James was home alone that night. Regulus was working late, so James stayed home and took care of Harry. Everything was going normal. James cooked dinner, cleaned up, and put Harry to bed. Just then James heard crying coming from Harry’s room. They sighed and went to check on Harry. When they walked in the room, Harry stopped crying. They went over to Harry’s crib to look if anything was wrong. Nothing seemed to be off. They looked around Harry’s bed and saw that his stuffed bear had fallen.
“Oh, did you drop this Harry?” James asked as they picked up the toy. Harry just babbled in response. “Well, here you go,” James said as they put the toy in Harry’s crib, tucked him in, and walked out of Harry’s room.
—
Regulus was working late that night. James was taking care of the baby at home. Regulus was working and about to go home when there was an issue in the Department of Mysteries. He quickly sent a letter to James, telling them that he would be late home, and went off to go check out the problem. He walked towards the lifts and waited for one to come down. Someone tapped his shoulder and he turned around.
“Remus, what are you doing here? I thought you were working in the other department,” Regulus said.
“Well, they had me come check out the Department of Mysteries because apparently there’s some issue down there,” he replied.
“Oh, well that’s where I’m going right now, they had me check out the same problem,” Regulus said to him, as they both got onto the lift. Remus clicked the button labeled “Department of Mysteries”, then the lift shot away.
“So… how’re you and Sirius doing?” Regulus asked, trying to start conversation.
“We’re doing good, we just finished moving the last of our stuff into the new apartment. How’re you, James, and Harry doing?”
“Good, Harry’s a lot of work, but he’s a good kid,” Regulus said with a smile. The lift made a ding sound and the door opened as they both stepped off. They started to head towards the Department of Mysteries when out of nowhere a cold mist came through.
“That’s weird…” Remus said, as he pulled his wand out, Regulus doing the same. They walked closer to where the mist was coming from, wands in their hands. As they got closer, they saw an outline of a person, a male.
“Hello?” Regulus asked, no response. The figure just stood there. Remus walked closer, Regulus following. The mist started to clear as they got a better look at the person.
“Peter, what are you doing here?” Remus asked. Peter didn’t respond, didn’t move, didn’t blink. He just held eye contact with Remus and Regulus watching them.
“Pete…?” Remus whispered, “Are you okay?” Just then Regulus saw it. On Peter’s left arm. The dark mark.
“Remus, we have to get out of here,” Regulus whispered, as he pointed to the mark on Peter’s arm.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Peter whispered, “Crucio,” Then he apparated out.
Remus was down. He was on the ground, screaming in pain. Regulus didn’t know what to do. His mum used to do this to him and Sirius, but he was helpless, he didn’t have a cure, he didn’t have a counter curse. He kneeled down, grabbed Remus’ arm and apparated than out of there. They landed on Remus and Sirius’ new apartment. Sirius ran over as soon as he heard Remus in pain.
“What’s wrong- who did this- it’s not the full moon- Regulus what happened?” Sirius stammered.
“It’s Peter- he was at the ministry, he has the dark mark- he hurt Remus and-“ Regulus started to say out of breath.
“Okay, okay, it’s ok Reggie,” Sirius interrupted as he murmured a curse and Remus calmed down. “I’m going to go get him in bed. You should apparate home, I’ll take care of Peter back at the ministry,”
“He’s gone, he apparated out as soon as he hit Remus,” Regulus said.
“Okay, go home, I’ll take care of Remus, we’ll worry about that rat Peter later.” Sirius said.
“Okay,” Regulus replied as he apparated out.
—
James was sitting on the couch watching the news when they heard banging on the door. They got off the couch and peered out of the peephole. A figure in a black hooded cloak stood outside.
“Can I help you?” James asked from inside of the house. They didn’t want to open the door before knowing who or what was outside. There was no response.
“Hello?” James asked again. Still, there was no response. They peered out of the peephole once more to check if anyone was still there. Once again, they were met with the black hooded figure. They quickly walked away from the front door. They locked all the doors and windows and shut all the shades. Then, they went to go get Harry, and make sure he was okay. They walked into Harry’s room and shut the curtains to his window.
“Hey Harry, you’re gonna come with me for a bit,” James said, as they picked Harry up and brought him into their room. They put Harry down into his extra crib in their room, and went to check the front door again. They went silently, barely making a sound. When they were walking there again, the banging started. Someone was at the door, and they wanted in. Now. James left their wand off the coffee table and made their way to the door slowly. They slowly opened the door.
“Can I help you?” They asked the figure once the door was open.
“You are in the Order of the Phoenix, am I correct?” The figure said with a raspy deep voice.
“How- how did you know that?” James asked the figure. They were confused. They didn’t know whether to go back into the hours or stay out here. The figure pulled of the cloak. Voldemort. James let out an audible gasp.
“I know things,” Voldemort said, “and now I know it is your time to die,”
James stood there. They couldn’t die. They had so much to live for. They had a family. They had Regulus and Harry. They stood there the cool night breeze hitting their skin.
“You can’t kill me,” they said.
“Watch me,” Voldemort said with a sly grin, “AVADA KED-“ Voldemort gets cut off. James stands there, eyes closed waiting for the spell to hit them. It never did. James looked around, confused. Then, they see him. Regulus, with a wand in his hand, and Voldemort on the ground. Dead or unconscious, James can’t tell.
“Reggie,” they finally say.
“Jamie,” Regulus breathes out. They run towards him and embrace him with a hug. Regulus hugs him back.
“Jamie, I was so worried, there was something going on- something not normal,” Regulus says out of breath.
“Ok- breathe Reggie, why don’t we take this conversation inside,” James said, as soon as Regulus started breathing heavily. Regulus nodded his head in agreement, as they go inside of the house. Regulus quickly casts a spell, sending Voldemorts body to the middle of the ocean to drown.
“Okay, I know you’re stressed, trust me- I am too, but why don’t you calm down, take a deep breath and tell me what happened,” James said, as soon as they locked the door to the house.
“Okay, okay,” Regulus said, as he took deep breaths.
“Deep breaths, love,” James said, trying to calm Regulus down. When Regulus calmed down, he told James everything that happened. The Department of Mysteries, Peter, and what happened to Remus. When he was done talking, James sat there in shock.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, love,” James said, as they gave Regulus a soft kiss on the lips. Just then, the phone rang. James ran over and answered it . After about 20 minutes of talking on the phone, they hung up and walked back over to Regulus.
“It was Sirius,” they explained, “Remus is okay, he’s in a bit of pain but he’ll be okay,” Regulus nodded and let out a heavy breath that he’d felt like he’d been holding in for forever.
“Do you want to go try to get some sleep?” James asked, “Harry’s in our room sleeping right now,”
“I’d love that,” Regulus said with a smile, as he and James held each other’s hands, and went to their room to get some sleep.
—
Peter apparated out of the Ministry to his and Sybill’s house. They’d been dating for a few years and decided to move in together. When he got into the house, it seemed oddly quiet. He walked to his and Sybill’s bedroom and heard zipping and rustling. He walked into the room and found Sybill packing her bags. She turned and looked at him when he walked in. Her face was stained with tears.
“We have to break up,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“What- Sybill what are you talking about?”
“Show me your arm Peter,” she said as Peter hesitated, “Show me Peter. Now,” Peter lifted up his sleeve and revealed a dark mark, big and black. Sybill sobbed.
“Why would you do this? You know you can’t hide it from me, I’m a seer for heavens sake!”
“I- I didn’t think,” Peter stuttered. He didn’t know what to say.
“Oh- well you know what I think, I think you’re a power hungry bitch who only cares about himself and doesn’t think about how his actions will affect anyone else!” Sybill yelled.
“No- Sybill please- don’t leave,” Peter pleaded with her. She shook her head.
“Pandora’s waiting for me outside. I have to go, goodbye Peter,” Sybill sobbed, as she walked out of the front door. Peter stood there, shunned in silence and cried. He lost everyone he cared about, his friends, his girlfriend, everybody. Now, he was all alone.