Up and down
James is banging on Lily's door. He wants to ask how Regulus is doing, and has been contemplating on how to do it for a few days now. He's not sure why he has the urge to check on the man, but I knows he wants to.
He practically falls through the door when it opens. "James? Are you okay?" Lily looks concerned, but he can't really blame her, he's been banging on her door like a mad man for about 12 minutes.
"Uhh, yeah. Hey Lils! So uh- I'm just here to ask a question!" he gives her a grin that he hopes doesn't look nervous. Why is he nervous?
Based of Lily's raised eyebrow and the sceptical look on her face, he's guessing he doesn't look as cool and collected as he hoped.
"Uh, how's Regulus doing?" in an attempt to look casual, he leans against the doorframe and nearly misses. He regains his footing after nearly falling off the porch.
He smiles at her again. She gives him a look, that suggests she knows more than he does, and an unknown emotion flashes in her eyes. Before he can study it, it's gone.
"He's okay, still out like a light." she sighs. He's been unconscious for almost a week now. 6 days to be exact. Not that James is keeping count.
"Yeah yeah of course." he clears his throat. "How's Pandora?" he decides to ask, so he doesn't look like he's just asking about Regulus.
Lily gives a sadder sigh this time, before opening the door wider, to invite him in. Suddenly he's hyper-aware that they're still stood outside in the cold.
He shuffles in and looks around. It's changed slightly since the last time he's been here. There are more toys on the floor and a pink sparkly dummy on the coffee table. He assumes it's Luna's.
He looks back at Lily and sees her lips moving. He tunes her back in, after realising she's been talking.
"-to cope. She's worried that he won't wake up in time for Luna to go to nursery. Luna is a mess too. She's been a lot more emotional. And with emotional I mean angry. She's been freaking out on everyone and gets so angry. We're dealing with 10 times more fits than usual." James nods in understanding.
"Harry's been picking up on it." James lights up at the mention of his son, before a frown forms on his face. Harry's always been able to identify others emotions a lot more than your average 3 year old. He also tends to copy them
"He's acting out, isn't he?" Lily nods at his question. "Maybe he and I should go see Re-"
James is cut off by little feet padding into the room, the doorbell ringing multiple times and the front door opening.
"Luna, baby, please stop ringing the doorbell. We can get in ourselves." Pandora's voice comes from the front door. The ringing doesn't stop.
"Luna." ringing
"Luna." more ringing.
Eventually Pandora picks her up and he's met with a crying toddler in the foyer. "Hello Luna" she gives him an unimpressed look.
Pandora shoots him an apology smile and sets her back down. Harry is currently clinging to his leg, babbling about trucks and his superpower. He says he can turn traffic lights green... Eventually.
James bites back a smile, leaving the boy to talk about whatever comes to mind.
Luna sits down on the floor, makes direct eye contact with James, then looks at Pandora, then at Lily and finally at Harry.
Out of nowhere she screams "HE'S NOT HERE" before the sobbing starts again. James' eyes widen before looking at the girls. Pandora heaves a sigh, and Lily goes to get Luna's blankie. They seem used to this.
Just as Lily turns her back, he feels harry let go of his leg and starts screaming too. His words aren't coherent and honestly it would be a miracle if anyone knows why he's crying.
Pandora looks devastated. She's probably having a hard time, and Luna isn't helping. Both Pandora and Lily look tired. More tired than usual.
"I can take them to the park...? Maybe to go see him?"
Pandora looks worried and relived and nervous all at once.
"She doesn't do well seeing him, but she's worse when she doesn't." James nods, he gets why she'd be confused.
"I don't know if I want Haz in the hospital. It's not the most positive space"
James nods again, but this time speaks up. "It might be good for them to go tho. They're both used to seeing him often, and him not being nearby is taking a toll on them"
Lily shakes her head slightly. "Yeah okay. Let's go." James stops her immediately. "I'll take them. You guys look like you need to sleep."
Pandora gives him a grateful smile, and Lily gives him an unsure look. "I don't know James. I'm his mom, I need to be there if something happens"
James can't be a little offended that she assumes he won't be able to handle his own child.
"I can handle my own kid, Lily. We'll be fine"
"No! I mean I know you can handle him, it's just..."
James raises an eyebrow. "It's just...?" he prods her to continue.
"I don't want you to get, overwhelmed?" He can sense she's lying. He realises that she really doesn't think he can look after his own child. He fights to keep the glare off his face.
"I'll be fine. Once again Lily, I've done nothing but look after him. And guess what? He's still alive, happy, healthy and well cared for. You might be his mother, but I'm his dad. Don't paint me as any less than I am. We're leaving now."
James turns around, without waiting for an answer. He picks Luna up from the floor, walks to the living room and gets her dummy.
He picks harry up and walks to his car. He sets harry in his car seat, buckling him in and keeps Luna in his other arms as he gets the other car seat from Pandora's car.
He sets her on his front seat, where she can play with the steering wheel while he buckles the seat in. Luna is still screaming and crying by the time she's sat and buckled.
As he starts driving, having two crying toddlers in the back he starts gently talking.
"Luna, sweetheart, can you calm down for me? We're going to go see Dada star and we can't be loud at the hospital."
For a second Luna cries hander, before his words settle in and she calms down slightly.
"I know sweet girl, when we get there we can go straight to Dada star. Okay?"
She gives a little nod. Still sniffling from the back seat.
Stopping at a red light, he reaches over to her, pops her dummy in her mouth and makes sure her blanket is close.
The car gets quieter and by the time they're at the hospital most of the tears are silent.
His heart aches for the little girl who doesn't understand whats going on.
He gets Harry out the car first, handing him his stuffed dog and closing the car door.
He grabs the bag from the boot, tossing it over his shoulder before getting Luna out too.
Now with a child in each arm he wanders into the hospital, trying to remember where Regulus' room is.
He finds it fast enough, seeing the door isn't closed all the way and instructs Harry to knock on the door.
The small boy slaps the door a few times which makes it open slightly more, before se opens it the rest of the way with his foot.
He secretly hopes there's no one inside but his luck is proven fruitless.
Evan Rosier is sat on a chair next to Regulus' bed and barely looks up when he hears someone enter.
He does a double take seeing James.
"Potter?" James gives him a sad smile and closes the door completely behind him before setting the kids down.
Harry goes down without a hitch but clings to his leg, and Luna immediately toddles over to Evan.
He lifts her up, and seats her on the bed by Regulus.
She's crying again, holding on to the man on the bed.
James picks the scared boy up again, and slowly walks over to the bed.
Harry gives a little gasp when he sees Regulus. James can't help his own shock showing either.
Regulus is much, much paler than usual.
He looks skinnier than usual too and his hair is a mess. He genuinely looks on the brink of death.
"Oh Reg" the nickname slips out.
If Evan realises he doesn't say anything. He's simply looking between the man in the bed and the little girl sat in front of him.
"Would you mind me going to restroom?" Evan asks him
He's not sure why he asked, he's a grown man who can do what he wants. He then remembers Pandora mentioning they take shifts so Regulus is never ever alone. Do they not even leave him alone to go to the restroom?
James nods at him "Go ahead, I'll be right here with them"
Evan seems to hesitate before leaving the room and going down the hallway.
"Hey Reg... I brought the kids. I'm sorry for what Sirius did. It's James by the way. I have no idea if you can hear me, Pandora says you can, so uh, hi?" he doesn't know what else ro say, so he simply brushes Regulus' hair from his face.
...
"Hey Reg... I brought the kids. I'm sorry for what Sirius did. It's James by the way. I have no idea if you can hear me, Pandora says you can, so uh, hi?"
Regulus can hear James speaking and feels his hair being brushed away from his face. He internally smiles at the kindness. He is then overwhelmed with the urge to laugh at the man who just introduced himself after Evan already made his presence clear. Regulus could also hear the kids the second they walked into the room, all of its quite obvious. He didn't miss the gasps, or his little star crying. He also heard how Evan hesitated to leave.
He begs his eyes to open, so he can see the man who has taken it apon himself to apologize for someone else's actions.
"REGULUS"
Suddenly Regulus is hyperaware of how bright it is the room.
His eyes are burning and he can hear James yelling for a nurse down the hallway.
Why didn't he just press the call button?
He hears more people entering the room and he hears mashines making noises. Everything seems louder and a lot closer.
He can't keep his eyes open for long, the light blinding him.
As if sensing his discomfort, the rooms curtains are pulled closed and the light above him is dimmed.
He peels his eyelids back and fights to open his eyes again.
In front of him is James, Luna, Harry, Evan, a doctor and at least 4 nurses. It's crowded. Too crowded.
He wants to tell them to back away, but quickly becomes aware of the tube down his throat. He starts gagging and coughing.
His bed is lowered and he gags as the tube is pulled from his mouth.
His mouth is dry, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. He tries talking again but his throat hurts and he can't get anything more than a wheeze out.
He realises people are talking over him. Then the doctor turns to Regulus.
"Hello Mr. Black. I'm doctor Hemlock. Welcome back"