Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
That was the only sound.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The methodical repetition of soft steps against the cold floor. The sun wouldn’t rise for many hours, and yet there he stood. Pacing. Fidgeting with the many rings that adorned his fingers as he pondered whether to hit the dial button.
He glowered down at Sirius’s name, shining in the darkness of his bedroom. The last time he’d spoken to Sirius was the night he left. He was 14 years old at the time and would have done anything for his older brother. That had been 6 years ago. He was 20 now and this time it was his own escape being planned. So, he paced, gathering the courage to call and deciding against It. What if he called and Sirius didn’t answer? Or worse, what if he did? What if he hated him just like he hated their parents and wanted nothing to do with him? That would make moving to a property so close awkward.
Regulus sighed, his anxiety giving way to frustration. Why couldn’t he call the one person he knew had cared about him in his life? He decided Sirius would answer, he would… he had to. But there was still that nagging thought in the back of his mind that said Sirius had moved on a long time ago, and he begged his mind to be wrong.
That was it. He WAS going to call, and he was going to do it now. He just had to hit the button, just press the button, press the button, just hit that little green button, PUSH THE BUTTON! It was right under his finger. Why couldn’t he press the button? It was such an effortless task, and yet he fought back tears as he willed himself to press the button. But he couldn’t. He cursed himself for being so weak that he couldn’t even call his own brother, for being so pathetic that he had fought back tears for such a simple thing. As if he were about to destroy it, he swung his arm down, ready to throw the phone. At the last second, he tightened his grip, preventing it from smashing into the ground and waking his mother.
A deep, breathy sigh escaped him as his arm swung low at his thigh. He could feel the gentle graze of his phone against his thigh, reminding him he still needed to call Sirius. The pacing began again, and with it… the internal debate on whether or not to hit the button.
All was silent, aside from the soft taps of his steps on the floor.
Until he could swear, he heard something, … a scoff?
And then just as quietly
“Pocket Dial,”
He froze.
He hadn’t called, had he?
Then he remembered how his phone had grazed his side in his frustration
Maybe he had?
Frantically, he shuffled to get his phone to his ear. Nearly dropping it in the process
“Sirius?” He said pleadingly. He hated how desperate it sounded.
He’s met with silence, although he swears, he heard Sirius say something. Glancing down, he sees the ever passing of seconds at the top of a call to Sirius that… he answered.
After about a minute of complete silence, not even a breath on the other side, he decides Sirius isn’t there.
“Ok, goodbye.” He says glumly into the phone, maybe he can still contact the contractor and ask about other cities despite being due to pick up the keys in a few days and already having put in a payment, he thinks to himself as he goes to hit the end call button.
Then there’s a shaky exhale, “Reg-” he hears what he believes is Sirius.
And then more silence. What is up with that? If he’s gonna talk, can he talk? Or can he just hang up? Because he didn’t call him for an occasional half word and 4 minutes of silence.
“Hello?” He said, taking a moment to respond. Half of the wait was just trying to figure how to respond, and the other half was just plain petty, because he too can play the long awkward silence game.
“Yea, I’m here,” Sirius replied tiredly, good on him for finally ending their little game of silent treatment.
“Could we talk in person?” He asked cautiously. Whispering as if even at 1am his mother could still hear him, despite locking herself in her room at 10 every night.
“Why on earth are you whispering?” Said Sirius, rather loudly. How rude.
“You of all people should know how sensitive our bitch of a mother’s hearing is.” He whispered sternly.
“Ah. Right. It’s been a while, I guess I forgot somewhere down the line,” said Sirius more quietly this time. How kind of him, he thought snarkily.
“So can we talk?” He asked again, more frustrated.
“Uh... yea, sure. When and where” he said.
“…I’m not sure I didn’t think I’d get this far in the conversation,” he responded sheepishly.
“How far did you think you’d get?” Asked Sirius, sounding…concerned?
“Looking at the contact and debating,” he deadpanned.
“Then how are we talking?” He asked, confusion in his voice.
“I almost threw the phone.” He said, wanting to bury himself alive for admitting it. Why did he do that? Such a stupid thing to do. He should’ve lied. He thought to himself.
“… ok… weirdly reasonable, but ok…. Ummm, ok, I think I may know a place.” Sirius said, choosing not to dwell on the topic of nearly thrown phones, which he greatly appreciated.
Over the next few minutes, Sirius began detailing this small coffee shop across the street from a botanical tattoo parlor. Apparently, his boyfriend worked there, and he’d be dropping coffee off for him later on.
There had to be some hope of reconciliation if Sirius was willing to have them meet up somewhere so important to him, right?
Right?
…?
…right?
He sucked in a deep, shuddering breath,
And another
And another
Another
An attempt to calm himself, a terrible attempt really, seeing as it didn’t work.
Gently, he lowered himself to the ground and sat curled into a small ball, rocking himself slowly with his face pressed into his knees, providing the calm darkness his mind so desperately needed to relax.
His mind drifted.
Shut off.
Faded out into the nothingness of his room.
Even climbing into his own bed was a blur.
How had he gotten there?
…
Just as if he’d only blinked. The world came back into focus, and he sat up, blankets rolling off of his chest.
The sun was now beginning to rise over the mountains in the distance.
When had he fallen asleep?
And what time was it?
A quick glance at his phone told him it was 6:45
When did he plug in his phone?
Shouldn’t it be dead?
Strange.
At the very least, his sleep boggled brain had managed to wake him with just enough time to get out the door.
Every morning for the past couple years, starting sometime after Sirius left, he’d begun waking up earlier to get out of the house before his mother even left her room, she like himself in this instance, had various routines that she rarely deviated from.
One of said routines being that she left her room at 7am every morning and went to bed at 10pm every night, like perfectly timed clockwork.
He’d woken up with 15 minutes to rush to make sure he didn’t forget anything, although seeing as he fell asleep wearing his clothes, for some reason he really only needed to grab his shoes, wallet, keys and coat.
Quickly, he swung his legs off the side of his bed and began dusting off his gray socks and sliding his shoes on. It only took a few minutes for him to put on both shoes and yank his keys and wallet off of his nightstand, shoving them in his pocket.
He grabbed his coat on his way out his bedroom door, swinging it over his shoulders as he walked briskly down the steps in the manor.
On his way out the door, he considered where he’d go, if he’d just show up at the cafe early, have breakfast and drink some coffee while he waited, or if he had anything better to occupy his time. He didn’t have to meet Sirius until 11:00. It was 7 now as he walked down the block to his car and the drive would take him an hour and a half.
Maybe there was something nearby that could keep him occupied, he thought as he started the ignition.
When he arrived outside the cafe across from ‘twin wolf’s botanical tattoo parlor’ he realized… The cafe had cats.
And that was the moment he decided he really didn’t need to walk around and explore. There were cats instead.
…
The door across the room chimed, and she looked across to greet the customer, only to see someone who looked an awful lot like a mini-Sirius. He had his differences, of course, but the resemblance was uncanny.
“Good morning! I’m Lily. I’ll be right here if you need anything,” she smiled cheerfully.
The boy just dipped his head respectfully and started looking around curiously.
As he approached the counter, he seemed cautious, and he was sharply examining everything as if he wanted to be positive, he’d collected all the appropriate information before speaking.
Softly he set just the tips of his fingers on the wooden tabletop and began silently tapping… perhaps he was anxious? She thought.
“Excuse me, I’m supposed to be meeting someone here in 2 and a half hours. Is it at all possible for me to order a coffee and possibly,” the boy paused, hesitating. It seemed.
“Would you like to pet the cats while you wait?” She asked softly, finishing what she’d assumed he was going to ask.
“Yes, please,” he said sheepishly, bowing his head.
“What kind of coffee would you like?” She smiled.
“Whatever you recommend, I’ve never actually tried anything outside of a plain black coffee, so I’m not sure what I’d like.” He said quietly.
“Alright, no problem. Go ahead and sit down and I’ll bring it right to you once it’s done,” she said, gesturing to the many seats behind him.
He nodded awkwardly and began walking off in the direction she’d gestured.
“Holy shit,” she whispered under her breath as she began making his drink. He really did seem a lot like Sirius, only a bit shyer and more reserved.
Probably more like Remus than Sirius, quiet and soft-spoken at first but loud and energetic around people he’s comfortable with. She thought.
She’d just call James and ask him about it, seeing as it was a miracle if Sirius ever got out of bed on his own. Especially before noon.
After a few moments, she was slowly walking across the cafe with a mocha and a small coffee cat drawn on top.
When she initially walked in, she didn’t see the boy and was worried that he’d left while she’d been distracted but after a moment, she spotted him sitting in a corner with 3 cats, one sleeping calmly in his lap, one climbing up his torso and batting at his hair and the third was playing with a tethered squeaky mouse that was being held by the boy.
The boy was smiling softly. The smile didn’t fade when she set his mocha down on the small table next to him.
“Enjoy your mocha!” She said smiling and then walked off, leaving the boy playing with the cats and sipping on his mocha.
When she got back to the counter, she stepped back into the kitchen and called James.
He answered shortly after, “Lils? What’s up, are you ok?” He asked.
“I’m fine James.” She says deadpanned.
“Oh. Then what is it? Didn’t your shift start not too long ago?”
“It did, there’s just a guy here who-” she started.
“A guy? Is he causing problems? Do you need me to come deal with him?!” James interjected.
“What! No. He just looks like a mini-Sirius, and I was wondering if anything was going on since Sirius tells you everything and you probably went to make breakfast for Sirius and Harry.”
“Oh, yea apparently Sirius is meeting his brother there around 11-ish. Wait, you said he’s there? Already?” He said, sounding rather dumbfounded.
“I guess so. He said he was meeting someone in a few hours and just wanted to wait with the cats,” she replied calmly.
“Damn, he’s early. So~ what’s he like?” James said eagerly.
“Honestly, he kind of reminds me of Remus when I first met him.” She spoke.
“Oh? How so? “He asked, “Harry, can you wake up your uncle padfoot please?” He called to the 3-year-old who was probably playing in another room.
“Well, he was really quiet, the complete opposite of Sirius and he was perfectly fine to just sit in a quiet nook playing with the cats, also the cats really like him. Last I saw he had three. I don’t know, he kind of just gave me awkward until comfortable vibes like Remus,” she responded.
“Well Remus isn’t a hyperactive puppy like Sirius is, so I’ll take it,” he sighed.
“James, be honest with yourself. If I didn’t have prior knowledge that Sirius is dating Remus, I’d assume he was married to you.” She said boredly.
“Rude. Fair, but rude. Anyway, I gotta get going so I can serve breakfast to our starving children,” he said.
“Children?” She said amused.
“Yes children, I’m counting Sirius with Harry,” he huffed.
“That’s fair. See you later, bye.” She responded.
“Bye” he said quickly.
Click.
…
Normally, waking up wasn’t such a terrible feeling.
Today was not a normal day…
On a normal morning, James would wake him up with a good morning and pancakes.
Today it was a tiny elbow to the spleen!!!
Like a certain three-year-old he knew had been taking classes in wrestling and became a WWE champion overnight!
Where did he learn this!?!?!?!
Did it stop at the pro wrestling elbow to the gut?
Of course not.
Why would it?
He was then subjected to a barrage of tiny fists repeatedly smacking him, trying to remove his corneas and possibly any trace he’d even had his perfect nose!
It was true being awoken by a small… Yet powerful force is an incredibly humbling experience.
As if the potential blindness from previous strikes and the hole in his abdomen were not bad enough, this child had decided he also needed to ensure that he prematurely went bald, as the boy aggressively yanked at his hair.
Sure, just take the last of a man’s self-respect and dignity as he gets beaten half to death by a toddler.
If he died, would the cause of death be read accurately?
Sirius Black Death by overzealous toddler!
He groaned in pain as Harry began jumping on his rib cage, clearly unsatisfied by his strange will to stay alive throughout this torture.
“Harry… stop, I’m awake. Cease fire!” He begged tiredly.
Did the boy stop?
Absolutely not!
He just had to steal the last bit of warmth from his life as well.
His blanket.
The boy then ran off giggling.
Fiendish small tyrant.
He rolled over slowly, hissing the whole time and clutching his ribs.
Despite knowing no one was watching his semantics over the situation, he still played up the dramatics as he reached for his phone to check the time.
It read - 9:07 am
Why the fuck was he awake at 9:07 am.
No one should ever wake up this early, he thought.
Angrily, he sat up, ruffling his hair and sliding on his neon pink bunny slippers.
He tugged his phone off the charger and groggily reached for his black fur robe, sliding it over his shoulders and walking out of his room to begin his hunt for the thief of all good and warm things.
Harry.
James.
Potter.
Was it a little immature to fight a three-year-old?
…?
Maybe a little, but who cares? The kid probably just broke his ribs!
He sauntered out, quietly searching for that fluffy headed blob that had awoken him.
As he walked, he heard a quiet little giggle. Muffled. So, the kid did know what treachery had taken place only moments ago.
“Ooh! Good morning, Sirius,” beamed James tiredly.
“Is it?” he muttered, coldly still silently approaching where the giggle had come from.
“Yea! Lilly called me a moment ago to tell me that she saw a mini you in the cafe, so I asked Harry to wake you up while I served breakfast,” he smiled obviously not knowing how far his child was willing to go in his efforts.
“So, it’s you I should kill,” he growled.
“What?” said James, now holding his spatula fully prepared to smack him with it.
“Better you than the three-year-old,” he muttered, stepping closer.
“Sirius… would you kill a man in front of his son?” he asked cautiously.
“Today I would, and I’ll adopt him and raise him in my fantastic image once I’m done,” he said, getting ready to pounce as James reached behind him for something.
A secret weapon of sorts certainly, but it was no matter nothing would stop him from exacting his revenge.
He swiftly lunged at James, and in response, James pulled out his secret weapon from behind his back. It would do nothing.
James ducked down under his arms and lunged up, quickly shoving the edge of something in his mouth… it was? … food? …
Oh. Pancakes.
He reached up and grabbed the pancake, took a bite and settled down in a chair at the table, content with this food bribe for peace.
James walked back to the table with a large plate of pancakes and began setting the table calmly as if his life hadn’t been endangered for even a moment.
When he was done, he walked over to the couch to scoop up Harry and set him in his highchair.
As he lathered his pancakes in butter and syrup, James started talking.
“You should head out soon Sirius, don’t keep reg waiting.”
“He's early. That’s not my fault. Besides, I’m sure there’s plenty of people who look kind of like I do, walking into lily’s cafe every day,” he responded nonchalantly.
“Hmm, but do those people tend to have identical plans to yours? That’s far less likely.” He said rationally.
“Fair but why would reg stop by so early anyway?” he asked skeptically.
“Lily said something about him playing with three kittens.” responded James softly.
“Kittens?” he asked, raising his brows.
“Kittens.” James confirmed.
“I don’t want to leave this early and what if he’s not there? Then what? I can’t just come back only to leave again,” he said dramatically, trying to get out of having to leave.
“Too bad, and if it’s not him, then go hang out with your boyfriend until he gets there,” James said firmly.
“Fair, but I don’t want to,” he said, putting his foot down for some reason, thinking that James wouldn’t just push him out the door and lock him out without his keys.
“Too. Damn. Bad. You're going, young man,” said James in a joking but firm tone.
“You’re not my dad, old man!” he protested.
“Are you sure about that? Who does your laundry? Who makes you breakfast? Who wakes you up most mornings and makes sure you don’t die living in that bed? I may not be your dad, but I could be, “James responded in a deadpan voice without even looking up from his breakfast.
“No, you couldn't,” he replied defensively.
“Wanna bet?” asked James, holding out a chance to give up and just go, but he wouldn’t budge.
“Yes, actually.” He said confidently.
James sighed and stood from the table, walking over to a filing cabinet and filtering through several folders before he seemed to find what he was looking for and walked back to the table.
“Are you sure about this, Sirius?” James asked.
“... yeah” he responded hesitantly.
James plopped the papers on the table in front of him and sat back down to enjoy his breakfast.
“What are these James?” he asked uncomfortably.
“Adoption papers,” said James calmly.
“You wouldn't,” he said, it’s not like James could adopt him, right? He was an adult.
“I would. Eat, get dressed, go meet your brother, and have fun,” he said forcefully.
“I don’t need a new father to let me down, James!” he mumbled aggressively, shoving his pancakes in his mouth at an alarming rate and walking back into his bedroom.
…
Mochas were good, he thought as he set the empty cup on his small side table.
He’d only been there maybe 30 minutes, so it was 9-ish now and he had more cats now than he did when he got his drink.
The first kitten that had come up to him was gray with light blue eyes, it had climbed into his lap and cuddled up to nap where it still was the second was a tiny calico that made seemed to make the goal of climbing up his body with its tiny talons like he was mount Everest, that kitten was now asleep perched on his right shoulder, the third was a black and white tuxedo and had been playing with a feather toy but was now cuddled up with the gray cat on his lap, a fourth kitten, a small tabby had tried to cuddle up with the other two in his lap but only managed to lay over a portion of his hip the rest of the little guy was just dangling ever so slightly back to the seat, the final kitten he was holding was a small orange cat that had clawed its way up to his neck and insisted on tucking up there so he held it up with his right arm so it wouldn’t fall.
If reconnecting with Sirius didn’t end well, Sirius would have to get extremely used to seeing him here, since it just became his favorite place on the planet.
A bell chimed overhead as yet another kitten began sauntering over.
Dear god.
He was going to drown in kittens at this rate.
Is this some kind of cruel joke, not learning how to swim as a child and just generally assuming that if he stayed away from water, he would be fine?
BUT NOOOOO!!!
He just had to fall in love with a cafe full of cats that seemed to make it their goal to drown him in one of the places he knew he should be safe, dry fucking land!
He was lucky Sirius wouldn’t be here for another two hours, and therefore wouldn’t see him buried alive in kittens.
The only evidence would be the body, that nice lady lily would have to remove from her establishment.
He watched as the kitten waltzed right up and leaped with all its tiny might. For a moment he thought maybe the kitten would miss and stay down on the floor.
Naturally, the world hates him.
Tiny claws gripped into the cushion of his seat and started wiggling itself up.
It paused for a moment to appraise where to join the nap pile, then it moved.
It has been decided. He thought with horror.
It was surprising how fast kittens could move once they were on a mission. The little guy set to work immediately, honing all of his natural instincts like his life depended on it.
Tiny claws sunk into the bottom of his shirt and traveled up as climbed.
Oh great.
Another shoulder cat.
The kitten reached his left shoulder and naturally he assumed the kitten would settle down now, because where else could it possibly go?
Oh, how wrong he was.
He winced as he felt the kitten rake its sharp piercing daggers into his neck and hair as it continued to climb as far up as it could go.
He stared down as the kitten seated itself atop his head and began making biscuits out of his hair.
“They like you,” said a voice from in front of him.
“You think?” he responded, annoyed by the presence in front of him.
“Yeah, I do, suits you though.” the voice said in contented surprise.
What the heck?
“What?” he said crossly, as he looked up from his lap.
“I said, the pile of cats suits you reg,” he said cooly with his hands tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket.
“You’re early!” he whisper yelled.
“No shit, someone decided to show up at 8:30 in the morning so yes, I’m here, tired but here. We’re lucky no one died this morning with how I woke up!” Sirius said, sounding frustrated.
“Who told you I was here? What sixth sense do you have!” he said, exasperated.
“Friends Reg, I have friends” responded Sirius with a disappointed sigh.
“We’re the only people here!” he said, confusion ringing in his voice.
“Lilly.” Sirius responded bluntly, gesturing back to the counter.
It was like a bombshell had gone off with how he reacted. His jaw dropped as he glanced over to where Lily was waving slightly before going back to work.
“Anyway, that’s beside the point. You wanted to talk?” Sirius said as he sat down across from him.
“Uh… yeah there’s a few things,” he responded quietly, laying his neck back into the seat to help relieve the tension buildup from having to hold so many cats.
“Where to start, where to start? Ummm… I’m moving out soon. I got my own place recently. It’s a dual use building. I’m going to convert the bottom floor into an art studio and I’ll just live upstairs,” he continued awkwardly.
“Is that all?” Said Sirius flatly.
Huh.
“What?” He said, not liking how much hurt he could hear in his own voice.
“Look, I’m sorry reg, but it’s a little hard to be proud, knowing all you had to do was ask ‘nicely’ and be their ‘perfect’ little son like you always have been.” responded Sirius hostilely.
The fuck.
What gives him the right to judge? They haven’t spoken in six years, so now all of a sudden, it’s ok to judge without listening. This was bullshit.
“You have no idea how hard I’ve worked, and you know I thought that if anyone, anyone was going to believe a word I said it would be you, but it turns out you’re more like our parents then I realized so I believe were done here, goodbye Sirius’’ he said coldly as he started moving kittens off of him one by one.
“Oh really! Says the person who stayed when he had the chance to leave a long ass time ago! I’m sorry that you decided you wanted to stay! That is not my fault, and I’m sorry you suddenly feel like you want to talk as if nothing ever happened, as if you aren’t just their molded clone?” Sirius shouted.
Sorry! Sorry, he says. For him not leaving back then, really? Unbelievable, really, the only sorry’s anyone needs to say here is to the kittens he’s shoveling off his lap.
“You are unbelievable Sirius! I knew you were fucking dense, but even I never realized just how stupid you actually are!! You want to know why I didn’t leave Sirius?! Well, fine, have it your way then! Did it occur to you that you never would have been able to leave if I hadn’t stayed in the first place?! Because you were the only one with a future to fucking protect!!! Now excuse me, I’m leaving now,” he yelled, as he stood from the abandoned pile of kittens.
As he walked to the front counter, he pulled his wallet from his pocket and pulled a hundred-dollar bill out as an apology for all the screaming.
“Excuse me … lily? Right? I’m sorry about all of that. I don't know how much that mocha cost, but it was fantastic thank you.” he said as he put the money down and began walking towards the door, he stopped just short of the door to call back one more time “oh, and if you’d let me, I’d like to come back and visit the kittens again.”
“Of course, anytime” she smiled, and he bowed his head in acknowledgement as he stepped out the door.
…
Much to his surprise, Sirius came back much sooner than he’d anticipated. He was fiercely pacing and ranting, loudly.
Now normally he was more than open to hearing Sirius’ rant, but he’d gotten off work at midnight, someone was late for their shift so he had to stay thirty minutes extra, then had an hour drive home and needed to get up extra early to help Lily with Harry so she could go to work, and Harry had been off and on in-between spouts of high playful energy and screaming. He was tired.
To make it worse, at the start of Sirius’s angry ranting, he had felt his eyebrows shoot so far up his forehead that they’d be forever lost in his hairline.
Normally, if Sirius ever got into an argument, there was some kind of reasoning. Commonly, the other person would start it and he would end it with some fair justification. Nothing about what Sirius was saying made this any better.
“Sirius, I’m sorry I need to interrupt you here but … umm, how do I put this? Is that actually how the two of you started arguing? Cause it definitely sounds like you just threw a bunch of pent-up old anger at someone and expected them to react positively,” he winced.
“Old anger, my ass! You should have been there, James. It was ridiculous!” replied Sirius, continuing his tangent.
“Hmm, ok. Give me your phone,” he said, reaching out to take said phone.
“What? Why?” Sirius questioned.
“I said, Give. Me. Your. Phone. Now Sirius.” he said, using his best firm dad voice.
Sirius handed it over without another word. After unlocking the phone, he searched for Regulus’s contact and pressed dial as soon as he found it.
Regulus answered almost immediately, unsurprisingly he was angry.
“Sirius, I swear to fucking god-” he began.
“Not Sirius.” he cut in calmly.
After a brief moment of silence, the boy continued.
“Oh. I apologize for yelling at you then. What do you want?” regulus said more calmly this time.
“Don’t worry about it. I expected as much, and apologies in advance. I’m particularly tired this morning, so I may not say this all too nicely. You’re angry, rightfully so. I am as well, specifically because your brother showed up angry and yelling and decided to upset my toddler, who has also been having a rough day today. Now. I am going to take Harry to West brook park. And I expect you to march your angry ass down there and talk to Sirius under my supervision because I have hit my limit for today and it is only ten in the morning. If Sirius makes any more shitty comments like he did earlier, I might just smack him upside the head, so I’d like to resolve this before I have to figure out where to hide his body. Sound good?” he said with deep frustration.
“And if I don’t go?” regulus asked.
“Then all I have for you is a warning. Don’t underestimate the powers of a tired dad,” he replied.
“Alright, west brook you said,” sighed regulus.
“That’s right.” He confirmed.
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes, but if he says anything out of line, I’m leaving,” said Regulus, hanging up.
“Time to go, I need you to grab Harry’s shoes,” he said while tossing the phone back to Sirius and walking away to get Harry dressed.
…
Sirius and his friend didn’t arrive until 15 minutes after he got there. He’d been sitting in his car waiting to see Sirius walk out with some guy and a toddler.
When he saw them walk up to the playground, he turned off the car and stepped out. They turned their heads in his direction as soon as the door closed, making him feel somewhat anxious.
Regardless, he walked down to talk just like he said he would over the phone. He was nothing if not a man of his word.
The closer he got to the group, the more he appraised Sirius’s friend, who stood holding his son.
The man was tall with dark brown curly hair and soft light brown skin. He was sure on days where he was more well rested, the man would look brighter and rosier, more joyful and alive.
Once he was within a talking distance, the man came straight up to him, and… upon closer inspection, he was built like a brick wall. The man looked like the Greek gods themselves chiseled him out of marble; he was absolutely stunning. Absolutely stunning.
His eyes were a beautiful shade of hickory, with amber flakes that fucking sparkled like the damn sun itself!
Whatever god, deity, all powerful being… created this blessing to his eyes, needed a damn raise.
Damn.
He felt faint. Maybe it was how this man had absolutely taken his breath away, literally. When was the last time he took a breath?
He reminded himself to breathe out as the man stuck out his hand and introduced himself.
“Good afternoon, I’m James and this here is Harry. I’m going to go take him over to play, and you guys can talk. Don't worry though, I’ll be just over there if Sirius decides to cause a ruckus again,” James chuckled.
“... okay” he replied, wondering if it was physically possible to bottle someone’s laugh and hoard it forever.
“I was out of line earlier. I apologize,” said Sirius, breaking his train of thought.
Judging from the sad look on his face, he meant it. That added to how he was acting like a scolded child. He could only assume that James had scolded him back in the car on the way over.
“You were,” he said apathetically.
“You said earlier that you’re moving out right,” said Sirius sheepishly, trying to move past that ‘fantastic’ way to start a conversation.
“Yes, I did say that” he responded blankly.
“Would you like to tell me about it? I won’t be an ass again, I promise.’’ Sirius said awkwardly. It was weird seeing him be the anxious, awkward one of the two of them instead of his normal confidence.
“Alright, I’m moving to this city. I considered moving locations multiple times today alone, but it’s too late for that since I get the keys in three days,” he shrugged.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. I really am proud, Reggie. I was just upset earlier, and I took it out on you,” said Sirius sorrowfully.
“That is extremely weird to hear you say I will give you the rest of the limited money I have to make you stop,” he said strongly while looking out to the playground.
“Limited? Aren't you rich? Sirius asked.
“I probably won’t be in a few days, I assume I’ll be disowned” he said calmly, watching as James sat at the base of some castle stairs, leaning against the wall and tiredly trying to play with Harry as his eyes grew heavy and his hand started drooping.
“Why?” asked Sirius.
“I suspect it’s going to have something to do with the ‘last’ black family heir running off in the middle of the night to move into a building bought with the sold paintings of countless black family scandals that will have an officially released name of the creator in 3 days,” he said beginning to walk over to the now asleep James.
“Wait, you painted those? That’s fucking hilarious!” Sirius cheered, wiping a fake tear from his eyelid and catching up.
“I’m good aren’t I” he said casually as he crouched down beside the child and James with a soft smile. If Sirius was speaking to him, he couldn’t hear it anymore. He’d tuned him out.
“Hey Harry, we haven't officially met. I’m regulus. Would you like to play with me for a bit while your dad takes a nap,” he said, reaching out his hand to the child.
The boy grinned and grasped his hand eagerly and led him up the stairs to the slides, then he plopped down happily and patted the space behind him. When he sat down, Harry sat himself in his lap and they slid down the slide with Harry laughing and cheering the entire way down.
At the bottom, Harry broke off, sprinting as fast as his little legs could, pausing a few times to make sure he was being chased and squealing in joy every time he got close enough to tickle his sides.
After playing tag and chasing each other around the playground, zoomed down slides and hung off the monkey bars until eventually Harry settled down and decided it was time to sit and swing curled up in his lap.
They weren’t able to go too fast just in case Harry somehow slipped out of his grip and fell, so it was just peaceful and calm. Harry was babbling mostly nonsense. A few solid words slid through his unique toddler language, and as he babbled, he yawned, he stretched his eyes and began to grow heavy, and he’d babble some more in an attempt to keep himself awake longer. Much to Harry’s dismay, it was to no avail, and he fell asleep.
Gently he wiggled his jacket off of his shoulders, only slightly stirring Harry, and wrapped it around the young toddler in his arms like a blanket.
Then, ever so slowly, he stopped the swing and carefully carried Harry over to Sirius and James, who had moved under a shady tree some time ago.
“Hey, Harry’s, asleep,” he said with a yawn.
“Aww, how cute,” cued Sirius as he snapped a picture on his phone. “Ok now I can wake up James. he’ll be happy to know he can go home and nap some more,” said Sirius, as he moved to nudge James awake.
While he waited, he rocked back and forth on his feet, watching Harry closely to make sure no sun got in his little eyes. Although going off of his father, Harry’s eyes might just be immune to sunlight.
His eyes were heavy too now that he thought about it. So he just closed his eyes and set his head down gently atop of Harry’s while continuing to rock side to side, he was mostly focused on resting while he had the chance and not overheating Harry so he barely even heard James a Sirius mumbling behind him “hey you should drive regs car back and I’ll drive the two of them” whispered James “can’t he drive his own car?” asked Sirius just as quietly “he’s falling asleep standing might as well let him nap he let me take a nap for a couple hours so ill return the favor” said James as he stretched “alright but I can drive him he might feel more comfortable in his own car” said Sirius as he started walking over to him.
“He reg-” he started but was cut off by having a pair of car keys handed to him. “So, you heard that, did you?” Sirius chuckled. He only hummed quietly in response, not bothering to pick his head up from where it was resting.
“Alright love, first things first. We need to get Harry into his seat. Do you mind carrying him for me?” asked James, wrapping his arm behind his back and rubbing small circles.
“Yea…” he mumbled, leaning into the gentle touch as James guided him.
“This way, love,” he called softly, tightening his grip around his shoulders.
When they got to James’ car, he opened the door for him as he picked up his head tiredly. The car seat was in the center, so he had to slide into the seat and set Harry down. Then he pulled up his sweater and clipped the buckles before laying his sweater back down and began sliding out slowly, trying to release Harry’s grip on his finger, but the boy only tightened and became fussy, so he slid back into the seat and buckled up.
James, who had been silently watching, closed the door carefully, and called to Sirius, though he couldn’t hear what they said at all. After a long moment, James got in the driver’s seat and began the drive to who knows where. He was basically just letting himself get kidnapped for the three-year-old holding his hand and a free ride.
After maybe ten minutes of driving, sleep began to take him, and he let it.
…
It had been three days since his game at the park, and it was around one in the morning. He’d waited until what was most likely the best time to leave the house completely undetected to move. He’d just been lying. Waiting.
When he stood, he started grabbing anything that he felt was of value and didn’t want destroyed when he left.
It wasn’t hard for him to believe there really wasn’t much he was attached to or needed. So, he just grabbed a few changes of clothes and sweatpants. It didn’t matter how much of his clothes he was going to bring, he would be replacing it all as soon as he had the means.
Under his bed was a small box full of things that Sirius had given him before he left, a small bear from when he was 7, letters from when Sirius was in school and couldn’t talk to him. It all went into his bag.
During this part, he really was glad his parents hadn’t given him anything he truly wanted to keep. It made leaving easier. He thought as he zipped the bag closed.
He’d let Harry hold on to his coat as he just looked too cute cuddled up in it to take it back, so this time when leaving the house, he swung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed his phone, wallet and keys. And then opened his door, shutting it silently and flying down the stairs as quietly as he could.
He got to the front door in a matter of seconds, opened the deadbolt, and threw open the door, rushing out.
The door closed with a slam! But he didn’t care, he just breathed in the cool fresh air, and he walked briskly through the night to his car. Turned on the engine and drove. Drove fast and far.
An hour and a half later, he shut off the engine and walked up the steps to Sirius’s home.
And knocked.