Chapter 11
The next morning
Regulus woke up on the couch in James’ lap, Pandora was on the other side of the couch. Both James and Pandora were still sleeping, he picked up his phone to check the time 8:23am, 2 unread messages from Remus, 1 unread message from Lils. He opened Remus’ messages.
Remus: Did you want to meet somewhere and walk to your store or just meet there?
Remus: Sirius says that if I’m stealing you then she’s stealing James
Regulus: We can meet somewhere first
He closed Remus’ messages and opened Lily’s.
Lils: Panda said she was staying at yours last night, are you okay?
Regulus: Yeah, it was just a bad day yesterday, I’ll send her home when she wakes up
Lils: Ok, I hope today goes better!
Regulus: Thanks!
Remus texted him back
Remus: Ok, where do you wanna meet?
Regulus: The four of us could go for brunch and then just split off as long as that works for you guys
Remus: Pads said that’s fine, does 9:30 work?
Regulus: Yeah, if I can get James up
Remus: That has always been a struggle, try pouring water on him if your willing to risk whatever he’s sleeping on
Regulus: I’ll try that
Regulus pocketed his phone and slipped out of James’ arms and got a glass of water. He decided to wake Pandora before pouring the water on James. Pandora sat up “Reg? What’re you doing? ” He let out a chuckle “Waking James up”. Pandora stared at him in disbelief “You’re gonna pour water on him?!?” he simply replied with “Yes, that’s what Remus said to do” Pandora got out her phone claiming she “needed to document the moment”. Regulus let her as long as she promised to send the video to him. Remus was right, pouring water on James does work. James woke up “What the fuck was that for!?” Regulus simply shrugged “I needed to wake you up and Remus said this would work. He was right.” James stood up and frowned. Pandora was still laughing. Regulus turned to face her “I told Lily I would send you home when you woke up” she stood up “Alright. Have fun today, boys!” she hugged Regulus and James before leaving. “We’re meeting Remus and Sirius for brunch, go get ready.” James nodded and stood up, “I would kiss you, but you poured water on me” Regulus laughed “Worth it”. Regulus texted Remus.
Regulus: Where would you like to eat?
Remus: Is the cafe Pads and I work at okay?
Regulus: Sure, we might be late, Panda just left James hasn’t gotten dressed yet
Remus: Okay, Sirius is taking a while to do their makeup so you might get there before us
Regulus: That sound like Sirius
He put his phone in his pocket and went to his room to get dressed. He picked out a pair of black pants, green sweater, white button up, and green converse. James did eventually get dressed. He wore a Spiderman zip-up, blue jeans, plain black shirt, and beaten up red converse.Regulus saw James and frowned “Really, you look like a fucking toddler, James” his excuse was “Hey! Spiderman is the best, and you look like you look like a teacher” Regulus glared at James “Well I am going to college to be a teacher so at least I look the bit” truth is James loved how Regulus looked in this. The pants hugged his hips just right and the collar of his shirt was just loose enough that you could see the top of his snake tattoo, he had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and he hadn’t put the glamour on to cover his mark. James was in love with the man in front of him. Regulus could say the same thing. “I am not going anywhere with you until you do something with your hair” Regulus glared at James until he finally went to the bathroom to fix his hair. Regulus followed him in so he could do his eyeliner. He never really felt comfortable in makeup, but just the little smudge on his waterline was ok. It made his eyes pop, made them look more blue than grey. “Once we’re done eating, Remus and I are splitting off, Siri said if I get to take Remus they get to take you,” James nodded “Sounds fair, but where are we going to eat?” “The cafe” “Ok” James finished his hair while Regulus went to take his meds. James walked out to the kitchen “Better?” he asked, gesturing at his hair. Regulus swallowed his pills and nodded “Very” James scoffed “Oh, come on! It wasn’t that bad!” Regulus pulled up the video Pandora took, and zoomed in on James’ head “Oh, it very much so was that bad” “You’re mean” James frowned. Regulus smiled “You love me for it”. They left a couple minutes later, the cafe was close enough to walk but Remus said his hip was hurting more than usual, so they all decided to drive. James and Regulus did end up getting to the cafe before Remus and Sirius did. Sirius was not pleased with that. The 4 of them sat and ate breakfast. It was loud, but Regulus didn’t mind because it was a comfortable loud. A loud he could get used to. When they finished eating, Remus and Regulus drove to Regulus’ store, while James and Sirius went to the park. Regulus walked in first “Cassie! Did you miss me?” Dorcas glared at him “You know you aren’t sup- Who’s this?” “Oh, this is Remus” “Oh, Sirius’ boyfriend?” “Yeah” Dorcas nodded “Ok” Regulus led Remus to a quiet corner in the store. “This is my corner, I mean it isn’t, but nobody ever comes over here besides me so,” Remus nodded. The two of them sat down and started talking. The conversation started with books, Remus was recommending some books to Regulus, and Regulus was recommending books to Remus. Eventually they started drifting to other things, first it was school, then they were talking about their partners, then they were just talking. They weren’t talking about anything in particular, they sat like that for a while, eventually they quieted down and picked up books. Remus however disrupted the silence “How has your recovery been?” Regulus looked up from his book “Hmm, oh, quite well actually. It hasn’t hurt much, and next week I go back to see if it’s healing properly, and if it is, I can quit applying the ointment and be done with the surgical binder.” “Oh, that’s great, I know when I had my surgery I couldn’t wait to get the surgical binder off, it was so itchy” “Oh my god, I know. I’ve itched at the same spot so much to the point where it's raw” “I did the same thing, I have some balm left from when I had surgery, I can give it to you if you want” “That would be amazing, you are an actual life saver!” “Yeah, anytime, I know how bad it can get” “You’re the first friend I’ve had that I can relate to about this stuff” “If you want more, I go to this group, we meet up once a week and go to a bar, all of us are gender queer.” Remus pulled out his phone “This is Benjy and Grant, they’re both trans, uhm, I don’t think I have any more pictures, but we meet tonight at the bar down the street if you wanna come with me” “Sure, that sounds fun! What time?” “We meet at the park at eight, hang out there for a while, we usually head to the bar at nine and stay for an hour or so. When we leave the bar, me, Sirius, Benjy, and a couple others head back to one of our places and just hang out. That’s optional, so if you don’t want to you can head back to your flat,” “I’ll go, it sounds fun” Remus and Regulus read and talk for another hour. Regulus text’s James and tells him that he and Remus are on their way back. Regulus and Remus get back before Sirius and James. Neither of them mind though because they get along well. It takes James and Sirius ten minutes to get back, when they dos James pulls Regulus in for a kiss and Sirius, being the drama queen they are started yelling “My eyes! My eyes! Moony, he's defiling my innocent baby brother!” Remus shook his head “Pads, my love, it was just a peck,” he paused for a second looking back to Regulus before resuming “and merlin know’s Reg and I did much worse before we started dati-” Sirius’ jaw was on the floor “WHAT!?! You- we- Oh my merlin! Moony tell me your joking right now!” Regulus and Remus spoke at the same time “I’m not” “He’s not” “He’s-” Sirius paused and turned to face Regulus “You’re supposed to be my innocent baby brother!” Regulus was cracking up “Oh, I am far from innocent, ask Evan, or Barty, or Remus. Hell, ask Remus about Evan and Barty, he’s got some stories, they all do” the look of disbelief on both James and Sirius’ face was hilarious. Remus and Regulus were dying of laughter, while the other two looked both horrified and surprised. Once Regulus and Remus were done laughing, they had decided that they should not be near when James and Sirius piece it all together, so Regulus drove Remus to his place, while James and Sirius stayed where they were. When Regulus and Remus got to Regulus’ flat, Regulus went to the kitchen to make tea for the two of them. He handed a mug to Remus and grabbed a mug for himself. They headed out to the couch and sat down. Regulus turned on the TV “What do you want to watch? Or do you want to play games instead?” Remus contemplated “What games do you have?” Regulus pulled out a case of game cards ”I have Mario Kart, Minecraft, Justdance, Animal Crossing, Mario Party, and I think that's all the multiplayer games I have. So, what do you want to play?” “Let’s do Mario Kart” “Ok” Regulus got up and put the game card in. He grabbed two controllers and tossed one to Remus. He sat down and got the game ready. He and Remus played for about half an hour before Sirius was yelling through the door “Regulus Black you little shit let us in!!” James’ voice was quieter “Reggie, can I come in? Please?” James sounded sad. Regulus turned to Remus “Do you want me to let Sirius in too?” Remus nodded, “Might be best. She’ll find a way in if we don’t, so it’s probably smarter to let her in now” Regulus nodded and got up to let the two in. Regulus opened the door “Hi Jamie” James was smiling like a child “Hi Reggie” he leaned in and kissed Regulus while Sirius was fake gagging. James pulled away “Shut the fuck up Sirius. I literally had to listen to you and Remus fuck for all of seventh year” Sirius gasped “That’s different!” Regulus shook his head and pulled James inside, Sirius followed them in and placed herself right on Remus’ lap. James sat down where Regulus was sitting before, and Regulus sat next to him. Eventually after Sirius had gotten done yelling at Remus and Regulus she got up and grabbed two more controllers and the four of them raced for a while. After a while Sirius and Remus left so Sirius could get ready to go to the bar. Regulus had decided he wanted to dress up, so he got up and took James with him to figure out what he was gonna wear. He ended up picking a black pleated skirt and a tight green crop top. James was gonna go crazy. “Jamie, love? You’re staring” “Oh- I uh- I-” “I don’t care if you’re staring. I just wanted to make sure you were ok, are you?” “Yeah, I’m ok. You’re just really hot. Like really hot” “Well thank you. Now I do need you to move so I can finish getting ready” “Right, yeah, ok.” James moved so Regulus could get through. Regulus went to the bathroom and sat on the counter while doing his makeup, James leaning in the doorway admiring his boyfriend. Regulus let their hair out of the bun and styled it. They decided on a half up half down braid. James did the braid, not because Regulus couldn't braid, he could, he just wanted James to do it. About twenty minutes later Regulus had to leave, James offered to go with him, but Regulus told him no. James didn’t want him going alone so he convinced Regulus to let him at least walk them to the park. When they got to the park Regulus sent James back because Remus and Sirius were already there and chatting with a couple others. “Regulus! You made it!” Remus pulled him into a hug. When he let go, he introduced Regulus “This is Regulus, one of my friends, and Sirius’ brother” he turned to Regulus “I’ll let you tell them about yourself” Regulus nodded “I’m not good at this kind of stuff. Uhm, I’m trans, he/him they/them pronouns. I have autism so if I disappear don’t worry I most likely just got overwhelmed or overstimulated and needed a break, also I own a bookstore, and I’m in college for early childhood education." Everyone nodded and introduced themselves. “I’m Benjy, he/him pronouns. I’m a senior in college, I’m studying law, and I plan to go into family court!” next was Grant, who he had seen some pictures of earlier. “Hi, I’m Grant! I use he/him pronouns as well, and I’m studying cosmetology, focusing on permanent inking and piercings though!” Regulus’ face lit up “My friends do tattoos and piercings!” Regulus and Grant kept talking about that, only occasionally pausing when someone else got to the park and introduced themself to Regulus. Eventually they all walked to the bar. Regulus sat with Remus, Sirius, and a girl who was also new. Her name was Rose, she seemed sweet. She was relatively quiet, but when they got to the bar, she seemed to calm down a bit. Regulus didn’t drink much when he was around others. He ended up getting Benji, Rose, and Grant’s phone numbers so he could keep talking to them. He was also added to the group chat. When everyone was either leaving or heading to Remus and Sirius’ he decided to go back home. He was tired, and as much as he enjoyed getting out, and meeting new people he was overwhelmed and needed to be alone for a while (with the exception of James of course) so he walked home. When he got there, he texted Pandora, and Sirius to let them know that he was turning his phone off and if they needed him, they could call or text James. Pandora would tell the rest of the group, so he didn’t have to. Once his phone was off he handed it to James and told him to keep it until he’s ready for it. James put it in his pocket and hugged Regulus. “Ok. How was the bar?” Regulus mumbled something into James’ chest. “Ok, well let’s get you out of this and into something comfier, okay? I’ll give you one of my hoodies, yeah?” Regulus nodded. James let go of him and grabbed his hand, leading him to the bedroom. Once they were in there, Regulus let James remove his clothes and swap them for a pair of boxers and one of James’ hoodies. When that was done, James led Reg to the bathroom and got a wet rag. Regulus sat on the countertop while James removed his makeup. James discarded the rag and picked Regulus up off the counter and carried him to the couch. “I’ll be right back, love. I’m gonna get you some tea and a small snack, is that okay?” Regulus gave him a small nod. James decided that goldfish would be a sufficient snack. When James came back Regulus had wrapped himself in a blanket. James set the tea and goldfish down on the side table next to Regulus. “Reg, love scooch over. We can’t cuddle if you don’t let me sit down” Regulus reluctantly moved just enough for James to sit down. As soon as James sat down Regulus curled right into James’ side, head resting on his shoulder, feet tucked under James’ thighs. “Baby, you're shivering and it’s only 60 degrees. Let me feel your forehead” James said, reaching out. Regulus felt warm so he got the thermometer, Regulus’ temperature was 104.6 degrees. “Baby you need to get up, we’re going to the hospital.” James called Sirius while he got Regulus in the car. “James? What’s going on, you usually never call this late” “Is it possible that anyone snuck something and Reg’s drink?!” “Possibly, let me ask Rose, she was next to Reg. But why do you think that?” “He got home and was ok, he just seemed overwhelmed. I got him changed and got him some tea but when I came back, he was wrapped in a blanket shivering. I checked his temperature, and it was 104.6 degrees. He’s sweating, and shivering!” “Ok, um, Moony, I need you to text Rose and ask if anyone roofied Reg.” “Ok” “James calm down, where are you now?” “About 10 minutes away from the hospital” “Ok. A muggle one or St.Mungos” “A muggle one” “Ok, I’m gonna hang up so I can drive there, you call Pandora-” Remus cut him off “My texts aren’t going through to Rose, neither are my ca-” Sirius hung up before James could hear the rest of the sentence. He called Pandora, she picked up on the first ring. “James?” “Hey Pandora! Reg and I are on the way to the hospital, can you meet us there?” “Yeah, but can I ask, what the fuck happened?” “He went out to bar with a group, and I think he got roofied.” “Ok, yeah, I’ll be there but Mary, and Lily will too, did you already call Sirius?” “Yeah, he’s gonna meet us there” “Ok, I’ll see you soon” “Yeah” Pandora hung up. Regulus still hadn’t said a word. “Reg, baby? Are you okay?” there was no response. James pulled over on the side of the road and got out. He went over to Regulus’ side of the car and opened the door. “Reg? Reggie, baby, you need to stay up,” Regulus mumbled something and sat up a little bit, “James, where are we?” “Hi baby. We’re on the way to the hospital, Sirius, Remus, Pandora, Mary, and Lily are gonna meet us there, is that okay?” “Why?” “You’re shivering, sweating, and your temperature is over one hundred, not to mention the fact that you passed out” “Oh” “Yeah” James pressed a kiss to his temple before getting back in the car. James handed Regulus his phone so he would have something to do if he wanted. Regulus just shoved it in the pocket of the hoodie he was wearing. Everyone made it to the hospital before them. Pandora and her partners had been out already, so they were close. Sirius and Remus lived a few blocks away, so it only took them a few minutes. As soon as Sirius saw James come in with Regulus in his arms she flew out of her seat “James! What took you so long!” James looked down at Reg who was in his arms “He passed out on the way here” That’s the last thing Regulus remembered. He woke up in a hospital bed. Pandora, Mary, Lily, Remus, Sirius, and James were all in the room with him. Sirius and James were on opposite sides holding his hands. Remus and everyone else were sitting in chairs around the sides of the room. “Baby! You’re awake, how are you feeling?” “Awful” “That’s fair. Do you know what happened?” Regulus shook his head “Someone slipped something in your drink last night,” “Who?” “We don’t know, but whoever it was got Rose and Benji too. We thought it was Rose because she wasn’t answering her phone but then we saw her here, she’s in the room next door. Benji called Remus while we were waiting for you to wake up and said something was wrong, so Remus picked him up and brought him here. All three of you had the same symptoms. We have the bar reviewing footage right now.” “Are they okay?” “Yeah, the doctors want to keep you all for a few more hours just to make sure there’s no lasting effects of whatever they gave you. Once you guys get discharged, We’re taking you back to ours for a little bit, just until we figure out who did it. We already talked to Rose and Benjy and filled them in,” “Ok, can I have a minute?” Everyone left besides Pandora. She moved from her chair to one of the chairs next to his bed. “Reg, seriously, are you okay?” “I don’t know” “Well that makes sense, do you need anything?” “Can I have a hug?” Pandora nodded. She stood up and wrapped her arms around him.