Family Line

  Remus and James were playing a game of chess when the wards chimed, indicating someone was about to come through the floo. They had only a fraction of a second to look at each other in confusion before green flames burst to life in the fireplace and the Black brothers fell into the living room in a tangled mess of limbs and screams. Both James and Remus were on their feet so fast the chess board went flying, scattering pieces across the floor, neither noticing as they scrambled towards the distressed brothers. It took Remus a minute to realize that only Sirius was screaming, his dress robes in bloody shreds, writhing on the floor and clutching his limp brother in his arms. He slammed to his knees next to Sirius, hands hovering over the pair, unsure of where he could touch Sirius without hurting him, if he should touch him at all when he looked so wild. Remus looked up at James who was still standing, eyes bouncing between both brothers and the fireplace anxiously, his wand drawn like he expected their parents to appear in his living room at any moment.

  “Prongs, go get your parents, I’ll stay with them,” Remus said, raising his voice to be heard over Sirius’ hysteria, screams devolving into loud sobs. James hesitated, looking down at the brothers one last time before shutting off the floo and dashing up the stairs, shouting up at his parents on the way. Sirius hadn’t seemed to notice Remus was there yet, curled around his unconscious brother, head tucked into Regulus’ shoulder. Regulus, whose face was covered in blood, making him look paler than Remus had ever seen, his heart clenching at the sight of them. “Pads, it’s Moony, you’re at the Potters, you’re safe,” Remus tried to speak over his boyfriend’s distress, moving into his sightline. “Can you hear me? It’s Moony, you’re safe.” He placed a tentative hand on Sirius’ shoulder, afraid to scare him but desperate to see his face and the state of him.

  Sirius tensed but he didn’t pull away, finally turning bloodshot eyes towards Remus, his face littered with cuts and bruises as tears continued to stream down his face. “They crucio’d him, a-and he hit his head and he won’t wake up! He won’t wake up, Moony.” Sirius’ breaths sounded strained, like every exhale hurt as he stumbled over his words. Remus felt his own breath freeze in his lungs, the agonized look in Sirius’ face turning his stomach. His parents used the cruciatus on Regulus, and Godric knows what they’ve done to Sirius by the looks of him. They’ve tortured them, their own children. Remus could burn that forsaken place to the ground, their parents with it.

  Remus wiped some of Sirius’ tears, trying to keep his voice steady, “James went to get help, okay? It’s going to be okay, sweetheart, we’ll fix it.” 

  James and his parents came rushing into the room a minute later, fear plain on all three of their faces. “Monty, grab the potions and first aid, James grab them some clothes to change into,” Effie ordered, rolling up her sleeves as she came to kneel next to Remus, assessing the brothers with worried eyes. She placed two fingers on Regulus’ cold wrist, feeling for his pulse and nearly sighing in relief at the steady beat, a bit too slow but present nonetheless. “Sirius, dear, he’s alright, I can feel his heartbeat. We’re going to help you, but you need to let him go so we can get you two off the floor.” Sirius’ tightened his grip on Regulus, shaking his head vehemently. 

  “Pads, he’s not going anywhere,” Remus spoke softly, placing his hands over Sirius’, trying to coax them away from his little brother gently, “Trust us, sweetheart, we’re just going to help. Trust me.” Sirius matched his eyes with his own tearful ones, reluctantly letting Remus pull his hands away, even though it looked like it pained him to do so.

  Effie smiled encouragingly at him when he did, “Good job, honey. Remus, can you get Sirius to the couch? I’ll levitate Regulus here to the other one,” Remus nodded, reaching for Sirius to lift him up before frowning when he noticed the state his leg was in. In all the chaos, he hadn’t seen the way his boyfriend’s leg was awkwardly bent underneath him, blood seeping through his pants.

  “Sirius…Is your leg broken?”

  “Yeah, it… she broke it first,” He said hoarsely, “I can barely feel it anymore, though.” 

  “She broke your leg?” A new voice spoke up angrily. Sirius looked towards the door, finding James there with a pile of clothes in his arms and a furious look on his face. Sirius shrunk back involuntarily, the anger in James’ voice grating on his raw nerves, making him feel more on edge than he already was. 

  “Prongs,”   Remus said sternly, giving James a pointed look with a protective arm wrapped around Sirius. James closed his eyes briefly, taking a breath and schooling his face into something calmer before setting down the clothes. 

  “Sorry, Pads… Do you need help getting to the couch?” James asked, adopting a tone softer than he felt. He came around to Sirius’ other side when he nodded, wrapping an arm under him and lifting with Remus so his leg didn’t have to touch the ground, setting him slowly onto the couch. Sirius let out a hiss of pain at the contact, the press of his friend’s bodies scraping against his injuries. Monty came back in with his arms full of potions and a medical bag, setting a few bottles next to the table by Effie as well as some bandages. He whispered something to his wife that James didn’t catch, and heard her hum a reply before he made his way over to Sirius. 

  “Hey kid, I’ve got a couple of things you can take to help with the pain,” Monty handed some bottles to Remus, who was kneeling by his boyfriend’s head, brushing through his tangled hair with his fingers. “Effie says Regulus is going to be okay, he’s got a lot of injuries, but she’s a great healer.” He said with a reassuring smile, conjuring a chair for him to sit next to the couch. “In the meantime, I can heal some of the other cuts you’ve got going on, we’ll have to wait for Effie to deal with that leg though.”

  “Thank you Monty,” Sirius said, sagging with relief, feeling tears prick his eyes again. James squeezed his hand, sitting on the floor by his feet, stealing anxious glances towards Regulus every minute but not making a move to leave Sirius’ side. 

  Monty turned towards James, a knowing gleam in his warm eyes, “If it’s alright with Sirius, I think Remus and I can handle things here if you want to go see if your mum needs any help,” James perked up a bit but looked towards Sirius first, about to ask permission before Sirius waved him away, saying, 

  “Go on, Prongs, I’ll be fine. Moony’s got me.” 

  James squeezed his hand one more time before leaving his side to see his boyfriend. His breath caught in his throat as he took in Regulus, his beautiful curls limp, dried blood caked onto his face and the large white bandage now covering the gash on his head. James knelt by his head, threading their fingers together and pressing a lingering kiss to the back of his hand. 

  “Oh, my love.” James whispered, his throat tight with emotion. “Is there anything I can do, mum?” He asked, trying to keep his voice from wavering. She smiled at him a little sadly, setting the potions she needed on the ground between them. 

  “Give him these potions, will you? Just be careful so he doesn’t choke, I can’t do anything else until he wakes, unfortunately.” Effie responded, resting a hand on James’ shoulder and kissing his hair, “I’m going to check on Sirius. They’ll be okay, honey.” 

  James nodded, giving her a small grateful smile before she left to tend to Sirius. James released Regulus’ hand to unstopper one of the potions he recognized as a blood replenishing potion, and pressed a finger to his chin gently, opening his mouth. James poured the liquid slowly, dribbling it into his boyfriend’s mouth and massaging his throat to force him to swallow. He murmured nonsense to his boyfriend as he did so, more to soothe his own nerves than anything else. James’ anger had taken a backseat the moment he saw the fear that had crossed Sirius’ face earlier, but every time he looked at Regulus’ slack face, or overheard Sirius whimper in pain, the anger seemed to resurface, making his hands tremble violently. Tears kept threatening to spill over his cheeks as he worked a bottle at a time, furious with their parents, furious at himself for not getting them out sooner, and terrified that they’d never truly recover from this. Even though Regulus was still unconscious, James could see the gradual relief the potions brought him, his chest beginning to rise and fall with deeper breaths and his face relaxing, no longer taut with pain. When the potions were drained, James grabbed a wet washcloth his father had left next to them, wringing it out in a bowl of water. He scraped carefully at the dried blood around Regulus’ nose, his other hand cupping his cheek, thumb swiping absentmindedly. James was finishing up when a blood curdling scream cut through the room, causing him to fumble the cloth, dropping it into the water with a splash.  

  He whipped his head towards Sirius, who was sitting against Remus’ chest, face flushed red and fresh tears dripping down his cheeks. Remus’ arms were around his chest and torso, holding Sirius’ arms down to keep him still, while Monty held his legs down. Effie was stood over them, brow furrowed in concentration, waving her wand over the broken leg and forcing the bones to fuse back together. James pressed a hand to his chest, still recovering from the shock while watching Remus whisper fervently in Sirius’ ear, trying to keep him calm during the process. 

  “You’re doing so well, Pads, it’s almost over. Try to breathe, sweetheart, it’s almost done.” Sirius let out another strangled yell, turning his face into Remus’ neck. James was still watching them when he heard a ragged gasp come from beside him. He wrenched his gaze away from Sirius, eyes widening in surprise when he saw Regulus awake and struggling to sit up.

  “S-Sirius!” Regulus cried out, groaning in pain as he thrashed, eyes glazed with panic.

  “Hey, hey, he’s okay, he’s just-” James put his hands on his shoulders, trying to soothe him when Regulus cut him off, yelling for Sirius again, and fighting against James harder.

  “Reg! I’m here, we’re alright,” Sirius called to him from where Effie was beginning to bandage his leg, his voice pained and thin. “Reg, listen, just calm down. I can’t get to you right now, but I’m here, I’m okay.” Regulus relaxed slightly at the sound of his voice, no longer struggling as hard to get to him, chest heaving still.

  “Y-You screamed, I heard you scream, I thought-” 

  “I know. Effie’s fixing my leg, they’re helping me. We got out, Reg.”

  Regulus breathed out a sigh of relief, sagging back into the couch tiredly. He met James’ worried hazel eyes, and wrapped a hand around one of his wrists lightly. “Jamie,” He sighed again, breaths still stuttering a bit. His heart felt battered, like it was throwing itself against the cage of his ribs in protest.

  “Hello, love,” James gave him a shaky smile, wiping at his teary eyes before leaning in to press a kiss to Regulus’ cheek. “How do you feel?” He asked, pulling away to tangle their fingers together.

  “The pain isn’t as bad as it was before. My head hurts a lot less but I don’t remember anything after we stumbled into the floo.”

  James nodded, “You’ve been out since you got here, mum healed you up.”

  Regulus looked towards James’ parents, who had just finished bandaging Sirius’ leg and were moving on to his arms. “Thank you for helping my brother and I, we owe you a great debt… And I’m sorry we had to meet this way,” He said a bit sheepishly, his cheeks warm with embarrassment. 

  Monty laughed good naturedly, “It’s good to meet you, Regulus. Between James and Sirius, I feel like I know you so well already. James certainly hasn’t stopped talking about you every chance he gets. You make him very happy.” James’ cheeks flushed bright red at that, and Regulus surprised himself by laughing at that, despite how horrible the circumstances were.

  “Stop embarrassing our son, Monty, you know better.” Effie smacked her husband’s shoulder lightly before turning to Regulus, “We’re so happy to meet you, Regulus, and you don’t owe us a single thing. You two being safe is enough for us.” She said earnestly, her smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. “Now, I’ll go set up a room for you two, if you want to get changed into some fresh clothes. Please, let us know if you need anything.” 

  “Thank you, again,” Sirius spoke up, finally relaxed and lying against Remus, “For everything.” Effie dropped a kiss on Sirius’ forehead in response, pulling Monty out of the room with her.

  “How do you feel about getting changed, love?” James asked, “Bathroom’s just down the hall, I can help you, if you’re up to moving.” Regulus nodded, already feeling exhaustion seeping into his bones. James slid an arm under his back, pushing Regulus up into a sitting position slowly. Regulus’ head swam a bit at the sudden change but he placed his hands on James’ forearms and let himself be pulled up to his feet. Regulus swayed, his knees buckling underneath him suddenly, his lightheadedness winning out. “Woah, hey,” James exclaimed, grabbing Regulus’ waist to hold him up, searching his face for any signs of pain. 

  “Reg? Are you alright?” Sirius called nervously, sitting up like he planned to limp his way over to him, but Remus kept a firm hand on his arm, holding him in place. Regulus leaned into James a bit more heavily, getting his feet underneath him again, waiting for the lightness in his head to fade.

  “I’m fine, I’m just a bit dizzy.” 

  “Can you walk?” James asked quietly.

  “Yeah, just don’t let go of me.” Regulus answered, resting his head against James’ shoulder.

  “Never.” He responded, a soppy smile on his face. Regulus rolled his eyes, pretending like he didn’t feel butterflies taking flight in his stomach. 

  “Oi,” Sirius said indignantly from the couch, “Don’t go ravishing my brother in his vulnerable state, Prongs. I’ve still got one good leg and I’ll kick you if I have to.” Remus snorted next to him while Regulus gagged and James laughed freely.

  “Salazar, Sirius, don’t use the word ravishing its disgusting.” Sirius stuck his tongue out at his brother childishly as they shuffled towards the bathroom, James doing most of the work to keep Regulus on his feet. James helped Regulus sit on the toilet seat, keeping an arm out to the side to make sure he didn’t keel over and fall off. He watched as Regulus fumbled with the buttons of his dress robes clumsily, letting out a frustrated breath when his hands kept missing the button hole. With every tremor that wracked his body, memories of what it felt like to be under the cruciatus curse bubbled up, the aftershocks making his muscles twitch and shake. He curled his hands into fists, pressing them against his eyes and groaning loudly.

   “Hey, easy there,” James covered his hands with his own, pulling them down from his eyes and rubbing circles with his thumbs, “What are you thinking, love?”

  Regulus grit his teeth against the rising panic and nausea he felt, thinking about his mother’s cold eyes staring them down as they suffered. “I’ve never felt more powerless in my life than I did tonight. I thought I was going to watch Sirius die, and I think… he was going to die. She would have done it, and he wasn't fighting back anymore. I knew I couldn't stop it but I couldn't just watch him die either." His hands tightened around James' involuntarily, breaths turning thin and shaky, Sirius' screams echoing in his head.

  "Breathe, love, I'm here." James reminded him, squeezing his hands back.

  He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, "I used my wand on my mother, and I knew I couldn't win, but I tried to protect him like he always protected me. Bellatrix used the cruciatus on me, and my mother just stood there watching her children scream in pain.” He choked on a breath, bringing his forehead to rest against James’ stomach, his eyes stinging with tears. James held him there, trying to reign in his own emotions, hand brushing through Regulus’ hair softly. James knelt in front of him so they were face to face, devastated for his boyfriend and his best friend, and wishing he could strangle Walburga Black with his hands. “I thought we were dead, Jamie.” 

  James cupped his face in both hands, wiping the tears as they fell, not hiding as his own tears tracked down his cheeks slowly. “I’m so sorry, love. You’re so brave, so strong. I'm so proud of you for fighting back.” James knew he couldn’t make any of it better, not really, but he’d do anything to make it easier. “She will never touch you again, nobody from that house will. I won’t let them, I promise. You’re safe here now.” Regulus sniffled, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of James’ mouth, resting their foreheads together and breathing.

  “Help me get changed?” He asked after awhile, a small smile playing on his lips, “Just don’t tell Sirius, he’ll make sure we’re never alone again.” James chuckled and stood, tilting Regulus’ head up to kiss him properly. 

  As James and Regulus made their unsteady way back into the living room, they saw Sirius and Remus were waiting for them. Sirius’ clothes were freshly changed, bandages peaking out from under his shirt. His head was heavy on Remus' shoulder, half asleep and slumped over in his lap. Remus shook him lightly when he saw them come in, his voice soft, “Hey sweetheart, let’s get you two to bed.” Sirius blinked tiredly, nodding and rubbing at his eyes. 

  “I can help grab you once I get Reg to the room,” James offered.

  “I’ve got him, Prongs,” Remus said, slipping an arm under Sirius’ knees and around his waist, picking him up bridal style. 

  Sirius yawned and pretended to swoon dramatically, “The Casanova of Gryffindor tower is carrying me, I think I might faint.” Remus rolled his eyes, tightening his grip as they made their way to the room.

  “It’ll be less impressive if I drop you on the way, so stop moving so much, Padfoot.” 

  Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus’ neck, pressing a kiss to his jaw just to see him flush a deep shade of red. “My Moony, my hero.” He said with a classic Sirius Black grin, despite his swollen and bruised face.

  Remus settled Sirius onto the bed in the guest room, pressing a firm kiss to his temple and making sure he was comfortable. Regulus was already on his way to sleep next to him, James stroking his back comfortingly. Regulus shuffled closer to Sirius instinctively, seeking his hand out with half lidded eyes. Sirius grabbed his hand and squeezed lightly,

  “Alright?” He whispered.

  “Alright. You?” Regulus mumbled airily. 

  “Yeah, I’m alright. Je t’aime, Reg.”

  “Je t’aime aussi, Sirius.”

  The two brothers fell asleep facing one another, hand in hand, their boyfriends on either side of them, keeping them safe.