Chapter Text
Severus had long since gone to bed, Sirius on the other hand was plonked down in the settee at the end of his bed downing a glass of firewhiskey. A half moon shone down through the window, illuminating his room. Sirius never thought things would come to this.
Despite being a cold night, sweat trickled down from his hairline. Owls hooted off in the distance, crickets chirped and winds rustled but Sirius was bogged down by the weight of reality. It was bad enough carrying the guilt of all the trauma he and his friends had inflicted on Severus, but now knowing that at that same time, Severus faced a mightier foe on top of that seemed to cut deeper into his soul.
He’d spoken with Remus and James earlier in the night about lunch at the Ritz. Remus, James, Severus and himself. Things with Severus earlier didn’t end quite how he expected, a little tense. He’d never intended to eavesdrop on their conversation but hearing what he did, a stalker of all things, well how else was he supposed to react?
Knowing he wasn’t going to get much sleep that night, he headed downstairs to the kitchen. As he made his way down, he heard soft footfalls through one of the doors. Peeking through, he saw his brother in law, Bartemius Crouch Junior. Barty was pacing in front of the fire in the receiving room, shuffling parchment in his hands as he muttered to himself.
“Knock, knock,” Sirius said and Barty jolted in shock at the interruption. He frowned over the parchment as he placed them down on the end table.
“Heya, Siri. I thought everyone was asleep.” Barty stated
“No, sorry. I was just on my way to make tea. Care to join?” With a sigh, Barty nodded and followed him out into the hall.
“You know, you could have asked Kreacher to make it? He would’ve brought it up to you.” Barty told Sirius calmly, Sirius rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes shifted downcast.
“I… I’m not entirely comfortable with Kreacher. What with all the history,” Sirius replied,
“I know he’s trying, less acerbic. But there’s a part of me that just wants to rip into him, verbally of course.” Sirius explained, Barty nodded with a small smile.
“Fair enough. What’s kept you up so late anyway?” At Bartys’ question, acid rose in Sirius's stomach. They finally entered the kitchen and Barty set about making tea as Sirius sat down at the table.
“It’s about Snape, actually.” Barty looked back over his shoulder at Sirius with a questioning expression on his face.
“Hmm, what about him?” The tone of Bartys’ voice made Sirius feel like a child about to be scolded. Sirius raised his hands in defence and Barty rounded with two cups of black tea, from the scent of it.
“I’m just curious about this stalker business. He and Reggie were talking about it and I overheard them. I may have pried a little and he shut down after telling me some of it.” Barty placed down the cups with narrowed eyes and pursed lips.
“Why? What on Salazar's green earth made you do that? The last thing Severus needs right now is you or anyone else bringing that up. He’ll be jumping at shadows, you moron.” Barty scolded Sirius. With a shake of his head he sat down across from the older man. Sirius, in good nature, shrugged.
“I don’t know what came over me, but when I heard he’d had a stalker in school on top of the things we’d done to him back then, the guilt just ate at me. I mean, so many things ran through my head,” Sirius paused to take a sip of his tea and with the other hand, he traced knicks on the table top. Barty ran a hand down his tired face, Sirius eyes became trained on the fading dark mark on Bartys’ forearm as he gestured for Sirius to continue..
“How often Peter disappeared, when it started. Why? Was there anything I could have done to stop it? Would I have stopped it? I just don’t know.” Sirius's voice sounded raw to his own ears.
“That’s part of the problem, isn’t it?” Barty said after a deep sigh, his eyes were trained on his tea and the single candle light flickered, illuminating his sombre face.
“What?” Sirius asked,
“Sirius, almost every sentence you spoke started with I. I this, I that. At any point, did it occur to you that maybe it’s not about you? That maybe, just maybe, it’s about someone else? Did you consider that?” Barty asked seriously, his eyes fluttered to Sirius's gobsmacked face.
“I… I wasn’t trying to make it about me! How else am I supposed to think about it?” Sirius asked desperately, his annoyance faded into soft frustration with both himself and Barty. The bitter taste of his tea accentuated his emotions as he sipped it.
“But I’m not just talking about this situation. Even with your family, you left. You hated it here, you found safety elsewhere. It never occurred to you that Regulus hated it here either. Do you even know how he felt about it? Did you ever ask? At that point, Regulus didn’t matter to you. Only you did.” At Bartys’ words, Sirius shot up from his seat, jostling the table and tea cups.
“That’s not true!” He hissed as quietly as he could, looking around himself frantically as if checking for something.
“But that’s how it appeared to everyone else.” Barty stated solemnly.
“When Regulus and I were initiated as Death Eaters, we were barely adults. I’m not going to lie and say we were forced, because we weren’t, that’s just the truth. What I’m saying is that if you had just extended your hand to him, who knows? He might have taken it and gone with you,” Barty took a long sip of his tea before he continued speaking,
“We don’t know that, Barty.” Sirius stated as he sat back down and drank his own tea.
“Yup, we don’t know because it never happened. Because the question was never posed.” Bartys’ loud slurp of his tea seemed to be a punctuating finality of the conversation, Sirius wouldn’t let him have it.
“Why did you do it? Join Voldemort, I mean.” Sirius asked after polishing off his tea and getting up to make another, the curiosity in his voice completely un-masked. Barty Handed over his cup for a second as well.
“I guess you could say I was a bit like you, Sirius. My father was blinded by his ambition, so blinded, nothing I did was enough for even a simple glimpse of him. Voldemort saw me, knew me. I thought he did, at least.” Barty said as the kettle began to squeal.
“I know now that it was all just a form of manipulation, that I was a foolish boy taken in by niceties and attention. But at that time, I felt special. Wanted.” Barty leaned back in his chair, and watched Sirius make up their teas.
“I don’t– Why did you go to Dumbledore? Why become a spy?” Sirius set down Bartys’ tea and sat back down as he spoke.
“Well, there was this boy. Crazy, brilliant and beautiful. He heard something he shouldn’t have in Dumbledore's pub. He didn’t know what it meant, but he went to Voldemort with the information and realised too late that it would affect his brother.” Barty stated and Sirius's eyes widened comically.
“The prophecy… but wait, that wasn’t about me. It was about a child, Harry or Neville.”
“Harry or Neville,” Barty agreed with a nod of his head,
“Harry, your godson who you spend much of your time with or Neville. Whose mother was Harry's godmother and people you spent all of your time with. That man, the one I love, thought his idiot brother might get caught in the crossfire of it all. So we went to Dumbledore, together,” Barty stated simply, sipping from his tea and shifting in his seat.
“For me…” Sirius uttered in wonderment.
“I– do you regret it? The things you did until you both became spies?” Sirius asked
“Hmm, I do and I don’t. I don’t regret feeling like I mattered, the other parts though. Yeah absolutely.” Barty and Sirius continued to talk for hours, and midnight from dusk to dawn as the birds began chirping around them. Catching up about life in general and many, many other things.
Once the sun was up, tired and messy, Regulus traipsed into the room to see his older brother and husband laughing quietly between themselves. A small smile curled at his lips as he took in the scene. Sun filtered in through lace curtains creating a halo glow around both men.
“Morning my darlings, what brought all this cheer to the room?” Regulus said as he tried to hide a snicker at their shock. Barty grinned up from where he was sitting.
“Sirius was just talking about that book card, the one from school after Sev left.” Barty explained which Regulus had to think about.
“Which one?”
“The one where I called Lily Potter a twat.” Regulus laughed as he recalled it almost clearly in his head.
“Ah, the one where you wrote for Sev to ‘fly high’ and I wrote back that you were an idiot. That one?” Barty grinned and nodded his agreement at Regulus' words.
Severus and Nymphadora stumbled into the kitchen, twin looks of morning disgruntlement. Nymphadora wore a flannel pyjama set with fluffy blue bunny slippers. She was very reminiscent of her toddler years, Sirius thought.
Severus on the other hand was dressed head to toe in silk. The red fabric seemed to cling in places while loose in others. The inner corner of his eyes were crusted with sleep which he wiped away as he yawned. His black hair, haphazard and messy, framed his face like a dark crown. In unison, the two late comers plopped down into the nearest seats.
“Morn’n,” Nym yawned to which Severus frowned and leaned away in disgust.
“Fucks sake, your breath stinks!” He noted but Nymphadora only grinned back tiredly before blowing air his way. With a shake of his head, Regulus smiled and set about making a pot of coffee.
“Shit head,” Severus grinned back. Regulus cleared his throat.
“Sev, have you met Nymphadora properly?” He asked.
“Mm, nah. Coffee.” Was Severus reply,
“It’s being made now, I need full sentences please.” Regulus said patiently,
“Full later, coffee now.” Severus spoke disjointedly just to be an ass. Barty rolled his eyes while watching the scene play out.
“Ok, Coffee first then. But once that’s done, I would like you and Nymphadora to become more acquainted,” Regulus said to both Severus and Nymphador who gave a thumbs up.
“Don’t spoil him, Regulus. Severus, use your words or so help me…” Barty snarked, annoyed and happy at the situation at hand. Mornings hadn’t been this lively since Hogwarts. Severus looked up at Bartys’ voice and a slow smile curled around his lips.
“Hey Barty, Haven’t seen you in a while mate. What time did you get in?” He asked, his voice was still heady with sleep. Sirius felt like an outsider as he watched the three men interact.
“About 3:42 this morning. Sirius and I have been in the kitchen since 4 am.” Severus finally took the time to acknowledge Sirius who, like everyone else, was wearing pyjama bottoms and a white singlet.
“Black,” Severus said as a morning greeting. Regulus came around with a cup of coffee for Severus and tea for Nymphadora. From absolutely nowhere, he pulled a brush and began detangling Severus' hair to Sirius mirth. Severus tried batting Regulus away but the younger man slapped his hands. Nymphadora began cackling, and when she laughed, it was like seeing Andromeda in the room with them.
“Don’t laugh, Nym. You’re next.” Barty scolded the young woman who ceased laughing to frown.
“I’ll do my own hair, anyway. What’s the agenda for the day?” Nym asked Sirius, her superior during their protection detail.
“We’ll be tailing Snape for the foreseeable future, so whatever he’s up to. Although, if he’s amenable, Snape and I will catch up with Remus and James for lunch. You won’t be needed at that time.” Sirius answered her,
“Remember, you’re paying. I’m only going if you pay,” Severus said sternly, which didn’t quite land as serious as he wanted with Regulus pulling his hair into a ponytail.
“Ooh, that sounds fun. Where are you guys going?” Regulus asked as he finished up with Severus and moved on to Nymphadora who tried more valiantly to fight him off.
“The Ritz,” Severus said around a smirk at his younger friend, Bartys’ brows shot up at the name of the restaurant.
“Whew, that’s a pretty expensive lunch.” Barty said,
“It’s the only reason he agreed,” Sirius deadpanned at his brother-in-law. Barty and Regulus both snorted in amusement.
“Our Sev has expensive taste, our fault really,” Regulus said
“Yours and Lucius, you mean. Bloody spoilt, I tell ya’” Barty interrupted, Severus waggled his brows at Barty with a grin,
“Lucky me,” Severus chuckled. To his left, Nymphadora sat cross-armed with a fierce glower on her face as Regulus made work of her hair.