welcome home
James looked at the letter in his hands. It had 'Jamie' scrawled across it in Regulus's neat cursive handwriting. Regulus had made sure to put names on the letters ever since Sirius accidentally opened a letter intended for James and was not particularly happy about what he found written in said letter. James gently unfolded the letter and began to read it.
Dear James,
I hate to think that I will possibly never see you again. I wish I could simply see you one last time just to say goodbye. Since I can’t see you out in the open, meet me in the men's bathroom at 10:00 so we can say goodbye properly.
Love, Reggie<3
James looked up from the letter and checked his watch. It read 9:59 AM. He had one minute. "Um, I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a few minutes." James said, putting the letter down and walking out of the train car. James hastily made his way to the bathroom with a smile on his face. It had been about a month since he last talked to Regulus face to face and he could hardly contain his excitement.
James looked around to make sure the coast was clear before entering the bathroom. He gently shut the door behind him and eagerly walked over to Regulus. Immediately Regulus wrapped his arms around James's neck and kissed him passionately. He wanted to embed this kiss into his memory because he knew that it might be the last time he ever got the chance to kiss James, the last time he would ever smell James's old cheap cologne his dad got for him, and it may be the last time he ever felt James squeeze him tightly in a warm embrace. "I missed you so much!" James said when the pair finally broke apart. "I missed you too." Regulus said with a small smile on his face. Regulus found himself getting lost in James's eyes. He wished he could stay there with James forever, he wished that this moment would never end. "Are you sure you don't wanna come home with me?" James asked with a pleading look on his face. "James, I already told you that I can't." Regulus said with a sad look in his eyes. "I know I just wish it could be different." James said. "I know, I do too." Regulus said, tucking his head into James's neck and pulling him closer. The pair stood in silence for a few minutes before they heard a loud whistle telling them it was time to get off the train. The pair separated and said their goodbyes before quickly getting off the train, being sure that no one saw them together.
Regulus stepped off the train at platform 9 and 3/4 and looked around at the parents picking up their kids for the winter holidays. He watched as the first years were greeted warmly by their loving parents who had missed them all the while they were away at school. He watched as children were reunited with their family members, and then in the crowd he spotted Kreacher. Walburga and Orion had never come to pick up Regulus and Sirius personally, they were much too busy for that, instead they sent the house elf to do it. Usually Regulus at least had the comfort of knowing that Sirius would be with him to keep him safe but now that Sirius was safe with the Potters Regulus was left all by himself. Regulus watched Euphemia and Fleamont greeted Sirius and James. Knowing that Euphemia was likely to begin wondering where he was, Regulus quickly made his way over to Kreacher so that he wouldn't have to be the one to tell Euphemia that he would be returning to Grimmauld place. It was hard enough having to say no to James, if he had to say no to Euphemia as well he wouldn't be able to refuse their offer, and that was something he absolutely couldn't do.
"Is master Regulus ready to go home?" Kreacher asked. Regulus took one last look at James and Sirius. He wanted to run to James, hug him and never let go. Every fiber of his being wanted to go back to the Potter's house and never return to Grimmauld place ever again, but nevertheless Regulus fixed his clothing to make sure that Walburga and Orion wouldn't have more reason to punish Regulus, looked down at Kreacher and simply said, "Ready as I'll ever be Kreacher, take us home." Kreacher quickly disapperated himself and Regulus before reapperateing them at the front stoop of Grimmauld place.
Regulus tightened the grip he had on the bag slung across his shoulder and reached for the door knob with his other hand. Although Regulus tried to keep his facial expression calm he couldn't stop his hand from shaking as he slowly turned the knob and began opening the door. Upon opening the door he was greeted with an eerie silence. Regulus slowly walked in being careful not to creep the floor boards as he stepped. Then he Gently closed the door behind him and began looking around to see where his parents might be. Usually when Sirius and Regulus would come home they would be waiting at the top of the stairs so they could search their belongings before they had a chance to store anything in their rooms but this time was different. Walburga and Orion weren't waiting for Regulus the moment he walked through the door to search him as usual, Regulus assumed they were probably watching him from a distance and waiting for him to let his guard down so they could wait for him to slip up to give them an excuse to punish him more harshly, though it wasn't like they needed much of an excuse. Some days it felt as though he could get punished for breathing too loudly.
Regulus knew that his parents could use any action against him so he made sure to keep his guard up and act as though they were watching him even if they weren't right in front of him. Regulus straightened his posture and quickly made sure that his clothing was neat before starting to walk off to his room. Suddenly he heard the sound of a woman clearing her throat behind him. "Regulus, Aren't you forgetting something?" He heard his mother ask. 'Shit' He thought to himself, he wasn't sure what he had done wrong but he could tell from his mother's offended tone that he had done something that wasn't exactly perfect. Regulus took a deep breath in to calm himself down before turning around to face his mother. "Forgive me mother, it must have slipped my mind." Regulus said. He still had absolutely no idea what he had done but he had no doubt in his mind that his mother was about to tell him and punish him for it. "Well, hand it over." Walburga said, holding a hand out to Regulus. Regulus took his bag off his shoulders and handed it to her. He figured that she had to be talking about his bag as the only other things he could possibly 'handover' where is shoes, his shirt, or his pants, and Regulus severely doubted that his mother was asking him to hand those things over, though if she did ask him to give her the shirt off his back he wouldn't have been all that surprised either. Frankly Regulus had stopped being surprised by his mother's actions and requests a long time ago. Walburga snatched the bag out of Regulus's hands and began rifling through it.
First she pulled out his books one by one carefully inspecting them. The first one she took out of the bag, opened the cover, closed and gently placed on the floor. The first book had passed her inspection, it was a potions book for one of his classes. The book wasn't particularly interesting but it gave Regulus something to do and it wasn't entirely boring. Then she pulled out the second book and read the title carefully, then she opened the book about halfway and closed it again before placing it on the ground with the others. This book was about flying and was actually a little entertaining, plus it reminded Regulus of quidditch which reminded him of James. Then she grabbed the third and final book Regulus's pulse quickened as she grabbed this one. He may have played it safe by taking off his necklace and erasing any visible sign of James but he did however tuck a small picture of him and James in-between the pages of this final book. He had made sure it was a book that his mother would approve of to be safe but still he felt a wave of anxiety wash over him when she began inspecting this book. He knew that he couldn't let his concern show on his face so he closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself down. Walburga carefully traced the spine of the book with her finger and opened it. Regulus thought he was surely done for when he saw her open the book; however, surprisingly Walburga simply closed the book and put it down. Regulus felt a wave of relief wash over him, he knew that from here it would be smooth sailing.