Deceptively cute
James couldn’t bring himself to fall asleep. He couldn’t bear the thought of Regulus being forced to return to Grimmauld place and him being powerless to stop it. He thought back to when he told his mother where Regulus was. “What do you mean he isn’t coming back to our house?” Euphemia asked in a calm but concerned tone. “His parents are forcing him to go back to Grimmauld place and they won’t let him talk to me or Sirius.” James explained. He had assumed that Euphemia would have this reaction but he hadn’t realized how heartbreaking it would be to tell her. “Well, why don’t you bring him home with us anyway and let me deal with his parents.” Euphemia said with a determined look in her eyes. “I can’t, he already left the station. Besides that would only make them angrier.” James said, now he couldn’t help but let a tear roll down his cheek. The determination in Euphemia’s eyes quickly changed to empathy as she hugged James tightly. “It’s alright James, I’ll fix this.” Euphemia said softly. James didn’t know how Euphemia would fix this but he believed her nonetheless, afterall she had never failed him before. Sirius felt a small tear roll down his cheek as well, he had been trying to hold back his tears and put on a happy face but seeing James cry broke him and he couldn’t hold his tears back any longer. Sirius wrapped his arms around James and Euphemia and all three of them stood there for a while.
Suddenly James heard a gentle tap at his window that snapped him back into reality. James walked over to the widow and tried to look through the glass but couldn't see anything through the darkness. James slowly opened the window to see a small black cat sitting at his window sill. “Hey little guy,” James said with a smile on his face, “How did you get up here?” He asked, James was especially confused because his bedroom was on the second floor and that was way too high of a jump for a cat to make, especially since this cat looked injured. The cat had a few scars on its face and a lot of large scars on its back. “Awe, you’re hurt. Do you need some help, little guy?” James asked the cat. James gently picked up the cat and shut the window. The cat immediately began purring in his arms. “I think I’m gonna keep you, little guy. But what should I name you?” James asked himself as he began walking towards his bed. “Ooo, I know! I’ll call you Cosmo!” James exclaimed as he put the cat down on his bed.
When James turned away from the cat for a second the cat turned back into Regulus. James turned back to the cat and jumped back a little when he saw Regulus sitting there before tackling him onto the bed. A shocked expression washed over Regulus’s face as James hugged him tightly before a big grin graced his lips. James wanted this moment to last a lifetime, he wished he could simply pass away in Regulus’s arms and die a happy man, but unfortunately life could never be that perfect. James lifted his head and looked into Regulus’s bright green eyes. “Why did you let me go on thinking you were a cat for that long? You literally could’ve transformed back at any point to save me the embarrassment.” James said with an embarrassed look on his face. “Watching you embarrass yourself is more fun.” Regulus said in a joking tone with a large smile on his face. “How did you not know that it was me? You’ve seen my animagus before.” Regulus asked. “I was too distracted by the fact that there was a cat in my window to realize that I recognized the cat let alone that it was your animagus. You were deceptively cute.” James said with a smile on his face. Regulus simply rolled his eyes in response.
James stood up from the bed and Regulus made himself more comfortable on the bed, sitting against the headboard with his legs bent in front of him. James was wearing his ABBA T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants that were plain black with the word Gryffindor written down the pant leg. “Is that shirt permanently glued to your body or something? I swear it’s the only thing you wear besides your uniform.” Regulus asked, fixing his hair. “It’s my favorite shirt, big talk coming from someone who wears my sweater everywhere he goes.” James teased. “Hey, at least I wear the same thing all the time for sentimental value, what’s your excuse for constantly wearing the same shirt that is literally just a plain shirt with the name of a band written across it.” Regulus said back. James chuckled a little bit at Regulus’s response. For the first time in a while James felt truly happy, like nothing could bring down his mood.
James sat down on the bed with his legs crossed so that he was facing Regulus. Regulus sat up and Mirrored James’s position so that he could look James in the eyes. “Those cuts look really bad. We should get Euphemia to dress them for you in the morning, so they don’t get infected.” James said, pointing out the numerous cuts and scrapes Regulus had all over his body. “James, I can’t stay here. I have to leave before my mother and father notice I left.” Regulus said in a firm tone. “Well, I talked to my mom and she said that you can stay here and that you can just let her deal with your parents.” James said hopefully, though some part of him probably knew that there was nothing Euphemia could do. “She can’t fix this either, James. Look I really wish I could stay here, but there’s nothing you or effie can do about this.” Regulus explained in a helpless tone. James remained silent, he knew that Regulus was probably right but he couldn’t help but believe that his mom would find a way to solve all of their problems. Euphemia had always been able to fix all of James’s problems in the past, anytime James was riddled with anxiety and worry no matter how dire the situation Euphemia would always find a solution that would make his problems seem like minor inconveniences, now that James was older he had begun to realize that Euphemia couldn’t solve every problem perfectly but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try.
“I know,” James said sadly, looking down at the floor, “She’s not going to stop trying though.” James said. “Oh, I know. That’s one thing you definitely inherited from your mother. You just don’t know when it’s time to give up.” Regulus said with a small smile on his face. “I’m not the only one here who’s stubborn. If you would think back to this summer you would remember that you refused to speak to me for weeks and I had to bribe you with cookies to get you to speak to me.” James said defensively. “I wasn’t being stubborn, I was scared to speak to anyone because I had just run away.” Regulus said back. “You weren’t scared to talk to my mom or dad, I was literally the only person you wouldn’t talk to.” James pointed out. “Ya, but not out of stubbornness, as I just said I was scared.” Regulus said, he honestly didn’t even know why he was still arguing about this, he just knew that he couldn’t let James be right about this. “What possible reason would you have to be scared to talk to me?” James asked with a curious look on his face. Regulus’s face turned bright red as he remembered that he was only scared to talk to James because he thought James was cute. “Wait a minute, were you scared to talk to me because you liked me?” James asked with a smile on his face as Regulus buried his face in his hands. “Awwwweee, That’s so cute Reggie!” James said while laughing. “Shut Up!” Regulus shouted back in a slightly embarrassed tone.
A few hours later, James had fallen asleep and Regulus was laying on James's chest. Regulus checked the time and panicked a little silently at seeing how late it had gotten. He knew that he had to leave right away or he wouldn't make it home before his parents woke up. Regulus slowly got out of bed and before transforming and leaving through the window he looked back at James who was sleeping peacefully in bed. Regulus leaned down and gently kissed James on his forehead before heading home.