Sirius was nervous. Which wasn’t really like him. Usually, he would be that cocky guy you kinda hated because he was a loudmouth and a bit of a prick. Kind, but still a prick.

So when he realised he was anxious about going to visit his baby brother, it came as a surprise to him. He tried to get out of it, but Remus and James practically forced him to go. And he did miss Regulus after all.

On the second day of Christmas break, Sirius knocked on the door of your London home. It wasn’t 12 Grimmauld Place. It was a smaller house, but the interior was welcoming... warm. No old screaming portraits of ancestors, no reminders of the horrible things that happened. Nothing. Just warmth, muggle trinkets (that was definitely a surprise), and a cosy atmosphere.

Sirius didn’t expect that from his father’s older sibling. Honestly, he didn’t even know what to expect. Definitely not you baking cookies and joking around with your house elf, Gurney. And definitely not his baby brother looking all happy and giddy. Sirius couldn’t remember the last time Regulus looked this happy and carefree. Like a kid. Like he was supposed to be.

The first couple of days, Sirius spent shell shocked, wandering around your small house and just trying to come to terms with the fact that you were so different from his parents.

By the evening of the third day, he came out onto the porch, blanket over his shoulders, and lit a cigarette only to see you standing there too.

“Oh shi- Hey. I, uh, didn’t see you there,” he said, not sure if he was going to get scolded for smoking. He was 17 already, but that never stopped his mother from hexing him for smoking or bad language. Sirius looked down at the cigarette, not sure what to do now.