Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Regulus never particularly understood how his brother couldn't seem to get why he did what he did. See, their parents were all about appearances, so if you just keep up appearances, play nice, and don't get in trouble, you won't get hurt. A concept Sirius never quite understood. Regulus despised his parents, and when he was 18 he left with Barty and Evan and never looked back.Of course, Evan had stated that unless his sister Pandora could come, he wouldn't be going with, a decision Regulus hadn't been all that mad about. He liked Pandora, she was nice, and she shared her weed with him when he ran out. Regulus also hadn't planned on seeing Sirius anytime soon, as he'd been giving Sirius the cold shoulder ever since he'd abandoned Regulus to go live with James. When they were little, Regulus and Sirius would sit up all night long, talking about where they'd go when they left, eventually they'd stopped, resigning themselves to the fact that they would likely never make it out of the cold, unforgiving grasp of their mothers judgement. That was, until Regulus met Barty. The two had been sat together in History in year 7 and hadn't really made much conversation at first, however when Regulus noticed that Barty was sickly thin, and Barty that Regulus would come in with new scrapes and cuts almost every day, the two boys came to a silent, mutual agreement. They would just have to be best friends forever, they supposed (very reasonably, as Sirius had commented later down the line). Barty would leave bandages and rubbing alcohol he'd nicked from the nurse in Regulus's backpack, and Regulus started having the cooks secretly fix him two lunchboxes and he'd leave one in Barty's backpack. 

They had never really discussed where in America they would go, as they assumed no matter what, they'd be together. Barty had wanted to go up north, claiming that it was the closest to England weather they could find.  Regulus had of course shut down this idea, because he had hated the new England weather, especially since his mother started instituting locking him out as a form of punishment. Evan had said they should go to Florida or chicago, which Regulus considered, but he hated the heat. Pandora, ever the princess, decided they would go to Salem, as the weather accommodated everyone, Regulus' love for long sleeve shirts, Barty's love for fog and cold, and Evans love for old haunted places. 

The hunt for houses didn't last very long as Pandora is friends with everyone who has stepped foot on earth ever, so she found them a lovely house up on a hill in the back woods of Salem. The downstairs area was small, but not cramped, the main bedroom seperated by a half wall, which Evan and Barty claimed quickly. There was a small bedroom in the back with an elevated corner, which Pandora practically scrambled to claim, leaving Regulus with a small lofted bedroom with a full size bed, a desk, a small closet, and his own bathoom. They had made themselves comfortable quickly, Regulus getting a job at a small cafe on the corner and enrolling in the local college to become an architect, Barty got a job as a piercer in a tattoo shop, and Evan and Pandora both got jobs at a small startup bar in town. 

It had been a pretty normal day, Regulus had gotten up and dressed for work and gone down to the cafe to open, he'd just been hanging out and wondering what he wanted to do after his shift, when the door to the cafe opened. Two men came in, one of them tall and blonde wearing a knit jumper and jeans, the other shorter with sharper facial features, he had black hair and a leather jacket, with black jeans and doc Martin's. Regulus knew instinctively that this was his brother, though he hoped he wouldn't recognize him.

 "Hi, welcome in to Avery's Cafe. How can I help you?" Regulus asked, stepping forward and not breaking eye contact with the blonde guy. "Yeah, hi, can I get a caramel macchiato with two pumps of caramel and a dirty chai latte with two pumps of creme and a chocolate croissant?" The tall guy answered, fully oblivious to Sirius staring at Regulus wide eyed like a deer in headlights. "lovely, and what is the name for that?" Regulus chirpped, wanting to get them out as quick as possible. "Oh, the name is Remus-" the tall guy went to answer before Sirius cut him off. "Regulus." Sirius said shakily, he was clinging to Remus' hand for dear life as he stared at him. "That's reg?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at Regulus. Regulus turned to his brother. "Sirius." He answered calmly, trying not to break down in the middle of work. He didn't have time to wonder how on earth Sirius was here, he just needed to get this over with. "When..did you move to America..?" Sirius asked, his fingers digging into Remus' hand. "A few months ago." He answered, turning to make their coffees. "You never tried to reach out.." Sirius said, deflating A bit as the realization hit him. 

Regulus handed them their coffees. "Your total is 11.49." Regulus said, placing the coffees and croissant on the counter. "That seems low?" Remus said, handing him a ten and a couple of ones, Regulus handed him his change, Turning to clean the counter. "Family discount." He stated simply, going back to work as Sirius slid him something across the bar. Regulus perked up, reaching for the small slip of paper that read '834-9218 my number :) Sirius <3'  

Regulus made his way home later, the piece of paper clutched in his fist, he wanted to call the number, wanted to see if it was sirius. But he feared it might've been his parents number, knowing his long history of cruel pranks, and he knew they'd be able to track him. He came home to Pandora smoking on the couch and Barty and Evan cuddling, he approached Pandora, snatching the joint and handing her the piece of paper. Her confusion faded quickly, replaced by worry as she put the pieces together. "Oh, love..." She said, wrapping her arm around Regulus and hugging him. "Are you going to call him?" She asked looking down at the paper quietly. "I dunno." Regulus replied, puffing the joint once more. "Maybe you should. I mean, sure,You didn't get along while you liked with your parents, but maybe that's because you were too young to understand each other back then. You were just trying to survive, love." Pandora said, hugging him tighter, Regulus chuckled. "You know, you give good advice, dora" He said, wiping away the couple tears that had escaped. 

AsRegulus called Sirius. He knew he shouldn't have, but he couldn't help himself. He dialed the number and listened to it ring, waiting patiently for his brother to pick up his phone, to his surprise, another mans voice came through his phone, smooth and accented he recognized it immediately as james. "Hello? Who is this?" He asked, Regulus' stomach did somersaults, he'd promised he'd stop having feelings for James at 15. That did not happen. "Uh, yeah, hi, um. Is my brother around?" Regulus stuttered, utterly stuppefied at the fact he still got butterflies whenever James talked to him. "Uh, no, Sirius is on A work zoom call right now, can I take a message?" James asked. "oh, uh, just- sorry, uhm. What's his address?" Regulus asked, getting a paper and pen ready. "19 topland drive." James responded Regulus scribbled the address down, putting it in his planner quickly. "Thanks, uh, nice talking to you." Regulus said, waving at Pandora's boss Marlene who was coming over for dinner. "You too, sunshine." James said Regulus froze, he hadnt heard that nickname in a while, he let out a small squeal, hanging up the phone quickly. 

 If Regulus was surprised by James answering the phone, him answering the door in a towel was the second tower. Regulus knocked on the door of the little up town appartment, just wanting to talk to Sirius, even if Sirius ended up hating him, he still would get to talk to him. James opened the door in a towel, hs brown hair damp and sticking to his forehead. "Hey, sorry, Sirius is out right now, he should be home soon though if you wanna come in." James said, stepping aside to let Regulus in. Regulus walked into the apartment, the seemingly antique furniture adding a homey feel to the room. James retreated into the bathroom, Regulus could hear the shower running as he sat on the couch and began to read the book he always brought with him.  

Sirius came home a bit later, freezing in the doorway at the sight of Regulus. Regulus looked up, making eye contact with his brother. "Ah, hey." Regulus said, standing to go over to him. "Regulus, wait-" Sirius started before Regulus cut him off. "I just wanted to talk, siri." Regulus said, slowing his steps. "Why are you even here, reg?" Sirius asked, sitting down on the couch. "Siri, please, I just want to talk. You can hate me if you want, but I just want to talk." Regulus pleaded, just desperately wanting to explain himself. "im not gonna hate you, Reggie."  Sirius mumbled, Regulus' jaw clenched, he tried to take a deep breath like Pandora had told him to do, he just couldn't, he couldn't find the space to breathe. 

"Yknow what, maybe this whole thing was a bit rash, im just gonna.."Regulus moved toward the door before Sirius spoke. Reg, I want to talk, alright? Im not..upset, im just shocked that you're, yknow, in my house."Sirius said, looking up at Regulus with that Sirius Black Grin™. Regulus couldn't help but feel a bit better. He sat down next to sirius, sighing. " You wanna go fist and tell me why you ran off?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Regulus got an eye roll from this and Sirius jabbed him in the ribs. "oi, you're the one who came here to talk." He said, crossing his legs in his lap. Regulus sighed, looking at Sirius. "ugh, fine." 

                                                                               ~•~

Regulus poked his head downstairs, seeing Sirius laying on the floor cut up and bruised, staring blankly up at the ceiling. He was six, Sirius was ten, and this was the day Regulus decided he would just go along with whatever his parents said. He helped Sirius up and managed to drag him to the bathroom and prop him up on the toilet, he reeked of alcohol and blood, Regulus tended to his wounds as best as he could with what little medical knowledge he had.

When he was nine, Sirius' rebellion only got worse, leaving him with new scars everyday and nightmares he would wake up screaming from. Regulus knew he couldn't help his brother, he wished he could, but reality was different, all he could do was listen to Sirius' pained screaming. A sick lullaby of his parents making. 

A week before Regulus' 12 birthday, Sirius ran away. Regulus didn't know what to do, he was helpless and alone with no money or plan for escape. All of his plans had rested half on Sirius' plans, now he had none. Regulus suffered in his parents house for another six years, being the perfect Angel child they had expected. Until he was eighteen, when he ran off with Evan, Barty, and Pandora to Salem.

                                                                            ~•~

When Regulus had finished explaining himself, he sighed, he felt better but now there was a new dread creeping in the back of his mind, the dread of Sirius hating him. Now, Regulus knew this fear was irrational, but it didn't stop it from existing. 

Sirius looked at him, stunned. He knew he had affected Regulus' life by running away, but he'd had no idea how much until now. Sirius hugged Regulus suddenly, shocking him out of his head. "Im sorry, Reggie.." Sirius muttered tearfully.Regulus had expected just about everything but this, causing him to jolt a bit. "uh, its..fine, siri.." Regulus muttered, patting Sirius on the back gently.

A minute later, James came out of the bathroom, pausing in the hallway seeing a blubbering Sirius hugging a very awkward looking Regulus. "uh, is he..okay?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. Regulus looked up, becoming very flustered at the sight of James standing against the wall in a towel. "Yeah, he's fine. Just..overdramatic." Regulus muttered, looking anywhere but James as he felt his face heat up.

James, shrugged, walking down the hall to his room. Regulus returned to attempting to comfort Sirius, patting him on the back."Sirius, are you okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, im fine.." He sniffled, sitting up. "Just had a hard week" he said, leanin back and looking up at the bookshelf "alexa, play My Band by D12." he said, standing up and getting a tissue as the Alexa started playing. "Want a cuppa?" Sirius asked, swinging onone of the pillars lining the entrance of the kitchn. "Sure, black, no sugar" Regulus answered, following him into the kitchen as Sirius started the coffee maker. "What is it with you and Remus drinking your tea black?" Sirius asked as he started to prepare his elaborate coffee concoction. "Remus? The blonde guy from the coffee shop?" Regulus questioned, putting his book back into his bag and having a seat at the bar. "Yeah, he's my boyfriend." Sirius stated, moving over to the coffee machine and reaching for two mugs as Regulus pulled his phone out his phone out. "I didn't think you were still after him, you've been fawning over him since seventh year. Regulus said, opening his phone as Sirius put one of the cups back and started the coffee maker. "didn't think you were still after Potter." He stated, raising a brow at Regulus. "i- what?! I am not!" He said, his face heating up a bit. 

"you so are." Sirius said, starting the coffee pot. "I can give you his number if you'd like." Regulus looked up at him, '"really? Er, really." He said, trying not to sound excited as he looked down at his phone casually. Sirius grinned, "yeah. 702-420-9947." Sirius said, pouring out his coffee. "That's the number for the pizza hut, siri." Regulus dead panned, "fine fine. 942-833-2449." Sirius laughed, sitting across the bar from him. '"thanks, siri" Regulus said, stealing a sip of Sirius' coffee and grimacing. "jesus- you do not have good coffee." Regulus said, grabbing a mini water bottle from the counter and sipping it. "That is awful." He said, finishing the water and throwing the empty bottle away. "Hey! Its my coffee, not yours. Sirius said, grinning ear to ear. " im glad it's not mine." Regulus muttered, chuckling as James came in the room. "He's right, pads, you have awful coffee." James said, pouring himself a cup. "Oh, I've got to pick up harry and some groceries for Lily, do you need anything?" He asked, opening the fridge to rummage through it.

 "No, I think I'm good. But take that bag of toys I got for Harry over there and give them to him." Sirius said, standing up and going over to Regulus, showing him a picture of a chubby baby with jet black hair and bright green eyes playing with a black dog. "this is James' son Harry, he's one." Sirius said, holding the photo up to Regulus. "Cute kid you got there, Potter." Regulus said, Looking over at james, who was mixing the creme into his coffee. "oh, thanks, sunshine." James said, getting his coat from the rack by the door, "I'll see you later, pads. bye, sunshine." James said, waving to them as he left the house, leaving Sirius and Regulus in the kitchen. 

"You should call him later." Sirius said, sipping the coffee which Regulus was convinced was made of literal shit. "You think so?" Regulus asked as he sipped his own coffee, sighing at the familiar tartness. "Well, yeah. I mean, don't tell him him I told you this but he's got his own little thing for you." Sirius said, finishing off his coffee with another sip and moving over to rinse the mug. "I wont." Regulus said, standing up and going over to Sirius. "I've been living down on 42nd street with Barty, Evan, and Dora. If you want, I dont think they'd mind seeing you. Er, Dora wouldn't, anyway." Regulus said as he moved to get his coat. "Leaving so soon? I'm wounded, Reggie." Sirius said, feigning hurt as he clutched his chest. "I've got work. If you want, you can come over later, I get off around five, six-thirtyish." Regulus said, putting his coat on and going out onto the front porch. 

Regulus went back to his apartment, that familiar heavy dread feeling lighter, but not completely gone. Pandora and Barty were both gone to work, leaving Regulus home alone with a passed out Evan and a very messy kitchen where Evan appeared to have attempted to bake a cake. Regulus sighed, dropping his bag and going into the kitchen to clean. Around half an hour later, Evan woke up. Regulus had cleaned the kitchen very quickly, and had already tucked himself under a blanket in his room to read. "Reg? When'd you get home?" Evan asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Regulus looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Morning, sleeping beauty. I got back a little bit ago. Also, what on earth were you doing in the kitchen? I found batter on the ceiling, Ev." Regulus said, flipping the page of his book. 

Evan rolled his eyes, coming into Regulus' room further and sitting at his desk. "I may not may not have accidentally drank a 12 pack." Evan mumbled, looking over Regulus' shoulder at the page of his book. "how do you 'accidentally' drink a 12 pack?" Regulus dead panned, flipping the page again. "Nunya." Evan teased, standing up and going into Regulus' bathroom. "Are you going to the bar with us tonight to celebrate Dora's promotion?" Evan asked as he picked and prodded at his face. "I guess, when are you all going?" Regulus asked, putting his bookmark in his book and looking up at Evan. "I think we're leaving around 7 or 8, the bar's just downtown." Evan said, turning around and coming back into Regulus' room. "Oh, okay, yeah, I'll go." Regulus said, reopening his book and starting to read again as Evan went back downstairs to the living room. 

A little while later, Regulus got out of his bed, going into his bathroom and calling Barty as he turned on the shower. "Hey, is there a theme for the party at the bar?" Regulus asked, getting a towel off the shelves and getting in the shower. "No, I don't think so. The bar's got kinda a steam punk theme in general, though, so maybe that really cool pair of jeans you have, the ones with the, like, scrap metal embroidered onto the ends?" Barty asked, the sound of dishes being washed in the background filled the air along with the sound of Regulus' shower. "Alright. Oh, by the way, Evan drank a 12 pack on his own today." Regulus said nonchalantly, getting out of the shower and rummaging through his closet for an outfit. "accidentally?" Barty asked, not sounding the least bit concerned. "Mhm." Regulus hummed, finally picking a decent outfit, consisting of a ripped-and-pinned black crop top, baggy black jeans with his Spider-Man boxer waistband peeking over the top, and his black high top converse. "Yeah, that tracks." Barty said, Muting himself momentarily to talk to a customer as he worked front desk at a hotel. 

Regulus checked the time, 6:42. Regulus got his coat from the back of his bathroom door and grabbed his bag, jogging downstairs. "You still there, Reg?" Barty asked, unmuting himself. "Yep." Regulus said, going into the kitchen and opening the fridge to look through it. "Isn't Marlene friends with your brother? Will that be awkward? I mean, you haven't seen him since you were like, what, 12?" Barty asked, muttering a curse as he flipped off his co-worker Lily lovingly  for throwing pebbles at him as she had been doing periodically for a while now. "Eh, probably not, I've met Marlene and she's pretty chill. Oh, say hey to Lils for me." Regulus said, kicking the fridge shut behind him as he put a couple of frozen fried chicken patties and frozen fries in the airfrier.  "hm. Will do." Barty hummed, Regulus walked into the living room, sitting down and picking up the remote as Evan came back in from the porch, mouthing 'who's that?'as he pointed at his ear. "S'Barty." Regulus said, handing the phone to Evan as he perused Netflix.

Evan took the phone, sitting at the bar as he spoke to Barty, fiddling with Regulus' fidget-pad he had stuck to the wall Regulus continued looking for something to watch before finally settling on Brooklyn 99 as he got up to get him and Evan's food out of the airfryer. 

A little while late,r when they all met up at the bar, Regulus had sat at the bar, talking to Dora and Evan's friend Dorcas while he sipped his drink, occasionally puffing one of the joints that was being passed slowly around the room. After a few minutes, Dorcas left to take a call as Regulus heard a familiar voice behind him. "Evenin', sunshine." James said, sitting next to him and ordering a spiked cappuccino. Regulus looked up at him, surprised but not at the same time as he raised an eyebrow. "Not to sound rude, but why are you here?" Regulus deadpanned, looking at him confused. "Well, me and Pads are friends with Marls too." James said, sipping his drink. "Marls?" Regulus asked, looking even more confused as he looked around, seeing no trace of the other members of Sirius' friend group anywhere. "where's the rest of 'em?" He asked. "Fine, I lied. Sirius told me you'd be here, said you wanted to talk to me, sunshine?" James said, raising an eyebrow at him as he sipped his drink again. 'God,' Regulus thought. 'why does he look so good in this lighting..' Regulus sat up. "Dunno what he's on about." He said, finishing off his drink and gesturing to the bartender for another. "oh really?" James teased, gesturing for his glass to be refilled as well, waving his hand gracefully as Regulus' eyes traced the motion intently. "Really," Regulus said, snapping out of his momentary trance. "I don't." James looked at him unconvinced before letting his head fall, chuckling to himself. "Alright, I believe you, sunshine." James said, picking up his new drink and sipping it. 

Regulus closed his eyes, he was done for. He took a deep breath, looking back at James and regaining his composure. "Why are you actually here?" Regulus asked, sipping his drink. "Because I wanted to see you. And because I wanted to celebrate Pandora." James said, putting his elbows on the bar, interlocking his fingers and resting his chin on top of them. Regulus paused, looking over at him. "You came here just because you wanted to see me?" He asked carefully, raising an eyebrow. "for the most part, yes." James answered, meeting his eyes and smiling. 

                                                                             ~•~

Now, in Regulus' defense, he was drunk. That night, him and James had ended up back at Regulus' apartment, the next morning had been confusing to say the least. Regulus had tried to punch James when he woke up after not remembering sleeping wth him, but had attempted to make up for it in the form of muffins. "Sunshine, why on earth are you awake at 7:00 A.M?" James asked, stumbling into the kitchen groggily. Regulus turned around, looking at him startled as he held the pan. "Making breakfast." He said, pouring the batter into the pan carefully as James watched him from the doorway, his eyes tracing over Regulus' figure as he moved. "why, may I ask, are you making cupcakes at 7:00 in the mornin?" James asked as Regulus turned on the oven and put the muffins in. Regulus shrugged, he didn't exactly know why he was making muffins, but he was nevertheless. James chuckled and sat down at the table, Regulus turned around and sat across from him, pulling one of his knees to his chest. "How do you do that?" James asked, pointing at his leg. "I can barely touch my knee to my chest." Regulus looked at him confused. "you can't do this?" Regulus asked, cocking an eyebrow, he'd know he was flexible, but he'd figured everyone could pull their knees up. James shook his head. 

After a few minutes of cordial chatting, (Regulus still felt A bit awkward after the whole sleeping with him thing) Evan woke up, coming into the kitchen grumpily. "who's this?" He asked, eyeing James suspiciously as he took one of the muffins from Regulus' plate. "James Potter, and you are?" James said cheerfully. "Your mum." Evan responded dryly, walking back out into the living room. "Bar! You owe me eight bucks!" He yelled half-asleep as he hiked the stairs to Regulus' bathroom. Regulus rolled his eyes, he'd met Evan and Pandora at a partyhosted by his parents when they were 7 and Dora was 4, they'd been friends ever since. Regulus poked his head in Pandora's room, knocking lightly. "Dora? You up? I made muffins." He said, earning a groan from her, he turned around, dodging a pillow Pandora threw at him, sitting on top of the counter blocking the coffee pot as Barty came in. "Magic word?" He teased, swinging his legs.  "fuck you." Barty deadpanned, reaching around him to grab the coffee pot and pour himself a mug. Regulus hopped off the counter, going back over to James. 

"what time do you go to work?" Barty asked James as he too sat down at the kitchen table. "Oh, uh, around 8:30." He replied, raising an eyebrow at Barty's mug, a small, white, handmade mug Barty had had for years, given to him by a young Pandora, the front reading "Best sort-uv-broter evar" in squiggly, hard to read English. "Who made the mug?" James asked, looking at Barty. "Dora." Barty said dryly, sipping his coffee again. "Is that your sister or..?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. "She's Evan's sister." Barty clipped, clearly not interested in the conversation all that much. 

James leaned back In his seat, seeming to take the hint. Dora came out of her room a moment later, looking just as elegant as ever in her long, fluffy, silk nightgown. "Reggie, are you going to the shopes later?" She asked, going over to the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup. Regulus nodded, trying to keep his face from heating up as James's hand snaked up to hold his under the table. "good. Can you get more bagles?" She asked, sitting down gracefully, her presence as prominent as ever. "Yeah, sure." Regulus said, fighting to keep a straight face as James rubbed circles into the back of his hand. "lovely." Pandora said simply, sipping her coffee. 

"sorry for kidnapping you last night." James said as he drove Regulus back to the bar where his car had been left the night before. It isn't really kidnapping if you take me to my own house." Regulus muttered, he didn't know why James had made no effort to touch him since breakfast, it felt odd, he didn't know why, of course, James rarely ever touched him when they were kids, but now it felt intentional, like James wasn't touching him because he actively didn't want to. Regulus hated this. He shifted in his seat as James pulled into the bar parking lot. Not so much as looking at him as he got out of James's truck and into his car.

 Regulus backed out of the br parking lot. He was off work today, he'd asked James to take him to get his tribe puck in hopes they could talk, that had not happened. Regulus drove to Sirius', Sirius and James were both at work, But Remus wasn't. Regulus never really talked to Sirius' friends, but when he'd met Remus, there was something about him, something comforting that Regulus couldn't pinpoint, he knocked on the door, his brain running rampant with possible reasons that James was avoiding him, or whatever he was doing. Remus opened the door, his service dog, cocoa, a big brown German Shepard with the personality of a hyper squirrel, at his feet. "Reg? What're you doin' here? Sirius' at work, y'know." Remus said, raising an eyebrow at Regulus, who must have looked very strange based on the way Remus was looking at him, like he'd grown A few extra heads. "You alright, Reg? Do I need to call Sirius?" Remus asked, becoming more and more concerned as the seconds passed. "Im alright, I just need to sit down for a moment." Regulus said, he felt clammy, he didn't know if he'd done something wrong, or why James had all the sudden stopped socializing with him, but he was starting to feel panicky. Remus stepped aside to let him inside as Regulus stepped past him into the house, his hands shaking even though it was 60 something degrees outside. "Care to tell me why you are so shaken up, Reggie?" Remus asked, looking at him skeptically.

Regulus explained, or tried to, anyway, Remus looked at him like the answer was obvious for most of the explanation. When Regulus was done Remus just looked at him. "Did you ask him?" Remus asked, tilting his head a bit. Regulus looked at him dumbfounded. "I.. No? Why would I ask him?" Regulus asked as Remus led him into the kitchen to sit at the bar. "Well you do want to know, do you not?" Remus asked, looking at Regulus like he had grown yet another head. "Well, yes, but that's not a very comfortable conversation topic.." Regulus said, taking the glass of apple cider Remus had given him. Apple cider had to be one of Regulus' favorite things about Halloween in Salem, if not his favorite.

 "Well, no, but if someone isn't willing to talk about the good, bad, and ugly to keep a relationship steady then they're not very worthwhile. Romantic or not." Remus said, mixing a bit of honey into his cider and sipping it. Regulus paused, he hadn't thought about that before, he thought Remus sounded a lot like Pandora. He sipped his cider, deep in thought. "If I had to give you any advice," Remus said, breaking Regulus out of his trance. "Text James, ask him what's up and tell him to text you when he's ready to talk. Gove him the option, especially if this is a new thing." Reissue casually, perching himself on the bar across from Regulus. Regulus sighed, sometimes he hated Remus' philosophical ass. 

Sirius came through the front door, stopping to take off his shoes and coat and put his keys on the hook. "I'm home, my love!" Sirius shouted from the doorway, walking into the kitchen and hugging Remus. "Evening, sweetheart." Remus hummed, hugging Sirius back as he leaned down to plant a kiss on his forehead. Sirius looked up, noticing Regulus. "Hello, person who doesn't live here, what's up?" Sirius asked, going over to hug Regulus. Remus raised an eyebrow at him, a silent question, 'can I tell him'. Regulus paused, on the one hand, he didn't want to hurt him and Sirius' relationship when they had just started healing it, on the other, James is Sirius' best friend.. Regulus shook his head finally, hugging Sirius with one arm, sipping his cider. "Just came over to talk to Remus." Regulus said as Sirius sat on the stool next to him. "What? I thought you were after my best friend, not my brother." Sirius said, unimpressed. Regulus rolled his eyes, "That's actually why I'm here." Regulus said, reflexively. He stopped, Sirius stopped and looked at him. "What d'you mean? If you're trying to tell me you two shagged, I know, James already told me." Sirius said, perking up. "No, uh, when James was taking me back to my car he didn't talk to me, like.. At all." Regulus admitted, so much for secret, but Sirius seemed okay with it, right? Sirius looked at him, processing it. "Well, did you ask him why?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Regulus. Regulus' face dropped. "Pardon?" He asked, dumbfounded. "I mean, knowing James, he was probably just too tired to process words." Sirius said nonchalantly, sipping some of Remus' apple cider. Regulus paused, he felt stupid, but also, yeah, that tracked. He sighed, nodding. "Yeah, probably." He said, sipping his cider. 

Sirius looked at him, a bit concerned now. "If you want, I could talk to him?" Sirius asked. "No, no, im enough of a man to ask myself." Regulus said, getting his phone out. He texted James;

                                                                           ~•~

                                                                                                 Regulus

                                                              Hey James, is something wrong? You                                 

                                                                seemed quiet this morning. Text me later please. 

                                                     ~•~

Regulus put his phone up, looking back up at Sirius and Remus. "I asked him." He said, fidgeting with his hands a bit. "Hm, good. Tell me what he says later." Sirius said, pouring himself a mix of cider and vodka. "Okay." Regulus chuckled, checking the time. "Ooh, I gotta get going soon, my shift starts in thirty minutes." Regulus said, picking up his bag and getting off the chair. "Thanks for the advice. I needed it." He said, hugging each of them and leaving, getting his shoes and coat at the door. 

Regulus got in his car and backed out of Sirius' driveway, driving down the highway to the coffee shop he works at. He got out, going inside and putting on his apron and nametag. "Hey, Alice." He greeted one of his regulars. "How's the baby?" He asked, preparing her usual order. "Oh, y'know, Frank's being overprotective as always. He tried to get me to not go crib shopping last week cause he was scared I was gonna fall." She said fondly, Alice and Frank were some of the nicest people Regulus knew, and he'd been nothing less than ecstatic when they'd finally gotten pregnant with their miracle child Neville. Regulus poured her coffee and put her cake pop in its bag putting it down on the serving counter. "He means well, im sure." He said, taking her money, the price for the warm caramel macchiato had gone up six months ago, but Regulus never told Alice that, taking her usual payment of $7.45 and waving as she took her drink. "Tell Frank I say hi." He said, going over to greet the next customer as Alice left, waving. 

Regulus got home at around four, going upstairs to his room and showering, changing into the uniform for his waiter job, black slacks, a black button down shirt tucked in, and black shoes, and his apron. Regulus looked down at his phone as it buzzed on his desk. 

                                                                               ~•~

                                                                                                Regulus

                                                             Hey James, is something wrong? You

                                            seemed quiet this morning. Text me later, please.

James <3

Hey, reg, srry abt this morning. I was js stressed bc I rlly like u

And I'm not good w stuff like that.

Regulus blushed, James like him? Like?! He typed a response quickly, flabbergasted.

                                                                                                                                      Regulus

                                                             Hey James, is something wrong? You

                                            seemed quiet this morning. Text me later, please.

James <3

Hey,reg, srry abt this morning. I was js stressed bc I rlly like u

And I'm not good w stuff like that.

                                                                                                 Regulus

                                                                                               You like me?

                                                             ~•~

Regulus typed, James wasn't active and his shift started soon, so he decided to put it aside for now and get to work.

Now, from James' perspective this was a lot more stressful, truthfully, he was drunk at 8:00 am on a Tuesday and, surprisingly, wasn't making the best decisions. Go figure. however, no one, according to James, is allowed to know this other than he and Regulus. little does he know, before he made that rule, Regulus told everyone. 

After months of pining, so much so that Marlene was able to fully restock her closet with the money she won on the bets they'd made, Regulus and James had finally gotten together. They dated for around two years, consisting of enough parent lore to very likely send anyone into a coma, before finally settling down and buying a house together. Shortly after that, james mentioned the idea of having kids and, once they'd managed to get up the courage to ask lily to surrogate, they shortly had one, a tiny baby named Harry, who, in Regulus' opinion, favored James far too much, stating that it was 'uncanny' whenever it was brought up in conversation. 

                                                          ~•~

Regulus grunted as harry bolted in. "Harry? Its 7:00 A.M." jumping onto his stomach, shouting. "Dad, dad, dad, dad! Today's the day!" Regulus rolled over, seeing James alread hiding behind the pillow, leaving him to deal with their five year old. "Right, the day for what, darling?" Regulus asked, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Its the field trip! We're going to the fair! Come on, come on!" Harry yelled, jumping up and down. "Okay, sweetheart, go pick out an outfit and give daddy a moment to wake up, yeah?" Regulus asked, standing from the bed and going into his bathroom.  hadn't meant to sign up for this, but James had made him flip a coin to see who had to do it, and he'd lost. He wen into the living room to find harry sitting on the couch  wearing a Spiderman t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts, fixed up with a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice watching pawn patrol. Regulus went into the kitchen, he was exhausted but still turned on the kettle andbegan fixing Harry's lunch for that afternoon as the food at the fair was all cooked near seed oils, which Harry's allergic to. 

He loaded up harry into the car and left James to his day off, pulling into the fair parking lot a minute after the school bus had, getting out with harry, he was wearing an off the shoulder Arctic Monkeys t-shirt and black jeans, which he had assumed would be appropriate. "Ah, Mr Black. Lovely to see you. Where's Teddy?" The teacher asked, looking around. "Pardon me, but how should I know?" Regulus stated, looking at the woman confused. "Well, he is your son, isn't he? Teddy Black?" The teacher said, leading harry over to the rest of the children. "Oh, no, he's my nephew." Regulus responded, checking the good morning text from James. "oh, but..well, those other men, Remus and Sirius said he was their child, but two men can't have a kid so I assumed he was yours." The teacher said, signing in a couple more children who had arrived. "Well, Harry is mine and my husband's." Regulus said idiginantly. "Oh, well..." The woman said, looking him up and down disgustedly.

Regulus got harry home around five, bringing him inside and telling him to go shower as he went up behind James and hugged him. "Evening, love." Regulus said, burying his face in James's neck. "Evening, baby. How was the fair?" James teased, rotating the laundry in the washer to the dryer. "Tiring." Regulus replied, smiling as harry bolted into the room, hair damp in his Thomas the train pyjamas. "hm, well, you'll have that. Dinners on the table in there, pineapple curry, it did have Sesame oil in it, so Harry's dinner is in the microwave." James said, starting the dryer and going over to cuddle harry. 

Regulus served himself a plate, seeing that James had already taken his portion, he grabbed Harry's TV dinner out of the microwave and gave it to him, sitting next to James and laying his head on his shoulder. "Is Sirius watching him this weekend?" He asked, taking a bite of the curry,wincing immediately at the spice. James somehow manages to use half the spices on the planet in every dish, and even though they've been together for three years, Regulus is, somehow, always surprised.James laughed, a breathy, soft laugh that Regulus liked to think was saved just for him. Once Regulus was done with his dinner, he tossed out the foam tray Harry's food had come in, washing his dish and picking Harry up. "Alright, love, lets get you showered and ready for bed, yeah?" Regulus asked, already knowing Harry's answer. "nooo! I don't wanna get in the bath!" Harry squealed, thrashing against Regulus' arms. Regulus knew Harry was scared of water. When he was one, Harry had seen Regulus almost drown in the river when he swam too close to the dam, causing him to refuse to swim in lakes until he was three, when Peter had "dropped" him in the pool, causing him to have to be air lifted to the nearest hospital. Harry had been terrified of water since. "You don't have to get in the bath, love. You can shower." Regulus of course understood his fear, as he himself had had terrible experiences with water in the past, yet he hated to see it on his son. "Fine." Harry had become resigned to showers in the past few years, as he understood he needed to bathe, even if he didn't like it. Regulus carried him up the stairs to the bathroom and turned to water on. "you good, love?" He asked, making sure Harry was okay, he knew he was capable of bathing by himself, and Regulus liked to give him privacy.

Once he heard Harry's approval, he walked back downstairs, wrapping his arms around James, who was doing the dishes, and peppering his neck with kisses, James leaned into the touch, they stayed like that for a while in comfortable silence, until eventually James finished the dishes and dried his hands on a towl. "Mm, is Harry in the shower?" He asked, leaning back against his boyfriend. Regulus nodded against his neck, hearing the upstairs bathroom door open. "He just got out." He murmurred, shifting on his feet a bit. James hummed in response, knowing Harry was old enough to get himself dressed and ready for bed as he rested his hands on his boyfriend's arms.

 A Minute later Harry came running into the living room, where both of his dads were now sitting together watching tv, and plopping down directly between them and beginning to drone on about sonic the hedgehog, his new special interest, eventually, they managed to tire him out enough that he fell asleep mid movie, James carrying him up to bed before returning an managing to coax Regulus up to bed, immediately passing out once his head hit the pillow.

Chapter Text

Sirius had never been attracted to the qualities that you “should” look for in a person, instead preferring to chase after whichever guy gave him the biggest adrenaline rush. He’d been 11 years old when he figured out he was gay, he’d been watching cartoons on a saturday morning (a privilege he only got on saturdays from 8-11) when it had cut from invader zim to danny phantom. Sirius realized early on that, while women were beautiful, he never got the same feeling in his stomach when Kim Possible was on screen that he did when, say, Robin, Danny Phantom, or Pleakly (the agent from lilo and stitch) did, now, for a 10 year old raised to believe that the bible was the only viable source for true history, people of a different race than him were gross, and that, most importantly, men and men being together was the most heinous sin of them all, this was a rather scary feeling, the fear was impermanent, however, because Sirius soon realized that not believing in the bible had absolutely no repercussions.

 Soon he’d realized that what his parents had been teaching him his whole life was entirely rubbish, cursing won’t get you struck down, people of color were just as human as anyone else, he was beginning to wonder if the alphabet really went “A, B, C, D” or if they had made that up too. As the Danny Phantom intro played in the background he continued spooning up bites of Cheerios while the minutes ticked by, his mother wouldn’t be home until late that evening and his little brother wasn’t finished with his chores yet, and his father rarely came out of his study other than to yell at them nowadays, so Sirius had the whole house to himself for the most part. 

Stretching his legs out in front of him, he winced, the fresh welts on his calves and thighs rubbing against the rough carpet as he shifted, a cruel gift from his mother the night before for being out of bed past lights out. He sat his cereal bowl next to him as the cartoon characters ran around the screen, his attention fully absorbed by the colorful attractions. He knew that soon Regulus would emerge from cleaning his room and demand he be allowed to watch Disney Channel, to which Sirius would oblige like always, but for now he sat quietly, watching the characters and their adventures on the screen. 

Sure enough, a few minutes later Regulus came running down the stairs and into the living room, already halfway through his question. Sirius flipped the channels, glancing at the clock and picking up his bowl of cereal. “What do you want for breakfast, Reg?” he asked, watching as one of the cast drew the Disney Channel logo on screen. “Hmm, oatmeal.” the younger boy replied, transfixed on the screen. Sirius nodded and left for the kitchen, putting his bowl in the sink and filling the kettle with water for his brothers oatmeal, while he waited he glanced back at the TV, playing Mulan from wherever the commercial break had paused at while Regulus waited patiently for 11:00, when Phinneas and Ferb played. The scene eventually came up to where Mulan is being trained by Shang to carry the buckets on the stick. He found himself unable to look away, his eyes trained on the cartoon character’s shirtless figure, he blinked only when the kettle squealed, shocking him from his ‘trance’, he quickly turned around, trying to convince himself that his face was hot simply because of the steam from the kettle. Once he’d given Regulus his oatmeal he got to his chores, knowing his father would further welt his legs if he came down and saw them unfinished, however his mind kept wandering, he couldn’t figure out why he’d felt so fluttery when that scene had come on, was he sick? Well, no, he didn’t feel poorly, so what was it? 

Hours later, when he had finished up the last of his chores and come back inside, sweaty, sore, and tired from the laborious chores he’d done, he came inside and went immediately not to the shower, where he normally would’ve seeked even the littlest bit of solace from the heavy aura of the Black Manor, he went to the den, sitting down at the family computer and wincing as he thought of how his mother would react if she saw him sitting in her ‘good’ chairs like this, but he pushed the thought aside. He focused on the computer screen, typing in the search bar “Im a guy, why do I like guys?” the question, to him, seemed pretty concise, however when the results popped up on screen they were anything but; ads, articles on unrelated topics, and buzzfeed quizzes flooded his screen, he clicked around for a few minutes, reading various headlines until his eyes fell upon a new word he had yet to see before, in big bold letters across one of the buzzfeed quizzes was the word; “Gay? Take this quiz and find out!”, he clicked the link, figuring that this might ease his worries. He was quickly proven wrong. 

Sirius’s heart beat faster with every moment he spent on the quizzes, time after time his results popped up, each more discouraging than the last, “97%”, “84%”, “94%”, they came up one after the other, sending Sirius into a slight panic. He closed out his tabs, wiping his evidence before making a beeline for the backyard. He hated trying to think inside of that house, it felt like the walls were closing in on him slowly every time he tried to think of something that wasn’t the bible paraphernalia littered all over the house.

 When he made it to the edge of the treeline, he was on his way to start down one of the little footpaths he had made over time when he heard a rustling, he was about to reach out and move the shrubbery to see what it was when a boy, around his age with large circular glasses, came tumbling out, popping back to his feet immediately. The boy was taller than him by maybe an inch, with shaggy black hair and warm brown skin, wearing jeans and a 49’ers jersey with the name “Potter” spelled across the back in large gold letters. Sirius blinked up at the boy, confused and intrigued all at the same time, before he could formulate a reply or one of the snarky comments he’d become known for, the boy spoke first. “Hi there, I’m James.” the boy, named James apparently, said, holding his hand out for Sirius to shake, which he did, James gave him a lopsided, gap toothed grin. “Do you wanna play a game with me?” he asked, gesturing to the woods, to which Sirius eagerly nodded his head.

The two boys disappeared into the woods, exploring old abandoned buildings, climbing trees, and sword fighting with sticks for hours, until they heard the sound of a cowbell ringing in the distance, James told Sirius to follow him and lead him out of the woods, to a different manor that must not have been far from his own, where a short, plump, indian woman stood at the top of the back steps, wearing a floral muumuu and an apron tied around her waist as she held up the cowbell and rang it.

When James ran forward, up the back steps and over to a small table on the deck, Sirius came to a stop at the edge of the treeline, a bit skittish about coming onto someone elses property without their permission. The woman must’ve noticed this because she walked down the steps, leaning down and saying something quietly to James before approaching Sirius. “Good afternoon, darling. What’s your name?” she asked, her voice melodic and sweet like honeysuckles, Sirius had felt oddly comforted by her presence, her warm, bright smile and her nice smelling perfume. “Sirius, ma’am. Sirius Black.” He replied, his voice coming out smaller than he’d meant it to, the woman gave him a soft smile, she didn’t seem at all angry that he wasn’t making eye contact with her, nor that his pant legs were stained green and brown from he and James’ adventures. “My name is Effie, dear. But you can call me whatever you like. How about we get you inside and let you have a snack, yes?” She asked, her warm, inviting presence not wavering a bit. Sirius nodded, feeling a little bit better as he walked side by side with Effie back up to the house, she gestured at the small table, containing plates stacked with turkey sandwiches and fruit skewers. “Have a seat, dear. I’ll go inside and get the lemonade.” she said, before disappearing into the house. Sirius sat, chatting with James and snacking for a little while before, eventually, all of the sandwiches and fruit skewers were gone, along with half of the pitcher of lemonade. After checking in with Effie, James and Sirius ran gleefully back into the woods, deciding to build a fort. 

After a few hours, the sun had started to set and Sirius knew his mother would be heading home soon, so he said goodbye to James and walked back to the cold, dark aura of the Black Manor. As soon as he stepped into the house he was greeted by Regulus, holding up his little black notebook that he’d been coloring in and showcasing all of the drawings he had made throughout the day. While his brother continued telling him about all he’d done that day, Sirius listened from inside the bathroom, having gotten in the shower as soon as he’d come inside. Once he had cleaned himself up and helped Regulus in cleaning behind his own ears, he allowed himself to relax for a moment, taking a seat in front of the tv, flipping through the channels, thinking to himself for a moment until Regulus piped up, pointing at one of the shows that Sirius had passed, “The Fairly odd Parents”, and recommending they watch it, to which he obliged and turned the show on.

Only an hour later their mother came home, following behind her were the family’s servants, who Sirius often snuck soda and food, lugging the week's groceries with them as they came inside. His mother went to complaining immediately, whinging loudly about how the counters weren’t wiped, which they were, or that the dishes weren’t done, even though they too were already finished. When she passed behind the two boys sitting on the carpet she didn’t have to think twice before she tugged the carpet beneath them, making it scrape against Sirius’s fresh welts. “You had better think about how those feel before you try to disrespect me again, Sirius.” she hissed venomously, Sirius had thought her a snake for the first few years of his life, unable to tell the difference between her harshness and the poison of a rattlesnake, nevertheless, he nodded sharply. “Yes, Mother.” was all he said, not once taking his eyes off the tv, not wanting to look at her and ruin his day, as all he’d been thinking about since he returned was Mrs Potter, and how she had been the perfect image of a mother, caring and warm, and never ill handed toward her children. He didn’t want to taint her image or honour by associating her with his own mother in any way. 

Later that night, at the dinner table, Sirius’s father Orion was droning on about statistics and finances, see, Sirius’s parents were part of a ‘religious group’ known as the “death eaters”, they’d been a part of this ‘group’ since Sirius could remember, going so far as to take him to meetings on occasion when he was really young and a sitter or a nanny wasn’t an option, thankfully, however, Sirius never paid attention to what the so called ‘leaders’ of this group said, but he knew they studied the bible and adhered to it no matter what. As he got older, he’d started to realize that this ‘group’ was less of a group and more so a cult, an aggressive one at that, when Regulus was 7, Sirius had recruited him to tag along with their parents to one of the meetings and write down whatever crazy shit they said in a notebook and then give it to him when they got back home, Regulus, of course, happily agreed and followed along with his parents, when he’d returned he had given the notebook to Sirius with a shrug, apparently these people were good at pretending this was a religion after all, because Regulus hadn’t seemed all that disturbed, however the things written inside the notebook were definitely a cause for concern, things like “You must become more like the savior than yourself in order to be saved”, “If god hadn’t wanted you to suffer in the ways that you have, he would have written your story differently”, and “For his wife must be submissive to him fully, and if she does not then he must make her”, all of which seemed totally dystopian and like bullshit to Sirius, but his parents seemed to believe it. 

As for James, Sirius found himself going over to his house every day when his mother went to work, him and James would run around in the woods, playing make believe and improving their fort day by day, leaving them every night to return to their respectful houses and fantasise about what the next day would bring while they drifted off to sleep at night. After a few months of being at his house every day, Sirius had opened up to Effie, about his mother and father, about the origins of the welts on his legs, arms, and back, about the cult, Effie becoming more of a mother to him than his own mother ever had been. When he mentioned Regulus, Effie had stopped him, asking if Regulus was treated the same way he was, when he told her yes, she had told him to bring Regulus by the next day and left no room for argument, to which Sirius had agreed. 

The next day he had told Regulus he had something to show him and led him into the woods behind the Black Manor, when Regulus saw the fort, he’d assumed that’s where they’d be going, so you can imagine his surprise when they emerged in the backyard of a home he hadn’t even knew existed.

 Effie greeted the two of them with her usual beaming smile, her warm and inviting presence seeming to act as a salve for Regulus’s discomfort as she made small conversation with them because James had still been at football practice when they’d arrived. Of course, the second Regulus had laid eyes on James he’d been smitten, as most usually are (even Sirius had to admit that he’d had a rather embarrassing crush on James for a week or two), however unlike Sirius’s, this didn’t seem to be a typical infatuation. The whole walk home that evening Regulus didn’t shut up about James, so much so that Sirius wondered if their mother could hear them from wherever she was. 

As they got older, Sirius and James only grew more inseparable, they did everything together, they were on the same football team, they both played rugby, they rode the same bus, you never saw one without the other. This, of course, like most good things that happened to Sirius, came with a price, because while Sirius and James were having the times of their lives, Regulus was suffering; his grades, which he usually would just ask Sirius to help with, plummeted, his mental state got worse, and he began to act out more. By the time Regulus was 15, his brother and James, unsurprisingly, were never around, the two always joyriding or playing rugby in James’s backyard, and, while Regulus would never admit this, it was hurting him. He began to go to more of the cult meetings and met a few kids around his age there, a tall, gangly boy named Barty, and a set of twins named Evan and Pandora Rosier, who both had hair the color of snow and blue eyes. 

Sirius, meanwhile, had spent his teenage years the way he wanted to, he’d had just about every guy at his private school in his bed at some point, James joked sometimes, and Sirius didn’t think it was that far off from the truth. By the time Sirius was 16 his criminal record was lengthy to say the very least, having been arrested for possesion of drugs and alcohol more times than he could count, and having had sex with more guys than he thought was in the city population. He’d also had a number of boyfriends, some for longer than others, sometimes multiple at the same time, but none more than a year. By the time he was 17, however, Sirius had gotten himself a boyfriend he actually cared about, a tall, ruggish, gangly boy with messy dirty blonde hair and more scars than he probably could remember the stories to, his name is Remus.

When Sirius had told James that he and Remus, James’s first reaction was “fuck you want me to say? finally?” which, in retrospect, was funny, but at the time had caused Sirius to almost die of embarrassment, Sirius had acquired a rather large group of friends over time, some of which, like Remus, Peter and Dorcas, he had met at school, but he had been introduced to a bunch of new people through Remus, just a few of them being Lily Evans, a fiery, freckley, opinionated girl who Sirius absolutely adored, Marlene McKinnon a pale girl with short blonde hair and more tattoos than were probably legal at her age, and Mary Macdonald, a bit shorter black girl with voluminous, poofy curls that shed everywhere, the girls quickly becoming an integral part of Sirius’s life over time, and especially since they’d moved to Salem Massachusetts for James, Remus, Lily, and Mary’s schooling. 

Chapter Text

Remus didn't have much memory of his childhood. All he remembered was what he had taken to calling "the incident of 05". He and his dad had been playing in the backyard with bottle rockets. Remus had gotten distracted by a dog off in the distance, he always had a love for dogs, his dad hadn't been paying any attention And the rocket had gone off in his face, causing him to lose hearing in his left ear and losing his left eye, needing to wear a prosthetic, at first he had worn the replica eye that matched his perfectly for a little while, but when he was 12 he switched to a glittery amber one, not having changed it since. 

Remus' father had killed himself after the incident, and his mom put him up for adoption shortly after. He was 8 when he went into the adoption center. His father had apparently been very wealthy, as Remus had inherited a full scholarship to WillowBrooks Education, a prestigious Scottish boarding school where, strangely,  he, a boy named Thomas Finnegan, a girl named Lily Evans, and two boys named Regulus and Sirius had non English accents. Remus had started schoola few months after starting at the adoption center, so there was no one able to adopt him. He liked it that way, he didn't want parents, parents were bad. (M'kay?)

Remus had gotten off the train outside the path to the school.He was used to walking through the woods, asthe adoption center had a large 33 acre forest in the back. He had managed to steal a moose pack from the mall, along with some non ripped jeans andshirts without holes in them. Remus walked up the path, noting the deer trails off in the distance, he couldn't help himself, he walked down the deer trail, spotting an open patch with a few deer grazing in it.

As he approached a small rock off the path that he could watch the deer from he saw a girl, taller than him, with long, curly, black hair, high cheekbones, and perfect posture. She was wearing an elegant black dress, With black tights. She looked down at him. Remus felt like she knew all his deepest darkest thoughts and secrets, for the first time in a long time he was really insecure about his eye, at first he'd just accepted it, everyone he knew found it, and his massive explosion scar on the left side of his face, really cool. He brought a hand to his face, about to shy away, the girl raised an eyebrow before getting off the rock and coming over to him."What's your name?" She asked in something between an English and a French accent. "Remus." He said in his heavy Welsh accent, he couldn't help it. Under the gaze of this strange girl he felt insecure about that too. 

She gave him a once over. "Wolf?" She asked finally, sounding unimpressed. Remus felt strange pang of frustration, for some reason he half wanted to impress her. "My name is Narcissia." She said, holding her hand out to him. Remus shook her hand. "Like narcissism?" Remus shot back, realizing the time and how far off the trail he was. He looked back up at Narcissia, "Do you know how to get to the school from here?" He asked, it was worth a shot, at least if she ignored him he figured he could get back to the trail pretty easily. "Yes, but why should I help you?" She asked, flipping her hair off of one of her shoulders. "because I'm a little kid?" Remus tried, he hoped she would take him up, the little kid act worked pretty well on most people. To them, Remus looked like an innocent crippled kid, when in reality, he was so much more. Narcissia looked down at him skeptically, taking in his scar and his eye. "Fine. Follow me." She said, turning on her heel and marching back into the woods, Remus had to jog a bit to keep up, but managed well enough. When they came out of the thicket, Remus gasped. The school was a huge white marble building, with engraved Roman style columns and grand stained glass windows, the roofs were elegant black dipped pyramid shapes with large towers, covered in gabled, gingerbread-style tiles. 

There was a large marble chapel on the hill, with the same tables roofs and a large, seemingly crystal cross sticking up on the front of the roof. The grass was perfectly mowed from all sides, with beautiful Queen-Anne's lace, light blue baby's breath, and white hydrangeas lining the huge yard. Narcissia led Remus up the hill and past a large white horse stable. She led him up into the school and up the grand marble staircases, all the way to a large pair of double doors, where she knocked twice. A woman's voice with a Scottish accent came through the door. "Come in." Narcissia pulled the doors open and ushered Remus inside. The office was beautiful, vaulted ceilings, floor to ceiling bookshelves, a warm firepit, and plush, soft carpet lining the floors. 

"I've got a late student for you, says his names Remus." Narcissia said, popping the gum that had apparently appeared in her mouth. "I will handle him from here, Ms Black. You may leave." The teacher said, not taking her eyes off her paperwork as she waved her hand to dismiss Narcissia. She left, shutting the doors behind her, as the teacher gestured for Remus to sit down in the large black leather chair in front of her. 

He sat, swinging his legs off the edge nervously as the teacher looked up from her paperwork, looking at him warmly. "Ah, Remus. I've been expecting you. Your father sent me a letter a while back, informing me you'd be coming." She said, fixing her papers and putting them away before bringing her hands together in the center of her desk. "So, welcome to WillowBrooks Education. I'll need to find your file," she said, turning to rummage through her desk, pulling out a small brown envelope. "Here it is. So, you will be in dorm 201, with James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius black." She said, listing off the names as she handed him a small bronze skeleton key, Remus took it, flipping it over in his hands as he examined it. 

She flipped to the next page of his file, pulling out a small piece of paper and handing it to him.

SCHEDULE:

8-9: breakfast

10-11: Period one; Math

11-11:30: Art

11:30-12:30: period two; English

12:30-1: Lunch

1-1:30: Music

1:30-2:30: period three; History

2:30-3:30: period four; Science

Remus looked over his schedule, memorizing it. The teacher, who's name tag said Mrs McGonagall, handed him another slip of paper from his file, along with two laminated slips of paper, one green, one red,  he took the items, looking them over.

STUDENT 504 PLAN.

if your eye is irritated, dirty, or needs to be cleaned, leave the green slip of paper on your desk and go to the bathroom to clean it.

If you are having an emergency, leave the slip of red paper on your desk and go quickly to the nurses office. (Room 401)

If needed, hearing aids will be provided by the school. BSL translators will also be provided by the school if needed. 

You will be allowed extra time on tests. If needed, a reading/math tutor will be provided by the school. 

Any scar/medical treatment will be provided by the school nurse/head teacher.

Remus read over the paper, confused. Why did he need all these things? He could read perfectly fine. He was great at math. Remus started to get frustrated, why did these people believe he could be a competent student without this crap? He put the papers in his bag, slouching in his seat. Mcgonagall gave him a strange look before handing him his file and whistling for someone. "Thomas! Please, escort Remus here to his dormitory." She said, waving them off as she went back to her paperwork. 

Thomas was a taller, stalky boy, with messy brown hair. He led Remus down the halls and the winding staircases, all the way up to a large tower on the east side of the castle. The walls of the castle were lined with elegant artwork that seemed like it had to have a deeper meaning that he couldn't quite piece together. Thomas led him up to a large room, lined with plush red carpets, fluffy couches and chairs, and a large fireplace in the corner, he led Remus up up a large dark oak staircase to a hallway, down either side was a large mahogany door with gold engravements along the bottom. Thomas led him down the right side of the hallway, into a second, smaller hallway with floor to ceiling windows on either side and another mahogany door at the end, leading to a large circular room, with a couch facing a small tv on a bookshelf with a record player. Around the walls were dark oak doors with gold number plates on them, Thomas stopped in the middle of the room, pointing to one of the doors in the corner. "That's your dorm, good luck, kid." He said, giving Remus a once over. He felt that familiar pang of anger, why didn't anyone here think he could take care of himself? He marched over to the door, unlocking it with the little bronze key. 

The dorm was a large, round room, the ceiling sloped in the corner, and four plush four-poster beds sat in a semicircle around the walls, in the corner was another door he figured was the bathroom. Three of the beds were already taken, leaving Remus with one in the corner next to a small window, he went over and began unpacking and organizing his things. The room was empty, save for a small black lab laying on his bed with an orange service vest laying next to it. There was a note on his bedside table, which he picked up, 

Dear Remus, this is your school provided service dog. She is trained professionally, and will not disrupt classes unless necessary. She is a seeing-eye dog and will need to be held on your left side. She will alert you of threats, possible collisions, and Amy danger you may not be able to see.

Sincerely- Head Teacher Mcgonagall.

Remus threw the note away. He knew it was senseless to be mad at the dog, he petted her behind her ears, looking at her, she had no nametag on her collar and a small, star shaped mark on her stomach. "I'll call you cygnus." Remus said, the name seeming to fit the dog, besides, star seemed too basic a name for her.The door to the room opened and two boys came in, one short and plump with blonde hair, and one tall and well built with unruly brown hair. "Oh, hey," the tall one said in a high class British accent. "You must be the other kid." He said, coming over to Remus. "im James. This is Peter." James held his hand out to him. Remus shook it, trying his best not to seem nervous. "Remus." He squeaked, sitting on his bed next to Cygnus, who had woken up to lay her head on his lap, before going back to sleep. 

James looked at the dog curiously, "Cute dog. What's his name?" He asked, approaching the dog cautiously. "her name's Cygnus." Remus said, petting the dog. James quirked an eyebrow up. "Isn't that a boy's name?" He asked, petting the dogs back a bit. "No, s'not." Remus shot back defensively, he was in a bad enough mood already, he didn't need some kid hassling him.

James shrugged, going over to his bed and sitting down. "Maybe." He said, picking a book off his shelf and settling back onto his bed. Remus looked at his measly bookshelf, his school books stacked on top and a few select books he'd managed to steal over the short amount of time that he was at the adoption center. He went to pick one up as a third boy, this one with the same high cheekbones and curly black hair as Narcissia. The boy came over to him, waving his hand in his face. "Cool scar." The boy said, plopping himself down on the floor next to Remus' bed. This boy didn't have the same look as Narcissia, he looked nicer, Remus' stomach fluttered just a bit, but he told himself it was just his nerves.  "Thanks." He said, petting Cygnus again. 

The boy reached his hand towards Remus. "my name's Sirius. How about you?" The boy, apparently called Sirius, said as Remus reached down, shaking his hand. "im Remus." He said, looking over at Peter, who was reading a book while fidgeting, which he seemed to do a lot. James' alarm went off, he looked over. "James, why is your alarm going off at 5:15?" He questioned, Cygnus lifted her head and tilting it to the side a bit. "Its dinner." James replied simply, turning his alarm off as he got out of bed, Peter tailing behind him quickly as they both scramed off to dinner. Sirius looked up at him, holding his hand out again. He pulled him up, getting off the bed and securing Cygnus' vest and leash on. They left for dinner, walking down the halls and down to the entry. "So," Sirius started, turning and leading Remus down toward the banquet hall. "Where are you from? I can't place your accent." He said, turning down a hallway toward a large black marble door, the noise of chatter and clinking of utensils. Remus' face heated up a bit. "Oh, im from Wales. Down next to England." Remus said, he didn't like telling people where he was from, he loved Wales, but his town didn't exactly have the best reputation. 

Sirius pulled the doors open, going inside and finding the table where James and Peter ad sat down, their legs on the seats next to them.Sirius sat down next to James, picking up a serving fork and grabbing some steak and sheppards pie, digging in. Remus sat next to Peter, looking around at the food before picking up a baked potato, cutting it open and putting cheese and sour cream on top. "So, Remus, are you pureblood?" James asked, biting into his frie chicken. "Pureblood?" He replied, looking up from his baked potato. "Yeah you know, like, purely from one ethnicity?" James said, chugging what looked like Fanta. "I beg your pardon?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, its traditional. I'm not saying I agree with it, it's stupid really." He said, taking another bite of his chicken. "Oh, uh, I think so. My moms grandma was Hispanic, but.." He trailed off, still looking at James skeptically. "Hm, cool. My family's all indian, except my aunt Lyddie, she married a white guy and got disowned." James replied, balling up his napkin and tossing it over at a smaller, pale girl with bright red hair, the napping hit her head and she turned around. "Dang it, Potter!" She yelled, throwing the napkin back at James. "Be careful, jamesie, Evans'll get you. When are you gonna pull out the 'golly gee's and the 'dadgummit's Sirius teased the red head. Remus shook his head, looking over at the girl and mouthing an apology as he smacked the other two boys I'm the back of their heads, causing them to yelp a bit. " oi!" Sirius replied, wiping his mouth as he finished his steak. The bell rang out in the church, signaling the end of dinner as they stood up. Remus went to grab his plate as Sirius stopped him. "The help does that." He said simply, interlocking their fingers as if they'd known each other for years, Remus' stomach fluttered again as Sirius led him down the halls back to the dorms right behind James and Peter. 

Remus got out of the shower, James, Peter, and Sirius had gone down to watch a football game while he got ready for bed, he changed into his pajamas, settling onto his bed with a book, reading as Cygnus sat in his lap, sleeping. James and Sirius returned a bit later, he glanced at the clock; 9:46. He shut his book and put it away, getting his container for his eye and pouring contact solution in it. Sirius watched him intrigued, his face dropping and twisting as he watched Remus casually pop his eye out of his head and let it drop into the contact solution. "What. On God's green earth are you doing?" Sirius exclaimed disgustedly. "Oh, I have a fake eye." He replied, putting his container back and taking his hearing aid off, putting it in its case. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "How'd you lose your eye?" He asked, the shower turned on as James got in, peter had taken notice of the conversation, listening in from his perch on his bed, his book left forgotten in his lap. "Oh, me and my dad were playing with bottle rockets, one shot off nd hit me in the eye at an angle and exploded my left eye and eardrum." He said, putting his bookmark in as he pulled his covers over himself. "Cool." Sirius said, leaning back and tucking under his own covers. "Well, g'night." He said, cutting his lamp off.

                                                                                •~°~•

Remus was the best behaved out of the friend group, while Sirius and James were constantly fucking off, and Peter couldn't hold his tongue for the life of him, Remus behaved and kept his head down. In second year, Sirius' little brother Regulus came to the school. This was the day Remus figured out James was Bisexual.

"Mooonyyy!" James exclaimed dramatically, throwing himself onto Remus' bed where he had been sitting peacefully doing his Potions homework. "No, James, I have not seen Lily. And yes, James, you can copy my DADA homework." He replied simply, flipping the page in his book. He raised an eyebrow, looking up at the other boy with confusion. "What? No, i need relationship advice." He yelled, waving his hands slightly madly. Now it was Remus' turn to raise an eyebrow. "With lils?" He asked, closing his ink bottle and setting it aside with his quill. "No! I...okay, look, you know, uh.. Regulus?" Remus raised an eyebrow. "You like Regulus?" he asked, A look of confusion on his face. James nodded as his jaw fell open, "okay.. Well, you obviously can't tell Sirius." He said, putting his book on his bookshelf. 

"yeah, no shit." 

said, sitting up. "So, Just- try to get closer to Regulus. Don't be creepy about it, just, pay attention, wait till he changes something, then compliment him on it, if you see he's having a bad day, ask him if he's okay, say good morning to him, just try to get closer to him slowly." James groaned, "but I want him now!" He whined, Throwing his head back dramatically. Remus rolled his eyes, crossing his legs. "These things take time, prongs." James mocked him, flopping backwards onto Remus’s bed as the taller boy just rolled his eyes, Cygnus jumping up onto the bed to lick James’s face as Remus snickered. 

A few years later, Remus, Sirius, James, Lily, Mary, Dorcas, and Marlene all packed up and moved to Salem Massachusetts, where James, Lily, Remus, and Mary would be studying Literature, Art, History, and Mixology respectfully, at first, they’d just gotten two large apartments, one with Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus all together, and the other with Mary, Marlene, Dorcas, and Lily together, which had worked for a while until James and Peter started to complain about Remus and Sirius’s noise levels, leading James to get a small studio apartment a few blocks away, and Peter to do the same, leaving Sirius and Remus to themselves. At some point, the girls did the same thing, Lily and Dorcas moved into their own apartment and Mary and Marlene into their own apartment. 

They set up a system after a while, they would all leave each other be and let each other do their thing all week, up until friday, when they would all go out to the bar that Dorcas worked at and have some drinks, then they’d spend the next day nursing their hangovers in whoever’s living room that they woke up in, and once that’s done they’d go home on sunday and repeat the cycle next week. 

But of course, something had to fuck up.

Remus had not planned this. When Sirius had gotten a round for the group he had also promised he wouldn't get more than one round. He had lied, of course. Remus didn't blame him, either. Sirius, nonetheless, had gotten extremely drunk, now laying in the backseat of his truck, splayed out on top of James' lap, who was just as drunk, sitting next to Peter, who was the least drunk of the three of them, having only had a couple shots. 

The ride home was mostly quiet, with lily playing Noah Kahan quietly on the speakers the whole way. She had insisted that Remus match with her, which was fine by him, he loved playing with his rings to tease Sirius, and it worked, the whole time tonight, Sirius was staring at his hands, practically shaking. 

Once they got to their apartment building, Lily and Remus parted ways, which Lily had been hesitant to do. "Remus, luv, how're your scrawny arse arms gonna get 'em up the stairs?" Remus smiled, assuring lily she had it, before lifting James and Sirius onto his shoulders he carried them up to their shared apartment, Peter trailing behind, recording Sirius' stupidity.

"Remus..?" Sirius slurred, clinging to Remus' chest. "Yes, love?" Remus replied patiently, walking up the stairs to their floor. "..d'you..like, ever..wonder, if Arthur Weasley is..like, right?..like, what is the function of a..rubber duck?" Sirius asked, slowly curling against Remus' chest when he opened their apartment door, the AC being on full blast as Remus enjoys living in a fucking refrigerator. Remus chuckled and pulled his jacket off, draping it around Sirius. "Y'know, we may never know, love."

Remus recruited Peter to walk James back to his apartment and waved them both goodbye before going into his own apartment and getting ready for bed, taking his necklaces and rings off as Sirius watched from the bed, utterly mesmerized by his boyfriend.

Remus pulled his shirt off, not having the energy to shower, and pulled his pants off, tossing them in the hamper and sliding a pair of boxers on, before taking his hair down, ruffling it a bit.Once he was done getting ready for bed he turned his attention to Sirius, pulling the shorter man’s shirt over his head with ease and helping him into a pair of sweatpants and socks, Sirius, rolled over to the middle of the bed, tucking under the sheets and making grabby hands toward Remus. "Baby.." he mumbled, his eyes drooping as he fought off sleep. Remus, unperturbed by this,  finished getting ready at his own speed, before climbing into bed next to Sirius, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind.

Chapter Text

Remus didn't have much memory of his childhood. All he remembered was what he had taken to calling "the incident of 05". He and his dad had been playing in the backyard with bottle rockets. Remus had gotten distracted by a dog off in the distance, he always had a love for dogs, his dad hadn't been paying any attention And the rocket had gone off in his face, causing him to lose hearing in his left ear and losing his left eye, needing to wear a prosthetic, at first he had worn the replica eye that matched his perfectly for a little while, but when he was 12 he switched to a glittery amber one, not having changed it since. 

Remus' father had killed himself after the incident, and his mom put him up for adoption shortly after. He was 8 when he went into the adoption center. His father had apparently been very wealthy, as Remus had inherited a full scholarship to WillowBrooks Education, a prestigious Scottish boarding school where, strangely,  he, a boy named Thomas Finnegan, a girl named Lily Evans, and two boys named Regulus and Sirius had non English accents. Remus had started schoola few months after starting at the adoption center, so there was no one able to adopt him. He liked it that way, he didn't want parents, parents were bad. (M'kay?)

Remus had gotten off the train outside the path to the school.He was used to walking through the woods, asthe adoption center had a large 33 acre forest in the back. He had managed to steal a moose pack from the mall, along with some non ripped jeans andshirts without holes in them. Remus walked up the path, noting the deer trails off in the distance, he couldn't help himself, he walked down the deer trail, spotting an open patch with a few deer grazing in it.

As he approached a small rock off the path that he could watch the deer from he saw a girl, taller than him, with long, curly, black hair, high cheekbones, and perfect posture. She was wearing an elegant black dress, With black tights. She looked down at him. Remus felt like she knew all his deepest darkest thoughts and secrets, for the first time in a long time he was really insecure about his eye, at first he'd just accepted it, everyone he knew found it, and his massive explosion scar on the left side of his face, really cool. He brought a hand to his face, about to shy away, the girl raised an eyebrow before getting off the rock and coming over to him."What's your name?" She asked in something between an English and a French accent. "Remus." He said in his heavy Welsh accent, he couldn't help it. Under the gaze of this strange girl he felt insecure about that too. 

She gave him a once over. "Wolf?" She asked finally, sounding unimpressed. Remus felt strange pang of frustration, for some reason he half wanted to impress her. "My name is Narcissia." She said, holding her hand out to him. Remus shook her hand. "Like narcissism?" Remus shot back, realizing the time and how far off the trail he was. He looked back up at Narcissia, "Do you know how to get to the school from here?" He asked, it was worth a shot, at least if she ignored him he figured he could get back to the trail pretty easily. "Yes, but why should I help you?" She asked, flipping her hair off of one of her shoulders. "because I'm a little kid?" Remus tried, he hoped she would take him up, the little kid act worked pretty well on most people. To them, Remus looked like an innocent crippled kid, when in reality, he was so much more. Narcissia looked down at him skeptically, taking in his scar and his eye. "Fine. Follow me." She said, turning on her heel and marching back into the woods, Remus had to jog a bit to keep up, but managed well enough. When they came out of the thicket, Remus gasped. The school was a huge white marble building, with engraved Roman style columns and grand stained glass windows, the roofs were elegant black dipped pyramid shapes with large towers, covered in gabled, gingerbread-style tiles. 

There was a large marble chapel on the hill, with the same tables roofs and a large, seemingly crystal cross sticking up on the front of the roof. The grass was perfectly mowed from all sides, with beautiful Queen-Anne's lace, light blue baby's breath, and white hydrangeas lining the huge yard. Narcissia led Remus up the hill and past a large white horse stable. She led him up into the school and up the grand marble staircases, all the way to a large pair of double doors, where she knocked twice. A woman's voice with a Scottish accent came through the door. "Come in." Narcissia pulled the doors open and ushered Remus inside. The office was beautiful, vaulted ceilings, floor to ceiling bookshelves, a warm firepit, and plush, soft carpet lining the floors. 

"I've got a late student for you, says his names Remus." Narcissia said, popping the gum that had apparently appeared in her mouth. "I will handle him from here, Ms Black. You may leave." The teacher said, not taking her eyes off her paperwork as she waved her hand to dismiss Narcissia. She left, shutting the doors behind her, as the teacher gestured for Remus to sit down in the large black leather chair in front of her. 

He sat, swinging his legs off the edge nervously as the teacher looked up from her paperwork, looking at him warmly. "Ah, Remus. I've been expecting you. Your father sent me a letter a while back, informing me you'd be coming." She said, fixing her papers and putting them away before bringing her hands together in the center of her desk. "So, welcome to WillowBrooks Education. I'll need to find your file," she said, turning to rummage through her desk, pulling out a small brown envelope. "Here it is. So, you will be in dorm 201, with James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius black." She said, listing off the names as she handed him a small bronze skeleton key, Remus took it, flipping it over in his hands as he examined it. 

She flipped to the next page of his file, pulling out a small piece of paper and handing it to him.

SCHEDULE:

8-9: breakfast

10-11: Period one; Math

11-11:30: Art

11:30-12:30: period two; English

12:30-1: Lunch

1-1:30: Music

1:30-2:30: period three; History

2:30-3:30: period four; Science

Remus looked over his schedule, memorizing it. The teacher, who's name tag said Mrs McGonagall, handed him another slip of paper from his file, along with two laminated slips of paper, one green, one red,  he took the items, looking them over.

STUDENT 504 PLAN.

if your eye is irritated, dirty, or needs to be cleaned, leave the green slip of paper on your desk and go to the bathroom to clean it.

If you are having an emergency, leave the slip of red paper on your desk and go quickly to the nurses office. (Room 401)

If needed, hearing aids will be provided by the school. BSL translators will also be provided by the school if needed. 

You will be allowed extra time on tests. If needed, a reading/math tutor will be provided by the school. 

Any scar/medical treatment will be provided by the school nurse/head teacher.

Remus read over the paper, confused. Why did he need all these things? He could read perfectly fine. He was great at math. Remus started to get frustrated, why did these people believe he could be a competent student without this crap? He put the papers in his bag, slouching in his seat. Mcgonagall gave him a strange look before handing him his file and whistling for someone. "Thomas! Please, escort Remus here to his dormitory." She said, waving them off as she went back to her paperwork. 

Thomas was a taller, stalky boy, with messy brown hair. He led Remus down the halls and the winding staircases, all the way up to a large tower on the east side of the castle. The walls of the castle were lined with elegant artwork that seemed like it had to have a deeper meaning that he couldn't quite piece together. Thomas led him up to a large room, lined with plush red carpets, fluffy couches and chairs, and a large fireplace in the corner, he led Remus up up a large dark oak staircase to a hallway, down either side was a large mahogany door with gold engravements along the bottom. Thomas led him down the right side of the hallway, into a second, smaller hallway with floor to ceiling windows on either side and another mahogany door at the end, leading to a large circular room, with a couch facing a small tv on a bookshelf with a record player. Around the walls were dark oak doors with gold number plates on them, Thomas stopped in the middle of the room, pointing to one of the doors in the corner. "That's your dorm, good luck, kid." He said, giving Remus a once over. He felt that familiar pang of anger, why didn't anyone here think he could take care of himself? He marched over to the door, unlocking it with the little bronze key. 

The dorm was a large, round room, the ceiling sloped in the corner, and four plush four-poster beds sat in a semicircle around the walls, in the corner was another door he figured was the bathroom. Three of the beds were already taken, leaving Remus with one in the corner next to a small window, he went over and began unpacking and organizing his things. The room was empty, save for a small black lab laying on his bed with an orange service vest laying next to it. There was a note on his bedside table, which he picked up, 

Dear Remus, this is your school provided service dog. She is trained professionally, and will not disrupt classes unless necessary. She is a seeing-eye dog and will need to be held on your left side. She will alert you of threats, possible collisions, and Amy danger you may not be able to see.

Sincerely- Head Teacher Mcgonagall.

Remus threw the note away. He knew it was senseless to be mad at the dog, he petted her behind her ears, looking at her, she had no nametag on her collar and a small, star shaped mark on her stomach. "I'll call you cygnus." Remus said, the name seeming to fit the dog, besides, star seemed too basic a name for her.The door to the room opened and two boys came in, one short and plump with blonde hair, and one tall and well built with unruly brown hair. "Oh, hey," the tall one said in a high class British accent. "You must be the other kid." He said, coming over to Remus. "im James. This is Peter." James held his hand out to him. Remus shook it, trying his best not to seem nervous. "Remus." He squeaked, sitting on his bed next to Cygnus, who had woken up to lay her head on his lap, before going back to sleep. 

James looked at the dog curiously, "Cute dog. What's his name?" He asked, approaching the dog cautiously. "her name's Cygnus." Remus said, petting the dog. James quirked an eyebrow up. "Isn't that a boy's name?" He asked, petting the dogs back a bit. "No, s'not." Remus shot back defensively, he was in a bad enough mood already, he didn't need some kid hassling him.

James shrugged, going over to his bed and sitting down. "Maybe." He said, picking a book off his shelf and settling back onto his bed. Remus looked at his measly bookshelf, his school books stacked on top and a few select books he'd managed to steal over the short amount of time that he was at the adoption center. He went to pick one up as a third boy, this one with the same high cheekbones and curly black hair as Narcissia. The boy came over to him, waving his hand in his face. "Cool scar." The boy said, plopping himself down on the floor next to Remus' bed. This boy didn't have the same look as Narcissia, he looked nicer, Remus' stomach fluttered just a bit, but he told himself it was just his nerves.  "Thanks." He said, petting Cygnus again. 

The boy reached his hand towards Remus. "my name's Sirius. How about you?" The boy, apparently called Sirius, said as Remus reached down, shaking his hand. "im Remus." He said, looking over at Peter, who was reading a book while fidgeting, which he seemed to do a lot. James' alarm went off, he looked over. "James, why is your alarm going off at 5:15?" He questioned, Cygnus lifted her head and tilting it to the side a bit. "Its dinner." James replied simply, turning his alarm off as he got out of bed, Peter tailing behind him quickly as they both scramed off to dinner. Sirius looked up at him, holding his hand out again. He pulled him up, getting off the bed and securing Cygnus' vest and leash on. They left for dinner, walking down the halls and down to the entry. "So," Sirius started, turning and leading Remus down toward the banquet hall. "Where are you from? I can't place your accent." He said, turning down a hallway toward a large black marble door, the noise of chatter and clinking of utensils. Remus' face heated up a bit. "Oh, im from Wales. Down next to England." Remus said, he didn't like telling people where he was from, he loved Wales, but his town didn't exactly have the best reputation. 

Sirius pulled the doors open, going inside and finding the table where James and Peter ad sat down, their legs on the seats next to them.Sirius sat down next to James, picking up a serving fork and grabbing some steak and sheppards pie, digging in. Remus sat next to Peter, looking around at the food before picking up a baked potato, cutting it open and putting cheese and sour cream on top. "So, Remus, are you pureblood?" James asked, biting into his frie chicken. "Pureblood?" He replied, looking up from his baked potato. "Yeah you know, like, purely from one ethnicity?" James said, chugging what looked like Fanta. "I beg your pardon?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, its traditional. I'm not saying I agree with it, it's stupid really." He said, taking another bite of his chicken. "Oh, uh, I think so. My moms grandma was Hispanic, but.." He trailed off, still looking at James skeptically. "Hm, cool. My family's all indian, except my aunt Lyddie, she married a white guy and got disowned." James replied, balling up his napkin and tossing it over at a smaller, pale girl with bright red hair, the napping hit her head and she turned around. "Dang it, Potter!" She yelled, throwing the napkin back at James. "Be careful, jamesie, Evans'll get you. When are you gonna pull out the 'golly gee's and the 'dadgummit's Sirius teased the red head. Remus shook his head, looking over at the girl and mouthing an apology as he smacked the other two boys I'm the back of their heads, causing them to yelp a bit. " oi!" Sirius replied, wiping his mouth as he finished his steak. The bell rang out in the church, signaling the end of dinner as they stood up. Remus went to grab his plate as Sirius stopped him. "The help does that." He said simply, interlocking their fingers as if they'd known each other for years, Remus' stomach fluttered again as Sirius led him down the halls back to the dorms right behind James and Peter. 

Remus got out of the shower, James, Peter, and Sirius had gone down to watch a football game while he got ready for bed, he changed into his pajamas, settling onto his bed with a book, reading as Cygnus sat in his lap, sleeping. James and Sirius returned a bit later, he glanced at the clock; 9:46. He shut his book and put it away, getting his container for his eye and pouring contact solution in it. Sirius watched him intrigued, his face dropping and twisting as he watched Remus casually pop his eye out of his head and let it drop into the contact solution. "What. On God's green earth are you doing?" Sirius exclaimed disgustedly. "Oh, I have a fake eye." He replied, putting his container back and taking his hearing aid off, putting it in its case. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "How'd you lose your eye?" He asked, the shower turned on as James got in, peter had taken notice of the conversation, listening in from his perch on his bed, his book left forgotten in his lap. "Oh, me and my dad were playing with bottle rockets, one shot off nd hit me in the eye at an angle and exploded my left eye and eardrum." He said, putting his bookmark in as he pulled his covers over himself. "Cool." Sirius said, leaning back and tucking under his own covers. "Well, g'night." He said, cutting his lamp off.

                                                                                •~°~•

Remus was the best behaved out of the friend group, while Sirius and James were constantly goofing off, and Peter couldn't hold his tongue for the life of him, Remus behaved and kept his head down. In second year, Sirius' little brother Regulus came to the school. This was the day Remus figured out James was Bisexual.

"Mooonyyy!" James exclaimed dramatically, throwing himself onto Remus' bed where he had been sitting peacefully doing his Potions homework. "No, James, I have not seen Lily. And yes, James, you can copy my DADA homework." He replied simply, flipping the page in his book. He raised an eyebrow, looking up at the other boy with confusion. "What? No, i need relationship advice." He yelled, waving his hands slightly madly. Now it was Remus' turn to raise an eyebrow. "With lils?" He asked, closing his ink bottle and setting it aside with his quill. "No! I...okay, look, you know, uh.. Regulus?" Remus raised an eyebrow. "You like Regulus?" he asked, A look of confusion on his face. James nodded as his jaw fell open, "okay.. Well, you obviously can't tell Sirius." He said, putting his book on his bookshelf. 

"yeah, no shit." 

said, sitting up. "So, Just- try to get closer to Regulus. Don't be creepy about it, just, pay attention, wait till he changes something, then compliment him on it, if you see he's having a bad day, ask him if he's okay, say good morning to him, just try to get closer to him slowly." James groaned, "but I want him now!" He whined, Throwing his head back dramatically. Remus rolled his eyes, crossing his legs. "These things take time, prongs." 

Chapter Text

Regulus never particularly understood how his brother couldn't seem to get why he did what he did. See, their parents were all about appearances, so if you just keep up appearances, play nice, and don't get in trouble, you won't get hurt. A concept Sirius never quite understood. Regulus despised his parents, and when he was 18 he left with Barty and Evan and never looked back.Of course, they picked up Pandora in France from their parents on her 18th birthday. Regulus also hadn't meant to meet back up with his brother, at least, not that soon. When they were little, Regulus and Sirius would sit up all night long, talking about where they'd go when they left, eventually they decided on America, land of the free. 

They had never really discussed where in America they would go, as they assumed no matter what, they'd be together. Barty had wanted to go up north, claiming that it was the closest to England weather they could find.  Regulus had of course shut down this idea, because he had hated the new England weather, especially since his mother started instituting locking him out as a form of punishment. Evan had said they should go to Florida or chicago, which Regulus considered, but he hated the heat. Pandora, ever the princess, decided they would go to Salem, as the weather accommodated everyone, Regulus' love for long sleeve shirts, Barty's love for fog and cold, and Evans love for old haunted places. 

The hunt for houses didn't last very long as Pandora is friends with everyone who has stepped foot on earth ever, so she found them a lovely house up on a hill in the back woods of Salem. The downstairs area was small, but not cramped, the main bedroom seperated by a half wall, which Evan and Barty claimed quickly. There was a small bedroom in the back with an elevated corner, which Pandora practically scrambled to claim, leaving Regulus with a small lofted bedroom with a full size bed, a desk, a small closet, and his own bathoom. They had made themselves comfortable quickly, Regulus getting a job at a small cafe on the corner and enrolling in the local college to become an architect, Barty got a job as a piercer in a tattoo shop, and Evan and Pandora both got jobs at a small startup bar in town. 

It had been a pretty normal day, Regulus had gotten up and dressed for work and gone down to the cafe to open, he'd just been hanging out and wondering what he wanted to do after his shift, when the door to the cafe opened. Two men came in, one of them tall and blonde wearing a knit jumper and jeans, the other shorter with sharper facial features, he had black hair and a leather jacket, with black jeans and doc Martin's. Regulus knew instinctively that this was his brother, though he hoped he wouldn't recognize him.

 "Hi, welcome in to Avery's Cafe. How can I help you?" Regulus asked, stepping forward and not breaking eye contact with the blonde guy. "Yeah, hi, can I get a caramel macchiato with two pumps of caramel and a dirty chai latte with two pumps of creme and a chocolate croissant?" The tall guy answered, fully oblivious to Sirius staring at Regulus wide eyed like a deer in headlights. "lovely, and what is the name for that?" Regulus chirpped, wanting to get them out as quick as possible. "Oh, the name is Remus-" the tall guy went to answer before Sirius cut him off. "Regulus." Sirius said shakily, he was clinging to Remus' hand for dear life as he stared at him. "That's reg?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at Regulus. Regulus turned to his brother. "Sirius." He answered calmly, trying not to break down in the middle of work. He didn't have time to wonder how on earth Sirius was here, he just needed to get this over with. "When..did you move to America..?" Sirius asked, his fingers digging into Remus' hand. "A few months ago." He answered, turning to make their coffees. "You never tried to reach out.." Sirius said, deflating A bit as the realization hit him. 

Regulus handed them their coffees. "Your total is 11.49." Regulus said, placing the coffees and croissant on the counter. "That seems low?" Remus said, handing him a ten and a couple of ones, Regulus handed him his change, Turning to clean the counter. "Family discount." He stated simply, going back to work as Sirius slid him something across the bar. Regulus perked up, reaching for the small slip of paper that read '834-9218 my number :) Sirius <3'  

Regulus made his way home later, the piece of paper clutched in his fist, he wanted to call the number, wanted to see if it was sirius. But he feared it might've been his parents number, knowing his long history of cruel pranks, and he knew they'd be able to track him. He came home to Pandora smoking on the couch and Barty and Evan cuddling, he approached Pandora, snatching the joint and handing her the piece of paper. Her confusion faded quickly, replaced by worry as she put the pieces together. "Oh, love..." She said, wrapping her arm around Regulus and hugging him. "Are you going to call him?" She asked looking down at the paper quietly. "I dunno." Regulus replied, puffing the joint once more. "Maybe you should. I mean, sure,You didn't get along while you liked with your parents, but maybe that's because you were too young to understand each other back then. You were just trying to survive, love." Pandora said, hugging him tighter, Regulus chuckled. "You know, you give good advice, dora" He said, wiping away the couple tears that had escaped. 

AsRegulus called Sirius. He knew he shouldn't have, but he couldn't help himself. He dialed the number and listened to it ring, waiting patiently for his brother to pick up his phone, to his surprise, another mans voice came through his phone, smooth and accented he recognized it immediately as james. "Hello? Who is this?" He asked, Regulus' stomach did somersaults, he'd promised he'd stop having feelings for James at 15. That did not happen. "Uh, yeah, hi, um. Is my brother around?" Regulus stuttered, utterly stuppefied at the fact he still got butterflies whenever James talked to him. "Uh, no, Sirius is on A work zoom call right now, can I take a message?" James asked. "oh, uh, just- sorry, uhm. What's his address?" Regulus asked, getting a paper and pen ready. "19 topland drive." James responded Regulus scribbled the address down, putting it in his planner quickly. "Thanks, uh, nice talking to you." Regulus said, waving at Pandora's boss Marlene who was coming over for dinner. "You too, sunshine." James said Regulus froze, he hadnt heard that nickname in a while, he let out a small squeal, hanging up the phone quickly. 

 If Regulus was surprised by James answering the phone, him answering the door in a towel was the second tower. Regulus knocked on the door of the little up town appartment, just wanting to talk to Sirius, even if Sirius ended up hating him, he still would get to talk to him. James opened the door in a towel, hs brown hair damp and sticking to his forehead. "Hey, sorry, Sirius is out right now, he should be home soon though if you wanna come in." James said, stepping aside to let Regulus in. Regulus walked into the apartment, the seemingly antique furniture adding a homey feel to the room. James retreated into the bathroom, Regulus could hear the shower running as he sat on the couch and began to read the book he always brought with him.  

Sirius came home a bit later, freezing in the doorway at the sight of Regulus. Regulus looked up, making eye contact with his brother. "Ah, hey." Regulus said, standing to go over to him. "Regulus, wait-" Sirius started before Regulus cut him off. "I just wanted to talk, siri." Regulus said, slowing his steps. "Why are you even here, reg?" Sirius asked, sitting down on the couch. "Siri, please, I just want to talk. You can hate me if you want, but I just want to talk." Regulus pleaded, just desperately wanting to explain himself. "im not gonna hate you, Reggie."  Sirius mumbled, Regulus' jaw clenched, he tried to take a deep breath like Pandora had told him to do, he just couldn't, he couldn't find the space to breathe. 

"Yknow what, maybe this whole thing was a bit rash, im just gonna.."Regulus moved toward the door before Sirius spoke. Reg, I want to talk, alright? Im not..upset, im just shocked that you're, yknow, in my house."Sirius said, looking up at Regulus with that Sirius Black Grin™. Regulus couldn't help but feel a bit better. He sat down next to sirius, sighing. " You wanna go fist and tell me why you ran off?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Regulus got an eye roll from this and Sirius jabbed him in the ribs. "oi, you're the one who came here to talk." He said, crossing his legs in his lap. Regulus sighed, looking at Sirius. "ugh, fine." 

                                                                               ~•~

Regulus poked his head downstairs, seeing Sirius laying on the floor cut up and bruised, staring blankly up at the ceiling. He was six, Sirius was ten, and this was the day Regulus decided he would just go along with whatever his parents said. He helped Sirius up and managed to drag him to the bathroom and prop him up on the toilet, he reeked of alcohol and blood, Regulus tended to his wounds as best as he could with what little medical knowledge he had.

When he was nine, Sirius' rebellion only got worse, leaving him with new scars everyday and nightmares he would wake up screaming from. Regulus knew he couldn't help his brother, he wished he could, but reality was different, all he could do was listen to Sirius' pained screaming. A sick lullaby of his parents making. 

A week before Regulus' 12 birthday, Sirius ran away. Regulus didn't know what to do, he was helpless and alone with no money or plan for escape. All of his plans had rested half on Sirius' plans, now he had none. Regulus suffered in his parents house for another six years, being the perfect Angel child they had expected. Until he was eighteen, when he ran off with Evan, Barty, and Pandora to Salem.

                                                                            ~•~

When Regulus had finished explaining himself, he sighed, he felt better but now there was a new dread creeping in the back of his mind, the dread of Sirius hating him. Now, Regulus knew this fear was irrational, but it didn't stop it from existing. 

Sirius looked at him, stunned. He knew he had affected Regulus' life by running away, but he'd had no idea how much until now. Sirius hugged Regulus suddenly, shocking him out of his head. "Im sorry, Reggie.." Sirius muttered tearfully.Regulus had expected just about everything but this, causing him to jolt a bit. "uh, its..fine, siri.." Regulus muttered, patting Sirius on the back gently.

A minute later, James came out of the bathroom, pausing in the hallway seeing a blubbering Sirius hugging a very awkward looking Regulus. "uh, is he..okay?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. Regulus looked up, becoming very flustered at the sight of James standing against the wall in a towel. "Yeah, he's fine. Just..overdramatic." Regulus muttered, looking anywhere but James as he felt his face heat up.

James, shrugged, walking down the hall to his room. Regulus returned to attempting to comfort Sirius, patting him on the back."Sirius, are you okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, im fine.." He sniffled, sitting up. "Just had a hard week" he said, leanin back and looking up at the bookshelf "alexa, play My Band by D12." he said, standing up and getting a tissue as the Alexa started playing. "Want a cuppa?" Sirius asked, swinging onone of the pillars lining the entrance of the kitchn. "Sure, black, no sugar" Regulus answered, following him into the kitchen as Sirius started the coffee maker. "What is it with you and Remus drinking your tea black?" Sirius asked as he started to prepare his elaborate coffee concoction. "Remus? The blonde guy from the coffee shop?" Regulus questioned, putting his book back into his bag and having a seat at the bar. "Yeah, he's my boyfriend." Sirius stated, moving over to the coffee machine and reaching for two mugs as Regulus pulled his phone out his phone out. "I didn't think you were still after him, you've been fawning over him since seventh year. Regulus said, opening his phone as Sirius put one of the cups back and started the coffee maker. "didn't think you were still after Potter." He stated, raising a brow at Regulus. "i- what?! I am not!" He said, his face heating up a bit. 

"you so are." Sirius said, starting the coffee pot. "I can give you his number if you'd like." Regulus looked up at him, '"really? Er, really." He said, trying not to sound excited as he looked down at his phone casually. Sirius grinned, "yeah. 702-420-9947." Sirius said, pouring out his coffee. "That's the number for the pizza hut, siri." Regulus dead panned, "fine fine. 942-833-2449." Sirius laughed, sitting across the bar from him. '"thanks, siri" Regulus said, stealing a sip of Sirius' coffee and grimacing. "jesus- you do not have good coffee." Regulus said, grabbing a mini water bottle from the counter and sipping it. "That is awful." He said, finishing the water and throwing the empty bottle away. "Hey! Its my coffee, not yours. Sirius said, grinning ear to ear. " im glad it's not mine." Regulus muttered, chuckling as James came in the room. "He's right, pads, you have awful coffee." James said, pouring himself a cup. "Oh, I've got to pick up harry and some groceries for Lily, do you need anything?" He asked, opening the fridge to rummage through it.

 "No, I think I'm good. But take that bag of toys I got for Harry over there and give them to him." Sirius said, standing up and going over to Regulus, showing him a picture of a chubby baby with jet black hair and bright green eyes playing with a black dog. "this is James' son Harry, he's one." Sirius said, holding the photo up to Regulus. "Cute kid you got there, Potter." Regulus said, Looking over at james, who was mixing the creme into his coffee. "oh, thanks, sunshine." James said, getting his coat from the rack by the door, "I'll see you later, pads. bye, sunshine." James said, waving to them as he left the house, leaving Sirius and Regulus in the kitchen. 

"You should call him later." Sirius said, sipping the coffee which Regulus was convinced was made of literal shit. "You think so?" Regulus asked as he sipped his own coffee, sighing at the familiar tartness. "Well, yeah. I mean, don't tell him him I told you this but he's got his own little thing for you." Sirius said, finishing off his coffee with another sip and moving over to rinse the mug. "I wont." Regulus said, standing up and going over to Sirius. "I've been living down on 42nd street with Barty, Evan, and Dora. If you want, I dont think they'd mind seeing you. Er, Dora wouldn't, anyway." Regulus said as he moved to get his coat. "Leaving so soon? I'm wounded, Reggie." Sirius said, feigning hurt as he clutched his chest. "I've got work. If you want, you can come over later, I get off around five, six-thirtyish." Regulus said, putting his coat on and going out onto the front porch. 

Regulus went back to his apartment, that familiar heavy dread feeling lighter, but not completely gone. Pandora and Barty were both gone to work, leaving Regulus home alone with a passed out Evan and a very messy kitchen where Evan appeared to have attempted to bake a cake. Regulus sighed, dropping his bag and going into the kitchen to clean. Around half an hour later, Evan woke up. Regulus had cleaned the kitchen very quickly, and had already tucked himself under a blanket in his room to read. "Reg? When'd you get home?" Evan asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Regulus looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Morning, sleeping beauty. I got back a little bit ago. Also, what on earth were you doing in the kitchen? I found batter on the ceiling, Ev." Regulus said, flipping the page of his book. 

Evan rolled his eyes, coming into Regulus' room further and sitting at his desk. "I may not may not have accidentally drank a 12 pack." Evan mumbled, looking over Regulus' shoulder at the page of his book. "how do you 'accidentally' drink a 12 pack?" Regulus dead panned, flipping the page again. "Nunya." Evan teased, standing up and going into Regulus' bathroom. "Are you going to the bar with us tonight to celebrate Dora's promotion?" Evan asked as he picked and prodded at his face. "I guess, when are you all going?" Regulus asked, putting his bookmark in his book and looking up at Evan. "I think we're leaving around 7 or 8, the bar's just downtown." Evan said, turning around and coming back into Regulus' room. "Oh, okay, yeah, I'll go." Regulus said, reopening his book and starting to read again as Evan went back downstairs to the living room. 

A little while later, Regulus got out of his bed, going into his bathroom and calling Barty as he turned on the shower. "Hey, is there a theme for the party at the bar?" Regulus asked, getting a towel off the shelves and getting in the shower. "No, I don't think so. The bar's got kinda a steam punk theme in general, though, so maybe that really cool pair of jeans you have, the ones with the, like, scrap metal embroidered onto the ends?" Barty asked, the sound of dishes being washed in the background filled the air along with the sound of Regulus' shower. "Alright. Oh, by the way, Evan drank a 12 pack on his own today." Regulus said nonchalantly, getting out of the shower and rummaging through his closet for an outfit. "accidentally?" Barty asked, not sounding the least bit concerned. "Mhm." Regulus hummed, finally picking a decent outfit, consisting of a ripped-and-pinned black crop top, baggy black jeans with his Spider-Man boxer waistband peeking over the top, and his black high top converse. "Yeah, that tracks." Barty said, Muting himself momentarily to talk to a customer as he worked front desk at a hotel. 

Regulus checked the time, 6:42. Regulus got his coat from the back of his bathroom door and grabbed his bag, jogging downstairs. "You still there, Reg?" Barty asked, unmuting himself. "Yep." Regulus said, going into the kitchen and opening the fridge to look through it. "Isn't Marlene friends with your brother? Will that be awkward? I mean, you haven't seen him since you were like, what, 12?" Barty asked, muttering a curse as he flipped off his co-worker Lily lovingly  for throwing pebbles at him as she had been doing periodically for a while now. "Eh, probably not, I've met Marlene and she's pretty chill. Oh, say hey to Lils for me." Regulus said, kicking the fridge shut behind him as he put a couple of frozen fried chicken patties and frozen fries in the airfrier.  "hm. Will do." Barty hummed, Regulus walked into the living room, sitting down and picking up the remote as Evan came back in from the porch, mouthing 'who's that?'as he pointed at his ear. "S'Barty." Regulus said, handing the phone to Evan as he perused Netflix.

Evan took the phone, sitting at the bar as he spoke to Barty, fiddling with Regulus' fidget-pad he had stuck to the wall Regulus continued looking for something to watch before finally settling on Brooklyn 99 as he got up to get him and Evan's food out of the airfryer. 

A little while late,r when they all met up at the bar, Regulus had sat at the bar, talking to Dora and Evan's friend Dorcas while he sipped his drink, occasionally puffing one of the joints that was being passed slowly around the room. After a few minutes, Dorcas left to take a call as Regulus heard a familiar voice behind him. "Evenin', sunshine." James said, sitting next to him and ordering a spiked cappuccino. Regulus looked up at him, surprised but not at the same time as he raised an eyebrow. "Not to sound rude, but why are you here?" Regulus deadpanned, looking at him confused. "Well, me and Pads are friends with Marls too." James said, sipping his drink. "Marls?" Regulus asked, looking even more confused as he looked around, seeing no trace of the other members of Sirius' friend group anywhere. "where's the rest of 'em?" He asked. "Fine, I lied. Sirius told me you'd be here, said you wanted to talk to me, sunshine?" James said, raising an eyebrow at him as he sipped his drink again. 'God,' Regulus thought. 'why does he look so good in this lighting..' Regulus sat up. "Dunno what he's on about." He said, finishing off his drink and gesturing to the bartender for another. "oh really?" James teased, gesturing for his glass to be refilled as well, waving his hand gracefully as Regulus' eyes traced the motion intently. "Really," Regulus said, snapping out of his momentary trance. "I don't." James looked at him unconvinced before letting his head fall, chuckling to himself. "Alright, I believe you, sunshine." James said, picking up his new drink and sipping it. 

Regulus closed his eyes, he was done for. He took a deep breath, looking back at James and regaining his composure. "Why are you actually here?" Regulus asked, sipping his drink. "Because I wanted to see you. And because I wanted to celebrate Pandora." James said, putting his elbows on the bar, interlocking his fingers and resting his chin on top of them. Regulus paused, looking over at him. "You came here just because you wanted to see me?" He asked carefully, raising an eyebrow. "for the most part, yes." James answered, meeting his eyes and smiling. 

                                                                             ~•~

Now, in Regulus' defense, he was drunk. That night, him and James had ended up back at Regulus' apartment, the next morning had been confusing to say the least. Regulus had tried to punch James when he woke up after not remembering sleeping wth him, but had attempted to make up for it in the form of muffins. "Sunshine, why on earth are you awake at 7:00 A.M?" James asked, stumbling into the kitchen groggily. Regulus turned around, looking at him startled as he held the pan. "Making breakfast." He said, pouring the batter into the pan carefully as James watched him from the doorway, his eyes tracing over Regulus' figure as he moved. "why, may I ask, are you making cupcakes at 7:00 in the mornin?" James asked as Regulus turned on the oven and put the muffins in. Regulus shrugged, he didn't exactly know why he was making muffins, but he was nevertheless. James chuckled and sat down at the table, Regulus turned around and sat across from him, pulling one of his knees to his chest. "How do you do that?" James asked, pointing at his leg. "I can barely touch my knee to my chest." Regulus looked at him confused. "you can't do this?" Regulus asked, cocking an eyebrow, he'd know he was flexible, but he'd figured everyone could pull their knees up. James shook his head. 

After a few minutes of cordial chatting, (Regulus still felt A bit awkward after the whole sleeping with him thing) Evan woke up, coming into the kitchen grumpily. "who's this?" He asked, eyeing James suspiciously as he took one of the muffins from Regulus' plate. "James Potter, and you are?" James said cheerfully. "Your mum." Evan responded dryly, walking back out into the living room. "Bar! You owe me eight bucks!" He yelled half-asleep as he hiked the stairs to Regulus' bathroom. Regulus rolled his eyes, he'd met Evan and Pandora at a partyhosted by his parents when they were 7 and Dora was 4, they'd been friends ever since. Regulus poked his head in Pandora's room, knocking lightly. "Dora? You up? I made muffins." He said, earning a groan from her, he turned around, dodging a pillow Pandora threw at him, sitting on top of the counter blocking the coffee pot as Barty came in. "Magic word?" He teased, swinging his legs.  "fuck you." Barty deadpanned, reaching around him to grab the coffee pot and pour himself a mug. Regulus hopped off the counter, going back over to James. 

"what time do you go to work?" Barty asked James as he too sat down at the kitchen table. "Oh, uh, around 8:30." He replied, raising an eyebrow at Barty's mug, a small, white, handmade mug Barty had had for years, given to him by a young Pandora, the front reading "Best sort-uv-broter evar" in squiggly, hard to read English. "Who made the mug?" James asked, looking at Barty. "Dora." Barty said dryly, sipping his coffee again. "Is that your sister or..?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. "She's Evan's sister." Barty clipped, clearly not interested in the conversation all that much. 

James leaned back In his seat, seeming to take the hint. Dora came out of her room a moment later, looking just as elegant as ever in her long, fluffy, silk nightgown. "Reggie, are you going to the shopes later?" She asked, going over to the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup. Regulus nodded, trying to keep his face from heating up as James's hand snaked up to hold his under the table. "good. Can you get more bagles?" She asked, sitting down gracefully, her presence as prominent as ever. "Yeah, sure." Regulus said, fighting to keep a straight face as James rubbed circles into the back of his hand. "lovely." Pandora said simply, sipping her coffee. 

"sorry for kidnapping you last night." James said as he drove Regulus back to the bar where his car had been left the night before. It isn't really kidnapping if you take me to my own house." Regulus muttered, he didn't know why James had made no effort to touch him since breakfast, it felt odd, he didn't know why, of course, James rarely ever touched him when they were kids, but now it felt intentional, like James wasn't touching him because he actively didn't want to. Regulus hated this. He shifted in his seat as James pulled into the bar parking lot. Not so much as looking at him as he got out of James's truck and into his car.

 Regulus backed out of the br parking lot. He was off work today, he'd asked James to take him to get his tribe puck in hopes they could talk, that had not happened. Regulus drove to Sirius', Sirius and James were both at work, But Remus wasn't. Regulus never really talked to Sirius' friends, but when he'd met Remus, there was something about him, something comforting that Regulus couldn't pinpoint, he knocked on the door, his brain running rampant with possible reasons that James was avoiding him, or whatever he was doing. Remus opened the door, his service dog, cocoa, a big brown German Shepard with the personality of a hyper squirrel, at his feet. "Reg? What're you doin' here? Sirius' at work, y'know." Remus said, raising an eyebrow at Regulus, who must have looked very strange based on the way Remus was looking at him, like he'd grown A few extra heads. "You alright, Reg? Do I need to call Sirius?" Remus asked, becoming more and more concerned as the seconds passed. "Im alright, I just need to sit down for a moment." Regulus said, he felt clammy, he didn't know if he'd done something wrong, or why James had all the sudden stopped socializing with him, but he was starting to feel panicky. Remus stepped aside to let him inside as Regulus stepped past him into the house, his hands shaking even though it was 60 something degrees outside. "Care to tell me why you are so shaken up, Reggie?" Remus asked, looking at him skeptically.

Regulus explained, or tried to, anyway, Remus looked at him like the answer was obvious for most of the explanation. When Regulus was done Remus just looked at him. "Did you ask him?" Remus asked, tilting his head a bit. Regulus looked at him dumbfounded. "I.. No? Why would I ask him?" Regulus asked as Remus led him into the kitchen to sit at the bar. "Well you do want to know, do you not?" Remus asked, looking at Regulus like he had grown yet another head. "Well, yes, but that's not a very comfortable conversation topic.." Regulus said, taking the glass of apple cider Remus had given him. Apple cider had to be one of Regulus' favorite things about Halloween in Salem, if not his favorite.

 "Well, no, but if someone isn't willing to talk about the good, bad, and ugly to keep a relationship steady then they're not very worthwhile. Romantic or not." Remus said, mixing a bit of honey into his cider and sipping it. Regulus paused, he hadn't thought about that before, he thought Remus sounded a lot like Pandora. He sipped his cider, deep in thought. "If I had to give you any advice," Remus said, breaking Regulus out of his trance. "Text James, ask him what's up and tell him to text you when he's ready to talk. Gove him the option, especially if this is a new thing." Reissue casually, perching himself on the bar across from Regulus. Regulus sighed, sometimes he hated Remus' philosophical ass. 

Sirius came through the front door, stopping to take off his shoes and coat and put his keys on the hook. "I'm home, my love!" Sirius shouted from the doorway, walking into the kitchen and hugging Remus. "Evening, sweetheart." Remus hummed, hugging Sirius back as he leaned down to plant a kiss on his forehead. Sirius looked up, noticing Regulus. "Hello, person who doesn't live here, what's up?" Sirius asked, going over to hug Regulus. Remus raised an eyebrow at him, a silent question, 'can I tell him'. Regulus paused, on the one hand, he didn't want to hurt him and Sirius' relationship when they had just started healing it, on the other, James is Sirius' best friend.. Regulus shook his head finally, hugging Sirius with one arm, sipping his cider. "Just came over to talk to Remus." Regulus said as Sirius sat on the stool next to him. "What? I thought you were after my best friend, not my brother." Sirius said, unimpressed. Regulus rolled his eyes, "That's actually why I'm here." Regulus said, reflexively. He stopped, Sirius stopped and looked at him. "What d'you mean? If you're trying to tell me you two shagged, I know, James already told me." Sirius said, perking up. "No, uh, when James was taking me back to my car he didn't talk to me, like.. At all." Regulus admitted, so much for secret, but Sirius seemed okay with it, right? Sirius looked at him, processing it. "Well, did you ask him why?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Regulus. Regulus' face dropped. "Pardon?" He asked, dumbfounded. "I mean, knowing James, he was probably just too tired to process words." Sirius said nonchalantly, sipping some of Remus' apple cider. Regulus paused, he felt stupid, but also, yeah, that tracked. He sighed, nodding. "Yeah, probably." He said, sipping his cider. 

Sirius looked at him, a bit concerned now. "If you want, I could talk to him?" Sirius asked. "No, no, im enough of a man to ask myself." Regulus said, getting his phone out. He texted James;

                                                                           ~•~

                                                                                                 Regulus

                                                              Hey James, is something wrong? You                                 

                                                                seemed quiet this morning. Text me later please. 

                                                     ~•~

Regulus put his phone up, looking back up at Sirius and Remus. "I asked him." He said, fidgeting with his hands a bit. "Hm, good. Tell me what he says later." Sirius said, pouring himself a mix of cider and vodka. "Okay." Regulus chuckled, checking the time. "Ooh, I gotta get going soon, my shift starts in thirty minutes." Regulus said, picking up his bag and getting off the chair. "Thanks for the advice. I needed it." He said, hugging each of them and leaving, getting his shoes and coat at the door. 

Regulus got in his car and backed out of Sirius' driveway, driving down the highway to the coffee shop he works at. He got out, going inside and putting on his apron and nametag. "Hey, Alice." He greeted one of his regulars. "How's the baby?" He asked, preparing her usual order. "Oh, y'know, Frank's being overprotective as always. He tried to get me to not go crib shopping last week cause he was scared I was gonna fall." She said fondly, Alice and Frank were some of the nicest people Regulus knew, and he'd been nothing less than ecstatic when they'd finally gotten pregnant with their miracle child Neville. Regulus poured her coffee and put her cake pop in its bag putting it down on the serving counter. "He means well, im sure." He said, taking her money, the price for the warm caramel macchiato had gone up six months ago, but Regulus never told Alice that, taking her usual payment of $7.45 and waving as she took her drink. "Tell Frank I say hi." He said, going over to greet the next customer as Alice left, waving. 

Regulus got home at around four, going upstairs to his room and showering, changing into the uniform for his waiter job, black slacks, a black button down shirt tucked in, and black shoes, and his apron. Regulus looked down at his phone as it buzzed on his desk. 

                                                                               ~•~

                                                                                                Regulus

                                                             Hey James, is something wrong? You

                                            seemed quiet this morning. Text me later, please.

James <3

Hey, reg, srry abt this morning. I was js stressed bc I rlly like u

And I'm not good w stuff like that.

Regulus blushed, James like him? Like?! He typed a response quickly, flabbergasted.

                                                                                                                                      Regulus

                                                             Hey James, is something wrong? You

                                            seemed quiet this morning. Text me later, please.

James <3

Hey,reg, srry abt this morning. I was js stressed bc I rlly like u

And I'm not good w stuff like that.

                                                                                                 Regulus

                                                                                               You like me?

                                                             ~•~

Regulus typed, James wasn't active and his shift started soon, so he decided to put it aside for now and get to work.

Now, from James' perspective this was a lot more stressful, truthfully, he was drunk at 8:00 am on a Tuesday and, surprisingly, wasn't making the best decisions. Go figure. however, no one, according to James, is allowed to know this other than he and Regulus. little does he know, before he made that rule, Regulus told everyone. 

After months of pining, so much so that Marlene was able to fully restock her closet with the money she won on the bets they'd made, Regulus and James had finally gotten together. They dated for around two years, consisting of enough parent lore to very likely send anyone into a coma, before finally settling down and buying a house together. Shortly after that, james mentioned the idea of having kids and, once they'd managed to get up the courage to ask lily to surrogate, they shortly had one, a tiny baby named Harry, who, in Regulus' opinion, favored James far too much, stating that it was 'uncanny' whenever it was brought up in conversation. 

                                                          ~•~

Regulus grunted as harry bolted in. "Harry? Its 7:00 A.M." jumping onto his stomach, shouting. "Dad, dad, dad, dad! Today's the day!" Regulus rolled over, seeing James alread hiding behind the pillow, leaving him to deal with their five year old. "Right, the day for what, darling?" Regulus asked, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Its the field trip! We're going to the fair! Come on, come on!" Harry yelled, jumping up and down. "Okay, sweetheart, go pick out an outfit and give daddy a moment to wake up, yeah?" Regulus asked, standing from the bed and going into his bathroom.  hadn't meant to sign up for this, but James had made him flip a coin to see who had to do it, and he'd lost. He wen into the living room to find harry sitting on the couch  wearing a Spiderman t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts, fixed up with a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice watching pawn patrol. Regulus went into the kitchen, he was exhausted but still turned on the kettle andbegan fixing Harry's lunch for that afternoon as the food at the fair was all cooked near seed oils, which Harry's allergic to. 

He loaded up harry into the car and left James to his day off, pulling into the fair parking lot a minute after the school bus had, getting out with harry, he was wearing an off the shoulder Arctic Monkeys t-shirt and black jeans, which he had assumed would be appropriate. "Ah, Mr Black. Lovely to see you. Where's Teddy?" The teacher asked, looking around. "Pardon me, but how should I know?" Regulus stated, looking at the woman confused. "Well, he is your son, isn't he? Teddy Black?" The teacher said, leading harry over to the rest of the children. "Oh, no, he's my nephew." Regulus responded, checking the good morning text from James. "oh, but..well, those other men, Remus and Sirius said he was their child, but two men can't have a kid so I assumed he was yours." The teacher said, signing in a couple more children who had arrived. "Well, Harry is mine and my husband's." Regulus said idiginantly. "Oh, well..." The woman said, looking him up and down disgustedly.

Regulus got harry home around five, bringing him inside and telling him to go shower as he went up behind James and hugged him. "Evening, love." Regulus said, burying his face in James's neck. "Evening, baby. How was the fair?" James teased, rotating the laundry in the washer to the dryer. "Tiring." Regulus replied, smiling as harry bolted into the room, hair damp in his Thomas the train pyjamas. "hm, well, you'll have that. Dinners on the table in there, pineapple curry, it did have Sesame oil in it, so Harry's dinner is in the microwave." James said, starting the dryer and going over to cuddle harry. 

Regulus served himself a plate, seeing that James had already taken his portion, he grabbed Harry's TV dinner out of the microwave and gave it to him, sitting next to James and laying his head on his shoulder. "Is Sirius watching him this weekend?" He asked, taking a bite of the curry,wincing immediately at the spice. James somehow manages to use half the spices on the planet in every dish, and even though they've been together for three years, Regulus is, somehow, always surprised.James laughed, a breathy, soft laugh that Regulus liked to think was saved just for him. Once Regulus was done with his dinner, he tossed out the foam tray Harry's food had come in, washing his dish and picking Harry up. "Alright, love, lets get you showered and ready for bed, yeah?" Regulus asked, already knowing Harry's answer. "nooo! I don't wanna get in the bath!" Harry squealed, thrashing against Regulus' arms. Regulus knew Harry was scared of water. When he was one, Harry had seen Regulus almost drown in the river when he swam too close to the dam, causing him to refuse to swim in lakes until he was three, when Peter had "dropped" him in the pool, causing him to have to be air lifted to the nearest hospital. Harry had been terrified of water since. "You don't have to get in the bath, love. You can shower." Regulus of course understood his fear, as he himself had had terrible experiences with water in the past, yet he hated to see it on his son. "Fine." Harry had become resigned to showers in the past few years, as he understood he needed to bathe, even if he didn't like it. Regulus carried him up the stairs to the bathroom and turned to water on. "you good, love?" He asked, making sure Harry was okay, he knew he was capable of bathing by himself, and Regulus liked to give him privacy.

Once he heard Harry's approval, he walked back downstairs, wrapping his arms around James, who was doing the dishes, and peppering his neck with kisses, James leaned into the touch, they stayed like that for a while in comfortable silence, until eventually James finished the dishes and dried his hands on a towl. "Mm, is Harry in the shower?" He asked, leaning back against his boyfriend. Regulus nodded against his neck, hearing the upstairs bathroom door open. "He just got out." He murmurred, shifting on his feet a bit. James hummed in response, knowing Harry was old enough to get himself dressed and ready for bed as he rested his hands on his boyfriend's arms.

 A Minute later Harry came running into the living room, where both of his dads were now sitting together watching tv, and plopping down directly between them and beginning to drone on about sonic the hedgehog, his new special interest, eventually, they managed to tire him out enough that he fell asleep mid movie, James carrying him up to bed before returning an managing to coax Regulus up to bed, immediately passing out once his head hit the pillow.