and woe betide if one of

Sirius stopped confiding in Regulus, Regulus stopped trying to talk to him. The last time they had spoken was their first dinner back from Hogwarts for the summer, and their only exchange had been pleasantries — as if they hadn't both experienced the horrors of the house… as if neither of them shared blood.(But Regulus would never be able to forget the whispers of protection, of Sirius standing up to Mother whenever she frightened Regulus. He would never forget the insults spat at their mother, if only to redirect the fury onto himself instead of Regulus. He would never forget the silent tears he cried at night, feeling helpless to protect his brother. He would never forget when they played games when it was still deemed acceptable for them to be children. He wouldn't forget, and perhaps that was the cruellest of it all — that he remembered the good times, because now the bad only felt so much worse.)He wished he could cast anything to muffle the screams from downstairs.--or, regulus black and his relationship with the past, present, and future.