no.

you were jerked awake from your sleep halfway through the night. footsteps from the staircase. descending by the sounds of it. you immediately knew everything was going wrong. no, no, no-

he couldn’t do this. he couldn’t just run.

you threw yourself off your bed, out of your bedroom, and into the drafty hallway of grimmauld place. “home”, as nobody called it.

you ran as silently as you could, reaching for the top of the stairs, only to meet your worst nightmare.

your oldest brother, sirius, standing in the foyer, one hand on the handle of the front door.

you stood at the top of the steps, staring down at him and trying not to let your emotions get the better of you. what would you do without sirius? there was no way you could survive in this godawful house without him.

sirius lifted his head, glancing back over his shoulder, his silver eyes meeting your own. he smiled, weak and incredibly fake. guilty. he knew what he was doing. he knew this would hurt you and regulus both. but he was going to go through with it anyway. he was going to run. escape. flee and never look back once.

as you stood there, frozen, too afraid to move or speak, regulus came running right up next to you, his own betrayed gaze falling on the oldest sibling.

“sirius-“ he whispered, desperation lingering under his quiet tone. “please don’t…”