resumed her work.

XXX

James ran his hands in his hair, messing it up even more. If Regulus wasn't so out of his element, he would have definitely commented on his messier-than-usual bird's nest. Bella was cruel and could give gruesome details of death when she was eight. So, nothing new there. Everyone in the Black family, and James in extension, knew about it already. Her story involving Sirius might have scared Reg out of his wits that he had snapped out of his pureblood demeanor and asked Remus to sneak him into Gryffindor tower.

He sighed as they reached the transfiguration classroom before giving a glance behind him and opened the door. Since Regulus was under the cloak, Minerva only saw James and rolled her eyes.

"Why am I not surprised?", she muttered. "Potter, did you think I would harm Sirius that you couldn't leave alone in a detention?"

On the contrary, Minerva was one of the few adults James trusted would never harm Sirius. But he knew he earned the question after the spectacle he created inside the class in order to earn a detention with Sirius. "Minnie, can I talk to Sirius for a moment?", he asked. "Could you please cast the privacy charms on the door?"

Whatever Minerva saw on his face, she did that without any question. As soon as her wand moment was finished, James pulled the cloak revealing Regulus and the boy was in Sirius's arms within a moment.

"Reggie, what happened?", asked Sirius.

James gestured Sirius to calm down with his eyes. Sirius nodded, trusting him, as he pulled them onto the bench without actually breaking the hug. James took a seat in the next row beside them, making sure to give them their space but close enough to reach out if any of them needed him. When he glanced up, he saw Minerva with a confused frown as she glanced at the Black brothers.

James sighed. "Yeah, they reconciled a while back when Regulus stopped being stupid and realized he didn't hate Sirius as much he pretended to be." The boy in question gestured his hand wildly in James's direction to grab in protest to his words but Sirius pulled his arm, trying to quiet the boy.

"I see, at least one person in the Black family has a properly functioning brain", said Minerva.

"What about me, Minnie?", asked Sirius.

"Didn't I mention a proper functioning brain?", said Minerva, raising an eyebrow.

"Fine", said Sirius, accepting his defeat before concentrating on Regulus, who was still clinging to him.

James briefly explained about Bella and what made Regulus so terrified and he was pleased to see her fuming by the end. Minerva would never bad-mouth a student in front of another but she was close. James looked at his boys. "Minnie, can't we just kill the Blacks here and there? Who would notice if the whole family is gone?"

"Except Sirius?"

"And Reg too. Those two are mine."

Minerva sighed. "As much as it pains me to say as a Professor, you can't, Potter. But I wish you could do it someday."

James was surprised but never in his wildest dreams had he thought Minerva would encourage a mass homicide. When he glanced at her and followed the direction where her eyes were looking at Sirius, he understood why said what she said.

XXX

After everyone calmed down enough, Minerva left the room, probably to give the boys some privacy. On her way out, she told Regulus that he could use her name to get out of any trouble if any of his friends or family finds him on his way back to the dorm. James and Sirius grinned identically and Regulus was just shocked.

"She is nice?", asked Regulus.

Sirius cuffed his head. "She is always nice, brat. That's her accepting you as one of her kids. Don't worry. She has her favorites even if she admits not to have them and you would know if you know how to look at them."

James pouts. "Sirius is hers even amongst us. She even calls him Sirius instead of Black. I would really be jealous if she starts calling you Regulus before she calls me James."

Regulus composes himself before rolling his eyes and James ruffles his hair. "You are an idiot on the best of your days."

"Says the idiot who came crying to me", teased James.

"I didn't come crying to you. I came crying to see my brother and unfortunately, had to deal with you."

Sirius rolled his eyes at the two idiots. They were talking as if Regulus wasn't leaning his hand towards James or the way he didn't protest when James messed his hair the way he would do if Sirius did the exact same thing. "Okay, enough of you being a brat", said Sirius, putting an arm around Reg. "Listen, Reggie, you know right I can take over Bella anytime? I am also working on non-verbal spells."

"I know. I was just afraid when she talked in the common room and everyone just made a joke out of your impending death", muttered Regulus.

If he wasn't wrong, his baby brother would be blaming himself for showing emotions to the point of making himself look vulnerable, something mother wouldn't approve of. "Reggie, they are just being dramatic and you know drama runs in our family. Don't even think about Bella. She is just mad. At this point, there is not even a question about her sanity within the family, okay? Just stay away from her if you don't like what she is speaking but I promise you, I will be careful and I am capable", he said and when Regulus still didn't look entirely convinced, he pointed towards James. "Do you think this idiot is leaving me alone to get me into any kind of trouble?"

Regulus looked at James before giving a satisfied nod and Sirius cuffed his head.

"And you say, you hate him?", said Sirius.

Regulus shrugged. "He is saner of you two, which is not a very high bar but he still has something more on him than you."

James burst out laughing before grabbing Regulus's hand. "Hey, baby, what you did today was very brave and it's totally okay to reach out to either of us if you don't seem to think straight. Coming to Bella, Sirius is more trained than her and I will watch his back for you, okay?"

"You would watch his back even if it's not for me", retorted Regulus before sighing. "But I believe you."

Sirius huffed. "You didn't believe me when I promised the exact same thing but he just repeats my words and you are all confident. Betrayal if I see one, baby brother."

Regulus rolled his eyes before standing up. "I have had enough of you two faces for a day so, I am leaving so that I don't have to see your stupid faces for the rest of the day", he said but the idiot still hugged both of them before leaving.

"Your brother has strange ways to show his love", said James as Regulus left the room.

Sirius slapped his arm. "He is your brother too."

"Not denying that", muttered James. "But hey, Sirius, am I suffocating you?"

Sirius laughed. "No, who said that?"

"Did you ask Minnie to give you the detention to get away from me?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, Jay. Why would I ever do that? It was her idea. She thought you were not leaving me alone and thought it wasn't healthy."

"I am sorry. I don't want anything like that to happen again to you. I promise I will leave you alone after a few days."

Sirius sighed. "Jay, what happened wasn't your fault so don't feel guilty about it. It's you because of whom I am surviving. I am not exaggerating, you know. I wanted to give up many times when I was at home but then I thought I had you and I was luckier than most of my family. They were doomed. And I don't know, Jay, when you asked Marlene to drop me at the Gryffindor tower, I sure did feel embarrassed because I am not a kid and I definitely wouldn't want a girl my age and fancy to babysit me but I also feel overwhelmed with the concern and the way you love me. No one was this worried for me ever in my life and I guess not many people understand but even if you smother me with love, I would cherish you."

James draped himself over Sirius into a hug. "You are so precious and you should be loved all through."

See you soon. :)