TM Prompt #276: Siblings
I was - am - the second born son of the House of Black. My brother was two years my senior, and mostly a disappointment in our family’s eyes. Our mother never missed an opportunity to berate Sirius, using him as an example for me.
Of course, growing up, I always admired my brother. We were the youngest in our family, all of our cousins being older than us, the one closest in age was four years older than Sirius. While holidays were always a family tradition, we did not often see our cousins, and were rarely allowed to play with other children. If they did not have the proper pedigree, Mother would hardly let them near us. So Sirius and I spent much of our time together. I like to think that we were close. He was my best friend, and I idolized him. If I ever made a mistake, he’d always take the blame for it, which never helped his standing with Mother, but he did it for me.
As we grew older, we grew apart. Not by my choice, and… I don’t believe by his either. The wedge our mother had spent my entire life building between us was finally working. I didn’t want to displease Mother, so I allowed myself to bend to her words. Sirius, on the other hand, couldn’t bear that. His thoughts differed from the family’s too much, and he would not be swayed. I envied him his ability to stand up for what he believed and speak his mind. He never let anyone tell him what to do, and I still admired that. I wanted to be more like my brother, though I still didn’t want to disappoint our mother.
But this has become more about how our mother put the holes into our relationship that slowly crumbled to bits.
My elder brother, Sirius Phineas Black, was my best friend, my idol, my hero. And even though we eventually had our falling out, I never stopped loving him or admiring him. I would like to think that he still cared about and loved me as well, but I can’t presume to know how he felt. I am glad that I had my brother for the time that we were friends.
Regulus Black//Harry Potter//378
Of course, growing up, I always admired my brother. We were the youngest in our family, all of our cousins being older than us, the one closest in age was four years older than Sirius. While holidays were always a family tradition, we did not often see our cousins, and were rarely allowed to play with other children. If they did not have the proper pedigree, Mother would hardly let them near us. So Sirius and I spent much of our time together. I like to think that we were close. He was my best friend, and I idolized him. If I ever made a mistake, he’d always take the blame for it, which never helped his standing with Mother, but he did it for me.
As we grew older, we grew apart. Not by my choice, and… I don’t believe by his either. The wedge our mother had spent my entire life building between us was finally working. I didn’t want to displease Mother, so I allowed myself to bend to her words. Sirius, on the other hand, couldn’t bear that. His thoughts differed from the family’s too much, and he would not be swayed. I envied him his ability to stand up for what he believed and speak his mind. He never let anyone tell him what to do, and I still admired that. I wanted to be more like my brother, though I still didn’t want to disappoint our mother.
But this has become more about how our mother put the holes into our relationship that slowly crumbled to bits.
My elder brother, Sirius Phineas Black, was my best friend, my idol, my hero. And even though we eventually had our falling out, I never stopped loving him or admiring him. I would like to think that he still cared about and loved me as well, but I can’t presume to know how he felt. I am glad that I had my brother for the time that we were friends.
Regulus Black//Harry Potter//378