Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Regulus had graduated from his master's program in the spring. His degree was in studio art with a specialization in painting. He knew it wasn't the smartest choice but he enjoyed his degree,it was a well needed break from his childhood and teenager.

He graduated summa cum laude at his university for his undergrad and then went on to study and get his master's. They all studied at the same university for their undergraduate degrees which made living together easy but now they had moved back home for Evan's residency program.

Regulus had yet to find a single job that would take him over the summer. He had even started applying to fast food and coffee shops, just needing any form of income. 

He had moved in with Evan and Barty when he was eighteen. At the time they lived in a luxurious three bedroom apartment, fully paid for by their various parents. When they were nineteen Barty and Evan got outed to their parents, they were immediately cut off from everything and Regulus' parents expected him to cut them off as well.

When he didn't. His parents cut him off instead. Leading them to move into a cramped one bedroom apartment, they slept on a bunk bed that Evan had scored from a house that was being foreclosed.

Regulus slept on the top and Evan and Barty shared the bottom bunk cuddling each other. They struggled more when Evan went to medical school, wanting to become a medical examiner, and Regulus who went to grad school. 

Both of them worked through their post-undergrad education but their hours were short with their degrees which meant they primarily relied on Barty who was the GM for the local Spencer's store. 

Evan was in his residency now, he didn't earn much money, but it was better than medical school where he had his clinicals and didn't get paid. 

They got by on rent, barely. Regulus did odd jobs whenever he could find them, he even picked up Doordashing when they weren't going to make rent, but he hadn't gone so low to go into Uber, he didn't want people in his car.

He received a rejection letter from McDonald's and felt like slitting his throat with one of the dull kitchen knives. 

"I'm killing myself," he announced and went over to his window, he pushed it up and locked it so it wouldn't fall on him. Then put half of his body outside looking down at the street, sitting on the frame.

They didn't live in the best neighborhood, which meant they had cheap rent, but it also meant Regulus got a view of some of the most interesting people he had ever met. Like one man who was sitting on a bench that Regulus was convinced told crack for a living.

"No you're not, just come work with me," Pandora suggested, who was gathering Evan's notes together and putting them in neat little piles. He still practiced his anatomy cards every night.

"Doesn't Lupin work with you?" Regulus scoffed as he looked out into the street. 

Pandora worked at a high school. She was a science teacher who's classes changed depending on the year. He also knew that Lupin, one of Sirius' old friends was an English teacher there and the thought of working with one of his older brother's friend was torture.

To say him and Sirius were distant, was an understatement. They were nine years apart and when Sirius fled from the house Regulus was only seven. He knew his brother existed but that was most of what he knew about him besides his name.

"I don't have any education credits or a teaching certificate," Regulus pointed out, also the thought of teaching kids wasn't pleasant to him. He didn't like kids, even if they were teenagers.

"The school year starts in a couple weeks and our substitute teacher pool is incredibly low," Pandora sang out as she started organizing Evan's books next.

"I hate children."

"They're teenagers."

"Still children."

"I'm just offering you a job," Pandora shrugged with a smile, "If you look online it should come up."

Regulus went ahead and applied once she left the apartment. He got a call the day after and a job right after a short interview with the principal who sounded like he walked out of a children's fantasy book, Albus Dumbledore. Regulus didn't have much room to walk as his name was Regulus Arcturus Black, his family was home to unique names.

They struck a deal that Regulus would only substitute for their high school with the possibility for him also going to the middle school that was attached to them. It wasn't physically attached and about a ten minute drive away but they had the same name, same mascot.

He didn't care too much as long as he was promised some pay.

It was only a week in before he was called in, he wore a turtleneck and a pair of slacks as he walked into the school with his eyes down as he went to the front desk, "Hello, I'm here to sub for Mr. Brennan."

"Hello! Come behind the door and I'll show you how to clock in," the woman at the desk showed him where the machine was and which buttons to press. It was easy enough and he was given the room number for the classroom he would be talking over. 

They went around and introduced him to everyone, the only person he remembered right away was Mary Macdonald, one of the counselors, and that was because the look of her office was overstimulating for Regulus, it was like a playground had thrown up everywhere.

He went inside and there weren't any students yet, he looked around and assumed it was a math class with all of the math pun posters on the walls, it made him want to throw up just like the playground. He grabbed a whiteboard marker and wrote Mr. Black on the whiteboard in his fancy cursive his mother had ingrained in his mind and muscles.

He sat down and looked for a sub binder but there wasn't one, fabulous. He looked for any note on what to do or what to say but there wasn't. Some students started to enter, he had no idea what ages they were. He felt so out of touch.

The bell rang and he took out the attendance sheet the front desk had given him. He went through the names without issue until he saw it, "Harry," of course had James' kid in his class. 

"Here," Regulus already knew who he was before Regulus read his name out. He looked just like how Regulus remembered seeing James for the first time. James was the only friend Regulus had ever caught a glimpse of.

It was only a quick second and then they were gone. Once Regulus grew up he had looked Sirius up online, it was easy enough since Sirius didn't try to hide who he was or where he was.

On his Instagram there was him kissing Remus Lupin's cheek. He had remembered the name from childhood, he looked rougher around the edges than Regulus expected.

He also saw James again. He was still the same boy that Regulsu had caught a glimpse of when he was younger but he was older. There was also one key difference, he had a kid. His kid was all over his page through the different years. 

Harry was an exact copy of James, from his dark tan skin, to his glass, to his messy curls that needed taming, though his eyes were green, not brown. 

"If I ask you what you're learning about, are you going to tell me the truth?" Regulus asked as he stood up and got some giggles from the classroom.

"We're working on this packet," said a girl who was sitting next to Harry, she looked like the preppy type. The class groaned as some people glared at her.

"Thank you… Ms. Granger, correct?" he asked as he picked it up and looked through it. It looked like a preview packet from the year prior, it looked like Algebra II from a quick glance as he put it down, "What is this class?"

"Honor Pre-Calc with dual credit," the girl answered again. Regulus nodded as he went back to the board.

"So you don't need my help do you?"

Some people in the class shook their heads, "Just work on your packets then, if you need help we'll see what I remember from school," he sat down as he tapped on the desk. He should've brought a book. 

He instead continued to snoop through the teacher's items. He had a picture of his family on the desk, a wife, and two little girls. He had his degree in his drawer from an easy to get in state school, Regulus thought it was smart that he hid it. 

The bell rang again before he got too bored, he figured all of them would leave but Harry came up to his desk with the same mischievous smile he remembered from Sirius, "Are you related to Sirius Black?"

It made sense to him that Harry knew about Sirius, he was probably considered an uncle with how close James and Sirius were, without missing a beat he shook his head, "Never heard of him before."

Harry glanced at him like he didn't believe him but the girl from earlier was pulling him away, "Come on Harry, I need to grab something out of my locker," and he went away with that.

The rest of the classes before lunch were uneventful, he didn't recognize any of the names besides Harry's and he was thankful for that. 

During his lunch period he texted Pandora and she said she was free in her classroom. He went in and saw her over at her desk, "Hi Reggie!"

"Don't call me that here, don't want students to accidentally overhear," he closed the door and brought a chair over to her desk, sitting down in it, "You could've told me Potter had a kid here."

"Figured you would've guessed with Lupin teaching here," she shrugged unbothered as she took out a salad and took a big bite.

"Cunt, are there any other surprise kids I should know about?"

"No, that's it. I think you know all of them."

Regulus knew Draco was here, the kid would likely be mortified the moment he realized his uncle was teaching where he went to school, and there was also Luna, but that was it, "Wasn't too bad though, they seemed too scared of me to try pulling anything over on me."

It was true, one student almost tried something but all it took was a glare and they got shut down. 

Regulus went home and neither of his friends' were there waiting for him, Barty usually worked closing and Evan was rarely home with his residency. He had a bowl of cereal and checked to see if there were any openings for tomorrow. There weren't any on the website so he shut his laptop and decided to draw on an old fast food napkin until he passed out.

He didn't have any job at the high school until two weeks later, he had subbed for three days at the middle school in the meantime.

When he arrived he grabbed the clipboard and looked at the room number and attendance sheet, "Oh there's a new student today, here let me add it," one of the women in the office grabbed the clipboard and grabbed a pen.

"Thank you Ms. Macdonald," Regulus looked for a name tag but didn't see one.

"No problem," she smiled and handed it back. Regulus looked down at the name, Edward Tonks . He hid his reaction as he looked back up.

"Thank you, I better get going now," he went out of the office and stared back down at the name. He had heard that name once when he was younger. He wondered if this was her son. 

He went to the room and a small smile found its place on his face as he realized he was subbing for the art teacher. It was a large room, the size of two normal classrooms put together. On one side there were many studio desks, Regulus guessed twenty-four without counting them, with stools to each of them, a long whiteboard in front of them at the front of class. In the middle of the room there were larger studio tables with dried paint all of them, each studio table had several stools that went with it and then on the other side of that, it was a closed off space with pottery wheels.

There were two doors to the room. One by the smaller desks and then one by the larger desks. 

His first two classes went well, the students were just working on various different projects, one was a painting class and the other was a drawing one. For the next class he stared at the attendance list in confusion. It looked like there were four different classes in one. 

The students started entering and he ran across the hallway to Pandora's room since she was directly opposite to his room, "Mrs. Lovegood, do you have a moment?" he smiled tightly.

Pandora went over to him, her heels clicking against the floor, "What's wrong?"
"What is this?" he handed her the clipboard, "Why does it say there's four different classes?"

"Oh, it's because of budget cuts. She isn't able to have an allotted time period for her APs, so they do their work on the bigger tables while she teaches the other classes. These are all of the APs, they can handle themselves," Pandora explained with ease like what she said made sense. 

Regulus nodded, "But that's not fair on the APs."

"The kids are just lucky the art program wasn't completely cut," Pandora gave him a sad smile and then went over to a kid calling her over.

Regulus went back into the art room, almost every single seat was full, including the ones at the bigger tables. He noticed immediately that Harry was in his class with his friend from earlier.

"I'm going to go through attendance and then we can go over the assignment," attendance was easier than he expected. He learned that his supposed nephew was in one of the AP classes, he was sitting at the table with dark blue hair.  

"This is Introduction to 2-D art right? What are we working on?" there once again, wasn't any notes left for him.

The students showed that they were just working on color wheels and shading different shapes. He went over to the AP students, "Do you guys know what you're doing?" he asked and they all nodded in response. He looked over at Edward, "Do you know what to do?"

"Not exactly, I was in it at my last school, but I don't know where anything is in here or what I'm allowed to use," he shrugged. One of the students helped him find his way around. Regulus sat down at the desk and called the front desk to let them know that one student was absent then stood back up and walked around.

He mainly stood around the AP students since he was interested in what they were doing. They had to put together a portfolio with a clear theme, some of them were painting, others drawing, and there was even one student who was a sculpture student.

He kept trying to think of something to say to Edward but when the bell rang and he went to his next class, he still didn't have anything in mind. Three days later he was subbing for the same math teacher again as he went to go to Pandora's room for lunch like he normally did, a woman who was covered in blue paint went down the street crying.

Regulus turned around in his spot as he watched her run over to a corner of the hallway, trying to wipe the paint off of her. A woman came down the hall in heels, she seemed to be in a rush and glanced over at Regulus before glancing back over at the woman, "Ms. Jones you can't run away from your classroom."

"Those kids are monsters," the teacher walked away from her, "I'm done, I can't take anymore," she walked out of the building and the woman blinked before chasing after her.

Regulus walked over to the art room and glanced inside, there was blue paint covering the desk and the chair. He looked at the students and noticed that in the back of the room, there was Harry and Edward snickering to themselves.

He nodded to himself and almost jumped when someone touched his shoulder. He had turned around and saw the woman from before, "Are you currently subbing for a class?"

"Yeah Brennan but he has lunch right now," Regulus answered as he glanced back in then down at her badge, Minerva Mcgonagall, Vice Principal .

"Any chance you could switch to this room?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, can I ask something inappropriate?" 

"You can try."

"Did she quit?"

"Yes…" McGonagall looked off at the trail of blue paint.

"Do you have another art teacher?" he asked curiously, was it rude of him to try and get a job right after someone quit? Probably.

"No we don't, I'll talk to the principal and we'll put out a listing soon."

"I just thought I should let you know that I don't have my teaching certificate but I do have my undergrad and master's in art," he looked at her with a sly grin.

"Would you be interested in getting an emergency permit?" she asked curiously.

"Absolutely."

It wasn't very hard to get his emergency permit and since rent needed to be paid, Regulus was more than happy to try and teach kids how to draw. Mary had given him a binder for the AP students and the AP program, due to his master's, he could continue to teach them, but it explained what was expected of the students.

He did his own research at home, watching different videos of the student's portfolios who went to other schools. Regulus came in for his first official day, it was the open house which meant he would be there until late at night but he had made aware of that the day prior.

The students already knew that he was taking over, but now it was official. He had a curriculum to follow that helped him know what was expected for the students to learn, he let him finish their previous assignments as it gave him time to figure out what he was doing next.

In total he had eight different classes in six period slots, Introduction to 2-D Art, Honors 2-D Art, Drawing I and II, Painting I and II, Sculpture I and II, AP Drawing, AP 2-D, and AP 3-D. He didn't have a planning period like the other teacher's which meant he was doing his planning during lunch.

The day passed by quickly until the final bell rang, someone stepped through the door and Regulus' eyes shot up. It was Remus Lupin with a cup of tea, the man from the photo who looked older and more tired than he remembered.

"Sorry, I just, I used to come in here prior to open house," Remus apologized and was about to head out when he gave a second look at Regulus, "I'm sorry this is rude to ask, but I heard from the other teachers that your name is Regulus Black?"

"Last time I checked," Regulus got up and went over to his whiteboard, he erased what was currently on it and wrote his name out with open house beneath it.

"Are you related to Sirius Black?" Remus asked as he stepped his tea bag as he watched him write.

Regulus looked back at him, what were the odds that Remus knew he was? "No," he lied and leaned against the board.

"Really?" Remus asked, he could tell Remus didn't believe him one bit, "Siris doesn't know you're here, but I assume there aren't very many Regulus Blacks from around here."

Regulus sighed, "How many people come to these open houses?" he asked, changing the subject.

"You'll be lucky if you get five parents," Remus answered with a light laugh, "Do you want Sirius' number or address? Hell, even email."

"Get out of my classroom," Regulus gave him a tight smile that was meant to be a threat, he didn't want to think about his brother or family when parents were about to arrive. It got Remus to leave the room and Regulus took out a sketchbook. The hours passed and no one visited like Remus said they wouldn't. 

That was until a woman knocked on the door, Regulus put his sketchbook down and looked up at the woman. She looked too young to be a parent of a teenager, she had a punk rock style going on with her leather skirt and ripped long sleeve shirt, even her ripped fishnets and her light pink hair that went down to her chin, "Sorry for being so late, I just got off of work," she walked over to his desk. 

Regulus stood up and shook her hand, "No need to apologize, which student is yours?" 

"Teddy," the woman answered and sat down on one of the stools.

Regulus froze, he didn't recognize that name, "I apologize I'm new, which class is he in?" he asked as he grabbed his clipboard of attendance.

"AP Studio Art: Drawing, third period, you may know him as Edward," she answered.

Regulus set the clipboard now, Tonks. He looked back up at the woman, she definitely wasn't his cousin, she would be too young, was Edward his great-nephew? "I know him. Is there anything in particular you were curious about?"

"Not particularly, I just like to get to know his teachers, especially since we're new to the school."

"What brings you to the area? Work? Your husband's work? Family?" Regulus didn't actually care but he wanted to know how she fit into the Tonks bloodline.

"I wanted to move closer to my mother again, I don't have a husband, I'm a single parent," she answered with a little nod.

"Ah, well. There isn't much to know about me," Regulus shrugged, he wondered if she was his niece.

"What did you go to school for?" she asked as Regulus looked at her facial features, she looked like she could be a part of the family.

"Painting," Regulus answered and gestured to his degrees behind him that he had hung up earlier that day.

"Can I ask something possibly inappropriate?" she asked and Regulus nodded, "Do you know Andromeda Black?' She sounded desperate. Not in a bad way but in the way Regulus thought it sounded like she was looking for scraps.

"Why?" Regulus asked as he regretted almost not just saying no.

"She's my mom… she doesn't talk about her family often and my son, he's struggling with the lack of a support system. So I was wondering if you were part of that family to help broaden the people he can go to," she explained quickly standing up again.

"You don't want your son around this family," Regulus said as he looked away from her, "And I'm sure our counselors will be happy to help if an issue arises."

"But why do you think the family wouldn't be good for him?"

"I'm not going into it," Regulus sighed, he didn't want to open the door to his family again but between Edward and Remus he felt like he wasn't going to have much of a choice this year.

"That's… alright," the woman said defeatedly and it almost made Regulus feel a little bad, almost, but not quite.

Regulus wondered if Sirius knew he existed, Sirius would be the type of person she was looking for, but he wasn't about to reconnect with his lost brother over some kid, "What's your name by the way?"

"Just call me Tonks," she smiled.

"Okay Ms. Tonks, I don't have a candy bowl but I think some of the other teachers do," Regulus tried to make a joke but it fell flat onto the floor. 

She started to walk out, not impressed by the lack of humor, "Thank you."

Regulus wasn't sure what she was thanking him for, "You're welcome," but he'd take the credit anyway. No other parents showed up, he locked both of the doors to the art room behind him and went out to his car. He had a feeling that he should've kept applying for the McDonalds job instead of taking this one.

Chapter Text

Remus was locking up his classroom and walking out with his bag full of essays, homework, his notes, and various different pens when he almost ran straight into a woman, "I'm sorry miss," he said as he took a step back.

"It's alright," she fixed her skirt as she took a step back and looked at him with a wide happy smile, "Holy shit, hi Remus!"

Remus froze as he looked at the woman. Should he recognize her? He looked at her pink hair and clothing and honestly couldn't remember her. She looked like she could be related to Sirius with the way she was dressed.

"Hi," he greeted her with a warm smile, "Do I have one of your kids?"

"I don't think so, it's Dora by the way, Nymphadora," she introduced herself once she realized Remus didn't recognize her, her smile dropping a little.

"Dora," Remus said as if that rang a bell in his head but he was still confused.

"You don't remember me do you?" Dora laughed.

"No, I don't," Remus told her honestly with a slight cringe expression on his face.

"We used to have a thing going on, about seventeen years ago."

"Ah," that would explain it. Seventeen years ago Remus spent most of the time so high on drugs he didn't know his own name, all of them were, "I was not in a good headspace during that period of my life, so I apologize for not… remembering you."

"I knew you were in a rough spot, you seem better now."

"I am," Remus was ten years sober in two weeks, same as Sirius. They had quit at the same time, they went through the withdrawals together in their shitty apartment. 

"I'm happy, Remus, I'm really happy for you," Dora reached out to touch his arm, she took it back when she glanced at his hand, "You got married."

"I did," Remus nodded, "Five years in October," he flashed his gold ring, it was a simple band. He had asked Sirius to marry him when their AC went out in the middle of summer, they were at James's house after Harry had come back home. James and Lily were still on house arrest so they had all gone over to throw a small party.

Remus got all caught up in the moment and asked Sirius in front of everyone. Sirius had always said that he was never going to marry someone but yet, on Halloween, they got married in a courthouse surrounded by their friends. 

"She's a lucky girl."
"Yeah he is," Remus was openly bisexual and in a gay relationship, he got dirty looks from the other teacher sometimes but it was worth it whenever he saw a student's eyes light up when he mentioned it. If he made one kid happy, that was enough, "So you have a kid here? Student?" 

"Kid, he's a junior."

"My best friend has a kid that age," James and Lily had Harry when they were seventeen, Lily was pregnant when she walked across the stage but she didn't have the baby until the summer. Remus paused, Juniors could be sixteen, "How old is he?"

"Sixteen."

Remus gave her a look, full of pleading.

Dora didn't move as if something would happen if she breathed too hard, "I- I don't know."

"You don't know?" Remus asked as he put his hands on his sides, he could have a kid. A kid he knew nothing about, a kid he could have been a deadbeat dad to for the past sixteen years.

"You weren't the only one Remus, I don't know. I had no way to contact you or I would've told you, fuck, I mean. I didn't even know that you would be here and now," Dora ran her fingers through her hair as she was almost shaking . 

"I don't blame you, this is just a lot to process during an open house. What uh, what's his name?'

"Edward but he goes by Teddy, or Ted, he hates his full name."

Remus bit the inside of his cheek hard, "That's a good name."

"It was my father's," Dora breathed out a little shaky, trying to shake off the nerves.

"I'd do a test if you wanted, if he wanted," Remus figured now was the time to offer, even if it wasn't really for them, it would be for him. Remus didn't want to be left alone with his thoughts about possibly having a son.

"That would be a long conversation he would have to agree to," Dora rolled her lips together in a thin line.

"Here's uh, here's my number," Remus went into his big and ripped off a piece of paper from his notebook, then grabbed a pen and wrote down his number quickly.

Dora took it from him, "Thanks," she sounded sincere as she took the paper, "I gotta get home and cook dinner, but I'll text you."

"I should get going too, my friends are expecting me," Remus watched as she walked away. He let a solid breathe out and turned to go to his car. James would have alcohol at his house. He needed a drink.

"I wonder if they know each other, I'll have to ask what's his name?"

It was a short drive to James' house, he jumped out and walked in, knowing that the front door was unlocked.

"You're late," Harry turned around on the couch, Remus looked at what he was watching, it was some dumb movie. He never considered Harry his kid, he was his nephew but not his kid. Remus had always wanted a family, when he was younger he dreamed of four kids and a white picket fence.

That never came to him. Just bottles of alcohol and whatever pills one of his friends managed to score. 

"I'm like twenty minutes late," Remus walked over to him and ruffled his hair, putting on his award winning fake smile that even James still believed, "Where's your dad?"

"I don't know," Harry rolled his eyes, "Want to help me with my school work?"

"Do you mean I do your work and you tell your teacher you did it?" Remus asked as he glanced in the kitchen, looking for one of his friends.

"No," Harry gave him a smile and the sound of footsteps came from the top of stairs, more men's voice.

"You're late Moony," Sirius sang as he quickly ran down the stairs and put his arm around Remus' shoulders.

"It was open house, something you should've gone to Prongs," Remus pointed at James who flipped him off before making his way into the kitchen.

"Harry, do you want me to talk to your teachers?"

"No."

"See," James grabbed a beer from his fridge and tossed one to Remus and Sirius.

"It doesn't matter what your teenage son wants, just talk to the teachers, we're begging you to talk to us," Remus opened the beer with the bottle opener on his keychain, he would prefer something stronger but it would raise eyebrows if he asked.

"You're my son's teacher, how is he doing?" James grinned and headed out to the backyard, the two men following James got just like they had done in school, they were always trailing after James.

"He's doing good but you could talk to his other teachers," Remus suggested with another fake smile as he sipped on his beer sitting down in one of the lawn chairs.

Right when Remus was about to tell them what happened, Harry followed them out with a binder of school work, "Did you know that Uncle Pad's brother is teaching me?"

Remus watched as Sirius spilled beer all over his shirt, staring at Harry and then his eyes moving to Remus, an eyebrow arched, "Is he telling the truth?"

Remus sighed, he glared at Harry who just smiled innocently in return, he looked at the three men then got up, "I think Heromine wants to call me," he rushed inside.

"Remus?" Sirius asked as he set his beer down.

"Regulus may be teaching at the school," Remus had been hiding it from his husband. He had overheard a Mr. Black subbing for some classes and originally thought Sirius did it as a joke, that was until he caught a glimpse of Regulus.

He didn't know what Regulus looked like until then but he knew it was him. He had spent so many years staring at Sirius, he could tell the man was related to him. And when Regulus' paperwork started, Remus officially knew it was him.

He knew he would've told Sirius but he didn't know how he would react so he thought the best thing was ignoring it all together.

"What does he teach?" Sirius asked as he glanced down at the grass under the lawn chairs. James had a nice back yard, the lawn chairs were not great but they were special, no matter where James lived, the chairs followed.

"Art," Remus answered, "He got a degree in it, two I think actually."

Sirius sucked the beer out of his shirt and then took it off, "Cool."

There was tension in the air, Sirius' family was a sensitive topic, even in their thirties it still was, "He's doing good Sirius."

"Good," Sirius gave a real smile and finished off his beer, Remus watched him with worry as he finished off his own beer, "That's really good Remus."

Maybe now wasn't the time to mention a possible child.

Regulus had come in early, he was starting his new projects today and wanted to make sure that everything was good. There was a closet in the corner of the room where the canvases were kept, he got them out and put them down on each of the desks as his painting class was his first one.

There was a knock on his door as he looked over at Edward entering the room, "Hi, I was wondering if I could hang out until school starts."

Regulus sighed but nodded, "Is there a reason you're at the school an hour before it starts?" he asked as he got the paint ready near the sinks.

"My mom dropped me off and I don't want to go to my physics class before it starts," he laughed as he sat down where he normally sat during his class period.

"You have to leave when the bell rings but you can stay in here till then, have you figured out an idea for your portfolio yet?" Regulus asked as he tripled checked over everything and then started to ready the sets for his drawing class.

"Yeah, I think I have a pretty solid idea."

"Can I know it?"

"Not until my first piece is down," Edward shook his head with a smile.

Regulus sighed, "Just make it good."

They coexisted in silence until the bell rang and Regulus kicked the kid out. His classes went well, the students seemed actually interested in the projects he had created. Third period came around and he saw Edward go over and grab some pencils and paper, he was sketching something out.

Regulus explained the project, they had to make a drawing using a monochromatic color palette, it was just a still life and supposed to teach them about color values. The students started on it and he walked over the APs, checking in with them. Most of the ideas were good, the only student he was really concerned about was Edward but that was just because he was behind the other ideas.

He waited till the end of class to walk over to him, looking over his shoulder, Regulus couldn't tell what it was, "What are you thinking of using?"

"Oil pastels," Teddy answered as he put the piece in one of the lockers under the table.

"You are willingly going to work with oil pastels?" Regulus asked as his next class started to enter. He had nothing against the medium, it looked beautiful when handled and used correctly but Regulus had always struggled with it, they never blended correctly, and when he got close, the pigment would wipe itself away.

"Yeah, I like them," Edward grinned, "Gotta head out Mr. Black."

Regulus went over to his desk, the next class was pottery, which he admitted wasn't the best at. He knew how to fire the works and work with a kiln. Luna came up to him to show her idea for the bowl, "Does this look good?"

He was having them sketch out their ideas before they started on them, "Yeah it does," he glanced at it just to make sure it wasn't a dick, which he didn't have to worry about with Luna.

"I was wondering if you're going to continue the Art Club, are you?" Luna asked as she grabbed her sketch back.

"What?" Regulus asked, looking up from what he was working on.

"Art club, the art teacher always sponsors it," Luna continued.

"No, I'm not doing that."

"Why not? They say that creativity is how it opens our soul," Luna skipped back to her desk. If Luna didn't look like a copy of Pandora, he would have guessed that Xenophillius had reproduced on his own, that child had his brain.

Regulus' classes went by with ease once again and he went to go to Pandora's room but she was already gone. He stopped a random teacher in the hallway to ask where Lupin's class was, he found it by the number they told him.

Remus was still sitting at his desk. He looked up at the door, "Hello Regulus."

"Hello, I was wondering, if you knew how bad it would be if I cancelled Art Club this year?" he asked as he walked up to his desk. On the wall behind him there was a photo of him and Sirius, they looked all lovey dovey, it made him sick.

There was another photo of their happy little friend group all together.

"It would be horrible," Remus looked up from what he was working on, "The students want it, they'll be sad."

"I don't care if they'll be sad, I don't want to host it," Regulus complained as he kept staring at the photo.

"Too bad you're the art teacher," Remus shrugged.

"Hey babe, I'm here to-" Regulus turned around to stare at who came in the room. It was Sirius Black. His brother. His brother was in the same room as him. His brother. 

"Sirius," Regulus said as he read out his visitor's badge, he was spinning his car keys in his hand.

"Regulus," Sirius looked down at the badge around Regulus' neck.

"I should go," Regulus started to leave but Sirius was body blocking the door.

"Don't leave," Sirius swallowed, "Harry told me you taught here but I figured you wouldn't be in Remus' room."

"I was asking him a question, it's what co-workers do," Regulus was thinking about jumping through the window to avoid this.

"Why are you working here? We both know you have more than enough money to last you several lifetimes," Sirius rolled his eyes as he still didn't move from the doorway.

"Got cut off just like you but what would you know about it? You left your kid brother in an abusive house," Regulus shrugged with a smile, "Do you know they hit me?"

"Regulus…" Sirius said quietly, "I couldn't bring you, they would've sent the cops, wait, you got cut off? Are you okay? Where are you living?" His voice started to edge on concern.

"I'm fine Sirius, I have a job as you see," Regulus lifted his badge.

"Show me where you're living."
"No."

"How am I supposed to know you're not living in your car or on the street then?"

"I'm living with Barty and Evan, I'm fine."

"Show me."

Regulus ended up bringing Sirius back to his apartment. Remus too, but that was because Remus' car was in the shop. That's the reason that Sirius was at the school to give him a ride home. Regulus opened the door, there were a few empty Amazon boxes near the entrance.

Sirius walked in and looked around with a grimace, "Is the wall paper normally like that?" 

Regulus looked over at the wall Sirius was referring to, the wallpaper was ripping down from the top corner. Water damage visible behind the wallpaper and on the ceiling above the spot, like it was threatening to cave in.

"Yes Sirius," Regulus sighed.

"Why are there only two doors?" Sirius asked opening both of them, one led to their tiny bathroom where even Regulus struggled to fit in the shower and the other one lead to the bedroom with their bunk.

"Because there's rooms behind them."

"Why aren't there more rooms?"

"Because it's a one bedroom apartment."

"You said three of you live here though."

"Clever as always," Regulus walked over to the window, he looked out down below, he could've killed himself when Pandora was over.

"Move in with me," Sirius crossed his arms, trying to put on his parental voice.

"No," Regulus opened the window.

"I have three guest bedrooms, take one," Sirius didn't even glance over at Remus as he offered.

"No thank you, now get out or I call the police," Regulus sat on the window frame, looking out to the street.

"Reg-"

"Out Sirius," Regulus spat as he thought about throwing himself off just to get the last laugh at Sirius. He couldn't just waltz back in, give him a room, and then act like nothing bad happened, like Sirius didn't leave him in that house. He heard the door close and he still thought about throwing himself out of the window. 

Remus was sitting in his classroom. Sirius wasn't handling the new brother news the best. After they left Regulus' apartment, Sirius had dropped him off then said he was going to the store.

He did go to a store, a liquor store. 

Remus made him dump the bottles out and throw them away the moment he stepped through the door. That's what they did, they checked each other, they kept each other from diving too far off of the edge.

It was after the day but he was staying late to check up on grading the essays, there was a knock at the door, and he was expecting it to be Regulus or Harry, "Come in."

It was neither of them. Instead it was a teenage boy, blue hair, lip piercings on either side of his bottom lip where the black jewelry shined from the sun coming in from his window.

The boy was tall, only a few inches below Remus, he was skinny, borderline being lanky instead of lean, "Are you Mr. Lupin?"

"I am," Remus flipped over the essay he was grading, "I don't believe you're in my class, are you wondering about the Shakespeare club? Because I don't host it." It was a common mistake a lot of students made.

"No, I uh, I'm Ted," he laughed walking up to Remus' desk, with each foot step, Remus felt his heart drop one floor lower, "My mom doesn't know I'm here. She doesn't even know that I worked out what she said, she tried covering for you, but she's not very good at lying."

"Sit," Remus got up and walked over to the door, closing it, and then walking back over, opting for leaning against the front of his desk instead of sitting down as Ted sat down, "Why are you here?"

"Do you think I'm your kid?" Ted asked with a laugh.

Shit, he was getting right to the point wasn't he, "I don't know."

"You look like me."

"I think it would be the opposite, you look like me," Remus corrected him.

"Same thing."

"It's not."

"Okay, so you're just here to ask questions then?" Remus asked as he tried to redirect the conversation.

"Basically, mainly wondering if the whole abandoning thing was on purpose," Ted leaned back in his chair, messing with one of his lip rings with his tongue.

"There is a high chance you're not my kid," Remus sighed.

"I'll take that as a no, did you date my mom? Were you in love with her?" Ted asked.

Remus wished he didn't have Sirius throw the liquor out, "Why don't we start with a test before the questions? We will see if I am… your father. And if I am, we go from there."

"Okay you figure out the semantics to that, and text my mom when you see," Ted out up and patted Remus on the shoulder with a smile, "See ya later dad."

Remus knew the teenager was just joking around, trying to annoy him or get him to say something dumb, but Remus couldn't help the way it made him giddy as a real smile found its way onto his face.

Chapter Text

Harry was a good kid. He rarely got in trouble, he had good grades, and he never missed school. Yet this was the third meeting this school year. 

"We know Harry hasn't had many behavioral issues till now, have there been any big changes in his life?" the counselor asked Lily. James was supposed to be here but he would never show up.

James wasn't a bad dad he just struggled with the discipline part. He thought Harry could do no wrong which left Lily at the meetings alone. 

"No, there haven't been," Lily shook her head.

"No new partners or house?"

Lily shook her head again, "I moved out five years ago and haven't brought anyone home around Harry," she had girlfriends but none of them had ever lasted long enough for her to introduce them to him. They had a checklist a mile long they had to finish before she introduced them.

"And James?"

"Not that I know of," Lily grabbed one of the fidget toys off of the desk, rolling it between her fingers. Her and James were still friends even when he called the engagement off. It was the best for both of them, they were too unhealthy for each other, bringing out the best and worst parts in each other. 

"We know that Harry had a… rough childhood to say the least," the counselor carefully said as Lily's eye shot up, staring directly into the woman's. Mary MacDonald. She knew her name, she learned it from their first interaction three weeks ago, "And we're worried that has something to do with it."

"Harry's been in therapy for the past six years," Lily made sure of it, he went twice a week when they started and now he went once a week even though he claimed he didn't need it anymore.

"And that's wonderful but sometimes that type of trauma leads to developmental issues later in life," Mary continued.

 Lily felt sick as she gripped the toy in her hand tighter, "He's just doing pranks. James did pranks all throughout school," she wasn't sure who she was trying to convenience more, her or Mary.

"I've heard the tales," Mary laughed, "But it's just something we need to keep an eye on, while I have you here. We noticed that Harry's grades are slipping, primarily in math and art class. It's the beginning of the year which is why we're so concerned."

"Art?" Lily asked, "How do you fail an art class?"

"That's something you'd have to ask the art teacher, I apologize for keeping you the entire open house or you could've talked to him in person. I can provide you with his email though," Mary grabbed a sticky note writing the math and art teacher's emails then passed it over. Lily took it and stared.

Regulus Black - Art - [email protected]

Regulus Black. As in Sirius' brother Regulus Black. Lily felt like a headache was coming on, "Thank you, is there anything else you need from me?"

"No, I hope your husband can join us next time," Mary smiled.

"We're not together," Lily sighed as she got up, "We are separated."

"I apologize Ms. Evans, habit," Mary cleared her throat as she looked down at her desk.

"It's fine," it wasn't, "have a good day," she walked out of the office with her head in his hands. She called James but it went to voicemail, she considered driving over there but she had a shift at six in the morning the next day so decided against it.

Lily was so busy she wasn't able to talk to James until the football game Friday night. She went to them whenever she could, Harry had made varsity the year prior and she always showed up like the supportive mother she was. She saw Remus, Sirius, and James all huddled up together like they normally were and walked over to them.

"Talking about how you peaked in high school?" she asked as sat down next to Remus.

"Obviously Lils," James grinned, handing her a diet Dr. Pepper and Reese's.

"Thanks James," she opened it and took a drink, when you dated someone for so many years, those things you didn't just forget.

"Didn't know your brother taught here Sirius," Lily said as the marching band was setting up for pregame. The football players going to one side of the field to practice, Lily spotted Harry and gave him a big dramatic wave, she could see the way he rolled his eyes from all the way away.

"I didn't know either until a couple days ago," Sirius leaned into Remus, "This guy decided to hide it from me, for weeks."

"For like two weeks Padfoot," Remus cut in.

"Still hid it from me, what else are you hiding from me?" Sirius asked jokingly but Lily noticed the way Remus's eyes failed to crinkle as he laughed and how he bit his lip as he laughed. Remus was hiding something else from Sirius.

"Nothing you dramatic oaf," Remus laughed as he teased him.

"Speaking of oafs, look at the other schools' teams," James pointed at them. They looked like grown men. Harry would be fine. He was always fine, he was built like his father, he could take a hit or two, but the thought of anyone tackling him made Lily ill.

"That's not very nice, they're children James," Remus rolled his eyes.

"They're massive," Sirius agreed with James. He always agreed with James, if James said the sky was neon green, Sirius would be the first one to agree.

"He'll be fine," Lily bit her lip as the marching band played, none of them got up for the national anthem like normal, and then the game started soon after. Lily intently watched as Harry threw the ball down the field.

He was the quarterback and Lily winced as she watched him get tackled the play after.

"They have helmets for a reason," Remus mumbled over to her, knowing how she got during a game sometimes.

"But do they have to hit that hard?" The kid who tackled Harry had to weigh a hundred pounds more than he did.

"Yes, it's sports," James nodded as he watched, getting up to scream at the ref during one call, "Bullshit!" he screamed.

Remus looked over at Lily as Sirius also got up, "Want to get another drink?"

Lily looked down at her mostly full diet Dr. Pepper, "Sure," the two quickly got up as Sirius and James continued to scream at the adults down on the field. 

Once they reached the bottom the two broke out into quiet laughter, they did get in line for concessions though. Sure they were overpriced trash but Lily liked supporting the school.

"So what are you hiding from Sirius?" Lily asked curiously, not letting go of the lie she saw him tell earlier.

"Nothing," Remus whistled as he shrunk in on himself, trying to make himself look smaller.

" Remus ."

"I may or may not have a kid I just learned about this week," Remus whispered as he leaned in close to her ear.

Lily had to have heard him wrong, "What?"

"I may or may not have a kid," he repeated, "I- I met up with an old fling, not in that way, and she dropped that she has a kid the same age as when we used to mess around."

"Oh you're fucked," Lily laughed loudly, attracting some looks from those nearby.

"Shut it," Remus groaned, "He may not be mine, I ordered a paternity test, it'll be here next week. Then we do it, ship it off, and three days after that I can prove I don't have a kid."

"Or you'll prove you have a kid, how old is he?" 

"Sixteen."

Lily's mouth dropped, "You're telling me this entire time we could've had matching birthday parties for our kids?" 

"You're not taking this seriously."

"I am too, you have a kid. And you got to miss the blow out diapers, so, consider yourself lucky," Lily laughed as they made it up to the front, she got another pack of Reese's and Remus got a Coke. They got their drinks and then went off to the fence near the field to continue watching the game.

"He can't be mine," Remus sighed.

"Do you think he is? Have you seen him? Does he look like you?" 

Remus went quiet as he sipped on his Coke, telling Lily the answer to her questions.

"He's absolutely yours," Lily continued to laugh.

"Sirius doesn't know," Remus cheered when they moved up on a play.

"You should tell him."

"I know but after the Regulus thing, I don't want to throw more things at him. What's up with you?"

"Nothing is up with me."

" Lily ," Remus raised an eyebrow at her. That was the thing with Remus and Lily, they knew everything about each other, without even having to say it, it was the same thing James and Sirius had with each other.

"Harry got in trouble again," she sighed, "James didn't show up, again. The counselor thinks it has to do with his trauma."

"Mary is a good counselor, did you ask her why she thinks that?" 

" Mary didn't tell me, though, I didn't exactly give her a chance to. All she said was that childhood trauma could lead to these issues."

"She's not wrong, look at Sirius," Remus joked, a bit of dark humor, "But Harry did go through shit. It's bound to fuck him up a little, even if it's hard to admit that as his mother."

James and Lily weren't the best parents when Harry was gone. They were addicts and bad ones at that, Lily barely managed to stay off while she was pregnant. She didn't even slip up during breastfeeding, but once Harry was weaned off, that's when the drugs came back in.

James hadn't stopped smoking that entire time and was overjoyed when Lily joined back in. They weren't neglectful parents, they still took care of Harry, whenever they went to the doctor or to the daycare, they always said how loved Harry was, how smart he was, how good of parents they were.

That was until Lily got pulled over for speeding. She didn't even realize she was but she was so tired from her college classes that she didn't register it. She had just finished smoking a joint and her car still reeked of weed.

She still remembered the cold metal of the handcuffs against her wrists. It wasn't her first time getting arrested and it wasn't her last but it was the mark of the fall. It was the beginning of the jail time, of the court cases, of Harry being sent to her god awful sister's, of the house arrest it was the beginning of the end. 

When they got Harry back Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus tried to press charges against her sister and his husband, anyone could see how damaged he was. The housewife act worked for Petunia well, no one would believe Lily, the drug addict, over her. 

Lily tried to make up for the lost time, she tried to make up for everything but it was one of those things she could never fix. She had failed at being a mother.

"But what am I supposed to do Rem? I don't know what else I can do except to put him in more therapy," Lily wanted to do more for him, she just didn't know what to do, she took him to trips whenever she could or whenever he wanted, she got him on the weekends as James had primary custody over him.

They never fought over custody but when they got him back, they were already separated by then, even if they were going to live in the same house for the time being. By the end of the court cases, Lily had far more charges than James, and so the court put Harry in his primary care.

Lily tried her best to not get upset at it. She knew James was a good guy and a good father, but she couldn't help the way she missed her baby during the week. James didn't work though and Lily spent most of her day at work normally, so maybe it was for the best even if she still hated it.

"Love him, support him," Remus answered.

"Are you saying I don't already do those things?"

"No, I'm just saying keep doing them. The best way to make sure nothing bad is happening is to keep a clear line of communication. Let him feel able to tell you whatever he's doing without fear of punishment."

"I do, at least I think we do," Lily nodded. Harry was close to both of his parents, Lily wasn't sure if there was even a favorite between the two of them, but the trauma was trauma. It wasn't something that was just going to go away, and Lily would still catch things even now.

"You're good parents Lily, you just had a rough start."

"We're good parents now, we were shitty parents before," Lily corrected him.

"Nah, you just had slip ups."

"Remus, if you saw us on the news without knowing us, you would be thinking differently. I don't even remember his first words or his first steps because I was too high off my ass, those things we can't get back in life," Lily looked back at James and Sirius who had seemed to calm down, "We should head back."

Remus was quiet, "Yeah we probably should."

By the end of the game all of them were near the spot Harry would come out. He did shortly, a hoodie and jeans on instead of the bulky uniform. Lily walked over and gave him a big hug, "You did so good out there."

"Thank mom," Harry chuckled as he hugged her back, Lily was thankful he never had the no mom that's embarrassing stage, at least he hadn't had it yet.

Lily pulled away and James gave him a big high five, "You did great son."

"Thanks dad," Harry laughed as he high fived him back, "I think the other kids shoot up steroids."

"You could always shoot up to fight back," James suggested with a laugh and Lily hit him in the back of the head.

"No, no one is shooting up anything," Lily gave James a mothering look.

"Don't worry I'm not dumb like dad," Harry laughed, there was an awkward beat of silence as Harry continued, "Can I have twenty bucks? Ron and Mione want to go out."

James opened his wallet and passed over a couple twenty dollar bills, "That way you can cover for everyone."

"Do you need a ride?" Lily asked, they were going to get Harry a car. James wanted to gift it for his sixteenth birthday but Lily wanted to make sure he wasn't going to crash the minute he got in it. Harry had yet to prove he was trustworthy enough for that. 

"Please," Harry gave her a side hug. 

"Come on kiddo, I'll see the rest of you at James' house yeah?" Lily asked and they all gave a nod up. After football games they usually went over to James' and drank beer until they got bored of what they were watching, she could talk about the meeting there.

Harry and Lily got into her car, "Where are you guys going?"

"Denny's," Harry buckled his seatbelt as Lily started to drive.

"Why..? I will drive you somewhere nicer," Lily laughed as she glanced over at him. It was hard to believe that he was old enough to drive his own car, in Lily's mind he was still the young boy who was obsessed with hot wheels. 

"Because it's where we always go," Harry took out his phone and grinned as he tapped away.

Harry put on the rock station as she drove, she giggled when she glanced over to see what station it was. Of course Sirius had made him just as much of a fan of rock as him. "Just text me when you need to be picked up alright?"

"Yes mom," Harry rolled his eyes dramatically. The rest of the drive was silent, except for the few words Harry or Lily would occasionally sing.

Harry got out of the car after giving his mom another hug then went into the building, Hermione and Ron were already there, sitting in their normal spot in the back. His phone was going off, teammates asking him to go to their party. He'd go once they convinced Hermione, or whenever she wanted to go to sleep.

"You should get your head checked out," Hermione said once he sat down, leaning across the table to grab the side of his head.

"You're mental, he's fine, let the poor man rest," Ron scoffed as the waitress came up to get their orders. It was the same thing every time, a round of strawberry milkshakes for everyone and two orders of fries. 

Rarely they would get actual food.

"I'm sorry I'm an actual friend Ronald and want to make sure Harry doesn't faint in the middle of pre-calculus," Hermonie blew the paper from her straw at Ron's face, causing Harry to laugh quietly at his friends. He could faint in the middle of pre-calc and not miss much, math came easily to him.

That's why he was still able to get a hundred on last week's test while having a forty percent in the class already. 

"He's not going to faint, you treat him like a vase," Ron did the same to her, the straw wrapper flying somewhere under the table.

"I'm not a vase," Harry added. He had enough scars on his body to prove it.

The chair next to Harry got pulled out as Teddy sat down next to him. Harry didn't speak to Teddy much, mainly just in art class and between classes, but as far as Harry was concerned, he was a genius. 

The third week of school Teddy set up a contraption to have paint explode on the old art teacher, Harry would've felt a little bad if it wasn't so funny, "What's up losers?"

"No one invited you to this table," Ron's face went from a friendly smile to a scowl. He wasn't the biggest fan of Teddy, which even then was an understatement, Harry thought he was just dramatic but Ron was insistent that he was trying to replace him. Even though Harry kept telling him that he was irreplaceable.

"Ted's always allowed," Harry gave Ron a look telling him to chill the fuck out. 

"We're not in elementary school anymore, no one needs to be invited to a table," Hermione smiled at Teddy as the waitress came over to them, dropping off their drinks.

"Do you want anything darling?" the waitress asked Teddy.

"No thank you," he shook his head and she went back to the waitress area.

"How painful is it to get that pierced?" Harry asked him pointing to his eyebrow piercing. Teddy in total had snakebites, his eyebrow pierced, and a bridge piercing, "Not at all," he shrugged.

"Do you have ink?" Harry wanted a tattoo but he couldn't even convince his dad to sign off on it, his mom was a lost cause he knew. He had thought about asking Sirius to pretend to be his dad and to take him.

"Yeah one on my chest," Teddy nodded as the waitress brought him over the water. He sheepsily said, "Thank you."

"Your mother must be really chill," Ron's scowl was sipping already, "My mom would tie me up and feed me to the birds if I did that."

" I would feed you to the birds you did that," Hermione giggled as she took a drink.

"She hates me," Ron rolled his eyes at her.

"I sure do Ronald," Hermione rolled her eyes in return, "What are you doing here Teddy? Just stopping by?"

"Yeah, I live close by," Teddy nodded, "Figure I'd come here and see if someone was here but she's not."

" She ?" Harry asked with a smirk as he sucked on his straw as the fries sat down on the table.

"Yes she, her name is Darla and she makes a wonderful grilled cheese," Teddy messed with one of his lip piercings as he grinned, "Is this what you guys do after games?"

"Yeah," Hermione nodded, "It's tradition at this point."

"Why not do something more fun?" Teddy asked, glancing around the mostly empty Denny's.

"Fun like parities?" Harry nudged Hermione under the table with his foot, "We should go to the party."

"Parties are drugs and alcohol," Hermione shook her head, "I don't want to get so high I can't remember my name."

"You act like they're going to have acid or ketamine," Harry sighed, "It's just weed and cheap beer."

"And I don't need to get addicted to weed."

"Can you even get addicted to weed?" Ron asked out loud as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Yes," Hermoine said.

"No," Teddy said at the same time.

"I don't think so," Harry shrugged, "Anyway, why? Do you know any good spots?" he asked Teddy, he had his football friends parties but sometimes those weren't the best.

"I know a couple, depending on how punk rock you wanna get."

"I'm going to go home if you two are going to a party," Hermione sighed, "I have to volunteer in the morning."

"You coming Ron?" Harry invited him but Ron looked Teddy up and down and the scowl returned.

"No, I'll take Mione home," Ron had a cheap car that got from point A to point B, their milkshakes were barely touched as they started to get up. Harry tossed two twenty dollar bills on the table, it would cover the cost and a hefty tip on top.

"Don't do something dumb…" Hermione told Harry with a motherly tone as Ron put his arm around her as he glared at Teddy, it wasn't in a romantic way, more of a protective way.

"I won't," Harry winked, "I'll text you when I'm home."

The trio hugged and Ron and Hermione walked out together, he turned to Teddy as they started to walk out, Harry not sure where they were headed but didn't care.

"Are you going to piss your pants if you see some crazy shit?" Teddy asked as they walked alongside a street.

"No," Harry laughed, "I won't run my mouth either if you're worried about that."
"Nah you don't seem like a snitch."

Lily was at her house when she received the text from Harry. It was so late she assumed that he was at Ron's house but that wasn't his address. She put on her shoes and drove out to the address he sent. It didn't take her long to find him, he was sitting on the edge of the street with someone next to him.

She pulled over and then got out, she could tell just by looking at her son that he was drunk, "I thought you were at Denny's?"
"We moved," the boy who she didn't know answered, from far away it almost looked like a young Remus with blue hair, up close the vision faded with the piercings, "I didn't want to leave him till you got here."

Lily knelt down next to Harry, "Get in the backseat," she told him, keeping her voice flat, it would do no good to discipline him while he was drunk, it would wait till the morning. 

Harry groaned as he stumbled up, walking over to the car door and struggling to get it open. He managed and then flopped inside. 

Lily looked towards the other kid, "Are you going to yell stranger danger if I tell you to get in my car?"

"I should."

"Get in."

"I live close by," the kid seemed sober, at least sober compared to Harry but she was still stressed at the idea of him trying to get himself home.

"Are you worried about me telling your mom?" Lily asked, she would tell his mom, but he didn't need to know that.

"No, I'm not, I just don't want to intrude."

"Get in, make sure Harry doesn't throw up in my car, since you got him drunk," Lily got back in her driver's seat as the kid got in the back next to Harry, keeping him up right as she followed the directions he was giving her. Eventually they arrived at a small apartment building where the railings around the stairs were falling off and half of the windows were taped shut.

"Thank Mrs. Potter," the kid said as he started to get out of the car.

"It's Evans, not Potter, and you can call me Lily," she looked in her back mirror with as friendly of a smile as she could muster this late in the night. She had to work in four hours, she was just happy it wasn't one of her twelves, "Have a goodnight kid," she considered going to the door and waking up his parents but Harry sounded like he was ready to throw up so she decided against it.

She drove back to her house and helped him out of the car and to the room she kept ready for him. The room hadn't changed much since she had got the house. It was decorated with a variety of football, soccer, and rock band posters. He had a couple of trophies and medals over here but most of them were at James'. 

"I'm grounded aren't I?" Harry groaned as his head hit his pillow.

"Yep," Lily helped put the blankets on him, "We'll talk tomorrow once I get back from work alright?" 

"Fuck…"

"Language Harry," Lily sighed and went into the guest bathroom, she grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen and water then put it on his nightstand. She walked through the hallway back to her bedroom and sat down texting James who honestly still may be up.

Lily:

harry is grounded for two weeks

please actually follow through with it this time james

Chapter Text

Regulus had managed to avoid Sirius or any mention of him over the weekend. Evan even had Sunday off so they hung out like they were teenagers again. Complaining about whatever was bothering them and then drinking the pain away.

Monday morning Regulus was writing on his whiteboard as he explained, "I want all of you to turn in your project on my desk,  once you're done with that. We're starting a new project. I want each of you to choose something meaningful to you, something that brings happy or positive emotions. It could be an object or a memory," he set down the whiteboard marker. 

Walking over to the counters with the sinks as he continued, "Then I want to pick something that makes you feel the opposite. You need to combine these two things in one piece, we'll be going further into contrast colors for this assignment." 

Regulus picked up the couple of examples he had created, they were meaningless pieces he had made over the weekend just to show what he wanted. He put them on the board, "See how one side is blue and the other is orange? Those are contrasting colors, the same with purple and yellow, or blue and orange. They don't have to be fifty fifty split, but there needs to be an obvious separation. I want you to sketch your ideas before you start on the official project. You can use whatever medium you want. Any questions?"

No one raised their hand or even bothered shaking their heads, he hated when they did that. "Wonderful," he sighed and went to his desk, setting out the tray for the current projects they needed to turn in.

Regulus glanced over at them as they were turned in but didn't say anything until Harry put him there. Regulus grabbed the paper and looked up at him, "Is this your finished assignment?"

They had to color some fruit in one color, the fruit didn't look like fruit, which Regulus expected frankly, but the main issue was that they were barely colored or shaded. It looked like a child scribbled over them with a crayon.

"Yeah," Harry shrugged, it was clear he didn't care about this class, which Regulus didn't care about, but he wanted the kid to at least pass.

"I'm not going to give you the chance to redo it if you turn this in," Regulus warned him then went back to grading another class's work. Harry mumbled something under his breath and walked away with the paper, but not back to his desk next to Weasley's. No, he went over to Edward's desk.

Regulus raised an eyebrow as he kept sneaking glances over at them, still keeping his main focus on the projects. Near the end of the class Harry came back up to him with a new paper.

The work clearly wasn't his. It was a lovely drawing of some apples and oranges in blue oil pastels. Edward. 

"Harry, did you make this?" Regulus asked with a deadpan face, making it clear he didn't think Harry drew this.

"Yep," Harry grinned as he pointed to his signature, "All me."

The bell rang and Harry went to collect his backpack. Regulus would have to call his parents for cheating as he put a zero in the gradebook. As he started typing one out to both James and Lily, he got an email from Lily Evans.

Hello Mr. Black,

I spoke to Ms. Macdonald last week and was made aware of his grades. I apologize for the late notice but was wondering if we could have a meeting today if possible? My work schedule is a bit of a mess so it would be wonderful if today could work.

Regulus read her signature for her email,

Sincerely,

Lily Evans | She/Her

Registered Nurse | Emergency Room St. Joseph's Hospital

Regulus emailed her back,

Hello Mrs. Evans,

The late notice is not preferred but is fine for today. Please bring Mr. Potter with you. I can meet anytime after 3p.m. I will stay till 5p.m.

Sincerely,

Regulus Black (he/him)

Art Department 

When the day ended Regulus didn't have to think long on if she was going to show up as soon as it hit three fifteen she walked in. It was hard to mistake her for anyone but the woman on James' social media. "Where is Mr. Potter?" Regulus asked, noticing a lack of him.

"James won't be here," Lily shut the door behind her as she walked over to his desk. 

"Why not?" 

"It's not important," Lily dismissed him as she sat down on one of the stools.

"I would appreciate it if Mr. Potter was here," Regulus glanced down at the information he had written down about the two of them when he was originally going to contact them, "Let's see how busy he really is."

Regulus picked up the school phone and dialed his number, it only rang once before it was picked up, "Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, this is one of your son's teachers, I was expecting you for a meeting. Are you busy right now?" Regulus didn't want to meet James honestly, but he also couldn't afford to get fired, and if he had failing students, the odds of him getting fired were up there.

"Yeah Lils told me about that, I'm uh, very busy," there was the sound of a TV in the background.

"Mr. Potter, this is about your son. Don't you want to at least know what is being discussed at the meeting?" 

"Not really," James hummed into the phone, "You're not going to leave me alone until I come, are you Regulus ?"

Regulus hated the way his body reacted at the way James said his name, it was deep and rough on his tongue. No, bad Regulus. "I prefer Mr. Black, and you're correct."

"I'll be there in ten minutes," there was a click on the line and Regulus put the phone down.

"He'll be here soon, in the meantime, I can grab Harry's things," Regulus gathered Harry's work together and grabbed a couple sketches of Edward's to prove his thinking behind the still life assignment.

Lily sat quietly as Regulus put the items on one of the desks, there was a phone call to his desk and Regulus picked it up, "Hello?"

"Yes, there is a man here saying you have a meeting with him for his son, just making sure before I let him inside."
"Yes that's correct."

Two minutes later, James Potter waltzed into his classroom looking around, "Wow this hasn't changed at all since I was here, hello there Regulus."

"Mr. Potter and sit down Mrs. Evans," Regulus stayed standing up as James chuckled to himself and sat down next to Lily.

"Harry has been struggling to take his assignments seriously which resulted in the poor grades," Regulus picked up two projects that were half done at best.

"I don't see the issue, it's art class, it's not like it's important,"James snorted as Lily shot him a look.

Regulus wanted to die again, "You may think that Mr. Potter but art is a valuable skill that can transfer into other areas. In addition, if Mr. Potter is failing any class, he will be ineligible for sports."

" What? " Of course football is what caught James' attention. He was a dumb jock from a while away.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. It also will affect his transcript if Harry wants to go to college," Regulus continued as James finally went quiet, "If you agree to help, I could possibly allow him to redo these assignments. Not for full credit though but enough so he isn't failing."

"How do you expect us to help?" James asked.

"Just checking in, making sure he knows that completing his work is important. I won't give him extra time in class but I'm hosting art club tomorrow and he is welcome to come then to work on his assignments," he still couldn't believe he let himself get talked into hosting it by Pandora over the weekend.

"Is there anything else?" Lily asked.

"Yes, earlier today Harry turned in a project that another student made for him. I'm willing to just put it in as a zero until he makes it up for less credit, but if it happens again. I will be contacting the administration," Regulus held up the piece Edward clearly did.

"Bullshit," James laughed as he got up, "This is ridiculous."

" James ," Lily sighed defeatedly as she looked over at him.

"No, he just comes in and thinks he can assume Harry of cheating on his assignments, it's bullshit," James walked over to the papers picking it up and pointed to the signature, "See that's Harry's signature, that means he did it."

Regulus was wondering how this man was older than him and behaved like a child, "His classmate Edward did it for him, if you take a look at his work you will see similarities. He also used oil pastels and Edward is the only student who uses them."

"I'll talk to him about staying after school tomorrow, thank you for giving him a second opportunity," Lily said, speaking quickly so she could cut in before James did. 

James stormed out of the room and Regulus considered banning him from the classroom. 

"Sorry… about him," Lily said, "He's just protective over Harry."

"Protective?" Regulus raised an eyebrow, "That's what you call that?"

"Harry didn't have a usual upbringing and because of that, the moment anyone even gets close to harming Harry, James he- he overreacts," Lily explained.

Regulus stayed quiet for a moment, "If I'm being honest, I just don't want to lose my job. And the more failing students I have, the more of a risk that is. I'm not singling him out, I need him to pass."

"We'll get him passing," Lily promised. 

Regulus gathered his personal items on his desk, "I'll be going then since you are here so early. Thank you for that by the way," he didn't want to be left waiting for hours wondering if they were going to show up.

"Of course, thank you for letting me show up on short notice. Have a good day Re-Mr. Black," Lily waved and then left the room. Regulus didn't bother correcting her since she corrected herself as he shut off the lights to the room then locked up and went out to his car.

Pandora insisted that he bring snacks for the club meeting tomorrow. Regulus didn't have snack money but he pulled into the grocery store parking lot and went inside. 

He grabbed the weekly ad and a basket then went to the snacking aisles. All of his ideas on what to bring cost far too much. He went on his phone to see if there were any online coupons as he heard, "Regulus," behind him.

Regulus turned around to see James Potter with a cart, inside was a variety of Lunchables and chips, "I'm here for my students Mr. Potter, please act like a civilized adult."

"I didn't even do anything yet," James glared at him and then his look softened, "Sorry. For yelling at you and cursing in your classroom."
Regulus didn't expect him to apologize, the shock of it evident on his face, "I'm not going after Harry. I just need him to pass and he's not."

"I- I know." James nodded as he grabbed a box of Goldfish and tossed it in his cart."I just get frustrated when people…" he trailed off not finishing his sentence.

"So what? You want me to treat your son like an angel?" Regulus raised an eyebrow, "Just pass him without him doing any work?"

"No, I'm sorry. This uh, these are for you by the way as an apology," James gestured to the cart.

"You got me Lunchables to apologize?" Regulus asked, laughing at the end of sentence from the sheer audacity of James Potter. "You didn't even get me the pizza one, guess you don't really mean it."

"I can go get the pizza one right now," James started to push the cart but Regulus stood in front of it, not letting him escape the aisle.

"Why did you get me a bunch of children's snacks?"

"For art club. When I was in it they always had food and figured you won't say no to donations," James explained, Regulus swore James was a little pink in the face, but he decided it was just the lighting of the store.

"And how am I storing Lunchables in an art classroom?" 

"I didn't think that through."

Regulus laughed harder as he put his basket in the cart, he could put up with James Potter if it meant free snacks, he shut off his phone and shoved it in his pocket, "Let's put them back then."

They did put the Lunchables back and then got a couple boxes of Capri Suns and water. "Thank you by the way Mr. Potter."

"Please call me James, Mr. Potter makes me feel ancient. Harry already makes me feel old enough," James stopped pushing the aisle in the middle of the home goods aisle since there was no one in it.

"Okay Mr. Potter," Regulus giggled to himself as he looked at the candles. He loved candles but with his limited budget it just wasn't practical to waste his money on them anymore. There was a cinnamon vanilla one he bet smelled fantastic, he walked over and opened it, sniffing it. It smelled like a bakery.

"Okay Mr. Black," James rolled his eyes then cringed, "I can't call you that. It just makes me think of your father."
Regulus cringed in return, "Please don't mention my father."

James gave him a curious look, his eyes darting over various features on Regulus' face, "Why? Aren't you your parent's pride and joy?"

"Not anymore," Regulus snorted and put the candle back on the shelf, taking another off of the shelf and smelling it, "I figured Sirius told you I got disowned."

"You got disowned?" James asked as his voice softened, the corners of his eyes relaxing.

"Not officially but basically, I got completely cut off, hence the teaching job."

"I just assumed you wanted to be a teacher."

"No," Regulus shook his head, "I wanted to be an artist or a professor at some pretentious university. I didn't want to be an underpaid art teacher at a high school teaching my brother's best friend's kid," he dreamed of spending long hours in a large studio, his paintings hanging on the wall.

Regulus guessed he did have his own studio now, but a classroom was still different from a large open space just for himself.

He could've had the future, where he got the large studio if he stayed with his parents, but if he stayed with his parents he wasn't sure how much of a future he would've had.

"Are you a good artist?" James asked, grabbing one of the candles and joining Regulus in smelling them.

"Yeah, I am," Regulus was confident in his work. He wasn't one of those artists that constantly felt like their work was bad, Regulus was good at painting and he knew it.

"What's your favorite scent?" James asked him, gesturing to the candles.

"Warm scents and lavender, but not any other floral scents, why?"

"No reason, you should show me sometime, bring me to your studio." He couldn't tell if James was joking. Regulus looked deep into his brown eyes but found no answer.

"Unless you're asking to go to my apartment, I'm going to turn you down. My studio was my living room," Evan and him would constantly fight over the space in the apartment. Which led to an almost macabre scene of notecards of various organs next to paintings done in a tenebrism style. 

James put on a smug smirk, "That depends, are you inviting me back to your apartment Regulus?"

"You wish," Regulus rolled his eyes, putting back the candle. "Let's go check out."

James pushed the cart up to one of the registers and helped the cashier bag everything as it was scanned. Regulus stood to the side as James paid for everything and then even brought it over to Regulus' car, helping him put the groceries in his trunk.

"Thank you again Mr. Potter," Regulus said as he shut his trunk, the paint was coming off near the bottom of the frame of his car, but he loved his tiny white car. He had bought it with his own money, so it was special to him. 

"I'm happy to be able to help, sorry again for earlier… He'll be there tomorrow, I promise," James nodded and looked like he was about to go in for a hug before he turned on his heels and almost jogged over to a pristine looking car. It wasn't anything fancy but it was still clearly expensive.

Regulus wasn't sure what to make of James Potter. He was so… different, he was loud and packed full to the brim of emotions, he wasn't sure if he hated that or if that intrigued him.

Regulus was putting out the various snacks on a table he had stolen from the supply closet in the back of the gym. Pandora had told him there were all sorts of things back there, it was like a flea market but everything was free and in horrible condition.

Pandora was helping him, setting up the drinks in a bucket of ice she had gotten from the lunch ladies. There was a bigger turn out then Regulus was expecting, the students were talking to each other and gathering on the far side of the room.

"What do I even do with them?" Regulus asked Pandora, the sheer number of the teenagers was almost intimidating. 

"Just let them hang out and give them color pencils to doodle with," Pandora shrugged as she walked over the students greeting them.

Harry walked through the door, his friends next to his side, who he remembered were Hermione and Ronald, "I'm here."

"You can join the other students, you just need to work on your work," Regulus told him and the trio went over to join them. 

He walked up to the board and wrote, Art Club. Meeting One.  

He went over to the cabinets and took out the containers of old color pencils, not the nice Prismacolor ones that were reserved for the advanced students, the Crayola ones. And took out some printer paper then put it on the counter. 

"Have fun," he announced and went over to his desk sitting down. Now what? He was caught up on grading, Pandora was talking to her daughter so he couldn't pass time with her.

After five minutes of nothing Regulus went into the closet with the canvas. He grabbed one of the larger ones, a 36x48. He had painted on far bigger canvases but he was limited by his options. 

He grabbed one of the easels next to the pottery wheels and brought it over to his desk then put the canvas on it. There were aprons in the closet that he also grabbed then put tubes of the primary colors in acrylic paint including white then sat down on his desk chair.

Regulus had no ideas in his head for what he wanted to paint so he just started with a blue underpainting. Mixing the magenta and the cyan together and then diluting it with water before smearing it on his canvas. He wiped the excess on his apron before grabbing a thinner brush and taking a more concentrated part of the paint.

Regulus lazily sketched out a man leaning against a wall, his hands covering his face like he was upset in the paint. He didn't have much of a plan but that never stopped him. 

"Are you going to take a break from that anytime soon?" Pandora asked, sitting on the corner of his desk.

"I just started," Regulus blinked and he was doing the color blocking the man already, he looked around and some of the students had left. He had been working on this longer than he thought he had.

Harry came up to his desk, the color wheel redone with the shading of the shapes. The shading was half decent actually, he had the monochromatic project also finished, the red gradients from the shading were smooth in all of the fruits, "Did you actually do this yourself?" Regulus asked, looking down at it.

"I did I swear," Harry sounded like he was being honest and Regulus could usually tell when people were lying through their teeth, "I also worked on a sketch for the next project," he passed over a piece of paper. Regulus took a look at it.

It was an interior piece of a staircase. The cupboard door opened to reveal a room. A thin mattress looked like boxes. It was all colored in one flat color of blue, except for a blanket on the mattress, it was orange.

Regulus was a mandated reporter now and with one look at this, he knew he would have to call someone, "Are these actual memories?" he asked. Not with doubt but he didn't want to make a phone call claiming James Potter was shoving his child under the stairs if it was something Harry had just seen in a movie.

"Yeah they are," Harry nodded as more students started to clear out, "I used to live with my aunt and uncle and they were," he paused, "They were the way they were."
Regulus understood what he meant, not needing him to explain anymore as he lived through something similar, "Did you tell anyone?"

Harry chuckled, "Yeah, I think the whole town knows but you, but is this good enough?"

"Yeah, it's good enough, I'm not giving you full credit on these but it will be better than the F's you have," Regulus grabbed all of the art including the sketch for the next project.

"Thanks Mr. Black," Harry gave him a dopey grin then went back to his friends. Regulus would still report it to the admin, just in case Harry hadn't told anyone. He wasn't going to let another kid fall through the cracks if it was a bigger issue.

Regulus knew what it was like to mention things to teachers, hoping that they caught on to his small hints, too afraid to speak up and say the entire truth. Nothing came of it. The teachers never noticed the bruises around his wrists or the occasional blackeye, not that it was their job, but he just wished anyone could've noticed. 

When the last of the students left including Pandora he made his way to the office. None of the administrative assistants were there, all of them must have gone home but there was a light on in one of the counselors' offices. 

He knocked on the door as he entered seeing a stressed out Mary MacDonald surrounded by stacks of paperwork, "Sorry to barge in but I was wondering if I could ask about something."
"Of course Mr. Black," she put on a cheery smile, "What is it?"

"I received some rather distressing news about Harry Potter, he claimed it was reported but you know, I have to double check," Regulus explained and thought about sitting down but wasn't sure if she'd be able to see him over how tall some of the stacks were.

"Is it about his aunt and uncle?" Mary asked.

"Yes."
"We're… aware of them, what part of the story did you hear this time?" Mary asked, leaning back in her chair.

"The cupboard."

Mary's cheery smile fell almost into disgust, but she was still trying to mask it with a flat face void of emotion, "Yes. They kept him in the cupboard until Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter got him back."

That part confused Regulus. Lily and James seemed like the ideal parents, at least from their social media, but Regulus knew what it was like behind closed doors, it was easy to appear all perfect to the outside eye.

Sirius won't stay friends with someone who lost their kid due to abusive parenting which is why it made it so confusing to Regulus.

"I see. Wait did you say Ms? Not Mrs?" Regulus asked, he had just assumed Lily and James were married.

"Yes?" Mary asked, tilting her head, "Any reason why you're asking?"

"I was just under the assumption that they were, together," Regulus said honestly.

"It's inappropriate to discuss student's parent's relationships Mr. Black," Mary laughed quietly to herself and went back to what she was working on, "Anything else?"

"No, thank you," Regulus left the office and took out his phone. He typed in Lily Evans James Potter into his Google bar. It didn't take long for several articles on James and Lily to pop up.

Mother Charged with Drug Possession of Narcotics

Potter Drug Bust

Regulus breathed out quickly and put his phone away, not bothering to even open the links, as he went back to his classroom gathering his things. Drugs would make sense for losing custody of their kid. He felt like he shouldn't know that information though, even if everyone else did, it felt wrong knowing it. 

For once he regretted looking someone up. He looked down at the drawing Harry did and then put his paints away, leaving his canvas up. It would be fine for the night, probably. He went back to his apartment and made a bowl of ramen, covering his feelings up with sodium packed chicken flavoring.

The next day Regulus continued working on his painting during his spare time, which for how many classes he had, there was a decent amount of it. During the third period Harry walked up to him, placing a lemon candle on the desk, "My dad asked me to drop it off."

Regulus looked blankly at the candle and then up at Harry, "What?"

"My dad, he told me to give it to you, I don't know," he shrugged and went back to his desk. Regulus picked up the candle, Fresh Lemons . He smelled it and almost coughed at how pungent it was while his nose crinkled up.

It hit him. That's why James asked what his favorite scent was, but this, this wasn't a warm candle. This was lemon. The gesture still made him smile to himself as he got up and walked around the room, looking at everyone's projects. Most of them were rather shit but that's what he expected from an intro art class.

He glanced at Harry's and it looked like he was actually taking his time with it, it looked good from the minimal sketching Harry had done in graphite. 

Regulus continued walking through the desks and walked over to Edward's project slot. It looked more like a self portrait of himself but the lighting on him was almost fluorescent in various colors, it reminded him of a club. "It looks good so far," Regulus told him honestly. 

"Thanks, I still don't really know what I'm doing," Edward admitted as he blended the pastels together.

"Neither do I," Regulus glanced over at his canvas, he had a couple ideas but wasn't sure which way to go with it. "What's your theme?"

Edward shrugged, "I don't know how to put it in words yet, just trust me that I have one."

"You're going to have to figure out how to word it for your artist statement."
"I know but I have a whole year," Edward shrugged again and put his head back down to keep working. Regulus let him be and glanced at the other projects before returning back to his canvas, he needed to darkened the shadows. That's what he would work on next period after making a quick stop to Remus' room.

Once the bell rang Regulus was quick on his feet to make it to the English hallway, he already knew which one was his classroom from his last visit. Remus was sitting at his desk, typing away at his laptop.

"Mr. Lupin," Regulus approached him and Remus looked over at him.

"Regu-Mr. Black," Remus corrected himself with a sharp smile, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I was wondering if you could give me Sirius' number," Regulus said quickly. Remus looked at him with excited eyes as he quickly scratched it down on a sticky note then passed it over to Regulus, "Thank you."

"No, thank you," Remus told him earnestly which made Regulus almost feel bad for what he was doing. Almost. He went back to his classroom and took out his phone, texting the number.

to sirius:

What is James Potter's number?

Regulus knew he could've asked Remus for his number but that was weird, asking your co-worker for his friend's number. Asking his estranged brother for his friend's number made far more sense to him.

He put his phone on silent as the next period came in and he needed to make sure they didn't eat the clay. He knew that was really only a risk with children but he didn't trust the teenagers.

Chapter Text

Regulus didn't get on his phone until the end of the day. He may have been ignoring it on purpose but he had also been busy. A few of the pieces had cracked in the kiln and he was helping the students' repair their work.

He hated how he was starting to enjoy his job. The horror. As he was cleaning up from his last clean he did finally check his phone.

Sirius:

Who is this?

Regulus:

Regulus Arcturus Black

He stared at the lemon candle on his desk and picked it up, tossing it behind his hands before sitting it back down. He heard his phone go off.

Sirius:
Oh thank god. I see you're still dramatic as ever. I've never answered the phone "Sirius Orion Black."

How are you Regulus?

Regulus:

What's James' phone number?

Regulus technically had James' phone number. However, if he messaged James out of the blue without saying that he got his number from the school system, he felt like that would be creepy. He wanted to text James and make fun of him for the lemon candle, and thank him, well, maybe thank him.

Sirius:

Why do you need James' number?

Regulus:
Because I want it. Duh.

Regulus grabbed his paintbrush and went back to what he was working on, painting small feathered wings onto the wings next to the man. 

Sirius:

Why???????

Regulus:

Just give me his number Sirius.

Sirius:

Is this about Harry? Is he alright?

Regulus:

Yes, he's fine Sirius.

Sirius:

So why do you need his number?

Regulus:

Because I want it. Give it to me or I block your number.

Sirius sent over a number, Regulus plugged it into a new message with a cheeky smile. He loved getting his way.

Regulus:

Hi. I hope this is James or I'll be gutting my brother later. Lemon is not a warm scent you buffoon .

James:

Please don't gut Sirius, I rather like him with his organs inside his body. And what do you mean? Lemon is a warm scent. It's warm like summer.

Regulus:

…

Why did you get me a candle?

James:

Because I wanted to. Why are you texting me?

Regulus:

Because I wanted to.

Regulus sat the brush down and brought his legs up into his chair, pressing them into his chest as he leaned back in the chair, smiling like an idiot at his phone.

Remus was sitting at an ice cream parlor with his laptop in front of him, it was covered in stickers he had accumulated in his teaching career. Some were from Sirius and Harry, others were from students. His little friend group used to spend long nights here and then go to James' until Effie and Monty forced the boys to go to bed.

It had an Americana diner vibe to it. A checkered floor with red walls and lights that hung from the ceiling.  Remus had a double chocolate malt milkshake that he was nursing as he waited on Dora and Teddy to show up.

Originally they were going to go over to his house or Dora's apartment but they figured a neutral meeting ground was better.

The doorbell went off and Remus watched the two of them come in. Teddy was wearing a Metallica shirt that Sirius would approve of, his jeans were two sizes too big and all scuffed up. Dora was dressed a lot more formally, a blouse and a pencil skirt with her purse over her shoulder like she had just left from work.

"Hey," Remus got up and walked over to them, he looked over at the minimum wage employee who was on their phone on a chair behind the counter, then back at the pair, "Do you want something? My treat."

"No thank you," Dora shook her head as Teddy walked up to the counter looking at the options.

"What am I allowed to get?" he asked, glancing at his mom and then back at Remus.

"Whatever you want," Remus assured him.

"Can I have two scoops of Blue Moon in a waffle cone?" Teddy asked the worker and they got up, scooping it in the cone and then passing it over to Teddy. Remus paid for it and then sat down at his table again. 

Dora and Teddy sat across from him as he opened his laptop with shaky hands. He had gotten the email that the test was done and the thought of opening the results made me anxious. 

Remus wasn't sure what he even wanted the result to be. It wasn't that he didn't want to be Teddy's father, it was just, figuring out he was a father was a big deal. 

And at the same time, he wanted to be Teddy's father. He wanted a kid so badly, it was the only thing him and Sirius disagreed on, and he wanted Teddy to have a father, sometime to help teach him life skills, someone else besides his mother to run and cry to.

Teddy licked the ice cream as he looked almost bored to be there on the surface, but under it, he could see the anxiousness on his face as Dora looked as stressed as Remus was. He turned his laptop screen so everyone could look at it and then clicked the message. 

He felt his blood run cold as he read the message. It was quiet in the room until Teddy snorted, "So, were you in love with mom?" He echoed his question from last week.

Remus kept looking at the lab result, Probability of Paternity: 99.9999%.

"Teddy," Dora scolded him as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Remus cleared his throat as he looked over at Teddy, "Maybe once," he didn't even remember her, but he couldn't tell him that, "But I've been in love with the same man for a very long time now."

It felt like his heart was going to pop out of his chest or he was about to have a stroke, or both at the same time.

"How do you have a kid and then fall out of love?"

"I don't know," Remus answered honestly. James and Lily were proof of love for the longest time in their teenage years, they were so clearly obviously in disgusting love, and when they had Harry it just made Remus believe that more.

That was until James had his breakdown, Remus still wasn't sure if James had ever told Sirius about what happened that night.

"Can I call you dad?" Teddy asked, still keeping the bored tone of his voice but he leaned in closer to the table as Remus swore he saw his eyes widen in excitement.

"Uh, sure," Remus looked at him with cross eyes, wondering how Teddy was moving so quickly through this.
"Can I come over to your house?" Teddy asked with hope in his eyes. Sirius was at home. Remus still hadn't told Sirius about any of this. He wasn't trying to keep it a secret but after finding out Regulus was here and alive, he wanted to wait.

And then Regulus texted him and Remus was originally happy. He thought it was the beginning of the brothers becoming brotherly again, not that they were ever that brotherly to begin with, but instead Sirius told him he just wanted James' number.

Remus was so busy with the whole, 'may have a son' thing, he didn't have the brain cells to spare on worrying about why Regulus wanted James' number. Once Sirius calmed down from that, he thought that it would be the perfect time to bring it up.

That was until James showed up at the house and went on about how soft Regulus' hair looked. Sirius got up and walked out in the middle of the conversation, he didn't come home till late that night, not even talking to Remus as he got into bed.

So yes. Remus still hadn't told Sirius. "I don't know," Remus answered, "My husband is home right now."

"And am I not allowed to meet him?" Teddy asked, Remus asked as some of the light started to die in his as the melted ice cream ran over his fingers and rings.

"No- yes, you can meet him. It's just," Remus took out his phone, "Let me make sure he's okay with visitors."

He got up and went outside onto the downtown street, it was a Thursday evening so it wasn't that packed, a couple families and groups walking in and out of the shops. He called Sirius who picked up before it even got to the second ring, "Everything okay Moons?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if I could bring some people over," Remus' voice was shaking as he spoke, his jaw tense as he tried to relax his shoulders. He should tell him now and here but the words died on his tongue.

"Who?" Sirius snorted, "We have the same friends."

  "Someone you've never met before, she's an old friend and her son," Remus could feel his heart beating out of his chest.

"A mystery woman? Is it a mistress?" Sirius joked and Remus almost threw up at the words, "Yeah come over Moony, see you later, I love you," Sirius made a kissing sound on the phone and hung up before Remus could say anything else.

There was no way to avoid what was happening. Sirius was going to likely have a melt down, but it was a melt down now, or a melt down in two weeks. He went back inside and approached them trying to tune out the ringing that had started in his ears, "Ready when you are."

It didn't take long for them to arrive at his house, "Woah, your house is huge," Teddy said as he looked at it in awe. 

Their house was fairly large, not as large as James' though. It was far bigger than two men needed but Sirius insisted on buying a proper house once they were clean. It had four bedrooms, one for them, one for Harry, and then two that were currently being used for storage.

Remus walked up to the front door and held it open for both of them. He could hear Sirius coming down the stairs, "Hi Moons and the mistress," he laughed. The smile on Tonks' face fell.

Remus went inside and walked in as Sirius stopped on the final stair. He stared at Teddy and then at Remus, and then back at Teddy. He watched as Sirius put the pieces together in his head, Remus knew he would, with a smile he said, "Oh, you are an actual mistress."

"She's not, be nice Sirius," Remus gritted out as the ringing in his ear got louder.

"Looks like she is," Sirius stepped onto the floor walking over to her, he looked her up and down clearly judging her, "And what's the mistress' name?"

"Nymphadora Tonks," Dora answered honestly, she didn't look scared of Sirius or even uncomfortable by his judging presence which Remus had to give her credit for, just a neutral face on. Sirius started to laugh, loud and almost painful as he looked at the three other people in the room.

Sirius didn't say anything as he maniacally laughed his way into the living room, grabbing onto the couch cushion tightly, "Really Remus? My cousin ?" 

Remus was going to kill himself in front of his son. "Your what?" 

"Tonks. Andy's kid right?" Sirius asked with a sharp, almost murderous grin as he turned around to face her. Remus walked up to him as Dora nodded, the realization setting in on her face, he grabbed him by the wrist and dragged Sirius into the kitchen.

"What? Don't you want the other cousin?" Sirius sneered as he grabbed his wrist back out of Remus' grip.

"Sirius. I didn't know she existed until earlier this month," Remus told him, grabbing him by his chin tightly so they were forced to make eye contact.

"Clearly you did. How is she better than me? Does she actually make you happy? Did she give you the kid you've been begging for the past five years?" Sirius scoffed.

"You really think I would abandon a kid I knew about?" Remus said quietly so the others couldn't hear him but with a harshness to his voice still. 

Sirius went quiet as he looked off to the wall, trying his best to avoid eye contact with Remus, "Is he yours?" he gritted out.

"Yeah," Remus loosened the grip on his face, kissing his cheek softly trying to help defuse the tension, "He is."
"And how sure are you?"
"Lab result sure."
"How long have you known?" Sirius took a step back crossing his arms, the defensiveness back up.

"I found out for sure today but I found out about him two weeks or so ago."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"You were dealing with so much."

"Remus. This is a kid. This goes over everything."
"Well you had Regulus and James and I didn't want this to be another thing on your plate and-" Remus got cut off by Sirius kissing him. Remus' hands found their way to their natural position on Sirius' hip and face, he deepened the kiss as Sirius laughed into his mouth.

"You're a fucking idiot Remus," Sirius mumbled.

"Yeah but I'm your idiot."

Once Sirius and Remus gathered themselves they walked back out to Teddy and Dora were awkwardly waiting in the entrance room, "I apologize for how I behaved, welcome to the Lupin house."

"I like your tattoos," Teddy told Sirius who was wearing a cutoff shirt that showed off his muscles and ink, under any other circumstance it would make Remus drool.

"Thanks, you got any?" Sirius asked, Remus could still tell Sirius was on edge but he was trying to relax, and Remus would take that. 

Seventeen years ago Sirius and Remus weren't dating. They were, sort of. It was more messy than anything else. Going to each other whenever they needed someone, someone to hug, or kiss, or to use them until their brain was empty. It wasn't until many years later were they officially together.

"Yeah, I have a dragon on my chest," Teddy nodded with a grin as Remus gave a look of horror to Dora. The boy was covered in piercings which was bad enough in his opinion.

Dora raised an eyebrow, silently challenging him and Remus decided to not push his luck.

"That's badass, he's not your kid," Sirius pointed at Remus who just rolled his eyes and let out a long breath of relief. 

"Thanks Sirius," Remus couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

"Is that a 1957 Sportster?" Teddy asked as he pointed to the motorcycle on Sirius' bicep. Almost every inch of Sirius' skin was covered in tattoos, they had started to go up his neck now that he had ran out of space.

"You know bikes?" Sirius asked, his eyes lighting up the last of the tension in his body slipping away.

"Not really, I just know them casually," Teddy answered with a shrug.

"I have one," Sirius grinned, "If you want to see."

"You're fucking joking," Teddy laughed and Remus cringed at the curse word coming out of the teen's mouth, he knew he said far worse when he was his age but now that he was older, he struggled with listening to them curse.

"Not one bit," Sirius started heading to the garage and Teddy followed them. 

Remus looked over at Dora who had a smile on her face, "They're going to be a while, I'm sorry about earlier by the way, that's partly my fault. I should've warned him before you came in."

"It was entertaining," Dora shrugged with a giggle as she looked around the room, "Just you two live here? Isn't it a little big for that?"
"Yeah, it is. Sirius insisted on it though, sometimes our friend's kid comes over, he's basically our nephew," Remus shrugged, "I uh, didn't know you two were related."

"I didn't either, my mother refuses to even tell us the name of her sisters. I only know her maiden name," Dora picked up a photo sitting on the table near the door. It was Remus and Sirius winking dramatically at the camera, a sunset behind them.

"Do you want coffee?" Remus offered and she agreed, they went into the kitchen, walking past the door to the garage. Remus took a small peek inside and could see Sirius nerding out over his bikes.

Since Sirius didn't have a job, still using the funds he had gotten from his uncle once he ran away, he spent most of his time working on whatever bike he could get his hands on. Usually he just resold them for dirt cheap once he was done but the prized bikes stayed in the garage.

Remus started the coffee pot, "I can't believe you let him get all of those piercings."

"Have you been a single parent before?" Dora sighed, "You do anything to try and bring them joy whenever you can. He wanted them, so I caved."

" And a tattoo?"

"And a tattoo."

They stood in the kitchen in silence as the coffee machine dripped coffee down into the pot until Remus got mugs out from the cabinet, "What are you wanting me to be? Are we going to meet up once a month? Or do you want to do weekends? Or do you want me to never be in his life again?"

"What are you comfortable with?" 

"I will be in his life as little or as much as you want," it was the least Remus could do. She already had him for sixteen years on her own, his comfort didn't matter in this.

"Is your husband going to mind?" 

"He'll deal with it," Remus shook his head. Sirius would likely mind but as long as he could keep rambling about his bikes to the kid, it would make everything easier.

"Maybe we could do this weekend as a test then, if that's okay with you," Dora offered.

"That works with me, is there anything I should know? Like allergies?" Remus asked as he filled the mugs and then sat them down on their small dining room table.

"Not allergies, but I should be honest. Teddy has struggled with his mental health before, I keep trying to convince him to see a therapist but he doesn't want to and I don't want to force him into it, but you should be aware just in case something… happens," Dora explained, occasionally throwing glances over at the door, Remus guessed to make sure Teddy wasn't listening in.

"Okay, thank you for informing me," Remus gave her a warm smile, "Anything else?"

"No, I don't think so," she shook her head.

Teddy and Sirius came through the door, Sirius flashed Remus a smile as he shut the door behind him.

"Did you know he has the frame of a 101?" Teddy asked his mom as he words rushed together.

"A what?" Dora laughed.

"It's a bike model," Teddy answered excitedly, "Are you planning on repairing it?"
"If I can find the parts," Sirius nodded, crossing his arms. He walked over to Remus, he bent over to grab his mug and took a drink from it.

"That was mine," Remus looked behind him at Sirius as he tried grabbing the mug from him.

"It's ours," Sirius winked and sat the mug back down. 

"Remus was wondering if you'd want to stay here this weekend," Dora told Teddy, grabbing him by the arm comfortingly.

"Oh shit, actually?" Teddy asked, sounding like he almost didn't believe them.
"Actually," Remus nodded, "We do have a football game tomorrow, which you're welcome to come with, and then we could do whatever you wanted the next couple days."

"You two watch high school football?" Dora giggled as she took a sip from her mug.

"Harry plays," Sirius said as he sat down next to Remus. 

"Who is Harry?" Dora asked.
"Harry Potter?" Teddy asked with curious eyes, "I know him."
"Yeah, that Harry," Remus confirmed.

"Can I do my own thing if I go?"

"Yeah but warning, James and Lily, our friends, will likely want to meet you," Remus told him, "But If you're not ready for that, I'll tell them that."

"No, it's fine," Teddy shook his head, "So what. Do I just go to your classroom after school?"

"Yeah that would probably be the easiest." 

"Cool, is there anything I need to bring but clothes?" 

"No," Sirius shook his head leaning into Remus as Remus put his arm around, pulling him in closer.

Remus offered to cook for the two of them but Tonks insisted on taking him home since it was a school night. That left Remus and Sirius with the two mugs of cold coffee.

"A son, shit Moony," Sirius was the first between them to speak.

"I know," Remus poured out the coffee and then washed out the mugs, setting them on their drying mat.

"What does this mean for us?" Sirius asked, coming up behind him and wrapping his arms around his chest.

"It means whatever you want it to mean Pads. I can't ignore him now that I know he exists but that doesn't mean you need to be a dad as well. I know how you feel about that," Remus had a rather bitter look in his eyes as he turned around in his arms, "I know how much you'd hate to be one."

Sirius breathed in sharply as some of the longer pieces of his hair framed his face, "You married me knowing what I wanted."

"I know… which is why I'm telling you. You don't need to be his dad, but I do. I know it's so awful for you, unable to keep me from having a kid anymore," Remus sighed as he started to walk away from Sirius, going towards their staircase.

"Don't walk away from me Remus, you always had a habit of running when it got tough didn't you," Sirius scoffed leaning against the door frame out of the kitchen.

"Is it the fear of becoming your mother or do you just get off on ruining my life? He'll be here this weekend Sirius. You're welcome to go to James' if you care that much," Remus went upstairs, going into one of the spare rooms and sitting down amongst the boxes. 

He'd likely give Teddy Harry's room for the weekend but he could transform one of the guest rooms into a special one for him, maybe he could even take him out shopping to pick some things out.

He knew he couldn't hide in the room forever, he would have to go back down to Sirius and apologize for what he said. 

Remus breathed through his nose and then went back downstairs to go talk to Sirius but he was no longer leaning against the frame. He went to the garage expecting to see Sirius working on one of the bikes but he opened the door to the light being off.

He flicked on the light and didn't see Sirius so went into the living room. Remus went around the house and didn't see Sirius anywhere. He looked outside and didn't see Sirius' car, shit . 

At least Remus' car was back and out of the shop so he wasn't stuck at the house, he texted James.

Remus:

is sirius with you?

Harry was rubbing his arm as he got out of practice, his backpack hanging over one shoulder while his heavy duffle bag hung over the other one. He called his dad to pick him as he waited near the parking lot.

He considered walking home and making himself carry the heavy bags home. It was a decent walk from the school and it was still hot enough to cook an egg on the sidewalk, but Harry deserved it. It was the same as when Uncle Verson made him lift heavy rocks in the backyard, going back and forth until he passed out from heat exhaustion.

The good part of his brain won and he did end up texting his dad.

Hearing the sound of an engine, he looked up to see Sirius' car. It was a black recognizable Impala that Harry forgot what year it was from. It was pristine in every way, Harry swore he saw Sirius spent more time polishing the car than doing anything else.

"You're not my dad," Harry said as he opened the passenger door and threw his bags at his feet.

"Rude, I think James and I are practically twins," Sirius laughed, his sunglasses covering his eyes but Harry could tell that he rolled his eyes by the way his eyebrows went up. 

"You guys look completely different," Harry raised an eyebrow at him and put his seat belt on. 

Sirius pulled out of the parking lot, turning on the radio to rock music that was way too loud in Harry's opinion but he wouldn't say that outloud. "Why did you pick me up?" 

"Your dad said I could, I'm staying at your house tonight," Sirius shrugged, his leather jacket shining in the sun. 

"Are you and Remus okay?" Harry asked, he knew that Sirius would tell him. No matter what happened Sirius always told him the truth which he preferred rather than Remus and his dad that would constantly sugarcoat whatever was happening.

"No but we'll be fine, I found out he has a son and you can imagine that has led to some issues," Sirius explained as he pulled into the driveway of his house. 

"What the fuck? Like actually?" Harry asked the bad thoughts getting pushed down by pure confusion.

"Actually. His name's Teddy, do you know him?"

"Ted is Uncle Moony's son?" Harry asked not to believe him, Teddy was cool. Not to say Remus wasn't cool, but Teddy was cooler than Harry was.

"Unfortunately, which means I'm sleeping here for the night."

His dad was waiting outside sitting on the steps outside the front door. Harry got out his bags, "Hey dad," he waved and James got up to let Harry inside, "You should listen to what Sirius has to say."

Harry glanced at Sirius and then at his dad, who gave him a weird look before going inside. The house was always more lively when Sirius and Remus fought. It didn't happen often but it was often enough that Harry remembered the last time. James and Sirius were singing Taylor Swift at one a.m., the positive was that Remus was too tired to give out tests when they fought.

Harry went up to his room and shut his door. Putting his bags down near his desk then sitting in his desk chair. He looked as he phone lit up, Canvas going off.

He grabbed the phone and saw that he passed his history test but he still had a D in the class. The issue wasn't knowing the material, it was actually doing it. That's why he was able to get a hundred on the test but a zero on most of his assignments. Harry had been struggling with the motivation thing the entire school year and summer, motivation to do assignments, motivation to try getting a girlfriend, motivation in keeping up his friendship with his friends.

The only class Harry was doing any work for was art. He had brought the project home with him to work on it tonight, along with a few pencils that Mr. Black let him bring home.

After he did the work in art club, he realized that drawing was just as fun as football could be, and relaxed his mind a lot more, while getting less bruises.

There was a knock on his door and Harry looked over to see his dad opening the door, "Sirius and I are going to go out, want us to bring anything back for dinner?"

Harry shook his head, "Not really that hungry. If that changes I'll text you."

"Okay, I'll be back later," James came over to him and ruffled his hair then gave him a hug before walking out, leaving his door open.

It didn't take long before Harry heard the front door open and shut and he knew he was alone. He should've said something to his dad. He knew he was supposed to.

It was a healthy mental health exercise or whatever nonsense his therapist told him. Whenever he had bad thoughts he was supposed to bring them up to a trusted adult. In the beginning Harry was actually decent at doing it, he would usually tell one of his parents and they would help scare the bad thoughts out of his brain. 

But now Harry was older and the thought of opening up to his parents… he'd rather shoot himself in the foot. Harry felt his head start slipping earlier in the week, what triggered him was stupid and he thought it would just go away but now, four days later and the thoughts still plagued his mind.

It was a one off conversation from Ron, about what his parents used to do when he was young and suddenly Harry was back in the cupboard clawing at his stomach. He could never get back those years and the events still affected him more than he let on.

It would've likely gone away but then his grades kept getting brought up and he kept dropping the ball during practices sometimes literally. He was performing so badly the coach was thinking of putting him on the bench tomorrow. How fucking embarrassing. Have his parents and their friends show up just to see their precious boy sitting on the sidelines. He should've tried harder, should've been better, but he didn't know how to get the motivation to do so.

Harry didn't realize he was clawing at his wrist until the skin started to burn from the irritation. He shook his wrist once he realized and grabbed his backpack, taking the paper his art project was on and putting it on his desk.

He took out the pencils and kept working on it, right now everything was in faint outlines and sketches. Mr. Black told him to make sure the outline was solid before going in with color. Well, he didn't say it like that, he said it in his normal pretentious way, but it's what he meant.

Time passed and he didn't know how much of it had passed before his stomach growled in hunger. He put the pencil down and went downstairs into the kitchen. His friends always loved the kitchen whenever they came over, insisting it was something they'd find in a millionaires' mansions, it was besides the point that he did live in a mansion. 

He grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and the cereal box, opening it and then just staring. The thought in the back of his head told him to put the cereal back and to go back until he finished working on his project. It was good to feel hunger, it kept him focused, it kept him disciplined, it reminded him what happened when he slipped up. And he did slip up, at practice, at school, even in not telling his dad about these thoughts. He deserved to be punished, that's what his aunt would say.

Aunt Petunia always found a reason to punish Harry, even if he was being punished just to remind him to stay in line. It could be something as simple as he missed a spot when cleaning the kitchen tile and then they'd make him clean it over and over with bleach until there were chemical burns on his hands.

Harry poured the cereal, Lucky Charms, into the bowl before he stopped himself and then grabbed a milk carton from the fridge, checking the date first, he never could be too careful considering his dad bought groceries about once a month. The stupid Leprechaun on the box staring back at him, mocking him.

He opened the drawer and grabbed a spoon, the largest one he saw at first glance, swallowing down the Lucky Charms before he could stop himself. 

He blinked and the cereal was once, the milk around his lips still, licking his lips he set the bowl down in the sink, rinsing it out and then putting it back down. The thoughts started to come back, he didn't deserve to eat. 

The hunger was good. Harry didn't have an eating disorder. At least he didn't call it an eating disorder. He didn't want to be skinnier or "healthier" he loved his muscles that he worked hard for in the gym, and he loved the way food tasted.

A small part of him loved the hunger even more than the muscles or the feeling of being full. The aching feeling that spread into his bones was as good as alcohol. It reminded him that no matter how old he got, how fast he ran away from that small yellow house his aunt and uncle lived in, he was still the same boy he was a decade ago. That no matter what he did, he wasn't good, he couldn't be good, he was born bad. 

Harry walked to the bathroom and stared at the toilet and then at himself in the mirror. It wouldn't be the first time he made himself throw up, it wouldn't be the last either. He instead fell against the door, putting his face into his hands as he shook against the tiles.

He didn't hear the door open, or the footsteps, not even the sound of Sirius' keychain he had clipped to his pants that jingled as he walked. He didn't hear his father's voice against his ear, he only came when he felt hands on him. 

Harry blinked rapidly as he looked up, his father crouching next to him, Sirius nowhere to be seen but Harry could feel his presence in the house. "You okay?" James asked softly, removing his hands from Harry.

"Yeah, just uh, tripped," Harry lied and the look in James' eye told him that he didn't buy it.

"You tripped onto the bathroom floor against the door and then needed to have a panic attack?" James asked standing up and gesturing for Harry to do the same. 

Harry grabbed onto the bathroom counter and pulled himself up, "I didn't have a panic attack," to be fair, he didn't, he just spiraled a little.

"Okay, what happened?"

"Nothing," Harry grumbled, shoving his hands into his front pocket.

"Harry…"

"I'm fine," Harry moved past James, shoving into his shoulder. He was finally at his dad's height, they were exactly the same height, the same build, and it made it a lot harder for James to stop him as Harry started to go to the staircase.

Sirius was in the living room where Harry expected him to be, he went past the two of them and went into his room slamming the door behind him as he kicked his duffle bag and sat back down in his chair.

Harry twisted his neck as he wanted to break the pencils on the desk or to punch a hole in his wall. He gripped the arms of his desk chair tightly, so tightly that his knuckles were turning white as he tried to slow his breathing.

Practicing the breathing exercises his therapist had taught him didn't help, he grabbed his phone to send Teddy a text, they had exchanged numbers at one point but hadn't sent each other a text.

Harry:
Hey
down to party tonight?

Teddy:
always lmao want to hit up one of my spots?

Harry:

sounds good to me. Send address then give me fifteen

Harry was grounded, technically. However he knew his father and he knew he wouldn't watch him to make sure he stayed in his room. 

He went into his closet and changed into one of Sirius' old band shirts he had stolen and a pair of jeans that fit him well before shoving his wallet, house key, and phone into his pocket. Teddy texted him the address. It was a five minute bike ride. 

After listening to the door, he heard Sirius and James in the living room, laughing about some nonsense. Harry quietly went down the stairs which was to their backs, then snuck into the entrance room and out the front door.

When he was younger he would have to sneak around to get food if they ever left the cupboard unlocked, which helped him sneak around both his mom and dad's houses. It was easy enough to get outside and he grabbed his bike that was chained up to the front.

It was a short ride when he started to hear the noise, he threw his bike into a bush, hoping that was enough to prevent it from getting stolen, then saw Teddy walking down the street. If he couldn't harm his body by starving, or throwing up his food, he could drink until the bad thoughts went away.

Chapter Text

Sirius stayed at James house the entire night, Remus barely slept because of it. The emptiness in the bed made it cold without Sirius. He went to work and was setting up for his first period, setting a book on each desk, A Separate Peace . He kept checking his phone periodically through the first three periods waiting to see if Sirius texted him but he didn't, he started to get more anxious, he always got this way when Sirius ran off. 

Even when fifth period arrived, there was still no text from Sirius. Just one from James from last night, confirming that Sirius was at the house. Harry entered the room, dark rings around his eyes. It made Remus almost excuse himself out into the hallway to ask if everything was alright but he decided to wait till after class. 

They were currently covering Hamlet, which was one of Remus' favorite plays and usually the students liked it as well, even enjoying his funny worksheets. The class went well but near the end he said, "Harry can you come here."

Harry came up to the desk, yawning as he approached, "What's up?"

"Are you alright?" Remus asked quietly, "You look like you didn't get much sleep."

"I'm fine, just tired from my pre-calc class," Harry said and Remus stared at him for several seconds, trying to tell if he was telling the truth for lying. 

"You know you can always come to me right?" Remus asked quietly like before, he tried to be there for every kid. Every student of his he wanted to help, Harry being James' just increased that want.

"I know Uncle Rem," Harry yawned again, "I gotta get to class."

"Alright, go on," Remus sighed and waved him on, the concern not fading from him. He just hoped that if something was going on that Harry was talking to someone, anyone really. The thought continued in the back of his mind into his next two classes, then by the end of the day. He bounced anxiously around, waiting for Teddy to show up.

Teddy showed up a few minutes later, his backpack more full than Remus had seen it before, "I'm here," he looked around the room as he kept both of his hands on the straps of his bag.

"Ready to go?" Remus asked him, grabbing his satchel and putting it over his shoulder. 

"I was wondering if I could stop by the art room and grab my projects before we leave, if possible. If it's an issue I don't have to," Teddy shrugged.

"That's fine, the art room is on the way out to the teacher parking lot," Remus walked out of his room, locking up once Teddy was out. He started to walk away and noticed that Teddy tested if it was locked then followed him, only to turn around again and check if it was locked again.

Remus thought it was odd but didn't question it as they headed to Regulus' room, who was still in his room, painting at his desk, "Hello Mr. Lupin, Edward," Regulus greeted them, "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, just grabbing my projects," Teddy said as he walked over to the far side of the room. Remus decided to follow him in, he always loved the colorful classroom and was pleasantly surprised when Regulus didn't change much of it. He walked up to Regulus' desk, noticing a lemon candle.

"I didn't take you for a lemon man," Remus commented with half a laugh.

"I'm not, James got it for me," Regulus didn't look over as he kept working on his painting. Remus wasn't sure what it was, there was a man who looked like he was doubled over in pain, a pair of fake wings behind him, it was a little dark for a high school setting in his opinion but then again he was teaching Hamlet. 

"James got you a candle?" Remus asked, disbelief clear in his voice, why would James get Regulus a candle? It's the same confusion he had when James kept going on about how he wanted to touch Regulus' hair… oh… oh no. 

Sirius may actually kill himself this time.

"Ready Teddy?" Remus asked, he needed to solve this as fast as possible, not wanting any suicides on his doorstep.

"Can I ask why a student is going with you Mr. Lupin?" Regulus finally looked over at the two of them, paint brush resting in his mouth.

"Funny thing Mr. Black, he's actually my dad," Teddy said with a smile, "Don't you see the resemblance?" 

"Oh. Of course, have fun then Lupins," Regulus said without missing a beat, turning back to his art, as if that wasn't ground breaking information, maybe it wasn't, not to him at least.

"Good day Regulus," Remus nodded and then headed out. He pretended that the phrase Lupins didn't warm his heart.

They walked out into the parking lot, he took Teddy over to his car, it wasn't as nice as Sirius' vehicles but it was the nicest car he had ever owned so he cared for it like he own child, he got in and unlocked the door for Teddy.

Once Teddy got in he started to drive to his house, "Do you know how to drive a car?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, I learned in one of my friend's cars back at my old school," Teddy answered looking out the window. The ride was more awkward than Remus expected it to be, he didn't know what to ask, what to say, how to behave, what was appropriate or inappropriate. 

"Do you move around a lot?"

"No, but mom wanted to move back for family or some bullshit like that," Teddy sighed.

"I don't know if it helps but you have me now, and Sirius," Remus smiled over at him, turning on the radio but keeping it low.

"You're really going to play dad to a kid you just found out about?" Teddy asked, eyeing him as if he didn't trust Remus.

"Yeah, I am," Remus told him seriously, he didn't care if he barely knew him. He was going to try his hardest to be there for him as much as the kid wanted him to be there.

He parked outside the house and noticed that Sirius' Impala was there, he sighed in relief as they got out, putting his satchel on his shoulder again. He locked the door and saw Sirius sitting on the couch, old guitar in his lap, strumming along to an old they used to sing to each other.

"Hi sweetheart," Remus greeted him, Teddy silently gagged as he walked in behind him.

"Hi Moons," Sirius got up, sitting his guitar down, "Hi Ted," he waved to the kid, "We have snacks in the kitchen if you want any, anything in this house is free range. Except for the garage, touch one of my babies and your mother is losing her's."

"Sirius!" Remus crossed his arms, scolding the adult man. 

"What?" Sirius made a face, "When are we meeting Lils and James there?" He was referring to the football game.

"Two hours, want me to make some dinner before we go to the game Teddy?" Remus asked him, wondering if the other two were also feeling the anxious and awkward energy in the room or if he was just in his own head again.

"You don't have to, I can make myself food," Teddy said, awkwardly standing in the room with his bag.

"I'll make some food soon, let me show you where you'll be staying," Remus said, putting his bag in one of the chairs in the living room and then walking up the stairs, leading Teddy to the bedrooms.

"This is mine and Sirius'," he gestured to the door near the top of the stairs, "You can get one of us whenever you need to, even if it's the middle of the night," they always told the same thing to Harry and just like Harry would, Teddy rolled his eyes.

"These bedrooms are full of junk but we're planning on cleaning one of them out and making it your room, until then, you are going to be sleeping in here," Remus opened the door on the far end of the hall, "This is where Harry normally sleeps, so it should have everything you need."

"Thanks," Teddy set his bag down on the bed then his projects on the desk, he looked around, "Thank you. Seriously. Most guys would just beg the mom to not bring up child support and you took me in immediately.." Teddy looked at him with soft eyes, he almost looked small like a kid.

It made Remus wonder what he was like as a kid. Was he a terror like Remus was? Always accidentally breaking into things he shouldn't. Or was he sweet and soft, like everyone thought Remus would be. 

"You're my son, I'm not going to leave you out to dry," Remus said leaning against the doorframe.

"Are you naturally a good person or is that some deep rooted childhood trauma talking?" Teddy asked humorously.

"I like to think I'm a good person and my childhood was great, but my husband had a traumatic childhood and another close person to me did too. So consider it a mix of both I guess," he wouldn't tell Teddy the other person was Harry, that was an invasion of Harry's privacy. At least it was in Remus' opinion.

"Sirius wasn't lying by the way, every place is free range Just don't go around breaking stuff please," Remus told him and then backed up a couple steps, "I'm going to go talk to Sirius about something but feel free to settle in. You're welcome to come downstairs whenever."

"Thanks… dad," Teddy said, it sounded like he was being sincere, not using it as a mocking name. Remus couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he headed downstairs. Sirius was playing guitar again, his hair half tied up into a bun while there were strands of hair around his face.

"Hi Padfoot," Remus sat down next to him, "I was worried about you."

"I'm shocked," Sirius mumbled as he continued playing.

"You're not your mother and I know you don't like making me miserable," Remus sighed, feeling genuinely torn up about the fight, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry… it's just. It feels like everything is hitting at once and every time I feel like I can finally breathe, it's another thing, and a kid, I mean Remus a kid… I can fuck him up. I can ruin him even if just a weekend," Sirius said, looking over at him with wide eyes, pleading eyes. The silver in them never looked so blue.

Not blue like the ocean. Blue like Sirius' antidepressant medication. Like the episodes Sirius would have, refusing to eat or even get out of bed until Remus dragged him out, forcing meal shakes down his throat.

"Have you fucked Harry up?" Remus asked softly as he put his arm around Sirius, holding him close to his side. 

"Yeah, I fucked him up real bad. James and Lily would've never been on that shit if it weren't for me," Sirius put his guitar down and fully snuggled into Remus' side. It wasn't a secret that out of the friend group, the biggest users were Remus and Sirius, and it wasn't even close.

"I'm just as responsible as you are, but now, we're better. Name one time we've gotten close to hurting Harry," Remus kissed the side of his head. "We got this."

"We don't fucking got this," Sirius laughed but he sounded better, "I don't want to fuck the kid up anymore, I mean not having a parent, it must fuck you up, at least slightly."

"You didn't have parents Sirius," Remus murmured against Sirius' head, playing with his loose strands.

"No, the issue is I did have parents," Sirius continued laughing but it sounded more distant now. "Speaking of my horrible childhood, how is Regulus?"

Oh, well Sirius. I think that your brother and best friend are in cahoots . "Regulus seems good, really good. I've heard good things from some of the students I have, about how the new mysterious art teacher is really cool," this wasn't a lie. Most of the students loved Regulus, even if he didn't seem to like the students.

"That's good at least," Sirius leaned up to kiss Remus, it was soft and quick, but it made Remus feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Sirius' kisses always had that effect on him. 

"I'm going to go look at what we have for dinner," Remus announced as he got up, going into the kitchen and looking through the cabinets to see what they had. He realized that they should've gone to the store before Teddy got here but maybe they could go tomorrow, he could even let Teddy get some snacks he'd like.

He grabbed a pot and filled it with water then set it on the stove to boil. While he was waiting on that he started to cook some chicken. In the middle of working on his meal he heard loud laughter in the other room, it sounded like two voices, unmistakably Teddy and Sirius. The fact that they were getting along was Remus' one saving grace right now.

He just had to figure out how to tell Sirius that he was pretty sure James liked his estranged brother.  First he was going to talk to James, make sure he got the facts straight before going to Sirius but Remus knew James. This was definitely a crush.

Remus finished dinner forty-five minutes later, he would normally move faster but his knee and back were starting to flare up, so it took longer than expected. He went to the door into the living room, "Dinner is done boys," he silently winced in pain before putting a smile on and then sitting down at the table. 

Remus had already set the table and transferred all of the pots and dishes onto the table. Putting a glass of water down at each of the plates, "Can I set you both anything to drink?" he asked as he started to get up once Teddy and Sirius came into their kitchen and dining room, which was just one large room connected together.

"Do you have soda?" Teddy asked and Remus nodded, getting up to get it for him when the pain started to get worse. He tried hiding it but Sirius caught it.

"Want me to get it Moony?" Sirius grabbed him softly.

"I'm fine," Remus said through gritted teeth, not wanting to look weak in front of his son. He started to take a step but as his knee didn't want to bend, he gave a nod to Sirius to continue.

"We have Coke, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Sprite," Sirius told Teddy, looking back at him. 

"Dr. Pepper please," Teddy told him and Sirius brought it over then handed the cold can to Teddy. "Are you okay dad?"

"I'm fine, I just get pain in my back and legs sometimes," Remus figured it was better to not hide it from the kid. "Sometimes it's in my hip or my ankles, sometimes in my wrists, or my neck, it just depends on the day."

"That doesn't sound fun," Teddy opened his can of Dr. Pepper and took a drink.

"It's not," Remus confirmed, grabbing some pasta and then passing over the bowl to the other two.

"I'm just… built different? Is that what Harry says?" Sirius said, causing Remus and Teddy to laugh. Earlier in the year Remus had broken Sirius' brain by explaining the complete up to date lore of the Skibidi universe after one of his students used it in an essay comparing it to 1984 .

It unfortunately was quite a good essay. Remus wanted to fail the kid for even including it but it ended up being the top scoring paper of the unit. 

"Please don't use teen lingo again," Teddy laughed from where he sat.

"What? I'm cool with the youth. I even have a motorcycle," Sirius wasn't even that old but with his proper upbringing he had a habit of sounding like an old man occasionally, that and he was married to Remus who acted twenty years older than he was. 

"Can I ride one of them?" Teddy asked with a grin.

"No way," Remus said.

As Sirius spoke at the same time, "Absolutely."

"Sirius, he's not riding a bike. I'm not sending his mangled corpse to his mother," even Remus would put his foot down occasionally. He would kill himself if Teddy or Harry got hurt on the bikes, so he didn't let Sirius let them on when the engine was on.

"I was riding them when I was his age," Sirius argued.

"We were shooting up heroin when we were his age, are you going to allow that as well?" Remus asked him casually. Teddy looked at the two of them with wide eyes, a couple noodles doused in alfredo sauce hanging out of his mouth.

"Fair point," Sirius dropped it and went back to eating. 

"Did you two do any cool drugs?" Teddy did not drop it. 

"No, no drugs are cool," Remus answered as he cut his chicken.

"Some drugs are cool," Teddy disagreed, swallowing the noodles.

"No, Remus is right, no drugs are cool. Some drugs provide cool episodes or effects but once you're done with that, you're just left with an empty cold feeling of wanting to use over and over again," Sirius answered, looking down at his plate, moving his food around his with fork, "Don't do them, it isn't worth it."

"Oh," was all Teddy said, the emotion around the table turning sour.

"What's your favorite subject at school?" Remus asked, changing the subject with a smile.

"Art," Teddy answered quickly. "I'm working on a portfolio for it, Mr. Black has been helping him out, he's a pretty good teacher."

" Mr. Black ?" Sirius asked in a disgusted tone, Remus kicked him under the table, only to feel Sirius kick him back.

"He's your brother isn't he?" Teddy asked, eating more of his food.

"Unfortunately," Sirius sighed, eating a couple bites of chicken and then downing his water.

"What are the projects you're working on?" Remus asked and kicked Sirius once again, causing him to choke on the water going down his throat.

"Right now it's an interior of a kitchen," Teddy answered, "I'm using oil pastels, Mr. Black thinks I'm crazy for using them but I like the way they work."

"I don't know anything about art," Remus admitted, "Sirius knows a little though but he's more on the creating side of things. Not the painting side."

"I'm a better artist than my brother, trust me," Sirius said cockily, causing Remus to laugh. He hadn't even seen Regulus' art before to his knowledge but that was just the way Regulus and Sirius had always been, knowing nothing about each other but still fighting, even when Sirius hadn't spoken to him in years, he always said he was the better brother in any subject.

"Really? Do you have any art pieces?" Teddy asked, fully believing Sirius apparently.

"Er, no, but I can if you give me a day," Sirius said.

Remus chuckled at him, he couldn't wait to see whatever Sirius pulled out of a hat.

Remus and Sirius were ready for the football game, both adorned in their old schools' merchandise, Sirius' hair still up in the half up, half down, hair style. Teddy came down the stairs in the same outfit as before, he had been hiding out in the room for the past half hour, saying that he wanted to work on his project for a bit before they left. "Ready?" Remus asked him.

"Yeah," Teddy nodded and the three of them left in Remus' car. Sirius didn't trust that bringing the Impala, too worried that some teeanger was going to key the car.

They arrived at the parking lot and Remus parked then got out with the other two. James and Lily happened to be close by, talking to each other next to James' car. 

"Those are our friends," Remus told Teddy before walking over to the two of them, "Hey."

Lily turned to him with a sweet smile, she clocked the kid and blinked a couple times before staring Remus with wide eyes.

James was the first of them to speak, "Hey Moony. Why is there a kid with you? Have you been hiding him in a basement?" he asked giggling.

"He's my son," Remus answered, enjoying the look of shock and confusion on his friends' faces. He had told Lily about the possibility of having a son but never told her the follow up.

"So you were hiding a kid in a basement. Remus you can't do that," James whisper yelled. 

"Hey, if I'm good he doesn't even handcuff me to the furnace," Teddy said without missing a beat. Lily gave a muffed laugh.

"Oh that's definitely Remus' kid," James said in response, "How did you spawn a teenager out of thin air?"

"He grew me in a lab," Teddy grinned.

Sirius snorted as he put his hands in the pockets of his jacket, leaning against James, "I found him in the attic of my parent's house."

"Oh god, not only is he a victim he's also got the Black crazy gene," James joked but Sirius gave Remus a look, silently asking him if they were going to reveal that Teddy actually did have the Black crazy gene. Remus shook his head, not enough that James or Lily would see it but enough to send a signal.

"Be serious Remus-" James started only for Sirius to cut in.

"Actually I'm Sirius."

"Shut up Sirius. How did you get a kid?" James asked him, crossing his arms, "And why am I just finding out about said kid?"

"Why don't we go inside, get our seats, and then I'm sure Remus will explain," Lily suggested and everyone agreed, even James who was side eyeing Remus. Sirius paid for everyone's tickets and they went up into the bleachers together, even Teddy. 

"Explain the kid," James said the minute he sat down.

"We recently found out about each other, I met his mother during the open house. We realized that the dates would match up so we…" Remus glanced at Teddy, "We tested for it. He is my actual kid James and will be staying over for the weekend at my place… so, be nice to him." 

It was awkward to explain to Sirius enough in his kitchen at home in private and a whole other level of awkwardness to explain it to James in public, with Teddy right there.

"I'm always nice you asshole, hi Teddy, I'm your uncle," James introduced himself, holding out his hand. Teddy took it with a chuckle. 

"That's James, don't call him uncle," Remus told him.

"I'm Lily," she introduced herself.

"I'm going to get snacks, do you want anything Teddy?" Remus asked.

"Dr. Pepper?" Teddy asked but quickly followed with, "But it's cool if not. I have some cash on me if you want it by the way, to help with the ticket and the soda."

"Keep your money, I'll be back," Remus got up and Lily followed him down the bleachers and to the concession stands.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me the moment you found out," Lily told him once they were out of earshot of the group.

"I was dealing with over things Lily, like, I don't know, having a kid," Remus said, putting his arm around her. 

"How's Sirius coping with it?"

"We got in a fight the first day, that was Thursday," Remus told her.

"Wait. You found out Thursday and you're having him over this weekend? Don't you worry about that being a little fast?" Lily asked as they got in line.

"I don't know, is that, you're a doctor, you'd know," Remus was just trying to do whatever was best for the kid.

"I'm a charge nurse and I work in the ER, not peds or psych," Lily corrected him, "I guess just do whatever feels natural but don't put too much on him at once."

"I'm trying not to, I just want to be there for him, I already feel like shit knowing I'm the reason he didn't have a father in his life for the past decade and a half," Remus moved with the que.

"If you had known about him, would you have stepped in?" Lily asked.

"Probably, I know why you're asking that but I still feel like shit, and it's just another thing Sirius has to deal with now," Remus thought he was going to go insane from trying to keep everything together, trying to not make one side too upset.

"Sirius is an adult, he'll be fine."

"We both know Sirius has his limit before he is not fine," before he broke.

"He'll be fine Remus, I mean what's the worst thing that is happening right now? He has a step-son all of sudden? I think he'll live."

"I think James likes Regulus." 

"Do you have proof?" Lily asked, moving closer to Remus as she whispered. 

"Not anything solid but I'm going to ask him about it later," Remus ordered their drinks and candy when they got to the front then paid for it. He collected them all and started to head back, Lily trying to help him carrying something but he told her no. Remus always tried to do things on his own, even if it was trust carrying back snacks.

Lily tried initiating and he wasn't sure if she was doing it because she wanted to just help a friend out or she was doing it because she took pity on him. Remus had a long list of health issues that went along with his self pity, always assuming that whenever someone reached out a hand they were doing it because they pitied him.

Sirius only did it once, it was before they had turned to the drugs, before everything went to shit. Remus had chewed him out and made him promise to never do it again. 

He went back to the rest of them handing out the snacks as he sat down, pain shooting through his spine up his neck, his eyes becoming hazy as the pain numbed him.

Sirius caught it but he didn't say anything, Sirius rubbed his thumb along the side of Remus' leg, telling him he caught it and he's here. Remus tried giving him a smile but it was probably more of a frown.

"Do you play sports?" Sirius asked Teddy so the group had something to focus on, less likely to catch what was happening to Remus.

"No I don't, I've tried every sport the only one I've come close to being decent it is my skateboard," Teddy answered, it made sense that he was into skating, he looked like a kid you find at the skate park with his jacket that had cyber sigilism on the back of it. 

"Is skateboarding a sport?" Lily asked, looking like she disagreed as kick off started.

"It's a sport when you're ten feet in the air," Teddy laughed, he wasn't really paying attention to the game.

"That sounds like an ER visit," Lily shivered.

"Don't listen to her, she didn't let me feed Harry grapes for two years once she started working in the hospital," James teased her.

"Children choke on grapes all the time, you'd be shocked how often it occurs," Lily rolled her eyes, hitting James then Sirius on the chest in rapid succession.

"He was thirteen Lily, I hope he knew how to chew by then," James laughed.

"Why did I get hit? He's the idiot that spoke against you?" Sirius asked, leaning against Remus without thinking, causing another shot of pain going up him. Remus let out a shaky quiet breath as he closed his eyes, trying to swallow the pain as best he could. 

"Because you two are a package deal, one says something dumb the other gets hurt as well," Lily explained with a giggle, screaming a cheer when the team did something good. Sirius and James joined in one the screaming and the cheering but Remus white-knuckled the metal bench. He'd be fine, he could get through this.

By half time Remus wasn't sure he was going to be able to get up on his own and by the end of the game, he knew at a minimum he wasn't driving back, but he got up, masking the pain as best he knew how. He didn't even know who won the game but by the quiet of everyone else he'd guess they lost.

"I'm assuming you and Pads aren't going to come crash with us?" James asked Remus, patting him on the back. Remus felt the pain go from James' hand and spread down to his hips.

The conversation of Regulus had completely slipped his mind due to focusing on just getting through the game, "Uh, no, gonna have a family night or some shit," Remus sighed then cringed as the curse word slipped through his mouth without realizing. He shouldn't curse when his students could be behind him at any turn. 

"Have fun with board games and hot chocolate," James gave him a side hug and Lily came up to him doing the same as Harry came over to the group changing out of his uniform.

"Good game Harry," Remus could normally give the kid a hug or a high five but even the few steps over to him made him nauseous at the pure thought. 

"Yeah sure," Harry mumbled and Remus could see the poor kid beating himself up behind his eyes. He'd text James to check in on him once he was home, not wanting to do it in front of Harry. 

"Ready to go?" Sirius asked him, grabbing his hand lightly, soft gentle touches. 

"Yeah, ready, can you-" Remus started to ask but Sirius reached into Remus' front pocket and took out the keys, not needing him to finish. "Have I ever told you I'm madly in love with you?"

"A few times," Sirius winked with his signature grin, "Come on Moony," he brought Remus' hand up to his mouth, lightly kissing the back of it.

"Gross, you two are gross, I just met you," Teddy gagged and started to walk to the parking lot where the car was.

 "What are you homophobic?" Sirius jokingly asked Teddy, shoving his shoulder a little.

"I wasn't before but now I am," Teddy shook his head with a laugh.

"Yikes, do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend? Friend?" Sirius asked as they started to get in the car.

"I have friends," Teddy snorted, "No friend friend, not yet at least. I'm working on my four month plan for her right now."

"Are you sure you aren't James' kid?" Sirius gave a hearty laugh as he started to pull out of the parking lot.

"Hey, I have my own twenty year plan with you," Remus laughed with Sirius, he was only half joking, he didn't have a laid out list of things he was planning to do to get Sirius' to be his forever, but that was the general plan.

James on the other hand when he was thirteen had a forty step plan to get Lily Evan's to be his, it was decorated in highlighters and stickers, in James' defense, the plan worked. 

"You know just how to swoon me, Remus Lupin," Sirius blew him a kiss.

They arrived home and Remus got out of the car, the pain only worsening, he unlocked the front door and went inside, making a beeline to the living room and laying down on the couch. He struggled to get his legs up on the couch but was happy that Sirius didn't help him since he could do it on his own.

"Do you want to watch a movie? We could make popcorn, I'd offer to make cookies but I uh, am bound to the couch at the moment," Remus offered as Teddy took his jacket off, draping it over the back of one of the chairs.

"If you really want cookies I can help," Sirius offered and Remus felt a shiver of horror run through him, Sirius couldn't bake. 

"Actually?" Teddy asked, Remus thought of telling him no but he looked so happy .

"Come on, Moony, pick a movie while we cook," Sirius kissed his forehead then went into the kitchen with Teddy, the door shutting behind him. This is how he was going to die, from a poisonous cookie his son and husband created.

Chapter Text

Sirius was pouring gummy bears in the bowl, it started as normal chocolate chip cookies but it didn't look colorful enough in Teddy's opinion. Sirius scoured through the shelves and found some old ones, agreeing with the teenager. They added blue food dye after the addition.

"I feel like there's not enough sugar in this recipe," Teddy said as he looked at Sirius' phone where the recipe was being displayed.

"I was thinking the same thing," they had run out of granulated sugar so he just substituted the rest with powdered sugar, he stared at the rest of the bag and decided on adding the rest of it in.

They had substituted a lot of the ingredients and hadn't measured most of them either or if they did, they used heaping scoops. Sirius grabbed a pan and the two of them started to create various shapes then putting them on the pan.

"You're really good at art, aren't you?" Sirius asked as he looked at the sculpture Teddy was making out of the dough. It looked like a wolf, next to that one was a snowman with a little hat. 

Teddy covered his cookies with his hands, trying to shield from Sirius as if he was embarrassed, "They're just okay. Your brother is good at art, I'm uh, I'm just average."

"If you're just average then I'm shit, and I'm not shit in anything so you must be good," Sirius put them in the oven once they finished, as far as teenagers went, Teddy was a pretty cool one. He wasn't some little shit that Sirius had to worry about running off crying or trying to do his makeup in his sleep. 

They finished cookies and Sirius took them out of the oven, plating them while they were nice and warm. The shapes were no more, all blobs of the previous sculptures but neither of the boys were upset about that, Teddy went to go bite into one but Sirius stopped him, "Let Moony try the first one."

They brought the plate out to Remus who looked at them with hesitant eyes, "Are these going to kill me?"

Sirius scoffed, "You have no faith in my baking skills."

"You're right, I don't," Remus said with a flat look but picked up a cookie, he started to take a small bite but with a pleading look from Teddy he sighed and took a larger one. Remus immediately got up from the couch and ran over to the small trash can they had near the door spitting the food out into the trash can, "That tastes like pure chemicals."

"No it doesn't," Sirius took a bite and Remus was right, he didn't know what that taste was but it was almost like toothpaste but without the minty flavor. He didn't put toothpaste in it, at least he didn't think he did, the more he thought about it the more he thought he may have. Sirius swallowed it and forced a smile, "Yummy."

Remus blinked at him and sat back down on the couch with a grunt, "Have fun with your chemical cookies."
Teddy took one and spit it out like Remus did, "Why does it taste like that?"

If only they knew they knew they had mixed up the teaspoons with the tablespoons when it came to the baking powder and baking soda.

Lily's day started at five am. She rolled out of bed with a slight hangover, thanks to James and put on her scrubs. They didn't drink much but it didn't take much for her to get drunk nowadays, she always joked about how her tolerance went around in a circle, she used to be able to handle bottles and feel sober, and here she was with a massive hangover after a couple drinks.

Since Lily had a fifteen hour shift day, Harry was staying at James' for the weekend. She put her shoes on and headed out. Normally she'd drink some coffee but she was running late so went straight to the hospital.

When she got there the night charge nurse looked at her with tired eyes, "Night shift was a wreck, they're still recovering so take it easy on them, I'm telling Anderson the same." 

"Fantastic, how were the interns?" Lily asked, she preferred the night ones to the day ones, they were too full of life during the day. 

The nurse laughed as Lily sat down in the chair pulling her hair up into a ponytail, "Odds on Lucas not talking shit the moment she walks down here?"

"I don't take losing bets, Evans."

Lucas was part of the management always barking at the ER to speed up their times for getting patients in and out, it was utter nonsense, there was no way to get them out faster without more beds or staff. 

An hour in and it was slow for it being the ER, no one was saying anything though since they hadn't had a bad case yet.

"How is it in your cave?" Evan asked her, leaning over the counter. Evan Rosier, first year intern, usually worked day shift but tonight he must have been on night. Hated talking to patients and hated talking to nurses even more. She already had pushed to have him written up when he cursed at one of the nurses but he was alright for the most part.

"My cave is lovely, I'm thinking of setting fire to the village soon, are they switching you to nights?" Interns referred to Lily as the dragon, a stupid nickname she had earned when she screamed at one of them a year and a half ago, they said her hair was like the fiery breath. Since Evan got here he joked about her having a cave where she hid away like a dragon.

"For the next four days I'm strictly on nights, does the village include me?" Evan asked with a pout, "You know you love me Evans."

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Lily asked as she worked away at a form. 

"Yeah but MILFs are hotter than any man I could get," Evan bit the inside of his cheek as he looked at her, Lily wasn't sure if he was joking, she really didn't care. 

"This MILF is gay," Lily giggled, "Love a set of tits and I don't see one on you."

Evan rolled his eyes muttering a, "I'm gay too but at least I play along," then went over as Anderson came out and gestured for him to come over, the interns got sent out of their little quests as the bay went off, Lily got up paging Anderson then ran over to the doors watching as the stretcher was brought in. She recognized the woman. It was her son's school counselor. Shit. She looked fine on the surface at least, "How are you Ms. MacDonald?" she asked her as they went over the curtains closing around them with the medics. 

"I'm fine, I just hit my head. My roommate called the paramedics, something about head trauma," Mary groaned as she was transferred into one of the beds. 

"Head trauma is a serious thing, how bad was the fall? What were you doing when you fell?" Lily asked, thanking the paramedics as they left, going outside to give Anderson the medical information. 

"I was just getting up and walking around then passed out, it's not uncommon," Mary told her, grabbing her head.

"It's not uncommon for you to randomly pass out?" Lily masked her sheer amusement that this woman wasn't dead, how did someone just ignore random spells of them passing out?

"Yeah…" Mary tilted her head as Anderson walked in.

"Thanks Evans, I got this," he smiled at her as Lily walked out going back to her desk but not before she looked back twice at Mary. It was different when she knew the person on one of the beds, even if she barely knew them. She didn't know what she'd do if one of her friends came in or worse Harry. She shook off the thought and went back to her paperwork.

The shift wasn't as brutal as she expected, getting off almost on time, only fifteen minutes late. With a yawn she got in her car, Mary had gotten discharged after her tests came back to back sure there wasn't any brain bleeding, she was referred to her PCP to look at the fainting. 

There weren't many groceries at home so she stopped at a diner on the way home since it was still open, she didn't bother changing before she went in, not caring who saw her in her scrubs. She was sucking down a minty milkshake when someone sat on the opposite side of the booth. 

She looked up and saw Mary there, this wasn't creepy at all. Even if it was creepy at least Mary looked nice in her knitted dress that went up her neck, a burnt orange color that complimented her skin.

"I uh, I wanted to thank you for earlier," Mary said with a smile, her hands bundled in her lap as she was hunched over. 

"It's my job… literally," Lily said, a little coldly and noticed that Mary bit her lip and started to get up, mumbling a sorry and now Lily felt like an ass, "What are you doing here?"

"Third wheeling, my roommate and her girlfriend are over there, so I figured I'd give them a break and say hi," Mary said and nodded over to a pair of women at another table, making kissy faces at each other, it made Lily giggle.

"Are you willingly being a third wheel or did you get dragged around?" Lily asked eating one of her fries. She knew what it was like to be a third wheel, going on enough dates with Sirius and Remus, something about trying to get her out of the house.

"Dragged around, she doesn't trust me to not faint on the ground," Mary explained and Lily felt more bad for being an ass earlier.

"I mean, I'd probably react the same way if I were her. Do you set up an appointment with your PCP?" Lily tried to separate her work from her personal life but that was almost impossible for her.

"I did… sorry for bothering you this uh," Mary stumbled over her words and started to get up again.

"I see you at work all of the time, it's no different than that," it was probably inappropriate to talk to her like this, it also likely broke several workplace rules, she was a patient, and worked at her kid's school, but Lily was never one for the rules, even if James would be inclined to disagree.

Mary laughed, "I guess that's fair isn't it, I have to say I prefer my office over yours."

"My office is clean, sterile, yours is full of nick nacks," Lily finished offering Mary one of her fries and she grabbed one, thanking her quietly before eating it.

"I love my trinkets, they're like a part of me, plus the students love having something to do while I talk about their bad grades or me having to explain why we can't threaten teachers," Mary grabbed another fry as she spoke.

Lily laughed brighter this time as either the roommate or the girlfriend of the roommate walked over to them, she had short blond hair that was in a borderline mullet, "Is this your girlfriend Mary?"

Mary looked at the other woman with pleading eyes and a bright blush on her face, "Marls, this is-"

Lily decided to have a bit of fun, probably inappropriate fun, but fun nonetheless, "I'm Lily and if I am?" she bit her lip playfully as she leaned back in the booth.

"Oh, are you the cute ginger Mary is always going on about?" Marls asked, Lily wondered what that was short for. Lily gave Mary a curious look, she had a thing for gingers? That's cute. 

Mary's face even lit up even more, a curl falling over in front of her face as she got up, "I have to go now," she grabbed Marls' arm and quite literally dragged her out of the dinner.

Lily giggled and finished eating, getting out her card out of her wallet as she wondered why Mary was in such a rush until she thought about it… wait. Was she the ginger? She couldn't be but with the way Mary reacted… she needed to get to Remus' house.

She paid and drove to his house, she got out seeing both Remus' and Sirius' cars out front and frantically knocked on the door. Neither of them answered the door, instead it was the teannger she had met the night before, "Hi Ted right? Where's your dad?" she asked and he just nodded with a chuckle in reply as he moved to the side. Remus and Sirius were cuddling on the couch.

"I need a phone number," Lily stood in front of the TV, Sirius groaning in reply.

"What?" Remus asked, yawning as he sat up a little, keeping his arm around Sirius.

"Do you have Mary MacDonalds number?" Lily asked, they were coworkers, it wasn't the weirdest question she had ever asked him.

"Why?"

"Cause I want it," Lily thought that was reason enough for it.

"God you and Regulus are similar," Sirius laughed as he sat up with Remus, Teddy sitting down in one of the chairs as the kid pulled out his phone.

"Why?" Lily asked confused but happy as Remus pulled out his phone with a huff.

"Regulus kept bothering me about giving him James' number, not telling me why, just because he wanted it," Sirius yawned, nestling against Remus, they were cute all domestic like this.

Lily grabbed Remus' phone from him, a little surprised that he was actually giving her the number but there it was in a contact on his phone, "Oh does the crush go both ways?" she laughed and watched as Sirius froze against Remus. Oh no. Remus didn't tell him.

Remus never told her that he told Sirius but she assumed they did, they didn't hide things from each other. He had waited long enough to tell Sirius in her opinion. "The what?" Sirius asked, his voice sharp.

"The nothing," Lily said, putting the number in as quickly as she could, then put her phone in her pocket while tossing Remus' his.

"I think this is where I go upstairs," Teddy said running upstairs as anyone with a pulse could feel the tension in the room.

"It's a joke right?" Sirius asked, looking towards the stairs and making sure that the kid was gone. 

Remus winced, "I don't know. I just put the pieces together, I know nothing about Regulus but with James it's… it doesn't look good."

"I'm killing him," Sirius decided as he got up and Lily and Remus both surrounded him, knowing that Sirius wasn't thinking straight so there was a chance he'd do something dumb, not kill James dumb, but punch James dumb.

"We don't know for sure, it's just a guess," Remus told him, putting his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"I'm going over to his house," Sirius said while Lily and Remus met eyes. They couldn't stop him, only try to lessen the blow.

"I'll drive you," Lily offered, not wanting him to drive in this state, she saw plenty of victims of car accidents from distracted driving, anger counted as a distraction. "You can stay with Teddy," she told Remus looking up at the stairs.

"Let's go now Evans," Sirius grabbed, not even putting on his shoes as he left the house going outside. 

Lily grimaced, mouthing an 'im sorry' at Remus before leaving out with Sirius, she heard Remus groan from behind her and start going up the stairs. This wasn't going to end well.

James had been trying to get Regulus to come over all day, he kept saying no which was making James pout. Regulus wasn't giving him a good answer, not explaining why he didn't want to come over. 

He was on the phone with him, watching some TV show in the background while Harry was up in his room. Harry wasn't hungry with dinner so he was also eating an additional serving of the food he made, it was… okay. James wasn't known for his cooking though, they were lucky he was able to feed Harry on his own. 

"You should paint me sometime," James suggested with a giggle, he was also trying to convince Regulus into letting him see some of his art. Regulus was being all mysterious though. James would be more upset if it wasn't so hot.

Regulus laughed, "What? Want me to paint you like one of my french girls?" he teased as there was a knocking on his door, it reminded him of the police. James jumped as he grabbed his phone, going through the different drugs remembering the last time he took them making sure he would test sober until it hit him that he was completely sober. 

"Gotta go, goodnight," James hung up on Regulus, tossing his phone down before he got up and answered the door feeling relief when he saw Sirius on the other side and not the police. That was until Sirius grabbed him by the shoulder and pinned him against the wall. Lily was behind him, looking at them with worry.

"What are you doing with Regulus?" Sirius asked as James felt his head with the wall, ow . He winced as he looked at Sirius, he looked pissed off.

"I was just talking to him," James said, confused about what Sirius had heard.

"He's here?" Sirius asked to let go of him and looked around the corners of the room.

"No, no, I was just calling him," James waved his arms, not wanting Sirius to tear up the house.

"You were calling him at eleven fucking pm?" Sirius asked, arms crossed, the vein in his neck sticking out. 

"He's nice to talk to you."

Sirius studied him, blinking at him slowly as his nostrils flared, his hair a mess towards the top, "He's nice to talk to?" he repeated slowly, "James. What are you planning on doing to my brother?"

James didn't know. He still wasn't sure what his plans were, Regulus was cute, he was nice to talk to. His hair was so fluffy on his head, James had been tempted to reach out and touch it every time he had seen it. He had bought several candles for Regulus, he was planning on delivering them in person, he had managed to get his address from him so was going to swing by tomorrow.

"I don't know, be his friend. Am I not allowed to?" James asked, still wildly confused on why Sirius was at his house near midnight with Lily, it felt like there were several pieces of the puzzle he was missing, including the puzzle box.

"No!" Sirius yelled, causing James to take a step back, he wasn't scared of Sirius but he knew Sirius would throw a punch if he wanted to, "You're my friend, not his."

"Sirius… we're in our thirties, aren't we a little old for that?" James frowned, he knew that they were brothers with issues to put it lightly, but maybe he stupidly thought that since they were older it would get put past them. He didn't expect them to be buddy-buddy but at least they could tolerate each other… he hoped that they could at least.

Sirius looked at him with betrayal in his eyes, "So you're choosing him over me?"

"Jesus christ Pads, no, I- Lily why are you here love?" James turned over to Lily softening his voice, who was awkwardly standing to the side of the two men fighting. 

"I drove him," Lily answered, glancing over at Sirius.

"You can go home Lils, I'll get him home," James gave her a hug, subconsciously kissing her cheek, "Have a goodnight."

"Good luck," Lily whispered and left the house leaving him with Sirius.

James breathed in deeply then turned to Sirius again, "I'm not replacing you. I can't replace you, the only person who comes over you is Harry," he told him with a firm tone, wanting Sirius to know he was being serious.

"Yeah sure, are you going to make Regulus Harry's godfather next?" Sirius mumbled, picking at the skin around his nails. 

"No you dumbass, are you going to freak out if I go to his apartment tomorrow?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He's a child James," Sirius said, still on guard.

"He's twenty six," James' eyebrows furrowed, he loved Sirius but he was… well… Sirius.

"I can't believe this," Sirius groaned, "You're a traitor. A blood traitor."

"Are you going to knock me out or something?" James asked, just wanting to know what he was getting into.

"So you are courting him?"

"Courting? What- Are we in the 1800s Sirius? No. I'm just friends and if something happens then something happens, which… he's cute, what am I supposed to do, not have eyes?" James won't be mad if something happened, he liked to imagine Regulus giggling as James ran his fingers through his hair.

James heard his glasses crack before he felt the impact of Sirius fist on his fast. Sirius was unfortunately a lot stronger than most people gave him credit for. James felt the pain bloom from his nose as he looked at Sirius with hazy eyes. He grabbed his nose as he felt something wet on his lips. 

Sirius grabbed his own face in shock as there was a noise of Harry running down the stairs, "What happened?" he heard Harry ask. James took his glasses off then covered his nose, feeling blood pool in the bottom of his palms.

"Nothing," James said as he tripped over, grabbing onto the wall, "You broke my fucking nose," he whispered to Sirius, too delirious from the series of events to even be angry at the man. 

"I have to drive your dad to the doctor," Sirius said as he looked around for James' keys.

James took them out of his pocket and felt Sirius' snatch them out of his hand.

"Did you hit dad?" Harry asked with wide eyes and a slight laugh, "What did dad do?"

"Dad was being dumb, are you okay being by yourself?" Sirius asked and James went to go hit him but his nose had another wave of pain so he went back to nursing his nose. He regretted asking Lily to leave, she would know what to do working in the ER.

"Yeah, I'm good, shouldn't we just call mom?" Harry asked.

"No, your mom worked a long day today, I'll be fine," James didn't want to bother Lily, especially after a long shift, he'd be fine waiting in the waiting  room.

"Come on Prongs," Sirius took out some bills and threw them on the table just in case, they always left money with Harry then they got into the car. The moment Sirius pulled out he asked, "Why my brother? Why not anyone else? What is even good about him?"

"His hair looks soft. He likes the smells of warm candles, not lemon though, he says lemon isn't a warm scent and when he quirks his eyebrow up you can hear it in his voice," James said dreamily, quietly chuckling to himself while he thought of Regulus then twisting his face in pain when the laugh caused his nose to move. 

Sirius looked over at him with a disappointed look as he defeatedly sighed, "When am I going to have a break?"

It didn't take James near as long to get looked at as he guessed it would, probably something about the broken nose put him over the people with a slight cough. The nurse led him over to a bed, Sirius on his tail, the tension between the two of them still there but not near as bad as it was prior.

A man entered the door next, he was dressed like a doctor with his scrubs, looking at James and then doing a double take at Sirius, "Oh Regulus is going to have a field day with this one," the man laughed, "I'm Dr. Rosier."

" Evan ," Sirius sneered and Evan blew Sirius a kiss before grabbing the stool and sitting down on it, "I thought you can't treat people you know."

"I don't know James, I only know what Regulus tells me," Evan grabbed a clipboard, "Now sit still James, Regulus tells me you're hyperactive and I don't want to cause you any more pain than you're already in."

Evan lightly touches around James' nose and he winces in pain, "How did it break?"

"He punched me in the nose," James rolled his eyes looking in Sirius' direction.

"You were talking about my brother in disgusting ways," Sirius barked back.

Evan raised an eyebrow, a small smirk on his face, and then it fell away, "It looks like a clean break which means you won't need an X-ray or CT scan, I need to go talk to my attending but then I'll be back," and got up to leave without a second glance.

"I hope they call the police on you," James grumbled, whining when he touched his nose again, the area felt so hot on his face.

"Which one of us was in handcuffs last?" Sirius rebutted without thinking then looked at James with a look of horror, "I'm- shit- I'm sorry, that was-"

Sirius is cut off by James' wheezing and whimpers in the mix from the pain of laughing. "Nice one Padfoot, gonna call me a bad dad next?" he laughed loudly, even getting looks from people outside of the curtain range.

"If you keep it up," Sirius muttered to himself but James still caught it, most people would take offense but James just shrugged it off, reaching out to push Sirius back.

"Asshole."

"Cunt."

"Bitch boy."

"Brother fucker."

"Fuck I wish," James groaned resulting in Sirius shoving him so hard he almost fell off of the bed but caught himself at the last minute, "Rude."

"I'm breaking your nose again after this."

Chapter Text

Regulus wasn't disappointed when James didn't show up over the weekend. Anyone who said otherwise was a liar, he just… well, he was fine. James texted him frantatic apologies the next day, explaining all that happened. Evan had explained that he saw a James Potter in the ER, saying that James had a crush on him but Regulus didn't believe him. Evan was just messing around with him as he kept talking to the couple about James.

It was hard to not talk about James. He was so full of life that he almost suffocated Regulus but if this was how Regulus died, he wouldn't complain.

When asked what happened to cause Sirius to punch him in the nose. James flat out told him it was because he liked him, in a romantic way. Regulus still hadn't replied to the text because how did one reply to a text like that? 

He was in the middle of his class, looking over Teddy's shoulder as the oil pastels smudged into each other. It was a kitchen, the knobs on the stove were neon red and about five times larger than they should've been. "Have a fear of stove knobs?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Teddy laughed as he worked, the pastels rubbing over his fingers, dirtying them. "I have this thing, in the middle of the night I get all worried that I've left the stove on. Even if I hadn't used it that day. Because what if I turned it on and forgot?"

Regulus didn't know what the kid was talking about but nodded like he understood, it wasn't his place to judge the kid for his thinking, "And your stove relates to your portfolio how?"

"My portfolio is my mind. The different parts of it, this is one of the parts," Teddy explained and Regulus understood that at least, he had done numerous works based on the things his mind plagued him with. He walked through the other students, looking at their work until he arrived at Harry who had finished his sketch.

"Are you ready for the next part?" Regulus asked, the lighting wasn't great but it was decent, especially for being a beginner class, so he'd let him start working on the final project for the unit.

"I think so, I was wondering if I could paint it?" Harry asked, picking at his nails as he glanced between the project and Regulus.

"That's fine, the canvases are over there," for the students who wanted to paint the project he had set out some smaller canvases for them to work on, along with the cheaper paints and brushes. 

Harry got up and Regulus went over to the sink at the back of the room, grabbing a sponge and a butter knife. He started to clean the dried paint around the metal, using it to try and distract himself from James Potter. James Potter who openly admitted that he had a crush on Regulus.

For the next week Regulus distanced himself from James as much as he could. And then Remus was in his classroom again, asking Regulus if he planned on helping with homecoming like that previous teacher did. Regulus agreed, needing an excuse to distance himself further away from James, and he learned that Remus was in charge of the homecoming committee so it wasn't like he would be under some tyrant.

The worst part with the James issue was that Regulus wasn't even disgusted or upset at James for liking him. He was disappointed in himself for liking James back. In the late of night he would scroll through their previous messages, smiling like an idiot at the stupid jokes James would send him. Every day Harry dropped another candle off on his desk and Regulus thought of burning them in the kiln. Instead he put them on the coffee table at home, lighting them as he worked on a sketch.

James had started to text him less and less, which meant that the distancing was working, or at least Regulus thought it was working. He couldn't date James, it was a recipe for disaster. James was Sirius' best friend and the father of one of his students. Regulus couldn't risk losing this job. Not when rent was finally not a worry of being paid. Even if for the first time he felt himself wanting to talk to someone more, wanting to get to know them, not only what made them tick but what made them laugh and smile.

Remus and Pandora were in Regulus' classroom after hours, writing different ideas down for the homecoming theme.

"Paris is overdone," Pandora scratched out one of Remus' ideas and replaced it with, tropical jungle .

Remus laughed, "I'm not doing a jungle theme. What about an enchanted garden? I think we have some decorations in the storage closet that would work well." A couple other teachers flooded into his room and Regulus regretted agreeing to let them use his classroom to discuss.

"I love a good enchanted garden, I think it's been ten years since we've done it," one of the teachers commented. Regulus just gave a noise of agreement not really caring what they did. Which is how Regulus ended up choking on spray paint fumes.

They had split up the duties to the different teachers and since Regulus was the art teacher he was given all of the art tasks. Which he preferred over figuring out the logistics of the event. And Pandora was helping him.

They had already made two of the banners and were currently spray painting a bunch of flowers into different colors. Remus had texted him saying that some parent volunteers were coming over to help them work and Regulus wished they wouldn't, he was fine working by himself. 

"Regulus," he heard from behind him and turned around to see the one and only James Potter. He should've expected that James would've volunteered. He had a thick bandage over his nose as his glasses laid carefully on this nose, right above the bandage.

"Mr. Potter, I didn't know you liked art," Regulus sent Pandora a worrying glance who just laughed to herself, choking on the fumes herself and turning away to cough.

"You like art, so I'm here," James pointed a finger at him, "And I can paint some things. Surely there's some grunt work that needs done." There was, Regulus put him on painting some cheap statues a shade of grey so Regulus would be able to paint over it and give them better detailing then what came on them originally.

"Been busy then?" James asked as he picked up a paint brush, swiping the paint over the statues, beads of paint flowing down the sides. 

"Yeah, homecoming," Regulus mumbled as he picked up one of the smaller brushes and started to do some detailing work on the flowers. He still had enough time to text James back, but James didn't need to know that. So maybe the ignoring James thing wasn't working as well as he thought it was then.

Pandora got up from off the ground, sending Regulus a playful look, a grin on her lips, "I'm going to go make sure Remus doesn't need us to finish anything else by today," and Regulus glared daggers into her. She knew what she was doing, leaving him alone with James. 

As Pandora walked away James turned to Regulus, in a quiet voice almost whispering, "I missed you."

Regulus looked over at him with wide eyes, causing him to paint a streak down the side of one of the flowers. He didn't even notice the mistake due to the way his heart was beating in his chest. No one had ever missed him before. Sirius claimed he did, but if Sirius truly did miss him, he would've left a card or done something to get out of that house. James had left him a gift, all those stupid candles, he didn't know what to say, he muttered out, "I'm sorry." He sounded pathetic and weak. 

"What?" James tilted his head and Regulus didn't realize how scared he was until this moment, his hands almost shaking.

"I'm sorry," Regulus repeated a little stronger this time. The deeper part of himself was scared to let James in, to let him see the mess that Regulus was beneath his cold exterior. James made him smile an hour after knowing him. He made Regulus attached to his phone a day after they met. It was too fast, too much, too quickly. "James, I'm your son's teacher, it's highly inappropriate to message you outside of working reasons."

James' face fell, "Oh, so you weren't busy then were you?"

"I mean. I was busy." Regulus said, the energy around them becoming sour at the touch.

"Is it just the school? Or do you not feel the same way?" James asked, the large paint brush falling by his side.

Regulus bit his lip and focused on the flowers in front of him, cursing when he realized his mistake. James walked over to him, looking around to see who was near them. They were outside the school, in the back near the parking lot so they didn't get high off of the paint fumes, though Regulus wished he were high at the moment, it would make it easier.

It was after school when the students were either at practice or home and most of the other teachers had gone home, except for the few on the homecoming committee who were in the gym, helping Remus set it up.

" Regulus ," James said, grabbing Regulus' face by his chin. His hands were softer than Regulus expected them to be, guess that came with being unemployed. 

"This is inappropriate Mr. Potter," Regulus looked down at the ground, worried about someone checking them like this, more worried about how his body was reacting to James touching him. He was warm all over fighting against his want to lean into James' hand more.

"I don't care," James laughed quietly, "Yes or no?"

"That's besides the point," Regulus pulled his face out of James' grip, it didn't matter what James was asking, the answer had to be no. He focused on the flowers again when he felt wet on his cheek. James had just brushed paint on his cheek with a giggle.

Regulus wiped it off with his sleeve, he knew how to get paint out of his clothes, "I can't believe you just did that."

"I can't believe you won't confirm or deny if you think I'm hot," James laughed and swiped at him with the paint brush again, this time it got on his nose.

"You're hot but the ass part of you is making me question it," Regulus laughed without realizing it and retaliated by swiping at James with his paint brush, getting it on his chin, making sure to not accidentally get his bandage wet with paint.

"I've been told my ass is rather hot as well."

The two of them kept getting paint on each other until Regulus had a decent amount of grey paint covering his face, neck, and hands, while James was covered in pink paint, bringing out the warm undertones in his skin.

They started to actually scrap, the paint brushes being pushed aside as they wrestled on the pavement of the parking lot. Regulus was still careful to not touch the still healing nose as he ended up getting pinned under James, the heat of the asphalt going through his clothing. His wrists being trapped under James' hands. He blinked up at James, meeting his brown eyes with Regulus' silver ones, "Admit it Regulus."

"That you're an asshole with an ego the size of a lake?" Regulus challenged, a smile appearing on his lips.

James pressed him harder into the asphalt raising an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, fine, I may slightly want to indulge in you but it is still inappropriate," Regulus said as James let him get up, both of them brushing the dust and dirt off of themselves. 

"Indulge in me? Am I dessert?" James asked, laughing as he picked up the paint brush again. 

Regulus did another cursory look around making sure no one was around them before leaning in, trying his best to think of something flirty and playful in the moment, neither of which anyone had ever described Regulus as, but if he was going to do this and potentially ruin his career, he wasn't going to do it half-assed, "Makes sense for how much I want to eat you."

James winked at him before Regulus could cringe at his own words, he couldn't believe he just said that in front of James who was able to flirt like it was his second nature. Regulus sounded like a loner on the edge of town who had never met another person before. He needed to pick up a book on flirting or ask Barty for advice.. James went back to painting the statues like nothing had just happened between them, "Speaking of eating. Me, you, the ice cream shop downtown this Saturday afternoon?"

Regulus choked on his saliva, not expecting James to dive straight in, but at this point he really should've expected it. "Maybe we should go out of town."

"Nah, just trust me," James waved him off but Regulus couldn't help but be nervous.

Pandora came back, a bundle of papers between her arms, "Remus has we're good once we finish these for the day. Are you going to be volunteering to supervise the dance?" she asked James.

"I think Remus knows better than to trust me to supervise," James laughed. Pandora looked at the paint on James' face and then looked at the paint on Regulus' face, giving Regulus a curious look but not saying anything out right.

The three of them finished the tasks for the day and James was helping Regulus transfer them into the art room for them to dry without risk of the weather damaging them or a student stealing them. The classroom was admittedly a mess between all of the projects of his students and now the projects for homecoming. James walked through the classroom glancing at all the art when he looked right at Harry's canvas which was propped up against one of the walls. James walked up to it, picking it up.

"That's his most recent project," Regulus said, as he tried to organize the space somewhat, the clean freak in him starting to freak out. It reminded him of when Evan's notes were all over their apartment. 

"Oh," James said, his voice turned down, quieter than he normally was as the playful expression on his face from before was now replaced with a look of remorse. It looked wrong on James, "Did he tell you what it's of?"

"He did, more or less," Regulus obviously didn't know the details of how it happened, but he remembered the news articles. 

"I'm not a bad dad," Jame put the canvas down against the wall again, turning to face Regulus. He looked weak as he hunched over, his eyes glossing over, he didn't look like the James Potter he met.

"I didn't say that you were," Regulus' eyebrows furrowed.

"But you're thinking I am. Did they tell you how it happened?" James asked, readjusting his new glasses on his face that Regulus just realized were new. He didn't question what happened to the last pair.

"No, they didn't," Regulus wasn't going to tell James that he had searched them up after leaving MacDonald's office.

"I got arrested for drug possession. Lily did too. I'm clean now, been clean for a while, but we weren't clean then. He got sent away while we fixed ourselves up. He uh… he still flinches when I yell during a sports game on the TV. He starves himself, just like they did, and he doesn't even think I notice. Regulus I… I'm not a bad dad, but I don't know what to do." It sounded like James was trying to convince himself more than Regulus that he wasn't some abusive monster hiding in the shadows.

Regulus moved closer to him, trying to be soft. He had never been good at the whole, emotions thing. To Regulus it was easier to block out feelings then try to process them, but James had been breaking down those walls since he met them, maybe it was his turn to help James, "I never thought that you're a bad father. I was raised by a bad parent, I know how to look out for them. You're not that. You're a fucking idiot, a questionable parental figure even. You're not bad. You should talk to a counselor though, a therapist, a social worker." 

"I fucking hate social workers. And he already has a therapist," James said, shoving his hands in his pocket. Regulus felt that there was a reason for the hatred of social workers so he didn't defend their honor in the moment, but he would once the air was a little clearer. 

"Wanna go to my apartment?" Regulus asked, feeling like the middle of his classroom wasn't the best area for this conversation. He thought of going to James' house but there was a risk of Sirius crashing in or Harry being home, James gave a stubble nod, "Still got my address?"

"Yeah," James said, his voice was shaking. 

"Can you drive?"

Jame gave another short nod. "I'll see you there then, okay?" Regulus asked, softer and more gentle than he had talked to anyone in a long time. He could do this for James.

Regulus drove to his apartment building with James trailing behind him in his own car. He parked in his area in the parking spot, Evan was at work so James could park in his spot. They got out of their cars at the same time.

"You live here?" James asked, his words were hazy as he looked over the building.

"Yeah, problem?"

"It looks like a crack den."

"I think it's heroin, not crack," Regulus said in a deadpan voice, which at least got James to let out a little laugh as they went upstairs to his apartment. It did look like a drug den in James' defense but the rent was cheap. Regulus opened the door, Barty jumped and turned around like a scared cat.

"I thought you had your- hello there," Barty said, a piece of cheese pizza hanging out of his mouth.

"Hi I'm James," James put on a smile and a show like he always did, walking inside and looking around the apartment, acting about the same as Sirius did. Grimacing at the walls and trying to avoid stepping on the parts of the floor that were deteriorated.

"I know who you are," Barty said, sitting back down and kicking his feet up, "Why are you here?"

"His name is Bartimeus and James is here to talk so stay here," Regulus said, leading James into the cramped one bedroom with the bunk beds. There wasn't much standing room left causing the two of them to be so close Regulus could feel James' breath on him.

"I didn't know this is what the Black family fortune bought," James said as backed further away from one of the walls that had a mysterious stain on it, causing him to be pushed into Regulus. He didn't know what it was, it was there when they moved in and no matter the amount of bleach they had sprayed on it, the stain persisted.

Regulus snorted, "It doesn't. I got cut off which is why I lived in a one bedroom mold infested apartment with my best friends."

"Move in with me," James said looking down at him without missing a beat. Regulus let out a little laugh looking at James like he was fucking insane.

"I'm not moving in with you. Anyway, we are here to talk about you. About what to do with Harry," Regulus changed the subject, ignoring the way he felt a blush creep up the back of his neck.

"We are circling back to this conversation after. What do I do?" James asked, glancing at the bottom bunk, "Is that safe to sit on?"

Regulus tilted his head biting the inside of his cheek before deciding to open the door, "When's the last time you and Evan fucked?"

"Too soon for you to be happy with the answer," Barty called back and Regulus shut the door shaking his head.

"I wouldn't sit on it. Personally. We could sit on the top bunk but you're too tall I think," Regulus offered and watched James climb up the ladder, he was too tall to sit down but just laid down inside. Regulus climbed up with him realizing how tiny the twin bed was, their bodies were flush against each other even with Regulus sitting and trying to give James his space.

"What do I do?" James repeated, his head on Regulus' pillow, his body in Regulus' bed. Regulus wouldn't mind being pinned down here but now wasn't the time for those thoughts.

"More therapy?" Regulus asked, not sure why James thought that he was a good person to ask for advice on parenting from. 

James rolled his eyes, "Trust me. Doesn't work, he's already in therapy. He used to go more often but it didn't help," he mumbled.

"Have you tried just talking to him?" Regulus asked, "As in, asking why he flinches? Why he still has issues with eating? Or have you just asked what's wrong and expected him to spill his guts?" 

James looked off in thought, "I feel weird asking him those things, they feel too personal and I want to give him his space. I don't want him to close off more than he already has."

"You're his father James, you're meant to be in his personal space. Especially if something bad is happening," Regulus said, not being able to stop himself as he reached out, brushing James' hair out of his painted face. 

"I'll talk to him after practice, he gets off in an hour."

"Make sure to actually talk to him, as in have this conversation," Regulus remembered Lily mentioning James' lack of parenting skills, he didn't want to have this talk with James just for it to fall through.

"Speaking of conversations, you should move in with me."

"I'm not moving in with you, I'm content here," Regulus rolled his eyes, lightly hitting James' in the shoulder, "Plus even if I were to move in, you should ask the other person you live with and then there's Barty and Evan."

Regulus wouldn't move in with James, he wasn't that insane. The only way he would do something that idiotic was if he had no choice and even then, he would sleep in his car, or worse, on Sirius' couch. 

James laid in Regulus' bed looking up at the gorgeous man as his man spiraled deeper and deeper inside of his skull, the only thing keeping him from going insane there and then was the sound of Regulus' breath. He didn't mean to ask for Regulus to move-in, in some weird 'let's rush and get married' way. He just didn't like the idea of Regulus living here. He'd take Bartemius and the other friend if Regulus wanted even. 

With a grunt he left the comfort of Regulus' bed, trotting out of the apartment after giving Bartemius a wave and a smile, only getting flipped off in return. James gave him an odd look but descended down the stairs. He could do this, he could talk to his son without feeling like a powder keg about to explode. When Harry should be done with practice, he was already parked outside of the locker room, sitting in silence with no music as he went over the conversation time after time in his head.

James' eyebrows furrowed as he watched the other kids come out of practice, either getting in their own cars or their parents'. He waited an extra half hour, thinking that maybe Harry needed to talk to his couch about something. When Harry still didn't appear, he texted him asking where he was not wanting to jump to conclusions.

James:

Hey kiddo. I'm at the school, where are you so I can drive around and pick you up?

James waited an additional fifteen minutes and he couldn't deny the gut feeling inside of him that felt like he had tar running through his intestines. He texted Sirius next.

James:

Sirius did you pick Harry up from school?

Then Lily.

James:

I know you're probably busy but did you pick up Harry from practice?

Lily was probably still at work and Sirius replied back with a quick no. The tar in his gut thickened as he gripped the wheel with tight hands, half tempted to call the police right there and then. If he hadn't had such a bad relationship with the police department he probably would've called them there and then but he drove around the block looking for him. Sometimes Harry would walk home but he would at least text James that he was. 

The thought of his phone dying crossed his mind and prayed that was the reason he wasn't replying to him. Another twenty minutes passed and James had driven around the majority of the town. Sirius and Remus were also helping look around town for him as James went home to make sure that he wasn't there. When the house was empty he texted Regulus.

James:

Harry is missing. I'm going to have a fucking panic attack. 

Regulus:

Breathe James, I'll come over okay?

It was ten and Lily, Regulus, and James were all pacing back and forth in the living room. Remus and Sirius were still out looking around. James had called Lily once Regulus came over and calmed him down enough to. He went through the hospital and called the ER desk knowing that she'd be there. When he explained what was happening Lily left the hospital and went to her house making sure that Harry wasn't there then came to James' house.

She was on the phone with the police explaining what the issue was, while James could hear the choked up tears in her voice as she ran a shaky hand through her hair. 

The idea of driving to the liquor store and drinking until the anxiousness left his body was prevalent. He wasn't going to do something that dumb now, not when Lily was about to start sobbing at any moment, and not when even Regulus was looking at James with a concerned expression on his face.

There was a noise at the front door, a jingle of a key and then the quiet shut of the door. James thought it was Sirius and Remus, a blissful thought of ignorance of it being Harry in his heart but his brain doubted it was him. When he turned the corner he saw Harry standing there, he was wearing the same clothes that James had dropped him off in. The same backpack over his shoulder. 

"Harry James Potter," Lily came up behind him, her strict motherly voice being broken between voice cracks. 

Harry's eyes darted back and forth quickly between everyone standing there, his hands buzzing as if he had too much energy inside of him. He laughed, "What?" he asked with a grin, as if he didn't know why Lily was freaking out.

"What? What? You've been missing for hours and I just get- I don't even care," Lily said as she walked up to him wrapping him a large hug, Harry's arms wrapped around her. James could hear her almost silent sobs as she didn't let go of him.

Harry shot James a confused look as he didn't pull away from his mother. Lily sniffled as she pulled away, "I'm going to go make calls, let everyone know you're safe," she wiped at her face and took out her phone to call off the police as well as Remus and Sirius.

"Where were you?" James asked him as Regulus retreated with Lily giving the father and the son some space. 

Harry shrugged with the same grin on his face, lazily tossing his bag off of the floor, "Out with friends," his speech was floaty and borderline slurred as his fingers continued to dance, trying to output all of the energy inside of him. He mumbled something to himself, fighting with the sleeves of his jacket, taking it off and tossing it on the bag. James looked at Harry's arm, the slightest bit of what looked like dried blood on it, a thin streak running down his forearm from his elbow.

James' eyes relaxed from worry into happiness when he saw that Harry was okay but now they were morphing into horror as he realized Harry was high and it wasn't weed.

Chapter Text

The first thing James did was shove Regulus out of the house, rather forcibly. He didn't explain what was happening just that he had to leave and had to leave now. Regulus tried asking what was happening but James just threw him out the door then slammed it behind him and locked it. Turning his phone off as Harry stared at him with those familiar hazy eyes, "Why was Mr. Black here?" he asked slurred. 

"What are you high on?" James asked, breathing heavily through his nose, Lily was in the other room still calling everyone off thankfully so they wouldn't have to deal with them trying to question Harry for being on whatever he was on. 

Harry squinted his eyes as he looked James up and down, "You sound like mom," he laughed as he started to head upstairs but James was faster getting on the steps and blocking his path before Harry could get past him. "Move dude."

"Dude?" James asked, crossing his arms, the tone of voice coming out of him that James didn't even know he was able to produce. "Okay dude , what drugs are you on?"

Harry tried to get past him, "I'm not high dad." James was stronger than Harry, even if just by barely, blocking the way like a statue.

"You are, your mom is going to be able to tell the moment she lays her eyes on you for longer than two seconds," James said trying to knock some sense into his son. Lily came around the corner putting her phone away as she went on the other side of him.

"Where were you?" she asked, putting her hand on his back, rubbing it in comforting circles. The circles slowed as she looked at his arm grabbing it roughly, "What the fuck is this Harry?" she asked as she forced the sleeves up further, "Are you cutting yourself?"

"I'm not cutting myself," Harry yanked his arm back looking at Lily as he readjusted his glasses, "Is that really how you'd react if I was though?"

Lily's eyes widened like she couldn't believe how Harry was behaving. "Maybe, no, I just- you were missing. We had Sirius, Remus, Regulus, and the police out looking for you, you didn't call, you didn't text, and now you show up with blood on your arm," she grabbed it again and held it up to her face, the expression on her face turning cold, almost numb, "What did you inject?" she asked quietly. James swore he could see her heart breaking in her eyes.

Harry blinked at her, his movements slowed, "Nothing.”

"You're bleeding from an injection, there's bruising around the site. We're not idiots Harry, now…" Lily's voice was shaky, trying to reel herself in from her anger and numbness, "What did you inject so I can help?"

"Nothing," Harry backed away looking between the two of them, "God you two are insane, thinking I'm high or depressed, why? Because you two were? Because you think I'm going to repeat your failures?" he asked as he turned around walking through the living room down the hallway, the zipper of his jacket jingling as he swiftly moved. Both James and Lily stood there in shock both not sure how to move when they both knew they should, that they needed to. James tried to move but his legs froze in place, glued to the floor. 

The back door was slammed shut and Lily went through the living room chasing after him as James stood there. He fell against the railing of the staircase staring off at the wall, he knew he shouldn't but he couldn't help himself. There was yelling in the backyard, audibly loud enough for James to hear, loud enough for their neighbors to hear. 

Another door slammed as Harry came back inside, "You look like shit," he said looking down at James who looked back up at him.

"Talk to me," James said, his throat raw, not from crying or screaming, just from the feeling of being suffocated. He slowly got back up so that he was eye level with Harry, "Just talk to me."

"Why? You both think I'm some drug addict," Harry said on defense, going too steps up the staircase so he was taller than James. 

"I know drug addicts, you're not an addict. That's why your mom and I want to talk about it before it spirals into full blown addiction because that's nasty, that's awful… Harry, it's getting high on anything all of the time just to feel something. It's knowing someone who's died from ODing and getting high at their funeral," James said as he stepped up on the staircase to get on the same level as Harry, "We don't want you to go through that which is why we want to talk."

Harry looked over at the ground, awkwardly shifting back and forth, "Just you, not mom, she's too pissed off."

"She's pissed off for valid reasons but fine, go up to your room, I'll be there in a second okay?" James asked and Harry gave a little nod going the rest of the way up the stairs. James let out a breath as he went down the stairs going towards the backyard where she was sitting on the pouch stairs, a lit cigarette between her fingers, she looked behind her and then down at the grass again.

Lily scooted over giving James enough room to sit next to her. "Did he leave again?" she asked.

"No, in his room. I got him to offer to talk to me but wanted to talk to you first," James sat down next to her, putting an arm around her as he grabbed a cigarette out of her pack, using her lighter to light it.

"I think it's heroin, not coke or meth," Lily said leaning her head against James, "Should try to figure that out since he doesn't want to talk to me."

James put his arm around her, bringing her in closer, "I will, anything else?"

"Tell him we're cutting off his allowance, can't risk him using that money on drugs. We should set up a safe injecting area in our houses, it's proven to cut down on infection, overdosing, stuff like that," Lily sniffled as she tapped the ash off the end of the cigarette. 

"Making it easier for him to get high, helps him?" James asked not sure where the logic was in that but Lily nodded slowly and since she was the nurse, he believed her. "I'm gonna go talk."

He got up, putting out the half finished cigarette and then went back into the house going up the stairs and knocking on Harry's door before going in. Harry was sitting in his bed, back to the wall, book on his lap with a crayon on some kind between his fingers. "Hey dad."

"Hey kiddo," James shut the door and sat down on the edge of his bed, "Ready to talk?" he asked, looking over at what he was drawing. He knew with one look that it was The Dursley's back yard.

Harry shrugged as he kept drawing, "No but it's better than talking to mom so.”

"Your mom is probably better to talk to than me but I'll take it. When did you start drawing outside of homework?" James asked moving closer to get a better look at it.

"Not sure, some time between the start and school and now, it's uh, it's nice to just not think, to just draw," Harry said, glancing over at him and crouching in on himself more.

"Why are you drawing there? I figured you'd want to leave those places in your mind."

"Yeah, I probably should, it's just hard. I feel like it's all I can think about all of the time. In the middle of football, middle of math class, or while I'm trying to sleep. It's why I…" he looked over at his arm and shrugged, "I needed to stop feeling, needed to stop thinking."

James tried to not be overbearing, "And you thought drugs were the right way to get there? To stop feeling. I mean we could've tried safe drugs first, prescription drugs.”

"Those drugs don't help as much…" Harry mumbled, "I hate how they make me feel."

"These drugs will make you feel worse maybe not in the moment but in the long run. And I'm not speaking as some D.A.R.E representative, I'm speaking as someone who lived it."

"Yeah dad, I know you fucking lived it. If anyone knows it's me," Harry said bitterly as he tossed his sketchbooks and the crayon on his desk, turned on his side to face the wall. "You act like I don't know shit just because I was a kid. Kids notice more than you think, we notice when dad and mom are suddenly happier than normal. We also have ears. I mean aunt Peauntina used to always go on about her drug addict little sister. I can listen."

"But that means you know how bad addiction can get, we lost you. You can stop the cycle from every beginning if we put a stop to it now. I think you should talk to a psychiatrist with your therapist, get you back on-"

"I don't want to go back on those pills," Harry glared over at him, putting his hands under his head.

"Six months, six months to see if it helps, that's all I'm asking. If it doesn't, maybe we should bring up a treatment center again," James rubbed the bottom of his calf through Harry's jeans.

"I don't want to go to an asylum," Harry mumbled, "I'm not that bad."

"It's not an asylum, it's a place where people who have been hurt or people who have…" James was trying to think of any other words besides issues but he couldn't, 'problems' was just as bad.

"Issues. People like me, people will fucked up brains," Harrry looked over at him, "Why did you start using?"

"My friend was, I thought it was cool so I joined him. Loved the feeling of getting high, no worries, no concerns, just pure euphoria. I didn't really have a good reason to start, I only had a good reason to stop," James wasn't going to lie and make up some story that made him look better. Remus offered one night while they were parked outside of a Walmart, it was a pill, James couldn't even remember what it was now, all he knew was the long road that followed.

Harry sat up, moving over to lie on James, putting his body weight fully on him, "Mom? Or Sirius?"

"Hm?"

"Who was the reason? Mom?" 

"It was you, you're my number one. Higher than Sirius and your mom combined. I'd do anything for you. Kill, torture, bury a body, die, anything. You're the reason I did the hardest thing I've never done, get clean. I uh, I tried when you were born but it didn't last long, I was so fucking ashamed of myself but I couldn't stop. We saw you at the courthouse during our trial and you looked so happy to see us, I remember you asking if you could go home yet and that life in your eyes. That pure innocence and joy and hope and… and I knew I had to stop," James said, feeling himself choke up towards the end, a tear running down the side of his face as he spoke, he wiped it away not wanting Harry to see.

He could remember it clear as day. James looked like shit to be frank, he had spent the past couple weeks curled up on the couch. Sirius paid both of their bails, which just left them to rot in their home. Lawyers came by, hired each by James. Besides that he didn't eat, didn't drink, definitely didn't get high. The withdrawals had started to hit him harder, his eyes were sunken in and Lily said his skin made him look ghostly but she didn't look much better.

Petunia was standing on the opposite side of the courthouse, a dress that looked like it walked straight out of the 1950s, poke-a-dots patterns and all. A small Harry next to her, James swore he was wearing the same clothes the police took him out of the house in, they didn't even look washed. 

His big green eyes widened even more seeing his parents. He tried running towards them but one of the police stopped him, picking him up and putting him behind Petunia. He could still hear Harry screaming for his mom.

"Dad?" Harry asked, now sitting up, looking at him through the glare the light was projecting onto his glasses.

James blinked, he must have wandered off in his mind for a bit, "Sorry. Was thinking about something."

"I'm sorry… I won't do it again," Harry said, laying his hand back on James' shoulder.

"Thank you, what did you take by the way?" James asked, almost forgetting the one thing Lily wanted to make sure that he got.

"I don't know…" Harry said quietly, "They just offered it, said all that they needed to do was put my belt around my arm, heat some stuff up and then inject it. They said it would hurt at first but would get better quick."

James tried to mask getting upset at Harry for not knowing that he even had injected inside of himself. "Ask next time. Certain drugs are a lot more dangerous than others and if you do take anything else, only take it from people you trust. Back when I did it we didn't have to worry about everything being laced with anything. It's more dangerous now. Okay?"

"Okay," Harry nodded, not pulling away from him yet.

"And I don't want you hanging around those people anymore. I know I can't stop you but hang out with your normal friends… unless… wait-" James didn't see Hermione or Ron being the type to partake in that behavior but no one would've expected Remus, Peter, or Lily either. 

Harry laughed even if it sounded a little painful, "No both of them don't do that stuff. Mione gives me a death glare whenever I pick up a beer."

"Good," James knocked into him, patting him on his back strongly, "You're a good kid. You're my kid. Which means we work through this okay? I'm never going to give up on you."

James meant it, no matter what Harry did, he would have his back. Even if Harry showed up covered in blood, he'd help him hide the body, assuming he had a good enough reason to kill the person in the first place. It wasn't an over exaggeration when he said that Harry was his pride and joy. He was his boy, his beautiful, amazing, perfect boy.

Regulus was sitting in his car still confused about why he got thrown out of the house. He figured it had something to do with Harry and he wasn't part of the family so it likely had something to with that but he still didn't understand why James was so aggressive with it. Regulus anxiously bounced his knee in his front seat, music blasting to try and drown out his thoughts. He was about to head home as it was nearing midnight and he had to go in early to check on the home coming projects when James called him. He answered, "Hello."

"Hey, I'm sorry for kicking you out. Is it too late to meet up?" James asked him, it sounded like he had been crying.

"Always, is it okay to leave Harry alone right now?" Regulus asked and turned his car back on, buckling his seatbelt.

"He's asleep, uh, meet me at that ice cream shop I gave you an address to?" James asked moving around on the other side of the phone.

"Is it even open?" Regulus asked, putting him on speaker and getting the directions up. 

"Should be open for another two hours," James answered, "Meet you there."

The call disconnected and Regulus drove there without thinking, James beat him there, already inside and sitting at one of the tables. Regulus entered, giving a nod to the employee behind the counter as he sat next to James, "Hey," he gave him a weak smile.

"Do you want something?" James asked, clearing his throat. His eyes were red and the area around was inflamed, making Regulus think he was right to think that James had been crying.

"No, but well, probably should since we're using their space. Want to share?" Regulus offered, he hated this. This was another round of emotions and he didn't know to have those, anytime he had emotions it was always the wrong ones at the wrong time. James got up with a nod going over to the ice cream container, Regulus got up with him standing near him.

There was a brush of fingertips against his and Regulus looked down to watch as James interlocked their fingers together. Normally he may have pulled away, glared at James for thinking of doing that, but he squeezed his hand instead. The employee got up, "What can I get for you?"

"What flavor do you like?" James whispered in his ear, his voice still croaking.

"Anything," Regulus was rather particular about what ice cream he liked but now wasn't the time for that. James got strawberry and paid for it then grabbed two spoons and sat back down at their previous table. This time they sat right next to each other, James holding onto Regulus' hand like it was a life raft in the middle of the ocean.

"Sorry for kicking you out and dragging you into this mess," James mumbled, shoving a spoonful of strawberry ice cream into his mouth. 

"It's… alright. Can I ask why I was kicked out?" Regulus asked, he didn't mind strawberry so put a little bit on his spoon and put it in his mouth.

"You're a mandated reporter, aren't you?" James asked and Regulus met his eyes with a curious glance.

"Technically, but you're not abusive James," Regulus said confused. He wasn't going to report James and Lily for child neglect just because their kid ran away.

"Harry came home high off his ass and I… I don't know why, I mean. I know why, but I don't know why he started. I guess I do, it's just, it's hard. To put it all together," James said and grabbed the ice cream, putting it in front of himself and taking larger bites, as if strawberry ice cream would cover all of the issues. 

Regulus let him, he didn't even want ice cream this late to be honest, "I'm sorry." He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say at the moment, this didn't feel like the type of thing someone would want advice on, James probably just wanted him to listen.

James sighed, "I just don't know how to fix it."

"Not everything can be fixed," Regulus told him, dropping his hand as their palms were starting to get sweaty.

"This can be fixed, we just need to get him off of them. He just needs more therapy, more help," James said like he was trying to convince himself.

"Didn't you say you're that more therapy won't fix this?" Regulus asked, remembering their conversation from earlier in the day.

"I know," James admitted defeatedly. "It's my fault though, I have to fix it. He would've never gotten on drugs if he didn't grow up in that house and he would've never been in that house if it wasn't for me. If it wasn't for the drugs none of this would've happened."

Regulus looked down at the table, he couldn't say 'it isn't your fault' because it was James' fault. James wasn't wrong, if he had never gone down the path of addiction there was a good chance Harry would've never followed him down the path. "You're a different person now. You can't fix all of the issues you've caused but you can try to make them better."

"And how do I make them better?" 

"I don't know. When was the last time you and Harry did something together? Just the two of you? And I don't mean watching a movie, I mean going hiking or something," Regulus tried to think of normal things that normal families did.

James gave him a slightly amused look, "Is that what your father did? Went camping with you?"

"No, my family bonding time was my father seeing how much skin he could bruise without someone noticing," Regulus answered with an equally amused smile even if the subject matter was dark, "I think normal families do hiking though, it means like a normal family activity."

"He likes drawing. Maybe I could do something with that…" James mumbled to himself, the sadness in his eyes returning when Regulus mentioned the beatings he used to get. 

"Could take him to a painting class, it'll probably be full of middle aged women but they do exist," Regulus had his fair share of being the youngest and the only male in painting classes. The older women were usually sweet at least.

James leaned on him, "Yeah, maybe. Thank you for meeting me. I was just feeling too much and you calm everything. You're my lighthouse."

"I'm a lighthouse?" Regulus asked with a smile approaching on his lips as he looked over at James.

"Yeah, but my lighthouse, not just any lighthouse," James nodded, finishing the ice cream on his own, "Sorry we didn't really share it…"

"It's fine, I don't need ice cream at midnight anyway," Regulus hesitantly put his arm on James, loosely around his back. "I'm happy to be your lighthouse, as long as I keep getting candles as payment."

"I'll get my lighthouse all the lemon candles," James smiled over at him, it was weak and only lasted a second before it fell again, but it was a smile. 

"Please no more lemon candles, I like cinnamon and vanilla," Regulus laughed quietly, he had started burning them in the apartment and Evan threatened to throw them out the window if he continued bringing them home. 

"One vanilla candle coming up," James pushed the empty cup away from him and fully leaned on Regulus now, "Can we stay here for a bit?"

"As long as you need," Regulus would sit here till they closed if James wanted, he would go to the park or one of their homes till the morning if James wasn't ready yet. He could be here for him. He could do this.

Even if not for James, it was for himself. To prove that he wasn't this edgelord teenager anymore, he was an adult with a solid job, a good education, and an awful crush on James Potter. He could help James, and by extension Harry, even if just by letting James lay on him.

Remus had called Tonks near midnight begging for her address. He had thrown up on the side of the road already from stress, heaving as he rested on his hands on his car. Sirius went home after Remus reassured him that he would be alright. 

"Why are you up so late? What's wrong?" Tonks asked through the crunchy phone microphone, she sounded half asleep as she yawned.

"Is Teddy home?" Remus asked as he moved, sitting on the hood of his car, spitting onto the ground to try and get the taste out of his mouth.

"I think so, is that why you want to come over? I don't really care if you want to see him in person, was just confused," Tonk yawned again, "Just come over Remus, I'll text you the address."

"Thank you," Remus said and got back in his car, he washed out his mouth with a bottle of water he had in his car. He drove to the apartment building, it looked rough from the outside but Remus had grown up in section eight housing so he wasn't one to judge. He went up the staircase, gripping the rail with a tight hand as he struggled to get up from his hip and knees having another rough night.

The stress from Harry missing didn't help and now the stress from Teddy possibly going through the same thing. Lily had told him everything, the drugs, the blood, the fight, he almost went to her house and made sure she was okay but he was more concerned about his son, even if he had just found out about his existence. 

He knocked on the door once he reached it, it didn't take long before Tonks answered.

She was wearing a short thin shirt and a pair of shorts that were clearly just intended for being at home and not being seen by anyone in the public eye. "Sorry I didn't change. Come in," she moved to the side and then went through the small main room, a living room and kitchen combo and knocked on one of three doors off of it.

There was faint music coming from the room as the light under the door was visible, Teddy answered the door, just in a pair of plaid pajama pants. "Dad?" He asked, tilting his head. Remus looked him over, looking at his arms, wrist, mouth, and nose. He didn't look high based on what he saw but he was also out of the game.

"Teddy," Remus walked up to him as Tonks went through one of the other doors, leaving it open an inch but leaving it closed for the most part to give them privacy.

"Why are you here?" Teddy asked going back into his bedroom but leaving the door open. The walls of his bedroom were covered in posters of various punk and rock bands, covering the cosmetic issues on the walls. There was a decent amount of motorcycle posters as well.

"Was worried about you," Remus said honestly, he wanted to bring the boy in for a hug but he didn't, "Something bad happened to someone's kid I know and I was worried the same thing happened to you."

"Are they okay?" Teddy asked, going over to the speaker and turning the volume of it down.

"Yeah they're fine. I'm going to ask something that you're probably not going to like. Do you do drugs?" Remus asked, Teddy didn't look like he did but Harry also didn't look like he did.

"I smoke weed but besides that, no," Teddy answered with a shrug. Remus tried to look his face over for a lie, trying to see if he was telling Remus just what he wanted to hear or if he was being serious.

"Just be careful, even with that," Remus rolled his lips together, Teddy looked like he was telling the truth.

"You radiate stoner energy and you want me to be careful with weed? You know it's not like coke," Teddy said sitting down on the bed, it loudly squeaking under him.

Remus nodded, "I used to be a stoner but that means I also know that even weed can get laced. Do you carry Narcan on you?" he asked. Remus always carried in on him, especially now. 

"No I don't see the point I guess," Teddy shrugged, "Maybe if I were to be around that type of environment more I would but…" he trailed off.

"You should get some, seriously," Remus said, putting on his teacher's voice to let Teddy know just how serious he was. Teddy just gave him a half nod that made Remus sigh but he dropped it, "So you're good right? Not going to OD overnight?" he asked. 

"No, I was about to go to bed," Teddy said laughing a little as he laid down in his bed.

"Have a goodnight," Remus patted the doorframe and then closed it behind him. He knocked on Tonk's door then opened it, his eyes widened when there was a woman in Tonks' bed, long blond hair that was almost white as she looked up at Remus with an eyebrow raised before he could shut the door. "Sorry!"

"You're fine, is everything okay?" Tonks asked getting up and opening the door again.

"Yeah. Everything is fine, I just worried over what happened to my friend," Remus told her, giving a weak wave to the woman in the back.

"Is everyone okay?" Tonks asked with a frown.

"Everyone is safe, I just got worried over nothing," Remus admitted, feeling almost bad for breaking into their apartment this late at night.

"It's fine, you okay?" Tonks asked, grabbing him by the forearm. A clear concern on her face.

"I'm good. I'm not actually, but I'm better knowing he's alright," Remus put his hand over hers. For a split second he swore he was in a bar, loud music pouring out of the shitty speakers. A shitter glass of whiskey in his hands. He remembered the taste of it, the feeling of her hands on his chest. He blinked rapidly as he stared at her again.

Tonks nodded, "That's good. We were going to go camping over fall break actually, would you want to join? You could even bring your husband," she offered, glancing behind her for a confirmation, the blond woman nodding.

Remus couldn't help but snort, "I'll ask him. He's not exactly the camping type but maybe it would be good to get out of the city for a bit."

"You can bring whoever you want as long as they have a tent. More the merrier," Tonks brought him in for another hug and the taste of cheap whiskey coated his tongue again as he smelled her floral perfume.

Remus nodded, "I'll keep it in mind, thank you," he hugged her tighter and then released her, "I'm going to let you go to bed now, sorry again."

"Stop saying sorry so much, you always had a knack over that," Tonks gave him a sad smile and then lightly punched him on the shoulder, "Go to bed yourself old man."

Remus rolled his eyes with a chuckle, "Have a goodnight." He walked out of their apartment, hearing the lock click behind him and went into his car as he tried to remember more about their supposed relationship. Tonks clearly remembered even if he didn't and it made him feel even worse that he didn't even remember she existed, just thrown into the girls he hooked up with while too drunk or high to remember his own name.

Lily finished her cigarette and then left James' house. Not before she creeped up the stairs and heard James talking to Harry. When she heard that he was actually talking to him she went back down the stairs and got into her car. She drove without thinking, she knew a park close by that shouldn't have anyone there this late or at least minimal people.

When she parked at the park, the thing she did was grip both sides of her steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and then screamed. She screamed so loudly that the birds around her car that were pecking at the grass flew up and away from the car, she swore her car moved as she punched the steering wheel with her fists. Hot tears rolled down her face as her hands found their way into her scalp, itching and stretching at it as she pulled at her hair.

Her boy. Her blood. Her mistakes. Her genetics. It was her fault, it was all her fault. She got out of her car not even sure if she locked it before she took off running. Back in their youth her and James would go on runs in the morning and late at night, talk about their feelings or run off any bad feelings they still had on them. 

She just ran without thinking or without a path to be honest as she wiped the tears out of her eyes. Only stopping when her lungs ran out of air and were burning, she put her hands on her knees and panted as she tried swallowing air.

"Are you okay?"

Lily turned around to see Mary running in place near her, concerned on her face. "Wonderful," Lily lied, she wasn't doing a great job of hiding it. She hadn't messaged Mary yet even if she did score the number off of Remus.

"You're running in scrubs?" Mary asked as she stopped running, putting her hands on her hips. 

"Post work run?" Lily tried with a pitiful laugh shaking her head. The faint light of the moon and a nearby street lamp lighting up their faces.

"Sure," Mary said sarcastically with a smile, "I'm uh, sorry about the whole diner thing by the way. Marlene is just an idiot, you didn't need to pretend to be my girlfriend."

"I didn't mind," Lily said honestly as she moved her hair out of her face. She probably looked like a wreck, red face from screaming and crying with dried tears and the scent of cigarette smoke on her. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mary with a grimace, "I don't mean to pry but you look… rough."

"I am rough," Lily admitted, "I'll be fine. Maybe. Probably. Why are you running so late?" She changed the topic.

Mary bit her bottom lip, "Running clears my mind. I needed to clear it of some things before work tomorrow."

"Are you okay?" 

"Wonderful," Marty said just as sarcastically as she did earlier, the same smile on her face. "I haven't fainted anymore though, so that's good."

"That's great," Lily said earnestly, she was worried about the fainting episodes which is part of the reason she had grabbed her number. "You should still see your PCP though."

"Already have the appointment set Doc," Mary gave her a mock salute.

"Nurse not Doc, but good. You'll be able to do the proper evaluation there," Lily shoved her hands in her scrub pockets. 

"This is totally inappropriate but would you want to come back to my place? I'm not going to be sleeping tonight and you look like shit, so I thought maybe we could drink tea or talk over coffee. Don't feel pressured though," Mary offered, biting the inside of her cheek as she spoke.

Lily knew she shouldn't but she nodded anyway, "That sounds… really nice actually."

Mary looked surprised but smiled regardless, "Great! Put your number in? I'll text you the address."

Lily took her phone and put her number in, feeling now wasn't the time to mention that she already had Mary's number because it would probably just come off as creepy in the moment. She handed the phone back, "I should head back to my card then."

"Me too," Mary gave her another quick smile, "See you there." And then ran off. Lily looked up at the stars as she shook her head, then jogged back to the car as she got in her driver's seat. A text on her phone lighting up with the address in it. Lily knew this was such a stupid idea but she started driving to the address anyway.

Chapter Text

James and Lily put cameras up outside his front and his back door that were attached to their phones to see who came in and out of the house. It wasn't a secret that it was to see when Harry left and came home, which was him leaving to school and then coming home from school. The Friday of the game James and Lily were anxiously sitting in the bleachers before Sirius and Remus would get there. 

Lily was wearing one of the school jackets, her makeup touched up from after work. James was wearing a jacket with a similar design to hers but it was a hoodie instead. They had considered not letting Harry play tonight but after Lily gave him a check up to make sure he was alright and also checked him for any irregular behavior prior to the game, she let him play.

James was chewing on one of the strings of his jacket as Lily laid on him, nursing a Diet Dr. Pepper in her lap. He looked over at someone stepped on the bleacher level, he figured it was Remus or Sirius but it was Regulus. He gave James a short wave, "Figured you could use the extra support." He sat down next to him. "Hello," he gave another wave to Lily.

James had told her that he told Regulus earlier about what happened with Harry and Lily confessed that she had told bits and pieces to Mary, who he didn't even know she existed until Lily made him remember who she was. All Mary knew according to Lily was that Harry had a rough night and needed some extra support. "You don't seem like the type to like football games," Lily said as she sat up straighter.

"I don't," Regulus shook his head. He had a tote bag over one of his shoulders and put it in his lap. Taking out a sketchbook and a pen. 

"Then why are you here?" James asked him to try to look at the inner contents of the sketchbook but Regulus hit him away. 

Regulus bit the end of the pen as he glanced at the field then back down at the book, "Thought you could use a lighthouse."

Lily gave him a curious look as she tilted her head, raising an eyebrow in the process. She gave James a subtle look in her eye that said they would be discussing this further. The crush wasn't a secret anymore, now a widely known fact amongst the friend group, but no one knew that James was leaning on him as much as he was. Sirius and Remus showed up next, Remus doing a double take at Regulus but then sat behind them. Sirius sat down next to Regulus at first, "Hey."

Regulus looked over at him for a split second before looking back at his sketchbook. Not bothering to reply. 

Sirius sighed and got up, sitting next to Remus instead. "How's Harry?" he asked. 

James gave a long drawn out sigh, "Don't know."

The game was starting and there were footsteps on the bleachers again close to them, James looked over to see Mary walking towards them, or towards Lily in particular. "Hope you don't mind if I crash in."

"Always good to see you Mary," Remus greeted him, putting his arm around Sirius, bringing him closer in. 

"Good to see you Remus, I'm assuming this is the mysterious husband I always hear about, and Mr. Black I didn't expect you to see you here," Mary sat next to Lily as she put her purse in her lap. Sirius made a face at 'Mr. Black' but didn't say anything.

Mary must have noticed it, "Do you have an issue with the name Mr. Black?" she asked, sitting a little too close to Lily to just be friendly.

Sirius laughed, "I spent too many years being a Mr. Black."

Remus grabbed him by the side of his face, bringing him in for a small kiss, appropriate enough to be done in public. "I think Mr. Lupin has a much better ring to it."

Regulus looked at James with wide eyes, "I'm going to kill myself," he said quietly in his ear. James laughed silently as he nudged Regulus with his knee. The teams switched from defense to offense, both Lily and James stiffening as Harry was sent out to play. Regulus moved closer to James, putting one hand on his knee and leaning into his ear with a whisper, "He'll be okay."

James was treating Regulus like his lighthouse. Letting him guide him through the rough waves. He felt like he could drown but as long as Regulus was near him, he'd be alright. The game went better than expected, the team won and Harry wasn't even subbed out once. Harry wasn't allowed to go out that night and James made sure to stick to it, even when Harry begged him and Ron gave him a sad smile like he stole candy from him. James stayed firm and drove Harry home, not before giving Regulus too long of a hug for them just being friends.

They were going through the front door of the house, the Ring going off and his phone buzzing in his pocket when Harry threw his things on one of the chairs. "Are you dating my teacher?"

"Not yet," James said, giving him a weak smile.

"Are you going to date my teacher?" Harry asked, sitting on the arm of the chair.

"How would you feel if I said yes?" James asked. He had dabbled in dating since his divorce with Lily but he didn't openly bring partners home to meet Harry.

"You're like seventy, I didn't think anyone would want to date you," Harry said blankly. 

James crossed his arms as he blinked at him, "That's just rude. I was a ladies man in my youth."

"Sure you were dad," Harry rolled his eyes dramatically.

"I was. All the girls wanted me. Your mother was lucky to have me. I mean I'm sure girls flood you from all corners," Harry had never had a girlfriend. James and Lily weren't helicopter parents in the sense that they didn't let him date, they even made sure Harry knew that they'd be accepting if he turned out to be gay. Still, he had never had a partner before. James just figured he wanted to focus on sports and Lily thought he was focusing on academics.

Harry uncomfortably adjusted on the seat, "Yeah I guess. I don't really care though."

"No?" James asked, sitting in one of the other chairs as he tilted his head. 

"No. When did you uh, have your first girlfriend? Or first boyfriend?" Harry asked, sitting on the chair properly now.

"Tweleve? Maybe?" James tried to answer truthfully but he honestly just couldn't remember. 

"Is it weird that I don't want to date anyone?" Harry asked, looking over at James, biting the inside of his cheek.

"No, you probably just haven't met the right girl or guy yet," James gave Harry a comforting smile, "Your person will come along."

Harry didn't seem to buy it, "Sure, I'm going to go up to my room."

James watched as Harry walked up the stairs, the faint noise of him shutting the door above him. He still felt bad about not letting him go out with his friends but Harry would understand hopefully.

Harry was going crazy from being grounded. The first week was fine, he didn't even go out that often and he didn't think it was an actual punishment. By the second week he was a little bored but was content just texting Ron, Hermione, and Teddy. The third week passed by and Harry tried convincing his dad to let him invite his friends over. He knew why he was grounded but it's not like one of them would bring drugs to the house. Teddy might actually. The other two wouldn't though.

James said no and Harry stomped back up to his bedroom. The first taste of freedom would come once fall break hit, everyone was going camping apparently. From his dad, to his teachers, to his uncles, to Teddy. He was even allowed to bring Ron and Hermione along. The day of, he was riding in the back of his dad's car. Ron was driving Heremione and the adults were driving in their vehicles. 

They arrived in the center of the woods on some camping grounds, they got out and almost everyone was there already. James took the tents he had brought out of the car and brought them over to Sirius. The two of them started to set up all of the tents as the strongest and oldest men in the group. A third person joined that had Harry do a double on.

"Is that my brother?" Ron asked spooking Harry as he jumped, hitting Ron in the shoulder. Bill Weasley was there, arm around his wife. 

"Why is your brother and his wife here?" Harry asked, Hermione went on the other side of him.

Ron's face twisted, "I have no idea. Is the blueberry here yet?"

"Blueberry?" Harry asked with a laugh, "No not yet as far as I know. We just got here though."

His dad finished putting up one of the tents and then looking over at the children, "This is your tents guys." Harry nodded and brought his bags over to it. Ron and Hermione did the same. 

"Since when is your dad so fit?" Hermione asked as she got out her sleeping bag then started to put her hair up into a ponytail.

Ron and Harry looked over at her at the same time. Harry mouthed his mouth to tell her off when someone came in, "I personally think I'm more fit." 

Teddy had a duffel bag over his shoulder, he raised the bottom of his shirt up with a grin. For one he wasn't wearing his normal stereotypical emo boy look, instead he was wearing a cut off tank top and his normal pair of jeans. He wasn't necessarily lying, he probably had just as much muscle on him as Harry did.

"You wish," Hermione laughed as she covered her mouth going back into her bag. Ron gave Harry a look then nodded towards Teddy. He didn't understand the whole jealousy thing so didn't push it. 

Once all the sleeping bags were set up, Ron and Teddy went out to talk to their family. Ron wanted to figure out why his brother was there and Teddy was going to talk to his mom. Harry looked over at Hermione nudging her, "Are you making Ron jealous on purpose?"
"No on purpose," Hermione shrugged with a smile. "You should've invited Ginny, she'd love it out here."

Harry grimaced, "I don't want to lead her on." Ginny had liked him for the past couple years and Harry knew it. She wasn't afraid to let him know, always flirting with him in the hallway or inviting him to dances. And Harry didn't want to be mean, so he'd agree to go to homecoming with her. She had even asked him this year and he said yes… because he couldn't say no.

"You're doing a shit job at that. Why don't you just go out with her?" 

"Because I don't like her like that," he didn't, he had never felt that type of attraction towards her. She was pretty, he'd agree on that, but besides that, there were no feelings there.

"Do you like anyone ?" she asked.

"No," Harry shook his head. He had never had a crush on someone before, he had kissed multiple girls before but there was too much salvia for him to enjoy it. It was like kissing a dead fish. With feelings they just never came, or maybe they did come, but from what Ron described what he felt whenever Hermione entered the room, Harry had never felt that before. Not with any man or woman he had met.

Teddy came back inside with a wicked grin, "His brother is dating my mom."

"Ron's brother?" Harry asked with a head tilt. Bill was married. He had gone to his wedding.

"Yeah," Teddy confirmed, nodding, "I've seen his wife come over to our apartment together, they didn't tell me they were dating but I could guess."

Harry looked over at the tent wall, his mom was dating two people at the same time. Harry didn't have an issue with that, he wasn't weirded out by it, people could love whoever they wanted to in his opinion, at least if everyone was consenting. The issue was, his mom found two people to love and Harry couldn't even find one.

James finished putting up Lily and Mary's tent, she had invited the woman along with them and while James thought it was a little odd to invite the school counselor but he invited the art teacher so he didn't have room to judge. Sirius had finished his tent while Bill finished his. He had met Bill once or twice but didn't know much about him other than he was his son's friend's brother. 

Regulus was leaning against a tree, sketchbook in one hand and the other hand behind his hand as he watched James set up their tent. "Hurry up, I want to sit down," Regulus teased.  

James turned around, putting his hands on his hips as he sweat through his shirt. "Do you want to set up the tent on your own?"

"No, I'd just go sleep in Lily's tent. She seems nice enough to let me in," Regulus put down the sketchbook in the grass and walked out, helping James set it up.

"I won't complain about having a tent all to myself," James grinned, "Warning, I kick in my sleep."

"You're joking," Regulus said with a flat face. 

"Nope, go ask Lily, slept with her for many years," James grabbed the stakes and handed one of them to Regulus before he went to one of the corners and started to put the other tree in.

Regulus sighed and went over to do his one, he put it in faster than James expected but he didn't complain when James took longer to finish putting the rest in. "How's Harry been?"

"Better, he's been complaining about how I'm making his life unfair and how he should be allowed to have a friend over. He hasn't gotten high since though, at least from what I can tell," James kept his voice down low so only Regulus could hear him as they threw their bags inside. 

Regulus sat down as he took out a few of his items, "Well it's good that he hasn't partook in that again."

"It is. Lily and I are hoping that nature helps him, also being surrounded by a bunch of good people," James explained as he watched Regulus take out the few items he wanted to. 

"Let's hope," Regulus said looking up at him with a smile that James thought was real but he was going to take it at face level, even if Regulus didn't mean it, he was still going to use it as comfort.

The first night went well, they sat around a fire Bill and James made. Lily made them food and Mary arrived late profusely apologizing to Lily when she finally got there. Even in the low light of the forest, their faces were only lit by the campfire, but both of them were blushing bright red as they sat next to each other. As they were getting to bed Harry walked over to him, hands in his pockets, "So is everyone using my school as dating grounds?"

James snorted, "Not on purpose. Let your mom have this."

Harry grumbled, "Fine. I'm going to lie down." 

James watched as Harry walked away from the fire, going into his tent where the other teenagers were. He went into his tent where Regulus was laying down in an open sleeping bag, a blanket over him. "Any chance I can hold you while I sleep?" James asked laying down next to him, not so close that they were touching but still close.

"I bite," Regulus looked over at him but moved closer to him.

"And I kick," James hummed, taking that as consent as he grabbed him, pulling him in closer and putting an arm around him. Regulus put one arm around him so their chests were together, Regulus threw the blanket over the two of them. 

Nothing was said as Regulus started to move in his arms, huffing as he twisted, "Can't believe I let you convince me to come out here. I should be in a cabin not on the dirt."

James chuckled, "I asked you once and you enthusiastically approved but I'm sorry my prince, I'll rent a cabin next time."

Regulus had a strangled noise as he flustered, "Don't call me that."

"Okay my prince, go to bed," James brought him in closer, tightening his arms around his body. Regulus didn't say anything else and soon he was snoring quietly in James' arms. He fell asleep with him still in his arms. In the morning Regulus made fun of him for kicking in his sleep and James returned the favor by making fun of Regulus for biting him in his sleep.

In the afternoon James had managed to convince Regulus to go hiking with him later that night on the condition that James would carry him on his back if he got tired. When the sun started to set, James grabbed a flashlight and a pack of food then started to head out on one of the trails Regulus was watching at first, swatting some of the bugs around them, "I hate the woods."

"Nature is beautiful," James rolled his eyes.

"I'm prettier than a tree."

"That you are," James agreed, mumbling it to himself but by the way Regulus' ears lit up red, he assumed he could hear him. They walked up to a clearing, it was a steep walk but Regulus was able to complete it with James' help. The sunset was a beautiful shade of red and purple as they were able to look out into the night sky on a cliff of sorts. 

Regulus sat down on the ground carefully, making sure that the ground was dry. James sat down next to him, "Thank you for coming here by the way."

"I wanted to help," Regulus nodded, leaning against James. "I wish my brother wasn't here but I'll cope."

"He's not that bad of a person. I bet he's changed a lot since you last knew him," James tried putting an arm around his shoulders. "I know you two have a lot of… issues but you should actually try talking to him."

"I'd rather talk to you," Regulus changed the direction of the conversation. 

James sighed, it was worth a shot at least. "Can I ask how far you want to push this? Because I don't want to try kissing you and then push me away because I'm getting the wrong signals."

Regulus had a small smile on his face, "We cuddled last night James."

"And? Platonic cuddles exist," James laughed as Regulus grabbed him by his face, pulling him into a kiss. It was long by soft, their lips moving against each other as their fingers intertwined in the grass. 

"I don't want them to be platonic," Regulus murmured against his lips into the kiss. James nodded in agreement as he kissed him deeper, his nails on the hand that wasn't holding Regulus' digging into the dirt.

Regulus was the first to pull away, staring starry eyed at James and then giggled. James looked at him with wide eyes, Regulus didn't giggle. He wasn't the type to fucking giggle . "What's funny?"

"You," Regulus pursed his lips then bit his bottom lip.

"Thank you, I know I'm hilarious," James grinned and picked up their joined hands, running his thumb over them. "What does this mean for us?"

"It means I'm your lighthouse," Regulus looked off at the sunset, a smile not even he could hide on his face.

James brought their dirt covered hands to his house, kissing the top of them, "My lighthouse that I kiss?" he asked playfully.

"Mhm," Regulus nodded, "Maybe if you behave that can also turn into the lighthouse that you date."

"Date? Now you're really going to make my head spin Mr. Black," James connected their lips again.

Regulus laughed into the kiss, mumbling, "Never call me that again," but James wouldn't listen. He would call him that again and call him it again soon. 

James had a mischievous smile as he said, "We could always change it to Mr. Potter if that suits you better."

"Now you're pushing it Jamie," Regulus pushed him away lightly, shoving him in the shoulder.

"Jamie?" James' eyes lit up and Regulus shoved him again, even harder than the last two. "It's cute."

"I regret kissing you," Regulus sighed. James rocked against him and pulled him into another kiss. For the first time in the past couple weeks he felt calm, too calm. He almost made a joke about the storm finally being calm until he heard Lily's scream.

Remus was making jokes with Bill and Fleur. He had known the older Weasley, the man only a few years younger than him and had gone to school with him. Though the two were never friends, they had talked to each other before. 

Tonks joined them shortly, the three of them naturally fit in with each other. Remus was happy that Tonks had found her people, especially after what Remus did to her. He didn't mean to hurt her but he did leave her with a kid, his kid. He couldn't fix that. Tonks was in the middle of a pun when he heard Teddy shout, "I need help!"

Tonks and Remus instantly took off in the direction of the yelling. The teenagers had gone off on their own, staying near the camping clearing but hiding so the adults couldn't see them anymore. Lily and Mary went off in their tent and Sirius was hiding in their tent from the elements, mainly bugs. 

He felt like throwing up as he rounded the corner around a tree. His ankles were crying as his hip ached from the sudden burst of energy. Teddy was standing over Harry's body which laid motionless on the body. Remus instantly got down on his knees and checked for a pulse, he waited one second, then two seconds. Still no pulse. "Shit," he cursed loudly and put his hands on Harry's chest, adrenaline taking over his movements.

His knees still ached as he knelt in the dirt, pushing into Harry's chest, giving him chest compressions as he put his hands in the property position then started to press down on his chest. In the background Lily's scream rang out in his ears, he was pushed onto the ground as Lily took over on the chest compressions. Remus winced as he started to get up.

Lily's hair was all over her face as she pointed at Tonks, "Call 911."

Tonks fished out her phone and Lily kept going, tears building up over her eyes as Harry just lied there. Remus took a couple steps back to take in the scene, Harry looked just like he was sleeping, his glasses slightly off centered from his eyes as his hoodie was up. Teddy was shaking as he stood near him, his eyes dragged down and he saw an orange bottle in his hands. A white label around it and a white top. 

His eyes went back up to Teddy's eyes, he looked terrified as he clenched the bottle in his fist. He hadn't noticed that Remus had been staring at him. 

For a moment, Remus didn't see Harry and Teddy; he saw a younger version of himself standing there with tears in his eyes. Cross earring hanging off of one ear lobe as James and Sirius ran off hiding the drugs before the police arrived. Lily yelled on the phone telling the police to hurry up and Peter lying on the floor, eyes shut and not opening, body lifeless on the pavement. It was Remus' fault. It would always be Remus' fault. It was his drugs, his addiction, it was his fault his friend was dead, it was his fault his friends' were addicts, his fault that his friend's son was lying on the floor without a pulse.

James and Regulus came running down the hill they had hiked up earlier, Remus saw the exact moment James saw what was  happening. He ran faster and slid down to the other side of Harry, he put his fingers against his neck, "Lily he doesn't have a pulse."
"I fucking know James," Lily yelled as she kept doing chest comparisons, there was a loud cracking noises and Remus felt another wave of nausea as he locked eyes with Sirius who came out of the tent.

He looked down at the pills again, fuck, the pills . He ran to his tent, his body begging him to stop as he dug through his bag and pulled out the Narcan then ran back, he got down on his knees next to Harry's head as he fumbled with it. Lily glanced over at it but didn't stop him as he shoved it in Harry's nostrils and pressed down on it. 

Harry's eyes flew open as James pulled his hands off of Harry's chest. He looked at everyone with wide eyes as he blinked at everyone, "What happened?"

"You overdosed," Remus answered, tossing the Narcan container on the ground. 

"Oh," Harry looked at James and Lily then visibly swallowed. Remus got up and forcibly grabbed the pill bottle from Teddy, the label said it was doxycycline but Remus had a feeling that wasn't what was inside of the bottle. 

Lily wrapped her arms around him as James piled on top of them, the family panting and sniffling as Lily had been crying on and off through the CPR. Remus had half a mind to give Teddy a lecture but now wasn't the time. The ambulance arrived and James climbed in with Harry and Lily.

Remus grabbed Teddy gently by the arm as he brought him over to one of the trees. "What was in the pill bottle? It's easier if you tell me, if not they test Harry and they find out anyway. Make it easier." He tried to speak calmly but he could tell by the look of fear in Teddy's eyes that he was failing. 

"Adderall," Teddy answered quickly. "I don't think it's just adderall though." 

"Probably not, thank you," Remus got out his phone and sent it to Lily who read the message just as fast.

Teddy grabbed onto a tree with a tight hand, "Is he going to die?"

"I don't think so but we won't know until Lily or James text us," Remus explained. "Do you have anything else on you?"

"No," Teddy looked off at the ground and Remus put his head in his hand.

"What else do you have?"

"Weed. Maybe acid," Teddy mumbled gesturing to the tent he was sleeping it,

Remus walked into the tent, half expecting to see Ron and Hermoine in here but they probably would've come out with all of the yelling. He grabbed Teddy's bag and dug through it looking for the drugs. Teddy went into the tent staring at the bag but not stopping him. "Do you know where Ron and Hermoine are?"

"No. They went off into the woods together, Ron said my knuckles would come out bloody if I followed them. Think he's worried I'll steal his girl," Teddy mumbled as Remus found the baggies and took both. 

"Why are you taking my weed?"

"Because I don't trust it to be just weed right now. Does your mom know?" Remus asked, tapping his foot against the ground.

"Not really. Maybe. She knows I smoke, knows that I go out and party. So she can guess," Teddy shrugged.

Remus tossed the bag back onto the ground, "I hope this woke you up enough to stop." He didn't care if that part was necessarily harsh as Teddy needed to understand that what he was doing wasn't just fun, that it had consequences. He walked out of the tent and found Sirius smoking outside of the tent, he grabbed a cigarette from his pack and put it between his lips.

The night was rough, the ground hurt his body further as Sirius was laying on the other side of the tent, needing his own personal space. As Remus tried sleeping every time he closed his eyes, blue eyes shot back at him. Cold, dead, blue eyes. Pale skin. Peter was just as pale as Sirius, Remus used to joke about the two of them being vampires due to how much they avoided the sun.

The smell of eucalyptus hit his nose, he wasn't sure if he was around him or if his mind was playing tricks on him. No matter what he did, he couldn't stop smelling eucalyptus.

Chapter Text

The lights of the ER rained down on Lily as she had bitten through all of her nails. James was outside the hospital smoking through the pack he had in his pocket as Lily didn't leave Harry's side. He was stable but she was far from stable herself. 

She swore that the lights were brighter than they normally were. Throughout her employment some of her patients would complain about the ceiling lights and she never understood it but right now she thought about throwing her phone through them just so her eyes would have a break. They were in a curtained off area of the ER as he was being observed, IV in one arm. Lily held herself back from telling the intern what a shit job they did with it, it was nursing basics 101. 

Some of her coworkers had given her sympathetic smiles. She wanted to wipe them off her face. She didn't want sympathy, she wanted to be left alone. They deduced that the adderall had been laced with fentanyl which triggered the overdose with the large amount Harry took. Lily knew the statistics, she watched them happen, from Peter to the countless amounts of people who had come into the ER only to become another overdose statistic. She had heard the screaming parents, standing next to the attendant as they called the time of the death, she had watched the warmth drain from the body.

Harry hadn't talked much, mostly just staring at the ceiling or closing his eyes as he laid on the bed. Lily was itching for a cigarette but wasn't going to leave him, even if James got back, even if she had to eat or piss, she wasn't leaving his side. 

Twenty minutes later James moved back the curtain, "Want anything to eat Lils?" his voice sounded raw as flipped his phone between his hands.

"I don't know if I'll be able to but uh sure, just get something from the vending manchie. Use the one on the right not the left, the one on the left will steal your money. " Lily sighed, she reached out and put one hand on Harry's thigh, he was alright.

James left and came back with a Reese's for her and a bag of chips. She ate the chocolate as the hours continued to pass. Harry got discharged the next morning and they piled into an uber that James had called. Someone would have to drive Lily's car back from the campsite or she'd have to go get it, but that wasn't her main concern. They stopped in James' driveway and they helped Harry out of the car. Even if he was physically alright for the most part, he was just as shaken up as the other two. They went past the couch, upstairs into Harry's room, all of them squished together on Harry's bed, the teenager not bothering to argue instead just laying on Lily's chest like he was a small child again.

James was the first to finally say something, "Why again?"

"I don't know," Harry mumbled, "It was just there and it… it called to me I guess."

"What do you need?" Lily asked, moving his hair out of his eyes.

"I don't know," Harry said quietly.

"We'll figure it out, as long as it takes. I mean what I said, I'm not giving up on you," James told him. For a moment Harry was a toddler again, the family laying on the couch as some kid's show played in the background. For a moment Lily wasn't in hell.

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"We'll get through it," Lily said, trying to believe it herself. "We have to get through it."

Lily hadn't slept all night and with the body heat from her son and ex-husband, along with the comforting nature of the mattress. She was out cold the moment her heart finally had a break. 

Lily wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up. Harry was passed out in the bed next to her as James was nowhere to be seen. She carefully got up trying her best to not wake him up, as the mattress creaked under her she managed to get up without him noticeably waking up. Tip toeing out of the room she shut the door behind her then rubbed her eyes seeing light coming out from out of the doors in the dark hallway. She peaked her head in to see James around a bunch of boxes, "This is cozy."

"Ha ha," James said dryly as he grabbed a frame from out of the boxes, blowing the dust off of it. "This is from camp," he showed her the photo inside the frame. It was all of their friend group, around the age of sixteen. Sirius in a pair of neon pink swim trunks and Peter wearing the shirt to match them.

"We look so young," Lily mumbled as she grabbed the frame from James. There was a third set of footsteps and Harry rounded the corner looking inside.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked yawning as he moved closer to Lily, she instinctively moved the frame away putting it down by her side but Harry grabbed it out of her hands. "Who is that guy with all of you?"

Lily looked at James with panicked eyes, who gave her a weak smile. "His name was Peter, he uh, well he was our friend. He was actually your godfather," James answered.

"What? Sirius is my godfather," Harry looked closer at the frame, rubbing his eyes quickly.

"Peter was your godfather first. When he passed away we changed it," James rocked on his heels. Every memory of Peter had been wiped away and burned, they didn't mean to hide his existence from Harry but it was too hard to talk about him and let the memories resurface. "You were only two when he died."

"Why don't I know about him? I mean you have no photos of him, I've never even heard of him before," Harry looked at the two of them then back down at the photo.

"It was too hard to talk about him, it was easier to shove him to the bottom of the box and tape it shut." James gently grabbed the frame from Harry's hands and started to set it back down in the box but Harry grabbed it back.

"Too late to tape it back shut again, might as well put it up," Harry said.

James smiled at him with a little nod, "Maybe you're right, come on," he nodded to the door and Lily turned around to walk out of the room, Harry and James following them out.

"How did he die?" Harry asked as James walked into his room, grabbing his nail kit with a hammer and going back into the hallway.

James picked out one of the nails and looked at the empty space on the walls, "He overdosed."

"Oh," Harry looked down at the ground as James started to put the nail into the wall. The hammer pounding against the nail loudly.

"Meth to be exact," Lily said as she kicked out the corner of the rug in the hallway. She had picked it out fifteen years ago, James still had kept it.

"Holy shit, no offense but what drugs didn't you guys do?" Harry asked as James hung the frame up.

Lily let out a pained laugh, "Not many. Don't recommend any of them. Unless you're prescribed medication, then please take your meds." 

"Is it hard working around all the medicine vials?" Harry asked her, she knew it was out of pure curiosity and he didn't mean anything malicious but it still hurt as she winced.  

Lily shook her head, "No. Haven't been tempted, ever really. Maybe one or twice when I started but I'm straight cut now. Want me to make you some actual food that isn't from a vending machine?" 

"Please?" Harry asked, giving her a pleading look. Lily went down to the kitchen and looked through the ingredients James had, there were more than normal and she knew that she'd be able to make something out of them. While she was waiting for the food to cook she checked her phone and saw the long list of texts. Everyone had messaged her from Remus to Sirius to even Mary. Oh poor Mary. She didn't even know anyone there, Lily had invited her for selfish reasons, not wanting to be alone in her tent since James was bringing Regulus along.

She barely had any energy to text anyone but opened her and Mary's texts.

Mary:

Don't want to overwhelm you but if you need someone to talk to I'm here. I have a degree in listening haha. 

I don't mean that rude- I was trying to be funny but probably not the time…

I hope everything is okay <3

I can bring a casserole later today

Lily: 

No need for the casserole haha

It was funny dw

Harry is safe and at home

Lily put her phone on the counter as she opened James' fridge, there were a couple beers in there. She took one out, opening it on the counter and then taking a sip as her phone lit up.

Mary:

That's good! How are you? Do you need anything? And what if I want to bring a casserole?

Lily:

I'm pretty shit. And what casserole am I going to be stuck with?

Mary:

My mom made a killer tuna bake. Have the recipe somewhere around my apartment.

Lily:

If you bring a fucking tuna bake, I'm kicking you out.

Lily laughed at her phone as she took another swig of the beer, stirring around what was in the pan and then looking at her phone again.

Mary:

No tuna bake then. Lasagna?

Lily:

If you bring me lasagna I'll clean your kitchen.

She focused back on the phone, using Mary and the cooking to distract her from the impending breakdown that was going to occur later. 

Mary:

What's your address?

She should probably give her James' address since he would be the one with Harry, she was only one person and James was two.

Lily:

Currently staying at my ex-husband's, here.

She texted the address to James' house along with the address to her own house then went back to cooking so Harry had something inside of him besides saline fluids. When it was finished she put it on James' table, "Come eat Harry!" She shouted out up the stairs, trying to make her voice as sweet as she could but due to the tiredness it was probably more like a strained yell.

Harry came down the stairs quickly and sat down inhaling the food as she made her and James small sandwiches. James came down the stairs after Harry, raising an eyebrow at one of the sandwiches and she nodded to it. They were able to have conversations silently, something they learned when Harry was a baby so they didn't wake him up during naps. 

James ate half of his sandwich when he paused, noticing that Lily hadn't eaten anything. He sighed and picked off half up her sandwich, holding it up to her lips, ' eat' he mouthed. Harry was too focused on eating the hearty meal she made to notice this as Lily leaned forward taking a bite of the sandwich. 

"Thank you," she said quietly, the words mushed together and muffled by the sandwich. James brought her into him, putting arm around her shoulder and holding her close to his chest. 

James brought his mouth close to his ear, lowering his voice, "Anytime Lils."

Harry glanced over at them, "Would you two ever get back together?"

Lily choked on her sandwich, grabbing James as she forced herself to swallow the large chunks of meat, cheese, and bread before looking over at their son who had finished his plate already. "Probably not, I only date women now," she wasn't going to go into the story of how she lost her romantic love for James long ago, "Wait. Is that part of your drug problem? If your father and I being separated are causing any emotional problems, it's important to know that lots of kids have divorced parents and we can bring this up to your therapist."
"No, I don't really care. You two just look like a couple," Harry said, leaning back in his chair as he brought his knees back up to his chest. "I still can't believe you two are using my school as a dating ground."

Lily made a strangled noise as she was about to take another bite of the sandwich. "Why on earth would you even say that?"

"You're dating my counselor, dad's dating my art teacher. You guys aren't exactly hiding it very well if you're trying to."

"I am not dating anyone at the moment," even if Mary was her type and she had pretended to be her girlfriend to her roommate, "Your father isn't dating anyone either," at least that's what James claimed. "Anyway, I think you and Teddy should spend some time apart for the time being."

"What?" Harry stood up crossing his arms, his eyes squinting as he wasn't wearing his glasses at the moment and had just as bad eyesight as his father.

Lily grabbed the plate on the table and put it on the sink, leaving the rest of her sandwich left out on the counter as James finished his. "I know he's who you got the pills from. Which is why you should not hang around each other."

Harry must have not had a good reply as he huffed leaning against the table. "What else?"

"You'll take drug tests when I ask you to, you'll do it without argument. If you stay clean, that's it. We move on with our lives. If you don't… then we'll talk about it. There's rehab, inpatient and out," Lily didn't want it to come to that but it was a realistic scenario she needed to consider. It's not like they couldn't afford it, James had enough money from his family to cover the cost of it with Lily's health insurance. 

Harry just nodded a sharp look in his eyes and a furrowed brow as he didn't make eye contact with her. "Anything else?"

"Not right now," Lily sighed, "Do you mind if I stay the night? I don't want to go get my car right now?" she asked James, glancing over at him.

James shook his head, "You know you're always welcome here. I can sleep on the couch tonight."

"No, I can sleep on the couch James, you can sleep in your bed," Lily didn't want to kick him out of his bedroom, she just really didn't want to walk home from here or go get her car which was still at the campground. 

James made a noise like he wasn't going to allow that but didn't continue the disagreement. "You should go rest Harry, your body needs it," James said, picking up Lily's sandwich again. Harry sighed but didn't say anything else as he went upstairs, the sound of his door clicking shut.

"You're taking my bed after you finish this," James mumbled, holding out the bread again in front of her lips.

Lily took a bite out of his hand, "I hate you." It was near the afternoon but with the lack of sleep from the hospital and only a small nap from earlier, she could fall asleep easily.

"I know I'm awful for caring about you," James rolled his eyes not minding as she ate straight out of his hands then he took the plate and cleaned it. "Regulus asked if he could come over later. I told him no but-"

"Why?" Lily asked, "He clearly helps you. I saw the way you two acted last night, I don't think I've seen you that relaxed since before the accident. I don't give a shit if your boyfriend comes over James. You're going to need help."

"I don't need help and I've been relaxed for the past couple years, I don't know what you're talking about. You were the one who always told me that I needed to stop relaxing so much. Plus we're not dating, not yet at least," James dried his hands on the towel next to the sink.

"It's a different type of relaxed. It's like, I don't know. You've always acted like you're in this chaotic state and when you're around him, it's like you can think clearly for once," Lily shrugged, looking at her phone hoping that Mary had texted her back but there was just a heart reaction on her last message.

James cleared his throat as he rubbed the sides of his face, "I'm going to go lie down. Harry isn't dumb enough to leave the house today so we should be fine tonight."

"Okay," Lily nodded, "There's no chance of you sleeping in your bed is there?" 

"Not unless you want to share it."

"James we can sleep together, I don't care enough to mind," Lily said flatly, she had slept in the same bed with Remus before so she could sleep in the same bed as James. 

"That makes everything a lot easier than."

What Lily failed to remember as she agreed was that James snored. And he snored loudly . Lily stared at the ceiling, half considering covering his face with a pillow as the light came in through the windows. Her sleep schedule was thoroughly messed up as she turned on her side trying to tune out his snoring. Once she started to get a headache from it she was finally able to go to sleep.

Harry didn't go to sleep, he could hear James' snoring through the wall and he was a little confused on why his parents were sharing a bed but wasn't going to push it. He was sitting at his desk coloring away at a drawing of a man from a game he liked.

The colored pencils he was using were running low as he had burned through a decent amount of the pigments. He'd have to ask his dad for more. His ringtone started to go off and he glanced at his phone seeing it was from Ron. He sighed and answered it, putting in his headphones and sitting his phone back down on his desk. "Are you dead?"

"Yes," Harry answered as he looked back at the reference image he was using.

"That's not funny," Hermione said, her voice dripping with concern which made Harry shrink in on himself, it's not like they could see him be weak so it was easier for him to hide in on himself.

"I'm sorry," Harry said with as strong of a voice he could muster in the moment, which wasn't much, his voice had a crack in it as he spoke.

Ron and Hermione both sighed on the other side of the line. "At least you're okay now. You're okay right? Are you still at the hospital?" Hermione asked.

"I'm at home. We got back this morning," Harry answered, grabbing his pencil sharpener to sharpen the pencil he was using. 

"When's the last time you slept?" Hermione continued to ask questions, neither of the teenage boys stopped her.

"I napped this morning, I'll sleep tonight," the nap only lasted a couple hours before his mom had gotten up, causing him to wake up as well. 

"You should be sleeping then."

Harry raised an eyebrow at his phone as if the two could see it. "Would you like for me to tell you I'm going to sleep then hang up?"

"Don't be an ass," Ron cut in, the sound of birds chirping behind their voices with a whirl of wind.

"Are you guys still out in the woods?" Harry wasn't sure if everyone could keep camping there, acting like nothing happened. He hoped that to be honest, he didn't want his accident to cause the entire thing to collapse.

"We packed up this morning, Ron pulled over so we could talk to you, figured it was a good time."

He frowned as he set the pencil down, picking up his phone now. "Sorry for ruining break."

"You didn't, it's just, it's awkward being there with all the adults on edge. Better to go home and rot in bed," Ron said.

"Or we could go to my house and watch a documentary, there's a one about Helvetica that I've been dying to watch for a while," Hermione said and Harry swore he could hear Ron roll his eyes.

"Yeah sounds fascinating," Ron said, clearly lying through his teeth which made Harry chuckle into the microphone. It felt good to laugh, it made him feel less numb.

"We should let him sleep," Hermione whispered but it was caught over the phone, the laugh on his face fell as he realized his friends were talking about him rather than with him. Like he was a hurt animal or kid. 

Ron mumbled something back at her, too quiet for the phone to pick up. "We're going to drive the rest of the way back but I'll call you later okay? And yeah, at least you're saved from the documentary."

"Good-" Harry started to say but the call ended and he felt like throwing his phone at the wall as he went back to his drawing. He stayed at his desk for the rest of the day, working on his drawing so he didn't have to think about his issues. His parents got up later that night, making their way down the stairs.

Harry had thought of eating again while they were sleeping but he didn't deserve to eat, not after what he did. He would shove the food down his throat when his mother told him to eat but the minute she turned around he'd probably throw it up. 

There was a knock on his door and Harry turned off the lamp on his desk then got up and opened it, his mom was on the other side, "Was wondering if you were awake."

"I am," Harry nodded, not mentioning that he hadn't slept. 

"I made dinner if you want to eat," it wasn't a choice, if he didn't eat it would open up another box of issues, so he just nodded and went down the stairs. His dad was at the table in the middle of eating already. 

Harry sat down next to him and put just enough food on his plate that neither of them would glance at it or question why he wasn't eating enough. 

"Would you mind if Regulus came over?" James asked him.

"Your not boyfriend?" Harry asked with a shrug, "I don't care." He really didn't care, and was a little confused on why his dad was even asking him in the rest place.

"Okay," James smiled a little, "How are you?"

"Fine," Harry answered as he shoved a large bite into his mouth so he wouldn't be expected to talk. Unfortunately both of his parents just waited for him to chew and swallow. "I'm just tired still I think."

"That's fine, we're just worried about you, most people's hearts don't stop and then they come back to life," James said finally going back to eating. 

"And again, if you feel like using again, you need to tell us," Lily added as she finished plating herself a plate of food. Harry felt like sighing but kept it inside, he wasn't blaming them for acting this way, he was just frustrated at the situation he had put himself into. The rest of dinner was quiet but fine as his parents talked about Regulus coming over. 

He excused himself from the table after he finished his plate, putting it in the sink and washing it off then went upstairs. He went into the upstairs bathroom, shoved his fingers into the back of his throat until his dinner came up. After he flushed it away he sprayed air freshener in the room then washed his mouth out before brushing his teeth. Part of him wished his pulse had stayed dead.

The door went off and James got up expecting Regulus to be on the other side as Lily cleaned up after dinner. On the other side of the door wasn't Regulus but Mary. She had three foil pans on top of each other with a smile.

"Hi Mr. Potter, I just wanted to drop these off for you," Mary said and James looked behind him at Lily, blinking slowly.

"Thank you, um, what are they?" James asked as Mary handed him two of the foil pans, they were a little warm but closer to room temperature.

"Lasagna, I figured it would help to not have to worry about meals." 

Lily quickly walked over standing next to James, "That's a lot of lasagna," she told her as Mary handed her the last pan. They were each decent sized trays, able to be eaten for quite a few meals. "Thank you so much Mary."

"I just figured it was easier if I made you all separate dishes so you could take them home," Mary explained and James gave her a warm smile at the thought put into it.

"Would you like to come in?" James offered. He wasn't sure if the house was good for guests, the house itself was a mess, not to mention that his teenage son was upstairs and they were at constant worry of being accessing drugs again, but Lily liked Mary, so it would probably be fine.

Mary looked over at Lily, "If you two don't mind, sure, but I am perfectly fine just dropping these off."

"Come on in," Lily nodded, opening the door wider. James left the two of them alone as he went into the kitchen, letting them have space as he put the pans in the fridge for tomorrow and the coming days. He thought of going upstairs and talking to Harry but he needed more rest, he was already worried Harry hadn't slept during the day, and he didn't want to accidentally wake him up if he did go to sleep. 

Lily and Mary moved outside to the backyard and James gave him a wave and a nod as they passed him before he went into the living room sitting down. He could go on his phone, or turn on the TV and watch something, but nothing felt right. 

His son almost died. Harry was dead in Remus' hands and then Lily's hands. His heart stopped and here James was, sitting on the couch, thinking about if he should watch something on the TV. His heart started to quicken as he gripped the cushion he was sitting on, his breath quickening as there was another knock at the door. The Ring doorbell went off on his phone in his pocket. He opened the door to see Regulus on the other side, a tube of strawberry ice cream in his hands. "Hi."

"Hi," James felt his heart beat slow down again as he took in Regulus' state. He was less put together than normal, his hair was more of a mess, and his clothes were mismatched, the shades of black not matching. If James noticed it, Regulus definitely knew about it. "You brought ice cream?"

"Yeah," Regulus nodded, "And it's cold so I can set it down please?"

James smiled and moved to the side, he showed Regulus to the kitchen, opening the freezer for him as Regulus found a spot inside. "Just a warning, Mary is here in the back yard."

"Noted, where's Harry?" Regulus asked as the freezer door was shut.

"Upstairs in his room, trying to let him sleep. His body needs it," James answered as the two of them went into the living room sitting down on the couch. 

Regulus sat closer to him, putting one hand on his knee, "I'm sorry that this all happened to you. If I can help, I want to."

"I don't know how you can help," James mumbled, moving even closer to him, resting his head on Regulus' shoulder. "Can you stay here tonight?" he asked quietly, forgetting that Lily was already staying over.

"Of course, I can sleep on the couch," Regulus answered.

"No," why did everyone want to sleep on his couch? "You can sleep in my bed with me, unless you don't want to but my bed is open for you." He pulled off of Regulus' shoulder to look him in the eye.

"Depends who is holding who."

James laughed quietly as he brought a hand up to Regulus' face, swiping his thumb over Regulus' lower lip, "Can I kiss you?" A short nod from Regulus gave him all the permission he needed to kiss Regulus again.

His lips were so soft against James', the quiet soft noise in the back of Regulus' throat made James melt and for a second everything was fine. It was nice to pretend that nothing bad was happening around them, it was just him and Regulus on the couch, Regulus' mouth against his in short soft kisses. Maybe Lily was right, everything would work out in the end. 

Mary and Lily left a little after the kissing occurred, something about Lily spending the night at Mary's and getting her car tomorrow. There was no noise that came out of Harry's bedroom and James thought that meant he was sleeping so tip-toed past his bedroom with Regulus. His room was a mess, dirty clothes everywhere as it was clear two people had slept in the bed earlier.

"Did Lily sleep over?" Regulus asked as he sat down on the right side of the bed, the side that James normally slept on but he would let Regulus have the side if he wanted to.

"Yeah, we got no sleep at the hospital so we slept in here earlier," James explained. "Do you want clothes to change into?" he offered, noticing that Regulus was wearing a turtleneck and a pair of slacks, something James personally wouldn't want to sleep in. 

Regulus glanced over at his dresser, "Sure." James dug out one of his old shirts from high school, POTTER in a large font across the back, and a pair of gym shorts Regulus could tie the strings on to fit him, then tossed them near him on the bed. As Regulus changed James turned around looking out the window, earning him a little snicker from Regulus but he didn't say anything until, "All done."

James turned around and felt his heart pang as Regulus was wearing his clothes. They were a little big on him as Regulus pulled the covers back getting in the bed. "Are you going to be able to even sleep tonight?" Regulus asked him as he propped his head up on one hand. 

"Not sure," James said honestly as he took off his shirt then laid down next to Regulus who instantly moved closer to him so that their arms and legs were touching.

"You should try," Regulus mumbled, looking up at him. 

"I will," James promised him, closing his eyes. As silence took over the room he waited for the thoughts to come back and for breathing to get hard again but nothing came. The calmness continued to wash over him as Regulus placed his hands on him, Regulus really was something special.

Chapter Text

Regulus stayed over at James' house for the rest of break. They didn't mean for it to happen, it was just easier if Regulus had stayed over, it was helpful to have someone help look after Harry, and Regulus was secretly looking after James at the same time. 

He made dinner and lunches, made sure that James and Harry both looked after themselves enough, which was mainly just showering and changing their clothes. James was so worried about Harry that he wasn't looking after himself unless Regulus made him. He didn't mind helping James though, it made him feel useful.

Barty and Evan had been blowing up his phone, mainly Evan who was worried about Harry. He had been working when Harry had gone to ER so he knew everything which meant that Barty knew everything. Shockingly the two of them didn't make fun of Regulus for staying over at the house, they were mainly just worried about him overexerting himself by taking care of two people.

By the time break ended Regulus got none of the grading he had intended to do over break finished which meant that he arrived at the school as early as he was allowed, unlocking the door to the art room and flipping on the light. Everything was as he left it which was a slight relief as he sat down at his desk.

He took out the finished projects on the side of his desk and wished that he had a coffee as he started grading them as fast as he could, his school computer opened as he imputed the grades. A knock at the door didn't bring his eyes up as he just asked, "Hello?"

"Evan told me you may need this," Pandora said as she walked to the desk, sitting down a large coffee on it. There were still a couple hours till the day started, Pandora was usually never this early.

"I love you," Regulus sighed as he grabbed the coffee and took a long sip then put it back down. "Why are you here so early?" 

"I need to measure out some chemicals without students interfering, then need to cut and glue some papers together for their lab," she explained with her own coffee in her hands. Regulus swore he could smell the sugar from where he was sitting. Pandora left after that, going to her classroom as Regulus finished half of the grading he needed to do, as there was another knock on his door.

"You know you can just come in Dora," Regulus said as he got to Harry's project, a frown on his lips.

"Not Pandora," Remus said, grabbing onto the stools and sitting down on it, he had a cane in his hand that he sat against the desk. It wasn't the first time he had seen Remus with a cane.

"Any reason why you're here Mr. Lupin?" Regulus asked looking back down at the project, putting in a ninety-eight in the gradebook. 

Remus shook his head as he took out a folder from his satchel, "No, are you kicking me out?"

"Tempting," Regulus shrugged. The two of them worked in silence, Regulus wouldn't admit it but Remus was nice to be around. The first bell rang and Remus went back to his room as Regulus' first class came in. The day went… fine. He was delayed on getting the projects ready so they had a sketching day, which Regulus disguised as getting them back in the motion of drawing again after break. He'd stay late today and make sure the projects were ready for the next day. 

During Harry's period he made sure to keep an extra eye on the kid, he looked fine, but looks could be deceiving. Teddy on the other hand was more closed off than normal, his art had taken a turn too. Rather than the colorful borderline acid trip drawings he had been making, the current one he was working on was all muted dark colors. Regulus didn't overstep though, not wanting to make assumptions. If the behavior continued then he'd ask him about it, then depending on the answer would call Mary or his mom. 

At the end of the day Remus came by again, taking the homecoming decorations out of his classroom and wheeling them to the gym with a couple of other teachers. Homecoming was in a couple weeks which meant Regulus needed to dig out his nice clothes and make sure they still fit as he was one of the chaperones with Remus and Pandora. He wasn't sure if James had signed up but he wouldn't exactly be shocked if he tried. 

Everything was finished on Regulus' part though, he had nothing else to paint or sculpt luckily. As homecoming approached the date James and Regulus had originally planned many weeks ago had gotten rescheduled for the week. With everything going on Regulus offered for it to be pushed back again but James insisted that they have it. 

James had picked him up from his apartment with a bouquet of flowers and a candle that was scented like cinnamon rolls, not lemons for once. The two of them didn't go to the ice cream shop but instead went to a restaurant outside of town, James didn't let him pay for the meal and didn't kiss him without explicit consent from Regulus. The whole thing made his head spin in a good way. Harry had stayed over at Lily's under supervision while James was out of town and when they returned to town James collected him from Lily's before dropping Regulus back off at his apartment.

Harry showed him the new drawing he was working on, it wasn't for class just working on it in his personal time. Regulus gave him a couple tips and pointers on things he could do to improve after Harry had asked for help. He didn't miss the way that James was grinning in the rearview mirror at the two of them.

Regulus had somehow found his way into the shopping trip for Harry to get his homecoming outfit, along with his friends getting their own homecoming outfits. Everyone there had some relation to a kid, except for Regulus and Mary. James and Lily obviously had Harry. And then Tonks and Remus had Teddy. Sirius was Harry's godfather and was married to Remus which made him a little related to Teddy. Bill and Fleur were dating Tonks so they were related to Teddy but also had Ron. 

The point was, everyone was somehow related to a kid but Regulus and Mary as they were in one of the clothes shops. Since they weren't close to the kids they had found themselves near one of the racks of clothing, judging the different articles of clothing quietly while the kids tried on different outfits. "It's giving old cat lady," Mary whispered to Regulus as she pointed at a dress with sequined cats on it. The design was for a little kid but the rest of the outfit was marketed towards an older teen or young adult. It made Regulus give a little laugh as he nodded along. 

Regulus looked at a dress that had a long slit that went up the side of it, "Am I old if I say this isn't appropriate for a dance?' 

"Probably but that means I'm also old," Mary looked over as Remus was messing up Teddy's hair, the blue strands being put in every which direction. He was wearing a shirt that matched the color of his hair making him stand out even more, the longer he knew Teddy the more he saw Andy in him. 

Harry came out next in a normal outfit as James helped him tie the red dark tie against the black button up. James waved Regulus to come over and he did, tilting his head as he approached the rest of the group. "I feel like it's too loose to me," Harry commented as he twisted his arms around.

"It's the size you normally wear," James chewed on the inside of his cheek, "But we could size it down and see how it looks. This brand could run big for all we know." 

"What do you think?" Harry asked Regulus.

Regulus blinked, a little thrown off that Harry was asking him. "It looks fine," he answered honestly, it's what he expected a high school boy to wear to a homecoming dance. "Do you have a date? If so, you should make sure that you two match somewhat. Not a matchy match look but you want to look good in photos together."

"I do, she said her dress is maroon so," Harry shrugged pointing to the tie. 

Regulus nodded as James went to go get the shirt in the size down. "Who are you going with? A girlfriend?" Regulus asked just making conversation to pass the time.

"No," Harry laughed, speaking quietly as he threw a glance in Ron's direction like he was trying to keep him from hearing. "She's just a friend."

Regulus didn't push it, "Are you excited about the game?" He didn't like football but the entire family seemed a little obsessed with the sport. 

"Yeah, it's supposed to be a good game," Harry nodded as James came back putting the shirt in his hands. Lily was helping Hermione with her dress as Harry went back into the changing room to try on the next shirt. 

The rest of the shopping went by as Regulus went home to his apartment, he took out his larger sketchbook he normally kept under his bed just to keep it out of the way. He started to sketch out James' loose features with a pencil he had found on the floor. Every day after work he worked a little on the drawing, Barty and Evan caught him working on it multiple times, making fun of him each time.

The day of the homecoming dance, Regulus put on a button up and a tie, along with his school badge. He sighed at himself in the mirror as the football game should be wrapping up and he headed to the school. He couldn't wait to babysit kids for a couple hours... 

When he parked in his teacher's parking spot and got out, going inside, he was shocked to see James sitting down at the ticket booth, collecting the tickets from the students. "I thought you said that Remus knew better than to put you in charge," he said walking up to the table. James was wearing his own semi-formal outfit, a white shirt with a black tie, he looked… really good. 

"I'm able to get my way if I try hard enough," James answered as he put more tickets in the box, checking off different names on a clipboard in front of him.

"Clearly, I'm going to go see where Remus wants me but I'll see you later," Regulus headed inside and it wasn't hard to find Remus as he was in the back talking to Pandora.

"Where do you want me?" Regulus asked, skipping right to the point.

"Can you help James with the tickets? The line was a little long when I looked last time," Remus asked him and Regulus felt like taking a long deep sigh but nodded instead going back outside before sitting in the empty chair next to James, grabbing the clipboard out of his hands and putting it between the two of them. James looked over at him with a grin that Regulus ignored.

The line came to an end, an occasional student or two coming up to get in but for the most part everyone was already inside who was going to go to the dance. "Did you go to your school's homecoming?" James asked him.

"Yeah, Pandora and my other friend Dorcas made us. Bary, Evan, and I all dressed up the same. Did the same thing for prom that year. I'm assuming you and Lily went together?" Regulus asked, counting the tickets in the box out of sheer boredom.

"Yeah, we had matching outfits and everything," James giggled along, "I have a photo somewhere at home. You didn't go with anyone though? Like a date?"

"My senior prom I went with a boy but nothing really came out of it," Regulus answered honestly. "My dating life isn't anything exciting."

"I wish my dating life was less exciting," James said darkly but with humor in his voice, "Nothing like getting divorced right after a criminal court case."

"Can't say I've been through that," Regulus looked behind him into the entrance of the gym through the windows, it was nice to be distanced from the loud music. It sounded like a rap of some sort playing but Regulus didn't recognize the music.

James sang along to it quietly as he nudged him in the knee, "Would've been nice to take you to a dance."

Regulus laughed loud and hearty, "There's no shot you would've asked me to a dance during high school. I was the loner emo and you were what? The football captain?" 

"It's besides the point if I was the football captain-"

"Oh so you were."

"Like I said, besides the point. I still would've asked you out."

It was nice to pretend that James would've never if he knew it was a lie, James had Lily, he would've chosen Lily over him not knowing all that would come after that but he wasn't jealous of her, it was just the truth. "Is this you asking me out?" Regulus teased.

"It can be," James grinned in return, "I'd already taken you on a date. I've kissed you and spent the night with you before. So, will you go out with me, Regulus Black?"

"Are you being serious?" Regulus asked, chewing on his bottom lip.

James opened his mouth then promptly closed it, as if he was about to make a dumb joke before opening it again, "Yes, I am."

"This is such a stupid idea but yeah," Regulus nodded along, nudging him with his foot. They had been practically dating for the past couple of weeks but just hadn't put an official title on it until now. 

The night passed as Regulus settled in his chair, some other teachers came out to offer to swap their roles with James and Regulus so they had a break from being outside but both of them turned the offer down so that they could continue to talk to each other. Some students started to leave the gym as the night got later. 

One of the students was Harry, he looked pale as Regulus and James stood up at the same time. Regulus went to find Remus so he would tell him that James needed to leave, not even needing Harry to speak as he clearly wasn't in a state to stay. 

"James needs to go," Regulus told him when he found him in the corner of the room.

"Are you leaving as well?" Remus asked, looking down at his clip board.

"No, just figured it was easier for me to come and get you, let's him stay out with Harry," Regulus fiddled with his thumbs now realizing that maybe it was inappropriate that he went to Remus without asking James.

"You should go with him, make sure that he gets home safe. If you don't mind that is," Remus said looking back at him.

Regulus wasn't sure if James wanted him to, "I'll ask him if that's okay first but thanks for letting me go early." He left Remus and went both outside, a teacher being sent out to the table in James and Regulus' absence. James and Harry were nowhere to be seen so Regulus went into the parking lot looking around. He saw James' car first as he leaned against it with Harry crouched down in front of him. Regulus paused where he was as he tilted his head at James not sure if he could approach the father and son.

James waved him over and Regulus cautiously approached looking down at Harry with worried eyes. "He said he's fine if you're here," James told him and Harry nodded as he stayed down near the ground, staring down at the pebbles on the floor.

' What happened? ' Regulus mouthed at James.

"A girl asked him out," James answered out loud as Regulus blinked at him slowly, he mouthed it for a reason. 

Harry slowly started to stand out on shaking legs. "I said yes. I don't want to date her."

"Then why did you say yes?" Regulus asked with furrowed brows.

"I felt bad," Harry put his hands on his hips still looking pale in the face, "Can we go home? Or out? Or anywhere but here?"

James nodded with a pained expression as he started to get in his car, "Get in Reg."

"But-" Regulus looked towards Harry who tilted his head in return, like he was also expecting for Regulus to get into the car. The Potters were a weird breed but in the end Regulus got in the passenger seat as Harry got in the back. He would have to get his car later.

James drove home and they all got out as Harry looked like he was going to throw up at any moment as he got out of the car grabbing onto the wall. The three of them went into the living room, sitting down on the couch, or the table as Harry was sitting on the middle of it.

"You shouldn't go out with people just because you feel bad for them," Regulus started the conversation again.

"But she looked so hopeful asking me and I couldn't say no with other people staring at me waiting for me to reply," Harry sighed, undoing the tie around his neck. "Ron's pissed at me too since it's his younger sister."

"Ron will understand, maybe, hopefully. It's not the worst thing in the world to date your best friend's younger sibling," James said, which almost made Regulus laugh out loud at how both of the Potter men found themself in the same scenario. Only James actually liked Regulus or at least he was doing a good job for faking it if he didn't. 

Harry raised an eyebrow at him then at Regulus, "Are you two…?"

"This isn't about me, this is about you," James avoided answering, "You need to be honest with her. Tell her that you don't want a relationship right now but want to stay friends unless you don't want to stay friends, which if so, that makes the entire thing a lot easier."

Harry sighed, laying down on the table, his arms and legs hanging off of the sides as he looked up at the ceiling. "What if I never want to date anyone?"

"Then you don't date anyone," Regulus shrugged, it was the easy obvious answer in his head.

"Which won't happen, you'll want to date someone kiddo. You just haven't met the right person yet," James talked over Regulus, which normally he wouldn't have cared about being talked over, he honestly normally would've preferred for James to speak over him but in the moment he felt like there was more to what Harry was saying. And that James was just pushing that deeper. 

Harry took the tie fully off, putting it next to his head on the table, "I just want everything to go quiet in my mind. I want to-" he cut himself off going quiet.

"You want to get high?" Regulus finished the sentence for him, feeling James tense next to him.

"Yeah," Harry nodded looking over at him. He looked scared, almost disappointed in himself. 

"Want to go on a run?" James asked him, reaching out to grab him by the shoulder, "Runner's high is a real thing."

"Sure… I don't think it will help but…" Harry got up going upstairs to change as James stood up shooting Regulus a worried look as he started to unbutton his shirt in the living room.

Regulus stayed sitting down as he got his phone out, "Are you going to go running in a pair of dress pants?"

James glanced down at his pants as if he had forgotten about them, "Shit," he mumbled with a sigh. "You're welcome to stay here if you want but don't feel like you have to, thank you for coming over though. I mean it, you really help me."

"How did I help?"

"By existing, lighthouse remember?" James asked before going upstairs leaving his shirt on the living room floor. Regulus picked it up and put it over the couch arm before scrolling through Instagram while he waited for the boys to come down the stairs.

Harry was the first person who came down, he was in a plain grey shirt with a pair of red shorts, legs shaking as he stood awkwardly in the room with him. Regulus ran a hand through his hair debating on saying something on his mind, "You know…" he started as Harry had panicked eyes looking at him. "It really is okay if you never want to date someone."

The panic in his eyes went away a little, "You say that like it's normal."

"It is normal, some people are aromantic, it's a real thing," Regulus told him, messing with his phone in his hands as James came down the stairs without a shirt on and in a pair of shorts. 

"Ready?" he asked Harry, patting him on the back. 

"Yeah," Harry nodded and the two went out the front door leaving Regulus on his own in the living room. He felt like he should do something rather than just sit on James' couch. After spending ten minutes trying to think of something he could do, he decided to get up and go into the kitchen. 

Regulus wasn't the best at baking but he could probably put something together with the ingredients James had lying around. He ended up making sugar cookies that were okay but nothing special. He snacked on one while he made dinner since he hadn't eaten before he went to the dance. 

Since Harry and James had the game and then the dance, he doubted either of them had eaten dinner. Right after he finished cooking James and Harry came through the front door, both of them panting heavily as they kicked their shoes off near the front door. Regulus grabbed one of the cookies and put it in his mouth as he looked around the corner. "Did you run a marathon?" he asked the two of them.

James shook his head, "Just ten miles."

Regulus blinked at him, "Just ten miles," he mocked him as he went back into the kitchen. He hadn't ran that much since university when he was on the recreational cross country team. "I made food if either of you wanted to eat."

James came inside at the mention of food, grabbing a plate and a fork, piling enough food on it to feed several men but Regulus had cooked enough to feed a small family by accident. He was never good at cooking the right amount of portions. Harry stood in the doorway looking inside, "I'm not really hungry."

Regulus raised an eyebrow at him, "You played a football game, ran ten miles, and you're not hungry?" he asked. He knew it wasn't his place to question if Harry was telling the truth or not but it felt like something was up.

Harry looked to the side, not meeting Regulus in the eyes. "I'll shower and then I'll eat, okay?" he asked, rubbing his arms.

"Okay," Regulus nodded, taking that deal as Harry went back upstairs. When he was far enough out of earshot he sat next to James, grabbing a fork and taking a bite off of his plate. James looked offended that he stole food from him but didn't stop him. "Has Harry had eating issues before?"

James gave him a confused look, "A little but those haven't come up in a long time."

"Are you sure? Or has he just gotten better at hiding it?" Regulus asked, grabbing another bite off of his plate. He was refraining from grabbing his own plate of food as he wanted to eat with Harry. 

"Do you think he has issues with eating?" James asked quietly.

"I don't know him James, you're his father. You know better than me. I wanted to ask, just in case," Regulus shrugged. 

James finished his food as Harry came down the stairs a little later, hair wet from his shower as he was in a new change of clothes. Regulus got up going over to the pan and plating up two plates for them then sat them on the table. Harry looked surprised that Regulus had waited to eat with him as they sat down at the table. James was finished but didn't move from his spot, sipping on his water.

"How do I break up with a girl I just said that I'd date?" Harry asked as he took small bites from his plate.

"Just tell her you don't want to date her," James answered like that was what Harry was looking for.

"Or, you could explain why you don't want to. You could even keep it vague, just say personal issues," Regulus offered. He wouldn't even be lying as in Regulus' opinion, dealing with substance issues was reason enough to not start a romantic relationship.

"Maybe," Harry mumbled as he continued to eat. Regulus and James shared a look and Regulus focused on the food in front of him. When they were both done, Regulus collected their plates as Harry started to get up. "I'm going to go upstairs to lay down."

Regulus had a gut feeling telling him to not let him do it, maybe he was just projecting but… "Do you want to do something? I can teach you some drawing or painting techniques, we can make your dad stand in funny poses while I teach you figure drawing."

"You want to teach me figure drawing on a Friday night?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Regulus rinsed off the plates, he'd wash them once he wasn't as worried. "Go grab your sketchbook and find me a piece of printer paper." Harry went upstairs and Regulus was timing him in his head.

"Can I ask why?" James asked to get up as he finished his water.

"Later," Regulus told him quietly, kissing him on the cheek before going into the living room with one of the dining room chairs, sitting it down in the middle of the room, moving the coffee table out of the way. Harry came down the stairs, with some pencils, pens, and paper. He wouldn't have had enough time for him to throw up the meal. "Thank you for grabbing those."

James came into the living room walking towards the direction of the chair but stopping at Harry on his way there. "You good now?" he asked him quietly but still loud enough for Regulus to hear. 

Harry stared off for a moment, not replying for a couple seconds. "No, I still want to use but I can't, so I'm not going to."

"Okay," James patted his shoulder bringing him into a hug. "Thank you for being honest."

Regulus stood to the side till the two pulled apart and Regulus started on his drawing lesson. James would stand in stupid poses of his own accord as Regulus helped teach Harry how to break the figure into different shapes and how to draw fast enough that he could get enough detail in before the model would change poses or get tired of the position.

The three continued it, Regulus showing him on his own paper and then Harry trying to repeat it until Harry had it down on his own. They kept going until it got close to the middle of the night, Regulus felt like his eyes were getting heavy enough to close on their own as Harry was yawning next to him. 

Regulus put the chair back in the dining room then did the dishes as Harry and James went upstairs. It didn't take him long to finish then shut off the lights. James had never invited him to stay the night but it was almost midnight and his car was in the high school's parking lot. He could just take the couch and then leave early in the morning, walk to the school once the sun was up. Just as he was about to go lie down on the couch in the darkness, another cookie in his hand from earlier there were footsteps coming down the stairs with a flashlight. "Reg?" James asked, panning his phone's flashlight towards him.

"Yeah?" Regulus' eyes squinted at the bright light in the pitch black room. 

"Why aren't you in bed?" James asked, yawning, walking up behind him and putting his arm over Regulus' waist, pressing his chest into his back. "I've been waiting for you," he mumbled as his lips brushed against Regulus' ear. 

"Oh," Regulus felt his face get hot. "I wasn't sure if you wanted me to sleep in there. We never talked about it."

James laughed quietly in his ear, it made his stomach turn with butterflies, "You're always allowed in my bed, please join me?"

"Okay Jamie," Regulus said without thinking as he went upstairs with him. They entered James' bedroom, a shirt and shorts already laid out for Regulus. He put them on while James turned around again, it was a small thing but it made Regulus smile as he got into bed, "You can turn back around."

James got into bed with him, holding him close like he always did when they slept in the same bed, "Wanna explain earlier?"

"I was worried he was going to do something, if I distracted him long enough I was hoping that he'd forget about what he wanted to do," Regulus explained realizing how dumb he sounded. He was just pushing his own issues he had as a teenager onto Harry with no good reason for doing so.

"Like getting high?" James asked.

"No, the eating thing."

"He had already eaten though?"

"I was worried about him throwing it up," Regulus felt worse saying it out loud.

"People do that?" James asked with shock in his voice as Regulus turned around to face him.

"Yeah, people do, which is why I was worried about it happening. I'm not saying that he is or that I even have good reason to be worried about it, I just was worried," Regulus told him, curling in on himself under James' blanket.

James looked at the wall where on the other side Harry's room was before looking back at Regulus. "I'll keep it in mind."

"I'm sorry for overstepping."

"I don't mind," James leaned forward to kiss him softly, just once before pulling away. "I'd rather have you worry with me then tell me I'm overreacting." 

"You haven't even come close to over reacting," Regulus rolled his lips together, relishing in the warmth that was left on them from James.

James shrugged, "Sometimes I feel like I do. I'm happy you're here though."

Regulus turned back around so his back was facing James, moving back towards him as James' arm snaked its way around him, "Me too."

Not only was James' bed far more comfortable than the thin mattress Regulus normally slept on in his falling apart bed, it was nice to sleep with someone else, feeling their warmth. As much as James claimed that Regulus had helped him, James had helped him just as much. The light on the bedside table went out as James shifted on the bed, bringing him closer to his chest.

Chapter Text

Harry had gotten worse as the weeks followed. Lily would go to the house after work and whenever she had a day off, sometimes Regulus was there but most of the time it was just her, James, and Harry.

The first two weeks after the overdose, Harry had done remarkably well. There were a few times he'd admit to wanting to use but he was able to hold it off with help from someone distracting him or locking him in his room. Then after homecoming weekend it started getting worse. By the week after homecoming Harry was falling into needing to use again. It made Lily feel sick watching her baby beg for him to be allowed to leave the house.

No one was allowed to let Harry leave the house by himself. It was Lily's turn right now, Harry was at her house opposed to her going over to James' house. "It's just Ron," Harry tried, clutching his phone in one hand, voice strained as he had dark circles around his eyes.

"I believe you but you're not allowed to go till after winter break," that's the time her and James decided on. If he stayed off drugs till then, there was little chance he would get back on them after. At least in their opinions and experience.

Harry groaned and flopped onto the couch going back to his phone. Lily frowned, leaning against the wall, "We could go do something fun together."

"No thanks."

"I know it's lame to do something with your mom but I'll do whatever you want. To an extent," Lily said, moving and sitting down next to him. Harry made a noise of displeasure and Lily just patted his calves as she put on a movie in the background.

It was Thanksgiving break when Lily was sweating over her four different dishes in the kitchen. They were all gathering at James' house as he had the largest home out of the friend group, there was a slight point in time where they considered having it at Sirius and Remus' but Sirius shot down that idea. James was more than happy to host.

Lily offered to bring a couple of side dishes if Remus agreed to do the turkey. She was normally good with cooking but she was looking down at the various dishes and could feel her sweat soaking through the back of her shirt. Mary came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders lightly, "They're going to love your food. You're just stressing yourself out."

"My mac and cheese is too dry. My potatoes are hard. The pasta tastes wrong. And the meatballs aren't what they normally are," Lily said leaning back against her.

She had invited Mary over after James gave her the okay to do so. Over the weeks the two had continued to grow closer. It had been a while since Lily had a friend like her, sure she had Remus but Remus was different.

Her and Remus were best friends but he was also James' best friend, even Lily knew that James came over her. Mary was her friend. Just her's. It was more depressing the longer she thought about it, how right now, she really had none of her own friends except for Mary. 

Mary who agreed to come to her friend's Thanksgiving at the drop of a dime. Lily didn't even consider the fact that Mary probably had family at home until now. "And if your friends complain, I'll shove more down their throats. We have a spare tuna bake in the fridge."

"Gross. Grab it," Lily sighed, Mary hugged her from behind, a press of her bodies together. She felt flustered as he focused on cooking more. "I don't even know how to save this."

"Here, let me help," Mary took out the cold casserole from the fridge that she had made the night prior, with a few other ingredients from the fridge. She gently moved Lily out of the way and started to add some ingredients to the dishes. "You should go change, I got this."

Lily wanted to kiss her and tell her how she appreciated her, the warmth and the urge to act on her feelings bubbling to the top but Lily turned around going back upstairs. Normally she was good at her feelings, telling whoever she liked that she wanted to go on a date with them, but with Mary it was different. Lily felt stuck. Between the hospital and Harry she didn't have the mental energy for a relationship but she still wanted Mary's lips against hers, she wanted her arms around her, and her in her bed. 

Mary deserved better than the half assed relationship Lily could give her in the moment. She went up stairs and put on a long sleeve with a pair of jeans, letting her hair down from the tight ponytail she had in prior. The makeup on her dresser called out to her, she wasn't going to put any on originally since it was just friends.

Going against that she started to put on light makeup, her skills were a little rusty as she usually put on the bare minimum day to day, but now she was putting on a decent amount. Getting her eyeshadow shade just right and then putting a winged eyeliner on went to the inner corners of her eyes. Her highlighter shined in the artificial light in her room, a quick swipe of lipstick and blush over the base. 

The clang in the kitchen brought her out of her moment as she threw on a pair of shoes rushing down the stairs as she didn't know how long she had taken. Feeling bad for leaving Mary on her own in her kitchen.

As she went around the corner, brushing her fingers through her hair, Mary was staring right at her. Almost through her as if she was a ghost.

"Sorry, got a little distracted," Lily glanced at the dishes she had made before Mary had come over. Her reflection caught her eye in her fridge, Lily looked good . Better than she had looked in years. Her sunken cheekbones and eyes from the years of drug abuse looked fuller, her eyes looked more lively as she moved closer.

The food looked completely different since Lily had last looked at it. "You're fine, I didn't even realize how long you took," Mary told her. Lily swore there was a faint dust of pink across her cheeks but she was probably just seeing things that weren't actually there.

"This looks amazing," Lily mumbled, her hand brushing against Mary's hand without realizing.

Mary opened her mouth to say something but closed it, "We should go, shouldn't we? Want to go together?"

Lily agreed and the two piled into Lily's car with the dishes in the back. Lily drove to James' house as it was easier for her to drive since she knew where James lived. By the time they arrived, there was a long line of cars outside, she didn't bother knocking on the door as she entered. 

A man she didn't recognize ran past her, almost causing her to drop what she was holding onto. James gave her a sympathetic smile as he came over and grabbed two of the trays from her, "Regulus' friend."

"Regulus has friends?" Lily asked, sounding more shocked than she meant to, "Sorry."

James just chuckled as he grabbed one of the trays from Mary and went into the kitchen. The women followed him, setting the dishes in a long list of side dishes and desserts as Remus was still working on the turkey. 

The corner of his lips were twitching as Sirius and Teddy were chasing each other through the kitchen, running out to the backyard. He jerked his head to the side and Lily gave him a wordless side hug without saying anything, knowing that Remus didn't want her to worry about him. It was hard though since she did care about him and wanted to help but she knew better since it was Remus. 

Mary moved closer to her, the sheer chaos of the house already felt overwhelming for Lily, she couldn't imagine how it felt for Mary who didn't know most of them. She looked around the corners trying to see if Harry was downstairs. Remus must have caught her looking as he quietly murmured, "He's in his room."

Lily bit her lip as she looked over to Mary, giving her a sad face as she opened her mouth. Mary gave her a quick shake of the head, "He's your son, go upstairs. I'm fine bothering Remus in the meantime."

"Thank you," Lily gave her a hug and went upstairs, one of the steps creeping under her movements. A gentle knock at the door and she pushed it open. Harry was sitting on his bed, glancing down at his phone as he was in a polo shirt and a pair of jeans. "Hey kiddo."

"Hey mom," Harry mumbled, standing up. "Sorry, I know I should be down there."

"Are you doing okay?" Lily asked, giving him an encouraging pat on the arm.

"My girlfriend is pissed that I've been ignoring her," Harry mumbled.

"Are you ignoring her?"

Harry didn't answer with his voice but with his eyes, glancing off at the side of the room. 

"Why are you ignoring her?" Lily asked softly, trying her best to see Harry's side of things before she ripped into him. Just because he was suffering didn't mean that his girlfriend needed to suffer next to him.

Harry groaned. "Because I don't like her, I don't think I like people like that. Regulus… can I call him that?" he paused, thought for a second, and then continued. "He told me about this thing called aromantic. I looked it up and it's a real thing. Some people don't like people like that."

Lily breathed through her nose and encouraged him to sit on his bed, Harry listened, sitting next to her. "And you think you're like that then?"

"Yeah…" Harry admitted quietly. "I know I'm young but most people my age at least have one crush by now. I thought I was gay because I didn't like girls but the thought of kissing a man…" he shuddered at the thought.

"You know I'll love you regardless right? Gay, straight, bisexual, aromantic, whatever you are," Lily put her arm around him, "I don't want you to ever worry about that."

"It's hard not to, I'm an only child. If I don't continue the bloodline, then it just ends with me."

Lily shot him a side look, "And? Who cares?" 

"I don't want to disappoint you and dad, I already have but I don't want to be more disappointed in me," Harry spoke quietly, taking seconds to spit out every word as if he was overthinking every syllable he was saying.

"I'll always love you," she was disappointed in him for the drug use but she still loved him. "So. Aromantic, do you get your own flag?" she tried to lighten the conversation.

Harry laughed quietly, "I think so, why?"

"Part of the teenage sexuality crisis is putting up your flag above your bed, or desk if you're Remus," Lily giggled, "Next. Break up with your girlfriend, get her chocolate, several boxes of it. She deserves it for putting up with you."

Harry didn't reply, only sighed as he leaned into her. 

"Don't break up with her today though, it's a holiday. Wait till tomorrow, we should go downstairs now," Lily thought that Harry looked good enough to go downstairs and at least be seen by the guests.

The two of them got up together, "Is your girlfriend down there?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Lily chuckled.

"She's eating Thanksgiving with us but okay," Harry shrugged, fighting with the collar of his shirt, "Am I allowed to hide if it gets too much?"

"Course." It hit her heart with a pang, her boy who used to be the life of the party, asking if he could hide from his family if needed. He used to be the one Lily would have to ask to quiet down but right now he looked like he was about to have a panic attack. 

They went down the stairs together, Fleur and Regulus hiding in the corner of the room, talking to each other about some book he was holding. Harry stuck to her side like glue as they went into the kitchen. Remus and Mary right where she left them, Mary getting the sides ready as her face lit up the moment Lily stepped in. "Hi Harry," Mary smiled politely as she was taking a tray out of the oven.

"Hi Ms. MacDonald," Harry mumbled, moving closer to Lily, trying to hide behind her but was failing as he was bigger than Lily, a couple inches taller and wider than she was. Remus was sweating as his neck twitched again. She fought the urge to tell him to go sit down.

"Do you cook or bake?" Mary asked him as she wiped her hands clean on one of the towels.

Harry blinked, glancing at his mom and then back at Mary. "Me? No. My cooking is making cereal."

"Taking after your father eh?" Remus joked as he put the turkey back in the oven with a little struggle, Mary automatically went to help him but Lily shook her head, telling her to let it be. 

Mary chuckled with Remus as she leaned against the counter. Lily glanced outside through the back door, "Are James and Sirius still out there?"

"Yeah I think they're tossing a ball or something," Remus mumbled, waving his hand half-hazardly as he rested against the oven door. Lily gave a head nod to Harry with an eyebrow raise, he normally loved sports, plus he was comfortable with both James and Sirius so it seemed like something he could intertwine himself in with. Harry shook his head and Lily sighed with a smile.

She leaned against one of the counters while Harry got a drink, gluing to her side once again like a little kid. Lily didn't mind that he was next to her side, she couldn't help but feel sad at Harry not being his normal self though. Remus gathered everyone together, getting the boys in the back backyard and then gathering the scattered people through the house. 

James had an actual dining room table but it was rarely used. Prior to today he must have gotten it out of the basement and pulled it upstairs, dusting it off and putting a nice table cloth on it. She hadn't seen this one before and had a sneaky suspicion that it had something that Regulus had picked.

A few extra chairs had to be added from the sheer amount of the people in the home. They had more than enough food though as everyone piled in around the table, Harry on one side of her and Mary on the other. There was a slight joke about having Teddy and Harry sit at a kids table, shoving Sirius and Barty over there while they were at it but everyone was around the table like one big dysfunctional family. 

Lily's face when she realized that Regulus' friend Evan was the intern who called her a dragon was almost priceless, causing her to choke on her water. This was the first holiday Lily had off in years, normally she was the one of the nurses who would always work since Harry would just spend the time with James, Sirius, and Remus.

This year though, she made sure that she had the day off. "Do you have today off?" she asked Evan quietly as they were close enough to each other to talk without interrupting the main conversation with James, Sirius, Remus, and Tonks all shooting jokes back at each other. 

"No, I start in a couple hours. Looking forward to the under staffing," Evan snorted.

Lily gave him a pitiful look as she reached under the table, her fingers brushing against Mary's without thinking, their fingers interviewing as she took a bite of food. Mary froze next to her, glancing over at Lily before shoving a biscuit in her mouth. 

At that she realized that they were holding hands, the hands almost smushed between the two of their bodies. She went to pull her hand away when Mary squeezed their hands pulling back between them. She felt a bite of mac and cheese get stuck in her throat, the taste lingering on her tongue. It tasted completely different from when she last had a bite, Mary must have really worked on it, now it tasted as good as her mom's cooking was from childhood.

The two of them finished eating like that, no one seemed to notice and if anyone did, Lily didn't check them. They got up and moved into the living room, the extra large couch that James had bought long ago coming in as usual as they all gathered on it, the floor, and the chairs. Harry left her side for the first time that night, going over to Regulus on the floor and the two of them sketching on some loose pieces of paper. 

Lily watched him as the men got out board games, arguing about which one they should play. Mary and her were left on their own against the entrance of the living room, separated from everyone for the time being. "Thank you for coming," Lily told her, she was happy that Mary came.

"Thank you for inviting me," Mary hesitantly reached out for her hand. Lily didn't stop her, doing a glance around the room to see if anyone was going to notice but it didn't seem so. They brushed their fingers against each other again, loosely intertwining them.

"Sorry if I pulled you away from your family. I didn't even think about it till you already agreed," Lily almost felt embarrassed admitting it.

Mary laughed softly, shaking her head. "No, you're good. No family."

Lily felt her face fall from her shy smile, it wasn't the first time she had heard something similar to it. Sirius was under the same roof as her and she had heard the exact same thing come out of his mouth before but it didn't make it any sadder. "I'm sorry, you're always welcome to my family."

"And what a large one you have."

Lily gave a whole hearted laugh at that, she did have a large family, didn't she?

A little later people started to leave until it was just Sirius, Remus, Harry, James, Regulus, Mary, and herself in the living room, all surrounding the coffee table with a Monopoly board in the center. It was chaotic as James and Sirius were already trying to team up together. 

"You're cheating," Lily said, leaning across the table to flick James in the head. 

Regulus rolled the dice and landed on James' property, batting his eyelashes at James. "Do I have to pay?"

"Never," James grinned in return, folding like a deck of cards. 

Sirius and Harry gagged at the same time. "No you little thief, pay up," Sirius said, snapping his fingers. "You stole my best friend, you can't steal his money too."

Regulus rolled his eyes and passed over the money. The reveal of the Regulus and James relationship went better than anyone could've guessed, Sirius seemingly had gotten all of his anger out when he found out about the crush so by the time they were officially together, he didn't care too much, at least that's how it looked from the public eye.

At the end of the game, Harry ended up winning, making everyone go bankrupt. Remus almost won but ultimately lost on the final turn. As it got later Lily gave Harry a hug and a goodbye then tiredly walked out, leaving the food in the fridge as Mary walked by her side. She drove home where Mary's car was waiting for her. 

"Guess this is goodnight," Lily awkwardly spoke as she was standing in the streetlight outside her house, in between the two cars with Mary. 

Mary raised an eyebrow with an amused look on her face, "Goodnight Evans." She leaned forward, ghosting a kiss over her lips as Lily jumped in her skin, not even kissing her back due to pure shock. Mary started to pull away and she quickly came back to life, kissing her back as she smiled into the kiss. 

It was short and sweet but it made Lily feel warm all over, almost floaty as she pulled away. "Wanna come inside?" 

Lily used to be good at this, at flirting and the relationships but with Mary it was different, her brain short circuited whenever Mary was within her view point.  

"Bold," Mary raised both of her eyebrows, spinning her car key around her fingers. "Show me what you got."

Regulus was helping put the food up as James was putting away the board game activities in the living room. Everyone had left by now, besides him, but James had already told him to stay the night and Regulus wasn't going to say no to that.

He always hated holidays and today was… well it was the best he had so far but it's not like he enjoyed the night. He couldn't change who he was at his core but he tried his best to enjoy the night. Even if that meant putting on a fake mask.

Harry wandered into the kitchen, filling up his water bottle with the filter in the fridge. Regulus had been watching him the entire night, more than he probably should've. He made sure that Harry ate enough, following him after to make sure he didn't throw it up once he was done. Everyone else was worried Harry was going to get high so Regulus was spending more time on his eating habits. 

The more time he had spent at James' house, the more he knew he wasn't overreacting. He wasn't seeing things that weren't there and if Harry didn't have an eating disorder, he was on a one way track to one. "I know I'm not your father but I'm proud of you," Regulus said as he ripped a piece of foil off of the roll. 

The entire night he had been wanting to say something to him but no matter how he talked it over in his head, it never sounded right but he just needed to say something and it was a good time since James was distracted in the other room.

"Why?" Harry gave him an odd look.

"I know today wasn't easy for you. Bunch of people, high energy the entire night, and a lot of food everywhere," he tried sneaking in the last part but by Harry's facial expression it didn't work.

"I'm not anorexic," Harry glanced down at his own body, "Got too many muscles for that."

"First of all, anorexia doesn't have a body type. You can look like a body builder and still have an eating disorder. I'm not trying to assume you have one but if you ever did have issues… if you need someone to talk to. I'd be happy to listen," Regulus tried his best to be thoughtful in the way he spoke. The way he wished someone would've spoken to a teenager Regulus.

Harry went quiet, setting the bottle down on the counter. "You act like you'd get it."

"Try me," Regulus said, putting the last bowl in the fridge, resting both of his hands against the countertops.

"I don't want to lose weight, it's not about being smaller," Harry said with a shrug, anxiously looking over at the doorway James could walk through.

Regulus hummed, "Never said you did, eating disorders can manifest in a lot of different ways. It could be about the hunger, the pain, the control, or even something else."

"Are you going to tell my dad?" Harry mumbled, confirming Regulus' suspicions about the issues he had. 

"Yes Harry, he's your father. I'm telling your mother as well. I can't sit on the sideline and let you harm yourself without telling your parents," Regulus said flatly, a little shocked that Harry even asked him of that. "Why do you not want them to know?"

"Because I have so many issues and they don't need to deal with any more of them."

"They're your parents. It's their entire job to deal with issues." Regulus wasn't sure what to do now. He needed James, he abruptly left the kitchen and went into the living room. Harry tried sneaking past him upstairs but Regulus gave him a sharp look that told him to not continue with that plan.

"You two need to talk," Regulus said looking at James as he stood up fully, the board games tucked away in the corner of the room now.

James tilted his head, "About what?" Regulus was going to give Harry a chance to say it himself but he stayed in the room to make sure the conversation took place. 

"Nothing," Harry gritted out, glaring daggers into Regulus' back, almost as if he was trying to scare Regulus. It would've amused Regulus if the situation wasn't as serious as it was.

"Are you high right now? Is that the issue?" James asked concerned as he crossed his arms.

"I'm not fucking high right now dad," Harry scoffed. Regulus cringed as Harry raised his  voice. "It's nothing but Regulus overreacting."

Regulus leaned against the wall, giving a look mixed with disappointment and sympathy to Harry. "He has symptoms of an eating disorder, it's something that should be looked into at therapy." He informed James and then went outside to the back yard, letting the father and son have the conversation they needed to have alone. He sat down in the cool night air on the steps. 

There was a pack of cigarettes left out with a lighter next to them, he knew they were Sirius' by looking at them, the lighter in particular gave off Sirius' vibes. A skull face on one side and a guitar on the other, he stole one out of the pack and put it between his lips, lighting the end of it. He rarely smoked anymore, gagging at the scent of it on James' clothes after he could come inside after smoking, but right now he needed to not feel so much.

The cigarette unfortunately didn't have the reaction Regulus intended, instead the scent of the smoke brought back memories he had drug far beneath his surface. Sirius still smoked the same brand he had when he was sixteen, the same brand that Regulus would smell from his room and on his jacket. 

He didn't want Sirius back as a brother, he hadn't since he was a little kid. The two had grown closer since Regulus started working at the school, mostly because of James, which meant that the two were in forced proximity of each other more often than not. They behaved more like guests that entered each other's lives from time to time than brothers. Regulus was fine with that.

As long as they weren't shouting at each other, he was fine, but he couldn't deny the way his fingers vibrated against the cigarette, his body shaking in the wind, as he wished someone was with him. The mental toll on everything was starting to weigh heavy on his shoulders. He cared for James and Harry but watching every move they made for the past couple months was starting to drain him. He even missed Sirius' birthday because he was too worried about them, he felt better once James told him that he wanted his birthday to be ignored, but it was more so the point than anything else.

The temperature continued to drop as the cigarette was long gone, burned down to the filter. His back was against the concrete as he stared at the night sky. He couldn't hear any voices inside which he took as a good thing, at least they weren't yelling.

Regulus wasn't sure how much time had passed when the back door opened. "How much longer do you plan on staying out here for?" 

"Didn't want to interrupt," Regulus said, not even sparing a glance over at James.

"You never do but we finished talking a couple minutes ago," he sat down next to Regulus, picking up the pack of cigarettes, looking inside and then tossing it behind him, mumbling something about giving them to Sirius tomorrow.

Regulus subconsciously leaned into him as his hand went to his leg, the inner parts of him begging for touch and attention. "Went well then?"

"No but it could've gone worse."

"I'm sorry," Regulus wished he knew the right thing to say but he never did. 

"Don't need to be. Thank you for telling me," James dragged Regulus up, propping him against him as if Regulus were some doll. 

He let James drag him, not meaning to ragdoll on purpose. "You're his dad, you should tell Lily. I would but it may be odd coming from me."

"Already texted her. She's setting up an appointment next week with a new therapist, one specialized in that sort of thing. You seem pretty knowledgeable about it, did you have a friend with an eating disorder?" James asked and was lucky Regulus was so out of it to hit him in the head for asking such a dumb question.

Regulus shook his head. "No, just a mother who said beauty is pain and said we weren't pretty if she couldn't see bone. Pair that with other child abuse plus a want to feel loved and cared for…" he didn't finish the sentence.

"Do you still have that want?"

"I think everyone holds onto their teenage insecurities," Regulus held onto him at least though James seemed like he had no teenage insecurities.

James chuckled, tightening his arm around him. "You have no reason to hang onto yours I promise."

"Wrong," Regulus mumbled, it came out sadder than he intended it to.

"Then let me dismiss them, tell me one."

"I'm too sensitive," Regulus started with, it practically fell out of his mouth as he dug his face deeper into James' shirt. 

James scoffed looking down at him, "You sensitive? You're like a block of ice my love."

The pet name only made Regulus dig his face deeper into the fabric. "Didn't use to be. There's a reason I'm so cold now-a-days." It wasn't easier to shut off all of his emotions so he didn't have to worry about not feeling too much. 

"I doubt you're too sensitive anyway, each time you smile it's like a thousand sun rays," James kissed the top of his head. Regulus rolled his eyes at the cringey statement. "Say another insecurity."

"My body is weird, I'm not lanky but my muscles are smaller than they used to be, plus there's this pudge of fat on my stomach that has been there for the past couple years," Regulus explained. 

James pulled him away from him, putting both hands on his shoulders, "You're beautiful, you look perfect, and I'm not just saying that to say that." He put one hand under Regulus' shirt, it rested against his stomach, "I love you, you idiot."

Regulus felt his stomach turn uneasy as his eyes glossed over. James was lying, he was just telling Regulus what he wanted to hear. He shook his head softly, "You should go check on Harry, make sure he's alright."

He watched James' face fall as his lips rolled into a thin line, "Okay Regulus. My bed is open for you once you're ready to come inside." He turned around and went back inside as Regulus stayed outside.

Regulus wasn't sure how much longer he stayed out for, his hands were so cold he swore he could feel his bones shivering inside of his body. Sighing he went back inside, part of him didn't want to go upstairs but the other part craved James' warm body heat. He slowly made his way up the stairs trying to keep quiet with each step in case the two boys were asleep.

Harry's door was shut with the light on underneath which made him worry less about being quiet. James' door was open an inch, a warm low light that Regulus was sure came from the lap on his bedside table. 

He opened the door slightly, seeing James lying there on his phone. "You must be freezing," James mumbled, grabbing a blanket and getting up, putting it over Regulus' shoulders. 

He was but he wasn't going to tell James that, "Can I take a shower?"

"Yeah, you can use my towel and clothes," James kissed his forehead and let Regulus go into his bathroom, turning on the water. He let the too hot water rain down on him, his pale skin turning pink as it burned him. James only had 5-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, he needed to wash his hair so he'd just suffer and use it today, one day he needed to bring over his own hygiene products.

After drying himself off and changing into James' clothes he exited the bathroom, James was where he left him. On his bed, phone in head while his head was propping up his head. "Come here love."

Regulus listened to his feet padding on the floor as he got into his bed. "I'm sorry for earlier."

"Why?"

"Didn't mean to be rude," Regulus laid down on the bed next to James, resting his head on his chest, "Do you actually love me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" James' eyebrows furrowed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I love you Regulus."

Regulus made a pitiful noise in the back of his throat, he tried to say it back but it got caught in his throat like a thick sludge of paint stuck in the tube. James didn't mean pain, he didn't say it abc through, he continued running his head through his finger, "Better now?"

Regulus made an mhm noise as James put down his phone and turned off the bedside lamp. They moved on the bed so that Regulus was being spooned by James like they normally slept, right as he was about to fall asleep he found himself mummering without realizing, "Love you, goodnight."

Chapter Text

Regulus was in a remarkably good mood, he was spinning in his desk chair as an art club meeting was happening in the background. He had finished his last painting, it had gotten tucked away in the closet with the blank canvases. 

They were painting and glazing different mugs that Regulus would fire once they were done with them. Pandora had planned the activity which Regulus was thankful for. He had painted one for James, it was in the bottom of his desk and wasn't sure if he was going to hand it over but it was done at a minimum. He had been stressing over his Christmas gift for the past week, James already had everything he needed. 

He already had Harry's picked out and wrapped, he didn't get anyone else a gift. Technically he got Sirius one but it wasn't really a gift, more so just him returning an item a decade late.

"Start wrapping up please, I want to go home sooner than later," he gently announced as he checked the time. It was the last day before winter break where he had already decided he was spending the entire time at James' house. His apartment was freezing as the heat wasn't well insulated, he felt bad leaving Evan and Barty but they could at least cuddle together whereas Regulus froze his ass off on his own. 

The students started to put the mugs on the desk he had told them to put it on. "They'll be ready on our first meeting when we return from break."

All the students phased out as he was left with Harry alone in his room, "Ready to go?" He was driving Harry home to James' house. 

"Yeah," Harry threw his bag over his shoulder, "How long will this take to be done?" he asked, holding the mug up.

"About a day, why? Need it done for Christmas?" Regulus asked, grabbing the mug and looking at it. It had strawberries outside with various different fruits between the gaps. 

"Maybe…" Harry gave him a sly smile, "If possible." 

Regulus set the mug down on his desk, "I'll come in tomorrow and throw it in, I need to fire something of my own anyway." He grabbed his own bag, "Tomorrow though, not today."

They went out together to Regulus' car, getting in as one of the teachers rushed over, "Excuse me Mr. Black what are you doing?"

Regulus paused as he was in the middle of getting into his driver's seat as Harry was already in the back. He blinked at the woman, she was one of the English teachers he avoided on purpose. "Going home."

"With a student?" she asked, voice raised and high. Regulus cursed inside his head as he realized what this looked like.

"I'm dating his father, that's why he's in my car, I'm just taking him home," Regulus told her with his hands raised for surrender. 

The teacher glanced at Harry in the back of the car who looked like he was holding in a laugh. "Call him, I know James and Lily both, let me hear them."

Regulus took out his phone and called James then handed it over, normally he wouldn't be so loosey-goosey with handing his belongings over but he wanted to go home and didn't want this woman to think the wrong thing was happening. He heard James' voice but couldn't make out what he was saying but the woman hung up then handed the phone back, "Have a good day Mr. Black."

Regulus grumbled and got into his car, locking the door and making sure his window was rolled up. "I hated that," he sighed, pulling out of the parking lot.

"So I shouldn't make a help me I'm being kidnapped sign?" Harry asked with a laugh as he leaned into the seat.

"Make that and I'm making you run laps around the house in the snow," Regulus told him as he drove, turning on the music low as he knew Harry liked it in the background.

"You wouldn't," Harry glared at him through the rearview mirror.

"Try me."

By the time Regulus reached James' house, Harry had in fact made the sign as a joke, and Regulus had to hold his side of the threat. James didn't let him make Harry run laps in the snow but instead he had to clean the dishes from dinner.

Regulus called James soft, his parents would've made him run through the snow in shorts with nos shoes. James just rolled his eyes going back to his pointless video game as Regulus took out his sketchbook, drawing various side portraits of James' face. As the days passed Harry spent some time over at Lily's which meant that Regulus and James would have a date night inside, they would go out for dinner or would walk around the park if the weather was nice enough.

If Harry was home they would watch a movie or play in the backyard. Harry was a little old for snowmen but they made them anyway. He cursed about how heavy the snow was only to see Harry and James lift the large balls of snow with ease. "Fucking Potters…" he whispered to himself.

They made two different snowmen, one of them had a hat and a scarf, the other one had an old carrot for a nose. "They're gay and in love," James said, patting one of the snowmen.

Regulus raised an eyebrow at him, "Okay James."

Harry chuckled quietly and went back inside with Regulus, he made the teenager hot chocolate. Making an extra one for James, he hid it though, making James work for it first. Harry went to the living room as James entered, coming up behind him and kissing his jaw, "Where's my hot chocolate?"

"In the cabinet, you're an adult, make it yourself," Regulus gave him a cheeky attitude, the mug hidden in the microwave so James didn't see it.

"Rude," James mumbled lowly, kissing his jaw again, "Fine I'll make it myself then." He started to pull away and Regulus grabbed the mug out of the microwave, it was still hot. "Oh, so you do love me."

Regulus hummed as he started to make himself tea. "Sometimes," he turned around and kissed the corner of his mouth. 

"Sometimes," James mocked him, "I'm going to go talk to Harry, join us once your water is hot enough." He gave Regulus a proper kiss, holding the side of his face in his hand. 

Regulus did join them once his tea was done. Harry complained about the movie James chose and Regulus complained in his head but didn't say anything outloud. A couple days after the snowmen Regulus woke up to an empty bed.

It wasn't odd as sometimes James would be up, going on a run in the awful weather, or he'd drive to the gym. This time the air was colder than normal, something felt off. He rubbed his eyes as he moved into the upper hallway, Harry's door was open wide, clothes and sheets skewed everywhere. He checked his phone and didn't see any texts from James, Lily, or Harry.

He sighed and went down the stairs, looking outside and not seeing James' car. He sent a quick text to James asking if everything was alright then went into the kitchen. They'd probably be home soon and they should at least come home to a warm meal. 

Two hours after Regulus finished cooking, he was on the couch, foot tapping against the floor. James hadn't texted him back still. He had even texted Evan asking if one of them was at the ER, just in case. Evan said no and he trusted him. Another hour later James and Harry came through the front door, Harry looked desaturated with blue undertones, a towel around his shoulders as James was looking at Regulus like he had seen a ghost. 

He got up instantly, walking over to them, "What do you need?" 

"Cold," Harry shivered as he walked past him, sitting next to the electric fireplace James had. 

Regulus felt a lump in his throat. "What happened?" he asked James, whispering so Harry couldn't hear him. 

"He texted me to get him this morning, I'm shocked you didn't wake up. I fell out of bed," James sighed as went into the kitchen, Regulus followed him.

"There's food I can reheat for the two of you," he bet Harry was starving as he quickly started reheating it. He wouldn't ask for anymore details at the moment, it wasn't the right time. 

"Thank you," James tiredly said as he grabbed something out of the cabinet, where they kept cough drops, bandages, and drug tests. He had bags around his eyes, as he gave a sad smile to Regulus, waving a drug test in his hands before going back to the living room. Regulus had a feeling that it had something to do about that.

There was movement on the stairs as Regulus blankly stared at the counter. He knew that it was going too well. Even if Harry hoped that Harry had no slip ups, it was almost impressive that he hadn't had any yet. 

More movement on the stairs and Harry entered the kitchen, eyes blown out as he grabbed a plate from Regulus. "Thanks," he said as he was still blue around his mouth, he was a little too happy.

"Course," Regulus sat down next to him. Harry's eating issues had started to get better, his new therapist helping. 

Harry took large bites as James came into the room, leaning against the door. He had a flat look on his voice, there was an emotion buried under it, maybe worry or anxiousness but it was heard for even Regulus to read. It made it all the worse that Regulus couldn't tell what James was feeling. He always knew what James was thinking until now. He mouthed, " I'll be back. " to Regulus. He nodded to James and turned to Harry instead as James left again.

"Going to your mom's later today, excited?" he asked, trying to make small talk.

"Yeah, I guess," Harry mumbled, shoving more food in his mouth. His plate was empty soon enough.

"Do you want more?" Regulus offered, he had James' plate in the fridge still, he could always make James more food later though. 

"Please."

Regulus made him a second plate of food, putting down two cups of water next to the plate to try and make sure he was getting fluids as Regulus would bet his entire bank account that Harry was high. He just didn't know what he was on.

He kept an eye on him as James came back in, the same tired look on his face. Regulus got up, moving within the whisper area. "Want any food? I can make you something fresh."

James gave him a tired smile, "That sounds wonderful love."

Regulus gave him a short kiss on the lips, no kiss returned as he walked over to the fridge and stove. He grabbed some eggs out, trying to think of the quickest thing he could make at the moment.

"Are you doing better?" James asked, a loud noise as the chair scraped as he sat down next to Harry, taking Regulus' previous spot.

"I'm doing fine," Harry said like it was obvious, giggling towards the end of his sentence. 

"You called me freezing and high, what were you doing?" It was the roughest Regulus had ever heard James. His throat sounded like it burned. 

"Just out and about, I'm not even that high," Harry said as Regulus turned around to watch Harry shrug like he couldn't be bothered to have the conversation.

Regulus could see the tension in James' shoulders, "You are that high. Where did you get the money for the drugs?"

"Still have left over money on me," Harry giggled.

"Hand it over," James said. The food finished and Regulus put it on a plate then served it to James. Harry looked offended that James said that, crossing his arms as he had drunk half of one of the cups.

Harry shook his head, "No. I'm not giving you my money."

"You are," James gave him a tight smile. "And then you're going to your room to ride out your high."

Harry silently challenged him as Regulus awkwardly stood behind James who was getting a stern look at Harry until he took his wallet out of his pocket and tossed it at the table, getting up from the table and leaving the room. Heavy footsteps going up the stairs. Regulus gave him a kiss on the back of his head, "I'm sorry."

"Sit next to me?" James asked as he grabbed the wallet, putting it in one of his front pockets before grabbing the fork to his food. Regulus sat down the moment he asked, leaning against him as he applied gentle kisses to the side of his arm. 

Later that day Regulus was drawing in the living room while James was shoving the snow outside, saying he wanted to be alone for the time being. James never wanted to be alone so it made Regulus' blood go cold but he was going to respect James' wishes. Harry came down while James was still outside, the earlier bubbly attitude was now gone, "Fuck."

Regulus got up at Harry cursing, "Fuck?" he asked.

"Yeah," Harry blinked up at him, mouth hung open as it looked like his nose had been running. "I fucked up."
"You did," Regulus confirmed, bringing him over to the couch and sitting him down. "Why did you leave this morning?"

Harry sat down, grabbing one of the throw pills and putting it in his lap. "Got the cravings and then everything was so dark. Felt like I could barely move. Next thing I knew I was high and I felt good ." 

"And now how do you feel?" Regulus asked calmly.

"Like shit," Harry looked like it too, he looked like a mix of sick and sleep deprived. 

Regulus nodded as he turned on the TV, putting on some documentary he didn't care enough to read the description, just figuring it would help to have some background noise. Harry stayed throughout the entire documentary, watching it in silence. James came back inside, taking off his coat and putting it on the back of the chair, he walked behind the couch, patting Harry on the shoulder. "I'm going to take a shower, we're going to talk after."

The night was cold in the Potter's house. Harry and James talked upstairs while Regulus stayed on the bottom floor, he made them dinner and made sure both of them ate before forcing a meal down his throat even if he didn't have an appetite. Lily came by to pick up Harry, Regulus stayed upstairs letting the family be alone. 

James came up the stairs, staring at Regulus with a dead look in his eyes, "I'm an awful father."

"You're not," Regulus shook his head, sitting up as he was leaning against the backboard.

"I am," James sat down next to him, resting his head on Regulus' chest, reversing their normal position. "I never go to the parent teacher conferences, I would avoid counselors meetings, I let him get away with whatever he wanted."

"I wouldn't say that makes you an awful father," maybe not a great one though, "And there's time to start. There's going to be a round of parent teacher conferences in January, the week after school starts. You could also email the teachers, ask how he's doing in classes."

"Do parents email you?" James asked looking up at him, he didn't bother putting on his glasses today, they were left abandoned on the bedside table. 

Regulus sighed a little annoyed, remembering the many parents who flooded his emails, "Yeah, too much in my opinion. They email me asking why their student is failing art class. I don't know Barbara, maybe because your child hasn't turned in any work the entire school year."

James chuckled but it sounded hollow to what Regulus was used to. "I should do that then. I still feel like a fuck up though. My son snuck out of my house and got so high he took off his shirt in the freezing cold because he was too hot in the negative weather." 

Regulus grimaced as an idea came into his head, he shouldn't do what he was going to do. "When do you start abusing drugs?"

James looked at him, eyebrows high as confusion was on his face. "What? Uh. Sixteen, I think."

"Is your father an awful father?" Regulus asked, his heart beating fast in his chest, so fast that he was hearing James could hear it.

James grumbled, "Not the same. I am a bad father, you can't deny that Regulus."

"Then let's be better. I don't know the James you were ten years ago but I know the James you are now, and the James I know isn't just going to sit around and let all of this happen around him. So let's be better," Regulus tried, putting as much enthusiasm as he could in his voice even if it sounded borderline fake.

" Let's sound like the both of us."

"It is. I'm not going to try to be his parent because I'm not, he has two parents who love him, but I'm your partner. Which means I'm going to support you," Regulus started to play with his hair.

"Are you coming to Christmas with me?" James asked, a realer smile on his face now as he relaxed further into Regulus.

Regulus tilted his head, a little confused, he thought that they were having Christmas here. He imagined Sirius, Remus, and Lily would come over, maybe Mary depending on how their "friendship" was going. "Are you not having Christmas here?"

"We have two. We have one here and then I go to my parents with Harry, sometimes Lily if she has the night off. My parents want to meet you."

"Oh," Regulus forgot that James' parents were real people that he would have to meet one day. There was a high chance they already had a preconceived idea of him because he was sure Sirius had told them all about how awful of a person Regulus was. "I don't want to intrude on your personal affairs."

"You're my boyfriend, I know your family doesn't celebrate Christmas. You should come with me, you can even see my childhood room," James said. 

Regulus scoffed at saying his family didn't celebrate it. He wasn't wrong, the Black family never celebrated holidays but still. "I don't have gifts for them, I don't even know what to get them."

"I'll slap your name on the gifts I got them. Plus you need to meet them so I can officially start calling you Mr. Potter," James teased, his normal self coming back to him for the time being. 

"I regret being nice to you now," Regulus grumbled. 

"No you don't. You love me."

"Sometimes," Regulus repeated from yesterday's conversation. "I'll go to Christmas with you." It wasn't like he was going to do something anyway, Evan and Barty were traveling out of town for the holiday and that's who Regulus normally celebrated with. Cheap grocery store pre-made meals and cheap alcohol.

"Thank you," James reached up to give him a soft kiss. "I'm wiped, I didn't expect to be woken up at five in the morning and then spend the rest of the day shoveling snow."

"No one asked you to spend the entire day shoveling snow," Regulus pointed out. 

"It needed to be done and I needed something to distract my mind. I've been thinking of getting a job just to clear my mind from everything happening. I don't need the money but…" James trailed off with a shrug. 

Regulus thought it made sense to him, even if he had his parents' money he probably still would've done a job, preferably being able to work off of commissions for his painting. "The school is looking for a football coach for next year and a track coach, you look like you did track."

"I did, I did all the sports," James nodded and Regulus fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Maybe I'll apply online."

By the time Christmas came around, the house looked like Christmas threw up all around the interior and outside. James had gone on a marathon of putting up decorations to help give his brain a break from Harry's problems. Regulus found himself in a Christmas sweater from James' closet as he was sipping on a mug of tea, he had made everyone breakfast as the friends piled into the house. 

Harry was adorned in gifts and Regulus had a suspicion that this happened every year. It made sense as Harry was the only child of the group until they discovered that Remus had his own child. Regulus had gifted Harry a set of good art supplies, not the cheap art sets that parents usually got kids. It was expensive art supplies that Regulus used his teacher discount to get, it was the only reason he was honestly able to afford them. He had given James the mug he had made, it was a scenery painting from his favorite football team's stadium. 

Regulus thought it was dumb but James loved it and that's what mattered. James had gotten him a set of loose leaf tea, most of them were black but a few were herbal. Regulus loved it as he leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. 

Harry had gifted the mug to Lily that Regulus had fired for him. Regulus had snuck an old guitar pick into Sirius' pocket when he wasn't looking, it was one of the few things Sirius left behind when he ran away from home. 

They left near the afternoon as Remus was picking up Teddy and they were going to go visit Remus' mother and father, it sounded like they lived a decent bit away which meant they had to leave early enough in the day to get there by night. Regulus went upstairs and fixed his hair again before James was driving the three of them to his parents house.

Harry was having a good day, which everyone was thankful for. James knocked on the front door as Regulus was holding the gifts, he was anxiously bouncing on his heels as Euphemia Potter answered the door. Regulus knew who she was from the photos in James' house. "Merry Christmas boys, you're going to freeze your toes standing out there." 

James and Harry laughed together as they entered, Regulus going in between them as he hid between the Potters. He was betrayed shortly after as Harry went into the kitchen to sneak a bite while James was whisked away by his mother leaving him out in the open. He decided to follow James, walking after them as he made sure to not accidentally drop a present. "Where would you like these Mrs. Potter?" he asked quietly.

"Call me Effie dear and you can set them down under the tree."

Regulus listened, sitting them in an open space next to the other present. Their tree was a lot bigger than the one James had up in their living room. The ornaments on them look old, he bet they were the same ones on the tree from when James was a kid. James gestured for Regulus to sit next to him on one of the couches, the furniture was old like the ornaments, but well taken care of. It looked expensive like the furniture his parents had in his house. 

"Thank you for having me Mrs- Effie," Regulus corrected himself as he was sitting straight up, making sure to have the perfect posture that his mother had engraved in him at a young age. The name was a little hard for him to get used to.

"We're happy to have you here, James has been talking non-stop about you for the past couple of months," Effie teased her son.

James looked away from Regulus but not before Regulus failed to see his blush, "Where's dad?"

"In the kitchen eating what's for dinner probably. I told him to stay out but knowing him, he's showing Harry where the cookies are hidden," Effie said, her face lighting up when Fleamont Potter entered the room, Harry trailing behind him. Cookie in both of their hands.

Regulus had seen the man like Effie in photos, all of the Potter men looked like clones of each other, just in different points of their lives at different times. "How has school been?" Fleamont asked as he sat next to his wife.

"Good," Harry said sitting on the other side of James. "Football season was good, dad's trying to push me into track for the spring."

"It would be good to keep him busy," James leaned back as faint Christmas music was playing in the background.

"James tells us you're an art teacher at the high school. Did you study art at university?" Fleamont asked as Effie took the cookie out of his hand, giving her husband a disappointed look.

Regulus felt uncomfortable with how relaxed everyone was, all of them were leaning into each other while he was here, acting as if there was an etiquette class they were going to jump on him at random. "I did, I have both my undergrad and graduate degrees in studio art," he answered.

"You'll have to show us some pieces at some point," Effie said, "I'm going to get up and put the food in the oven to warm it up." She got up, "Want to join me Harry?" she offered, ruffling the boy's hair as she walked past him. With a look from James, Harry got up and followed his grandmother into the kitchen.

"Do you have any spare pieces? I'd been trying to get Effie to replace the art in here for years," Monty laughed, it was deeper than James with more gruff lacing the words. 

"Not really," Regulus had sold or given away most of the art he had made during university for money, needing it for rent.

"Shame, keep us in mind if you do get a few extra."

James put his arm around Regulus' waist, the action was so intimate that it made Regulus freeze in his spot, which wasn't very noticeable since he was behaving like a statue otherwise. "Of course Mr. Potter."

"Please it's Monty, I haven't been Mr. Potter in a very long time," Mony gently corrected.

"Sorry sir," Regulus said without realizing he did, wincing when he heard the words come out of his mouth. He was fucking up his first impression without trying. 

Monty gave him a warm patient smile, "No need to apologize Regulus. Have you watched a lot of Christmas movies before?" He wasn't disturbed by how weird Regulus was being, almost as if he was used to it.

Then it hit him, they had dealt with him before. They knew Sirius when he was a pre-teen, to his teenage years in the height of the abuse. "Only the ones James has made me watch," he found himself smiling the tiniest bit.

"You love the movies I make you watch," James said laughing, poking him in the side.

"Some of them," Regulus corrected, he wasn't big into the movies James liked, but he liked that James enjoyed them.

Monty looked at the couple with amusement, "Your mother did the same thing to me. She acted like I had committed a war crime when I told her I only read books." 

"I wonder who that sounds like," Regulus gave James a long stare.

"I just think it's insane that you've never seen Shawshank Redemption ," James put his hands up in surrender.

"I've read the book," Regulus said, shrugging, he had no desire to watch any of the movies. Even if they were award winning. 

James dramatically gasped at him, "But you need to watch the movie. It's a classic. I had him watch The Godfather over Thanksgiving break and he said it wasn't that good."

"It wasn't," Regulus shook his head.

Monty laughed, "We'll pick a good movie to watch while we open gifts." 

Regulus started to finally relax as the conversation continued, by the time it was time to eat he was fully laying into James, laughing softly at Monty's sly comments or James' dumb jokes. When dinner arrived Regulus went with the other men to the dining table. The atmosphere was very warm and welcoming which made the hair on the back of his neck go up. He wasn't used to this. 

Effie's cooking was mouth watering. He hadn't tasted something this good before, even more delicious than the food his private chef used to make when he lived at home. He ate more than he normally would, the self anxious thoughts of his body image fading as he cared more about the flavors on his tongue. By the time dinner was over, Regulus wasn't sure he had ever eaten that much before. He looked over at James with a pout as the others were already by the tree, "I don't think I can move." 

"You can make it love," James mumbled, putting an arm around Regulus as they got up. "You can lay in my arms tonight."

Regulus continued to lean against him as they sat down on the ground together as Harry passed out the gifts to everyone. Small intimate touches as Effie and Monty unwrapped their gifts, meaningful pieces that James had originally bought for them then added Regulus' name to the tag. He wanted to get them actual gifts but he didn't know what to get them so he let his name just get added.

Harry had gotten showered in gifts just like earlier in the day, being the only grandchild had its perks Regulus guessed. Next was James who had almost as many gifts as Harry which made Regulus chuckle to himself. It made him happy to see how much the other two were enjoying the gift exchanges. He didn't expect to get anything as he had never met these people before but Harry passed over a small envelope with a large box. "Thank you both," Regulus said as he started to unwrap the larger gift. As it was the one that hit his hands first.

Inside was a blanket, R.A.B sewn into the corner of the plush fabric, it was dark green which stuck out in the mostly warm colored room. He had never received a gift before during the holidays besides the occasional one from Evan, Barty, Pandora, or Dorcas. They had a general no gift giving rule though. The sheer amount of gifts he had received today made him a little uneasy.

He opened the envelope next, it had a key inside of it. He looked up at Effie and Monty with a confused look in his eyes.

"It's a key to the house, just in case you ever need a place to stay."

Regulus wasn't sure what he felt. It was a similar feeling to what he felt when he cuddled James on his bed. Or when Harry was having a good day, laughing at the jokes thrown throughout the household. "Thank you," he tucked the key in his pocket, not planning on using it but it was more the meaning behind it.

James squeezed his shoulder, whispering quietly as his parents talked to Harry about something. "This is your family now," a faint kiss on his lower ear from James as he spoke.

They were his family, not just Effie and Monty, or James and Harry. He knew that Remus, Sirius, and Lily were also there for him, even if he didn't want to admit it. He just needed to learn how to accept this new family.

Chapter Text

When they got home from the Potters, Regulus was shown his true gift from James, to be honest, he wasn't expecting any gift. Yet James was eagerly waiting to lead him up to the stairs to one of the guest bedrooms that was previously used for storage. Inside the wall was lined with a tarp, an expensive easel staring back at him. New lighting had been put in to mimic natural light. James had got him his own studio. Regulus was already in love with James but he was quickly falling further and further into love.

School started back up and Harry hadn't relapsed again. It was his class period and he was staring at the canvas like it had punched him in the gut. Regulus leaned back in his desk chair as he went back to grading.

He put his things away at the end of the day and rubbed his face as he was surrounded by piles of paperwork. James was expecting him at the house but he was behind on grading, he couldn't believe he had let himself get this behind. He showed up to the house as Harry was picked up by his mother from the school instead of going home with Regulus.

James was at the front door, smiling on his lips as the bags around his eyes were almost gone. "How was work love?"

"Tiring, I need to grade… so much," Regulus sighed, holding up his over stuffed bag on his shoulder.

"What if I made you tea and you can grade to your heart's content?" James asked, kissing his cheek as he took his bag from him.

"I could enjoy that," Regulus set up shop in the living room, leaving a little spot for James to join him if he wished once he was done with the tea but for the most part his stuff was spread all over the couch and coffee table. 

James brought his tea and set it down on a free spot then sat next to him. "Is it going to bother you if I play one of my games?"

Regulus shook his head while taking a sip from his tea. It was bitter and a little weak for his liking but it would do. He lost track of time as he finished the grading that was needed, putting in each grade on his laptop while James played some first-person shooter game in the background, either grunting or cheering if he won or lost.

He started working on lesson plans as his stomach growled out into the living room. "I can cook in a second," he mumbled, his cooking was far better compared to James' so he'd prefer to just cook tired than eat James' cooking.

"I can order food," James suggested and Regulus let him so he could continue focusing on his work. 

The food came and Regulus' body was happy to get some fuel in it as he had skipped lunch to work. The next morning he woke up on top of James, a paper sticking to the top of his forehead as his alarm blasted through the speakers. James jolted awake, quickly getting up, looking like he was about to fight someone.

"It's just my alarm," Regulus chuckled as he looked around, not remembering falling asleep. 

"Scared the shit out of me, I'll go make coffee," James grumbled, moving slowly as he made his way into the kitchen while Regulus put his work into neat little piles. "Are we celebrating Valentine's day?" he asked from the kitchen.

Regulus stopped moving as he looked in his direction, "Do you want to?"

"Yeah, we could go on a double date, make it a whole thing," James said as he came into view, stretching his arms so the bottom of his torso was showing from his shirt raising.

"With who? My brother?" Regulus asked with both eyes raised. He assumed James was thinking of Remus or Sirius, which in either case, meant his brother would be coming.

"Okay, fair point. Maybe not," James hummed off like he was thinking. "Could ask Lily, not sure if she's still "friends" with Mary or if they've talked to each other yet."

"Maybe they're trying to keep things professional," Regulus pointed out, going back to his previous task.

James shrugged and went back into the kitchen to grab his coffee. Regulus double checked the time and then ran upstairs to brush his teeth with the toothbrush he left over at the house and changed into a new set of clothes. He should really just move in at this point but it was too soon for that, he also didn't want to add any stress to Harry, and figured a random man moving in would do that.

He still technically lived at his apartment even if he spent five nights a week here at a minimum. It had actually been eight days since he was last at the apartment but it was besides the point. Going back down the stairs, James put a cup of coffee in his hands which he thankfully drank. "Coming back tonight?" James asked.

"Probably, your bed is eons better than mine."

"You didn't even sleep in my bed last night," James pointed out.

"What if I was calling you my bed?" Regulus asked, kissing his jaw, he wasn't but he also wasn't above playing mind tricks on James. "I'll see you later, or I'll text you if something comes up."

The weeks repeated and Harry was doing as good as he could. The night before their double date, which yes James talked Regulus into, Harry wasn't doing as well. He was short in the way he spoke to people. Rolled his eyes at James, Lily, and Regulus whenever they even tried saying hi to him.

Regulus knew his place, he knew he wasn't Harry's dad, he didn't say anything in return, would just calmly and quietly mention something to one of his parents whenever Harry started to get out of control and let one of them handle the meltdown.

It made Regulus think of his own parents. It's not like he was jealous of Harry, if anything he was happy for him. It made him sick though, to think of how his parents would have reacted if this were him.

Sirius tried his best to hide the worst of abuse from Regulus, even as a kid he knew that. He could imagine the slapping though, the random bruises on Sirius' face, the way his father would shove him up against a wall even if he had the littlest bit of attitude in the way he spoke. At least Harry had a good support system. 

The day of the double date Regulus didn't know what to wear. He put on his best shirt and pants as he drove to the location of the restaurant, patting a beat on his steering wheel before getting out. James was easy to spot, dark red button up with black pants, leaning against his car with a cigarette hanging between his lips. 

Regulus walked up to him, plucking the cigarette out of his mouth and stealing it, putting it between his own lips. He hadn't smoked since he had one of Sirius' cigarettes a couple months prior but he figured it would help with the nerves. "Hello to you," James said with an amused look on his face.

"Is it weird to go on a date with your ex-wife again?" Regulus asked, blowing out the smoke.

"Don't know yet, we'll find out together," James waved at someone behind Regulus, he turned around to see Mary and Lily walking up together, both in tight fitting dresses with their hair done.

Regulus put out the cigarette on the ground as the two couples met up together. They went inside as the hostess greeted them with a smile, they were brought over to one of the medium sized tables. They weren't having the date on Valentine's day as Lily was working but a few days earlier instead. 

As they sat down the hostess put the menus down. "We hope you enjoy your time here. You are two very lucky women by the way," the hostess said, feeling up James' arm as she walked away.

A surge of jealousy shot through Regulus followed by amusement as he realized she thought they were two straight couples together. It made sense to be fair, most people would assume they were straight instead of gay, but it still made him laugh inside his head. "I can't believe she thought I'd date one of you," Mary made a face while picking up a menu.

"Am I really that bad Mary?" James asked, batting his eyelashes.

"Yes," Lily answered for her with a laugh.

"Homophobic," James grabbed Regulus' hand, rubbing a thumb over the groove between his thumb and the back of his hand.

"Yes, the lesbain is homophobic," Mary rolled her eyes, flashing a small smile over at Lily who blushed and hid further into her menu. They still weren't dating which Regulus could hardly believe, it was like him and James saying they weren't dating. 

Regulus looked at the menu and tried to not feel his heart jump out at the prices. He knew they were going to a nice restaurant and he knew it would be costly, it was the same type of restaurants his parents would bring them to. Even if Regulus had a stable income for the past couple months, it wasn't like teachers got paid well, especially since he was a first year teacher. The bonus from the AP classes helped a lot but most of the money went to his debt he had gotten from his education.

The rest of the money went to his credit card debt he had got from keeping afloat all those years and then the little bit he had over was rent and bills. He wasn't going to go broke from an expensive dinner but it would make him cringe.

The waitress came over, introducing herself to the table and getting drink orders. Regulus didn't miss the way the waitress was looking James up and down, "What would you all like to drink?"

Mary and Lily ordered cocktails, Regulus was going to get water but now he seemed boring comparatively. He started to order the cheapest red wine on the menu before James cut him off, ordering a bottle of wine instead with a wink to Regulus.

His face got hot but he let James order for him. He didn't want to spend James' money though. Lily shot James a look Regulus wasn't able to read. "How has the hospital been Lily?" Regulus asked, initiating the small talk. 

"A lot, I'm missing Rosier already. Psych stole him from us and replaced him with a store-brand version of him," Lily dramatically sighed, resting her elbows on the table.

"I'm not letting him know that. His ego is already big enough."

"Ego's can never be too big," James grinned.

Regulus playfully rolled his eyes, "I'm not shocked you're saying that."

"What?" James asked, his eyebrows wiggling. 

"I believe he's saying you have a big ego," Mary said in a serious tone, as if she was reading a news article or a report.

"Did you need your big psychology degree to figure that out?" James shot back, joking of course, it was easy to tell when James was snapping back seriously.

"I did, how else would I be able to tell that you're compensating?" Mary asked, as the waitress returned with their drinks. They filled a glass for both James and Regulus then left the bottle on the table as Mary and Lily were served their drinks.

They ordered their meals then waited for the waitress to leave before returning to their conversation. "I don't know Regulus, am I compensating?" James asked with a smirk.

Regulus choked on his wine, luckily Lily spoke for him so he didn't have to stumble over his words. "I know for a fact you are. Remember that I had a kid with you."

Regulus smiled as he pulled the glass away and set it back down on the table. It had been a while since he had wine this good, he was trying to savor it, also not wanting to act like a drunk in front of everyone. 

"You all hate me," James decided, taking a drink of his own wine.

"Glad you finally figured it out," Regulus nudged his foot under the table. The food came out in an impressive time. 

This time when the waitress set the food down, she didn't leave right away. "Are you all celebrating Valentine's day?" she asked innocently.

"Something like that," Lily answered, keeping it vague.

"Are you?" the waitress asked James, being as forward as she could be without having a sign that said do you want to fuck? . Regulus opened his mouth to say something smart but took a bite of food instead, making his mouth too full to talk.

"I'm celebrating with my boyfriend," James answered, charming smile and all. That got the waitress to quickly leave again. They ate mostly in silence, the occasional joke from Mary or James as Regulus stayed on the quiet side like normal. 

He had four glasses of wine and was looser by the time dinner ended. Not drunk but a nice warm tipsy due to how long it had been since he had proper alcohol. The waitress came by again and asked how the check was being split. Regulus tried paying but James paid for both of them while Lily paid for herself and Mary. 

The pairs separated as they walked to their cars. James was holding his hand as he pulled him towards his car. "I'm not drunk James, I can drive," Regulus mumbled, realizing he was a  little more tipsy than he thought he was, now that he was moving around.

"I'm not taking chances, get in, I'll get your car after I drop you off," James only had one glass and Regulus wasn't sure he even finished it so he was more than sober to drive them home.

"How?" Regulus' eyebrows furrowed as he got in James' car. He knew that Harry was with his grandparents so it wasn't like he could help James drive the car back. "Don't wanna get towed, can't afford it." 

James got in his car, reaching over and grabbing his seatbelt, buckling it in as he gave Regulus a kiss on the lips. He chased after James' face as he pulled away, wanting a longer kiss. "Jamie," he frowned.

"I'll get someone to help me, let's get you home," James started to pull away as Regulus huffed, crossing his arms. The alcohol was starting to set in more and now he was wishing that he had drunk more, the feeling felt good. 

They arrived home before Regulus realized and James was on the other side of his car door, opening it for him. Regulus got up, giggling as he did so, "Wait. Are you going to leave?" he pouted as James unlocked the front door.

"I'll be back before you know it, just getting your car real fast," James gave him another kiss then gently pushed him inside. Regulus grunted as he looked around, locking the front door just in case as he went into James' kitchen. He knew he had alcohol somewhere. They had hidden it away because of Harry but it was still in the house… somewhere.

He found the alcohol tucked away behind a canned soup. He poured himself a drink of vodka soda, finding some club soda next to the bottles. 

James kept true to his word, he was home soon enough as Regulus was still in the kitchen, sipping on his drink. "I see you made yourself at home."

"You're home," Regulus cheered, wrapping an arm around his neck as he smiled up to him. 

"I'm home, just had to give a quick call to Remus then drop him off at home. I promise he took good care of your car, it's in the driveway right now," James explained, swaying their bodies together. 

"No ticket," Regulus cheered, a slur in the way he spoke. 

"No ticket," James confirmed, "Wanna go lie down?"

Regulus nodded, finishing off his drink and setting the glass down on the counter as James helped him up the stairs. It felt like climbing a mountain as he ran into the wall twice on the way up. James laughed at him each time but didn't stop helping him until they reached the bedroom. 

Regulus laid down on the bed, struggling to undo his shirt. Sticking out his bottom lip at James as he fumbled with his buttons. James helped him, gently taking off his shirt. "Better?" Regulus mumbled out a yeah as James tossed a hoodie at him. 

"I could stay undressed," Regulus suggested, drunkenly giggling as James took off his shirt, he took in the sight of James' toned muscles before him.

"Put the hoodie on Regulus," James said, crossing his arms with a slightly stern voice. Regulus sighed as he put it on, listening to his boyfriend. The light got turned off and Regulus got lured to sleep by James' snoring.

He always hated snoring before James. The first time he slept with James he didn't notice it and the first time he did notice it, he hated how he didn't hate it. 

Regulus woke up with a headache and nausea. Thankfully it was the weekend so it wasn't like he had work. James wasn't in bed, an empty spot that showed the divet where he slept the night prior. He stayed the entire weekend there as James shoved more poor movies at him, keeping the same routine of Regulus waking up in an empty bed since James would be at the gym. If he managed to slip away, he'd spend the rest of the time focusing on his paintings in the studio that James had created for him.

Nearing the end of March, Regulus was sitting at the dining table. Legs crossed as he worked on lesson plans. Harry was sitting at the table with him, coloring something in with the oil pastels that Regulus had bought for Christmas.

James walked into the kitchen with a cold cup of coffee. Regulus swore he had been sipping on the same mug since he came home from the gym. "Why don't you just move in?"

Regulus looked up from he was working on, "What?"

"He hasn't moved in yet?" Harry asked, a laugh on the edge of his lips as he looked back down amused at what he was drawing. 

"No, I haven't," Regulus said, his voice wavering as he spoke. He had practically moved in but they hadn't talked about it. They hadn't made it official. 

"Whatever you two say," Harry said quietly.

James sat down with them at the table. "Harry's right, you basically live here now. Just pack up the remaining items you have and bring them here. I've seen your apartment, you can't have much lying around."

Regulus wanted to be offended by the statement but James wasn't necessarily wrong. He didn't have much besides his clothes and art supplies. All of his art supplies had already been moved over as well. 

"Okay," Regulus grabbed James' hand, bringing it up to his mouth and applying a kiss to the back of it. "It'll probably just take one or two trips."

It only took one trip, Regulus knew it would but he felt better saying it may take another. The rest of his clothes easily fit in the dressers next to James' clothing. James was a little alarmed by the lack of items he had, he didn't say it out loud but Regulus could read it on his lips and eyes. 

The blanket Effie and Monty had got him laid on the bed, the key was in the top of the dresser, wrapped in an old handkerchief that Regulus had kept from his family home. It was one of the few things he kept from then.

"Are you helping Remus with prom?" James asked him as Regulus was getting ready for work, he adjusted the tie around his neck.

"Am I supposed to?" Regulus asked as he switched to combing through his hair. He knew that the previous art teacher would help with homecoming but as of now, no one had come to him about prom.

James hummed, moving behind Regulus and wrapping one of his hands around his waist. "Was just wondering because Remus was complaining about it last night."

"Remus can complain as he wants, I'm not helping that man unless he is on his hands and knees," Regulus rolled his eyes, turning his side to kiss James' cheek. He would help him for less but no one besides him would know that. He had a reputation to keep up, one that had been slipping once James Potter entered his life.

"What if I get on my hands and knees?" James cheekily asked, tightening the arm around his waist. 

Regulus pulled away with a shove at James' shoulder. "I'm late for work," he wasn't, "Harry I'm leaving, hurry up." He shouted as he walked down the stairs. He paused at the bottom of the staircase. Regulus didn't yell, not even at his parents or friends, he preferred the scariness that came with calm quiet tones. He snorted to himself, almost hating that James turned him into the type of person who yelled for their kid to hurry up so they could drive them to school.

It wasn't like he thought Harry was his kid. He was just a kid Regulus was close to. Harry ran down the stairs, almost barreling into Regulus as he whipped into the kitchen, coming out a second later with a Pop Tart hanging out of his mouth. "Ready," he said with his mouth full.

The thought of scolding Harry for talking with his mouth open didn't even cross Regulus' mind as they left the house, getting into his car. It was a normal school day, Teddy, Harry, Hermoine, Ron, and Luna would gather around one of the tables in the mornings. Regulus would either tune them out or would go to Pandora's room, complaining to her about what new TV show James had convinced him to watch while Pandora nodded along, smiling the entire time.

The classes passed and when his lunch came up, he was ready to go to Pandora's room like he normally did when Minerva McGonagall came into his room. He had rarely spoken to the assistant principal since his hiring of an emergency teacher. "I was wondering if we could have a chat Mr. Black."

This was it. Regulus was getting fired. He knew it was coming, he wasn't shy about his relationship with James even if the two didn't rub it in people's faces. "Of course," Regulus sat back down in his desk chair.

McGonagall pulled over one of the few normal chairs he had in his room, setting it on the other side of his desk as she sat down. "As the school year is wrapping up, we were curious about your plans next year."

Regulus felt his heart beat start to go back down to normal. He wasn't getting fired. "I'd be honored to stay if you'll have me. I started working on my teaching certificate in late February, so my observations would start in late August."

"We would love it if you returned, speaking of such, how are your AP classes doing?" 

The two of them went back and forth about Regulus' classes, how they were progressing and where he felt he was having issues. Regulus felt relieved when she felt his room, the nerves rolling off of him in waves as he once again started to head to Pandora's room for lunch. When he got there Remus Lupin was sitting down talking to her. 

They two smiled towards them. Remus' crow's feet crinkled as he tilted his head back in a loud laugh then a wince as he moved his back. Regulus had noticed that Remus must have had some form of chronic pain, he also noticed that it went unsaid, no one brought it up, even when Remus wasn't in the room.

"You're in my spot Lupin," Regulus grumbled as he sat down in an opposing chair.

"You're late," Pandora shot him a grin, rolling him one of his apples. 

Regulus took it, he had a packed lunch from James, which he was worried about opening, expecting something close to poison inside but James insisted on packing it. 

"I thought I was being fired," Regulus said in a matter-of-fact tone, as he bit into the apple, unzipping the bag with one of his hands.

Remus blinked over at him rapidly, "Are you?"

"No, she was just making sure I'm teaching next year, probably just wondering if they needed to start art teacher interviews," Regulus gave them the synopsis as he almost laughed looking at what James' packed.

He was sure there was a stupid grin on his face as he held the apple in one hand away from his mouth now. There was a pizza lunchable, the one with the drink and a bag of chips that looked like they'd be caked in Red 40 food dye. A note on top of them. Regulus picked up the note and opened it.

You stole a pizza my heart - the best boyfriend ever

Regulus rolled his eyes, putting the note back down.

"Earth to Reggie," Pandora called out, waving a hand in front of his face. Regulus looked back up, tilting his head. "We were talking to you."

"Oh," Regulus dismissed it, not correcting her about the nickname as he opened the Launchable. "What?"

"We asked if you were teaching next year," Remus said, looking over at what Regulus was doing. "Since when do you eat… those?"

"Since James decided to be funny," Regulus wasn't going to complain about the food as he made his small pizza. The memory of the grocery store aisle where they meet on the forefront of his mind. "I am, I need money so."

"Do you?" Remus asked with a laugh, he crossed his arms as his prepped meal container was empty next to him. "It's not like James is going to charge you rent."

Regulus thought about it as he ate the first pizza, Remus wasn't wrong. James didn't hide how much money he had and if he had it his way, he would probably pay for all of Regulus' debt. "I don't want to mooch off of him, I still want to contribute in some way."

He also enjoyed having access to a kiln. The job had its perks. "Or maybe you actually like teaching," Pandora said, giggling as she leaned against her desk to flick him in the arm.

"Never," Regulus shook his head. Most of the time, he was neutral about it. Just another way to pass time but there were small moments he enjoyed. Like when a student liked a piece they made or when a student would come up to him, asking if they could talk about something. Usually it was them using him as a free therapist, complaining about their girlfriend or boyfriend cheating on them. Regulus would give them the same flat look he gave everyone but for some reason that just made them keep coming back.

It was a little comforting to know that he helped, even if he wasn't trying to. 

"Mhm sure," Pandora shook her head, not believing him. "Are you going to help us decorate for prom?"

"No," Regulus said quickly. "I did one dance, you get one event from me per year."

"It's a new year," Remus nudged him in the side lightly.

"Per school year," Regulus corrected himself, nudging Remus back with more force. He didn't mean to hurt him but when he heard the grunt of pain, Regulus froze mid bite. Even if no one talked about Remus' pain, it wasn't like any of them went out of their way to make his life harder.

It was one thing for Regulus to hurt someone. It was another thing to hurt his boyfriend's best friend who suffered with chronic pain and was having a bad day already. Remus started laughing, ignoring the pain if it was there, "Thank you."

Regulus looked at him with pure confusion as he swallowed the bite he had started taking. "Uh- you're welcome?"

Remus flashed him a smile as he grunted again. "So I can sign you up for painting?"

Regulus grumbled, not replying with words as he shoved more of the lunchable into his mouth. He didn't reply but Remus cheered in celebration. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to help.