Moony
Regulus was breathing hard and sweating as he held his sword against Minerva’s. They were training again, and he was actually doing well this time, not distracted. Sword fighting was cathartic to him, though his fingers got sore and cramped up from clutching the hilt for so long.
He knew that he and Minerva weren’t alone as they circled each other, even though Remus didn’t announce his presence. Regulus could just tell when Remus was within his proximity at all times. It was like a weird sixth sense he had.
He was excited to see Sirius again though, after seeing his big brother two nights in a row he had been embracing his inner child a little more. They had even started getting into petty fights like siblings do.
Not long after Minerva and Regulus were done with their spar, Poppy came in , starting to talk about the animagus magic, asking about Regulus' progress.
Shit, shit, shit, shit. Regulus thought. He had forgotten to tell Remus. How had he forgotten to tell Remus? He had been so excited about it too! Regulus rested his head on Remus’. “I meant to tell you. I’ve already started the spell with Poppy.” he mumbled apologetically.
"You did? You're crazy! In the most beautiful way" Remus smiled
“…You’re not upset I didn’t tell you?” he asks, confused.
"Of course not, you have a right to decide what to do with your life on your own. You don't need to tell me every little thing"
“Oh.” Regulus whispered. “Well, I have suspicions as to what my form will be but I want it to be a surprise.”
"Alright, I like surprises" he grinned, kissing the top of Regulus' head.
Regulus smiled and hid his face in Remus’ neck.
Poppy and Minerva exchanged knowing looks and smiled. "Why don't you two go eat so we can take you back into the village?" Poppy offered.
Regulus nodded even though he wasn't really hungry. Remus smells so nice.
"Come on, Sweetheart" Remus whispered, taking his hand and walking to the kitchens with him.
Evan greeted them with a smile, only to be interrupted by Barty walking out of a side room with an arm full of food
"What did you need me to do now- Oh hey" he definitely and undoubtedly blushed.
Regulus just gave Barty a knowing smirk. He was going to tease him later, Barty always teased Regulus about Remus after all. It was just equal treatment. “Hello Barty, Evan,” Regulus says with a nod. “What’s the plan for lunch today?”
"Pasta" Evan smiled, obviously happy that he was allowed to cook nowadays.
"Hey everyone, am I late?' Pandora walked in, smiling happily. It had become a habit to eat together.
“If you are, so are we, Pandora.” Regulus smiled. He and Pandora had gotten close r in the past few weeks, quickly turning from acquaintances to best friends.
“Is there garlic in the pasta?” Regulus asked casually. He didn't stomach it well so he always made sure to avoid it as much as possible.
"Of course not, I am not planning an assassination attempt any time soon" Evan chuckled as Remus dragged Regulus with him to sit down, an arm around his waist. It was comfortable like that, the five of them had become their own little group in the chaso that was the palace.
While Evan and Barty cooked, they talked.
"Do you think we should take then with us today?" Remus asked quietly
“Yes.” Regulus says quite seriously. He wanted his friends with them finally. They would enjoy being at the tavern just as much, meeting new people. Not to mention that it would most likely ease Pandora's anxiety.
Remus turned around "Would you three come with us to the tavern tonight?" He proposed
Everyone looked at the two of them and silence spread across the room.
"I- Yeah of course" Pandora nodded and the others agree.
And so, they found themselves on their way to town in a quite large group.
As soon as they opened the door to the tavern, a voice boomed through the room "Reggie!" Sirius grinned vividly
“Sirius.” Regulus deadpanned like he hadn't just been rambling to Remus and Pandora that he was excited to see his brother again.
"You're an idiot, come here" he laughed and wrapped his arms around his younger brother.
Regulus hugged Sirius back, of course, probably squeezed him a little too tight not fully wanting to let go.
Xeno and Sybill came walking over curiously and immediately took an interest in Pandora, who was interested in Xeno and Sybill too, with a shy smile on her face. They hit it off instantly. Barty and Evan just stayed close together and behind Regulus like a pair of Dobermans.
"Oi, over here" James tried to get Evan's and Barty's attention, playing some kind of card game with Dorcas and Marlene
-------
Meanwhile, Remus was looking around the room for Fenrir, sensing him but not seeing him anywhere.
"You doing good?" Sirius asked Regulus softly before turning to Remus. "Fenrir is in the back room there. Had to take a moment to himself or what ever. But I bet he would want to see you."
Remus walked to the room, hesitant. Fenrir had wanted time alone and as much as he wanted to see him, he also wanted to respect his space. After a long hesitation, he finally knocked, waited a moment and opened the door.
Fenrir looked up at Remus’ "How are you doing?” He asked. He was pacing up and down, tapping his fingers together. Despite the nervoud gesture, he seemed happy to see Remus. The room was barely filled with any furniture and there were no windows either. It seemed half like a cell, but the atmosphere was different.
Remus instantly relaxed, slipping through the door into the dimly lit room, closing it behind himself.
"I'm okay, good actually. But you don't look too good. Why are you here alone?" He was genuinely worried and couldn't understand why. But he sat down in a corner, watching Fenrir. The past days, Fenrir had seemed so stoic and almost untouchable at times, seeing him like that was unexpected
“I am glad to see you doing well. I’m just distancing myself a bit since I get...moody with people when I have not been outside after a while. I do not fancy snapping at anyone at the moment, so short after full moon"
Remus nodded. He knew that feeling all too well. He would often snap at anyone in the palace when he had to stay in a room for to long, even worse back in Rome. Luckily, Evan had started to borrow him for garden work and the little time outside was enough to at least partially regulate.
"Actually, would you mind joining me on a walk? I need to get outside for a little or this will not get better” Fenrir stated, looking at Remus without any expectation.
Remus nodded "Sure, I get out way little anyways, so I understand. I think taking a walk would be nice" he smiled a bit, trying not to be too obvious about how good it sounded to him to spend some time with Fenrir.
At the confirmation, Fenrir walked up to the door, gesturing for Remus to follow him. Remus kind of stumbled after him, still getting used to how instinctively his body would respond to what ever Fenrir said. Yes he made him feel safe but also...it was a weird feeling to get used to. And there was this little voice in the back of his head that did not like it at all.
The night air was surprisingly warm as they stepped outside. Barely any people were still roaming the streets this time. Less people to notice them, Remus didn't mind.
Keeping up with Fenrir turned out to be difficult. He was fast, almost inhumanly so. He didn't stop until they were standing on a forest clearing and when he turned to look at Remus, he looked much happier, his facial expressions much more free, uncontrolled.
Despite running, Remus had felt restless the entire time and continued to feel like that, even when he was panting, standing in front of Fenrir on the clearing.
“Remus, can I show you how to embrace your inner wolf?” He asked
When Fenrir spoke to him, it took a few seconds to register and more for him to process. He tilted his head curiously and nodded, looking at Fenrir.
"Good. Sit down."
Remus sat on the ground, his back leaned against the still remaining trunk of a tree that had most likely been made to firewood long ago. This seemed easy, ssomething he could do. That tiny voice in the back of his head was still there though, obnoxiously so.
Why are you listening to him like that? So easy. You're easy.
Remus tried to just focus on Fenrir's voice, telling him what to do. But that obnoxious voice got louder. When he finally opened his eyes, he felt weird, as if he was there but...not. As if he was just watching his body work.
Fenrir kneeled down in front of Remus, on eye level with him.
"I can tell that the wolf doesn’t want to listen to me, pup. That’s normal especially since you have been forced to be solitary your whole life. You need to get along with the wolf before we can bond together.” Fenrir explained, giving Remus a lesson like a teacher would a student. A father to a son.
"Mhm" Remus could somehow force out an agreeing noice., still getting used to it. That made sense, actually. Also, something about the nickname made him relax. It was sweet and kind of made clear where Fenrir stood towards him. Yet he had no idea how to "get in touch" with the wolf. Who, during it all, has been getting even more mouth in his head.
This is stupid.
“Can you envision him?” Fenrir asked. “It might help to think of a scenery. For me it’s a forest.”
"M comfortable right here" Remus heard himself say with a much darker, rougher voice than he knew himself to have.It confused and shocked shocked him, making him question where that came from, when images flashed through his mind of a wolf. Lightbrown, kind of orange fur. Still, the scared moment of when the words had come out of his mouth overshadowed that.
“Good, your wolf is making an appearance. You two need to get to know each other, so try to have a conversation if you can. It might not work the first time, and that is fine.” Fenrir's voice was calm and Remus trusted him, but it became apparent quickly that the wolf did not. He was snappy and sometimes downright mean and took more control of the body and consciousness than Remus would have liked.
“Easy, Moony.” Fenrir reassured the wolf. “You’re safe here, pup.”
Moony scoffed "How would you know" he half growled. Fenrir was practically a stranger to him, he had barely been around before. Why should he trust him?
“I know because I am the leader of this pack, pup. Be nice to Remus and respect me, those are the only rules. You’re safe here. Look around. Is there any silver near here? And chains? No? Exactly.”
Moony's eyes darted around the clearing before they fell back on Fenrir "I don't trust you. And I don't know if I want to respect you"
Fenrir growled a little, holding back “You don’t have to trust me yet but you do need to respect me within time. I’m not going to rush you, but you will benefit from a bond, Moony. I can promise you that, because I was solitary for a long time.”
Moony flinched at the growl but maintained eye contact still "Get Lost" he grumbled. He didn't trust, didn't want to trust. And he wouldn't respect him without trust.
“No,” Fenrir started. “I’m here to help you whether you like it or not. You could really hurt yourself if yo go unchecked like you have been.” Fenrir refused to break eye contact or even blink.
"I get along on my own rather fine, thank you very much" Moony said through gritted teeth.
Fenrir laughed at that. It wasn't in a mean way, but amused “I am sure you do, pup. You’ve lasted long enough so you are strong, but you need to give up control. It’s not healthy.”
"Not gonna do that. And most certainly not with you" Moony almost spat the words at him.
He tilted his head and a smile spread across his face as he noticed something change in Fenrir's face "Oh...the big bad wolf doesn't have it together nearly as well as he pretends, does he?"
Fenrir took a deep breath, “I have it together pup, if I didn’t you would know.”
"Is that supposed to scare me? Because it doesn't." Moony scoffed.
The nickname spoke too much truth to his liking, he wanted to be independent but Fenrir saw him as nothing but a pup.
“It should.” Fenrir states, nothing but serious.
“Be quiet, Moony.” He stood up, keeping eye contact. “You are supposed to be bonding with Remus, not with me. Yet.”
"What if I don't want to bond with him? Remus is annoying. And weak. We can do much better if I just take control"
“Do NOT call Remus annoying or weak. He is you, Moony. He’s just scared of you, for good reason. I was scared of Snatcher for a long time but now we’re friends. You will not be in control, even during full moons. You two must always work together.” He stared Moony down, making him actually shut up for a second, processing the words that Fenrir had said, but then he went back to his usual act, avoiding to look at Fenrir now though .
"working together will never happen" he said through gritted teeth.
“It will happen.” Fenrir said. “Or it will destroy you both.”
Moony fell quiet but looked very distant now, as if there was no one home behind his eyes.. Tears rolled down Remus' cheeks but he wiped them away with the sleeves of his shirt.
"He's an asshole" Remus voice cracked as he spoke with a weak voice. Moony had taken almost all of his energy.
Fenrir sighs and kneels to give Remus a hug.
“An asshole he might be, but he’s been hidden and trapped the entire time you two were together. He’s protective of you, even though he’s mean. Snatcher and I can help you both, but it’s going to take some work and you need to be willing.”
Remus fell against Fenrir, exhausted from what had just happened. The hug felt safe, he knew it would be okay eventually. He nodded in agreement to what Fenrir said, he wanted it to be better.
“We’ll try again tomorrow then.” Fenrir finalized.
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“I’ll tell you more later.” Regulus mumbled
"Did you eat yet?" Sirius asked as they walked over to the table. Scabior was behind the bar working, it was a busy night.
Regulus shook his head. “Yes, we had pasta earlier. But I’m honestly not very hungry.” he waved at Scabior.
"Do you want to drink something at least?"
“Sure,” Regulus nodded
Seeing Sirius care about him made him feel glad to be here, but it was still strange, seeing his brother here. They were strangers, both had changed in the past 6 years, so they were learning to get to know each other again.
Sirius walked over to Scabior, who immediately handed him two drinks.
"Really Pads?" Marlene yelled over when he gave the second drink to Regulus
"I have been asking you for an hour to get me a drink! How could you neglect your poor wife like that? I want a divorce!"
"Oh shut your mouth, woman, you say that like eight times a week" Sirius shot back, the two of them grinning at each other before Marlene went back to her game.
"Sorry about that"
Regulus just laughed at their antics. He knew that the two married of convenience since they both wanted to keep their royal titles and money, which was fair to him. Sirius didn’t want to date anyone and Marlene was in love with Dorcas. It worked.
"You know...technically you could absolutely just come with us again and be the prince of Germany. No one could hurt you without starting a war." Sirius mumbled, more to himself while in thought.
“What?” Regulus whispered, very lost.
"You're my brother. Marlene is an only child. I could easily make you crown prince of Germany. And then Walburga and Orion have no way to touch you ever again." Sirius said, stirring his drink.
Regulus was frozen in shock, it was appealing but at the same time... He had never thought about leaving France. Could he really just do that, leave, not look back? He would be with Sirius, with Remus. They would be safe, he would be, too.
“But what about my people?” He asked. “They would be under mother and father still and I wouldn’t be able to fight their ideas.”
"Right now you also can not do anything, can you? If you leave, Cissa takes over and she would do well, I trust her in a way"
Sirius looked at Regulus "I just...I really don't want to loose you again, I missed you"
After a moment of silence Regulus spoke, “You do have a point, but knowing mother and father I think they’d rather have Bella on the throne than Cissa. Especially since she’s the oldest. And I like it here, so I would have to think about it but thank you for offering. I don’t want to lose you either.” He turned to Sirius with a sad smile and drank his drink.
With that, the topic was off the table for now. Sirius didn't want to push Regulus and Regulus had to seriously consider it, talk to Remus about it, before he could even start to make a decision.
His eyes wandered over to Evan and Barty playing cards with James and then to Pandora, who was talking to Sybill and Xeno. "So...you made friends?"
“I have, yes. It took forever,” Regulus laughed. “But they’re definitely important to me.”
"That's good, I am glad you have made friends. They seem nice, James likes them"
Having Pandora, Barty and Evan around had proven a true blessing. They were able to help him with moving around the palace, making excuses for him and they were an amazing emotional support. Oftentimes they would spend hours in the kitchend during the late afternoon and night, just talking until they were to tired to form words anymore.
Regulus nodded, “I have to admit I’m only fond of James because he took care of you. Not that I need his approval of my friends.” Regulus responded with a small glare. He was so bitter sometimes...
Sirius put an arm around Regulus "I know, I'm sorry I implied that" he sighed.
Regulus relaxed. “It’s fine.” he says stiffly, but accepting Sirius’ arm.
“Seriously, Sirius. It’s fine.” Regulus said at Sirius’ sigh.
"Okay" he nodded, smiling. "What have you been up to?"
“Princely duties, I’m learning a new spell, I hang out with mon cœur all day, we come here. That’s pretty much it.”
"Sounds boring" Sirus nodded "Do they let you walk around freely by now?"
Regulus huffed a laugh. “No, Narcissa still follows me around. She hates it just as much as I do, but she does it to stop Bella from stalking me like we both know she would. Plus then I wouldn’t be able to do anything fun. Narcissa mainly just sleeps in my room unless I go far away.”
"That's about what I expected" Sirius nodded "I'm glad Cissa didn't change"
“Yeah, I keep trying to convince her to elope with her muse instead of marrying Lucius Malfoy but she doesn’t want to betray the family like you and Andy did or some shit like that. I get it, but I also don’t.” Regulus responded. “I love her dearly, but she doesn’t want to choose her own happiness. I know she misses Andy and Alice more than anything.”
"She'll figure it out for herself" Sirius assured him "She is smart and independent, she'll get her way eventually. And you know...telling her to do something is the best way to keep her from doing it" Sirius assured
“That’s true.” Regulus sighed, “But I can’t help but worry.”
"And that's alright, we worry about the people we love" Sirius smiled "I worry about her too"
“Yeah,” Regulus says with a small smile. “She definitely doesn’t think you or Andy care about her. We were similar in that regard.”“Yeah,” Regulus says with a small smile. “She definitely doesn’t think you or Andy care about her. We were similar in that regard.”
Regulus turned to Sirius, confused as to why he got quiet. “Are you alright?” He was talking without thinking, and Regulus was a blunt person. He hadn't meant to imply anything or hurt Sirius, it had just come out that way.
"Did you.. did you think I don't care about you?" He whispered.
Regulus looked away and started fidgeting with his sleeve.
“Well, yeah….” Regulus whispered. “I felt abandoned, Sirius. Plus mother always told me that you didn’t care since you left me here so it stuck.”
Sirius pulled Regulus into a crushing hug. "I am sorry...Reggie I am so sorry..." he sounded at the verge of tears but trying to keep it together.
Regulus returned the hug stiffly at first but soon is squeezing his brother. He missed him so much. “It’s okay, Sirius. You had to leave or else they might have literally killed you. I know that now, but sometimes I forget. I don’t want us to be separated again.” He said lowly
"They can't find anyone here, believe me. This is safe" Sirius smiled "This place exists everywhere and nowhere"
Regulus just nodded as a nonverbal agreement. “I wish I could stay here tonight but Remus, Barty, Pandora, Evan, Minnie, Poppy, and I will need to return to the palace. After I talk to them, I might pack a bag and come here. But I worry mother won’t take kind"
"Let her freak out, maybe that will finally give the old bat her well deserved heart attack" Sirius grumbled
Regulus and Sirius started to laugh at that statement and went on to talk about more lighthearted topic until Fenrir and Remus finally entered the tavern again. Remus immediatly sat down next to Regulus, putting his head on his shoulder.
Regulus looked at Fenrir skeptically. “What did you two do to tire you out so much?” He asked hesitantly, not wanting to force Remus to share but very curious and wondering if he needed to fight.
"Wolf" Remus mumbled but realized it would probably need a bit more explanation "Had me meet the wolf...he's an asshole" He mumbled.
“He’s an asshole?” Regulus asked. “In what way?” Regulus is fully prepared to fight anyone that wronged Remus, even his wolf. "Wolf...Moony...he's angry. Lots angry"
Fenrir nodded. “He’s not going to be easy, but that’s what I was prepared for. Moony is territorial and protective, plus he’s been abused when turned and ignored when not, so Remus and I are going to work on that together. You guys don’t need to worry about it. That’s my job.”
Sirius nodded, looking at Dorcas for a second "Just make sure he doesn't hurt anyone, not again"
“I will.” Fenrir reassured.
They stayed for a while longer, Remus half asleep on Regulus's shoulder. Pandora had been making friends with Sybill and Xenophilius in a weird way but they seemed to just intuitively get along Evan and Barty had befriended Dorcas and Marlene by the end of the night.
James was like a puppy, following everyone around but he seemed the most excited to talk to Evan, Barty, Dorcas, and Marlene. Their personalities were similar in such a way that they clashesd but somehow worked.
They laughed and drank, and Regulus realized he really didn’t want to go back to the palace at all. It was so cold and lonely compared to how warm this tavern was. Everyone he cared about was here, minus Narcissa, and he felt like she and Alice would like it here too.
"It feels like home" Remus mumbled.
“How did you know what I was thinking, mon amour?” Regulus smiled, still melancholic about the realization he had come to.
"dunno...because I love you?" He mumbled sleepily.
Regulus’ brain crashes. He knew he loved Remus, but he had never thought about saying it out loud. He knew Remus was half asleep, so what if it was not true? If Remus loved him, what did he do to deserve that? Remus was so kind compared to him. He held Remus closer, putting his nose in his hair and enjoying his smell of parchment and chocolate.
"Stop thinking" Remus mumbled "You're not supposed to think about it"
“….’m not.” He answered, knowing Remus knew he was lying.