Brotherly

Sirius was standing by the window, watching the approaching storm, when he heard the knock on the door. Soft, so that his parents on the floor below wouldn't hear. Soft, so that no one would suspect...

He ignored the knocking, hoping that the person on the other side of the door would give up and pad back across the hall to his own room. Sirius was determined that he would not give in this time, wouldn't yield to the family charm that he had used countless times before. But the knocking didn't stop. It grew more insistent, more desperate, more annoyed. And again, he ignored it.

This was wrong. He had known it was wrong for a while now, possibly since this whole thing had started. At first, he hadn't tried to stop it. At first, it had been carefree; an experiment between brothers that wasn't meant to amount to anything. Now however, there was too much weighing on it... on him.

The door opened behind him. Sirius turned slowly, taking in his brother's silhouette against the darkness of the landing. Lean and muscled... you'd never guess his strength by looking at his frame. His large grey eyes sat beneath a mat of dark hair on a pale face. So like his own...

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. To do what he was going to do, he needed all of his wits.

Regulus was coming closer, stalking him with that loping grace that he was sure only Regulus possessed. An easy confidence that was an inborn trait for most Blacks.

"Reg..." Sirius started, before Regulus could draw him in again. He didn't like the power that Regulus held over him, even if it was born from simply brotherly instinct.

"Reg, it's wrong. This is wrong. We've got to stop."

But Regulus wasn't stopping. He was coming closer, closer than brothers have a right to be. And then Sirius was pinned against the wall, held there by his brother's body. Regulus's heat was sinking into his clothes, touching his skin, and it was all Sirius could do to not give in again.

"How can it be wrong?" Regulus whispered breathlessly, pressing Sirius into the wall. Sirius's brain worked furiously, as if through a fog, trying to come up with reasons why it was so wrong. He lost all sense of the argument that had been building inside of him all day.

And then Regulus's mouth descended on his own. Shivers ran up his spine at the delicate sensations his brother made him feel. He hesitated for a moment before responding. There was silence for what seemed like hours while their tongues, lips, and teeth did their sparring dance.

Regulus pulled away suddenly, leaving Sirius panting in the dark. "Does this feel wrong? You are the one who taught me to feel this. Don't start telling me it's wrong!" He was close to shouting. Sirius glanced nervously at the floor.

When he looked up, his brother was leering at him challengingly. His look alone spoke volumes about how he felt: he was going to win, whether by convincing Sirius that there was nothing wrong with this or by flaunting the power he held as Sirius's younger brother.

Sirius's resolve hardened. He would win this battle. Regulus wouldn't make him feel this way, wouldn't make him feel so ashamed of what this was. Whatever this was.

Losing was not something Sirius Black did well.

He pushed away from the wall, startling Regulus by his sudden movement. Finally able to move away, he strode to the door.

Sirius paused, his hand on the door handle.

In that one moment of hesitation, he had given Regulus his chance. Pale hands slid up his body from behind, a prelude to his brother's lithe body pressed against his back.

There was hot breath in his ear and hands snaking across his chest, teasing him with their ghosting touch across thin fabric. Sirius closed his eyes, trying to keep from giving in again and wondering what his reasons were why this couldn't be right. After all, like his brother said, it felt right...

Regulus's breathing became more erotic; it was all too clear that he was trying to steer the conversation away (or else stop it all together) and seduce Sirius into bliss again.

"Besides," he whispered, nibbling on Sirius's ear, "it's not like no one else has done it before... look at our family."

Sirius's eyes snapped open. His hand on the door twitched, as if he wanted to move it away and turn it all at once.

"I've been trying to escape that family, those traditions, for years," his voice was stronger now, "I don't want to be caged."

There was silence. All Sirius could hear was Regulus's steady breathing in his ear, no longer erratic. It seemed his brother was calculating, and fast.

Regulus's hands started to move again, to the hem of his brother's shirt. He slid his hand underneath, caressing Sirius's hip.

There was something wrong about this. Of course, there was something wrong with all of it. But Sirius had no particular idea what had put this dominating streak into Regulus. Perhaps it was that he had shown weakness and Reg had gone for the neck. Literally.

"I have the key, all you'll have to do is what I ask, and I'll unlock your gilded cage..." Regulus crooned into his ear in an annoying, sing-song voice that reminded Sirius vaguely of his mother.

That broke his trance.

He turned the door handle, stepping out of his brother's embrace and onto the dark landing. Without pause, he charged down the stairs to the landing where his parents slept, and then down again and again until he was out in the hallway.

Sirius heard Regulus rushing after him, but he didn't care. Nothing could break his stride as he headed out the door and into the night.