Chapter 1
“Are you sure you got the pumpkin juice? you know its Harry’s favorite” James questions Regulus as soon as we walk in the door from grocery shopping. Regulus only rolls his eyes at his husband and keeps walking.
“Yes James,” he signs exacerbated, “like I could forget after the twenty times you reminded me as I was walking out the door.”
“I know, I know it’s just I just want to make sure he has the things he likes when he comes home.”
Regulus fights the urge to roll his eyes again, but only smiles softly at his wonderful partner. “Mon cher, he is 16, this isn’t his first year back. There is no reason to be nervous.”
“I’m aware. I just like things to be perfect for my baby boy. We hardly get to see him, and when he’s here I want to make it wonderful.”
Reg grabs his face between his hands, and kisses his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, and then softly kisses his lips. “Please darling, stop worrying so much. Sirius and Remus are picking him up, they will be back anytime now, and it’s going to be fine. You will forget all these worries as soon as you see him, I promise.”
James’ eyes soften, and the worry rolls off his face. “What would I do without you Reg?”
Regulus lets go of his husbands face and softly laughs . “Crash and burn, my love. Crash and Burn.” He goes back to putting all the groceries away ,and hears the front door open.
“We’re home” They hear Sirius call from the front door. James practically runs to the front door to reach their son and his best friends.
James scoops Harry into a tight hug, and starts rambling his every thought. “Harry! Baby! Welcome home, Da got you pumpkin juice, and we got all the other snacks you love. I was even thinking that maybe we could go play some quidditch later after you put your stuff away, or we could do something else. Whatever you want, Sprong.” James finally stops rambling when Reg walks in behind him and steals Harry away.
“Hi Mon coeur, it’s so nice to see you. James, darling, give him a second to breathe.” Regulus could feel Harry untense in his arms and his dismissal of James’ questions. His posture before now was rigid and his eyes never leaving the ground for longer than needed, was cause for alarm in Regs mind. Harry was a pensive kid, and a lot like regulus in more ways than he would prefer, but when seeing his family, Harry was never this quiet or on edge. He normally rambled a mile a minute, giving James a run for his money. This Harry, this was new and it did not sit right.
Still hugging his son, he shoots a look over to his brother and his husband. They both had troubled looks on their face, which told him that he wasn’t the only one who noticed Harrys subdued mood. He finally pulls away and looks his son in his face.
“Why don’t you go put your trunk in your room Haz, and then we can talk more about your year and our plans for the rest of break.” He says softly to his son. Harry looks on with gratitude and all but runs up the stairs to his room.
As soon as they hear his door shut, Regulus looks back to his brother. “How long has be been like that?’ he questions.
“Since we picked him up at the station. He hardly even said goodbye to Ron and Hermione, just a quick wave and a promise to write. We tried talking to him as we were walking, but he hardly even looked like he was paying attention.” The stress of the situation was clear on his brothers face as he recounted his story, and Remus didn’t look as if he was faring much better.
Regulus turns to look at James and his eyes are still trained on the stairs Harry had just gone up. His eyes filled with a knowing. “Jamie?” Reg asks his husband timidly. “What is it?”
James turns to look at his family. “He’s hurting. He’s never hurt like this before. I can see it in his shoulders. Reg he is so much like you, I can see the pain he’s holding it like you used too.”
Regulus too had seen it in the way Harry was holding himself, and his mannerisms. It was all a bit too familiar.
“Okay, we’re going to give him a moment to collect himself. Jamie why don’t you write to Lily and Pandora and see if he told them anything going on. For now, we just love and and keep him safe until we can find out what’s going on with him.” Regulus says, taking charge of the situation. “Jamie it’s going to be alright. He knows we love him and he will come to us when he needs too.”
Reg places a kiss upon James’ forehead before turning to his brother, and brothers husband. “You two, don’t push him. He will come to us when he’s ready.”
With a plan of sorts set, they all turn their attention to the steps as Harry starts to make his way back down to them. This is going to be quite a different summer than they imagined.