James POV
It was really warm outside. James, Sirius, Marlene, and Peter were playing tag in the backyard while Regulus and Remus were playing with chalk. While Remus was the same age as the other kids, his leg was a bit wonky (James didn’t know the details) so he couldn’t run around like the other kids. When the other older kids were running around he preferred to hang out with Regulus, which James understood, sometimes he also preferred hanging out with Regulus. Even though Regulus was only four years old, he was super smart. Probably already smarter than Peter, definitely smarter than Snivelous.
"Tag you're it!" Sirius shouted as he completely bulldozed into James and knocked them both to the ground. "No tagbacks!"
"Kids! Lemonade's ready!" His mom shouted. Great, he thought mischievously. James really didn't want to chase after Marlene because he could never get her unless he tricked her, and a lemonade break was the best way to trick him.
"PAUSE!" Marlene screamed louder than everyone else in the backyard would prefer. They all walked towards the table with the pitcher and glasses. Marlene poured herself a glass and handed the pitcher to James when he felt a tug on his shirt.
"James." He heard a quiet voice say, "Can you get me a glass?"
He smiled down at Regulus, "Sure Regulus." James really liked Regulus. He was really nice and really funny. He and Sirius spent most of their time at James’ house cause their parents were really mean. Their dad didn't talk much but he would always look really angry and he took Regulus and Sirius away a lot when they didn't want to leave. James hadn't seen Regulus's mom very much but the few times he did, she was really scary and always yelled at Regulus and Sirius even if they did nothing wrong. He didn’t think anyone was scarier than their mom.
Regulus didn't usually talk a lot. Usually, he refused to talk to anyone but Sirius, Remus, or James. He didn't even talk to James’ Mom or Dad. If he needed something he would usually just ask James. James liked it whenever Regulus asked him for help. James liked helping Regulus. Whenever he helped him, he always gave James a hug which James really liked. He would never tell Sirius that he liked hugging Regulus cause Sirius would think he was really lame.
But James thought that was probably because Sirius didn't get very many hugs. Sometimes he saw Regulus hug him, but he barely even let James hug him. James liked hugging everyone. Sirius had no brothers or sisters besides Regulus, and his Mom and Dad absolutely never hugged him or Regulus. James's mom and dad sometimes hug Sirius and James thinks that Sirius likes that but Sirius never says he does.
"Here ya go," James said as he handed the four-year-old the glass. He wrapped his arms around James’ torso and squeezed. "Thank you, James."
"No problem, Reg," A few months ago James had started calling Regulus ‘Reg’ sometimes. At first, he did it because Regulus would glare at him every time he called him that, but now James thinks that it has started to grow on Regulus. Not to mention that Sirius calls him ‘Reggie’ which is way worse. James liked giving people nicknames. He was trying to come up with a good one for Sirius but the best he could come up with was 'Stupid' which is what Marlene calls him, but his mom got mad at him when he called Sirius 'Stupid. Even if when it was accurate.
James gulped down his lemonade and patiently waited for Marlene, Peter, and Sirius to finish theirs. He couldn't unpause the game until the lemonade was done. As soon as his friend and sister put down their glasses he yelled, "UN-PAUSE!", not nearly as loudly as Marlene, but it still got the job done. Then he lunged at Marlene. "You're it! No tag backs!"
"That's cheating!" Marlene scowled.
"Nu-huh. Lemonade is gone and the game is un-paused." James defended.
"Fine. I'm going to tag Peter and let him tag me back then you're so going down." Marlene threatened.
"If you can catch me." James laughed.
"I can always catch you!" Marlene gloated. It was true, she definitely was the fastest in the group.
"Nu-huh, not if you are too stupid to catch me." James stuck his tongue out at her.
"You're so slow, anyone can catch you," Marlene said with her hands on her hips
"No, they can't,” James crossed his arms in front of him.
"Even someone as stupid as Snivelous could catch you,” Marlene goaded.
"That's really REALLY stupid," James grinned at the girl.
"I know," Marlene grinned back at him, then left to go chase after Peter. James turned his head to look at the two other boys and saw Regulus's dad grabbing him. He really didn't like Regulus's dad. James’ mom also hated Regulus and Sirius’ parents. She would never admit it, but James had never seen her glare at someone like she did at Sirius’ and Regulus’ mom.
Now when Regulus' father went to grab at him, Regulus immediately followed and didn’t fight him. James sort of wished that he would fight him. One day, James was going to be a grown-up and then Sirius and Regulus would be able to stay and play at his house for as long as they wanted and their parents wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
“Sirius,” James whisper-shouted at the boy.
“What,” Sirius said from across the lawn. James pointed at Regulus and their father.
“Oh, I better leave,” Sirius said. Usually, Sirius would fight his parents, but never when Regulus was there.
“Do you have to?” James complained.
“Yeah, I do,” Sirius said solemnly. Sirius always got really serious whenever his parents were around. “I better say goodbye to Remus.”
“Bye,” James said with a pout.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Sirius mumbled and ran towards the other boys.