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“When will you be back?”
Sirius did a double-take, looking over his shoulder at his younger brother, who ’d refused to speak to him ever since he’d rescued him beyond yelling at him for not knowing what he was doing, that he didn’t need saving.
Yet—
Coming through the veil, to a time right before his brother died, Sirius couldn ’t agree with the twerp. His twerp, that he’d made the mistake of turning his back on and letting him walk the path Regulus ended up walking alone, the path he found out to be deep in the cave, going after what Dumbledore referred to as a Horcrux.
“Sirius?”
“Does it matter?” Sirius muttered, feeling utterly drained from the war going on, of making sure, as well, there weren’t any loopholes in the orders he’d given Kreacher to keep his brother safe from the lot he’d fallen into.
“Will you be back for dinner?” Regulus asked, his voice straining.
Sirius stiffened, catching sight of the hopeful look on his brother ’s face. “Fine. I’ll try to be back for dinner.”
And that was that. He let those he was working with that day know, resulting in James and Lily coming over for dinner as well. They learned about Regulus, and he couldn't cook for the life of him, while the other two could, particularly James ’ girlfriend.
Yet—
He let out a sniff the moment he entered his flat, confusion setting in as he noticed that it smelled good.
“Regulus?”
“Here,” Regulus called from the kitchen.
Sirius stepped forward, flinching upon seeing his younger brother stooped in front of the stove, watching—
He wasn ’t sure what Regulus was doing, towel in hand, staring at the oven, but he did know.
“Regulus!” Sirius barked out, going over and grabbing his younger brother under the arm, and lifting him into a chair at his kitchen table. “What are you doing? You’re not healed yet?”
“Cooking,” Regulus said.
“Cooking?” Sirius said. “How?”
“I asked Kreacher to fetch what I needed, and I cooked,” Regulus said, frowning. “I wasn’t expecting…” Regulus looked at James and Lily, then turned his head, frowning.
“It’s my place so that you can endure the company of a Muggleborn for dinner,” Sirius muttered, ruffling his brother’s hair only to have Regulus push his hand away.
“I’m fine with,” Regulus said, huffing. “You didn’t say anything when I asked you earlier.”
“What?”
“I only prepared,” Regulus said, sitting there, towel lowered. “I need to be ready to pull it.”
“What?”
“The food. From the oven?” Regulus frowned.
“You,” Sirius said. “Should be resting.”
“I am,” Regulus muttered. “Macaroni and cheese is rather easy to make, Sirius. And Kreacher’s been supervising, as you ordered him to do.”
Sirius paused, finally catching sight of Kreacher watching, then let out a deep breath. Kreacher glared at him. “Master Regulus fixed dinner for two, not four.”
“Ah,” Sirius stared, completely confused, his hands lowering to his brother’s shoulders. And then, “Wait? You cooked?”
“Yes.”
“You?” Sirius lifted a hand and pointed at Regulus’ chest. “You’re able to cook with magic? Since when?”
“With magic?” The corner of Regulus’ mouth twisted, resulting in a typical pureblood look from his younger brother. “Why would I use magic to cook?”
Sirius stared, both hands on his brother ’s shoulders, confused. “Wait? What?”
And then Lily moved, kneeling at the stove, while James stared, looking confused. She turned, looking at Regulus. “You cooked this without magic?”
“Is there any other way to do it?”
Lily looked over at James, who shrugged his shoulders, looking as perplexed as she was. “Regulus? Dear?”
“Yes,” Regulus said, frowning.
“You do realize cooking without magic is the Muggle way of cooking, right?”
Regulus stared, frowning, then his eyes blinked, his jaw dropping.
Sirius sighed. “Kreacher. Go ahead and fetch dinner for us? No arguements please.”
“I made dinner,” Regulus protested.
“Sure,” Sirius said. “You can cook without magic.” He let out a sigh. “Lily? Can you pull whatever mess he’s made—“
“It’s not a mess,” Regulus snapped, pushing Sirius’ hands away, standing up, swaying slightly on his feet. “I can cook, Sirius!” He started walking away to his room before, “The Timer goes off. It should be ready to pull. Don’t pull it before.”
Sirius grabbed onto him, then shoved him back down. “No. You don’t get to walk off like that, Regulus.”
“You bloody…” Regulus muttered.
“From here, it doesn’t look like a mess,” Lily said. “So maybe just have Kreacher fetch enough to extend this to a meal for four people?”
“Are you kidding?”
Regulus brightened. “Yes. Kreacher. That? Please?”
“Yes, Master Regulus,” Keacher said, popping out.
“And he didn’t listen to me?” Sirius said.
“Dinner is right here,” Regulus said, pointing at the oven. “And I can cook.”
“Sure,” Sirius said, watching Kreacher return with a cooked vegetable and a meat, setting it on the table before setting places for four people. “Kreacher? Why are you indulging him like this?”
A buzzing sound went off, and Lily opened the oven, steam coming out. She quickly stood and took the towel from Regulus, lifting a couple of dishes out as James took a seat. “Perhaps we should try his cooking before judging?”
Sirius sighed, closing his eyes. “Fine, but if you really want to cook, let Lily teach you.”
“I don’t need,” Regulus muttered. Then, he turned to look away. Lily began carefully dishing out the food while Kreacher stood in a corner, glaring at Sirius.
“It looks good,” James said.
“It should be,” Regulus muttered. “Did you turn off the oven?”
“Yes. I did. After I closed it,” Lily said as she sat next to James, and Regulus and Sirius took the other seats.
Begrudgingly, Sirius took a bite.
Then—
Sirius frowned, glancing at Regulus, who picked at his food, looking rather gloomy.
He took another bite, then sighed. “This is actually edible.”
“Edible,” Lily muttered, shaking her head. “Really, Sirius.”
“What?”
“It tastes good,” James said, taking another bite. “And you did this without magic?”
“Yes.”
Which stopped Sirius from taking another bite and frowning. “You did this without magic?”
“I don’t know how to cook with magic,” Regulus muttered.
“Wait,” Sirius muttered. He looked at Lily. “Are you teaching him?”
Lily shook her head. “I learned to cook with magic, Sirius. Didn’t really have time to learn to cook from my Mum, though…” She paused, her mouth twisting into a frown. “To be honest, I might as well learn from Regulus.”
“Wait? What?” Sirius let out a sigh. “Why?”
“This is better than what my mum makes,” Lily said.
“But where?” Sirius said. “Where could he have learned to cook from?”
“I told you,” Regulus muttered, still picking at his food.
“No, you didn’t.”
“That you ruined everything,” Regulus said. “That I didn’t need you to rescue me.”
“Reg?” Sirius sighed.
“You’re not the only ones with memories of,” Regulus started saying. His mouth twisted into a frown. “Just, never mind. It doesn’t matter. I’m locked up here, and can’t—“
Sirius watched Regulus run fingers through his hair, looking agitated. “Hey. Calm down.” He nodded at the food. “Who taught you? To cook?”
Regulus ’ mouth trembled. “Who? Someone I’ve yet to meet, and likely now won’t because of you.”
Sirius stared, hearing James set his utensils down. “Say what?”
Regulus set his form down. “I’m not hungry. Sorry.”
“Regulus,” Lily said firmly. “You need to eat.”
“I don’t…”
“Would that person be happy with you not eating?”
Sirius watched his brother swallow, and then Regulus responded by taking a bite, only to burst out into tears and push the food away. “Reg?” he reached out, rubbing Regulus’s back. What’s wrong?”
“Could Regulus have been alive without you knowing?” James asked.
“What?” Sirius said. “No way. The tapestry wouldn’t lie.” He took a deep breath. “Regulus was registered as dead, and now he’s not.”
“Clinical death,” Regulus muttered. “It was clinical death, three times.”
“Clinical what?”
“It’s a Muggle term,” Lily said.
“Meaning?”
“It means my heart stopped,” Regulus said. “And I stopped breathing.”
Sirius frowned. “And this is different from actual death because? What?”
“Because what was stopped was started again,” Lily said.
“Yeah,” Regulus said, sighing, fingers in his hair. “It’s a weak point of healing magic. We don’t understand the concept of clinical death like doctors do.”
“I am not…” Sirius muttered.
“I follow,” Lily said. “But maybe we can talk about this more after we eat? And you’re going to eat, right, Regulus?”
Regulus nodded, picking at his food and eating while Sirius carefully thought over what had been said, concluding, “ Maybe Regulus hadn ’t died? Meaning I effectively erased his future? Nah. That can’t be. Right?”
It didn ’t feel right, though.