Chapter 17
“He’s going to be fine, Sirius,” Remus assured, rubbing a soothing up and down the boy’s bare back. Sirius couldn’t help but feel differently.
“He didn’t even say goodbye, Moony,” Sirius shook his head.
The two had settled down for bed hours ago, but had been cuddled up talking instead of actually sleeping. This happened more often than not when Remus stayed over. Tonight, there was one topic that popped up more often than others.
“He does that every year! You know how he likes to be angsty,” Remus pressed a kiss to the top of Sirius’ head, his words causing the black-haired boy to let out a soft chuckle.
“I know, but something just feels odd. Like, why hasn’t he texted or called? What’s that all about?” Sirius pouts, his fingers beginning to pick at the comforter covering his body up to his shoulders.
“That part is a little odd, I’ll admit,” Remus lets out a long sigh. “I just feel like you’re–”
He was cut off by a knock on the front door.
Both of them froze, Sirius’ eyes widening a bit and Remus just tilting his head, both very confused. They didn’t have time to move from the bed before the knocking became pounding, and Sirius had never sprang from bed so quickly.
He threw on a fluffy robe he’d gotten a bit after moving in with the Potters, not bothering with his house slippers as he ran to the front door. The pounding was non-stop, and he was sure he’d hear some sort of complaint from the neighbors, but he couldn’t care less.
After undoing the lock, he swung the door open and felt lightheaded at the sight in front of him.
Standing there, on his doormat, was his baby brother, bloodied and bruised and shivering. And here. He was here, not in some dreary townhouse. He was here.
“Reggie?” Sirius breathed out. Regulus let out a sob and sent himself flying forward, causing Sirius to stumble backward the slightest. He planted a firm kiss on his forehead. “It’s okay, you’re okay. You’re safe here. They can’t get you here.”
Remus’ shadow was the only thing that proved existence, the boy somehow finding a way to stay as quiet as he’s ever been. He was likely just as horrified as Sirius.
He had dreamed of something like this happening. He had dreamed of Regulus running into his arms for years, and here it was. It was awful. It was heartbreaking.
“They’re trying to send me away, Sirius. Don’t let them send me away, please,” Regulus sobbed into his brother’s shoulder. Sirius gripped onto him tighter, feeling his eyes start to burn. “They’re going to take me away. Please, don’t let them.”
“I’ve got you, Reg,” Sirius whispers, tears streaming freely down his cheeks. “They can’t take you from me.”
Regulus let out a whimper at this, gripping onto Sirius even tighter. It was only now that SIrius had noticed the specks of snow melting on Regulus’ clothes; his hair, his body. It was only now that Sirius realized just how freezing his brother was. He was shivering, for fuck’s sake.
“I’ll make tea,” Remus spoke softly, the soft sound of him walking to the kitchen joining the sobs wracking the air. Each one winded Sirius.
“Do you need help?” Sirius whispers. Regulus nods, moving one hand to touch softly on the back of his own head.
“They know. They know about me and James and all of it,” Regulus cries out, another harsh sob leaving his body. “It hurts so bad.”
“I know, I know,” Sirius shushes him, running his hand through the boy’s hair to find the bumps. “I’m so sorry, Regulus. I’m so, so sorry.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you,” Regulus cried, beginning to hiccup through his tears. This all felt so tragically nostalgic. “I should’ve believed you but I couldn’t. I should’ve listened.”
“Hey, enough of that. Don’t apologize to me for anything, understood?” Sirius said somewhat sternly, and Regulus nodded. “Take deep breaths, yeah? Like when we were younger.”
Regulus nods again, and Sirius can hear the way his breath stutters on his attempted breaths. His heart cracks fully at how he’s selfishly feeling happy. Regulus is safe with him, and Regulus will stay safe with him forever. No one can take Regulus. No one can harm Regulus, not as long as Sirius is around.
Later, after they’re both able to calm down and Remus has finished the tea, Sirius and Regulus are sat on the sofa, bundled up under a shared blanket. The younger of the two had changed into some pajamas, something to help warm him up even quicker. Afterwards, he was finally able to get cleaned up.
Sirius nearly vomited upon seeing the gash on the back of his baby brother’s head. It was a wonder he had made it this far without passing out. As expected, he refused to go to the hospital, not wanting to be noticed by anyone their parents may know. A fair reason.
“It was Severus,” Regulus says, his raw voice breaking thick silence. Sirius nearly jumps up, but his brother’s head on his shoulder prevents him from doing so. “He told them after school, while I was still there for the club.”
Sirius clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together to stop himself from doing something absolutely ridiculous.
“I’ll fucking kill him, Regulus,” Sirius spouts, feeling his shoulder tense. “I’m not joking.”
“I won’t stop you,” Regulus sighs. Then, the brothers were drowned in silence once more, Remus having gone to prepare the spare bedroom for Regulus.
“Do you want me to call James?” Sirius offers, using his free hand to rub up and down Regulus’ forearm. He had found it to be a comforting point for his brother when he was a child.
“At this hour? It’s best not to wake him up over something like this,” Regulus lifted his head to take a quick sip of tea, then planted back down onto Sirius’ shoulder. “This sounds so stupid, but can you sleep with me tonight? I’m going to have–I just can’t-”
“Of course I can, Regulus. I would never call you stupid for asking that,” Sirius answers, feeling his bottom lip tremble before he plants another kiss on the top of his brother’s head.
~~~
James can’t sleep. He doesn’t know why, but he hasn’t been able to sleep all night. It’s now ten in the morning and he’s still laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, hoping for at least one second of shut eye. Every time he attempts to, though, the zing he calls his sixth sense shoots through him and his arm hairs raise, a pit in his stomach the size of a boulder forming in an instant.
He had patrolled three times last night, convinced he must have missed something if the dreadful feeling never went away. Nothing major had been wrong, though. He stopped some men from fighting each other, but that was it. The least worrisome night of the entire year, and his brain had been non-stop on edge.
With a heavy sigh, he sits up, his covers sliding off of his torso and into his lap. He moves his hands up, rubbing his face, then running them through his hair. He felt as if he was going crazy, because what else was there for him to do? He had to do something, anything to get this to stop. Maybe a visit to his best friend who is grieving the same way James is will make him feel better? That only makes sense.
So, with a quick explanation of where he’s going to his parents, a kiss on the cheek from his mother, and a wave of goodbye to both of them, he’s out the door. Maybe this whole thing did have something to do with Regulus being in a different country than him, or on a plane to a different country than him, as of this morning. Maybe this was all Regulus related? Sadness wouldn’t make his senses go wild, though, so that couldn’t be it. Right?
James tried to think of anything it could possibly be while on his way to Sirius’, but he really was drawing a blank. There wasn’t anything reported in the news when he checked, either. There was no logical explanation for the way he was feeling. Oh, he’s so tired.
When arriving at his best friend’s apartment complex, he felt the hairs on his arm tug, making him wince a little. That was definitely a new feature. Whatever this phenomenon was, it was physically painful. He shook his head, grabbing his phone and walking across the street, where the building was located. Thankfully, there were elevators, so he didn’t have to walk up six flights of stairs.
He walked to the door as quickly as possible, the weight in his chest getting stronger and stronger as he approached. It was enough to make him feel somewhat nauseous, bile building up in the back of his throat. Oh, what an awful time to feel ill.
He raises his hand, knocking on the door hurriedly, then doubling over, resting his hands on his knees. After a couple seconds, the door swung open, revealing none other than Remus Lupin. That wasn’t a shocker.
“James? What are you doing here?” Remus asks, then pauses. “Are you alright?”
“I need to talk to you and Sirius. I think there might be something wrong with me,” James panted out. Why was he so out of breath?
“Why wouldn’t you go to your parents if you’re sick? Why must you bring your illness here?” Remus sighs, but moves aside despite his complaining, allowing room for James to walk in. He does.
“No, it’s not an illness thing, Remus. I’m not sick,” James shakes his head, suddenly feeling thirsty. “Do you have anything to drink?”
“Have you slept, James? You genuinely look awful,” Remus asks, walking to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water, then tossing it to James, who catches it. He ignores the question, deciding that curing his thirst was more important.
“Where’s Sirius?” James asks, feeling desperate to see his best friend. He not only looked awful, but felt awful. “My, uh, my thing is going off, Moony. It’s been going off all night and it’s so strong right now. I don’t know why, but–”
“James?”
He froze as that voice shot through him like a bullet, immediate relief wracking his body so hard he needed to hold onto something. Every bad feeling was gone, the heaviness on his entire body lifting in an instant. Oh. Oh no.
James turns around and nearly falls to his knees at what he sees. In front of him stands Regulus Black, clearly having just woken up, which was not very like him at all. That aside, his face was a wreck. Eyes puffy, bruises and cuts, tear tracks prevalent from whenever he had last cried. Oh no.
“Regulus,” James’ voice is no louder than a whisper, and his eyes go wide as he takes a few steps toward the fragile-looking boy, who takes a few steps back. “You’re not–?”
“I’m not,” Regulus says firmly, shaking his head. “I’m not and I’m never going to be again.”
A mixture of emotions shoots through James’ brain all at once. Anger, sadness, relief, the whole lot because Regulus was finally free, but that means so many things have happened in the span of a day that he was not aware of. Something must’ve caused those marks on his face, and there was a high chance it was someone within that dreary townhouse. Oh, that was definitely anger.
Regulus had come here, though. He ran to his brother, and he was safe. He was so, so safe here. That’s definitely the relieving bit of it all.
He must’ve gone through so much pain and suffering within the span of twenty four hours to get here, though. He must’ve struggled so much in so many ways to get here. He’s been so brave, but likely doesn’t feel that way. He must still be going through so much. It’s so saddening it hurts.
“Oh, Regulus,” James says even softer, watching as the boy in front of him also appears to go through multiple emotions.
“Why have you gone so pale? You look sick,” Regulus points out, not moving any closer. James almost laughs at this, but chooses not to.
“Don’t worry about me, love,” James shakes his head, testing the waters by taking a single step closer. Regulus doesn’t back away. Taking this as a good-to-go, he closes the gap between them and pulls the black-haired boy into his arms, and lets out a sigh of relief when he feels arms wrap around his torso. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Don’t say that, you’ll make me cry. You can’t have seen me cry more than three times. I’d have to kill you,” Regulus mutters, his voice muffled by James’ shirt.
“Whatever makes you happy, Reg,” he says into the top of the boy’s head, planting a lasting kiss there as well.
They stand there for probably around a minute, and James can hear Remus preparing tea. The warm scent of it makes him feel a little woozy, all of his exhaustion from the night prior hitting him like a bus.
“What’s wrong with you?” Regulus pulls back, green eyes sparkling with a tinge of worry. “I heard you speaking with Remus. What ‘thing’ was going off?”
James feels the color drain from his face and he glances over at Remus, who just shakes his head hurriedly. Dropping the whole ‘I’m Spider-Man’ thing on Regulus seemed like it would be way too much for him to handle at the moment, not to mention it would inevitably make him upset. That secret is something that can be revealed another day.
“James?” Regulus tilts his head a little, eyebrows kneading together.
“His alarm clock was going off all night. Sirius has the same one, so he was going to ask him if he knew what was wrong with it,” Remus answers and James wants to thank him so very much.
Regulus averts his gaze to his best friend and wrinkles his nose, clearly suspicious. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to feel like verbally questioning it any further, his eyes falling back to James’.
“So you haven’t slept? That’s why you look like absolute shit?” Regulus asks and James has to laugh a little.
“Oh, your flattery does wonders, Regulus,” James smiles when Regulus rolls his eyes. He loves when he does that.
“Go sleep in the spare bedroom. That’s where Sirius is,” Regulus completely pulls away for James, stepping around him and into the living room area.
“What, you don’t want to cuddle with me, Regulus?” James asks, sticking out his bottom lip dramatically.
“Not with my brother in there. That’s weird and you get grabby,” Regulus waves a hand behind him, not even looking in James’ direction now. “Go rest up.”
“Whatever you say, darling,” James lets out a light laugh, audibly blowing Regulus a kiss before walking into the spare bedroom. Sirius is, in fact, still sleeping in the plush covers. James has never been happier to lay down and fall asleep next to his best friend.