It was hard being the younger son. It was harder when you were the middle man between two people you loved--your mother and your brother.

It was hardest when neither of them loved you anymore.

Regulus knew that his brother and he had drifted apart. Gone were the days of childhood, where two brothers would lie on their backs in their sun-dappled bedroom and find pictures in the motes glittering in the air. They had been replaced by days of separation.

Two letters had come the night of September the first, six years ago. The first was addressed to their parents: it was from the Headmaster, saying that Sirius Black was now the first Gryffindor in their family.

It was the first time Regulus had ever heard his mother scream. Sitting on his windowsill, he let the ancient oak muffle her shrieks and the sound of shattering flatware from the kitchen below, and he smoothed out the second letter on his knee to read by moonlight.

Regulus--
Whatever they tell you, I’m still your brother. Nothing can change that unless you let it.
--Sirius.

He loved his brother. He knew Sirius loved him. But Sirius had let things change.

One year after that, Regulus was sorted into Slytherin. He had gazed across the expanse of the hall and found his brother’s eyes. He found himself thinking, Are we enemies now, brother? Will we let ancient tradition break us apart?

Sirius’s dark eyes had been troubled. When he looked away, Regulus felt a hollowness in his chest.

He had always thought that Sirius was strong; that he made his own destiny. The ancient traditions of the Black family had never stopped him, but it seemed now that the ancient traditions of Hogwarts would.

For the first time in his life, Regulus hated his brother for deceiving him.

Now, at fifteen, Regulus was a changed man. He had laid a wall between himself and others, brick by brick, day by day, until he was more comfortable away from people than with them. No matter how much he distanced himself from people, he still felt a child’s need to be a part of a family--even if the only family he wanted was his Dog Star.

He sat on a flat rock, gazing at the reflection of the moon in the lake. He supposed it was typical of him, to look at the shine of the image instead of the real thing.

It was what he had done with Sirius, after all.

- - -

Sirius rested his forehead against the cool glass of the dormitory window. He looked up at the moon, then down at its mirror image in the glassy lake.

A figure sat on a rock by the lake. Sirius knew, somehow, that it was Regulus.

He did love his brother. But he was Slytherin. Sirius could, and frequently did defy his parents--but not his friends. Over the course of five years at school together, Sirius had watched his brother grow cold and bitter from his betrayal, and it hurt Sirius more than he realized.

Without thinking, he turned away from the window and headed for the door. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Where are you going?” James called after him, but if Sirius answered as the door slammed shut, none of them heard him.

- - -

Regulus knew, as he gazed at the glimmering reflection that somehow had his brother’s face, that he and Sirius had done more than just drift apart. They were now distant.

Suddenly, something cold touched his hand. He started, a hand plunging inside his shirt for his wand.

A huge, bear-like black dog gazed up at him with wide golden eyes. It wagged its tail innocently, and Regulus slowly put his wand away. “What are you doing out here?” he asked curiously, reaching out to rub the top of its head.

The dog wagged its tail again and climbed up onto the rock beside him. It sniffed at him curiously, and Regulus scratched it absently. After a moment, the dog laid down beside him and rested its head in his lap.

Regulus gazed out at the lake and said quietly, “Do you have a family? Or are you like me?”

There was a sadness in the golden eyes, and Regulus smiled slightly as he stroked the dog’s neck. “I thought so.” They were silent for a moment more. “My family abandoned me,” he told it. “Or at least my brother did.”

He had stopped petting the dog as he mused, and it nudged his hand, indicating that he should continue, both the story and the affection. Regulus picked up a rock and threw it into the lake, shattering the reflection of the moon and stars. His voice was quiet, from the darkness and the stillness. “He used to be my hero. Now he’s just a broken reflection of what he used to be.”

Regulus looked up at the sky, his eyes searching for one single star. “He always shone like the star he was named for. I used to think that he was that star.”

He looked down at the lake, and felt the bitterness in his voice deepen. “Now I see that he was just a shining reflection.”

The golden eyes were sorrowful, and Regulus was a little startled at the humanity he saw in them. The dog licked his hand once and stood, leaping down off the rock and trotting away, up towards the school. Regulus watched it go, then turned back to gaze somberly at the reforming reflection of the moon. He sat there for a long while, not thinking, just existing.

“Regulus?”

For the second time that night, Regulus started and whirled around. “Sirius.”

His brother sat down beside him on the rock, and for a long moment the two of them gazed at each other.

This time, Sirius didn’t look away. “I’m sorry. For deserting you.”

Regulus looked down at the lake. “I’m sorry you deserted me, too.”

Sirius’s voice was sober. “It’ll never be the same between us, will it, brother?”

Regulus shook his head. The wall was there, and it would stand through death. His eyes flickered to Sirius, then up to the stars.

Sirius smiled and lay back on the rock. “But for a little while we can pretend, can’t we?”

Regulus smiled slowly and lay back beside him. One by one, they each stretched an arm up to the stars and found pictures in the motes glittering in the sky.

And for a little while, at least, they could pretend.