Home
the boys heard the footsteps out side the door quickly shuffle away from the door towards their parents bedroom. Regulus and Sirius looked at each other with fear in their eyes. they hadn't accounted for this in their plan. Sirius grabbed onto Regulus's hand, looked him straight in the eye and said firmly "Run" the boys bolted out of the room as fast as their feet could carry them. they flung around the corner and sprinted down the hall. they finally reached the large front door and Sirius reached for the handle. He turned the handle but the door wouldn't open. Sirius yanked on the door so hard that Regulus thought the whole door would break off but still it wouldn't budge. Sirius hit the door in frustration and fell to his knees in front of the door.
From behind them the boys heard a woman's voice say sharply "Stupid as ever I see." Sirius didn't need to turn around to know that it was his mother speaking to him. He couldn't believe it, he had lost. How could he have been so stupid. He should have known that this wouldn't have worked. and now Regulus was going to pay for his grave mistake. Sirius felt a single tear roll down his cheek. "Welcome home Sirius, we've missed you oh so very much." Walburga said in a tone that showed how insincere that sentiment was. her words cut into Sirius like daggers. "I can't help but wonder what possessed you to think that you could really escape us, and not only that but that you could drag your brother down with you." Walburga hissed as she slowly defended the grand staircase. "I guess we'll have to knock some sense into both of you." Sirius didn't need a fortune teller to know what was going to happen next. "Crucio!" Walburga screeched causing Sirius to scream out in pain.
Regulus dropped to the floor and attempted to comfort Sirius as soon as she stopped the curse. Regulus's tears fell onto Sirius as he buried his head into his brother's chest while he sobbed. "oh, and Regulus, always so weak." Walburga said turning her head towards her other son. Regulus raised his head, he had a look of rage painted on his face. "why could you never be as brave as Sirius? You may be obedient but you're also just a scared little boy." Walburga's words only fueled Regulus's rage more. He felt his hands ball up into fists. "Crucio!" she yelled once more this time pointed at Regulus. Regulus fell onto his back in pain letting out a terrible yell. Sirius lifted himself up with his hands and looked over to his right to see an old fire place not far from where he and his brother laid. Sirius mustered up all of the strength left in his body to pull himself off of the ground and pull him and Regulus into the fireplace. He grabbed a handful of flu powder in his hand and Firmly and clearly said the address of the Potter's house.
-back at the Potter's house-
James had curled up on the couch and fallen asleep while waiting for Regulus and Sirius to return. upon walking back into the room and seeing James Euphemia simply smiled softly and put a blanket over him not wanting to disturb him. She knew that it was hard for him to fall asleep when he was worried about his friends so she didn't want to wake him up. Euphemia figured that was why she had decided to take James's friends on as her own and give them a safe place to call home. She liked being able to see her son smile knowing that his friends were safe from their parents. Euphemia wondered how anyone could be so evil that they would treat their kids the way that the Black's did. She wished she could know why Walburga and Orion had become so cold and careless for their sons. Euphemia had always wanted to have a full house with many children. She loved raising children and being a mother, but unfortunately due to fertility issues she was only ever able to have James. Though Euphemia saw it as more of a blessing in disguise than a curse, because though she wanted more than anything for James to have siblings, her inability to have any more children freed up room in the house for James's friends that had been abused by their parents.
there was a sudden flash in the fire place and suddenly a very weak looking Sirius carrying his baby brother Regulus appeared. James jolted awake at the sudden arrival of his best friend shooting up from the couch and fixing his glasses. Sirius walked over to the couch across from James and laid Regulus down. "Merlin, you look awful, what happened Sirius?" James asked standing up and walking over to his friend. Sirius immediately hugged James tightly squeezing him so hard James found it hard to breathe. James hugged Sirius tightly in return. when they finally let go of each other Euphemia cut in by saying "alright boys it looks like it's been a long night for all of us," Euphemia reached down to the table and grabbed a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies and handed them to Sirius. "here Sirius you need to eat, I made your favorite." Euphemia said with a sweet smile on her face.
Sirius looked back at her with teary eyes and said softly "you know me so well Effie." Sirius quickly wrapped his arms around Euphemia being careful not to drop any of the cookies on the floor. "alright alright, how about you two go up to your rooms and get some sleep, I'll stay here and make sure that Regulus is okay, And we can talk about what happened tonight in the mornig" Sirius and James thanked Euphemia and than went up to their rooms to get some rest. Euphemia swiftly turned to Regulus and placed a blanket over him so he could get some rest.
about an hour later Regulus woke up. her lifted his head to see Euphemia watching over him. "hi sweetheart, I'm James's mom, my name is Euphemia, but you can just call me Effie." Regulus looked at Euphemia speechless for a moment. "it's alright sweety you don't need to talk if you don't want to. Here I made you some cookies." Euphemia said as she reached down to the coffee table in front of her and grabbed a plate of cookies. "I wasn't sure what you would like so I made you some peanut butter cookies. Sirius mentioned that you love peanut butter." Regulus reached out and took the plate of cookies from Euphemia and sat up a little bit more so he wouldn't spill them. He took a cookie from the top of the pile and took a bite. "Thank you Effie, they're delicious." Regulus said enthusiastically upon swallowing his first bite. 'damm this is the best cookie I've ever had' Regulus thought to himself as he scarfed down a few more. Euphemia smiled, she could tell that these cookies would be Regulus's favorite. "have as many as you would like. you could stay on the couch for the night or you could probably room with your brother. I'll make up a room for you tomorrow morning. Sorry that it's not ready for tonight I would have made it up for you sooner had James given me some notice that we would have a new guest joining us." Euphemia said with a gentle smile on her face. She loved the feeling of brightening someone's day even a little bit. Regulus smiled happily at Euphemia and said softly "thank you so much Effie, this is the kindest anyone has ever been to me." "don't worry about it dear, you're welcome here, this is your home now." Euphemia said gently placing her hand on Regulus's shoulder. Regulus liked the sound of that. he had never really felt at home anywhere before.