Stay Stay Stay
Sirius knocked on his second door of the day. A flustered-looking James met him with a toddler on his hip and some kind of puree in his hair. He looked at Sirius. Blinked a few times, closed the door, and then opened it again.
“Padfoot?” He whispered.
“Prongs.” Sirius’ face crumpled as he saw so many emotions pass through James’ face.
Twenty-eight-year-old James Potter looked good. Better than eighteen-year-old James Potter had, anyway. He had a dad-bod and his hair was still an absolute state, but it was endearing now, somehow. Stressed dad rather than careless teenager.
The toddler merely shook a grubby fist at Sirius and gurgled.
“What are you doing here? How did you— Are you alright?” Sirius cried harder, of course, James would focus on Sirius’ well-being above the fact that as far as he knew, Sirius had just up and left him a decade ago and never looked back. “Come in. It’s a bit of a mess. Have kids, they said. You can handle it, they said.”
Sirius followed him into the house and they sat down at the kitchen table. James rocked the toddler gently as they both stared at Sirius.
“I’m sorry,” Sirius said slowly. “I'm so sorry. I wanted to— I tried to reach out. I’ve just had a very awkward conversation with Regulus’ gorgeous, but very angry boyfriend, so I can only imagine how you must be feeling.”
“What happened, Sirius?” James stood and put the kettle on, as if on autopilot. “We looked for you for months, years.”
Sirius took a deep breath. “Walburga told me I had to get married and continue the family line once I finished school. The night of results day, I got a bit too complacent and snuck a bloke into my room. She caught us. I told her I was an adult and could do what I wanted. She told me that if I didn’t play along she’d make Reg’s life even more hellish than it already was. In graphic detail. I refused to marry a woman, so she said the only other alternative was to 'disappear’, go and live in France with her sister and their family so that Reg could become the heir or whatever. I figured I’d run away, find my way back, get Reg out and it would all be fine.”
“So you agreed to go?” James stirred sugar into their tea. His face was drawn and grey.
“I signed a contract saying I was there of my own free will, for my own good. Not my smartest move, I’ll admit. I got there and everything changed. They took my phone, blocked all the numbers and deleted my contacts, blocked everyone on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even my bloody Tumblr. Changed every password. Did it all in front of my face.” Sirius shook his head. “For a decade, I was convinced that at least if I was there, then Reg would be the heir and be treated well. It wasn’t terrible. Well, it was. But they fed me, and they let me paint.”
“You were essentially kidnapped for a decade and you’re describing it as 'not terrible’?” James was trying so hard to manage his tone. “What the f— How are you here? What do you need? What can we do to help?”
“I wasn’t beaten, or screamed at, or starved. I was pretty much ignored by everyone the whole time. It was lonely as f—" He looked at the toddler, "Fudge. But it could have been a lot worse.” He clasped his hands in front of him on the table and stared at them. “Walburga died last month.”
“I heard.” James nodded, setting tea in front of him. “I don’t know what to say to you about it, because I’m certainly not sorry.”
“Thanks.” He smiled weakly, “Andy had reached out to one of the cousins I lived with a few times over the years, Antonia. She’d never passed the messages on, but when Andy told her that Walburga was dead, she broke down and told me. She told me everything Andy had told her about what they did to Reg and Alphard dying. I hit the roof. I think it clicked with Antonia then what she’d been enabling and she was devastated. She’d always believed her parents when they said that I wanted to be there. They’d shown anyone who asked questions, including their own kids, the contract I signed. Once she knew that she didn’t have to fear Walburga anymore, she was actually very helpful. Better late than never, I guess. She helped me sell some of my paintings, renew my passport and then she booked me a ticket home. Her parents will probably be furious, but I’m going to get in touch once I’m settled and offer her a place to stay... Sorry, I’m rambling.”
“And now you’re back?” James whispered. “Actually back?”
Sirius nodded, “Yeah. I’m not going anywhere.”
James set the drowsy toddler down into a baby-jail-looking-thing in the corner of the kitchen. He gripped Sirius’ shoulders and pulled him up into a bone-crushing hug. “I have missed you every single day. It was like a piece of me had just vanished. We tried to get the police involved, but I’m sure Walburga paid them off.”
“Yeah, she probably did. Prongs, mate, I missed you too. I couldn't- I... painted portraits of you and Reg over and over for years so I wouldn’t forget what you looked like. Your face is currently hanging on some poor unsuspecting French family's home.”
“That’s the sappiest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.” James squeezed him tighter as the front door opened. “Oh fuck.” He spun around to face the kitchen door.
Lily bustled into the kitchen, holding the hand of a boy of about four or five. He could have been James’ twin. “Alright, love. How was your day? Did you get round to—” She looked up and saw Sirius and her phone clattered to the floor. Sirius couldn’t read her face. “Sirius?”
“Hi, Lily.” He said quietly. Of course, James had married Lily. He wondered who James’ best man had been for a moment, then pulled himself out of that thought before he started spiralling. “You look even more lovely than I remember.”
Lily turned to the little boy, “Harry, can you go and play with your Lego for a bit so we can have a chat with our old friend?”
The kid looked at him suspiciously before nodding and running upstairs.
Lily flew at him and he didn’t know whether to expect a punch or a hug, and it was a little of both. She threw her arms around him, then smacked him on the shoulder.
“Go easy on him, Lils.” James said, “It wasn’t his fault. I’ll fill you in later, but it wasn’t his call to just vanish, ok?”
Lily looked between them, “I can’t believe you’re here.” She sniffed, “How are you? Are you staying?”
“Yeah, I’ve enough for a hotel for a few months. Sold a bunch of paintings in France. Hoping I can find a job and then get my own place, and get Reg to hear me out at some point, but yeah, I’m back for good.”
Lily sobbed, but she had a big grin on her face. “Oh thank fuck.”