Chapter 36

                                    

                                          
Sixth year was busy for the Black brothers. Sirius took Alphrad's death to heart and while he still played pranks, he buckled down. studied harder, Played Quidditch and fought against the injustice he Saw - i. e Sending hexes towards the Slytherins Who were being jerks and attacking the muggleborns. He wanted to make his uncle proud. 
The story was different with Regulus. He was absolutely tired. Over the summer Bellatrix and the dark lord decided that Regulus would be leading the junior death eater meetings once he returned to Hogwarts for his 6th year. That meant that while he was a Lion, he spent a lot of time during the day with the snakes. Other than junior death eater meetings, school was also getting harder for all of those in his year, Regulus included. James was also increasing the amount of times that they practised for quidditch, with the match coming up against the Slytherins. He was determined to get the cup this year. While he was made vice captain last year this was the year that James was actually captain. He was working everyone to the bone. Early morning practices and practices before dinner. 
Sirius and Regulus walked into the common room that night.
The Gryffindor common room was bustling, filled with laughter and chatter from students lounging by the fire or huddled over their homework. Sirius and Regulus, however, barely acknowledged the lively atmosphere as they stepped inside. Sirius tossed his bag onto a nearby chair with a huff.
"I swear, I'm going to hex Potter if he schedules another practice before sunrise," Sirius muttered, running a hand through his tousled hair. "I know he's obsessed with beating Slytherin, but Merlin, this is getting ridiculous."
Regulus nodded absently, but his mind was elsewhere. His body ached from the combination of Quidditch practice and the mental strain of leading the junior Death Eaters. The weight of Alphard's death still hung heavily over him too, a constant reminder of the fine line he was walking between pleasing the Dark Lord and betraying everything he once believed in.
"I'm not sure I can keep this up," Regulus admitted quietly as they headed toward their usual spot near the fireplace,where all of their friends were. "Between classes, Quidditch, and the... other responsibilities, I feel like I'm going to snap."
As they plopped down, Regulus says "Emmline! Hestia! What are you Ravens doing up here? Aren't you supposed to be in your own common room?"
Emmeline looked up from the pile of books she and Hestia were huddled over. The two Ravenclaws were deep in conversation, and it was clear they had made themselves at home in the Gryffindor common room.
"Pfft, like we'd let a little thing like house rules stop us," Emmeline replied with a smirk. "Besides, your common room is warmer. Better vibes too. Isn't that right, Tia?"
Hestia nodded, her eyes scanning over a particularly dense passage of text before glancing up at Regulus with a playful grin. "And we missed you, obviously."
Sirius snorted, plopping down next to his brother and stretching out lazily. "Clearly you missed my winning personality," he said, but his teasing lacked its usual energy. His gaze flicked toward Regulus, noting the tension in his brother's shoulders, the way he rubbed at his temples like the weight of the world rested there.
"Haha. We aren't here for you black," Emmline quipped 
"I'm wounded Emmy," Sirius dramatically says with his hands over his heart. 
"James working you guys to the bone?" Hestia asks joking 
"Of course he is! He's obsessed with beating the Snakes," Sirius muttered "Your team is lucky that Emmline is captain and not Jamie boy!"
The group laughed at that 
"Of course we are. We came up here to study plus Lily and Remus invited us," Emmline says answering Regulus's previous question "We're going to sit with you guys as well. If you don't mind us joining you that is?"